The Repackage

[harshness]

My new KLCS/KCET CSA has two HD channels (720p), and 4 SD ones.

My PBS has two 1080i, a 480i and a four channel audio channel with slides. The stills look fabulous, but the high delta stuff is absolutely nauseating.

I think TV stations' multiplexers are better at doing multicasting now ....

I've found this to be true as well but some of it comes down to bloodying the SD content to preserve some resemblance to HD on the HD channels. I think a lot of it comes down to passing the signal through image processing software to make the content more amenable to compression and multiplexing.

 

[mario315]

Interestingly enough ...

I've found the AM21 to be quite flexible in remapping virtual channels to different physical RF channels should they move by simply rerunning the OTA setup.

Or better reset all the OTA channels first, and then rerunning.

Have you tried that?

And yes I personally think the entire OTA database will eventually be updated.
.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk

Yes, it worked ! I re-ran the OTA setup on my DTV AM-21 and now I have the 3 OTA re-packed stations again (after losing them last Friday when they changed their RF frequencies).... What a fantastic surprise to see the AM-21 being able to find the new re-pack frequencies for these 3 stations and re-map them correctly in the program guide !

So, big thanks HoTat, I would never have discovered this without your help..... Now we know the AM-21's can continue to live in the post-repack world !

Unfortunately for most subscribers with AM-21's, however, they will never know about this since DTV will probably not provide any guidance when they lose (on the AM-21) many of their OTA stations in the repack...

 

[harshness]

Yes, it worked ! I re-ran the OTA setup on my DTV AM-21 and now I have the 3 OTA re-packed stations again (after losing them last Friday when they changed their RF frequencies)....

Good for you!

Unfortunately for most subscribers with AM-21's, however, they will never know about this since DTV will probably not provide any guidance when they lose (on the AM-21) many of their OTA stations in the repack...

It is probably fair to say that DIRECTV never truly supported the AM-21, much less AT&T.

 

[HoTat2]

Yes, it worked ! I re-ran the OTA setup on my DTV AM-21 and now I have the 3 OTA re-packed stations again (after losing them last Friday when they changed their RF frequencies).... What a fantastic surprise to see the AM-21 being able to find the new re-pack frequencies for these 3 stations and re-map them correctly in the program guide !

So, big thanks HoTat, I would never have discovered this without your help..... Now we know the AM-21's can continue to live in the post-repack world !

Unfortunately for most subscribers with AM-21's, however, they will never know about this since DTV will probably not provide any guidance when they lose (on the AM-21) many of their OTA stations in the repack...

Glad to hear it ....

As I said, admittedly I've been a big critic of the AM21 in the past to the point of finally giving up on it all together out of exasperation for a TiVo OTA.

But in this area of ability to adjust to the changing physical channels of the repack, its design manages that very well for whatever reason.

Sent from my LG-H932 using Tapatalk

 

[neil_kc1]

Thanks for all the discussion. I just noticed that several of the low power channels in Kansas City will, if I am reading it right, not increase the power but increase their height on the antennas. (some as much as 100 feet) I am hoping that increases my chances of getting a usable signal. Any thoughts.

 

[comfortably_numb]

Thanks for all the discussion. I just noticed that several of the low power channels in Kansas City will, if I am reading it right, not increase the power but increase their height on the antennas. (some as much as 100 feet) I am hoping that increases my chances of getting a usable signal. Any thoughts.

Which channels in particular?

 

[neil_kc1]

If i am reading Rabbit Ears correctly it looks like KAJF-LD is going from 357' to 652'. KCKS from 319' to 938' and KCMN from 324' to 652'.
Of course I could be reading it wrong.

 

[neil_kc1]

This is what Rabbit ears shows for KCMN. I am assuming the first is their current status. and the 2nd is the application for the change. It estimates increased coverage.

LPD-LIC:

Granted Channel 38 TOPEKA, KS
0000008454 (25076f91538b297b0153a3b1094f23a4) - App
0000010839 (25076ff3544e94a00154bf73da4f15ca) - App
324' 15 kW ND (H)
(1 kW + 11.76 dB gain = 15 kW ERP)
33 mile contour / 3427.7 sq. mi. area / Est. Pop. 1,872,983
328' AGL; 1218' AMSL; (1003006)
Unknown or 0° Elec Beam Tilt; Full Service Filter
Dielectric TUA-O4
NAD83: N 39° 0' 56.5", W 94° 30' 25" (39.015694, -94.506944)
LPD-APP:

Pending Channel 28 TOPEKA, KS
0000051647 (25076ff363828d7901639822a6953084) - App
652' 15 kW ND (H)
38.5 mile contour / 4645.8 sq. mi. area / Est. Pop. 1,952,822
656' AGL; 1546' AMSL; (1003006)
0.75° Elec Beam Tilt; Full Service Filter
Dielectric TUA-O4
NAD83: N 39° 0' 56.5", W 94° 30' 25" (39.015694, -94.506944)

 

[comfortably_numb]

This is what Rabbit ears shows for KCMN. I am assuming the first is their current status. and the 2nd is the application for the change. It estimates increased coverage.

LPD-LIC:

Granted Channel 38 TOPEKA, KS
0000008454 (25076f91538b297b0153a3b1094f23a4) - App
0000010839 (25076ff3544e94a00154bf73da4f15ca) - App
324' 15 kW ND (H)
(1 kW + 11.76 dB gain = 15 kW ERP)
33 mile contour / 3427.7 sq. mi. area / Est. Pop. 1,872,983
328' AGL; 1218' AMSL; (1003006)
Unknown or 0° Elec Beam Tilt; Full Service Filter
Dielectric TUA-O4
NAD83: N 39° 0' 56.5", W 94° 30' 25" (39.015694, -94.506944)
LPD-APP:

Pending Channel 28 TOPEKA, KS
0000051647 (25076ff363828d7901639822a6953084) - App
652' 15 kW ND (H)
38.5 mile contour / 4645.8 sq. mi. area / Est. Pop. 1,952,822
656' AGL; 1546' AMSL; (1003006)
0.75° Elec Beam Tilt; Full Service Filter
Dielectric TUA-O4
NAD83: N 39° 0' 56.5", W 94° 30' 25" (39.015694, -94.506944)

KCMN has been difficult for me to receive at my location also, even though their current signal is broadcast from the same tower as KAJF, which I do regularly receive. So hopefully an increase in tower height will help some.

 

[harshness]

If you look at the coverage area, the extra elevation, in combination with a significant drop in radio frequency, gets them another 1,000 square miles of predicted service area and another 80,000 potential viewers.

 

[harshness]

As I said, admittedly I've been a big critic of the AM21 in the past to the point of finally giving up on it all together out of exasperation for a TiVo OTA.

The AM-21 isn't the problem. In an of itself, it is a eminently usable tuner module. The problem lies almost entirely in how the geniuses at DIRECTV chose to handle it in software. IIRC, there may have been a time when they allowed the AM-21 to scan (and it may have been limited to a CE) but in the end, they decided to do it the hard way.

But in this area of ability to adjust to the changing physical channels of the repack, its design manages that very well for whatever reason.

This isn't something special that DIRECTV did. They're simply using an element of the PSIP data about the channel (as they always have) to determine mapping between the virtual channel and the RF channel in the scan process (just as you have to do with your television or any other device with a tuner in it). The software doesn't care what the RF channel is, only that it has a virtual channel mapped to it.

This also allows customers who receive their signals off of translators to not have to worry about the RF frequency.