HD Locals with DirecTV

[LarryCAUSA]

Hi everyone,

Apologies if this went to the wrong forum.

I'm new to the forum, so sorry if this has been asked before. My dad has an HD Ready set that's four years old. We just got the DirecTV HD Receiver and got the 3-LMB satellite hooked up today.

So far, we can only get two HD stations:
CBS West - KCBS-DT
NBC West - KNBC-DT

I'm guessing a phonecall will straighten to the rest out. My question is: Are there not HD locals on DirecTV?

To get these network signals, are we just lucky to live in a large o-and-o market?

What about future plans? Do you need a waiver otherwise, say if we lived in San Diego, instead of the Los Angeles DMA? I'm not sure if we qualify for the East Coast stations or not. What's the deal there?

And don't stations like TNT or Sci-Fi have HD programming? Who carries these? It appears that neither DirecTV or Dish carry these. ???

Thanks for your info on this. Sorry if it's been asked a million times.

Larry

 

[dgordo]

Are you in LA?

 

[LarryCAUSA]

In Corona, in Riverside County, just on the border with Orange County in the L.A. DMA.

 

[blcklab666]

It's my understanding L.A. DMA also gets ABC, FOX, CBS and BC. That is what my neighbor gets and is indicated on D*'s website.

 

[Scrib]

Supposedly you have to file for waivers regardless of location. This changed according to the D* reps a couple of months ago. Even if you're in LA or NY.

I'm in Chicago, all stations are wholey owned and operated by the respective stations and I still had to file.

grrrrrrrr

 

[CWS_kahuna]

If Scrib is correct I guess you'll have to file for waivers.

However I live in Canyon Lake which borders Corona and I get channels CBS, NBC, ABC & FOX in HD. It sounds like you have not subscribed to the HD pack to receive some of the other HD channels Directv offers (ESPN, UHD, Discovery, HDnet Movies & HDnet) and you can also get HBO and Showtime in HD as premium channels. As for TNT-HD or Scifi-HD there is a TNT-HD channel, it is offered by some cable companies and Dish Network, Scifi-HD is not at this time a channel that exists but Directv has a channel called Universal-HD which offers some programming from Scifi.

 

[LarryCAUSA]

I'm trying to reply to this, but it keeps telling me I'm making hyperlinks when I'm not. How do I fix this? Help!

Larry

 

[Tonedeaf]

You only need Total Choice to qualify for the Local HD channels where available. HD pack is not necessary to get them. Don't even need the SD locals to get.

 

[fleetmack]

you can also pull in the local channels with an HD antenna as I do ... works just the same (except that I can't pull in ABC with it)

i was going to post a picture of my mount-job in my balcony but this forum doens't let you post links or pictures ... guess you have to be a senior member or something.

 

[LarryCAUSA]

This is my 2nd attempt to reply. It seems it gives me trouble when I mention names because of advertising hyperlinks, so I'm going to put asterisks wherever possible.

The technician guy came out Monday, but he made a disaster of things. Now the signal strength is so bad, not even basic channels are staying online, groan.

He was from D*I*R*E*C*T*V. So, when the picture is there, on the HD channels, we are only getting CBS West (KCBS-DT) and NBC West (KNBC-DT). Because he gets this, I'm assuming we'll get the others. Discovery HD is only coming in intermittently.

When the guy came out, he supposedly calibrated the boxes (receivers) to recognize a 3-LMB dish, but the signal strength went to hell.

So, now it's cutting out all over the place. Argh. He (my dad) bought a returned DirecTV HD Receiver from Best Buy and the 3-LMB satellite from D*I*R*E*C*T*V. He also bought the $10.99 package, so he should be receiving Universal HD and ESPN HD among others, right?

When the tech came out, "all satellites" were working. When my dad called DirecTV tech support, only one satellite was connecting. The others said failed. And the guy only adjusted two of the three receivers in the house to the 3-LMB dish. Basically it's a huge mess right now.

A tech's (from DirecTV) is coming back on Wednesday.

Larry

 

[volswagn]

Why do we have to file a waiver? I'm in NY and get the HD locals even though I didn't file anything...

 

[blcklab666]

I still have my round dish with my HD Tivo until installation comes next week. yet I get West Coast CBS and NBC HD. Does the round dish pick up these two feeds or am I just getting an SD version of them?

On my SD Tivo upstairs they don't even show in the guide.

 

[fleetmack]

Why do we have to file a waiver? I'm in NY and get the HD locals even though I didn't file anything...

i could be wrong here, but i think it's that if you don't live in one of the select markets (there's 11 or 13 of them that can accept the NY or LA feeds without waivers... NY is one of them) -- you have to get a waiver from your local station to get the NY or LA station. Meaning -- I live in Denver (NOT one of the selected markets), if I want to pull in the NY or LA station, I need to get the Denver station's approval to watch a channel other than theirs.

Is that accurate?

 

[LarryCAUSA]

Yeah, we get the locals and Western feeds of the HD feeds. Not sure if my dad qualifies for distant East Coast or not. I guess the point is moot anyway. I think it sucks anyway. I think the customer should have a choice as to what time zone is convenient for him/her. Canadians get time shifting networks and distants from both their country and the U.S.! I don't see why Americans shouldn't have the same choices. I wouldn't mind an extra fee or something.

I think the whole network affiliate model should be called into question anyway. I think it's about time there were dedicated channels for the networks with both time zones, with local news on their own channels. That way, so much bandwidth isn't wasted trying to bring locals to everyone, and no one would be subjected to various local stations pre-empting network programming on a whim.

Got the DirecTV tech coming out today to try to fix the satellite mess. I'll post on that when it's done.

Larry