Can I get Distant Network HD or Not?

[Barney]

Well, on my account it still shows i get the CBS-HD & FOX-HD from NY (both O&O). Had 'em both for a long time, but for some reason they dropped my CBS-HD but still have FOX-HD (knock on wood). I'm afraid to call to get my CBS-HD back, they may decide to take away my FOX-HD for some kind of reason. I can get all my locals HD broadcasts except FOX by an indoor antenna, they haven't updated their tower.

Barney

 

[meStevo]

Well, on my account it still shows i get the CBS-HD & FOX-HD from NY (both O&O). Had 'em both for a long time, but for some reason they dropped my CBS-HD but still have FOX-HD (knock on wood). I'm afraid to call to get my CBS-HD back, they may decide to take away my FOX-HD for some kind of reason. I can get all my locals HD broadcasts except FOX by an indoor antenna, they haven't updated their tower.

Barney

Ive never seen someoen arbitrarilly lose a station like that, unless a network challenged a person's eligibility, which probably rarely/never happens.

I would call and find out what happened, if they cant find any reason for the disconnect even the front line agents will be able to reconnect it for you. Even if not eligible, you're probably grandfathered like most everyone else who previously had permission.

 

[Wiggin78]

I called the D* department that handles HD eligability today to see if anything had changed. According to the CSR in that department they have changed their policy with regard to DNS HD waivers. Before they were not allowed to submit requests on behalf of the customer for HD DNS. According to two CSR's i talked with they are now allowed to make these requests on behalf of the customer. Still don't know if this means i will be approved. Maybe I'll just have to bite the bullet and switch to find out.

 

[cmassa]

I've faxed in my waivers for CBS and NBC about a week ago and am still waiting for a reply from D*. I'll probably call them soon. Is there a specific extension for CSR's dealing with HD DNS? I have requested a waiver from Fox. I wonder if ABC (KRCR) would give me one. I'll let you know if I get the HD service.

Chris

 

[Wiggin78]

My FOX waiver was in the mail today. Their waiver doesn't specify HD so it must be their old waivers for analog and digital. That might mean that waiver will have a better chance of getting through. ABC (KRCR) broadcasts in HD so I wouldn't count on getting a waiver unless you can't get a good signal in Chico. But I think they are broadcasting with a pretty strong signal. I believe the number for the HD department is 1-800-263-0028. Try giving them a call to see what your status is. Good Luck.

 

[cmassa]

I just got off the phone with the HD department (thanks for the number). They do not have record of receiving my fax (I've done it twice). I confirmed the number with him and sent it again. He said it should take no more than 3 business days. I've heard that before.

He did say that he was able to submit waiver requests for all networks for me as well.

We'll see.

KRCR-DT is difficult to receive from Chico. I can get it sometimes when the conditions are just right. PBS is also spotty. It would probably be more reliable if I moved the antenna around some. The FCC site shows they are broadcasting at low power and Chico is well outside their service contour. I know of nobody besides myself that has been able to get a high def digital signal in Chico from the Redding stations.

Chris

 

[cmassa]

It worked!! CBS and NBC HD were activated today, west feeds only. I'm still waiting for Fox to give me a waiver.

Chris

 

[cmassa]

My Fox waiver was in the mail yesterday. I've faxed it in to DirecTV. I've contaced KRCR (ABC) to see if they will give me a waiver. I'm glad this is working out.

Chris

 

[cmassa]

Fox HD was activated today after I sent the waiver. KRCR actually called me to decline the ABC waiver. If I get my antenna placed correctly I think I could get ABC-HD more reliably. He was very surprised I could get it at all. He said they are broadcasting at about 1000 watts (1 Kw). He was even more surprised I could get PBS which is at 500 watts. Both of the stations are 67 miles from me.

I now have CBS, NBC, and Fox HD west feeds through D*.

 

[Wiggin78]

I'm finally taking the plunge. I ordered a D* HD Receiver and will do a self install this week. Hopefully I don't have any problems submitting my waivers. I don't expect problems since you got yours 'cmassa'. My only regret is that I decided to do this right at the start of the NBA playoffs and D* doesn't have TNTHD. Oh well, this isn't going to be the Kings year to go all he way anyway.

 

[cmassa]

Wiggin78,

That's great. I did have to fax the waivers at least twice. The CSR's say it takes 3 business days. I just refaxed my letter and waivers every 4th day. It took 7-10 days for each to get activated. You're right about the Kings, I'm not looking too far into the playoffs this year. We can get the rare Kings game in HD on ESPN (maybe one per year) Can you get KRCR HD broadcasts very well in Redding? I think it may have been down last night as I got no signal whatsoever on the meter.

Chris

 

[mp3audio]

I only live 24 miles away from my transmitters and all of my local affiliates in philly approved my waivers.

 

[dishrich]

I only live 24 miles away from my transmitters and all of my local affiliates in philly approved my waivers.

Well, since all 4 nets in Philly ARE O&O, why would you have needed waivers to begin with???

 

[bookwalk]

I don't know where you are all located--seems California--or?

But, back here in South Dakota (southeast), I really am getting nowhere with the waivers.

I have neither Dish or Direct, but trying to find a replacement for VOOM, but am about to give up.

I really wanted to be able to get the Distant HD National networks.

I called both the stations that I cannot get via analog (OTA)--which are FOX and NBC and they were EXTREMELY negative about granting me a waiver--they didn't even listen to where I lived or whether I could get ANY signal.

They said that I could get any network via the small dish and it would not be HD and so I could not be granted a waiver. They said they had an FCC attorney who was denying these waivers.

I don't know if that was customers waiver requests of the DIsh/Direct waiver requests.

I see no way out of this, but wonder if there's some FCC ruling or acceptance or someone else being able to get a waiver that I could site and ask why the discrimination?

I do not want to subscribe to either service until I can get this settled.

We live 50-60 miles from the FOX and NBC local towers--they broadcast UHF signals that we have never been able to receive clearly ( snowy at best) and they admit that their digital HD broadcast is low-power and only meant for city customers.

What sort of letter could I draft to my Senator and congressmen about this?

 

[jose44]

No HD Locals

I have DirecTV in an area that has OTA NBC and CBS (though nobody I know can get the CBS). We can't get Fox or ABC OTA so DirecTV sells me the national HD feeds for those. The local NBC and CBS stations don't broadcast in HD and won't for a long time. Does that mean I could get HD feeds if I bought a LIL package, or just DirecTV's unviewable SD package?

Thanks in advance for an answer.

 

[cmassa]

I think it would depend on whether your local stations will grant waivers for HD. I called my local stations directly and got 3 of 4 networks but in some areas D* can also submit the waiver requests. It doesn't hurt to call and I wouldn't necessarily take D*'s word for it either. Request waivers yourself. I do subscribe to the SD locals as well. I don't think you can get HD networks without waivers unless you are in an area served by O&O stations.

Chris

 

[Wiggin78]

I submitted my waivers about 3 weeks ago before we had D* hooked up. So this morning I had the install and called before they arrived to see what I needed to do. When I called the HD department they informed me that they had submitted for waivers on April 4th and I was denied. I told the CSR that I had never asked to have D* submit a request for waivers but she insisted that I had. Then she told me I had to wait 60 days before i could request waivers again. At this point I got fairly angry and told her I had already faxed the waivers 3 times before we reactivated our account. At that point she told me she would check to see if the fax had come through. After 5 minutes she returned to the phone and sheepishly told me all 3 waivers had been accepted and they would be turned on at install. I breathed a sigh of relief and crossed my fingers. Sure enough when the system was up and running I had FOXHD, CBSHD, and NBCHD. With a little, errr... a lot of persistance DNS waivers can be attained. Thanks for all the info everyone provided.

 

[madpoet]

You submitted prior to your install? Crazy... didn't know you could do that. I know I'm going to have a fight locally. NBC is thankfully O&O, and ABC comes in beautifully on the antenna. But CBS and Fox are both impossible in my location.

-MP

 

[Wiggin78]

cmassa, I'm working on getting a temporary HD waiver from ABC. I have spoken with an engineer at the station and he said he thought it wouldn't be a problem. If it works out I will give you the names and numbers of the people to contact to get the waiver.

 

[cmassa]

That would be great. The guy I talked to said they were declining waivers at that time. Lately I haven't been able to get KRCR HD reliably. More often than not I can't get anything yet I can get PBS 100% now.

Chris