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DirecTV fails DTV Test in Hartford/New Haven

What are you talking about? DirectTV rebroadcasts local channels. It has noting to do with the switch to digital TV. It already is a digital retransmission of local stations. always has been.
 
Direct and Dish have local "points of presence" (POPs) where all the local channels are received and then sent by fiber to the services' respective headends (which I think are both in Denver).

Depending on a whole bunch of factors, the satellite services might be receiving each individual station over-the-air analog, over-the-air digital, or by fiber or microwave directly from the studio, or by some combination thereof.

From what Marc is saying, it sounds as though Direct is still using OTA reception of some analog signals at its Hartford-New Haven POP. The stations are probably well aware of this, and have plans to change that by next month (either by switching to a downconverted over-the-air DTV feed, or by providing a direct fiber or microwave link.)

One of the reasons we're running all these tests is to make sure issues like this are worked out now, rather than on the morning of Feb. 18.
 
This is the exact reason I have one TV dedicated to OTA and fitted with a converter box.

Every once in awhile something happens to the DirecTV local channel feed, and when that happens I can readily switch to the backup if the show is important enough (usually a sports feed).
 
Same story in market after market. DirecTV's dragging their feet getting the digital signals implemented since it actually costs them money to install the equipment at local headends where OTA reception is required. From what I've heard they're only working on the issue in markets where people are calling and really complaining.
 
Not true. DirecTV has a schedule for converting in every market where analog is being used for pick up and it's going according to schedule now. All markets will be upgraded by the switch as planned.
 
MarcB said:
DirecTV failed the DTV Test in Hartford/New Haven. My parents have it. They forgot about the test until 7:33PM last night, but we saw WFSB/3 was on, WTNH/8 was off, WUVN/18 was on, and WTXX/20 was off. Like I said because we forgot about the test we didn't get to check 24, 30, 59, or 61.
Click to expand...

Perhaps the title of this thread should be changed to:
MarcB's Parents Fail DTV Test in Hartford/New Haven
 
When is the next test (and don't say 2/17/2009, I already know about that one), I somehow never find out about these until long after. I have everything switchable here to bounce from Dish Network to Analog to digital, so it's really just a curiosity.
 
I didn't even notice the test as I was watching a different channel at the time. My question is, I thought both cable and satellite providers acquired feeds of local signals via microwave? Do DirecTV and Dish maintain uplinks all over the country just to offer local stations or do they pool resources of some type?
 
Bill DeFelice said:
I didn't even notice the test as I was watching a different channel at the time. My question is, I thought both cable and satellite providers acquired feeds of local signals via microwave? Do DirecTV and Dish maintain uplinks all over the country just to offer local stations or do they pool resources of some type?
Click to expand...

There are a few markets where Direct and Dish share a POP. In most places, they each operate their own. They're commonly located either at a transmitter site (where they usually lease a few racks worth of space from a broadcaster) or even, sometimes, at one station's studio. And as I noted earlier, they acquire signals in any of three ways - direct OTA, fiber or (least often) microwave.

The POPs aren't "uplinks," per se, because they feed the local market's signals back to Dish and Direct master control via fiber, not via satellite. Everything is uplinked from a central location - I think it's Denver for both services.
 
DirecTV is actually "upgrading" their analog receive sites with ATSC tuners. So DirecTV will have two "local in local" sites per market. One for HD "downconverted" and one for HD. Dish Network also is building completley seperate "sites" if you will for HD service. They haven't changed how theyre doing SD reception, so I am willing to believe it's just a downconverted HD feed for SD service.

For DirecTV Hartford, I am pretty sure the receive location is the same building as ClearChannel on Columbus Blvd. It could have changed. Dish network *might* be up on Rattlesnake. Again it's pure speculation on Dish.
 
I think the Buffalo listing under Boston is a typo. I know this because I did a search on Google Maps, and I found a 300 Bent St in Cambridge, MA, but not in Buffalo. I think they just made that mistake because it comes alphabetically right before Buffalo.
 
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