Comcast has never shown the Huskies on iNHD like they do the sonics. If you live outside Seattle you get to see it but they block it in Seattle just as they did yesterday...I do not think their is a local agreement with the Huskies as their is with the sonics... The UCLA/Husky game was in HD on INHD last month.

...
Also, has anyone else been incredibly unsatisfied with the quality on KIRO? I just finished watching the Grammys and was astounded at the pixelated, macroblocked mess that they are calling HD. I noticed the same thing during the Superbowl. I've been reading over in the HDTV programming thread, and it seems like live events on CBS are normally considered to be some of the best, viewed through other affiliates around the country. I guess the inclusion of the subchannel (showing SeaTac traffic!) is causing a big bandwidth squeeze. Does anyone have any contact info for KIRO to complain?

If someone has a contact we should send them a petition from local AVS members about their poor HD. I'm not sure how to organize this - anyone have any ideas? We need them to understand it's not just one or two 'crazies' that see the problem.

I read here and in trade publications that KOMO's news is HD. But, I wonder if that's the case. The station never makes that claim, which seems odd. Every other station doing HD news promotes it heavily. The 16 x 9 images look great. But, they don't have the clarity of real HD. It is my understanding that KOMO does not have an HD switcher in its news control room. So, even if the studio cameras, weather system, and other graphics are all HD, they come out of the switcher as 480i and get upconverted to 720p. There's no question KOMO's full 16 x 9 production is the best looking in the market. But, is it actually HD? Is there someone from KOMO who can answer the question?

Yes, KOMO's local news is, indeed, in HD. They don't promote it that much because they've been doing it for several years. And, because management would rather promote their news itself.

KOMO's studio cameras are all HD. Their switchers are HD. They built a new technical facility from the ground up when they moved into their new building several years ago.

Most of their field news cameras are 480p/16x9. Field stories where the recording is carried back to the station for editing look considerably better than reports filed via microwave. Their microwave is much older and the 480p signal is obviously degraded via microwave.

I should probably add that I don't work at KOMO, but have friends who do. I have retired from the broadcast news business.

What is a good universal remote that works well with the motorola cable boxes here in Seattle? I was looking into the Logitec Harmony series and wanted others input. Thanks!

I use the harmony 680 and it works great for all of my equipment, including the motorola boxes. The activity based programming has a high WAF. They have newer models out, but I like my 680 and recently bought a second one off ebay. I think the motorola boxes are well supported by most decent Universal Remotes, especially remotes with learning capability like the Harmonys. Check out remotecentral.com for all kinds of info on remotes.

I've used the harmony 659 for a few years. I like the software is great and would definately buy harmony again. I'm still impressed by "one button operation" (i.e., push one button and all devices go where they're supposed to). Unfortunately, the buttons on the 659 and some other harmony remotes are mushy, and several commonly used buttons have worn out. I plan on replacing with the Harmony 880, which has all hard buttons. Hopefully, this will improve the 659 deficiencies, which is otherwise a great remote.

I currently have an 880 unopened but I am thinking of returning it for the 670. Which have the "mushy buttons." On the 880 all the buttons tend to run together and in my opinion would be difficult to use without physically looking at it. You know over time you tend to be so familiar with the remote you can use it without looking. Looking at the 880 it would seem hard to become that familiar as the buttons are small and seem to blend into each other.

I find it hard to beat the Home Theater Master (now Universal Remote) MX-700 I've got for full home theater control. Take a good look at the MX-850.

I have a Tosh 50hm66 with a cable card and comcast recently did something that makes channels 107 and 111 not have any sound. I called comcast and over the phone they tried to fix it and after that didn't work a tech came to the house but he couldn't fix it either. Anyone else have this issue?
Thanks in advance

I have the 670 and the family loves it

I don't think the buttons on the 659 are exactly the same as they are on the 670. They started using some different more durable buttons on some of the 659's successors. At the time i bought the 676, 680, and 688 were the main choices - and I liked teh 676 and 680 due to their button types over the 688, and ultimately chose the 680 due to it's slightly different button label (the transport button assignments are different). Not that you couldn't program any of the buttons to do whatever you want. I can say that I've had my 680s for a few years and they feel very natural to use without looking, and none of the buttons seem to have much wear (and I'm a pretty heavy user).

I currently have an 880 unopened but I am thinking of returning it for the 670. Which have the "mushy buttons." On the 880 all the buttons tend to run together and in my opinion would be difficult to use without physically looking at it. You know over time you tend to be so familiar with the remote you can use it without looking. Looking at the 880 it would seem hard to become that familiar as the buttons are small and seem to blend into each other.

I have an 880 and like you at first I thought I wasn't going to like not having the more 'mushy buttons'. Prior to this I had a Theater Master MX-500. Anyways, I quickly got used to the buttons and I rarely need to look at the remote anymore for normal everyday use. The things I like about the 880 that the 670 doesn't have are:

1. More customizable activity/device buttons (8 on the 880 vs. 6 on the 670)
2. Rechargeable battery with base station
3. No hard coded activity buttons so I can name them whatever I want.

All that being said, I don't think these differences warrant the MSRP price difference of the 880 but I got mine for a really good price so I went for it.

Anyone else got blank screens on Channels 110 & 116? It's been that way for a couple of weeks now here at east Renton area.

Thanks

Does the RF Bypass setting on the box 3412 not work? My cable box doesn't allow the cable signal to pass thru when its turned off despite the Settings. Passes a blank black screen instead.

Anyone else got blank screens on Channels 110 & 116? It's been that way for a couple of weeks now here at east Renton area.

Thanks

I get them fine with my cable box and dvr, but I can't tune them with QAM. There must be something about signal strength or something else with those stations.

I have an 880 and like you at first I thought I wasn't going to like not having the more 'mushy buttons'. Prior to this I had a Theater Master MX-500. Anyways, I quickly got used to the buttons and I rarely need to look at the remote anymore for normal everyday use. The things I like about the 880 that the 670 doesn't have are:

1. More customizable activity/device buttons (8 on the 880 vs. 6 on the 670)
2. Rechargeable battery with base station
3. No hard coded activity buttons so I can name them whatever I want.

All that being said, I don't think these differences warrant the MSRP price difference of the 880 but I got mine for a really good price so I went for it.

Thanks for the info. I may just keep the 880 reading your post. I got a really good deal on the 880 as well from BB with a price match. Oh speaking of which I was told by the sales rep at BB they are now changing thier policy. They will match any internet site's prices. As long as it is a store. Awesome info for people to know.

I have an 880 and like you at first I thought I wasn't going to like not having the more 'mushy buttons'. Prior to this I had a Theater Master MX-500. Anyways, I quickly got used to the buttons and I rarely need to look at the remote anymore for normal everyday use. The things I like about the 880 that the 670 doesn't have are:

1. More customizable activity/device buttons (8 on the 880 vs. 6 on the 670)
2. Rechargeable battery with base station
3. No hard coded activity buttons so I can name them whatever I want.

All that being said, I don't think these differences warrant the MSRP price difference of the 880 but I got mine for a really good price so I went for it.
I got a Harmony 880 at Christmas. I really like it and I really like the ability to customize it to suit our family's home theatre set-up and viewing habits. Having tweaked the settings a bit, my wife and kids also find the Harmony 880 easy to use. We never pull out the four remotes that the 880 replaced.

The original MSRP was high, but by Christmas Amazon.com had discounted the price to around $150 so it wasn't outrageously expensive.

I get them fine with my cable box and dvr, but I can't tune them with QAM. There must be something about signal strength or something else with those stations.

They're QAM64 (not sure what effect that has). I've had problems getting a signal with them (through the 6416) that were resolved simply by tightening the cable input to the box.

The UCLA/Husky game was in HD on INHD last month.

For what it's worth... the game as listed on the programming guide for 664, but it did not have the HD icon in the listing. The FSN broadcasters never mentioned the game being in HD either.

The FSNNW guy who posts on here infrequently mentioned they were not producing any husky games in HD locally this year.

FSN (the consortium of RCNs that carry FSN programming) produce one sunday game in every week in HD that's distributed to all their affiliates. This week that game was Duke vs.... can't remember. I think they did a UW game a few weeks back. The point is it wasn't produced locally just for us and that's the only reason we saw it.

I believe the only real problem is that Comcast is showing the second game on the guide errantly instead of switching back to INHD regular programming. This is probably some problem with the automation they've setup for these broadcasts. Maybe they do that so that if the game goes long it won't switch back to INHD and miss an overtime period or something.... so they program to stay tuned to that feed for the next programm as well. Since the game ended on time, the feed turned off and went to a test pattern. That would at least explain something. They put FSN live into the guide on Ch 664 after sonics games for the same reason I think.

But... at the end of the day... who knows?

IHere's an update of the QAM list with the updates I'd originally posted yesterday rolled-up:

* Added over-the-air channel numbers to local stations
* Changed affiliations for minor local stations (KBCB, KHCV, KUNS)
* Removed DMX and Music Choice stations
* Cleaned up readability

Does anyone have info for a QAM list for the Spokane area? Thanks!

Does the RF Bypass setting on the box 3412 not work? My cable box doesn't allow the cable signal to pass thru when its turned off despite the Settings. Passes a blank black screen instead.

Does not work on any HD STB to my knowledge, and only on some of the standard boxes. It just happens to be in the guide setup.

Does not work on any HD STB to my knowledge, and only on some of the standard boxes. It just happens to be in the guide setup.
I could not make the bypass feature work on my 6200 either. I think it is another bogus (unsupported) feature. Too bad Comcast really cripples the Moto boxes from what they *could* do.

I could not make the bypass feature work on my 6200 either. I think it is another bogus (unsupported) feature. Too bad Comcast really cripples the Moto boxes from what they *could* do.

This is a little more complicated than the firmware's feature:

Most (all?) of the SA/Motorola DCTs support three optional modules: one enabling an RF Bypass switch, one enabling an A/B switch (for dual head-end systems), and one enabling a dual RF Bypass switch (for dual head-end systems). If the module is absent, there is no RF Bypass nor A/B switching.

The module attaches to the rear of the unit. There's a good illustration of it on:

http://www.grandecom.net/site-file.php?fid=42

Check out the diagram on page 8. (I notice there is no longer mention of automatic A/B switches, so I'm assuming that the old dual head-end systems that were built out by Warner before purchase by TCI -> AT&T -> Comcast have all been rebuilt by now.)

I also found the spec sheets for the add-on modules:

http://www.sciatl.com/customers/Source/7000324.pdf
http://www.cablenetwork.net/cabletv/products/Accessories.pdf

Thanks for the info. I may just keep the 880 reading your post. I got a really good deal on the 880 as well from BB with a price match. Oh speaking of which I was told by the sales rep at BB they are now changing thier policy. They will match any internet site's prices. As long as it is a store. Awesome info for people to know.

Thanks for the info on BB. I just bought an 880 for Amazon's price (or $100 less than BB's listed price). Three sales reps and a store manager met to discuss for 1/2 hour before approving the sale. It was a bit of a hassle, but I got the deal. I can't wait to get home to try it out. :D

Anyone else got blank screens on Channels 110 & 116? It's been that way for a couple of weeks now here at east Renton area.

Same deal here in Issaquah. I kind of miss The Tube.

pastiche - well that explains it! Thanks for the links.

No Husky vs. Cougar game on regular cable. Comcast should know better. We do not want to watch the Sonics lose...we want to watch local teams that are GOOD. Why not give us the Husky vs. Coug game on one of the hundreds of wasted stations. I am a very angry Comcast customer right now.

Scratch that last one. Comcast you are better than I thought, the customer service rep. told me the game is being shown on Channel 17. They thought of everything...except telling us in advance with a on-screen notice.

Scratch that last one. Comcast you are better than I thought, the customer service rep. told me the game is being shown on Channel 17. They thought of everything...except telling us in advance with a on-screen notice.

They also forgot to put it in HD. :mad:

Hi, all, I'm having DVR troubles (Moto 6412, I think), and I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue. Recorded videos often have the sound drop out for a second or two, and then the picture breaks up for a split-second. This doesn't occur when I'm watching over the air. I returned the box and got a new one, but the new box has the exact same problem.

Anybody else have this problem? If so, how was it solved?

Thanks!

Hi, all, I'm having DVR troubles (Moto 6412, I think), and I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue. Recorded videos often have the sound drop out for a second or two, and then the picture breaks up for a split-second. This doesn't occur when I'm watching over the air. I returned the box and got a new one, but the new box has the exact same problem.

Anybody else have this problem? If so, how was it solved?

Thanks!

Louis, have you had this issue while watching "live" television at all (not a saved recording)? If so, then it explains the recording. I'm still inclined to think a signal issue since two dvr had the same problem. I had a similar problem and I replaced one bad cable it seemed to go away.

Now I occasionally I have the audio just drop completly and I have to stop and restart the recording to fix it, but no problem with the video.

Louis, have you had this issue while watching "live" television at all (not a saved recording)? If so, then it explains the recording. I'm still inclined to think a signal issue since two dvr had the same problem. I had a similar problem and I replaced one bad cable it seemed to go away.

Now I occasionally I have the audio just drop completly and I have to stop and restart the recording to fix it, but no problem with the video.

Hi, SL,

That's the thing--it only occurs when watching recordings, never while watching live. So I figured it was a problem with the first DVR, not the signal. However, now that it's affecting two DVRs, but still not live viewing, I'm perplexed. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and have a Comcast guy come out and take a look... (I have a horrible forest of cables behind my TV, and I'd rather have the Comcast guy fumble around there than do it myself!)

Hi, all, I'm having DVR troubles (Moto 6412, I think), and I'm wondering if anyone else has had a similar issue. Recorded videos often have the sound drop out for a second or two, and then the picture breaks up for a split-second. This doesn't occur when I'm watching over the air. I returned the box and got a new one, but the new box has the exact same problem.

Anybody else have this problem? If so, how was it solved?

Thanks!

I've had the same problems and even a little worse. I sometimes lose chunks of the recording where it will skip over it and I can't even reverse back to it.

Hi, SL,

That's the thing--it only occurs when watching recordings, never while watching live. So I figured it was a problem with the first DVR, not the signal. However, now that it's affecting two DVRs, but still not live viewing, I'm perplexed. I guess I'll have to bite the bullet and have a Comcast guy come out and take a look... (I have a horrible forest of cables behind my TV, and I'd rather have the Comcast guy fumble around there than do it myself!)

I have the same issue w/my 3416. I was going to start keeping track of which shows do it and look for some sort of pattern. Although bad cables are always something to check, I'll do that tonight.

What can one use to check the signal strength?

I stand corrected: KOMO does NOT have an HD switcher. Their local newscast is originated on HD studio cameras set at 480p and upconverted to HD after the switcher.

Yes, KOMO's local news is, indeed, in HD. They don't promote it that much because they've been doing it for several years. And, because management would rather promote their news itself.

KOMO's studio cameras are all HD. Their switchers are HD. They built a new technical facility from the ground up when they moved into their new building several years ago.

Most of their field news cameras are 480p/16x9. Field stories where the recording is carried back to the station for editing look considerably better than reports filed via microwave. Their microwave is much older and the 480p signal is obviously degraded via microwave.

I should probably add that I don't work at KOMO, but have friends who do. I have retired from the broadcast news business.

What can one use to check the signal strength?

See the Wiki:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Configuration#How_To_Check_Your_Incoming_Signal_Strength

(Ignore the part about the swap button, of course.)

Does anyone seem to have a weak or poor audio signal on FOX HD with the Daytona 500?

Looks good here in Bellevue.

Ya the picture looks good but the audio seems pretty weak.

OT, but not sure where else to ask -

does anyone know a good place to rent HD-DVD or Blu-ray in the NE section of Seattle? I'm in Wedgwood and while the local Blockbuster has some HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, they haven't been keeping up to date.

I'm pretty new to Seattle, so I don't know all the best places to rent movies. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

OT, but not sure where else to ask -

does anyone know a good place to rent HD-DVD or Blu-ray in the NE section of Seattle? I'm in Wedgwood and while the local Blockbuster has some HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, they haven't been keeping up to date.

I'm pretty new to Seattle, so I don't know all the best places to rent movies. Thanks in advance.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

Netflix has it covered. They aren't local, but when you can get access to all the titles in 48 hours does it matter?

does anyone know a good place to rent HD-DVD or Blu-ray in the NE section of Seattle? I'm in Wedgwood and while the local Blockbuster has some HD-DVDs and Blu-ray discs, they haven't been keeping up to date.

I'm pretty new to Seattle, so I don't know all the best places to rent movies. Thanks in advance.

As far as I'm concerned, the only place in Seattle worth renting is Scarecrow. They stock BluRay, HD-DVD, DVD, VHS, and LaserDisc. A couple of things to note:

Some out of print materials require hefty holds on your credit card while the item is checked out, since the materials may be irreplacable. (Mostly pre-1990 VHS and LaserDisc releases.)

Some materials not intended for the domestic market require "unusual" equipment. (Multi-Standard VHS, Region-Free DVD, etc.) If you want to see these titles and you lack the equipment, however, they rent appropriate equipment at reasonable price.

They're at 5030 Roosevelt Way NE. Check 'em out.

As far as I'm concerned, the only place in Seattle worth renting is Scarecrow. They stock BluRay, HD-DVD, DVD, VHS, and LaserDisc. A couple of things to note:

Some out of print materials require hefty holds on your credit card while the item is checked out, since the materials may be irreplacable. (Mostly pre-1990 VHS and LaserDisc releases.)

Some materials not intended for the domestic market require "unusual" equipment. (Multi-Standard VHS, Region-Free DVD, etc.) If you want to see these titles and you lack the equipment, however, they rent appropriate equipment at reasonable price.

They're at 5030 Roosevelt Way NE. Check 'em out.


Thanks so much for the help. There is a place in SF like what Scarecrow sounds like, called Le Video... most amazing video store.

Sounds like Scarecrow is near my house and definitely worth a trip. I'm not exactly a big fan of Blockbuster. Do they sell movies as well?

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

Yes they sell movies. I but allot of obscure films there not available elsewhere.

Thats buy allot!

Sounds like Scarecrow is near my house and definitely worth a trip. I'm not exactly a big fan of Blockbuster. Do they sell movies as well?

Yep. They stock some new/used videos. They'll also track-down and special order just about anything you might want. You can see their sales catalogue on their website: http://www.scarecrow.com

The gadget does seem to work... First i hooked it up to my G4 which did not seem to have enough juice to display the HD feeds but now it's hooked up to my intel iMac and is doing a great job. There's a lot of noise (ie the tuner comes up with 200+ channels) but I haved weeded it out into the HighDef channels and the ondemand feeds. So i get KIRO, KOMO, KING, KCTS, KONG and whatever the Fox and WB channels are. It's been good so far- right now though my wife is very happy with the tuner because she is watching someone's Ondemand feed of The Devil Wears Prada. I ordered it from Amazon where it was like $110 I think. I am thinking about getting a macMini which would have enough horsepower to decode the HD streams-> my wife isnt crazy about the iMAc in the living room next to our 32" LCD.

chris

Just so you know, you'll need a Core Duo Mini, not the one model of Core Solo... thankfully, if you are buying a new one, you won't have this problem.

Question for you: I just set up my EyeTV 500 again and can't seem to find most of the broadcast HD channels. Are you able to get them? I've never had a problem in the past.

Cheers,
Randy Stewart

Did anyone else notice that Comcast's recent lineup change eliminated all the non-porn PPV movie channels the same day Tivo released update 8.1? Is this just a coincidence or did Comcast just realize Tivo owners have a better option?

I have a Tivo, but expect people with other cable card devises would be P.O.'d.

For those that don't know, 8.1 will soon allow movie and TV download from Amazon Unbox.

On Demand made the PPV channels seen pointless as you could watch the same movies, hopefully, at your own time than rather than wait for a scheduled time. If anything, hopefully frees up bandwidth for more HD channels.

Still having trouble tuning in UHD and MTVHD. All the other HD channels come in just fine, same as they did before. Only these new ones are hit and miss. The last two days, I could not tune them in at all. This past weekend, they worked fine.

From another post, Comcast is going to try and blame the wires in your wall. This is BS. I think they are going to have trouble adding more HD because they are addicted to all the garbage SD channels and all the garbage on demand stuff.

I live in an apartment in Wallingford, over by Ivar's Salmon House.

any one else get a new NBC QAM channel map? I got 85-2 for KING and 85-3 for KONG in seattle. While watching the old mapping this morning it switched over to TNTHD for a couple of minutes during x-files becoming scrambled afterwards.

ugh....cable died in the middle of Lost last night... Thank goodness for abc's website for having it available for viewing. Too bad CBS is the only one OnDemand (and CSI being the only HD OnDemand show).

--
Sang

I'm getting KING on 85-2, and Weather Plus on 85-3. KONG is nowhere to be found...

QAM swaps are a big fear of mine... I think I double check the "important" channels tonight.

Does this happen often? I just got my first HDTV on Monday, and this is all soooo new to me...

Still having trouble tuning in UHD and MTVHD. All the other HD channels come in just fine, same as they did before. Only these new ones are hit and miss. The last two days, I could not tune them in at all. This past weekend, they worked fine.

From another post, Comcast is going to try and blame the wires in your wall. This is BS. I think they are going to have trouble adding more HD because they are addicted to all the garbage SD channels and all the garbage on demand stuff.

I live in an apartment in Wallingford, over by Ivar's Salmon House.

Exact same thing was happening to me. UHD and MTVHD only came in sporadically, while all other HD channels came in fine, although I occasionally experienced artifacting/pixelation on CBSHD. In addition, I often had problems with reception of certain digital channels. This is from memory, but I think some of those channels were 32, 35, and a bunch in the 50's. Comcast told me I had a bad connector somewhere. So I re-did all the coax connectors, and of course, the problem still persisted. Thanks Comcast!

Anyway, I finally tracked down the issue to a surge protector!! I originally had my coax coming out from the wall, then into a surge protector, and finally into a splitter. I tried going directly from the wall into the splitter, and presto, all my reception problems went away. I swapped RG6 cables around a bit to see if the problem was actually a bad RG6 cable to/from the surge protector, but no, the problem was indeed the surge protector itself. I don't actually know if the surge protector was defective or if it was some other problem inherent with the quality or type of surge protector that I have (it's a Monster Power HTS surge protector, though I don't recall the exact model number), but I just stopped passing the signal through the surge protector and everything has been flawless ever since.

Anyway, if you've got your coax going through a surge protector, try removing it from the equation to see if it makes any difference. It certainly did for me, but YMMV.

Found KONG on 86-1

any one else get a new NBC QAM channel map? I got 85-2 for KING and 85-3 for KONG in seattle. While watching the old mapping this morning it switched over to TNTHD for a couple of minutes during x-files becoming scrambled afterwards.

Are you saying that TNT-HD and INHD over clear QAM was a fluke? I scanned channels lastnight and saw both channels in the clear and got excited. Are they encrypted now? I too noticed that KING was not coming in lastnight.

-Nate

Looks like they were changing a lot of things. 85.3 I'm currently getting Weather plus and 86.1 for kong.

Exact same thing was happening to me. UHD and MTVHD only came in sporadically, while all other HD channels came in fine, although I occasionally experienced artifacting/pixelation on CBSHD. In addition, I often had problems with reception of certain digital channels. This is from memory, but I think some of those channels were 32, 35, and a bunch in the 50's. Comcast told me I had a bad connector somewhere. So I re-did all the coax connectors, and of course, the problem still persisted. Thanks Comcast!

Anyway, I finally tracked down the issue to a surge protector!! I originally had my coax coming out from the wall, then into a surge protector, and finally into a splitter. I tried going directly from the wall into the splitter, and presto, all my reception problems went away. I swapped RG6 cables around a bit to see if the problem was actually a bad RG6 cable to/from the surge protector, but no, the problem was indeed the surge protector itself. I don't actually know if the surge protector was defective or if it was some other problem inherent with the quality or type of surge protector that I have (it's a Monster Power HTS surge protector, though I don't recall the exact model number), but I just stopped passing the signal through the surge protector and everything has been flawless ever since.

Anyway, if you've got your coax going through a surge protector, try removing it from the equation to see if it makes any difference. It certainly did for me, but YMMV.

Mine was going through a surge protector, mainly because of ground loop hum problems. Bypassing this made zero difference - UHD and MTVHD don't come in. All the other HD stations come in instantly and perfectly, including the new Golf HD channel right above INHD. This is a Comcast problem, plain and simple. They are probably trying to cut corners and did something on the cheap.

This past weekend, both these channels worked fine, I actually watched Waterworld on UHD. Since the weekend, I can't tune in either channel. I almost hate calling Comcast because of their insipid passive aggressive way of trying to blame all problems on the customer, and in the process, scheduling wasted in home visits where some person will try to blame the "wires in the wall."

Everyone accessing open QAM channels should rescan, KING has been moved as well as KONG.

For those in the Comcast Snohomish area, NBC-HD and KONG-HD have been moved to QAM 85-2 and 86-1, respectively

Does anyone know if we are going to get TNTHD or INHD via our QAM tuner without the Comcast box? If so, what QAM channels are they?

Does anyone know if we are going to get TNTHD or INHD via our QAM tuner without the Comcast box? If so, what QAM channels are they?
Probably not, those would be premium channels. Open QAM channels are usually local TV or radio stations.

List updated to include today's changes:

85-2 KING 48-1 NBC
85-3 KING 48-2 Weather Plus
86-1 KONG 31-1

As always, if you can't view directly, right-click, choose "Save As..." and then view.

It would be nice if Comcast offered the option of receiving emails regarding new channels and new channel assignments.

I was having problems with my SageTV yesterday, and part of it was due to it having recorded an encrypted KING program. That might be a bit unique for Comcast to offer a service for, but I'm sure there are many people using their QAM tuners built into their TVs that would appreciate such notices. And just about everyone would probably appreciate information on new channels (although the ones they've been adding recently have been mainly foreign language and soft porn channels).

It would be nice if Comcast offered the option of receiving emails regarding new channels and new channel assignments.

Ha ha ha! Can you imagine the discussion at Comcast: "We have an idea to make the lives easier of people who aren't renting boxes from us or aren't paying for digital cable with cablecards in their TV"?

Is there some law that requires them make any channels available via unencrypted QAM (just the locals maybe)? I wonder why any channels are available via unencrypted QAM. I'm happy they are, but I wonder why they are, and if the other shoe will drop some day and they won't be available...

Yes, by law they have to carry anything that is broadcast over the air locally in an unencrypted format on the cable system.

Ha ha ha! Can you imagine the discussion at Comcast: "We have an idea to make the lives easier of people who aren't renting boxes from us or aren't paying for digital cable with cablecards in their TV"?

I really doubt they make money off renting the boxes, and I've heard they give Cablecards out without a monthly charge. So I really doubt they care.

But I agree it's not something they would do just for people with QAM tuners--it would have to be part of a program to notify everyone of new channels and channel changes.

Yes, by law they have to carry anything that is broadcast over the air locally in an unencrypted format on the cable system.

Thanks. Does analog cable count as an unencrypted format? If so do they only have to broadcast the HD stations over QAM? Or are they doing it in preparation for when they get rid of analog?

Thanks. Does analog cable count as an unencrypted format? If so do they only have to broadcast the HD stations over QAM? Or are they doing it in preparation for when they get rid of analog?

Assuming it's possible to send HD over analog, it would probably take up way too much bandwidth. They're moving to digital to reduce bandwidth.

Assuming it's possible to send HD over analog, it would probably take up way too much bandwidth. They're moving to digital to reduce bandwidth.

Yes I understand why they are moving to digital. My question is does the current analog broadcast cover their responsibility to broadcast all channels that are sent over the air (with the exception of HD). I ask this because they broadcast (via unencrypted QAM) many channels that are that are also available on their analog broadcasts. I'm just curious what their responsibility is and why they even bother to broadcast more than HD channels unencrypted over QAM.

Does anyone know if we are going to get TNTHD or INHD via our QAM tuner without the Comcast box? If so, what QAM channels are they?

I seriously doubt it. Comcast has always had these channels on their digital classic package and a cablebox or cablecard is required. On the brighter side, the digital classic package keeps growing, generally with HD channels, and is currently only $15 per month. The only downside is that you need a cablebox or cablecard.

Yes I understand why they are moving to digital. My question is does the current analog broadcast cover their responsibility to broadcast all channels that are sent over the air (with the exception of HD). I ask this because they broadcast (via unencrypted QAM) many channels that are that are also available on their analog broadcasts. I'm just curious what their responsibility is and why they even bother to broadcast more than HD channels unencrypted over QAM.
This is generally what Cable is obligated to do:

1. Carry local Analog stations for free if local stations requests (Analog Must Carry).
However this is infrequently employed (mostly second tier, low rated stations).

2. Carry local Digital station for free if local station requests and does not have an Analog counterpart
(Digital-only Must Carry). After Feb2009, this rule will apply to all local digital stations.

3. "Negotiate in good faith" with local Analog and Digital stations to carry their signals (Retransmission Consent).
This usually means Cable pays local stations in either cash or free advertising time....
And is currently causing great distress as local stations want more cash...

4. Do not encrypt local broadcast stations....presumably both Analog and Digital stations,
and although the HD channels are nearly always unencrypted, most cable companies appear to
be encrypting the SD local stations on their "digital simulcast" QAM carriers...
perhaps because it's duplicated by both the Analog and (usually) HD channels.

Whether any other channel is unencrypted is up to negotiated agreements with the programming sources---
"gov't" channels unencrypted and nearly everything else encrypted--give or take "mistakes" in control room....

3. "Negotiate in good faith" with local Analog and Digital stations to carry their signals (Retransmission Consent). This usually means Cable pays local stations in either cash or free advertising time.... And is currently causing great distress as local stations want more cash... .

Just to add to the complexity on this one, in many cases, retransmission consent's tied to launching a new network. fX was originally the retransmission consent bundle for Fox's O&Os. ESPN2, and now SoapNet, for ABC's. NWCN/TXCN/etc., for Belo's affiliates. It's reasonable to assume that given the dearth of HD on KONG-HD, that KONG-HD was part of KING-HD's retransmission consent bundle.

4. Do not encrypt local broadcast stations....presumably both Analog and Digital stations, and although the HD channels are nearly always unencrypted, most cable companies appear to be encrypting the SD local stations on their "digital simulcast" QAM carriers... perhaps because it's duplicated by both the Analog and (usually) HD channels.

And to add to the complexity on this one, there are a few exceptions to this. Comcast's home system (Philadelphia), for example, scrambles everything, analogue and digital, on the wire. My understanding is that a situation such as that is grandfathered and exists only in areas where cable piracy was, at one point, extreme.

A less invasive example to that "exception to the rule" would be on Millennium Digital Media here in Seattle: KING-HD and KONG-HD are intentionally encrypted on that system.

I really doubt they make money off renting the boxes, and I've heard they give Cablecards out without a monthly charge. So I really doubt they care. You forgot about all the On Demand stuff, which I would guess is making them some money and it tied to their cable boxes. Rest assured, they want you to rent some kind of box from them. And even if you use a cable card, you are paying for digital service.

All during the workweek, I can't get UHD or MTVHD to tune in with my cable box. Now, just like last weekend, the weekend rolls around and both stations tune in instantly and perfectly. Come on Comcast, get your act together! IMHO, this doesn't bode well for their rollout of additional HD channels.

Both of those channels are QAM 64. I have to tighten my cable connection to the box sometimes in order to get them. I don't think they're representative of what to expect with other HD channels (I hope).

Both of those channels are QAM 64. I have to tighten my cable connection to the box sometimes in order to get them. I don't think they're representative of what to expect with other HD channels (I hope).
Yup! Most of my QAM channels are 256.

List updated to include today's changes:

85-2 KING 48-1 NBC
85-3 KING 48-2 Weather Plus
86-1 KONG 31-1

As always, if you can't view directly, right-click, choose "Save As..." and then view.
Also we are currently getting Indemand 4,5,6,7 at 115.4, 115.5, 115.6 and 115.7. Or at least I am through a Samsung DTB-H260F set top box.

So does anyone know what the plans are for more HD channels on comcast? I was just reading articles about DirecTV and their push for more HD, and I see that SciFi and other channels will be launching HD versions of their channels. How much room does comcast have for HD channels?

Yup! Most of my QAM channels are 256.

So why did Comcast choose to do QAM 64 with UHD and MTVHD? If 256 works good for the others, why mess with us like this?

So why did Comcast choose to do QAM 64 with UHD and MTVHD? If 256 works good for the others, why mess with us like this?

That's something I've been curious about since I first noticed it. SNR is also only about 23.5 on those, which are on 99MHz and have tremendous numbers of correctable errors and quite a few uncorrectable errors. Just crappy signals, all around. In comparison, 104 has 33.7 SNR, 256QAM, and none of the errors on 573MHz.

My SNR on 660 is currently 33.5 through my Radio Shack amp. I would guess that my earlier travails may have caused them to keep my system clean. sam

My SNR on 660 is currently 33.5 through my Radio Shack amp.

What SNR do you get on 110 and 116?

So why did Comcast choose to do QAM 64 with UHD and MTVHD? If 256 works good for the others, why mess with us like this?

Channels 95-97 overlap with the FM band. The ingress from multiple OTA FM sources would render a QAM 256 signal undecodable to nearly everyone in that spectrum. With the lower bit-rate and greater error tolerance of QAM 64, the bandwidth in that spectrum is still (somewhat) usable.

In the case of MyNetworkTV/The Tube, being carried on the spectrum of channel 96, they're susceptible to interference from KBSG, KING, KWJZ, KDDS, KISW, KKWF, and KPLZ. If any of those ingress to the line, the potential for accurate decoding of any digital stream there is greatly reduced.

I don't know which channel is the carrier for UHD or MTVHD, but I would imagine the reasoning is similar: the only real reason for using 64 over 256 bit encoding is to overcome potential interference.

Also we are currently getting Indemand 4,5,6,7 at 115.4, 115.5, 115.6 and 115.7. Or at least I am through a Samsung DTB-H260F set top box.

Are you still seeing those today? I haven't been able to see them at all.

Are you still seeing those today? I haven't been able to see them at all.
Yup, still there! But through my Samsung set top box (use it for open QAM channels) only.

SNR on 110 is 34.6, 34.7 on 116, 36.0 on 664. Yes the first two were QAM 64.

Yup, still there! But through my Samsung set top box (use it for open QAM channels) only.

Very, very strange. If I scan for channels, they're not there, but if I direct-enter the channel numbers (115-4 through 115-7), they're certainly there!

Added to the list, though something tells me that they might not be there for all that long. :-)

Update attached.

Anyone else getting digital artifacts while watching 24 tonight? Seems more of a problem tonight than in weeks past. Actually, several other channels through Comcast were displaying problems. Switched to OTA and everything was fine.

Update: never mind, I found lots of other channels having 'issues' also. Comcast must be playing around with the channels again so I'm sure it will settle down in a day or so.

Very, very strange. If I scan for channels, they're not there, but if I direct-enter the channel numbers (115-4 through 115-7), they're certainly there!

Added to the list, though something tells me that they might not be there for all that long. :-)

Update attached.

XLS version - rename the file from cable.doc to cable.xls before opening.

Anybody else getting ESPN-HD on 74-2 in the clear?

Yep, just did a station scan on my LG LST-3510A last night and up came ESPNHD!!! Hopefully it sticks around for good!

So does anyone know what the plans are for more HD channels on comcast? I was just reading articles about DirecTV and their push for more HD, and I see that SciFi and other channels will be launching HD versions of their channels. How much room does comcast have for HD channels?

I am curious as well. I am getting so frustrated with the small choice of HD programming that I'm looking into dish network. Especially when comcast adds channels like the reality network.

I think Comcast is struggling with the HD rollout, what with lots of people having trouble tuning in two of the newer ones, UHD and MTVHD.

When I posted that UHD and MTVHD were QAM64 I was mistaken. I meant to say the KMYQDT channels (110 & 116) were QAM64. (Sometimes I forget which are which among the channels I seldom watch!) I don't recall seeing any problems with UHD or MTVHD, and they're both QAM256.

74-2 is free ESPN-HD for me too in comcast - eastside area! Anyone locate Discovery in HD (free) yet?

Has the Comcast QAM layout changed in the last few weeks? I just turned on the ol' TV for the first time in a month or so, and it seems like I don't pick up anything for the following:

KING-HD
KONG-HD
KING-Weather-plus

Also, I hear rumors of some QAM64 channels and ESPNHD in the clear. Can anyone in south king county confirm those? Thanks!

Has the Comcast QAM layout changed in the last few weeks? I just turned on the ol' TV for the first time in a month or so, and it seems like I don't pick up anything for the following:

KING-HD
KONG-HD
KING-Weather-plus

Also, I hear rumors of some QAM64 channels and ESPNHD in the clear. Can anyone in south king county confirm those? Thanks!
Ah, you're late to the game! Rescan your system and you'll find them.

85-2 KING 48-1 NBC HD 105
85-3 KING 48-2 Weather Plus 115
86-1 KONG 31-1 HD 106

Yes, ESPNHD is currently in the clear but I believe its 256 not 64. Added bonus, take a look at 115.4, 115.5, 115.6 and 115.7.

I am curious as well. I am getting so frustrated with the small choice of HD programming that I'm looking into dish network. Especially when comcast adds channels like the reality network.

Well, here's some potential good news...
I've been informed of a memo at Comcast announcing the deletion of AZN Television from Channel 70 (moving to Digital Classic) on March 21st.

The memo mentions the reason being to make room for new high-definition programming that customers are demanding. They acknowledge that this will be disruptive to some AZN viewers but hope customers will appreciate the new HD channels they plan to offer in the future... no other details at this time.

Well, here's some potential good news...
I've been informed of a memo at Comcast announcing the deletion of AZN Television from Channel 70 (moving to Digital Classic) on March 21st.

The memo mentions the reason being to make room for new high-definition programming that customers are demanding. They acknowledge that this will be disruptive to some AZN viewers but hope customers will appreciate the new HD channels they plan to offer in the future... no other details at this time.

The word on the street is that the AZN vs. HD gang war will be at 5th & Blanchard 10 PM Saturday. Bring all your weaponry. HD DVD's are great for throwing. Not sure what the AZN's will use... :D

Can anyone confirm that ESPNHD is no longer working?

For me, it's replaced with some logo w/ music in the background.

ESPNHD is working fine near the Arboretum.

FYI, someone suggested tightening the cables for UHD and MHD. Unless it's just a coincidence, they've been tuning in fine since I did that. Also, if I slightly loosen the cable, they go off!

Can anyone confirm that ESPNHD is no longer working?

For me, it's replaced with some logo w/ music in the background.
They are monkeying around it seems! For about an hour they were running an On-Demand logo with music earlier this afternoon...may or may not last.

And it seems those free In-Demand channels @ 115.4, 5, 6, and 7 are gone too.

ESPN-HD working fine near Lake City/Sandpoint area - using Comcast Moto box.

This is getting ridiculous.

I've noticed that Comcast Snohomish is changing the damn channel line up again. This is a real pain for me, due to the fact that I have to rescan everything, then MANUALLY put in the channels everytime the line up changes.

It also appears they are not done messing around, so I think I'll wait until the dust clears.

Oh, and right now KCPQ/FOX HD is broadcasting on channel 81, and ABC HD is on channel 82. What do you want to bet that this is not Comcasts' final channel assignments?

Anyone but me think the cable company is doing this in an effort to convince me to buy a converter?

Way to go Comcast.

The one @ QAM 74, right? They are monkeying around it seems!

I'm going to hold off a bit on updating the QAM list this time. :)

74-2 is now running FSN HD.

Once it's something permanant (if open!), I'll update.

Ah, you're late to the game! Rescan your system and you'll find them.

85-2 KING 48-1 NBC HD 105
85-3 KING 48-2 Weather Plus 115
86-1 KONG 31-1 HD 106

Yes, ESPNHD is currently in the clear but I believe its 256 not 64. Added bonus, take a look at 115.4, 115.5, 115.6 and 115.7.

OK - I have a Pioneer Elite 1140 and tried to rescan and cannot get KING. It used to come in on 83.001. Anyone have any advice? :confused:

This is generally what Cable is obligated to do:

1. Carry local Analog stations for free if local stations requests (Analog Must Carry).
However this is infrequently employed (mostly second tier, low rated stations).
Which leads to the question. Why doesn't Comcast broadcast KHCV's analog broadcast "Azteca America"? Apparently KHCV didn't request?
2. Carry local Digital station for free if local station requests and does not have an Analog counterpart
(Digital-only Must Carry). After Feb2009, this rule will apply to all local digital stations.
While it does carry KHCV's digital broadcast of Jewelry TV?

Thanks for the "must carry" info, I was always curious about which channels (digital/analog) the cable company had to carry.

I just learned that KHCV channel 44.3 is a 24-hour anime channel. I can't pick it up OTA at all, so this is one I would like to see picked up by Comcast.

Which leads to the question. Why doesn't Comcast broadcast KHCV's analog broadcast "Azteca America"? Apparently KHCV didn't request?

While it does carry KHCV's digital broadcast of Jewelry TV?

I'm not sure why KHCV would negotiate must-carry of a subcarrier instead of their main program, but their website -- http://www.azteca45.com/ -- encourages contacting your cable company for carriage. A fair assumption would be that JTV pays KHCV more per cable viewer than does Azteca America.

KBCB did this during the early part of their stint as "world television", too. Their analogue broadcast concentrated on Hindi and Punjabi programming and targed the lower BC mainland, while their digital/cable broadcast concentrated on Mandarin and Cantonese programming and targed western WA.

They are monkeying around it seems! For about an hour they were running an On-Demand logo with music earlier this afternoon...may or may not last.

And it seems those free In-Demand channels @ 115.4, 5, 6, and 7 are gone too.

Still this way for me, a couple days later. Has anyone scanned recently to see if ESPNHD just went somewhere, or if they took it out of the "clear" entirely? I would really like to use ESPNHD without Comcast's crappy box.

...

Anyone but me think the cable company is doing this in an effort to convince me to buy a converter?

Way to go Comcast.

No, it's COMCASTIC!

Still this way for me, a couple days later. Has anyone scanned recently to see if ESPNHD just went somewhere, or if they took it out of the "clear" entirely? I would really like to use ESPNHD without Comcast's crappy box.
As of this morning I can't pull up anything @ 74.x, from the STB or from my Fusion card. Oh well.

Bought panasonic tc32le60. Know nothing about hd capabilities or transmission. Fooled around w/ remote and I think I am getting a bunch of HD shows. I have only Comcast Basic for $14 a month. I stumbled onto this AVS Forum and saw a posting about TVs with QAM (whatever that is) that makes this possible. Because I'm so low-tech I could not even find that post again.

Will techs talk with me? I know none of the jargon. But I'm mesmerized by all these stations I discovered by playing with the remote. Some things have disappeared (like my dozens of free Music channels), and recently "83-1" disappeard, which was one of the network HD channels.

For mos. I have thought that Comcast installer just made a mistake, but I see by this forum, that there may be guys/gals like me who are REALLY INTO !!! the HD that we can suck up thru the air and thru Basic Comcast.

Is there a separate forum for us addicts? Who will talk with me?
...... yours truly, Lekanard :p
addicted in Seattle

Which leads to the question. Why doesn't Comcast broadcast KHCV's analog broadcast "Azteca America"? Apparently KHCV didn't request?

While it does carry KHCV's digital broadcast of Jewelry TV?

Thanks for the "must carry" info, I was always curious about which channels (digital/analog) the cable company had to carry.
BTW: Although it's still being argued, there are no "multi-cast must-carry"
or even a "good faith" retransmission consent negotiation requirement to
carry OTA sub-channels....only applies to primary channel.

Bought panasonic tc32le60. Know nothing about hd capabilities or transmission. Fooled around w/ remote and I think I am getting a bunch of HD shows. I have only Comcast Basic for $14 a month. I stumbled onto this AVS Forum and saw a posting about TVs with QAM (whatever that is) that makes this possible. Because I'm so low-tech I could not even find that post again.

Will techs talk with me? I know none of the jargon. But I'm mesmerized by all these stations I discovered by playing with the remote. Some things have disappeared (like my dozens of free Music channels), and recently "83-1" disappeard, which was one of the network HD channels.

For mos. I have thought that Comcast installer just made a mistake, but I see by this forum, that there may be guys/gals like me who are REALLY INTO !!! the HD that we can suck up thru the air and thru Basic Comcast.

Is there a separate forum for us addicts? Who will talk with me?
...... yours truly, Lekanard :p
addicted in Seattle
Rescan your channels and you will get NBC back (KING formerly at 83 now at 85.2). Also you will see that they moved KONG to 86.1. Your system may have a way to manually add just those separate channels saving you the headache of rescanning and then having to delete all those blank, encrypted channels. Welcome to the forum, great bunch of smart people hang out here and can usually help you with just about any problem you have.

I've learned a bushel just from spending 2hours in AVS. I even found someone's text file that states all the QAM channels available here in Seattle. It matched nearly perfectly the one I've been building up for 3 mos. and it showed me an additional movie venue (Movieplex??).

So, for a while I'll try asking one or two specific questions at a time, and hope to add to my learning.

1. I found out what letters QAM stand for, but does "quadrature" mean that the tuner has ability to find subchannels inside one channel (just a guess)? Pls. explain what QAM does physically.
2. Here's my understanding : cable operators all over USA have Fed codes to observe, and basically must send out open qam programming, where available, w/o blocking. But operators do in fact often have twisted and contentious relationships w/ providers, thus owners of QAM tuners can be disappointed. We in Sea., subalterns of Mother Comcast, luckily have many reception opportunities but sometimes Com tinkers w/ the array and we have to keep finding lost and moved channels. Is my above summary correct? Kindly refine and correct it. (What would happen if owners of QAM tellies somehow were informed publicly, or by sales staff, etc. of all this capability to grab DTV free from Com? Would Com go nuts and try to encrypt/block everything?)

Sorry, must add one more:
3. Is there a way to get back those approx. 50 all-music channels that went away about 6-7 weeks ago? Some filter, or better coax cable, etc etc? Or is this just a whim of Com?

Lekanard :rolleyes:

UHD and MTVHD seemed to have settled down and tuned in perfectly the past few days, at least in my Wallingford apartment. So hopefully Comcast worked out the bugs, which, as I suspected, have zero to do with the customer.

1. I found out what letters QAM stand for, but does "quadrature" mean that the tuner has ability to find subchannels inside one channel (just a guess)? Pls. explain what QAM does physically.

The "Q" in Quadrature Amplitude Modulation refers to the two carrier waves that make up the signal. For an in-depth explaination of what QAM is and how it works, check this out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quadrature_amplitude_modulation

QAM does not neccessarily have subchannels and is not specific to video and audio. Cable modems also use QAM. It's simply a modulation scheme that is efficient for transferring digital bits in a low-interference environment.

2. Here's my understanding : cable operators all over USA have Fed codes to observe, and basically must send out open qam programming, where available, w/o blocking. But operators do in fact often have twisted and contentious relationships w/ providers, thus owners of QAM tuners can be disappointed. We in Sea., subalterns of Mother Comcast, luckily have many reception opportunities but sometimes Com tinkers w/ the array and we have to keep finding lost and moved channels. Is my above summary correct? Kindly refine and correct it. (What would happen if owners of QAM tellies somehow were informed publicly, or by sales staff, etc. of all this capability to grab DTV free from Com? Would Com go nuts and try to encrypt/block everything?)

Comcast is pretty open about the ability to receive some service via open QAM. They just support it in no way whatsoever. From their point of view, QAM channel/subcarrier repositioning is irrelevant becuase the supported platform is transparent to those changes.

3. Is there a way to get back those approx. 50 all-music channels that went away about 6-7 weeks ago? Some filter, or better coax cable, etc etc? Or is this just a whim of Com?

DMX and Music Choice are still on the wire, but are encrypted now. You need a Comcast box or a Cable Card (and appropriate subscription) to receive.

DMX and Music Choice are still on the wire, but are encrypted now. You need a Comcast box or a Cable Card (and appropriate subscription) to receive.

Thanks. The above jumps in at the nub of my question: what company was providing Music Choice? If that company was sending it out, and Comcast was licensed to carry it over their cable, then who made the decision to encrypt it and thus keep it from people with QAM tuners? Why was it unencrypted, and then suddenly encrypted? Who did that? If Com, was it a matter of Com not wanting us to get it free? And if so, why don't they (or whoever) just encrypt everything, right now? THis is the part that confuses me.

(Also, too bad for me...; since I was enjoying the music stations.)

I thank anyone in advance for telling me about this inside stuff.
Yours, Lekanard :o

the channels you get for free via QAM are channels that are generally part of your cable service anyway... side thought: I don't know, if you subscribe to only limited, does QAM get you the expanded channels from the digital simulcast.... if so I'd imagine the day is coming where that will not be the case. In any event, Music Choice is a digital-only cable service that Comcast decided should only be available to those people paying for digital cable. Hey, there has to be some incentive for people to subscribe to digital. The fact that this was coming was leaked a long time ago here on this board but just recently went into effect. the HD channels you get for free, (ABC, NBC, CBS...) they have reasons for leaving those unencrypted, mostly because there is no comcast package that does not include these therefore there is no reason to encrypt them. I believe also there is some regulation that says if a local HDTV broadcast station is carried, then it is to stay "in-the-clear." So, you should expect to see locals stay "in the clear", but they may be moved around from time-to-time.

The digital versions of limited basic channels are included with both limited basic and expanded basic. I'm not sure if this intentional. The digital versions of the expanded basic channels are not included with either limited or expanded basic.

No, it's COMCASTIC!

Indeed, I've been comcasticated.


Doesn't that strike you as a term some marketing firm weenie came up with after watching too much Stephen Colbert?

And speaking of Comcastic, tonight KING HD is on QAM 85. I'm also noticing that some of the hd channels are beginning to reside in the sub channel of the sd number. Like right now, KIRO SD is on 7 and HD is 7.1 Same with a few others, but not the whole lineup, at least not yet.

One can only hope.

Anyone else notice this? Or am I just *special* like that?

Indeed, I've been comcasticated.


Doesn't that strike you as a term some marketing firm weenie came up with after watching too much Stephen Colbert?

And speaking of Comcastic, tonight KING HD is on QAM 85. I'm also noticing that some of the hd channels are beginning to reside in the sub channel of the sd number. Like right now, KIRO SD is on 7 and HD is 7.1 Same with a few others, but not the whole lineup, at least not yet.

One can only hope.

Anyone else notice this? Or am I just *special* like that?
You're special!

It helps to adjust the thinking a little, at least for me! The limited digital channels received over the cable are not "free" they are included with your plan. This includes the local HD channels. Most are must carry stations although HD versions are not always required, not sure what the local agreements are. Also included are the FM stations in digital which are generally included due to franchise agreements, although the first plan they are listed is Enhanced Cable as it is a digital package. Anything else you will need to subscribe to the appropriate plan.

Music Choice is a service included with Enhanced Cable or higher. It is the first place you will see it listed in any package. All other HD besides locals are included with Digital Classic and higher including ESPN 1 and 2 and select programming on FSN even though SD versions are on Basic.

In the same respect for customers with a STB, you need to have a minimum of Enhanced Cable to get On Demand.

I understand there is NOT a filter that can be placed that will block digital stations, just the analog. That is why expanded stations and higher are encrypted, otherwise Limited subsribers would get a whole lot more just because they have certain equipment.

Expect to see some of the channels currently available to go away sometime, such as MoviePLEX, TVOne, and ESPNHD that recently has become unencrypted. You can always check out the channel lineup at comcast.com to see what is included at your address. If you are getting more beware.

Expect to see some of the channels currently available to go away sometime, such as MoviePLEX, TVOne, and ESPNHD that recently has become unencrypted. You can always check out the channel lineup at comcast.com to see what is included at your address. If you are getting more beware.
ESPNHD (now encrypted) disappeared for me 2 days ago. Anyone else? Lake City area here.

UPDATE: I misspoke, ESPNHD DOES come in for me, but through my Samsung set top box. Does not come in through a FusionHDTV 5 Gold card.

ESPNHD (now encrypted) disappeared for me 2 days ago. Anyone else? Lake City area here.

Same. Kent east hill.

I just learned that KHCV channel 44.3 is a 24-hour anime channel. I can't pick it up OTA at all, so this is one I would like to see picked up by Comcast.

Funimation (The Anime channel) on 45-3 and America One on 45.4 have been replaced.

As of March 1, 2007, KHCV is broadcasting GNF Entertainment content

45-3 GNF Games & Music
45-4 GNF Movies

http://www.gnfent.com/pr/07_0220.htm

Appears that Comcast is updating its channel information again. Now some of my old QAM channels (ie., 81.1, etc.) are being remapped to the same numbers as its analog companions. The Tube has been moved also to 116. Rescan time...again!!!

Does anyone know if there's any hope of Comcast sending schedule information in channels. I'm tempted to switch back to antenna just for this feature. I just press Guide, and my TV tells me what's on at what channel for the rest of the day/week. Is this a property of ATSC and QAM doesn't support this? Or is Comcast just not sending through the entire broadcast signal (where I assume this information resides)?

It's true that I get a few more channels with cable compared to an antenna, but it's so hard to find what channel everything is on - let alone what time shows are on, that I'm tempted to get rid of cable completely. I'm paying for this "service"?

Does anyone know if there's any hope of Comcast sending schedule information in channels. I'm tempted to switch back to antenna just for this feature. I just press Guide, and my TV tells me what's on at what channel for the rest of the day/week. Is this a property of ATSC and QAM doesn't support this? Or is Comcast just not sending through the entire broadcast signal (where I assume this information resides)?

It's true that I get a few more channels with cable compared to an antenna, but it's so hard to find what channel everything is on - let alone what time shows are on, that I'm tempted to get rid of cable completely. I'm paying for this "service"?
Possible. For the longest time Comcast has not been sending date and time information or even the call letters for local stations (for QAM channels) and those things just appeared for me last night. But I use both OTA and cable and love the guide info as sent by the locals too.

Does anyone know if there's any hope of Comcast sending schedule information in channels. I'm tempted to switch back to antenna just for this feature. I just press Guide, and my TV tells me what's on at what channel for the rest of the day/week. Is this a property of ATSC and QAM doesn't support this? Or is Comcast just not sending through the entire broadcast signal (where I assume this information resides)?

It's true that I get a few more channels with cable compared to an antenna, but it's so hard to find what channel everything is on - let alone what time shows are on, that I'm tempted to get rid of cable completely. I'm paying for this "service"?

QAM is perfectly capable of supporting this. Comcast is probably stripping some of the PSIP information that contains channels names, show times, and show discriptions.

-Nate

Yup I'm seeing EPG of my FusionHDTV card being populated (somewhat) via QAM. Coolness!
--
Sang

tonight, I can only find the Pac-10 tourney in SD on channel 30. Anyone having luck finding it in HD? I was hoping that it would be on STB 665 but no luck.

Does anyone know where the KCTS stations in digital went to? 82.1, 82.2, 82.5 are now gone. Also 82.4, which was an HD network station.
I'd appreciate the info.

Sincerely, Lekanard

Does anyone know where the KCTS stations in digital went to? 82.1, 82.2, 82.5 are now gone. Also 82.4, which was an HD network station.
I'd appreciate the info.

Sincerely, Lekanard
Try 9.1, 9.3 and 9.5...that's where they mapped out for me today.

Hi, I'm new to this group and seek an ongoing list of the HD QAM channels in Seattle.
Comcast recently change many of the HD channels around. Here is what I have so far.
Please cut and past and add to this list or direct me to a better forum,
Thanks, Kirk kirkovision at hotmail

9.1 KCTS DT
9.5 KCTS HD 720P
9.3 KCTS CREATE 480i
11.1 CW11 1080i
79.1 NWCN
81 KCPQ 13 HDTV 720P
82 KOMO ABC 720P
85 KING – NBC 1080i
86.1 KONG 1080i
86-2 KIRO CBS 1080i
96 My Q HD
115.1 K5 WEATHER 480i
? Fox Sports NW

Radio
90-332 MUSIC
90-333 MUSIC
90-334 MUSIC
90-335 MUSIC
90-336 MUSIC
90-337 MUSIC
90-338 MUSIC
90-339 MUSIC

CW11 HD is on 11-1, KCTS HD is on 9-5 and KCTS Create 9-3

I am fairly new to HDTV. I've been watching the local HD channels using my TV's built in QAM tuner. Sometimes I watch Good Morning America (on KOMO-HD), which is usually shown in HD. The last two mornings, however, the show was is SD. Does anyone know why GMA would be in HD on some mornings and not on others?

81 KCPQ 13 HDTV 720P
96 My Q HD
11-1 CW11 1080i
? KCTS HD 720P
? KCTS CREATE 480i
82 KOMO ABC 720P
85 KING – NBC 1080i
86.1 KONG 1080i
115-1 K5 WEATHER 480i
86-2 KIRO CBS 1080i
? Fox Sports NW

Radio
90-332 MUSIC
90-333 MUSIC
90-334 MUSIC
90-335 MUSIC
90-336 MUSIC
90-337 MUSIC
90-338 MUSIC
90-339 MUSIC

Why do they do this? .move things around. What is also strange, since the change my tv does not seem to auto scan for some of these. It skips over 81, though I can go directly to it. Also the TV channel captions show up as of yesterday for a handfull of the channels.

It sounds to me like Comcast in this area is cleaning up their passing of PSIP data.

I would hope their ultimate goal includes all logical channel numbers so users don't have to always use 8x.x (etc.) to find digital channel 4 or 5 or whatever.

I appreciate folks reporting these changes as they occur, since I "support" some distant family members using QAM tuners without any cable boxes. For now, at my home, I am OTA for local digital channels and DirecTV for other channels.

How should Comcast handle the PSIP information?

For those stations that are the same for their OTA and Comcast channels (KOMO - 4, KING - 5, KIRO - 7, KCTS - 9, KSTW - 11, KCPQ - 13), they should be able to just pass it through unchanged.

For those that differ (KONG - 6/16, KMYQ - 10/22) they will need to modify the PSIP to remap to a different channel.

Then there's the question of what to do with the subchannels (K5 Weather Plus, The Tube) Do they get remapped to something similar to OTA subchannels

K5 Weather Plus goes to 5-2
The Tube goes to 10-2

This all assumes that channel remapping works the same in QAM as it does OTA.

Does the Comcast set top box use this PSIP data at all?

Why would Comcast do anything to the PSIP? That's up to the individual stations.

Hi, I'm new to this group and seek an ongoing list of the HD QAM channels in Seattle.
Comcast recently change many of the HD channels around. Here is what I have so far.
Please cut and past and add to this list or direct me to a better forum,
Thanks, Kirk kirkovision at hotmail

I hope I add this link correctly...you need this message from a few pages back:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9887531&&#post9887531

How should Comcast handle the PSIP information?

For those stations that are the same for their OTA and Comcast channels (KOMO - 4, KING - 5, KIRO - 7, KCTS - 9, KSTW - 11, KCPQ - 13), they should be able to just pass it through unchanged.

For those that differ (KONG - 6/16, KMYQ - 10/22) they will need to modify the PSIP to remap to a different channel.

Then there's the question of what to do with the subchannels (K5 Weather Plus, The Tube) Do they get remapped to something similar to OTA subchannels

K5 Weather Plus goes to 5-2
The Tube goes to 10-2

This all assumes that channel remapping works the same in QAM as it does OTA.

Does the Comcast set top box use this PSIP data at all?

The Tube is a good example; used to be at 96.2 (or D961 on my Fusion card) and that has been remapped to 116 (and they changed the QAM from 256 to 64). It does indeed look like they are cleaning things up. Wished they would finish the job, KOMO and KING got remapped but KIRO is out there all by its' lonesome.

Hi, newbie question here about SD Comcast boxes. Since they're not HD compatible, Comcast blocks out 104, 105, 107 (KOMODT, KINGDT, KIRODT), etc... on them. What happens in 2009 when 4, 5, 7 go away? Is this a way for Comcast to gouge users, some that don't even have latest and greatest TV sets, to get their equipment?

Hi, newbie question here about SD Comcast boxes. Since they're not HD compatible, Comcast blocks out 104, 105, 107 (KOMODT, KINGDT, KIRODT), etc... on them. What happens in 2009 when 4, 5, 7 go away? Is this a way for Comcast to gouge users, some that don't even have latest and greatest TV sets, to get their equipment?

Comcast doesn't block them -- the SD boxes just don't have the digital tuners required for them. Nothing is going to make 4, 5, and 7 go away in 2009. They'll no longer be broadcasting analog signals, but just because they're digital doesn't mean they're HD. Comcast may even still provide converted analog signals to its customers, or they may just provide subsidized converters. The Federal law is what is going to keep anything from being broadcast as analog, not Comcast.

Comcast doesn't block them -- the SD boxes just don't have the digital tuners required for them.

My understanding was that SD boxes were digital tuners but could not output digital pictures to the TV. So 4, 5, and 7 were analog converted to standard digital channels on Comcast's own frequencies, after all, QAM picks 4,5,7 too. This is besides the point tho.

but just because they're digital doesn't mean they're HD. Comcast may even still provide converted analog signals to its customers, or they may just provide subsidized converters. The Federal law is what is going to keep anything from being broadcast as analog, not Comcast.

There may be laws that disallow head-end downconversion though, leaving the analog RF connection to provide that for the user.

Comcast doesn't block them -- the SD boxes just don't have the digital tuners required for them. Nothing is going to make 4, 5, and 7 go away in 2009. They'll no longer be broadcasting analog signals, but just because they're digital doesn't mean they're HD. Comcast may even still provide converted analog signals to its customers, or they may just provide subsidized converters. The Federal law is what is going to keep anything from being broadcast as analog, not Comcast.

To add, your channels are being broadcasted in digital now. A few months ago (maybe a year now) Comcast converted to an All Digital Simulcast, so with a STB you are getting digital now.

Did anyone else loose any HD channels over QAM with the change? I can't pickup KOMO, KING or FOX in HD any longer... argh

I can still get KCTS, CW, KONG and CBS

I've been using the built in QAM tuner on my JVC television to pick up Comcast Seattle digital channels. Yesterday for some reason the digital channels went away and I can't seem to do anything to bring them back. I've tried rescanning numberous times with no sucess. I've tried going to tuning to the channels directoy (for example 81-1), but no luck as well. In fact the digital settings page on my TV doesn't pop up anymore. Is this a comcast issue or sadly a television problem?

Anyone with similar problems? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Why would Comcast do anything to the PSIP? That's up to the individual stations.
I would hope that they would simply pass through all of the PSIP data, unless some of it conflicts with the cable "real channel" assignment or the cable transmission protocols.

Keep in mind, I am NOT an expert on PSIP. I just want to see a viewer with a non-Comcast QAM tuner be able to find the correct channels using their well-known channel numbers (identified in the PSIP data as the logical channel number).

Did anyone else loose any HD channels over QAM with the change? I can't pickup KOMO, KING or FOX in HD any longer... argh

I can still get KCTS, CW, KONG and CBS
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Same thing here. I lost the same stations. I can tune to them directly (81 for Fox, 82 for ABC, and 85 for NBC), but when I channel up/down it bypasses them completely. Also when I save them as favorites and try to tune them in via the favorites guide I cannot get to them....

Also they (Fox, King, and Komo) are all title KMYQ, or KcyQ or whatever that "My q" station is.

I have checked and double checked my cable connections, and did 3 auto-programs tonight with no luck.

Did anyone else loose any HD channels over QAM with the change? I can't pickup KOMO, KING or FOX in HD any longer... argh

I can still get KCTS, CW, KONG and CBS
Rescan your channels, they are there...just not where you're used to them.

Rescan your channels, they are there...just not where you're used to them.

scanned 3 times

when I type in 85- it redirects to 115-1 (the 480i King station) and I can't remember where 81 and 82 redirect me but its to either KCTS or CW

Here in Seattle (W. Sea) now the station info comes up differently, as you change channels. On my Panasonic many of the blue info boxes now have indications of DTV or HDTV content. Also, I found my PBS array. Comcast put them all into the "9" slot: 9.1, 9.2, etc.

OK, everyone, I'm the lowtech guy. When Comcast does their fiddling, is it effective and good for me merely to re-scan, using my Panasonic's Setup menu? Does it capture all the QAM broadcasts that are available?

Sincerely, Lekanard

Rescan your channels, they are there...just not where you're used to them.


I re-scanned multiple time, and even took my coax cable out of my monster power conditioner, and went directly into the TV. The three HD channels (Fox, ABC, and NBC) are not picked up in the scan. I can tune to these station by directly typing in the number (they display the title KMYQ), but I cannot tune to them through the favorites menu or channel up/down. I guess this is only a minor annoyance as I can still view the content (just have to remember what numbers they are at). But I'm thinking my problem is related to Mack73's who lost these same three stations as of a couple days ago.

Mack, are you using a Panasonic plasma? if so, maybe has something to do with Panasonics QAM tuner (I'm using the TH50PX60U).

I also lost HD channel assignments on the old locations and have found ABC, FOX and 2 other HD channel located on 0-0. Yes I show 4 separate entries labeled 0-0 and each one tunes separately to a different HD channel for comcast Seattle. How is it possible for the same channel number assignement to tune into 4 different channels and how can you tell them apart without tuning them in? Does anyone have a clue as to what is going on? I have an LG plasma with a QAM tuner but it sounds like the tuner is fine, comcast is doing something.

I have the same TV Panasonic Plasma and the same problem.

Is everyone having the problem using Panasonic TV with QAM tuner?
I have rescanned many times now. NO luck....
It is very strange.

I've got a Mitsubishi TV with QAM tuner and I'm seeing a similar issue

?? KCPQ HD
?? KOMO HD
?? KING HD
?? KMYQ HD

also

9-1 KCTS SD
9-3 KCTS Create
9-5 KCTS HD
11-1 CW HD
86-1 KONG HD
86-2 KIRO HD
116-0 The Tube

All of these multiple listings with no channel number has made my TV's "Guide" basically useless.

I'm running a Samsung DLP (HLS-5088W)

I'm glad I'm not the only one to loose these channels, it must be a comcast thing

This is exactly how the channels show up after doing a scan for me too.
The question marks before the station call letters.

?? KCPQ HD
?? KOMO HD
?? KING HD
?? KMYQ HD

I am able to go directly to KCPQ by going to 81. That channel is skipped when using the up/down buttons however. Komo and KING are nowhere to be found.

Glad that is not just a Panasonic thing. Comcast issue it appears.

what the heck is going on here? i'm reading the above and it's certainly very frustrating. do they have issues with us QAM folk or what?

hey i need some help. i'm getting pretty frustrated. i own the tosh 32hlv66 and it's been great up until a couple weeks ago. i'm using the QAM tuner for my digital cable in our bedroom so i don't need a box. so what i did was scan all the channels, found my local hd channels, nbc, abc, cbs, fox, etc. and plugged them into the favorites menu. it's cool, because all you have to do is hit the down or up arrow to scroll through your favorites and you don't have to remember the 85-1, or 85-3, etc. well, in theory it should continue to work, but it does not. for the second time in two weeks i've lost all but a couple of the 6 or 7 channels i have in there. not only that, but when i manually enter the channel number it either teleports me to 115-1, or it comes up and says channel is encrypted. what gives? i called the cable company and they said that for the most part, the frequencies of those channels rarely changes. he thought i should contact the tv manufacturer, so here i am. any suggestions?

scanned 3 times

when I type in 85- it redirects to 115-1 (the 480i King station) and I can't remember where 81 and 82 redirect me but its to either KCTS or CW

the exact same thing happens to me with a tosh 32hlv66

it's so frustrating. this is the second time in two weeks they've moved stuff around.

A little off topic with recent posts, but I learned that Comcast and KIRO have teamed up again this year to air March Madness on three channels, KIRO SD, KIRO HD, and the special channel KIRO pulls out with special events like this on 117 with the STB and cable card.. Not sure how this affects all the recent changes of late.

I re-scanned multiple time, and even took my coax cable out of my monster power conditioner, and went directly into the TV. The three HD channels (Fox, ABC, and NBC) are not picked up in the scan. I can tune to these station by directly typing in the number (they display the title KMYQ), but I cannot tune to them through the favorites menu or channel up/down. I guess this is only a minor annoyance as I can still view the content (just have to remember what numbers they are at). But I'm thinking my problem is related to Mack73's who lost these same three stations as of a couple days ago.

Mack, are you using a Panasonic plasma? if so, maybe has something to do with Panasonics QAM tuner (I'm using the TH50PX60U).


Same problems for me with the panasonic. Scan, scan, and rescan! Come on comcast, fix the proiblem! :mad:

I have three different QAM TVs in my house and they all handle the recent changes differently.

My Panasonic plasma put most of the HD networks in channel 0 and the TV would not switch channels. I put the CableCARD back in and it works fine.

My Sceptre LCD also put all of the main HD networks in channel zero, but it will allow me to switch to different channels and it displays their call sign.

My Samsung HD STB kept everything in the 80's. Weird.

I noticed most of the channels actually have the real program information now, they aren't stripping it anymore.

Still, makes it weird to have multiple channels at 0.0

My tuner doesn't do PSIP over QAM at all, so I can't identify which channels are mapping and which aren't unfortunately. It seems that QAM tuners run the gambit of PSIP support: complete, partial, broken, none.

That said, I've updated the QAM list and there've been no major true (unmapped) channel changes. The only things that seem different:

74-2 has, for about two weeks, been an iN DEMAND network with sports events from regional sports networks in HD. (I'm unsure what Comcast channel this maps to.)

86-3 has seen the return if KIRO SD 7.2 (presumably in time for March Madness.)

The previously clear QAM iN DEMAND (SD) networks have either re-encrypted or have been deleted.

Here's an update to the list. I'll try to nail down the PSIP mappings at some point.

I called yesterday and reported that I could not scan KOMO, KING and FOX in HD anymore. Comcast claimed that they were unaware of the problem. Calling you local service center might help raise awareness.

I called yesterday and reported that I could not scan KOMO, KING and FOX in HD anymore. Comcast claimed that they were unaware of the problem. Calling you local service center might help raise awareness.

My 2 yr old Pioneer plasma still gets KOMO, KING and FOX (in HD) in the same locations however my new Philips LCD now has trouble with these channels showing them as scrambled or not available however somtimes direct access will work??? (re-scanning does not help). The Philips was able to get them fine for 2 months prior.

Same problem here... I cannot manually tune in the channel, though... my set has to first scan and find the channel before it will let me do that...

Any ideas? I have a samsung hl-r5078W

(I have searched and cant find any suggestions.)

Thanks

I find it interesting that many people are finding local HD channels moved or missing.
My Pioneer plasma still receives them on the same QAM locations as before - (I believe it may have the ability to remap to a new QAM channel leaving the same QAM channel on display).
If Comcast has relocated these channels I should be able to rescan and find the new locations with my Philips LCD however I rescanned channels several times and find that the original channel locations return to the list however the group of channels in question disappears from the list as soon as I view one of them just once. :confused:

Perhaps Comcast has decided to scramble these channels thus requiring subscribers to upgrade service and rent a cable box to get any HD channels including local ones??? :confused:

If this is the case I'll cancel service and use an antenna to get local HD channels :mad:

Can't wait for them to either finish the job or put it back the way it was.

That cable.txt list doesn't work for me, the old channel number don't work. The only way to get to the channels is to enter 0-0 and scroll through them. (Hitachi 42HDT52).

With more testing I discovered that after an installation channel scan I can only view FOX HD, ABC HD and NBC HD only once, then they are removed from the channel list and the only way to get them back is to re-scan again!??

I called Philips and Comcast, both claim the problem is with the other - not surprising since I think this is looking like a compatibility issue which is technically beyond the first level customer service reps heads :(

Hope we can get this resolved before more channels disappear :(

I am new to this forum, so please let me know if this has already been answered.

I am sick and tired of Comcast (and/or any other cable provider) who keeps changing channnel listing on us without telling us!

I spent 30 minutes a few months ago trying to get the location of the HDTV signal on their system; the person on the phone was only able to tell me to go see Google.

There is hope though!

It seems to me, that Comcast is breaking Federal law when they change the positions of cable without first telling us.

I found these 2 items on the FCC's web site:


ITEM A:

(b) Customers will be notified of any changes in rates, programming
services or channel positions as soon as possible in writing. Notice
must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of
such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator.
In addition, the cable operator shall notify subscribers 30 days in
advance of any significant changes in the other information required by
Sec. 76.1602.


ITEM B:
(b) Effective July 1, 1993, the cable operator shall provide written
information on each of the following areas at the time of installation
of service, at least annually to all subscribers, and at any time upon
request:
....
(5) Channel positions of programming carried on the system; and
....



I am no lawyer, but, it would seem that:

a) Comcast must tell us 30 days in advance if they change any channel position;
b) Comcast must publish the channel positions of programming.

Thus, for example, I should be able to call Comcast and ask them where KOMO-HD is found; right?


BTW, if you want to look it up, here are the full references:

TITLE 47--TELECOMMUNICATION
CHAPTER I--FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED)
PART 76_MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE

ITEM A is found in section 76.1603
ITEM B is found in section 76.1602

You can find the info at the FCC's web site; i.e. try FCC-dot-Gov.

What do you think?
Should we all call Comcast and complain?

Also, it seems that each city / county etc... is responsible for enforcing these laws. So, in my case, the City of Woodinville is the Local Franchise Authority.

Does anyone know where it says that they must provide basic HDTV channels
As anyone followed this route before?


p.s. I am not a lawyer (I do not even pretend to play one on TV :) ), so, none of this is valid legal advice, but just my own ranting and interpretation of the rules. Please consult a real lawyer before any legal actions etc... :)

Thank you,

Another pissed Comcast customer who relies on a QAM tunner

As Bill Clinton used to say, I feel your pain, but I'm pretty sure that Comcast is not violating anything here. Any changes they make probably simply go by invisibly to those subscribers with a Comcast cable box.

As Bill Clinton used to say, I feel your pain, but I'm pretty sure that Comcast is not violating anything here. Any changes they make probably simply go by invisibly to those subscribers with a Comcast cable box.

I'm sure it is invisible to people with boxes, but the regs say channel assignments, and this is a channel assignment. I think it is probably a violation of that reg, but probably something Comcast hasn't thought of. That said, I wouldn't be sure they didn't notify me. I don't look at the stuff they send in the bill very carefully, other than the amount I owe.

But, FWIW, I haven't had any changes in my system here in Seattle proper since they moved King and Kong last month.

If Comcast had actually PUBLISHED the list of QAM frequencies, you might have a point about them changing them without notice. But AFAIK they've never done that - you had to cleverly deduce for yourselves what frequencies they were using under the covers for digital cable channels. As far as Comcast is concerned - the mapping of stations to QAM frequencies is an internal technical configuration detail that they can change at will, and NOT a published channel list.

I'm sure it is invisible to people with boxes ...And to people with CableCard tuners in their TV.

I called comcast. They said the problem is with my TV. Honestly though, they did not really seem to get what I was telling them. The first 2 people did not even know what a QAM tuner was. First person said I could not Get HD at all with paying for their box.

I finally got the last guy to tell me that they would look into it.
They will continue to ignore us untill we call them. BTW. You do catch more bees with honey. (begining to wonder about this!)

Any word on when Nat Geo HD is coming?

So, I called COMCAST again this morning.

They now claim that it must be an issue with my TV and that I am the first and only person to call them and to report trouble.

Please, folks, call your local comcast agent and insist that they open a trouble ticket about incorrect QAM channel information for KOMO-HD, KING-HD and FOX-HD.

Otherwise, this is not going to get fixed.

just picked up a cable card this morning (for free) and now all the HD channels are comming in...

A little off topic with recent posts, but I learned that Comcast and KIRO have teamed up again this year to air March Madness on three channels, KIRO SD, KIRO HD, and the special channel KIRO pulls out with special events like this on 117 with the STB and cable card.. Not sure how this affects all the recent changes of late.Where can we get more information on this. I'm a March Madness junkie and want to make sure I know where to find as much as is available.

They are not getting it folks!!!
You really need to call and complain.



Thank you for contacting us regarding your Comcast Cable service.

I have reviewed your e-mail and unfortunately you have requested
assistance on something Comcast does not support. Please contact your TV
Manufacturer to help you re scanned the HD channels that were signals if
you are using Third party equipment such as QAM tuner.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you.

If you have additional questions, please reply to this e-mail or chat
with one of our online customer support specialist 24 hours a day 7 days
a week at http://www.comcastsupport.com/videochat

(their e-mail is vidsupport_sea@cable.comcast.com )



Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,
Raquel
Comcast Customer Care Specialist

Live chat with comcast seems pointless. They said they "do not have that information" when asked about the QAM channel assignments. When asked who does have that information they suggeted google search. They said if you subscribe to HD you shouldn't need that information. I do not think the person knew what QAM even is. They could not even say if the channel assignments had changed since last Wednesday when everything worked fine. Good luck everyone. I guess I should be happy I still get all the local HD even if they are on 0-0 and difficult to tune in or not possible to put on favorites.

I hate the highway robbery of paying for digital cable and two HD-DVRs. The pricing is ridiculously exhorbitant but nobody's holding a gun to my head forcing me to pay it. My guess is that the cable company isn't held responsible for supporting third-party tuners when they offer STBs and CableCARD support.

It's looking like a pretty big risk to buy a TV without CableCARD support if you want to tune in digital cable without a STB. That certainly factored into our last TV purchase.

I hate the highway robbery of paying for digital cable and two HD-DVRs. The pricing is ridiculously exhorbitant but nobody's holding a gun to my head forcing me to pay it. My guess is that the cable company isn't held responsible for supporting third-party tuners when they offer STBs and CableCARD support.

It's looking like a pretty big risk to buy a TV without CableCARD support if you want to tune in digital cable without a STB. That certainly factored into our last TV purchase.

I agree that I would take this into account in the future. The fact is that I should not have too. It worked last week, now it does not. This is comcasts' issue not the TV manufacture. Honestly, If they would just own up and quit blaming the tv makers.

I just had an online chat with a comcast support agent who suggested opening a trouble ticket even before I finished typing. Very nice! :)

I gave him the URL of this thread, and hopefully we'll get this issue sorted out.

I just checked my parents TVs (they have a Philips plasma and LCD models with QAM tuners from last year) and both TVs are now having issues with receiving KOMO-HD, KING-HD and FOX-HD. :mad:

I re-scanned with my Philips LCD (47PF9441D/37) and took a look at the channel map and find that KOMO-HD, KING-HD and FOX-HD are next to a block of 5 unavailable/scrambled channels. Since sometime last week the 3 QAM channels now drop off the list after being viewed only once requiring a re-scan to return them to the available channel list.

QAM channels near KOMO-HD, KING-HD and FOX-HD after channel scan:
80.10 KBCB ShopNBC WORKS FINE
81.1 KCPQ-FOX-HD *DROPS FROM LIST after 1st viewing. Must re-scan to restore.
82.4 KOMO-ABC-HD *DROPS FROM LIST after 1st viewing. Must re-scan to restore.
83.1 On list but unavailable -Scrambled?
83.2 On list but unavailable -Scrambled?
84.1 On list but unavailable -Scrambled?
84.2 On list but unavailable -Scrambled?
85.1 On list but unavailable -Scrambled?
85.2 KING-NBC-HD *DROPS FROM LIST after 1st viewing. Must re-scan to restore.
86.1 KONG-HD WORKS FINE
86.2 KIRO-CBS-HD WORKS FINE

QAM Channels moved last week:
81.2 KSTW CW-HD moved to 11.1
82.1 KCTS PBS moved to 9.1
82.3 KCTS Create moved to 9.3
82.5 KCTS PBS-HD moved to 9.5
85.3 KING Weather Plus moved to 115.1

Since we know that Comcast moved QAM channels recently that occupied frequencies in the range of the current scrambled channels between 83.1-85.1 it seems likely that a programming ERROR was introduced as a result of the recent changes to the system.

Technically, the fix should be easy however it seems extremely difficult to get this problem reported to the engineers who truly understand the system.
Seems like the first level customer service personnel do not understand the real problem and close out such reports as customer non-supported equipment issues.

Where can we get more information on this. I'm a March Madness junkie and want to make sure I know where to find as much as is available.

Here is what I have found out so far from KIRO web site, check out this link (http://www.kirotv.com/marchmania/index.html) for the most up to date info. At some points there can be 3 different games at the same time.

Thu. March 15
KIRO 7
9:40 a.m. Louisville vs. Stanford
11:40 a.m. Washington State vs. Oral Roberts

KIRO-HD 7.1 (107)
9:25 a.m. Boston College vs. Texas Tech
11:40 a.m. Washington State vs. Oral Roberts
4:10 p.m. Ohio State vs. Central Conn. State
6:45 p.m. Indiana vs. Gonzaga

KIRO-DT 7.2 (117)
9:20 a.m. Maryland vs. Davidson
11:45 a.m. Georgetown vs. Belmont
1:55 p.m. Vanderbilt vs. G. Washington
4:20 p.m. Marquette vs. Michigan State
6:40 p.m. North Carolina vs. Eastern Kentucky

If Comcast had actually PUBLISHED the list of QAM frequencies, you might have a point about them changing them without notice. But AFAIK they've never done that - you had to cleverly deduce for yourselves what frequencies they were using under the covers for digital cable channels. As far as Comcast is concerned - the mapping of stations to QAM frequencies is an internal technical configuration detail that they can change at will, and NOT a published channel list.

What they've published is irrelevant. If the law says they have to notify you of channel changes, that would include changes in QAM channel assignments, unless you could somehow argue that a QAM channel is something other than a channel.

It might not be what Congress (or the agency) intended, but it's unambiguously what they said--unless QAM whatever you call them are something different than channels.

My last e-mail pleaded with them to at least show this to a engineer.
They are not even trying to solve the problem. I gave them the link to this forum.
I explained the issue in detail and nothing. As you can see form the e-mail they would like to get "either an HD box provided by Comcast or
a cable card installed in your TV."

Everyone needs to send them an e-mail and call. They need to know how many people have the problem.
vidsupport_sea@cable.comcast.com
1-800-266-2278


"
Dear ,

Thank you for contacting Comcast.

Im sorry your issue is not supported, Comcast does not support QAM
tuners or problems receiving channels on that service. You will have to
contact your TV manufacturer. IF you would like assistance from Comcast
with HD services you will need either an HD box provided by Comcast or
a cable card installed in your TV.

If you ever have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free
to either respond to this email or send an email directly to us at
care_customer@cable.comcast.com. You can also chat with one of our
Online Customer Support Specialists 24 hour a day, 7 days a week at:
http://www.comcastsupport.com/videochat

vidsupport_sea@cable.comcast.com

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Kris R
Comcast Customer Care Specialist"

I too am a new member of this forum, and own a Philips tv with disappearing HD channels. Instead of contacting comcast, who doesn't care, I just e-mailed King 5 and let them know that Comcast is no longer supplying its signal in HD. I plan to e-mail the other stations as well. Perhaps this will help in our cause.

just picked up a cable card this morning (for free) and now all the HD channels are comming in...

Hi -- my husband and I are new at this HD stuff. We have Comcast Cable and a new Samsung TV which we love. It has a cable card slot. How did you go about getting the free card? Our whole family is really into March Madness and would like to experiment with a card before Thursday.

Thanks.

I too am a new member of this forum, and own a Philips tv with disappearing HD channels. Instead of contacting comcast, who doesn't care, I just e-mailed King 5 and let them know that Comcast is no longer supplying its signal in HD. I plan to e-mail the other stations as well. Perhaps this will help in our cause.

Great Idea!

I just spoke to Phillips and they think the problem is a weak siginal on only these 3 specific channels:
81.1 KCPQ-FOX-HD
82.4 KOMO-ABC-HD
85.2 KING-NBC-HD
The reason they 'may' be weak on Comcast cable (since last week) is currently unknown however I'm sure the local stations would be interested in this issue since this problem is causing them to lose viewers!

btw: What model Phillips do you have?

with any cable plan you should be able to get one for free....(first one)

ColorBurst, we bought the Philips 47"LCD Costco had on special last month. It is model # 47PF 9441D/37. We're very pleased with it.

Our son told us about this web site and forum after I complained to him about losing the channels. After stewing about it, we decided to upgrade to digital HD with Comcast but were told that they do not have any boxes available at this time. Talk about lousy service. It was then that I thought of contacting the area stations to let them know that their signal was not being transmitted. Maybe they can do more that we can.

ColorBurst, we bought the Philips 47"LCD Costco had on special last month. It is model # 47PF 9441D/37. We're very pleased with it.

Our son told us about this web site and forum after I complained to him about losing the channels. After stewing about it, we decided to upgrade to digital HD with Comcast but were told that they do not have any boxes available at this time. Talk about lousy service. It was then that I thought of contacting the area stations to let them know that their signal was not being transmitted. Maybe they can do more that we can.

I'm not sure why people on here are claiming they're no longer being transmitted. They may have messed things up so that certian TVs are having problems picking them up, but they are certainly still being transmitted. I'm watching unencrypted KCPQ-HD right now (panasonic plasma). I can't tune to the channel via channel up/down buttons. I have to go to channel 81 directly (85 for nbc, 82 for abc).

It does suck they've done this, but people making claims that they're not being broadcast just isn't true.

Is anyone else noticing that Comcast seems to be moving around the OTA HD broadcasts to where they should be? I've been surfing through my digital channels, and as I surf, ABC has become 4-1, and PBS has become 9-1, 9-3, and 9-5.

I'm not sure why people on here are claiming they're no longer being transmitted. They may have messed things up so that certian TVs are having problems picking them up, but they are certainly still being transmitted. I'm watching unencrypted KCPQ-HD right now (panasonic plasma). I can't tune to the channel via channel up/down buttons. I have to go to channel 81 directly (85 for nbc, 82 for abc).

It does suck they've done this, but people making claims that they're not being broadcast just isn't true.
For me (and many others w/ Philips TVs) the siginal might as well be missing as the stations are unavailable unless I take 30 minutes to rescan EVERY single time I want to switch back to any one of these 3 channels again. :mad:
I understand the local stations are broadcasting a signal to Comcast however Comcast has done something to the signal of these 3 stations as they pass them along to us making them a problem to view for some and totally impractical to view for others.
LizzyB has a point since the local stations should be interested in a group of viewers that are having trouble getting their station’s signal and the local stations should have more clout with Comcast to get this resolved.

Also, I find it interesting that may different TV brands are having some kind of problem with these 3 channels. If the signal is weak, as Philips Support suggests, then the different problems may be related to the way each manufacturer's TV QAM tuner is set up to handle a weak signal.
I'm not completely convinced that the 'weak signal' theory is the cause since Comcast just parked 5 scrambled channels next to these 3 clear HD channels . The likelihood that a software programming bug was introduced during this process seems possible.

ColorBurst, we bought the Philips 47"LCD Costco had on special last month. It is model # 47PF 9441D/37. We're very pleased with it.

Our son told us about this web site and forum after I complained to him about losing the channels. After stewing about it, we decided to upgrade to digital HD with Comcast but were told that they do not have any boxes available at this time. Talk about lousy service. It was then that I thought of contacting the area stations to let them know that their signal was not being transmitted. Maybe they can do more that we can.

Interesting... as I speculated earlier, Comcast may have found a way to cause issues with built-in QAM tuners. Since they do not wish to support these tuners (no added value for them) they force the customer to spend more money by upgrading to a STB for more $ a month.
I don't intend this to sound like a conspiracy theory however we're talking about a near monopoly as the alternatives, dish or local antenna reception, are not always an option.
Might explain why there is a shortage of set top boxes!

Interesting... as I speculated earlier, Comcast may have found a way to cause issues with built-in QAM tuners. Since they do not wish to support these tuners (no added value for them) they force the customer to spend more money by upgrading to a STB for more $ a month.

My built in QAM in my Samsung LN-S4096 is working perfectly. Comcast plead ignorant as to what QAM was when I contacted them, but then I found this thread and found where they were putting the digital channels.

Is anyone else noticing that Comcast seems to be moving around the OTA HD broadcasts to where they should be? I've been surfing through my digital channels, and as I surf, ABC has become 4-1, and PBS has become 9-1, 9-3, and 9-5.

After reading your post I decided to re-scan and I now find that KOMO HD has moved from 82.4 to 4.1 and it DOES NOT disappear from the scanned channel list after I watch it!

Unfortunately, FOX HD 81.1 and KING HD 85.2 are still doing the same disappearing act as before.

Seems like someone at Comcast knows what’s up and is fixing the problem -whoever you are THANKS!!!!

Let’s hope they can finish the job soon.

My built in QAM in my Samsung LN-S4096 is working perfectly. Comcast plead ignorant as to what QAM was when I contacted them, but then I found this thread and found where they were putting the digital channels.

Comcast will always plead ignorant when they hear the words unencrypted QAM :). Most first level customer care reps don't even know what QAM is even though it's the underlying technology for any of their digital content... so they don't understand if you ask about the "free" unencrypted digital channels or how it'd even be possible to watch a digital channel without a cable box and digital package subscription.

I just e-mailed King 5 and let them know that Comcast is no longer supplying its signal in HD. I plan to e-mail the other stations as well. Perhaps this will help in our cause.

I would have to say this is not entirely a true statement. I have a DVR and can receive the high definition station so I get the signal. I do not have a television with a QAM tuner, but try to help friends that do, so forgive my ignorance in some areas. I am not that technical, but the issue seems to be that Comcast is now passing through the PSIP data the individual stations transmit normally. According to some reports here there are people who are able to use the "new" info and some are not (not technically new info, it was just never passed before). While televisions are varied, the most common brands seem to be Philips and Panasonic.

So my question at this point would be is the issue with how the data is sent to customers or with the television itself? Is the PSIP data actually confusing the television especially when it has been operating normally without it? Is this Comcast, manufacturer, broadcaster, or a combination? With the PSIP data you should see channels like 4.1, 9.3, etc, a lot easier to see and generally the same as the OTA. Has anyone checked out 18.??? for Fox HD as the KCPQ digital is channel 18 (per Wikipedia and FCC database).

Also, the new channel assignments seem to be based on the info passed (virtual channels assignments per PSIP). Per the FCC, "notice
must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator." Is the change within the control of the operator in this case, as the change may be related to how the television interprets PSIP info, and not actually related to any specific change from the cable operator. Complaints on the change of channels assignments without notice is a complaint on the customer service, and needs to be directed to your local franchise authority, listed on the bottom of the last page of your monthly statement.

Playing Devil's Advocate.

I'm not sure why people on here are claiming they're no longer being transmitted. They may have messed things up so that certian TVs are having problems picking them up, but they are certainly still being transmitted. I'm watching unencrypted KCPQ-HD right now (panasonic plasma). I can't tune to the channel via channel up/down buttons. I have to go to channel 81 directly (85 for nbc, 82 for abc).

It does suck they've done this, but people making claims that they're not being broadcast just isn't true.

It's possible that with a marginal signal, or a marginal tuner, they don't pick it up at all.

I just experienced the problem last night on something probably recorded the night before that from KIRO. Before that I'd only noticed it on a KONG recording, and since I don't normally record KONG, I thought it might not have been related to this.

After reading your post I decided to re-scan and I now find that KOMO HD has moved from 82.4 to 4.1 and it DOES NOT disappear from the scanned channel list after I watch it!

Unfortunately, FOX HD 81.1 and KING HD 85.2 are still doing the same disappearing act as before.

Seems like someone at Comcast knows what’s up and is fixing the problem -whoever you are THANKS!!!!

Let’s hope they can finish the job soon.


Try 0-0 to find King and Q13Fox . KOMO is now on 4-1, KIRO on 7-1, PBS 9-1, 9-2, etc... Hope either comcrap or the station fixed the PSID so that KING and Q13 goes to 5-1 and 13-1.

Try 0-0 to find King and Q13Fox . KOMO is now on 4-1, KIRO on 7-1, PBS 9-1, 9-2, etc...
As of this morning, Comcast moved KING-HD too. It is mapping out to 5.1, same as the OTA channels. I still do not have KIRO mapping out to 7.1 yet. May take a while but in a few weeks everything should be better than before.

UPDATE: They seem to be almost there!

4.1 - KIRO DT
5.1 - KING DT
5.2 - KING WX
9.1 - KCTS DT
9.3 - KCTS CR
9.5 - KCTS HD
11.1 - KSTW DT
13.1 - KCPQ DT
22.1 - KTWB DT
22.2 - KTWB DT2 (The Tube)

Now if they can just get KONG over to 16.1, KIRO HD over to 7.1 and KIRO DT over to 7.2, they'll be done.

I would have to say this is not entirely a true statement. I have a DVR and can receive the high definition station so I get the signal. I do not have a television with a QAM tuner, but try to help friends that do, so forgive my ignorance in some areas. I am not that technical, but the issue seems to be that Comcast is now passing through the PSIP data the individual stations transmit normally. According to some reports here there are people who are able to use the "new" info and some are not (not technically new info, it was just never passed before). While televisions are varied, the most common brands seem to be Philips and Panasonic.

So my question at this point would be is the issue with how the data is sent to customers or with the television itself? Is the PSIP data actually confusing the television especially when it has been operating normally without it? Is this Comcast, manufacturer, broadcaster, or a combination? With the PSIP data you should see channels like 4.1, 9.3, etc, a lot easier to see and generally the same as the OTA. Has anyone checked out 18.??? for Fox HD as the KCPQ digital is channel 18 (per Wikipedia and FCC database).

Also, the new channel assignments seem to be based on the info passed (virtual channels assignments per PSIP). Per the FCC, "notice
must be given to subscribers a minimum of thirty (30) days in advance of such changes if the change is within the control of the cable operator." Is the change within the control of the operator in this case, as the change may be related to how the television interprets PSIP info, and not actually related to any specific change from the cable operator. Complaints on the change of channels assignments without notice is a complaint on the customer service, and needs to be directed to your local franchise authority, listed on the bottom of the last page of your monthly statement.

Playing Devil's Advocate.

My TV receives and displays the PSIP data just fine when Comcast passes it along...so this is not the cause of the disappearing channels for me.
I'm able to see the entire night's programming on my display using the Guide feature for KCTS HD on 9.5 for instance.

recent changes

KOMO HD WAS mapped to 0-0, NOW maps to 4-1
KING HD was mapped to 0-0, NOW maps to 5-1
K5 Weather Plus NOW maps to 5-2

That's definitely a move in the right direction.

So for me,

KOMO, KING, KCTS, KSTW - all map to the right channel - woohoo
KCPQ, KMYQ - maps to 0-0
KIRO, KONG - un-remapped, sitting in the 80s.

progress!!! My thanks to the diligent Comcast engineers that got us this far. You guys rock!!! Just a little bit farther, please.

I too am new to this forum. I am experiencing the same problem that others seem to be having as well. I own a JVC HD-ILA set with a QAM tuner and it worked perfectly with Comcast and I was able to view the digital channels fine until sometime last week.

Now I can't view any of the digital channels from Comcast at all and re-scanning just seems to lock up the tV set. Does anyone have a JVC set or has anyone been experiencing the same problems. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

Yep, same problem here. I have a JVC LCD plugged directly into the cable (no STB) and my digital channels no longer appear and when I try to reprogram, the screen goes blank. I can't manually enter a channel either.

I don't want to spend the extra bucks on a comcast HD Box for this TV which is a bedroom TV.

Any insight would be apprecaited.

HDless in Sammmaish

I hope Comcast finishes enabling the PSIP data on the rest of the channels. My Samsung won't let me manually name digital channels, and it's nice that I can now browse some stations by station name instead of having to memorize channel numbers.

So happy I stumbled upon this forum. I was about to call Samsung to find out if something might have gone wrong with my HD tuner. Sometime over the past few weeks I started to lose my HD channels over cable. Coincidentally, I had just installed an HD antenna in my attic which picks up every HD channel I was getting over cable - except for Fox, which I believe broadcasts out of Tacoma (if I raise the antenna another foot I might be able to get it). After doing that, I noticed my TV was doing a lot more "clicking" than usual when turned off - I always thought that had something to do with the HD tuner, but never sure what it was doing. Still it has been annoying having to switch between cable and antenna to watch anything in HD lately, not to mention the signal would sometimes black out for a few seconds which is pretty distracting. Then I just noticed yesterday that ABC, which had previously been 82-4, is now 4-1. I'm still getting CBS at 86-2, but supposedly it is now 7-1 (as of today). NBC, 83-1, has been gone for a while and I can't find it anywhere, although I will check 0-0 when I get home tonight. KCTS was 82-5 but I think it is now 9-5. I also get 11-1, I think it's CW but I don't even know what that channel is, except that it is in HD. I'll read through the last few pages to catch up on how this problem evolved over the last few weeks. Thanks.

Here my habitual and customary HD question about the Ms for this season…… zzzzzz

Any word on getting them in HD North of Tacoma for more than 3-4 games a year? Or is Comcast still too cheap to satisfy their customers and hook us up with FSNHD in Seattle/Bellevue?

Thx,
Chris

Here my habitual and customary HD question about the Ms for this season…… zzzzzz

Any word on getting them in HD North of Tacoma for more than 3-4 games a year? Or is Comcast still too cheap to satisfy their customers and hook us up with FSNHD in Seattle/Bellevue?

Thx,
Chris

Select programming for FSN can be seen on channel 664 inHD. There just isn't enough HD programming to warrant a full time station sucking up the already starved bandwidth and taking up room for other channels that should be coming this year. I understand there will be over 60 games this season plus what KSTW (I think) airs.

I'm curious and just wanting to confirm. The QAM channels haven't really moved to 4.1, 11.1 etc, but rather their PSIP information is now being transmitted to map them to these virtual channels correct? I'm still able to get them at their old locations-> my software allows me to map them to the channels I want to map them to. Until all of them transmit PSIP info reliably for a while, I'd rather use my own mappings.

I'm curious and just wanting to confirm. The QAM channels haven't really moved to 4.1, 11.1 etc, but rather their PSIP information is now being transmitted to map them to these virtual channels correct? I'm still able to get them at their old locations-> my software allows me to map them to the channels I want to map them to. Until all of them transmit PSIP info reliably for a while, I'd rather use my own mappings.

For what it's worth, I can no longer get them at their old locations. This could be dependent on my TV's firmware.

For what it's worth, I can no longer get them at their old locations. This could be dependent on my TV's firmware.
But I still can on my Samsung DTB-H260F set top box.

But I still can on my Samsung DTB-H260F set top box.
Do you also see them at 4.1, 5.1, 7.1, etc.?

I'm happy to report the 3 channels have returned after a rescan today!!!

Komo is now at 4.1
King is now at 5.1
and KCPQ is now at 13.1

Once Kong and Kiro get updated to move down everything will be right as rain

I'm new on this forum and hope someone can help. I recently picked up an LG 37lc2d-ue flatscreen TV with the Comcast HD box, and my audio is out of sync on several channels: TNT-HD (662), CBS-HD (107), NBC-HD during the local news (105), Mojo (664) on occasion, and USA (59) are the ones that I have noticed.

This evening I disconnected the cable box and connected the tv directly into the wall, picking up the QAM channels. I couldn't check TNT and Mojo, obviously, but was still having problems with the others (7-1, 5-1). I had the TV replaced this afternoon and the delivery guy fiddled with both for about 30 minutes before telling me the problem was with my cable box, but if the problem's with the box, why am I still having it when I'm not using the box?

I've had this same problem with two LG 37 lc2d-ue's now (the original purchase was a -ud model, which was returned for problems with the picture quality but did not have any audio problems.) If it's a problem with the cable box, then why am I having problems without it? If it's a problem with the TV, why am I having an identical problem with two separate sets? If it's a problem with the broadcast or the wiring in my house, why did the first set not give me any audio sync problems?

If I still had hair I'd be pulling it out in clumps. Any thoughts?

Select programming for FSN can be seen on channel 664 inHD. There just isn't enough HD programming to warrant a full time station sucking up the already starved bandwidth and taking up room for other channels that should be coming this year. I understand there will be over 60 games this season plus what KSTW (I think) airs.


There will be at least 65 Mariners games in FSN-HD this year on channel 664. That will be all of the home games produced by FSN. There is also a possibility of as many as 20 away games that may be added, depending on facilities available at the away venue. My understanding is that the Mariners will have more HD games on FSN than any other team that plays on other FSN regionals.

Yep, same problem here. I have a JVC LCD plugged directly into the cable (no STB) and my digital channels no longer appear and when I try to reprogram, the screen goes blank. I can't manually enter a channel either.

I don't want to spend the extra bucks on a comcast HD Box for this TV which is a bedroom TV.

Any insight would be apprecaited.

HDless in Sammmaish

I tried calling JVC about the problem and they were less than helpful. I'm at a loss at what to do, but since I'm still under warantee I may just have the repairman come out anyway.

Still hoping someone out there has a better idea.

RE: audio sync issues

Not sure about why you would be having audio sync issues without the cable box.

My experience with the Motorola set top box was the HD channels frequently had audio sync issues if I used the component output of the box. When I switched to DVI output, the audio sync problems went away. FWIW, I used a dvi to hdmi cable without a problem in this scenario. Now I don't use a set top box at all and just use the QAM tuner on my TV.

more progess,

KOMO maps to 4-1
KING maps to 5-1
K5 Weather Plus maps to 5-2
KCTS-DT maps to 9-1
KCTS-Create maps to 9-3
KCTS-HD maps to 9-5
KSTW-HD maps to 11-1
KCPQ-HD maps to 13-1
KMYQ-HD maps to 22-1
KMYQ-The Tube maps to 22-2

Sadly

KONG HD still at 86-1
KIRO HD still at 86-2

And now that nothing maps to 0-0, my Guide works again. WooHoo

If they can just get

KIRO HD to map to 7-1
KONG HD to map to 16-1

I'd be very happy.

RE: audio sync issues

Not sure about why you would be having audio sync issues without the cable box.

My experience with the Motorola set top box was the HD channels frequently had audio sync issues if I used the component output of the box. When I switched to DVI output, the audio sync problems went away. FWIW, I used a dvi to hdmi cable without a problem in this scenario. Now I don't use a set top box at all and just use the QAM tuner on my TV.

When I tried the set top box I tried both component and HDMI and had the same problem with both. But I can't figure out why I'm having the same problem WITHOUT the box.

If you're like me you have this cheatsheet by your TV that tells you where to tune for the HD channels (those that don't remap yet).

Tonight, I had this idea.

I've switched the labels on the analog channels so now I never have to hunt for the cheatsheet

analog 6 used to say "KONG", now it says "86-1"
analog 7 used to say "KIRO", now it says "86-2"
analog 10 used to say "KMYQ", now it says "22-1"

Wish I'd thought of this sooner.

more progess,

KOMO maps to 4-1
KING maps to 5-1
K5 Weather Plus maps to 5-2
KCTS-DT maps to 9-1
KCTS-Create maps to 9-3
KCTS-HD maps to 9-5
KSTW-HD maps to 11-1
KCPQ-HD maps to 13-1
KMYQ-HD maps to 22-1
KMYQ-The Tube maps to 22-2

Sadly

KONG HD still at 86-1
KIRO HD still at 86-2

And now that nothing maps to 0-0, my Guide works again. WooHoo

If they can just get

KIRO HD to map to 7-1
KONG HD to map to 16-1

I'd be very happy.

I live in S Snoh county. I got 7-1 KIRO HD mapped several weeks ago.

I live in S Snoh county. I got 7-1 KIRO HD mapped several weeks ago.
I'm on Comcast in the Lake City area north of Seattle and we still don't have the KIRO mapping correct.

On a separate issue, sure seems like Comcast is being bandwidth challenged the last 2 days. Lots of digital artifacts across the board.

After 2/19/2008 , will comcast ditch all local analog channels? Since that day, all local stations are required to broadcast only in digital. If comcast decided to continue carry locals in analog format, it will have to down convert HD to analog ???

After 2/19/2008 , will comcast ditch all local analog channels? Since that day, all local stations are required to broadcast only in digital. If comcast decided to continue carry locals in analog format, it will have to down convert HD to analog ???

I don't know about Comcast carrying the analogs, but obviously they would convert the digital SD channels to analog if they did. Why would they downconvert HD to analog?

Is anyone else having trouble recording the remapped channels with their DVICO Fusion cards? Since COMCAST added the PSIP info I can't record any of these channels.
My fusion channel scanner still shows these channels as being at the same RF location like KCTSDT1 is still at RF 82 but when I am watching that channel the tuner says KCTSDT1 9.1. When I try a scheduled record it says "no signal" it seems like it might be trying to switch to OTA mode to record OTA 9.1, and of course I'm using cable so there is no 9.1 signal.

No problem with Fusion Lite card.... I am using DVICO's latest software, released a few weeks ago, however.

--
Sang

Any word on when Nat Geo HD is coming?

Isn't it available on demand?

Is anyone else having trouble recording the remapped channels with their DVICO Fusion cards? Since COMCAST added the PSIP info I can't record any of these channels.
My fusion channel scanner still shows these channels as being at the same RF location like KCTSDT1 is still at RF 82 but when I am watching that channel the tuner says KCTSDT1 9.1. When I try a scheduled record it says "no signal" it seems like it might be trying to switch to OTA mode to record OTA 9.1, and of course I'm using cable so there is no 9.1 signal.
Using the FusionHDTV5 RT Gold myself. You might need to rescan your channels but the card does indeed work with the new channel mappings. But first, redo all your recording schedules and see if that helps.

After 2/19/2008 , will comcast ditch all local analog channels? Since that day, all local stations are required to broadcast only in digital. If comcast decided to continue carry locals in analog format, it will have to down convert HD to analog ???

The switch takes place in 2009. I expect (purely speculation) the Limited channels would remain in analog for a while, but everything else would be digital so you would need a digital television or some type of converter to tune in the SD channel. With some upcoming changes I am wondering if we will be stuck leasing STB or have the option of purchasing our own.

The FCC ruled that (2) $40 rebate coupons will be available for people who certify they do not subscribe to cable or satellite to purchase converters and cover 60-75% of the cost.

I live in S Snoh county. I got 7-1 KIRO HD mapped several weeks ago.

In Lake Forest Park, and it's still not mapped correctly here.

The switch takes place in 2009. I expect (purely speculation) the Limited channels would remain in analog for a while, but everything else would be digital so you would need a digital television or some type of converter to tune in the SD channel. With some upcoming changes I am wondering if we will be stuck leasing STB or have the option of purchasing our own.

The FCC ruled that (2) $40 rebate coupons will be available for people who certify they do not subscribe to cable or satellite to purchase converters and cover 60-75% of the cost.
COMCAST said they'll keep 20-40 analogs until at least 2011, when they will go all digital:
http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6337395.html
http://www.tvpredictions.com/nextburke091306.htm
Also note plans to add more HD channels later this year.

FYI: NTIA rules released this week say ANYONE can request coupons starting 1Jan2008
(FCFS) until first $990 Mil is gone and then they restrict to TV-Only households:
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/press/2007/DTVfinalrule_031207.htm
Still at issue is whether the second $510 Mil is adequate or not to reimburse ALL NTSC
viewers for the loss of their ("free") signal....

Beginning 1Jul2007, ALL cable companies are required to accept USER owned equipment
using not only one-way CableCARDs (DCR HDTVs and TiVo Series 3), but also new equipment
coming this summer using two-way dual-stream M-CARDS leased from the cable companies....
With DCAS (Downloadable Conditional Access System) planned for late 2008, eliminating the cards.

I'm curious and just wanting to confirm. The QAM channels haven't really moved to 4.1, 11.1 etc, but rather their PSIP information is now being transmitted to map them to these virtual channels correct? I'm still able to get them at their old locations-> my software allows me to map them to the channels I want to map them to. Until all of them transmit PSIP info reliably for a while, I'd rather use my own mappings.

I believe that's correct, because I'm still receiving them at their old locations, so if they have moved, they're in two locations each.

I'm still having problems with KIRO, so I took it off my HD Homerun assignments and now will only receive it OTA via my Fusion card.

The FCC ruled that (2) $40 rebate coupons will be available for people who certify they do not subscribe to cable or satellite to purchase converters and cover 60-75% of the cost.

This is the stupidest thing ever. If you give $40 certificates for something, the price will simply be $40 more than what it otherwise would be. It's a $40 gift of public funds to retailers and electronics manufacturers. They think they can repeal the law of supply and demand. :rolleyes: