Milwaukee HDTV User Group

I have noticed that a new TV transmitting antenna is being hung on the west
bridge of the super tower in Milwaukee.  Anybody know who it belongs to?

Could be my imagination, but WMLW 46-2 and 46-3 look much better lately.  Does anybody know if they have new encoders or other technical changes?

Anybody else notice that WVTV has increased the I frame interval from 15 frames to 45 frames?  2/3 less I frames results in about a 1 mb reduction of the stream data rate, but it makes finding an I frame to edit on ( cut out the non program material ) a lot more difficult.  Whats the technical point of 1-1/2 seconds between I frames?

I see a jin pole up on the side of the WISN TV tower near the top.  Anybody know what kind of work is going on over there?  Perhaps removing the old analog antenna or re-locating the UHF antenna?  Just curious.

The "old" Ch 24 tower on Capitol drive is gone!   Anybody know where it went?  It was de-constructed over the past couple of days.  Also, since the "old" ch 10 / 18 dual top tower is also no longer used for TV, will it also be de-constructed?  Maybe some FM'rs still using that tower.  Mayor Norquest is smiling.

I record Smallville ( a quilty pleasure ) from both CW in Milwaukee or Madison depending on which way the antenna is pointed.  Recordings made from Ch 18 Milwaukee have only 2 active audio channels in a 6 channel 2/3/.1 stream while Madison has all 6 channels ( true digital surround ).  Is WVTV down mixing the audio?  Audio from CH 18 sounds OK through the pro-logic decoder.  Anyone else notice this?

I heard a rumor that wtmj will be moving their DTV UHF antenna to the top of the tower ( 1000 seet ) soon.  ( Maybe even this week ) ( Currently side mounted at 900 feet ) Anyone have any more info?

I can't seem to get closed captioning to work on Ch6 DT during any FOX network programs.  It works fine on all local shows ( like news and Seinfeld ), but a 7pm when they switch to network, the captioning does not display.  I have 3 digital receivers from 3 different manufactuers and they all refuse to display FOX network captions.  Oddly enough, a Radio Shack converter box on a TV in the bedroom works OK.  What's going on here?  This is not a signal / reception issue because the captions work on local shows.  I've gone through all the set-ups to insure I'm on CC1 and / or CS-1.   I'd appreciate if some of you fellow forum members could check your captioning on CH6 DT during primetime and report back if you have service.  Thanks  Tod

Link to list of analog TV stations dark or going dark Feb 2009

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-09-221A5.pdf

Does anyone in this group use a PC card made by MIT (Macro Image Technology)for HD reception?  Models MDP100, 110, 120, or 130?  Since WTMJ-DT has switched to Statistcal Multiplex stream configeration, my PC tuner card will not receive the main program without blocking, lock-up or pixelation.  ( The sub channel is OK, but I'm not that interested in the weather ).  I'm working with the manufacturer on the problem, but as statistical multiplex is a new tecnique to OTA and only in use by a few stations, they aren't particularly concerned yet.  I am also asking if anyone else has obsevered pixelation / blocking that can't be explained by loss of signal, low RF, or multipath?   Perhaps other receivers are not compatible with statistical multiplexing.   Thanks:    Tod

What has happened to DD 5.1 on WB61?  It was great for two weeks, and now it's missing?  Tonight (Wednesday 12/08) audio on Smallville was horible, not to mention no video for the first 1 min. 30 secs.   WB61 is now transmitting DD 2/0 at a 384Kbs rate, a real waste of audio bandwidth.    I suspect operator error.  But I can't understand how this stuff goes un-noticed by the supervising engineers for such long periods of time.

I am having an awful time getting a constant signal level from this station.  I have a 15 foot over the roof mounted 4 bay bow tie antenna pointed directly at the tower which is just 1 mile due south of me. No trees in the way!  And yet on my receiver the level meter fluxuates between 10 and 100 ( and anywhere in between ) at random intervals.  If it drops below 10 the picture freezes.  I don't have any signal level issues with any other DT channels.  Anyone else have this level bouncing trouble?  How much ERP are they running?   I get channel 25, 35 and 40 off the same tower perfectly.  Even Ch. 33 comes in 100 percent.  Sure Ch.61 is a higher frequency, but I'm only 1 mile away.

Does anyone know who to contact at Milwaukee Public TV in regards to technical issues?  I enjoy many of the programs they air, but I'm annoyed by the high level of macro-blocking in any video with quick movement.  Watching "The Real Olympics" was an awful HDTV experience.  They are only using a 17 mbps data stream for the HDTV programs.  That leaves about 2.4 mpbs for other data ( possibly commercial use).  In any case, I'd like to register my complaint where it could do some good.   I'd rather watch good 720p than 1080i transport streamed at low data rates.  When the ATSC system was created, everyone agreed that the entire bandwidth would be necessary for acceptable 1080i.  I noticed WTMJ DT was down to 15 mbps for a while, but have since returned to full stream.

For those interested.


HDTV coverage will begin at 9PM ET, 9PM PT on Friday, August 13 with the Opening Ceremony.  This coverage is airing the same night as the Opening Ceremony on NBC.  HDTV coverage will be a special HDTV feed, and is therefore different than the NBC Network standard definition feed.  HDTV will also have different NBC announcers.  Prior to the Opening Ceremony, a Salt Lake HDTV highlights show will be fed at 8PM ET and 8PM PT.  The four-hour Opening Ceremony will be repeated all day Saturday, August 14, ending at 4AM ET and 1AM PT on August 15.  (Specific feed patterns for each time zone will be sent at a later date).

 
Competition coverage on HDTV will begin at 4AM ET, 1AM PT on Sunday, August 15.  As in 2002, the events will be the "major" sports in the Olympics - track & field, swimming, gymnastics, diving and basketball medal round.  Competition will be aired in "complete" form, i.e. complete sessions wherever possible.  The original show each day will last six or eight hours depending on the events that day, and will be repeated until 4AM ET the following day.  As with the Opening Ceremony, HDTV coverage will be a separate production, with separate NBC announcers.


HDTV Olympic coverage will end at 12N ET, 9AM PT on Monday, August 30 with the final airing of the Closing Ceremony.  The first airing of the Closing Ceremony will be 4AM ET, 1AM PT August 30.

Tod

Can anyone in the group explain the peculiarities in the WMVT-DT ch35  transport stream?  This is an issue for me because I'm trying to record the stream and then convert it to WM9 HD for archiving to DVD.  The PID's are 31hex video and 34hex audio, not 11 and 14 as would be expected.  The program PID decodes to program 3, not 1 and the stream is only 17 mbps, not 19.2 mbps.  It would appear that program 1 and 2 are not active, but are being allocated about 2 mbps data.  But no data is present.  All this is an issue because it really confuses the transport stream to MPEG decoder in my HD video recorder.  All other Milwaukee HD stearms ( even ch46 multi ) are formatted more traditionally.  There is no "law" that says it has to be done in a certain way, but convention has it's advantages.  BTW, if you haven't checked out WM9 HD, you might want to.  This codec produces HD video at 6 to 10 mbps, thus allowing about 2 hours of HD to fit on a single DVD.  Free software and demo's at //www.wm9hd.com