KXTV 10 ABC - Sacramento Local HD Problems

I receive KXTV 10 ABC, as well, but what you describe, to yours isn't happening to mine. You might try checking out all of your connections to see if any are loose or damaged. I know that it's been hot lately, so, that might be a cause, but not likely. I'm wondering if you have a clear view of the sky, and not obstructed.

I live in the same area as the original poster and have noticed this problem with KXTV for a couple of weeks.  We had the same problem last year.  I called Directv on 4/2/2012 and apparently this is a known issue that KXTV has at their end.  They are aware of the issue but no ETA when the problem will be solved.  It makes shows on ABC almost unwatchable.

Bit out of date here.

The problem has been ongoing for 3 years now.  It is off and on, but i notice the issue at least once a week on recorded and live shows.  Luckily I have an antenna hooked up and can verify that during live broadcasts the OTA feed is fine, but the Directv feed is not.  I have emailed back and forth with KXTV a few times and they usually fix the problem right away when you can contact someone while the problem is going on.  I also know that the KXTV signal is not sent fiber to directv, rather picked up OTA by Directv.

Several other posts here about recent KXTV audio issues. Be sure to contact both DirecTV and KXTV about the problem. 

I usually send a quick email to both KXTV and Directv.  The same problem for 3 years is getting very annoying.  The problem is less frequent, but still there.  Last time I noticed it was Sunday during the Boston and Miami NBA game.  Very slow frame rate on the picture and pixelation.  OTA feed with perfect.

The fact that you can contact the station and they can fix the problem while it's going on, and also that they seem to accept the problem is at "their end", is pretty definitive. They obviously know what is going on. My guess is that there is something wrong with the signal that causes the DirecTV conversion from the MPEG-2 encoding used for OTA to the MPEG-4 encoding used by DirecTV to have problems.  Maybe a piece of equipment at the station that really needs to be replaced because it drifts "out of spec"? 

Dear Frustrated Viewers, 

The current problem with KXTV's signal through DirecTV is not related to any issue dealt with in the past.  For nearly 4 weeks now, our MPEG-2 OTA signal has been solid throughout our coverage area, but DirecTV's relay of same has been faulty.  No other satellite or cable providers have experienced similar issues with the KXTV OTA signal in this time frame.  

KXTV broadcasts HD and SD signals using a Harris Flexicoder.  The Harris Flexicoder is an MPEG-2 only encoder.  KXTV does not at this time have any plans to broadcast using the MPEG-4 protocol.  

DIrecTV captures the KXTV signal via antenna reception.  There is no dedicated media or pipeline from our facility to the Sacramento DirecTV facility.  Using a VHF antenna, the Sacramento head-end of DirecTV receives the KXTV signal off-air and, using captive distribution equipment, delvers the revealed channels to their own uplink facility.

We have verified our signal is getting to the vicinity of DirecTV's head-end without issue.  We continue to monitor a co-located return path for quality issues--of which we have seen none.  We receive many dozens of justifiably angry emails and calls every day from DirecTV customers desiring resolution.  

Frankly, this issue is, and always has been, out of our hands.  Our corporate superiors are investigating both the circumstances of this issue and determining our path forward with regard to our product as distributed by DirecTV.  

While we have no wish to point fingers or assign blame, our output has not changed in recent months and we have had no equipment failures in the RF path.

Thank you for your time and feedback,

Kalo Alexandra

KXTV Maintenance Staff, Mornings

Again, I too am in the Sacramento area viewing, and still am not having any and I repeat any issues at all with any channels being broadcast through Directv. I've been with Directv, for over 10 years now, and the only time I have any disruption is when we have severe weather. Otherwise, no issues at all.

Good to see some official action by Directv and KXTV.  I still find it hard to believe that the "... issue is, and always has been, out of our hands."  Either way it appears that a fix is forthcoming.

MPEG-2 encoding seems a bit out of date, considering Directv only uses MEPG-4 and blu-ray is MPEG-4.  I believe ESPN upgraded to MPEG-4 recently.  Upgrading to an MPEG-4 encoder and broadcast seems like a logical step and hopefully sooner than later.

One would think that Kalo would be in contact with their Directv contact instead of posting a "I wash my hands" message.

That is good you have not had any issues, other than severe weather.  I only have problems with HD, with the SD channel being solid. 

Do you view the HD or SD local channels?  Do you use the AM21 Off-air tuner for your locals? 

lose2win, I'm betting you may need to have your dish alignment rechecked. With the HD, it's has to be more exact then with the SD signal.

It has been done twice.  All HD signals are 80's and 90's, SD signals are 90's. 

All the off-air transmissions are MPEG-2, the off-air standard was developed before MPEG-4 was widely available.

I don't know exactly what is going on with this station. DirecTV uses the same equipment for all the transcoding so if there were a problem with the equipment you would expect all channels to be affected.

Eventually this will be sorted out, wherever the problem is. Just to note however, we have seen in the past stations deny there was anything wrong with their signal only for it to prove otherwise. Just because the signal is perfect in MPEG-2 does not means that there isn't something in the signal that causes problems in the MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 transition, we've seen those before. We've also seen situations where just one of the DirecTV encoders was not set up correctly, and so only one station was affected.