Me-TV is coming

[basil lambri]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

The construction permit is for a "LD" Digital television translator station located near Akron... perhaps to replace the analog 24?

http://maps.google.com/?q=http://www...HTS%26state=OH

jr

Perhaps.

[basil lambri]

I have an update. Me-TV lit up today, August 1, on channel 19-2 over-the-air and on channel 987 on Time Warner Cable here in Cleveland. I am very happy.

[Jeffhs]

In about a week I'll be able to see Me-TV and also Antenna TV. I purchased a new 19" Insignia flat-panel TV from Best Buy yesterday; all that's left is to wait for it to be delivered to my door. The Insignia set has a digital tuner that will receive all broadcast, cable and digital channels, so now I'll be able to see what channel 19.2 is about, as well as channel 8.2; the latter carries Antenna TV in northeastern Ohio. Liking vintage TV shows as I do (I have a small but growing collection of classic/vintage TV programs on DVD and many classic shows/movies on VHS), I think I'll like both channels.

BTW, the specifications for the Insignia set I'm getting state, among other things, that the TV will receive digital and also something called "clear QAM" channels. I've heard of digital channels, of course (who hasn't, by now?), but I'm in the dark as far as QAM and "clear" QAM channels are concerned. Is QAM a new digital broadcast standard, with "clear" QAM a variation of it?

BTW (2): Why did I have to download the instruction manual for my new Insignia FP TV? The PDF version of the manual (which I downloaded yesterday) has 70 pages; maybe that has something to do with it -- the manufacturer may not have wanted to go to the trouble of sending a 70-page printed manual (which would probably weigh a pound or two [!] by itself) along with a TV that weighs about six pounds, 6.4 with the included stand.

Is this a trend nowadays with flat-panel TVs -- not to include a printed instruction manual with the set, requiring the user to download the manual in PDF format online? An attempt to save paper and trees, perhaps? In this day and age of all kinds of efforts to save the environment, it wouldn't surprise me if this was the case.

[jr_tech]

QAM and clear QAM:
http://support.elgato.com/index.php?...&kbarticleid=8
Ask your cable provider which (if any) channels are clear QAM, for the other QAM channels a set top box or "cable card" will be necessary.
jr

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

QAM and clear QAM:
http://support.elgato.com/index.php?...&kbarticleid=8
Ask your cable provider which (if any) channels are clear QAM, for the other QAM channels a set top box or "cable card" will be necessary.
jr

Thanks for the link. I read the article from elgato.com and found out exactly what clear QAM channels are -- but there was no mention in the article of the need for a STB (set top box) to receive QAM cable channels. The flat-panel TV I'll be getting soon supposedly will receive, without a box, anything on the cable except HBO, Cinemax, Showtime or other pay-per-view movie channels; there was no mention made in the instruction manual that any sort of external converters would be necessary to receive normal cable channels.

I'm glad I decided to get a flat-panel TV, as I read in the article at elgato.com that analog cable is eventually going to be phased out; I had been wondering for some time if or when that type of cable service would end. Now I know, and it is also clear to me that the days of being able to simply hook up a cable line to an old TV and get even 12 channels are just about over. I don't know if cable-ready sets like Zenith's System 3 models of the 1980s, which were designed from the start to receive over 100 channels, will continue to operate normally when analog cable eventually ends in this country, of if a cable box will be required if one is to keep watching these aging cable-ready sets. Of course, if everything (including broadcast channels) is eventually converted to 100 percent digital, such TVs will require a cable box to receive any kind of television signals.

I think the day is coming when most unmodified TVs, even "cable ready" sets, will be useless for anything other than watching VHS video tapes or DVDs. Their cable-ready tuners will be of no use since they cannot receive DTV channels; however, I think there will always be people who wonder why their 1980s-vintage TV set won't work any longer unless a cable box is used. There are people who will get very upset when they find out that they can no longer use the original remote to change channels on their Zenith System 3 color set, being required instead to use the small remotes that come with STBs (over-the-air set top boxes) or the larger remotes that are standard equipment with cable company boxes; that's too bad, but time marches on and technology (like everything else) is constantly changing; we either adapt to the changes and accept them or get left behind in the dust. Some people just don't or, for whatever reason, cannot grasp that concept; again, it's too bad, but that's just human nature.

[jr_tech]

This information may help:
http://www.timewarnercable.com/dayto...cablecard.html

Depending on your level of cable service, a box or card may be required to unlock the channels that you wish to view. HBO, MAX, Showtime for sure, but in addition, your cable system likely has several tiers of premium service, and therefore needs to be able to unlock those channels for subscribers that pay extra for them, while excluding those that don't pay. That is why a box or card is necessary.

jr

[basil lambri]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

Thanks for the link. I read the article from elgato.com and found out exactly what clear QAM channels are -- but there was no mention in the article of the need for a STB (set top box) to receive QAM cable channels. The flat-panel TV I'll be getting soon supposedly will receive, without a box, anything on the cable except HBO, Cinemax, Showtime or other pay-per-view movie channels; there was no mention made in the instruction manual that any sort of external converters would be necessary to receive normal cable channels.

I'm glad I decided to get a flat-panel TV, as I read in the article at elgato.com that analog cable is eventually going to be phased out; I had been wondering for some time if or when that type of cable service would end. Now I know, and it is also clear to me that the days of being able to simply hook up a cable line to an old TV and get even 12 channels are just about over. I don't know if cable-ready sets like Zenith's System 3 models of the 1980s, which were designed from the start to receive over 100 channels, will continue to operate normally when analog cable eventually ends in this country, of if a cable box will be required if one is to keep watching these aging cable-ready sets. Of course, if everything (including broadcast channels) is eventually converted to 100 percent digital, such TVs will require a cable box to receive any kind of television signals.

I think the day is coming when most unmodified TVs, even "cable ready" sets, will be useless for anything other than watching VHS video tapes or DVDs. Their cable-ready tuners will be of no use since they cannot receive DTV channels; however, I think there will always be people who wonder why their 1980s-vintage TV set won't work any longer unless a cable box is used. There are people who will get very upset when they find out that they can no longer use the original remote to change channels on their Zenith System 3 color set, being required instead to use the small remotes that come with STBs (over-the-air set top boxes) or the larger remotes that are standard equipment with cable company boxes; that's too bad, but time marches on and technology (like everything else) is constantly changing; we either adapt to the changes and accept them or get left behind in the dust. Some people just don't or, for whatever reason, cannot grasp that concept; again, it's too bad, but that's just human nature.

You don't need to have a set-top box to watch QAM cable channels. You can get them with basic cable TV service with a coaxial cable from the cable plug outlet on the wall. Maybe that also depends on the cable company you have but I know that if you have a cable company with cables like Time Warner Cable that we have in northeast Ohio you can get them. Just make sure, if you use basic cable, to auto program scan all the cable channels on your new TV to make sure that you get all the digital channels like 19-1, 19-2, 8-2 etc.

If you have a set-top box you can get more channels than basic cable. You can get something like 300 channels.

BTW, congratulations for your new TV!

[jr_tech]

So how many channels can be received on the northeast Ohio Time Warner cable system using only the new digital TVs QAM/clear QAM tuner? How does that compare to the number that you could get with the old analog set?

Have you experimented at all with an indoor antenna to see if you can receive any over the air channels?

Are you getting "me TV" and "Antenna TV"?

jr

[basil lambri]

The channels you can get with a digital TV from Time Warner Cable in northeast Ohio with basic cable are all the local stations plus their sub-channels and all the cable channels up to the number 100. Some analog TVs can get the cable QAM channels but they can't get the sub-channels of the local stations. You need to auto program scan the cable channels with a digital TV to get the sub-channels. So you wouldn't be able to get 19-2 or 8-2 which are Me-TV and Antenna TV with an analog TV from basic cable.

Of course you can always get the HD over-the-air stations (not cable) with an analog TV with a digital converter. You will also probably need a good antenna. There are no digital-to-analog converters yet for HD basic cable.

Actually yes I have experimented with an indoor antenna to see what stations it got. I live in the east side of Cleveland, in South Euclid, which is 10 miles away from the antenna farm. I used an amplified indoor antenna and I put it next to the window for best reception. I was able to get all the local stations plus some Akron stations. But I had trouble getting Cleveland stations 19 and 8, the very stations that carry Me-TV and Antenna TV on their sub-channels. I know that is because they are the only stations whose actual digital channels are on VHF not UHF. Also, a particular TV's digital tuner might not be so sensitive. You can get those stations fine with an outdoor antenna.

BTW I enjoy the programming on Me-TV. I watch it every day.

[Jeffhs]

The new flat-panel TV arrived here two days ago, and it works very well -- the picture is much better than on my analog set (which actually had a problem with a loose RF antenna connector, but it still worked well enough on cable so I didn't worry about it).

The new set is an "Insignia" brand (actually manufactured by Osram-Sylvania) 19" flat panel. It gets every station on the cable here, including 19.2 and 8.2, of course. I haven't yet tried the new TV on an antenna; it's probably just as well, as I am about 40 miles from the Cleveland TV transmitters in Parma and Seven Hills, Ohio (southwest suburbs of Cleveland), and my reception of those stations in ATSC digital would likely be poor if I received the signals at all. I received every Cleveland channel here (except channel 3) using rabbit ears with varying degrees of quality (the best reception was from CBS 19) before digital, but since the DTV transition, the only station I could receive on my analog set was a translator in Eastlake, Ohio (an eastern Cleveland suburb) for a religious station.

I also like Antenna TV and MeTV. These channels, IMHO, carry much better TV programming (which was available OTA fifty-odd years ago) than is generally available on the networks and even the cable stations these days. Nickelodeon and TV Land, which used to carry reruns of classic TV shows, however, have gotten away from that format and are now carrying reruns of shows which were popular fifteen or twenty years ago (apparently their idea of "classic TV" nowadays), although TV Land still shows reruns of several classic shows from the 1950s (Leave It to Beaver, Gunsmoke and Bonanza, to name three -- there may be others).

Antenna TV and MeTV are two cable channels whose time has come. There are still folks who, like myself, enjoy the older programming from the '50s through the '70s which used to be on OTA TV; these programs have found their new home on the two digital cable channels I just mentioned. One of the reasons I decided to get a flat-panel TV was so that I could receive these two DTV channels; another was that I had recently read online that analog cable TV service will eventually be phased out in favor of digital, and I didn't want to be caught off guard when this happens.

[jr_tech]

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

It gets every station on the cable here, including 19.2 and 8.2, of course.

Does this include all of the "premium" and premium movie (HBO MAX Showtime) channels, or just the first 100 or so that "basic" service would offer?

Originally Posted by Jeffhs

I also like Antenna TV and MeTV.

In my area, "This" and "RTV" as well as "Antenna TV" are available as OTA sub-channels... no sign of anybody carrying "MeTV" yet.

Thanks for the report... enjoy !
jr

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by jr_tech

Does this include all of the "premium" and premium movie (HBO MAX Showtime) channels, or just the first 100 or so that "basic" service would offer?

In my area, "This" and "RTV" as well as "Antenna TV" are available as OTA sub-channels... no sign of anybody carrying "MeTV" yet.

Thanks for the report... enjoy !
jr

I have expanded basic cable service, which does include some movie channels; however, since I do not subscribe to any of the latter, I get nothing if I try to select, say, channel 603 (HBO) or any other movie or pay-per-view channel. (Time Warner has the movie channels on 81 digital channels, starting with 601). I have found that Netflix is a much less expensive alternative to those high-priced subscription movie channels and pay-per-view services.

I'd wait awhile for MeTV. The network is signing up new affiliates all the time, so it may not be long before your area has it as a subchannel of one of the network stations. Here in northeastern Ohio, MeTV is on channel 19.2, a subchannel of CBS 19 (cable channel 4), the CBS affiliate in Cleveland. "THIStv" is on a subchannel of Cleveland's "MyTV" affiliate on channel 43, cable channel 6. Retro TV (RTV) is not yet carried by any Cleveland TV station; the closest RTV affiliate is in Toledo, Ohio which is over 100 miles west of Cleveland.

I do not think our cable systems here will pick up RTV any time soon. Time Warner may feel that two retro TV channels are enough in this area; that is not to say, however, that other TV markets served by the cable company would not have all three retro-TV channels. Your area, in Dayton, is obviously one market that does have RTV and Antenna TV but not MeTV; that may well be due to bandwidth limitations on local cable systems.

[NewVista]

They had "77 Sunset Strip" (cool mid-century Modernist show) on for a while and then pulled it off air - too bad , miss it .

[Jeffhs]

Originally Posted by NewVista

They had "77 Sunset Strip" (cool mid-century Modernist show) on for a while and then pulled it off air - too bad , miss it .

Aw nuts...and I bought a flat panel digital TV just so I could see shows like that! Oh well, maybe "77 Sunset Strip" will come back on another retro-TV subchannel, like Antenna TV or RTV -- ooops, forgot that the cable system in my area doesn't carry RTV yet. Oh well, again. There's always Netflix; I'm sure they have one or more seasons of that show. I remember seeing 77 Sunset Strip in reruns years ago, before cable and decades before DTV and flat panel TV. The show was filmed in black and white; it was just as well, as we didn't have color TV (only b&w, the first two sets being 21" consoles) when I was growing up.