ch. 952 seems to be the noon mass that comcast provides, since they removed WBGN from ch 14

I get excited every time I see a new post in this thread, thinking that just maybe some new HD channels were added. Usually that is never the case.

What do you mean? Asking them to do their jobs? Asking them to be good at what they get paid to do? What do I mean? You must be kidding.

This is what I mean:

Wes Goldstein, chief engineer, should be fired at FSN.Is that asking them to do their job? Is that asking them to be good at what they get paid to do?

What do I mean? You must be kidding.

This is what I mean:

Is that asking them to do their job? Is that asking them to be good at what they get paid to do?

First off, it wasn't me that used the word "fire."

Secondly, if a person doesn't do their job---or--- does their job in a poor manner then I AGREE they SHOULD be fired.

I would venture to say everyone that reads this forum would agree with that.

And I'm not "kidding."

First off, it wasn't me that used the word "fire."I didn't say anything about you. I said there was no point in exposing them to the type of comments here. They know there is a problem.

Secondly, if a person doesn't do their job---or--- does their job in a poor manner then I AGREE they SHOULD be fired.

I would venture to say everyone that reads this forum would agree with that.
If that's true, it's just more reason why what I said should be taken very seriously.

Unless you, or others here, know what is exactly going on, which you most assuredly do not, you have no right to call for someone, anyone, to lose their job.

This ends the discussion. Further off topic comments will be deleted without warning. I'm not kidding either.

Does anyone here have any recommendations on whether to set my cable box to 720p or 1080i? Can it be set to switch to the native signal format?

I have the motorola box (I think). It's currently set for 1080i, but I was wondering if 720p would be better. I typically watch FSN (for Pens games) and then it's local stuff or Food Network or HGTV. Thanks for any insight!

Doesn't really matter. Your TV will scale the content from the box to its native resolution anyways. I find it makes no difference. Others may argue, but that's how I feel after years of tinkering.

Does anyone here have any recommendations on whether to set my cable box to 720p or 1080i? Can it be set to switch to the native signal format?

I have the motorola box (I think). It's currently set for 1080i, but I was wondering if 720p would be better. I typically watch FSN (for Pens games) and then it's local stuff or Food Network or HGTV. Thanks for any insight!

The answer really depends on the TV that you are connecting the box to. As you probably know, some stations are broadcast in 720p and some in 1080i. That means that either the box or the TV will have to scale the video to the native resolution of the TV. Therefore, a lot depends on which device does a better job at scaling and de-interlacing the video. I would think that in most cases, the answer would be the TV, if it is a good quality TV.

Also, if the TV were 720p native, you would definately not want to set the box output to 1080i. This would cause 720p source video (ABC, FOX, ESPN, etc.) to be scaled up to 1080 by the box, and then back down to 720 by the TV. Invariably this double scaling will introduce loss of quality.

If your TV has a good quality video processor, I would think the best results would be with using Native resolution. However, this could introduce one additional annoyance. Some TVs stutter when changing resolution. Therefore, when you change channels from KDKA (1080) to WTAE (720) the TV video and audio will stutter for 1-2 seconds. If the box were outputting a fixed resolution which matched the native resolution of the TV this would not happen.

So, there are only two options that you should consider, Fixed resolution that matches the TV's Native resolution, or the Native resolution option. Therefore, as mentioned above, you just need to experiment with the two settings to see what looks best to you.

When I had Comcast and on my 720p TVs, the 1080i output looks better than 720p. I have all Samsung LCDs, btw.

When set to 720p, the 1080i channels didn't scale down well with the box. And it made them look bad. When setting it to 1080i, the tv scaled down the signal much better and the 720p channels looked no different.

With my 1080p TVs I always set the box to 1080i.

Stevo, I'm glad that this is working for you. But for me, I would never output 1080 to a 720 TV set. This means that the 720 stations (ABC, FOX, ESPN, etc.) are being scaled from 720 to 1080 by the box, and then back to 720 by the TV. I would suggest that Native is always the best option when sending it to a Samsung LCD, which does a good job of scaling (just one time).

Comcast boxes don't have the option of native. You can choose 720p or 1080i globally for HD material.

So, you are left with either outputting the handful of 720p material as 720p and having the box downconvert the rest to 720p (as a note, WTAE is a 1080i station so ABC is 1080i here) or you set the box to 1080i and risk it's upconversion of the few 720p sources out there and having your TV downconvert the 1080i material to 720p.

Option 2 leaves more material untouched and I would be willing to bet those boxes are better at interlacing than they are at de-interlacing so 720p -> 1080i will go smoother than 1080i -> 720p.

Keep in mind there are really VERY few examples of a 720p native panel. Most are 1366x768 a handful are actually 1440x900 while quite a few plasmas are 1024x768.

I guess the point is, scaling is going to happen regardless. The main issue is interlacing/deinterlacing and I will say that these boxes have crap for deinterlacing algorithms and would much rather having them interlace a progressive signal which the TV should be able to undo easily then have the box try to downconvert AND deinterlace a 1080i signal to 720p.

Hey, I didn't know that about WTAE (being 1080i). Didn't believe you either, so I checked. You're right!

So that only leaves WPGH and WPMY that would be upconverted and then downconverted.

Also didn't know that the cable boxes here don't have Native passthru. That's dumb. I don't use cableboxes since I have TiVo HDs with cablecards. The TiVo does have native. Actually I use Hybrid on the TiVo. That passes SD at 480p (since some TVs don't accept 480i over hdmi), but passes the HD content in Native resolution. I just like for one box to do all the conversion.

Yeah, WTAE switched from 720p to 1080i like 6 or so months ago if I recall correctly. There are more details buried in the OTA thread. I believe the WTAE engineer basically said that since the majority of the industry standardized around 1080i, it was easier to achieve higher quality doing an internal workflow of 1080i and upconvert network material than it was to be a native 720p shop. I've heard something similar about some 720p TVs as well. Some do better with a 1080i input simply because it's a more common source so they are optimized for it.

'Hybrid' is what I do for SD material for my fios box (which are more or less the same as as the comcast boxes). Very true on the 480i over HDMI, my samsung doen't accept it. I ran out of HDMI ports though so my cable box lost the contest and it's using component which can use 480i.

Holy crap, I didn't realize how poorly those boxes deinterlace until after I made the switch. Watching SD material outputted at 480p from the box was riddled with deinterlacing artifacts in motion. It was particularly distracting on animated material. After I switched to 480i over component, SD image quality improved substantially.

That's my basis for not trusting them to output 720p from 1080i material. If they use the same methods to deinterlace HD material that they do for SD material, it's going to be a mess.

The Motorola boxes from Comcast are absolute junk.

You are forced to upconvert everything to one resolution (no native or pass-through modes) and you get terrible quantization on analog channels if you use DVI output.

The 1080i -> 720p downscaling in box is rather awful as well.

hey guys, i know this doesnt deal with hdtv or anything, but i saw a commercial about how comcast doubled the speeds of their broadband to 12 mbit down

did they do this everywhere?

Does anyone think they will replace NFLNetworkHD (channel 261 for me) with another HD channel, or just leave it blank when it is shut off on May 1?

Does anyone think they will replace NFLNetworkHD (channel 261 for me) with another HD channel, or just leave it blank when it is shut off on May 1?

Flip a coin ... ain't that how comcast does it ?

:)

Does anyone think they will replace NFLNetworkHD (channel 261 for me) with another HD channel, or just leave it blank when it is shut off on May 1?

I could be wrong about this, but I think they are using the money saved for commercials. Speaking of which, they will be lucky if not sued by the movie Juno.

I think loosing the NFL Network will hurt Comcast.

I think loosing the NFL Network will hurt Comcast.

The list of self inflicted wounds that Comcast has endured could fill volumes, yet they are still ticking since they are the "easiest" (or only) option. A good bulk of Comcast subscribers in the area probably didn't even have the tier of service that gave them NFL Network to begin with and many of the big sport fans are probably already on sat TV for their better offerings.

They will probably get more of a boost from the analog shutoff than they will ever lose over the NFL Network.

I know this is a silly question:p, but does anyone know if comcast will be adding any new HD channels to their lineup, to offset it seems like monthly rate increases? I'm looking into Direct TV this weekend, but a friend said since i have 4 HD-TV's and DVR it will cost more than if I just stayed with comcast, is this true? FIOS, is still not in this area, otherwise I'd be going that way.

OK, what's the story with NFL Network (I know I could search for it, but I'm lazy). Is Comcast dropping the HD channel completely? What about SD channel?

Heres an interesting article on comcast HD additions and docsis 3.0 rollout:

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_148842.asp

I have a few issues with the wording of the article, but, all in all, it will be good when it arrives in PGh. area.

Heres an interesting article on comcast HD additions and docsis 3.0 rollout:

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_148842.asp

I have a few issues with the wording of the article, but, all in all, it will be good when it arrives in PGh. area.

Yes, it is interesting in many ways. Personally, I do not need anymore HD Lite channels and hope futility that our major channels would become uncompressed HD like FIOS. But most would rather have more of a lesser quality. :confused:

Heres an interesting article on comcast HD additions and docsis 3.0 rollout:

http://www.chattanoogan.com/articles/article_148842.asp

I have a few issues with the wording of the article, but, all in all, it will be good when it arrives in PGh. area.

Are they working on this in Pittsburgh? I don't even know what docsis3.0 is, are we 2.0 now? How do they go about getting us 3.0?

No, we're likely 1.1. 2.0 was skipped because the returns weren't there to justify the cost.

Got a message yesterday on my TiVo that Comcast had made a massive lieup change for Pittsburgh (Ross). Expecting to see some new HD additions I checked the list. They added two new music channels, deleted two and played musical chairs with about 25 of them. Big deal!

Wonder what the incentive was to make all these seemingly meaningless changes.

Where can we find said list?

It's on my TiVo.:)

I'm too lazy to copy it all, but they added:

447 ITALY
448 TEJAN

Deleted:

404 BlueGR
424 SHOWCSE1

and also moved to new channels about 25 others (most of them just swapping places).

Just had a fun experience at my Son-in-Laws house. I bought them a new HD TV (their first) and took it over to hook it up with Comcast HD DVR Cablebox. We disconnected the old set up, and it took us several hours to get the new TV mounted on the wall and all hooked up. When we tried to turn everything on the guide data was all to-be-announced and every channel required a Password, which my son-in-law didn't know (my daughter is out of town).

My grandson (7 years old) was sitting in the far corner, playing on his gameboy, muttering 3993 to no one in particular. My son-in-law said to try 0000, didn't work, then we tried some birthdays, didn't work. My grandson is still over there muttering 3993 and we're not paying atention to him as he plays away on his game boy. Finally we gave up and I said that we should have guide data soon and could get to test out the TV when it showed up. Finally my 7 year old grandson came over to us and said "Why don't you use 3993". We did and it worked.

Now I understand how Parental Controls work. They keep the parents locked out.

LOL great story, JRM01!

BAH! FSN is at it again! Second drop out in tonight's game!

Busted on FIOS too, it's an FSN problem.

this is the worst i've seen yet. that this has been such a persistent, major problem is just shameful. FSN has done nothing but embarass themselves since going to full-time digital.

the worst part is that it's been happening so long, it looks like it's just going to keep happening.

They announced on air that it was the result of a lightening strike taking out power in their main operations center.

FSN has the monopoly in the market for airing of the Penguin's games.

Versus also broadcast the game but since FSN has exclusive rights we were not allowed to see the game on Versus.

FSN has had a history of these types of screw-ups.

Yes, if indeed it was a lightning strike, then that is of course--- unexpected.

What is expected, though, is a redundancy (back-up) that will take place given an unexpected occurrence.

Where is the redundancy here?

Given a screw-up or unexpected occurrence what is FSN's plan "B"?

If lightning struck CBS Television studios in New York during prime-time programming do you think the whole country would be S.O.L. during CSI Miami? I think not. I'll betcha they have a backup.

Heads should roll over this. It is completely unacceptable!!!

And I mean someone should be fired.

Heads should roll over this. It is completely unacceptable!!!

And I mean someone should be fired.
I think we should be careful about starting that conversation up again...

They announced on air that it was the result of a lightening strike taking out power in their main operations center.

yeah, that's why they can't get through a pirates game or a penguins game half the time without losing the broadcast. because of all the lightning. the lightning that strikes fsn's headquarters like every other time they broadcast a live event and never strikes any other national feed anywhere ever.

I think we should be careful about starting that conversation up again...

Yea, I know, but guess what --- this is America!!!

We have freedom of speech. And if there are people who want to censor that freedom because they're too thin skinned to hear the truth then that's too bad.

I don't care if that "hurts someone's feelings."

Since when is this forum "politically correct"?

I call them as I see them.

Before I retired --- I knew if I didn't do my job (and do it well) then my a#* would be gone in a NY minute.

The more I think about FSN Pittsburgh, the more I think they localize all production responsibilities. They should have their own satellite dish and uplink the broadcasts to other providers and not have to route the signal through another FSN studio across the country before it can be viewed. I mean, it's not like they're covering national sports, only regional.

Yea, I know, but guess what --- this is America!!!

We have freedom of speech. And if there are people who want to censor that freedom because they're too thin skinned to hear the truth then that's too bad.

I don't care if that "hurts someone's feelings."

Since when is this forum "politically correct"?

I call them as I see them.

Before I retired --- I knew if I didn't do my job (and do it well) then my a#* would be gone in a NY minute.

i found myself explaining this to people in the bar tonight. i told my buddy - right now, the penguins are playing an elimination playoff game against the hated flyers, and fsn is having the longest dropout i've ever seen. think about that. imagine if you showed up at the bar on saint patrick's day and they ran out of alcohol at like 6 o clock. imagine if you went to the grocery store on sunday afternoon and they had no groceries. imagine if you went to get a prescription filled at the pharmacy and they just didn't have any medicine. would any of that be acceptable?

and yet we're supposed to be ok with fsn's apparently relentless pursuit of the basement of broadcasting standards. from the people who brought you "oops lol we didn't order hd trucks for the playoffs!" and like three solid months of nothing but color bars comes penguins playoff games with 30-minute blank screens.

i'm sorry if our outrage over this might hurt someone's feelings, but i've never seen a high-profile network have such consistent, major problems keeping itself on the air. that's just asinine. if home and garden tv can manage to beam crap into my house 'round the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-in-year-out with no disruption ever, i expect a major sports network to be able to broadcast a two hour block of their most important, highest-rated programming without losing it for literally half an hour. maybe once in a blue moon something happens that nobody can control, but this and other out-and-out embarassing problems have become a way of life for fsn, and that's not ok for any other company in the world, why is it ok for them?

i found myself explaining this to people in the bar tonight. i told my buddy - right now, the penguins are playing an elimination playoff game against the hated flyers, and fsn is having the longest dropout i've ever seen. think about that. imagine if you showed up at the bar on saint patrick's day and they ran out of alcohol at like 6 o clock. imagine if you went to the grocery store on sunday afternoon and they had no groceries. imagine if you went to get a prescription filled at the pharmacy and they just didn't have any medicine. would any of that be acceptable?

and yet we're supposed to be ok with fsn's apparently relentless pursuit of the basement of broadcasting standards. from the people who brought you "oops lol we didn't order hd trucks for the playoffs!" and like three solid months of nothing but color bars comes penguins playoff games with 30-minute blank screens.

i'm sorry if our outrage over this might hurt someone's feelings, but i've never seen a high-profile network have such consistent, major problems keeping itself on the air. that's just asinine. if home and garden tv can manage to beam crap into my house 'round the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, year-in-year-out with no disruption ever, i expect a major sports network to be able to broadcast a two hour block of their most important, highest-rated programming without losing it for literally half an hour. maybe once in a blue moon something happens that nobody can control, but this and other out-and-out embarassing problems have become a way of life for fsn, and that's not ok for any other company in the world, why is it ok for them?

Agreed MrGonk, FSN had to bid for the television rights to broadcast these games.

Apparently they won those rights.

Implicit with winning the exclusivity of televising these games is "reliability" --- wouldn't you think?

Feabile Sports Network (FSN) did a great job with the Pirate game last night. Technical difficulties message and no video during innings 9 thru 11.

Feabile Sports Network (FSN) did a great job with the Pirate game last night. Technical difficulties message and no video during innings 9 thru 11.
HAHAHA

I came here to post the same thing! I was watching the game last night going into extra innings. When the signal suddenly blacked out, I knew what was up. Eventually a blue screen with the FSN logo appeared with the words "Technical Difficulties." They should have just told us they had a lightning strike in Honolulu. Then I wouldn't have felt so unsympathetic.

does anyone know what actually is causing this phenomenon? from what's been said so far, it's presumably the national carrier's fault, not specifically fsn pittsburgh's, but that's all i know.

does anyone know what actually is causing this phenomenon? from what's been said so far, it's presumably the national carrier's fault, not specifically fsn pittsburgh's, but that's all i know.

There's an article on the Post Gazette today that explains a little bit.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09119/966239-61.stm

There's an article on the Post Gazette today that explains a little bit.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09119/966239-61.stm

that explains nothing. all i see there is the p-g running damage control for a couple of its advertisers.

Does anyone know what's going on with the audio on WPXI? I keep hearing a 'digital stutter' every 15-30 seconds. I hear it on both HD and SD channels and local/national programming. I haven't tried OTA yet but I hope they fix it.

Hey KDKA television ----------- Steubenville (WTOV) and Johnstown (WJAC) are producing and airing local HD newscasts.

Just to let you guys know!!!

Some local stations intend to keep up with the times!!!

Does anyone know what's going on with the audio on WPXI? I keep hearing a 'digital stutter' every 15-30 seconds. I hear it on both HD and SD channels and local/national programming. I haven't tried OTA yet but I hope they fix it.
I just watched tonight to check it out.

It's definitely stuttering, but more like every 5 seconds. It sounds like a strange time delay or aliasing artifact.

Tonight's HD Pirates game is being pre-empted by the Pens playoff game.

Why FSN can't figure out how to time delay broadcast the Pirates game, I'll never know. They will be broadcasting it to no one anyways, as the announcers and television crew will continue on as if they are on the air for MLB.TV subscribers.

Comcast is supposed to be a partner with FSN, can't they offer them a temporary channel to broadcast the game on? We are all being blacked out in the area by VS because of FSNP. Couldn't they show the baseball game on the VS slot?

Ah well.

Guys, I may just be switching from Comcast soon. I don't know about you, but our cable bill shot up $30!!!

Consolidated just sent us a promotional flyer that states we can get digital TV, 3 Mbps internet service (with a speed boost), and unlimited calling for $74.99 a month locked in for 2 years. They also throw in free HD service ($10 and something I'll need to subscribe to), a DVR (could care less about these things until I can record to my own computer/HTPC), and premium channels for 3 months.

I may be losing quite a number of HD channels (they have around 25 if I counted correctly versus around 50 for Comcast), but that kind of price differential is just begging my wallet to switch. They have enough of the essentials (ESPN HD, ESPN2 HD, etc.) to justify the switch.

I'll let you know what happens.

Has anyone else seen this promotion and/or considered switching from Comcast? By the way, the deal is supposed to expire on Friday.

I gotta be honest JBAntennaman, I have no idea what that was all about.

Well I'm switching to Consolidated with an install date in mid-June.

I'm getting the whole digital TV package (with all the premium movie channels and HD DVR service), unlimited phone calling, and 3 Mbps DSL for $121/month.

Let me know when Comcast decides to change their ridiculous pricing scheme and offer some value.

Until then, adieu.

A. The country is in a recession - people do not have the money to go out for a night and spend $50 - $100 just to get in. Another $ 25 to $50 for beer and hot dogs.

B. The people are staying home, a lack of attendance causes the television station / network to black out the event - some, most or all of the time.

C. The only way to get the people to attend the event is to shut off the signal and let them sit in the dark and miss some, most or all of the event.

PNC Park was supposted to be the next greatest thing. The Pirates said - you build it and they will come. Now you have a record of 13 wins and 10 losses and nobody want to go and see them loose.

The Penguins are also building a new arena at the city's expense. Even just a couple of hundred empty seats could hurt the payroll right now.

But that wasn't why the game wasn't shown. It wasn't shown because of the Pens playoff game. It was already predetermined to be broadcast but the Pens went to Game 7.

There was nothing nefarious going on.

Sorry dude, but your conspiracy theories are complete and absolute rubbish.

Those problems are due to unforeseen occurrences or random incompetence. Not careful strategic planning. You give them way too much credit.

Do you REALLY thing the marginal gain of a few more seat sales overshadows the advertising rates that can be set due to record numbers of people watching FSN?

If FSN has technical difficulties, the only thing people going to do is listen to the game on the radio or just tune out altogether. They aren't going to pack their families in like cattle in standing room only or limited view seating.

Not only that but it would have had to be a calculated manuever since FSN Northwest and others lost their signal at the exact same time because of the lightening strike in Atlanta.

Penguins record right now is - 45 / 28 / 9

Shutting off the signal for a couple of minutes will guarantee you that there will be more people in the seats for the next game.



If you were a baserunner and I were the pitcher I would have my first ever pickoff without problems. That's how far off base you are. Get real!

The Pens have sold out the last hundred or so games, so even if this did generate more interest there is no where to put them.

Baseball found out a long time ago that by telecasting baseball games (even home games) generated more fan interest and increased attendance. The Pirates game was replaced with the Pens game based on FSN decision (correctly) that it would provide far more viewers. FSN contract with the Pirates reuires them to telecast a replacement game some time in the future. Last week when the Pirates were pre-empted for the same reason FSN added the Pgh-SL baseball game on Thursday afternoon. Probably the first time a Pirates afternoon mid-week game was on TV.

You may know antennas, but you no nothing about sports marketing.

How are there going to be more people in the seats next game? They've had over 100 STRAIGHT sellouts!

You all have KDKA in HD right? I am in the sister system in Ohio from Pittsburgh and a CSR on the phone spent 20 minutes telling me Comcast doesn't offer KDKA in HD and they won't have to after the digital crossover.

You all have KDKA in HD right? I am in the sister system in Ohio from Pittsburgh and a CSR on the phone spent 20 minutes telling me Comcast doesn't offer KDKA in HD and they won't have to after the digital crossover.

Yes, KDKA-HD was one of the first HD channels comcast offered to Pittsburghers.

Those "extra seats" are long sold as there is a season ticket waiting list of well over 3500 people. As for FSN, yes, they can be inept at times, but also, the golden rule of "sh*t happens" can always rear it's ugly head. We, the viewer, are just the ones to suffer the most.

Those "extra seats" are long sold as there is a season ticket waiting list of well over 3500 people. As for FSN, yes, they can be inept at times, but also, the golden rule of "sh*t happens" can always rear it's ugly head. We, the viewer, are just the ones to suffer the most.

It is somewhat discouraging that other FSRs that are on Comcast offer full-game replays of their local sporting events OnDemand. I know that FSN Houston does this for the Rockets games.

Having the scoreboard videos onDemand is cute, for awhile but ultimately pointless.

Is it safe to assume that unless my head end is upgraded (Corliss Street) or more analog channels are removed, we won't be getting any more new HD channels, due to lack of bandwidth.

Is it safe to assume that unless my head end is upgraded (Corliss Street) or more analog channels are removed, we won't be getting any more new HD channels, due to lack of bandwidth.

I'd have to count them up and see, but, I think they have bandwidth to spare now. Of course, Docsis III is eating up some of that. I'd say we should be due for more HD channels though !

Anyone else notice their box reset ? Now there is an iTV selection on the menu for caller-id. Anyone with triple play service care to report how and if it works ?

My box reset last night while I was watching a movie OnDemand. I think it was around 4 AM. I was near the end of the movie and had to fast forward it from the beginning!

My box reset last night while I was watching a movie OnDemand. I think it was around 4 AM. I was near the end of the movie and had to fast forward it from the beginning!

Yeah, it was 3 AM. I was watching NCIS and it did the same thing. It's shut off now 2 nights in a row.

Is it safe to assume that unless my head end is upgraded (Corliss Street) or more analog channels are removed, we won't be getting any more new HD channels, due to lack of bandwidth.

I'm in Ohio, but we are sourced out of Pittsburgh. Comcast said they have no info of any HD channels coming to any of the local systems between now and June 13.

My box reset last night while I was watching a movie OnDemand. I think it was around 4 AM. I was near the end of the movie and had to fast forward it from the beginning!

Up to now I was able to pick up some On Demand on my bedroom set thru my qam tuner. Other peoples movies or ones I selected on my stb downstairs but this week noticed that when the scan stopped on a channel It will now say "scrambled channel or weak signal". Could it be also related to this update?

Up to now I was able to pick up some On Demand on my bedroom set thru my qam tuner. Other peoples movies or ones I selected on my stb downstairs but this week noticed that when the scan stopped on a channel It will now say "scrambled channel or weak signal". Could it be also related to this update?

Same thing happened here. Worked fine until the boxes were shut off in the middle of the night last week.

Any idea what will happen with the KDKA, WPGH, WPXI SD feeds on June 13th? They will no longer have a dual feed of SD, non-widescreen/5.1 audio available. Will Comcast just crop and chop the HD signal?

Any idea what will happen with the KDKA, WPGH, WPXI SD feeds on June 13th? They will no longer have a dual feed of SD, non-widescreen/5.1 audio available. Will Comcast just crop and chop the HD signal?

Good question. I was thinking they would just letterbox the 16:9 signal to fit it into 4:3 SD TV's, but it looks like there is something known as AFD (Active format description), which will allow them to dynamically crop the content as required based upon the original format. Maybe I missed something as i read it quickly, but, i think this means that true 16:9 content will be letterboxed, of course it depends on the AFD.
Either way, I think june 13th will be an interesting day.

I found these articles:
http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/managing-afd/index2.html
http://broadcastengineering.com/hdtv/managing-afd/index1.html

Nice find, HBO Kid! To be honest, I have thought about this problem at great length independent of knowing about this technology. I'm glad something like this was standardized by SMPTE. With digital technology, it makes no sense to simulcast HD and SD feeds when a lot of content on HD channels originate in the SD world. Setting the AFD is perfect for cable providers, but the question is, can CECBs handle this information? Will they do proper downconverts or simply do a pillarbox chop/letterbox?

Nice find, HBO Kid! To be honest, I have thought about this problem at great length independent of knowing about this technology. I'm glad something like this was standardized by SMPTE. With digital technology, it makes no sense to simulcast HD and SD feeds when a lot of content on HD channels originate in the SD world. Setting the AFD is perfect for cable providers, but the question is, can CECBs handle this information? Will they do proper downconverts or simply do a pillarbox chop/letterbox?

I assumed it would happen at the headend to format the down converted SD signal. Hmmm, maybe thats how some of the newer tv's I have seen already do it ?

For those interested, KDKA-DT (CBS) local news is now in HD. They're the last station in the Pgh. market to go HD newscasts.
Now 2 questions.
1) Will syndicated programming (Insider HD, etc.) be in HD?
2) Will the 10PM newscasts on WPCW be in HD also?

Note that the "HD" content of their newscasts is very limited.
Other than the anchors being in HD, there is nothing else in HD.
Not even the weather maps or weather graphics are in HD.
No stories or videos are in HD.
Even special reports like Yvonne Zanos, Maria Simbra, etc. are SD.
If this is it, it is a really poor attempt to qualify as an HD newscast.

They really didn't need to go thru the expense and trouble of creating an HD set.

All they're mostly doing is using the same old SD content and putting "KDKA HD" along the sides.

This is it guys?

Where's the new technology here?

My wife was recently laid off from her job in Southpointe...just in case you need someone to squeegee the condensation off of the back glass on your new "HD" set.

I know you're better than that.

Does anyone know if any Comcasts here have the new DCX3400 DVR boxes? I have called a couple times and they either don't know what I am talking about or say they only have what they have been shipped, which obviously isn't very helpful.

Get ready to start losing customers Comcast:

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09187/982122-67.stm

I read a couple of weeks ago that some changes were comming in August. A couple channels were going to move from analog to digital, and some other channels were just changing numbers. The Post Gazette article of course makes no mention of any new HD channels. Is it safe to assume more HD channels are comming with the conversion of a few channels from analog to digital? I don't think we have had any new HD chanels since the Speed, FX, FNC roll out, which was a long time ago.

I got a letter in the mail from Comcast yesterday showing about 12 channels switching package levels. It also says channel 3 will no longer be available at all. Nothing said about any new HD channels, but hopefully we'll see some soon.

I got a letter in the mail from Comcast yesterday showing about 12 channels switching package levels. It also says channel 3 will no longer be available at all. Nothing said about any new HD channels, but hopefully we'll see some soon.

I got my letter here in n. hills yesterday, the 31st. I sure would hope they would add some new HD on monday !

Nothing new here today.

It seems we now have ESPNU on channel 266. SD only. I am in the Southside.

At least you all seem to have gotten letters. Once again no notification and I come home to a ton of channels moved around. More taken from the Analog free side and moved to encrypted QAM.. They also appeared to move a bunch of the digital around on the Morgantown, WV system because some of my digital clear qam did not work when I got home.

It seems we now have ESPNU on channel 266. SD only. I am in the Southside.

The north hills also has ch. 266 now, but, the channels that are going to change package/service-level hasn't happened yet.

Yep, 266 SD here in Canonsburg, too. Man, I've been waiting for these games. :rolleyes:

On 266, I'm getting nothing. The guide works and all but when I tune to the channel, it says program will be available shortly.

I talked to a Comcast worker at the kiosk at Best Buy last night and told him we haven't got any new HD channels since December 08 (FX, Speed, FNC.)
He told me about 30 more will be added in September; in fact, Comcast branches are finalizing the channels to be added and will be printing out index card mailers to be sent out in the upcoming weeks.
I have no reason to believe this guy, but I just thought I would mention it here.

Found this in another area. Hopefully this is what he meant:

http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/2009/08/14/bus_544321.shtml

I'm not sure this is in the correction place but..

I'm having trouble configuring my W7MC to pick up all the channels through my AverMedia Duet tuner. I had no problems at home (Philadelphia Comcast) picking up all the channels (Air + Cable) I picked up through my Samsung LCDTV. At home I was able to pick up local HD channels as well. Now while I'm at school at Pitt, we have comcast in our apartment, with a digital box in the living room. However when I scan, it only picks up 12 channels, and when I go to manually add more, there's a only a handful more that are unlocked and available to add. Most of them are infomercial, etc channels.

it's september. Where are our mailer cards at? I think the guy at best buy was blowing smoke up your rear. I was just in the local office last week and the lady told me they are working hard to get us more hd channels but it might be middle of 2010 before they can add any more.

What happened to the on or after August 3rd changes ?? Con-Crap

It's still after August 3rd. As a matter of fact, Christmas is after August 3rd as well. The only thing guaranteed by that statement is that ComCrap will NOT be adding anything BEFORE August 3rd. Come to think of it, August 3rd of which year?

It's still after August 3rd. As a matter of fact, Christmas is after August 3rd as well. The only thing guaranteed by that statement is that ComCrap will NOT be adding anything BEFORE August 3rd. Come to think of it, August 3rd of which year?

Why do we give these people are money ?

Why do we give these people are money ?

Because Canonsburg has a sweetheart deal with them until the end of 2011! Only then can FIOS even discuss a possible deal. Implementation would be after my lifetime! :eek:

So what is a guy to do? This really reminds me of the monthly "wishing and a hoping" I used to do when I had Dish with 2 HD channels. I left them for that greener pasture across the fence.

I follow this thread from Ohio because we basically are the ugly step-child of your systems in Pittsburgh area.

I spoke to Comcast this week and they said there are no changes in the system other than the Red Zone channel but they plan on adding many more HD channels by Christmas.

Give me a break.

HBO Kid, didn't you switch to FiOS?

at least western pa has a chance of getting fios. Here in west virginia verizon is trying to sell us to frontier and if the sale goes through, which i am praying it doesn't , the chances of frontier giving us fiber ever is slim to none.

HBO Kid, didn't you switch to FiOS?

its 1 block away, but, not available here

I was listening to the Pirate game on radio today (I know I'm a glutton for punishment) and Comcast had a commercial saying that you could switch to digital package, including HBO for only $29 per month. The only caveat was that you had to hurry as the offer expires 6/30/2009!!!!

I was listening to the Pirate game on radio today (I know I'm a glutton for punishment) and Comcast had a commercial saying that you could switch to digital package, including HBO for only $29 per month. The only caveat was that you had to hurry as the offer expires 6/30/2009!!!!

That's too funny.

There is a $29.99 deal, though, http://www.comcastspecial.com/cable.html?PID=Google:comcast_deals:Comcast_Top_Performers:T riple_Play_Comcast_Deals and it expires 9-15-2009.

Does anyone know why Comcast does not offer an HD feed of any FOX network in the Pittsburgh area? I'm currently located an hour west of Pittsburgh, and neither WYFX or WPGH are available in HD.

Does anyone know why Comcast does not offer an HD feed of any FOX network in the Pittsburgh area? I'm currently located an hour west of Pittsburgh, and neither WYFX or WPGH are available in HD.I don't know about over there, but WPGH is in HD on Comcast in Pittsburgh and here in the east (Greensburg system). Channel 213.

I don't know about over there, but WPGH is in HD on Comcast in Pittsburgh and here in the east (Greensburg system). Channel 213.

Well that is a bit disconcerting. Unfortunately, HD here (Columbiana, OH) skips from channel 211 (WFMJ) to 215 (UHD). It is not a "big deal" per se, but with NFL football, House, 24, and Fringe, it makes the viewing of these shows pale when compared to that of the other HD channels.

So it seems that Comcast doesn't give you any of the Pittsburgh locals then. We have these, plus some subchannels:

210: WTAE-DT (ABC)
211: WPXI-DT (NBC)
212: KDKA-DT (CBS)
213: WPGH-DT (FOX)
214: WPMY-DT (MyNetwork)
216: WPCW-DT (CW)
220: WQED-DT (PBS)
226: FSN Pittsburgh

i think east liverpool gets youngstown. Down here in weirton i get:

kdka
wtrf
wtrf fox ohio valley
wtrf abc ohio valley
wtov
wqed
wnpb(24 out of morgantown)
and wtae
all in hd.
But we are split between pittsburgh as the minor dma and wheeling as the major dma.

I noticed yesterday that channel 279 is NFL Redzone HD. Yay for a new HD channel, lame that it's only on one day a week.

Really? The RedZone channel is in HD? Comcrap called me about a week ago to tell me that the channel was now on the air and in my sports package. I asked the rep if it was in HD and was told...NO. I have yet to check it out.

I noticed yesterday that channel 279 is NFL Redzone HD. Yay for a new HD channel, lame that it's only on one day a week.

How is that "lame"? You realize what the channel is, don't you. It only makes sense to be active while multiple NFL games are in progress.

How is that "lame"? You realize what the channel is, don't you. It only makes sense to be active while multiple NFL games are in progress.

Well, there are about 65 channels in HD we currently do not get. It's lame that they pick one that only shows programming 1 day a week. Need I explain more?

Well, there are about 65 channels in HD we currently do not get. It's lame that they pick one that only shows programming 1 day a week. Need I explain more?From that perspective, agreed. I'm patiently waiting for Comcast to add a bunch more HD channels too. But this particular channel is something they probably feel is more important to have during the football season.

From that perspective, agreed. I'm patiently waiting for Comcast to add a bunch more HD channels too. But this particular channel is something they probably feel is more important to have during the football season.

Sure, I'll agree it's important to add now. With NHL and NBA starting rather soon, it would be nice to have NHL Network in HD as well. They blew it by not adding the MLB channel in HD though.

Agreed on NHL and MLB. I don't much care about NBA personally, but they should make room for all these in HD.

so any word if comcast is adding new channels?? Sorry for the post, the monitor page says no posts since 6/18 so i didn't even look up to see any changes.

There is an ad in todays Trib stating 13 new channels to start on Oct 27th, 11 of which are in HD.

They are also moving 5 more channels out of the standard packages and changing the channel number for 5 others.

The ad is on page A9 if you want to see it for yourself.

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/business/s_644655.html

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09268/1000623-67.stm

There is an ad in todays Trib stating 13 new channels to start on Oct 27th, 11 of which are in HD.

They are also moving 5 more channels out of the standard packages and changing the channel number for 5 others.

The ad is on page A9 if you want to see it for yourself.

I suppose that will be OK:( but where are the "Meat & potatoes" like other comcast cast areas. Why can't all of us get the same line up of channels, I've read north hills doesn't get theses channels, south hills gets those but not these and so on. Comcast if you are going to screw us please be fair and screw us the same. Its like when I dated two sisters, same family but each screwed different:D

I just love Comcast!

I got a mailer today saying that as a valued triple play reward I can get Internet Blast (20 mbps) for free for 12 months. Thought that was great since I'm paying $10 a month for it.

So I called them and they said: Oops, you can't get it free since you're already paying for it!

Comcrapstic!

i got my bill today, and it says the program guide will be updated on or after Oct 13th.

No, ... it didn't specify the year.

Looks like we'll be all digital soon. Finally not a rumor anymore.

http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/09273/1001764-67.stm

Almost all-digital. Channels 2-22 will still be analog.

channel guide update is a nice one. It will introduce the ability to order stuff from qvc,and hsn from your remote. It will enable you to order pizza with your remote.

It also will group all shows of the same name together. Like if you record kdka 11pm news everyday it will group 20 11pm news' together instead of having 20 listed seperately.

Here is the website:
www.comcast.net/newguide

when will the weirton area start the "world of more" campaign? Do existing customers get discounted on boxes?

I'm still waiting for Comcast to correct the time error on my DVR, since it is non adjustable for the home owner. For the last two weeks ever one of my 15 per week recordings was started 38 seconds late. Service brought over a new DVR but it also got the wrong time so he did not swap me out.

I have called for an update and finally got a supervisor who spent ten minutes telling me that no one else is complaining so there is no problem. Yes, there were plenty of harsh words spoken. She actually called back about a half hour later to tell me that engineers are aware of the problem and need a part (from Radio Shack :D) to rectify hopefully next week.

I am surprised that none of you are talking about this. Is your clock correct?

I'm still waiting for Comcast to correct the time error on my DVR, since it is non adjustable for the home owner. For the last two weeks ever one of my 15 per week recordings was started 38 seconds late. Service brought over a new DVR but it also got the wrong time so he did not swap me out.

I have called for an update and finally got a supervisor who spent ten minutes telling me that no one else is complaining so there is no problem. Yes, there were plenty of harsh words spoken. She actually called back about a half hour later to tell me that engineers are aware of the problem and need a part (from Radio Shack :D) to rectify hopefully next week.

I am surprised that none of you are talking about this. Is your clock correct?

The clock on my DVR is 52 seconds slow. That is comparing it to two atomic clocks in the same room.

I'm still waiting for Comcast to correct the time error on my DVR, since it is non adjustable for the home owner. For the last two weeks ever one of my 15 per week recordings was started 38 seconds late. Service brought over a new DVR but it also got the wrong time so he did not swap me out.

I have called for an update and finally got a supervisor who spent ten minutes telling me that no one else is complaining so there is no problem. Yes, there were plenty of harsh words spoken. She actually called back about a half hour later to tell me that engineers are aware of the problem and need a part (from Radio Shack :D) to rectify hopefully next week.

I am surprised that none of you are talking about this. Is your clock correct?

I'm also on the Canonsburg HE here in Cecil, and the clocks on all my converters (DVR and non-dvr) are now 1 minute and 3 seconds slow. From the other two posts, it sounds like their (Comcast's) clocks have lost sync and are drifting away on their own oscillators. I don't know how they manage their NTP infrastructure, but all of our posts are from the south (Canonsburg and Washington), is anyone else outside of our area seeing this?

My wife called and gave them an ear-full tonight, but I'm sure nothing will happen. The standard reply: "There is nothing I can do, just unplug your box. And if that doesn't work, start your recordings a minute early".

And since the time drift got me to thinking about NTP, I did a traceroute in to and out from my cable modem to find the first few hops after my edge router in both directions. None of those routers responded to standard ntp requests, so I can't glean any new information from them.

There is an ad in todays Trib stating 13 new channels to start on Oct 27th, 11 of which are in HD.

They are also moving 5 more channels out of the standard packages and changing the channel number for 5 others.

The ad is on page A9 if you want to see it for yourself.

Comcast is adding the following 11 channels to its HD lineup on 10-27-09:

Biography Channel
Cartoon Network
E!
Lifetime
Lifetime Movie Network
MLB
NBA TV
Nickelodeon
Planet Green
Spike
Travel Channel

And the following SD channels:

Hallmark Movie Channel
RLTV


Still no:

ESPN News HD
CNBC HD
Fox Business Channel HD
Weather Channel HD
Bravo HD
NHL HD
VH1 HD
MTV HD
CMT HD

Aaarrgggghhh...........

I'm still waiting for Comcast to correct the time error on my DVR, since it is non adjustable for the home owner. For the last two weeks ever one of my 15 per week recordings was started 38 seconds late. Service brought over a new DVR but it also got the wrong time so he did not swap me out.

I have called for an update and finally got a supervisor who spent ten minutes telling me that no one else is complaining so there is no problem. Yes, there were plenty of harsh words spoken. She actually called back about a half hour later to tell me that engineers are aware of the problem and need a part (from Radio Shack :D) to rectify hopefully next week.

I am surprised that none of you are talking about this. Is your clock correct?

Fixed :) Now I actually get to see the crime, not just the solution.

Did anyone get the new program guide update today ?

Not in Washington PA

Earlier someone mentioned that the October 27th change will move 5 channels from analog to digital. I got a card in the mail today from Comcast that indicates that actually 12 channels will move from analog to digital:

AMC
Animal Planet
Cartoon Network
EWTN
Hallmark
MSNBC
Oxygen
Sprout
Style
TCM
Tru TV
TV Guide

Does Comcast Cable use SDV (Switched Digital Video) forcing HD-TiVo's to use a Tuning Adapter? I just moved to South Fayette from San Antonio and Time Warner used SDV heavily. Comcast is installing next weekend and I want my installation to be right.

Does Comcast Cable use SDV (Switched Digital Video) forcing HD-TiVo's to use a Tuning Adapter? I just moved to South Fayette from San Antonio and Time Warner used SDV heavily. Comcast is installing next weekend and I want my installation to be right.

Nope, no SDV / Tuning Adapters here (yet). An HD Tivo will work just fine with a straight CC. Several of us have the HDTivo/CC combination. So far it looks like Comcast has been happy with the model of removing analog channels to make room for new additions here. We're about to go through another round of that "on or after October 27th".

For most of us (including SF IIRC) it looks like they are grabbing 5 more Analog channels in this round.

Welcome to town. Hope you like winter. :)

I have a TiVo HD and a HD XL and both work fine with Comcast (no TA needed). Be sure they bring you the m-card (multi-tuner), other wise you'll need 2 cards. The first card is free (actually the price is included in the bundle price), but a second one for the same device would cost you $1.50 per month.

Before they come you should connect the cable and run Guided Setup selecting your lineup, then select Cablecard install Later. That is assuming you have the basic service already.

Welcome to the burgh.

MLB HD is a day early, and i don't even have the sports package

All of a sudden I am having problems with WPGH clear-QAM 53-1 on cable. I have connections for this on 3 devices, a Mits DLP, Panny Plasma and TiVo HD. On the Panny and TiVo the channel is blank snow. On the Mits, when I tune to 53-1 I get snow, but when I channel up I get another 53-1 (WPGH) and it is just fine.

I'm going to try another scan, but just wondering if anyone else has seen something like this.

I couldn't sleep last night, my heart was pounding in excitement of the Cartoon HD channel, Spike HD, >>>..........:D Maybe the new software too, still don't know what that will do.

Crash, nothing under my tree, how about yours?

I don't have anything either, but since I am in the city I don't believe I am getting anything either.

1PM in Washington, PA...and now I can watch Tom & Jerry in HD! Patiently waiting for NHL Network HD one of these days.

Has anyone else noticed that Comcast is now sending the SD digital copies of all of the Standard Cable and Digital Starter channels in Clear QAM?

I'm tuning the Discovery channel right now on my HDHomeRun. I don't know when they decrypted them, but I noticed it when I did a scan Sunday night (25 Oct 09) to get a baseline before the lineup change today.

I'm on the Canonsburg Head End, and here is my preliminary list of the channel locations for anyone that is interested. Unfortunately, all of the HD copies (except the broadcast channels, of course) are still encrypted.

I assume that in an era of digital tv's with QAM tuners, this change will continue to make the "standard" set of channels available to any tv that is plugged in without a converter box, even after all of the analog cable channels are removed.


68.3 - Comedy Central
68.4 - MTV
68.5 - Disney
68.6 - Nick
68.8 - AMC
68.9 - Discovery
68.10 - TLC
68.11 - VH1
68.12 - USA

69.1 - CSPAN
69.4 - Travel
69.5 - BigTen
69.7 - CNN
69.8 - Golf
69.9 - HSN
69.10 - QVC
69.12 - HLN

70.2 - E
70.3 - TBS
70.4 - ESPN
70.5 - Fox News
70.6 - TNT
70.7 - ABC Family
70.8 - Spike
70.9 - Tru
70.10 - FX
70.11 - PCN
70.14 - MSNBC

71.1 - A&E
71.2 - Lifetime
71.3 - History
71.4 - HGTV
71.5 - TV Land
71.6 - Style
71.7 - Food
71.8 - CNBC
71.9 - ESPN2
71.11 - TCM

72.5102 - Hallmark Movie (Added 10/27)

73.100 - QVC
73.107 - Bio
73.108 - History International
73.112 - ShopNBC

80.6 - G4
80.7 - GSN
80.9 - BET
80.10 - Cartoon Network
80.11 - Animal Planet

82.4 - TWC

83.1402 - MoviePlex

104.306 - LMN
104.312 - Oxygen

105.408 - Bloomberg
105.409 - Sprout (Unencrypted 10/27)

Well, I doubt THAT will last...as people with simple lifeline service (or better yet, cable internet only) will be able to receive all of these channels on a digital TV without a subscription...right?

Well, I doubt THAT will last...as people with simple lifeline service (or better yet, cable internet only) will be able to receive all of these channels on a digital TV without a subscription...right?

I believe that the filter that is put on a line that only has lifeline service (or internet only, which is really the exact same thing) will block the main channels that are being used for the clear qam feeds, channels 68-71. So they would be filtered out the same way that they are today for lifeline customers, by the notch filter.

On my drop, the cable modem uses channels 85, 86, and 87 for the downlink, which are right around the 600MHz mark. 68-71 are 489MHz to 507MHz. That should be plenty of room to end the notch between there somewhere. I once scanned my connection when that filter was on it (my cable modem worked just fine with the filter on the line, BTW), and built a spreadsheet of the notch that they take out, but for the life of me I cannot find the spreadsheet. Time to dig some more...

Of course now that they've cleared out some room in the 40's, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move these feeds down there so that they are squarely in the middle of the filter's notch. But 44, 45, and 46 are where they put 9 of their new HD channels today, so that's totally a guess.

I believe that the filter that is put on a line that only has lifeline service (or internet only, which is really the exact same thing) will block the main channels that are being used for the clear qam feeds, channels 68-71. So they would be filtered out the same way that they are today for lifeline customers, by the notch filter.

On my drop, the cable modem uses channels 85, 86, and 87 for the downlink, which are right around the 600MHz mark. 68-71 are 489MHz to 507MHz. That should be plenty of room to end the notch between there somewhere. I once scanned my connection when that filter was on it (my cable modem worked just fine with the filter on the line, BTW), and built a spreadsheet of the notch that they take out, but for the life of me I cannot find the spreadsheet. Time to dig some more...

Of course now that they've cleared out some room in the 40's, I wouldn't be surprised to see them move these feeds down there so that they are squarely in the middle of the filter's notch. But 44, 45, and 46 are where they put 9 of their new HD channels today, so that's totally a guess.

I just found one of my old scans with the notch filter in place.
The filter began between channels 23 and 25
23 (219MHz) = 89% signal strength
24 (225MHz) = 85%
25 (231 MHz)= 20%
26 (237 MHz)= 18%

And ended between channels 62 and 65
62 (453 MHz) = 30%
63 (459 MHz) = 66%
64 (465 MHz) = 24%
65 (471 MHz) = 100%

So after seeing that, I would agree that they will have to do one of three things, since the QAM feeds should now be available to anyone with the $15 lifeline cable.
1. Move the unencrypted QAM feeds between channels 25 and 62 to block them with the existing filters.
2. Replace the filters that they are using (which seems unlikely).
3. Re-Encrypt the channels.

I hope they go with #1.

Nice legwork. I totally forgot about my buddy (who has only cable modem) not being able to view channels 23 through 63. So, I like your idea of #1 as well. And it would be a good move for Comcast, as they wouldn't need to supply cheap-o digital boxes to customers with QAM tuners.

Yup, I did the rescan yesterday to fix my 53.1 problem and it is now coming in OK. I also noticed all the ADS Digital channels were unencrypted and was surprised. On my cablecard TiVo these are used to provide the digital copy of basic cable and works very well. Unfotunately on my other TiVo I don't have cablecards and it can't use these channels since it doesn't provide Guide Data for clear-QAM.

My guess is that Comcast will eventually encrypt them so they can rent out there cableboxes or DTAs.

BTW, when did Comcast start using the Pace Cableboxes for HD service. I have a friend who just got HD and got one of them. What's the report on their use. All I've heard is that they are cheap Chinese boxes.

Hope I'm posting in the right place. Question, does anyone know where to download pdf/view a user guide for starfone STF2-C digital cable box that comcast is using. I'm curious about the hookups on the back. Can Iconnect to my computer ? Various setups and such. Did'nt see any sticky's that pertained to this manual. Any help would be appreciated.

jjc153, I wish they would send the clear qam of those channels on the Morgantown system. We still only get the local channels. Of interest is that they put all the "clarksburg/morgantown" area OTA channels on the 18.* numbers and Pittsburgh on the 81.* channels. We do have Fox Sports Pittsburgh, WGN on 81.10 and 81.11. But those are the only "cable" channels in clear qam besides C-SPAN on 20.1. They did add 16.1 (WQEX-DT), 10.1 (WVFX Fox out of Clarksburg) recently also. One would think that most of the "Pittsburgh" area headends would have around the same channel number lineup's. But ours doesn't match nearly anything you all are seeing.

Has anyone else noticed that Comcast is now sending the SD digital copies of all of the Standard Cable and Digital Starter channels in Clear QAM?

I'm on the Canonsburg Head End, and here is my preliminary list of the channel locations for anyone that is interested. Unfortunately, all of the HD copies (except the broadcast channels, of course) are still encrypted.)

I'm in the Tarentum area, and I find everything on jjc's list plus some additional channels including:

74.202 - CSPAN3

80.1 - Hallmark
80.2 - PCNC
80.3 - EWTN
80.4 - Versus

81.10 - Fox Sports Pittsburgh
81.11 - WGN

82.13 - TV Guide

83.1413 - CSPAN2
83.1901 - Trinity
83.1903 - Daystar

103.608 - Word

And there are miscellaneous others, including promotional and for-lease channels and the SD versions of the broadcast stations.

This morning there was a message on my cable box saying that on November 10th I would have to reprogram my DVR recordings and reset my parental controls for 50 some channels. New guide maybe? Maybe the 50 channels are moving to all digital? I hope I get new channels that day.

This morning there was a message on my cable box saying that on November 10th I would have to reprogram my DVR recordings and reset my parental controls for 50 some channels. New guide maybe? Maybe the 50 channels are moving to all digital? I hope I get new channels that day.

That notice was on my latest bill, but the date was not named. It said that new software would wipe out all setting not deleting the hard drive of its programing though. I've afraid that the newest HD delights are not going to be joined by others.

YEah it seems that the city of Pittsburgh only, will be getting a large addition of HD channels because of the move to digital. Suburb areas not yet affected. I guess they have to compete with Fios now that it's in the city.

The Greensburg area cable system received the newest HD channels a week ago. They are in the 8xx channel range...

The Greensburg area cable system received the newest HD channels a week ago. They are in the 8xx channel range...

Yes, alot of suburbs received several new HD channels. The city of Pgh did not because we are moving to all digital which in turn should give us the ability to add 30-50 HD channels, which is apparently what they are going to do, so I hear.

It was on my bill, I got an automated phone call. The 10th is a day of updating. Did anyone get it? Not me. There was some type of interruption of guide service for all my scheduled recording are TBA. But nothing needs reprogrammed or looks any different.

I'll check when I get home.

It was on my bill, I got an automated phone call. The 10th is a day of updating. Did anyone get it? Not me. There was some type of interruption of guide service for all my scheduled recording are TBA. But nothing needs reprogrammed or looks any different.

Couldn't help myself, I had to call Tech and ask. After checking, it was relayed to me that last night was only part 1, and tonight is part 2 that will cause the visual changes along with user intervention needed. Also, tomorrow I should be able to activate MY DVR online.

Thanks, Bill, for looking into that. I checked before I went to work this morning to find no changes. Figured I'd wait till I got home this afternoon and see what was up. You, again, have my answer.

Hi all,

This is my first post here. I have been enjoying the site and learning alot.
I live in the City of Pittsburgh and have the Comcast Triple Play.

I have not seen much in terms of any updates today but will keep my eyes open.

Thanks all.

FB

Something started to happen at 2:38AM...my box rebooted and now it's simply acting as a digital tuner...nothing happens when I push GUIDE, MENU, REW, PAUSE...only responding to CH+ and CH-.

And, at 4AM, the DVR rebooted again and now the guide is functional...and it doesn't have the advertisement hogging up the bottom of the guide and, once again, allows for you to view 5 channels at a time...I pray that it stays this way...but, I doubt that it will. The menu is still not operational but says that it will be restored shortly.

At 6:45 this morning I turned on my TV. The guide looked identical to me. Nothing new. I will look when I get home.

The guide changed, it is now ver. a28 (i think a25 before). The status screens show support for SDV and start-over, both of which are probably not enabled. The only thing new that I noticed was the "watch in hd" button on the flip bar. WHAT A TOTAL WASTE ! A true comcrap feature. I had already switched to using a fav. list in the guide. Who wants to see duplicate channels listed in the guide, and watch something in SD, when you have an HD tv ???

This is why FIOS is superior and conCrap will continue to lie to their customers for an an attempt at market advantage.

Perhaps start-over is or will be re-enabled. Where is the channel that allows the user to view 4 sports channels simultaneously and use the arrow key to select the desired audio on one of these 4 channels ??? This feature was previously released somewhere, but not here.

Why aren't the hd channels mapped to the sd channel number when you have an hd box ? Why make us get used to new ch. numbers. This has been done by other providers. Or at the very least, since the ch. numbers are virtual(mapped), and over-the-air kdka is ch. 2, SD ch. is 6, as a second choice, why not make HD ch. 202, or 206? Likewise, wtae, could be 204 or 208. I think some logic would be intuitive !

Also, has anyone else noticed more blocking since they went to 3 HD channels per 6 mhz QAM ? I have.

Yes, it is hard to see the changes, but you were not looking in the place where there were some. The My DVR has added new features that include the sync to computer programming. I have already requested it and within a half-hour the data is on my screen @comcast.net "My DVR."

A complete overview of the new A28 guide features is available at http://www.comcast.net/newguide/

I went into the new myDVR setup area on the DVR today. It gave me an 8-character alphanumeric code, valid till 11/15, that I supposedly should have to enter on the website to active the remote DVR control features. But when I went to the website at the myDVR page on the link posted above it never asked me for this code when activating it. It says that it could take up to 24 hours to sync to the DVR, but it was immediately synced. I did a test by setting a recording online then went to the DVR to see if it was there under Scheduled Recordings. It wasn't for several minutes, but then it appeared there all of a sudden.

Meanwhile, there are many "To Be Announced" scattered rather randomly among the program listings on the DVR right now. I guess the full program guide needs more time to load, although usually it is not so random when that happens. Last night one of my series recordings for this morning wasn't showing in the guide or scheduled recordings list for Wednesday, but it was for Thursday and beyond. So I set a manual recording for that time slot for Wednesday. Then this morning the series recording reappeared, but I was unable to delete the manual one I had set. Strange behavior indeed.

So the City of Pittsburgh didn't get any new HD channels?
BAH! When is FIOS coming?

I think the TBA's in the guide will clean themselves up sometime today. I think the code that you got on the set top box may be if you have more than one DVR. I don't think that it is really needed though. Let us know how it works and if all goes as planned with the recording that you scheduled remotely.

And the advertisements have returned to clutter up my guide.

The guide changed, it is now ver. a28 (i think a25 before). The status screens show support for SDV and start-over, both of which are probably not enabled. The only thing new that I noticed was the "watch in hd" button on the flip bar. WHAT A TOTAL WASTE ! A true comcrap feature. I had already switched to using a fav. list in the guide. Who wants to see duplicate channels listed in the guide, and watch something in SD, when you have an HD tv ???

This is why FIOS is superior and conCrap will continue to lie to their customers for an an attempt at market advantage.

Perhaps start-over is or will be re-enabled. Where is the channel that allows the user to view 4 sports channels simultaneously and use the arrow key to select the desired audio on one of these 4 channels ??? This feature was previously released somewhere, but not here.

Why aren't the hd channels mapped to the sd channel number when you have an hd box ? Why make us get used to new ch. numbers. This has been done by other providers. Or at the very least, since the ch. numbers are virtual(mapped), and over-the-air kdka is ch. 2, SD ch. is 6, as a second choice, why not make HD ch. 202, or 206? Likewise, wtae, could be 204 or 208. I think some logic would be intuitive !

Also, has anyone else noticed more blocking since they went to 3 HD channels per 6 mhz QAM ? I have.

can you post pics of the status screens and the other new features in A28.

i thought the guide was going to look different.. i have seen the comcast guide in robinson and it looks amazing compared to the one offered in ross

can you post pics of the status screens and the other new features in A28.


Check my above post for a link that shows screen shots, user guide and a list of A28 features.

And the advertisements have returned to clutter up my guide.

any other insight?

I want a picture of the SDV status page.

how to find it:
1 Select main menu
2 select setup
3 select cable box setup
4 go to select to display and hit ok
5 hit fav on the remote
6 scroll through the various pages by hitting the favorites button. It should be one of those pages.

The guide changed, it is now ver. a28 (i think a25 before). The status screens show support for SDV and start-over, both of which are probably not enabled. The only thing new that I noticed was the "watch in hd" button on the flip bar. WHAT A TOTAL WASTE ! A true comcrap feature. I had already switched to using a fav. list in the guide. Who wants to see duplicate channels listed in the guide, and watch something in SD, when you have an HD tv ???

This is why FIOS is superior and conCrap will continue to lie to their customers for an an attempt at market advantage.

Perhaps start-over is or will be re-enabled. Where is the channel that allows the user to view 4 sports channels simultaneously and use the arrow key to select the desired audio on one of these 4 channels ??? This feature was previously released somewhere, but not here.

What is "The status screens show support for SDV and start-over"

Why aren't the hd channels mapped to the sd channel number when you have an hd box ? Why make us get used to new ch. numbers. This has been done by other providers. Or at the very least, since the ch. numbers are virtual(mapped), and over-the-air kdka is ch. 2, SD ch. is 6, as a second choice, why not make HD ch. 202, or 206? Likewise, wtae, could be 204 or 208. I think some logic would be intuitive !

Also, has anyone else noticed more blocking since they went to 3 HD channels per 6 mhz QAM ? I have.

What is SDV and start-over? I have not seen the "watch in hd" button on the flip bar

I want a picture of the SDV status page.

how to find it:
1 Select main menu
2 select setup
3 select cable box setup
4 go to select to display and hit ok
5 hit fav on the remote
6 scroll through the various pages by hitting the favorites button. It should be one of those pages.

attached.

I think the TBA's in the guide will clean themselves up sometime today. I think the code that you got on the set top box may be if you have more than one DVR. I don't think that it is really needed though. Let us know how it works and if all goes as planned with the recording that you scheduled remotely.Well, those TBAs have been stubbornly hanging on, randomly littered throughout the coming days, and sometimes changing to actual program info but then back to TBA again. I did a box reset this morning just to see if a re-download of the guide would clear it up. But then I left for work so I don't know if it worked or not. Meanwhile, I've successfully programmed a few things from the online interface. Interestingly, the online guide has the correct program info for some of the TBAs in the DVR program guide.

My guide data was pretty good last night...then at about 3:15 and 4:15 this morning, my boxes reboot while I was in the middle of watching something recorded on my DVR and the guide was once again filled with TBA.

is anyone else having problems with this new software comcast installed?

its so horrible, when i use the fast forward/ rewind and hit play when i want it to stop, it will skip over a minute before or after i hit play, and i have to try and rewind it 2 or 3 more times until i can get to the point i want

i understand the reason it does this is because there is some human lag and it will go a bit behind where you wanted to.. especially on the 4x fast forward, but now it is very excessive

Since the update, I noticed that if I am watching anything I have recorded from the DVR, when I go back to live programming, there is no sound on that channel. If I change to a different channel there is sound, and if I then go back to that original channel, the sound returns to normal.

Anyone else notice this?

Since the update, I noticed that if I am watching anything I have recorded from the DVR, when I go back to live programming, there is no sound on that channel. If I change to a different channel there is sound, and if I then go back to that original channel, the sound returns to normal.

Anyone else notice this?No, not exactly that. I've watched DVR then returned to live programming with no loss of audio. However, last night I had this happen after going into OnDemand briefly. When I came back out audio was messed up (using the digital toslink my receiver was putting out that "ratta-tat-tat machine gun" noise I get sometimes. Usually just changing channels and going back cures it, but this time I had it on several channels and then lost all sound until I turned my receiver off and on again which cleared it up. I don't know if this is in any way related to the new software.

I've been playing with the online myDVR Manager (http://www.comcast.net/tv/rdvr-listings/) to set some recordings. For the most part it works, but I ran into one problem trying to record the new AMC "The Prisoner" - the miniseries has been shown in 2-hour blocks the past few nights. In the online listing this is shown as one continuous block, but on the actual DVR (and as aired) it is actually two separate 1-hour episodes. When I set the 2-hour block to record online and check the actual DVR scheduled recordings only the first 1-hour program was actually scheduled. There was no way to remotely set that second 1-hour program to record. So much for being able to set your DVR remotely in this case.

What is SDV and start-over? I have not seen the "watch in hd" button on the flip bar

SDV is switched digital Video which comcast has declined to use over their project cavalry to reclaim analog channels because its cheaper. SDV basically transmits only the channels currently being watched by subscriubers and uses the empty channels bandwidth for other uses. Google 'SDV' for a more complete description.

Start-Over allows us to re-start a show in progress from the begining. Not truly a network DVR but similar.

is anyone else having problems with this new software comcast installed?

its so horrible, when i use the fast forward/ rewind and hit play when i want it to stop, it will skip over a minute before or after i hit play, and i have to try and rewind it 2 or 3 more times until i can get to the point i want

i understand the reason it does this is because there is some human lag and it will go a bit behind where you wanted to.. especially on the 4x fast forward, but now it is very excessive

Yeah, the favorite channels feature is screwed up. If you select a program description and return to the list, the display is reset to the 1st channel in the list. A similar bug seems to be present in every other version of the guide software.

Am I the only one who uses the favorite channels list ???

Yes, it is hard to see the changes, but you were not looking in the place where there were some. The My DVR has added new features that include the sync to computer programming. I have already requested it and within a half-hour the data is on my screen @comcast.net "My DVR."

I use my PC as a DVR, to avoid giving concrap any more money.

can you post pics of the status screens and the other new features in A28.

If the other guys posted pic's weren't complete , let me know.

i thought the guide was going to look different.. i have seen the comcast guide in robinson and it looks amazing compared to the one offered in ross

I'm curious to see the Robinson guide. Any pictures or links to their version of the guide ?

The one issue I see is that my one DVR is shutting down completely when not in use. For example, if I watch TV before going to bed....when I wake up in the morning, the receiver display is blank and after I turn it back on...the guide is all TBA.

Anyone have any updates on when the City may get some additional HD channels?

is anyone else having problems with this new software comcast installed?

its so horrible, when i use the fast forward/ rewind and hit play when i want it to stop, it will skip over a minute before or after i hit play, and i have to try and rewind it 2 or 3 more times until i can get to the point i want

i understand the reason it does this is because there is some human lag and it will go a bit behind where you wanted to.. especially on the 4x fast forward, but now it is very excessive

Have ever try the ship buttons, the just ahead ~ 30-45sec and id you hit the reverse it ships back ~ 15 sec. Found this by accident slow much faster than FF and any speed

Have ever try the ship buttons, the just ahead ~ 30-45sec and id you hit the reverse it ships back ~ 15 sec. Found this by accident slow much faster than FF and any speed

And I love the new 5 minute skip buttons. It makes short work of Fox's commercial breaks.