View Full Version : Newbie - RCN Chicago Digital Cable tuner wanted


josuff36
02-29-08, 10:12 PM
Hi.

I’m a newbie, so bear with me.

My current setup was as follows, with Vista Premium:

RCN cable (non-digital) split
Splitter 1 to cable modem
Splitter 2 to back of PC analog tuner card
CAT5 from modem to router
CAT5 from PC NIC to router
CAT5 from router to 360 extender

I was able to watch, record, pause, etc live TV as well as watch movies, listen to music, view photos, etc through MCE. Vista’s MCE worked great and things were good.

Then RCN decide to switch over to digital, and it went downhill fast. To keep the bedroom TV up-and-running, I rented an STB. But for my living room TV, I wanted to continue to use MCE / extender. But Vista doesn’t handle digital. So I did some research and found the HD HomeRun. I thought it was supposed to allow me to use MCE by changing the digital signal to analog. I hooked everything up but was only able to get 30 channels (listed as digital antenna on the SiliconDust website).

Is there another product out there that can convert the digital signal to analog? I really like the Vista interface and don’t want to give it up. I know I can still use it for music, pics, movies, etc, but the real purpose of the extender was so my wife and I could record TV shows. If I’m unable to convert the digital signal so MCE can understand it, then MCE is no longer worth anything because it’s DVR capabilities are gone.

As a side note, I’m not sure of the QAM / encrypted / clear QAM terminology but I did see a post the said RCN Chicago was going to go full encrypted QAM. I also saw a post that stated the local HD channels, which are the only ones I was able to pick up with the HomeRun. Am I not able to get the encrypted channels through the HDHR?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Joe

Luke M
03-01-08, 12:46 AM
As you discovered, most of the digital channels are encrypted. To get them, you have to use a rented cable box (with a PC card that can send it channel change requests via infrared).

Or, and I'm not seriously suggesting this, buy a completely new PC with CableCard support (the only way to get it since aftermarket CableCard add-ons are forbidden by the cable industry) and rent CableCards.