I also notice that sometimes when I turn to a digital channel (like 121 for ESPNNews) it will come up and say the channel will be available shortly. If I switch to the other tuner though, the channel will come up. I'm having a new drop ran to my apartment this weekend because our signal is too low for our high speed internet to sync up, hopefully that will help fix the HD problems as well.

I have had the same problem (although not on ESPN News) ever since the upgrade to 9.15. Anyone else think 9.15 could be the cause?

I am finding the channels you have listed, plus several more--but on my television, 101-2 is most definitely the local WB HD feed, NOT WUPN. I can't find a feed for UPN HD anywhere, although 84-207 is a digital transmission of their standard-def feed.

I just got my new TV and it has the HD tuner already. I still don't have the Dish HD tunner. How can I get the OTA locals? Why kind of antenna do I need?

Originally posted by cliffbig
I am finding the channels you have listed, plus several more--but on my television, 101-2 is most definitely the local WB HD feed, NOT WUPN. I can't find a feed for UPN HD anywhere, although 84-207 is a digital transmission of their standard-def feed.

You're right. My mistake. Channel 101-2 is WATL not WUPA as I listed for Atlanta Comcast. However, Comcast is sending out the wrong PSIP data for the 101-2 channel as it is labeled as "WUPA".

Has anyone else been experiencing consistent 1-2 second audio dropouts watching programs recorded on the DVR? I know sometimes watching live HD there will be some sporadic audio dropouts but on the DVR it is on every program I record. Any ideas? Thanks!!

Ji9988, I experience the same thing. (whew thought it was only me)

I am new to the Comcast HD family. (Voom transplant). I am trying cable out for while to see if I like it. I like the dvr and VOD functions. I am just getting used to the remote and the box.

I have some newbie questions.

Are there any functionality or suggestions for settings for the box that I need to apply for optimal use? (i.e. DVR 30 sec. skip function)

Does the Comcast have HD VOD that you don't have to pay extra for?

Any news on Universal HD or any other HD channels being added to our listings?

How is Comcast when it comes to adding HD channels?

Thanks
Mike

Switching to Comcast after 7 yrs with Direct TV, has anyone in the Atlanta area taken the switch from the dish promo and what was the installation process like.
Do they connect boxes and leave or do they perform some tests. Like I said its been a long time since I've used cable. I took the switch from dish prom $400 @ $25 a month discount on service. Has anyone had experience with this promo and do they take your dish and receivers away.
Thanks In Advance

I'm swithing to Comcast this weekend. I dumped Dish after 4 yrs. Nothing against them, I just want some HD locals and programming with DVR.
We'll see how the install goes. I also talk to a co-worker today and he said that they added a couple of HD channels just this week, he said TBS was 1 some other one I can't remember.

I'd like to know how folks feel about comcast in the Atlanta area. Switching to digital cable from direct tv (until new HD arrives for birthday in October). I took the switch promo for cost savings, just hope I'm not dissappointed with picture quality when I get it on Friday.............................
Thanks In Advance

Bxga1,
I am happy with my Comcast service. I was one of the first customers with the dual tuner DVR (Nov 04) and have really been impressed with the quality of the feed. The audio has a tendency of dropping once in a while but not often enough to switch. I think once we see the TIVO branded DVR's at the end of the year it will probably improve the functionality as well as the look and feel. Although the current interface (TVGuide) is fine for now the TIVO functionality will bring it up another notch. Just in time as DirectTV begins to offer all the local channels in HD later this year.

Let me know if you have any other questions.....

Gus

I did this same promo over a year ago when I switched from Dish to Comcast. I have been very happy with my switch. My only concern is that the $25/month discount (to make the $400 total discount) will be ending soon. They also through in on premium channel for the full time of the discount. So when it ends, I will probably have to change my package so I don't get the premium channel any more.

I have enjoyed my switch! :)

Does anybody know why the games at home that are broadcast on Turner South (or FSN) are not showing up in HD on BravesVision (755) anymore? I could have swore that I was getting the HD feed on BravesVision earlier this year, but for some reason not anymore. What's the point of having BravesVision if none of the games are ever televised on the channel?

I've had it for about a month now and I can say that the SD signal is better on Dish. My main reason for switching was the HD. I don't like the ch guide and they don't have a way to customize the menu so you can have a list of just the channels you watch. No skip button, you just have to keep track of your fast forward.

here are my problems with channel 755 "bravesvision" :

it's only useful for home games in atlanta that are on Turner South. and they have many more away games on turner south, and we don't get those in HD. Any home game not on turner south would be on TBS, which carries HD broadcasts on on channel 807, making the 755 feed useless....(this is excluding the weekly obligation to Fox Sports South, which has no HD capability yet).

and i was liking their classic game replays at first (they really have a lot of different ones from the 90's which are interesting), lately all the ones i've seen have been Braves LOSSES, and not particularly interesting games. it's like the worst of both worlds with the "classic" braves game replays : boring games, no braves win.

I am new to this site, but i 've been reading it religiously for the past three days--going from thread to thread . . . .
comcast in atlanta is scheduled to come and install the digital hdtv cable with the dvr on tuesday.
do i need to ask for the moto. duel tuner or will they automatically bring it?
and are we gonna see a new tivo-like recorder?
if so, any idea when?
i am in the process of making my final selection on an hdtv.
i think i'm gonna go with the 50 inch th50phhd7uy (only after reading here about the problems with the 42 inch . . .)
since you all are obviously in atlanta, i would be interested in learning if you've found any good places (on the internet hopefully) to purchase speakers and receivers.
and if you all have any experience with installers.
sounds like most participants wouldn't need the help i do.

thanks
sherry

If they are bringing the HD DVR it should be the dual tuner model. My understanding is that Comcast will start rolling out the Tivo units next year.

I'm not sure what your budget is for speakers and a receiver, but if you are thinking about an installer you may be best served going to one source for everything. Many installers do not want to install stuff they didn't sell...that's where their profit is. That being said, you may want to check out Sound & Cinema in Alpharetta. They have a nice selection at multiple price points; I picked up my Paradigm Studio speakers from them and got a 15% discount.

Sherry,

Check out BrandSmart (off 285 and Phtree Ind.). They have the best deals in town on all things electronic. Most times, cheaper than internet pricing. They also have no money down/no interest financing and a good return policy.

As for installation, check out a co. called LMI electrical contractors. Ask for Rick Hall. They're very knowlegable, professional, and affordable.

Sherry,
It really depends on your budget and taste. I would look at some of the big boxes (lower to midpriced stuff) and then head over to the HiFi Buys, Sound and Cinema, Georgia Home Theater, etc for the mid to higher end stuff.

Probably want to ask yourself a couple of questions:

1. 5.1, 6.1, 7.1 setup?

2. In-wall or free standing speakers?

3. Do want to play just videos/tv and music? What %?

4. DVD, DVD-Audio, SACD, etc.?

and so on and so on.

Gus

thanks everyone!!!
brandsmart's worth a look for sure.
dtv city, being in atlanta, seems to be the best place to pick up a panny, especially since they're an authorized dealer, as well.
i'm going to look into rick hull.
i've spoken to a few folks, and so far, dave at one source impressed me most.
anyone hear of him?

oop. i meant dave at Source One in Atlanta.
anyone hear of his work?
sherry

What part of Atlanta is he in? Take a look at TV Authority for TV's....usually competitive pricing.

Hey,
Did anyone notice we had a Channel 801 the other day for about a day? It was a PPV channel

Gus

i think that channel was leftover from the Tyson "fight". it was in HD pay per view last weekend.

Check out BrandSmart (off 285 and Phtree Ind.). They have the best deals in town on all things electronic. Most times, cheaper than internet pricing.

An alternate opinion on BrandsMart:
I went shortly after they opened and priced random items from a TV to a rice cooker (I was amused by them having a whole section of rice cookers) to a printer and some other things. I then went home and looked at the same items on the Internet (both at stores such as Amazon and CompUSA to Froogle and Yahoo! shopping. I compared total pricing (BrandsMart with tax/Internet with possible tax and shipping). BrandsMart is a ripoff. And they don't have the latest models.

Not to hijack this thread, but to each his own.

I do a ton of research before I buy most anything electronic (including all the various internet sources). All I can say is I got a LG plasma TV for $400 cheaper than even the shadiest of e-tailier pricing. I got a mini DV camcorder for $100 cheaper than anywhere else and a DVI upscale DVD player for $50 cheaper than anyone had it. All at BrandSmart with no interest/no $$ down. The salespeople at CC and BB won't even talk to you once you tell them what the same item was priced at BrandSmart...they know they can't match it and usually would say "I don't balme you for buying it there"..

I can't comment on the rice cookers though..I'm a boil-in-bag kind of guy ;)

I noticed that the dozen or so analog channels that had been replaced with digital are back to analog. I'm served out of the Stone Mtn headend. Does anyone know whats going on?

I don't know exactly when it changed, although I noticed a lot of TBA in the guide starting Sunday evening, presumably indicating a reset had occurred sometime Sunday PM.

Incidentally, is there a way to tell exactly when the last reset on a 6812 occurred? I don't see an "uptime" in any of the menus.

Hello,

A question for fellow Comcast subscribers in Atlanta. I use OTA reception and DirecTV for my HD content, but have a subscription to Comcast's basic service for local channels (approx. $15/month) which I use for local channels on my non-HD TV's.

For my HD setup in my home theater, I have a Toshiba DST-3100 receiver connected to an antenna and DirecTV. I've heard (and attempted to confirm w/o success) that Comcast sends the HD signals of the local channels even for basic subscribers and all one needs to receive them is a "QAM" tuner. So I have two questions:

1) Is it true that the HD signals of the local channels is available even on the basic cable subscription and

2) if so, is the Toshiba DST-3100 receiver a "QAM" receiver?

TIA,

-Cole Clark

I've heard (and attempted to confirm w/o success) that Comcast sends the HD signals of the local channels even for basic subscribers and all one needs to receive them is a "QAM" tuner. So I have two questions:

1) Is it true that the HD signals of the local channels is available even on the basic cable subscription and
Yes. I have the extended basic program, and I receive the local HD channels (except UPN and PBS) through cable, but I read (somewhere in http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=537675&page=1) that even with basic the channels come through (and they should as they're supposed to be unscrambled)

2) if so, is the Toshiba DST-3100 receiver a "QAM" receiver?

Probably not if you can not receive these channels, but it may be best to ask in the Toshiba forum or email them. I have a Samsung, sorry I can't help any more.

I just have expanded basic, but when I hooked up my tv I was surprised to find most of the channels had digital counterparts. My analog cable is really crappy, I'm not sure if it's Comcast's fault or all the crappy RG-59 coax cable, or a combination of both, but the digital feed is very nice. I made a list of what I receive (in Fayette County). I may have missed a few channels. I'll post this here in case anyone is interested.

Comcast Channels

067-12 shop NBC

079-21 shop at home
079-22 WSS (Shopping)
079-25 CTV25 (Atlanta Community Television)
079-223 Fayetteville
079-226 Peachtree City

080-1 TV Land
080-2 CNBC
080-3 Turner South
080-4 History Channel
080-6 Spike TV
080-7 Turner Classic Movies
080-11 Lifetime
080-12 Food Network
080-22 Bravo
080-54 Oxygen

083-1 Local Weather
083-13 Logo (gay channel?)
083-49 Jewelry Television
084-201 ABC
084-202 Fox
084-203 NBC
084-204 TBS
084-205 GPB
084-206 CBS
084-207 UPN
084-208 TBN
084-209 Shop America
084-210 WB
084-211 Univision
084-212 PBA

085-101 CSS
085-102 Fox News
085-103 ESPN
085-104 ABC FAM
085-105 TNT
085-106 HGTV
085-107 FX
085-108 ESPN 2
085-109 FSN
085-110 CMT
085-111 WGN
085-112 WATC (Local Religious)
085-113 Speed TV

087-9

091-6 Local Spanish Channel

092-21 Fox HD

093-3 MSNBC

098-03 ABC HD
098-10 TBS HD

101-2 WB HD

103-101 BET
103-102 CN
103-103 Comedy Central
103-104 MTV
103-105 Disney
103-106 Nickelodeon
103-107 Sci Fi
103-108 AMC
103-109 Discovery Channel
103-110 TLC
103-111 VH1
103-112 USA

104-201 C-SPAN
104-202 C-SPAN 2
104-203 Animal Planet
104-204 Travel Channel
104-207 CNN
104-208 Golf
104-209 HSN
104-210 QVC
104-212 CNN Headline News

108-10 CBS HD
108-30 NBC HD

116 Falcon Vision (will probably be scrambled once season starts).

Milmanias - what kind of HD tuner do you have? Is that how you're picking up all of those digital channels?

Milmanias is seeing a full range of digital simulcast channels at least in Fayette. I don't have a digital tuner other than what the 6412 decides to map in, and that lost all the digital simulcast channels about 10 days ago. It's been back to straight analog under channel 100 since.

Is anyone still getting any digital simulcast on the 6412? I'm wondering if the difference is Fayette vs Dekalb (Stone Mountain Headend for me), or just that they have stopped mapping in the dozen or so simulcast channels globally.

I am served by the Vinings headend and all my converted digital channels are back to analog.

Gus

Milmanias - what kind of HD tuner do you have? Is that how you're picking up all of those digital channels?

I'm just using the integrated ATSC/QAM tuner in the hlr6167w. I just hooked the cable to the tv.

If the simulcast is only temporary I'll be really dissapointed. It seems foolish to have 3 of the local affiliates (the analog and HDTV should be sufficient) but all the digitals look so much better than my regular crappy cable.

The digital simulcast channels came back some time on Thursday on my 6412, after being analog for almost two weeks.. Same limited set as before.

Anyone watch Private Ryan on TNT-HD?

Just thought I would let you know that I have received an update to the firmware to 9.19. I believe it was downloaded late Thursday. I am on the Stone Mountain headend.

I have not noticed any changes or what the new version fixes or breaks. I have a Comcast 6412 box.

any Charter customers here? I am in Smyrna, and just started service with them..should I consider getting dish or something to get HD/digital?

any Charter customers here? I am in Smyrna, and just started service with them..should I consider getting dish or something to get HD/digital?


Try this link:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=463286&highlight=charter

anyone have an idea when comcast Atlanta customers are gonna see PBS in HD? to me this is the best channel I have ever seen for HD stuff

well, i think the Atlanta PBS station stopped broadcasting the national HD feed because they could no longer afford to subscribe to it, so it's going to be a while (if ever) before we see PBS HD on comcast.

this happened very recently, i believe, and it's sad. the one time i saw their HD feed when i was still using OTA, i was blown away.

I have a question related to pricing. I am just receiving the unscrambled local channels, and I'm satisfied with this. I would like to rent a dvr, and the charge is $10. Since the HDTV charge for subscribers is $10, this means to get the hd-dvr I would pay an additional $20 a month, correct? I do not have any digital packages.

I have a question related to pricing. I am just receiving the unscrambled local channels, and I'm satisfied with this. I would like to rent a dvr, and the charge is $10. Since the HDTV charge for subscribers is $10, this means to get the hd-dvr I would pay an additional $20 a month, correct? I do not have any digital packages.

That is correct!

Pete.

Thanks, Pete! Guess I won't be getting a dvr for a while.

Has anyone else's cable been crappy lately? Some of my hd channels have been breaking up a lot.

My cable boxes reset spontaneously about 2AM this morning and more digital simulcast channels appeared, most notably nbc and cbs. Now I get a total of 18 of them.

2,6,7,9-16,23-26,30,31,64.

I keep checking when ever it resets because I'm eager for scifi and comedy channel. However, they seem to be slow in adding the commercial cable networks.

How do you know if you are getting digital simulcasts? I live in Buckhead and have yet to notice ANY channels being better than the crappy analog. I've got the Motorola 6412 SBT and it does reset at night from time to time...but no better PQ from what I can tell.

How do you know if you are getting digital simulcasts? I live in Buckhead and have yet to notice ANY channels being better than the crappy analog. I've got the Motorola 6412 SBT and it does reset at night from time to time...but no better PQ from what I can tell.

There are two ways to tell if a channel is digital.

The easy way is to look for "DDD" (Dolby trademark) on the info screen when tuned to the channel.

A probably more reliable way is to turn the box off, and consult the firmware menu. If you search backward in this thread you should find instructions.

My experience with PQ on the simulcast channels is mixed. Some are better than others, probably based on how Comcast is getting the original source. I haven't noticed any degredation that I would attribute to the path from Comcast to me.

Thanks for the advice. I'll check it out.

Also, in my area, I don't even get the HD games on the Braves Channel (755). All I get is a large station logo, a really annoying version of "Take me out the Ballgame" on an organ, and instruction to tune in to TSouth or Fox Sports Net to watch the game (albeit in crappy crappy analog).

Thanks for the advice. I'll check it out.

Also, in my area, I don't even get the HD games on the Braves Channel (755). All I get is a large station logo, a really annoying version of "Take me out the Ballgame" on an organ, and instruction to tune in to TSouth or Fox Sports Net to watch the game (albeit in crappy crappy analog).


This is normal. They only play the HD games on 755 if they are home Tsouth games. If they are home TBS games they redirect you 807 for HD, If they are away games or FSN games they just redirect you to the appropriate analog stations. There are a few more special cases, like the Saurday Fox or Sunday Espn games which also redirect you to the HD channels.

Home TSouth games do not come in HD on channel 755 in my area. I've checked this before but I'll check again next time to confirm. Thanks.

Home TSouth games do not come in HD on channel 755 in my area. I've checked this before but I'll check again next time to confirm. Thanks.

Remember, its only the home games. Also, there was a run of a few days about a month ago when a couple of Tsouth home games showed on 755 but only in standard def.

How do you know if you are getting digital simulcasts? I live in Buckhead and have yet to notice ANY channels being better than the crappy analog. I've got the Motorola 6412 SBT and it does reset at night from time to time...but no better PQ from what I can tell.

To enter the Diagnostics menu:
1. make sure your TV and Comcast receiver are turned on,
2. tune the Comcast receiver to the channel you wish to check the status of,
3. manually press the power button on the Comcast receiver (this turns off the receiver) and immediately press the select button on the Comcast receiver,
4. you are now in the Comcast Diagnostics screen,
5. scroll down to "d06" - Current Channel Status and press the select button,
6. you are in the Current Channel Status screen,
7. look at "Type" and it will tell you whether the signal is digital or analog (the current channel you were on when you turned off the Comcast receiver will be Tuner 1)
8. to exit press the select button, scroll down to exit, press the select button again,
9. your Comcast receiver should be off.

Dish Targets Comcast Subs with Offer
By Steve Donohue Multichannel.com

EchoStar Communications Corp. kicked off a promotion Tuesday aimed at wooing cable customers in six Comcast Corp. markets with an offer of $19.99 per month for a 60-channel digital-video package for 12 months, plus three free months of Home Box Office and Showtime.

Officials at EchoStar wouldn’t comment on why the offer is only available in six cities where Comcast is the incumbent cable operator: Atlanta; Dallas; Kansas City, Mo.; Indianapolis; Pittsburgh; and Sacramento, Calif.

EchoStar noted in a press release that the offer, which expires Aug. 15, shows “disgruntled cable customers there is a better alternative.”

The direct-broadcast satellite provider said new customers in the six cities who sign up for its “Digital Home Advantage” package -- which includes 60 digital channels and local broadcast networks -- will be charged $19.99 per month for the first 12 months of service. Customers who make a one-year commitment will also get a free digital-video-recorder equipment upgrade, EchoStar said.

Digital Home Advantage includes EchoStar’s “America’s Top 60” package, which normally costs $31.99 monthly. The subscription cost for the programming package will go from $19.99 to $31.99 monthly after the first year of service, EchoStar spokesman Mark Cicero said.

Cicero said it is possible that EchoStar may expand the promotion to other cities. “We’re always looking for ways to offer the best offer to new subscribers and offer them the best value in the pay TV industry. At this time, I can’t divulge any of those plans,” he added.

Comcast officials couldn’t be reached immediately for comment Tuesday afternoon.

Looks like Comcast channels 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 29, 30, 31, 64 and 69 are being simulcast in digital and analog.

Bill

I've purchased a Panny HD plasma which has cablecard and QAM tuner and it is scheduled for delivery next week. I currently have the standard analog cable package and understand that I will need to add HDTV option.

However, since I'm planning to use cablecard, what advantage will one of the digital packages (i.e. Digital Starter) offer other than a few more channels? Will the Panny QAM tuner pick up the simulcast digital channels and provide sharper reception?

The QAM tuner will pick the digital simulcast and local hd channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, TBS). For DiscoveryHD, TNT-HD, ESPN-HD, the in-demand channels you need the hdtv option.

The QAM tuner will pick the digital simulcast and local hd channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, WB, TBS). For DiscoveryHD, TNT-HD, ESPN-HD, the in-demand channels you need the hdtv option.

So what is the value of upgrading to one of Comcast's digital packages other than additional content (channels)? Will the non-simulcast analog channels have clearer reception?

So what is the value of upgrading to one of Comcast's digital packages other than additional content (channels)? Will the non-simulcast analog channels have clearer reception?

I don't know what the value would be for someone with a QAM tuner other than the additional channels, unless you'd really want the hd-dvr. I want a dvr, but the cost would be $10 for hd + $10 for the dvr, cost-prohibitive for me right now.

College football HD guide.

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/cfb.php

Going to be a hell of a season. This doesn't even include CBS's schedule. All we need to do is have comcast pick up ESPN2. What's the holdup? :confused:

There was a message on my 6412 today. It said there would be a new guide installed on 8/2 and said to check www.comcast.com/newguide.
I checked the site and it shows the guide that I have now.

Does anyone know if there an even newer version, or are some people getting upgraded to what I already have.
What I'm asking is somewhat confusing...but I hope someone understands and knows the answer.
Thanks

Does anyone know if there an even newer version, or are some people getting upgraded to what I already have.
Thanks

I called Comcast and the CSR said that the upgrade was for the non-dvr digital cable boxes that were still running the old guide. Take it with a grain of salt, the CSR's can say just about anything and it took some prompting for her to say that.

I know there is a newer guilde under development which has been discussed elsewhere in the comcast forums, but I don't think this is it.

Just switched from Direct to Comcast for the HDTV. Analog is crappy but the HDTV is pretty good. But, on the locals, I have vertical black bars on all the HDTV channels 803-813. Is this just Digital w/o HDTV? The real channels 841 up seem to be great in 16X9 HDTV. Also, the 807 Braves games look fine. The "Stretch" only works on Analog. Is the answer that the "Locals" don't really broadcast in HDTV , and are only Digitized but not 16 X 9 ?
I have a DLP with a 6412 and a DVI input. I hate these bars on a 16 X 9 HDTV set.

You'll see the vertical black bars on the Network HD channels if the show is not being broadcast in HD. Then it's basically an upconvert which at least looks better than the analog channels. It'll switch to 16x9 as if the show is being broadcasted in HD.

I notice that Comcast has again unmapped all the digital simulcast channels on the 6412, at least in my area (Decatur served by Stone Mountain head end). I wonder if this is related to bringing the non-dvr boxes onto the "new" guide.

College football HD guide.

http://www.hdsportsguide.com/cfb.php

Going to be a hell of a season. This doesn't even include CBS's schedule. All we need to do is have comcast pick up ESPN2. What's the holdup? :confused:

How many CBS games would you think there'd be? Maybe one SEC game per week?

ESPN2HD is only part of current negotiations between Comcast and ESPN-Disney. In September the Sunday night MLB games and college football in HD make it much more attractive.

So I do hope we get it next month.

Rich N.

Can I get a quick show of hands as to how many 6412 users in Fulton can reliably watch Comedy Central? I know it's higher in the analog band and not (yet) digital simulcast, but wow, it's a total mess...ghosting, snow, you name it (it's like watching two different channels transposed, albeit with one shifted halfway to the right). OLN is higher up the band, but it's at least passable. My good friends at Comcast don't seem to think there's a problem...they want to blame my (new) townhome wiring, yet this is the *only* channel that's totally 100% messed up.

Comedy Central is one of if not the worst channels picture quality wise that I have. Even the public access channel 5 "church chat" station comes it better. I've called but there was no real explaination.

Thanks, jbock, for the confirmation. Ugh. I lived in a place for 2 years where I couldn't even get Comedy Central, and now that I'm back to a place where I can, it's unwatchable.

Dumb question for anyone: I know I can use the 6412 service menu to check the SNR/AGC for a digital channel to gauge how "good" the signal is...I get FAIR across the board, everytime (and Comcast says that's good enough). Is there any such simple test for an analog signal that doesn't require me to solder something or buy something at Radio Shack? :)

on my regular digital cable box Comedy Central looks ok, but on my two 6412's Comedy Central is by far the worst of the analog stations - i get massive ghosting. only a couple of other channels look like that on my setup (and those are channels i never watch).

and of course Comcast says it's my signal strength because i am in an old-ish neighborhood.

can't wait for that channel to go digital.

what channels have been switched over lately?

I can barely watch Comedy Central on my bedroom TV where I connect directly without a cable box...the picture is about the same as it is in the den with the 6412.

I can view it through my 6412 and through the tv NTSC tuner and the picture is great for both. I do have one analog tv where the picture quality is not so good, but hardly anyone atches that tv except to view dvds. I think it'is bad because it is on a cable that got cut and my son spliced it. It's not worth the effort to have Comcast out to fix it.

I hope this is the correct forum for posting this question. My dual tuner DVR HDTV recently failed. Of course it had hours of movies on it I was about to watch. :( Any way they finally replaced it. The new unit has a 120 Gb hard drive. I do not recall what the old unit had in hard numbers but it seems that this one has MUCH less space as I filled it up to over 80% in two days with about 20 hours of HD and SD content. :confused: I checked the service menu and verified the 120 GB drive and that there as about 110Gb reserved for content. I was hoping somone in Atlanta could confirm what size hard drives were in your units. I am in Dakalb Co just indide the perimiter and serviced by the Stone Mountain portion of Comcast. Thanks.

confirm what size hard drives were in your units

All 6412s have a 120 GB hard drive. No expansion is possible.

According to the manual, hours to fill the hard drive are as follows:
analog: 30-37
digital: 75-90
HDTV: 12-20

In practice, most users get the upper end of the HDTV scale.

All 6412s have a 120 GB hard drive.

Thanks for the confirmation. I guess I had recorded mostly the digital channels previously and after getting the replacement unit recorded a bunch of analog and HD so it filled up much faster. Thanks.

anyone else's 6412's acting strange/buggy lately?

i am unable to completely remove most future recordings from "scheduled recordings", especially movies. it doesn't show up as being recorded in the guide but remains in my "future recordings" even after i remove it, and these things always seem to end up recording and causing conflict problems. Also, shows that say they are going to record often don't if one of these conflicting recording i attempted to remove are happening at the same time.

plus, a lot of recordings lately have started exactly an hour late. the guide info is right the recording just gets delayed by an hour (had this happen to a movie and a baseball game today and it was also happening last week).

Does anyone have a cablecard in Atlanta? How much does it cost? I tried to call, but got tired of waiting on hold for 25 minutes...

Also, how much are they charging for a 6200 HD box? They were trying to convince me that the box was $5 + $5 for HD, thus $10/month. Likewise, the 6412 was $15/month. In CA where I had Comcast they charged $5 and $10 respectively (i.e. did not charge for HD in addition to box). Plus they want to charge $30 "install fee" for the boxes here - in CA I could pick them up from the local office.

Thanks for info!

I don't have the cablecard and I am not sure about the availability, but Comcast should not be charging you $5 twice. I think the $5 covers the box, which will get you the local HD channels if you do not subscribe to digital cable and the locals plus the other HD channels (except for premium) if you have digital cable. The DVR/HD combo is $9.95 and gets you all the HD channels except for the premium. As far as equipment, I originally started out with the HD only service and they gave me a 5100, not a 6200. I recently added the DVR service and they replaced my old box with a 6412. The HD channels apper to be sharper with the 6412 than with the 5100.

Does anyone have a cablecard in Atlanta? How much does it cost? I tried to call, but got tired of waiting on hold for 25 minutes...

Also, how much are they charging for a 6200 HD box? They were trying to convince me that the box was $5 + $5 for HD, thus $10/month. Likewise, the 6412 was $15/month. In CA where I had Comcast they charged $5 and $10 respectively (i.e. did not charge for HD in addition to box). Plus they want to charge $30 "install fee" for the boxes here - in CA I could pick them up from the local office.

Thanks for info!

Sorry, don't know about the cable cards, but they do charge an install fee for any new boxes and I believe that there is also an Additional Outlet charge of $4.80 per month for any box past the first included in whatever package that you might have.

Oleus,
No problems on this side.....East Cobb (Vinings Head)

Gus

For a short period of time a lot of the lower channels were coming in in digital form. As of last week, all of the lower channels have returned to analog. Has this happened to everyone? I am on the Stone Mountain headend.

Channels that were digital
2,3,4,6,7,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16,most of the 20's,64,69

For the locals, I wonder if Comcast was pulling in the DT broadcast or just digitizing the analog broadcast. I noticed that UPN was from the DT feed because its ID was WUPA-DT instead of WUPA-TV. Using the DT signal would definitely provide a better picture. Digitizing the analog feed will add any artifacts received at the headend.

I am assuming that these will return eventually in digital form. I have the 6412 and the anolog channels do not come in all that great, so I am looking forward to the all digital converstion.

2004Atl,

I'm in Acworth, just north of Marietta. I hadn't noticed the lower channels in digital. I tend to watch the HiDef ones when something is interesting on those stations, although I'd turn on the TV ain the bedroom on occassional at night and that's not HiDef, but did not notice any improvements.

Is Comcast planning on going all digital in the near future? Any announcement?

Bud

I tend to watch the HD versions of the network channels as well, but when they are not broadcasting HD material, I tend to watch the standard channel, so I don't have to put up with the annoying black bars on the screen.

Comcast added more digital channels in their simulcast, at least in my area. They added most of the remaining analog channels (I still don't see the Weather Channel, Court TV and the tv guide channel, but receive all others). They also shuffled some channels around. I have to type the revised list for myself, but I'll also post it here if anyone's interested. They added 2 channels, GAC (apparently a country music channel from what I've seen so far) and Discovery Health. The last one is surprising as it's listed in their digital basic package. I receive some shopping channels and the music channels from the digital basic, but Discovery Health is actually worth watching.

Milmanias, which area are you in? I would have expected some channels like the Weather Channel and TV Guide to not be converted to digital. The Weather Channel is especially tricky as it has a different local forecast based on which city and county you are in. There can be multiple verisions of a local forecast on the same headend.

2004atl, I'm in Fayetteville. I don't have digital or hd Comcast service, just using the QAM-enabled tuner in my tv. I don't expect the tv guide service to be digital for a while, until they finalize the simulcast and channel line-up. They have the local weather (analog in channel 19) on 2 separate digital channels, 83-1 and 93-1, I'm hoping they'll switch one of those to the weather channel. I'm surprised not everyone in the Atlanta area served by camcast is picking these up.

Here is the channe line-up I'm currently receiving. I did not find Shop America, don't know if it was removed or I just didn't see it. I also did not list the digital music channels, but the list can be found here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=188046&page=42&pp=30

067-012 Shop NBC

079-005 Atlanta Interfaith Broadcasters
079-021 Shop at home
079-022 WSS
079-023 Local County
079-024 Local City
079-025 Local County
079-026 Local City

080-201 ABC
080-202 Fox
080-203 NBC
080-204 TBS
080-205 GPB
080-206 CBS
080-207 UPN
080-208 TBN
084-209 PAX
080-210 WB
080-211 Univision
080-212 PBA

083-001 Local Weather
083-013 Logo
083-049 Jewelry Television

084-001 TV Land
084-002 CNBC
084-003 Turner South
084-004 History Channel
084-005 Spike TV
084-007 Turner Classic Movies
084-011 Lifetime
084-012 Food Network
084-013 Court TV *
084-022 Bravo
084-054 Oxygen

085-101 CSS
085-102 Fox News
085-103 ESPN
085-104 ABC FAM
085-105 TNT
085-106 HGTV
085-107 FX
085-108 ESPN 2
085-109 FSN
085-110 CMT
085-111 WGN
085-112 WATC
085-113 Speed TV

091-006 Local Spanish Channel

092-021 Fox HD

093-001 Local Weather
093-003 A&E
093-008 Telemundo
093-012 OLN
093-056 E!
093-111 Hallmark

098-003 ABC HD
098-010 TBS HD

101-002 WB HD

103-101 BET
103-102 Cartoon Network
103-103 Comedy Central
103-104 MTV
103-105 Disney
103-106 Nickelodeon
103-107 Sci Fi
103-108 AMC
103-109 Discovery Channel
103-110 TLC
103-111 VH1
103-112 USA

104-201 C-SPAN
104-202 C-SPAN 2
104-203 Animal Planet
104-204 Travel Channel
104-205 TV One
104-206 Discovery Health
104-207 CNN
104-208 Golf
104-209 HSN
104-210 QVC
104-211 GAC
104-212 CNN Headline News

108-010 CBS HD
108-030 NBC HD

112-030 MSNBC

If anyone finds additional channels please let us know
*Thanks, LeRoyK

wow, finally Comedy Central in digital simulcast!! have to go check it out for myself....

anyone else's 6412's acting strange/buggy lately?



Ours has always been buggy but it got markedly worse.

Maybe there was a software "upgrade."


Our scheduled priorties list is all but useless. There are about 5 shows all showing priority 9. We can't move anything up or down.

I guess I got my hopes up but I am not seeing any of these new digital simulcasts on any of my receivers..stone mountain headend.

As for my 6412's bugs, it seems to have cleared up recently but I woke up to find the tom selleck "classic" "FOLKS!" on my dcr this morning from inhd, and I know I did not set that to record...

Here is the channe line-up I'm currently receiving.
104-206 Discovery Health
104-211 GAC
112-030 MSNBC
.

Interesting. Discovery Health is not in the basic cable package, and GAC and MSNBC are not even in the digital starter (they are in digital plus).

It's surprsing that they are transmitted unencrypted.

Interesting. Discovery Health is not in the basic cable package, and GAC and MSNBC are not even in the digital starter (they are in digital plus).

It's surprsing that they are transmitted unencrypted.

The digital music and the shopping channels are also not part of the expanded basic. I wouldn't be surprised if they're encrypted once the simulcast rollout is complete. I am more surprised people with their digital boxes can't receive all these channels.

Thanks for the channel list Milmanias,

My channels 80 and 84 flipped overnight... now my list is about the same as yours. Up on the north end local access channels 079-025, 079-223, 079-224 and 079-226 are receiving local access stuff that normally transmits on analog channels 23-26.

I did find one more channel at 084-013 Court TV.

I too say no digital feed for The Weather Channel, just two local weather broadcasts.

Have fun,

Thanks for the channel list Milmanias,

My channels 80 and 84 flipped overnight... now my list is about the same as yours. Up on the north end local access channels 079-025, 079-223, 079-224 and 079-226 are receiving local access stuff that normally transmits on analog channels 23-26.

I did find one more channel at 084-013 Court TV.

I too say no digital feed for The Weather Channel, just two local weather broadcasts.

Have fun,

They did the exact same flipping in my area, 80 and 84. Thanks for the heads up about Court TV, I'll check it out (even though I don't watch it anyways), if I receive that channel then the only 2 analogs will be the weather channel and the tv guide.

*edit, I checked and do not receive Court TV. No big deal for me since I don't watch it, but I'll add it to the list.

I purchased a Panny TH-50PX500U and am having a problem with cablecard operation. Comcast (Atlanta) installed the cablecard and everything works fine based on my standard program package and I even now receive the non-encrypted 800 local HD channels. My problem is Comcast can't send the code to upgrade my programming to Digital Package which would include Bravesvision (755) and the encryted 800 HD channels (TNT-HD, ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD). They can see the cablecard from their remote computer, so the addressing appears to be okay but just can't send programming updates.
Does anyone have this model of Panny working with cablecard or had a similar problem that was resolved? I prefer not to install the box if at all possible.

Hey, bidweld, if you don't mind me asking, how much are you paying for the cablecard?

The cc technology is new. Does your tv have a QAM-enabled tuner? if so you should be able to receive the unscrambled channels without it. I would request a cablecard exchange just in cast the cablecard is deffective.

There is no charge for the cablecard from Comcast.

My Panny does have QAM tuner and can receive the non-encrypted channels. I really want ESPN-HD and Bravesvision though.

Thanks for the advice. Perhaps a cablecard replacement is a logical next step even though Comcast insists everything looks good.

There is no charge for the cablecard from Comcast.

Good news. Do you need to order a digital package, or can I request one free of charge if I only have the expanded basic option?

Good news. Do you need to order a digital package, or can I request one free of charge if I only have the expanded basic option?

In my case, I ordered the Digital Starter Package with cablecard. I would assume that Comcast at a minimum would charge an installation fee. Not sure about "free of charge" without digital since the purpose of the cablecard is to decrypt some digital channels and some of the HD content.

In my case, I ordered the Digital Starter Package with cablecard. I would assume that Comcast at a minimum would charge an installation fee. Not sure about "free of charge" without digital since the purpose of the cablecard is to decrypt some digital channels and some of the HD content.

That is probably why you are only receiving the unscrambled channels. You would have to pay $5 additional (it would be $10 in my case since I do not want a digital package) to receive the scrambled hd channels. I know you would prefer a cc over box, but if you decide to pay for the additional hd channels I would recommend a box to receive INHD1 and 2.

I'm not receiving any of the digital stations either (channel 121 and higher including Bravesvision 755) so it's more complicated than just the issue of how much $. For some reason, Comcast and/or the cablecard can't get together on which content I am authorized to receive.

Having just received my new HDTV 1080P and being a newbie, I am interested in the HD channels that Comcast provides. I am presently an expanded basic Comcast customer in the Acworth/Kennesaw area (zip code-30101). I do receive the digital channels. So far I can get FoxHD (92-21), ABCHD (98-3), TBSHD (998-10) and WBHD (101-2), but I can't get CBSHD (108-10) or NBCHD (108-30). What do I have to do to get these two HD channels?
I know that I can pay another $5 for digital and another $10 for HDTV but is it worth it?

The picture quality is OK in analog SD, better in DTV-SD, and unbelievable in HD. I'm hooked on HD.

Chuck, welcome to the forum.

I like it. I'm in your neck of the woods (acworth), but we have Paulding/Rome version of Comcast and not Cobb county. We get ABC, CBS, NBC, TBS, FOX, INHD, INHD2, ESPN, DiscoveryHD, HBOHD (one channel only). Not sure about WB, I don't think so. I think its worth the 5.00. When I can watch one of the big networks in HD, I do. The analog stations are horrible now that I'm used to it.



Bud

I'm not receiving any of the digital stations either (channel 121 and higher including Bravesvision 755) so it's more complicated than just the issue of how much $. For some reason, Comcast and/or the cablecard can't get together on which content I am authorized to receive.

Just to close the loop, the cablecard is now working and I am receiving all channels included in the Digital Starter Package. Please note that with this package and cablecard, you also receive the standard Comcast HD channels (ABC-HD, CBS-HD, NBC-HD, Fox-HD, TBS-HD, TNT-HD, WB-HD, ESPN-HD, Discovery-HD, and INHD) at no additional charge. The $5 is for stb rental which isn't required if you are using cablecard.

The problem was resolved by finally reaching a Comcast associate who deleted all the information regarding my programming/cablecard and setting it back up again from scratch. There was nothing wrong with the cablecard or my set but I found that the typical response from Comcast is to dispatch a tech and install another card.

The $5 is for stb rental which isn't required if you are using cablecard.
.

I don't quite understand the charges. Digital starter is normally $55.49 including one stb. Does it cost the same if you want a cablecard instead of the stb? Are additional cablecards the same price as additional stb's ($4.99)?

Does adding a cablecard later on require a house call and its $30 charge?

I don't quite understand the charges. Digital starter is normally $55.49 including one stb. Does it cost the same if you want a cablecard instead of the stb? Are additional cablecards the same price as additional stb's ($4.99)?

Does adding a cablecard later on require a house call and its $30 charge?

I don't have a stb, only cablecard with Digital Starter Package. The Comcast cost is $55.49 with a change of service charge of 15.99 which included the installation of cablecard. I'm not sure of charge for adding cablecard later. I was making the point that with this configuration, you still receive all HD channels, including those that are encryted at no additional charge.

Ok, I'm about to order the HLR-5688W (it looks gorgeous at Fry's) but I'm trying to decide my primary HD source, either Comcast or DirecTV, and of course, I want to use HDMI (I think).

The problem with Comcast is I can't get any info from Comcast (in Atlanta) about what their box is. I've researched until my fingers are tired and I believe they offer the SA8000HD, but it doesn't have HDMI.

The problem with DTV is their HR10-250 looks great and says it has HDMI but all I see on the web is "my HDMI isn't working" plus I'll have to get an HD antenna to get the local channels in HD mode.

Any advice on which direction would make me the most happy with my new Sammie? I hate the thought of having this great new TV and not being able to have the best HD source.

Andrew in Atlanta

amcintyre, Comcast in Atlanta uses Motorola boxes for HD. When I signed up for the HD only service, they originally gave me a Motorola DCT 5100 box. I recently upgraded to a DVR and now I have the Motorola DCT 6412. Both models have a DVI output. You can get a cable with a DVI connector at one end and a HDMI connector at the other. The picture looks great with it!

Some key points about Comcast's HD service:

- The HD channels look great with the Motorola 6412 box - I think they look better than with the DCT 5100.

- The new program guide is light years better than the program guide they used previously.

- The analog channels sometimes appear somewhat fuzzy with the DVR boxes. This is because they have to digitize them to be able to record them. This shouldn't be a problem for too much longer as Comcast is in the process of simulcasting all of the analog channels in digital.

If you decide to go with Comcast, I definitely recommend the DVR box.

Amcintyre, I have the HLR-6168W and love it. I have no experience with DirecTV but have used Comcast. The few HD programs that I have watched on Comcast using only my internal TV tuner have been unbelievable. As I indicted in another post I have only standard Comcast and not Digital so it looks like I will be upgrading to digital to get the additional HD channels. Once you have tasted HDTV it's hard looking at anything else.

Bidweld, with all the time and heachaches that you went through is going with the cablecard worth it? Do you have a DVR/STB and cablecard or just cablecard?

Amcintyre, I have the HLR-6168W and love it. I have no experience with DirecTV but have used Comcast. The few HD programs that I have watched on Comcast using only my internal TV tuner have been unbelievable. As I indicted in another post I have only standard Comcast and not Digital so it looks like I will be upgrading to digital to get the additional HD channels. Once you have tasted HDTV it's hard looking at anything else.

Bidweld, with all the time and heachaches that you went through is going with the cablecard worth it? Do you have a DVR/STB and cablecard or just cablecard?

I have no basis for comparison but I have been told that analog picture quality is much better with cable card, and have no regrets by persevering with the installation problems. Once DVR is available with HDMI, my plan is to split the cable signal and still use cablecard for regular viewing. Just my opinion.

For the record, I suggest that any problems with cable card installation be escalated to a supervisor immediately without dealing with mulitple truck rolls and card replacements. My solution was to simply reset the plasma, delete and reestablish my Comcast account at the head end.

Bidweld, if I do go with cablecard I will certainly follow your advise. I, too will most likely wait until a HDMI connection is available for the DVR. How long is that going to be?

Lost all digital channels (including HD) around 8 PM this evening. On Vinings head.....anyone else experiencing the same problem?

The HD dual tuner DVR (Motorola 6412) that Comcast installs has a DVI port. DVI ports have the same signals as the video portion of HDMI. So hooking up with a male to male DVI->HDMI cable is all that is needed for a completely digital video path. A quick check on Amazon showed several of these cables under $20. Go for the shortest cable that spans the distance. Theses are digital signals, so super-duper low-loss high-dollar cables will do no better than a well constructed inexpensive cable.

You don't need to wait before getting a DVR. That is the one 'upgrade' I have made to my home theater that my spouse will no longer do without.

I am a newbie at this so I hope someone can help me out a bit.

I live in Atlanta(Gwinnett Comcast) area and with Comcast cable, recently bought a LG 3510A Qam/dvd player, after I scan and save, things work well with no problem.

The question I have is that I believe Comcast(tv guide/titantv/etc) use comcast vitual channel #(as an example channel 584 or Channel 867, high channel #). but on QAM tuner scan, the station is assign I believe real channel-sub channel # such as 136-39, 89-2 etc! channel # that does not match what is being publish by comcast/tvguide etc! Can anyone please point me to a site/page who have a table that show real channel #-Comcast vitual Channel # so I/Other will have a reference on what chanel to tune to without having to guess?

any help or comment you can provide is greatly appricated!
Thx!

Such a chart probably doesn't exist, unless someone in your area has gone through the trouble to create one. Try looking in the local Atlanta thread.

Merged.

Hey you all are talking about the Motorola DCT 6412 with a DVI port. Well I just got my new 6412 yesterday (Sat 8/27) and it actually says DCT 6412 III on the front. The III is significant. As the guy was installing it, I was looking at the connections in the back and I couldn't find the DVI port. I asked him where it was and he was of course clueless (they just say to use component) but then I noticed an HDMI port. Hooray! I have a new Samsung LN-R268W LCD and it has HDMI but not DVI, and I thought my 6412 would have DVI and that I was going to have to buy one of those DVI to HDMI cords and do a separate audio connection, but now I can go straight HDMI. Whoopee!

So, I guess the III version is what they're shipping these days, at least on Comcast Atlanta (I'm in 30329). I think that may be a pretty recent change because Motorola doesn't even talk about it on their own web site. So all you prospective HD DVR shoppers may want to ask about that on the phone when you speak to the Comcast people.

I have to say though, the two Comcast phone people I spoke with were pretty clueless. One had never even heard of HDCP and I could tell her knowledge of DVI and HDMI was pretty shaky. She had to go get a product manual to talk to me. And the one before her told me the wrong pricing about HD service and DVR unit/service. And on top of that it sounds like there's a disconnect between the phone people and the people who bring you your box, because I was all set to buy a DVI to HDMI cable based on my phone conversation. Glad I didn't.

Hey speaking of cables, we had a "Hating on Monster Cable" thread over in the Flat Panel forum on this site and several people cited and linked to studies where video experts tested cables ranging from bargain basement to Monster's top stuff and even some custom made stuff, I think. The verdict was that there is little or no visible difference between the cheapos and the super expensive ones. They could detect minor differences in the signal using their sensitive testing equipment, but they said that did not translate into visible differences on screen. So the verdict is, don't buy the crazy priced stuff. Two good sites were cited: monoprice.com and partsexpress.com. They have HDMI and DVI cables there for as low as $6.50 and $15, respectively. Compare that to the cheapest at Best Buy being something like $80, and plenty above $100. Aaagh!

I'm sure it's possible to make a crappy cord that produces an inferior image, and maybe these are those, but I'm totally getting one. Maybe a thing to do would be to buy one of these and then buy a nice Monster or AR cable from Best Buy or someplace and then compare them at home. If the Monster/AR is not appreciably better, you can return it to BB no questions asked up to 30 days later and then laugh laugh laugh at all the suckers with their fool's gold.

Thanks for the heads up on the hdmi cable. Interesting.

And the one before her told me the wrong pricing about HD service and DVR unit/service.

What price did they quote, and what is the correct one?

I had a regular STB with Expanded Basic and was moving to a HD/DVR STB and adding HD service. The first one told me my entire bill would only go up by $5. The second one said that my entire bill would go up $10. I bet anything when I get my bill, it will be more and I'll have to call somebody. The thing is, their own literature ("Channel Line-up & Rates) says,

"DVR/HDTV Combo Service $9.95 (Includes HDTV Equipment)"

So if "equipment" equals "box", and I can't think what other equipment would be involved aside from my TV, that should mean that my new box is covered by the $9.95. So since I'd be turning in my old box and not renting it anymore (bill goes down $5), and the 9.95 covers box and service (bill goes up $10), my total bill should only cost me $5 more, which is what the first lady said. But the second lady said $10, because "every box costs $5 no matter what." So who even knows. Maybe they're both wrong. I bet I pay the higher price though.

Well I just got my new 6412 yesterday (Sat 8/27) and it actually says DCT 6412 III on the front. The III is significant.

What's the firmware version # for that new box? I want to replace my current 6412. I got one of the first batch when they were new to the Atlanta area. It's been pretty buggy (slow response, heavy compession/poor analog) But I've been waiting until I can be somewhat sure that there's actually something better before I spend a whole Saturday waiting around for some dimwit to come out and plug in a box. Maybe this new box is an improvement? I think Comcast rushed the first rollout of these HD boxes.

Jbock, how do I find the firmware version #? Is it a sticker or something in the menu somewhere? I can look tonight if I know what to look for

I think it's in the Diagnostics menu but I forgot how to access it. I think the instructions are burried somewhere here in this huge discussion thread.

Anyone else know how get the firmware version off the 6412 box?

Thanks

First, I like to thx Milmanias for providing this list(most helpful) and also pointing out wherer it is located from another tread!

I am using Comcast Gwinnett and the list just about match perfectly with what i am getting using a LG 3510A, the only problem is I seem not to be able to access channel 098-003 abc hd and 098-019 tbs hd! I have no problem with other channel include nbc/cbs/fox/ws hd!

Anyone in this forum have similar "situation" as me? any clue as why I wasn't able to pull in channel 098?

Thx!

Glad I could help with the list.

I don't receive Court TV. Not a channel I watch, anyway, but it is curious that not everyone receives all the channels available. I would assume that all the HD channels are unscrambled per the FCC. I would call Comcast (there is a thread with links to the docmentation regarding cable companies carrying unscrambled locals, I'll search for it this evening). If nothing else helps, you might try to see if an indoor antenna could get you those channels.

First, I like to thx Milmanias for providing this list(most helpful) and also pointing out wherer it is located from another tread!

I am using Comcast Gwinnett and the list just about match perfectly with what i am getting using a LG 3510A, the only problem is I seem not to be able to access channel 098-003 abc hd and 098-019 tbs hd! I have no problem with other channel include nbc/cbs/fox/ws hd!

Anyone in this forum have similar "situation" as me? any clue as why I wasn't able to pull in channel 098?

Thx!

I have a LG 3410A HD DVR and service through Comcast in the Buckhead area. I had problems with reception on channel 98 in the past. I traced my problems down to low signal levels on that channel. So I eliminated a 4-way splitter I was using to feed the tuner and used a low loss 2-way splitter instead. The result was increased signal strength on channel 98 up to the point of perfect reception.

When you manually tune to channel 98 and check the signal strength on let's say 98-3 do you see some signal there (not zero) but lower than other channels? If so, I would try increasing the signal strength by eliminating signal splitters or a small gain amplifier to boost overall signal strength.

- Harry

I have a LG 3410A HD DVR and service through Comcast in the Buckhead area. I had problems with reception on channel 98 in the past. I traced my problems down to low signal levels on that channel. So I eliminated a 4-way splitter I was using to feed the tuner and used a low loss 2-way splitter instead. The result was increased signal strength on channel 98 up to the point of perfect reception.

When you manually tune to channel 98 and check the signal strength on let's say 98-3 do you see some signal there (not zero) but lower than other channels? If so, I would try increasing the signal strength by eliminating signal splitters or a small gain amplifier to boost overall signal strength.

- Harry

Good call hdtv_atl, that seem to be my exact problem, the chanel 98 and its sub channel have very very weak signal, but it is there!!

On my setup, the feed is split between my lg hd tuner and cable modem, I might also have additional splitter up in the attic which I have to check! I think the solution might be a amplifer, but what brand and how it might effect my cable connection I do not know!

I am still interest to found out why it seem that only channel 98(sub) seem to have this very low signal problem, and with hdtv_atl reply, I now know I am not the "only" one who might have this weird situation? anyone else in Atlanta area would like th charm in who might have similar experience and solution?

thx for everything!

ps:
My tv/internet was down for the past 2 days, and when it come back on today, guess what?
yup, both channel 98 abc and tbs hdtv is up to full signal! I guess it turn out to be a Comcast issue in my area!

Thanks for all the help
and please please

lets keep the list updated and fresh!

Anyone hear if Comcast will be adding ESPN2HD this year?

Thanks in advance!

Gus

Anyone know if Comcast will be adding UPN HD?

How will we know when Comcast will add more channels? I'd also like to know if they will add UHD. Do they do a press release or something? I would've thought they would already have ESPN 2. Does Atlanta's UPN station even transmit in HD?

I noticed I was receiving 3 additional FSN channels from the QAM tuner,
083-020 FCS Atlantic
083-021 FCS Central
083-022 FCS Pacific

I added them to the list on the previous page in case anyone's interested.

Does anyone know if new simulcast digital channels are automatically available for cablecard users? Does the process work the same for stb users?

I am still interest to found out why it seem that only channel 98(sub) seem to have this very low signal problem, and with hdtv_atl reply, I now know I am not the "only" one who might have this weird situation? anyone else in Atlanta area would like th charm in who might have similar experience and solution?

thx for everything!

ps:
My tv/internet was down for the past 2 days, and when it come back on today, guess what?
yup, both channel 98 abc and tbs hdtv is up to full signal! I guess it turn out to be a Comcast issue in my area!

Thanks for all the help
and please please

lets keep the list updated and fresh!

I am having the exact same problem with my TV. I get a weak signal on 98, and the only way I can fix the weak signal is to plug the cable to the tv directly from the wall to the tv. It used to work perfectly then it started getting blocky one day. I may need an amplifier or soemthing like that.

If they add a channel you will see it in the HD section of the TV Guide as 8XX. This is how they have rolled out the last three HD channels (ABC, TBS, and TNT).

Gus

Does anyone know the reason why Comcast channel 755 (Bravesvision) did not broadcast either Tuesday (9/6) or Wednesday (9/7) Braves/Mets games in HD? Neither of these games were aired on TBS which as I understand it are the only Braves home games that would not be shown on 755 in HD.

bidweld,

TurnerSouth home games are shown on BravesVision in HD. Wednesday's game was broadcast in the Atlanta area on Fox Sports South only.

I was disappointed that Tuesday's TurnerSouth game was not available in HD on BravesVision. And this wasn't the first time this has happened. I live in the Virginia-Highlands neighborhood (Vinings headend), and suspect Stone Mountain headend was able to see the Tuesday game in HD. That has been the case in the past I think.

Joe

I am having the exact same problem with my TV. I get a weak signal on 98, and the only way I can fix the weak signal is to plug the cable to the tv directly from the wall to the tv. It used to work perfectly then it started getting blocky one day. I may need an amplifier or soemthing like that.

Channel 98 is one the lowest frequency channels which is broadcast on the Comcast cable system in the Atlanta area.

As a reference here is the standard frequency vs. cable channel designation chart for the U.S...

http://www.jneuhaus.com/fccindex/cablech.html

The power of channel 98 on the Comcast (Atlanta) system may be a bit lower compared to the others. Comcast has (or had) some scrambled programming on channels in the 95-97 range. Channel 99 has some audio only programs which are the the DMX Spanish channels and are still in the clear.

Cable is working directly from wall, but Doesn't process through the STB. Called and comcast message said experiencing problems in buckhead, norcross, marietta, etc... Anyone hear anything?

I am in East Cobb/Marietta and do not have any problems as of this morning.

wow, finally Comedy Central in digital simulcast!! have to go check it out for myself....

i'm assuming that the numbered channels minimanias lists, 103-103 for comedy central for instance, have nothing in common with the channel designatons on the 6412 menu guide.
cimedy central is 68 here.
and it's digital?
sherry

I have had Comcast's Motorola 6412 for a couple of months now and I am generally pleased however, my unit tends to freeze for 10-15 seconds at a time when changing channels and sometimes when trying to launch On Demand. Has anyone else had these problems? I hear there's a new Series III version out...maybe this version has less bugs than the one I have. If I could actually just go down to a Comcast store to switch it out for another box, I would. I just don't want to wait around all Saturday for a tech to come out.

Did anyone else, this weekend, lose all the HDTV channels to 5C encryption?

Everything above 809 is now gone in Marietta ...

Okay, correction. It looks like EVERY SINGLE CHANNEL is now outputting with 5C turned on.

Analog, SD, and HD. They all produce a proper sized .ts capture file that's totally garbled. Even channels that are broadcast on in-the-clear QAM (verified with a MyHD MDP-130).

Anyone know what's going on?

- litz

Hi. I have a handful of questions. 1 and 2 are the most important. The others are nice-to-haves.

BACKGROUND: I'm in the Emory-ish area, I have Comcast expanded basic service, and I'm using a Motorola DCT6412 III, which has a Stone Mountain sticker on the back of it indicating headend, I suppose. I signed up for the HD channels just to justify the new 16:9 tv, basically.

1. Before signing up for HD service, I saw the channel line-up for HD subscribers. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be getting the HBO HD stuff, but I figured I'd get everything else. When I first got the service, I had the main networks plus TNT HD and Discovery HD and I think ESPN HD. Don't remember about the two INHDs (what is INHD anyway? I see it in the stores playing demo stuff on a loop). But then the next day, everything above WATL (813) had gone to the "Not Authorized" screen and has been that way ever since.

Should I be getting TNT HD, Discovery HD, and ESPN HD if I get expanded basic cable (Channels 2 - 81)? I've seen them described here as "encrypted" but they don't sound like premium channels. I get the regular non-HD versions of them, so I don't get why I don't receive the HD versions. What package do you have to have to see them? I saw someone say they weren't in the "basic" package, but I have expanded basic. Should I be getting any more than the below channels with that package? Do you guys get anything else? Why Comcast can't state these things plainly somewhere, I don't understand.

803 ABC
804 FOX
806 NBC
807 TBS
809 CBS
813 WB

ANSWERED


2. I've read here that you can record off of your 6412 onto a computer or D-VHS, but what about a DVD recorder? Is there something in the signal that will block that? The hard drive is pretty small. I'd like to not have to delete stuff but I'm running out of room, so I want to offload to DVD if possible.

3. Is WAGA channel 4 (Fox) coming through horribly for anyone else? It's got a drifting superimposed ghost of what looks like a home shopping channel floating around in it and it has a hissy radio interference kind of sound. I can watch the HD version of it up in the 800's, so there's a workaround, but I was wondering if this is happening to everyone or if there's a way to fix it. I've read here about people having a problem like this on comedy central, I think because it's higher up in the spectrum, but that one comes through fine for me. And WAGA is so low in the spectrum and it's the only one like this for me. Weird.

4. I keep seeing the term "digital simulcast" around here. What exactly is simulcast? Rather, what does the simul part mean? Does it mean that analog and digital versions of the same channel are being broadcast simultaneously? If so, what determines which one you get? Is it your hardware or your package or what? And if I'm getting digital, who is getting the analog version? Or if I'm getting analog, is someone else getting digital? Do I have any control over which I'm seeing on a given channel? I've read here how to check in the Diagnostic menu for whether it is analog or digital, but didn't know if there was anything I could do to affect it.

5. My 6412 III has a slot for a "smart card". I assume this is the same thing as a cablecard? But I thought the point of a cable card was you didn't need a box. Yet here's a box that would work with a card. Comments?

6. I see people listing odd channel numbers here. Like 93-1 or 079-025. What are these? I have seen the term "sub channel" used. Is this a satellite thing? A QAM thing? All I have are the usual things like 34 or 68 or whatever. ANSWERED

Should I be getting TNT HD, Discovery HD, and ESPN HD if I get expanded basic cable (Channels 2 - 81)? I've seen them described here as "encrypted" but they don't sound like premium channels.

If you're paying for the hd service, you be receiving these channels. If you have the hd service and are not receiving them, give Comcast a call.

3. Is WAGA channel 4 (Fox) coming through horribly for anyone else?

It looks good on my area (Fayetteville)

4. I keep seeing the term "digital simulcast" around here. What exactly is simulcast?

Comcast is going to an all-digital transmission. They are transmitting several of their analog channels in digital format, here in Atlanta we're very lucky to have almost all of the analogs in digital as well.

6. I see people listing odd channel numbers here. Like 93-1 or 079-025. What are these? I have seen the term "sub channel" used. Is this a satellite thing? A QAM thing? All I have are the usual things like 34 or 68 or whatever.

This is the QAM tuner's channel designation. The cable box will give a normal channel designation.

i'm assuming that the numbered channels minimanias lists, 103-103 for comedy central for instance, have nothing in common with the channel designatons on the 6412 menu guide.
cimedy central is 68 here.
and it's digital?
sherry

We have both the analog and digital version, though it appears not everyone receives all the channels in digital format (I don't receive Court TV, for example). I don't have hd service, so I don't know if the hd boxes receive these channels.

Talked to Comcast today. They said I don't get TNT HD, Discovery HD, or ESPN HD with my expanded basic package. (she called it "Standard"). She said I only get the network HD channels and I'd have to get Digital Plus to get those HD channels. Poop, I say.

I had same thing happen to me when I subscribed to HD service, excpet I didn't get the DCT 6412. Instead I got the DCT 5100. At least you get the DVR functionality. Technically you have to subsrcibe to digital cable to get a DVR box, but I guess the installer gave you one anyway (he/she may have not had any of the non-DVR HD boxes).

I ended up giving in and subscribing to digital because I wanted Disocovery and ESPN HD. I eventually upgraded to the 6412 to get the DVR.

I think I technically have digital cable. I remember going through some upgrade at some point a while back. Or conversion or whatever. They made a lot of noise about converting. Last night I think I noticed ABC was digital, for example. (wait, or was that HD ABC?) I just flipped through tonight, though, and nothing is digital except the HD channels. Anybody else getting digital on the lower channels? I see people list simulcast channels here from time to time but then see someone later say they've all reverted to analog.

FYI. I have comcast in the Norcross area and I can tell you they just enabled 5c copy protection on all channels except broadcast.

FYI. I have comcast in the Norcross area and I can tell you they just enabled 5c copy protection on all channels except broadcast.

When I checked it last in Marietta, it was on ALL channels ... analog, SD, HD, broadcast, or subscription.

- litz

When I checked it last in Marietta, it was on ALL channels ... analog, SD, HD, broadcast, or subscription.

- litz

Does anyone here know of any way to get anywhere with Comcast customer service?

Marietta has been completely shut down. We have 5C on every single channel, including the OTA must-carry channels.

CSR reps are clueless - they insist I have a broken cable box and want to replace it; admonishing me that they will charge me $50 if they don't find a problem.

I told them about the FCC rules, they just laughed and said it didn't apply to them.

Anyone got any ideas?

- litz

Hi everyone,

To those people having the 5C flag issues --- What cable box are you using? What device are you trying to use to record/capture the firewire signal?

What number is displayed (0, 1, or 2) for the each of the different channels you are trying to record under the "5C IMPLEMENTATION" part of the 1394 status screen of your 6200, 6208, or 6214 DIAGNOSTICS screen (power off, OK, d11--interface status)?

0 = copy freely
1 = copy once
2 = copy never

If 5C=0, then anyone may make unlimited copies to any 1394 device, this was mainly designed for D-VHS plus other future firewire enabled devices, I guess, but as I am sure some of you know, people have figured out ways to capture/record this video to PC or MAC computers that have firewire ports.

It works fine with your computer as long as the channel is NOT ENCRYPTED (as in DIAGNOSTICS screen d06--current channel status is CLR or UNK) AND ALSO that the 5C flag (also sometimes I think called the "broadcast flag") says you may copy it freely (as in 5C=0).

If 5C=1 then you can record that channel to a D-VHS (or other 5C device) for your personal archiving. But you couldn't copy it from that device (e.g. D-VHS) to another D-VHS for instance. You could make as many copies as you like I suppose from the original cable box to your D-VHS.

If 5C=2 then no 1394 device should ever be able to record the content. Although, an interesting side note is that while Comcast ondemand content is not currently ENCRYPTED, since I can watch whatever the neighbors in my local area are watching ondemand with my LG QAM-capable tuner (we even see when they are FFing and RWDing -- as others have mentioned in various places in the AVS forum), BUT the 5C flag on this ondemand content must be either 5C=1 or more likely (from what I have read) 5C=2, because it will not record to my computer. I assume they will encrypt this content at some point in the near future, since more and more televisions and set-top boxes will be QAM-capable, and you would eventually have some situation where a minor, or even an adult, would see R-rated or X-rated adult material, and complain to Comcast about it. My LG QAM-capable tuner is not the DVR model, nor does it have a 1394 port, although I assume I could record an ondemand analog signal to my standalone TiVo or some other analog device, but I have never tried this, and who knows -- it could STILL have analog macrovision encoding. I have never heard anyone say whether the MyHD-type QAM-capable HDTV DVR PC tuner cards (or the LG QAM-capable DVR set-top box for that matter) could record these random ondemand feeds that are currently in the clear. But I'm sure they won't stay unencrypted very long. One time I did watch an ondemand movie I had purchased on my 6412, through my LG set-top box instead of my cable box, because my LG box has the most versatile zoom modes when outputting 1080I. The only 1080I zoom mode my Mitsubishi HDTV has is an "HD stretch" mode -- which is only useful if I want to cut the black bars off the sides of the picture when watching upconverted non-HD shows on channels 803-813. As a side note, I also prefer the "STRETCH" option on my 6412's 1080i override setting, so that non-HD channels don't have black sidebars, but are still upconverted to 1080I, because I personally hate that momentary static or distortion that the HDTV does, when the signal it is being fed goes from 1080I to 480P or 480I. Actually, we have gotten so used to seeing the people stretched wide on non-HD shows that they now look more normal to us that way than if switch to the 4X3 aspect ratio :). Although, we do use one of our Mitsubishi HDTV's better non-linear, stretch/zoom modes called "stretch plus", when watching the analog 480I Tivo, or the 480P DVD player (assuming it's a 4x3 DVD of course -- as most of our TV shows on DVD box sets are.)

Sorry, if I rambled there, or if you guys having the 5C firewire issues already knew some or all or that information.

Since I rarely record to my PC's firewire port, I have only recently spot checked a few channels on my 6412 cable box to see their 5C status. We live in Midtown Atlanta and are on the "Vinings" headend which I believe also covers much of the westside area including Marietta. I know when we had Comcast in Kennesaw a few years ago; we were on the Vinings headend there too. Although I don't know if the 5C status of a particular channel is set at the headend or perhaps more locally, but the headend level would seem likely. Mostly, the differences that people usually mention concerning most channel issues, seem to be Westside (Vinings headend) vs. Eastside (Stone Mountain headend). Although for people who weren't previously MediaOne or AT&T Broadband, there may be a few smaller headends floating around. I think people have previously mentioned areas like Chamblee or maybe Woodstock, that have their own separate, smaller headends.

Also, I was wondering if ANYONE, ANYWHERE in the Atlanta area (with digital cable of course) CURRENTLY has ANY of their cable channels 2-81 currently being remapped to the digital simulcast version of that particular channel? You can tell often just by looking at the picture quality on an HD cable box -- if your analog channels are of the "crappier" signal quality variety), but you tell IF channel is digital if it either has the DD symbol on the flip bar (which isn't 100% accurate until you unplug/power cycle your cable box -- on my 6412 at least -- after they switch that channel from analog to digital or vice versa), or FOR CERTAIN you can check, if you put both tuners (6412 here obviously) on the channel in question, then turn off the cable box, and immediately hit OK, and then select "d06-current channel status" from the DIAGNOSTICS menu and it will say ANALOG or DIGITAL (for tuner 1 if a 6412 then down arrow for status of tuner 2). Personally here in Midtown on the Vinings headend, we haven't had any of channels 2-81 in digital on our 6412 since late August, I believe it was. Now, I know from looking at my LG QAM-capable tuner that a digital version of every cable channel 2-81 does exist, except for 32/The Weather channel and 27/TV Guide Channel. They do seem to be working on these digital versions of the channels, since some of them occasionally will only display a black screen, but will be corrected a day or two later. Also, more and more of these digital versions of our analog channels on my LG tuner are showing their local commercials that Comcast inserts -- which was not the case a few months ago, when they first appeared -- which is why the channels in the 2-81 range on my 6412 that were previously being remapped to their digital versions during the testing phase were mostly locals & public access which are channels that do not have Comcast local ad insertion. At the height of this testing, which seems to have stopped since late August, we had channels 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9-16, 19-26, 64, & 69 remapped to their digital versions on our 6412. So I would guess that they have been working on the ad insertion equipment and software, and also on getting the digital versions of the few remaining channels online and glitch-free. I notice small changes each week on my LG QAM tuner. For example, the digital version of analog 12/PAX (which recently changed to its name to "i" tv or something like that) which is on QAM channel 80-109 had never had any sound on my LG tuner until the other day (although it had sound when I tuned to 012 on my 6412 during the testing phase). Also, they finally added a digital version of analog channel 5/AIB on QAM channel 79-5, which also had no sound until a few days later. Most recently, a few days ago, they finally added a digital version of 58/Court TV on QAM channel 84-13 which I think maybe some people mentioned as showing up on other headends or areas of Atlanta a couple of weeks ago or maybe longer, but I only started being able to tune it in here a few days ago. That only leaves 27 and 32. I don't know where or when 27/TV Guide might show up digitally on my QAM tuner, but I had guessed previously that 32/Weather Channel will maybe show up digitally on QAM channel 93-1 which is currently a duplicate of 212/weatherscan, but maybe NOT since (I think) people outside I-285 have 212 duplicated on analog channel 19, maybe that's the reason, and 32/Weather will show digitally on some other random QAM channel.

Here's what I usually receive on my LG QAM tuner although some will occasionally only show black screens for a day or two, and I have noted the channels that have no sound (at least on my particular LG tuner):

QAM channel/cable box channel & channel name

67-12/145 ShopNBC

79-5/005 AIB
79-21/021 FGTV-Fulton Govt TV
79-22/022 APS Cable 22
79-23/023 CAU-TV Clark Atl Univ (no sound)
79-24/024 People TV (low volume)
79-25/020 public access fire/EMT info
79-26/026 City of Atlanta Channel 26
79-219/019 real estate/infomercials

80-201/003 WSB-2 (ABC)
80-202/004 WAGA-5 (FOX)
80-203/006 WXIA-11 (NBC)
80-204/007 WTBS-17
80-205/008 WGTV-8 (PBS)
80-206/009 WGCL-46 (CBS)
80-207/010 WUPA-69 (UPN)
80-208/011 WHSG-63 (TBN)
80-209/012 WPXA-14 (PAX now called i TV)
80-210/013 WATL-36 (WB)
80-211/014 WUVG-34 (UNI)
80-212/016 WPBA-30 (PBS)

83-1/212 weatherscan
83-13/288 LOGO
83-49/149 Jewelry Television

84-1/065 TV Land
84-2/036 CNBC
84-3/053 Turner South
84-4/052 History Channel
84-5/040 Spike TV
84-7/069 TCM
84-11/055 Lifetime
84-12/057 Food Network
84-13/058 Court TV
84-22/070 Bravo
84-54/054 Oxygen

85-101/045 CSS
85-102/037 Fox News
85-103/046 ESPN
85-104/039 ABC Family
85-105/041 TNT
85-106/059 HGTV
85-107/043 FX
85-108/047 ESPN2
85-109/048 FSN
85-110/078 CMT
85-111/015 WGN
85-112/002 WATC-57
85-113/075 Speed Channel

91-6/150 Georgia TeVe (no sound)

92-21/804 WAGA-DT (FOX)

93-1/currently 019 (outside 285) weatherscan but maybe will change to 032 the regular Weather Channel at some point?
93-3/038 A&E
93-8/073 Telemundo (no sound except local ads)
93-12/081 OLN
93-56/056 E!
93-111/077 Hallmark (no sound at all or it has the sound from 93-56/056 E!)

98-3/803 WSB-DT (ABC)
98-10/807 WTBS-DT

99-21/517 Latin Contemporary
99-22/518 Fiesta Tropical
99-23/519 Rock en Espanol
99-24/520 Latin Jazz
99-25/521 Regional Mexican
99-26/522 Tejano
99-27/523 Salsa
99-28/524 Musica de las Americas

100-1 On Demand Preview Channel
100-5 Music Choice - Showcase (always takes a few extra seconds to tune in)
100-6 Music Choice - R&B Hits
100-7 Music Choice - Electronica
100-8 Music Choice - Rock
100-9 Music Choice - Bluegrass
100-10 Music Choice - Sounds of the Season
100-11 Music Choice - Radio Disney
100-12 Music Choice - Reggae
100-13 Music Choice - Smooth R&B
100-14 Music Choice - Classic R&B
100-15 Music Choice - R&B and Hip-Hop
100-16 Music Choice - Dance
100-17 Music Choice - Rap
100-18 Music Choice - Metal
100-19 Music Choice - Alternative
100-20 Music Choice - Adult Alternative
100-21 Music Choice - Classic Rock
100-22 Music Choice - Arena Rock
100-23 Music Choice - Soft Rock
100-24 Music Choice - Hit List
100-25 Music Choice – ‘80s
100-26 Music Choice – ‘70s
100-27 Music Choice - Solid Gold Oldies
100-28 Music Choice - Today's Country
100-29 Music Choice - Classic Country
100-30 Music Choice - Big Band & Swing
100-31 Music Choice - Singers and Standards
100-32 Music Choice - Easy Listening
100-33 Music Choice - Classical Masterpieces
100-34 Music Choice - Light Classical
100-35 Music Choice - Soundscapes
100-36 Music Choice - Smooth Jazz
100-37 Music Choice - Jazz
100-38 Music Choice - Blues
100-39 Music Choice - Gospel
100-40 Music Choice - Contemporary Christian
100-41 Music Choice - Musica Urbana
100-42 Music Choice - Salsa Y Merenge
100-43 Music Choice – ‘90s
100-44 Music Choice - Pop Latino
100-45 Music Choice - Party Favorites
100-46 Music Choice - Show Tunes
100-47 Music Choice - Opera
100-48 Music Choice - Retro-Active
100-49 Music Choice - Rock En Espanol
100-50 Music Choice - Mexicana (always takes a few extra seconds to tune in)
100-51 Music Choice – Americana
100-90/990 (in Cobb I guess not here) Cobb County Training Channel (no sound)

101-2/813 WATL-DT (WB)

103-101/072 BET
103-102/062 Cartoon Network
103-103/068 Comedy Central
103-104/050 MTV
103-105/064 Disney
103-106/063 Nick
103-107/074 Sci-fi
103-108/066 AMC
103-109/044 Discovery
103-110/033 TLC
103-111/051 VH1
103-112/042 USA

104-201/030 CSPAN
104-202/031 CSPAN2
104-203/061 Animal Planet
104-204/060 Travel Channel
104-205/071 TV One
104-206/131 Discovery Health
104-207/034 CNN
104-208/049 Golf Channel
104-209/029 HSN
104-210/025 QVC
104-211/170 GAC
104-212/035 HN

108-10/809 WGCL-DT (CBS)
108-30/806 WXIA-DT (NBC)

111-9/400 PPV previews

112-30/120 MSNBC (no sound except on local ads)

If anyone knows or notices anything different either on our headend (Vinings), or on one of the other headends, I would be quite curious to find what those differences might be, and I would love to know if anyone has heard anything about FROM Comcast in recent weeks about when this whole process will be completed. We personally have REALLY BAD analog signals on a few channels on our 6412, most notably cable channels 2, 10, 68, & 77-81, although none of those do we none record from except maybe sometimes 10 (UPN), which of course, as most of you probably know is unfortunately is the ONLY local Atlanta channel currently broadcasting HDTV programming that Comcast does not carry (at least until PBS-30 starts showing HD content again). I always hope that 810 will magically appear sometime when I am channel surfing :) When Comcast finally has channels 2-81 digitally simulcast, then they can start passing out those new, relatively TINY, Motorola DCT-700 all-digital cable boxes either for free or very cheaply, so that Comcast can reclaim some of that analog bandwidth in 2-5 years which seems to be their current plan.

Thanks for listening,

Thomas

I receive a shopping channel (Shop at Home) for channel 79-21, but I'll recheck to see if they changed it to one of the locals. I'm in Fayette County. That was the only difference I saw with my line-up.

Does anyone know why there is a slight delay on the simulcast channels compared to the analog version?

Does anyone know why CBS changed Threshold to sdtv?

Hi all,

Yeah, what is on the QAM channels in the 79-xxx range seems to reflect whatever happens to be on the public access and info cable channel range from 19 to 26 which varies a lot from county to county or even depending on if you live inside of a particular city limits -- like the longtime Atlanta "public access" channel PeopleTV is only available in the Atlanta city limits (and only on Comcast for that matter). It is usually whatever the (often) monopoly cable company -- which of course is Comcast for a great deal of the Atlanta metro area -- works out with the city and/or county agencies and governments in its franchise agreements for each individual area. For example, in the three different Atlanta area counties I have lived in, there have been at least somewhat different channels in the 19 to 26 range. Fulton County, Cobb County, the cities of Roswell and Atlanta each have their own channels, and I know one or two people mentioned a Fayette County channel, so I'm sure there are several (or many) more.

Friday, apparently Comcast started working on preparing a digital version of one of the two remaining channels (analog 27 & 32) that haven't appeared on the QAM tuners yet. On QAM channel 93-127, the video programming part of the TV Guide Channel has appeared, but it does not yet have tv listings scrolling at the bottom or audio (at least on my LG QAM receiver) here in Midtown on the Vinings headend.

To answer one person's question, the digital versions are delayed in a lot of cases because Comcast must take the analog or digital version of the channel that it receives from the program provider, and insert local advertising in many cases, and then must digitally encode the channel if it's analog, or perhaps digitally insert local ads into an already digital signal, so it ends up being a few seconds behind the analog version usually. It's very similar to what you see if you flip back and forth from a Tivo (or other DVR) that is showing "live" programming to say, a TV's internal analog tuner showing the same channel. It takes a second of two to encode the signal digitally, or if it's already digital at least writing the video to the DVR's hard drive, so that you may pause, rewind, etc.

Concerning the people who may have problems with digital channels that use the channel 98 QAM frequencies I can quite readily sympathize with you. In our case, the trouble lies with QAM frequencies 95, 96, & 97. This used to be a huge problem for us because Comcast previously used some of those particular frequencies for some of the HDTV local channels, which was why so many people used to complain in the Atlanta area about getting the infamous "one moment please" when they tuned to some of the HD channels. They have since moved these more popular channels to higher, more stable frequencies that don't get quite as much interference from the outside world as the cable runs from the street into your home, and gets split, etc. If outside signals leak into your cable and start interfering with it, whatever is on QAM channels 95, 96, & 97 (and for some of you 98) is the first to go. For this reason, I cannot get a handful of channels in my apartment building unless I run the cable directly to the cable box without splitting the signal whatsoever, even though I have a good signal for the most part, and even have a digital signal booster. Fortunately for us, the few missing in action channels are not ones we watch. For us, the channels using the QAM Ch95 & Ch96 frequencies always say "one moment please" and the QAM Ch97 ones come and go.

They include the following:

119 FalconsVision Ch95
293 NBA TV Ch95
460 MLB GAME1 Ch97
461 MLB GAME2 Ch97
462 MLB GAME3 Ch97
463 MLB GAME4 Ch97
464 MLB GAME5 Ch97
465 MLB GAME6 Ch97
466 MLB GAME7 Ch97
467 MLB GAME8 Ch97
468 MLB GAME9 Ch97
469 MLB GAM10 Ch97
470 NBA Preview Ch95
471 NBA TEAM1 Ch96
472 NBA TEAM2 Ch95
473 NBA TEAM3 Ch96
474 NBA TEAM4 Ch95
475 NBA TEAM5 Ch96
476 NBA TEAM6 Ch95
477 NBA TEAM7 Ch96
478 NBA TEAM8 Ch95
479 NBA TEAM9 Ch96
480 NBA TM10 Ch95
481 NBA TM11 Ch96
482 NBA TV Ch95 (same channel and source as 293)
500 Canal Sur O Ch95
525 Mexico 22 Ch96
526 Once TV Ch96
531 TeVe de Mente Ch96

Luckily for us, we do not subscribe to the most of the affected channels which are mostly in the NBA, MLB, and Latino packages, nor do we watch NBA TV or FalconsVision.

We did have one recent problem on a channel frequency outside of that lower range. We had trouble when we pay-per-viewed a movie (not ondemand, but the "old-fashioned" PPV system) from one of the channels in the 400 to 430 range which all (fairly recently I think) had moved to QAM frequency Ch 111. I watched some of the movie live and also recorded it to the 6412, but both had breakups every few seconds and were totally unwatchable. I never knew what caused this problem or if it would occur again because we have not tried to watch any traditional PPV since, but we quite often use ondemand which has always worked with no problems at all. Ondemand uses QAM channels 87, 88, 89, & 90.

At last count, and only working from my personal observation of the signal that comes into my home, mostly from the information on the various diagnostic screens of our 6412 cable box, here is what Atlanta area Comcast is using its bandwidth for. It seems our 750 Mhz cable system, which goes from analog/QAM channels 2 to 115 (in our case at least), though occasionally there seems to be analog activity on channels 116, 117, or 118. Of 2 to 115, 2-81 are currently used for analog channels except for channels 17, 18, 28, 67, 76, 79, & 80, and then channels 82-115 are used for various digital purposes except that I have seen no digital signal or activity on channels 94, 102, or 107, but these may be used for analog or digital internal Comcast uses and/or for services like the current digital phone service that Comcast offers in some areas of metro Atlanta, or the upcoming Digital Voice VOIP service they are introducing at some point in the not too distant future. Here are the QAM channels that Comcast uses locally and what they contain (at least from what I can tell as a customer and casual observer) the last time I checked. They are in order of frequency in megahertz. The Mhz frequency listed is the midrange frequency that the 6412 cable box (and the like) lists on its diagnostic screens if you check "current channel status". As previously stated by myself and others, the lower megahertz frequencies give the most problems, but until Comcast is able they free up more bandwidth, I suppose they must use what they have available.

QAM Frequency Purpose and/or number and kind of digital channels used for
95 93Mhz 9 SD
96 99Mhz 9 SD
97 105Mhz 10 SD
98 111Mhz 2 HD +1 SD
99 117Mhz 12 SD + 8 Audio

17 141Mhz 10 SD
18 147Mhz 2 HD

28 249Mhz 7 SD + sometimes 1 PPV HD

67 483Mhz 11 SD

76 537Mhz 11 SD

79 555Mhz 8 SD
80 561Mhz 12 SD

82 573Mhz 2 HD+1 SD
83 579Mhz 11 SD
84 585Mhz 11 SD
85 591Mhz 13 SD
86 597Mhz 10 SD
87 603Mhz ondemand
88 609Mhz ondemand
89 615Mhz ondemand
90 621Mhz ondemand
91 627Mhz 2 HD+2 SD
92 633Mhz 2 HD+1 SD
93 639Mhz 8 SD
94 645Mhz unused?
100 651Mhz 2 SD+47 Audio
101 657Mhz 2 HD+1 SD
102 663Mhz unused?
103 669Mhz 12 SD
104 675Mhz 12 SD
105 681Mhz 12 SD
106 687Mhz cable modem downstream
107 693Mhz unused?
108 699Mhz 2 HD+2 SD
109 705Mhz 10 SD
110 711Mhz 14 SD
111 717Mhz 11 SD
112 723Mhz 10 SD
113 729Mhz 13 SD
114 735Mhz 1 SD + 1 HD + 1 partial HD/mostly SD (755 BravesVision)
115 741Mhz 12 SD

Later,

Thomas

yep, we've lost all archiving ability from the movie channels as of last night. older DVR recordings will play through the dvhs deck but not ones from the last few days.

i thought we were supposed to be able to "record once" under the current FCC laws, even from the movie channels?

PS i can see the locals through the dvhs except FOX.

this stinks.....

Have the Phase 3 6412's shown up in Atlanta as yet at Comcast? I've been thinking of getting a second box, and thought I might as well wait for Phase 3. They seem to be rolling out in other Comcast markets, but I don't recall any mention here.

Also, has anyone successfully been able to pickup or swap a 6412 at a Comcast cable store lately? They informally allowed this in the beginning when the 6412's just became available, then cut it off. Again, in other Comcast markets it seems to be routine to swap over the counter. Paying the $30 for a visit just to add a box is irritating, especially when you never know when they will deploy the next generation.

Yes, the Phase 3's are here. I don't know if that's what everyone gets, but it's what I got about a month ago and others here have talked about it.

do the phase 3's have bigger hard drives, or just the additonal HDMI output?

if they have bigger hard drives i'll get one asap, because now that here in Atlanta they've blocked us from dumping material to dvhs via firewire (at least for the premium movie channels), i will need more hard drive space inside the box to watch what i want.

this 5c they've started using here in atlanta really stinks... it's also illegal, btw, it's set to COPY NEVER which is against the FCC rules, plus they are blocking some of the must carry local OTA channels with 5c like WATL, and some digital channels like CSPAN!)

Grrr, I fired away a a calm email to customer service regarding 5c and my inability to archive. I have low expectations of receiving a proper response, but I don't have time to call them from work today.

Is there an Engineering extension or any way to get to the technical folks on the phone?

do the phase 3's have bigger hard drives, or just the additonal HDMI output?

Same-sized hard drive. They are considering offering future DVRs after the 6412 with larger hard drives.

For $9.95 a month, you can get a second 6412, doubling your hard drive space.

neil -

i already have a two 6412's (in two locations)...i would like to double my HD space in each location but can't justify the added $10 more a month to an already huge bill!

nathan -

i also sent a very calm but detailed email to comcast with a request that they pass the email on to engineering management as well as corporate if they were not able to give me those contacts personally. i sure hope this gets resolved!

Oleus, I checked out the 5c flags on the movie channels last night, and they're set to 5c=1. I'm curious if something else in the stream is causing the problems. Most of the time, I'm getting perfect video, but the audio either cuts out after two seconds, or there's no audio at all. Sometimes, the video appears to go out of sync for 30 seconds or so. This doesn't strike me as typical 5c copy-never behaviour. What do you think of this?

What's your setup?

For what it's worth, I'm feeding my DCT-6412 to a Mits 2000u via a Mits 5000 (pseudo promise module). I've reset all my connections numerous times, including unplugging everything for hours at a time and re-syncing my firewire devices and using different ports.

Nathan -

i have two setups. one of my 6412's is going to a JVC 30K dvhs deck (and that video is going to an hdtv via component cable). My other setup has a 6412 going to a JVC 5U deck and that video is going out to a projector via an hdmi cable.

both setups are showing NOTHING through the dvhs decks on the movie channels. I get the "cannot decode channel" message on the JVC 5U, and a white screen on the 30K.

they fixed things on WATL so i can view that though the dvhs decks now, but INHD 1&2, Discovery HD, ESPNHD, and all the movie channels are still blocked from even being recorded once.

Oops, I neglected to checkmy other setup in the living room. That DCT--firewire-> 5u --component-> tv arrangement is working fine.

Now on to the bedroom, where my problems lie (no pun intended):

This evening, I unplugged everything again, reseated, and reset all connections. I'm now getting audio and video through my DCT --firewire-> 5u --component-> tv. In addition to the firewire issues, I found my "out-of-sync" video problem over component was caused by a bad cable (thanks, GE!).

I'll hook the Mits 2000 and 5000 devices back up in a few and see what the status is for viewing those over firewire, as they were my problem sources yesterday.

I also received a response from Comcast saying that my email would be forwarded to Engineering....which is actually more than I expected from them. From what I've seen on the yahoo listserv, Comcast is aware of the situation...something about a DAC upgrade.

No reception for INHD (Channel 876) during the last couple of days. I am on the Vinings headend and was curious if anyone else had experienced this. All other HD channels including INHD2 are okay. Perhaps it's time to "reset" cable card but never lost just one channel before.

Update: Just reset cablecard which remapped all the channels but still unable to receive 876 and also discovered that Bravesvision 755 was doing the same thing. Reception on these two channels have been good until the last 2 days. Anyone have any ideas?

hey folks,
i'm doing a poll on the source of your plasma/lcd tv purchase & thought maybe some local folk should contribute too since i'm in metro atlanta as well.
i know not everyone on here has a plasma or lcd tv, but if u do, please take a look & vote if you have not already.

poll results after 106 votes thus far:

seems there is an approximately even split between those buying in-store vs cyber ~40% each.... interesting fact about purchase protection plan is that they are obtained almost 3 times as often with in-store purchase (17%) vs over the internet (6%)

see for yourself at (& vote too!):
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=581350

hi.
please pardon my neophyte status, but can you, or anyone, tell me how one could use the 6412 and still be able to record and burn to a dvd?
it's gotta be doable with a computer or someway.
thanks

Has anyone had some serious problems with Comcast customer service lately? My DVR (Motorola 6412) has been locking up frequently and I want it replaced. I have tried calling customer service four different times and been placed on hold for longer than 20 minutes each (I gave up after 20 minutes...). Each time that I have called, there's been a message of cable outages through a large portion of the Atlanta system (fortunately for me in Sandy Springs on the Stone Mountian headend, my service has not been interrupted). What's going on with Comcast these days??

I gave up on trying to call today and sent customer service an e-mail. Hopefully I will have success with the e-mail. In a perfect world, I would be able to unplug my cable box and take it to the Comcast service center to swap for another unit. In the Comcast world, I will be told when a genius technician will come to my house and check my cable lines...

Same problem with me - I have called about four times in the past two weeks, and the wait times have been 15-20 minutes each time. That is bad for *even for a cable company*

Finally, success! E-mail seems to work. It takes about a day for them to respond, but it is faster than waiting on hold for enternity! I actually managed to get an appointment at a convenient time.

I wonder if will get lucky and get a series III Motorola DCT 6412 as a replacement. My analog channels look terrible and I hear that the Series III model has a better analog tuner. I'll find out tomorrow...

Update: I wound up getting a new Series III box. Here's what I have noticed so far:

I am now getting a number of the lower channels in digital again. Those had dissappeared for a while on my previous box.

The analog channels look much better than before.

Channel changing is a bit slower. The previous model changed channels a bit faster. I might need to wait until it is finished downloading to see if this improves.

is comcast allowing us to go in and swap our 6412's out for the newer series 3 boxes?

how can i tell if a box is series 3? the dvi output has been replaced by an HDMI output, right?

That is interesting about your getting the lower channels digitally once again on the new box. I had read in other forums that Comcast in some areas recently was only testing the simulcasting on boxes that are new to a particular headend, so they could roll out the digital simulcasting in smaller waves -- so in case something went wrong it wouldn't wreak havoc on entire headends and jam up customer service phone lines. Could you maybe go through in your spare time and see exactly which of the channels (2-81) are now digital on your new box?

Thomas

oleus, unfortunately Comcast will not allow you to swap a box at one of their offices (this really annoys me). I received a new box because old box was freezing up and I placed a trouble call to have it fixed. Yes, the new box has an HDMI outlet instead of a DVI output. It has label in the bottom right hand corner that says "DCT 6412 III".

harpshutler, I am not sure how to be 100% sure, which channels are coming in digital...I have just been going by the "D" symbol that appears with digital channels. This symbol appears on channels 2 through 32, excpet for channels 19 and 22. The funny thing is I can tell no difference between which channels should be analog and what should be digital with my new box...I am thinking it may be the analog to digital conversion causing me to think the channels are being broadcast in digitial...not sure though. One thing I have noticed with the digital channels is that if you have your TV set to stretch the sides and preserve the center for SD material, it wil not chop of the very bottom of digital channels - so you can see the news ticker on channels like CNN and MSNBC.

An update...the channels are now tuning much faster than last night...

The only drawback so far is that some of my HD channels are coming in strangely. This is not due to the new box as the technician did something to my condo building's outside line to boost the signal and I think I may be getting too much signal for the HD channels. I am going to try adding a 2-way splitter between the cable outlet and the box to see if that helps.

I have two of the Comcast Motorola boxes, but Comcast (Atlanta) states that they "never heard of the Phase III box" or a box with HDMI.

Anyone know a contact person or how to light a fire and get my boxes swapped?

Thanks in advance for any input.

The DD symbol test is accurate unless Comcast has swapped a channel from analog to digital (or vice versa) since your box was last unplugged or since it last had one of those random late-night resets. Your having channels 2-32 in digital sounds about right. I think they are now working on channels 33-51 because the digital versions of those channels (except channel 50) are now encrypted (or scrambled if you prefer) when I tune to them on my LG QAM-capable tuner.

To those looking for the latest box:
I doubt you would have much luck swapping your old 6412 box for a newer model 6412, since most people at Comcast will have no idea what you mean. If you wanted one REALLY badly, and were willing to pay for that privilege, you could order a second DVR box for your household, and then take the original one back to them at a later date. But you'd have to pay that $30-50 in install charges etc. and you wouldn't actually be sure that the box they bring out would be the latest model until they show up with it. Although it would likely be, since they usually run through their current stock of boxes and are replenished with new boxes which would usually be the latest, greatest model, but no guarantees.

Thomas

Thomas, is there any other way to tell if a channel is digital? The analog signal is a milliion times better since the cable technician worked on my lines and it's possible I may be mistaking the analog signal for digital. I solved the problem on the HD end by hooking up a two-way splitter between the wall and the box. My cable modem is showing a +5 dB signal, and it is hooked up to a two-way splitter in the bedroom...based on this I was assuming my cable box was getting +8 or +9 db since it was connected directly to the wall. By installing a two way, I am able to lower the lower the signal by at least 3.5 db. I am thinking the HD signals are better at or around 0 bB.

2004atl,

The "for sure" way to tell if a channel you are watching on the 6412 is analog or digital:

Pick a time when you aren't recording anything on either tuner.

1) put both tuners on the channel you want to check
2) power off the box
3) immediately hit ok/select
4) down arrow to "d06 current channel status" and hit ok/select
5) check "type" for analog or digital (plus you can down arrow to see the status of the second tuner
6)hit the power button twice to clear the diagnostic screen and turn the 6412 back on

If it's analog, it will also say CLR for clear -- meaning it isn't scrambled, since in Atlanta Comcast no longer has any analog premium or PPV channels that would be scrambled.

If it's digital, it will say ENC (for encrypted or scrambled) or UNK (for unencrypted or in the clear).

On Wednesday, Comcast seemed to be working on the simulcasting for channels 52-59, because the digital versions of those channels are now scrambled on my LG QAM-capable tuner. That means the digital versions of channels 27, and channels 32-59 are now scrambled.

When I spoke to someone in the repair department at Comcast in late September about an unrelated matter, I asked when the simulcasting would be complete and she checked with someone and was told it would be a month or so. So perhaps it will be done by the end of October. Even if the simulcasting were complete at the headends today, Comcast could still slowly input into their system which cable boxes are affected. If you already have channels 2-32 or even more channels in digital, they must be doing it for the newly activated boxes at least, since your old 6412 didn't have it, but the one they gave you to replace it does.

Thomas

I just want to know when are they going to add ESPN2HD

anyone else not receiving INHD 1 (channel 876) ? .....on my box it says "not authorized"....

oleus, I have lost INHD 1 as well - I am on the Stone Mtn. headend.

Thomas, I used the method you showed and sure enough the lower channels are not in digital. The D symbol appears for 2 - 32, but the tuner says CLR and analog...

Here's one more strange thing I have noticed with the new box...the music choice channels are being delivered as HD channels to my TV set...this is obviously a glitch of some sort since those channels are definitely not HD.

I don't have INHD1 as well.

I use Gwinett Comcast, I was getting espn/espn2/history/discovery on the channel list above, but as of last week those chanel no longer available, I have no idea if it is just down? they move it? or they scramble the signal?

anyone have the same problem and know what might happen?

I noticed the absence of INHD1 as well. When just checking it last night. I noticed NFLHD on INHD2. They were showing the game of the week. Did anyone else see this?

Does anyone know if they are ever going to enable pip on the 6412? Thanks!!

Many small changes on Comcast digital channels the last several days:

(as monitored on a LG LST-3410a QAM tuner)

PBS Sprout on channel 86-4 (new) - unscrambled as of 10/6

TVE Internacional on channel 96-4 (new) - unscrambled up until 10/6, then scrambled

Encore WAM on channel 105-11 (new) - unscrambled as of 10/6

OnDemand NHL Center Ice channels 97-x - unscrambled as of 10/6, but expected to be scrambled soon

The Golf Channel on channel 109-4 - unscrambled up until 10/5, then scrambled (it was duplicated from it's normal channel position, so maybe a test)

some other channels were missing on the night of 10/6 such as CNN Headline News on 84-212, The History Channel was scrambled. Maybe a temporary thing for now and they will re-appear later??

I use Gwinett Comcast, I was getting espn/espn2/history/discovery on the channel list above, but as of last week those chanel no longer available, I have no idea if it is just down? they move it? or they scramble the signal?

anyone have the same problem and know what might happen?

I think this is what Thomas was referring to:
On Wednesday, Comcast seemed to be working on the simulcasting for channels 52-59, because the digital versions of those channels are now scrambled on my LG QAM-capable tuner. That means the digital versions of channels 27, and channels 32-59 are now scrambled.

I noticed the same thing on my QAM-enabled tuner, I've lost many channels and will probably lose more soon. I expect the only channels we'll get unscrambled are on the basic tier (digital versions of channels 2-26 or so) and the local hd channels.

Does anyone know if they are ever going to enable pip on the 6412?
Only Comcast knows. They might do it with the introduction of their next i-Guide, which might be soon. I would think they will convert all systems nationwide to digital before doing this.

Slightly off topic:

coming to Atlanta for a wedding and are staying downtown.

Are there any sports bars within a 5 mile radius that do HD? I'm not talking about having a bunch of plasma TVs and stretching standard def, but can actually show HD. Specifically someplace that will be showing the ALCS and NLCS on Fox. (I assume the EspnZone doesn't show Fox programming.)

NFLHD on INHD2?

I had to reboot my dvr and I noticed on the program guide that NFL's
Game of the Week is scheduled for 10pm and 12m on INHD2.

Could this along with the sighting of NFLHD footage on INHD2 (back when we lost
the signal of INHD..a short time ago), mean that we are getting a new
channel?

NFLHD on INHD2?

I had to reboot my dvr and I noticed on the program guide that NFL's
Game of the Week is scheduled for 10pm and 12m on INHD2.

Could this along with the sighting of NFLHD footage on INHD2 (back when we lost
the signal of INHD..a short time ago), mean that we are getting a new
channel?

Doubtful in my opinion. As long as they can show the GOTW on INHD I would rather see another channel with more programming in HD. Would not mind having ESPN2 HD as the next channel here but Comcast seems to be pretty slow in adding HD channels these days. They have recently added 801 for HD PPV but I have not seen anything scheduled for that channel, just seems to be taking up space at this time. I would not likely pay for event programming personally but there must be enough folks who would do that to justify this channel for Comcast.

Has anyone with the DCT 6412 had problems getting On Demand? Since having my box swapped for the 6412 III, it has been slow to navigate to On Demand, once it get's to the main menu, there is no audio. Selecting programming seems to only work after several tries. When the tech was out to replace my defective box, he adjusted the signal in the outside box, so now it is higher. The analog and HD channels seem ok, but the digital channels look a little strange.

Since a lot of people out here seem to be more informed than comcast employees I was wondering if someone could answer a couple of questions for me.
I am buying a projector to complete my home theater and I was told that the HDMI and the optical audio outlets are not active on the Motorola 6412 III's. Is this correct? I do not want to buy the cables if the ports are not active and will not work.
Just curious if anyone out here knows if this is true and if so why?

Also someone said something about needing to reboot their DVR. How and why would you need to do this? Does that earse saved shows? My box seems to run slow at times. Changing channels or pausing or playing, sometimes you will push a button and it will sit there for 5 or more seconds and then react. Sometimes (most times) I get impatient with it and push the button again and then it reacts twice. I have learned to try and watch for the little light that flashes when it does receive an input from the remote. Am I just impatient or is something up with the box?
Thanks for your help.

Slightly off topic:

coming to Atlanta for a wedding and are staying downtown.

Are there any sports bars within a 5 mile radius that do HD? I'm not talking about having a bunch of plasma TVs and stretching standard def, but can actually show HD. Specifically someplace that will be showing the ALCS and NLCS on Fox. (I assume the EspnZone doesn't show Fox programming.)


Try the new Fox Sports Bar at Atlantic Station in Mid-town......


Gus

mach76, the HDMI port is active on the Motorola 6412 - III's. I am using it. I am not sure about the optical audio. Comcast will tell you that they do not support DVI or HDMI because they do not supply the cables.

As far as the sluggish response from your cable box, it is normal. My new series III one does the same thing. My previous box (non-Series III 6412) would freeze for up to 20 seconds...that annoyed me enough to issue a service call and have it replaced. That's my only complaint with these boxes...they finally have the channel changing to semi-normal speed (the older Motorola boxes were really slow...), but if you try to change too fast it seems to get overwhelmed.

Ok, I've had cable for a week now. I was and am still a Directv customer with DirecTivo's. I decided to finally give cable a try to get more HDTV options and an affordable DVR to record it.

I have to ask. How the hell do you guys deal with the audio dropouts? It is driving everybody in my house f*cking nuts. If the audio drops outs you can rewind and it will usually playback fine the second time. So the signal is coming in ok and being written to the hard drive intact, it is getting clipped on the output side. Is this problem occurring for everyone or is it just me? Do I have a defective box?

I should add that I'm using the optical digital output on a Series III 6412.

Has anyone else had terrible problems with WXIA-HD (Comcast 806) over the last couple weeks? It's terribly frustrating, and it's only this channel I have difficulty with. I've attempted to report to the CSRs (who generally have no clue what they're talking about), and emailed to the only address that seemed remotely worthwhile on the XIA website as well. Any ideas? The dropout occur only during HD programming (primetime lineup). No probs when in SD shows...Thanks

Question: For all you QAM tuner users, does anyone know if ESPN HD comes in with the QAM channels? I can find SD ESPN but not ESPN HD.

Question: For all you QAM tuner users, does anyone know if ESPN HD comes in with the QAM channels? I can find SD ESPN but not ESPN HD.

No, the only unencrypted HD channels you can get from Comcast are Fox, ABC, TBS, WB, CBS and NBC.

Has anyone else lost WXIA-HD tonight (Mon, 10/24)? To top things off, Monday Night football keeps freezing up on WSB-HD. Anyone else having problems with their HD channels on Comcast?

Has anyone else lost WXIA-HD tonight (Mon, 10/24)? To top things off, Monday Night football keeps freezing up on WSB-HD. Anyone else having problems with their HD channels on Comcast?
Yes, I'm having the exact same problems. I called and they said the problem is widespread and they are working on it. They 'hope' to have it fixed before the end of the game.

Good to know it's not just me. Every time I turn on my xbox I lose both NBC-HD and CBS-HD, so I thought it was something on my end. I really wanted to watch Surface in HD last night. I only saw a little bit of the game and didn't have any freezing, though.

I've had this problem for a week now. Can't get 806, 809 and 844. And Voila, suddenly last night at a Monday Night Football party, 803 was freezing. I had Comcast out last week and was told they needed to install a four way amp. I had to install an outlet in my ceiling to accomodate this boondoggle. Now they're coming today to install the 4 way splitter/amp.

Last evening, I learned that everyone at my party in my subdivision in Alpharetta is having the same problem. The comcast reps just kept having me reboot the 6412 box. It's frustrating. It would seem far more cost effective to actually fix the network problem than to take customer calls and dispatch techs to install amps at the customer prem.

Thanks for the info 2004atl. I got the HDMI and optical audio cables last night and they are both working great. Glad I found this forum instead of listening to Comcast.
I am still not getting audio on 807 but after reading a few of the last comments out here other people are having more issues than me. I'm in the Dunwoody area. Good old Comcast, they are Comcastic!

I got my new Panasonic 900 in last night and got it all set up. Looks amazing even though I am just projecting on a wall right now. I am ordering a Carada screen this week.
Thanks for the help!
Travis

I've had this problem for a week now. Can't get 806, 809 and 844. And Voila, suddenly last night at a Monday Night Football party, 803 was freezing. I had Comcast out last week and was told they needed to install a four way amp. I had to install an outlet in my ceiling to accomodate this boondoggle. Now they're coming today to install the 4 way splitter/amp.

Last evening, I learned that everyone at my party in my subdivision in Alpharetta is having the same problem. The comcast reps just kept having me reboot the 6412 box. It's frustrating. It would seem far more cost effective to actually fix the network problem than to take customer calls and dispatch techs to install amps at the customer prem.

I have heard of others with the same problem with MNF on 803 in the Alpharetta area though I had the game on the whole time with no issues in the Lawrenceville area. I believe that both areas are served by the Stone Mountain headend so maybe there is a more localized issue in Alpharetta. However, you are right on about Comcast support for reported HD issues. Their answer is always to reset the complainant's box and then send a tech but they don't seem to have a way to check their own network locally.

Question:

I get the "free" network channels with my QAM tuner and basic Comcast service. In order to get TNT HD and ESPN HD I would have to get a new package. My question is how much would this cost and would I be able to receive these channels on my QAM tuner and not have to get a STB?

Question:

I get the "free" network channels with my QAM tuner and basic Comcast service. In order to get TNT HD and ESPN HD I would have to get a new package. My question is how much would this cost and would I be able to receive these channels on my QAM tuner and not have to get a STB?

Hmm, I don't think that you can get these HD channels via your QAM tuner. Here is a post from the Yahoo Groups ahdtv board (hope the link works):

http://tv.groups.yahoo.com/group/ahdtv/message/16619

Don't know what it would cost for the level of digital service that you would require to get those channels in HD but I bet it is a lot more than you are now paying.

You can request a cable card instead, if your tv accepts them, but with the cable card you wil not receive on demand and may miss out on other interactive features. I would recommend the dvr box instead of a cable card, since there have been some problems with the cards.

I don't know the cost as I also use my QAM, but am thinking about subscribing as well, and I would also like to know the cost to go from expanded basic to a dvr & hd service.

I just recently purchased a new Dell LCD monitor and it has DVI-D inputs. I primarily will use with my computer, but thought I would see what it looks like on my Comcast HD service using the DVI output. Anyway, after I hooked it up, the picture comes on for about 10 secs. and then shuts off. I called Comcast to see if there is a setting or something and they told me that they don't support DVI signals in my market. Is this true? If so, what does that mean? Just curious of others in the Atlanta area have their set-up using DVI cables.

I guess this is good to know because I was thinking about upgrading my tv to have DVI and HDMI cables.

By the way, I have a Motorola DVR/HD box. Not sure what series this box is.

I just recently purchased a new Dell LCD monitor and it has DVI-D inputs. I primarily will use with my computer, but thought I would see what it looks like on my Comcast HD service using the DVI output. Anyway, after I hooked it up, the picture comes on for about 10 secs. and then shuts off. I called Comcast to see if there is a setting or something and they told me that they don't support DVI signals in my market. Is this true? If so, what does that mean? Just curious of others in the Atlanta area have their set-up using DVI cables.

I guess this is good to know because I was thinking about upgrading my tv to have DVI and HDMI cables.

By the way, I have a Motorola DVR/HD box. Not sure what series this box is.

I caught this when you posted this on then Programming thread. When the DVI port is activated on the Comcast box (it probably is since you got a picture for 10 seconds) it need a HDCP (high definition copy protection) handshake which your Dell monitor cannot do. If it does not get it it will deactivate the picture (which is what happened to you).

Thanks PaulGo. Sorry, I'm not the most technically sound guy, but from what you're saying is that the Dell monitor won't work to watch HDTV.

Wondering if anyone using the MyHD PC card is able to receive WGCL-DT (CBS) 108-10/809 and WXIA-DT (NBC) 108-30/806.

The other QAM stations come through OK but I can't seem to pull in these two.

Any tricks or tips?

TIA,

Nick

Has anyone else noticed that Comcast has added, reassigned or moving channels from 950 to 956?

950 - QVC
951 - SAH
952 - ACCES
953 - GA
954 - EDUC
955 - BULBD
956 - ATLMC

Wondering if anyone using the MyHD PC card is able to receive WGCL-DT (CBS) 108-10/809 and WXIA-DT (NBC) 108-30/806.

The other QAM stations come through OK but I can't seem to pull in these two.

Any tricks or tips?

TIA,

Nick

i'm wondering if I will be able to receive local broadcast channels in HDTV using the built-in QAM tuner (via cablecard in my TV) without having to use a comcast STB box? the tv in question is a philips 42PF9630A.

I called Comcast and said I had a new HDTV that took cablecard and was not interested in a settop box. They said that a one time charge of $15.99 to cdome out and install the cablecard and $5 a month would get all of their non-premium HDTV (premium being HBO, Showtime, etc.)

My sister has had HD service for 3 months, but has both cablecard and STB, she is paying more than $5 per month, but they are charging her extra for their "guide channel".

By eliminating the STB, I have avoided being able to be billed for the guide channel, which I think is ~$2 month.

They have not had any issues with their cable card, and the picture is a LOT betterthan with the STB. This on a Mistubishi 62725 720p DLP.

On another note, has anyone noticed that Comcast in Marietta/Cobb changed the channels for some of the local stations (using QAM tuner/non HD/digital service)? I can't seem to find UPN anywhere but channel 10...

Has anyone had any problems getting FX to come in clear? all the other non-HD ch come in fine.

My sister has had HD service for 3 months, but has both cablecard and STB, she is paying more than $5 per month, but they are charging her extra for their "guide channel".

By eliminating the STB, I have avoided being able to be billed for the guide channel, which I think is ~$2 month.


I'm paying 9.95 for the dvr/hdtv service (above my digital package and premium channels). This includes the Local HDTV Channels, the non-premium HD channels (INHD, etc) , VOD and the 2 tuner DVR. Even though I could use a cablecard, I think the value is better this way.

The "Guide Channel" is actually Channel Guide, isn't it. Thats a monthly TV Guide type magazine they add automatically. You can drop it by calling Comcast.

I've had a Sony 34HS420 in Marietta for almost a year now, and I finally got sick of having no HD and stressing over buying an OTA antenna and a new dish and the HS10 TiVo, so I ditched D* and BellSouth and called Comcast.

I've looked through this thread and I think I have an idea of the answers but I thought I'd ask to make sure:

1) I'm out of component ins on the TV (DVD and Xbox), so I want to go HDMI. It sounds like a lot of you are using this on the phase III with various levels of success. Do I need to specifically request a phase III from Comcast, or is that what they'll automatically send me? If I request it, do you think they'll oblige, or just tell me HDMI isn't supported?

2) Is there no chance they'll bring an HDMI cable with them for the install? I'm guessing no. I don't want to buy one. If I do buy one, will the tech hook it up via HDMI?

3) I'm also out of toslink ins on my stereo (Xbox) but I have a coax in - does anyone have an opinion on whether the tech will bring a coax cable for the isntall?

4) Anything else I ought to know before they get here?

I realize most of these questions are things I'm going to have to find out on my own; I'm just polling for any similar experiences. I'll post any relevant results after the install on the 29th.

UPDATES (answers to my own questions):

They're bringing me a 3412 and not a 6412. She couldn't tell me the hard drive size, but she said it would hold 60 hours SD or 4 hours HD. Four?! That can't be right. I've read elsewhere that the 3412 is 120GB.

They will bring a coax audio but I have to supply the HDMI.

Now I have to start my research over because I was all prepared to receive a 6412 ph3.

They're bringing me a 3412 and not a 6412. She couldn't tell me the hard drive size, but she said it would hold 60 hours SD or 4 hours HD.

As the model number indicates, the 3412 has a 120 GB drive, which will hold around 18 hours of HD. And, no, the SATA port for external hard drives is not active.

As the model number indicates, the 3412 has a 120 GB drive, which will hold around 18 hours of HD. And, no, the SATA port for external hard drives is not active.

18 hours makes more sense. And I had heard the SATA was a no-go. Maybe in a future firmware.

Maybe she was giving some kind of "typical storage estimate," like that at any given time I could expect it to hold 60hrs SD + 4hrs HD based on the amount of respective programming available.

I think the all digital transition has occurred. I have a 6412 Phase III box and I am on the Stone Mountian headend and as of this morning all former analog channels are digital. Comcast made the transition last night around 11 pm...I am sure they may have had some angry customers because channels 2-15 went out for some time. Fortunately since I have HD service I was able to get those channels, however there is a certain channel in that range that carries a certain event (MNF) that I am sure a few folks would have been irritated with not being able to see. Those without HD probably lost about 1/2 hour of the game last night.

that's odd....

i have 2 6412's (not phase III's, but the older ones with DVI outputs) and the analog channels still look like garbage for the most part.

plus, at the time you said the conversion took place, a large portion of all the northern atlanta headends were totally without cable and internet because of the windy storms.

i wonder if my cable being out kept the update from properly happening last night?

PS - can't wait for channel 68 Comedy Central to join the digital tier!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have both a Phase 2 and Phase 3 6412 out of the stone mountain headend, and still no digital simulcast here either.

just checked my two 6412's and all the analog stations are still analog.

i hope the phase 1 boxes don't get left out of the loop...i don't want to upgrade because i like having the dvi output instead of hdmi.

I checked and I am definitely in all digital mode. I checked random channels between 2 and 70 and using the turn off the box, hit ok, check inband status method and every channel I checked says 256 QAM. Also, the look is different. The Weather Channel looks terrible...very oversaturated. The Weather Channel is tricky because they may have several versions on one headend to different local forecasts by city and county. I guess they have to digitize each version as I am getting the same version I got in analog. One thing I have noticed with the digital channels is that they do not handle fast motion very well. They tend to freeze and have to redraw to keep up. I think overall at this point, the channels looked better in analog, but they may still need to work out some bugs.

FYI - I am on the Stone Mountain headend in north Sandy Springs.

i'm also in the stone mountain headend (north decatur)......is it possible parts of the headend were updated and others weren't? i am definitely still in analog mode (phase I 6412's).

Update...last night I unpluged my box and plugged it back in and now all channels have the "D" displayed for digital. Most channels look good but, the Weather Channel still looks horrible.

i'll try unplugging and see what happens.

well i just unplugged both of my boxes, waited about 5 minutes, then plugged them back in. no change. is there some special trick to this?

where are you guys seeing the "d" symbol? next to the channel call-letters in the guide? either way my lower-tiered channels are definitely still analog.

well i just unplugged both of my boxes, waited about 5 minutes, then plugged them back in. no change. is there some special trick to this?

where are you guys seeing the "d" symbol? next to the channel call-letters in the guide? either way my lower-tiered channels are definitely still analog.

The "D" for Dolby is on the right side of the second line of the blue box you get when you change channels. You should see it on any of the channels numbered over 100 (which are digital whether or not you are getting the ditgital simulcast of the analog channels).

This is not completely reliable. Sometimes the "D" doesn't show. If you don't see it on the digital channels, just press the power button off and then on again, which brings it back. You don't have to hard power cycle it.

What is completely reliable is going into diagnostic mode and checking the D4 menu. It's just awkward since you have to separately go into diagnostic mode for every channel you want to check.

By the way, I'm in Decatur served out of Stone mountain, and I haven't gotten the digital simulcast channels yet (on either a P2 or P3), and no amount of power cycling is going to help. I did get many of them over the summer when Comcast was testing, and I do know from a borrowed QAM tuner that the channels are there now.

Apparently Comcast has some strategy for deciding which boxes to remap. A couple of times a week both my boxes reset at about 2AM when Comcast is apparently fidliing with their parameters. Over the summer I noticed that the remapping (which came and went more than once) always came after one of these early morning resets.

km, I have tried both methods. I get the "D" and each channel 2-81 comes up as 256 QAM in the diagnostics menu. I guess parts of the system are getting all digital and parts are not. As I mentioned before certain channels such as the Weather Channel have to be customized for certain parts of the headend and since these channels are being sent in digital they need to make sure the right boxes get the right channel. Also channels such as city government channels need to be split out based on location. Here in North Sandy Springs, I get the Roswell City government channel and the North Fulton County version of the Weather Channel. In Decatur, you would of course would get the Decatur city government channel and the DeKalb County version of the Weather Channel. It's possible that they haven't digitized these channels yet, but once they are I would imagine you too will be seeing an all digital cable line up.

According to both the Comcast website and a CSR, if you already pay for a STB, the CableCard is no additional monthly fee, although you do pay $15.99 for service call. Since my family uses the DVR functions of the 6412, I want to keep that and get the Card which is supposed to be much better SD reception.

Does anyone have this setup and, if so, how do you have it wired? Anything else I need to know about this setup? My TV is Tosh 42 HP95. Thanks.

still not seeing any of the old analogs in digital simulcast on either of my 6412's...is it possible the phase one 6412 boxes will never see the digital simulcast?

i'm in the stone mountain headend

Here's an update. I have had problems with tiling from time to time on my digital channels - not so much a problem with the HD channels, but a problem with the SD digital channels. A tech came over tonight and said my signal was good, but that the wiring in my apartment may be the culprit. He told me that Comcast will be going all digital in January. They were going to sooner, but they decided to wait until the new year. Why I am getting them early is beyond me. Even the technician was surprised to see the channels in digital as he believed no one would see them until January. Unfortunately for me, the wiring in my apartment may cause me to have tiling problems. Didn't notice it too much when the lower channels were not in digital, but I do now. Saturday night's GA/GA Tech game was unwatchable for me on channel 3 due to tiling. I had to use 803 to see the game (it wasn't in HD).

Grrrrrrrr.

As of yesterday, I've lost audio and video out of my Moto 6412 via firewire. Moreover, my Moto is sending "power off" commands to all my other firewire devices every 2 minutes. I spent a few hours cycling through reconnecting everything, unplugging the 6412 for 10 minute spans, and *trying* to access the status screens. All my 6412 does now is power on/off, show one channel (the one I was watching before it went insane), and turn off my other devices. Yay!

Has a new firmware come down the pipe for the older 6412s over the past few days?

Thanks.

Oh, I'm off the Marietta headend.

I've got kind of a newb question: I have D*, but have been thinking about switching to Comcast just because the initial fee is so much less. However, I like D* and would prefer to stay with them.

Unfortunately, my wife HATES HATES HATES the idea of getting either an indoor or outdoor OTA. If I get an HDTV with a tuner built-in, would there be any way of picking up my local channels without any kind of OTA? If not, Comcast here I come.

get some balls and tell your wife you are getting an attic Antenna. She want even have to see it. :)

Oh. Should have mentioned I live in an apartment!

Hi guys, I read a lot of the posts mentioning the dignostic menus of the Motorola boxes, how do you get in them? Is the method for both the same?

Thanks in advance for your replies

erniegiro, to enter the diagnostics menu:

Turn the box off
Immediately hit the OK/select button on your remote

Any idea if Comcast plans to have UPN HD?

I need my Everybody Hates Chris in HD. Other than that UPN seems useless. :D

Well, here's a twist. Now Comcast is telling me that I can just pick up a Cable Card from any Comcast location and install myself - no service call fee. I already have a 6412 running component into the TV, digital audio into the AV receiver and coax out into Ant A. When I get card, I assume I just need to run optical audio out from TV back to receiver.

Anything else?

we just recently signed up for comcast service and were issued an Arris cable modem TM402P (Touchstone line). does anyone use this modem and know whether its compatible with the TM402G model? i.e. can i swap them out and still get service?

also has anyone replaced the comcast issued modem with any other model & if so what problems did you encounter?

thanks

I signed up for service through comcastoffers.com and got my free cable modem that way. I had the modem before Comcast came for installation, and they had no problems at all.

I have 3 cable boxes: a Phase 2 and Phase 3 6412 and a plain 2244 digital stb. All of them reset simultaneously a few times a week between 1 and 2 am. This is a problem since:

1) I'm often watching then. If I'm watching live tv the reset its disruptive for a minute or two.
2) If I'm watching a dvr recording, it takes 5-10 minutes before the DVR menus reload.
3) The guide data gets lost, and it can take up to 24 hours to recover the full 2 weeks worth. The phase 3 seems particularly slow at reaquiring the far out entries.

The clueless CSR's on the phone, tell me a daily reset between 1 and 2 is normal. Are others seeing this too? It seems hard to believe its normal to throw away the guide data so often.

I've been trying to penetrate to real tech support at Comcast, but so far haven't gotten past a CSR.
Is there some trick for this?. Other threads mention tier two tech support, but this means nothing to anyone I've talked to here. When ever I mention tech support they transfer me to the internet support group who can't help at all with the TV side.

I'm in Decatur and served out of the Stone Mountain head end.

I have 3 cable boxes: a Phase 2 and Phase 3 6412 and a plain 2244 digital stb. All of them reset simultaneously a few times a week between 1 and 2 am.The clueless CSR's on the phone, tell me a daily reset between 1 and 2 is normal. Are others seeing this too? It seems hard to believe its normal to throw away the guide data so often.

I've been trying to penetrate to real tech support at Comcast, but so far haven't gotten past a CSR.
Is there some trick for this?. Other threads mention tier two tech support, but this means nothing to anyone I've talked to here. When ever I mention tech support they transfer me to the internet support group who can't help at all with the TV side.

I'm in Decatur and served out of the Stone Mountain head end.

I am also on the Stone Mountain headend and have seen the same thing on a regular basis. I don't know why they need to do this so often but it is irritating if you are watching something at the time of the reset. Seems like they could do this between 3-4 in the AM and affect fewer customers, but I have not tried to report this to non-support. I also saw analog channels changed to digital recently but they seem to have reverted to analog again.

we just recently signed up for comcast service and were issued an Arris cable modem TM402P (Touchstone line). does anyone use this modem and know whether its compatible with the TM402G model? i.e. can i swap them out and still get service?

also has anyone replaced the comcast issued modem with any other model & if so what problems did you encounter?

thanks

i just had a comcast serv rep try to install the TM402G modem. it worked for the internet access, but not for telephone service. according to comcast, the cmac# is not compatible within this service area. has anyone heard of this before???
i really want to keep this modem i bought & return the leased one. any ideas?

I am also on the Stone Mountain headend and have seen the same thing on a regular basis. I don't know why they need to do this so often but it is irritating if you are watching something at the time of the reset. Seems like they could do this between 3-4 in the AM and affect fewer customers, but I have not tried to report this to non-support. I also saw analog channels changed to digital recently but they seem to have reverted to analog again.

I have a 6412 (p1 or p2) that resets regularly and often between 1h00am and 2h00am....oh, and also between 2h00am and 1h00am. Actually, it just pretty much reboots all day long and never has the correct time or guide/menu info. My lovely box has even rebooted four times as I've read the last page of this thread. Yay! The firewire port is also sending poweroff commands every three minutes to my JVC d-vhs deck.

It would be nice if I could get through to someone on the phone, but unfortuantely I can't stay on hold for more than 45 minutes at a time. Grrr.

Try e-mailing Comcast customer service through their website. If you mention that you cannot get through via the phone, they will schedule a service appointment via e-mail. Allow a day's response time each time you submit an e-mail. Certainly not ideal, but worked for me and beats staying on hold indefinitely...

What I really fin unacceptable when calling their customer service is that there is almost always a message that half of the ATL metro area is without service. They really should not be having this many service interruptions.

help!!!
annoying scrolling up of a line and a purple hue has recently been plaguing us.
the problem first appeared in august, then it went away (yay!).
it's back.
we have the 6412 dvr and a pany 50 hdtv.
please resond atlanta people.
sherry

I've got the 3412 so I'm assuming I'm all digital. I'm in Marietta, not sure where the headend is (Alpharetta?).

I haven't had much trouble with the box, more details can be read in the HDTV hardware thread for the 3412.

Anyway, I was directed back to this thread to find out about HDPPV on Comcast in Atl. This thread is 50 pages though and I'm having troubling finding it, so I'm sorry if this is a repeat question: What's up with HD PPV? The HDPPV channel (801 I think) just says "Off-air" all day. And the HD line-up On-Demand is terrible, almost non-existent. Why do I have to wait for TNT or HBO to show me a recent movie in HD when I'm willing to throw down $5 extra to see it sooner?

Am I missing something? Does anyone know when a real HDPPV option will be available?

Try e-mailing Comcast customer service through their website. If you mention that you cannot get through via the phone, they will schedule a service appointment via e-mail. Allow a day's response time each time you submit an e-mail. Certainly not ideal, but worked for me and beats staying on hold indefinitely...

What I really fin unacceptable when calling their customer service is that there is almost always a message that half of the ATL metro area is without service. They really should not be having this many service interruptions.

thanks, but their service tech WAS here to correct just that and was not able to. :(

just curious if anyone else on here is using comcast for internet & telephone service too & what kind of modem is being used.

Watching the Texas/Duke game today on CBS 46' HD simulcast, and I"m getting some lag/choppiness. Is this a CBS 46 issue? Anyone else getting the same thing?