Abilene, TX locals in HD?

[olfenite]

So I read that Abilene is getting their locals (KTAB, KRBC, KXVA, KTXS) in HD. Is this true?

If so, I have a few questions. I'm a bit new at all this satellite talk, so bare with me.

So first of all, when is this going to happen?

Second... I don't live in Abilene, but I do live in Abilene's market and receive Abilene locals in standard def. I cannot receive Abilene's HD channels over the antenna, and trust me, I've tried everything it seems to get them. Just for reassurance, I am going to be able to receive these channels, right? I mean, I should not have to actually live in Abilene, just like the way I receive the standard definition?

On the satellite guys homepage, it said that Abilene's HD could be launching on the 2nd. Did they launch? I ask because I went to dishnetwork.com and inputted my address and it says that they are not in HD yet.

I have a HDTV and a SDTV. I want one box to operate both of them, and I see that plenty of the boxes do support two televisions, one being HD and the other being SD. That is nice, but by having the channels in HD, will the image look stretched or just messed up on SD?

What else should I know before I upgrade and subscribe to Dish-HD?


Thanks for reading, I know this was a long post, but I need o know this before I subscribe to anything and Dish support has been less than helpful.

 

[shy_guy]

So I read that Abilene is getting their locals (KTAB, KRBC, KXVA, KTXS) in HD. Is this true?

If so, I have a few questions. I'm a bit new at all this satellite talk, so bare with me.

So first of all, when is this going to happen?

Second... I don't live in Abilene, but I do live in Abilene's market and receive Abilene locals in standard def. I cannot receive Abilene's HD channels over the antenna, and trust me, I've tried everything it seems to get them. Just for reassurance, I am going to be able to receive these channels, right? I mean, I should not have to actually live in Abilene, just like the way I receive the standard definition?

On the satellite guys homepage, it said that Abilene's HD could be launching on the 2nd. Did they launch? I ask because I went to dishnetwork.com and inputted my address and it says that they are not in HD yet.

I have a HDTV and a SDTV. I want one box to operate both of them, and I see that plenty of the boxes do support two televisions, one being HD and the other being SD. That is nice, but by having the channels in HD, will the image look stretched or just messed up on SD?

What else should I know before I upgrade and subscribe to Dish-HD?


Thanks for reading, I know this was a long post, but I need o know this before I subscribe to anything and Dish support has been less than helpful.

I do not think the Abilene HD locals are available yet. I was in a situation like yours until I "moved" to the Dallas market. Now I'm very happy with my HD and SD local service.

One think to know about the FOX station in Abilene: I spoke with them once about when they will go digital and they said not until they are forced to in '09. So, even when the Abilene HD locals are added, FOX will not be available.

As far as what do HD chanels look like on a SD set, they look the same as everything else you have been watching on it, except you can actually choose weather or not to watch in letterbox. The biggest difference will be watching SD on your new HD set.

 

[jesch3]

Digital is not the same as HD. If Fox is broadcasting in HD now then when they become available on *E you should be able to get Fox in HD too.

 

[rcdallas]

I think what the poster was saying is that Abilene's FOX station is so far behind they don't even have HD broadcast OTA, let alone not having digital.

I moved to Dallas for the HD locals... in the next two weeks I'll be moving to Austin once I get my 61.5 dish up. It'd be nice if Waco was an option....

 

[olfenite]

So you guys are saying that Abilene is only getting a digital signal, not an HD signal as well? That.... well, that sucks, to be honest. I guess even if that is all that they're going to be adding, it is better than the analog that I'm getting now.

I did notice one thing though, on KXVA's messageboard, their so-called 'chief-engineer' says that their plan "is to make the switch to Digital and HD simultaneously." I also read on another messageboard that had a link in it to the FCC's website that had application details for KXVA. Here's the link: Application Search Details

I don't understand all the details, so if anyone wants to explain it to me (especially the part where it says DTV type: BOTH), I'd greatly appreciate it.

I'm assuming that when some of you say you "moved" for HD, you did not actually move, right? I'm pretty sure that is illegal, and I think I know how the process works, but (if it can be discussed here) how do you do it if you don't exactly know anybody that lives in that market? Again, disregard this if it cannot be discussed here, and I apologize to mods, board owners, etc. for any trouble caused.

I'm sorry if I'm asking too many questions and building walls of text, I just know I have been waiting patiently for years now for HD programming in my area, and I don't mind waiting more if necessary. I just want to know that it is coming. I am dieing to see the Dallas Cowboys play in HD, and when I read the article that Abilene is in line to start broadcasting in HD over Dish Network, I just had to get some information, and Dish Network's tech support is useless. Thanks again!

 

[shy_guy]

Search this forum for "moving" to get complete info on how to do it. That's what I did.