Minneapolis/St.Paul Voomers

[vividere]

Sorry I wasn't clearer...

There are two points here... what programming I want and the technical part of the question. My main interest is movies. 95% of what I watch is movies. 3% is local NFL team and 2% is everything else. I do like having access to the typical "cable" channels I get in my Dish 60pack.

I would like a receiver that can get OTA digital signals for my HDTV and I am also hoping I will get a better signal than my current UHF/VHF signal. I would also like the package that gives me the most movies for the least cost. I can get "enough" movies with Dish at a lower cost than with Voom. On top of that the current "deal" at Voom is $349 to own the equipment which is supposed to be $150 off the regular price. I can't justify the $350 plus additional monthly fee to change services. I would have to get a better deal on programming or a better deal on hardware than that option.

Thanks!

 

[tvrobert]

No Worries

And no, with the latest Voom non-deal, you may be better off sticking with your current provider. Your preference for movies alone could justify that choice. For locals, (and to get great-looking Vikings football... may they never knot our stomachs again) you may want to look into getting a digital tuner to help improve the picture quality of your OTAs. Those are about 180$ to 600$. The good news is that's a one-time fee as they haven't figured out how to charge us for broadcast signals yet. If you have a UHF antenna, it will (according to what I've read since jumping into all this) work better outside, particularly if you amplify the signal. I don't know how well the larger VHF antennas fare with the higher-end RF signals. I hope this helps. Good luck and GO VIKES!

 

[garveyj]

Is anyone else having troubles with KARE 11 today?

 

[tvrobert]

Kare

Yea, it was out for me from Friday through early Saturday, the 23d. It's back now. I assumed it was their problem as all the other locals still worked. I've noticed several of the Cities stations will "burp" from time to time. I think they're all still getting used to the whole digital thing.

 

[tvrobert]

WB Broadcast Strength

Hey, did the WB affiliate sort of start kinda broadcasing at a higher power?? I live about 55 miles from the metro and it just started to kinda come in when the weather conditions are right and I stand on the roof wrapped in tinfoil. Also, are they mandated to broadcast at full power at some point? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

[MNHTUG]

With some help from local enthusiasts, I've assembled a chart to compare Minneapolis area HD providers. The chart has links to Zap2It guide info, local networks, national networks and HD providers.

Enjoy...

HD Provider Comparison:
Chart w/ Links (HTML)

Other versions of the spreadsheet:
Excel Spreadsheet (XLS)
Adobe Acrobat (PDF)

 

[gantras]

OTA Reception in Waconia?

Looks like this group has quieted down a bit...

I'm looking to get voom in Waconia, but the #1 concern is getting the local channels OTA with an antenna. If we can't get the local channels, my wife will shoot me. Any thoughts or experiences?

 

[skidog]

gantras, I live in Waconia also and I am waiting until the end of March to see if Voom will make it, if they do I am getting rid of Dish Network and getting Voom. On to your question, I have my 811 receiver hooked up to an antenna that was in my attic when I bought my house and I get all the local channels except the regular channel 2, but I do get PBS HD which is pretty cool. I went to Radio Shack and picked up some rg6 cable and when I hooked it up and ran it through the attic opening to my receiver and scanned for the the locals I picked up 18 stations, but I did'nt want to drill through the ceiling to run the cable so I tried the wall jack that was already hooked up to the antenna and I lost some of the 18 channels I got before, so I'm assuming that it's because it's old cable. Anyway thats my experience with getting OTA channels from Waconia, by the way I live on Wildhurst Rd which is where the big pond is at the corner of County Rd 32 and Hwy 284 so I'm kinda in a hole and I still got all those channels. hope this helps.

 

[Mr Tony]

Welcome Gantras!

I'm over in Shakopee and can get all the regular channels fine with a smaller outdoor antenna (my good antenna died so I'm using the smallest Radio Shack one for a while)

get 2,4,5,9,11,17,23,29,45 crystal clear
41 is iffy (because of distance and direction)
can get 13,14,25 really good (These are transloators for Univision, 3 Angels and TBN)
I can even get 12 out of Mankato

 

[gantras]

Thanks guys! You've taken some worry out of my mind...now if Voom will just pull through. I've been on Media Com non-digital cable, and just couldn't justify paying for Dish to have 5 HD channels that I would never watch. Voom would be ideal...

And I never imagined there were that many local channels around. I was only thinking about 4,5,9,11.

Which brings up another question...Tivo. Obviously non-HD recording - any ideas if there is a way to make it work to record local channels on the Tivo in non-HD?

 

[skidog]

I got Tivo a couple of weeks ago and it works great, however I only have it hooked up to my 301 receiver which is non HD, but I'm pretty sure I read a post of someone who has it hooked up to Voom and it records the OTA and HD channels, just not in HD. If I'm wrong hopefully someone will correct me. Gantras, I'd join on live but I don't have internet at my house, maybe later. I hate Media Com, they offer nothing and you pay big for it. When my ex girlfriend and her kids lived with me we had regular cable and I got the internet and I think it was 40 bucks or something like that just for the internet and it was slow of course this might had something to do with the kids downloading music and everything else they could find. At the end the computer would'nt even work, so I grabbed the recovery disk put it in and nothing so I take it out look at it and somehow mysteriously the disk got cracked in like three spots so I gave them the computer and said good luck. Now I just use my computer at work.

 

[gantras]

Thank you!

Ignore my previous post - a little looking, and I easily found the "make it work with Tivo" thread. I'm sure it's one of many.

 

[scottie_h]

I'm looking to get voom in Waconia, but the #1 concern is getting the local channels OTA with an antenna. If we can't get the local channels, my wife will shoot me. Any thoughts or experiences?

I'm on Cologne - 5 miles south of you. I have the standard OTA antenna that Voom installs, and have never had any problem with OTA reception - been Voom'ing since June. I'm watching KARE 11 right now, and signal strength is 96.

And I never imagined there were that many local channels around. I was only thinking about 4,5,9,11.

I get the following OTA channels - 2.1, 4.1, 5.1, 5.2, 9.1, 9.2, 11.1, 11.2, 17.1, 17.2, 17.3, 17.4, 17.5, 23.1, 29.1, 29.2, 41.1, 41.2, 41.3, 41.4, 45.1

Which brings up another question...Tivo. Obviously non-HD recording - any ideas if there is a way to make it work to record local channels on the Tivo in non-HD?

I have a Series 2 Tivo hooked up to an SD TV with both Voom and cable running through it. It works like a charm. I can surf through all of the channels, both Voom and cable, without having to know which source any channels come from. Obviously you can't record in true HD, but it sill allows you to record both HD and SD channels.

 

[skidog]

scottie_h, How is the satellite signal you're getting? It seems I've read alot about how picky the signal is for Voom. Like I said, if they are going to be around for a while I am going to switch, but first I want to see what happens.

 

[Mr Tony]

And I never imagined there were that many local channels around. I was only thinking about 4,5,9,11.

You should have no problems getting the normal ones
2-KTCA
4-WCCO
5-KSTP
9-KMSP
11-KARE
17-KTCI
23-KWBM
29-WFTC
45-KSTC
41-KPXM

The others I listed are low powered stations that have shopping and church stuff

 

[gantras]

I'm on Cologne - 5 miles south of you. I have the standard OTA antenna that Voom installs, and have never had any problem with OTA reception - been Voom'ing since June.

Another question - the "standard OTA antenna" - is that an indoor antenna, or an outdoor that they affix to the roof?

Thanks again, all! You've got me pumped - gonna have to order this week...

 

[scottie_h]

scottie_h, How is the satellite signal you're getting? It seems I've read alot about how picky the signal is for Voom. Like I said, if they are going to be around for a while I am going to switch, but first I want to see what happens.

I'm pulling in a 92 for SAT right now. I've never really had a problem - we had Voom installed about 2 days after we moved to Cologne in June. I've never had satellite before, but since we had no HD options for cable here, decided Voom was worth a try. We still have basic cable in order to get FSN to watch all the local teams, but will drop that if Voom adds them.

 

[scottie_h]

Another question - the "standard OTA antenna" - is that an indoor antenna, or an outdoor that they affix to the roof?

Thanks again, all! You've got me pumped - gonna have to order this week...

This is my roof - antenna attached to the dish:

 

[gantras]

Great picture - thanks!

It's a done deal. C'mon April 1st! I can't wait...

 

[gantras]

I'm Vooming!

Install went great - White Glove Comm.

Not only was he early, he brought the upgraded antenna knowing I was a ways out. Once he got here, I talked him in to trying the standard antenna before the upgraded one (didn't want that ugly monstrosity on my roof). The standard one works perfect!

A big thanks to Jose, my installer!

All is now right in the world...