OTA Locals - SubChannels Guide Display and updates

[primestar31]

In a case like that, and this is just a possibility, the TV station may have changed the TSID of the sub-channel(s). This is just part of the data carried in the PSIP stream - users, TVs, etc are generally oblivious to this. Your TV will still pick up the channel with no re-scan needed, a satellite receiver with OTA capabilities won't have any glitch either. The problem though is that Dish uses that TSID as the key piece of data for matching the guide data they buy from their guide data provider to the channels that our receivers pick up. For example,

Channel TSID
068-02 = 0x08F2 < everything matches, guide data shows up

If the station changes the TSID to 0x08F3, everything breaks.

In the past, someone at Dish simply updated the 'database' and the guide data would show up again. They no longer do that.

My local PBS has been broken since the official digital transition. Dish had the guide data set up properly at one point, but on the 'switch' day, the PBS station swapped two of the sub-channels. No one updated it and to this day, it's wrong. In the case of these two channels, it's not that they simply say "WPTD" or "Digital Service", they have the other's guide data !

Email the channels engineer, explain what's going on, and ask him to fix it. I've done this on 3 local channels, and they fixed them.

 

[Timr]

I think they put the guide data in when they added channel 48 to the locals in Chicago, which was a couple of months back (maybe the fall?)

You are correct. I notice that I now have WMEU 48-00 with the local Chicago stations. I didn't notice it originally as I pick up 48 OTA and have not re-scanned in a while.

Hall is right. I don't understand why they don't update so many channels. When WSBT became Fox, I emailed the engineer, echostar, dish and it took them 7 months just to change the EPG to the correct channel. Other channels have never been fixed. I feel bad for those who have been waiting for years to update the info.

 

[Hall]

Email the channels engineer, explain what's going on, and ask him to fix it. I've done this on 3 local channels, and they fixed them.

I did - just found the email, from 2009. The chief engineer and another engineer looked into it and worked on it. They even called their "secret" phone number to the appropriate Dish department (they obviously don't call 1-800-333-3474).

 

[primestar31]

I did - just found the email, from 2009. The chief engineer and another engineer looked into it and worked on it. They even called their "secret" phone number to the appropriate Dish department (they obviously don't call 1-800-333-3474).

The interesting thing about PSIP wrong-data issues like that, is tv set tuners don't care and will work fine, BUT, dvr's such as Tivo and the rest won't work properly!

 

[Hall]

Correct, tuners don't really need the TSID, at least that I'm aware of. It's only when the equipment is used by a 3rd party (Dish, DirecTV, TiVo, etc) and has to do a lookup for data that covers the entire country that it becomes an issue. They could use the PSIP data directly but there are valid reasons not to as well.

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