Every so often throughout the day (watching football and the WS)

I thought you hated football?

I thought you hated football?

I hate PROFESSIONAL football.
I can tolerate College Football. No bloated egos, love the bands and half time shows.
And on Saturdays, you get the Colleges.

Hey everyone.

I just moved out here from NYC and am trying to figure out what to do for HDTV. I've had a look at the websites of Cox and DirecTV and have also had a glance at the channel offerings. It looks to me like DirecTV is the way to go for the most quality HD channels in the area. I want the basics, but am also keen on HDnet and HDnet Movies. I have no experience with either of these companies, nor with satellite (I had Time Warner Cable before).

If I want to get into DirecTV, are there any big things I should be aware of that may not seem obvious. I have a patio that I can set a tripod on that faces south. Is the D* hd/dvr box worth it's price. I know from experience that I prefer the two tuners. Also, do you have to run a cable from the dish to the box or do they have wireless? Any advice is much appreciated?

One more question is who is a good internet provider? Just from my own experience, cable would be my first choice, but I'm not familiar with Cox.

Thanks,
Casey

Hey everyone.

I just moved out here from NYC and am trying to figure out what to do for HDTV. I've had a look at the websites of Cox and DirecTV and have also had a glance at the channel offerings. It looks to me like DirecTV is the way to go for the most quality HD channels in the area. I want the basics, but am also keen on HDnet and HDnet Movies. I have no experience with either of these companies, nor with satellite (I had Time Warner Cable before).

If I want to get into DirecTV, are there any big things I should be aware of that may not seem obvious. I have a patio that I can set a tripod on that faces south. Is the D* hd/dvr box worth it's price. I know from experience that I prefer the two tuners. Also, do you have to run a cable from the dish to the box or do they have wireless? Any advice is much appreciated?

One more question is who is a good internet provider? Just from my own experience, cable would be my first choice, but I'm not familiar with Cox.

Thanks,
Casey

Hi Casey.
I lived in Henderson for about seven years before moving here to Pahrump about a year and a half ago. I have had D* for about ten years now and find that it provides me with what I find to be a great HD picture. Some on this board will call D* HD-lite, but I've talked to some on this board who say the HD quality is as good as OTA.
First of all, for everything you ever wanted to know about D* HD, try

http://www.dbstalk.com/forumdisplay.php?f=112

Now as to your situation:
Wireless is not possible. For the HR20/21 dvrs, you need to have two cables run from the dish to the receiver. For the non-dvd H20/21 receiver, you only need one cable since it only has a single tuner. As far as using a tripod, I don't think that would be dependable enough to provide a stable platform, and believe me, when trying to snare five satellites, the aiming of the dish is critical. Unless you can mount the dish on the side of your apt building an aleternative would be, if you can, to secure a pole in the ground. That would be your best option for a stable dish mount. Some people have stated that they have used a pole mounted in a cement filled container, but the installer may have a problem with that as the 5 lnb dish is much bigger and heavier than the old three lnb dish.

As far as internet service, I would go with Cox. That is what I had in Henderson, but out here, all I can get is WildBlue--a sat based service, and boy do I miss the speed of cable.

I can't offer an opinion or comparison to Cox for tv service, but if you go through this forum, you will find everything from fanboys to Cox haters. You will have to make your own decision on that. But in the event that you can't get a good solution for mounting a dish, Cox may be your only choice.

And welcome to Nevada,
Rick

I lived in Henderson for about seven years before moving here to Pahrump about a year and a half ago.
...
[O]ut here, all I can get is WildBlue--a sat based service, and boy do I miss the speed of cable.


That's what the WildBlue dealers want you to think. I cringe every time a see a WildBlue dish installed at the house of someone that's clearly in the CMA cable or AT&T DSL service area.

Even if you can't get DSL or cable, there's AT&T WiFi or fixed wireless providers like Keyon or Air-Internet.

I read a while back that KVBC was replacing equipment that was causing that constant audio studder on their HD signal. I was watching tonight ( via D*) and it seems the problem is still there in abundance. As before, I still cannot watch that channel in HD. If they cannot get their gear working after all this time I think they should grant everyone waivers for network feeds. (dream on)

That's what the WildBlue dealers want you to think. I cringe every time a see a WildBlue dish installed at the house of someone that's clearly in the CMA cable or AT&T DSL service area.

Even if you can't get DSL or cable, there's AT&T WiFi or fixed wireless providers like Keyon or Air-Internet.

When we were building our house, we checked with Air-Internet. They refused to even come out to look at our location. They said they had too many problems in Artesia and weren't doing any more installs in the area. I told them that the house next door had their service and we had a better line of sight than they did, and even offered to pay for an installation even if it didn't work. No luck. (What's funny is that they had to come out and raise our neighbor's antenna when our roof went up!)
At that time, we didn't know about Keyon and we have no cable out here. ATT&T dsl is still not available at our address.
We have about eight months to go on our two year commitment with WildBlue and have already made inquiries with Keyon and will probably go with them when our contract is over. Maybe there will be other options at that time as well.

The audio dropout problem on NBC-HD is still there. But it's worse, because now it's accompanied by "streaking" on the left side of the picture whenever an audio dropout occurs.
I can't believe that such poor quality control is going on at KNBC. But just as their on-air news, weather and local interest, personalities have no talent, so too apparently do their engineers

The audio dropout problem on NBC-HD is still there. But it's worse, because now it's accompanied by "streaking" on the left side of the picture whenever an audio dropout occurs.
I can't believe that such poor quality control is going on at KNBC. But just as their on-air news, weather and local interest, personalities have no talent, so too apparently do their engineers

Is there a reason why I'm not experiencing any of these problems? I've heard several different complaints about this but I haven't had the displeasure of bad audio that others have.

On another note from KLAS' HD 11pm sports show, I found it hard to believe while they ran footage from today's Colts/Patriots game that it was presented in 4:3 SD...and very degraded SD at that. I could even see diagonal interference lines running their way up and down the picture. Same went for the subsequent game rundown of the Chargers/Vikings game. What gives? Ironically, both games were broadcast on KLAS...hmmmmm.

Isn't it time for more Cox "scoop" info from Vegggas?

Is there a reason why I'm not experiencing any of these problems? I've heard several different complaints about this but I haven't had the displeasure of bad audio that others have.

On another note from KLAS' HD 11pm sports show, I found it hard to believe while they ran footage from today's Colts/Patriots game that it was presented in 4:3 SD...and very degraded SD at that. I could even see diagonal interference lines running their way up and down the picture. Same went for the subsequent game rundown of the Chargers/Vikings game. What gives? Ironically, both games were broadcast on KLAS...hmmmmm.

Some equipment is more sensitive to this type stuff then others.

The audio dropout problem on NBC-HD is still there. But it's worse, because now it's accompanied by "streaking" on the left side of the picture whenever an audio dropout occurs.
I can't believe that such poor quality control is going on at KNBC. But just as their on-air news, weather and local interest, personalities have no talent, so too apparently do their engineers

I emailed KVBC engineering and this was their response:

Thanks for the email,

It appears to be our Nielsen encoder which inserts ratings data. It will be bypassed this morning after 10am.

Mark

I haven't watched since this early this morning so I'm not sure if it's stopped or not.

I emailed KVBC engineering and this was their response:

Thanks for the email,

It appears to be our Nielsen encoder which inserts ratings data. It will be bypassed this morning after 10am.

Mark

I haven't watched since this early this morning so I'm not sure if it's stopped or not.
I watched their complete primetime lineup this evening, just to see if the problem WAS indeed fixed. IT WAS. Audio and video proceeded without intrerruption or interference. What bothers me, is that they apparently would have done nothing unless viewers like us complained about it. Meanwhile the problem continued all day yesterday, and right through the Sunday Night Football telecast. Aren't any of the engineers at KVBC on duty on weekends? And if they knew what the problem was, why did they wait until 10AM to fix it?

Isn't it time for more Cox "scoop" info from Vegggas?

vegggas's information has been spot on since i've been following this thread, but i wouldn't blame him if he abandoned us. there is one poster that appeared to enjoy insulting vegggas every chance he had. now you have to find out when it happens instead of preparing for an event before it happens.
i would like knowing cox's future plans as much as you do, but thanks to our local cox cynic, vegggas hasn't been back for a while.

vegggas's information has been spot on since i've been following this thread, but i wouldn't blame him if he abandoned us. there is one poster that appeared to enjoy insulting vegggas every chance he had. now you have to find out when it happens instead of preparing for an event before it happens.
i would like knowing cox's future plans as much as you do, but thanks to our local cox cynic, vegggas hasn't been back for a while.

Or maybe nothing new is coming. They did just recently add new channels. I bet that's it until next year.

I've been working out of town for a while and just got back last week. Not having broadband access has limited my ability to read and post on AVS while I was away, and I've yet to talk to my social network to find out the scoop on upcoming events.
Looking at the system, I've noted that the CW HD is still in testing (several months now) and some of the recorded shows I have are randomly not in HD and some have had audio problems, etc. My guess they are waiting for the channel to be more stable before launching to the public. There are the other HD nets not able to be mentioned due to non-carriage deals still on the system. I can see NHL has been added and NBAHD was showing on MOJO last night. Add that to the news that InDemand networks will be showing the HD games for all the sports packages soon and you will be able to see all your HD sports based on whatever sports package or tier you get.
There are a variety of national HD channels coming soon and are being launched in various markets for testing. They are on track to launch up to 50 HD channels before the end of the year across all their systems as the infrastructure is getting finailzed. I see in my neighborhood, they have completed the upgrades to expand the bandwidth from 750 to 860Mhz and the rest of the valley will come online and be tweaked as the weeks progress.
HD Video On Demand has been launched and is working for HD movies with the library filling up in coming weeks. A ton of SD VOD has been added, including the fear.net channel movies and other Halloween type monster movies (during Halloween week) along with libraries from RHI, TBS,TCM and TNT.
This is, of course, all speculation based on what I see on my system. It won't be until the weekend before I get the chance to network with the people in the know.

vegggas

Thanks Vegggas, look forward to your continued updates.

there is one poster that appeared to enjoy insulting vegggas every chance he had. but thanks to our local cox cynic, vegggas hasn't been back for a while.
If you're referring to me as the "local cox cynic", I gladly accept that name. Vegggas has been invaluable,in posting information about Cox' future plans. However;
1. His reported dates of "start ups" are very rarely accurate (although obviously well intended)
2. He NEVER finds fault with anything that Cox does. And when I and other forumites complain about Cox' service Vegggas always leaps to their defense, saying the equivalent of "Not their job,man".
That is a viewpoint I strongly disagree with. We pay COX, we do NOT pay each of the individual program providers. And that being the case, I believe that Cox must act as our ADVOCATE in all matters relating to programming and the difficulties we may encounter in receiving those programs. But they ARE NOT our advocates and frequently wash their hands of any problems and do NOT even alert the program providers that SOMETHING MAY just be wrong. One would think that Cox Communications has a helluva lot more clout with program providers than does any individual viewer. But NO, they simply "pass through" the signal to us, without regard for whether or not that signal is deficient in any way. And Vegggas is ALWAYS testifying for the defense of Cox. WHY?

Because, Word, your still wrong.
1. My dates are very close if not exactly quoted from public sources in the paper or trade magazines. There are exceptions however when there are unscheduled delays or a specific post someone printed from a year or so ago, where I was told at the end of the year, but the original message was intended for the end of the next year (2007). Hence the reasons nobody announces things anymore. It's far easier to make a big puffy nothing announcement of sometime in the future rather than get mauled over a specific timeline.
2. Yes, I do find fault with Cox on some things, but instead of incessantly whining about it on a public forum, I do something about it. I hand write (not a forum letter) to the public affairs address found on my bill and have had every problem resolved in a timely manner, OR I figured out where the source of the problem existed and went there to get my answers. I pay Cox to DELIVER MY CONTENT, both for broadband and video, and now very recently for phone service as well. If the services don't get to me, then I will complain to Cox. If I find an internet site that doesn't like Firefox as my browser instead of IE, I have no right or reason to complain to Cox for letting me get to that website.
Overall topic. Cox collects the signals as a MATV system (Master Antenna Tele-Vision System) and distributes them as a provided service. This service is provided so that you don't have to use an antenna, and as a bonus, they can pull in distant and exclusive stations. They are not a producer of content, but a distributer of content. It is a sad day once the distributers alter, change, filter or bychance engage in politically modifying the signal from the original source.
As with KVBC's long problem with their Dolby Digital dropout issue, just now being fixed, what else would you have suggested Cox do about it? They notified the station, the station was aware of the issue and it took them (KVBC) SEVERAL MONTHS to figure it out. Cox is not allowed to brandish sticks upon their heads to either hinder or encourage them to fix anything. It's people like Word that make cox and other providers reluctant to offer any "non-perfect" services, and even then they would complain about the content not always being in HD like A&EHD or TBS-HD. People screaming to get it and once they do, they complain that there's not enough HD, or the audio is not what they want, or they crop or stretch the picture. I guess it would be better if we asked Cox to remove the channel from the lineup until it is perfect, according to everyone's standards, and not let anyone watch the programming.
Now, as it appears with the CWHD, they have been having audio and sometimes HD problems for a long time. So, in Word's best involvement mode, Cox will not launch that channel until the CW fix their crap and have a period of time with MINIMAL FAUILURES. In the meantime, Word can complain to KVCW until they fix their crap and Cox can launch their service publicly, even with a few problems in their unmanned facility. In the meantime, I will enjoy their test HD feed of Reaper and Aliens in America, Smallville, etc. even with the sound dropouts, screeches and episodes sometimes shown in SD instead of HD. If I encounter a problem, I may go to the source and log a complaint, or just sit back and enjoy the programming that I can get.
nuff said - frosty beverage is empty
vegggas

Vegggas,
I don't want to prolong this conversation. And I won't. But I WILL say that you have confirmed every single criticism I offered. You may not feel or read it that way. But I DO.

I am a Center Ice subscriber and last night I was looking forward to watching the Buffalo-Florida game. However, the page that listed which game was on which channel, indicated that the game was on NHL Net rather than Center Ice. I could not find this channel in the Cox lineup.

Does anyone know whether we will be getting this channel? I'm sure I can get a more accurate answer from the knowledgable people on this board as opposed to calling Cox.

Thanks,

Hask

Did you eventually find NHLNetwork on channel 316?

vegggas

The audio dropout problem on NBC-HD is still there. But it's worse, because now it's accompanied by "streaking" on the left side of the picture whenever an audio dropout occurs.
I can't believe that such poor quality control is going on at KNBC. But just as their on-air news, weather and local interest, personalities have no talent, so too apparently do their engineers


Seems to be fixed. I watched "Chuck" on NBC this Monday and all looked fine to me.

Bravo, Vegggas, Bravo.

I, like vegggas, am privy to a lot of firsthand information regarding Cox here in LV. But, due to the tone of posts by one individual in this thread for the last 3 years, I stay away from posting entirely.

Try something interesting everyone: click on "Word Maestro" and select "Find more posts from..." him. Going back to the first posts he wrote in this thread and browsing forward, the negative tone and whining is intolerable. From topics like Cox, Sports packages, local broadcast issues, local news anchors, more Sports packages, and any other random item, I feel that any value he has added to this thread has been diminished many times over by all the negativity, and driven others away from wanting to participate as well, like me.

Word, I do have to admit that you have inspired one thing in me. Since you are so vocal about everything that bothers you, I am being vocal about one thing that bothers me: your incessant whining.

Television is a great thing. It gives an escape from our routine lives in 30 minute segments, 3 hour games, or 2 hour movies. But, I think that you, Word, need to step away from the TV and computer and ponder why you have so much anger and hostility for something that should be such a small portion of your existence.

I most certainly don't want to get in the middle of a war of attitudes here. But I do want to say how appreciative 99.9% of us are to get the little tidbits of information (both programming and technical) and the predictions regarding Cox. Thanks Vegggas!! And it's too bad that because of the negativity, trevor feels like it's not worth the hassle to post here anymore.

On a side note, but related...I've had the pleasure of meeting and working with Randy Black. You probably know him from the TV and radio commercials for the casinos in Mesquite. Here is a man that exudes a super positive attitude. No matter the day, he will always tell you that "today is the best day of his life". You can't help but be in a good mood around him. I believe that his positive energy is one of the reasons why he is so successful.

My point? Attitude is everything. Maybe a lesson can be learned by the paragraph above.

Off the soapbox and on to the fact that in the next two months, we should expect to see many more HD channels from Cox. Now that is something to cheer about!! A question though...Is there a chance that the HD On Demand service would include any of the premium content from HBO, Showtime, etc.?

But, I think that you, Word, need to step away from the TV and computer and ponder why you have so much anger and hostility for something that should be such a small portion of your existence.

Sorry if my attitudes annoy you. But (in my professional life) , I was BOTH a Chemistry teacher and a Registered Pharmacist. And in those two professions there is NO room for error. When I purchase a product or a service, I expect that purchase to fulfill my expectations. And those expectations are to be as precise, and if I may say, (as perfect) as is possible. That holds true for everything, and every service that I purchase from the biggest to the smallest of expenditures. The things that I have complained about on this forum are things that EVERBODY is probably dissatisfied with. The only difference between they and I, is that I give voice to my complaints through this forum (you call it whining) and am not reluctant to place blame or responsibility when and where I think it should be placed.
I make no attempt to be politically correct, and consequently, if that bothers some posters, so be it. Despite my criticisms of him, Vegggas seems to be hale, hearty and continuing to post.
And I am going to continue to be critical (and whine) when things don't satisfy me. And if you're reluctant to post "tidbits of information" because of my presence, I must be much more powerful a person than I ever thought I was. Think, if you will of how you are depriving the hungry users of Cox and the cable citizens of Las Vegas of your "inside information". How much better off they would be if they had some of those pearls of wisdom. Even if they DID NOT turn out to be accurate and timely. I suggest that anybody annoyed by my posts, scroll past them, without bothering to read them, thus sparing the reader any "upset" or uncomfortable feelings. And even if they read them, no-one need respond to them if they would prefer not to.
I am forced to continue to reside in this city because of my medical conditions. And not being loaded with money, I cannot relocate to another warm climate. But I would, if I could.
But things such as NOT keeping the programmers and the cable providers "feet to the fire" has resulted in Las Vegas being in reality a second rate city, with second rate citizenry. IMO, the citizenry should DEMAND that everything be as close to perfect as possible, ALL THE TIME. And when it's not, they SHOULD "whine" loud and long about it, until things are set right.

Word I guess what everyone is saying is that all you do is complain. Try to be positive and add something for once.

We all best be careful, or our little "city" post will be shut down just like the HD-DVD/Blue-Ray Forum.

I come here for the inside information, the sharing of knowledge and the opinions expressed by the community. I agree with both Demondave and Word, but the worst thing that can happen to this community forum would be for us all to get caught up in each other's opinions of our various view-points and loose track of the true reasons we come here.

Please continue to share knowledge and opinions. Be vocal for what you feel would benefit the community the most, and remember that this should be a forum for enjoyment, not one where our common bond (television) should be pushed to the background in favor of chest-puffing and ego-tripping.

If we all wanted that, we could turn on the news or a presidential debate, this is just about TV people. There are so many other, better causes out there to fight this hard over.

We all best be careful, or our little "city" post will be shut down just like the HD-DVD/Blue-Ray Forum.

I come here for the inside information, the sharing of knowledge and the opinions expressed by the community. I agree with both Demondave and Word, but the worst thing that can happen to this community forum would be for us all to get caught up in each other's opinions of our various view-points and loose track of the true reasons we come here.

Please continue to share knowledge and opinions. Be vocal for what you feel would benefit the community the most, and remember that this should be a forum for enjoyment, not one where our common bond (television) should be pushed to the background in favor of chest-puffing and ego-tripping.

If we all wanted that, we could turn on the news or a presidential debate, this is just about TV people. There are so many other, better causes out there to fight this hard over.

Did you eventually find NHLNetwork on channel 316?

vegggas


Not until just now, thanks. Now we need to get some hockey in HD.

Hask

Bravo, Vegggas, Bravo.

I, like vegggas, am privy to a lot of firsthand information regarding Cox here in LV. But, due to the tone of posts by one individual in this thread for the last 3 years, I stay away from posting entirely.


.

Shame on you. I cant believe you would let one poster's attitude bring you down so much. I guess the old adage of "if you cant stand the heat, then stay out of the kitchen" certainly applies in your case. I too find WM annoying at times, but have found it best to just ignore his rants.(like Cox does :D)

vegggas is the primary reason I remain subscribed to this forum.

More than anything, in my spare time, like demodave had mentioned, I try to be positive and upbeat and surround myself with such things. I will jump on this thread once a week or so and get caught up. As I was catching up last night I finally had had enough of WM, and decided to voice my opinion on it.

WM: "But Lo and Behold at EXACTLY 12:13AM this morning (Sunday) the Cable Box "caught up with" the Atomic Clock. Can anybody explain this? Or is it just another example of the exemplary dependable service provided by the good folks at Cox? (cough-cough)."

What does that have to do with HDTV here in Las Vegas? The clock was off 1 minute. Was it worth your time and effort to complain about? You seriously need to reevaluate your priorities a bit.

As for sharing info, I will try to do my best. If you miss vegggas for a bit, check the Cox national HD thread here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=608675).

Since you have so much time to watch tv WM, you should be familiar with the SNL character Debbie Downer (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Downer).

Not until just now, thanks. Now we need to get some hockey in HD.

Hask


Hello Hask. I knew there was one other hockey fan in this town. :D I've been a cox sub since I moved to the valley over 10 years ago. I've been very happy with their service but the Direct HD content has finally lured me away. WOW, what a pleasant surprise!!! With the addition of so many Fox Sports HD channels, I've watch more HD hockey already this year than all of last year. Needless to say I'm quite pleased. And then yesterday I received this email:


Dear NHL® CENTER ICE® Subscriber,

We have some exciting news for our loyal NHL CENTER ICE subscribers. This season, you may have noticed some added enhancements we've been rolling out as part of your NHL CENTER ICE subscription. These added features include more games in High Definition (HD), dual feeds (home and away) when possible, and the NHL Network in both Standard Definition (SD) and HD. Here are the details ...

More games in HD*
We expect to deliver up to 12 games per week in HD by mid-November for customers with the 5-LNB Dish and a newer HD Receiver (H20, H21, HR20, HR21). As we continue to launch Regional Sports Networks in HD over the next six weeks, the number of HD games will rise steadily. Customers who haven't yet upgraded to the newer HD equipment can still view select games on Channels 94 and 95 when available. For more information on HD equipment, visit directv.com/hdcheck.

HD games in the NHL channel range (764 – 776) are represented by a "-1". For example, Channel 765 Ducks vs. Bruins would be in SD, but 765-1 Ducks vs. Bruins would be in HD (if available).

Dual Feeds
This season, we are broadcasting more dual feeds when we have them available to us. When possible, we are placing both the home and away game broadcasts in NHL CENTER ICE for you to choose from. For example, you may see the Ducks vs. Bruins on Channel 765 and Channel 766. The game on Channel 765 would be the Ducks broadcast, and Channel 766 would be for the Bruins broadcast. When possible, we will present both options to NHL CENTER ICE subscribers.

NHL Network™
As of October 31, we are offering the NHL Network™ in both HD and SD on Channel 215. The NHL Network is available to all NHL CENTER ICE subscribers for no extra charge.

NHL Network is the first network dedicated to the NHL, giving viewers an unprecedented 24-hour all-access pass to the most comprehensive hockey coverage, both on and off the ice. You get live games, daily highlight shows, up-to-the-minute hockey news, and exclusive hockey programming and special events.

Only eligible customers with H20, H21, HR20 or HR21 Receivers, 5-LNB dish and HD Access ($9.99/mo.) can view NHL Network in HD.

Thank you for your loyalty to DIRECTV and NHL CENTER ICE. We hope these new features add to your enjoyment of another exciting season of NHL CENTER ICE on DIRECTV.

Sincerely,
DIRECTV

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:


The dual feeds will be AWESOME! For some reason the majority of the Flyers games are feed with the others teams announcers (Perhaps a comcast thing, I don't know). I’ll bet less than 10 of the 82 games last year were Flyer announcers. I'm looking forward to that feature for sure!!!

If you are an avid hockey fan, you might want to consider it.

Not until just now, thanks. Now we need to get some hockey in HD.

Hask

Make sure to request HDNet and Versus HD from Cox then.

Hello Hask. I knew there was one other hockey fan in this town. :D

Make that one more....but I have Cox. :rolleyes:

WM: "But Lo and Behold at EXACTLY 12:13AM this morning (Sunday) the Cable Box "caught up with" the Atomic Clock. Can anybody explain this? Or is it just another example of the exemplary dependable service provided by the good folks at Cox? (cough-cough)."

What does that have to do with HDTV here in Las Vegas? The clock was off 1 minute. Was it worth your time and effort to complain about? You seriously need to reevaluate your priorities a bit.



Apparently we believe in widely differing standards. YOU have NO business telling me to re-evaluate MY priorities, just as I would have no business telling YOU to re-evaluate yours. Precision and excellence are important to me, in every phase of my life. And that extends not only to my own behavior and accomplishments, but to those of my family, friends and anybody with whom I may do business.
That clock being "off by one minute" had to have a REASON for being "off". It wasn't "off" for the last five years and it hasn't been "off" since last week., The fact that it was so UNUSUAL is the fact that led me to comment on it. I don't know whether the Atomic Clock setters in Colorado were at fault or if Cox Cable was at fault. But SOMEBODY was. And apparently they KNEW it. That's why it was corrected, and never should have occured in the first place. Certainly, you are correct that in the course of ones life the fact that the two clocks did not coincide
is relatively meaningless. But if they CAN BE MADE TO COINCIDE, why NOT complain about it? Is it better to be wrong, and docilely quiet, instead of right, and vocal about it?
You and others probably won't believe this, but I too try to be positive and upbeat. But I can't be, where Cox Communications is concerned. They've given me NOTHING to be upbeat and positive about!!.

You and others probably won't believe this, but I too try to be positive and upbeat. But I can't be, where Cox Communications is concerned. They've given me NOTHING to be upbeat and positive about!!.

If you are that unhappy with Cox perhaps you should consider another provider. Is satellite an option where you live? On the upside, Direct has no clock on the front of their box.

If you are that unhappy with Cox perhaps you should consider another provider. Is satellite an option where you live? On the upside, Direct has no clock on the front of their box.

The change to Direct TV is already in progress. And I'm quite confident that in the ensuing months there will be many customers making the same changes (where possible). D* is PROGRESSIVE, while Cox is either regressive or at best, at a standstill.
And being the "baseball lover" that I am the ABSENCE of HD baseball telecasts on Cox (other than on ESPN, Fox and recently TBS, which did NOT work correctly during the playoffs) is both unexplainable and unforgiveable. This is 2007,not 1987. And when I call "Customer Service" at Cox, I expect to receive SERVICE, not B.S, buckpassing and instructions to re-boot my receiver for ANY conceivable problem.

More NHL on D (Or should I say HD)

http://www.dbstalk.com/showthread.php?t=106788

As much as we don't like what others might say, I think if youre not man enough to live in a real world with differing opinions, rants and praises, get out of internet forums.

Quit trying to make these forums for people who only agree with each other.
Heck, both Word and Vegggggas can be annoying to me, as I am to them, but let us speak our minds.

Thank You.

I completely agree. I don't want everyone to hold hands and sing songs about cox or any other provider. But, when one's opinion is so badly skewed to one side that you can't say something without a negative remark, then every now and then you need to reach out and give them a proverbial knock on the head.

That was my intent. I don't have the time to carry this on any longer and will only post when I have something that will benefit the group. I would hope that WM would do the same - post only when he has something to benefit the group.

I'm done.

Anyone checked the Cox HD guide lately?
Channnel place holders reportedly added for 712, 729, 734.
On those channels it lists the upcoming NFL HD Game schedules.
I think you have to subscribe to the sports tier and the SD NFLnetwork to actually see them though.
NHL is assumed as next and already listed in the 800's under test accounts.

vegggas

Anyone checked the Cox HD guide lately?
Channnel place holders reportedly added for 712, 729, 734.
On those channels it lists the upcoming NFL HD Game schedules.
I think you have to subscribe to the sports tier and the SD NFLnetwork to actually see them though.
NHL is assumed as next and already listed in the 800's under test accounts.

vegggas

Haven't those "channels" been there for a few weeks now? On my system, they tell you to tune into 699 for HD on Demand. I don't see anything about NFL HD game schedules and I sub to everything you mention.

That was my intent. I don't have the time to carry this on any longer and will only post when I have something that will benefit the group. I would hope that WM would do the same - post only when he has something to benefit the group.


That's EXACTLY where we differ. My posts being critical of Cox in any respect in which I feel their service is either deficient or totally absent, IS designed to point out those deficiencies for everyone to see. And in that sense it IS designed to be beneficial to the ENTIRE forum. Some members of this forum may be more passive than others. I don't accept mediocrity, inefficiencies or mistakes when they can be avoided by proper planning and by having proper equipment in place. And I am very vocal about it. You can do, or not do, anything you wish. But I am NOT going to change to please YOU.

I'm done.

Haven't those "channels" been there for a few weeks now? On my system, they tell you to tune into 699 for HD on Demand. I don't see anything about NFL HD game schedules and I sub to everything you mention.
Theses are new channel paceholder adverts for NFLHD Network games. They list the complete HD schedule for this season, which is same as last year, 8 HD games to be shown on channel 729.

vegggas

My posts being critical of Cox in any respect in which I feel their service is either deficient or totally absent, IS designed to point out those deficiencies for everyone to see. And in that sense it IS designed to be beneficial to the ENTIRE forum. Some members of this forum may be more passive than others. I don't accept mediocrity, inefficiencies or mistakes when they can be avoided by proper planning and by having proper equipment in place. And I am very vocal about it. You can do, or not do, anything you wish. But I am NOT going to change to please YOU.

I'm done.Since you [word] were a pharmacist...
So then you should be critical of the local neighborhood pharmacists (possibly like you) who sold vioxx to patients because they distributed potentially lethal drugs. To you it doesn't matter that the drug company made the mistake, becasue the patient PAID THE PHARMACIST, so the pharmacist should get all the blame. Nevermind the drug company who originated the drug. Cox is only a distributor of a premade product originated by someone else, same as a pharmacist who sells premade pills.

To keep this about something HD, I've noticed a few more channels being moved around. Some added :), and ohers deleted :( . I lost two of the test HD channels and don't see them anywhere on the system, this usually happens right before an HD addition. I'll add more tomorrow night or Saturday Morning when I get together with the guys and find out the details.
vegggas

Since you [word] were a pharmacist...
So then you should be critical of the local neighborhood pharmacists (possibly like you) who sold vioxx to patients because they distributed potentially lethal drugs. To you it doesn't matter that the drug company made the mistake, becasue the patient PAID THE PHARMACIST, so the pharmacist should get all the blame. Nevermind the drug company who originated the drug. Cox is only a distributor of a premade product originated by someone else, same as a pharmacist who sells premade pills.



If a pharmacist had the technical equipment and the expertise to assay (for molecular structure) and for the actions of each drug on the human body, and he did NOT do so, then YES I would blame the pharmacist for dispensing harmful medications. But he doesn't have that capability. The drug manufacturers do, and they bear the ultimate responsibility.
However Cox Communications DOES have the capability ( but not the motivation) to monitor each and every signal it relays from programmers to its customers. And to see and diagnose deficiencies in that signal (either audio or video). Sure it would be a "big" job. But that's why we pay the Cox CABLE MONOPOLY the "big bucks". And they aren't doing it.

If a pharmacist had the technical equipment and the expertise to assay (for molecular structure) and for the actions of each drug on the human body, and he did NOT do so, then YES I would blame the pharmacist for dispensing harmful medications. But he doesn't have that capability. The drug manufacturers do, and they bear the ultimate responsibility.
However Cox Communications DOES have the capability ( but not the motivation) to monitor each and every signal it relays from programmers to its customers. And to see and diagnose deficiencies in that signal (either audio or video). Sure it would be a "big" job. But that's why we pay the Cox CABLE MONOPOLY the "big bucks". And they aren't doing it.

Cox is just like your Pharmicist. It could do those things in a lab environment, but could never change it on the distribution level.
Your right about "The drug manufacturers do (have that capability), and they bear the ultimate responsibility." and so does the originating stations sending out the bad signals. In your world, you are expecting a barely above minimum wage CSR to perform above and beyond what a doctorate (now required) Pharmicist would do in a similar situation.

vegggas

Word, if and when you get rain fade with Erect TV, make sure you don't blame God, go after the Erect TV quality control in your neighborhool who did not care to call the satellite controllers to increase the output of the transponders to suit your fancy. :D

Perhaps some SSRI's are in order?

Word, if and when you get rain fade with Erect TV, make sure you don't blame God, go after the Erect TV quality control in your neighborhool who did not care to call the satellite controllers to increase the output of the transponders to suit your fancy. :D

Perhaps some SSRI's are in order?

well, if he does switch, since this is a LV HD forum, no matter which provider, we will still have to deal with his rants about them too. But, since 90% of the people in here have Cox as their sole provider, less people will take offense at his opinions.

Word, if and when you get rain fade with Erect TV,

I used to have Dish Network for six years and I've had DirecTV for six months, not once did I have a problem with rain fade...perfect picture during the few times it actually rains out here!

Word, if and when you get rain fade with Erect TV, make sure you don't blame God, go after the Erect TV quality control in your neighborhool who did not care to call the satellite controllers to increase the output of the transponders to suit your fancy. :D

Perhaps some SSRI's are in order?

No rain fade (or dust fade) out here in the wilds of Pahrump, even during the last gulley washer and 60+ mph winds we got during the past month.
If we lived in Florida, it might be a different story.

I already have a D* receiver (SD) and its connected to my SD television. I am merely "upgrading" to their HD service for my HDTV (which, at present, is using the Cox connection). I live in L.V. for 11 years and lived in the Phoenix area for two years before that. I have never encountered "rain fade". Not even ONCE.
I also have friends and some family living in cities throughout the U.S. that have much more in the way of inclement weather than we do here in L.V. People in NY, Phila, Chicago and Miami, have also NOT spoken to me about even ONE "rain fade" outage. And even if does occur here, the frequency of such interruptions will be far less than the # of times Cox Cable users must tolerate their B.S.

I have Dish and had Erect Tv, trust me, even with perfect alignment, rain fade exists.

Its pretty cool though, turn of the TV and watch the real HD light show outside.

Another unannounced speed upgrade? (middle tier)

http://aycu19.webshots.com/image/33738/2005386022558294080_rs.jpg

Somehow my computer got all "screwed up" and although i have been "Word Maestro" up to now, I will now be known as "umpsie". But I will continue to be my same old annoying self.

I have Dish and had Erect Tv, trust me, even with perfect alignment, rain fade exists.

Its pretty cool though, turn of the TV and watch the real HD light show outside.

If you've lost your sat signal, you might want to have your equipment checked. Seven years in Henderson and 1.5 years in Pahrump and we never lost D* signal due to rain. We did, however, lose our Cox cable modem numerous times.

If you've lost your sat signal, you might want to have your equipment checked. Seven years in Henderson and 1.5 years in Pahrump and we never lost D* signal due to rain. We did, however, lose our Cox cable modem numerous times.

Consider where he's coming from. He's a Dish Network sub. A signal strength of 20 is actually considered a "good" signal level on their HD satellite.

Somehow my computer got all "screwed up" and although i have been "Word Maestro" up to now, I will now be known as "umpsie". But I will continue to be my same old annoying self.

Mabey Word Maestro was deleted by a moderator due to exceeding the allowable annoyance threshold for avs? :eek:

So...

I'm watching ESPNHD, enjoying college football and getting ready for the next game (whichever it is) and then BOOM, ESPNHD BLOCKED OUT. "This program is not available in your area. (727)" WHAT THE _ _ _ _!!!!

Of course, the mental midget answering the phone after a few zillion levels of menu hell, has no clue. According to the TV guide for our time and location we're supposed to get either Florida State @ Virginia Tech - or - Illinois @ Ohio State. WE GET NEITHER!

So then I find FSU @ VT on Channel 210, but its SD and DTV SD Sucks _ _ _.

I look at the cox listings and cox subscribers are getting FSU @ VT, at least according to the website.

So how come the entire HD Channel is blocked out? Which retard decided Las Vegas was a local market for a Florida, Virginia, Illinois or Ohio? Did MLB buy the NCAA?

Who do you think it is, ESPN? or DTV?

So...

I'm watching ESPNHD, enjoying college football and getting ready for the next game (whichever it is) and then BOOM, ESPNHD BLOCKED OUT. "This program is not available in your area. (727)" WHAT THE _ _ _ _!!!!

Of course, the mental midget answering the phone after a few zillion levels of menu hell, has no clue. According to the TV guide for our time and location we're supposed to get either Florida State @ Virginia Tech - or - Illinois @ Ohio State. WE GET NEITHER!

So then I find FSU @ VT on Channel 210, but its SD and DTV SD Sucks _ _ _.

I look at the cox listings and cox subscribers are getting FSU @ VT, at least according to the website.

So how come the entire HD Channel is blocked out? Which retard decided Las Vegas was a local market for a Florida, Virginia, Illinois or Ohio? Did MLB buy the NCAA?

Who do you think it is, ESPN? or DTV?

ESPN HD is blacked out because the Ohio State game is on in HD on channel 13 locally.

ESPN HD on Cox simply has a black screen with no sound. So Cox subscribers also have the HD version blacked out. Ch 30 ESPN is fine with the FSU/VT game in SD.

George, why is Las Vegas blacked out from the HD version of the FSU/VT game? Why does it matter that Ch 13 is showing the other big game in HD?

ESPN HD on Cox simply has a black screen with no sound. So Cox subscribers also have the HD version blacked out. Ch 30 ESPN is fine with the FSU/VT game in SD.

George, why is Las Vegas blacked out from the HD version of the FSU/VT game? Why does it matter that Ch 13 is showing the other big game in HD?

There is no HD version of the FSU/VT game. Anywhere. We can't be blacked out of something that doesn't exist.

http://img111.imageshack.us/img111/39/111007espnonabc330pmhz1.gif

I would think that the game would still be on ESPN HD with the sidebars.

Apparently it Ok to complain about a football game blackout in Las Vegas. But when I complain about baseball blackouts, that classifies as "whining".

Mabey Word Maestro was deleted by a moderator due to exceeding the allowable annoyance threshold for avs? :eek:

As you can see from the attached user name, YOU'RE WRONG!!

Another unannounced speed upgrade? (middle tier)



Its possible that its the "ReadyBoost" or whatever Cox calls it. Its supposed to allow for faster burst speeds. They rolled it out a while ago and then unrolled it (I think it broke or something) and now maybe its back. I cant tell because I'm on a commercial 10/1 account.

Consider where he's coming from. He's a Dish Network sub. A signal strength of 20 is actually considered a "good" signal level on their HD satellite.

If you read my post correctly, I stated that when I had Erect TV, I had the same rain fade problems.

So there, Georgie.

I have Dish and had Erect Tv, trust me, even with perfect alignment, rain fade exists.

Its pretty cool though, turn of the TV and watch the real HD light show outside.

To refresh Georgies memory.

If you read my post correctly, I stated that when I had Erect TV, I had the same rain fade problems.

So there, Georgie.

To repeat:
If you've lost your sat signal, you might want to have your equipment checked. Seven years in Henderson and 1.5 years in Pahrump and we never lost D* signal due to rain. We did, however, lose our Cox cable modem numerous times.

And:
No rain fade (or dust fade) out here in the wilds of Pahrump, even during the last gulley washer and 60+ mph winds we got during the past month.
If we lived in Florida, it might be a different story.

And finally, to paraphrase you...So there, Froggy.

To quote you:

I have Dish and had Erect Tv, trust me, even with perfect alignment, rain fade exists.

"...rain fade exists." suggests a current situation. You stated "Erect Tv" was a past situation by use of the word "had". In either case, you never specify "rain fade" being pertinent to Dish or DirecTV with that sentence. We can only read what you write, not what you thought you wrote. I read it the same way George did. Spend less time with the corny "mis-spelling" routine and more time with useful commentary.

With Direct Tv and Dish Network, I have experienced rain fade.

Just because you did not, it doesn't mean it does not exist.

I have Dish and had Erect Tv, trust me, even with perfect alignment, rain fade exists.

Another unannounced speed upgrade? (middle tier)

Maybe I am being affected - I tried to download Service pack 2 for windows XP and for the first minute or two I was getting 1.5MB/s or 12Mb/s. Then it slowed back down to 1.1MB/s. It might have been possible to get faster speeds but I think my CM only has a 10Mb/s port (how I got 12Mb/s I dunno).

Maybe I am being affected - I tried to download Service pack 2 for windows XP and for the first minute or two I was getting 1.5MB/s or 12Mb/s. Then it slowed back down to 1.1MB/s. It might have been possible to get faster speeds but I think my CM only has a 10Mb/s port (how I got 12Mb/s I dunno).
Which browser are you using?
I.E. 7, Netscape, Firefox, or some other?

Does anyone know if the NFL Network games being advertised for channel 729 will only be active during the game broadcasts as a "special channel" or will channel 729 be the NFL Network 24/7 starting next Thursday?

Does anyone know if the NFL Network games being advertised for channel 729 will only be active during the game broadcasts as a "special channel" or will channel 729 be the NFL Network 24/7 starting next Thursday?

The only thing that the NFL Network broadcasts in HD are it's package of live games (which we are getting anyway) and the "NFL Replays" they show two days a week. Everything else is SD. It would really be a waste of bandwith to have the channel 24/7.

More new Directv channels today:

* 299: Nickelodeon (NIK1HD)
* 325: Spike HD
* 327: Country Music Television (CMTHD)
* 331: MTV HD
* 335: VH1 HD

Regional Sports Channels:

* 620-1: Comcast Sports Net New England HD
* 630-1: FSN South HD
* 631-1: SportsSouth HD
* 632-1: Sun Sports HD
* 634-1: FSN Florida HD
* 637-1: FSN Ohio HD
* 638-1: FSN Cincinnati HD
* 641-1: FSN North HD
* 644-1: Altitude HD
* 645-1: FSN Rocky Mountain HD
* 649-1: FSN Arizona HD
* 651-1: FSN Northwest HD
* 654-1: FSN Bay Area HD

The only thing that the NFL Network broadcasts in HD are it's package of live games (which we are getting anyway) and the "NFL Replays" they show two days a week. Everything else is SD. It would really be a waste of bandwith to have the channel 24/7.

That's not accurate. There is other HD content on NFL Network like the NFL Films documentary series America's Game.

More new Directv channels today:

* 299: Nickelodeon (NIK1HD)
* 325: Spike HD
* 327: Country Music Television (CMTHD)
* 331: MTV HD
* 335: VH1 HD

Regional Sports Channels:

* 620-1: Comcast Sports Net New England HD
* 630-1: FSN South HD
* 631-1: SportsSouth HD
* 632-1: Sun Sports HD
* 634-1: FSN Florida HD
* 637-1: FSN Ohio HD
* 638-1: FSN Cincinnati HD
* 641-1: FSN North HD
* 644-1: Altitude HD
* 645-1: FSN Rocky Mountain HD
* 649-1: FSN Arizona HD
* 651-1: FSN Northwest HD
* 654-1: FSN Bay Area HD

What happened to the Regional Sports Channels such as MSG, FSNY, SNY, Fox West and Fox "Prime Ticket"? Or did you mean to list ONLY the new ones instead of ALL of them?

That's just the new channels added today.

And they added more...

* 669-1: RSNaHD
* 648-1: FSN Midwest HD
* 646-1: FSN Utah HD
* 639-1: FSN Houston HD
* 642-1: FSN Wisconsin HD

http://www.onetrak.com/ShowArticle.aspx?ID=2870

Cox ramps to 1 Ghz, revamps backbone under EON plan
Karen Brown
Friday, November 09, 2007


For Cox Communications Inc. bigger will be better for its core network infrastructure – and that includes a move already under way to raise plant bandwidth to 1 Gigahertz across the board, take over operation of its own backbone fiber network and consolidate linear TV and video-on-demand services in two national hubs.

The MSO revealed some details about this initiative – dubbed the Extendable Optical Network – at a media briefing Wednesday in Rhode Island.

Chris Bowick, Cox’s senior vice president of engineering and chief technology officer, said the ambitious plans was aimed at moving Cox into the 2010 service world, a place that will require far more bandwidth and diversity of content. Cox’s marching orders from now until 2010 include:
scale back the analog channel count from 74 to 68
increase standard definition channels from 110 to 200-plus
raise HD channels from just 8 in 2006 to 100-plus
boost data bandwidth to 25 Megabits per second downstream, 4 Mbps upstream.

Enter EON, to provide the bandwidth in backbone and last mile as well as a new, more flexible and agile architecture – which Bowick dubbed “flexiagile.”

Starting in the last mile, bigger bandwidth is in the offing by cutting down on the size of nodes serving individual homes and boosting the overall plant capacity to 1 Gigahertz. At present Cox’s node size is about 620 homes offering between 750 and 860 Megahertz of total bandwidth.

Cox’s plan is to move its plant nationwide to 1 Gigahertz capacity – the first major MSO to take that step – and cut node size down to 310 homes initially. Eventually, the node size will reach a maximum 250 homes, Bowick said.

Bowick would not reveal how much it will cost to move to 1 Gigahertz across Cox’s markets, but he did note it was “not as expensive as you might think it would be.”

He gave a further hint at the cost range by noting that in comparison to Verizon Inc.’s $750 to $800 per home expense to build the base FiOS fiber-to-the-home network, Cox’s 1 GHz upgrade “wouldn’t be even close to that."

The 1 Gigahertz upgrade has already been completed in 70% of Cox’s markets, with almost no customer disruption, Bowick said.

Switched digital video, meanwhile, has been launched in two systems, and a third will be added in 2008. Switched digital video’s biggest attraction is the fact that it can offer virtually unlimited channel capacity, given it delivers into the home only the channels being viewed, rather than the entire channel lineup.

“We have taken a tack with switched digital video of a look see,” Bowick said. With the three launched markets planned “we will see how it goes.”

Cox also plans to start trials of Data Over Cable Service Interface Specification (DOCSIS) 3.0 in 2008. The new technology in its final iteration can deliver more than 160 Mbps downstream and 100 Mbps upstream.

Elsewhere, Cox also is eying the video bandwidth savings using MPEG-4. While the compression codec won’t be accessible to homes with older digital set-top boxes, MPEG-4 “plays beautifully in the 850 to 1 Gigahertz realm,” he noted.

Cox grows its own backbone

Nor is the capacity increase just to be found in the last mile. At present, Cox’s backbone network is operated by partner Level 3 Communications, with Cox paying on a per-bit basis. But in the past year traffic has doubled and the cost per bit for transport has dropped, Bowick said.

In response, Cox also has plans to up its national backbone game. It will create its own 18,000 mile backbone network using Level 3 dark fiber under a long-term indefeasible right to use (IRU) lease. That means hiring technicians to oversee the network and buying transmission gear to light it, but in the end Cox ends up with a network that costs less to run and is much more flexible – and using dense wave division multiplexing it can scale capacity on the backbone, Bowick said.

“Now we need to take a new look at the national infrastructure and own, if you will, that national infrastructure,” he said.

As with the 1 GHz upgrade, Bowick declined to offer any cost figures for the switch to a Cox-run fiber backbone. But he said the numbers did make sense given the projected expense under the managed fiber contract with Level 3.

“We looked at the OPEX verses CAPEX and it was a tremendous payback,” Bowick said.

Video delivery is also getting an architectural makeover, moving from a scheme whereby each Cox system manages and distributes linear and VOD content to a more central distribution, with two hubs delivering content to all markets.

Those two super hubs – the main one in Atlanta with a backup in San Diego – will be the aggregation points for the content. In doing so, Cox eliminates a lot of duplicate video processing and server storage for VOD content, Bowick said.

Plans are to turn up the super headends this month.

All in all, 50% of the EON upgrades have been completed, and Bowick said most of the rest of the work will be completed at the end of 2008.

Vegggas

That's not accurate. There is other HD content on NFL Network like the NFL Films documentary series America's Game.


It's still a waste of bandwith.

So it's going to take Cox until 2010 to reach the HD capacity Directv has now? Also do you know who that third market is they want to test SDV with is? I also kind of wonder how they plan on reducing the size of the nodes. That sounds like the painful part. Are they going to have to go around town tearing up a bunch of roads to create these new nodes. I also can't see why it is taking them so long to get rid of the analog channels. Hopefully Cox can deliver all this stuff.

adding band width makes sense because cox is adding more hd channels. limiting the number of homes on each node to 250 will guarantee a stronger signal... that's a good thing.
what i didn't understand is if all this talk about the expenses cox is incurring a preparation for another price increase?

Of course prices will go up. They always go up. All the TV providers prices are going up. You don't expect Cox to lose money to give you more channels do you.

So it's going to take Cox until 2010 to reach the HD capacity Directv has now?
No, That's the endgame to fully reach 1Ghz bandwidth across their entire national network. HD channels are a byproduct of bandwidth allocation and they plan on delivering all the main national HD channels very soon.

Also do you know who that third market is they want to test SDV with is? No, it has not been disclosed to the public press.

I also kind of wonder how they plan on reducing the size of the nodes. That sounds like the painful part. Are they going to have to go around town tearing up a bunch of roads to create these new nodes. It has already been underway in LV for sometime now (think of all the new neighborhoods already done). It does not usually require tearing up right-of-way areas for older areas and nodes are added through the neighborhoods branching of cables converted to fiber via conduit.

I also can't see why it is taking them so long to get rid of the analog channels. Hopefully Cox can deliver all this stuff. Thanks to the FCC's Martin, they won't be able to remove analog for several years. He is mandating that cable has to carry all the local channels (including the shopping, religious, educational, and frivolous others) with their main digital channel including all subchannels converted to analog as well as natively in digital. That list in Vegas and many other cities is around 50 analog channels.

vegggas

Of course prices will go up. They always go up. All the TV providers prices are going up. You don't expect Cox to lose money to give you more channels do you.

i'm sure you meant what you said to be taken with the sarcasm it was intended, but in the few markets where there is competition among cable companies, the prices are much lower and they still make money. i wonder how they manage that?

Thanks to the FCC's Martin, they won't be able to remove analog for several years. He is mandating that cable has to carry all the local channels (including the shopping, religious, educational, and frivolous others) with their main digital channel including all subchannels converted to analog as well as natively in digital. That list in Vegas and many other cities is around 50 analog channels.

vegggas

That really sucks. There aren't 50 OTA channels around here even if you count all the sub channels are there.

Huh? Vegggas, are you sure you read Martin's rulemaking right? I read it as, "as long as you offer any analog channels in any shape or form, you must provide must-carry, religious, etc." A few of the news websites I read also interpreted that way.

DOCSIS 3.0 wil be a welcome sight - channel bonding and the better upstream modulation (found in DOCSIS 2.0 which never got anywhere) for faster speeds will be nice. Cox will be able to compete with FIOS - sorta. Verizon just the other day annouced they're rolling out GPON instead of BPON, so the fiber ring that was 600Mb/s for 32 homes will now be 2.5Gb/s, providing speeds of up to 200Mb/s per user. Verizon overbuilt their network anyways - if they were to use an SDV type setup instead of broadcasting all of their channels at once over a single strand, they could cut their deployment costs by 20%.

Cutting node size in half is a great start. Especially when nodes get down to 250 homes, then you couple that with an all digital distribution, SDV and MPEG 4 and you get practically unlimited channels - even in HD.

The fact that Cox is addressing both the last mile and the entire network is good. Though with storage so cheap, I really wonder about only having two VOD centers. Unless they plan on doing the remote DVR stuff that Comcast wanted and then bailed on because content providers didn't approve, they can have everything in HD locally - or at least in more than two places (Atlanta is running out of water and SD just had all those fires - great choices Cox!).

Word, if and when you get rain fade with Erect TV, make sure you don't blame God, go after the Erect TV quality control in your neighborhool who did not care to call the satellite controllers to increase the output of the transponders to suit your fancy.You know not what you speak. I lived in Las Vegas for 16 years and had Primestar, then DirecTv for several years and never lost signal. Cox on the other hand had an outage almost every month.

You know not what you speak. I lived in Las Vegas for 16 years and had Primestar, then DirecTv for several years and never lost signal. Cox on the other hand had an outage almost every month.

I've posted similar statements to Froggy. I don't think we'll get a response since I don't believe he deals with facts--only (his) opinions. I suggested that he should have had his equipment checked. Seven years in Henderson and 1.5 years in Pahrump and I never had a rain fade with D* but did lose my Cox cable modem on more than one occasion.

I've posted similar statements to Froggy. I don't think we'll get a response since I don't believe he deals with facts--only (his) opinions. I suggested that he should have had his equipment checked. Seven years in Henderson and 1.5 years in Pahrump and I never had a rain fade with D* but did lose my Cox cable modem on more than one occasion.

I really do not understand your guys logic. Just because you've never experienced rain fade, it does not mean it does not exist.

You'd have to be watching TV at every storm we get which is rare to begin with for the last 10 years. As for Cox, never had an outage when we had a storm.

But you see, I'll never come here and state as a fact that Cox does not have outages during storms. I was not watching TV during EVERY storm we had for the last 10 years nor did I have their service for the last 10 years.

Please people, get some logic in your thinking process. You are quite embarASSing.

I really do not understand your guys logic. Just because you've never experienced rain fade, it does not mean it does not exist.

You'd have to be watching TV at every storm we get which is rare to begin with for the last 10 years. As for Cox, never had an outage when we had a storm.

But you see, I'll never come here and state as a fact that Cox does not have outages during storms. I was not watching TV during EVERY storm we had for the last 10 years nor did I have their service for the last 10 years.

Please people, get some logic in your thinking process. You are quite embarASSing.

I never said there was no such thing as rain fade. I did say I had never experienced any, even in the worst storms, few that there are, since I've been in Nevada. Since I never had any rain fade problems and you state that you did, I only suggested that it was possible that it could have been due to equipment problems.
Even if someone experienced rain fade with every major storm, that would amount to what--about two or three times a year?
As I said, I experienced cable modem failure more often than that.

Why does Discovery HD (Cox -Channel 700) look better than ANY OTHER HD station?

Just plugged in an external hard drive using firewire and re-booted everything but it doesn't see it at all and ask to format it. Anybody have any tips or suggestions on how to get it going thanks

Anybody know when HBO & Starz On-Demand in HD will be available in Vegas I know its available in sad diego etc. etc. but when in vegas

Thanks

whoops sorry on cox and on SA8300HD in Vegas

I am pretty sure that you have to use eSata not firewire.

Keith

That is correct. To add an external drive, you have to use eSata.

The easiest way to add more space to the 8300HD is by getting the Western Didgital "My DVR Expander". When you purchase it from WD's store, you will get the drive, eSata cable and instructions. It could not be any easier.

Western Digital Product Page (http://www.westerndigital.com/en/products/Products.asp?DriveID=334)

If you are a do-it-yourself kinda person who wants to do this from scratch, there is an entire thread devoted to adding an external drive.

AVS Forum - 8300HD eSata Drive Instructions and Tips (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5277957&&#post5277957)

So did anyone watch the Rebel game on Saturday night. What a hatchet job Cox did to that signal. The game was evidently shot in HD to show on Channel 4 in San Diego. So Cox took the 16x9 picture and squished is to SD 4X3. I couldn't even make out the score on my parents 40" LCD when I was within 2' without using the TV to stretch it back to 16X9. Too bad they didn't just show the HD feed. It was kind of funny to watch the SD commercials with the bars on the left and right on a old school 19" TV when we were eating dinner.

So did anyone watch the Rebel game on Saturday night. What a hatchet job Cox did to that signal. The game was evidently shot in HD to show on Channel 4 in San Diego. So Cox took the 16x9 picture and squished is to SD 4X3. I couldn't even make out the score on my parents 40" LCD when I was within 2' without using the TV to stretch it back to 16X9. Too bad they didn't just show the HD feed. It was kind of funny to watch the SD commercials with the bars on the left and right on a old school 19" TV when we were eating dinner.

This is how Cox showd every Padres game on channel 96 this past season. They squished the HD 16x9 feed in to a SD 4x3 presentation. Obviously, Cox Las Vegas shoud've either shown the HD feed on a HD channel, or grabbed the SD feed from San Diego. And yes...there is a SD feed available because I've seen it on MLB Extra Innings while at the club bar in Chase Field in Phoenix. I was truly surprised that nobody at Cox ever caught that they were airing the wrong feed of the Padres games. Obviously, that same engineer hooked up the Rebels game with the same wrong feed. Maybe Vegggas can inform his Cox buddies of the error so that it doesn't happen next year.

This is how Cox showd every Padres game on channel 96 this past season. They squished the HD 16x9 feed in to a SD 4x3 presentation. Obviously, Cox Las Vegas shoud've either shown the HD feed on a HD channel, or grabbed the SD feed from San Diego. And yes...there is a SD feed available because I've seen it on MLB Extra Innings while at the club bar in Chase Field in Phoenix. I was truly surprised that nobody at Cox
ever caught that they were airing the wrong feed of the Padres games. Obviously, that same engineer hooked up the Rebels game with the same wrong feed. Maybe Vegggas can inform his Cox buddies of the error so that it doesn't happen next year.

I don't believe it's an error.

That "squished" HD feed can be manipulated by your TV to produce a full screen 16:9 picture with NO distortion by simply going to the "expand mode".
That squished picture (although occupying a 4:3 window) is taller and thinner than the ordinary 4:3 image. thus when expanding it to fill the entire screen, the picture appears in proper dimensions (no stretching at the sides). Of course, it's not true HD, but it DOES BECOME a full sized picture with NO distortions. I don't think their are too many things that Cox does right. But THAT WAS one of them.

I don't believe it's an error.

That "squished" HD feed can be manipulated by your TV to produce a full screen 16:9 picture with NO distortion by simply going to the "expand mode".
That squished picture (although occupying a 4:3 window) is taller and thinner than the ordinary 4:3 image. thus when expanding it to fill the entire screen, the picture appears in proper dimensions (no stretching at the sides). Of course, it's not true HD, but it DOES BECOME a full sized picture with NO distortions. I don't think their are too many things that Cox does right. But THAT WAS one of them.

I would agree with you if it was a digital channel. This is an analog channel. My 4X3 SDTV that I bought 5-10 years ago don't stretch. They either need to letterbox it, make it an HD channel, or center crop the image.

I would agree with you if it was a digital channel. This is an analog channel. My 4X3 SDTV that I bought 5-10 years ago don't stretch. They either need to letterbox it, make it an HD channel, or center crop the image.
You can agree with me, or not agree with me as you see fit. But I KNOW what I saw on my TV this past season.
And why are you talking about an SDTV on an HDTV forum?

And why are you talking about an SDTV on an HDTV forum?

Because I don't have a link to a Vegas area SDTV forum.

I actually liked being able to stretch the Padres game to make it at least 16x9. I could see that being very annoying if you didn't have a 16x9 TV though.

Why does Discovery HD (Cox -Channel 700) look better than ANY OTHER HD station?

Because that is the one they show at the Cox service center. Speaking of which when did that service center on Rancho become like the DMV? I went to go drop my SA8300HD since I went back to DirecTV, and I had to wait an hour. They give you those little numbers exactly like the DMV.

I've tried 8 ways from Sunday to get my Scientific-Atlanta HD to recognize an external drive with the e-sata cable (see previous post)

I always get the message "Attention: The external recording device is not functioning properly. Check to make sure the power and data cables are plugged in properly."

any tips or ideas?? do I need to upgrade the software on the 8300? if so how?

Thanks

Another Quick question for cox las vegas. When will HBO STARZ etc be available in HD in demand? e.g. on channel 699?

i believe cox are releasing more hd channels next month (december) hgtv hd a & e hd etc etc

thanks

Another Quick question for cox las vegas. When will HBO STARZ etc be available in HD in demand? e.g. on channel 699?

i believe cox are releasing more hd channels next month (december) hgtv hd a & e hd etc etc

thanks

Where did you get this information, or is it just speculation?

i believe cox are releasing more hd channels next month (december) hgtv hd a & e hd etc etc

thanks

I don't know where you have been, but Cox has been showing A&E HD since the first week in October.

just posting because this thread is dead.

What is the latest hi-def stb that Cox offers?

What is the latest hi-def stb that Cox offers?

As far as I know, they are still distributing 8300HDs.
And since Scientific Atlanta has stopped manufacturing them, all of the units from Cox are re-furbished.

Good luck!!

As far as I know, they are still distributing 8300HDs.
And since Scientific Atlanta has stopped manufacturing them, all of the units from Cox are re-furbished.

Good luck!!

i guess you don't know everything after all... they are using the 8240hdc. the "c" is for a cable card slot.

For more info:

Scientific Atlanta 8240HDC PDF (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/customers/Source/7010958.pdf)

A couple interesting things...It can only receive QAM digital, no analog. Which of course is not a problem on the Cox system since all analog channels are simulcast in digital. The other thing I find odd...the HD is still only 160 GB. With hard drive prices coming down and capacities going up, I would think that they would at least double the HD size since this is the newest model they are sending out to cable companies.

i guess you don't know everything after all... they are using the 8240hdc. the "c" is for a cable card slot.

forgive me for being naive, but other than a gov''t mandate, why does this box need a cable card slot since it is , by definition, a cable company decoder box. I understand the need for cable cards for Tivos, PC tuners, and non cable company hardware, but what will be the usability for the card in this particular Cox cable box?

There is no reason other than the government mandate. The CableCard boxes work exactly the same as the non-CableCard boxes.

i guess you don't know everything after all... they are using the 8240hdc. the "c" is for a cable card slot.

I don't believe I ever claimed to "know everything".
But I do know what's important and what's window dressing.
All of these acronyms (thrown around with abandon-with absolutely no reference to what they mean) is IMO, "WINDOW DRESSING". Used ONLY to impress other readers. Something I cannot, and would not wish to do, if I could.

forgive me for being naive, but other than a gov''t mandate, why does this box need a cable card slot since it is , by definition, a cable company decoder box. I understand the need for cable cards for Tivos, PC tuners, and non cable company hardware, but what will be the usability for the card in this particular Cox cable box?

i asked the same question when i was given this stb. no one seems to know at the office where i picked it up.

forgive me for being naive, but other than a gov''t mandate, why does this box need a cable card slot since it is , by definition, a cable company decoder box. I understand the need for cable cards for Tivos, PC tuners, and non cable company hardware, but what will be the usability for the card in this particular Cox cable box?

The government mandate is the reason for the slot. The purpose of the mandate is to put third party boxes on par with the box you can get from the cable company. If you've dealt with cablecards you will quickly find out the cable company hates them and a bunch of them are defective. My mom had one of her cards brick on an update Cox pushed out. It took 3 people from Cox on 2 separate occasions and me telling them what to do to get it fixed.

BTW does anyone know how much the M-Cards cost compared to the S-Cards? do they charge you 2 digital gateway fees like they do if you get two S-Cards?

I don't believe I ever claimed to "know everything".
But I do know what's important and what's window dressing.
All of these acronyms (thrown around with abandon-with absolutely no reference to what they mean) is IMO, "WINDOW DRESSING". Used ONLY to impress other readers. Something I cannot, and would not wish to do, if I could.

i have no idea what you mean by "acronym", since i didn't use any. i just responded to your statement
"As far as I know, they are still distributing 8300HDs. And since Scientific Atlanta has stopped manufacturing them, all of the units from Cox are re-furbished. Good luck!!".

as you now know, cox is not supplying refurbished set top boxes.

So your saying that when someone turns a box in they don't reuse it. I doubt it.

So your saying that when someone turns a box in they don't reuse it. I doubt it.

That doesn't necessarily make the box "refurbished." It just makes it "used.":p

Cox isn't allowed to give out the 8300HD anymore. As of July 1, all boxes given out must now have the authentication in a separate device (i.e. CableCARD). Cox SA systems such as Phoenix and Las Vegas are generally using the 8240HDC (DVR) and 4240HDC (non-DVR).

I thought they just couldn't order more. I thought they could use them until they break.

§ 76.1204 Availability of equipment performing conditional access or security functions.
(a)(1) A multichannel video programming distributor that utilizes navigation devices to perform conditional access functions shall make available equipment that incorporates only the conditional access functions of such devices. Commencing on July 1, 2007, no multichannel video programming distributor subject to this section shall place in service new navigation devices for sale, lease, or use that perform both conditional access and other functions in a single integrated device.
Most of the returns on boxes are due to technical problems, so they don't end up back in circulation. I've heard of people getting the old boxes on specific request, but in my experience, a new box is always given out if nothing is specified.

Most of the returns on boxes are due to technical problems, so they don't end up back in circulation. I've heard of people getting the old boxes on specific request, but in my experience, a new box is always given out if nothing is specified.

If they mail you a box , it looks like its "new", but I'm sure they can package up a refurb model just as good as a new one.

Is there a reason to keep the old box and not exchange it for a new one?

Is there a reason to keep the old box and not exchange it for a new one?

i have an 8300hd and an 8240hdc. i may be wrong, but i think the 8300hd has a 80 gb hard drive and the 8240hdc has a 160 gb hard drive. if size matters, i'd exchange.

If they mail you a box , it looks like its "new", but I'm sure they can package up a refurb model just as good as a new one.I always go down to one of the Cox retail stores and pick up a box there. I've never seen a single indication of previous use on any of the boxes I've picked up, even on places one would expect to see wear such as the cable in plug. I don't know how satellite providers work, though I imagine those boxes are probably made to a higher standard since they are purchased rather than leased, and pissing off someone who spent $600 on a box is a sure way to drive them to the competition.

I always go down to one of the Cox retail stores and pick up a box there. I've never seen a single indication of previous use on any of the boxes I've picked up, .

What other "stores" are there besides the main Rancho location--where you can go to get equipment? When they give you the new equipment, is it packaged in a box or do they just bring out a unit "unwrapped"?

What other "stores" are there besides the main Rancho location--where you can go to get equipment? When they give you the new equipment, is it packaged in a box or do they just bring out a unit "unwrapped"?

i picked up my last two set top box's at the henderson office. the box's were tightly packaged and contained the stb, component cables, coaxial cables, splitter, user's manual, remote and batteries. i don't know if they reuse their equipment, but i can tell you from personal experience that i always have gotten new and unused.
it may be that i'm easy to please or i'm lucky not to have the problems some seem to have with cox. the issues i had with cox were resolved years ago when service was spotty and unreliable.
cox reminds me of japanese cars. when they first came out, they were cheap and poor quality... now, cox is reliable and their service is much better than most (although their automated system is a pita).
i often wonder if the reception many complain about is related to the cheap high definition televisions some buy or is it cox? the reception i receive on my two high definition sony televisions is great in high def and standard def (just a thought and not meant to start a new argument).

Orange County Calif web page:

http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/d0f94749fd.jpg

Wow...HD Net and HD Net Movies!! I would love to get those here in Vegas...Even if it is an extra $5.

Wow...HD Net and HD Net Movies!! I would love to get those here in Vegas...Even if it is an extra $5.

Just through a cursory look at the HD Movie schedule, is there really a compelling reason to want to pay another charge for movies that can be found via my current set of premium channels (HBO,Cinemax,TMC,Showtime)? I did see an interesting Hitchcock festival. Other than that, I'm not so sure those other movies are worthwhile. What are the quality aspects? Much better than premium or about the same?

Picture Quality on HDNet Movies is one of the best. I don't even think they put a bug on the screen during the movie.

They put a bug on the movies in the very lower right hand corner just for a few minutes during each movie. It goes away quickly and is transparent.

I just moved from Cox to D* to get all the new HD channels and HDNet and HDNet movies are 2 of the ones I like best. Quality is very good.

Keith

I just moved from Cox to D* to get all the new HD channels. Quality is very good.

Keith

Don't be ridiculous. foghorn2 and Vegggas will go to any lengths to prove you wrong. How DARE you make a statement based purely on what you're seeing and hearing. You MUST be wrong.:rolleyes:

Just did a rescan and now I get CW HD on 6-1. :)

re: cablecards - the idea forcing them to use cablecards is to make the cable companies eat their own dogfood. If they just required cable companies to support cablecards, they could "support" them in such a halfassed way that it would never be viable from a consumer standpoint to actually want to use them. However, by forcing Cox and other companies to use cablecards, they have to make sure that the implementation works and works properly.

Also, does anyone know what CCI flags are in use on the HDNET channels? I'd only get them if I could record them in HD (I dont necessarily care about copying them onto my PC via TiVo2Go, but I need to at least record them).

Don't be ridiculous. foghorn2 and Vegggas will go to any lengths to prove you wrong. How DARE you make a statement based purely on what you're seeing and hearing. You MUST be wrong.:rolleyes:

I was wondering how long it was going to take our resident Cox hater to say something unprovoked...

BTW does anyone know how much the M-Cards cost compared to the S-Cards? do they charge you 2 digital gateway fees like they do if you get two S-Cards?

Same price as S-Cards. No.

I like my M-Card a lot more actually - the install took 15 minutes vs 4 visits for my two S-Cards.

I was wondering how long it was going to take our resident Cox hater to say something unprovoked...

Now you know.
Although I don't think my remark was "unprovoked" .It wasn't RECENTLY provoked. But in the past, "provoked" it was

Also, does anyone know what CCI flags are in use on the HDNET channels? I'd only get them if I could record them in HD (I dont necessarily care about copying them onto my PC via TiVo2Go, but I need to at least record them).
HDNet is not live for the public on any Cox system anywhere. Even then, channel flagging varies from system to system, so what is set in OC will have no effect on Vegas or anywhere else. If HDNet is still active in testing mode in Vegas, the flags set on that may very well change when it is activated.

Here is a quote from Vin Scully (celebrating his 80th birthday today and his 59th year as a Dodger broadcaster). Although he said it about baseball, it more than sums up my feelings about Cox Cable.

""Good is not good when better is expected."

Now you know.
Although I don't think my remark was "unprovoked" .It wasn't RECENTLY provoked. But in the past, "provoked" it was

Internet Troll:

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who intentionally posts controversial or contrary messages in an on-line community such as an on-line discussion forum or group with the intention of baiting users into an argumentative response.

Wikipedia Entry for INTERNET TROLL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll)

Internet Troll:

An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who intentionally posts controversial or contrary messages in an on-line community such as an on-line discussion forum or group with the intention of baiting users into an argumentative response.

Wikipedia Entry for INTERNET TROLL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_troll)

I don't know if Word Maestro baits as much as he's just a grumpy sourpuss...

And I mean that in the nicest way...

Demodave.

I have been accused by you, of being an "Internet troll" based on the following definition;
"An Internet troll, or simply troll in Internet slang, is someone who intentionally posts controversial or contrary messages in an on-line community such as an on-line discussion forum or group with the intention of baiting users into an argumentative response"

So what's wrong with that? Better to be an "Internet troll" than to read a forum which did not have any new messages at all posted for almost one entire week. But if you feel as if I'm trying to "bait" you, I recommend that you don't bite. But apparently you find the bait irresistible. And you continue to chomp away.

yeah...i have him on my "ignore"..but he evokes such a response everyone quotes him in replies. i can't get away from it!

According to the "whats new" section on the newest Cox invoice, effective Dec 13, Cox will be adding the following HD channels:

722 TLC
723 HGTV
724 Food Network
727 Discovery
734 CW

According to the "whats new" section on the newest Cox invoice, effective Dec 13, Cox will be adding the following HD channels:

722 TLC
723 HGTV
724 Food Network
727 Discovery
734 CW

Interesting...I think that Cox has already signed the deal for CNN-HD; and that it is available in several Cox markets already. Strange that this will not be one of the new HD channels here.

Nice to see the CW finally get added.

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6509147.html


"To free up space for high-definition channels, Cox deployed BigBand Networks' switched digital system in the 240,000-subscriber system(northern Virginia). The operator also planned to roll out switched digital video systems in its Phoenix and Orange County, Calif., systems this year"

SDV getting closer to Vegas.

Hopefully they mean Phoenix and OC in 2008. I don't want SDV here until the TiVo dongle is available.

Let me know if anyone in Las Vegas needs a quote on audio or video products. I can get pretty decent prices through my work.

Thought this was kinda cool.

www.king5.com/dtv

Thought this was kinda cool.

www.king5.com/dtv

Yeah, it's cute. But totally unrealistic.

Do you REALLY believe that the US Congress will firmly hold to that deadline?
If you do, I think you have your head buried in the sand.
As in the past, (I believe) the Congress sill postpone and delay. without any very good reasons for doing so.

Yeah, it's cute. But totally unrealistic.

Do you REALLY believe that the US Congress will firmly hold to that deadline?
If you do, I think you have your head buried in the sand.
As in the past, (I believe) the Congress sill postpone and delay. without any very good reasons for doing so.

Yes. At the very least any TV station in channel 52-69. That spectrum is already sold and products using it are already available in areas where the channels are clear.

Word,
I totally agree with you. I know it's a joke too. I just thought the clock was a novelty.

let me start by saying i'm not technical.
when february 2009 rolls around, does it mean anyone still owning an analog tv set will need two converter boxes if you choose to have more than the basic channels?
the way i interpret it is you will need a box from the cable company to decode higher tier channels and then a box to decode that signal from digital back to analog.
is this correct?

let me start by saying i'm not technical.
when february 2009 rolls around, does it mean anyone still owning an analog tv set will need two converter boxes if you choose to have more than the basic channels?
the way i interpret it is you will need a box from the cable company to decode higher tier channels and then a box to decode that signal from digital back to analog.
is this correct?

The "analog shutoff" only affects people using an analog TV who are getting their signal OTA. If you have an "old school" TV and have cable or satellite, you are NOT affected. Your cable or sat box IS your converter box. Nothing else is necessary.

let me start by saying i'm not technical.
when february 2009 rolls around, does it mean anyone still owning an analog tv set will need two converter boxes if you choose to have more than the basic channels?
the way i interpret it is you will need a box from the cable company to decode higher tier channels and then a box to decode that signal from digital back to analog.
is this correct?

I don't know if you're correct or not. But NOT to worry. If indeed the switch over takes place in Feb 2009 (or if it EVER happens), I'm confident the cable companies will provide a "one box fits all" solution. And as is usual with those devices, they will be so "bug" tormented that it will be at least three-five years before they can be depended upon.

Anybody know why ABC-HD (732 on Cox) was off the system for almost 24 hrs on Sat, Dec 8th. Nothing but a blank screen. No video, no audio.
There really wasn't anything at all worth watching on ABC yesterday, so "no big loss".
Still, I called Cox "Customer Service" at 7 PM last night. (ABC had then been "out" all day).And I spoke to a representative who had NOT HEARD that the problem was in existence. More than 8 hrs of "outage" at the time, and they didn't know of the existence of the problem? The problem was valley wide,not just something wrong at my node.
You can call me whiny or picayune. But that's NOT my idea of "SERVICE".
It seems to me that ANY interruption of service for ANY reason should trigger an immediate alert from the engineering dept to the "Customer Service" representatives department, that something is amiss, so that the CS people can assure the public that Cox is aware of the problem and is working to repair it ASAP.
Whether Cox or ABC was the source of the "problem" is irrelevant. Some entity WAS at fault.
Maybe the engineers at both Cox and ABC were "off" on Saturday, and NOBODY was watching the store?

I don't know if you're correct or not. But NOT to worry. If indeed the switch over takes place in Feb 2009 (or if it EVER happens), I'm confident the cable companies will provide a "one box fits all" solution. And as is usual with those devices, they will be so "bug" tormented that it will be at least three-five years before they can be depended upon.

As I stated in my post above yours, the analog shutoff has nothing to do with cable or satellite. And yes Word, the shutoff WILL happen. The spectrum is being auctioned off next month.

The "analog shutoff" only affects people using an analog TV who are getting their signal OTA. If you have an "old school" TV and have cable or satellite, you are NOT affected. Your cable or sat box IS your converter box. Nothing else is necessary.

I was certainly aware of all that, and do not dispute your explanations in any way. However there is another (I think rather large) category that you are ignoring.
Many users have fairly new TVs but have chosen to eschew all cable boxes of any kind, and have their TVs connected DIRECTLY to the WALL outlet. These people ARE receiving cable TV, but without a cable box of any kind, won't they require a "converter" for their TVs to continue to function? I believe they would. I myself have a two year old TV in my bedroom which is connected to the wall outlet (without box) in this manner, and I believe I will need a converter for it, in Feb 2009. I have no intention of spending additional money for a "cable box" for that TV, as its time of use is ONLY in the early AM or late night, and then only for newscasts, weather or an old movie on TCM or AMC.

I was certainly aware of all that, and do not dispute your explanations in any way. However there is another (I think rather large) category that you are ignoring.
Many users have fairly new TVs but have chosen to eschew all cable boxes of any kind, and have their TVs connected DIRECTLY to the WALL outlet. These people ARE receiving cable TV, but without a cable box of any kind, won't they require a "converter" for their TVs to continue to function? I believe they would. I myself have a two year old TV in my bedroom which is connected to the wall outlet (without box) in this manner, and I believe I will need a converter for it, in Feb 2009. I have no intention of spending additional money for a "cable box" for that TV, as its time of use is ONLY in the early AM or late night, and then only for newscasts, weather or an old movie on TCM or AMC.
No. Cable companies will keep some sort of analog lineup around until it is no longer profitable to do so. Many will probably trim it to the limited basic lineup to make room for more HD channels and faster Internet, but there will be something available in analog on most providers for at least a few years past 2009.

Yeah for some reason cable companies are required to keep analog around for a while. I'm not really sure why? I would rather them switch the same time OTA does. Then they could make one box that does OTA and QAM that would meet the requirements for the rebate from the government for buying the box.

Yeah for some reason cable companies are required to keep analog around for a while. I'm not really sure why? I would rather them switch the same time OTA does. Then they could make one box that does OTA and QAM that would meet the requirements for the rebate from the government for buying the box.

I don't think that it's so much a requirement for cable companies to provide analog...but not a necessity to shut it off either. The new rules only pertain to OTA signals. Any closed cable system can run as much analog as long as they please. But as CoyoteAZ mentioned, cable will slowly turn off the analog channels, moving them to digital-only tiers because digital channels are much more efficient on bandwidth. For cable to compete with satellite (and fiber in some places) is to convert channels to digital. But cable companies do not want to alienate all of their basic cable customers since they still provide a very sizable percentage of their income.

i have one more question about february 2009.
i have 4 television sets. 2 are high def and both have a dvr. does this mean i won't need anything extra and will automatically continue with uninterrupted service?
i also have 2 analog televisions that do not have a converter box and see all basic and expanded basic straight from the wall outlet through coaxial cables. does this mean i will be able to continue watching these sets without any added equipment after february 2009?

Laszlo5,

Your two hi-def TV sets will receive the analog channels, as well as the local Las Vegas channels (both SD and HD) that are transmitted digitally if your TV tuners have QAM capability. Most newer sets now do. And Cox provides the local OTA channels "in the clear", and they always will. But all other digital cable channels require a subscription. You will either need a TV with a Cable Card slot or a converter box from Cox to receive the digital channels beyond the locals, which is pretty much the entire line-up digitally.

Your two older analog sets (as well as your two high-def sets) will always be able to receive Cox's analog programming, which will continue past February 2009. But purely for bandwidth purposes, Cox will slowly move more and more of the channels that are on analog to digital. I'm sure that Cox will continue to provide the big cable networks such as TBS, TNT, CNN, USA, ESPN, etc in analog for several years to come. But the less-watched networks such as Food, Hallmark, Court TV, Versus, etc. will eventually make the move to digital only.

All your sets should be fine. The only sets that will need the converter box are analog sets that use OTA antenna broadcasts. If you have a Digital TV getting OTA broadcasts, you will not need a converter box. Most DTV sets have wider, more rectangular screens than current analog TVs. Besides my two HDTVs, I have four analogs. Two analogs are hooked directly to cable from the wall outlet; they won't need a converter. The other two are getting OTA with an antenna, they will need converter boxes.

I thought I it was OTA in Feb 09 and Cable was required to keep most (or at least certain channels) analog until Feb 2012? I thought I had read this in some news article a short while ago.

According to the "whats new" section on the newest Cox invoice, effective Dec 13, Cox will be adding the following HD channels:

722 TLC
723 HGTV
724 Food Network
727 Discovery
734 CW

ONE more day (assuming Cox sticks to their schedule) until we see Giada De Laurentiis (food network) in glorious HD !

Actually you'll have to wait until Friday to see Giada in HD. The Food Network HD channel is not a simulcast of the SD channel. Here's the schedule (http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/hdtv/0,2857,FOOD_26756,00.html).

I thought I it was OTA in Feb 09 and Cable was required to keep most (or at least certain channels) analog until Feb 2012? I thought I had read this in some news article a short while ago.

The 2012 deadline is for cable to keep must-carry channels (local channels essentially) on analog as long as they have at least one analog channel on their system.

So did Cox actually launch any of the new channels?

Las Vegas HD Channel Guide December 13, 2007

Broadcast Networks OTA Cox DirecTV Dish CMA (Pahrump)
------------------ ----- ----- --------- ------ -------------
ABC (KTNV) 13-1 732 13
CBS (KLAS) 8-1 730 8
Fox (KVVU) 5-1 735 5
NBC (KVBC) 3-1 733 3
PBS (KLVX) 10-1 731
CW (KVCW) 33-1 734
MyTV (KVMY) 21-1

Cable Networks
------------------
A&E 707 265 9419
Animal Planet 282 9489
Biography 266
Bravo 273
Cartoon Network 296
CMT 327
CNBC 355
CNN 202
Discovery 727 278 9487
Food Network HD 724 231-1 9462
Fox Business 359
FX 248
HGTV HD 723 229-1 9461
History 703 269 9491
MTV 331
National Geographic 702 276 9429 562
Nickelodeon 299
Science Channel 284 9490
Sci-Fi 244
Spike 325
TBS 726 247 9499
TLC 722 280 9488
TNT 709 245 9420 565
USA 242
VH1 335
Weather Channel 362

HD Only Networks
------------------
HD Theater 700 76 9421 555
HDNet 79 9422
HDNet Movies 78 9423
MGM 255
MHD 725 332 9492
Mojo 706
Smithsonian 267
Universal HD 708 74 9427 560
Voom - Animania 9474
Voom - Equator 9471
Voom - Family Room 9486
Voom - Film Fest 9480
Voom - Gallery 9472
Voom - GamePlay 9485
Voom - HDNews 9482
Voom - Kung Fu 9479
Voom - Monsters 9481
Voom - Rave 9470
Voom - Rush 9476
Voom - Treasure 9477
Voom - Ultra 9478
Voom - World Cinema 9475
Voom - WorldSport 9473

Premium Networks
------------------
HBO East 501 9456
HBO West 710 504 510
Cinemax East 512 9458
Cinemax West 711 514 530
The Movie Channel 544
Showtime East 537 9460
Showtime West 720 540 520
Sho Too 538
Starz East 520 9435
Starz West 721 521
Starz Comedy 519
Starz Edge 522
Starz Kids & Family 518

Sports (* games only)
------------------
Big Ten Network 220 9500
ESPN 704 206 9424 550
ESPN2 705 209 9425
FSN West 652 367*
FSN Prime Ticket 653 361*
FSN Arizona [1,2] 649-1* 365*
FSN Bay Area [3] 654-1*
Fuel 612
Golf/Versus HD 604 9468
NBA TV 601 9508
NFL Network 729* 212 9464
NHL Network 215 403
Speed 607

1 - MLB D'backs only. Other pro teams blacked out.
2 - NHL Coyotes in Pahrump and some other outlying zip codes, blacked out in Las Vegas valley.
3 - MLB Giants and A's. Other pro teams blacked out.

Sports Subscriptions
------------------
MLB Extra Innings HD soon yes no
NBA League Pass HD soon yes yes
NHL Center Ice HD soon yes yes
NFL Sunday Ticket HD no yes no

Cox promised 50 HD channels by year end, but time is running out to accomplish that goal. I will be very surprised if any more get added this month.

Cox promised 50 HD channels by year end, but time is running out to accomplish that goal. I will be very surprised if any more get added this month.

Maybe they're using the new Comcast math and counting VOD selections as channels.

But seriously, the major HD channels you're missing are pretty much down to CNN, FX, USA, and Sci-Fi after the latest additions. And, of course, Cox continues to job sports fans by not adding FSN HD.

There's a lot more then that. Just look at the list. Granted a lot of those channels don't show a lot of HD, but they are there none the less. I wish Cox would get HDNet Movies. I think my dad would really like that channel except when Mark Cuban plays his propaganda movies.

Speaking of HD channels that don't show HD programming, the new TLCHD channel has NO "HD" logos on ANY programming. Why the channel then??

Speaking of HD channels that don't show HD programming, the new TLCHD channel has NO "HD" logos on ANY programming. Why the channel then??

I assure you that several TLC shows like American Chopper and LA Ink are HD.

You can probably blame Tribune Media Services for the missing HD indicators in your guide (probably, they seem to be the guide data provider for just about everyone). It's the same folks that mark everything on TBS as HD.

fyi, I also noticed on my latest QAM scan that UHD is unencrypted on channel 128-1.

OT....does anyone know if there was ever a software update to the 8300HD DVR to allow simultaneous video output from both the component and the HDMI jacks? If not, does the newer 4250(?) box allow it?

Cox didnt promise 50 HD channels by End of Year 08.

OT....does anyone know if there was ever a software update to the 8300HD DVR to allow simultaneous video output from both the component and the HDMI jacks? If not, does the newer 4250(?) box allow it?

The 8240HDC supports outputting from both, assuming you feel like keeping your DVR box as opposed to switching to the 4250HDC and losing the capability to record your programming.

thanks , dx master... I did mean the DVR vesion of the box.

also, Cox didn't actually "promise" , but it was communicated back in June :

"Cox Targets 50 HD Channels by Year-End"

"Cable Operator Readying Campaign to Take On DirecTV
By Todd Spangler -- Multichannel News, 6/20/2007 11:26:00 AM

Orlando, Fla. -- Cox Communications president Pat Esser said the operator is aiming to have the capacity to offer 50 HD channels across its systems by the end of 2007, and it hopes to double that to 100 by the end of 2009"


http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6453819.html

Looks like KTNV News has gone HD as of Saturday (12/15). They still have some work to do as the Channel 13 Time/Temp Bug is cut off on my regular SD set.

I wonder when KLAS is going to get the stuff to do DD 5.1.

I wonder when KLAS is going to get the stuff to do DD 5.1.
If a program is worth watching, it is worth watching WITHOUT DD 5.1
And if it isn't worth watching, being broadcast with DD 5.1 won't improve it.

You're not missing anything on 13 HD. The rotating "13 HD" bug and the other thing on the left is way too big and distracting. And the colors they chose for graphics are ugly too. They look like old 2 strip technicolor. (teal-green and red)

Ktnv 13 HD news looks to be the worst of the 3 big stations so far, imo.

If a program is worth watching, it is worth watching WITHOUT DD 5.1
And if it isn't worth watching, being broadcast with DD 5.1 won't improve it.

I disagree sound is half the experience. While it won't help shows that aren't worth watching I don't watch those anyways. I only watch stuff that is worth watching.

If a program is worth watching, it is worth watching WITHOUT DD 5.1
And if it isn't worth watching, being broadcast with DD 5.1 won't improve it.

Similarly, if a program is worth watching, it's worth watching in standard definition. Being broadcast in HD won't improve it.

True, of course, but wouldn't you rather watch it in HD if you could? Wouldn't you rather hear it in DD 5.1 if you could?

With your reasoning, why bother with color, or stereo? Why not just go back to the old B&W, mono programs? I mean, if it's worth watching...

Yeah they are not fully up yet. I like the graphics i have seen so far.I heard atleast a week till we see anything. AND BY FAR CH3 IS THE WORST LOOKING IN THE MARKET period.

Similarly, if a program is worth watching, it's worth watching in standard definition. Being broadcast in HD won't improve it.

True, of course, but wouldn't you rather watch it in HD if you could? Wouldn't you rather hear it in DD 5.1 if you could?

With your reasoning, why bother with color, or stereo? Why not just go back to the old B&W, mono programs? I mean, if it's worth watching...

Thats why I bought the entire Twilight Zone Box Set.
Funny its in DD!

Yeah they are not fully up yet. I like the graphics i have seen so far.I heard atleast a week till we see anything. AND BY FAR CH3 IS THE WORST LOOKING IN THE MARKET period.

Are you watching the same channels as the rest of us?

Channel 13 looks like Fox News on crack. HD didn't do anything to make it more watchable for me.

Channel 3 looks fine except for Sunday Night Football. Their video quality of their news broadcast is very good, although they are only SD widescreen on location/helicopter footage where channel 8 has high quality component SD or true HD on their broadcast.

Im watching the same channel. I dont get fox news from it at all and i never tried crack so I cant say. But ch 3 looks like the graphics was drawn with a crayon. ch 8 stars in the color muddy, and ch5 thats the usual fox stuff if you ask me.

Im watching the same channel.
You seem pretty negative. I think our local HD news offerings are pretty good, especially for a Mid Major market like Las Vegas.

You seem pretty negative. I think our local HD news offerings are pretty good, especially for a Mid Major market like Las Vegas.

In a world where anyone can produce STAR WARS out of their bedroom, i could care less how small or large a market is,presentation matters.

Im giving KTNV HD kudos for looking fresh and new.

Well, whether good, bad, or in between, the HD on KTNV is miles and miles better than the SD garbage they were putting out. Now that they have finally switched over to HD, I might just start watching them again.

But ch 3 looks like the graphics was drawn with a crayon. ch 8 stars in the color muddy, and ch5 thats the usual fox stuff if you ask me.


In a world where anyone can produce STAR WARS out of their bedroom, i could care less how small or large a market is,presentation matters.

Im giving KTNV HD kudos for looking fresh and new.

You don't happen to work for Journal Broadcasting, do you?

"Fresh and new" is the last description I would give to the KTNV news. I'll give them a few weeks to polish their production, but the rotating bug long ago wore it the welcome it never had and the "13" lapel pins they make the anchors wear is plain hokey.

You don't happen to work for Journal Broadcasting, do you?

"Fresh and new" is the last description I would give to the KTNV news. I'll give them a few weeks to polish their production, but the rotating bug long ago wore it the welcome it never had and the "13" lapel pins they make the anchors wear is plain hokey.

NO I DONT WORK THERE.YOU SEEM TO KNOW MORE IN THAT RESPECT. IM simply a demanding HD viewer who likes an experience when i flip the set on. LETS BE CLEAR ,If they dont get it together in a few weeks i put them in the DUD BIN. All im saying is thank god one station is getting my attention. FINALLY!

Does any one know if Cox Las Vegas is using switched digital video (SDV) here is Vegas for the new HD channels? And if so which ones are SDV? I am using a Tivo S3 and do not receive all the new HD channels. I was wondering if the channels I do not receive are SDV.

(first post)

anyone know what the status of the tivo/cox deal looks like? Seems to me that of all the cox people i have spoken to, only ONE of them mentioned it, and he was a sales rep that went store to store. Met him at an ultimate electronics store last march and he mentioned it.

now, comcast (is that right?) has it happening, but not us.

Personally, cox is ok by me (their SD picture is better than DTV after i tested that service) but the program guide gets just BARELY a passing grade.

it looks terrible, is laggy, and needs an interface update desperately!

Why does Discovery HD (Cox -Channel 700) look better than ANY OTHER HD station?

has something to do with that being a showcase channel for HD. everything on the channel is filmed natively in HD meaning no conversion and upscaling.

more or less the only "real" hd channel IMO *which is an uneducated one* besides mojo HD.

but i am about 99% certain all those shows on DHD Theatre are filmed 1080i

BTW Word the name of that channel now is just HD Theatre. They took Discovery out when the Discovery Channel HD came out.

As to SDV no Cox doesn't use it here yet. My parents have both a S3 and TiVo HD and they get all the new stations. My mom who has the S3 I have to reboot the system to get the new channels or when Cox moves the channels around. My dad's TiVo HD with the M stream card doesn't need to be rebooted.

(their SD picture is better than DTV after i tested that service)

FYI, around here:

D*= DirecTV
DTV= Digital Television

So as not to confuse anyone. ;)

Thats why I bought the entire Twilight Zone Box Set.
Funny its in DD!

Now those are definitely worth watching in B&W!

Now those are definitely worth watching in B&W!

Especially when you live on Maple Street, have a bomb shelter and have 2 satellite dishes and 2 antennas on the wall and subscribe to Dish Network :D

Xmas coal for those wishing to get rid of Cox's guide data :


"Cable TV Operator to Use Gemstar’s Passport IPG, My TV Guide
By Steve Donohue -- Multichannel News, 12/19/2007 6:11:00 PM

Cox Communications signed a contract extension with Gemstar-TV Guide International which gives the cable TV operator rights to distribute its Passport interactive program guides, and certain features and services of My TV Guide."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6514432.html

Especially when you live on Maple Street, have a bomb shelter and have 2 satellite dishes and 2 antennas on the wall and subscribe to Dish Network :D

Do you have a watch that stops time?;)

Xmas coal for those wishing to get rid of Cox's guide data :


"Cable TV Operator to Use Gemstar’s Passport IPG, My TV Guide
By Steve Donohue -- Multichannel News, 12/19/2007 6:11:00 PM

Cox Communications signed a contract extension with Gemstar-TV Guide International which gives the cable TV operator rights to distribute its Passport interactive program guides, and certain features and services of My TV Guide."

http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6514432.html

The coolest thing from the article?

The agreement will allow Cox subscribers to remotely record TV programs on digital video recorders through the My TV Guide product, which lets subscribers access DVRs located in their homes via an Internet connection...“We’re also happy that our new agreement includes select My TV Guide features and services, like remote record, which Cox may begin to deploy in the months ahead.”

I have been waiting for this feature ever since I rented my first DVR from Cox. They say that deployment for those with the Scientific Atlanta DVR's will begin in early 2008. Maybe Vegggas can shed some more light from his sources as to when it may happen in Vegas.

The coolest thing from the article?

The agreement will allow Cox subscribers to remotely record TV programs on digital video recorders through the My TV Guide product, which lets subscribers access DVRs located in their homes via an Internet connection...“We’re also happy that our new agreement includes select My TV Guide features and services, like remote record, which Cox may begin to deploy in the months ahead.”

I have been waiting for this feature ever since I rented my first DVR from Cox. They say that deployment for those with the Scientific Atlanta DVR's will begin in early 2008. Maybe Vegggas can shed some more light from his sources as to when it may happen in Vegas.


As nice as this sounds if you google gemstar cox and guide you will find that this announcement was made sometime in 2006 and nothing happened.

Gemstar has nice looking guides. Some older crt monitors had them built in. However it seems that cox is a little slw when it comes to rolling out new products. I believe this has somerhing to do with the fact that the dish workd has more direct competetion as a customer can get either service anywhere. Cable has less motivation to change and offer mre and better as there are rareky mre than one provider in one area.

My father in canada has a dwcent gemstar based guide but it is nothing compared to tivo.
No tivo suggestions for cox customers i guess.

Btw. Discoverys new hd channel looks pretty darn good. Watching it right now.
o

Time for some whining.

Cox (or somebody) does it again!!

This morning (and up to this moment) Fox HD, CBS-HD and ABC-HD are all presenting a marvelous TOTALLY BLANK SCREEN on Cox Cable. I won't bother calling Cox about it, because I don't have the patience to wade through the many menu layers until you can finally reach a CRS person.
But since Cox doesn't charge "extra" for local HD service, they are very rarely in a hurry to fix what's wrong.
You think the public would be a bit more agitated if it were "Super Bowl Sunday"?

i am currently experiencing my third outtage in two weeks now. this is strange because i live in a built area of town without alot of new construction (jones and charleston) and cox knows nothing.

so there you have it.

how much credit can i get for these outtages. last time they gave me $6 a day times 2 days as that is what i am pro-rated for...

so what should i do?

Well that all depends. Do you know why it keeps going out? Look and see what the tech does. When I first moved in my house every time it rained for the first three years the connection out in the street would fail. The guy would cut the end off and replace it and it would work again. Luckily they finally got a connector that works now. You can either keep Cox and call and complain (maybe they'll give you free programming) or cancel and get Directv or Dish.

Does anyone know which sat and transponder our HD locals come from on Directv?

Well that all depends. Do you know why it keeps going out? Look and see what the tech does. When I first moved in my house every time it rained for the first three years the connection out in the street would fail. The guy would cut the end off and replace it and it would work again. Luckily they finally got a connector that works now. You can either keep Cox and call and complain (maybe they'll give you free programming) or cancel and get Directv or Dish.


no, my setup is now 110% of what it can be. i am a pretty technical guy, and i had senior techs out to my house a few times to get things working.

this problem puts more than one person out in my area... as in dozens of houses go out.

no one knows why and they are calling it "unplanned outtages" which is an oxymoron if you ask me.

As to SDV no Cox doesn't use it here yet. My parents have both a S3 and TiVo HD and they get all the new stations. My mom who has the S3 I have to reboot the system to get the new channels or when Cox moves the channels around. My dad's TiVo HD with the M stream card doesn't need to be rebooted.

Rebooting my Tivo S3 does not bring up the new HD channels.

I only subscribe to Cox Limited Basic Service channels 2-17 (not Expanded Basic channels 18-69, 95-98) and HD channels. I wonder if that could somehow be related to not getting all HD channels. Some of the new HD channels appear to be HD versions of Expanded Basic ones. It is hard to find a knowledgeable Cox customer service rep.

Direct HD locals Las Vegas spot beam is on the 99 sat. I belive there is only one transponder lit and that's ours.

I only subscribe to Cox Limited Basic Service channels 2-17 (not Expanded Basic channels 18-69, 95-98) and HD channels.

What HD channels are you getting? Local only, or some of the other HD channels?

Cox installs a filter on your line to prevent you from getting channels 18-69. I dont know if it blocks the upper channels (70-135). You can try tuning channels 95-98 and see what happens. If you cant get those channels its likely the filter is blocking them.

24hrs has passed since the first outage.
Still no ABC-HD from Cox.

Not that I find anything worth watching on ABC today, but such an outage from a major network and a major cable provider is INEXCUSABLE.

What HD channels are you getting? Local only, or some of the other HD channels?

Cox installs a filter on your line to prevent you from getting channels 18-69. I dont know if it blocks the upper channels (70-135). You can try tuning channels 95-98 and see what happens. If you cant get those channels its likely the filter is blocking them.

I get all local and non-local HD channels except 701 HDPPV, 702 NGCHD, 703 HSTRYHD, 707 AETVHD, 722 TLCHD, 723 HGTVHD, 724 FOODHD, 726 TBSHD, and 727 DSCHD.

Yes I know I have a filter on my line. I receive channels 1-17, 95-98, 102, 108, 110-112, and 121-129.

I am trying to insure that I receive all HD channels I am entitled to receive with Cox Limited Basic Service. I also subscribe to HBO, Cinemax and Starz and get all SD and HD versions of those channels. The Cox CSRs I have spoken with seem uninformed and just want to send a tech to my house.

I get all local and non-local HD channels except 701 HDPPV, 702 NGCHD, 703 HSTRYHD, 707 AETVHD, 722 TLCHD, 723 HGTVHD, 724 FOODHD, 726 TBSHD, and 727 DSCHD.

Yes I know I have a filter on my line. I receive channels 1-17, 95-98, 102, 108, 110-112, and 121-129.

I am trying to insure that I receive all HD channels I am entitled to receive with Cox Limited Basic Service. I also subscribe to HBO, Cinemax and Starz and get all SD and HD versions of those channels. The Cox CSRs I have spoken with seem uninformed and just want to send a tech to my house.

You wont get any on demand AFAIK due to the cable card the TIVo uses being one way only, unable to send requests out to cox cable like the cox boxes do.

Also, take note that every channel you DONT Get is a channel added since october of 07, all the new goodies that happened recently.

That seems like too odd a coincidence to me.

Anyone in Vegas interested in a pair of B&W 801 F speakers?

What the hell is going on with ABC-HD on Cox?

For a full three days now, there has been no HD signal on Channel 732. Two days of a blank screen, and this morning an SD signal (480i) is appearing on Channel 732.
This is quality control? This is what a "so called" major city is capable of? In most other Metropolitan areas, you are unfortunate if you lose a signal for 3 minutes, let alone 3 days. This is ridiculous.
And nobody seems to know anything. Cox doesn't know, and ABC is unreachable.
Yes, I know we don't pay "extra" for our local HDs. But maybe if we did, the quality control would be far more up to date.

You wont get any on demand AFAIK due to the cable card the TIVo uses being one way only, unable to send requests out to cox cable like the cox boxes do.

Also, take note that every channel you DONT Get is a channel added since october of 07, all the new goodies that happened recently.

That seems like too odd a coincidence to me.

I realize Tivo is one way only. I am not interested in on demand. I just want to be sure I am receiving all the HD channels I am entitled to. I think the one new channel I have started to receive since 10/07 is 734 KVCWDT.

I realize Tivo is one way only. I am not interested in on demand. I just want to be sure I am receiving all the HD channels I am entitled to. I think the one new channel I have started to receive since 10/07 is 734 KVCWDT.

right... but i think that most of those HD channels that you dont get started the first week of october.

I recall ordering D* thinking i would get great HD and SD channels... i ordered that the last week of september. I cancelled it before october, and the first week of october we got the first run of new HD on cox (that was A&E, Nat Geo, History and one other i cant think of)

the others were TBS which came late oct for the world series... then the others.

Anyhow, i dotn know much about HD, just giving my opinion

I recall ordering D* thinking i would get great HD and SD channels... i ordered that the last week of september. I cancelled it before october,

Why did you cancel D*?

Why did you cancel D*?

we watch ALOT of fox new channel and other standard def channels, and we noticed after the D* install the quality on these channels is far less than what it is with cox cable.

My setup was as good as it gets. A fresh D* install with a perfect cable setupm both outputting to my 60 inch sony SXRD set with HDMI so i could cycle between the two pictures.

After the install, i put on two channels i watch alot. Discovery HD theatre and fox news. I wasnt surprised that the HD channel looked fine, but fox looked:

-washed out
-lower res (pixilated almost)
-sounded worse.

I asked the installer about why fox news looked this way (he does NOT have cox cable) and he told me that fox news on cox cable is an HD channel.

Odd because you know... THERE IS NO HD VERSION OF FOX NEWS... JUST FOX BUSINESS. And as of end of september, there was no fox business channel, it had not launched.

So that tells you how HE saw the picture. He was convinced that cox had an HD signal for a channel that only broadcasts SD to anywhere right now.

I tinkered to no end for the next two days, trying to get the best settings for my setup. I called D* and got several levels into the tech support when i found out that D* at the time was broadcasting mpeg2 signals which were poorly displayed on my screen... the D* tech support told me (and i read some online sources) that this is a limitation of sat. right now so they can offer so much SD and HD at once... and that given a few years this will likely not be an issue.

since the cable co. only has to worry about so much bandwidth for so many people (as they only offer so many channels) they can offer a better picture on SD channels even though they claim all channels are now broadcast digitally.

long story huh?

I called D* and got several levels into the tech support when i found out that D* at the time was broadcasting mpeg2 signals which were poorly displayed on my screen... the D* tech support told me (and i read some online sources) that this is a limitation of sat. right now so they can offer so much SD and HD at once.

A long story and a very sad one. D*s new HR20DVR, works beautifully, and receives MPEG-4 technology. I wanted D* for its sports coverage. Which neither Cox nor Dish can possibly equal. I'm not very interested in watching Bill O'Reilly in the clearest picture possible.

Did you have the new 5LNB dish installed with your receiver? I may be wrong about this, but I believe that without such a dish, your system cannot receive MPEG-4.
By the way, its now been 4 full days and the good folks at Cox Cable have been unable to overcome the difficulties of receiving ANY HD signal from ABC.
No information is available about the problem, only that the Cox "engineers" are working on it. Apparently they work VERY, VERY slowly.

A long story and a very sad one. D*s new HR20DVR, works beautifully, and receives MPEG-4 technology. I wanted D* for its sports coverage. Which neither Cox nor Dish can possibly equal. I'm not very interested in watching Bill O'Reilly in the clearest picture possible.

Did you have the new 5LNB dish installed with your receiver? I may be wrong about this, but I believe that without such a dish, your system cannot receive MPEG-4.
By the way, its now been 4 full days and the good folks at Cox Cable have been unable to overcome the difficulties of receiving ANY HD signal from ABC.
No information is available about the problem, only that the Cox "engineers" are working on it. Apparently they work VERY, VERY slowly.

I did have the 5 signal dish. I also had the new dvr etc. Dunno i guess better the devil i know personally.

I think the one new channel I have started to receive since 10/07 is 734 KVCWDT.
And KVCWDT is unencrypted, which is why you get it.

So that tells you how HE saw the picture. He was convinced that cox had an HD signal for a channel that only broadcasts SD to anywhere right now.




Either that or he's completely blind.;) I'm convinced it's the latter as I have NEVER confused any of Cox's SD channels with HD. Most are not of bad quality, but NONE are anywhere near HD quality.

Either that or he's completely blind.;) I'm convinced it's the latter as I have NEVER confused any of Cox's SD channels with HD. Most are not of bad quality, but NONE are anywhere near HD quality.


Or because he had nothing to compare that as signal to other than d*
I dont care as it wasn't going to get any better no matter what his level of uderstanding of hd or sd.

Doesn't ANYBODY know what the problem, is with ABC-HD on Cox??

Doesn't ANYBODY know what the problem, is with ABC-HD on Cox??

i am sure that this isnt the answer you want, but ABC works fine for me.
I had an outtage on it about 3 days ago, but i just put it in picture in picture and it is working ok.

have you rebooted your box? Try that... or get a new box from cox. I replace my DVR about once every 4-6 months and all my "problems" go away.

i am sure that this isnt the answer you want, but ABC works fine for me.

Channel 732 is not showing the HD feed like it should. It's SD only, so it's not working "fine".


have you rebooted your box? Try that... or get a new box from cox. I replace my DVR about once every 4-6 months and all my "problems" go away.

This is a system wide problem. Rebooting the box will accomplish nothing. We just have to wait until it's fixed. The picture is pretty crummy on the NBA games today.

Channel 732 is not showing the HD feed like it should. It's SD only, so it's not working "fine".




This is a system wide problem. Rebooting the box will accomplish nothing. We just have to wait until it's fixed. The picture is pretty crummy on the NBA games today.

wow... well you sound annoyed. ABC has some flaky HD indeed. I noticed that shows like dancing with the stars always sound like they are in a tin can.

I didnt notice that it wasnt working right in HD. seems like maybe ABC isnt sending out an HD feed?

Can anyone with D* let us know?

Doesn't ANYBODY know what the problem, is with ABC-HD on Cox??

Yesterday I kept getting dropouts recording the how the grich stole xmas using the Dish DVR. Watching it directly using the TV exibited the same problem.

This using an unamplified channel master stealth antenna.
All other channels from the same tower were fine.

I didnt notice that it wasnt working right in HD. seems like maybe ABC isnt sending out an HD feed?




It's a Cox problem. The OTA feed is fine.

It's a Cox problem. The OTA feed is fine.

so the OTA HD is ok? Or just the SD... as the SD signal is being send over the HD channel...

Vegas-Steven,

SD NEVER looks "fine" on any HD station. Nor does TBS-HD, and TNT-HD, which often (but not always) uses "stretchovision" and CW-HD, so far is a waste. The only HD show I found on it was "Smallville". And even that was in HD two weeks ago, but wasn't this last week.

Why do companies have an HD station, if they don't transmit HD on it?

But of course if you watch alot of the Fox News Channel and You-tube, you're not very discriminating anyway.

I have both D* and Cox. I completely agree that D*'s SD picture is noticeably worse than Cox's. But, on the other hand, D*'s HD picture quality beats out what the 8300 DVR spits out from Cox on any HD channel comparison between the two.

Vegas-Steven,

SD NEVER looks "fine" on any HD station. Nor does TBS-HD, and TNT-HD, which often (but not always) uses "stretchovision" and CW-HD, so far is a waste. The only HD show I found on it was "Smallville". And even that was in HD two weeks ago, but wasn't this last week.

Why do companies have an HD station, if they don't transmit HD on it?

But of course if you watch alot of the Fox News Channel and You-tube, you're not very discriminating anyway.

well. I don't know what to say about that last line regarding fox and youtube. Seeing as alot of people wacth non network news and don't want to watch CNNs positions politically I guess I am probably not the only guy who tolerates the non HD of it.

I am actually huge on quality of signal. It kills me that so much hd is actually upcomverted crap. That is an issue I had with d* their hd count includes alot of channelsnlike the cw with 1 or 2 hours of hd per day.

As for youtube. All my original files are on mini dv and the movies themselves are h.264 encoded at between 1500-3000 Kbps. They are indistinguishable from the original. Youtube ruins them with crappy flash 7 encoding.

Anyone know a better quality site with youtube like traffic and features??

so the OTA HD is ok?

Yes.

Cox FINALLY has ABC-HD back on.
Only took 5 days. Ridiculous (Holiday or no holiday).

Now we'll see how long before the next loss of signal or interruption in service occurs.
I'll bet it won't be TOO long.

Cox FINALLY has ABC-HD back on.
Only took 5 days. Ridiculous (Holiday or no holiday).

Now we'll see how long before the next loss of signal or interruption in service occurs.
I'll bet it won't be TOO long.

Haven't you switched to DirecTV yet?

Cox FINALLY has ABC-HD back on.
Only took 5 days. Ridiculous (Holiday or no holiday).

Now we'll see how long before the next loss of signal or interruption in service occurs.
I'll bet it won't be TOO long.

good lord...why dont you cancel their service already.. i'm so tired of reading about your personal pity-party when it comes to cox.

I will switch to D* after the month of January.

D* does not carry PBS-HD, and there are several music programs including "Live from Lincoln Center" and "The Metropolitan Opera Presents" on PBS-HD, which I want to see. Since I am not a millionaire, I cannot afford two HD services.

Thank You for your suggestions and interest.

jb1219,

Why don't you put me on your "ignore" list? That way my personal "pity-party" won't interfere with a brave, tolerant and staunch soul like yours. The same advice is hereby freely dispensed to others who find my posts annoying to their psyches.

D* does not carry PBS-HD

They will soon.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=957956