Rabbit Ears Perk Up for Free HDTV

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/06/business/media/06rabbitears.html

Comcast the Behemoth

Three big Comcast news stories hit the press today.



Comcast Outage Hits Parts Of East Coast

http://consumerist.com/2010/11/comcast-outage-hits-parts-of-east-coast.html

Comcast Demands Fees for Web Movie Viewing

http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/211940/level_3_comcast_demands_fees_for_web_movie_viewing.html

Web Giants Join Comcast, NBC Universal Merger Opposition

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/content_display/news/digital-downloads/broadband/e3i377bdb0e9a632025e6089bad500fc8f6

ION TV

I just noticed that ION TV has bought Over The Air channel 16 in Pittsburgh.
Channel 16 was formally a PBS affiliate and more recently airing a Home Shopping Network.
ION "broadcasts a spectrum of high quality programming, with something for everyone in the family."
They typically run a lot of classic & new Christmas Programming in December which should make Nancy happy if they get the station up and running soon.
Currently there is nothing but a dead signal on Channel 16 so I'm guessing their Engineers are surveying the signal and getting the transmitter ready to broadcast 720p HD programming and multiplexing ION's company standard 3 sub-channels instead of the one that was broadcast by WQEX.
I'm assuming they will be channels 16.1, 16.2 & 16.3

http://www.broadcastingcable.com/article/459634-Ion_to_Buy_WQEX.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_Television

Still Can't Get Rid of Them

Comcast just billed us for November and December with November being marked "past due" and threatening to disconnect our service.
We cancelled them last month and returned their modem in the postage paid box that "they" sent us.
How screwed up can one company be?

SUCCESS!

I rotated my attic antenna about 15 -20 degrees east and now I can receive Channels 22.1 & 22.2. YAY! I'm sure the new 4 port amplifier helped too.
Channels 4.1 & 4.2 signals dropped a small amount but not enough to degrade the digital signal.
Channel 22.1 is the "myTV" affiliate and 22.2 is "The Cool TV" broadcasting music videos much like the old MTV did years ago.
http://www.mypittsburghtv.com/
http://www.thecooltv.com/

Here is the current channel line-up...



North Hills Pittsburgh O.T.A. (over the air) Channel Line-up

2.1 ~ KDKA (CBS affiliate)

4.1 ~ WTAE (ABC affiliate)

4.2 ~ WTAE (THIS TV Network) reruns of vintage movies and TV programs

11.1 ~ WPXI (NBC Network affiliate)

11.2 ~ WPXI (RTV - Retro Television Network) reruns of vintage movies and TV programs

13.1 ~ WQED (main WQED programming / PBS)

13.2 ~ WQED (WQED-DT2 programming / Create Channel)

13.3 ~ WQED (WQED-DT3 programming / Neighborhood Channel)

16.1 ~ WQEX (ShopNBC) A home shopping network

16.2 ~ WQEX (BIZ TV) personal financial planning info

19.1 ~ WPCW (CW network) Formally UPN & WB. Various original & rerun programming.

22.1 ~ WPMY (myTV network) mostly syndicated programming

22.2 ~ The COOL TV ~ all music video lineup

40.1 ~ WPCB (Cornerstone TV) Christian television station

40.2 ~ BDC (Cornerstone TV) Christian television station

53.1 ~ (FOX affiliate)

53.2 ~ (CMT) Country Music Network - music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies

59.1 WBGN (Independent Station) variety of programming - first run syndicated shows

59.2 HSN - Home Shopping Network

59.3 Info-TV - Infomercials

59.4 ~ Universal Sports Network - various Olympic style sports programming

DVR and WPMY Update

I received the DTVPal DVR a couple of days ago. Connecting it up via HDMI was simple and the on-screen guide to set it up was very intuitive. Works like a charm! For anyone using a DVR you know the benefits of using one. Pausing "Live" TV, On-Screen Channel Guide and recording multiple programs while watching another to name just a few.
Here's a sample screen shot of what the On-Screen Program Guide looks like.

Receiving channel 22.1 & 22.2 has been quite a challenge. So far no luck. I did find out a lot about the stations. They share the Ch. 53 WPGH antenna tower but "beam" their signals in different directions. I have no trouble picking up ch. 53 WPGH as their signal is directed North toward my location but ch. 22 WPMY is directed mostly South and West. That probably accounts for my not receiving them but still the antenna array is located only a few miles from my house. I'm going to try to redirect my antenna to point directly at them this afternoon and see if that does the trick. Hopefully I will not lose too much of ch. 4 WTAE signal as that is where it is pointed now.
Check out the the images of the antenna patterns that I found and also the antenna array of WPGH & WPMY. They call it a "field goal" antenna tower. Each station broadcasts from one of the top sections.

That’s Comcastic!

Nancy called and cancelled our Comcast service this morning as our DSL & O.T.A. TV service are both up and running. That’s Comcastic!

They told her that we have had Comcast service since 1989 and were sorry to see us go. I hope they learn something as people drop their service but I doubt it highly.

21 years of paying them for mediocre to bad TV service and at least 12 years of tolerable internet service. Goodbye Comcast!

I know a lot of people that have switched to Verizon FiOS as their technology can be superior but they tend to bundle all of their serves together in an “effort” to save customers money. The bad thing about bundling is that you could easily end up with a monthly bill of $300 or more per month for landline, TV, pay per view movies/events, internet & cell service. Too steep for me! If you want the best with all the latest bells and whistles regardless of price FiOS bundling is probably the way to go though.

The last thing that I need to do is receive and install the new combination amp/splitter and the new DTVPal DVR.

Also, I may need to replace some of the old RG59 coax cables that were installed by Comcast back in 1989. I may be losing too much signal with them and RG6 coax cables (preferably quad shield) are the new standard with much less signal loss on UHF long runs.

For those receiving satellite, O.T.A. or cable digital High Definition TV signals you really should check to see what cable you have installed as RG59 will not support the higher bandwidth used for HD signals and your picture might be degrading.

Full story on that here…

http://www.ehow.com/about_5530887_rg-vs-rg-cable.html

Recording "Over The Air" programming

An issue for those thinking of giving up cable is how does one record TV shows without the cable companies DVR, subscription based TiVo or the old analog VCR. Well it turns out that Dish Network makes a product to do just that.
It's called the DTVPal DVR and it is made specifically for recording over the air broadcasts.
It comes with a nice electronic program guide that is available in most cities. Our CBS affiliate (KDKA) sends out the signal here that runs that guide.
Amazon carries it as well as Kmarts on-line store.
I ordered mine from Kmart today and should have it by November 4th.
There is a nice review of the unit here...

http://www.laaudiofile.com/dish_dtvpal_dvr.html

The links for Kmart and Amazon are no longer active so I deleted them.
The replacement, identical unit is now branded as the Channel Master CM 7000PAL...

http://www.channelmasterstore.com/HD_DVR_receiver_for_antenna_p/cm-7000pal.htm

DSL is up and running

Yay! The DSL line is up and running. We will be calling Comcast on Monday to cancel their service.
I'm glad I waited for Sean to set it up. He ran into a configuration problem and needed to call tech support. Also, trying to get 9 wireless devices to recognize the wireless signal was a chore. 2 Windows laptop, 2 Mac laptop, 2 iPhone, 2 iPod Touch and a wireless printer. Whew! 
Speed is pretty decent and faster than the current tier we had with Comcast at about half the cost.

The four port digital TV signal amplifier should be here early next week. That should allow us to pull in at least 2 more TV stations and possibly a few more.


I have a 30 foot antenna tower on the side of my house that currently has a 2 meter HAM radio ground plane antenna on it. I'm considering installing a really nice, large TV antenna on it with a rotor next spring. I should be able to pull in stations from Ohio, West Virginia & Central PA with a set-up like that! 

Yesterday I noticed that I was not receiving Channels 22-1 & 22-2. These are very local stations affiliated with MyNetworkTV & COOLTV. I checked the antenna charts and I believe that a water tower is between my house and their antenna. I still should be receiving their signal though so I checked my Radio Shack in-line amplifier by disconnecting it and found out that it is not working. That means that all the channels that I have been receiving are from the antenna signal only with no amplification.

I ordered a new power amplifier/splitter from Amazon made by PCT and it should be here by the weekend. Hopefully it will help pull in channels 22-1 & 22-1.

The combination amp/splitter will mean that I can eliminate the splitter that I have now for a cleaner and less signal loss connection to our 4 TV's.

I'll post an update when I have it set up.

Also, the Verizon DSL modem/wireless router came last Tuesday. I'm waiting for Sean to come over this weekend to help me install it. He's much better than I am at software/hardware installations.

Antenna/Cable Setup

I took a few photos of the new antenna. I also got a shot of the Signal Amplifier that has been connected to our in-house cable system. I had to install the Signal Amplifier about 10 years ago or so because our Comcast signal was so weak it would not supply a decent signal to our 4 TV's. I believe it's a 10-12 db gain unit. When connecting the new antenna last Friday, I disconnected the the Comcast cable from the Signal Amp and then just screwed in the Antenna cable to the Signal Amp. Easy installation. All four TV's have an excellent OTA Signal from the antenna. No dropout or pixelization.

OTA Channel Line-up

A few friends have asked what channels I pick up with the new Antenna.

Here they are...

North Hills Pittsburgh O.T.A. (over the air) Channel Line-up

2.1 ~ KDKA (CBS affiliate)

4.1 ~ WTAE (ABC affiliate)

4.2 ~ WTAE (THIS TV Network) reruns of vintage movies and TV programs

11.1 ~ WPXI (NBC Network affiliate)

11.2 ~ WPXI (RTV - Retro Television Network) reruns of vintage movies and TV programs

13.1 ~ WQED (main WQED programming / PBS)

13.2 ~ WQED (WQED-DT2 programming / Create Channel)

13.3 ~ WQED (WQED-DT3 programming / Neighborhood Channel)

16.1 ~ WQEX (ShopNBC) A home shopping network

16.2 ~ WQEX (BIZ TV) personal financial planning info

19.1 ~ WPCW (CW network) Formally UPN & WB. Various original & rerun programming.

40.1 ~ WPCB (Cornerstone TV) Christian television station

40.2 ~ BDC (Cornerstone TV) Christian television station

53.1 ~ (FOX affiliate)

53.2 ~ (CMT) Country Music Network - music videos, taped concerts, movies, biographies

59.1 WBGN (Independent Station) variety of programming - first run syndicated shows

59.2 HSN - Home Shopping Network

59.3 Info-TV - Infomercials

59.4 ~ Universal Sports Network - various Olympic style sports programming



That's about 6 more channels than Comcast was supplying on their lowest tier when I dropped them 

Hello DSL

I ordered high speed Verizon DSL today while I was watching the Steeler game. Second step of eliminating Comcast DONE!
I should have the DSL equipment in a few days.
I'll have my REALLY geeky son Sean help me install it next weekend.

This should actually simplify things as Verizon already supplies our land-line and the DSL bill will now be combined with the land-line and automatically deducted from our checking account.

Nancy is not ready to ditch the land-line yet. Maybe next year.

BTW, the TV Antenna is working out very well. The picture is VERY crisp. A lot better than Comcast was delivering and we're enjoying a few O.T.A. stations that are not offered on cable.

Goodbye Comcast

Comcast has been a miserable company to deal with from the start. Regular price increases, decreasing services, bad technicians (when they actually show up) and the worst customer service I've ever experienced.

Ever since the digital switchover last year they have been systematically removing the TV channels from our line-up in an effort to force us to go with their "digital" packages. Their digital packages require a Comcast addressable box to use with each TV that you have. In our case 6 of them and of course they charge a monthly fee for each of them. They really want you to go with the digital package as they can then sell you down-loadable movies and such. A big money maker for them. NO THANKS I kept telling them. It got so bad earlier this year that I decided to downgrade to their lowest level of service since I was not receiving that many TV stations anyway and was being charged well over $100 month for TV + Internet service. Our monthly bill was reduced to around $48. At first with their lowest tier TV service we were actually receiving more stations than before! That did not last long, maybe 6 months as they began switching those extra channels to their digital only service. Well OK I said, I'm not paying for those extra ones anyway. We were basically receiving only the local analog and digital channels, the weather channel and a few paid advertising channels as of 3 weeks ago.
Well about 2 weeks ago they started to remove the local digital channels from my line-up. In our case that was digital 2.1 (CBS), 11.1 (NBC) & 11.2 (RTV ). That left us with the analog feed of our local CBS & NBC affiliate which on an HD TV is barely watchable. Now remember, when the FCC made all the TV stations switch from analog to Digital a couple of years ago the cable companies were required to carry the digital local feeds even on their lowest tier service. Apparently a recent change in the law made them only liable to carry analog signals which Comcast is bent on carrying out.


About a 1 1/2 weeks ago after I noticed a few of our digital local channels missing I started a chat with Comcast via the internet with the intent of asking them why they removed those channels even as they are continually raising prices. After chatting with 3 different reps and being disconnected repeatedly from their chat service (literally dozens of times) over more than an hour and them trying to up-sell me to their digital service, the last one discontinued the chat with no warning. Not only that but less than 2 minutes later my internet connection went down. Apparently the little bastard pulled the plug on my internet service. All the while my son Sean was also logged into my laptop watching the chat and could not believe these imbeciles were not even answering my questions.
Sean commented on Twitter...

"Comcast is really terrible tonight, they are spending hours chatting with my dad about wpxi 11.1 and 11.2 disappearing from their lineup and now their comcast internet went down... WTF Comcast????"

I'm glad he was watching as I don't think anyone would have believed their ineptness.

I had to call them on the phone and get them to re-connect my internet service. Another 45 minutes down the drain with a fellow from India.

That was the last straw. After putting up with their crappy compressed Digital TV signals that they were taking away anyway and them supplying even worse analog TV signals  I knew it was time to dump them.

But who to go with?

Being an amateur  radio operator I knew that the Over The Air broadcast signals that the local stations put out are the very best quality you can get. After all, companies like Comcast receive those same OTA signals, compress them, stuff them into their cables and sell them to suckers like us.

Time to get a good antenna!

After thoroughly researching TV antennas, I came across Dennys Antenna Service in Michigan and really liked his small EZ-HD Antenna and decided to buy it and install it in my attic. 

Denny has a lot of good info and links on his site on how to choose the best antennas and equipment.

I bought the EZ-HD last Sunday and it came on Wednesday. Today I installed it in the attic and I am now enjoying the best Digital TV quality that I have ever seen and I get more channels than I was getting from Comcast! And it's FREE

http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/ez_hd_tv_Antenna.html

These 3 things also are a contributing factor in my decision to drop cable.
1. A lot of TV programming is available on-line and it's pretty easy to connect a laptop to our HD TV    and watch it on the "big screen".
2. We subscribe to Netflix and watch a lot of movies delivered to our mailbox.
3. Sean bought an Apple TV a few weeks ago and has been bringing it over on the weekends. A lot of programming is available through Apple TV including movies via our Netflix account.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_TV

Next I need to dump our Comcast internet service which by the way I never really had many problems with. A few bad modems along the way and waiting way too long for their techs to come out but that is about all.

Sean recommended DSL Extreme which looks good and is faster and cheaper than what I have with Comcast. I'm also looking into Verizon DSL but eventually I would like to drop our land-line also so the DSL Extreme running on a dry loop may be the way to go.

http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4587166_dry-loop-dsl-work.html

Stay tuned....