# DirecTV has bolloxed up my local (OTA) channel information!



## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

I receive my locals off the air via an antenna.

The guide data comes from DirecTV, of course.

However, now, just starting this afternoon, DirecTV has screwed up their channel mapping so that most of them are mapping to the wrong frequency!! 

(They had always been correctly mapped before.)

I can scan for them and the HR10 adds them to the guide, but with no programming info. Season passes and wish lists will try to record off the wrong frequency, thanks to DirecTV's screw up! 

It just gets worse and worse with these clowns...


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

Looks like this problem is not limited to New Orleans.

We can merge discussion of this problem in general to this thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=332656


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## MikeE. (Jun 5, 2005)

Same here. Happened about a week ago and they've messed up 8.1 (FOX), 26.1 (ABC) & 38.1 (CW). I'm also in the New Orleans market (Madisonville).

Mike

(I've sent them an email via their website but I don't hold out high hopes someone who has a clue of what they're doing will read it and respond/fix it.)


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## jhimmel (Dec 27, 2002)

Something is also wrong in NY -

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=332500


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Sounds to me like the PSIP signal from the local station is messed up and the receiver can't decode which frequency it's supposed to map, so it defaults to the actual digital one. For example, my ch 34 uses frequency 4 for its digital transmission. The PSIP data tells the receiver to tune to frequency 4 when I select 34-1.


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## MikeE. (Jun 5, 2005)

Here is the message I sent them this morning via their website:

_Details: Starting about a week ago DirecTV now incorrectly "maps" 3 of my local OTA channels in the New Orleans market which results in no Guide Data for the actual channel. For example, the local FOX affiliate should be mapped from frequency 29 to 8.1 now maps 8.1 to frequency ch. 9. Also incorrectly mapped are channels 26.1 (ABC) and 38.1 (CW). They were okay until about a week or 10 days ago. I now have to manually scan for off air channels to receive them and have no programming guide data for those 
channels._

And here is the response I just got:

*Thank you for writing us about your local channels. I'm sorry to hear that you are having some issues receiving some of your local channels. Your receiver might be having some technical problems. Though it's difficult to troubleshoot most technical issues by email, we've found resetting your system often corrects what's wrong. *

I guess I wasn't clear on what the problem is...

Mike


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

It's possible that the reset (restart) will cause the receiver to check the PSIP information from your local. I had to do that with my HTL-HD about a year ago when one of my locals messed up their PSIP info.


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## MikeE. (Jun 5, 2005)

JimSpence said:


> It's possible that the reset (restart) will cause the receiver to check the PSIP information from your local. I had to do that with my HTL-HD about a year ago when one of my locals messed up their PSIP info.


I have reset, rebooted, rescanned off air channels and reloaded guide data all before I ever sent a message to DirecTV. I assume that once they fix the problem on their end a "reset" will be needed on my end to finalize the fix but so far they refuse to admit they have a problem on their end.

BTW, I'm having the same issues with my Sony SAT-HD300 receiver and OTA digital channels.

Ya know DirecTV, the first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem... :^)

Mike


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

Same problems here in Metairie. Had to quickly scramble to manually scan to catch the Saints game. Hope it is fixed quickly or all of my SP's are going to be messed up.


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

Since emailing is usually useless, I tried calling and got forwarded to a higher-level tech who said he would submit the problem to the engineers. It wouldn't hurt if a few others called also.


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

This just happened to me this morning (uptown New Orleans). I was on the phone with a woman in "higher level tech support" for over an hour who was pretty rude to me about the whole thing.

"We can't make the local stations send proper programming information. It's not our problem."

I've lost programming data on Fox, ABC, and WB. Anyone have any idea what we need to do to get this fixed? Contact the stations?

This essentially kills my Tivo capabilities on these channels. Seriously considering switching to cable / Series 3 lately with all the issues (audio dropouts and now this).


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## leesweet (Mar 13, 2004)

MikeE. said:


> Here is the message I sent them this morning via their website:
> 8<snip>8
> *Thank you for writing us about your local channels. I'm sorry to hear that you are having some issues receiving some of your local channels. Your receiver might be having some technical problems. Though it's difficult to troubleshoot most technical issues by email, we've found resetting your system often corrects what's wrong. *
> 
> ...


Mike, I never write on tech problems. I believe unless you make the email so complex it can't be understood, a mail bot analyzes it, looks for keywords, and mails you back: "Here's what I heard.... yada yada; So, reboot your box and call us in the morning".

Really. I'd not waste time emailing.


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

I was feeling a little in the Christmas spirit and decided that I'd place another call to DirecTV today to try to explain my problem and give them another chance.

I got a great response from the tech this time (complete 180 degrees from the woman this morning). He pulled up this thread while he was on the line with me and read all the reports of problems in the New Orleans area.

He seem genuinely interested in helping out, and told me that he had escalated the issue and forwarded on this thread. He did indicate that the best way to have this fixed quicker / escalated would be if more people called in.

If you haven't yet, please do (call in) and reference this thread.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

If it is indeed a PSIP problem, there is nothing DirecTV can do. You have to wait for your locals to straighten it out. Contact your locals to find out if it is a PSIP problem.


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

Here are some observations about this issue that pretty much prove it's an error in the channel mapping data contained in the satellite data stream:


It is universal and consistent across all DirecTV receiver models that support off the air ATSC reception.
It is an error in the channel mapping that is contained in the guide data coming from the satellite.
Doing a *manual* scan on your receiver will find the "missing" channels and *proves that the PSIP data is correct!* (As the receiver ID's the channels correctly when the manual scan is performed.) 
Due to the error in the guide data mapping from the satellite, the receiver cannot associate the correct guide information with the scanned channels.
While this problem affects three different New Orleans locals (probably more than in any other single DMA), it is not limited to New Orleans. A smattering of other HD locals in other markets are similarly mismapped in DirecTV's data stream.

I'm glad I discovered this last night, otherwise I'd have been scrambling at the beginning of the Saints game! (FOX 8 is mapped to channel 9, it should be 29. Looks like a "typo" on some data entry tech's part to me.)


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

JimSpence said:


> If it is indeed a PSIP problem, there is nothing DirecTV can do. You have to wait for your locals to straighten it out. Contact your locals to find out if it is a PSIP problem.


It is kind of coincidental that 3 locals (2 are operated by the same company) all got their frequencies misassigned at the same time. Its unlikely that both companies botched up their mappings at the same time.


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

starcms said:


> It is kind of coincidental that 3 locals (2 are operated by the same company) all got their frequencies misassigned at the same time. Its unlikely that both companies botched up their mappings at the same time.


It's simply not possible that dozens of channels around the US messed up their PSIP information in a way that only affects DirecTV receivers all at the same time. (See numerous other threads in this and other forums about similar problems with DirecTV receiver's mapping of local ATSC channels in numerous markets.)

Furthermore, if it were a PSIP error, a manual scan for the channels would not find them (as it clearly does).

It's clearly a DirecTV channel mapping data problem.

In fact, it's conceivable that it could be a "cousin" of this problem.


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## MikeE. (Jun 5, 2005)

Another interesting note, 38.1 and 26.1 got remapped to their pre-Katrina frequencies - post Hurricane Katrina I assume those stations lost their transmitters in Chalmette (like NBC 6.1 did and which has never been back on the air since the hurricane) and they teamed up with what was PAX and is now _i_ and all transmit on physical channel 50. Post hurricane, 26.1, 38.1, 49.1 all use UHF channel 50 to carry their digital channels.

I don't know how they got FOX 8.1 remapped to physical channel 9 though - it has always been on UHF 29.

Mike


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

MikeE. said:


> Another interesting note, 38.1 and 26.1 got remapped to their pre-Katrina frequencies - post Hurricane Katrina I assume those stations lost their transmitters in Chalmette (like NBC 6.1 did and which has never been back on the air since the hurricane) and they teamed up with what was PAX and is now _i_ and all transmit on physical channel 50. Post hurricane, 26.1, 38.1, 49.1 all use UHF channel 50 to carry their digital channels.
> 
> I don't know how they got FOX 8.1 remapped to physical channel 9 though - it has always been on UHF 29.
> 
> Mike


That is correct.

It looks like 26.1 and 38.1 got remapped to "old data", and "9" instead of "29" (for FOX 8.1) smells like a "typo".

However, since this problem exists in several markets, including places where Katrina never came near, it looks like someone got generally sloppy with the data.


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

I still think that the more of us call and complain to DirecTV, the likelier they are to fix the problem.

I plan on calling once a day until it's fixed...I don't want to be missing my Lost come the start of the season in January...


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## the-sloth (Nov 5, 2003)

i called D* last week and reported it to the advanced technical dept after doing the same thing with the engineering team at WPIX... figured this way they would work to get it resolved. we've been keeping track of the NYC situation in this thread. WPIX said they put a call in to TMS (tribune) and they said that TMS would work with DirecTV to resolve the issue. hopefully after everyone gets back after the holidays this gets resolved asap.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=275729&page=209&pp=30


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## trehutch (Jan 24, 2004)

This is a very strange problem. If I go to 12-1 the FOX OTA the message I get is seraching for SAT/OTA signal. The if I go up one channel to 12-1 again there it is but with no guide data. I basically have (2) 12-1 channels. This will be very annoying once "24" starts. I am going to call and complain. I tried clearing my OTA channels and then rescaned them but it did not fix the probelm. Help if someone finds a soultion. I have two HD-Tivos and it is happening on both

Trevor


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

trehutch said:


> . Help if someone finds a soultion.


The solution is for DirecTV to fix the errors in their channel mapping data.

As soon as it's done on their end everything will be normal again.


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## 94SupraTT (Feb 17, 2005)

Fish Man said:


> I receive my locals off the air via an antenna.
> 
> The guide data comes from DirecTV, of course.
> 
> ...


I have this problem with PBS. My only solution was to manually add them. Unfortunately I have none of the guide data for the channels that are added in.


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## Larry Hutchinson (Dec 7, 1999)

I'll just add a "me too" for FOX here in PDX.

Since I also have an S3, I don't care that much.

While I am at it, I also got a spontaneous reboot just about 4 minutes into a recording on Discovery HD while the unit was paused on another recording.


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## edwardewilliams (Dec 27, 2006)

Some info on this.

Our viewers in the Portland area began reporting this problem a week ago. We've been chasing it in our PSIP systems since then trying to find a problem. No problem found.

We began working the issue with DirecTV's Broadcast Interconnect folks earlier today. They looked at several markets while we were working with them and confirmed that all of the local staitons were coming in fine at their local receive facilities and that local PSIP from the stations was fine.

Here's the thing - DirecTV's channel mapping comes directly from data THEY receive from Tirbune Media Service. TMS is one of the country's largest providers of TV station PSIP data files and it appears they've managed to quit sending DirecTV the "Tune to" channel info in their files. I'm told that Direct has seen this problem before from time to time. They didn't mention whether they had seen it in so many markets at one time, however. So while it's accurate to say that it's DirecTV's guid info that's causing this problem, DirecTV's guide info isn't DirecTV's...

So, tomorrow, we'll conitnue to work the issue with TMS.

Being a broadcast engineer used to be so much easier.


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

edwardewilliams said:


> Here's the thing - DirecTV's channel mapping comes directly from data THEY receive from Tirbune Media Service. TMS is one of the country's largest providers of TV station PSIP data files and it appears they've managed to quit sending DirecTV the "Tune to" channel info in their files. I'm told that Direct has seen this problem before from time to time. They didn't mention whether they had seen it in so many markets at one time, however. So while it's accurate to say that it's DirecTV's guid info that's causing this problem, DirecTV's guide info isn't DirecTV's...


I'd be willing to bet that this is also the root of the Season Pass and Wishlist problems widely reported in the forums here, on both DirecTiVo's and standalone TiVo's.

Tribune Media Services is the guide supplier to both TiVo and DirecTV.

Wonder if this has anything to do with the recent sale of DirecTV?

phox


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## MikeE. (Jun 5, 2005)

edwardewilliams said:


> Some info on this.
> 
> Being a broadcast engineer used to be so much easier.


Thanks for the update Edward.

Mike


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

I placed another call today and the tech informed me that they are aware of the problem and are working on a fix. They had no ETA for the repair, though.

Again, I encourage more people to call and complain, I think it would help.


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## HomieG (Feb 17, 2003)

edwardewilliams said:


> ...Being a broadcast engineer used to be so much easier.


Yea, those were the days we got to use tools like "greenies." Now it's chasing bits, bits of this and bits of that


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

HomieG said:


> Yea, those were the days we got to use tools like "greenies."


I think we called them "tweekers".

phox


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## HomieG (Feb 17, 2003)

phox_mulder said:


> I think we called them "tweekers".
> 
> phox


Yep, several synonyms.


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## leesweet (Mar 13, 2004)

So, is the consensus (based on the little data we have...) that it's a data entry problem? Strange that only these stations have it, and that it seemed to arise about (?) on the same day.

Can one say 'hired an intern for the holidays'? I know we did (IT and software development shop), but we don't hand them the keys to the kingdom....


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

leesweet said:


> So, is the consensus (based on the little data we have...) that it's a data entry problem? Strange that only these stations have it, and that it seemed to arise about (?) on the same day.
> 
> Can one say 'hired an intern for the holidays'? I know we did (IT and software development shop), but we don't hand them the keys to the kingdom....


I have virtually no doubt that the origin of this problem was in data entry.


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## edwardewilliams (Dec 27, 2006)

OK, I've got one more update, probably my last on this topic, from various phone calls today.

I provided a long list of affected TV Stations in markets nationwide, as well as a link to a thread over at DBSTalk that's gathering information, to the folks at TMS this morning. TMS's data is showing as OK as far as they can tell to date. They verified with me, for instance, that all the data they had for my stations was correct.

Info I received later this afternoon suggests that DirecTV made what they're calling a "satellite move" on Tuesday, December 19th. Based on the markets that are seeing this problem, it sounded to me like they were beginning to think that something got messed up in that move (whatever it was that they "moved").

So, at this stage, the problem is acknowledged by DirecTV as a real issue and appears to have been escalated through at least a couple of engineering groups within the company.

That's all I know. Hopefully the data they have in hand now will lead to a solution for this.

Ed


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

Thanks for the update, Ed. I continued my daily calling routine - they're still "working on a fix" but don't have an ETA. Grumble, grumble...


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

Any updates?


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## edwardewilliams (Dec 27, 2006)

12/29/06 @ 1045 PST - rumor has it that the problem is fixed or is in the process of being fixed. I'm not near a reciever right at the moment. Perhaps someone could do a scan and report back? Ed


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## hongcho (Nov 26, 2003)

95124... KTVU (Fox) problem.

I do have the correct GUIDE information for 2-1 (which is basically the same as 2-2). The problem is that tuning into 2-1 gives me "no signal", where as 2-2 shows what 2-1 used to be.

Weird... So far it's not that critical since I don't have anything to record on that channel before the new episodes come back, but it's annoying.

Hong.


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## edwardewilliams (Dec 27, 2006)

I'm back in the office now. We have solid confirmation now of two things:

1. Channel 12.1 is now appearing properly on receivers here in the Portland market. One hopes that this fix will now propigate across all markets in the next hours and days.

2. DirecTV has confirmed to us that this is not a box specific problem. However, some boxes behave very differently when seeing the data anomoly.

Ed


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## tigerdriver (Jul 11, 2003)

As of 4:15 EST, in Roanoke, VA Fox (WFXR, 27-1, freq 17) is still wedged. The problem is not at the local station because I it get correctly if I plug my antenna directly into my TV. 

I get full signal strength (95+) for the station's broadcast frequency (17) on the Tivo meter, but the screen is blank (no"weak signal" message). 

Channel 21 is the Fox in Lynchburg, VA which doesn't broadcast in HI def. Suddenly, now, I have a 21.1 in my guide; it's just labeled 'Fox' with no call-sign identifier. I won't know until until prime time, but this is probably mis-mapped the hi-def from channel 27.

In case nobody's noticed, all the BCS bowls except the Rose are on Fox.

I'm going to dock my payment this month.


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## edwardewilliams (Dec 27, 2006)

A poster on another forum just reported Tampa back to normal...

Sounds like things may be starting to roll along.

Ed


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

Still not working here in New Orleans and a reboot didn't help.


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

In New Orleans - channels are still botched up.

I just got off the phone with the tech, who told me that her notes showed that I'd been calling, but didn't describe my problem. Why do I have to re-explain this issue to them every day?

To those who recently had their channels fixed (Portland, I believe), did you do something besides call DirecTV? Should we be contacting local stations instead?


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## Ron Postma (Nov 3, 2004)

The guide date and go to channels are back to normal in Portland, OR


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## tonyquan (Feb 26, 2003)

edwardewilliams said:


> A poster on another forum just reported Tampa back to normal...
> 
> Sounds like things may be starting to roll along.
> 
> Ed


Edward, is KTVU in San Francisco/Oakland going to be fixed as well?


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## nowandthen (Mar 21, 2003)

KTVU in SF/Oakland/San Jose is stilled botched at the time of this posting. I know the 49ers still kind of suck, but I would still like to record the game.


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## tigerdriver (Jul 11, 2003)

tigerdriver said:


> As of 4:15 EST, in Roanoke, VA Fox (WFXR, 27-1, freq 17) is still wedged.
> I'm going to dock my payment this month.


At about 10pm ET, Fox (WFXR Roanoke, VA) is back where it belongs. Deleting then rescanning got rid of the spurious 21.1. (I then performed a superstitious reboot.)


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

No joy here.

New Orleans locals are still miss-mapped as described previously as of 10:20 AM Dec. 30.


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## wmschultz (May 26, 2004)

I don't think it is just related to D*. I can't watch anything OTA on my MCE computer. I 
constantly get no signal when I change the channel. 

If I use my ATI software, it works fine.

Edit: I just checked my signal strength and they are all fine.


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## DLiquid (Sep 17, 2001)

I wish I'd read this thread before trying to adjust my antenna to get KTVU 2-1. Oh well, I had to adjust it anyway, because it was blown out of alignment by this week's wind storm. So I guess KTVU 2-1 is still messed up. 2-2 seems fine, and seems like it might actually be 2-1 (confusing). I wonder if 2-2 will pick up HD football tomorrow.


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## edwardewilliams (Dec 27, 2006)

tonyquan said:


> Edward, is KTVU in San Francisco/Oakland going to be fixed as well?


Please, call me Ed.

I have no information about anything internal to DirecTV or TMS other than what I've learned by talking with them, which isn't much. Any other information I've been able to present here has been from various sources including at least four discussion forums similar to this one.

Based on what we're seeing in various markets (ie, the "fix" is progagating) I have to believe that they're working to get all markets back up and running ASAP. I'm not sure they're up to full staff with the holidays and all though, so I just can't answer your question.

I did learn this, however, on Friday afternoon - the "satellite move" that was done during the period from 12/18 through 12/20 was DirecTV bringing on line several new local uplink faclilities. Once one new one comes online and some stations are moved to that particular uplink, the rest of the system goes through a "domino effect" of many stations changing many slots in the system. Direct has a very high bandwidth, nationwide MPEG4 network running around on fiber all over the place and they can pretty much transmit any local station from pretty much any of what will become something like 12 or 14 "LUF's" or Local Uplink Facilities all over the country. They're in the process of putting these in to handle the local staitons locally - region by region. For instance, a new one that just went on line in central Washington state carries all the northwest stations from Seattle to Spokane to Portland to Boise and other places. I guess one that's goign to be going online in Pennsylvania soon will carry stations from all over the middle atlantic area. One someplace in New Hampshire is going to carry all of New England and so forth.

The amount of data that flies around on the network is evidently humongous and the local channel tuning data exists in many locations and is transmitted in little bits and pieces over all of the satellites that are being used currently and is then assembled inside each customer box. When I started hearing how amazingly complex this database is on their system, I began to wonder whether Direct even knows what really happened with this issue - I think they got surprised, honestly ... certainly not an unheard of problem in a highly complex data environment - we run in to weird problems with software and data systems all the time. But after Friday I'm starting to have a new appreciation for getting any guide data AT ALL, let alone having it right! 

Ed


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## david950 (Dec 15, 2006)

Posting from Lafayette, LA, and the same problem is happening here. WVLA (Baton Rouge) is on 34-1 instead of 33-1, and the LPB trio is on 23-x instead of 24-x. I just installed a CM4221 next to my old CM4228, along with a join-tenna, so I wouldn't have to do the manual turn anymore, and I thought I was crazy since I was losing channels. Thanks to this (and the AVS HD Local forums), I know the problem (though I don't know the solution...


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

One week now with no guide data in New Orleans for OTA HD locals. Another Saints game on manual record.


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## tgatesp (Jan 1, 2007)

Wish i would have found this thread earlier, been trying to reboot, rescan locals for the last few hours. I'm also in new orleans (metairie) 
is anybody having audio dropouts on 8-1?


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## jhimmel (Dec 27, 2002)

11-1 and 11-2 are still screwed up in NY.

Jim H.


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

tgatesp said:


> Wish i would have found this thread earlier, been trying to reboot, rescan locals for the last few hours. I'm also in new orleans (metairie)
> is anybody having audio dropouts on 8-1?


dropouts on 8-1 (FOX) due to 6.3a. 6.3b whenever it gets here should fix it.


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

tgatesp said:


> Wish i would have found this thread earlier, been trying to reboot, rescan locals for the last few hours. I'm also in new orleans (metairie)
> is anybody having audio dropouts on 8-1?


I've been having dropouts on FOX 8 since getting 6.3a. Dropouts like these, which are particularly prevalent on FOX OTA channels, are the result of a bug in software version 6.3a. The primary thing 6.3b does is fix the dropouts.

The miss-mapped channels are not the result of a software bug in your receiver, but are a result of incorrect channel-mapping information in the DirecTV data stream. For example, the data stream currently maps WVUE-DT to channel 9. It's actually on channel *29*.

If you've been doing channel scans, your receiver has "found" another 8-1, that shows "regular schedule" in the guide, but which is FOX 8 (the correct one, on channel 29). (Ditto for "another" 26-1 (ABC26) and 38-1 (CW38).

I've been checking to see if this problem is resolved each morning, and when it's not, I've been replacing my season passes on 8-1, 26-1, and 38-1 with manual time-based recordings on the "found" versions.

I watched the Saints game yesterday on the "found" 8-1 and had several dropouts.


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## Cmmsh (Jan 2, 2007)

The audio dropout problem -- at least here in New Orleans -- is not because of 6.3. I am not running 6.3, and I have the same problem.


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## Cmmsh (Jan 2, 2007)

Also, the good thing about the Saints games -- at least for Super Fan subscribers -- is that for the past 10 weeks or so, we have been able to watch the HD broadcasts on the DirecTV channel (719-728). Unfortunately, I don't think they will exist for the playoffs.


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## Budget_HT (Jan 2, 2001)

Cmmsh said:


> The audio dropout problem -- at least here in New Orleans -- is not because of 6.3. I am not running 6.3, and I have the same problem.


Please describe your audio dropout problem. There is one that is clearly a 6.3a issue and there are others that have been around pre-6.3, sometimes caused by OTA reception problems.


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## Cmmsh (Jan 2, 2007)

If it is because of my antenna, you would not know it by the picture.

The problem I receive is I lose sound for about two to five seconds at a time about once per minute. It doesn't seem to happen much during local programming, rather network shows at night.

And like I said, the picture doesn't seem to pixellate or be affected in any way when the audio drops.

I am fairly new to all this, though, so you tell me if you think it is an antenna problem.


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

Cmmsh said:


> If it is because of my antenna, you would not know it by the picture.
> 
> The problem I receive is I lose sound for about two to five seconds at a time about once per minute. It doesn't seem to happen much during local programming, rather network shows at night.
> 
> ...


This does not fit the pattern of the 6.3a dropout problem.

For one thing, it's way too frequent. Five seconds of audio dropout every minute!!  Yikes! That's entirely unwatchable!

The dropout bug related to 6.3a is characterized by dropouts ranging any duration from 1 second to nearly 60 seconds. They occur once or twice per hour. A slight one-frame pixilization (that's easy to miss) coincides with the restoration of the sound. The "6.3a related" dropouts happen almost exclusively on FOX affiliates, delivered via OTA or Satellite. The problem was, in fact, traced to some slight incompatibility between a hardware interface library in 6.3a and a make/model of HDTV switcher that FOX affiliates have standardized on. This switcher was also used by a smattering of non-FOX HDTV stations but none in New Orleans. WVUE (FOX8) is the only New Orleans channel that uses it. This issue has been reportedly fixed (or vastly improved) in 6.3b.

Your dropout sounds like something else. However, the total lack of picture corruption suggests that your antenna is fine.

My money is on the interface between your HR10 and your AV Receiver.

I assume you are using the optical output from your HR10 to an optical input on your AV receiver.

Temporarily try the analog audio outputs. If that fixes the problem, try replacing your optical cable.


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## Cmmsh (Jan 2, 2007)

I have learned much from reading this forum, and the personal messages I have received have been very helpful. Yes, I am using optical output to my receiver.

Thanks again to all who have responded to me. Just hope everything is resolved before Fox shows' premieres and NFL playoffs.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

Still not resolved for Fox KXLT in the Mason City, Austin, Rochester, MN market.


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## rogo (Dec 10, 1999)

So who is "fixing" this? DirecTV? I mean this is beyond stupid.

Do we need to escalate this through connections at Tivo?

And if we wish to call DirecTV to add to the litany of complaints, who should we ask for?


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

Finally some progress! ABC and CW (26 and 38) in New Orleans are now working fine, only FOX is still screwed up.

Edit: 2 minutes later FOX is working. All is good in N.O. HD wise, except that NBC still isnt broadcasting in HD more than a year after Katrina.


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

starcms said:


> Finally some progress! ABC and CW (26 and 38) in New Orleans are now working fine, only FOX is still screwed up.
> 
> Edit: 2 minutes later FOX is working. All is good in N.O. HD wise, except that NBC still isnt broadcasting in HD more than a year after Katrina.


+1.

New Orleans is now fixed.

Now to delete the manually scanned clutter out of my EPG...


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## tonyquan (Feb 26, 2003)

This is (finally) fixed for the San Francisco Bay Area. 2-1 (KTVU) is showing up correctly.


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## Michael1025 (Nov 26, 2006)

Fixed for me (New Orleans). However, I still am running 6.3a (with audio dropouts). Anyone in NO get the 6.3b download yet? Any way to force this?


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## Fish Man (Mar 4, 2002)

Michael1025 said:


> Fixed for me (New Orleans). However, I still am running 6.3a (with audio dropouts). Anyone in NO get the 6.3b download yet? Any way to force this?


I was forcing calls every day trying to get 6.3b until I read in other threads how 6.3b makes the spontaneous reboots much worse! 

So I guess, given the choice, I'll take the dropouts over reboots. 

"Only" 3 dropouts during the Sugar Bowl last night.


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## starcms (Dec 24, 2006)

Fish Man said:


> "Only" 3 dropouts during the Sugar Bowl last night.


I didn't even get the opportunity to watch the Sugar Bowl last night in HD... being at the game is a little different, no dropouts too


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

When this happened I noticed my OTA fox channel was saying signal not found or whatever it says.... It was KXLTDT 47.1. After doing a re-scan it found KXLT-DT 47. 1. The only noticable difference was the DASH. So still as of today I have two 47.1 in my all channels list. One is KXLTDT and one is KXLT-DT. KTXL-DT gives me my Fox signal back but no guide data. KXLTDT gives me the original error message about no signal but gets the guide data. I am guessing this is the same thing many have seen but mine still hasn't fixed itself.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

So is this fixed for like pretty much everyone? My market is DMA 153. I don't see it EVER getting fixed. Wondering if anyone else is still reporting this problem or am I the lucky one errrr unlucky one.


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## Cmmsh (Jan 2, 2007)

Ahhh, no wonder why the Sugar Bowl didn't record correctly on 8.1(.1 ha ha).


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## jhimmel (Dec 27, 2002)

They finally fixed 11.1 and 11.2 in NY.
I erased my duplicate scanned 11.x channels and rescanned and all is well.

Jim H.


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## whsbuss (Dec 16, 2002)

jhimmel said:


> They finally fixed 11.1 and 11.2 in NY.
> I erased my duplicate scanned 11.x channels and rescanned and all is well.
> 
> Jim H.


I have one local PBS channel in Philly that is still screwed up. How did you erase the old channels? When I tried the Clear and Rescan OTA (6.3a) the old channels are still there.


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## RRRoamer (Jan 7, 2007)

Thank God it is not just me! I first noticed this problem last week when I rescanned after installing a MC 4228 outdoor antenna. My HR10-250 had several channels either screwed up (wrong channel vs. the guild data) or missing (no signal). My TV with it's built in OTA receiver worked perfectly.

Thankfully, the channels that were screwed up were not channels I watched much anyway, so I figured I could wait until it was resolved.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

Why is it taking them so long to get this fixed across the board? I emailed them and now they want me to call because it is too hard to read and understand email. I guess if I had the time to be on hold and talk to confused people all day I would make that call. How frustrating.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

It would be nice (for us still having the issue) if we had just one tech person's ID number so we could all reference the same person so the same guy/girl could be working on this instead of 300 different people getting the story (at Directv) from 1000 different customers. I have a feeling their tracking system isn't very solid. I am curious to know what tracking system they use. (for another thread)


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## Tivo10747 (Dec 11, 2004)

WVLADT channel 33-1 in Baton Rouge still has the problem. When rescanning it comes up as WVLA-DT with no guide data. I tried to report it to D* yesterday. The CSR wanted to schedule a tech to come out and reformat both of my HR10's. I politely declined and hung up.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

Anyone else still having this issue? As of today my Fox affiliate still has two entries in the guide. One has guide data with no signal, the other duplicate has no guide data still and receives the signal. Directv said they would look into it (this was a week ago)


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

You may want to clear all of your off-air channels and then re-scan for them...


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

Yes I have tried that as of noonish today and have been trying it every other day since this problem started in mid December. I have also re-ran guided setup to turn off OTA and then re-ran it again to re-add. No matter what I have tried I still have two 47.1 KXLTDT (one shows up KXLT-DT). One without guide data and a signal and one with guide data and no signal. So I await work from Directv on them fixing this issue for my area. :-(


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## BrettStah (Nov 12, 2000)

Markman07 said:


> Yes I have tried that as of noonish today and have been trying it every other day since this problem started in mid December. I have also re-ran guided setup to turn off OTA and then re-ran it again to re-add. No matter what I have tried I still have two 47.1 KXLTDT (one shows up KXLT-DT). One without guide data and a signal and one with guide data and no signal. So I await work from Directv on them fixing this issue for my area. :-(


Not sure if the guided setup includes this, but if so ignore. Have you tried choosing different primary and secondary areas for the OTA channels, and then changing back to your real areas?


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

BrettStah said:


> Not sure if the guided setup includes this, but if so ignore. Have you tried choosing different primary and secondary areas for the OTA channels, and then changing back to your real areas?


Yep another thing I had tried! Besides re-installing the OS (3.1 or 6.3b) I think I have tried everything. So my thinking is that it is still on Directv's end. My manual recording skills at least are pretty much perfect now.


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## whsbuss (Dec 16, 2002)

Markman07 said:


> Yep another thing I had tried! Besides re-installing the OS (3.1 or 6.3b) I think I have tried everything. So my thinking is that it is still on Directv's end. My manual recording skills at least are pretty much perfect now.


Same issue here in the Philly area. Our PBS station recently (2 months ago) changed their UHF freq. I cleared OTA channels are re-scanned. It found the new channels, but one is still not showing guide data. Plus there is multiples.


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