Without a (properly working) cablecard your TV will be able to tune only the unencrypted digital versions of the channels and the channel numbers will start with the RF frequency channel # (channel 84 is frequency 585MHz for example). There are some unencrypted HD channels that have PSIP information so, for example, CBSHD will likely get mapped to 2-1 by your TV which corresponds to the OTA channel number, but there aren't many of those. Many/most of the digital simulcast versions of the analog channels are encrypted which is probably why your TV can't tune them. With a proper functioning cablecard you would not see the "oddball" 84-1 channel numbers and you would be able to get the encrypted channels as well. The cablecard serves 2 purposes: Unencrypting digital channels according to level of service you are paying for and mapping the RF channel numbers to the friendly channel numbers assigned by Cox to each channel.

I am using a Tivo Series 3 DVR with cablecards and all channels in the lineup are digital and with the proper channel numbers. If you want full details on the Cox OC headend channel assignments you can consult my Cox OC headend spreadsheet link in my sig below.

I dont have a cable card. I have direct cable in. So shouldnt I be able to see the digital versions of less then the #97 channels with direct cable in as least for what is availabe on basic cable? I dont care about the encrypted or subscribed channels, just the digital versions of the basic cable. If the TV did not capture it during a setup scan, can I enter the RF channel number and see it, again with only the direct cable into the TV?
thanks for the headend info. thats a big help

I dont have a cable card. I have direct cable in. So shouldnt I be able to see the digital versions of less then the #97 channels with direct cable in as least for what is availabe on basic cable? I dont chare about the encrypted or subscribed channels, just the digital versions of the basic cable. If the TV did not capture it during a setup scan, can I enter the RF channel number and see it, again with only the direct cable into the TV?
thanks for the headend info. thats a big help You will only be able to see/tune UNENCRYPTED digital versions of the simulcast channels which is a small subset of channel number under 100. The Lineup by Freq tab of my spreadsheet has a column indicating unencrypted digital channels. So those you should be able to find via a scan or entering the RF number in your TV. For example channels 2-13 are unencrypted and you can find them on RF channels 90 & 82. There are several others on those and other RF frequencies unencrypted as well, but note there are many that are encrypted that you won't be able to see. The general rule is anything that is broadcast locally over the air Cox will re-transmit over cable unencrypted. Cable-only channels in general will be encrypted and you won't be able to tune them without cablecard.

Without a (properly working) cablecard your TV will be able to tune only the unencrypted digital versions of the channels and the channel numbers will start with the RF frequency channel # (channel 84 is frequency 585MHz for example). There are some unencrypted HD channels that have PSIP information so, for example, CBSHD will likely get mapped to 2-1 by your TV which corresponds to the OTA channel number, but there aren't many of those. Many/most of the digital simulcast versions of the analog channels are encrypted which is probably why your TV can't tune them. With a proper functioning cablecard you would not see the "oddball" 84-1 channel numbers and you would be able to get the encrypted channels as well. The cablecard serves 2 purposes: Unencrypting digital channels according to level of service you are paying for and mapping the RF channel numbers to the friendly channel numbers assigned by Cox to each channel.

I am using a Tivo Series 3 DVR with cablecards and all channels in the lineup are digital and with the proper channel numbers. If you want full details on the Cox OC headend channel assignments you can consult my Cox OC headend spreadsheet link in my sig below.

Im confused about the RF channel numbers. For example, on the headend table all of the following different channels are listed as channel 74, which cant be correct. When my TV does a scan, I have noticed that all the digital versions of the channels are of the 84-1 format, no digital channel is a two digit variety. Did they not populate the RF channel list yet on the headend table?

14 525 SI: CNN QAM-256 480i 74
16 525 SI: ESPN2 QAM-256 480i 74
46 525 SI: FOXNEWS QAM-256 480i 74
53 525 SI: TRAVEL QAM-256 480i 74
54 525 SI: TLCP QAM-256 480i 74
56 525 SI: TV FOOD QAM-256 480i 74
57 525 SI: HGTV QAM-256 480i 74
58 525 SI: LIFE QAM-256 480i 74
59 525 SI: E! QAM-256 480i 74
70 525 SI: NICK QAM-256 480i 74

If my DVR can get the digital version of a basic cable channel, why cant I get the same digital channel when using the direct basic cable input to my TV?

thanks again!

Im confused about the RF channel numbers. For example, on the headend table all of the following different channels are listed as channel 74, which cant be correct. When my TV does a scan, I have noticed that all the digital versions of the channels are of the 84-1 format, no digital channel is a two digit variety. Did they not populate the RF channel list yet on the headend table?

14 525 SI: CNN QAM-256 480i 74
16 525 SI: ESPN2 QAM-256 480i 74
46 525 SI: FOXNEWS QAM-256 480i 74
53 525 SI: TRAVEL QAM-256 480i 74
54 525 SI: TLCP QAM-256 480i 74
56 525 SI: TV FOOD QAM-256 480i 74
57 525 SI: HGTV QAM-256 480i 74
58 525 SI: LIFE QAM-256 480i 74
59 525 SI: E! QAM-256 480i 74
70 525 SI: NICK QAM-256 480i 74 I generally list only the RF channel number, but your TV will see them as 74-##. Different tuners assign different sub-channel numbers so it's not really useful for me to list RF sub-channel numbers. So all the above means is that CNN will be one of the sub-channels of 74. The above sample are not good for you to try as they are all encrypted so you will not be able to tune them. See my previous post for some channel numbers to try, for example 90-1 and 82-1 may get you something.

You will only be able to see/tune UNENCRYPTED digital versions of the simulcast channels which is a small subset of channel number under 100. The Lineup by Freq tab of my spreadsheet has a column indicating unencrypted digital channels. So those you should be able to find via a scan or entering the RF number in your TV. For example channels 2-13 are unencrypted and you can find them on RF channels 90 & 82. There are several others on those and other RF frequencies unencrypted as well, but note there are many that are encrypted that you won't be able to see. The general rule is anything that is broadcast locally over the air Cox will re-transmit over cable unencrypted. Cable-only channels in general will be encrypted and you won't be able to tune them without cablecard.
OK. That makes sense now. If I sort the cablehead table by digital and unencrypted I get a list that looks similar to what I have programmed now into the TV guide for recording purposes (again I cant record analog)....list pasted below. Or in other words, I can only see what my TV captured as digital unencrypted channels during the setup scan. Well, I guess that answers it then. I currently can see as many digital channels as are available to me without a cable card to do the unencryption.
Oh well. The alternate firewire recording is nice to offload the DVR recording load or when there are those infrequent times when I want to record 3 different programs at the time. I was recording last seasons 12 epsisodes of HD versions of Rome and it was taking up a lot of space on the DVR, thats why I was anxious to use the firewire recorder (Symbio) to offload some.
thanks again

117 707 KABC HD QAM-256 720p 99.3 U
117 711 FOX HD QAM-256 720p 99.4 U
117 807 ABC NEWS N QAM-256 480i 99.2 U
117 808 KABCDT3 QAM-256 480i 99 U
225 27 SI: TBS QAM-256 480i 24.6 U
237 25 SI: KAZA QAM-256 480i 26.4 U
237 28 SI: WGN QAM-256 480i 26.2 U
237 37 SI: HSN QAM-256 480i 26.1 U
237 40 SI: KTBN QAM-256 480i 26.7 U
237 42 SI: KFTR QAM-256 480i 26.5 U
237 95 SI: CSPAN QAM-256 480i 26.6 U
237 33 SI: QVC QAM-256 480i 26.9 U
237 3 SI: COX3 QAM-256 480i U
531 EOD QAM-256 480i 75 U
537 EOD QAM-256 480i 76 U
543 EOD QAM-256 480i 77 U
549 EOD QAM-256 480i 78 U
573 6 SI: KCET QAM-256 480i 82.1 U
573 10 SI: KOCE QAM-256 480i 82.3 U
573 12 SI: KDOC QAM-256 480i 82.6 U
573 13 SI: KCOP QAM-256 480i 82.7 U
573 29 SI: KWHY QAM-256 480i 82.9 U
573 32 SI: KXLA QAM-256 480i 82.11 U
573 34 SI: KMEX QAM-256 480i 82.4 U
573 35 SI: KSCI QAM-256 480i 82.8 U
573 36 SI: KVEA QAM-256 480i 82.5 U
573 41 SI: KRCA QAM-256 480i 82.10 U
585 704 NBC HD QAM-256 1088i 84.3 U
591 702 CBS HD QAM-256 1080i 85.3 U
597 705 KTLA HD QAM-256 1080i 86.1 U
597 710 KOCE HD QAM-256 1080i 86.2 U
621 2 SI: KCBS QAM-256 480i 90.3 U
621 4 SI: KNBC QAM-256 480i 90.4 U
621 5 SI: KTLA QAM-256 480i 90.5 U
621 7 SI: KABC QAM-256 480i 90.1 U
621 8 SI: KPXN QAM-256 480i 90.7 U
621 9 SI: KCAL QAM-256 480i 90.2 U
621 11 SI: KTTV QAM-256 480i 90.6 U
621 31 SI: LOCAL QAM-256 480i 90.9 U
621 38 SI: KLCS QAM-256 480i 90.8 U
621 97 SI: CSPAN2 QAM-256 480i 90.10 U
663 947-973 (26) RADIO QAM-256 480i U
675 STARZ EOD QAM-256 480i 104 U
681 EOD QAM-256 480i 105 U
687 EOD QAM-256 480i 106 U
693 EOD QAM-256 480i 107 U
723 1 EOD PREVIEW QAM-256 480i 112.5 U
723 30 SI: CSPAN2 QAM-256 480i 112.1 U
723 39 SI: PEG QAM-256 480i 112.3 U
735 500 PREVIEW QAM-256 480i 114.1 U
747 901-946 (46) MC901-46 QAM-256 480p 116 U

Does anyone know if there are any adapters for HDMI to VGA? I don't use the HDMI connection on my cable box. I also don't use one of my computer monitors anymore and thought it would be cool to have two displays for watching TV.

Anyone notice problems with TNT's HD broadcase of the lakers/heat game? I'm seeing white specs in the picture and I don't see this on the other HD channels.

Anyone notice problems with TNT's HD broadcase of the lakers/heat game? I'm seeing white specs in the picture and I don't see this on the other HD channels.
No. I didnt have any problems. It was a most excellent picture.

Why does Cox encrypt the basic service digitial channels that are now available as analog in the basic service? This is the lowest service offered an Im wondering why the digital versions of the channels are encrypted? I can get them as digital without a cable box then.

Why does Cox encrypt the basic service digitial channels that are now available as analog in the basic service? This is the lowest service offered an Im wondering why the digital versions of the channels are encrypted? I can get them as digital without a cable box then. Looks to me like the vast majority of channels (if not all) in the Limited Basic lineup (2->13 & 25->42) are unencrypted. It's the next level up with Expanded basic that channels are encrypted which makes sense.

Hey all, new to the site. Been doing a lot of reading but haven't found anything to what im looking for.

I recently picked up an INSIGNIA 32" LCD tv and am running the expanded cox cable service to it. For some weird reason i'm able to pick up ABC and FOX in HD. It's not coming in over the air as I imagine it should, but via the cable connection. Cox advertises that in order to receive local HD channels one must have the expanded basic cable. So if this is true, why can't I get the rest of the HD channels, and why can't I do this on my Samsung 50" that also has a OTA HD turner built in? I called COX tech support, and as usual, they were no help what so ever.

Intreper, you should be able to find them all. Some QAM tuners don't always pick up all channels in a scan. This previous post of mine in this thread details the unencrypted HD channel RF channel numbers:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7190815&&#post7190815
(the specific sub-channel numbers may vary from tuner to tuner but the posted RF frequency channels are correct)
The information above and much more can be found in my spreadsheet in sig link below.

Thanks for the help moyekj, i'll have to try those tonight and see what I can pick up.

I thought KCAL was planning to show all LAKERS games in HD? Since that one game I have yet to see it offered in HD again.

I thought KCAL was planning to show all LAKERS games in HD? Since that one game I have yet to see it offered in HD again. Must have been experimenting - I haven't seen a game in HD since either... in any case tonight the game is/was on ESPNHD as well and looked very good.

Well, after doing some reasearch last night, I came to find out that my new Samy does not have a QAM tuner, which explains why I can't pick up any of the local HD channels via cox cable. Im totally bummed. I hate cox's service, and really dont want to spend an extra $10 a month to "lease" a stupid stb just to see the local channels. I think i'll stick with my OTA antenna for now. Works pretty well. Only downside is needing to adjust it with every channel. No big deal, I only watch FOX or ABC = )

Anyone have any idea why COX will not sell their HD STB's? They did the same with their modems at one point, and now you can purchase them.

For $10 (plus $5 service fee) you get a 160Gb HD DVR STB, and are able to upgrade it for "free" as time goes on. When COX first rolled HD out, you could purchase a Moto 6208 at Genesis AV for about $400. I imagine a few folks are still stuck with that (non-DVR too) investment, while myself (I'm one of the very early HD adopters in SouthOC) and others have gone through 3 models since then, each with certain improvements and fixes, though none are perfect.

I have every service they offer except for the Movie Channels that do not offer HD (like Starz) and once you've had HD.....you'll find yourself watching all sorts of things on even the Discovery and INHD channels. :D

The DVR is great. Maybe not as good as Tivo, but its all I know and almost always does what I want...record all my first run series (24, Lost, The Unit, Boston Legal, Motocross, and much much more). And being paronoid, theres no tele line going back to them on what I watch! (though I'm sure then can do it another way! LOL!)

Of course HD is very different on a 61" compared to a 32". I expect I'll get something in the 30"-40" range for the Bedroom sometime, but IMO HD needs real size to get the impact. Otherwise you have to sit real close!

The DVR is great. Maybe not as good as Tivo, but its all I know and almost always does what I want...record all my first run series (24, Lost, The Unit, Boston Legal, Motocross, and much mouch more). I echo what JET says. I can't imagine having to watch live TV ever again, and once you are used to HD you try to avoid SD as much as possible. It got to the point now where there is so much HD material being broadcast that a 160GB drive was just not sufficient for my DVR needs which is one of the main reasons I replaced it with a Tivo S3 (it's really great to have 30 sec skip and OTA HD channels as well). If you have never used a DVR you don't know what you are missing and you will likely find that $15/month for dual tuner HD DVR capability is well worth it. I couldn't care less about buying a TV with a QAM tuner (or even an ATSC tuner) because I would never use it anyway - whatever HDTV I have will always have an HD DVR attached to it so the TV doesn't need it's own tuners. I like DVR technology so much I actually have a total of 6 DVRs (1 Tivo S3, 4 ReplayTVs, 1 HD PC tuner) for only 4 TVs in the house! Even with all those there are times when I really have to scramble to record everything I want - of course finding the time to watch everything is always hard too - luckily I only need about 5 hours sleep/day so that helps...

LOL, moyekj... do you have kids? Or at least kids that still live at home?

Man, my wife and I are lucky to have room on our DVR hard drive for maybe 1 or 2 shows for us. The rest are shows that my toddler loves. Caillou, Dragon Tales, Oobi, Sesame Street, Backyardigans, etc. and about 20 of each show. LOL

160 just isn't enough!!! :eek: I wish there was a way with Cox's DVR's to stream recordings from one DVR box to another DVR box or TV in another room.

I need to get 2-3 more DVR's!

Yes I have 2 young kids (7 and 8) but they don't (yet) need or care about HD capability - they get 1 ReplayTV for themselves but I reserve the right to use it for night time recordings. My wife gets 1 ReplayTV for herself - again I get the right to use it occasionally as well :). The other 2 ReplayTVs and the Tivo S3 and the PC tuner I'm the only one that uses. My wife doesn't really care about HD and doesn't bother with the HDTV setup in the living room despite me making it very easy with a universal remote with macros to do everything. I'm thinking I should try harder to get my wife interested in HD recordings so I can justify buying another Tivo S3 :) Multi-room viewing looks like will happen in some shape or form for the Tivo S3 presumably sometime this year at least for unencrypted content (which is 90%+ what I record anyway), so if/when that happens I will likely buy another S3, with or without wife approval.

No Lie! Wife and I never thought we needed one. (DVR) Then we got one. Now we can't imagine life without. Were always walking into the Master Bedroom and catching something on TV, and wishing we could "reverse it"....LOL! Same in my Car's.....I need AM/FM DVR! LOL!

And the first time you see a replay, you'll be amazed. My mind was used to VCR degradation of PQ. With DVR...None, Zip, Nada. Perfect as the original. (bad as the original too!) It's an eye opener for sure!


I have 4 boys ... age 5 to almost 18. Lucky they all have they're own TV's.....only the oldest one really grabs movies and records them. If the little ones knew how...I'd really have a problem! :D

In a house with 3 guys, 4 tvs, and all 4 are HD it is a struggle which to give a DVR (we only have 2)

I want to watch in my room and pause, so I have a DVR and my one roommate does, but that leaves out watching LOST/24 or any non live show on our big screen 60" in the living room. We still love that for HD Sports and a casual flipping through.

When is Cox going to have 1-2 500gig dvrs that everyone can access thru a slim non hard disk STB. That way we dont have to tape Lost on 3-4 tvs each week.

JET I love the AM/FM DVR comment, I am always rewinding 10 sec to see something again, and I listen to NPR/Music and want to hear it again and can't in the car.

I run the S-Video from my DVR to my bedroom so my 1 DVR feeds 2 TVs. OCAP should make things interesting. Tons of HD space and networking capabilities... I can hardly wait. All in set tops that you will be able to buy. I am sure the good stuff will cost some money, but that is just life.

JET I love the AM/FM DVR comment, I am always rewinding 10 sec to see something again, and I listen to NPR/Music and want to hear it again and can't in the car.

Get a Sirius satellite radio. ;) My wife and I both have ones for our cars which have the DVR capability of up to 30 mintues. And they have NPR as one of their channels. And a Sirius boombox for home.

just 4-5 months ago I said "Hell, no I'll never PAY for radio." Well, just like the DVR for TV I was hooked as soon as I plugged my Sirius in. Goodbye commercials and basically 5 channels that are actually in ENGLISH, hello 160 channels of anything and everything! Love it! :)

I am glad to see Cox using INHD for FSN HD Broadcasts some now. I am watching the UCLA game now. Was just going thru channels and found it on INHD. I will have to check more often now.

Is this something new to Cox, showing FSN HD broadcasts on INHD?

Bob in Mission Viejo

Is this something new to Cox, showing FSN HD broadcasts on INHD? No, they have been doing it for a year or more... problem is it's not reliable. Sometimes the broadcast is blacked out for the whole event, sometimes it starts late, occasionally it's on time.

MLB EXTRA innings on Directv only

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/20/sports/baseball/20base.html?_r=3&ref=baseball&oref=slogin&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

ajwees41

Get a Sirius satellite radio. ;) My wife and I both have ones for our cars which have the DVR capability of up to 30 mintues. And they have NPR as one of their channels. And a Sirius boombox for home.

just 4-5 months ago I said "Hell, no I'll never PAY for radio." Well, just like the DVR for TV I was hooked as soon as I plugged my Sirius in. Goodbye commercials and basically 5 channels that are actually in ENGLISH, hello 160 channels of anything and everything! Love it! :)


Yeah, I've been thinking of picking up XM sometime (they run a ALMS Sports Car Racing show every week) but I do love some of the local stations.....so I'm really waiting for Alpine to come out with a new unit with HD Radio built in like that $179 JVC unit. Satellite radio is cool, but not nearly the quality I'd like it to be.

Also, I hear you can call XM and get an unadvertised price of $66 a year....something like that. Need to find a protable unit so it can bounce with me between the M3 and the Ody Minivan. :D

Saw the Lakers game tonight and the following was advertised over and over:
Lakers games in HD on KCAL9DT starting Feb 2.
FINALLY! GREAT NEWS. I'm so glad I can record from Antenna now as Cox still does not carry this channel - of course Time Warner does...

Saw the Lakers game tonight and the following was advertised over and over:
Lakers games in HD on KCAL9DT starting Feb 2.
FINALLY! GREAT NEWS. I'm so glad I can record from Antenna now as Cox still does not carry this channel - of course Time Warner does...

That is great news. Thanks for sharing. :D

That is great news. Thanks for sharing. :D


Great news if you are able to pick up Channel 9 via over the air. Here in Mission Viejo no such luck :(

Now what are the chances Cox...........................................

Bob in Mission Viejo

Great news if you are able to pick up Channel 9 via over the air. Here in Mission Viejo no such luck :( I'm in South Mission Viejo (south of Oso Pkwy) and can pick it up using just a cheap $30 indoor amplified antenna sitting in the garage - it's not as strong a signal as other channels but the Tivo S3 does a good job of tuning even with weaker signals. Signal strength is in the 60s compared to most other HD channels in the 70s & 80s (out of 100). It would be much better if Cox carried the channel however to guarantee no signal-related problems as occasionally happens for me on that channel.

Anyone have problems with the remote response time? I thought it was fixed a while ago but I believe there was a recent release which is causing the remote to react slower to my commands, even the ff, rw and other PVR functions are slow.

Great news if you are able to pick up Channel 9 via over the air. Here in Mission Viejo no such luck :(

Now what are the chances Cox...........................................

Bob in Mission Viejo

I also live in Mission Viejo. I have to use a rooftop antenna to receive it though. The only channel I could receive with my basic RCA indoor antenna is NBC. It was very inconsistent though. I have considered buying an indoor Zenith silver sensor antenna. I have heard many good things about it and I am curious how well it would work here. So in the end it is possible to view KCAL in Mission Viejo. Its just a matter of pointing your antenna in the right direction.

I have Cox Limited Basic plan, the lowest cost, with direct Cox RF cable from the wall into my Sceptre X32GV with QAM tuner, how many HD channels can my TV get ?

I think I get only few HD channels: KAC 7-1, Fox 11-1, KTLA 86-1 and KOCE 86-2

I could not get these channels: CBS 85-3, NBC 84-3 and ABC 99-3. Are these channels encryted on Cox Limted plan ? Or they are not available with Limited plan ?

Thanks

I have Cox Limited Basic plan, the lowest cost, with direct Cox RF cable from the wall into my Sceptre X32GV with QAM tuner, how many HD channels can my TV get ?

I think I get only few HD channels: KAC 7-1, Fox 11-1, KTLA 86-1 and KOCE 86-2

I could not get these channels: CBS 85-3, NBC 84-3 and ABC 99-3. Are these channels encryted on Cox Limted plan ? Or they are not available with Limited plan ?

Thanks

Of limited basic you will get a 6 HD channels as shown below if your TV has a QAM tuner. You TV will see them at the channel number shown below. Several more channels will be recieved as unencrypted digital, but these are not HD but 480i. Your TV will probably capture both the analog and digital version (unencrypted) when it does it scan. YOu then simply delete the analog from channel selection so you will only tune to the better quality version. Its just the over the air HD stuff that you get.

Limited Basic ; QAM channel
2 CBS Affiliate; 84 CBS HD QAM-256 1080i
3 Unbiased legislative news. (9am - 3:45pm)
3 Local like no other (3:45pm - 9am)
4 NBC Affiliate ; 85.3 NBC HD QAM-256 1088i
5 The CW ; 84.3 KTLA HD QAM-256 1080i
6 Independent Network
7 ABC Affiliate ; 86.1 KABC HD QAM-256 720p
8 Independent Television
9 Independent Network
10 PBS Affiliate ; 99.3 KOCE HD QAM-256 1080i
11 FOX Affiliate ; 86.2 FOX HD QAM-256 720p
12 Independent Network
13 My13
25 Independent Network
27 Turner Broadcasting Systems
28 Independent Network
29 Spanish language programming
30 Programming for Mission Viejo (Mission Viejo Only)
30 Government Access (Irvine Only)
30 U.S. Senate, timely public affairs. (South)
31 Various Local Programming (M-T 8pm-12pm/ W-Su 4pm-7pm)
31 Leased programming (M-T 12pm-8pm/ W-Su 7pm-4pm)
32 Independent Network
33 Home Shopping
33 (Irvine Only)
34 Univision Affiliate
35 The number one Asian American Multi-language TV station serving its ethnic communities in Southern California.
36 Telemundo
37 Home Shopping Network
38 PBS Affiliate
39 Programming from Saddleback College
39 (Irvine Only)
40 Trinity Broadcasting Network
41 Independent Network
42 Independent Network
95 U.S. House of Representatives, timely public affairs.
97 Program listings and previews 24 hours a day. (South)
97 U.S. Senate, timely public affairs. (Irvine & MV Only)

Thanks Guyheberts,
I will check these HD channels:
2 CBS Affiliate; 84 CBS HD QAM-256 1080i
4 NBC Affiliate ; 85.3 NBC HD QAM-256 1088i
5 The CW ; 84.3 KTLA HD QAM-256 1080i
7 ABC Affiliate ; 86.1 KABC HD QAM-256 720p
10 PBS Affiliate ; 99.3 KOCE HD QAM-256 1080i
11 FOX Affiliate ; 86.2 FOX HD QAM-256 720p

My TV has QAM tuner and I get these HD channels: ABC 7.1, FOX 11.1, KTLA 86-1 and KOCE 86-2. I will re-scan again to see if my TV will get HD channels for CBS and NBC affiliates.

For what it's worth, I'm on the next tier up (Limited Basic + Expanded) and these are the digital channels I get when I connect direct from the wall (Cox South Orange County):
7-1 KABC-HD
7-2 KABC-SD (different programming from the analog channel)
11-1 KTTV-HD
24-45 TBS-SD
26-3 Cox3-SD
26-18 CSPAN-SD
26-19 HSN-SD
26-25 QVC-SD
26-54 WGN-SD
26-64 KAZA-SD
26-65 KMEX-SD
26-69 KTBN-SD
82-62 KMEX-SD
82-63 KOCE-SD
82-66 KDOC-SD
82-68 KSCI-SD
82-71 KVEA-SD
82-72 KWHY-SD
82-73 KRCA-SD
82-74 KXLA-SD
82-80 KCOP-SD
82-84 KCET-SD (not their HD channel, which is programmed differently)
84-2 KNBC-HD
85-3 KCBS-HD
86-1 KOCE-HD (programmed different from their analog channel)
86-2 KTLA-HD
86-6 On Demand Ad-SD
90-24 CSPAN2-SD
90-31 PubAcc-SD
90-67 KPXN-SD
90-70 KLCS-SD
90-82 KNBC-SD
90-83 KTLA-SD
90-85 KCAL-SD
90-86 KCBS-SD
90-87 KTTV-SD
90-88 KABC-SD
96-14 TV Guide Channel-SD
102-1 to 27 Audio only - Radio stations
109-12 Sports On Demand Ad-SD
112-4 CSPAN2-SD
112-5 Saddleback College-SD
112-12 Mission Viejo TV-SD
113-91 Asian channel-SD
114-9 On Demand Ad-SD
115-16 NBA-TV-SD
116-5 to 51 Music Choice - audio with video stills

Anybody else having issues with skipped channnels randomly changing and series recordings not recording? I have been out of town since Sunday night. Everything recorded fine on Sunday and Monday nights, but all my Tuesday recordings didn't happen. The skipped channels are all changed now, too - some added, some deleted. I have three DVRs and all have the same issue.

Anybody else having issues with skipped channnels randomly changing and series recordings not recording? I have been out of town since Sunday night. Everything recorded fine on Sunday and Monday nights, but all my Tuesday recordings didn't happen. The skipped channels are all changed now, too - some added, some deleted. I have three DVRs and all have the same issue.
no problem at all. Two different DVR, two different tuners.

Anybody else having issues with skipped channnels randomly changing and series recordings not recording? I have been out of town since Sunday night. Everything recorded fine on Sunday and Monday nights, but all my Tuesday recordings didn't happen. The skipped channels are all changed now, too - some added, some deleted. I have three DVRs and all have the same issue.

I had the exact same problem. 2 DVR's. Tuesday night, no recordings. Looking at the DVR List data, it appears that all my channel numbers got changed for scheduled recordings. For example, programs set to record on Fox listed Fox as channel 958. As a result, all my series recordings I had set up were ruined. Interestingly, the data even changed for programs recorded before this glitch, so that the data for Prison Break (recorded Monday) says it was recorded on channel 958.

Something crazy happened with Cox last night.

I also live in Mission Viejo. I have to use a rooftop antenna to receive it though. The only channel I could receive with my basic RCA indoor antenna is NBC. It was very inconsistent though. I have considered buying an indoor Zenith silver sensor antenna. I have heard many good things about it and I am curious how well it would work here. So in the end it is possible to view KCAL in Mission Viejo. Its just a matter of pointing your antenna in the right direction.


Well I wouldn't say its only a matter of antenna direction, I'm located inside Los Alisos - Trabuco - Alicia area of MV.....up high....but behind me is a massive slope to the top street....I mean massive, I have to yell to talk to anyone up there. Behind them is hills. All of those cover the North to East direction. I've not tried it yet (want to since my new JVC does have a built in Tuner) but would be real surprised if I got anything. And trying to pick up San Diego doesn't look much better either. (more hills ringing around)

If the X-Mitters's were located on Catalina.....not that would rock! :D

I had the exact same problem. 2 DVR's. Tuesday night, no recordings. Looking at the DVR List data, it appears that all my channel numbers got changed for scheduled recordings. For example, programs set to record on Fox listed Fox as channel 958. As a result, all my series recordings I had set up were ruined. Interestingly, the data even changed for programs recorded before this glitch, so that the data for Prison Break (recorded Monday) says it was recorded on channel 958.

Something crazy happened with Cox last night.


Yes, i am going to call tech support. I would rather not go through re-doing all the skipped channels on 3 DVRs and then re-doing all my series recordings, just to have it happen again. I'm just really surprised this hasn't affected any one else. I'm confident if it happened to my 3 DVRs and your 2, then it has happened to others (or will).

Okay, I just called tech support. It's been a while since I called them. They have all kinds of automated stuff, which is cool for some, but man it takes a while to get to a live person. Anyway, they have had no other complaints and show no outages or service done in my area (Irvine - Jamboree and Michelson), so, in other words, it may happen again - great.

Westebeverly - are you in Irvine?

Okay, I just called tech support. It's been a while since I called them. They have all kinds of automated stuff, which is cool for some, but man it takes a while to get to a live person. Anyway, they have had no other complaints and show no outages or service done in my area (Irvine - Jamboree and Michelson), so, in other words, it may happen again - great.

Westebeverly - are you in Irvine?

Yes, I am. I'm not at all pleased to find out they claim to know nothing about it.

Well, I called Cox and they weren't exactly helpful. They made a "note" on my account. That's great except that this is problem that doesn't appear limited to me, and it might of interest to them on a broader scale. At the very least, the fact that the same issue replicated itself on 2 DVR's in my house ought to tell them something went wrong somewhere.

I'm sure it will happen again someday, and I'm going to wish even more that an HD Tivo was competitively priced.

I don't think I set any of my DVR's to record anything on Tuesday so it didn't seem to affect me. One thing I would like to know about is deleted recordings not being totally deleted. It seems like when I delete a HD program the file space is only available after I manually reset my box. SD works fine and the space is available the moment I delete the show. Very annoying. I also wish they would enable external hard drive ability. They wouldn't have to "officially" support it. It would just be cool to have it enabled.

Well, I called Cox and they weren't exactly helpful. They made a "note" on my account. That's great except that this is problem that doesn't appear limited to me, and it might of interest to them on a broader scale. At the very least, the fact that the same issue replicated itself on 2 DVR's in my house ought to tell them something went wrong somewhere.

I'm sure it will happen again someday, and I'm going to wish even more that an HD Tivo was competitively priced.

Yes, they did the same for my account, but at least the guy admitted that it won't really do much - gee, thanks for that. I am confident it has happened to more than just us; I just don't think the traffic is very high on this particular thread. Yes, issues like this, as well as great reports from folks like moyekj, make HD TiVo look more and more compelling. It would be tough to cough up the dough for three, though. :eek:

I don't think I set any of my DVR's to record anything on Tuesday so it didn't seem to affect me. One thing I would like to know about is deleted recordings not being totally deleted. It seems like when I delete a HD program the file space is only available after I manually reset my box. SD works fine and the space is available the moment I delete the show. Very annoying. I also wish they would enable external hard drive ability. They wouldn't have to "officially" support it. It would just be cool to have it enabled.

If you use skipped channels and set your guide to not display ("use always") skipped channels, you will definitely notice if it affected you. Also, look in the future in the guide. In my case, my series recordings, even though they still exist, no longer show red. However, when I re-created the same series recording, that works. What a pain!

BTW, I am thinking that is why not many have spoken up; they either didn't have Tue recordings, or they haven't gone to watch their "non-existent" Tue recordings.

I'm with you on the free space. moyekj has written a lot about this in the past and supposedly it is not as much of an issue any more, but I have three different models and it happens to me on all three. Vote me in for external hard drive ability.

FYI I had a few recordings via my Tivo Series 3 on Tuesday night that recorded fine and upcoming schedule looks fine as well - no channel number changes or any other anomalies. So whatever happened either it didn't affect Mission Viejo (TheRock is in MV as well) or perhaps does not affect cableCARD devices like the Tivo S3 the same way. In the past if there were intentional channel changes or additions the Tivo has always had a message notifying me of the change (a nice touch).

It will be interesting around June 2007. Per FCC regulations that's the date when any newly deployed set top boxes by the big cable companies will have to use cableCARDs. Likely this means that the next generation of boxes for OC will be the Motorola DCH64xx/DCH34xx series. Presumably by the time Cox OC does deploy such boxes there will be an automated method of installing cableCARDs (using web or phone) instead of the current requirement for onsite visits by techs.

FYI I had a few recordings via my Tivo Series 3 on Tuesday night that recorded fine and upcoming schedule looks fine as well - no channel number changes or any other anomalies. So whatever happened either it didn't affect Mission Viejo (TheRock is in MV as well) or perhaps does not affect cableCARD devices like the Tivo S3 the same way. In the past if there were intentional channel changes or additions the Tivo has always had a message notifying me of the change (a nice touch).

Yes, I don't suspect it is a hardware issue, or at least it is safe to say it wouldn't have affected cable cards, as all the strange occurences appear to be in the software. Thus, it appears to be an issued that affected the operating system. Either way, it is very strange that it would affect only Irvine, and then, at that, only a couple of us. One of my DVRs is the 34xx series and the other two are of the 64xx series, yet the same thing happened to all three. Either way, because I didn't actually lose the series recordings (they just don't work), at least I can write them down, delete them all, and then re-create them one by one - on all three DVRs. If I have to do this again, then I will really raise a stink. I have been using these moto boxes for years and have never had anything like this happen before, save perhaps the seemingly regular DVR break-downs that I have. I just hope this is an isolated incident. Of course, all of us have lived through numerous issues with these in the past, hence the reason you and others have gone to HD TiVo. I do have TiVo, just not HD. As much as I love my TiVo, I have become an HD snob and, until I can afford to upgrade all three DVRs, I just can't stomach watching SD, even though I absolutely love the TiVo interface.

Of course, all of us have lived through numerous issues with these in the past, hence the reason you and others have gone to HD TiVo. Actually I still think the DCT64xx w/ Passport Echo is now a good and stable solution in general (after about 2 years of maturing). My main motivation to go with S3 was for bigger hard drive (which you can also upgrade yourself easily) and OTA recording capability. The supposedly impending move away from Passport Echo to Iguide software also was a factor. Since you like Tivo and currently rent 3 Cox DVRs why not give 1 back to Cox and buy 1 S3 for now? Prices have come down to $600s for the S3 already and you can pre-pay for 3 years of service for $300 (which works out to $8.33/month for service).

Since you like Tivo and currently rent 3 Cox DVRs why not give 1 back to Cox and buy 1 S3 for now? Prices have come down to $600s for the S3 already and you can pre-pay for 3 years of service for $300 (which works out to $8.33/month for service).

Not a bad idea and I hadn't realized the prices had come down that far. I actually have a life-time service, which I believe you can transfer to the S3 for $199, and then, on top of that, you keep your standard service on the SD TiVo for a full year. Thanks for the tip! While I know it is not the focus of this thread, without having to get fully involved in the S3 thread(s), do you know if the S3 outputs component, HDMI (or DVI), composite, and S-Video simultaneously? Having multiple component sources and ten televisions, I have quite complex needs for my sources.

Not a bad idea and I hadn't realized the prices had come down that far. I actually have a life-time service, which I believe you can transfer to the S3 for $199, and then, on top of that, you keep your standard service on the SD TiVo for a full year. Thanks for the tip! While I know it is not the focus of this thread, without having to get fully involved in the S3 thread(s), do you know if the S3 outputs component, HDMI (or DVI), composite, and S-Video simultaneously? Having multiple component sources and ten televisions, I have quite complex needs for my sources. Yes the lifetime transfer offer was extended so you could take advantage of it. The S-video & composite outputs are always active no matter what. HDMI and component do work simultaneously except for certain protected content (more about that in the Tivo S3 forums if you need the gory details).

Yes the lifetime transfer offer was extended so you could take advantage of it. The S-video & composite outputs are always active no matter what. HDMI and component do work simultaneously except for certain protected content (more about that in the Tivo S3 forums if you need the gory details).


Thanks, I'll give it a look. They really should be giving you a commission on these things.

I rarely use the on demand feature but I tried earlier today. It was insanely slow. I would click a button and wait literally 2 or 3 seconds before it would respond onscreen. I decided to just watch something live instead.

I do think they should stop using false advertising though. I saw a promo for The Chronicles of Narnia being offered in HD for on demand. It was nowhere to be seen when I searched for it. They also need to adjust the way things are displayed. If a title is too long they simply cut out the end. When they do that you cant tell which version is which (sometimes widescreen is offered). Very annoying.

Why is it that Comcast can offer many titles in HD for ondemand and COX doesn't offer any?

okay, latest update on the skipped channels / lost series recordings issue:

I got home tonight and all series recordings are working again on all my DVRs. However, after re-setting up all my skipped channels again last night, all my DVRs are again showing the wrong channels skipped. Perhaps Cox undid tonight what the did last night and my "fixed" skpped channels reverted back. Perhaps I should have not updated them last night and let a day pass. At least I didn't go through all the trouble of re-setting up all my series recordings. Boy is this a strange one, especially since Cox (and aparenlty most other subscribers) knows nothing about it.

I rarely use the on demand feature but I tried earlier today. It was insanely slow. I would click a button and wait literally 2 or 3 seconds before it would respond onscreen. I decided to just watch something live instead.

I do think they should stop using false advertising though. I saw a promo for The Chronicles of Narnia being offered in HD for on demand. It was nowhere to be seen when I searched for it. They also need to adjust the way things are displayed. If a title is too long they simply cut out the end. When they do that you cant tell which version is which (sometimes widescreen is offered). Very annoying.

Why is it that Comcast can offer many titles in HD for ondemand and COX doesn't offer any?

I just gave it a try, as I haven't used it in a while. Even though they improved it some, I have always hated the interface. It is painfully slow. Now I can't even get it to come up. It is such a bunch of junk. I would definitely use it more if it had a slick (and quick) GUI. HD on demand? I hadn't heard about that, but, then again, I can't get in to it (on any of my DVRs mind you) to see if it is there. I would suspect Comcast has more bandwidth.

westebeverly - I just found another OC Cox customer lurking around the Cox Cable 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport forum that had the same issue as us. Obviously, this probably affected many others. Invited him to come to this forum and share in our pain.

For what it's worth, I'm on the next tier up (Limited Basic + Expanded) and these are the digital channels I get when I connect direct from the wall (Cox South Orange County):
7-1 KABC-HD
7-2 KABC-SD (different programming from the analog channel)
11-1 KTTV-HD
24-45 TBS-SD
26-3 Cox3-SD
26-18 CSPAN-SD
26-19 HSN-SD
26-25 QVC-SD
26-54 WGN-SD
26-64 KAZA-SD
26-65 KMEX-SD
26-69 KTBN-SD
82-62 KMEX-SD
82-63 KOCE-SD
82-66 KDOC-SD
82-68 KSCI-SD
82-71 KVEA-SD
82-72 KWHY-SD
82-73 KRCA-SD
82-74 KXLA-SD
82-80 KCOP-SD
82-84 KCET-SD (not their HD channel, which is programmed differently)
84-2 KNBC-HD
85-3 KCBS-HD
86-1 KOCE-HD (programmed different from their analog channel)
86-2 KTLA-HD
86-6 On Demand Ad-SD
90-24 CSPAN2-SD
90-31 PubAcc-SD
90-67 KPXN-SD
90-70 KLCS-SD
90-82 KNBC-SD
90-83 KTLA-SD
90-85 KCAL-SD
90-86 KCBS-SD
90-87 KTTV-SD
90-88 KABC-SD
96-14 TV Guide Channel-SD
102-1 to 27 Audio only - Radio stations
109-12 Sports On Demand Ad-SD
112-4 CSPAN2-SD
112-5 Saddleback College-SD
112-12 Mission Viejo TV-SD
113-91 Asian channel-SD
114-9 On Demand Ad-SD
115-16 NBA-TV-SD
116-5 to 51 Music Choice - audio with video stills

Thanks a lot for the list of Digital channels with Cox cable.

This is the list I had been looking for a while. Since I have only Limited Basic and I connect the RF cable direct from the wall to the TV, my TV get five (5) HD channels as listed above, the one HD channel missing is 85-3 KCBS. I am not sure if the problem is with my TV or with cox cable or channel 85-3 KCBS is not included in the Limited Basic. I will contact Cox cable to find out why channel 85-3 KCBS is not in the channels lineup for Limited Basic.

westebeverly - I just found another OC Cox customer lurking around the Cox Cable 6412 w/ Pioneer Passport forum that had the same issue as us. Obviously, this probably affected many others. Invited him to come to this forum and share in our pain.

Bad news: I had the exact same problem tonight. No shows recorded. All channel numbers changed on series recordings, which thwarted any recordings.

Good news: Called Cox at 11:00 pm. Rep said they had been having problems with DVRs spontaneously rewriting data including channel numbers and they sent patches to the boxes. She rebooted my boxes and said it should be solved. We will see....

At least the problem has been acknowledged and some attempt has been made to address.

Bad news: I had the exact same problem tonight. No shows recorded. All channel numbers changed on series recordings, which thwarted any recordings.

Good news: Called Cox at 11:00 pm. Rep said they had been having problems with DVRs spontaneously rewriting data including channel numbers and they sent patches to the boxes. She rebooted my boxes and said it should be solved. We will see....

At least the problem has been acknowledged and some attempt has been made to address.

that probably explains why all mine are working tonight - save for having to redo all the skipped channels. they must have sent the "patch" to my DVR. I hope yours works now, too.

If you use skipped channels and set your guide to not display ("use always") skipped channels, you will definitely notice if it affected you. Also, look in the future in the guide. In my case, my series recordings, even though they still exist, no longer show red. However, when I re-created the same series recording, that works. What a pain!

BTW, I am thinking that is why not many have spoken up; they either didn't have Tue recordings, or they haven't gone to watch their "non-existent" Tue recordings.

I'm with you on the free space. moyekj has written a lot about this in the past and supposedly it is not as much of an issue any more, but I have three different models and it happens to me on all three. Vote me in for external hard drive ability.
its always been that you will often not see a several day in future recording not showing up as red bar. I have noticed that as its closer it will then show up correctly.

its always been that you will often not see a several day in future recording not showing up as red bar. I have noticed that as its closer it will then show up correctly.

Not sure about this. As I look at it now, I see red-highlighted future recordings as far out as the guide goes, about 6 days. that is always the way it has been. But, either way, you should at least see them for the same day, which I didn't before the "supposed" fix came on Wed.

that probably explains why all mine are working tonight - save for having to redo all the skipped channels. they must have sent the "patch" to my DVR. I hope yours works now, too.

I had some series recordings not showing up, and 'Favorites' all messed up on Tue. night. Fortunately, I was too lazy to re-program them and everything was back to normal on Wed. night.

Also, during the last month or so, I've had some 'subscription bug' recording errors. I thought that was all cleared up.

I had some series recordings not showing up, and 'Favorites' all messed up on Tue. night. Fortunately, I was too lazy to re-program them and everything was back to normal on Wed. night.

Also, during the last month or so, I've had some 'subscription bug' recording errors. I thought that was all cleared up.

Now I know it wasn't an isolated incident to just Irvine. That is what I thought. I do think it was random, which seems strange considering we don't control the version of software we are using, so it should affect all equally. As for the subscription bug, it does rear its ugly head from time to time; it is just a lot more rare. For those of us who suffered through it before, it may feel better, but it is not totally gone. I probably see it about once a day when I'm changing channels (on any of my 3 DVRs), but it only affects my recordings once in a great while.

I had some series recordings not showing up, and 'Favorites' all messed up on Tue. night. Fortunately, I was too lazy to re-program them and everything was back to normal on Wed. night.

Also, during the last month or so, I've had some 'subscription bug' recording errors. I thought that was all cleared up.
every once in a while I get the subcription window, but all I do is change the channel and back again and its gone. No other problems with favorites or recording scheduling.

Does COX bitshape or somehow adjust the HD content from the movie channels they offer? Is that why I have seen serious macro blocking and pixelation (Example: Wedding Crashers montage scene) on a regular basis? I was recently looking at some of my past recordings of HBOHD and ShowtimeHD (before the bastards enabled the 5c) and noticed that several times a 1hr45min - 2hr HD movie was only around 8 gigs. Isn't that about half of what it should be? NBCHD and the other local channels are around 7gigs for an hour from COX. How is it that HBOHD and ShowtimeHD are around 4.5gigs?

Being a satellite broadcast HBO HD and others tend to have lower bitrates than terrestrial broadcasts such as our local NBC HD. For example see:
http://broadcastengineering.com/digital_handbook/broadcasting_hdtv_data_multiplexing_5/
Satellite services have a bigger problem in that their transponders are expensive to lease or own. So, they also have an incentive to cut the bit rate and keep costs down by offering more program streams in their 27Mb/s channels. For instance, HBO transmits its 1080i HD movies and live programs at 15Mb/s — a 27 percent reduction from the optimum terrestrial bit rate of 18Mb/s — making it easier for satellite and cable systems to add other channels. And there is evidence that data rate may dip as low as 12Mb/s by the time it gets to your living room. 1080i HD is compressed 83:1 at 12Mb/s, while 720p is packed down by 74:1. I doubt Cox OC does much bitrate shaping to further reduce the bitrate, but in any case it's a lower bitrate than NBC HD from the source. Also, individual programs can vary pretty widely according to how they were encoded to mpeg2.

Being a satellite broadcast HBO HD and others tend to have lower bitrates than terrestrial broadcasts such as our local NBC HD. For example see:
http://broadcastengineering.com/digital_handbook/broadcasting_hdtv_data_multiplexing_5/
I doubt Cox OC does much bitrate shaping to further reduce the bitrate, but in any case it's a lower bitrate than NBC HD from the source. Also, individual programs can vary pretty widely according to how they were encoded to mpeg2.

Thanks for the info and link. I guess I just need to get a better job so I can afford a HD DVD/Blu-Ray Player. It would be nice to watch movies the way there were meant to be seen(without pixelation, breakups, macroblocking). The chance of the cable/satellite companies improving is so small its laughable. At this point I am almost scared to request more HD channels in fear that COX will downrezz and bitstarve even more.

5C is NOT set on ABCHD (707) at least here in Mission Viejo. I'm able to record it with my PC capture card and Tivo S3 cablecard diagnostics also show it as unencrypted with 5C=0.


did you try this recently? i was previously able to record 707 hd abc with no problems via the firewire connection on their motorola tuner. but i didnt try since nov 2006. now getting ready for new lost episodes, was trying to capture lost commercial, and discovered it is now encrypted! :(. all the other broadcast channels are free and clear, and now since they got rid of inhd 1 & 2, both were unrecordable, the new single inhd channel is recordable. i have tried on multiple days times, and tried rebooting box. i also reside in mission viejo.

did you try this recently? i was previously able to record 707 hd abc with no problems via the firewire connection on their motorola tuner. but i didnt try since nov 2006. now getting ready for new lost episodes, was trying to capture lost commercial, and discovered it is now encrypted! . all the other broadcast channels are free and clear, and now since they got rid of inhd 1 & 2, both were unrecordable, the new single inhd channel is recordable. i have tried on multiple days times, and tried rebooting box. i also reside in mission viejo. Yes, it's still unencrypted. I just captured a 2 minute sample without issue with my Fusion 5 HDTV USB capture card. Attached gif shows TSReaderLite statistics on the 2 minute transport stream capture.

It isn't the 5c protection being the problem with ABCHD. 5c protection indeed is NOT active on ABCHD. Another form or protection IS active. When you go the the diagnostic page (turning off the box and immediately hitting the SELECT button twice) and click on "CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS" you can see that for ABCHD it says: CCI: 0x02 and RC Flag: 0x01. Anything other than 0x00 in either of those items will make viewing and recording to PC through firewire impossible. I don't know why this was enabled recently. I don't see how it is legal. With that said I am almost scared to call COX in fear that they will enable it for other channels. Very annoying. Thankfully I still have my TV Tuner Card that I have connected to a rooftop antenna to record things from ABCHD. I am going to think about this some more and possibly call COX soon.

That's funny in Omaha it's switched the local channels are flagged CCI 02 and the HD locals are flaged CCI 00,

ajwees41

CCI=0x02 means "copy once" and is part of the 5C protection scheme. So I guess if you are sure about these readings then even though it's unencrypted the CCI flag is being set to 0x02. I would put in a call to Cox OC to have them correct this as it should be 0x00 for all local OTA terrestrial retransmission channels. i.e. They should not be limiting how many copies you can make of public OTA broadcast material.

CCI=0x02 means "copy once" and is part of the 5C protection scheme. So I guess if you are sure about these readings then even though it's unencrypted the CCI flag is being set to 0x02. I would put in a call to Cox OC to have them correct this as it should be 0x00 for all local OTA terrestrial retransmission channels. i.e. They should not be limiting how many copies you can make of public OTA broadcast material.


Are there any specific laws or rules that I should quote? Should I phrase things a certain way? Should I ask they make the change or demand it? Should I say how this problem is negatively affecting me or should I just keep it simple and state the facts? I am not very familiar with the rules of copy protection or the rules of recording from firewire.

Are there any specific laws or rules that I should quote? Should I phrase things a certain way? Should I ask they make the change or demand it? Should I say how this problem is negatively affecting me or should I just keep it simple and state the facts? I am not very familiar with the rules of copy protection or the rules of recording from firewire. Closest thing I found was here in Electronic Code of Federal Regulations - Title 47 (Telcommunication) PART 76--MULTICHANNEL VIDEO AND CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE:
http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=ecfr;sid=a58000d1617cf4fac74011d94cfab63f;rgn=div6;vie w=text;node=47%3A4.0.1.1.4.23;idno=47;cc=ecfr
In section (d) of 76.1909 Redistribution control of unencrypted digital terrestrial broadcast content.
(d) Unmarked content. Where a multichannel video programming distributor retransmits unencrypted digital terrestrial broadcast content that is not marked with the broadcast flag, the multichannel video programming distributor shall not encode such content to restrict its redistribution.
Personally I would be very polite about it especially since it may well be an honest mistake.

Thanks for the info. I am just trying to figure out what to say. Should I say I believe they have made a mistake? That someone accidentally flipped a wrong switch or setting.

Mock conversation:

"I have been having a problem recently. It seems that someone at your company incorrectly enabled a setting for ABCHD. The new setting makes viewing and recording over firewire impossible. It is my understanding that all unencrypted digital terrestrial broadcast content must have no restrictions or flags. I can see these flags when I check the Diagnostics page on my cable box. It reads: CCI: 0x02 and RC Flag: 0x01. Both of those settings should be 0x00. Can you please fix this oversight? Thank you for your time."


I was thinking of also asking about the 5c protection on the premium movie channels at the same time but I think I will call later for that.

Thanks for the info. I am just trying to figure out what to say. Should I say I believe they have made a mistake? That someone accidentally flipped a wrong switch or setting.

Mock conversation:

"I have been having a problem recently. It seems that someone at your company incorrectly enabled a setting for ABCHD. The new setting makes viewing and recording over firewire impossible. It is my understanding that all unencrypted digital terrestrial broadcast content must have no restrictions or flags. I can see these flags when I check the Diagnostics page on my cable box. It reads: CCI: 0x02 and RC Flag: 0x01. Both of those settings should be 0x00. Can you please fix this oversight? Thank you for your time."


I was thinking of also asking about the 5c protection on the premium movie channels at the same time but I think I will call later for that. Sounds good to me on the mock conversation. 5c protection on premium channels is expected since they should be passing along flags from the content provider which they probably were not in error before - I don't think you have much ground to stand on there.

Now I know it wasn't an isolated incident to just Irvine. That is what I thought. I do think it was random, which seems strange considering we don't control the version of software we are using, so it should affect all equally. As for the subscription bug, it does rear its ugly head from time to time; it is just a lot more rare. For those of us who suffered through it before, it may feel better, but it is not totally gone. I probably see it about once a day when I'm changing channels (on any of my 3 DVRs), but it only affects my recordings once in a great while.

Turns out a co-worker had this happen to him last week in Laguna Niguel. He took his 6412 box back to Cox and got a 3416 box on Friday, and all is working well now, except he missed a bunch of shows last week.

My box in Irvine never had any issues. Strange.

Watching a recording of Lakers & Knicks tonight on KCAL9DT and it's in beautiful 1080i HD resolution. Looks like they started broadcasting the games in HD ahead of schedule (originally Feb 2 was the date). Looks like all KCAL9DT Lakers games will be in HD from now on.

Turns out a co-worker had this happen to him last week in Laguna Niguel. He took his 6412 box back to Cox and got a 3416 box on Friday, and all is working well now, except he missed a bunch of shows last week.

My box in Irvine never had any issues. Strange.

One of my boxes is a 3416, so it wasn't exempt from the issue. It is strange how it affected some people and not others, though. All is good now.

How are you getting kcal9DT? I am in Irvine with Cox and HD but I can't get KCAL9HD. Thanks!

How are you getting kcal9DT? I am in Irvine with Cox and HD but I can't get KCAL9HD. Thanks! This was discussed a few posts ago in this thread. I have the dual tuner Tivo Series 3 HD DVR which can combine both cable and OTA inputs together, so I'm recording KCAL9HD from antenna source. I live in South Mission Viejo and was pleasantly surprised I can pick it up with fairly good signal strength (I have it up to 75% signal strength now) with a cheapo indoor amplified antenna from Lowe's.

Would be nice if Cox could carry this channel too but given the current bandwidth constraints I doubt we'll be getting many new HD channels any time soon unless it's at the expense of other dropped channels - dropping another analog channel as was done a few months ago to make room for MHD would really help out a lot. Come to think of it last I checked MHD was all by itself right now so there is room on that QAM for at least 1 more HD channel. Personally since I can already receive that channel I'd rather Cox add something else :)

I guess not ALL Lakers games are going to be offered in HD just yet. I wasn't able to watch last night but I tuned in for tonights game. No HD.

So has anyone compiled a list of the best HD channels that COX OC doesn't offer? I think its about time I email them again with a request for more HD channels.

CinemaxHD, HDNET, HDNET Movies, StarzHD, FSN HD, FOOD HD, TMC HD, KCAL HD, and KCETHD.

Those are the ones that came to the top of my head.

I guess not ALL Lakers games are going to be offered in HD just yet. I wasn't able to watch last night but I tuned in for tonights game. No HD. They are still advertising Feb 2 (Friday) as the start date, so I guess the New York game was another test. In the same advertisement it states Time Warner is going to be carrying the channel on 409, again ahead of Cox.

They are still advertising Feb 2 (Friday) as the start date, so I guess the New York game was another test. In the same advertisement it states Time Warner is going to be carrying the channel on 409, again ahead of Cox.

I still don't get it. Seems every TV being sold nowadays is HD yet channels available for viewing are so few (or being added so slowly...). Cox needs to in our area where I know many HD TV's are being sold and watched, expand their HD offerings. They are probably behind Time Warner now. There has to a way..........

Bob in Mission Viejo

TheRock, I did some detective work to figure out why you couldn't firewire capture ABCHD anymore and why the DCT was reporting CCI=0x02. It looks like our local ABC broadcaster has enabled some kind of broadcast flag in their transmission. So the good news is that Cox is not to blame here -- they are simply passing along what they receive from broadcaster as they are supposed to do. Bad news is ABC is setting the flag, so not sure exactly how to proceed.

For more details on this and my analysis to reach my conclusion:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4836037&&#post4836037

This is the Comcast San Fran thread discussing the same issue there where the detective work was done a while back:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=8971583&&#post8971583

Also, one more piece of information I gathered is that the Moto boxes with recent firmware are the only ones that have a problem. Apparently when the Broadcast Flag is present the Moto boxes are fabricating a CCI=0x02 value which hinders the firewire capture. With older firmware that was not the case. So it could well be ABC has been broadcasting with the flag for a while now, but the problem only surfaced with the last firmware upgrade. PC capture cards are not affected at all, which kind of defeats the whole purpose for the broadcaster to set the flag in the 1st place...

Thanks for the additional information moyekj.

I was planning to call COX later today. I still might call them but not for this issue. I would really like to have the space from deleted HD shows available without having to manually reset my boxes.

How is it legal for ABC to do this? This is a free OTA station. Aren't there laws against this practice? I can understand premium cable channels enabling security but not ABC. This sounds like they don't want people to record there shows. They want them to spend $2-5 bucks per episode on Itunes. Greedy Mickey Mouse bastards.

TheRock just to confirm for sure the Broadcast Flag (BF) affects things please try firewire capture of the following:
807 -> Also has BF - should not work.
7 -> This originates from analog broadcast and is encoded to digital at or before headend - no BF, so should work
711 -> This is on same QAM as 707 but no BF - should work.
Thanks.

MoyekJ: is there a headend list like you posted here, for Time Warner in the Yorba Linda area?

MoyekJ: is there a headend list like you posted here, for Time Warner in the Yorba Linda area? Don't know. The one in my sig is my own creation based on painstakingly going through each channel one at a time and collecting information from various diagnostics screens and tools. Of course being a dynamic system it's very hard to keep up to date with latest changes so it takes a lot of effort to keep a current and accurate list especially considering how long it takes to re-check the information for each channel. Would be nice if one of these PC capture cards had a scan mode that could spit out all the relevant information all at once - then one could automate the process pretty much.

Check to see if there is a dedicated AVS Time Warner/Orange County thread. It's likely if there is such a thread there you may be able to find some kind of list.

TheRock just to confirm for sure the Broadcast Flag (BF) affects things please try firewire capture of the following:
807 -> Also has BF - should not work.
7 -> This originates from analog broadcast and is encoded to digital at or before headend - no BF, so should work
711 -> This is on same QAM as 707 but no BF - should work.
Thanks.


807= No work
7= work
711= work
707= no work

I emailed the engineering department at KABC informing them the settings should be 0x00. They probably think I am an idiot but you never know if something small might help.

807= No work
7= work
711= work
707= no work

I emailed the engineering department at KABC informing them the settings should be 0x00. They probably think I am an idiot but you never know if something small might help. OK thanks for confirming. Note that KABC is setting Broadcast Flag, not CCI (since CCI doesn't apply to terrestrial broadcasts), and apparently they are within their rights to do so if they choose. Those links I provided above have the details and this post below by sfhub summarizes it nicely. I don't agree with it and hope that it is a mistake and can be rectified but there is nothing illegal being done by ABC and it's really Motorola partially to blame for choosing to convert BF to CCI even though they are not required to do so.
The same thing happened in San Francisco. dr1394 helped diagnose. I'll try to explain what is happening without messing it up too much.

Broadcast Flag (BF) and Copy Control Information (CCI) are similar descriptors (flags) from different standards, that accomplish basically the same thing, namely DRM (ie whether you can copy something or not) BF is part of ATSC. CCI is part of DTCP (firewire, etc.) FCC has some control over ATSC. DTCP is controlled by industry/studios.

The reason this problem is so confusing is because the cable company (in SF case) apparently is *not* setting CCI for the channels in question. What is happening is the local station (or the nationwide feed) is setting BF in the ATSC stream and the Motorola box is deciding to *fabricate* the CCI based on the presence of the BF.

Now you may say BF was struck down. That is not entirely true. What happened is the rule *requiring* all devices to *honor* BF was struck down, because the courts ruled the FCC did not have the authority to force BF (which means forcing BF would require congress to write legislation). That means those PC HDTV cards and QAM tuners with firewire outputs *may* ignore BF (and indeed stuff like MyHD is unaffected by the local stations enabling BF). It does *not* mean devices *must* ignore BF and indeed we see the Motorola implementation not only does not ignore it, but uses BF to set up CCI, which is what is causing the firewire problem your friend is seeing.

I don't know whether TiVo is properly displaying CCI or not (that is a different discussion), but in this case there is no CCI to display because it is a figment of the Motorola box's imagination. If TiVo displays the ATSC BF descriptor, then something should show up there. If you capture the ATSC stream using something like MyHD and dump the meta-data using TSReader you'll most likely see a field like this:

Descriptor: ATSC Redistribution Control Descriptor
ff .

"FF" is the value of the broadcast flag.

Hope that clears things up.

Hi, I'm not sure if this would be the right thread to ask this question.. but I'm new to this forum and I saw "orange county" so...

I live in Tustin, with an LCD TV... Is there anyone that can recommend a good indoor antenna that will catch OTA HD programming? (hopefully not pricey)

Also, my remote does not have a period button that I've normally seen on other HDTVs that will allow you to turn to channel 7.1 or 5.1 and so forth to access the HD channels... How would I go about tuning to the HD channels?

Any help would be appreciated... I'm quite unfamiliar with any of this HDTV stuff

Hi, I'm not sure if this would be the right thread to ask this question.. but I'm new to this forum and I saw "orange county" so...

I live in Tustin, with an LCD TV... Is there anyone that can recommend a good indoor antenna that will catch OTA HD programming? (hopefully not pricey)

Also, my remote does not have a period button that I've normally seen on other HDTVs that will allow you to turn to channel 7.1 or 5.1 and so forth to access the HD channels... How would I go about tuning to the HD channels?

Any help would be appreciated... I'm quite unfamiliar with any of this HDTV stuff I'm in South Mission Viejo and using a cheap (~ $30) RCA UHF Indoor Amplified Antenna. You can find them at Lowe's or Home Depot - the brand I don't think really matters much as long as it's UHF and amplified. I get all the network & PBS channels & KCAL9DT and a lot of other junk I don't care about. Don't let sales people fool you as there is no such thing as an HD antenna - it's the same kind of UHF antenna that was used years ago for tuning channels > 13. At that price can't hurt to try it. Just be sure you point it NW at Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles where all the broadcast towers are. Visit this site for details if you wish (it has a helpful listing of channels & frequencies):
http:\\antennaweb.org

I have a QAM tuner and am trying to pickup Kcal9 for the Laker games (Dodgers too when season starts). I currently get NBC, CBS, etc, in 1080i HD but when I do a channel scan, it doesn't pickup Kcal9. What is the QAM or RF channel for Kcal 9 (not the Time Warner channel because I have COX). I did try 90-85 for the last laker game, but it was only showing in 480i (SD), not HD.

I searched everywhere on this thread but couldn't find the answer. Thanks in advance!

I'm in South Mission Viejo and using a cheap (~ $30) RCA UHF Indoor Amplified Antenna. You can find them at Lowe's or Home Depot - the brand I don't think really matters much as long as it's UHF and amplified. I get all the network & PBS channels & KCAL9DT and a lot of other junk I don't care about. Don't let sales people fool you as there is no such thing as an HD antenna - it's the same kind of UHF antenna that was used years ago for tuning channels > 13. At that price can't hurt to try it. Just be sure you point it NW at Mt. Wilson in Los Angeles where all the broadcast towers are. Visit this site for details if you wish (it has a helpful listing of channels & frequencies):
http:\\antennaweb.org

moyekj,

I live near LaPaz and Olympiad/Felipe, do you think an indoor Antenna on the first floor would work? Do you use yours downstairs or upstairs? Would love to get KCAL9DT. Also would it be easy to pick up (or find) on a Sony Bravia LCD TV?

Thanks,

Bob in Mission Viejo

I have a QAM tuner and am trying to pickup Kcal9 for the Laker games (Dodgers too when season starts). I currently get NBC, CBS, etc, in 1080i HD but when I do a channel scan, it doesn't pickup Kcal9. What is the QAM or RF channel for Kcal 9 (not the Time Warner channel because I have COX). I did try 90-85 for the last laker game, but it was only showing in 480i (SD), not HD.

I searched everywhere on this thread but couldn't find the answer. Thanks in advance! Backup a page or so in this thread and start reading. Cox does NOT carry KCAL9 DT currently so you won't find it with a QAM tuner. I am tuning it with an antenna. My Tivo Series 3 DVR accepts both cable and antenna inputs to record from. If you have an ATSC tuner then you can hook up an antenna to it and scan for it.

moyekj,
I live near LaPaz and Olympiad/Felipe, do you think an indoor Antenna on the first floor would work? Do you use yours downstairs or upstairs? Would love to get KCAL9DT. Also would it be easy to pick up (or find) on a Sony Bravia LCD TV?
For indoor reception there are many factors affecting quality of reception. I am a little south of you further away from the broadcast antennas. I live near Felipe between Oso and Crown Valley. I have my indoor amplified UHF antenna up high on a shelf in the garage pointing NW. I punched a hole through a wall separating garage and living room through which I ran the antenna coax to my Tivo. Some ATSC tuners are better than others and the Tivo tuner is exceptionally good. I would say for $30 or so it's definitely worth your while trying. If you can find a location in your home with a pretty clear line of sight to NW then you should definitely be able to pickup some channels. I am slightly below a hill line to the NW and still get good reception. I never expected to be able to tune anything with an indoor antenna 50+ miles away from broadcast towers and was shocked at what came through when I first hooked up an antenna to my PC tuner years ago.

For indoor reception there are many factors affecting quality of reception. I am a little south of you further away from the broadcast antennas. I live near Felipe between Oso and Crown Valley. I have my indoor amplified UHF antenna up high on a shelf in the garage pointing NW. I punched a hole through a wall separating garage and living room through which I ran the antenna coax to my Tivo. Some ATSC tuners are better than others and the Tivo tuner is exceptionally good. I would say for $30 or so it's definitely worth your while trying. If you can find a location in your home with a pretty clear line of sight to NW then you should definitely be able to pickup some channels. I am slightly below a hill line to the NW and still get good reception. I never expected to be able to tune anything with an indoor antenna 50+ miles away from broadcast towers and was shocked at what came through when I first hooked up an antenna to my PC tuner years ago.

Thanks, you are using Tivo I see, will the tuner do you think on the Sony pick up the channels? Would that be good enough? I may give it a try.

Bob in Mission Viejo

Thanks, you are using Tivo I see, will the tuner do you think on the Sony pick up the channels? Would that be good enough? I may give it a try. No guarantees on anything when it comes to over the air tuning but I would say there is a good chance you will pickup something with your TV tuner. For around $30 it's certainly worth a shot IMO. If you do try it make sure you buy an amplified UHF antenna (which means you will need to plug it in somewhere to supply power to the amplifier). Non-amplified indoor antenna at these distances from the broadcast towers will not work. Of course if you do try it and it works then you will probably want to spend more money on a DVR capable of recording OTA, so watch out where you are headed for. :)

Yeah, I even plan to give it a shot, even Target has those $30 Amped RCA Antennas....
I'm leary though, even Antennaweb only shows about 5 VHF stations for my location and no UHF. I have a ring of hills going West to South and no line of sight at all to the NW.....If the Towers were on Catalina I be all over it! :D

Yeah, I even plan to give it a shot, even Target has those $30 Amped RCA Antennas....
I'm leary though, even Antennaweb only shows about 5 VHF stations for my location and no UHF. I have a ring of hills going West to South and no line of sight at all to the NW.....If the Towers were on Catalina I be all over it! :D


As moyekj says, give it a try. I have to disargee slightly on the statement that an amplified antenna is required. I'm in San Clemente and get an outstanding signal (85-90%) using an unpowered antenna. According to my GPS I'm 62 miles from the broadcast towers!

Check Google for a Zenith Silver Sensor, about $25 online. You will probably also find links to people raving about this antenna. For the record I have mine mounted in an upstairs closet pointing through a window towards Mt Wilson. Antennas don't like to be behind stucco due the the wire mesh imbedded in it.

Excellent news guys. I don't know if my email had anything to do with it but when I just checked the status of ABC HD it was viewable through firewire and the settings are now 0x00. Hopefully this isn't just a fluke and it will last.

Is the nonHd version 0x00 also?

Omaha's Cox's local channels are 00x2, but the HD version are 0x00. I wouldn't have a problem, but our local ABC station wants paid and pulled there HD siginal off of Cox.

Whom did you contact?

ajwees41

Is the nonHd version 0x00 also?

Omaha's Cox's local channels are 00x2, but the HD version are 0x00. I wouldn't have a problem, but our local ABC station wants paid and pulled there HD siginal off of Cox.

Whom did you contact?

ajwees41

Yep.

7= always worked / settings = 0x00
707= Now works / settings = 0x00
807= Now works / settings = 0x00

I went to the "Contact Us" page on ABC7.com and selected "Engineering" as the email recipient.

Excellent news guys. I don't know if my email had anything to do with it but when I just checked the status of ABC HD it was viewable through firewire and the settings are now 0x00. Hopefully this isn't just a fluke and it will last. Looks like an intentional change to me. I just captured another sample and noticed that the following is no longer in any of the ABC program streams.
Descriptor: ATSC Redistribution Control Descriptor=ff
That means the Broadcast Flag has been removed. There appear to be some other changes compared to my last capture as well so it certainly seems to be an intentional change. Let's hope it stays this way as you said...

Yep.

7= always worked / settings = 0x00
707= Now works / settings = 0x00
807= Now works / settings = 0x00

I went to the "Contact Us" page on ABC7.com and selected "Engineering" as the email recipient.


Thanks for the Info. I hope it's that easy in Omaha.

ajwees41

The following channels were added to my Guide
980 - testW - weather channel (not working yet for me)
996 - TEST K2 - No Idea what it is...asks me to subscribe to it...
997 - TEST NZ - No Idea what it is...asks me to subscribe to it...
998 - TEST SZ - No Idea what it is...asks me to subscribe to it...

Channel 1 was updated (havent used it since december) and seems to be much much faster

The following channels were added to my Guide
980 - testW - weather channel (not working yet for me)
996 - TEST K2 - No Idea what it is...asks me to subscribe to it...
997 - TEST NZ - No Idea what it is...asks me to subscribe to it...
998 - TEST SZ - No Idea what it is...asks me to subscribe to it...

Channel 1 was updated (havent used it since december) and seems to be much much faster


The 980 is Passport Weather supposed to be only on DVR's

996 is Kids Zone = a group of 6 kids channels
997 is News Zone = a group of 6 news channels
998 is Sports Zone = a group of 6 sports chanels.

You also should have 2 more channels by the weather (980)
One is Passport Games
Second is Remote Setup.
These are only on DVR's

ajwees41

Well ****. I just tried to record CBS from my DVR and wasn't able to record anything. I checked the settings and now it is 0x01 and 0x02. F*ck. Who do I need to call/email this time? Is this going to happen for all the channels on COX?

Try to do a full reset (It will delete anything you have on your hd including the list of what shows you record, so write down the show name and channels)

Reset the box by pressing the power button on the front of the box for 5-10 seconds..see if that works. If your box is still messed up try a different outlet (coax) or get your box replaced.

Try to do a full reset (It will delete anything you have on your hd including the list of what shows you record, so write down the show name and channels)

Reset the box by pressing the power button on the front of the box for 5-10 seconds..see if that works. If your box is still messed up try a different outlet (coax) or get your box replaced.

Full reset did nothing.

CBS HD 702 is now protected. CBS SD 2 is not. This is REALLY annoying. I was planning to call COX for other reasons soon but I think I will have to contact them tomorrow for this reason also.

Full reset did nothing.

CBS HD 702 is now protected. CBS SD 2 is not. This is REALLY annoying. I was planning to call COX for other reasons soon but I think I will have to contact them tomorrow for this reason also. Sure enough, CBSHD now has BF set in both the cable and OTA broadcasts (hence Cox is not to blame here). Here's the relevant section from TSReaderLite html:
Program Number: 3
Descriptor: Registration Descriptor
Format identifier: 0x47413934 (GA94)
Descriptor: Smoothing Buffer Descriptor
c0 af c8 c0 02 00 ......
Descriptor: ATSC Component Name Descriptor
01 65 6e 67 01 00 00 00 .eng....
Descriptor: ATSC Redistribution Control Descriptor
ff .
Shall have to check the other network stations again...

Just checked all other unencrypted HD channels and none of them have BF flag set (today anyway).

Hello All,

I tried searching on this thread about the DCT 3416 I box and haven't come up with much and was hoping you all would be help out a relative nOOB in the Irvine Marketplace Area.

Anyway, I finally got my HDTV this weekend and ordered service. Cox sent me the 3416 I box. Is this box a good one? I understand that it is "all digital" but is this box preferable over the 62xx series boxes? Whats the most "sought after" box and why?

Any information anyone can give would be much appreciated... Thanks!

:cool:

Hello All,

I tried searching on this thread about the DCT 3416 I box and haven't come up with much and was hoping you all would be help out a relative nOOB in the Irvine Marketplace Area.

Anyway, I finally got my HDTV this weekend and ordered service. Cox sent me the 3416 I box. Is this box a good one? I understand that it is "all digital" but is this box preferable over the 62xx series boxes? Whats the most "sought after" box and why?

Any information anyone can give would be much appreciated... Thanks!

:cool:

The 3412-3416 is the best out there right now for Motorola area's. The 6412 is Analog/Digital the 3412 is All digital.

ajwees41

Hello All,

I tried searching on this thread about the DCT 3416 I box and haven't come up with much and was hoping you all would be help out a relative nOOB in the Irvine Marketplace Area.

Anyway, I finally got my HDTV this weekend and ordered service. Cox sent me the 3416 I box. Is this box a good one? I understand that it is "all digital" but is this box preferable over the 62xx series boxes? Whats the most "sought after" box and why?

Any information anyone can give would be much appreciated... Thanks!

:cool: The 62xx series boxes do not have DVR capabilities. The 34xx boxes are very similar to the 64xx series DVR boxes except cheaper for Cox to purchase since there are no mpeg encoders (to encode analog channels to digital). There was a discussion in this thread a while back related to DCT6416 versus DCT6412 - the consensus was that the DCT6412 (phase 2 or 3 version) does a better job of decoding SD digital channels than the DCT6416 for some reason. Don't know if the DCT3416 has the same issue or not, however if you never had the DCT6412 then you have no reference to compare against. I can say for sure that the Tivo Series 3 box I am using was a dramatic picture quality improvement for SD digital channels compared to the DCT6416 box I had - mpeg artifacting problems were very apparent with the DCT6416.

The 34xx boxes do not have analog tuners in them. The 6412 series one and two don't have quite as good of an analog to digital converter as the 6412 series three (often refered to as a 6413 or 6416).

The 34xx boxes do not have analog tuners in them. The 6412 series one and two don't have quite as good of an analog to digital converter as the 6412 series three (often refered to as a 6413 or 6416).


The 6412 phase3 is the correct one not 6413. The 6416 is not the same as the 6412 phase3

ajwees41

I can say for sure that the Tivo Series 3 box I am using was a dramatic picture quality improvement for SD digital channels compared to the DCT6416 box I had - mpeg artifacting problems were very apparent with the DCT6416.


Yes, the HD channels look good but the SD channels display artifacts everywhere. Thanks for all the information guys! Maybe I will try the Tivo S3 sometime.

Cheers!

I had the 6412 III and the 6416. With my 51 rear projection tv HD quality was the same, but the 6416 was HORRIBLE in terms of SD pic quality. Little digital "jaggies" everywhere when I watched SD channels. Took it back and got the 6412 III....MUCH smoother pic with SD.

I would like to know about the new 3412 and 3416 as well. Haven't had those yet. One thing I miss on the 6416 is the 160GB HD.

Hmm. Don't think I have ever heard of the 3412 or 3416. I always thought people made a typo and meant to say 6412 or 6416 when I saw the 34** used. Is this box better? Are there any immediate plans for Cox to offer us a HD DVR box with more disk space?


On an unrelated topic.... I emailed my local CBS affiliate the same letter I sent my ABC affiliate. Nothing will probably come from this but a person can always hope. I find it ridiculous that I can do more with a TV Tuner Card and free over the air programs then I can with incredibly expensive equipment and service from COX.

I am thinking about getting another TV Tuner Card. One with QAM. Does anyone know anything about the following card? I like it because it is external and I can use it on both my PC and Laptop.

http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/fusion5usb.asp

Does anyone know anything about the following card? I like it because it is external and I can use it on both my PC and Laptop.
http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/fusion5usb.asp That's the one I have and using with my laptop. It's OK for occasional recording purposes but is full of bugs and idiosyncrasies despite numerous software updates. It is immune to these broadcast flag/CCI issues. Despite the bugs and screwed up GUI it's still worthwhile to me considering it's cheap (<= $150), can record either clear QAM or OTA (can switch between modes), and plugs into and is powered by any USB port making it possible to use with a laptop. If you want all the gory details there are several AVS forum threads on it. The ones I follow are:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9725477
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9724665
If you are looking for something trouble free and easy don't bother...

That's the one I have and using with my laptop. It's OK for occasional recording purposes but is full of bugs and idiosyncrasies despite numerous software updates. It is immune to these broadcast flag/CCI issues. Despite the bugs and screwed up GUI it's still worthwhile to me considering it's cheap (<= $150) and plugs into and is powered by any USB port making it possible to use with a laptop. If you want all the gory details there are several AVS forum threads on it. The ones I follow are:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9725477
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9724665
If you are looking for something trouble free and easy don't bother...

Thanks for the info. Do you know of any front runners or "best" external tuners with QAM? I like things to be as easy as possible.

Thanks for the info. Do you know of any front runners or "best" external tuners with QAM? I like things to be as easy as possible. MyHD tops the list from what I have heard. There is only a PCI version however so you can't use it with a laptop which took it out of the running for me (and for you too assuming you are looking for "external" tuner). There are plenty of AVS forum threads on that one too. Here's the link to digitalconnection page for it:
http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/mdp130.asp

MyHD tops the list from what I have heard. There is only a PCI version however so you can't use it with a laptop which took it out of the running for me (and for you too assuming you are looking for "external" tuner). There are plenty of AVS forum threads on that one too. Here's the link to digitalconnection page for it:
http://www.digitalconnection.com/Products/Video/mdp130.asp

Yeah. Several years ago when I was researching HDTV Tuner cards the MYHD was always at the top. Thats what I bought back then. Still use it to this day in my PC. My model doesn't have QAM support though. The only problem I have had with it is sometimes it causes my computer to crash when I am viewing/recording NBCHD. It only seems to happen on that channel and for no apparent reason.

Do the problems with the Fusion 5 only happen when you try to do advance things like timeshift? I don't need any of those features. I don't even need to watch the program while it is recording. I could use it like I do with CapDVHS and just record the stream and leave it alone. Is it able to do that problem free? Also what format does it save the HD material in? .TS, MPEG2, MPEG4?

Do the problems with the Fusion 5 only happen when you try to do advance things like timeshift? I don't need any of those features. I don't even need to watch the program while it is recording. I could use it like I do with CapDVHS and just record the stream and leave it alone. Is it able to do that problem free? Also what format does it save the HD material in? .TS, MPEG2, MPEG4? I use it mostly for recording Lost and occasionally some other shows and it works for that fairly well. Once in a while with back to back recordings it core dumps when switching over to next recording. I had trouble in the past coming out of hibernation mode reliably with it. If you are home to babysit it then it's fine, you just can't expect to leave it unattended for a long while.
There is NO re-encoding - it saves the Transport Stream as broadcast just like CapDVHS. It's certainly more reliable than using CapDVHS for recording, at least in my experience.

Examples of GUI stupidity:
* QAM channel numbering uses some stupid unintuitive scheme, for example:
KCBSDT=852 (represents 85-3)
KNBCDT=842 (for 84-3)
KTLADT=861 (for 86-2)
KABCDT=991 (for 99-2)
KOCEDT=862 (for 86-1)
KTTVDT=990 (for 99-1)
There is a complicated formula I came up with to represent it's numbering scheme which gets a lot worse than above for music channels and other QAMs with >9 sub-streams.
After assigning strange numbers to QAM channels it then organizes the list in numerical order which makes it hard to find channels you care about.
* I've also learned you are better off not using the Favorites List because eventually that will crash the application as things like VOD channels move around.
* Until recently you were not able to start playback of a file while it was being recorded - the Fusion put an exclusive lock on the file. With latest beta that restriction was removed and someone figured out a hack to remove that restriction for a recent release.
* There is no web-based scheduling for QAM (that is true with pretty much any tuner out there) so you used to just have to setup manual recordings by channel and time and there used to be bugs with that. However now there is a 3rd party software (Record_This) developed by a forum member which works well to automate scheduling. I have that completed automated to download schedule and then schedule recordings automatically - and the Fusion doesn't even have to be plugged in for scheduling to work. I just have to make sure I turn on the laptop and plugin in the Fusion and check that Fusion software can run properly before scheduled recordings initiate (the babysitting factor) to guarantee they will record properly. It's supposed to be able to do that properly out of hibernation mode but that's never been reliable for me.

Remember though like any other clear QAM tuner it ONLY can record clear QAM channels unlike CapDVHS which can record from encrypted channels with CCI not set. (Technically that's not accurate - you can capture a whole RF channel including all the encrypted transport streams, but obviously being encrypted there is nothing much useful you can do with them on a PC other than examine bitrates).

Anyway, we are straying way off topic of this thread... if you have other queries PM me or post in the Fusion threads.

The 6412 phase3 is the correct one not 6413. The 6416 is not the same as the 6412 phase3

ajwees41

The 6413 and 6416 are Cox's numbers to indicate whether the box is a 6412 series three or not. The 6413 is a series 3 120GB HD, the 6416 is series 3 160GB HD. The 6412 is a series 2, 120GB HD.

The new channels are working

980 - Weather (now displays local weather)
981 - Gam,es (Solitaire, 21 or bust, 5 card poker)
996 - Not working yet
997 - Not working yet
998 - Not working yet

Not sure if this is going to be added to the On Demand menu or if you press the menu button in the future to access new features...this would make sense when firmware 2.7 comes out and we finally get the video mosaic!

The new channels are working

980 - Weather (now displays local weather)
981 - Gam,es (Solitaire, 21 or bust, 5 card poker)
996 - Not working yet
997 - Not working yet
998 - Not working yet

Not sure if this is going to be added to the On Demand menu or if you press the menu button in the future to access new features...this would make sense when firmware 2.7 comes out and we finally get the video mosaic!


If it's going to be like Omaha's Channel's 996-998 will be the video mosaic channels nothing to do with on demand,

The firmware is 12.35 and not 2.7. The 2.7 is the software version. Omaha doesn't have the wearthrer application launched yet.

ajwees41

What a waste of bandwidth.... all we needed was yet another weather channel - like weather happens around here anyway. And cheesy games too? Great. Much rather have another HD channel than this junk.

What a waste of bandwidth.... all we needed was yet another weather channel - like weather happens around here anyway. And cheesy games too? Great. Much rather have another HD channel than this junk.

Couldnt agree more. Do we really need ANOTHER weather channel? Jeez.

Multicasting at its best. My bet is that the local network required Cox to carry the weather channel in order to carry the HD channel.

Multicasting at its best. My bet is that the local network required Cox to carry the weather channel in order to carry the HD channel.


The weather on channel 980 is not from a local channel. It's part of the DVR software upgrade.

ajwees41

Lakers vs. Nicks game tonight is supposed to be on INHD1 but nothing but black screen right now - looks like someone forgot to flip the switch at Cox again... these INHD games switched in from FSNHD almost never come in properly...

The game is on INHD1 now.

The game is on INHD1 now. Must have switched over late (after my posting around 8pm) then - pretty frustrating... I now look forwards to games on KCAL9 in HD instead of FSW because of this issue.

Jeez. Whats messed up is that they broadcast the entire pre game material. Then when the game was suppose to start everything went black. After checking back after 20 minutes or so I gave up on the game.

What made it worse was as the game was coming to an end at 10 INHD1 switched to another show. Had to go back to FSN to see the ending.

I havent seen the Remote Setup thing yet...I called up Cox yesterday and a person from Customer support said they will have 40 HD channels by June! with the capability for 150...

Sorry to be off-topic, but does anyone know of an Orange County Time Warner thread around here somewhere, or just Cox? I tried to search but didn't find anything.

Sorry to be off-topic, but does anyone know of an Orange County Time Warner thread around here somewhere, or just Cox? I tried to search but didn't find anything.
the sticky post at the top provides lists and links to all area threads

the sticky post at the top provides lists and links to all area threads

Thanks Jeff. I looked at that list but only found a thread for TWC Los Angeles. I was hoping to find one more local to OC. Oh well. Thanks anyway.

Kat.

Kat, I had this in my Favorites but can't find the thread by searching the site just like you.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=392577

I havent seen the Remote Setup thing yet...I called up Cox yesterday and a person from Customer support said they will have 40 HD channels by June! with the capability for 150... I can't see how this will happen given the current state of things. We have 15 HD channels now so that would mean 25 more HD channels added. Are there even 25 HD channels out there we don't already get? Can Cox successfully negotiate carriage of that many more channels in such a short time frame? Setting aside those issues and concentrating on implementation: 25 additional HD channels would require about 12 more RF channels (72MHz of bandwidth) to become magically available. So unless upgrade to 860MHz (from the current 750MHz) happens very soon either many analog services would have to be dropped or Cox would have to deploy Switched Digital Video (SDV) in a big way to make room. None of these options sound too feasible to happen by June or even by the end of this year...

I havent seen the Remote Setup thing yet...I called up Cox yesterday and a person from Customer support said they will have 40 HD channels by June! with the capability for 150...


Yeah. I find this hard to believe also. Given the examples that moyekj gave there is also the fact that most Cox Customer support workers don't know crap. I want to believe it though. There are tons of HD channels that are available right now that COX doesn't offer us. Then there are the numerous channels that are going to be launching soon like CNN HD, USA HD, FX HD, etc....

Can Cox successfully negotiate carriage of that many more channels in such a short time frame? Who is to say they havent been in negotiations for years? COX seems to be very secretive with there negotiation talks. Titantv.com and MHD.com said that COX was going to offer MHD months before Cox acknowledged it.

One thing is for sure. Cox is going to have to make major changes to compete with Satellite and other companies like Verizon and Comcast in the HD department. I hope they do. It sucks hearing all these press releases from Cable/Satellite companies talking about there plans to offer 30-60 HD channels while COX adds one channel every 7-9 months.

They would raise your rates if they added all the HD at once.

I emailed our local Cox about the Iguide and the had to take it to corporate who where suprised that a customer knew about it.

ajwees41

So, anyone hear if Indemand is going to offer MLB Extra Innings this year or if it is true EI is going to DirecTV exclusively. Just curious if I should get the MLB.tv premo or wait out for MLB EI.

On the topic of MLB.tv, it says now it streams at 1.5MBps... I can't seem to exceed over 600K when downloading. I am on the second tier, not the premo internet.

Go to DSLreports and run some tests to find your real speeds up and down. I get no where near the 7mbs down I'm supposed to get, but I do get over 4mbs.

I won an eBay auction for a Zenith Silver Star UHF/HD Antenna...$32 including shipping. (dude on Canada has tons) I'll try to get KCAL....I'll be surprised if I do. If I dont, my Boss living in Torrance will buy it off me, he's finally getting in HD...and living in the flats he can get all the over the air stuff easy....

Cox? 40 HD Channels? Room for 150? Like a few in here, I'm one of the very early OC adopters of Cox HD.....I tend to take such statements with a very large dosage of Salt! :D

Hmmm. I don't know if I did it correctly but when I did the test I got the following results:

7535kbps DOWNLOAD 495kbps UPLOAD
http://www.dslreports.com/im/24264392/6675.png

I have basic High Speed Internet from COX.

I just wish downloading everything was that fast. It would be awesome to download a torrent file with that speed. Currently 150KB is a really good speed for me when downloading torrents.

Hmmm. I don't know if I did it correctly but when I did the test I got the following results:

7535kbps DOWNLOAD 495kbps UPLOAD
http://www.dslreports.com/im/24264392/6675.png

I have basic High Speed Internet from COX.

I just wish downloading everything was that fast. It would be awesome to download a torrent file with that speed. Currently 150KB is a really good speed for me when downloading torrents.


Torrents never reach that speed! LOL! The very technology is obviuosly share based....your all at the mercey of each other speeds, and the inherit file checking process that goes on at the same time. One nice thing though, is with the bandwidth we have, you can easily run 4 or more Torrents at the same time. (I'm into ROIO music files..live recordings..legal and awesome. Got 75 Zep shows alone!)

Nice speed you go though!

Anyone else having trouble with 717=INHD? I just get "Channel Not Available" with my Tivo S3 lately when trying to tune it. It's not a big deal as I don't watch that channel much anyway, just want to know if others with Moto boxes are also having trouble with it?

Anyone else having trouble with 717=INHD? I just get "Channel Not Available" with my Tivo S3 lately when trying to tune it. It's not a big deal as I don't watch that channel much anyway, just want to know if others with Moto boxes are also having trouble with it?

WORKING right now for me.

Still nothing for me. Anyone else in Mission Viejo having trouble with INHD?

Anyone else having trouble with 717=INHD? I just get "Channel Not Available" with my Tivo S3 lately when trying to tune it. It's not a big deal as I don't watch that channel much anyway, just want to know if others with Moto boxes are also having trouble with it?

Just checked. It appears to be working fine for me.

OK thanks for the feedback guys - guess I will have to try and debug what's going on - it's likely a cablecard authorization problem of some sort...

Can someone do me a favor and tell me what frequency INHD is on using DCT diagnostics? Last I was able to tune it it was 657Mhz. To check:
1. Tune 1 tuner to channel 707 (ABC HD) - that is at 117MHz
2. Switch to other tuner and tune it to channel 717 (INHD1)
3. Power Off, Select, Select and choose D06
The tuner that says 117MHz is ABC so the other one is the INHD1 frequency that I'm interested in.
Thanks!

Right now it's like 717 does not exist for my Tivo - it can't even get a tuner lock on it let alone try and get authorization for it - I'm wondering if the initial deployment of SDV has started... Could be bad channel mapping data for cablecards I suppose too...

Can someone do me a favor and tell me what frequency INHD is on using DCT diagnostics? Last I was able to tune it it was 657Mhz. To check:
1. Tune 1 tuner to channel 707 (ABC HD) - that is at 117MHz
2. Switch to other tuner and tune it to channel 717 (INHD1)
3. Power Off, Select, Select and choose D06
The tuner that says 117MHz is ABC so the other one is the INHD1 frequency that I'm interested in.
Thanks!

Right now it's like 717 does not exist for my Tivo - it can't even get a tuner lock on it let alone try and get authorization for it - I'm wondering if the initial deployment of SDV has started... Could be bad channel mapping data for cablecards I suppose too...


Hmm. Just tried to help you and saw that I am now receiving "Temporarily Off Air" message when trying to view INHD. I guess you aren't the only one having problems.

Thanks TheRock. Well, I rebooted my Tivo (should have tried that before) and now everything is well - I can confirm it's still at 657MHz as before. TheRock since you also had trouble now I'm not sure if my reboot solved the issue or if something got fixed at headend. If it's still not working for you try a reboot.

Thanks TheRock. Well, I rebooted my Tivo (should have tried that before) and now everything is well - I can confirm it's still at 657MHz as before. TheRock since you also had trouble now I'm not sure if my reboot solved the issue or if something got fixed at headend. If it's still not working for you try a reboot.


I think COX is playing around with stuff. INHD came back on its own (without a manual restart) only to go back to that error screen later. Thankfully it is up again now.

I was recording something to my PC when my cable box shut itself off around 1am. This caused my computer to restart also. Then the box read DL on the front panel for a good 15-20 minutes. After this message disappeared and the clock returned I tried to watch again. There were no banners and the guide and menu buttons didn't work. I then tried a manual restart but the box wouldn't allow it. It then shut off again and then came back with the passport loading screen. Once this went away I was able to view things normally. I don't know if anything is different but it reads Echo 2.7.044 TC 16.35

I don't see any new HD channels but the Diagnostic screen seems different. At the very least the CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS and INTERFACE/PORT STATUS pages seem to have more information. The banner duration also seem to be quicker.

I was recording something to my PC when my cable box shut itself off around 1am. This caused my computer to restart also. Then the box read DL on the front panel for a good 15-20 minutes. After this message disappeared and the clock returned I tried to watch again. There were no banners and the guide and menu buttons didn't work. I then tried a manual restart but the box wouldn't allow it. It then shut off again and then came back with the passport loading screen. Once this went away I was able to view things normally. I don't know if anything is different but it reads Echo 2.7.044 TC 16.35

I don't see any new HD channels but the Diagnostic screen seems different. At the very least the CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS and INTERFACE/PORT STATUS pages seem to have more information. The banner duration also seem to be quicker.


If it says 16.35 and not 12.35 you firmware changed. Are you sure it says 16.35 I don't think the firmware goes up that high.

ajwees41

Just checked again and it still says 16.35

16.20 firmware has been around since September 2006, so 16.35 is not too surprising. See:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Firmware_and_Software#Version_16.20

TheRock, would be interesting to see if this version still converts Broadcast Flag to CCI=0x02 for CBS HD. i.e. Try a firewire capture or look at the diagnostics for that channel to see.

so today i woke up to my box 6416 III saying DL with the spinning icon, figured it meant something was downloading i get home from work an hour ago and it is still on that DL, cant get the box to turn on. it does cycle about every half hour or so and says EF FP and then turns off to restart says something like E609, FR.... 1 then back to DL... tried unplugging to stop the endless cycle but just starts over again once power is restored. any suggestions

so today i woke up to my box 6416 III saying DL with the spinning icon, figured it meant something was downloading i get home from work an hour ago and it is still on that DL, cant get the box to turn on. it does cycle about every half hour or so and says EF FP and then turns off to restart says something like E609, FR.... 1 then back to DL... tried unplugging to stop the endless cycle but just starts over again once power is restored. any suggestions


What version of box is it? Sounds like a bad box.

ajwees41

Just checked again and it still says 16.35



Notice any other changes? What seems different?

We are still on 12.35 in Omaha?

ajwees41

Notice any other changes? What seems different?

We are still on 12.35 in Omaha?

ajwees41


The only thing that seems different so far is the Diagnostic page.

The only thing that seems different so far is the Diagnostic page.



what's different about about?

ajwees41

what's different about about?

ajwees41

The listings are different.

For instance. On the CURRENT CHANNEL STATUS page instead of only giving you the frequency it now also tells you exactly what channel it is tuned on (example: 700).

INTERFACE/PORT STATUS is also different. Instead of giving a number for 5c implementation it now simply says NO. On copy control it now says COPY FREE. I found this odd because I was tuned on HBO HD at the time. I then checked and it now appears to be using the CCI and DRM as protection. It still isn't viewable through firewire though.

The settings for HBO HD are now: CCI 0x02 and DRM 0x01

how do i access these diagnostics? I am in Irvine, and havent seen any changes

I am getting the same d1 error msg.

how do i access these diagnostics? I am in Irvine, and havent seen any changes

Turn off the box with your remote and immediately hit the SELECT button two or three times. You should now see the Diagnostics page. Use the arrow buttons to navigate.

When I tried to hook up my Laptop to my downstairs DVR I got the found new hardware messages. I didn't remember the steps completely and messed up. I then uninstalled the drivers and did a fresh install with moyekj's instructions. I don't know if I messed up or if this is a problem with the new software but I have been having some issues. When I try to send a recorded show to my Laptop the sound craps out for no apparent reason. I also can no longer hear the sound when I try to view ABCHD live with VLC Player. This appears to be the only channel that has this problem though. I think I will try a system restore on my Laptop just in case I accidentally changed some settings when I originally tried to install the DVR drivers again.

I havent seen any of this on my PC thankfully. I guess it being connected to the cable box at all times helped.




UPDATE:

I manually reset my cable box and did a system restore on my Laptop. ABC HD is now ok audio wise. I still had some issues with sound when sending a recorded show to my laptop. After a couple attempts I was able to get the whole episode with correct sound. Weird and a bit time consuming. Like all previous firmware updates this one seems to have some bugs.

I can't see how this will happen given the current state of things. We have 15 HD channels now so that would mean 25 more HD channels added. Are there even 25 HD channels out there we don't already get? Can Cox successfully negotiate carriage of that many more channels in such a short time frame? Setting aside those issues and concentrating on implementation: 25 additional HD channels would require about 12 more RF channels (72MHz of bandwidth) to become magically available. So unless upgrade to 860MHz (from the current 750MHz) happens very soon either many analog services would have to be dropped or Cox would have to deploy Switched Digital Video (SDV) in a big way to make room. None of these options sound too feasible to happen by June or even by the end of this year...
Tomorrow I am going to tall them up and ask again...Ill try to get ahold of a manager or a tech that knows what they are talking about!

In CT analog premiums disapeared last week. HBO, Cinimax and Showtime, so there are three open channels there.

so today i woke up to my box 6416 III saying DL with the spinning icon, figured it meant something was downloading i get home from work an hour ago and it is still on that DL, cant get the box to turn on. it does cycle about every half hour or so and says EF FP and then turns off to restart says something like E609, FR.... 1 then back to DL... tried unplugging to stop the endless cycle but just starts over again once power is restored. any suggestions

Me too. :(

I'm blaming it on the firmware update earlier that same morning. I went down to Sand Canyon the next day and got a 3416. It is working fine.

Is everyones firewire captures working OK with the new firmware? Has it had any affect on the FW/RW bug?

Chris

Seems like I just experienced another "Bug" from the new upgrade. Even though I had plenty of space (checked just before my planned recording) the box said I didn't and forced me to delete another HD program for it to start recording. I had around 16gigs when I got the error message and I wanted to record 1 one hour HD show (7-8gigs) and 1 one hour SD show (less than 3 gigs). Very annoying. Looks like the already limited hard drive space just got smaller.

Seems like I just experienced another "Bug" from the new upgrade. Even though I had plenty of space (checked just before my planned recording) the box said I didn't and forced me to delete another HD program for it to start recording. I had around 16gigs when I got the error message and I wanted to record 1 one hour HD show (7-8gigs) and 1 one hour SD show (less than 3 gigs). Very annoying. Looks like the already limited hard drive space just got smaller. If you look at that link I posted earlier (again below) that is one of the bugs listed with 16.20 - looks like it carries over to 16.35 as well:
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Firmware_and_Software#Version_16.20

Hmm. My new 3416 worked for one day. Tonight it recorded Survivor and Greys Anatomy. I had trouble watching Grey (HDMI output was getting lost, and the FF didn't work), so I rebooted. It lost all the shows. Still FF and RW don't work. Sometimes it won't change channels.

So I guess it's back to Sand Canyon tommorrow... :mad:

One of the other bugs listed for 16.20 was "Corruption of DVI/HDMI video outputs". So looks like 16.35 inherited all the bugs of 16.20 (and probably added more). I'm sorta glad I'm out of the cable co. box debugging business for now...

Wow, well looks like I better get you guys answer before I go to Cox to get a DVR box.

Q: I'm going over today to get a DVR box for our den (just a regular non-HD tv 20") BUT, I wnt to be able to do firewire captures on it. Which box should I get? Which ones still allow firewire captures?

I have a 6412 III for our HDTV in our living room and like it over the 6416, but never have tried the new 3416s.

Advice on which box is best for a standard CRT TV but gives me the option to firewire capture?

if it's one thing I learned from all the installs, it's don't trust the HDMI on these boxes. the HDMI works on about 1/4 of the TVs I installed them on, and on those only about 1/2 worked all the time.

Wow, just in the brief time since I posted my question I've found all kinds of problems about the 3412/16 boxes. Just TONS of bugs and HDMI issues/ recording problems.

I think I'll just pick up the 6412 III since it seemed the most (knock on wood) reliable.

How does a company continually get worse everytime it brings out a new product? (Motorola and Cox share the blame)

Man, I wish we had fair competition in the cable industry instead of one provider in a certain area. Talk about a fricken monopoly! The only other cable options we have (well, for my area is DirectTV). Which is looking better and better each day.

I have the Avermedia 1500 MCE sd tuner, connecting it directly to the cable feed works but the picture isn't that great. I read somewhere on this forum about using svideo to improve the picture but I can't figure out how to get the audio into my pc. I have windows xp mce, and my stb is the motorola 6416, on which I don't see any audio out connections. I am a newbie for all this so be kind if I am missing something easy here.

Also for users of Aver tuner cards is there anyway to install the dvr app that comes with the cards on xp mce, when I try it tells me I have media center and stops the installation-any workaround for this.

Scott

INHD is out again here (Irvine). Anyone else?

well, went to the Quail Hill Cox store and got a 6412/2000. I told the guy I wanted a 6412 III which they had 6 plugged into their HDTV's all around the store. But, went ahead and settled on the 2000. I hope this box works with firewire capture.

Moyek: does the 6412/2000 work for firewire capt.?


Also, LOL, funny thing happened in the store while I was there.

I walk in and there is a line of about 8 people. I'm thinkin wtf? Well, the guy up at the counter is bitching and arguing with the cox rep. But, I'm thinking , "ok, guess he's got a complaint about something." Well, turns out he's been arguing for over 20 minutes and the people in line behind him are pissed that he's taking so long and rambling on.

So, then he turns to two of the guys next in line (I'm 9th at this point) and says, "Shut the hell up, I'm entitled to complain. This is "customer service" isn't it? I'm the customer and I want answers to my questions. So mind your own DAMN business."

Well, the other guys in line start laughin at him and say he needs to be more considerate with how loud he's getting and be respectful (there were women in line as well.)

So, they ramble on for a few more mintues, and I'm thinkin, "Man, did I pick the wrong time to drop off my damn box."

So, anyways, the guy finally ends his arguing and starts to walk out past the guy in line. Both of them are around 50 I'd say. As he walks past him he says to the guy in line, "Next time mind your own business *******!!" I'm laughin my ass off at these two guys going at it. But, the other guy just laughs it off (don't know if I'd be that nice) and says to the guy walking out, "That's MISTER ******* to you buddy."

Classic... two suburban, middle aged, white guys talkin smack.

I updated my Cox OC Headend spreadsheet last night. I made lots of formatting changes including the use of lists now so that everything can be sorted by any column which makes for some nice different views of the same data. I was surprised at how little changed since my last comprehensive update. I also added a column of CCI values for all the digital channels (as reported by my Tivo Series3). As expected only Premium, PPV and VOD channels set CCI to non-zero values.

I noticed the other day in the diagnostics page that USB is enabled. I tried connecting a USB cable to my computer but the computer does not do anything. I know that power was being sent to the USB as I had charged my cellphone via its front USB port. Has anyone had any success with their box?

Also I notice "D17 CONNECTED HOME" and it seems to be some sort of fiber networking device, possibly something for accessing dvr content from other boxes in the home?

DCT6416 III
TC_CS_CC 16.35
s_echo_d 27.44
vlp02002 35.12
VLAS_DAT 02.18

The handshake between the PC and cable box through firewire seems to have been weakened since the last upgrade. I have tuned my DVR on a specific channel (non protected) and set my computer to record a show at a later time (while I was sleeping) with CapDVHS. 2 times there was no data while recording. After seeing the recording failed I tried to view the non protected channel (abc family) in VLC and no picture came up. I then changed the channel and changed right back to ABC Family and it was viewable and recordable again. Looks like we really need to babysit this thing now. I also have experienced sound problems when sending a pre recorded show on my DVR to my PC. The sound just cuts out and I have also had issues with the files when played back in VLC Player.

I have yet to see one positive quality about the recent Firmware upgrade. Everything seems to be much worse.

Has anyone found a 64bit STB firewire driver for windows XP x64 or Vista x64?

starting on thursday the audio across NBC, UHD and MHD has had major issues. all commercials play out of my sub only. the regular programing only plays properly if it is 5.1

So is this a result of the firmware upgrade? i play all audio thru my 5.1 system, dont even have regular speakers plugged in.

Any thoughts or suggestions.

I was watching a movie earlier and my box stopped responding. It essentially froze and wouldn't do anything no matter what button I pressed. Then it rebooted itself. This happened around 8:45 am today (feb 25).

Yeah. I keep having issues trying to record Star Wars IV...I have recorded it twice and both times the recording will go black and never recover the video. I am unable to rw or ff when this happens. This latest update has caused far too many problems

Seems like I just experienced another "Bug" from the new upgrade. Even though I had plenty of space (checked just before my planned recording) the box said I didn't and forced me to delete another HD program for it to start recording. I had around 16gigs when I got the error message and I wanted to record 1 one hour HD show (7-8gigs) and 1 one hour SD show (less than 3 gigs). Very annoying. Looks like the already limited hard drive space just got smaller.

Can you tell me how to find out how much space is left on the DVR? Using I think 6416 Motorola box. I do not see it in the menu. Also the firmware version?

Thanks,

Bob in Mission Viejo

Can you tell me how to find out how much space is left on the DVR? Using I think 6416 Motorola box. I do not see it in the menu. Also the firmware version?

Thanks,

Bob in Mission Viejo

Bob,

When you are listing the shows ("List") button, you'll see an "A" with a folder tab above it. Hit the "A" button, and a menu pops up. Scroll down to view disk space and hit select. It's easier than it sounds.

To view the firmware version, or see the actually number of bytes free, hit menu. While the menu is up, do this key sequence: Down Arrow, "B", Up Arrow, "B". That's 4 key presses. It might take more than one try the first time.

Chris

Thanks Chris, it worked.

Bob

Bob,

When you are listing the shows ("List") button, you'll see an "A" with a folder tab above it. Hit the "A" button, and a menu pops up. Scroll down to view disk space and hit select. It's easier than it sounds.

To view the firmware version, or see the actually number of bytes free, hit menu. While the menu is up, do this key sequence: Down Arrow, "B", Up Arrow, "B". That's 4 key presses. It might take more than one try the first time.

Chris

I have seen some Audio/Video breakups on several channels today (feb 28). HBOHD was really bad. TNT HD wasn't very good either. INHD had occasional hiccups. I thought it might be my box but I have seen this on both of my HD DVR's.

Me too,

Cox has had problems the last couple of days.

niesman

Hey everyone, I'm in RSM, but moving to Irvine this weekend. We just started watching HD on our Vizio VX32L, but our service is being transferred this Saturday so I'll be able to try it out on our brand new Pioneer 5071. So far we've just been watching broadcast HD, but plan to upgrade to HD service once everything is transferred. The broadcast HD channels have been great for us. We're using the 6416 box through HDMI to the TV.

I just recently came to a disturbing realization.....

There really isn't ANY HD channel that I can count on for movies anymore. HBO HD is protected and unrecordable. Showtime HD is also protected and occasionally has onscreen banners. TNT HD stretches, has a logo, and edits content. INHD has a logo. UniversalHD has logos/banners during programs and is also bitstarved. Very upsetting and a truly sad view at the state of affairs for quality HD movie content.

I just got reboots on all my boxes at 0200; looks like we've got TC 2.7.044/TC 16.35 now(?) here in Irvine.

DCT6416 III

ATSB VALD st: 116 Ver: 5
Boot Code: 05.08
Platform Built: Version: 16.35
Feb 2 2007 19:54:18
Digital Secure Processor: M02
Analog Secure Processor: N/A

Object Ver Status ID LO
TC_CS_CC 16.35 ENABLED **** 0
s_echo_d 27.44 ENABLED **** 1
vlp02002 35.12 ENABLED **** 2
VLAS_DAT 02.18 ENABLED **** 3

Has anyone here ever tried to call up Cox and give them the Mac Address of your Cable Box DOCSIS Cable Modem? According to my DVR, my onboard modem is enabled...

That's not the modem that's the Ondemand software.

I don't think they will enable the modem because it's only docsis 1.0.

ajwees41


DCT6416 III

ATSB VALD st: 116 Ver: 5
Boot Code: 05.08
Platform Built: Version: 16.35
Feb 2 2007 19:54:18
Digital Secure Processor: M02
Analog Secure Processor: N/A

Object Ver Status ID LO
TC_CS_CC 16.35 ENABLED **** 0
s_echo_d 27.44 ENABLED **** 1
vlp02002 35.12 ENABLED **** 2
VLAS_DAT 02.18 ENABLED **** 3

Has anyone here ever tried to call up Cox and give them the Mac Address of your Cable Box DOCSIS Cable Modem? According to my DVR, my onboard modem is enabled...

Ugh. This is really getting annoying. The following SD channels are now protected and not viewable/recordable through firewire.

15 ESPN
25 KAZA
27 TBS
28 WGN
29 KWHY
32 KXLA
33 QVC
34 KMEX
35 KSCI
36 KVEA
37 HSN
38 KLCS
39 SDLBK
41 KRCA
42 KFTR
51 TWC
95 CSPAN
97 CSPAN2

I also had some issues with E! but ultimately it still works. I don't watch very much (if any) of the channels above but I still think this isn't good. I didnt check any of the channels over 200.

TheRock, must be something really screwed up with your box or the new firmware really screwed up firewire. All the channels you list have CCI=0x0 and all but 2 of them are unencrypted (and none of those unencrypted have BF set).

TheRock, must be something really screwed up with your box or the new firmware really screwed up firewire. All the channels you list have CCI=0x0 and all but 2 of them are unencrypted (and none of those unencrypted have BF set).

I think the new firmware has really screwed up firewire.

Just checked again and some of them are now working. They didn't load quickly though. I sometimes had to wait a good 15-40 seconds for VLC to start playing them.

The following are now working.

15
38
39
51

When I checked the settings for several of the ones not working it now says CCI 0x02.

Looks like the box didn't adjust for DST, meaning all the recordings are going to be an hour off. I tried rebooting, no help. I couldn't find a manual adjustment menu anywhere. Anyone have any ideas?

-chuck-

Looks like the box didn't adjust for DST, meaning all the recordings are going to be an hour off. I tried rebooting, no help. I couldn't find a manual adjustment menu anywhere. Anyone have any ideas?

-chuck-

I did the same as you. I wish I had an answer.

Typical COX, they have known about this change for some time. If they do not have a firmware fix by now, do not expect an update for some time (read three weeks) !!!

niesman

I did the same as you. I wish I had an answer.

Typical COX, they have known about this change for some time. If they do not have a firmware fix by now, do not expect an update for some time (read three weeks) !!!

niesman


Omaha's adjusted fine. Did you try a refresh of guide info?

ajwees41

12:00pm-I just called Cox, say Motorola is going to send out something to move clocks ahead 1 hour for Orange County, seems OC did not get change. He said to call back after 2:30pm if no change. We will see.

Bob

I did the same as you. I wish I had an answer.

Typical COX, they have known about this change for some time. If they do not have a firmware fix by now, do not expect an update for some time (read three weeks) !!!

niesman

mine updated just fine in Irvine, I watched the switch at 2:01

None of my boxes have updated the correct time (4:54 pm currently) yet either. My guess is they are going to wait until the middle of the night to try and make the update. Way too many people are watching shows right now for them to make the change. God I hate this new Firmware. :mad:

Well, after staying up for 24 hours looking at the time on my cable box, still no change:( Well, not really staying up all night, but leaving for work this morning still no update at 3:30am. No sense calling Cox, they do not know I'm sure when this will be fixed. Looks like recordings will be fine as guide is off an hour also. The saga continues.

Bob

None of my boxes have updated the correct time (4:54 pm currently) yet either. My guess is they are going to wait until the middle of the night to try and make the update. Way too many people are watching shows right now for them to make the change. God I hate this new Firmware. :mad:

Well, after staying up for 24 hours looking at the time on my cable box, still no change:( Well, not really staying up all night, but leaving for work this morning still no update at 3:30am. No sense calling Cox, they do not know I'm sure when this will be fixed. Looks like recordings will be fine as guide is off an hour also. The saga continues.

Bob Wow, can't believe it hasn't been fixed yet. My Tivo S3 is fine. Series and Theme recording types should be fine. Only Single and Manual recordings would be off since they are time-based. Since Irvine apparently is OK it is unlikely this is a firmware issue - probably some server clocks need updated for certain local nodes which shouldn't be hard to do...

Well, after staying up for 24 hours looking at the time on my cable box, still no change:( Well, not really staying up all night, but leaving for work this morning still no update at 3:30am. No sense calling Cox, they do not know I'm sure when this will be fixed. Looks like recordings will be fine as guide is off an hour also. The saga continues.

Bob
I left for work at 7:30 AM, None of my boxes have been updated.

niesman

Well, after staying up for 24 hours looking at the time on my cable box, still no change:( Well, not really staying up all night, but leaving for work this morning still no update at 3:30am. No sense calling Cox, they do not know I'm sure when this will be fixed. Looks like recordings will be fine as guide is off an hour also. The saga continues.

Bob


What's the software version of the boxes?

Omaha's is Passport Echo 2.7.0.44 Firmware 12.35

ajwees41

That's the amazing thing, other areas are now ok, maybe Mission Viejo is really still on Standard Time and someone forgot to tell me :)

Bob

Wow, can't believe it hasn't been fixed yet. My Tivo S3 is fine. Series and Theme recording types should be fine. Only Single and Manual recordings would be off since they are time-based. Since Irvine apparently is OK it is unlikely this is a firmware issue - probably some server clocks need updated for certain local nodes which shouldn't be hard to do...

Well I just looked (1:22pm) and they finally updated the time.

http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5079624.html

"Cox Communications started phasing in hard usage limits in February, and now a majority of that company's subscribers are limited to downloading 2 gigabytes a day--the equivalent of about two compressed feature-length movies or about 400 MP3 songs. AOL Time Warner's Road Runner cable modem service recently instituted download caps of 40 gigabytes per month."

This is not good at all. And don't flame me, because on any given weekend I enjoy internet radio all day, a few downloaded tv shows, and video conferencing with family abroad. Since Mar 1. I am 9gig in 4 out.

My highest month has been 43gig in, 17 out... Now average, I haven't gotten close to 60/60 but 2 a day I HATE caps, and for 45 a month I shouldn't have to deal with any.

http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5079624.html

"Cox Communications started phasing in hard usage limits in February, and now a majority of that company's subscribers are limited to downloading 2 gigabytes a day--the equivalent of about two compressed feature-length movies or about 400 MP3 songs. AOL Time Warner's Road Runner cable modem service recently instituted download caps of 40 gigabytes per month."

This is not good at all. And don't flame me, because on any given weekend I enjoy internet radio all day, a few downloaded tv shows, and video conferencing with family abroad. Since Mar 1. I am 9gig in 4 out.

My highest month has been 43gig in, 17 out... Now average, I haven't gotten close to 60/60 but 2 a day I HATE caps, and for 45 a month I shouldn't have to deal with any.


Wow. That is terrible news. I guess I should expect to receive one of those letters soon. All of my household members are online. Downloading music, movies, tv shows, vast amounts of pictures, and other basic things. I just wish Verizon would lay down some of there wires around my house. I would switch in a second. Hopefully COX wont force me to switch. Like you, I feel as much as I pay them monthly I should be allowed to download any amount I want. Part of the reason why I download so much is because COX no longer allows me to record certain channels to my computer. My total usage could probably be cut in half if I was still able to.

I just wish Verizon would lay down some of there wires around my house. I would switch in a second. Don't count on it any time soon... this is AT&T land around here and all they promise to deliver some day is fiber to the node, which Cox already has...

I think this may well backfire eventually if someone comes along and creates more competition.

http://news.com.com/2100-1034_3-5079624.html
That article
Published: September 22, 2003, 4:00 AM PDT

That article

Very nice catch. I was getting nervous

Haha I didn't catch that either. So far Cox ain't said jack about what I do.

hmm that is strange, cause I thought i read a different article SORRY GANG.

read this then about comcast, hope cox won't follow then.

http://www.boston.com/business/personaltech/articles/2007/03/12/not_so_fast_broadband_providers_tell_big_users/

If Cox pulled that stunt with me I'd tell em to take a hike and not pay em another red cent.

It's a touchy subject, but I can understand Comcast's position. If you have 1 person in your neighborhood hogging all the bandwidth all the time and thus limiting your connection speeds you wouldn't be too happy right? So what are Comcast's options:
1. Beef up the bandwidth at their expense and pass on costs of doing so to all consumers - even those that are barely using any bandwidth
2. Try and control these network hoggers.

So if you happen to be one of the hoggers of course you won't like the policy. But for 99% of other users Comcast is actually doing them a favor.
Perhaps an effective policy is something like Electric utilities - if you consume way more than usual then you are penalized by having to pay higher rate.
In any case it's not a black and white thing and I can definitely understand and sympathize with both points of view.

I don't have a Terms Of Service (TOS) from Cox since my business pays for my Cox broadband connection but it would be interesting for someone else to go through their TOS and post here what Cox policy is in this regard.

I have just the HD cable box receiver (not dvr); it adjusted properly when daylight saving time started last weekend but each time I go into onDemand programming (eg HBO, Starz, etc) the clock resets to standard time - then when I exit back to regular programming it again resets to daylight saving time. This doesn't seem to cause any problems, just seems odd. Has anyone else noticed this?

I have just the HD cable box receiver (not dvr); it adjusted properly when daylight saving time started last weekend but each time I go into onDemand programming (eg HBO, Starz, etc) the clock resets to standard time - then when I exit back to regular programming it again resets to daylight saving time. This doesn't seem to cause any problems, just seems odd. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yeah. I recently was using on demand (looking to see if any HD content has been added) and I saw the same thing. The other day I called COX about the guide data not matching the clock and I heard a prerecorded message saying that On Demand was having issues with the clock.

Hey all,

I just got my first HD TV (Samsung S4092D, 40" 720P, 16:9) with Cox's newest motorola box. Im wondering if anyone here can help me understand some of the HD settings in the motorola box.

When I got into the video settings I see there are a couple HD choise like 1080i, 720P, 480P, and 480i. I choose 1080i. But there is a sub menu to each choice that shows something like 4.3 standard, 4.3 stretch, 4.3 preserve 480P, 4.3 preserve 480i. Shouldnt it show 16:9 stuff? Not 4.3 stuff? Also, the secret menu on the cox box sees my tv as 16:9.

What I have found is, that if I choose 4.3 standard, I get side vertical bars on NORMAL SD channels AND HD channels. But if I choose 4.3 stretch, I see normal SD channels and HD channels fine. Is that normal?

But what are those 4.3 preserve settings? What do they do?


Also, would I be better off using a S video cable for SD channels? Ive got 2HDMI ports and only 1 componet which my DVD player has to use. So Im forced to see all channels on my TV via a HDMI cable. Which is fine, but some of my SD channels are a bit ugly. Someone mentioned a svideo cable would be better for SD? What do you all say?


Thanks in advance,
Ramman949

It's a touchy subject, but I can understand Comcast's position. If you have 1 person in your neighborhood hogging all the bandwidth all the time and thus limiting your connection speeds you wouldn't be too happy right? So what are Comcast's options:
1. Beef up the bandwidth at their expense and pass on costs of doing so to all consumers - even those that are barely using any bandwidth
2. Try and control these network hoggers.

So if you happen to be one of the hoggers of course you won't like the policy. But for 99% of other users Comcast is actually doing them a favor.
Perhaps an effective policy is something like Electric utilities - if you consume way more than usual then you are penalized by having to pay higher rate.
In any case it's not a black and white thing and I can definitely understand and sympathize with both points of view.
your logic is flawed. if I am paying for 5mbps/1mbps, I should be able to use that. if they can't support 5/1 for everyone, they shouldn't be saying/selling that they can.

your logic is flawed. if I am paying for 5mbps/1mbps, I should be able to use that. if they can't support 5/1 for everyone, they shouldn't be saying/selling that they can. I'm sure you understand how cable modem technology works right? You are sharing one pipe with all people on your local node (a node typically serves 500-2000 people). Therefore if there are several people on your node hogging a lot of bandwidth all the time this is affecting your connection speeds. It's virtually impossible under this architecture for Cox or any cable company to GUARANTEE you will get a certain minimum connection speed all the time. As I said I don't have a TOS to read but I highly doubt there are any written guarantees for minimum speeds in there anywhere. Cox can put upper limits on your connection speed via throttling with no problem (hence the different service tiers), but they can't guarantee min connection speeds.

Well until someone who uses Cox High Speed Internet actually receives one of those letters or phone calls all of this talk is pretty much pointless.

When I got into the video settings I see there are a couple HD choise like 1080i, 720P, 480P, and 480i. I choose 1080i. But there is a sub menu to each choice that shows something like 4.3 standard, 4.3 stretch, 4.3 preserve 480P, 4.3 preserve 480i. Shouldnt it show 16:9 stuff? Not 4.3 stuff? Also, the secret menu on the cox box sees my tv as 16:9. You already selected 1080i for HD channels and there are no stretching mode options for HD channels in that mode, so the other choices are for the SD channels. Conversely if you choose 480p or 480i as your primary output format then you are presented with choices of what to do with HD channels in that case. This explains it pretty clearly (along with a bunch of other info):
http://replayguide.sourceforge.net/dct6412/DCT6412_Passport.html#Specifying_Video_Output_formats

Is anyone else getting constant breakups and freezes on HBOHD today? I am in Laguna. I rebooted my box already and got no improvement.

Is anyone else getting constant breakups and freezes on HBOHD today? I am in Laguna. I rebooted my box already and got no improvement.

Just checked and I saw breakups almost immediately during Poseidon. I am in Mission Viejo.

Thanks for checking... It lasted for hours and looks OK now at 8PM.

Well until someone who uses Cox High Speed Internet actually receives one of those letters or phone calls all of this talk is pretty much pointless.


http://www.cox.com/policy/limitations.asp

http://www.cox.com/policy/limitations.asp Interesting, so there are supposedly hard monthly consumption limits listed in there:
Value package: 4GB downstream, 1GB upstream
Preferred package: 40GB downstream, 10GB upstream
Premier package: 60GB downstream, 15GB upstream
Also as I expected there are no minimum speeds guaranteed anywhere I could find for any of the tiers.
I don't think above are strictly enforced however as I'm not sure which package level I'm at (business pays for my Cox broadband) but I'm pretty sure I've had over 60GB downstream in a month previously.

This morning Tivo reported the following lineup changes:

New HD channel added: 709 = KCALDT
Channels deleted (to make room for it presumably):
202=HBOSIGP
203=HBOZP
204=HBOCP
205=HBOFP
221=MOMAXP
245=FAMZP
284=SCINP

Also, 328=ESPNU was added and WTHRSCN moved to 317

The HD channel is a welcome addition as lately my OTA version of it has been fairly weak signal. Lakers fans can now watch KCALDT games in HD. There's no guide listings for it yet however...

This morning Tivo reported the following lineup changes:

New HD channel added: 709 = KCALDT
Channels deleted (to make room for it presumably):
202=HBOSIGP
203=HBOZP
204=HBOCP
205=HBOFP
221=MOMAXP
245=FAMZP
284=SCINP

Also, 328=ESPNU was added and WTHRSCN moved to 317

The HD channel is a welcome addition as lately my OTA version of it has been fairly weak signal. Lakers fans can now watch KCALDT games in HD. There's no guide listings for it yet however...


What are they thinking? I love sports (and only watch it in HD), so I appreciate getting the lakers in HD, but that is the only thing on KCAL to watch! What else is even on KCAL, never mind in HD. So we get Laker games a few hours a week, for a few months out of the year in place of a full time HD channel?

Even if they were going to add KCAL and needed to remove something to provide bandwidth, they choose HBO channels? Are you kidding? There are tons of channels that I am sure get many less viewers than the HBO lineup. And I know that is true because they use that extended HBO lineup as bait to get people to subscribe to other premium movie channels (you need to have 2 premium movie channels to get the extended HBO lineup).

I have already called Cox, complained and dropped my other premium movie channel in protest.

Am I alone in this, or do others feel the same way?

I don't subscribe to any premium channels (Netflix suits me better for movies and I don't care for the HBO series) but I thought a lot of the HBO stuff is available in the HBO section of Video On Demand as well as having duplicate Pacific and Eastern channels in lineup - which seems like a complete waste especially if you have a DVR. Personally I'd like to see more of these "duplicate" premiums dropping out to make more room for HD channels.

I don't subscribe to any premium channels (Netflix suits me better for movies and I don't care for the HBO series) but I thought a lot of the HBO stuff is available in the HBO section of Video On Demand as well as having duplicate Pacific and Eastern channels in lineup - which seems like a complete waste especially if you have a DVR. Personally I'd like to see more of these "duplicate" premiums dropping out to make more room for HD channels.

I agree DVD is better than HBO in terms of quality, but when you are just kicking back, or the kids want to watch something (age appropriate of course), we often turn to HBO. We never watch VOD. Its too slow. Every time I try to use it I give up in frustration. Plus the quality is worse than SD (on 65" mits).

I would be ok with this if they added SEVERAL GOOD QUALITY HD channels. But for KCAL? Even as a Laker fan, I just don't want an KCAL taking up the space of a HD channel and then only giving us a few hours a week (at most) of HD programming. We already have a worthless HD channel in KOCE. KCAL is a waste of bandwidth IMHO.

I agree DVD is better than HBO in terms of quality, but when you are just kicking back, or the kids want to watch something (age appropriate of course), we often turn to HBO. We never watch VOD. Its too slow. Every time I try to use it I give up in frustration. Plus the quality is worse than SD (on 65" mits).

I would be ok with this if they added SEVERAL GOOD QUALITY HD channels. But for KCAL? Even as a Laker fan, I just don't want an KCAL taking up the space of a HD channel and then only giving us a few hours a week (at most) of HD programming. We already have a worthless HD channel in KOCE. KCAL is a waste of bandwidth IMHO.


What box do you have?

VOD is fast in Omaha on a 6412 phase3.

ajwees41

I was wondering what those TEST channels were going to become. I agree with most when they say "KCAL?!". WHAAA? The only thing I have EVER seen offered in HD on KCAL was Laker games. I have no idea how they sold the idea to COX. My guess is they asked for very little money. That is the only logical reason I can think of. There are tons of other more deserving HD channels available. It appears that COX has also added the CW's subchannel The Tube.

What box do you have?

VOD is fast in Omaha on a 6412 phase3.

ajwees41

I have the same box but here it is frustratingly slow. The load time alone kills me.

I have the same box but here it is frustratingly slow. The load time alone kills me.


Do you know what version of firmware and software are on it? Omaha has Frimware 12.35 passport echo 2.7.044

It also might have to do with the vod software Orange county uses.


ajwees41