Montreal cable and HDTV

[Matthew Osborne]

On Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:45:32 Kevin Vahey
<kvahey@comcast.net> wrote:

> In Montreal for the NHL All Star Game and I have
> noticed something odd
> on Videotron cable.
> 
> For the US networks in analog they are picking up
> 3-5 and 22 out of
> Burlington-Plattsburg but when you go to HD they are
> picking up WBZ,
> WHDH and WXYZ Detroit (Detroit??)  PBS is WGBH and
> FOX is 44 analog
> and HD is from Rochester.
> 
> I am wondering if they are having a problem getting
> DTV over the air
> and will they just switch to bird feeds come next
> month?
> 
> That would be a huge advertising blow to the Vermont
> outlets.

>From what I understand, they could very well be having
problems getting the Burlington/Plattsburgh DTV
signals right now.  AFAIK, the only DTV stations up
there on the air at or even close to full power are
WPTZ-DT, WETK-DT and WFFF-DT.  WCAX is currently
broadcasting on temporary channel 53 (On Feb 19, they
will be moving to 22, WVNY's analog channel), WVNY's
DTV signal is on VHF channel 13, and I don't think
WCFE-DT (transmitting from Lyon Mountain just outside
Plattsburgh NY) is even on the air right now (they
suffered a major fire at their transmitter site
recently; last I heard they were broadcasting an SD
only feed on one of WCAX-DT's sub channels).  I know
that WVNY-DT is at severely reduced power right now to
protect WNYT-TV Albany's analog signal, and I would
think that WCAX's temporary setup on channel 53 is
also not running at full power.  Any
corrections/updates anyone may have for that info
would be appreciated, as some of this data may be
outdated by now.
    Hopefully after Feb 19 this situation will improve
dramatically.

                              Matt Osborne
                              Schenectady, NY