Youngstown Locals NBC HD

[tandias]

Any HD feed from NBC (wfmj) in the Youngstown, OH area stutters so bad it is unwatchable. Last nights NFL game made me feel like I was in a strobe light. Anyone else see this, or am I just lucky?

 

[jeromy113]

Did you check the OTA HD as well? My local FOX channel is really horrible (Charleston, SC). I thought it was D* but it was doing the same thing OTA as well. Maybe the smaller markets are still working out the kinks.

JL

 

[tandias]

I did. the OTA is perfect.

 

[rr7296]

Same here

My father is having the same problem, and also channel 33 will not show a picture most of the time and when it does there is no audio. Service has only been installed a week. Only 1 dish was installed(5 lnb slim) and CSR is stating that there is no way he is getting any locals because there should be a second dish pointed at 72 sat. The R22 DVR seems pretty crappy too, 21 and 33 are cropped on his TV, he does not have an HDTV. Audio SYNC issues on local channels on the R22 are aweful too. It seems D* rolled out mpeg4 locals before they we really ready?? The csr set up a tech visit which will probably accomplish nothing because it seems to be a D* issue on there end or something?? Any advice??

 

[MattJ2124]

Tech visit a waste of time (trust me, several of us have tried), just recently the wfmj has been stuttering for a couple of days now for everyone, also 33 was bad when if first launched and has slowly been getting better (trust me, I feel for you). You will also notice that the audio does not match up with the picture at times on 21 and 33, I have found that the fix for this is to leave the channel on for a minute or two, then rewind live tv and then the audio and picture are matched up, no idea why this works, somehow the recorded stuff will line up while the live will not (might try this for the stuttering too)??????? This has been an issue overall for the youngstown area (that's why I dont think a tech will help--I'm in howland) Another solution might be to get the signals over the air, I do this with Fox 8 out of Cleveland, and watch the hd that way (I have a HR-21 so I had to purchase the AM-21 and it works perfectly, puts all OTA info into your guide, etc) Hope some of this helps...

 

[MattJ2124]

Oh yeah, also wrote a nasty letter to 27 for not being in HD on directv, have received no response...

 

[rr7296]

Well I ordered D* and they are coming to install today. Come to find out after reading these boards that the new HD DVR does not have an OTA tuner which is tempting me to cancel. I called last night and the csr told me that the hr-20 and 21 have an ota tuner but the hr-22 does not and will not work with the am21(is this true?) I specifically told the sales rep that I had an antenna for my hd locals and he said no problem you can hook it right up? Does anyone know for sure what DVR the tech will install??? Also I noticed my neighbor had D* installed maybe a month ago and they have 2 dishes, one big one and one 18" dish? My father only has the one with 5 lnb.

 

[rad]

Well I ordered D* and they are coming to install today. Come to find out after reading these boards that the new HD DVR does not have an OTA tuner which is tempting me to cancel. I called last night and the csr told me that the hr-20 and 21 have an ota tuner but the hr-22 does not and will not work with the am21(is this true?) I specifically told the sales rep that I had an antenna for my hd locals and he said no problem you can hook it right up? Does anyone know for sure what DVR the tech will install??? Also I noticed my neighbor had D* installed maybe a month ago and they have 2 dishes, one big one and one 18" dish? My father only has the one with 5 lnb.

The only HD DVR with built in ATSC tuners is the HR20 and they aren't being made anymore, if you get one it would be a refurb. The HR21/22 will do ATSC if you add the AM21 module which makes the OTA capability of those boxes look just like the HR20. As for which DVR you get it's what get's loaded on the installers truck, the CSR has no control over it. If OTA is important to you call D* back and let them know you're thinking about cancelling the install unless they give you the AM21 for free, or just pony up the $50 for the box.

As for the antennas, sounds like your SD locals were on 72.5 which D* is migrating folks off of, but looks like yours are still there yet. You do have HD locals for ABC and NBC only via satellite, which also might make it easier to get the AM21 for free.

 

[TV21Chief]

Please help

I've been working on this. Please keep me informed!!! I need to know times & duration of the breakups & your equipment. I'll do my best to pass along any info I can, but I won't give phone numbers, contact names, etc. I don't subscribe to DirecTV and we don't have monitoring here for HD yet so I need your help.

Thanks
Bob
Chief Engineer
WFMJ/WBCB

 

[HDinCincy]

I've been working on this. Please keep me informed!!! I need to know times & duration of the breakups & your equipment. I'll do my best to pass along any info I can, but I won't give phone numbers, contact names, etc. I don't subscribe to DirecTV and we don't have monitoring here for HD yet so I need your help.

Thanks
Bob
Chief Engineer
WFMJ/WBCB

Just curious... is the same thing happening on E*(DishNetwork) or are you guys even up in HD on E*? Here in Cincy, E* has never put up the locals in HD and that's the reason I've been a D* sub for the last year or so.

 

[TV21Chief]

Just curious... is the same thing happening on E*(DishNetwork) or are you guys even up in HD on E*? Here in Cincy, E* has never put up the locals in HD and that's the reason I've been a D* sub for the last year or so.

E* has not rolled out HD in our market yet. I don't even know if there's satellite space available.

 

[MattJ2124]

Hey Bob,
Welcome to satellite guys and my hats off to you for taking the time to read our concerns, I write letters all the time to 27 and 33 and never get a response!!!! It's nice to see that 21 has someone who is on the ball!!!! I watched 21 today on Directv and noted the following:

Today's Oprah and the 6 o'clock evening news had an issue where the audio was slightly behind the picture, so it was very hard to watch Bob Black when his words (audio) are not matching up with his mouth, this was the same for Oprah as well. But, I used my trick where i "rewind" live tv back about two minutes on my dvr and then the audio and sound were matched up on my "recording"--so this makes me wonder if it isnt a Directv issue? I have just started to notice this issue and the stuttering with 21 on Directv only recently, your channel has actually been the much better hd local channel. 33 was nothing but problems in the beginning but has been much better lately (again, why I am wondering if it is a Directv problem) they, of course, advise us to call you and they say that everything is good on their end????

 

[tandias]

OK, I finally have some news on this. A "case manager" finally called me back after I waited since Sunday. (I was told 2 hours). He was a sarcastic individual, who told me there was no way this was a D issue, but he would like to send a tech out to check my sat strength. Very long story short, and fast forward to the end, I was on the phone with the disconnect department, and after working with them and with the professors in the tech support, they promised 2 things. The first is they would escalate it to thier "net" (engineers) as a "brodcast issue" - Bob, I gave them your contact info. You and I spoke earlier in the week. Secondly, the tech told me that there are some "settings" related to compression he could change since the locals here are not mpeg4 yet. I thought he was full of it, but I have to say, things did appear better last night after I finished with D. (around 9 PM) I would also point out that all my recievers got an update at the same time, around 9PM.

 

[TV21Chief]

WFMJ-HD D* update

I was left a message the problem was seen and dealt with. Please repost if you see problems again. I'm subscribed to this thread now so I'll get an email.

 

[MattJ2124]

21 looks great!!!!!!

Tandias, when you say update, do you mean the national software release that went out yesterday during prime time where we received software download of 0290, or were your receivers re-authorized/reset?

Just wondering in case this happens again, if the re-authorized worked for you, I will try that next time...

 

[tandias]

I am not sure if they pushed it or if it was the release. When I turned on my TV after being on the phone with D* , I had a blue screen stating that new software was detected, etc. At least 2 of my 4 recievers rebooted after the update was complete.