Just had tech send a hit to my boxes and nothing changed. They said they know it's a issue but no time estimate. Of course.:rolleyes:

So, I guess Laguna Niguel is in limbo til it's "fixed".

I'm in Aliso Viejo and had them do the addressable hit and then I rebooted.

Nothing changed.

Its odd because I am in Rancho yet I cant view the new channels...I wonder if anyone can

So I guess that means that they have to go update your service authorization (for each digital device in your account) based on which city you live in. I guess that's how they can prevent the channels showing up for cities/accounts where the upgrades have not completed yet, Mission Viejo being one of them.

For those that are getting these new channels if you get a chance can you post the frequency that each of the new channels are using?
You can get this info from the diagnostics page which last time I had a DCT3416 box you could bring up as follows:
1. Press Menu to display Quick Settings Menu
2. Press Down, B, Up, B (within 5 seconds)
* Current tuner frequencies and current/max temperature are on Page 2


Here you go KJ:

KCOP-713 777000
MAXHD 724 771000
FSNHD 763 765000
A&EHD 767 765000
STRZHD 781 771000
NATGEO 790 777000

Hope that's what you're looking for?
Tom

So I guess that means that they have to go update your service authorization (for each digital device in your account) based on which city you live in. I guess that's how they can prevent the channels showing up for cities/accounts where the upgrades have not completed yet, Mission Viejo being one of them.

For those that are getting these new channels if you get a chance can you post the frequency that each of the new channels are using?
You can get this info from the diagnostics page which last time I had a DCT3416 box you could bring up as follows:
1. Press Menu to display Quick Settings Menu
2. Press Down, B, Up, B (within 5 seconds)
* Current tuner frequencies and current/max temperature are on Page 2

I'm in Aliso Viejo and had them do the addressable hit and then I rebooted.

Nothing changed.

You don't happen to have a non-HD cable box in the house that you can check to see if the new hd channels are on that guide? That's how I discovered them by accident.

Good Luck..

Yes, right you are. But how many customers are gonna stand for 720p or 1080i source signal and source material supplied by the network that gets transformed "degraded" by the cable co. home office? Lots of customers will highly gripe at that kinda loss of quality. COX and the the rest of that greedy industry are chomping at the bit looking for ways to fit more cr-p into one 6mhz channel. I suspect they are gonna test the waters and try the degrade game. But they'll lose in the end because of competition (eg satellite, OTA).

So while the average teenager couldn't care less if their MP3 quality is degraded to death, HDTV will never end up that way on the cable or the satellite.

...I guess we are in agreement, I for one don't want degraded HD, but I was under the impression(maybe wrong??) that at the moment cable has the highest quality HD, when you compare to any of the satellite providers. except OTA locals of course... btw, I encode my .mp3 files at 320...:D

Cheers!
Tom

Just had tech send a hit to my boxes and nothing changed. They said they know it's a issue but no time estimate. Of course.:rolleyes:

So, I guess Laguna Niguel is in limbo til it's "fixed".

I called support, they tried hit and reboots and nothing worked either. Tech said he checked with supervisor and told me I should have the new channels where I live (My address in Mission Viejo) since Aug 16th. So after trying everything they could, they are sending out tech on Friday. They insist I should have the channels so I said send out the tech if they want to. It will be no charge. Hopefully they find something out that will help get the channels faster. I was just thinking our area has not been set up yet even though upgrades were done a while ago in our area.

Side note, Angel-Yankee game last night on MOJO channel was fine until about 9pm, then became unwatchable with breaking up continuously. That's why I want FSNHD. Hopefully that will solve this issue.

Bob in Mission Viejo

Here you go KJ:
KCOP-713 777000
MAXHD 724 771000
FSNHD 763 765000
A&EHD 767 765000
STRZHD 781 771000
NATGEO 790 777000
Hope that's what you're looking for?
Tom Exactly what I was asking for, thanks!

I called support, they tried hit and reboots and nothing worked either. Tech said he checked with supervisor and told me I should have the new channels where I live (My address in Mission Viejo) since Aug 16th. So after trying everything they could, they are sending out tech on Friday. They insist I should have the channels so I said send out the tech if they want to. It will be no charge. Hopefully they find something out that will help get the channels faster. I was just thinking our area has not been set up yet even though upgrades were done a while ago in our area.
Bob in Mission Viejo Bob, which area and zip code of Mission Viejo do you live in specifically?
Cox OC specifically excludes Mission Viejo in their updated channel list for these channels at the web site. So my assumption was that not all nodes in MV have been completed yet and Cox would not enable these channels for anyone in MV until all upgrades have completed. I suppose someone at Cox OC has a list of which specific nodes have been completed and would be able to determine from your street address if you should be able to tune these channels or not and then activate them in your account. I'd be very surprised however that 1st line of CSR support would know anything about that.

Bob, which area and zip code of Mission Viejo do you live in specifically?
Cox OC specifically excludes Mission Viejo in their updated channel list for these channels at the web site. So my assumption was that not all nodes in MV have been completed yet and Cox would not enable these channels for anyone in MV until all upgrades have completed. I suppose someone at Cox OC has a list of which specific nodes have been completed and would be able to determine from your street address if you should be able to tune these channels or not and then activate them in your account. I'd be very surprised however that 1st line of CSR support would know anything about that.

I think I agree with you, but they said I should be getting them and they checked address supposedly. It's on their dime, they should know who should and shouldn't. My zip is 92692 near Olympiad and LaPaz.

Also, what is the Web Site you are referring to? Can you post the link?

Thanks.

Bob

Side note, Angel-Yankee game last night on MOJO channel was fine until about 9pm, then became unwatchable with breaking up continuously. That's why I want FSNHD. Hopefully that will solve this issue.

Bob in Mission Viejo

Thats pretty normal of MOJO. All most all of their games display massive breakups towards the end. I noticed there were also some breakups on FSN-64, so maybe its a problem with FSN. MOJO gets their feed from FSN-HD.

I think I agree with you, but they said I should be getting them and they checked address supposedly. It's on their dime, they should know who should and shouldn't. My zip is 92692 near Olympiad and LaPaz.

Also, what is the Web Site you are referring to? Can you post the link?

Thanks.

Bob Direct link doesn't work, but if you go to the following:
http://cox.com/ocpv/channellink/selectfranchise.asp
Then click on Next
Scroll down to these channels in the 700 range and you will see red text saying:
This channel is currently available to residents in the cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Ladera Ranch, Newport Coast and parts of Irvine. Launching soon to all areas.
You live fairly close to where I do then so if you do manage to get those channels enabled please post back here.
Of course in my case I'm using CableCards which probably adds to the complication of getting them enabled.

Of course in my case I'm using CableCards which probably adds to the complication of getting them enabled.
I'm in Foothill Ranch with cablecards. I don't even want to bother risking them messing something up with their provisioning until it's confirmed in my area.... Don't need another 9 hours of technician visits...

I'm in Foothill Ranch with cablecards. I don't even want to bother risking them messing something up with their provisioning until it's confirmed in my area.... Don't need another 9 hours of technician visits... Yeah, for these latest channels the only one I really care about is FSNHD and only during NBA season for Lakers games, so I have a while (until October or so) before I would really like it. That being said those of us in the non-supported areas are paying the same as customers in the supported areas which seems a little unfair if this lasts too long...

Yeah, for these latest channels the only one I really care about is FSNHD and only during NBA season for Lakers games, so I have a while (until October or so) before I would really like it. That being said those of us in the non-supported areas are paying the same as customers in the supported areas which seems a little unfair if this lasts too long...

That is exactly what i stated to the rep. I asked her why should we pay the same rate as other customers when they get, what, 6 more channels now in HD than I do? Shouldn't you offer some sort of discount on our "incomplete" service?

She just kept saying she's sorry I'm not getting the channels and has received other calls as well, but only offered that they "are looking into it". :rolleyes:

I still urge others to call in.

......

Side note, Angel-Yankee game last night on MOJO channel was fine until about 9pm, then became unwatchable with breaking up continuously. That's why I want FSNHD. Hopefully that will solve this issue.

Bob in Mission Viejo

I was watching it on FSNHD and it was/is the same broadcast, arghh, yes it was terrible. I switched back/forth between FOXHD and MOJO to be sure, then I finally gave up and watched it on FSN SD 64. I don't know what is up with FSNHD but apparently it has nothing to do with MOJO and everything to do with FOX. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news....

Yeah, for these latest channels the only one I really care about is FSNHD and only during NBA season for Lakers games, so I have a while (until October or so) before I would really like it. That being said those of us in the non-supported areas are paying the same as customers in the supported areas which seems a little unfair if this lasts too long...

The latest, called again and spoke to different Tech and he took some time to confirm that we do not yet have the extra channels here in this part of Mission Viejo. So I cancelled tech coming out, no need to waste mine and his time. I guess FOXHD will not solve my problem after all according to latest post here. Same issue on FOXHD and MOJO. Oh well, back to where I started from.

Bob in Mission Viejo

The latest, called again and spoke to different Tech and he took some time to confirm that we do not yet have the extra channels here in this part of Mission Viejo. So I cancelled tech coming out, no need to waste mine and his time. I guess FOXHD will not solve my problem after all according to latest post here. Same issue on FOXHD and MOJO. Oh well, back to where I started from.

Bob in Mission Viejo Thanks for the update and confirming what we suspected. On the FOXHD/MOJO issue it sounds like that was a broadcast issue with Fox which hopefully is not a common occurence. At least the long standing problems of time sharing with MOJO should no longer apply:
- Broadcast does not start at scheduled time because someone at Cox forgot to flip the switch (or something went wrong with flipping the switch resulting in no video)
- Broadcast gets cut off early before the game completes

The down side is that FSNHD is kind of wasting space since it doesn't broadcast most of the time. Then again this will help fully preserve the bitrate of other channels sharing same QAM (currently A&EHD). Though I wouldn't be surprised as more channels need to be added that QAM will get more channels added as a result.

Thanks for the update and confirming what we suspected. On the FOXHD/MOJO issue it sounds like that was a broadcast issue with Fox which hopefully is not a common occurence. At least the long standing problems of time sharing with MOJO should no longer apply:
- Broadcast does not start at scheduled time because someone at Cox forgot to flip the switch (or something went wrong with flipping the switch resulting in no video)
- Broadcast gets cut off early before the game completes

The down side is that FSNHD is kind of wasting space since it doesn't broadcast most of the time. Then again this will help fully preserve the bitrate of other channels sharing same QAM (currently A&EHD). Though I wouldn't be surprised as more channels need to be added that QAM will get more channels added as a result.

I also called tech support today and complained about FSNHD and MOJO being unwatchable during the second half of the games, he is supposed to investigate and call me back on Thursday, I wonder what will happen...
On another note, has anyone listened to the music channels, specifically KSBR and another JAZZ station nearby on the dial (forgot name), anyhow they are full of static, can anyone else confirm that this channel isn't coming in clear on COX?

Direct link doesn't work, but if you go to the following:
http://cox.com/ocpv/channellink/selectfranchise.asp
Then click on Next
Scroll down to these channels in the 700 range and you will see red text saying:
This channel is currently available to residents in the cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Ladera Ranch, Newport Coast and parts of Irvine. Launching soon to all areas.
You live fairly close to where I do then so if you do manage to get those channels enabled please post back here.
Of course in my case I'm using CableCards which probably adds to the complication of getting them enabled.I think I live near you (I'm near Felipe/Barbadanes) and I do not have those channels either. I am getting less and less patient with Cox about this.

Hence, I still say that when ATT gets the neighborhood all wired up (with fiber optic cable), then COX will be history. For COX to move into the 21st century, they have to bring fiber all the way upto and into my house. Thats the only way they can increase their cable bandwidth (a big contributer to signal quality and channel quantity) directly to me as the HDTV end user.
Where have you heard that AT&T plans to bring fiber to every house? I haven't heard that, and unless they do so their U-verse offering will be inferior to what even lame Cox provides, IMO.

Test channels in the low 900s disappeared. Guess I can't play blackjack or poker anymore.

Direct link doesn't work, but if you go to the following:
http://cox.com/ocpv/channellink/selectfranchise.asp
Then click on Next
Scroll down to these channels in the 700 range and you will see red text saying:
This channel is currently available to residents in the cities of Aliso Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Ladera Ranch, Newport Coast and parts of Irvine. Launching soon to all areas.

Edit: CSR was incorrect with a lot of the information. New channel information can be found here (http://www.cox.com/ocpv/HDTV/new.asp), and they are free, not part of the "HD Tier".

I live in Laguna Niguel and called Cox today regarding the new channels. The rep said that it's NOT available in Laguna Niguel and does not know the timeframe for availability. She was aware of the August 16th "big day". She said also the new channels are only available in 6 areas (sorry, I only remember 5 of them):
- Irvine,
- North OC
- Coastal OC
- Camp Pendelton
- Mission Viejo (yes, she said Mission Viejo)
update: - Saddleback Valley

No other specifics on zip code.
So further confusion all around.

I live in Laguna Niguel and called Cox today regarding the new channels. The rep said that it's NOT available in Laguna Niguel and does not know the timeframe for availability. She was aware of the August 16th "big day". She said also the new channels are only available in 6 areas (sorry, I only remember 5 of them):
- Irvine,
- North OC
- Coastal OC
- Camp Pendelton
- Mission Viejo (yes, she said Mission Viejo)

No other specifics on zip code.
So further confusion all around.

Well just FYI, I live in Irvine, and I havent seen any new channels as of yet...

available in 6 areas (sorry, I only remember 5 of them):
- Irvine,
- North OC
- Coastal OC
- Camp Pendelton
- Mission Viejo (yes, she said Mission Viejo)

No other specifics on zip code.
So further confusion all around.

I called Cox back because I realized that my other TV with a QAM tuner is able to pick up My13 on digital channel 121.2, so why not the DVR?

The second rep said that Laguna Niguel is in an upgraded area and considered "Coastal OC". The 6th area is "Saddleback Valley". We tried the usual stuff (send signal, reboot box, unplug box) and nothing is listed in the guide for 713. Rep said next step is to send a tech out. I said I'll call back to schedule.

The Cox rep also mentioned that only KCOPHD is free, the other channels FSNHD, A&EHD, and National Geographic HD are part of the HD Tier (packaged with ESPN and ESPN2). I don't subscribe to that tier, but should be getting 713 KCOPHD.

I live in Laguna Niguel and called Cox today regarding the new channels. The rep said that it's NOT available in Laguna Niguel and does not know the timeframe for availability. She was aware of the August 16th "big day". She said also the new channels are only available in 6 areas (sorry, I only remember 5 of them):
- Irvine,
- North OC
- Coastal OC
- Camp Pendelton
- Mission Viejo (yes, she said Mission Viejo)

No other specifics on zip code.
So further confusion all around.

Well, I live in North OC (unincorporated area between Tustin and Orange) and just called. The rep said that my area wasn't updated yet. He would not tell me when it would be updated so I asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor said that they were only allowed to tell inquiring customers if their area was on the current month's schedule (eg August) to be updated (mine isn't). So you need to call in each month to get the bad news. He also said that the entire project for OC would be completed sometime in 2009 (yes, 2009) which doesn't seem to me qualifies as "available in all areas soon".

I called Cox back because I realized that my other TV with a QAM tuner is able to pick up My13 on digital channel 121.2, so why not the DVR?

The second rep said that Laguna Niguel is in an upgraded area and considered "Coastal OC". The 6th area is "Saddleback Valley". We tried the usual stuff (send signal, reboot box, unplug box) and nothing is listed in the guide for 713. Rep said next step is to send a tech out. I said I'll call back to schedule.

The Cox rep also mentioned that only KCOPHD is free, the other channels FSNHD, A&EHD, and National Geographic HD are part of the HD Tier (packaged with ESPN and ESPN2). I don't subscribe to that tier, but should be getting 713 KCOPHD. Sending a tech out is pretty worthless - you already proved that it's not a signal issue since you are able to get the signal OK by tuning with your TV QAM tuner. The problem is the DVR is not getting the correct/updated channel map and that's not something that can be corrected at your house. Also KCOPHD is pretty worthless anyway since I don't think it ever broadcasts anything in true HD anyway.
This launch has created too much confusion. I think Cox would have been better off waiting until everything was figured out properly before launching. Obviously the new channels at 750MHz+ are making it fine through to many areas but the billing system/account authorization is screwed up for many/most. Probably the DirecTV aggressive HD channel launch this year is what is putting pressure on Cox to launch this sooner than later even though they are not ready.

I know its pathetic but I was slightly pleased when I heard KCOD HD was being added. Lord help me. I actually watch one of there shows when my antenna has a strong enough signal (50% of the time I can receive UPN HD). The show is "Saints & Sinners". Its so bad that its almost good. It also has lots of eye candy. The show is offered in HD. Only problem is My Network has one of the worst logos/bugs in the business. They also had one of the most blantant product placement moments I have ever seen.

I really hope that COX's idea of soon isn't 2009. That is ludicrous. Soon is a couple weeks. A month or two tops. I might give them a call to see what is going on. It seems like there is contradictory information everywhere.

I know its pathetic but I was slightly pleased when I heard KCOD HD was being added. Lord help me. I actually watch one of there shows when my antenna has a strong enough signal (50% of the time I can receive UPN HD). The show is "Saints & Sinners". Its so bad that its almost good. It also has lots of eye candy. The show is offered in HD. Only problem is My Network has one of the worst logos/bugs in the business. They also had one of the most blantant product placement moments I have ever seen.

I really hope that COX's idea of soon isn't 2009. That is ludicrous. Soon is a couple weeks. A month or two tops. I might give them a call to see what is going on. It seems like there is contradictory information everywhere.

Please do! and let us know what you find out. I mostly want the Starz and Cinemax HD stations and probably am not willing to wait 1 to 2 years.

I sent a message through the cox website, and they responded saying that they sent a hit to the box and that the new HD channels should be on now. When I got home from work, low and behold all the new HD channels were there. I live in Aliso Viejo, so they channels are out there if you can get them.

That is exactly what i stated to the rep. I asked her why should we pay the same rate as other customers when they get, what, 6 more channels now in HD than I do? Shouldn't you offer some sort of discount on our "incomplete" service?

She just kept saying she's sorry I'm not getting the channels and has received other calls as well, but only offered that they "are looking into it". :rolleyes:

I still urge others to call in.

I would call in but many of us do not have lots of time to fritter away talking with un-trained tech-support clowns. Thank goodness they aren't located in India, a-la Dell Computer etc!

Cox support always operates like the airlines -- they are always "sorry" and they always know nothing. Its too bad that a paying customer has to put up with this kind of treatment from cox or any company with myopic management.

The only discount you'll ever get from Cox is the big one ... thats when ATT finally has fiber wired everywhere in OC and they offer really good prices for the first year. My son-in-law in Burbank ripped out all his Direct TV stuff (big ugly slow boxes and all) and got ATT's new small box stuff with all local channels (even all those foreign language ones) lots of HD channels, telephone and Internet all for $99/mo. I can hear Cox, Comcrap, Time Wasted etc. all squealing as I write this.

Where have you heard that AT&T plans to bring fiber to every house? I haven't heard that, and unless they do so their U-verse offering will be inferior to what even lame Cox provides, IMO.

I haven't heard directly from a legitimate source. I think we all (should) know that all the cable companies and all the phone companies want to improve cabling so they can extort more $$$ out of us with more services. Its all just a business decision. How fast one company goes with respect to its competitor.

The same goes for satellite. They want more frequencies for more bandwidth and the FCC wants to get top $$$ for whatever is available for that public functionality. We all win as long as competition is present. So the next round in the cable wars in So. OC is Cox vs ATT. Its who has the most bucks and who wants to spend it on more fiber wiring and how quickly. Just a cat-n-mouse game.

PS - a friend of mine in Tokyo sez all new buildings get fiber cabling up to the "house". Other existing stuff is getting upgraded, but he doesn't know how widespread it is. Meanwhile here in Sunny CA, how many new fiber wired houses have you seen? Right!

Where have you heard that AT&T plans to bring fiber to every house? I haven't heard that, and unless they do so their U-verse offering will be inferior to what even lame Cox provides, IMO.

Well, I live in North OC (unincorporated area between Tustin and Orange) and just called. The rep said that my area wasn't updated yet. He would not tell me when it would be updated so I asked to speak to his supervisor. The supervisor said that they were only allowed to tell inquiring customers if their area was on the current month's schedule (eg August) to be updated (mine isn't). So you need to call in each month to get the bad news. He also said that the entire project for OC would be completed sometime in 2009 (yes, 2009) which doesn't seem to me qualifies as "available in all areas soon".

I think "completed in 2009" means that all of Santa Ana will be done by then. South OC will be done sooner because some in that area are willing to pay more right now for HGTV-HD (whoopie- weed pix of my back yard in HD). But SA residents need more time to be able to even buy an HD screen, much less pay more for A&E-HD etc.

Sending a tech out is pretty worthless - you already proved that it's not a signal issue since you are able to get the signal OK by tuning with your TV QAM tuner. The problem is the DVR is not getting the correct/updated channel map and that's not something that can be corrected at your house. Also KCOPHD is pretty worthless anyway since I don't think it ever broadcasts anything in true HD anyway.
This launch has created too much confusion. I think Cox would have been better off waiting until everything was figured out properly before launching. Obviously the new channels at 750MHz+ are making it fine through to many areas but the billing system/account authorization is screwed up for many/most. Probably the DirecTV aggressive HD channel launch this year is what is putting pressure on Cox to launch this sooner than later even though they are not ready.

Ahhhhh yes; similar to the "vaporware" products sold by software companies. "We got it too and ours is better". Cox does have to do all it can for its Private Equity investors investment (before they go public again). If that includes announcing vaporware to keep up with the dishes, so be it. They gotta keep the dish defectors down to a minimum.

Somehow cox has to convince the saavy that a half analog and a half digital system with big ugly boxes is better than an all digital lineup for less $$$. I have one big Cox HD box and 3 other no-box TVs. When cox's price for that setup becomes more than a Dish with 4 boxes, I'm gone too.

Please pardon my ignorance on this subject.

Is it true that after all analog OTA broadcast is shutoff (by the FCC directive) that the 12 VHF channel frequencies are going to be re-used by the same stations except they will be digital?

I always thought that the VHF TV band would disappear from TV usage and sold for some other FCC declared communications use. I also thought that all DTV was to be located on UHF channels 14-69. But I heard that channels 52-69 are being sold off and also deleted from TV usage. Any clarification on this?

I also called tech support today and complained about FSNHD and MOJO being unwatchable during the second half of the games, he is supposed to investigate and call me back on Thursday, I wonder what will happen...
On another note, has anyone listened to the music channels, specifically KSBR and another JAZZ station nearby on the dial (forgot name), anyhow they are full of static, can anyone else confirm that this channel isn't coming in clear on COX?

I don't know if it is just circumstance or that they did something, but the games last night and tonight were pretty good....Anybody else notice?

Sending a tech out is pretty worthless - you already proved that it's not a signal issue since you are able to get the signal OK by tuning with your TV QAM tuner. The problem is the DVR is not getting the correct/updated channel map and that's not something that can be corrected at your house. Also KCOPHD is pretty worthless anyway since I don't think it ever broadcasts anything in true HD anyway.

I agree, sending a tech out to my house would be useless, that's why I didn't schedule one when I was on the phone with them. I didn't realize before all of this that FSN-HD was part of the ESPN/ESPN2 package, so getting only KCOP-HD is not worth the hassle right now.

I just hope Cox figures all of this out soon. Maybe when college football starts in a few weeks, and there are some games on FSN-HD, I'll pursue this further.

Somehow cox has to convince the saavy that a half analog and a half digital system with big ugly boxes is better than an all digital lineup for less $$$. I have one big Cox HD box and 3 other no-box TVs. When cox's price for that setup becomes more than a Dish with 4 boxes, I'm gone too. I'm sorry but you obviously don't know what you are talking about - Cox has had an all digital lineup for quite some time now ever since digital simulcast was completed well over a year ago and the picture quality is at par with or better than satellite, certainly better for the HD channels. They have analog channels in addition to all digital channels which is actually a good thing since one can receive channels on secondary TVs in the house without a box.
And AT&T U-Verse is NOT FIBER TO THE HOME. It's fiber to the node followed by DSL over phone lines to the home - and the DSL connection is very bandwidth limited such that you cannot even display multiple different HD channels on multiple TVs in the house at once. That solution is more bandwidth limited than Cox HFC network (fiber to the node and coax to the home) and the decision was made by AT&T purely to save money. Here's a good primer on U-Verse should you care to learn more about it:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070302-8969.html
To quote a piece of the above article:
Estimates peg AT&T's node-to-home bandwidth at about 24Mbps, enough for its maximum 6Mbps broadband and a couple of television channels. That's laughable bandwidth considering 18Mbps (after 6Mbps for broadband is used up) is barely enough for 1 1080i HD channel! Good luck having a dual tuner DVR record 2 HD channels at once or even watching 2 different HD channels on different TVs in the house. If they do support that it will be at the expense of picture quality.
Verizon is doing it the right way but paying a hefty price to do so.

Something weird just started happening tonight. Viewing/recording from firewire stopped working. No matter what channel I tried it wouldn't work. I tried restarting my computer. I tried resetting the DVR. I tried changing the firewire port. I even tried uninstalling the drivers and then reinstalling them. Nothing has worked. When I reset my DVR once it also restarted my computer. I dont know what is going on. I guess I will try using my other firewire cable to see if thats the problem. VLC has no data and my recordings are 0 bytes using capDVHS. Hopefully this is just COX temporarily messing around with things. I dont know what else to do.




UPDATE:

I just tried the box with a different firewire cable and it still doesn't work. I also tested it with another computer and still no luck. Looks like its the box. I am going to be insanely pissed if I have to end up trading in for a new box again. I already lost a HDD full of multiple things I can never get again. If it happens for the second time within the past month I am going to raise hell. This is why transferring programs to the PC is so important.


UPDATE #2

To add insult to injury when I unplugged the firewire cable my Laptop crashed. Thankfully the only negative thing I have seen from this was my cookies seemed to die. I needed to login to every site again. I dont know what is going on here but I dont like it. Next thing for me to do is test my other HD DVR. I am not doing that right now because I am too disgusted and I have important things to do tomorrow.

I just hope Cox figures all of this out soon. Maybe when college football starts in a few weeks, and there are some games on FSN-HD, I'll pursue this further.

Just when I was about to give up, woke up this morning and noticed that the DVR box was off, probably rebooted overnight. Checked the channels, and sure enough, all the new channels are there.

Maybe Cox just needs to hit the box, then wait.

Just when I was about to give up, woke up this morning and noticed that the DVR box was off, probably rebooted overnight. Checked the channels, and sure enough, all the new channels are there.

Maybe Cox just needs to hit the box, then wait.

Lucky, I saw my box was off this morning too, turned it on, and still nothing...

Noticed the reboot at 5AM or something this morning. Checked this morning and no channels here in Aliso.

I'm sorry but you obviously don't know what you are talking about - Cox has had an all digital lineup for quite some time now ever since digital simulcast was completed well over a year ago and the picture quality is at par with or better than satellite, certainly better for the HD channels. They have analog channels in addition to all digital channels which is actually a good thing since one can receive channels on secondary TVs in the house without a box.
And AT&T U-Verse is NOT FIBER TO THE HOME. It's fiber to the node followed by DSL over phone lines to the home - and the DSL connection is very bandwidth limited such that you cannot even display multiple different HD channels on multiple TVs in the house at once. That solution is more bandwidth limited than Cox HFC network (fiber to the node and coax to the home) and the decision was made by AT&T purely to save money. Here's a good primer on U-Verse should you care to learn more about it:
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20070302-8969.html
To quote a piece of the above article:
That's laughable bandwidth considering 18Mbps (after 6Mbps for broadband is used up) is barely enough for 1 1080i HD channel! Good luck having a dual tuner DVR record 2 HD channels at once or even watching 2 different HD channels on different TVs in the house. If they do support that it will be at the expense of picture quality.
Verizon is doing it the right way but paying a hefty price to do so.


Thanks for your reply. I simply don't agree with your statement that Cox is all digital already.

If that were true, why can't I get digital cable reception for CH-56 KDOC? How about CH-06 KCET and CH-38 KLCS, CH-10 KOCE? This stuff IS indeed available over the air in DTV format for free. But Cox keeps it all analog all day long.

How about CH-60 and 62 and 69 etc etc etc? The digital channels for all this and much more seems to be missing from Cox's meager digital lineup. The reason is because Cox chooses to keep lots of stuff as ANALOG ONLY. And not only that, they don't wanna provide our local KCET-HD or any of the local KLCS-DTV (4)channels anywhere on their cable. Kids love the KLCS stuff and I particularly like the KCET stuff. Its Cox that likes profit over quality - analog over digital. Its nice that analog is available during transition. But don't tell me that all their analog is also available in DTV format too.

If this means for you that Cox has (quoting) an all digital lineup, I guess some of us are on different wavelengths.

Thanks for your reply. I simply don't agree with your statement that Cox is all digital already. If you use CableCards or a Cox set top box (DVR on non-DVR) then all channels (including all channels from 2-100) are digital. Cox is digital simulcasting all channels in both SD digital and analog formats. It's not a theory or rumor, it's a fact. If you have a Cox digital box you can check it yourself. If you look at the spreadsheet in my sig you will see there is a digital version of every analog channel. Cox has been using Motorola DCT34xx and DCH34xx boxes which don't even have the capability of tuning or encoding analog channels yet those customers still get all those channels. If you still don't agree then you are wrong or don't understand what you are talking about...

Is it true that after all analog OTA broadcast is shutoff (by the FCC directive) that the 12 VHF channel frequencies are going to be re-used by the same stations except they will be digital?

I always thought that the VHF TV band would disappear from TV usage and sold for some other FCC declared communications use. I also thought that all DTV was to be located on UHF channels 14-69. But I heard that channels 52-69 are being sold off and also deleted from TV usage. Any clarification on this?

Please refer to the OTA DTV channel change thread for info on this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166

In short, for OTA, VHF is staying and 52-69 are going away, but Cable companies aren't affected by this.

Noticed the reboot at 5AM or something this morning. Checked this morning and no channels here in Aliso.

Still no new channels here as well. I will give it a little more time before complaining. Translation: FSN-HD had better be working for the start of the college football season!

I live in Ladera. I called Cox yesterday, They did a hit on my box and now I have the new channels.

In Central Irvine (ICD and Harvard). Had 2 boxes hit, No new channels.

Please refer to the OTA DTV channel change thread for info on this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166

In short, for OTA, VHF is staying and 52-69 are going away, but Cable companies aren't affected by this.

From what I have read, there is still some debate as to whether the FCC is going to allow cable companies to continue to provide analog versions of the channels after the big switch. On one hand sure the cable companies would love the bandwidth that the analog would free up, but there is a competitive advantage to being able to provide at least basic service to how ever many TVs you aready have without needing boxes. Could go either way.

I received this from Cox Tech Support today about the new HD channels being offered in various places in OC after I sent an email to them:

"Thank you for your email.

I am sorry that you have received some wrong information. Unfortunately,
we have not launched these channels in Mission Viejo. We have only
launched them in certain areas of Orange County. As of now there is no
date as to when these channels will be available in Mission Viejo.

Your request for (KCOP HD, FSN HD, National Geographic HD) has been
submitted to our Marketing department. Our Marketing department keeps
track of all channels requested by our customers. We use that list in
our consideration for adding new channels, usually in the fall each
year.

Your voice matters and does play a part in our decision making. We
encourage you to mention this to others who share an interest in the
same channels. They can either email or call us and we will forward
their requests to our Marketing department. Of course this will not
guarantee the channel will be added, as there are many considerations,
but your feedback is very important to us.

We are always actively negotiating contracts for new channels, and this
applies to HD channels as well. Unfortunately until a contract is signed
and agreed upon we have no way of knowing when a channel will be
launched.

We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you
requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to
you, please do not hesitate to contact us again."



Who knows when Mission Viejo will see the new channels............

Bob in Mission Viejo

sorry to jump in a discussion, but I just got AverTV PC tuner that has QAM feature and I'd like to use it. I connected cable from the wall outlet directly to the TV-in and I get only about 20 channels. I connected the same cable to ANT-in and I get nothing.

Do I need to have digital box to watch the full line of channels? currently we have box downstairs. I live in 92606

tia.

I received this from Cox Tech Support today about the new HD channels being offered in various places in OC after I sent an email to them:
...<snip>...
Who knows when Mission Viejo will see the new channels............ Thanks for the update. Sure hope these are in place in MV come October and it's not the 2009 date that twarren was given.

FWIW, I just talked to Cox, and they said I should be getting the channels (Irvine, 92606), even though I haven't seen anything as of yet.

FWIW, I just talked to Cox, and they said I should be getting the channels (Irvine, 92606), even though I haven't seen anything as of yet.

That's how my conversation went the first time. Good luck.

Bob in Mission Viejo

That's how my conversation went the first time. Good luck.

Bob in Mission Viejo

It wouldn't surprise me if I do not end up with the channels, it is just a little frustrating since I may or may not be in the "parts of Irvine" that will get the new channels. I want FSNHD for Sept. 1 (Start of college football), or hopefully they will send it to MOJO...

Here's the email I got regarding new channel support for Foothill Ranch:


-------------------------------
Thank you for your email. I see that your area has not been upgraded for
the new HD channels yet. When the upgrade is complete and the additional
channels become available, they could come up for without the need to
send a hit.

We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you
requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to
you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.

sorry to jump in a discussion, but I just got AverTV PC tuner that has QAM feature and I'd like to use it. I connected cable from the wall outlet directly to the TV-in and I get only about 20 channels. I connected the same cable to ANT-in and I get nothing.

Do I need to have digital box to watch the full line of channels? currently we have box downstairs. I live in 92606

tia. These PC tuners can only tune unencrypted QAM channels which are a small subset of all the digital channels (mostly just the local broadcast channels). Yes you do need a cable box or CableCard to get the full lineup of digital channels since most digital channels are encrypted.

If you use CableCards or a Cox set top box (DVR on non-DVR) then all channels (including all channels from 2-100) are digital. Cox is digital simulcasting all channels in both SD digital and analog formats. It's not a theory or rumor, it's a fact. If you have a Cox digital box you can check it yourself. If you look at the spreadsheet in my sig you will see there is a digital version of every analog channel. Cox has been using Motorola DCT34xx and DCH34xx boxes which don't even have the capability of tuning or encoding analog channels yet those customers still get all those channels. If you still don't agree then you are wrong or don't understand what you are talking about...

If that were true, explain this for me I have one of those extra ugly and archaic gray HD boxes on my HDTV set. The other day I was watching cable CH-12 KDOC. It had alot of interference on it -- rolling gray/black bars. (It was there for several days). I looked at my other analog non-HDTV which uses no cox box. It also had the same rolling bars on CH-12. Same on another no box non-HDTV.

Then I tuned my HD TV to the antenna on CH56.1. Thats the station's OTA separate DTV transmission of their analog CH56. Guess what! No rolling black bars!. I think this conclusively shows that you are the one who doesn't know what you are talking about. If I get the same (rolling bars) signal with and without the cox box, and on both an HDTV and a non-HDTV, then I think everyone would agree this is an ANALOG signal transmission!

So for you to sit there and claim cox has an all digital lineup is simply not born out by the facts. Yes, cox can re-map anything, anywhere, and anytime it wants. But your spreadsheet tables are of no use to my analog non-HDTV.

Therefore I conclude that Cox Cable's transmission of CH2-72 are all analog. If they were digital transmissions (as you claim), then reception thru the cable box would be different than not using the box. In addition, if they were digital (as you claim), my analog TV would not be able to display them.

If "Cox is digital simulcasting all channels in both SD digital and analog formats", then I my cox box is defective. It does analog, DTV, and HDTV OK. But it cannot see any digital versions of cable CH2-72. My box only accepts CH2-999. Which CH numbers do you claim are being used for the digital versions of the cable's analog CH2-72? Why can't my existing cox box see them? Is it fixable?

I re-state again that Cox DOES NOT HAVE AN ALL DIGITAL LINEUP. Maybe its that way on your cable, but not on mine. Mine is still half-n-half.

Please refer to the OTA DTV channel change thread for info on this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=823166

In short, for OTA, VHF is staying and 52-69 are going away, but Cable companies aren't affected by this.

Many thanks.

LN-Antenna, I have given you all the facts you need. Continue to believe what you want but you are wrong. Someone else can take up the argument with you if they like but I've got nothing else to say on the matter.

From what I have read, there is still some debate as to whether the FCC is going to allow cable companies to continue to provide analog versions of the channels after the big switch. On one hand sure the cable companies would love the bandwidth that the analog would free up, but there is a competitive advantage to being able to provide at least basic service to how ever many TVs you aready have without needing boxes. Could go either way.

One solution would be for them to provide FREE boxes like the dishes do. But cox is like our 241/73 Toll Road Authorities: "Keep raising prices and hope for more income". Cox (ie their private equity investors) just can't grasp the concept of "less hassle means more income".

LN-Antenna, moyekj is right and I think you owe him an apology. Your logic is flawed -- the argument that your cable box is receiving an analog signal does not mean that there's no digital signal being sent. In fact, both analog and digital signals are being sent simultaneously. The HD-DVR box that Cox is passing out right now is the Motorola DCT3416, which is all digital (no analog tuner at all). Many of us have this box and still receive all the 2-100 channels. If you don't believe me, check the Motorola spec sheet (link below). Direct quote: "The DCT3400 Series set-tops are designed for use as an all-digital platform. They do not support tuning analog channels on the cable plant"

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct3400/downloads/DCT3400.pdf

I am with moyekj and ikoh. Most of Cox's channel 2-99 have both digital and analog transimission simultaneously. I don't believe there is any channel that is analog only now.

I'm trying to figure out how loudly to complain about the new HD stations (or lack thereof) and would appreciate inputs from others in this forum. I had earlier reported that I had been told that the node update(s) had not occurred in my area and that the project schedule ran into 2009. Subsequently I have also been told that they are updating approximately 1 node per work day (no work on weekends, holidays and some gaps between finishing one area and starting in another) and that there are 300+ nodes to update so I can see how this would take them into 2009. Given the sequential nature and that there are almost certainly priorities on deciding order of work (probably based mostly on marketing inputs) I can see where my area is most likely towards the bottom of the schedule (even though there are 50+ homes in my area that have HD tvs the vast majority of them have satellite rather than cable). If that is the case, so be it, it won't change no matter how much complaining is done.

However, what I am trying to understand is specifically what the node update accomplishes (and conversations with Cox tech staff didn't really help with this); the reason is that I have a digital tuner attached to my Mac computer and have a cable split attached directly to it (not through cable box). This tuner shows all the digital channels and their frequencies even though only a small number can be tuned as the others are encrypted. When I rescanned the cable signal on August 19th, 7 new frequencies showed up (2 on 765, 3 on 771 and 2 on 777). One of the 777 frequencies could actually be tuned (other 6 were encrypted) and is KCOP HD; picture and sound were excellent quality (over extended periods of time).

So, my question is: is the node update mostly related to providing the additional bandwidth for the new channels or is it more complex? In the former case, I would have to conclude that it has already been done for my house and would be extremely frustrated if this is the case and for whatever reason Cox will not activate the new channel map for my receivers. In the latter case I would just have to live with the schedule (or decide to switch services).

I think it might be that yes, the digital simulcasts do exist, but no, Cox might not be mapping them to his boxes for some reason? Maybe both are right?

So, my question is: is the node update mostly related to providing the additional bandwidth for the new channels or is it more complex? In the former case, I would have to conclude that it has already been done for my house and would be extremely frustrated if this is the case and for whatever reason Cox will not activate the new channel map for my receivers. In the latter case I would just have to live with the schedule (or decide to switch services). I'm in a similar situation in Mission Viejo. Earlier (as posted here) I scanned with my PC tuner and it was able to pickup all the new channels at the higher frequencies, though only 1 was unencrypted that I could actually view. So obviously the higher frequencies are making it through to my house which would imply that the node to my house already has the necessary capacity updates.

My theory is that Cox is being conservative and aside from node upgrades they also have to check at least some of the home drop points from that node to ensure the coax portion of the run from node to homes is also adequately carrying the higher frequency signals. That probably takes more effort/time than the node upgrades themselves and perhaps has not been done in my area yet.

The other thing I wonder about is Cox going to wait for all nodes in a city to be completed before activating the channels for associated accounts? For a city like Mission Viejo (population 100K) there could easily be 50+ nodes (assuming 500 homes/node or so) to complete and maybe they are waiting for all nodes and checks to be completed before activating anyone.

Finally one more point is that though currently Cox is only using up to 777MHz perhaps they have short term plans to add additional channels up to 860MHz range and so while the pre-upgrade equipment in some areas (rated at 750MHz) are actually handling 777MHz OK perhaps as you go higher in frequency then things break down. Also there is bound to be some pre-upgrade equipment that is not handling >750MHz already. So in an effort to reduce calls from people about problems with these new channels Cox wants to make sure that all areas where these channels have been activated have already undergone all upgrades and checks.

All the above is purely my speculation of course and I could be way off...

I live in Ladera. I called Cox yesterday, They did a hit on my box and now I have the new channels.

I called today and now they are up and running. I don't get 2 of them and FSN-HD is down right now, but at least they are there.

I don't like how Cox is using the canned "marketing is looking into it" response for other areas. I wonder what my uncle's situation is in San Clemente. He has been wanting FSN-HD for quit some time now. Is SC out of luck too?

I'm with moyekj on this. I just want FSNHD for Laker games and also Angels games. Seems strange to me that getting new channels would take almost 2 years to get. That is not what Cox is advertising or leading customers into thinking. According to Cox, these adding of channels (who knows how many) should be done by the end of the year or sooner. If it is going to take until 2009 for new channels, Cox is going to have marketing nightmare.

One of the techs I spoke to seemed to imply that when channels become available for one area, it usually is weeks, not years for other areas to get. But with all the different responses I have gotten and others, who knows what to believe.

Bob in Mission Viejo

Finally one more point is that though currently Cox is only using up to 777MHz perhaps they have short term plans to add additional channels up to 860MHz range and so while the pre-upgrade equipment in some areas (rated at 750MHz) are actually handling 777MHz OK perhaps as you go higher in frequency then things break down. Also there is bound to be some pre-upgrade equipment that is not handling >750MHz already. So in an effort to reduce calls from people about problems with these new channels Cox wants to make sure that all areas where these channels have been activated have already undergone all upgrades and checks.


Thanks; your comments make a lot of sense; especially this last one. Its only about 3.5% or so - actually probably less because there are some stations at 753 in the current set up so perhaps the old equipment was rated closer to 760.

If that were true, explain this for me I have one of those extra ugly and archaic gray HD boxes on my HDTV set.

What model box do you have? Maybe the box you have doesn't receive the digital channels, but Cox does transmit in all digital as well as simulcast in analog.

Where can I get the DNS # for internet. I need to manually apply the dns to my mac, it wont seem to get the #s and fails to resolve websites.

Hey, question for all of you guys that DO see the new channels.

What HD-DVR box model # (6416, 6412, 3416, etc.) do you guys have that they show up on? I know it's probably not a box issue, but I was just wondering what you guys have and if there is some sort of similarity between you and correlation somehow.

I have the 6412 III and do not see the new channels.

Something weird just started happening tonight. Viewing/recording from firewire stopped working. No matter what channel I tried it wouldn't work. I tried restarting my computer. I tried resetting the DVR. I tried changing the firewire port. I even tried uninstalling the drivers and then reinstalling them. Nothing has worked. When I reset my DVR once it also restarted my computer. I dont know what is going on. I guess I will try using my other firewire cable to see if thats the problem. VLC has no data and my recordings are 0 bytes using capDVHS. Hopefully this is just COX temporarily messing around with things. I dont know what else to do.




UPDATE:

I just tried the box with a different firewire cable and it still doesn't work. I also tested it with another computer and still no luck. Looks like its the box. I am going to be insanely pissed if I have to end up trading in for a new box again. I already lost a HDD full of multiple things I can never get again. If it happens for the second time within the past month I am going to raise hell. This is why transferring programs to the PC is so important.


UPDATE #2

To add insult to injury when I unplugged the firewire cable my Laptop crashed. Thankfully the only negative thing I have seen from this was my cookies seemed to die. I needed to login to every site again. I dont know what is going on here but I dont like it. Next thing for me to do is test my other HD DVR. I am not doing that right now because I am too disgusted and I have important things to do tomorrow.

my pc didnt crash, but same exact problem as of 8/24, last time i tried it was a couple of days ago, ive had it working since feb 2005, seems like maybe they shutoff the video stream on firewire with the last updates? that would suck, tried various things, no success. mission viejo south oc

my pc didnt crash, but same exact problem as of 8/24, last time i tried it was a couple of days ago, ive had it working since feb 2005, seems like maybe they shutoff the video stream on firewire with the last updates? that would suck, tried various things, no success. mission viejo south oc


Thank you very much for the info. I will be calling COX later today hopefully. I think they have to have this feature enabled by law. I will try and see if I can get some more info and hopefully the feature turned on again.

Where can I get the DNS # for internet. I need to manually apply the dns to my mac, it wont seem to get the #s and fails to resolve websites. There are many you can use. The Cox ones are:
68.4.16.30
68.4.16.25

I think this conclusively shows that you are the one who doesn't know what you are talking about.

moyekj is one of the most knowledgable, patient and helpful people you will find anywhere on the avs forum. Whether he's right or wrong on this particular occasion (and I'd give 99-1 odds that he's right) for you to say that he doesn't know what he's talking about makes you sound deeply foolish.

Just so you know.

Ok boys, agree to disagree. Let it rest.

The most (well, in terms of Cox cable) important things right now are:

a) We are not getting the HD channels we pay for.
b) The firewire transfer many of us use is now disabled...which pisses me off!

Ok. Just got off the phone with a Cox support person (Brad I believe was his name) and got mostly confused head scratching answers. I did receive the following info:

75-80% of Orange County should get the new HD channels by the end of 2007. There was no additional time table for the remaining 20-25%.

My area (Mission Viejo) is not an upgraded area. No time table was given.

San Diego Cox customers have there SATA Port enabled and have been able to use external hard drives. No time table was given for when this feature will be enabled for our area. The tech was surprised this feature wasn't enabled in our area.

Cox had no idea the Firewire (1394) Port was disabled and after checking with a supervisor they said it is currently not being supported. He wasn't aware of any box upgrades during this past week. But he said they aren't always told about minor upgrades. So there may have been a small upgrade solely to disable the firewire port but he didnt know. Thus no real help was given and no tech could be sent to try and fix the problem. The only suggestion the tech had was that I try and swap boxes again and hope the new box's firewire port works. I had him do a hit on my box just in case but unfortunately it didn't help anything.

Cox has been bugging Motorola about them finally having a working PIP (picture in picture) but nothing has been done yet. No time table on when this might be enabled. Apparently this is a Motorola issue and not Cox being lazy.

He was friendly and said that if he received any updated information about the firewire port he would give me a call. I requested that he tell his supervisor about the problem and try to get it addressed soon.

All in all no real written in stone answers but there was some additional information that I thought some of you might like to know.

In summation of my two major concerns:

No guaranteed HD channels for any area
Firewire isn't supported thus Cox wipes its hands clean and cant help anyone.

Hi, all.

I just wanted to say a big THANK YOU to moyekj for putting together the headend spreadsheet. I just bought a HDHomeRun (http://www.silicondust.com/), and the spreadsheet was a great help in getting the channel mapping correct. I don't know if this has been mentioned already, but the lineup is slightly different here in Irvine. For example, the program streams on 99MHz are all local origination/government access, including the Saddleback Community College channel, and a channel from Newport Beach (even though their cable company is Time Warner - go figure!). Unfortunately, one of the channels I was hoping to get in digital (WGNSAT) is encrypted here, so I'm stuck with only an analog version of that channel. :(

Anyway, here are the six programs that I see in the clear on 99MHz:

Program 5: SADDLE
Program 6: PEG033
Program 7: UNKNOWN (color bars)
Program 30: GOAC030
Program 88: PEG039
Program 99: GOAC003

There may be other differences, but these are the ones I've noticed thus far.

Hey, question for all of you guys that DO see the new channels.

What HD-DVR box model # (6416, 6412, 3416, etc.) do you guys have that they show up on? I know it's probably not a box issue, but I was just wondering what you guys have and if there is some sort of similarity between you and correlation somehow.

I have the 6412 III and do not see the new channels.

I have the DCT 6416 III.

The frequencies for the new channels are:

713: 777 MHz
724: 771 MHz
763: 765 MHz (still off-air)
767: 765 MHz
781: 771 MHz
790: 777 MHz

San Diego Cox customers have there SATA Port enabled and have been able to use external hard drives. No time table was given for when this feature will be enabled for our area. The tech was surprised this feature wasn't enabled in our area. That's because Cox San Diego uses SA boxes instead of Motorola. AFAIK no Motorola boxes in any market have SATA enabled. If the tech didn't know Orange County uses Moto boxes I wouldn't put too much faith in the rest of his responses.

How about CH-60 and 62 and 69 etc etc etc? The digital channels for all this and much more seems to be missing from Cox's meager digital lineup.

You know something? You may be right!

KCET's HD broadcasts are clearly missing from Cox's OC lineup. They have a digital SD simulcast of the analog signal, but the HD is MIA. They have the HD for KOCE but not KCET.

Where I live (in Irvine), none of the programs that are listed as being on 99MHz in the headend spreadsheet (COMEDYP, SCIFIP, HISTP, MTV2P, etc.) are there on 99 MHz. There are 7 programs on 99MHz, 6 of which are unencrypted (and which I listed in my earlier post - a bunch of local/government access stuff). There is another program on 99 MHz which is encrypted, but TSReader (http://www.coolstf.com/tsreader/) doesn't show me any sort of name so I have no idea what it is. Now, it's possible that those programs appear on another frequency (and are encrypted), but it's also possible that Cox is pulling a fast one and isn't transmitting digital versions of those feeds to the entire county.

Things that make ya go "Hmm..." :)

I now have all the new HD channels available here in Aliso Viejo. No rhyme or reason why they came on this morning. I called two times during the week and nothing worked. But, I'm satisfied now and I hope everyone else will get their satisfaction soon. :)

The pessimist in me is beginning to think that the reason Cox won't tell those of us who live in Mission Viejo when our area will be upgraded is because the truth will send us off into the land of satellite.

I'm running out of patience.

I have the new HD channels here in Ladera Ranch, I think they came on on Friday. Right now though FSN HD is "Off Air".

Right now though FSN HD is "Off Air". That's perfectly normal as they only broadcast for an actual event. I'm curious though to know what guide listings look like? Are there any future listings in the guide for that channel? (None of the online listings I have looked at (Zap2it and TitanTV) have any of these new channels yet).

Cox Cable's president did brag a couple of months ago about upgrading ALL their systems to 50 HD channel capacity by the end of the year. He further stated that this did not mean that they would actually have 50 channels on 12-31-07 but they would have the capacity for them.

Hey, question for all of you guys that DO see the new channels.

What HD-DVR box model # (6416, 6412, 3416, etc.) do you guys have that they show up on? I know it's probably not a box issue, but I was just wondering what you guys have and if there is some sort of similarity between you and correlation somehow.

I have the 6412 III and do not see the new channels.

I have the DCT 3416 and am in Aliso Viejo...All new HD channels working fine, as a matter of fact, even the Angels broadcasts on MOJO and FSNHD were good this week....The HD broadcast of the Chargers game last night on 702 was terrible, did anyone else notice that?

I have the DCT 3416 and am in Aliso Viejo...All new HD channels working fine, as a matter of fact, even the Angels broadcasts on MOJO and FSNHD were good this week....The HD broadcast of the Chargers game last night on 702 was terrible, did anyone else notice that?Yep, it kept breaking up. When it wasn't breaking up and hesitating, the picture was great, but........

If that were true, explain this for me I have one of those extra ugly and archaic gray HD boxes on my HDTV set. The other day I was watching cable CH-12 KDOC. It had alot of interference on it -- rolling gray/black bars. (It was there for several days). I looked at my other analog non-HDTV which uses no cox box. It also had the same rolling bars on CH-12. Same on another no box non-HDTV.

Then I tuned my HD TV to the antenna on CH56.1. Thats the station's OTA separate DTV transmission of their analog CH56. Guess what! No rolling black bars!. I think this conclusively shows that you are the one who doesn't know what you are talking about. If I get the same (rolling bars) signal with and without the cox box, and on both an HDTV and a non-HDTV, then I think everyone would agree this is an ANALOG signal transmission!

So for you to sit there and claim cox has an all digital lineup is simply not born out by the facts. Yes, cox can re-map anything, anywhere, and anytime it wants. But your spreadsheet tables are of no use to my analog non-HDTV.

Therefore I conclude that Cox Cable's transmission of CH2-72 are all analog. If they were digital transmissions (as you claim), then reception thru the cable box would be different than not using the box. In addition, if they were digital (as you claim), my analog TV would not be able to display them.

If "Cox is digital simulcasting all channels in both SD digital and analog formats", then I my cox box is defective. It does analog, DTV, and HDTV OK. But it cannot see any digital versions of cable CH2-72. My box only accepts CH2-999. Which CH numbers do you claim are being used for the digital versions of the cable's analog CH2-72? Why can't my existing cox box see them? Is it fixable?

I re-state again that Cox DOES NOT HAVE AN ALL DIGITAL LINEUP. Maybe its that way on your cable, but not on mine. Mine is still half-n-half.



Cox takes the ANALOG feed that they get from the provider, and send it out twice, once as an ANALOG feed and once as a DIGITAL feed. So your problem is one of two things, since it happend with all of your sets on only one channel, we can pretty much rule out your house as the problem. Since you did not test recieving the channel OTA ANALOG we cannot pinpoint the problem. It is either from the provider or from the analog to digital converter that Cox uses.

I called trying to get the new HD channels in RSM last week. Tech sent some command to my box causing it to completely reset (recorded shows and scheduled recordings). This is the 2nd box reset they've caused me in the past 3 months.

I'm picking up my HD Tivo on the way home tonight.

I'm in Irvine and just started getting the newer channels a couple days ago. I don't know if everyone in my area did but I did email cox and ask them to hit my box.

For those that do receive these channels can you please check FSNHD guide listings to see if there is anything there? I would expect the listings to be sparse if anything is there since it only broadcasts occasionally (being off air most of the time). But curious to know if there are any listings at all. Neither zap2it or titantv have listings for this or the other new channels yet.

According to the on-phone tech: "RSM is in an upgraded area"

And she says that the 1st week of September should be the the time frame for the upgrade in my area.

Melinda Pkwy and Santa Margarita Pkwy

I can confirm that Cox Cable in Orange County has downloaded new software to the DCT-6xxx boxes that disables the IEEE-1394 port.

I spoke to Josh, a customer support supervisor, who treated me as if I was doing something illegal by using the firewire output of these boxes. He explained that this was a "corporate" decision.

The FCC required cable providers to provide set-top boxes with IEEE1394 ports enabled in 47cfr76.640 where it says:

(4) Cable operators shall:

(i) Effective April 1, 2004, upon request of a customer, replace any leased high definition set-top box, which does not include a functional IEEE 1394 interface, with one that includes a functional IEEE 1394 interface or upgrade the customer's set-top box by download or other means to ensure that the IEEE 1394 interface is functional.

(ii) Effective July 1, 2005, include both a DVI or HDMI interface and an IEEE 1394 interface on all high definition set-top boxes acquired by a cable operator for distribution to customers.

I have already filed written complaints with FCC and with Cox - Orange County.

I encourage all of you to do the same.

For those that do receive these channels can you please check FSNHD guide listings to see if there is anything there? I would expect the listings to be sparse if anything is there since it only broadcasts occasionally (being off air most of the time). But curious to know if there are any listings at all. Neither zap2it or titantv have listings for this or the other new channels yet.

When nothing is on, the guide says OFF AIR. But, there is an Angel game tonight at 7 and the guide does list the game.

When nothing is on, the guide says OFF AIR. But, there is an Angel game tonight at 7 and the guide does list the game. Perfect, thanks!

I can confirm that Cox Cable in Orange County has downloaded new software to the DCT-6xxx boxes that disables the IEEE-1394 port.

I spoke to Josh, a customer support supervisor, who treated me as if I was doing something illegal by using the firewire output of these boxes. He explained that this was a "corporate" decision.

The FCC required cable providers to provide set-top boxes with IEEE1394 ports enabled in 47cfr76.640 where it says:

(4) Cable operators shall:

(i) Effective April 1, 2004, upon request of a customer, replace any leased high definition set-top box, which does not include a functional IEEE 1394 interface, with one that includes a functional IEEE 1394 interface or upgrade the customer's set-top box by download or other means to ensure that the IEEE 1394 interface is functional.

(ii) Effective July 1, 2005, include both a DVI or HDMI interface and an IEEE 1394 interface on all high definition set-top boxes acquired by a cable operator for distribution to customers.

I have already filed written complaints with FCC and with Cox - Orange County.

I encourage all of you to do the same.

Can you provide the direct links to where we do this? I'll definitely add my complaint.

I can confirm that Cox Cable in Orange County has downloaded new software to the DCT-6xxx boxes that disables the IEEE-1394 port.

I spoke to Josh, a customer support supervisor, who treated me as if I was doing something illegal by using the firewire output of these boxes. He explained that this was a "corporate" decision.

The FCC required cable providers to provide set-top boxes with IEEE1394 ports enabled in 47cfr76.640 where it says:

(4) Cable operators shall:

(i) Effective April 1, 2004, upon request of a customer, replace any leased high definition set-top box, which does not include a functional IEEE 1394 interface, with one that includes a functional IEEE 1394 interface or upgrade the customer's set-top box by download or other means to ensure that the IEEE 1394 interface is functional.

(ii) Effective July 1, 2005, include both a DVI or HDMI interface and an IEEE 1394 interface on all high definition set-top boxes acquired by a cable operator for distribution to customers.

I have already filed written complaints with FCC and with Cox - Orange County.

I encourage all of you to do the same.


Thank you very much for the information and the full description of the law. I emailed Cox late yesterday about the firewire not working and I am waiting for a response. This information should be very useful if I need to respond to there reply.

Can you provide the direct links to where we do this? I'll definitely add my complaint.

I've looked around the forum here and other places on the 'net, and I don't see any evidence that Cox is disabling IEEE1394 ports on a national basis.

So I am proceeding as if this were a local decision made by an uninformed person. As such, I believe this can be remedied most quickly by complaining to Cox corporate executives.

On that basis, I have emailed complaints with the following executives:

PUBLIC POLICY & REGULATORY:

Amy Cohn
Executive Director of Public Affairs
(404) 843-5769
amy.cohn@cox.com
Stephanie Davis
Director of Public Affairs
(404) 843-7872
stephanie.davis2@cox.com

Erin Lambremont
Manager of Public Relations
(404) 843-5854
erin.lambremont@cox.com

California
Orange County/Palos Verdes
Ayn Craciun
Communications Manager
(949) 546-2597
ayn.craciun@cox.com

I would urge any other Cox subscribers to similarly express their concerns with the same people.

Tom

http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/part76.pdf

http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/12feb20041500/edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2004/octqtr/pdf/47cfr76.640.pdf

The IEE1394 interface IS active and working per design and FCC rules. The problem is that the device it is connected to MUST be HDCP compliant. This means that the PC you are using is not, but an HD VCR might be.

The IEE1394 interface IS active and working per design and FCC rules. The problem is that the device it is connected to MUST be HDCP compliant. This means that the PC you are using is not, but an HD VCR might be. From what I have read it looks like at least in Orange County something changed in firmware where it doesn't work anymore for any channels, even the local broadcast channels which should not have any copyright protection. I can confirm with my Tivos the CCI flags have not changed on various channels so it must be some firmware update on the DCT boxes that screwed something up.

The IEE1394 interface IS active and working per design and FCC rules. The problem is that the device it is connected to MUST be HDCP compliant. This means that the PC you are using is not, but an HD VCR might be.

I'm using the same laptop I've always used to do the transfers and it is definitely not working as it once did. The Motorola DCT device shows up on my laptop but when I begin the transfer as I've always done, nothing gets transferred. Just shows as 0 bytes.

The IEE1394 interface IS active and working per design and FCC rules. The problem is that the device it is connected to MUST be HDCP compliant. This means that the PC you are using is not, but an HD VCR might be.

I am sorry but you are incorrect, in the south Orange County area in southern california on Cox's system, the IEEE1394 was active, but was turned off on or around August 24, 2007. I was using it actively for more than 2 years and have quite a bit of experience with it. If it was an HDCP issue the video stream would still be there, just unreadable, and you can still save the encrypted stream, just not view it. There is however no video data now, at all.

I've looked around the forum here and other places on the 'net, and I don't see any evidence that Cox is disabling IEEE1394 ports on a national basis.

So I am proceeding as if this were a local decision made by an uninformed person. As such, I believe this can be remedied most quickly by complaining to Cox corporate executives.

On that basis, I have emailed complaints with the following executives:

PUBLIC POLICY & REGULATORY:

Amy Cohn
Executive Director of Public Affairs

amy.cohn@cox.com
Stephanie Davis
Director of Public Affairs

stephanie.davis2@cox.com

Erin Lambremont
Manager of Public Relations

erin.lambremont@cox.com

California
Orange County/Palos Verdes
Ayn Craciun
Communications Manager

ayn.craciun@cox.com

I would urge any other Cox subscribers to similarly express their concerns with the same people.

Tom

Tom, any response from anyone at Cox yet?

Why would a website fail to load on Cox, but on ATT Wireless and SBC Internet it loads just fine? I asked my office about it, they said nothing was blocked. The site is mail.watg.com it used to load, just now it does not.

Why would a website fail to load on Cox, but on ATT Wireless and SBC Internet it loads just fine? I asked my office about it, they said nothing was blocked. The site is mail.watg.com it used to load, just now it does not. Works fine for me. Takes me to a page with the following info:
Welcome to WATG's Outlook Web Access.

Logon to the WATG email system by clicking here.
Please logon using the following format: domain\username.

Wow. What a shock. I got a response to my email today and guess what? Another COX employee who doesnt know what the hell is going on. I have emailed them back with some additional information.

What they sent me:
> Thank you for your email. I'm sorry for the trouble with firewire port.
> The 1394 firewire out port should be active on all our motorola dvr
> boxes. Are you able to view these premium channels on your television
> via component or HDMI? Are you trying to watch via HDMI and firewire at
> the same time? If yes, try only using component cables while viewing via
> firewire.
>
> Also, try powercycling the DVR by leaving it unplugged for at least 10
> seconds then plugging it back in. If that doesn't work, then there may
> be a problem with the box itself. We can schedule a technician to
> replace the box or you can swap it at one of our offices.
>
> Our Retail Front Counter Lobbies are:
>
> 6771 Quail Hill Parkway
> Irvine, CA 92618
>
> Lobby Hours:
> M-S 10:00 AM - 7:00PM
> Sunday 11:00 AM - 5:00 PM
>
> and
>
> 29947 Avenida De Las Banderas
> Rancho Santa Margarita, CA. 92688
>
> Lobby Hours:
> M-F 9:00 AM - 6:00PM
> Saturday 9:00 AM - 1:00 PM
>
> We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you
> requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service to
> you, please do not hesitate to contact us again.
>
> Sincerely,
> Cy
> SDCCC
> Technical Support
> Cox Communications - Video/Telephony Tech Support
> Online Support Team

I am sorry but you are incorrect, in the south Orange County area in southern california on Cox's system, the IEEE1394 was active, but was turned off on or around August 24, 2007. I was using it actively for more than 2 years and have quite a bit of experience with it. If it was an HDCP issue the video stream would still be there, just unreadable, and you can still save the encrypted stream, just not view it. There is however no video data now, at all.

The CCI flags are independent of the HDCP requirement. While it may have worked in the past, it wasn't supposed to. The CCI flags would stop one channel from working and not another, the HDCP is an interface restriction. If your TV has a IEE1394 input, you will find that if you plug your box into your TV it will work fine, since the TV is HDCP compliant. A DVD recorder may or may not be HDCP and may or may not work. A HD VCR would work (if you could find one) since the ones I remember considering were HDCP compliant. A PC, due to the relative ease of making copies of content, would NOT be HDCP compliant.

I am sorry but you are incorrect, in the south Orange County area in southern california on Cox's system, the IEEE1394 was active, but was turned off on or around August 24, 2007. I was using it actively for more than 2 years and have quite a bit of experience with it. If it was an HDCP issue the video stream would still be there, just unreadable, and you can still save the encrypted stream, just not view it. There is however no video data now, at all.

I will backup Kevin on this I used the firewire connection on the6412-6416 for 2 solid years before cox Omaha changed something and they tried to blame the local brodcasters.

ajwees41

Works fine for me. Takes me to a page with the following info:

I know... it just won't load for me on cox for the past week. It does load on other providers tho. What causes this?

I know... it just won't load for me on cox for the past week. It does load on other providers tho. What causes this? I guess I should have been more clear - Cox is my broadband provider and it works for me. Maybe on the machine connected to Cox broadband you need to reset/clear all cookies of the browser you are using? Or even better try a different browser.

The CCI flags are independent of the HDCP requirement. While it may have worked in the past, it wasn't supposed to. The CCI flags would stop one channel from working and not another, the HDCP is an interface restriction. If your TV has a IEE1394 input, you will find that if you plug your box into your TV it will work fine, since the TV is HDCP compliant. A DVD recorder may or may not be HDCP and may or may not work. A HD VCR would work (if you could find one) since the ones I remember considering were HDCP compliant. A PC, due to the relative ease of making copies of content, would NOT be HDCP compliant.

IEEE 1394 firewire does not use HDCP and cannot use it, HDCP was specifically designed for DVI and HDMI interfaces. IEEE 1394 uses an encryption schema called DTCP Digital Transmission Content Encryption, also known as 5C. This encryption schema has been in use on Cox's firewire connection since I started using over 2 years ago. You can still capture a 5C encrypted stream, you just can't view it. The problem we have now, is there is no video stream at all, it seems to have been entirely disabled, maybe unintentionally with the last update.

Since IEEE 1394 is no longer working, I was please to find out that 5 days ago drivers came out for my Black Magic Intensity Pro for Vista Ultimate x64. http://www.blackmagic-design.com/products/intensity/ This also allows you to capture from channels that are locked like HBO. You need a fast workstation and a fast raid array (10 or 15k rpm SATA II or SCSI). :)

Firewire should be working again now :D

Kennith (aka Frasier) responded to my email earlier today. At the time he needed to get more information from Atlanta. Instead of emailing me back tomorrow he called me personally today once he got the information.

Some info:

The Firewire port was inadvertently disabled from a recent update. Unfortunately this stuff is new to COX so very few of there employees have been informed correctly.

The firewire port should be working for everyone by the end of todays business day. If you are unable to use the port try resetting the box by pressing and holding down the power button for 10 seconds. If you still have problems contact COX.

All of the channels that worked before should still be working. Unfortunately the channels that have been blocked in the past (HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc..) are still blocked.


Frasier (Kennith) was very nice, helpful, and seemed well informed. If you have problems in the future I would suggest requesting him.

Are the new channels listed here (http://www.cox.com/ocpv/HDTV/new.asp) SDV? Wondering if they'll work on Tivo HD.

Badass. Thanks for the link. I can wait until October for the new channels. Nice to see an actual date given. Sorry to all of those who wont see the new channels until 2009. Thats f*cked up. :(

Ooops. Forgot to answer your question. Those channels listed should be HD. Even though they say "free" you will probably need a cablecard to view most of them. I think only the locals will be totally free using your TIVO

Badass. Thanks for the link. I can wait until October for the new channels. Nice to see an actual date given. Sorry to all of those who wont see the new channels until 2009. Thats f*cked up. :(

Ooops. Forgot to answer your question. Those channels listed should be HD. Even though they say "free" you will probably need a cablecard to view most of them. I think only the locals will be totally free using your TIVO

I was actually wondering if they are using switched digital video, which won't work with Tivo at all (currently), regardless of having a cablecard.

Given the timing of the rollout, it certainly seems that way.

I was actually wondering if they are using switched digital video, which won't work with Tivo at all (currently), regardless of having a cablecard.

Given the timing of the rollout, it certainly seems that way.

Not SDV as far as I know. Just higher frequency than the standard channels, requiring an infrastructure upgrade.

I guess Foothill Ranch is considered part of Lake Forest. Which means I gotta wait a whole year for new channels. Lame....

Coming soon = 1 year+!?!?!

I feel sorry for the customer service rep that gets my call tomorrow

I still want HDNet :(

At least (contrary to a previous post w/CS information) the new channels are "free" and not part of the Discovery/ESPN HD tier.

Coming soon = 1 year+!?!?!

I feel sorry for the customer service rep that gets my call tomorrow

I feel your pain. If I had to wait one year or even 6 months I would be mad. I am in Mission Viejo so maybe I get them in a month???? (though disclaimer says "Dates subject to change"). I guess I am at the point of seeing is believing. I cannot see how Cox will keep people who want HD programming with this timetable. Some places get these channels in 2009???? Incredible. I guess that does not mean we will have 50 HD channels anytime soon (maybe by 2020???). Oh well, watching and waiting in Mission Viejo.

Bob in Mission Viejo

Badass. Thanks for the link. I can wait until October for the new channels. Nice to see an actual date given. Sorry to all of those who wont see the new channels until 2009. Thats f*cked up. :(

Ooops. Forgot to answer your question. Those channels listed should be HD. Even though they say "free" you will probably need a cablecard to view most of them. I think only the locals will be totally free using your TIVO

It is nice to see dates. I guess my original information was more or less accurate (too bad); for me its looking like April 2008. Thats not good - but could be worse (wonder what they're doing first quarter 2008). I also wonder if they'll try to charge for some of the HD new channels after the rollout is complete (they can't legitimately do it before then).

Coming soon = 1 year+!?!?!

I feel sorry for the customer service rep that gets my call tomorrow

This is what makes me think it's part of a major upgrade, like SDV.

It also fits with this news (http://multichannel.com/article/CA6470803.html).

I was actually wondering if they are using switched digital video, which won't work with Tivo at all (currently), regardless of having a cablecard.

Given the timing of the rollout, it certainly seems that way. They definitely are NOT using SDV right now (no channels currently are) as they are on fixed frequencies (see my spreadsheet). They were allocated at >750MHz which is why areas where nodes have not had the required bandwidth upgrades to 860MHz or beyond cannot receive them. However SDV is supposed to roll out later this year in Cox OC according to this (http://www.multichannel.com/article/CA6470803.html) article (same article you quoted above) and of course no guarantee that these and other channels won't be put under SDV umbrella.

good to hear they fixed the firewire problem. I'll have to check it out this weekend.

a bit off topic:

Do you guys know of a good website tht has a free test that can test my download and upload speeds?

I am paying $41 a month and looking at Cox's site I should be getting 7mb downstream and 512 upstream (high ends of course). And I just wanted to test my connection to see what I'm actually paying for.

I found a couple, but maybe you guys know of a good one you use...

http://reviews.cnet.com/7004-7254_7-0.html

and another here:

http://www.testmy.net/tools/test/

both say I'm either avg. speed or slightly lower than the "avg" Cox customer.

Maybe you guys can give your results and we can compare....

http://speedtest.coxinet.net is pretty accurate, but it looks like they put a password protection on there now. I've been using that website for the past 4-5 years.

Here are my results from http://www.testmy.net/tools/test/ :
Down: 9703 Kbps or 9.7 Mbps (1184 kB/s)
506 Kbps or 0.5 Mbps (62 kB/s)

I'm using firefox.

Do you guys know of a good website tht has a free test that can test my download and upload speeds?


www.speedtest.net

Firewire should be working again now :D


Thank you. I'll have to test it this weekend as well.

www.broadbandreports.com

The best test is actually downloading and uploading to a NNTP news server. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_News_Transfer_Protocol i.e. a Newsgroup. I max out at 10-11mbps.

Is there a limit on the number of cablecards Cox will let you rent?

Is there a limit on the number of cablecards Cox will let you rent? Don't think so. I have 4...

[QUOTE=Quigs;11479858]
Do you guys know of a good website tht has a free test that can test my download and upload speeds?

I am paying $41 a month and looking at Cox's site I should be getting 7mb downstream and 512 upstream (high ends of course). And I just wanted to test my connection to see what I'm actually paying for.

QUOTE]

I use these:

COX Las Vegas http://test.lvcm.com/
MySpeed Results
Download 11,523,632 bps
Upload 1,075,552 bps

SpeakEasy: http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/
Last Result:SFO server
Download Speed: 13522 kbps (1690.3KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 1118 kbps (139.8 KB/sec transfer rate)

www.broadbandreports.com

The best test is actually downloading and uploading to a NNTP news server. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_News_Transfer_Protocol i.e. a Newsgroup. I max out at 10-11mbps.


As long as you aren't using the free one's Cox gives us, as they are capped at 2-3mbps... ;-)

Jees, I'm slower than almost all you guys.

MySpeed Results -Las Vegas test http://test.lvcm.com/
Download 4,761
Upload 513

http://www.speakeasy.net/speedtest/ to the San Fran one.
Download Speed: 4705 kbps (588.1KB/sec transfer rate)
Upload Speed: 512 kbps (64 KB/sec transfer rate)

http://www.dslreports.com/speedtest?flash=1 (Chose Los Angeles test)
4510 - download
482- Upload

What level of Cox internet do you have?

I have th $41 "Preferred" :rolleyes: type.

The "Premium" is like $59 per month. :eek:

Firewire should be working again now :D

Kennith (aka Frasier) responded to my email earlier today. At the time he needed to get more information from Atlanta. Instead of emailing me back tomorrow he called me personally today once he got the information.

Some info:

The Firewire port was inadvertently disabled from a recent update. Unfortunately this stuff is new to COX so very few of there employees have been informed correctly.

The firewire port should be working for everyone by the end of todays business day. If you are unable to use the port try resetting the box by pressing and holding down the power button for 10 seconds. If you still have problems contact COX.

All of the channels that worked before should still be working. Unfortunately the channels that have been blocked in the past (HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc..) are still blocked.


Frasier (Kennith) was very nice, helpful, and seemed well informed. If you have problems in the future I would suggest requesting him.


I just confirmed, mine is working again now, just fyi I received this response from Cox

"I am sorry that the 1394 Firewire port was inadvertently deactivated during the upgrade. We were able to correct the problem on 8/30. I have sent a signal to your receiver to re-activate the 1394 Firewire ports. However, if you are using the 1394 Firewire ports to connect to a computer, the port may not work in the future due to the computers inability to recognize HDCP or DCTP. According to the FCC, we are required to make the port functional, but content will only be viewable on equipment that recognizes copyright protection. We hope that we have been able to provide you with the information you requested. If we have not, or if we can be of any additional service toyou, please do not hesitate to contact us again. "

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=88566&stc=1&d=1188685908

hmm STRAZ HD...??

Anyone else feel the 4.7 earthquake?

Anyone else feel the 4.7 earthquake?

Yeah, I was at the beach laying on the sand and I felt it. Had no idea it was 4.7

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsus/Quakes/ci10275733.php :)

Anyone else feel the 4.7 earthquake?

Yep, felt it in Foothill Ranch while in the shower. Felt like it moved about an inch!

yep, in Irvine lasted 10 seconds.

I haven't seen any mention of the DVR bugs in a while. I'm still experiencing a number of issues with my DCT6412 and I was wondering if the DCT3416 is any better.

My 6412 bug list:

When returning to a live channel after watching a recording, none of the DVR functions (pause, rewind, ff) work anymore. If you swap to the other tuner and back then everything starts working again.
If you hit the end of a recording and then skip back, the audio stops working. Pausing and starting brings the audio back.
The box will stop fast forwarding and offer to erase what you are watching when there is still 5-6 minutes left in the show.
When you try to set up what would be a third concurrent recording you get an error which is ok, but after eliminating one of the three, the other two will sometimes end up as a 0 length recording error when they fire.
EAS alerts. These things stop all viewing and recording.

As Cox expands it's lineup, my modulator ( a couple of Replay TV feeds ) is down to one watchable channel

If anyone out there has some experieince with a modulator, perhaps they could offer help

Brieifly, I have a 3 channel modulator, until recently I was able to use it to broacast channels 120, 122, 125 over the cable system

Recent channel additions??, have limited my useable channel to only 125

I tried a low pass filter, which restores full modulator capaibility, but removes Cox channels broadcast on RF channels 117? and above, thus losing my MLBaseball and some others

I know there are various low pass filters and notch filters

Will anything work or am I fighting a losing battle??

Thanks,
Rick

So the article on SDV says,

"In Northern Virginia, where Cox has about 240,000 subscribers, the SDV system will go live systemwide in about 30 days, according to Kelso. Later this year, Cox plans to roll out the system in its Phoenix and Orange County, Calif., systems"

And yet the other link, the OC one at Cox.com, says I can't expect any new HD channels here in San Clemente before January 2009?!?!?

Hello left hand, this is right hand, what are you doing over there? :rolleyes:

So the article on SDV says,

"In Northern Virginia, where Cox has about 240,000 subscribers, the SDV system will go live systemwide in about 30 days, according to Kelso. Later this year, Cox plans to roll out the system in its Phoenix and Orange County, Calif., systems"

And yet the other link, the OC one at Cox.com, says I can't expect any new HD channels here in San Clemente before January 2009?!?!?

Hello left hand, this is right hand, what are you doing over there? :rolleyes: Actually that could be a good sign that they don't plan to put these recently added HD channels under SDV umbrella. Note that SDV is only part of the solution - the system upgrades to 860MHz or beyond are also a big part of it as is hopefully some bandwidth reclamation by eliminating some analog channels. Hopefully SDV will be reserved for only less-watched channels. As an example here's a post indicating which channels will go SDV initially in Cox Fairfax VA:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5468367&&#post5468367
157 - Nasa Channel
158 - Jewelry Television
159 - Cable Marketplace II
164 - CSPAN 3
223 - BET on Jazz
227 - Ovation
233 - AML - American Life TV
239 - CMP - Country Music Prime

All the PPV channels

All of the Spanish Language from 400-430
All other "Premium" foreign language channels from 271-276 Hopefully Cox Orange County will follow their lead and put all the "crap" channels under SDV. I was surprised to see that VOD channels were not mentioned in the above list as IMO they should be first candidates to go under SDV - currently Cox OC dedicates 8 whole 6MHz channels just for VOD and by using SDV that could perhaps be the equivalent of 1.

FYI: Awesome news! Official Tivo announcement that Multi Room Viewing (MRV) and Tivo To Go (offloading content to a PC) will be officially released to Tivo Series 3 and HD platforms in November:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=365225

This one is making my head explode. If someone can explain it to me, I'd be appreciative.

I live in Coto de Caza. On 9/5 I called Cox tech support to request that the new HD channels be activated. They could not get it working during the call but thought it should be able to be activated. They said they would put a request in to some tech departmant and within 24 hours they would be working or I'd get a call.

On 9/6 they were working.

On 9/7 I noticed that one of the channels (Starz HD) was not coming through. It showed on the channel guide, but when I selected the channel, the screen said to call Cox to add the channel. I confirmed that I had the non-HD Starz service, so I assumed that Starz HD should be available to me.

When I called Cox tech support, they said that Starz HD had not been added to my service and that they would activate it in their system. Thay said that there was a cue in the system and that I would see the channel within 15 minutes.

I checked one hour later and not only was there no Starz HD, but ALL the new HD channels were gone. Not in the Guide, not able to select them with my remote, Nothing!

I called Cox tech support and they said that my area was not yet upgraded and I could not get the channels. If I had not already received 5 of the 6 channels and watched them this would have made sense to me.

Neither the Cox rep nor his supervisor thought much of the fact that the channels were there and then gone. They just kept regurgitating the "fact" that my area had not yet been upgraded.

Does any of this make sense? and is it worth my pursuing to try and get the channels back?:confused:

The people at cox dont know what they are doing 95% of time...they never make sense to me.

Neither the Cox rep nor his supervisor thought much of the fact that the channels were there and then gone. They just kept regurgitating the "fact" that my area had not yet been upgraded.

Does any of this make sense? and is it worth my pursuing to try and get the channels back?:confused: Yes it makes sense. As reported here previously there are other areas such as Mission Viejo that don't have the upgrades completed either yet with PC QAM tuners people have been able to find and tune the new channels at the higher frequencies. Looks like Cox is being conservative and won't activate certain areas of a city until all the node upgrades are completed and checked out for that city. That could mean some/most nodes in your area have been completed but perhaps not verified. It could also be that even without the upgrades you are able to tune the channels since the frequencies are not much higher than 750MHz.

Cox released a tentative schedule of when the major cities would be completed (subject to change):
http://www.cox.com/ocpv/HDTV/city_List.asp
Coto is not on that list so who knows when it is scheduled to be done but if you assume it's same schedule as Rancho it may be as late as August 2008 before they are activated - which is pretty crazy and I'm sure they will work hard to speed things up.
Lucky for me Mission Viejo is scheduled for October - in time for Lakers games on FSNHD hopefully. If you're lucky maybe Coto is roughly same schedule as Mission Viejo.

Any news on Cox adding the Tivo software to their DVR? I haven't heard anything in months.

Any news on Cox adding the Tivo software to their DVR? I haven't heard anything in months. Pushed out to sometime in 2008 for both Comcast and Cox:
http://www.tivoblog.com/archives/2007/04/16/tivos-latest-annual-report-162-million-from-comcast/
Ridiculous how long it has taken - over 2 years since Comcast/Tivo work started...

Hi all,

I just moved from south OC to Irvine and I am having some serious problems with my Cox digital cable. First off, I have the DCT6416 III HD DVR. Whenever I am watching a digital channel, I will get quite frequent audio/video pauses, followed in about 1 second by digital macroblock breakup. Then everything cleans up until the next breakup. I have a tech visit scheduled for Tuesday of this week, but I want to be prepared for him, because in my experience, the techs are sometimes a bit weak at diagnosing problems. So, in everyone's experience, is this sort of issue a signal problem or a STB problem? I am hoping it is a STB problem, and I can just have them swap out my STB. Which leads to another question - is the 3416 what they typically hand out now or the 6416? If the 3416 is the new standard, does it have all the same, if not better, features than the 6416?

Thanks for any info you can throw my way!

I have an older and a newer Motorola DVR supplied by Cox. I have not changed any settings or cabling. I run my audio output through the RCA outputs to a Marantz AVR that automatically decodes 5.1 signals and has a display that indicates if a source is digital and if so if it's stereo or 5.1. I realized about 2 months ago that the audio signal from Cox was displaying as analog rather than digital, and no 5.1 info was being received. When I look at the audio settings section for the cable box, the two choices are pulsed code modulated or dolby ac3. There used to be a third setting for dolby 5.1 which is no longer there. I have spoken to two "service" reps about this who were most unhelpful. The last was downright rude and basically said that ac3 is the "optimum" setting and that it must be some "equipment incompatibility" on my end, and offered no further suggestions. Again, I have not touched the cabling. In fact, I ran my DVD player's audio output through the same RCA jacks that I use for the cable input as a test and sure enough it's showing Dolby 5.1 from the DVD. I'm frustrated and would appreciate any help. (P.S. I'm in Palos Verdes):(

I have an older and a newer Motorola DVR supplied by Cox. I have not changed any settings or cabling. I run my audio output through the RCA outputs to a Marantz AVR that automatically decodes 5.1 signals and has a display that indicates if a source is digital and if so if it's stereo or 5.1. I realized about 2 months ago that the audio signal from Cox was displaying as analog rather than digital, and no 5.1 info was being received. When I look at the audio settings section for the cable box, the two choices are pulsed code modulated or dolby ac3. There used to be a third setting for dolby 5.1 which is no longer there. I have spoken to two "service" reps about this who were most unhelpful. The last was downright rude and basically said that ac3 is the "optimum" setting and that it must be some "equipment incompatibility" on my end, and offered no further suggestions. Again, I have not touched the cabling. In fact, I ran my DVD player's audio output through the same RCA jacks that I use for the cable input as a test and sure enough it's showing Dolby 5.1 from the DVD. I'm frustrated and would appreciate any help. (P.S. I'm in Palos Verdes):(

AC3 is the correct setting. The problem may be in how you have the cable box connected to your receiver. I don't think the red & white RCA outputs on the Motorola box will output anything other than analog audio. If you want digital output, you will probably have to use either the digital coaxial SPDIF output or optical SPDIF output on the cable box (depending on whichever is available on your particular box). Of course you also need to have an available corresponding digital input (coaxial or optical) on your receiver.

AC3 is the correct setting. The problem may be in how you have the cable box connected to your receiver. I don't think the red & white RCA outputs on the Motorola box will output anything other than analog audio. If you want digital output, you will probably have to use either the digital coaxial SPDIF output or optical SPDIF output on the cable box (depending on whichever is available on your particular box). Of course you also need to have an available corresponding digital input (coaxial or optical) on your receiver.
Thanks. I'm wondering if they used to support 5.1 through the RCA plugs and then they stopped it? Do you know if they support 5.1 through digital coax, digital optical or both out of the DVR (and which one will result in superior sound fidelity, or does it make a difference?) Guess I'm going to have to try to connect using one of those...

Well crap. In less than 24hours my box failed me twice. First it crashed and rebooted itself while I was recording. Then I got the subscription bug on a recording later that night. This is very unfortunate because the second recording was a program that isn't listed to air again. :mad:

Thanks. I'm wondering if they used to support 5.1 through the RCA plugs and then they stopped it? Do you know if they support 5.1 through digital coax, digital optical or both out of the DVR (and which one will result in superior sound fidelity, or does it make a difference?) Guess I'm going to have to try to connect using one of those...

Digital 5.1 is definitely supported via any SPDIF output on your DVR (coaxial or optical). I might be wrong, but I think the RCA outputs are (and always have been/will be) analog only. 2 RCA cables can only carry two channels (left & right). Carrying 5.1 channel audio would require 6 RCA cables. To carry 5.1 channel audio over fewer than 6 cables you have to go digital via digital coaxial, optical (Toslink) or HDMI. As far as optical vs. coax, that is one of those arguments that will never be settled. I know I've never been able to tell the difference.

Arrrgh.....
I used to get ABC HD here in Aliso Viejo (cox) on Tuner 7-1. It disappeared today !!!
Anyone knows where that went ? I'd hate to have to do a whole new auto-scan to try to find it and loose all my custom programming (channel titles,etc..)...
Any help would be greatly appreciated...
cheers
:)

Digital 5.1 is definitely supported via any SPDIF output on your DVR (coaxial or optical). I might be wrong, but I think the RCA outputs are (and always have been/will be) analog only. 2 RCA cables can only carry two channels (left & right). Carrying 5.1 channel audio would require 6 RCA cables. To carry 5.1 channel audio over fewer than 6 cables you have to go digital via digital coaxial, optical (Toslink) or HDMI. As far as optical vs. coax, that is one of those arguments that will never be settled. I know I've never been able to tell the difference.

I can settle that argument. Ones and Zeros over fiber are much cleaner than Ones and Zeros over RCA cables. Thus the sound is infinitesimally better when using a $300 2' long piece of fiber instead of a 2' long RCA cable. Please note the sarcasm here.

As long as I can remember (since I've had Cox HD), ESPN HD has always had mono sound coming out of my cable box, even though full Dolby Digital is indicated by my receiver.

Other channels have sound coming out of other speakers, but unless I use an all channel stereo mode, ESPN's sound only comes from the center speaker. Is Cox not carrying the signal properly? I would find it hard to believe that ESPN is only using mono sound for their productions.

I used to get ABC HD here in Aliso Viejo (cox) on Tuner 7-1. It disappeared today !!!
Anyone knows where that went ? I'd hate to have to do a whole new auto-scan to try to find it and loose all my custom programming (channel titles,etc..)...
:)

I had the same problem. I had to do a rescan on my TV but have not had time to figure out the new frequency for mythtv.

OK-problem with Dolby 5.1 solved. It had been so long since I set up the cabling that I forgot I did have a digital audio RCA plugged in. 2 months ago Cox came out to the house to swap out our box which wasn't working right and when the cable guy hooked everything back up, he plugged the dig. audio cable into the red audio out jack instead of the orange digital audio jack. I spent two hours last night checking my AVR programming, cabling etc., and finally worked back to the DVR. Homer Simpson has never uttered a louder "DOH" than I did when I saw what the problem was. You would think that the cable dude would at least plug things in correctly, but it is Cox after all and you know what they say about "a-s-s-u-m-e"! Thanks for the help!

I had the same problem. I had to do a rescan on my TV but have not had time to figure out the new frequency for mythtv. FYI, KABCDT is on RF channel 99 along with KTTVDT (and 2 sub-channels of KABCDT). Sounds like perhaps the PSIP information has been dropped (which was what previously mapped published channel # by clear QAM tuners to 7-1).

I had the same problem. I had to do a rescan on my TV but have not had time to figure out the new frequency for mythtv.
hi, will you let us know what you find out....
cheers
:)

FYI, KABCDT is on RF channel 99 along with KTTVDT (and 2 sub-channels of KABCDT). Sounds like perhaps the PSIP information has been dropped (which was what previously mapped published channel # by clear QAM tuners to 7-1).
perhaps... but what would it mean ? no more ABC HD for me ? or it's somewhere else now ?
99 sends me back to 7-1 with nothing there....

perhaps... but what would it mean ? no more ABC HD for me ? or it's somewhere else now ?
99 sends me back to 7-1 with nothing there.... It's probably tuner specific problem due to wrong/incorrect PSIP - my Fusion HDTV USB tuner still sees it and can tune it at RF 99. For me that tuner never mapped it to 7-1 in the first place which is maybe why it was not affected by what looks to be a recent change in PSIP. That said last I checked was a couple of days ago - I won't be home until Thursday now to confirm it still can tune OK...

KABCDT and KTTVDT have changed to RF31 here in Laguna Niguel. This happened sometime in the last 48 hours. Here is my current channels.conf.

# channels.conf
# Cox Digital Clear QAM HD, Laguna Niguel, California, 9/11/2007
KABCDT:267012500:QAM_256:51:53:1
# xmltvid=19570 channum=707 callsign=KABCDT
KTTVDT:267012500:QAM_256:49:52:3
# xmltvid=20450 channum=711 callsign=KTTVDT
KCALDT:591000000:QAM_256:51:53:1
# xmltvid=20364 channum=709 callsign=KCALDT
KCBSDT:591000000:QAM_256:49:52:3
# xmltvid=19567 channum=702 callsign=KCBSD
KNBCDT:585000000:QAM_256:49:50:2
# xmltvid=19568 channum=704 callsign=KNBCDT
KOCEDT:597000000:QAM_256:48:49:1
# xmltvid=34544 channum=710 callsign=KOCEDT
KTLADT:597000000:QAM_256:52:53:2
# xmltvid=19515 channum=705 callsign=KTLADT
KCOPDT:777000000:QAM_256:2048:2049:3
# xmltvid=19653 channum=713 callsign=KCOPDT

KABCDT and KTTVDT have changed to RF31 here in Laguna Niguel. This happened sometime in the last 48 hours. Here is my current channels.conf. Interesting, that slot (31) used to be an analog channel. Will be interesting to see what RF 99 will be used for instead now. Will have to wait until the weekend to re-scan and map all channels.

As long as I can remember (since I've had Cox HD), ESPN HD has always had mono sound coming out of my cable box, even though full Dolby Digital is indicated by my receiver.

Other channels have sound coming out of other speakers, but unless I use an all channel stereo mode, ESPN's sound only comes from the center speaker. Is Cox not carrying the signal properly? I would find it hard to believe that ESPN is only using mono sound for their productions.For the longest time I've noticed the same thing. I always just figured that ESPN is lame when it comes to sound. But that can't be it, can it? I'd like to know the answer to this question.

KABCDT and KTTVDT have changed to RF31 here in Laguna Niguel. This happened sometime in the last 48 hours. There were quite a few changes:
RF 96 channels moved to RF 112
RF 112 channels moved to RF 99
RF 99 channels moved to RF 31
Analog RF channel 31 moved

I ended up by doing a re-scan on my tv and ABCHD came back on 7-1...

I ended up by doing a re-scan on my tv and ABCHD came back on 7-1...

I ended up re-scanning also and ABC and FOX came back to their original channels; however, CBS and NBC moved. I also found KCAL HD available now along with digital (non-HD) and analog for a bunch of stations like MYTV.

I ended up re-scanning also and ABC and FOX came back to their original channels; however, CBS and NBC moved. I also found KCAL HD available now along with digital (non-HD) and analog for a bunch of stations like MYTV.

I live near the RSM/Mission Viejo border, and have my cable coming directly from the wall. I notice after rescanning that there is now a channel 121-3 with KCOP-HD in 720p.

I occasionally check out ON DEMAND for movies that air on Starz. I did this recently and saw that NBC and ABC now have programs offered. Unfortunately they aren't HD, only one random episode per series, and you cant fast forward.

I occasionally check out ON DEMAND for movies that air on Starz. I did this recently and saw that NBC and ABC now have programs offered. Unfortunately they aren't HD, only one random episode per series, and you cant fast forward. Totally useless IMO for those that have DVRs. I guess I'll never understand the appeal of VOD especially when Netflix/Blockbuster are cheaper & better quality alternatives.

Totally useless IMO for those that have DVRs. I guess I'll never understand the appeal of VOD especially when Netlfix/Blockbuster are cheaper & better quality alternatives.

I think it's a good deal Omaha has NBC ondemand which is showing fall previews of upcoming shows.

I think its mostly useless also except for the rare HBO comedy show or movie from Starz. Starz On Demand doesnt have screen logos for there movies if I remember correctly so its actually much better than the real Starz channels.

I think its mostly useless also except for the rare HBO comedy show or movie from Starz. Starz On Demand doesnt have screen logos for there movies if I remember correctly so its actually much better than the real Starz channels.


HBO Ondemand doesn't have logos either.

Pushed out to sometime in 2008 for both Comcast and Cox:
http://www.tivoblog.com/archives/2007/04/16/tivos-latest-annual-report-162-million-from-comcast/
Ridiculous how long it has taken - over 2 years since Comcast/Tivo work started...

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003592783

Mentions end of year for Cox Tivo

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003592783

Mentions end of year for Cox Tivo That was June. There was yet another delay announced in August:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/87141
Still not released by Comcast in the New England area or we would have seen reviews already... It will probably be around 6 months after Comcast launch before Cox launch happens and who knows which Cox market will go first...

I think its mostly useless also except for the rare HBO comedy show or movie from Starz. Starz On Demand doesnt have screen logos for there movies if I remember correctly so its actually much better than the real Starz channels. Another good reason for using Netflix/Blockbuster instead besides the lower price, much larger selection and better video quality - no logos. Sorry, I'll stop harping on this now. My Cox VOD experience was so negative that I'm definitely biased against it.

That was June. There was yet another delay announced in August:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/87141
Still not released by Comcast in the New England area or we would have seen reviews already... It will probably be around 6 months after Comcast launch before Cox launch happens and who knows which Cox market will go first...

Maybe they will release it for Comcast and Cox at the same time if it's taking so long. I bet Cox will release it to motorola areas(OC,Omaha, and others)

Well at least for me. But I just want to share it with my fellows Cox subscribers here in Irvine.

Note that I don't use any of the Cox HD boxes. I've been using and enjoying those Sony DHG-HDD500 DVRs (I have 3) with cable card (only one tuner as opposed to 2 with Tivo 3).

I had to reboot my units (unplug the power cable and re-plug it back in) for the new HD channels to appear.

KCOP-713
MAXHD 724
FSNHD 763
A&EHD 767
STRZHD 781
NATGEO 790

Eric.

I had to reboot my units (unplug the power cable and re-plug it back in) for the new HD channels to appear.
KCOP-713
MAXHD 724
FSNHD 763
A&EHD 767
STRZHD 781
NATGEO 790 My Tivos have all the guide data for these new channels but Mission Viejo has not been enabled yet for the channels - hopefully will happen sometime in October as is currently stated by Cox at their web site.

Wow! Quite the "interesting" read the last 7 pages have been since my last visit! :D

Moyekj...I applaud your being so patient! Some peeps...... :rolleyes:

Bummer about yet another wait for more content. Cox as usual. And I have to say, if we ever got VOD HD...now that would be worth while! I am looking forward to StarzHD finally, I'll dump Showtime then.

Until next time!

Well this morning I got up to watch my recording of the World Cup match from overnight, and I notice my 3416 is turned OFF (I normally leave it on). I turn it on, go to my recordings page, and NOTHING is there. Blank. I had at least 7 or 8 shows I was planning to watch at some point, all gone. This isn't the first time. Earlier yesterday I noticed two large Cox vans working in my neighborhood in south Mission Viejo (Barbadanes/Felipe), but this couldn't have anything to do with it, right? Anybody know why your programming gets wiped out like that?

That was June. There was yet another delay announced in August:
http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/87141
Still not released by Comcast in the New England area or we would have seen reviews already... It will probably be around 6 months after Comcast launch before Cox launch happens and who knows which Cox market will go first...

That info says that a senior Comcast person said expect to see some real action in September, and even more action in October on the rollout front

I didnt lose any recordings recently but I have been seeing audio/visual breakups on various channels in the past couple days. CBS was pretty bad for the Football game Sunday.

Anyone know what the QAM channel number is for KCET-PBS HD. There are some really good programs coming up (The War by Ken Burns) that I'd like to see in HD.

Anyone know what the QAM channel number is for KCET-PBS HD. There are some really good programs coming up (The War by Ken Burns) that I'd like to see in HD.
Cox OC only carries the KOCE-PBS HD, not the KCET one. Would assume it's on that though....

Sorry, not at home right now, so I can't tell you the QAM channel for that.

Geez, Laguna gets the new HD channels in January 2009... before Camp Pendleton.

That's Great!

:(

Another good reason for using Netflix/Blockbuster instead besides the lower price, much larger selection and better video quality - no logos. Sorry, I'll stop harping on this now. My Cox VOD experience was so negative that I'm definitely biased against it.

In addition -- the big COX box is sooooo slooooooow in navigating the VOD menu and loading anything, its actually faster to get in the car and drive over to Blockbuster. It does 'exit to tv' pretty quick; in 3 nanosec. Same for the COX 'interactive guide'. Pretty miserable and pretty slow and choppy screens.

The FCC should force the cable companies to allow the end user to buy ANY manufacturer's DTV cable box. They can authorize it just as easily as the cellphone companies authorize your phone. We would see the end of COX ripping us off for that miserable motorola box. (Then I could buy a lead-paint chinese cable box for the price of a matell barby doll.)

My understanding is that I cannot view the UFC PPV tonight via my CableCARD Tivo HD even if I purchase it elsewhere (such as on my Cox cable box upstairs). Is this correct?

Well at least for me. But I just want to share it with my fellows Cox subscribers here in Irvine.

Note that I don't use any of the Cox HD boxes. I've been using and enjoying those Sony DHG-HDD500 DVRs (I have 3) with cable card (only one tuner as opposed to 2 with Tivo 3).

I had to reboot my units (unplug the power cable and re-plug it back in) for the new HD channels to appear.

KCOP-713
MAXHD 724
FSNHD 763
A&EHD 767
STRZHD 781
NATGEO 790

Eric.


I'm amazed at the impatience on receiving a few new HD channels. Re-booting your box, re-checking the guide, re-booting again, calling COX and waiting a half hour to find someone there who even knows what HD means, and finally 'hitting the box address again'. I did absolutely nothing whatsoever except wait. The channels showed up automatically and the ones I'm paying for worked without a hitch.

As I've mentioned before, my biggest gripe with COX is their greed for ripping us off with highly inferior hardware and mostly mediocre channel selections. So why lose any sleep if KCOP-713 shows up on 8/15/07 or 9/01/07 or whenever. Just sit back and COX will eventually automatically get you that cr*p.

COX doesn't even offer KCET at all or any of the 4 KLCS DTV programs. So I still need a UHF antenna to receive them. COX sure is 'kid' friendly.

Question:

If I install a cable card in my HDTV (which has an ATSC tuner and an NTSC tuner) and COX authorizes it, will I be able to receive more channels on the cable than the COX motorola box does?

Question:

If I install a cable card in my HDTV (which has an ATSC tuner and an NTSC tuner) and COX authorizes it, will I be able to receive more channels on the cable than the COX motorola box does?

No

LN-Antenna, moyekj is right and I think you owe him an apology. Your logic is flawed -- the argument that your cable box is receiving an analog signal does not mean that there's no digital signal being sent. In fact, both analog and digital signals are being sent simultaneously. The HD-DVR box that Cox is passing out right now is the Motorola DCT3416, which is all digital (no analog tuner at all). Many of us have this box and still receive all the 2-100 channels. If you don't believe me, check the Motorola spec sheet (link below). Direct quote: "The DCT3400 Series set-tops are designed for use as an all-digital platform. They do not support tuning analog channels on the cable plant"

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct3400/downloads/DCT3400.pdf

It sounds like you are saying that all of the digital channels transmitted by the stations are re-mapped to the analog channel numbers in the box. The box ignores the analog version?

For example, KCET-SD (28.2) and KCET-HD (28.1) s not offered by COX. But you say that KCET-SD is mapped to to the box's CH-6? If this were true, then I would see CH-6 go dead at the same time that 28.2 goes dead ... which it does.

I noticed last month that I had interference/rolling black video bars on box CH-12 (KDOC) on my HDTV set. I also noticed the same thing on 2 of my analog TVs CH-12 with no box attached. But if I viewed CH56.1 (KDOC-SD) on my HDTV via the antenna, I saw no interference video bars. That tells me that the COX box was displaying the ordinary analog station on box CH-12 and not the digital station.

LN-Antenna, moyekj is right and I think you owe him an apology. Your logic is flawed -- the argument that your cable box is receiving an analog signal does not mean that there's no digital signal being sent. In fact, both analog and digital signals are being sent simultaneously. The HD-DVR box that Cox is passing out right now is the Motorola DCT3416, which is all digital (no analog tuner at all). Many of us have this box and still receive all the 2-100 channels. If you don't believe me, check the Motorola spec sheet (link below). Direct quote: "The DCT3400 Series set-tops are designed for use as an all-digital platform. They do not support tuning analog channels on the cable plant"

http://broadband.motorola.com/consumers/products/dct3400/downloads/DCT3400.pdf

I don't see the same info you do on this document. It does not say "They do not support tuning analog channels on the cable plant"

My understanding is that I cannot view the UFC PPV tonight via my CableCARD Tivo HD even if I purchase it elsewhere (such as on my Cox cable box upstairs). Is this correct?

I think you can still call them to order the PPV. You just can't order it from the Tivo HD.

I noticed last month that I had interference/rolling black video bars on box CH-12 (KDOC) on my HDTV set. I also noticed the same thing on 2 of my analog TVs CH-12 with no box attached. But if I viewed CH56.1 (KDOC-SD) on my HDTV via the antenna, I saw no interference video bars. That tells me that the COX box was displaying the ordinary analog station on box CH-12 and not the digital station. The reason is because the source for both the analog and digital versions is the same - Cox encodes from analog channel to digital at the plant or before and then transmits the digital version along with the analog version. Being digital, the digital version arrives cleaner at your TV, but seeing as they are both from the same source you will see same transmission problems on both. i.e. the digital version of CH-12 KDOC originates from the analog transmission of KDOC, not from the digital 56.1 transmission. That is also the reason why the Closed Captioning on the digital simulcast channels is not in digital form.

I don't see the same info you do on this document. It does not say "They do not support tuning analog channels on the cable plant"

Last sentence on the first page. White text on orange background.

I think you can still call them to order the PPV. You just can't order it from the Tivo HD. Unfortunately it seems like from what I have read in Tivo forums Cox handles PPV differently than other providers (such as Comcast) and don't have the system setup to authorize all boxes/cablecards on your account for a PPV event. With other providers if you order PPV online or by phone then it works fine, with Cox apparently not - at least Cox in some areas. I can't confirm this though since I never ordered PPV before (even before I got the Tivo boxes). What others with Tivo have done to workaround this problem (and be able to receive VOD) is to keep a regular (non-DVR) box for that purpose. Comcast even gives you a free non-DVR box for that, Cox OC will probably charge $4.95/month unless you can make a case otherwise.

Well just FYI, I live in Irvine, and I havent seen any new channels as of yet...

I too live in Irvine. Quail Ridge. Nothing new here yet.

Watching the Game on Sunday with the Chargers and GB was the normal HD torture. Paused screens, Sound dropouts and the like. I sure do miss my Time Warner from when I lived in Orange.

COX SUCKS.

I too live in Irvine. Quail Ridge. Nothing new here yet.

Watching the Game on Sunday with the Chargers and GB was the normal HD torture. Paused screens, Sound dropouts and the like. I sure do miss my Time Warner from when I lived in Orange.



Are you connecting to your box via HDMI? I use component and rarely have any such issues on HD. There have been several issues with HDMI and the motorola boxes, and I do not know what the current status on that is, but if you are using an HDMI connection you may want to try component. No one I know can see any difference in PQ.

Hi all. I recently became the proud owner of a Samsung LN-T4665F (http://www.samsung.com/us/consumer/detail/detail.do?group=televisions&type=televisions&subtype=lcdtv&model_cd=LNT4665FX/XAA).

I want to subscribe to cable now, but the problem is that I'm just starting to learn about HDTVs and HD programming. I'm posting here hoping my questions can all be knocked out at once by you experts before I subscribe. Thanks in advance.

My TV has a built in ATSC tuner. I've heard that if your tv has an internal tuner, you don't have to subscribe to Cox's HD service to receive some HD channels. I'm trying to save some money (college student and I just spent $2000 on a tv), so my plan is to get the minimum cable tier subscription to get some local HD channels.

I live in Irvine.


What's the lowest tier I can get and still receive unencrypted 1080i HD channels? I'm thinking of getting Digital at the very least for the programming channel.


Which HD channels will I receive like this without subscribing to the HD service? I heard there's only a few channels in the HD service that I'm missing out on if I have the internal tuner...which channels are these? I don't watch sports much and I don't care about the Discovery Theater or any premium channels (HBO/Showtime).


Is there anything special I need to do to the TV or will it pick up those unencrypted channels automatically once connected to the cable box?


On the Cox ordering site, the Digital box and HD box are the same rental price (about $6). I assume I should go for the HD box. What's the difference, and why doesn't everyone just get the HD box?


I keep reading about dual channels, one analog one digital. Is this confusing? Is each channel doubled? How can you tell if you're looking at a digital or analog channel?

Once again, thanks for spending the time to help me out.

Are you connecting to your box via HDMI? I use component and rarely have any such issues on HD. There have been several issues with HDMI and the motorola boxes, and I do not know what the current status on that is, but if you are using an HDMI connection you may want to try component. No one I know can see any difference in PQ.

Yes, I am using HDMI. I agree the quality difference is almost impossible to notice. It seems like that HD Channel is the worst offender KCBS. Just drives me crazy that I am paying more, getting less after switching from TWC to Cox after the move. Guess I will break out the component cables and see what happens. Makes me feel special after dropping for expensive HDMI cables.

Thanks again COX for having such a crappy setup. Guess if they had it working good they would have another excuse to raise prices. I just wish they would cut down on all the "Cox Advertising". I must get a letter twice a week reminding me that I DONT HAVE THE PHONE.

My TV has a built in ATSC tuner. I've heard that if your tv has an internal tuner, you don't have to subscribe to Cox's HD service to receive some HD channels. For digital cable tuning you need QAM tuner. ATSC tuner is for digital Over The Air (OTA) channels.
What's the lowest tier I can get and still receive unencrypted 1080i HD channels? I'm thinking of getting Digital at the very least for the programming channel. The lowest tier should do assuming no filter is put on your line.
Which HD channels will I receive like this without subscribing to the HD service? I heard there's only a few channels in the HD service that I'm missing out on if I have the internal tuner...which channels are these? I don't watch sports much and I don't care about the Discovery Theater or any premium channels (HBO/Showtime). All the HD network locals (CBS,NBC,CW,ABC,FOX,KOCE) plus a few SD versions - basically all the unencrypted digital channels.
Is there anything special I need to do to the TV or will it pick up those unencrypted channels automatically once connected to the cable box? Your TV should have a scan function which should find the channels (assuming it has a QAM tuner).
On the Cox ordering site, the Digital box and HD box are the same rental price (about $6). I assume I should go for the HD box. What's the difference, and why doesn't everyone just get the HD box? I thought you were trying to avoid signing up for digital service so renting a box should not be in the picture?
I keep reading about dual channels, one analog one digital. Is this confusing? Is each channel doubled? How can you tell if you're looking at a digital or analog channel?
If you rent a digital box or use cablecards (with digital service) then all the channels you get will be digital. If you don't use a box or cablecards when you tune to channels below 100 they will all be analog. There are digital versions of all the analog channels but those need to be tuned by a QAM tuner, and without digital box or cablecard you can only tune unecrypted ones.

For a full list of channels including information about which digital ones are unencrypted you can take a look at the spreadsheet in my sig. Spreadsheet also other useful information on channel numbers for unencrypted QAM channels.

For digital cable tuning you need QAM tuner. ATSC tuner is for digital Over The Air (OTA) channels.
The lowest tier should do assuming no filter is put on your line.
All the HD network locals (CBS,NBC,CW,ABC,FOX,KOCE) plus a few SD versions - basically all the unencrypted digital channels.
Your TV should have a scan function which should find the channels (assuming it has a QAM tuner).
I thought you were trying to avoid signing up for digital service so renting a box should not be in the picture?
If you rent a digital box or use cablecards (with digital service) then all the channels you get will be digital. If you don't use a box or cablecards when you tune to channels below 100 they will all be analog. There are digital versions of all the analog channels but those need to be tuned by a QAM tuner, and without digital box or cablecard you can only tune unecrypted ones.

For a full list of channels including information about which digital ones are unencrypted you can take a look at the spreadsheet in my sig. Spreadsheet also other useful information on channel numbers for unencrypted QAM channels.

Thanks! This really cleared up a lot of my questions. However, I have one more point I need clarification for:

Will the QAM tuner work if the connection is: Wall -> Cable box -> TV

Or will it only work if it's Wall -> TV?

I originally wanted the digital box for the programming channel, but does this mean I should actually downgrade (to boxless standard cable) to receive the local HD channels?

Thanks! This really cleared up a lot of my questions. However, I have one more point I need clarification for:

Will the QAM tuner work if the connection is: Wall -> Cable box -> TV

Or will it only work if it's Wall -> TV?

I originally wanted the digital box for the programming channel, but does this mean I should actually downgrade (to boxless standard cable) to receive the local HD channels? If the TV has a QAM tuner then Wall->TV is all you need to tune unencrypted digital channels which are mostly the local broadcast channels (HD and SD). Of course all analog channels associated with the service level you subscribe to can also be tuned without a box. i.e. Wall->TV gets you unencrypted digital channels plus the analog channels (again assuming your TV has a QAM tuner).

If you want to be able to tune encrypted digital channels then you will need Wall->Digital Box->TV setup. And of course if you want analog channels such as CNN, ESPN, etc. you need to subscribe to expanded basic.

If the TV has a QAM tuner then Wall->TV is all you need to tune unencrypted digital channels which are mostly the local broadcast channels (HD and SD). Of course all analog channels associated with the service level you subscribe to can also be tuned without a box. i.e. Wall->TV gets you unencrypted digital channels plus the analog channels (again assuming your TV has a QAM tuner).

If you want to be able to tune encrypted digital channels then you will need Wall->Digital Box->TV setup. And of course if you want analog channels such as CNN, ESPN, etc. you need to subscribe to extended basic.

Right, but I'm asking if you'll still be able to get unencrypted HD channels if you do have the digital box (in other words, will having a digital box remove the ability to receive unencrypted HD channels without paying for it).

Also, shouldn't I get the digital box anyways, since otherwise I would only be getting analog channels? Is there a big difference in picture quality between analog and digital on hdtvs?

Right, but I'm asking if you'll still be able to get unencrypted HD channels if you do have the digital box (in other words, will having a digital box remove the ability to receive unencrypted HD channels without paying for it).

Also, shouldn't I get the digital box anyways, since otherwise I would only be getting analog channels? Is there a big difference in picture quality between analog and digital on hdtvs?

Why would it matter? If you are using the box it doesn't care if it's encrypted or not.

It depends on what channels you want.

Why would it matter? If you are using the box it doesn't care if it's encrypted or not.

It depends on what channels you want.

Oh ok, somehow I got the idea that having a box in between would remove the ability to get the local hd channels for free (since it regulates what's being mapped to the tv right?), but I guess you would still get them. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks again for the help!

Oh ok, somehow I got the idea that having a box in between would remove the ability to get the local hd channels for free (since it regulates what's being mapped to the tv right?), but I guess you would still get them. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks again for the help!



The only time you wouldn't get local HD through the box is if the local afflliate pulls the feed from cox.

Right, but I'm asking if you'll still be able to get unencrypted HD channels if you do have the digital box (in other words, will having a digital box remove the ability to receive unencrypted HD channels without paying for it).

Also, shouldn't I get the digital box anyways, since otherwise I would only be getting analog channels? Is there a big difference in picture quality between analog and digital on hdtvs? In order to get the digital box in the 1st place you have to sign up for at least the bare minimum digital service and any digital service includes the HD local channels. The difference is once you get the digital box + digital service your cable bill is >$60/month compared to just limited basic subscription which would be a lot less (Cox makes it hard to find pricing on just limited basic so you have to call them to find the price probably). Digital version of the channels <100 do look much better than the analog counterparts which is an advantage of using the digital box.

In order to get the digital box in the 1st place you have to sign up for at least the bare minimum digital service and any digital service includes the HD local channels. The difference is once you get the digital box + digital service your cable bill is >$60/month compared to just limited basic subscription which would be a lot less (Cox makes it hard to find pricing on just limited basic so you have to call them to find the price probably). Digital version of the channels <100 do look much better than the analog counterparts which is an advantage of using the digital box.

Awesome, thanks for the clarification. I'm just starting to understand all this stuff, hd reception itself is confusing as hell, and all of Cox's different cable tiers doesn't make it any easier.

Too bad the baseball playoffs are going to be on TBS-HD this year... do you guys think INHD will provide the HD-feed for the Angels vs Red Sox series?

Too bad the baseball playoffs are going to be on TBS-HD this year... do you guys think INHD will provide the HD-feed for the Angels vs Red Sox series?I saw this note on the San Diego Union Tribune website. If Cox San Diego can get it, why can't we?

"Cox Cable is adding TBS HD to its lineup (Ch. 733) beginning Wednesday, but Time Warner Cable isn't sure it will be able to make the addition by that day."

TBS HD has been available for a long time, I watched the basketball playoffs last year on it.....

OK it's October, give me those new HD channels now here in Mission Viejo. :D
(I guess there's still 31 days left for it to happen)

Is anyone watching the KTLA 5 HD syndication broadcasts of "Two and a Half Men"? If so, does anyone else suffer thru the huge (one of 'em was > 10 mins long!) black-screens of dead-air? (It's repeatable in my replays, so I guess it's not a sync glitch).

It might be affecting other programs too, but that's the only show on KTLA-HD that I've seen it on.

TBS HD has been available for a long time, I watched the basketball playoffs last year on it.....Do you mean TNT HD? I always get those two confused.....but on my cable I have TNT HD but not TBS HD.

Do you mean TNT HD? I always get those two confused.....but on my cable I have TNT HD but not TBS HD.

I was surprised when I looked in the paper to see "TBS" listed as the broadcaster for the MLB playoff games. I don't see TBS-HD on the local list. Std. Def. baseball playoff games? You have got to be kidding me. :(

Maybe "Mojo" will carry some of the games?

Well TBS has a good deal of the playoff games this year and for the next several so if you don't get TBS-HD I feel bad for you.

Cox Cable's president did brag a couple of months ago about upgrading ALL their systems to 50 HD channel capacity by the end of the year. He further stated that this did not mean that they would actually have 50 channels on 12-31-07 but they would have the capacity for them.

Well, like I've said before: Cox, having been sucked in by a private equity group of investors, only wants more profit for the least amount of investment in the short term. This allows them to later go public again with an IPO on the stock exchange and clean up. Cox mgt. knows they have to remain competitive with DTV/HD offerings, but just the bare minimum to keep from losing too many customers to ATT, DISH or DirectTV.

So when you hear Cox's Prez claim anything, ya gotta take it with a grain of salt. They're a private company and hence there are no requirements to answer to the SEC or anybody else for their product offerings or quarterly bottom line. They probably answer only to local city franchise officials for small techie details. But Cox can handle their requests without spending any money.

I got my HD all hooked up today, and I was watching Prison Break on Fox HD, but there was some VERY noticeable compression/artifacts. It looked terrible upclose and all pixelated and stuff.

I'm in Irvine. And using one splitter. Maybe that's the problem?

Is this normal? Is there something I should do...like if I call Cox is there anything they'll do? This might as well be standard definition.

DUH....my best Homer Simpson...yup ...I mean't TNT.... ;-(

tbs for baseball is a bummer...

Moyekj or anyone else?

Maybe this is a dumb question, but....I have a Mitsu ws-65813 and I believe it has a built in QAM tuner, should I be able to plug the cox cable directly into the DTV coax port on the tv and receive SD and HD unencrypted channels? I am trying this and scanning for channels and not getting any?

Does this make sense..Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom

Is anyone watching the KTLA 5 HD syndication broadcasts of "Two and a Half Men"? If so, does anyone else suffer thru the huge (one of 'em was > 10 mins long!) black-screens of dead-air? (It's repeatable in my replays, so I guess it's not a sync glitch).

It might be affecting other programs too, but that's the only show on KTLA-HD that I've seen it on.

Yeah. I have been watching also. I was really happy for the first couple days they aired. Looked great. No logo on the screen. Now it seems to be incredibly rare for them to complete a full episode without something going wrong. The past 4-5 days it seems like it goes black and then to SD for almost every episode. Very disappointing but not shocking since its KTLA.

Moyekj or anyone else?

Maybe this is a dumb question, but....I have a Mitsu ws-65813 and I believe it has a built in QAM tuner, should I be able to plug the cox cable directly into the DTV coax port on the tv and receive SD and HD unencrypted channels? I am trying this and scanning for channels and not getting any?

Does this make sense..Any help is appreciated.

Thanks,
Tom It should work. Different tuners behave a little differently but the core RF channel #s and frequencies you can see in my spreadsheet. For example, after performing a scan try tuning the following with your TV:
KABCDT: 7-1 (else try 31-1 to 31-5)
KTTVDT: 11-1 (else try 31-1 to 31-5)
KCBSDT: 85-1 (or try other sub-channels of 85)
KNBCDT: 84-1 (or try other sub-channels of 84)

In the spreadsheet you will see the above and a bunch of other unencrypted digital channels you should be able to tune.
(the reason why KABCDT and KTTVDT may use different channel #s than the RF channel #s is because they have some PSIP channel # information embedded which some tuners will honor)

TNT HD is going to pick up some of the games. Was an exciting Pre Post season match. Good luck Rox!

It should work. Different tuners behave a little differently but the core RF channel #s and frequencies you can see in my spreadsheet. For example, after performing a scan try tuning the following with your TV:
KABCDT: 7-1 (else try 31-1 to 31-5)
KTTVDT: 11-1 (else try 31-1 to 31-5)
KCBSDT: 85-1 (or try other sub-channels of 85)
KNBCDT: 84-1 (or try other sub-channels of 84)

In the spreadsheet you will see the above and a bunch of other unencrypted digital channels you should be able to tune.
(the reason why KABCDT and KTTVDT may use different channel #s than the RF channel #s is because they have some PSIP channel # information embedded which some tuners will honor)

ok, I seem to have got this to work, is there any way to make 31-1 look like 7.1? etc...

Thanks again,
Tom

ok, I seem to have got this to work, is there any way to make 31-1 look like 7.1? etc... No. Most of the unencrypted digital channels in Cox OC do not have the relevant PSIP data which would map to a more logical channel #. Cox should be passing on PSIP if provided by the content provider for these HD locals, but either they are mistakenly or intentionally not, or perhaps their source feed is not OTA and may not contain the relevant PSIP info to begin with. Last I checked I thought KABCDT & KTTVDT did have the PSIP data and were mapped to 7-1 & 11-1 with my PC QAM tuner, but I haven't checked in a while. None of the other HD channels ever had the relevant PSIP data AFAIK. Whatever the reason the data is not there. Just add the channels you like to your favorites as a quick way of browsing through them.

I am a TWC costumer using iGuide. As I understand the majority of Cox Moto markets use Passport for DCT and Passport Echo, in your opinion what do you think is better, Passport or iGuide (for those who have used it)?

I am a TWC costumer using iGuide. As I understand the majority of Cox Moto markets use Passport for DCT and Passport Echo, in your opinion what do you think is better, Passport or iGuide (for those who have used it)? From most accounts I have heard Passport Echo is in many ways superior to Iguide. However 1 feature in particular available in Iguide but not Passport Echo is the 30-sec skip. Speculation has it that at some point Cox is going to switch to Iguide however since they have some kind of deal with TV Guide now... Of course then there's the eternally "coming soon" Cox/Tivo software option which may actually be available sometime this decade.

From most accounts I have heard Passport Echo is in many ways superior to Iguide. However 1 feature in particular available in Iguide but not Passport Echo is the 30-sec skip. Speculation has it that at some point Cox is going to switch to Iguide however since they have some kind of deal with TV Guide now... Of course then there's the eternally "coming soon" Cox/Tivo software option which may actually be available sometime this decade.

I also read that Tvguide bought the makers of the passport/PassportDCT/PassportEcho software.

ok, I seem to have got this to work, is there any way to make 31-1 look like 7.1? etc...

Thanks again,
Tom

No. Most of the unencrypted digital channels in Cox OC do not have the relevant PSIP data which would map to a more logical channel #. Cox should be passing on PSIP if provided by the content provider for these HD locals, but either they are mistakenly or intentionally not, or perhaps their source feed is not OTA and may not contain the relevant PSIP info to begin with. Last I checked I thought KABCDT & KTTVDT did have the PSIP data and were mapped to 7-1 & 11-1 with my PC QAM tuner, but I haven't checked in a while. None of the other HD channels ever had the relevant PSIP data AFAIK. Whatever the reason the data is not there. Just add the channels you like to your favorites as a quick way of browsing through them.

Ok this is starting to make sense to me now! ;-)

Now is there any real reason for me to connect the cable to DTV input this way, I already have the DCT3416 connected via component and all is fine with that. I won't be getting rid of the 3416, except maybe for the new one, as I subscribe to all the encrypted stuff. I wanted to see if the quality was any better with the direct cable input, but seems to be the same.

Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tom

Ok this is starting to make sense to me now! ;-)

Now is there any real reason for me to connect the cable to DTV input this way, I already have the DCT3416 connected via component and all is fine with that. I won't be getting rid of the 3416, except maybe for the new one, as I subscribe to all the encrypted stuff. I wanted to see if the quality was any better with the direct cable input, but seems to be the same.
Quality can be affected depending on how good the decoder is - for SD digital channels I saw a HUGE improvement using Tivo Series 3 compared to the DCT3416 I had previously. HD channels not much, if any difference. If you are going to keep the DCT3416 there really is no advantage to using TV tuner other than an extra tuner available in case you want to watch something live while the DCT records 2 other programs or for cases when the DCT box dies :)

is anyone in the oc area getting tbs-hd? i hope for the angels game

is anyone in the oc area getting tbs-hd? i hope for the angels game

I called Cox and got the answer of they do not offer TBS-HD. Cust Service Rep knew nothing about it. I was hoping Padres would get in the playoffs, that would have created many calls to Cox. Cox rep basically told me to get game I would have to switch to Direct TV or another service. She was not very happy with my call. As usual, no answers on when Mission Viejo will get the new HD channels. Didn't even know about the October date on web page. This was from a "supervisor".

That was a bad experience with Cox for me, they just know nothing about their programming or service. They make Direct TV look better every day, and do not care if they lose customers. Very frustrating.

Bob in Mission Viejo

i completely agree, the hd channel selection for me is terrible, might be time to look around

Some TimeWarner customers on the Angel's forum report that their FSN-HD has temporarily picked up the feed from TBS-HD.

Too bad i dont have FSN-HD :mad:

I called Cox and got the answer of they do not offer TBS-HD. Cust Service Rep knew nothing about it. I was hoping Padres would get in the playoffs, that would have created many calls to Cox. Cox rep basically told me to get game I would have to switch to Direct TV or another service. She was not very happy with my call. As usual, no answers on when Mission Viejo will get the new HD channels. Didn't even know about the October date on web page. This was from a "supervisor".

That was a bad experience with Cox for me, they just know nothing about their programming or service. They make Direct TV look better every day, and do not care if they lose customers. Very frustrating.

Bob in Mission Viejo

Cox does carry TBS HD. It's already on their San Diego (ch 733), Las Vegas (ch 726), and many other systems.

Cox does carry TBS HD. It's already on their San Diego (ch 733), Las Vegas (ch 726), and many other systems.

i read that, and thats why i was hoping it would be the same for oc, but as of this morning in irvine, no tbs-hd on cox for me

Cox does carry TBS HD. It's already on their San Diego (ch 733), Las Vegas (ch 726), and many other systems.Unfortunately all the Cox companies work independently of one another. I'm serious.....I have friends who work for Cox and that's what they tell me. Unbelieveable but true. So just because one branch happens to do something smart doesn't mean the others will follow suit. I'll let you guess whether Cox Orange County is one of the smart ones or one of the dumb ones.

Cox does carry TBS HD. It's already on their San Diego (ch 733), Las Vegas (ch 726), and many other systems.

But not in Orange County where the Angels play :(

Bob in Mission Viejo, CA

FYI, Cox inked deal to carry TBSHD & CNNHD:
http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/10/03/cox-inks-deal-to-get-cnn-hd-and-tbs-hd/
From the comments below the article looks like several Cox markets are adding these recently.
So perhaps you baseball/Angel fans won't be disappointed after all...

Of course it remains to be seen when this will be added here and will it show up in all areas or just the already bandwidth upgraded areas.

Unfortunately all the Cox companies work independently of one another. I'm serious.....I have friends who work for Cox and that's what they tell me. Unbelieveable but true. So just because one branch happens to do something smart doesn't mean the others will follow suit. I'll let you guess whether Cox Orange County is one of the smart ones or one of the dumb ones.

I think cable companies (Cox among them) are abandoning that model. Cox's recent carriage contracts with Sinclair, for the Discovery HD networks, CNN HD/TBS HD, etc. all seems to have come from the top rather than at the franchise level.

Of course, how long it takes for the channels to reach individual systems depends on bandwidth availability which can be in short supply for any number of reasons. (550 mhz legacy systems, analog channels, internet/phone services, VOD, etc.)

FSN-HD is "Off Air" all the time. Is everyone having the same problem?