DTVPal Remote

I had a really odd thing happen with the DVR this week.
I set the DVR to record Glee after the Superbowl and when we went to watch it on Monday, the Remote Control would not work. It has buttons that light up when you press them and nothing was lighting up. I changed the batteries and still the same. The remote was dead. It's been dropped on the hardwood floor a few times so I just figured that something inside must have broken.
I figured out how to open it up (not easy...Thanks Dad for the watchmaking equipment) and looked inside but everything looked OK. I closed it back up and proceeded to buy a used one on Ebay since our 90 day warranty ran out about a week ago.
When I got home on Tuesday I picked the broken remote up and gave it a try again and the DVR came on. Cool! It repaired itself. I turned on Glee that it had automatically recorded on Monday night and we watched the whole program without touching the remote. I was afraid it would break again which of course it did. I could not turn off the DVR after Glee was over so I just left it on overnight. In the morning I noticed the DVR had turned itself off. It must have a timer in it that shuts down after so many hours with no input.
The remote still did not work on Wednesday when I tried it.
When I got home on Thursday the used remote was in the mail. It had a different number on it but looked the same except for a couple of buttons that were different. It turns out that this remote is for a Dish Satellite Receiver and not a Dish DVR. It did not work on my DVR but the buttons on it did light up. It's number is 5.3 IR 148784. My DVR remote number is 5.3 IR 163959
Oh well. I only paid $8 for it.
I tried the broken remote again and guess what? It was working again. It worked all Thursday night and is still working on Friday.
In the meantime, I had done some research on Dish remotes and found out that you could change the remote code on any Dish Satellite Receiver remote so that they can be used on a Dish DVR.
Here is the procedure...

Open the DTVPal DVR's System Information screen by pressing the 'Sys Info' button on the DVR Remote.

Press and hold the PAL button until all the function lights flash.

Enter a two-digit number for the new address (02-15) and then press the '#' button. [Be sure you use 02 or higher.]

With the System Information screen on, press the 'Record' button.

The PAL button will blink three times, and you should see the new remote address at the bottom of the system information screen.

Next...

On the Dish Satellite remote press and hold the AUX button until all 4 mode buttons blink.

Press 3.

Enter the same remote address you did for the DVR remote above 02-15.

Press the # button.

Press the AUX button and it now controls the DVR.

Both remotes are now synched with the same code.

Thanks to bfdtv at http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1099071 for the great deal of information on the DTVPal DVR

Both remotes are working now so I guess I have a spare one.

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.