dan: lol, that'd be the let down of 2008. Expecting digital HD, and getting digital SD. This is Global we're talking about here, we must prepare for the worst.

Call me a skeptic, but I'm antisipating Channel M to "go live" DTV before Global BC does.

solarwind: If Global boots up CHAN-DT, I might have to lift my boycot of watching nothing on Global but Heroes.

Well I have been in this waiting game for a short time and I have to say I have waited for each expected date for the stations to come on line and is so far from the fact/ date stated. Had not the internet come at the time it did I think OTA would be a stronger force than is it now but internet to me = most having cable and the net from the provider, clear pictures and it is just there... why look for more!... baa baaa goes the lambs.... how ever it is so sad to me anyways here we have the greatest quality ever done and sent out over the open air and it is just being over looked by the average person and by those really in charge its neglected, to me we are whatching our right to choose being erroded away.
This is not a rant just my views I have talked directly many people at the TV stations and each person has been not only polite but helpful too and not just here but in the sea tac area too. It is not the people at that level but I think it is us the real people in charge who have negletted this by our silence.
To me this OTA DTV is the best thing that has happened after the net.
With all that said I look forward to turning the antenna this way and that and whatching the signal bars tell me I am doing :D

My thing is this I think the next station will be......

CKVU DTV

to me there has been enough buying and selling and money is now way off the scale now with the strong buck so my guess is CKVU the little train that could?and may just will!

I have emailed the 4 major networks today asking about translator towers. I also just emailed CKVU asking them what thier plans are. I would love to see CKVU go live dtv as it would mean more football! It's crazy that a month ago I had no idea what DTV OTA was and now I am so interested in it. Love the conversation guys been doing nothing but learning and its great!

This place is a great place to get honest info on what to do and how do it or find it:)

Hi VBC1, I think you may be comparing the digital channel assignments with the analog ones. (CTV 33 DT. / 32 analog.) (KWPX 32 DT. / 33 analog) There does't appear to be any cross border sharing of digital assignments in this area. This is a good referance: , http://members.shaw.ca/nwbroadcasters/digitaltv.htm. I don't know if theres any direct conflict between the two broadcast standards?

any direct conflict between the two broadcast standards?Yes there is - analogue and digital signals cannot coexist on the same channel, so there's no modulation distinction between them when power levels and channel slots are assigned - they use other criteria. :)

That link you included goes to Gord Landsdell's great site, mentioned several times in this thread. He's a broadcasting and tech veteran from the Vancouver area.

I personally don't have any high hopes concerning those upcoming channels around Bellingham (repeaters) for two reasons
1-my guess is that it will probably be some small or religious stations trying to find extended tv market trying to survive
2-the chances are, where I live, I won't be able to receive signals anyways (but it may benefit those living in southern GVRD)

About BCTV (Global), I am a little concerned how they will handle HD signals, I have a feeling that once they go on air, we will see many errors on air (hope I'm wrong). Even now on analogue cable BCTV news sometimes I notice squeezed picture (they improperly handled video report that was shot in 16:9 by squeezing picture instead of cropping sides), and also last time I spoke to them asking about start of HD broadcasting, they asked me "what do I mean by 'HD' "

I also don't have any high hopes for CKVU going digital, I think Rogers may first approve channel-M's postponed plans to go HD, as channel M was from it's opening HD-ready (built with HD in mind) while (I guess) CKVU is an old station that may require much investment in order to go HD. The actual programming content may however play roll in Rogers decisions about this, and in that case, CKVU may be given priority (investment).

Don't forget guys, that Channel M has postponed it's HD launch, only because CRTC's review of OTA - it seems to me that they, like any other tv businnes here, look out primarily for cable benefits relating to the OTA digital broadcasting.

I do hold out a bit of hope that CHAN wont totally screw the pooch on this one, call me crazy. Does anyone know if Channel M has a planned time to go HD OTA? VBC1, you talk of them postponing it already? When the original date planned? This is an email wrote from CityTV:Hello Mark

Thank you for emailing us with your inquiry. We will be required by the CRTC mandate to be broadcasting in digital format by August 31, 2011. Since this date is a "deadline", we may be doing so before this time. Please note however this date is almost four years away which is a considerable length of time, and the CRTC could change the current plan in that period.

Regards

Denny
Operations Department
Citytv, VancouverThis doesn't give me a ton of hope to see City going DTV OTA anytime soon, but who knows what will happen. I have also emailed most of the SeaTac stations and got emails back from KIRO KOMO and KCPQ. KIRO and KOMO have no plans for DTV translators. KCPQ doesn't either but did mention a new channel 13 dtv antenna on the tower in bremerton going up summer 2009 and said this could help me with reception. Any more emails I get back i'll post up here.

Channel M had a planned start of HD broadcasting set for 1st May 2007.
This however got postponed by the announced CRTC's review of OTA in Canada, originally expected to be released around November 2007.
I think that channel M did this in hopes of avoiding to invest into new transmitter equipment and other things, in case the CRTC saids that you get automatic cable 'must carry' and simsubing rights without the need for actual local digital broadcasting (with cable broadcasting alone), changing the current policy.
As far as I know, they are not planning on any dates until the decision of CRTC is out.
Have in mind that Channel M is the only tv station here that was initially built HD-ready, and with HD conversion in mind. All other ones (I guess) would require more significant upgrades/investments in order to go HD.

Meantime, I was curious about those mentioned repeaters around Bellingham, so I went to check a few things. I did not go to try to contact the 4 big networks in Seattle since I thought that they are probably more OK with their current market, and posting few OTA repeaters around here, in reality, would not significantly increase their markets, and also the big parent-companies may not be ok with them trying to reach 'outside'. Then I went to contact a smaller player - CW11, but I noticed they are too owned by CBS, so I thought that it would be the same story. I just called them and spoke to a person in charge of engineering. He sounded to me like rather interested on reaching to Canadian viewers (I was wrong about my previous note), especially since their digital signal is not available anywhere in Canada (just analogue on Shaw). I asked if they were among the possible repeaters along the border, and he told me that they have an analogue repeater in Port Townsend that may be received in some parts of BC, but are in fact faced with a few issues about it. The fact is, as he told me, that FCC would not allow them to put up ANY digital repeaters - not even one to replace the existing analogue one in Port Townsend. He said that FCC is keeping everyone on hold about digital repeaters, not allowing any for now, and the earliest they would know of any strategy about digital repeaters would be around 2009.
I guess this in a way explains why we never hear about any digital repeaters belonging to any of the Seatac stations (I know most of them have several of the analogue ones) or even perhaps about very strong power levels of main transmitters there, maybe to compensate?

VBC1, where did you get the 0.9kW info? The CRTC has CIVT using 319W, and if your number's accurate it's a bit fishy to use 1/3rd of your allotment..

I was too using the power levels posted on NorthwestBroadcasters web site. I am not sure how it works, I think 319W is how much actual power CTV puts into transmitter, which translates into a somewhat bigger radiated power level depending on the transmitting tower and some other things (I really have no clue so maybe someone more knowledgeable can correct me and clarify).

Guys, you're covering a lot of familiar territory in your recent posts, so it bums me out to see you spinning your wheels about certain items. :)

I'd say take the time to read through this thread from the beginning to understand which companies in our area bring up repeaters/translators (you can get their actual names too, and we've known for a long time that the SeaTac stations weren't going to be doing it).

Also the measurement number of station power levels is the ERP (the numbers quoted are the "Effective Radiated Power" levels calculated to be found at the tip of the antenna emitter). If you look at just the ERP without considering the HAAT (Height Above Average Terrain) and other important factors you are missing a critical component of the station's expected countour. Industry Canada and the FCC put a lot of mathematical forumulae to work to estimate a station's contour prior to approval. The FCC database actually posts maps of contours, but I've never found such maps from the IC database... (yet?)

Just so that we all get on the same page...

I haven't been able to get 5.1 the last two days. HNIC on CBC wasnt in 5.1 and now the Raptors game isnt either. I am trying to figure out if this is a problem with CBC or if it a problem with my surround system. Anyone else getting the games in 5.1?

EDIT: It is a CBC problem because I am no getting the football game on CTV in full surround!! I hope CBC gets it together in time for the grey cup.

Here is an email I received back from CHEK 6:It will be some time yet before we go digital. We are improving things, with new digital cameras in our studio. The transmitter is a bigger expense that will have to wait a little longer. A digital news room system is in the works for 2008. This will give you digital stories on the air. But the transmission will still be analog for a while yet.

We are glad to hear that we have loyal viewers out there and hope you will still be there as we bring more improvements in the future! Digital transmission is a big step and only stations in the major centers are in a financial position to broadcast it at this time. The larger the audience the bigger the revenue from commercials.

Thanks for watching!Thought maybe some of you may be interested.

Stampeder, I think we may be "spinning our wheels" a bit but at least there is active conversation. Things change, be it slowly, and I don't think there is much harm in some repetition. I enjoy the conversation and will continue to email and "pest" these channels so I can get a good idea what their plans are!

The 5.1 surround is fine for me here in New West.

Well now there is a great improvement for me in reception another construction crane has now appeared and now I have two scources for the bounce all is well in the OTA DTV Bounce reception in NEW WEST.
:cool:

Ok, so I'm not sure what the issue was with the surround sound. danbcman, was the raptors game broadcast in 5.1 for you on CBC? I have parts of the Grey Cup pregame in surround but then others aren't. I think this is normal. I think I will have to wait until the game starts to find out if it is working properly or not.

I think some of the feeds cbc are using to make up the entire program are in mixed audio formats still lacking in getting it all the same I suspect.:p

Now am not getting 5.1 on CTV

ARGGGGH

I hope it's not my surround, I just don't know how to tell or note. I have feeling it is the channel but who knows.

I'm not getting any signal from CTV HD 33.1 at all. I'll go up and repeak the antenna tomorrow because CBC HD 58.1 is weaker too (still solid) - maybe the mast came a bit loose in its brackets when we had that huge wind storm a couple of weeks ago.