Yes, Daniel is going to have to make some changes because CIII and CHCH are both live, CIII a few monthes earlier than they should be.

Now if only CFMT and CJMT would get going soon, it would only leave CKVR, CKCO and CHEX, outside of TVO as the stations in the Golden Horseshoe who have yet to get their -DT act together.

I am hoping that because CTVgm owns CKVR now, they are going to want to get an HD feed active for the A-Channel stations before the 2011 deadline, but I don't hold much hope for CHEX and CKCO.

Global is broadcasting and not that hard to receive, after some adjusting is done.Stable 75% and about 20db in Mississauga, 6:20PM on Friday.
So far no luck with CHCH, though.Was unable to get a picture with 60% tops.On the other hand, my CTS out of Hamilton is 70%

Probably because they are using a very low bitrate just like most video on the internet. If they transmit more data bits for this channel, then the other subchannels will get worse because the total number of bits for all subchannels is fixed by the ATSC standard.


They have set their analogue video levels too low before converting to digital. It has been like that since I first saw it a couple of years ago. They might be monitoring it on a receiver adjusted to compensate in the opposite direction and just don't know any better. TV stations I have worked in have cable tv throughout their building and only look at off-air on one monitor in their master control. It never gets compared to other channels on the same tuner. Maybe it will get better next year when their analogue viewers are forced to watch it and complain.


I think their deadline is Jul 29

I am getting CHCH only a little bit stronger than CITS at Greenwood+Dundas with an indoor Terk silver sensor clone antenna. It is just barely strong enough to lock.
Because they came on so fast without much testing and are licensed for 5X the power of CITS, the transmitter can't be anywhere near full power. Maybe it isn't even there yet and they borrowed a low power one from the manufacturer to get on the air one business day before their deadline. Since the CRTC slapped Global by saying "this is the final extension" for the Toronto application, they might have been pressured to get something, anything, running by Monday or be hit with a huge fine or other sanctions.
Since they are so interested in "program substitution", maybe they had to get going in a hurry for contractual reasons with advertisers.

The CRTC has hit CIII with a final extension, and that wasnt for another 2 monthes or so. With the deadline for CHCH being next week, Canwest brought the TANDY people to Toronto to help get both their operations setup and figured they may as well turn the key on both at the same time.

With that said, I just got an e-mail from CIII, so those of you having PSIP problems, here is what they are saying to me right now...

"Our transmitter has a power output of 1kw 40% signal.,,, from where you are located.., you could be right … |We are having some issues with our PSIP generator … sometimes fine.., sometimes |not-so-much … We are working with the manufacturer to resolve… lobal Toronto has no means of producing the EPG.., and not sure when Calgary Master will be able to send…."

Well, turns out I'm having no trouble getting CHCH from Hamilton.

In fact 18.1 is the FIRST channel I've ever received on my Sony HDTV DVR *without* having to run a scan in advance (previously, 100% of HDTV channels would not tune in unless I've first done an antenna scan, so that it can access and cache the PSIP - it makes it hard to hunt for weak signals, however even though it won't tune in a frequency it doesn't know about the signal meter will still indicate a signal's presence).

How can you tell where a station is actually being broadcast from? Is CH (E!) channel 18 being broadcast from Hamilton or Toronto? Seeing that CH and Global came on at virtually the same time, wouldn't it be logical to assume that they are sharing the same transmitter? (also for the fact that they are owned by the same company) Why buy 2 transmitters for 2 locations when you can buy 1 and save the expense? This could also explain why Daniel can recieve ch18 when the other Hamilton stations are impossible for him to recieve.

Thanks everyone who replied to my post regarding the quality of sub-channels. All of your answers make sense indeed.

Take a look for yourselves, as example compare 7-3 (Sport) to 17-3 PBS, personal I prefer viewing 17-3 it seems a little bit better. While viewing 7-3 it seems to be out focus, look at the text being broadcast and straight lines running across the screen they are kind of jagged. 17-3 is more or less smoother and seems alot less annoying when you are viewing it.

Hamiltonjim

I ran a quick test using my rotor directing it towards Hamilton (96 %) and observed my signal strength and then toward CN tower (66 %) and north (10%). Seems to me they are broadcasting from somewhere in the Hamilton area.

Hamiltonjim,

It is indeed broadcasting from Hamiliton, have a look at the link below. TV Fool tells you exactly where it's broadcasting from and maps out the projected radiation pattern for that given station.

[Link: tvfool.com]

I am so frelling frustrated that i can only get CBC, I should by all rights get CHCH but on single select and scanning no go!

Wow I got to watch golf in HD yesterday, CHCH looked great. I am in Hamilton and I wonder why I can't get global, I sort of get a flash of a 55% signal and then nothing on the meter. I get City, CTV, Sun, CBC E&F, CTS, and of course CHCH. My antenna is aimed at the CN Tower and it has to be very specific to get City and CTV, is global on the Tower?

John

Just a minor clarification: it's not 'TANDY', but Tandberg. The former is a usually-laughable Radio Shack trademark, the latter is this commercial firm: [Link: tandbergtelevision.com]
(when CIII-DT was testing, at one point the PSIP information actually included a 'Tandberg' reference)

Unrelated, I hope I'm not the only one who can't watch CHCH-DT; I think their PSIP isn't perfected, yet. I'm in Kitchener, and receive SunTV and CTS from the same Stoney Creek tower, rock solid, and have comparable signal level from CHCH-DT, but my ATSC receiver doesn't register any channel for 18-1. It says it adds the channel, but nothing is listed, no matter how many times I retry adding it, and/or resetting the box.

Probably having the same PSIP troubles that CIII is. I'm sure it's eventually supposed to show up on 11-1.

jlcinc, I think CITY and CIII have strong signals to the North only as I've heard others complain from Hamilton. I'm in Caledon and all is booming in here.

I'm in St. Catharines, just south of the QEW and CIII's signal is in the high 80's whereas CITY's NEVER gets above 60%, I've gotta turn my antenna 2 degrees at a time to at least get a picture that wont freeze or break up.

Not sure how thir signal is in the north end of St. Catharines on the south shore of the lake.

CHCH-DT comes in around 86% CITS and CKXT-2 is a bit stronger for some reason.