"SOME" Local Channels Included.

[BobHelms]

I'm all ready to order D* and I'm checking out the TV listings for my part of the world because PBS educational channels are very important at my house. Out of the 5 digital signals WUNC broadcast OTA D* has 1. I can get every football game broadcast on any given Sunday, but not the PBS Educational channel! Checking further I find that only 1 of multiple SD OTA local channels are carried by D*. I guess TWC does have some advantages. Makes D*'s claim that "Locals Included" true but not completely accurate.

So which of D*'s current receivers have provisions for OTA antenna's? Are external / outdoor antennas easy to intregrate into D* systems? In my case cable may be the best solution. TIA for any answers / help provided.

 

[jtwex]

Currently only the HR21-22 DVR versions offer the AM21 OTA receiver so you integrate OTA into your guide. With all the complaining coming from customers I'm sure they will add the software into the H21-22 so they too can integrate the OTA locals. The actual process for integrating the AM21 is easy as plugging it into your USB port of the H21-22. An antenna on your roof or attic is probably the best but others will post which ones they use in-house on top of the tv. It just depends how close you are to your transmission tower.

 

[agregjones]

Currently only the HR21-22 DVR versions offer the AM21 OTA receiver so you integrate OTA into your guide. With all the complaining coming from customers I'm sure they will add the software into the H21-22 so they too can integrate the OTA locals. The actual process for integrating the AM21 is easy as plugging it into your USB port of the H21-22. An antenna on your roof or attic is probably the best but others will post which ones they use in-house on top of the tv. It just depends how close you are to your transmission tower.

Don't gloss over the fact that the HR20 comes with OTA built-in. In Cary, you should be able to pick up WUNC with a cheap pair of rabbit ears.

 

[agregjones]

And to be fair, the way that PBS splits out the content across so many subchannels creates this problem. An agreement was reached with PBS nationally regarding coverage but we have very little information regarding how that will work out. It would make much more sense for DirecTV to carry the local main feed in each market and carry all the other subchannels nationally once.

 

[ghenderson]

PBS HD channels are coming. There were 3 launches of PBS HD last week Indiana and Missouri markets.

A lot of it has to do with your local PBS channel in how quick they are to provide the HD feed to Directv. This chews up bandwidth for the stations and lower budget stations, like most PBS, are slower to allocate the money to improving their bandwidth capacity. Some do not even have HD programming at all, I know our local does not.

But as long as your local PBS affiliate does have HD broadcasting it should be coming soon. I have not seen anything about PBS HD in NC markets, but it is possible I missed it because I have not looked for it.

 

[agregjones]

PBS HD channels are coming. There were 3 launches of PBS HD last week Indiana and Missouri markets.

A lot of it has to do with your local PBS channel in how quick they are to provide the HD feed to Directv. This chews up bandwidth for the stations and lower budget stations, like most PBS, are slower to allocate the money to improving their bandwidth capacity. Some do not even have HD programming at all, I know our local does not.

But as long as your local PBS affiliate does have HD broadcasting it should be coming soon. I have not seen anything about PBS HD in NC markets, but it is possible I missed it because I have not looked for it.

The problem is not whether the PBS channel is carried. The question is whether all the subchannels are carried. In NC, we have a primary and a number of subchannels. DirecTV is not carrying all of the subchannels and I don't expect them to in all markets. I hope the subchannels are carried once nationally and each primary PBS station is carried locally.