Official Fox6 New Location Technical Report Thread

[Joseph S]

I disagree with the CBS/ABC comparison. Yes CBS and ABC have been doing HD NFL for a couple years (MNF for only a year), but Fox imho is doing NFL HD right.

Not really comparing, just pointing out that CBS has done two Super Bowls in HD, ABC 1 SuperBowl before we have seen one HD game from Fox. Fox also promoted that we couldn't tell the difference for far too long when most viewers have no issue doing so. This has put them 1-3 years behind everyone else nationally and now based on their reports 1-4 years behind in many markets.

Don't forget, Thursday night's opener will be viewable in most markets on ABC HD. However, there's a 40% chance it won't be seen in Milwaukee due the need to cover the 0.000001% chance of a Hurricane in Milwaukee during this time period.

[foxeng]

I hate to say this, but most poeple on AVSFourm and some people on this board thinks that FOX has already had HD on the air and they haven't.

Seems FOX was right, most people CAN'T tell the difference.

[borghe]

fox IS right.. most people can't tell the difference, and that's the truth. I can't tell you how many people have seen my setup and said "OMG, the picture is so clear on HD!!" while watching SD widescreen material on PBS-HD, upconverted HBO with black bars, or heck, even just plain DirecTV in one case.. :rolleyes:

My wife can't tell the difference at all unless it is HD video, but on filmed transfers to this day she still doesn't really see the difference over DVD...

And that's the truth. However, word of mouth is still more important than perception, and as HD sets roll out there and satellite and cable get more HD boxes into customers hands, and the word would spread that such and such a network isn't in HD and all of the sudden ratings drop. Even if they can't see the difference (though football would be different) people would still feel slighted just because they knew.

But again, Fox's past transgressions are unrelated to the fact that THEY are the HD leader this fall. Not ABC, not CBS. CBS has had 2 superbowls in HD, ABC has had one superbowl, fox hasn't had anything... oh, except for the up to six games a week in HD this fall... CBS' and ABCs' total HD games every week (including ESPN) won't even equal Fox's count on some weeks...

so you can live in the past... me, I'm going to enjoy every packer game in HD NOW... well, except for probably that CBS game.

[StarvingForHDTV]

Sports really showcases the difference between SD and HD.  It's always extremely obvious to me when the cameras switch from HD to SD and back.  The difference is not subtle, it's like a ton of bricks, in my opinion.

Sitcoms are another story.  Some of the HD channels have poor film to HD conversion quality and end up looking very grainy.  In those cases Fox Widescreen can be very competitive in my opinion.  The Fox Widescreen sitcoms I have watched all look like they were shot in video.  The quality looks comparable to high end DVDs to me.

My conclusion of HD to 480p comparisons:

Sitcoms-Subtle, Sports-Dramatic.

[tazman]

I would just like to see WITI light a few more candles on their tower, so that those of us with marginal reception will get a solid signal come the first reg. season game.:rolleyes:

[DeBelak]

I dont know about fox. The only time I could pick up fox is when channel 12 went down. I live in the north east area of Jackson. I have a roof top antena on a tower. If it would work I would go out and by the biggest uhf antena i can find and stick it up there. it right now stands about 50' off ground now on top of a hill with no obstructions. any answers? ( or should i steel the one from mitchel international airport) Help

[dlhoppe]

DeBelak,

Are you using a signal amplifier on your antenna?  If so, remove it.  I'm just east of West Bend and I have a 35' tower. When I first installed the tower, I had a pre-amp on it. Turns out it was causing the stronger stations to wipe out the weaker ones. Once I removed the amp, I could get everything perfectly. As close as we are to Milwaukee, we don't need amps when we have antennas on towers.

On the other hand, if you have no amp and you're splitting the downlead too many times or you have some other type of wiring issue, you may be experiencing too much signal loss before it gets to your receiver. You could try a temporary run of coax from the antenna straight to your ATSC receiver bypassing any splitters and connectors to see if the problem is in the antenna setup or the wiring in the house.

You should have plenty of signal strength with your setup being on a hill with a 50' tower. That's assuming you have an appropriate antenna.  What type of antenna do you have?

[Joseph S]

Fox apparently is ending 480p after tonight. If WITI doesn't get the job done, your Packers will only be viewable in 4:3 upconvert. Maybe it's an incentive, maybe they just don't care.

[borghe]

I don't get what you're saying? WITI has their splicer online... why wouldn't we get HD?

[Joseph S]

Where did you read that?

[borghe]

in an email. The splicer went online yesterday. From now on, if it's HD from Fox, it's HD on WITIDT.

[tazman]

I dont know about fox. The only time I could pick up fox is when channel 12 went down. I live in the north east area of Jackson. I have a roof top antena on a tower. If it would work I would go out and by the biggest uhf antena i can find and stick it up there. it right now stands about 50' off ground now on top of a hill with no obstructions. any answers? ( or should i steel the one from mitchel international airport) Help

You must be near the limestone gravel pit on Pleasant valley.  I can't think of any hills in the town of Jackson on the north east side other than there.  I would be straight west, 3/4 mile east of the fair grounds in kind of a low area.  I get WITI now with only occasional breakups.  I would have to agree, if you have an amp..  Remove it.  That was part of my problem.  Also turn your antenna about 5 to 10 degrees east of directly pointing at the antenna farm.  That also helped me.  I would have to say with WITI still on micro power, we are walking a tight rope between WITI and WISN being 33 and 34 respectively.  It's been mentioned before that WISN overpowers WITI with cross channel bleed over.  That's why just about every one got WITI when WISN-DT went off the air for that one day.

[gobble]

I'm in Germantown.  Why would I get good signal strength on all the digital signals but nothing on 6-1?

[Mags]

I had been getting in 6.1 consistently, but tonite it is not coming in - hopefully they are doing testing tonite???

Anyone else notice problems tonite?

[Joseph S]

It's on now. Couldn't say about before that as I was watching the Superbowl champs win again.