CBS58 vs. DirectTV

[cigarsmkrwi]

Here is my two cents worth on this subject. The analog signal from CH58 on D*tv is of such low quality that it is hard to watch, I have issues with picking up CH58 HD broadcast from time to time because I'm using an outdoor antenna that has been on my house for 30 yrs. I only watch CH58 if the Packers happen to be on, which is twice this season. Otherwise I don't even know 58 is on the air. So in my opinion who cares if 58 is carried on D*tv or not.

That is my opinion, I could be wrong!

[BillC]

OK, folks, I am a newbie here.   I've been wondering why 58 was not in HD on DirecTV for years and I finally found this site where you guys are having a good discussion about it.

MY experience is this:  Got my 55" Sony HDTV last year at this time, was amazed by the picture quality of sporting events, especially NFL games, so I invited people over for a Super Bowl party.  Yeah, you guessed it:  I didn't do my homework and didn't realize the SB was on CBS.  Discovered about 4 hours prior to the game that I would NOT be getting the big game in Hi Def.  Mad? :mad:   Oh yeah.

I was so mad I deducted $25 from my next DirecTV bill for not giving me the game in HD, and when they treatened to cancel my account, I said GO AHEAD, and they caved in and gave me $30 off of my bill.   I didnt know who's fault it was at the time, I was mad at both 58 and DTV.   Then my new 55" went out for 1 week of March Madness, so the fact that that was on CBS and not in HD again didn't make me quite as mad.

ANyway, I'm glad I'm still with DTV given all the complaints on this board with TWC.

So it looks like we're stuck with SD for channel 58 on DTV for the forseeable future.  By the sounds of the posts, it could be another year or more.

I did try to connect a small indoor UHF antenna to pick up 58 in HD, but it gave a terrible picture so I took it back.

If anyone can give me the exact make and model of an antenna which they could recommend to pick up 58 in HD, I would really appreciate it.  Based on the knowledge on this board, I'd much rather go with what one of you recommends rather than research this myself and buy (and return) several more antennas.
I live in Menomonee Falls.

Yeah.. the majority of new local HD will be coming from the new bird, but even now it's more than just making room for 58.

And as far as equality on the deals, 4, 6 and 12 don't each own a bunch of other lower power stations that they're trying to get D* to carry as a condition of the package. As I recall, that was one of the sticking points with 58 and TWC.  

I have no "insider" information, but I'd bet that 41,49 and 63 have something to do with it.  Until D* has spot beam capabilities to carry every digital channel in this market, I don't see Jim caving on 58 short term and hoping that they'll carry 41,49 and 63 when they have enough bandwidth. I think he's going all or nothing.

[Tom Snyder]

Hey Bill!

Welcome!  My trusty Radio Shack Double Bow tie does the trick for me up in Jackson.. but you'll have a hard time finding those. I picked up a Silver Sensor at the Target in the Falls and it does a decent job as well... you're a good ten miles closer than I am, so it should do just fine.

[jjallou]

I did try to connect a small indoor UHF antenna to pick up 58 in HD, but it gave a terrible picture so I took it back.

If anyone can give me the exact make and model of an antenna which they could recommend to pick up 58 in HD, I would really appreciate it.  Based on the knowledge on this board, I'd much rather go with what one of you recommends rather than research this myself and buy (and return) several more antennas.
I live in Menomonee Falls.

Welcome to the board!

When you say terrible picture do you mean snowy/ghosty or crystal clear with blocking & breakups? Most sets have an analog & digital tuner in them. Just wondering if you were receiving the right channel 58 (digital channel 46).

I would recommend a Channelmaster 4228 antenna. You can mount this on the roof or in an attic. Marmax (on 60th & Rawson in Franklin) has these as well as Warren Electronics http://www.warrenelectronics.com/

[Dan the Man]

I have a small bow tie antenna I bought at Radio Shack in the falls for $10 and this is connected to my D* HR20 receiver. The antenna has a 3 foot lead and is laying on it's side on the TV stand and guess what??? I get 58-HD pretty good OTA. I get a few break-ups and blocking occasionally but it is really quite remarkable how ell this little thing works. The antenna is only about 12" long.

I will probably buy a better one if this CBS58/D* thing doesn't change in the next few months.

The D* installer actually had put the RF remote antenna (a small stick about 3" long) on the OTA connection and that worked too (that dude was an idiot). I didn't beleive it!!!

I live in Germantown, so I would think any modest indoor antenna would work for you just fine for 58-HD OTA.

[BillC]

THanks to all for your advice.
I dont remember the brand of the antenna I bought, but it was from Target.

By 'bad picture' I mean snowy ghosty, wobbly.  YOu think I was picking up the analog broadcast?   How do I pick up the digital broadcast with an over the air antenna?  I have to admit, this is the first time I am trying to pick up HD over the air.

Welcome to the board!

When you say terrible picture do you mean snowy/ghosty or crystal clear with blocking & breakups? Most sets have an analog & digital tuner in them. Just wondering if you were receiving the right channel 58 (digital channel 46).

I would recommend a Channelmaster 4228 antenna. You can mount this on the roof or in an attic. Marmax (on 60th & Rawson in Franklin) has these as well as Warren Electronics http://www.warrenelectronics.com/

[Tom Snyder]

If it's anything other than crystal clear, it's NOT the HD channel.

[Blitzburgh]

Yup. There are really 3 conditions to HD.

1) Crystal Clear (good signal)

2) No picture (no signal)

3) Pixalation (borderline signal - boucing between good & no signal)

[jjallou]

THanks to all for your advice.
I dont remember the brand of the antenna I bought, but it was from Target.

By 'bad picture' I mean snowy ghosty, wobbly.  YOu think I was picking up the analog broadcast?   How do I pick up the digital broadcast with an over the air antenna?  I have to admit, this is the first time I am trying to pick up HD over the air.

More than likely you were seeing the analog channel 58.

A few things to consider.

1).  Some sets can scan for analog channels only or digital channels only or both at the same time. Perhaps yours was set to analog only.

2). Digital tuner set for QAM (digital cable) instead of Antenna/OTA.

3). Reception issue causing the set to not pickup channel 46 (58-1) during the channel scan. What brand of antenna did you get from Target? An indoor "should" work where you live but if it doesn't you may need an outdoor antenna with more gain. You could mount it in your attic or on the roof.

[madsdad]

Wow nice knowing a newbie can start an interesting thread.  So the man at CBS 58 is Mr. Hall.  My wife nearly killed me when she found out we didn't get yesterdays Packer game in HD.  I rigged a temp antenna up.   I tried changing modes from 4:3 to 16:9 and still never could see the full scoreboard at the top of the screen with DirecTV's standard feed.  It was a shame that I had to watch the Vikings game on Fox after the Packers after moving the antenna cable.  As most people pointed out CBS58 is nothing more then a lower tier station and they will not win people over ever, except for a few specific time slots.  In fact I wonder how many households they are losing from people like me who will refuse to watch their station at all since I can always watch something in HD on a different channel.  How many DirecTV subscribers are we talking about?    Perhaps the Sunday ticket is in my future.  Too bad DirecTV subscribers are a minority otherwise this would make the front page like Big Ten Network and NFL Network for Time Warner subscribers.

[Tom Snyder]

Hey Madsdad:

Where do you live that your antenna didn't pick up 58 HD?

I understand your frustration with not being able get their HD feed over D*.  The fact that it's taken so long for us to get HD Locals any other way than over the air is one of the reason why this site has been here...us old-timers have spent several years getting our local HD via our antennas (and helping newer forum members figure out how to do it) because neither TWC nor the satellite services carried them .

[nwerner]

I have been wondering, is there any benefit for me to pick up HD locals OTA vs. on D*.  I bought an antenna but I really can't tell the difference between OTA & D*.  The only reason I will really use the antenna is for CBS and if the audio dropouts on Ch. 4 are really bad.  

Maybe once the first major storm of the spring hits and I lose the signal, I will be glad that I have the antenna?

[Tom Snyder]

once the first major storm of the spring hits and I lose the signal, I will be glad that I have the antenna?

I know *I* am!

I got home from work tonight and had a bunch of snow on my dish, and Channel 4 was frozen. I switched to my OTA 4-1, and waited till after dinner to go knock the snow off the dish.

[nwerner]

I got home from work tonight and had a bunch of snow on my dish, and Channel 4 was frozen. I switched to my OTA 4-1, and waited till after dinner to go knock the snow off the dish.

Yup, I had to deal with this tonight as well.  I wasn't enjoying trying to explain to the fiancee why D* is better than TWC because all she could focus on was that we didn't have this issue when we were TWC.  However, a simple run-down of the laundry list or reason seemed to calm her nerves.  Then I knocked the snow off the dish and all is well with the world.  Other than the snow issue, I am still trying to determine if I should be watching locals OTA vs. through D*.  What do you D* users do?

[Tom Snyder]

Because I'm in the woods way out in the boonies, occasionally, multipath gives me some signal burps... so I use the D* version on the ones I can (4,6 and 12), and OTA only for the ones I can't (58 and 36)... the only exception is 4-1, which I'm watching OTA till TMJ gets there voice synchronization issues fixed...

I guess it's nice having a choice... and as far as general picture quality, *I* don't notice any difference.