One of the three major cable providers in Western Pennsylvania came to agreement yesterday with Sinclair Broadcasting -- owner of WPGH Fox 53, which will be showing the Super Bowl in the Pittsburgh area -- and already has begun carrying the station's high definition signal as part of its regular lineup of channels.

Armstrong Cable customers can view Fox in high definition on Channel 109. Armstrong serves Butler, Cranberry, Connellsville, Grove City and Zelienople. About 125,000 viewers will be affected.

Sinclair and the major cable providers have been involved in negotiations for some time with the goal of coming to agreement before the Feb. 6 Super Bowl.

As yet, the agreement with Armstrong has had no affect on Comcast, which serves the city of Pittsburgh, and Adelphia, the major provider in the southern suburbs.

Comcast, the region's largest provider, issued this statement:

"Comcast has secured agreements with hundreds of broadcast television stations all across the country, encompassing dozens of television station ownership groups, in order to provide Comcast customers with local broadcast stations' HD signals.

"Comcast has made numerous proposals to Sinclair consistent with what has been offered and accepted by other broadcast television stations in Pittsburgh and throughout the country.

"We remain open to continued discussions with Sinclair in the hopes that we may secure the rights to bring the WPGH Fox 53 HD signal to our customers."

Adelphia also said it was in continuing negotiations.

For its part, WPGH Fox 53 is advising viewers they can pick up the station's HD signal by turning to Channel 43, but it's a far more difficult process than the station suggests.

In a crawl that runs during some of the station's HD programming, Fox tells viewers the following:

"This Fox station brings you this program and the Super Bowl in HDTV for free on our "Over the Air" digital channel 43."

The announcement makes it sound as if all viewers need do is turn to Channel 43 to enjoy the extreme clarity of high definition television. It takes a lot more than that.

For starters, a high definition television set is required. If the set is not equipped with an HD receiver, and most are not, a receiver and antenna must also be purchased and hooked up.

A check at one of the major electronic chain stores in the area indicated that a tuner costs about $250 to $300. An antenna costs about $15.

Even then, there's no guarantee the signal can be received because of Pittsburgh's topography.

Kerry Check, the director of engineering for WPGH and WCWB, suggested to viewers who want to pick up the HD feed on Channel 43 that placement of the set is important.

"Some people say 'I can't get your station.' I tell them if they move the TV to another place in their house, they'll probably be able to pick it up."