WRC-1 DC station video disappeared

[otauser1]

Hello HDTV and OTA user experts,

I have a Philips HDTV (model 42PFL5332D/37) with a built-in tuner that i've been using with indoor rabbit ears to pick up OTA network channels.. I've been using it for a year now with no problems.

Then, this past thursday 9/4/08, an hour before the Giants/Redskins game the video on channel 4.1 (NBC WRC-1 Washington mrket) disappeared! Only blank screen but with full audio. Signal strength said it was fine.
Since then, i've had no video reception for this channel...only audio. All other channels and stations are working fine and normal as always EXCEPT the NBC 4.1 channel.

At 1st I thought it was the NBC station having technical issues...but i bought another LCD tv and plugged it up to the same antenna and in the same spot as the philips TV. I did this to verify that it wasn't the broadcast station that was the problem. Sure enough, i was able to pick up 4.1 channel video and audio fine on the new LCD, which I will have to return since i can't afford 2 tv's! . I used the same rabbit ears that i had been using with the Philips tv.

I've reset my Philips tv and reprogrammed the channels a dozen times already and still same issue...NBC 4.1 just won't show video!

do you know any fixes or suggestions?

Thanks!

 

[jgantert]

Give it some time. WRC just added 4-3, and they screwed up the PSIP data for 4-1. More technical details can be found over at AVS. Something about not full 1080i.

You can try to do a full channel scan and see if the TV picks up the new signals. Night work. I have the problem of no audio on 4-3. Looks like they are using MPEG-2 audio instead of Dolby Digital, and some of the CECB boxes don't like that.

So I would recommend wait until Monday or Tuesday so the techs at WRC can work on the problem, and see if it clears up.

-John

 

[ncfuser]

Issues here also.
In silver spring.
I have two Samsung HDTVs and it was working fine until Thursday.
Now I have a GREEN bar taking up the right 1/3 of screen and the picture is squeezed into the other 2/3.
Call the Transmission people on Friday and they said they see nothing wrong.
A co-worker now has no picture on his HDTV on 4-1.

 

[jgantert]

Don't worry, AVS folks have been emailing them like crazy over the weekend with PSIP errors. They'll get it right eventually.

Some of the AVS folks are smarter than a dozen TV engineers put together. (Some, like those at WRC.) Don't get me wrong, there's plenty of super smart folks out there in TV land. But then again, there's lots of channels like 26-1 that had their PSIP data off by 6 hours for months.

Once the analog channels go bye-bye Feb 2009, just wait till one of these mistakes happens and everyone loses WRC reception. I wonder if they will be any more responsive then they are now?

 

[jterhar]

I've got a Phillips 42 inch plasma and a Samsung Set Top box. On 4.1, the plasma does audio but no video; on the STB, A/V fine, but no audio on 4.3. Hey, this is "Big Time Television", folks. I sent them a sternly worded email on Thursday because I couldn't watch the Redskins game but, as of last night, the system still wasn't fixed.

 

[jgantert]

Did you do a re-scan tonight? Looks like the audio is fixed on 4-3. Not sure about the picture problems on 4-1. AVS reports they are sending out 1200x1080, and this is not an ATSC standard resolution, so your ATSC tuner might not support it.

-John

 

[ncfuser]

THEY FIXED IT....
Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.
Bob was on Vacation until today.

 

[jgantert]

Phew Glad they got it resolved, and even better news that they really aren't sending out 1280x1080.

Still doesn't leave me with a warm fuzzy for Feb 2009. Lets hope nobody's on vacation then.

 

[Radioguy41]

THEY FIXED IT....
Spoke with a REALLY NICE GUY Bob at WRC and he told me that yes they had it incorrectly set to 1280X1080. They fixed that as well as the lipsync issue.
Bob was on Vacation until today.

Maybe next time they might want to wait for Bob to come back from vacation before tinkering with something they don't know how to troubleshoot. This is the great hidden problem with the change from analog to digital. These guys are analog techs and suddenly they're supposed to be digital techs and they just don't have enough experience. My local PBS station has a digital problem for months now and can't seem to figure it out. That was a driving reason for my getting an FTA receiver to add to my BUD (I know, NET is on C-band, but they have their own bunch of issues).