Tv-guide on screen Trouble!!!

[h_gellings]

I live in Slinger, WI. and just bought a new lg hdtv with tv guide on-screen feature. I installed a good uhf antenna this weekend and can't get on-screen to download any listings. I can however get listings downloaded thru charter cable, just not OTA.  I recently cancelled my charter cable to save some cash.  

Anyone know what channel the data stream gets sent thru OTA? It must have been sent thru one of the local channels I had with cable as it worked.  Is it sent thru an analog or digital station for tvguide on screen? The antenna picks up the digital channels very good and also some analog channels.  I still don't get any listings though. Does anyone have tvguide on screen working thru an antenna in the milwaukee area.  If so maybe I need to change my zip code to one other than slinger???  Any help is appreciated and I'm thankful I ran across this site. Thanks guys

[Jimboy]

I live in Slinger, WI. and just bought a new lg hdtv with tv guide on-screen feature. I installed a good uhf antenna this weekend and can't get on-screen to download any listings. I can however get listings downloaded thru charter cable, just not OTA.  I recently cancelled my charter cable to save some cash.  

Anyone know what channel the data stream gets sent thru OTA? It must have been sent thru one of the local channels I had with cable as it worked.  Is it sent thru an analog or digital station for tvguide on screen? The antenna picks up the digital channels very good and also some analog channels.  I still don't get any listings though. Does anyone have tvguide on screen working thru an antenna in the milwaukee area.  If so maybe I need to change my zip code to one other than slinger???  Any help is appreciated and I'm thankful I ran across this site. Thanks guys

I believe you will need channel 10 analog in order to pickup the TVGuide listings.
Sometime in the near future this stuff will go digital as well.

[h_gellings]

yup I do get analog 10 reception, but still do not get the listings.  Any idea how strong the reception has to be?  Could the listings be coming in thru a different channel?  Anyone have tv guide working thru antenna in the area? thanks

[Gregg Lengling]

yup I do get analog 10 reception, but still do not get the listings.  Any idea how strong the reception has to be?  Could the listings be coming in thru a different channel?  Anyone have tv guide working thru antenna in the area? thanks

Actually I think you were given bad information, yes the guide comes over analog channels..but here in Milwaukee the main feed is channel 18 analog.  Remember the receiver needs power and antenna to it all the time, and it takes at least 24 hours to download the entire guide.  Usually this only happens when the TV is off, not on as  you are tuned to a different channel.  

Make sure you have power to the unit, a good antenna (good reception on 18) and let go go overnight, by morning you should have at least part of the guide.

[h_gellings]

Thanks.  What seems odd then is that I do get good 18 reception.  I have a good uhf antenna (18 is broadcasted via uhf).  I think tv guide auto sets the host based on the zip you enter during setup.  I'm not 100% pos on that though, it may scan for the host.  So I wonder if maybe my lg hdtv is defaulting the host channel wrong and if I could trick it to use a different host.  I read on the web that some others have done that.

That's why I was hoping someone actually had tv guide on screen working thru an antenna for them in milw as then hopefully I'd know.  I appreciate all your guys prompt responses.  This site really has a good thing going for them...  Please keep the advice coming!!!  

[Jimboy]

Actually I think you were given bad information, yes the guide comes over analog channels..but here in Milwaukee the main feed is channel 18 analog.  Remember the receiver needs power and antenna to it all the time, and it takes at least 24 hours to download the entire guide.  Usually this only happens when the TV is off, not on as  you are tuned to a different channel.  

Make sure you have power to the unit, a good antenna (good reception on 18) and let go go overnight, by morning you should have at least part of the guide.

Bad Information? Huh? I know for a fact that Channel 18 doesn't supply TVGuide info.

The last time I spoke with TVGuide engineering four stations in town supply the listings via over-the-air analog. The stations are/were Channel 6, Channel 10, Channel 24, Channel 49. I recently packed up our TVGuide encoder for Channel 24 and sent it back since we are no longer a TVGuide provider. Our encoder was supplying the guide for legacy receivers. At this time I'm not sure who is left, but I was told that analog channel 10 supplies the signal for the newer systems.
I believe the set need to be off in order to get the listings and it may take up to 3 days to a full week to receive them.

[Gregg Lengling]

Bad Information? Huh? I know for a fact that Channel 18 doesn't supply TVGuide info.

The last time I spoke with TVGuide engineering four stations in town supply the listings via over-the-air analog. The stations are/were Channel 6, Channel 10, Channel 24, Channel 49. I recently packed up our TVGuide encoder for Channel 24 and sent it back since we are no longer a TVGuide provider. Our encoder was supplying the guide for legacy receivers. At this time I'm not sure who is left, but I was told that analog channel 10 supplies the signal for the newer systems.
I believe the set need to be off in order to get the listings and it may take up to 3 days to a full week to receive them.

Then I was given bad information from the Toshiba rep as he was the one who stated Channel 18 provided the signal.  I will check with my sources at channel 10 and see if they are providing the info OTA.

[h_gellings]

I believe that at least one channel must be still sending the data stream as I only had basic/local channels thru charter cable and got the data just fine.  I think it's a matter of figuring out what channel is sending it and being able to set my tv's host channel to it.  It would be good to find out if anyone has OTA working with the guide.  I can't imagine that no one in the milwaukee area has it working, ya know???  Hopefully someone will read this thread and reply with all the answers...that would be so awesome.  

[Jimboy]

Then I was given bad information from the Toshiba rep as he was the one who stated Channel 18 provided the signal.  I will check with my sources at channel 10 and see if they are providing the info OTA.

Just spoke with an engineer from TVGuide.
Channel 10 provides the guide for 2004 and up receivers.
Channel 6 provides the guide for legacy receivers.

If you do a channel scan (OTA) and delete analog channel 10 from the units channel lineup you may not receive the guide.

They are currently testing ATSC TVGuide encoders in various locations. I was told WPNE in Green Bay has one. He didn't mention Milwaukee.  
The newer ATSC receivers with TVGuide capability will default to a digital station if one is in the area.

It usually takes a looonnnggg time to refresh the guide. And the set needs to be off (but still powered - duh).

[Talos4]

I'll echo Jimboy's info.

I used channel 10 to set mine up.

It did take a couple of days for the entire guide to load up and function properly.

So give it a little time and you should be good!

BTW Welcome to the forum. :wave:

We're usually pretty nice around here,

except for Monday mornings lately:rolleyes:

[h_gellings]

talos4 what is the exact pbs station you are using?  Is it WMVS channel 10?  Where is your location?  How is your reception?  Mine is a bit snowy but viewable.  What did you enter as a zip code in your hdtv?  My lg hdtv was built around 1/06 so maybe it's trying to use a digital signal.  I noticed someone said you need to wait a very long time but what I get is a "no data for this screen" message on the listings page.  It's been a couple days now and I'm unsure what to try in order to keep troubleshooting this issue at this point.  Any suggestions.  Wow, the prompt and quantity of feedback on this site is great...

[h_gellings]

jimboy could your tvguide engineer comment on whether zip code entry is an indicating factor on how tv guide on screen determines its host channel?  Also, can the data possibly be getting cut off due to bad reception?  If that happens is it an all or nothing kind of thing or does it begin where it left off on next transmission?  Is there anyway to view a diagnostic page to see when transmissions occur, what host channel was set by tv guide on screen, etc.?  I appreciate your help...thanks all:)

[Jimboy]

jimboy could your tvguide engineer comment on whether zip code entry is an indicating factor on how tv guide on screen determines its host channel?  Also, can the data possibly be getting cut off due to bad reception?  If that happens is it an all or nothing kind of thing or does it begin where it left off on next transmission?  Is there anyway to view a diagnostic page to see when transmissions occur, what host channel was set by tv guide on screen, etc.?  I appreciate your help...thanks all:)

Zip Code should be your local code although you could try 53216 or any other Milwaukee Zip. Your set should "find" the channel that sends out the guide as long as it's in your active channel list. Snowy reception may impair the signal which resides in the vertical interval at the top of the screen.

Do you receive closed captioning from analog channel 10 without any hiccups?
If captioning is ok the guide should be good as well. Just remember the guide takes time and your set needs to be off when the next update is sent. Our set in the lunchroom will indicate when the next update is sent if there is no guide data. I would assume that many sets wouldn't tell you.

[h_gellings]

Thanks...CC works on channel 10, but not without any hiccups...some text is chopped off and some words don't make sense.  I'm guessing this may be the problem?  I did find a little hack to figure out if your tv has a host channel identified or not.  Mine was blank which I'm guessing means maybe the VI reception is bad???  Could someone else who has tv guide on screen working in the area try this hack to see if they have a host channel?

Hack:
You can use the tvgos Diag to determine if you have a HOST-CHANNEL or not. This is a basic check you can perform yourself:
- Highlight TVGUIDE -> SETUP -> Change System Settings. Do not "select" it...just highlight it.
- Enter 753 159 852
- Press left/right arrow to move within pages in a SECTION.
- Press up/down arow to move between SECTIONS.
- If HOST-CHANNEL is blank or 0xFFFF in SECTION SYSTEM - STATISTICS, HOST-CHANNEL pre-assigned to your ZIPCODE is either not found or the tvgos data-stream it carries has some problem.
- Press TVGUIDE to exit.

[Tom Snyder]

So even though my DirecTV program guides are coming from the Satellite, the guides for my local HD channels, which I get OTA, are coming from a local analog channel?