receiving local hd stations with the Panasonic TH-50PX75U

[cembros]

ok so heres the problem, i live in tallahassee florida and the criminals incharge of the city decided to grant comcast monopoly control over local hd broadcast in exchange for comcast providing broadcasting equpiment to the city. This means that if you have any service other than comcast (direct tv in this case) you cannot receive local hd programing. Does anyone know if there is any way to receive local hd in this situation without using an HD over the air antenna. The tv being used is a Panasonic TH-50PX75U along with direct tv hd. Any advice is appreciated

[WickyWoo]

no, you need to set up an antenna

And get a class action lawsuit moving

[cembros]

ya theres defiently a movement to change that, it is absoulty criminal. If any priviate entities were to conduct their business is this manner would be prosecuted under anti trust laws. I have heard that tv's with a QAM tuner can receive hd broadcast just by plugging in the coax, but i am unfimiliar with the technology

[Borris]

Theres a few things you can do...
First, you can get the local HD signals via digital antenna. Most broadcasters will tell you that this provides the best picture as it does not get compressed before going through the Comcast cable line.

Or, you can contact your local stations and obtain a waiver to receive network HD signals via your current provider (each station has these forms). Once waived by a station (say your local NBC station), you'll be able to fax that form to your provider (such as Direct TV or Dish) and they will program access to either another regional HD such as WTVJ in Miami or they'll program access to both WNBC in New York as well as KNBC in Los Angeles (mind you I don't know the exact regional station they'd give you as this is just an example). I work at a TV station in Dallas and have delt with this sort of thing before when we first had satellite distribution and cable companies still had gov't-granted monopolies.

Hope this helps.

[cembros]

thank you borris, im going to try that and ill let you know how that goes. Just one question though will the singnals then come in as though they were standard channels ie. show up in the guide, with THe picture looked great, but it stuttered throughout the whole game, the unit was bulky and unnattrictive, and one anttena broke off a day later. Returned it the next day

[Borris]

Originally Posted by cembros

thank you borris, im going to try that and ill let you know how that goes. Just one question though will the singnals then come in as though they were standard channels ie. show up in the guide, with THe picture looked great, but it stuttered throughout the whole game, the unit was bulky and unnattrictive, and one anttena broke off a day later. Returned it the next day

Direct TV has separate channels dedicated for this purpose (sorry, I don't remember where they are located as I don't use them). One thing that you should know about the waivers...they were originally intended for areas that aren't serviced by the cable provider and were unable to get the over-the-air signal due to topographic/geographic limitations (sometimes they are hard to get). You might want to say [exaggerate the truth] when you call the station to request a waiver and suggest that the over-the-air signal is not clearly viewable to you. In the mean time, also call Direct TV and tell them your situation and see what they have to say. Good luck on this, but it looks like you'll need to catch the game at a bar tonight.

[elwaylite]

I always set up an antenna in the attic as a backup(nice during hurricanes). I am about 40 miles from the local towers and am getting low 90's on my Panny 85u and a Channelmaster 8020.