I HATE HD broadcast signals

[Skipjacks]

I can get ONE lousy HD channel where I live. All day long it's shown regular programming in crystal clear digital strength. All day I've waited for 9pm just so I could finally watch my first full show in HD after going through all the trouble to buy and set this thing up.

At EXACTLY 9pm the signal goes completely dead.

I'm really annoyed. HD is pretty much BS unless you have cable or reliable satalite. The stations clearly aren't taking the FCC manadate to convert to HD seriously since they are putting out very weak HD signals.

I couldn't be less happy with the whole HD revolution right now if I tried.

[dhatchett]

What carrier do you have for your HD content? Are you just trying to get ota signals. I really don't understand. Please clarify.:confused:

[Skipjacks]

I just have the broadcast reciever so I can only get over the air signals. And where my apartment is I can't get them at all. Perhaps because of the neighbohood, or perhaps because my apartmetn faces away from the transmitters. (which it does)

This is the 2nd night in a row where the signal went out right as the HD broadcasting began. So I officially quit with this HD broadcast nonsense. Maybe it needs a big fancy antenna but I'm not in a position to be able to utilize one where I live. So I'll just have to go with HD cable and live with 2 HD channels until they start adding more.

My reciever is officially for sale. It's a Mitsubishi HD 1080 made for use with Mitsubishi HD upgradable TVs. Somewhere there's a compatibility list I can find if you're interested. The unit is brand new, the warrenty card isn't even filled out. It comes complete with the serial cable to connect it to the TV's on board computer (works with the Mitsubishi TV as though it was an internal component), the component video cables, and adapters to attatch the component cables to the TV's RCA jacks. (For some odd and unknown reason Mitsubishi made the TV and the receiver with 2 different types of connections. It even says they did it that way on purpose in the manual. Just doesn't say why.) The original manual is included as well.

The whole package is yours for $195 including shipping. I'll even deliver it around Baltimore to save on the shipping charges.

[leadvocal]

Skipjacks,

Don't give up so easily. Do you have any kind of antenna at all connected to your OTA settop box?

You list your location as Baltimore which in most places is only 10-15 miles from the transmitters for WJZ (CBS), WBAL (NBC), WMAR (ABC), WBFF (FOX), & WNUV (UPN). It is likely (not necessarily guaranteed) that you could pickup the digital broadcasts of these stations with a settop antenna (only CBS, NBC, & ABC broadcast HD content). I have a brand new, still in the box Zenith Silver Sensor settop antenna that you could try.

Also, Comcast being the cable provider for the Baltimore area offers 5 HD channels: ABC, NBC, HBO, Showtime, & CSN

What part of Baltimore are you in?

[Skipjacks]

I'm already waiting for cable to be connected. I am giving up quickly on the broadcast but oh well.

[papool69]

Is it possible that this HD channel that you have really is NOT HD, but rather simply SDDTV, and when the network airs HD programming, it goes dead...

I live in KC, and our CBS affiliate has a digital broadcast, but does not give us HD, so when the HD broadcast happens on that channel, there is nothing on air on the digital channel...

It's really stupid, but unforunately no one listens to us...

[spaceman_spiff]

NBC HD here in howard county will upconvert and stretch SD material to fit 16:9 screen which makes it worse sometimes (very muddy and grainy). Stretching is so bad that you can see unequal 1/2" - 1" black bars on the right and left of the screen. These black bars go away when they have true HD programming.

[billw]

Comcast sucks too - so enjoy!

I had to say that! Sorry.

skipjacks,
Being in baltimore, you are at the mercy of Comcast and CBS.
Comcast is powerful and is all about the money. I get three whopping HD channels with Comcast in Harford County. IF I didnt subscribe to HBO, it would be 2.

Actually it is 4 if you count Comcast Sportsnet but they cant seem to get the channel working properly, so I wouldnt count that.

I have given up on them. They still have not returned my call.
I finally got someone in a different department to admit that there was a problem. Of course they said it was fixed over the weekend. It most certainly was not.

I guess I will just wait it out.

Bill

[Skipjacks]

WHOA!!! What do you mean Comcast Sportsnet HD doesn't work? That's the entire reason I'm getting the HD cable package, so I can watch the Oriole suck in life like clarity. Are you telling me I'm not going to get to see that?

[9 inch guns]

I have an integrated HD tuner, and although I get 6 over the air stations on my HD antannae, only two of them broadcast digital content (PBS and ABC). CBS, FOX, NBC, WB have yet to introcude HD to my area. But I know when they do, I will be ready!

[billw]

skipjacks,
It seems they have it working now. It always worked but were having problems with the audio.

The picture pq had some issues as well that seems to better with the Orioles games

[FatDog]

There is another site dedicated to HDTV for particular cities. The one in SanDiego (www.hdtv.forsandiego.com) has an engineer from one of the television stations who posts a lot.

It turns out that the stations vary their power by time of day. This is to compensate for various things including ozone-layer changes. It's very likely that right at 9 pm, the station dropped it's power. Many stations do vary their power (including radio), while fireing up simulcast systems. They also do have problems which knock them off the air for a while.

Try calling the station and being friendly, not upset/hostile, ask to speak to an engineer. Find one who can tell you about the HDTV feed and ask what happens at 9 pm. Could be a routine thing, or an abnormal thing.

One guy in San Diego had trouble getting a consistant signal for 1 or 2 stations. But his STB would monitor the stations and quietly remove dead ones from the channel-list. He kept having to do a "Scan for stations" several times per week until he learned about the power issue. I think he returned his STB for a different brand that did not have this 'feature'.