Cleveland, OH - TWC [Text View] - Page 82

hookbill

08-22-09, 05:33 PM

From Ohio Media Watch:

Many Time Warner Cable customers in the company's areas formerly serviced by Comcast have been E-mailing us over the past two months or so...with one question. "When are we going to get the same HDTV offerings now available elsewhere on Time Warner?"

Some have speculated that the cable boxes Comcast used - manufactured by Motorola and General Instrument - have been an obstacle that slowed down the HDTV rollout in the areas that used to be served by that company.

Those boxes...are being shoved out the door in a big promotion by Time Warner Cable, aimed at former Comcast customers in the Elyria/Lorain area.

Time Warner tells us that they're aiming to get some 14,000 Motorola and General Instrument boxes replaced, so letters are going out to those 12,000 customers starting on Monday.

The affected customers will have 30 days after the receipt of the letter to either go to TWC's service centers in Elyria or North Olmsted, and get a free swap for a new box (presumably a Scientific Atlanta model). Customers who do the swap themselves will also get $25 worth of coupons for "On Demand" movies.

The other option is to call 877-77-CABLE to set up an all-day appointment with a technician to come out and swap the box for you. TWC is asking that you use the special code ELYRIAMOTO when going this route, and you won't get the "On Demand" coupons. The swap itself will still be free.

The new boxes will provide "several enhancements", TWC tells us, including "an enhanced on-screen guide, caller-ID on TV, larger DVR storage capacity, and over 15 new HD channels within 30 days."

That will presumably bring the Elyria/Lorain lineup into line with the HDTV lineup in the rest of the Time Warner Northeast Ohio system, with channels like ESPNews HD, Bravo HD, Animal Planet HD, CNN HD, Fox News HD, Golf HD, and FX HD, plus others, that are not seen yet in the former Comcast system.

We're told that the new HD channels won't show up immediately when the box swap is made, but should appear within 30 days of the receipt of the letter...and if you get the letter and your box hasn't been swapped, it'll be the proverbial toast after that 30 day period.

The exchange will take place in stages through November, so if you're an ex-Comcaster in Lorain County and you don't get a letter on Monday, hang in...it'll come, eventually. Monday's only the start of the effort.

Here's a list of the affected communities, in case you're not sure if you're a former Comcast area customer:

AMHERST CITY
AMHERST TWP
AVON CITY
AVON LAKE
BAY VILLAGE
CARLISLE TWP
EATON TWP
ELYRIA CITY
ELYRIA TWP
NEW RUSSIA TWP
NORTH RIDGEVILLE CITY
SOUTH AMHERST VILLAGE

And no, we don't know how or if this affects the former Comcast area in and around Mentor that's now part of the TWC Northeast Ohio empire, or if the swap is even needed in that area.

http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/

Rbuchina

08-22-09, 05:41 PM

From Ohio Media Watch:

Here's a list of the affected communities, in case you're not sure if you're a former Comcast area customer:

AMHERST CITY
AMHERST TWP
AVON CITY
AVON LAKE
BAY VILLAGE
CARLISLE TWP
EATON TWP
ELYRIA CITY
ELYRIA TWP
NEW RUSSIA TWP
NORTH RIDGEVILLE CITY
SOUTH AMHERST VILLAGE

And no, we don't know how or if this affects the former Comcast area in and around Mentor that's now part of the TWC Northeast Ohio empire, or if the swap is even needed in that area.

http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/

Thanks for the info Hook,

I feel so alone in Mentor now.

Ray

hookbill

08-22-09, 05:58 PM

I think it means that you guys are last. If they can't make the technology work in Elyria, I doubt they will do it in Mentor.

I'm guessing of course but it makes sense that they would do one area at a time. First they need to have the supply of boxes for the switch, then they need to also provide the man power for people who will take the all day appointment.

Interesting I think that they are going to kill the signal to the moto boxes all together after 30. Can you imagine if the letter gets lost in the mail and you're clueless? One night you come home and boom - no cable.

Vchat20

08-22-09, 06:02 PM

hookbill

08-22-09, 06:47 PM

nickdawg

08-22-09, 08:26 PM

My take on it is if you are now in TWC territory and still have older Motorola, GI, or non-SA equipment you should be swapping for new equipment anyways even if not fully required according to TW's notices. Upgrading to something like the SA8300HDC/8240HDC or the newer Samsungs (I don't think we have any in the region...YET. But they should be arriving soon I'd hope and are a major step up from the SA boxes) will future proof things and get you on the same page with TWC as far as getting current generation equipment they are actively supporting.

As always if you have existing recordings on the older equipment, either record them off to a VCR, DVD recorder, whathaveyou, or just watch them and erase them. These recordings do NOT get transferred to the new equipment (I know this is common sense for most of us, but.... ;) )

The new Samsungs are not better. Not now. Someone had one and reviewed it on the Navigator topic a few months back. It basically had the same bugs the SA boxes had when Navigator was still new. No way in hell I'd take a Samsung box now. Plus the UI is stretched. The guide, DVR list and channel banner is STRETCHED, regardless of the settings you choose. Pass.

It's not quite that easy. You can't just walk in and say "I want an SA 8300 HDC." At least not at my local office. Remember they were handing out SA 8000 and I heard them tell one person "that's the newest that we have." I was lucky to get a SA 8300. And I kind of doubt that they will invest all that much money into this already costly switch out. And as far as current generation technology I believe Elyria is on ancient SARA.

You're not getting a new box because you are in a SARA area. The new boxes are more common in the Navigator areas. Since the older boxes choke on Navigator, it makes sense to run SARA on them(since SARA is like the old Passport).

Elyria and all the other Comcast systems have that funky guide from the Motorola boxes. Check the link in Vchat's signature, I think there is a picture there. In Elyria and the other Comcast areas it probably is that easy. They should be giving out HDC boxes running ODN.

Rbuchina

08-22-09, 09:22 PM

It's not quite that easy. You can't just walk in and say "I want an SA 8300 HDC." At least not at my local office. Remember they were handing out SA 8000 and I heard them tell one person "that's the newest that we have." I was lucky to get a SA 8300. And I kind of doubt that they will invest all that much money into this already costly switch out. And as far as current generation technology I believe Elyria is on ancient SARA.

I swapped my Moto DVR box out over a month ago at my local office and it was no proplem at all getting the 8300HDC. I guess if they had a run on SA boxes there probably would be a problem though.

Ray

hookbill

08-22-09, 09:29 PM

I thought I had read that you guys got the ood SA8300. Guess just ex Adelpia OH stuck on SARA get the old beat up stuff.

Inundated

08-23-09, 11:47 AM

Interesting I think that they are going to kill the signal to the moto boxes all together after 30. Can you imagine if the letter gets lost in the mail and you're clueless? One night you come home and boom - no cable.

That'll sure get the people in motion to swap the box! :D

schandorsky

08-23-09, 02:39 PM

hookbill

08-23-09, 02:41 PM

A question for you experts. Is the SA Explorer 4250HDC the correct box for the SDV switch over.
If we get the new HD channels here in Amherst in September, it will exactly one year ago that I received the letter from Time Warner Cable explaining that the SDV change over would be in October 2008.

Yes, the 4250 HDC would be the correct STB for the switch to SDV.

I remember that letter. I never received it but I remember people talking about it.

schandorsky

08-23-09, 02:47 PM

Yes, the 4250 HDC would be the correct STB for the switch to SDV.

I remember that letter. I never received it but I remember people talking about it.

I wonder if I can still get the $25 free coupons?

hookbill

08-23-09, 02:53 PM

I wonder if I can still get the $25 free coupons?

I don't think so. They are only doing this for the moto customers to get them to switch out.

To be honest when I saw that part of the offer I laughed a bit. Wouldn't it just be like TW to screw up you used your coupon.

Did you turn in your moto box before or have you always been with TW?

TheAngryPenguin

08-23-09, 03:58 PM

<DISCLAIMER>First post in this forum, so please be gentle!</DISCLAIMER>

So, I was wondering if those in the know could comment on the current advertisement that TWC is airing in its NEO market. The Ad coincides with TWC's "Free HD" campaign [hxxp://www.timewarnercable.com/NortheastOhio/learn/cable/hdtv.html], and it very clearly states that a free HD Cable Box is included. We have recently added a 2nd HDTV to our home and would like to be able to receive more than just the OTA equivalents of what's available via QAM on our 2nd HDTV. When we called in to get more information, we were told by more than one representative that no matter what, everyone who receives "Free HD" from TWC has to pay over $7.00/month for each HD STB that they lease from TWC.

hookbill

08-23-09, 04:18 PM

Welcome to the forum. Nobody will flame you for asking a question.

I can't say for certain that I've seen it on TV but every ad I've seen for their "free" HD has a disclaimer and says that free HD us with digital service. Since new HD televisions don't have cable cards this means you not only need digital service but you need the conversion box.

If you go to www.twneo.com you will find the disclaimer. I believe the 7.00 is for a DVR rental but it could be that's what you pay for a set top box. I thought that was 4.95.

You will see us talk a lot about switched digital video or SDV. Any HD channel on SDV is not available on clear in the qam.

Bottom line is they cover themselves with the disclaimer and to get full HD you need to rent a STB or DVR.

nickdawg

08-23-09, 04:34 PM

$25 free coupons? What is this, the CECB program? :p

Vchat20

08-23-09, 04:36 PM

Yeah. While I don't see any mentioning of a 'Free HD Box' on the link you posted, it is generally known that an HD box costs the same as a standard def box with or without DVR service so this MAY be one reasoning. But I doubt they'd give you a free box unless it was like a promotional deal or something for 6/12 months.

ClearQAM really is only going to get you the locals. A set of cablecards in your HD set will give you everything but the newer SDV channels (check back a handful of pages as I had made a listing of what was in SDV these days), VOD, PPV, etc.. An HD box will give you everything. Though an HD DVR will cost around the same as the cablecards will so that would be a better route.

nickdawg

08-23-09, 04:37 PM

It's called Free HD because the HD equivalents of the channels you get with your current level of service are available at no additional charge. Other providers like Directv have an extra charge for having HD services, a HD access fee that's around $10. Even when TWC only had 5 national HD channels, that was their selling point: no extra charge for HD.

Also, whenever you see any of those TWC "sale" prices, it NEVER includes equipment. It's in the fine print that each box costs extra.

Rbuchina

08-23-09, 04:42 PM

The HD box cost the same monthy fee to lease vs the digital box/digital service. Back in the spring I swapped my old Motorola bedroom box for an SA 4250 HDC. I dont have an HD TV in the beroom but now I can view all the HD channels from the bedroom that the digital box misses MAV, UHD, MGM, PALHD. The picture quality is improved too,, at least within the limits of the old SDTV. This is through S-Video connections Eventualy I'll snag a new HD flat panel for the bedroom.

hookbill

08-23-09, 05:07 PM

The HD box cost the same monthy fee to lease vs the digital box/digital service.

Interesting. When I brought my STB and exchanged it for the SA 8300 I was told there would be a price increase. Since I don't pay the bills I can't say for certain that there was or not.

nickdawg

08-23-09, 06:41 PM

Interesting. When I brought my STB and exchanged it for the SA 8300 I was told there would be a price increase. Since I don't pay the bills I can't say for certain that there was or not.

The extra fee is for the DVR service. The equipment all costs the same, there's just a $5, maybe more now, DVR fee.

hookbill

08-23-09, 06:46 PM

The extra fee is for the DVR service. The equipment all costs the same, there's just a $5, maybe more now, DVR fee.

Five dollars a month for that three legged piece of garbage?:p

I asked my wife if she has been watching Big Brother. She said she keeps forgetting about it. Huh?

I got to take a look at it, I think that she's recording off the HD channel and if that's the case she may be out of disk space. I'm going to get back the 4250 if she isn't watching it.

nickdawg

08-23-09, 06:56 PM

Five dollars a month for that three legged piece of garbage?:p

I asked my wife if she has been watching Big Brother. She said she keeps forgetting about it. Huh?

I got to take a look at it, I think that she's recording off the HD channel and if that's the case she may be out of disk space. I'm going to get back the 4250 if she isn't watching it.

Tell her to record it off the analog channel. Big Brother isn't even in HD so why record the HD channel?

You're complaining? I pay $5 a month for that navigator trash that gives me partial recordings. I'd love to have that 3 leg SARS box! :cool:

hookbill

08-23-09, 07:00 PM

Tell her to record it off the analog channel. Big Brother isn't even in HD so why record the HD channel?

You're complaining? I pay $5 a month for that navigator trash that gives me partial recordings. I'd love to have that 3 leg SARS box! :cool:

I knew it was in SD and I thought it probably would be this year. I haven't looked at it so I don't know what channel she has it on.

schandorsky

08-23-09, 07:12 PM

I don't think so. They are only doing this for the moto customers to get them to switch out.

To be honest when I saw that part of the offer I laughed a bit. Wouldn't it just be like TW to screw up you used your coupon.

Did you turn in your moto box before or have you always been with TW?

I had a cablecard. I switch for the box when I though we were getting SDV last year.

I will never believe Time Warner again.

GregF2

08-24-09, 07:33 AM

I was told all Eylria/Amherst, etc areas will be converted to the new boxes by Dec 15th. Sure is going to be a long process!

hookbill

08-24-09, 07:37 AM

I was told all Eylria/Amherst, etc areas will be converted to the new boxes by Dec 15th. Sure is going to be a long process!

Heres a link to the thread with complete information:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showpost.php?p=17045486&postcount=20287

Vchat20

08-26-09, 07:25 AM

hookbill

08-26-09, 08:27 AM

So one idea that had crossed my mind lately as a last ditch chance to get any results, I am proposing the idea of sending in a written petition to TWC's NEO operation for some common sense and simple changes to improve things from (mostly) a technological perspective that would be well within their reach. This would be done in physical writing, by snail mail, and preferrably with legitimate signatures used from all involved. Online petitions just don't work nearly as well as getting a certified envelope with a lengthy letter and tons of signatures at their main office addressed to Mr. Fry (or some other likely responsible parties) and requiring it be signed for by a human. ;)

I'm gonna try and work on a draft copy here shortly but so far I have the following bullet points in mind:
1. Cut out all analog programming but the locals and must carries like public access.
2. Move basic and expanded basic 2-99 programming to ClearQAM for use with the wide selection of capable tv sets and other consumer electronics manufacturered in the past 2-4 years often included as an added capability of ATSC capable equipment now mandated for the DTV switch.
3. For those customers without QAM capable equipment, offer up the same dumbed down basic digital tuners supplied by Cox and Comcast in their full-digital areas or older digital cable equipment such as the Pioneer Voyager line of DCT's. Preferrably free, a modest fee at a fraction of the cost of existing Digital Terminals, or 1 or 2 free dumbed down digital terminals with the rest being charged per terminal.
4. With the above changes, improve the channel usage in Switched Digital Video either by moving some channels off completely with the added bandwidth or move off channels with larger viewership and in their place put channels with much lower viewership. NOTE: This is only mandatory should the first 3 points be met and then only until the operation of Switched Digital Video in the combined Northeast Ohio TWC region is improved to spotless operation like other SDV-operating regions under TWC's corporate ownership.

Obviously that is missing some stuff, notably the request for additional HD channels which were promised back in April(?) and have been nonexistant the past two months.

I know it will probably be all for naught, but the effort involved would be fairly minimal outside of doing some 'offline' recruiting for signatures with other literate TWC haters you may know around you.

Lemme know what you think, give your opinions, additions, changes...

(For those wondering, I have slowly gotten irritated lately with TWC's ineptitude in this area and am THIS close to switching to Dish should the credit checking process on their site go through. The last straw has been the absolute ass quality of USAHD lately often being a PALTRY 8mbit for 1080i. And I am sure many of you feel the same and figured at least an ultimatum would be good to warn them of how upset most of us are and we are prepared to leave should things not improve in a timely fashion.)

They must be getting a lot of complaints about pq. I got this email yesterday:

Dear Time Warner Cable customer:

Each year, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requires cable companies to send their customers a number of notices.

In the past, these notices have been included in your monthly billing statement. In an effort to serve you better, we will now send these FCC required notices via e-mail to those customers for whom we have an e-mail address.

Thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable. We appreciate your business and look forward to serving you for many years to come.

COMPLAINT RESOLUTION NOTIFICATION

In compliance with the requirements of Section 76.607 and 76.309 (c)(3) of the Federal Communications Commission rules, we are required to inform you that Time Warner Cable has in effect the following procedures to ensure that any complaints which may arise concerning your bill or the technical quality of the cable television signals delivered to you are promptly and effectively resolved.

Billing
If you have a question or problem with your bill, you should first call our Customer Service Department at the number listed on your bill and attempt to resolve the problem with one of our Customer Service Representatives.
If, after talking with a Customer Service Representative, you are still not satisfied, you should then send a copy of your bill, along with a letter explaining why you believe it is wrong, to: VP of Customer Care, Time Warner Cable, 5520 Whipple Avenue NW, North Canton, OH 44720.
A Customer Service Manager will attempt to contact you within 24 hours of receiving your letter, discuss the billing problem with you, and make every effort to promptly resolve the problem.
Signal Quality
If you are having a problem with the signal quality of your cable service, you should first call our Service Department at the number listed on your bill. In many cases, the problem can be corrected while you are on the phone with the Service Department. However, it may be necessary to send a maintenance technician to your home.
If, after talking to our Service Department and/or having a technician visit your home, you are not satisfied that the problem has been resolved, you may put your complaint in writing to: VP of Operations, Time Warner Cable, 5520 Whipple Avenue NW North Canton, OH 44720.
All complaints received will be logged in with a notation as to the date, time and nature of the complaint, as well as the name, address and phone number of the subscriber involved. A system engineer will then analyze the complaint and all efforts will be made to resolve any complaints promptly and efficiently.
If for some reason you are not satisfied with our response to your complaint, you may contact the cable coordinator of your appropriate franchise authority.

So in a nutshell what I get out of this letter is they are telling us if we want our disputes taking care of we have to Call customer service, have a truck roll, write a letter explaining what the problem is, wait until somebody eyballs your letter and gets back to you THEN you can complain to the franchise board which I guarantee will get you no where. Since the state is now the franchise board can you imagine how long it will take until they get to your problem?

Ridiculous.

My TiVo Playlist program is giving me better PQ on USA HD then what you are getting, comparatively speaking. However my eyes don't lie to me and I think USA HD looks like crap.

They simply are not going to take handing out boxes as a consideration. My contact made it clear to me that it's too cost consuming. Look at how they struggled just to take care of Elyria and you know eventually they are going to do the same for Mentor. Dumbed up boxes or not, they would still be the existing equipment and the cost is just too much money.

However I'd be happy to sign the petition. I can't be a distributor of the petition as all my neighbors are on satellite and I don't really know anyone other then you guys who use TW.

Most people are smarter then we are I guess.

Vchat20

08-26-09, 08:58 AM

Regarding USAHD, let me just say this much which gives an idea of hard numbers: I took about a 9 minute clip off a recording of Psych the other day via Firewire. Keep in mind this is bit for bit as it comes from the headend. The file is 9 minutes and 2 seconds exact or 542 seconds. The file size is 623 MB. 623/542 comes out to roughly 1.149MB/s or 9.192mbit/s average over that 9 minute span. Now in comparison ABC affiliates usually push an average of 10-13mbit/s for 720p and CBS and NBC usually do ~12-15 for 1080i depending on subchannel usage.

http://img20.imageshack.us/img20/6200/vlcsnap2009082608h43m28.th.png (http://img20.imageshack.us/i/vlcsnap2009082608h43m28.png/) __ http://img151.imageshack.us/img151/390/vlcsnap2009082608h45m52.th.png (http://img151.imageshack.us/i/vlcsnap2009082608h45m52.png/)

And yeah, I read that letter earlier on in this thread which really is BS because it ultimately just ends up right back at TWC's doorstep after the rigmarole so nothing gets done. In their defense though that references service quality which would be stuff like making sure the boxes work and don't reboot every 2 hours because of crappy lines out of the customers control. But if you want to be picky and pissy about it (I will!) the two pretty much go hand in hand. nick's SDV issues, dropouts and macroblocking out the a** even when the incoming signal is perfect. And I can't tell you how many times I have seen 'POOR SIGNAL' in green text on a black screen on my analog sets coming from their headend equipment specifically the satellite receivers where they get their content. If service quality is sh*t, picture quality is going to be DIRECTLY affected as a result.

Rbuchina

08-26-09, 12:38 PM

I had a wierd problem late yesturday evening with the video on my 8300 box. It was working fine earlier in the evening but I was on the PC for awhile and I was was using the PS3 for awhile too. When I went back to cable I had sound but no video. I changed the channel thinking it must be a network problem and all the channels would give sound but no video. The channel browse info banner was there and I could look at my list of recordings on the DVR but if I tried to play them only sound, no video. I shut it all down and went to bed forgeting about it this morning. My wafe called and said the cable was out this morning. I talked her through a "reboot". 15 minutes later she called me back and its fine now. Has anyone else had this problem?

Ray

hookbill

08-26-09, 12:44 PM

Rbuchina

08-26-09, 02:23 PM

Every once in a while these things will act up and a reboot like that will fix it. I've never seen anything quite like what you described. I wouldn't worry about it unless it happens continuously.

Hook,

When it happened last night I was hoping they were turning SDV on someting that would actually improve my service. I will just write it off as a PC like event that requires a reboot and hope it does not become a recurring problem.

Thanks
Ray

hookbill

08-26-09, 02:30 PM

Hook,

When it happened last night I was hoping they were turning SDV on someting that would actually improve my service. I will just write it off as a PC like event that requires a reboot and hope it does not become a recurring problem.

Thanks
Ray

When they add SDV that should be pretty seamless and unnoticeable. If I didn't know what day they were doing it on I'd never have known any better.

nickdawg

08-26-09, 09:21 PM

infoman1

08-27-09, 07:24 AM

I think we ALL should send complaint letters. Sadly after two trouble free weeks of cable service, no I am right back to the same ole. This one has a different twist though with the CCP Error code No SDV Bandwidth available. Simply put, your **** out of luck, can't recieve the intended channel, everythings in use, and this is NOT what I am paying for! I really can't move into the fall TV season with this ****. Direct TV is beginning to be a reality. Good think Hook I held off on the TIVO.

hookbill

08-27-09, 09:17 AM

I wanted to bitch last night about the cable but unfortunately the fact that the AC was took up most of my time. After reading infoman's post I guess I'm lucky just to get a picture.

Dodgers vs Rockies last night and this is a big, big game. The first 15 minutes of it was horrible pq was. Sound drop offs, pixelation. You name it. Two times the screen went grey completely like I had lost the channel and I had to channel up and channel back down (Per TiVo's instructions):rolleyes: to get the picture back on.

After 30 minutes of this the game settled down and I could concentrate once again upon the fact that I had no air conditioning and it was 80 degrees in the house with a 98 % humidity factor.

And what am I thinking about with the air out? My birds? Naw, they are tropical. My wife? Eh, she's in New Jersey. I'm thinking all my god I wonder what this is doing to my TiVo's.:D;)

Rbuchina

08-27-09, 10:32 PM

k2rj

08-28-09, 08:22 AM

Since my wife rebooted the 8300 yesturday afternoon for the "no picture problem" the tuner always goes back to channel 2 when started. It never used to do this. My 4250 does not do this. Any ideas? I will reboot it tomorrow to see what happens.

Ray
Before you reboot, check the setup function. It may have defaulted to channel 2. You should have the ability to set the startup channel to "last viewed" or a specific number.

Rbuchina

08-28-09, 08:35 AM

Before you reboot, check the setup function. It may have defaulted to channel 2. You should have the ability to set the startup channel to "last viewed" or a specific number.

Thanks k2rj.

I did not know this was in the setup but will look at that when I get home.

Ray

nickdawg

08-28-09, 01:01 PM

The box always defaults to channel 2 after a reboot. That's normal operation.

Rbuchina

08-28-09, 01:57 PM

The box always defaults to channel 2 after a reboot. That's normal operation.

Nickdawg,

I dont seem to remeber this happening after any of my prior reboots (2-3). Tha's why I thought maybe something was going on in Mentor area. This is just a minor problem. I still cannot get the box to output only 1080i to eliminate the video delay with my monitor. I gave up awhile back when I recieved the instructions for holding select and whatever. Tried several times with no luck. I can get into the diagnostic screen though, which also starts with the select button.

Thanks for you input,

Ray

hookbill

08-28-09, 02:14 PM

I seem to remember a time when it was going to channel 2 but that stopped. I don't remember why or how. Now it just starts on whatever channel you leave it on.

I really can't imagine they are going to deliver SDV until after the switch out, at least that's what the letter said and that doesn't start until September.

nickdawg

08-28-09, 03:25 PM

Nickdawg,

I dont seem to remeber this happening after any of my prior reboots (2-3). Tha's why I thought maybe something was going on in Mentor area. This is just a minor problem. I still cannot get the box to output only 1080i to eliminate the video delay with my monitor. I gave up awhile back when I recieved the instructions for holding select and whatever. Tried several times with no luck. I can get into the diagnostic screen though, which also starts with the select button.

Thanks for you input,

Ray

To change the output formats: Go into "Settings", choose the category "Display" and select "Output Resolution". Under Output Resolution make sure there is only a dot by 1080i. This means only 1080i is active. Press "C" to "Save/Return".

That should fix it. I only have 1080i selected and I never have any delays in changing channels. Also, I'v noticed better picture on the SDTV channels too.

scnrfrq

08-28-09, 06:53 PM

Cathode Kid

08-28-09, 06:57 PM

I've been having problems with 2 of our local HD channels in Erie, PA. These stations are owned by the same company and TW gets a direct feed from them. The channels breakup and pixelate badly, both on the DVR and QAM. This happens on all 3 of my HD TV's.Other channels look OK. I can't believe this is confined only to my house, since other channels are OK. Is it more likely a systemwide problem in this area?

Look at your screen diagnostics and see if they're on the same QAM frequency, then check that frequency against the OTA broadcasters in your area. You might have ingress on that channel.

hookbill

08-28-09, 07:04 PM

If it is ingress isn't it up to TW to fix it?

I would have them come out and check it. BTW what channels are they?

scnrfrq

08-28-09, 07:09 PM

If it is ingress isn't it up to TW to fix it?

I would have them come out and check it. BTW what channels are they?

Channel 412 (WICU HD NBC) and 405 (WSEE HD CBS).

scnrfrq

08-28-09, 07:16 PM

Look at your screen diagnostics and see if they're on the same QAM frequency, then check that frequency against the OTA broadcasters in your area. You might have ingress on that channel.

QAM frequency seems to be 735 on all the channels I've checked?

Rbuchina

08-29-09, 12:51 AM

To change the output formats: Go into "Settings", choose the category "Display" and select "Output Resolution". Under Output Resolution make sure there is only a dot by 1080i. This means only 1080i is active. Press "C" to "Save/Return".

That should fix it. I only have 1080i selected and I never have any delays in changing channels. Also, I'v noticed better picture on the SDTV channels too.

Nickdawg,

My 8300 does not have this in its setup. I did not think it was there, I could change it through setup on my old Moto box.

I think I am suppose to..

press and hold the select button until the message Light blinks

Press the Volume --- button and the LED should display HdSr but mine never does that.

If the LED showed the Hdsr than I should press VOL+ to lock in 1080i

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Ray

nickdawg

08-29-09, 01:22 AM

Nickdawg,

My 8300 does not have this in its setup. I did not think it was there, I could change it through setup on my old Moto box.

I think I am suppose to..

press and hold the select button until the message Light blinks

Press the Volume --- button and the LED should display HdSr but mine never does that.

If the LED showed the Hdsr than I should press VOL+ to lock in 1080i

Thanks for the suggestion though.

Ray

I'm confused. How doesn't the box have that in the settings menu?

I've never heard of setting the output formats that way before. Who suggested that?

nickdawg

08-29-09, 01:27 AM

Also, I just rebooted the box while pushing buttons on the front of it, trying that Vol+ thing. When I turned it on, the box was on channel 2. That is normal.

wd8kct

08-29-09, 08:57 PM

Another RFI possibility from the CGC Communicator
(http://www.bext.com/_CGC/contents.htm) -Ed

CELL PHONE RFI IMPACTS COX CABLE BOX

I've had picture breakup on my Cox cable box (s/a high
definition DVR) for a year. Good cable signal at the box, no
uncorrected data for hours, then the sound and picture suddenly
went away. Only certain channels were affected.

My cellphone (a Palm Centro with AT&T) was the culprit.
When I wasn't using the phone, it periodically "checked in"
with the cellsite and caused the obliteration. Then I discovered
that placing a call from the couch 8' from the box also trigger
the problem.

My other AT&T phone (an LG flip phone), Cox tech's AT&T
phone, and his company's Sprint phone had no effect on the box,
even when placed right on top of the box.

Changed phones, kept AT&T, and the problem went away.

Anonymous, San Diego

Vchat20

08-30-09, 01:00 AM

So I have up a fairly basic draft copy of the previous mentioned petition for review:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dftc8d5g_147ccr6vgb

Heavy critiquing is welcome as to get this done right should I get enough signatures for this and actually send it out.

mnowlin

08-30-09, 04:34 AM

So I have up a fairly basic draft copy of the previous mentioned petition for review

Looks like a good start, but I suggest a few semantic changes:

other than band-aide solutions - aside from temporary work-arounds on a per-customer basis

(a) The sketchy operation - Unreliable quality

Cut out all analog programming but - Cease transmission of all analog programming other than

I see a few other things that could be worded better, but it's time to go off to sleepy-land. I'll take another look at this tomorrow.

toby10

08-30-09, 08:07 AM

So I have up a fairly basic draft copy of the previous mentioned petition for review:

http://docs.google.com/View?id=dftc8d5g_147ccr6vgb
...............................

As much as I sympathise and agree with the premise of the petition, I think it will likely be a waste of time. :(
But at least you are doing something and taking action, I admire that. :)

To add more "bite" you may want to cc the Ohio Attorney General and PUCO (is that the correct authority for cable TV?).

Another option is to take your completed petition to any/all NEO media outlets (print, web, air, etc..) and hope they run with it. Where is Nickdawgs best bud Carl Monday when you need him?? :D

Though, from experience, I can tell you that local media is always reluctant to do negative pieces on "their customer". i.e. Ads & media buys from TWC. The more that customer spends with that outlet, the more reluctant that outlet is to allow negative press.

hookbill

08-30-09, 09:50 AM

As much as I sympathise and agree with the premise of the petition, I think it will likely be a waste of time. :(
But at least you are doing something and taking action, I admire that. :)

To add more "bite" you may want to cc the Ohio Attorney General and PUCO (is that the correct authority for cable TV?).

Another option is to take your completed petition to any/all NEO media outlets (print, web, air, etc..) and hope they run with it. Where is Nickdawgs best bud Carl Monday when you need him?? :D

Though, from experience, I can tell you that local media is always reluctant to do negative pieces on "their customer". i.e. Ads & media buys from TWC. The more that customer spends with that outlet, the more reluctant that outlet is to allow negative press.

PUCO actually handles the complaints anyway. There is a group of about three people who actually are in the cable company franchising group but you can contact PUCO and your complaint is suppose to be handled.

hookbill

08-30-09, 01:20 PM

Just a minor add include the Western PA region

He really can't. This is for Ohio, how you do your franchising for your cable is probably different and has to be taken up with someone in your state, county, or city.

Vchat20

08-31-09, 05:19 AM

Ok, I have made some additions and changes just now. Mostly minor, but worth checking out.
-----

He really can't. This is for Ohio, how you do your franchising for your cable is probably different and has to be taken up with someone in your state, county, or city.
Yeah. Hookbill's right. I would do this, but if this is gonna be sent to the PUCO and the Ohio AG, it automatically nips the possibility.

Though with the strange setup of such a small piece of Northwest PA being part of the Northeast Ohio region of TWC's operations, I wonder if there's any exceptions given?

In either case: /IF/ this goes anywhere, customers in NW PA will most likely be affected just the same being under TWC's operations here. So feel free to sign this when the time comes about even if you are not an Ohio resident. Technically you are a customer of TWC's operations which are being called out here.

PUCO actually handles the complaints anyway. There is a group of about three people who actually are in the cable company franchising group but you can contact PUCO and your complaint is suppose to be handled.

As much as I sympathise and agree with the premise of the petition, I think it will likely be a waste of time. :(
But at least you are doing something and taking action, I admire that. :)

To add more "bite" you may want to cc the Ohio Attorney General and PUCO (is that the correct authority for cable TV?).

Another option is to take your completed petition to any/all NEO media outlets (print, web, air, etc..) and hope they run with it. Where is Nickdawgs best bud Carl Monday when you need him?? :D

Though, from experience, I can tell you that local media is always reluctant to do negative pieces on "their customer". i.e. Ads & media buys from TWC. The more that customer spends with that outlet, the more reluctant that outlet is to allow negative press.

Yeah, these have been some options I have been thinking about. Considering the coverage, I wouldn't go for every last media outlet but rather pick and choose some of the larger ones whom would probably create the largest impact.

Looks like a good start, but I suggest a few semantic changes:

- aside from temporary work-arounds on a per-customer basis

- Unreliable quality

- Cease transmission of all analog programming other than

I see a few other things that could be worded better, but it's time to go off to sleepy-land. I'll take another look at this tomorrow.

Thanks, greatly appreciated. :) Would love to know if any of the rest of it needs adjustments in the wording department.

More than anything I am gearing towards putting some fear into those in charge of operations at TWC and getting them on track to actually bring this tinkertoy set they call a cable system into the present rather than the 80s. I understand they acquired major messes from Comcast and Adelphia, but this has long been done and gone and they have had ample time to bring it all on the same page. If it does get some immediate changes, that is a bonus. Given the realistic assumption that it isn't gonna gain the full intended effect in the writing.

bassguitarman

09-03-09, 08:13 AM

hookbill

09-03-09, 08:38 AM

Since its been so quiet here, the last few evenings I've been getting the dreaded channel not available return to previous channel message in the middle of the HD tier. For example last night on AMCHD. I came back to it later and it was there.
Former Adelphia area.

I'm not getting that. I can't say specifically for AMCHD but I'm not seeing it on MLBnet at all. If this continues you could have an issue at the hub.

Just an observation yesterday. We talked about how SDV works and kind of came to the conclusion that it works by polling. Yesterday at precisely 4:35 pm again I got the "Are you still watching....." message on MLBnet. I've observed this to happen right around the 4:30 time mark but that was the first time I caught it right away. I'm going to try and see if it comes on again at 4:35 pm today.

shooter21198

09-03-09, 03:48 PM

ESPN/2 HD were out for awhile today they still might be out

Jim Gilliland

09-03-09, 05:24 PM

ESPN/2 HD were out for awhile today they still might be outThey're both out for me as of 5PM. Very frustrating - I almost never watch either of those channels, but when the US Open is on, suddenly they matter to me. I'm definitely not a happy T/W customer today.

Edit: Their customer service number says that they know about the problem. No estimate on fixing it, though.

hookbill

09-03-09, 05:35 PM

nickdawg

09-03-09, 06:30 PM

TWC can kiss my balls!! Not only is it September and no new HD channels even announced, they're putting more existing channels on that SDV abomination. I noticed the channel FUSE - 258 was off the air. Today I check the screen and I was right, they made it SDV!! Great, next time the episodes of Loaded featuring Rise Against and Blink 182 are on back to back and I want to record both, will those recordings fall victim to that "Navigator SDV recording bug"?

How nice, TWC only exists to piss me off. They take one of the only channels I ever watch in the Digital Tier and make it ASSDV!!! I went a few channels up and down, CMT, GAC and MTV Jams(they can JAM that channel up their ASS!) are not SDV. Neither is the fxcking Gospel Music Channel where the audio is about 30 dB louder.

This company deserves to go bankrupt and everyone who works there should be fired.

That is all.

nickdawg

09-03-09, 06:51 PM

Yep, they are out at hookbill's house too.

Jim is there such a thing as a "happy" TW customer? If anyone is happy with this garbage, not just today I mean every day, then they simply have never seen decent television.

I called the customer service line and apparently it isn't just ESPN/2 there are other channels involved. Prerecorded message seems to indicate this.

"Our engineers are working on this......No need to stay on the phone."

And no need to provide their customers decent service.:mad:

And guess what, my ESP2HD also doesn't work. I wonder if they are going to make that one ASS-DV too? I hope they do, and I hope the channel goes out on Saturday afternoon. Let TWC deal with an angry mob of college football fans.

hookbill

09-03-09, 07:01 PM

2PuttChuck

09-03-09, 07:09 PM

Gotta feel bad for all the US Open Tennis fans who dvr'd today's matches on ESPN2HD to watch when they got home tonight. I understand there were some good matches, with top seeded women getting beat and the Williams sisters playing doubles.

nickdawg

09-03-09, 07:14 PM

GREAT!! Now USA HD doesn't work AGAIN!! Now I have only SDV HD channels and no regular linear HD channels. I find my self asking more and more: "Is this for real or is this some kind of bad joke"? How the hell can a company like this be allowed to operate? This is not the TWC I had three years ago.

nickdawg

09-03-09, 07:16 PM

HD channels still down. Includes all channels that are NOT on SDV except locals. And this has been going on all day? How is this even possible?

As far as additional HD channels go nickdawg what good does it do to add HD channels that are crap in quality? Since all additional HD channels will more then likely be SDV we are getting crap no matter what they give us.

And so long as they keep analog available you can bet channels like MTV will not go SDV....Unless TW decides to move that to it's level 2 digital channels.

It wouldn't surprise me.

Only reason why I mention adding channels is that over the last few weeks my SDV channels have been working OK. It's only today I noticed ESP2 and the other linear HD channels.

Also, I was talking about MTV Jams, a separate channel that plays rap/hip hop videos all day. Hence the reason why they can "jam it up their ass".:D It is a Digital Tier channel, so it should be SDV, and might eventually be.

nickdawg

09-03-09, 07:34 PM

Speaking of things that grind my gears, I hope WKYC loses the Browns rights very soon. C'mon Romona, broadcast some 911 phone call audio like WOIO did. I'm sick to death of these constant dumping of regular programming for preseason bull----. On Saturday night WKY-See The Stupidity dumped a NEW NBC special presentation about the 25th Anniversary of Wrestlemania. And they never rebroadcast it. They showed almost nine hours of infomercials after SNL that night.

nickdawg

09-03-09, 11:46 PM

How stupid is WKYC? Let me count the ways... Tonight, we are treated to Tonight Show with Conan and the entire latenight lineup in standard definition all because the fncking 11pm news ran six minutes over!! Instead of cutting six minutes of their newscast out or maybe not showing as many commercials, they decided to start TTS late. It's tape delayed by SIX effing minutes!! They keep raising the bar in stupidity.

hookbill

09-04-09, 12:00 AM

Nickdawg is in a ranting mood.:)

I see the HD channels are back.

nickdawg

09-04-09, 12:09 AM

hookbill

09-04-09, 12:23 AM

I have to admit it doesn't make sense. Why not just cut the news by 6 minutes?

I noticed the signature earlier.

I don't know why but my game tonight has been flawless tonight. It should be like this every night.

nickdawg

09-04-09, 12:30 AM

The SDV channels have been OK for me as well. I watch CNN HD every day, no problems. The other channels I watch less frequently have been OK as well. That's why I want more channels. I want MSNBC HD. It's not fair that we have FOX HD but not MSNBC HD. And CNBC is totally worthless.

hookbill

09-04-09, 12:38 AM

I have no doubt that the HD channels are coming. They're not moving all those channels to SDV just because they feel like it. I too would like to see MSNBC in HD.

dmking12370

09-04-09, 12:59 AM

Look at the new signature line.

But seriously, these people cannot piss me off enough. Sandera Bullock on Conan will be SD, that's a crime. I'm gonna miss the standup comedian at the end since the show will be running over into that talentless hack's time slot, and I flip over to CBS at 12:37 for Ferguson.

There is no excuse for this. I put on their news at 11 exactly, the post game crap was still running. CUT IT OFF!! Isn't that why we have something called Sportstime Ohio? Why does this have to be on broadcast TV? It's a sucky team's preseason. The Office repeats that were on NBC tonight would have been better.

Also this past week WKYC proudly displayed their new look on their set. They added stupid flat screen TVs in the newsroom. You can barely see them in the distance behind Romona's head. How nice, I wonder how many people had to lose their jobs and how many more will be on furlough to pay for that? What a shameful thing to be done by a TV Station owned by a weak newspaper company circling the drain. Lydia Esparra, Tim White and countless others behind the scenes lost their jobs because of money and cuts, yet they afford useless set improvements.

It's no surprise Conan started late, Gannet Ca$h Whore$ wouldn't dream of cutting out commercials.

And the WKYCtards showed their stupid local commercial in HD. What an insult! I'm insulted.

NFL rules dictate that games are broadcast on OTA television. Always have, and always will. Even when games are broadcast on cable (i.e. ESPN), the rules dictate that the games are offered to a OTA station in the local market. This rule isn't going anywhere anytime soon. It is to the benefit of all.

And as far as your suggestion that WKYC gets dumped as the home of the Browns, that would be the worst thing for this city. We already had to endure 19's pissy ass coverage. I don't think 5 is physically able to handle the broadcasts (given their crappy HD product). 43 would be just like 19, and 55 won't do it.

Look at it on the bright side. Preseason is now over with, and the Browns games will be on 8 or 19. KYC still has the Indians (and they have a game tomorrow night in primetime that they were supposed to air on Tuesday).

nickdawg

09-04-09, 01:06 AM

Oh no, I wouldn't want it on WOIO either. WOIO is CBS and I like CBS. They also used to dump CBS programming without rebroadcasting it.

In a perfect world it would go to channel 5. The primetime programming on ABC sucks, that makes them more than qualified to carry the Browns.

Vchat20

09-04-09, 01:26 AM

nickdawg

09-04-09, 01:54 AM

I guess the mess must have been pretty widespread then. All the non-SDV HD channels except the locals have been out here today while the SDV channels have been flawless. Thought it was me because lately I've noticed the receive power on my cable modem has spiked from a normal -1 to +1 to around +7 to +8. Mildly happy to find out it wasn't just me.

So who the frack started this mess up at the funny farm?

Hey nick: Have you tried doing a QAM scan on your set at any point to see if the youngstown stations come in for you as well? I know you loathe TWC with a passion, but all the locals coming across should be untouched. And I have an odd feeling the QAMs are the same for the whole NEO region just different channel lineups on the boxes. So if that part is true, you should be able to pick up WFMJ, WKBN, WYTV, and WYFX. Though WFMJ is hardly preferable to WKYC for HD.

Huh? I'd say just about every Y-town station is preferable to the Cleveland counterpart. I once got to watch WKBN-HD, their newscast and programming lineup is like a network O&O in comparison to WOIO. They even have HD syndication. WFMJ doesn't dump network programming for crappy sports teams---that's good enough for me. Plus Conan would have been HD. And they showed the WWE special last Saturday.

WKYC is so disrespectful to their viewers, unless they like crappy Cleveland sports. I cannot count how many times over the past four years WKYC has totally pissed on part or all of the Action Sports tour on NBC. Thanks to the Saturday/Sunday Indians games, they either totally preempt or JIP. Except for the week the Dew tour was in Cleveland, then WKYC is the biggest skateboarding fan in the world! And Chuck, they dumped the second to last episode of the season(and almost the series!) to show that snoozefest about space exploration and Cleveland. Unless they shot the rocket by Lake Erie shore, STFU! And the WWE event last week. It was NEW. It was advertised multiple times on the NBC network. I can't get over them not showing new programming. I hope this doesn't become the norm as the new season starts.

My required positive point of the day, I did get to see an awesome Shadows Fall performance on Jimmy Fallon I wouldn't have seen if the show wasn't late.

Vchat20

09-04-09, 01:58 AM

I only say WFMJ and possibly the rest of the low budget networks over here are bad for HD is because even though they don't interupt shows COMPLETELY, when any kind of graphics come up on the screen the show will dump to a pillarboxed SD feed to accomodate the graphics. I know when L&O:SVU was still in full tilt WFMJ would ALWAYS kick up the tuesday night lottery numbers right in the middle of the show and screw up the recording with an ugly feed. This is why I catch all the NBC shows on WKYC these days. At least I've never witnessed them screwing over primetime programming.

bassguitarman

09-04-09, 10:43 AM

hookbill

09-04-09, 11:12 AM

Assuming the dvr's such as the 8300HD even have this feature.
Yet another thing for TWC to mess up.
http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/09/movie-studios-again-demand-hdtv-disabling-powers-from-fcc.ars

I don't understand that article. TW already restricts us on our copying rights on ALL digital transmissions with the exception of local broadcasters. So since TW is already doing this there is no need for anything to change.

bassguitarman

09-04-09, 12:55 PM

bassguitarman

09-04-09, 01:53 PM

Ohio Media Watch just said Steve Fry has left TWC
http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/

amtrak23

09-04-09, 01:54 PM

I can't take this anymore...
Just trying to watch ESPN/2, a lot of pixelation and lockups for 2-3 seconds at a time. How do I know if this is from TW or from ESPN originally? To date I don't think I have watched one TV show without any pixelation at all... This can't be normal.

Oh, and still no credit like I was told I would get on our next bill... I love getting the run-around...:mad:

nickdawg

09-04-09, 05:56 PM

nickdawg

09-04-09, 10:15 PM

Speedskater

09-05-09, 01:40 PM

Apparently WKYC read my comments last night and they really want to screw me tonight. Conan last night was beautiful compared to the garbage tonight. Now there's a picture surrounded by black bars on WKYC HD. How nice! I'm OK with wasting two sides of the screen, but I HATE, HATE, HATE when all four sides of the screen are wasted. Why can't they give us a beautiful 4:3 picture on Southland like the Conan show last night?

Which night was that Nick? On Cox-Cleveland the only screwed-up show was after the football practice.

Why is it that we can record a show at home and play it back in HD, but a TV station can't? (WKYC is not the only Cleveland station with this problem)

hookbill

09-05-09, 01:44 PM

Which night was that Nick? On Cox-Cleveland the only screwed-up show was after the football practice.

Why is it that we can record a show at home and play it back in HD, but a TV station can't? (WKYC is not the only Cleveland station with this problem)

It's just not the same thing as recording to a DVR. The process is much more complexed. This has been discussed back when the OTA thread and TW thread were one.

Seems simple on the surface but harder in reality.

amtrak23

09-05-09, 06:21 PM

While getting some work done today I had The Matrix on...It was A&E HD. Now, I wasn't watching since I was working on my PC majority of the time...but nearly every time I looked up I would see the screen chopped in half horizontally and the top/bottom picture being misaligned. I couldn't rewind and pause on the exact spot so I replayed in slow motion and recorded it on my Vado.

This is the worse I have seen the pixelation/choppiness/PQ, etc., or whatever it is called. It's not just AE that has problems, it really seems like anytime I'm watching anything I notice silly stuff happening. Some days are better than others, but there is almost always something that can be seen... what causes this and what exactly can I tell them when I call in to report this crap again?

See clip here for a visual: http://www.mediafire.com/?juim3mm3vun

Mister Pie

09-05-09, 06:41 PM

Right now, ESPN2 and ESPN News are playing the EXACT same programming. I talked to a technician and apparently they're having issues with multiple channels right now. I was told that it will resolve "soon". What the hell is wrong with TWC?

nickdawg

09-05-09, 10:19 PM

Which night was that Nick? On Cox-Cleveland the only screwed-up show was after the football practice.

Why is it that we can record a show at home and play it back in HD, but a TV station can't? (WKYC is not the only Cleveland station with this problem)

Friday. Southland was at 10pm. And they rebroadcast Dateline at 3:05AM.

Timeshifting HD programming on the affiliate level is more complicated. It shouldn't be, but it is. The station has to have HD recording equipment(which WKYC does) and enough hard drive space to hold the HD content. Again, WKYC has both of these since they broadcast Dr. Phil, ET and many local commercials and news segments in HD. They even produce "specials" in HD, like that infamous space show that bumped Chuck in the spring. I'm not sure what the reason behind WKYC is, other than they don't care. WEWS, OTOH, records network programming in HD and even has network promos in HD outside of ABC time along with local commercials/promos. HD just isn't a priority at 'KYC, which was obvious back when they used to stretch SD.

hookbill

09-06-09, 09:16 AM

Did everyone hear the good news? Frylock is stepping down as der fuhrer at TWC NEO!! I'm so excited, I hope the next generation of management that will be replacing the Frytard will fix the clusterf--k the operation currently is. Also, considering this is the NUMBER THREE TWC SYSTEM in the nation behind NY and LA, I hope TWC will take the lead of New York and kill analog cable.

Bye bye Mr. Fry!! Don't let the door hit you in the ASS on the way out! Wouldn't want to bruise that brain! ;)

Ohio Media Watch just said Steve Fry has left TWC
http://ohiomedia.blogspot.com/

Yep just read that my self and for the record its Vin Zachariah that is replacing him. A little harder to remember but I imagine his email is vin.zachariah@twcable.com. Lets get that out there, he's the man now.

In a way I kind of respect Fry. He didn't have a college education and he became President of TW cable. He was an installer to start with for Adelphia apparently.

But I imagine the pressure to perform has gotten to him. Hell, he's only 58. Either that or he was over payed and TW offered him a package or an unemployment check.

hookbill

09-06-09, 09:19 AM

hookbill

09-06-09, 09:23 AM

This would disable the component outputs (analog) on "restricted broadcasts". Since I have an older hdtv with only component inputs it would turn them off. Since I dont buy the for pay selections I can see them accidentally turning of my set even though the broadcasts arent restricted.

That would cost TW a heck of a lot of money considering the ton of SA 8000 boxes that are apparently still running. In addition they would have to provide either DVI or HDMI cables, and I'll bet they never heard of monoprice.

Also right now to the best of my knowledge the DVI on the SA8000 is inactive.

Ultimately the cost would be passed to the consumer so that it doesn't interfere with there profit margin.

abcmatt

09-06-09, 10:12 AM

hookbill

09-06-09, 10:34 AM

I'm a new member and I didn't know where else to ask this question, so I hope I can ask it here. I have a 19" Memorex 720p LCD HDTV and I can get 3, 5, 8, 19, 25, and 55 in HD without a box. I do have cable though. The problem is that 3 and 19 always are fine in HD for sports but 5 and 8 the picture is always breaking up for sports. Wipeout, college football and the NBA picture are constantly breaking up where I can't even watch those in HD. Would this be because of my TV or that I don't have a cable box?

We discuss quality of TW's picture frequently. Break up in sports does happen from time to time but as to who's fault it is it's hard to say. Probably not your TV's fault, specially with a 19" screen. It's more likely to happen on the larger screen.

So is it TW's fault? Maybe. This is more likely to occur on a Switched Digital Video channel and that wouldn't affect you without a box. It could also be the networks.

Interesting that you have a 720p television, because both the networks you describe broadcast in 720p. The ones you are not having problems with are in 1080i.

One last question. You say you are getting these channels off the cable but you didn't mention if you are using qam or not. Are you actually getting the HD channels or just their digital counterparts? HD channels would be 403, 404 (19), 405, 408. Don't know what they are via qam.

Vchat20

09-06-09, 11:00 AM

One last question. You say you are getting these channels off the cable but you didn't mention if you are using qam or not. Are you actually getting the HD channels or just their digital counterparts? HD channels would be 403, 404 (19), 405, 408. Don't know what they are via qam.

TWC doesn't send the 480i digital locals in the clear. At least I have never seen them. Only channels you get these days are the HD locals and 480i locals ONLY for channels that are actually in 480i like some subchannels and some secondary locals out of cleveland. So I'd assume he's getting the HD's here.

hookbill

09-06-09, 11:28 AM

TWC doesn't send the 480i digital locals in the clear. At least I have never seen them. Only channels you get these days are the HD locals and 480i locals ONLY for channels that are actually in 480i like some subchannels and some secondary locals out of cleveland. So I'd assume he's getting the HD's here.

I would assume so too but and I mean no disrespect to abcmatt in saying this, I imagine there is a certain segment of the population that would purchase a small HD television and see a digital picture and assume it's HD. Some people don't realize the difference.

My wife for example wouldn't have any idea if it wasn't for me what an HD channel is opposed to a digital picture.

The digital picture on my little 19" Sammy looks pretty good. HD is definitely better but on a small screen like that it looks pretty darn good. Local channels in Adelphia land would be an exception of course.

Cathode Kid

09-06-09, 03:09 PM

I'm a new member and I didn't know where else to ask this question, so I hope I can ask it here. I have a 19" Memorex 720p LCD HDTV and I can get 3, 5, 8, 19, 25, and 55 in HD without a box. I do have cable though. The problem is that 3 and 19 always are fine in HD for sports but 5 and 8 the picture is always breaking up for sports. Wipeout, college football and the NBA picture are constantly breaking up where I can't even watch those in HD. Would this be because of my TV or that I don't have a cable box?

abcmatt, you can use your tv's built-in diagnostics to assist with troubleshooting. Go to one of the good channels and make note of the signal level and signal-to-noise, then go to 5 or 8 and make note of the same parameters. Signal level for an HD QAM should be between +15dbmv and -12dbmv, preferably between 0 and +5. Signal to noise should be in the upper 30s. If the bad channels fall outside of these ranges, you've got a signal level issue on the affected frequencies. If that's the culprit, you can start with replacing the (usually poor quality) jumper that came with the TV set with a good quality RG-6 jumper, the kind that uses digicon (http://www.arrisistore.com/product.php?pid=708860) style connectors. These are rated for flat frequency response and low reflections.

If it's not a local signal issue, call customer service and report it. They can look at the signal on those qams from their end.

Good luck and let us know what happens!

Inundated

09-06-09, 04:03 PM

TWC doesn't send the 480i digital locals in the clear. At least I have never seen them.

It's been a while since I did a QAM scan, but last time I did, we had the 480i digital downconvert SD channels for all the locals that get that treatment (3/5/8/19/43).

This is the former Adelphia/Cleveland system. I seem to recall it is indeed different on your side of things.

abcmatt didn't tell us where he is, so we can only guess until he clarifies.

hookbill

09-07-09, 09:21 AM

Apparently pretty low. For years I've dialed 877.772.2253 from my Vonage home phone for customer service. The other day when the non SDV HD channels went out I wanted to see if there was a message about it on the customer service line. I used my speed dial to dial the above number. I got a message saying "This number cannot be dialed from this phone."

I thought it was some sort of service error that would correct itself in a 24 hour period. I waited until this morning and tried it again and got the same message.

I believe that TW is no longer accepting VoIP from any service other then there own, probably in an attempt to have you purchase phone service from them. It actually occurred to me the other day when I called the number but I wanted to give them the benefit of the doubt.

No problem calling from my wireless phone.

Anybody with Vonage or any other VoIP want to test that number and see if they get through?

Cathode Kid

09-07-09, 01:37 PM

hookbill

09-07-09, 01:43 PM

Hookbill, I think that's a routing issue on Vonage's side. Have you tried contacting them about this?

Heh heh, It very well could be Vonage but I don't have a forum to kick them around in. :)

I've had times with 800 numbers when it didn't work but usually in a few hours it does. Never seen it go days like this.

OK Kid, since you are in the know and all I'll take back my slanderous accusations. Let me try another number and I'll post back.

Vchat20

09-07-09, 01:45 PM

It's been a while since I did a QAM scan, but last time I did, we had the 480i digital downconvert SD channels for all the locals that get that treatment (3/5/8/19/43).

This is the former Adelphia/Cleveland system. I seem to recall it is indeed different on your side of things.

abcmatt didn't tell us where he is, so we can only guess until he clarifies.

To be honest, this has always confused me for one reason: There's a whole bunch of cleveland locals on the QAMs down here that Time Warner does not and has not had on the offered channel lineups for our area. Like the CW channel in HD from the cleveland area as well as WVIZ and all it's subchannels just for starters. The only cleveland locals we have on the STB lineup are the big 4: WKYC, WJW, WOIO, and WEWS (well, in HD anyhow but I am gonna assume the SDs are the same. I haven't looked through that list in ages. At the very least we don't have any but those 4 in the lower 2-14.)

It makes me REALLY wish we could actually talk to network engineers and get real answers just on curiosity questions like why they have stuff set up like this. I'd like to hope they have a good reason for having THIS curiosity set up the way it is, but with my luck it's just an oversight.

It goes back to an old mentioning I have posted before: With Passport's manual tune feature I was able to pick up WGN on an odd QAM even though it's nowhere on our lineup. I dunno if youu guys have it up there, but we never had for as long as I can remember and I have been around since before TWC took over TCI cable around here.

hookbill

09-07-09, 01:53 PM

I tried calling Vonage Customer Service and got a busy signal!!! ROFLOL. They are worst then TW without a doubt.

I was able to call TW with Vonage via a 330 number they had posted on their website. So apparently it is a Vonage issue. But it's Labor Day and no one is answering the phone.

Funny, I didn't think any Americans actually worked in their customer service.:D;)

Cathode Kid

09-07-09, 04:47 PM

Heh heh, It very well could be Vonage but I don't have a forum to kick them around in. :)

You mean something like this? (http://www.vonage-forum.com/forum1.html)... ;)

MediaObsessions

09-07-09, 06:12 PM

If anyone is interested, here is a link to a .pdf called

"Understanding the Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter Diagnostic Screens" (http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4rULus1zP3vMTU4MzQwNDYtNTA4My00ODE0LTg3NWUtNjA 0ODMwNzgwZDBh&hl=en)

It's a good read for anyone with a TA. I learned a few things. Enjoy.

hookbill

09-07-09, 06:46 PM

If anyone is interested, here is a link to a .pdf called

"Understanding the Cisco STA1520 Tuning Adapter Diagnostic Screens" (http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?omjm4jzhlq4)

It's a good read for anyone with a TA. I learned a few things. Enjoy.

Thanks for the link, it's appreciated.:)

hookbill

09-07-09, 07:00 PM

You mean something like this? (http://www.vonage-forum.com/forum1.html)... ;)

Right after I posted I remembered the Vonage Forum, I just haven't been there in ages. Nothing really to gripe about. :D

FWIW, MediaObsessions I can't open that PDF link. I've tried both with my Mac and with Vista. When I launched with Vista all I got was a bunch of pop ups.

Thanks for the thought though. If anyone does open that somehow a copy and paste would be appreciated.

nickdawg

09-07-09, 09:39 PM

Inundated

09-07-09, 09:54 PM

MediaObsessions

09-07-09, 10:27 PM

Sorry everyone, the link worked the other day. I got it from someone off the TiVo Community boards. In any case, I put it on Google Docs. Click this link instead:

TA Diagnostic Manual (http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0B4rULus1zP3vMTU4MzQwNDYtNTA4My00ODE0LTg3NWUtNjA 0ODMwNzgwZDBh&hl=en)

hookbill

09-07-09, 10:34 PM

hookbill, if I remember right, the Vonage service is actually out of New Jersey somewhere...as far as 800 number ANI goes. It won't let you call that number because it thinks you're not calling from Northeast Ohio! :)

Nice theory but its always worked previously. Its just this weekend that it stopped working. No big deal its not like I get charged for dialing the local number. Anyway I'm sure it will get fixed.

nickdawg

09-07-09, 10:48 PM

hookbill, if I remember right, the Vonage service is actually out of New Jersey somewhere...as far as 800 number ANI goes. It won't let you call that number because it thinks you're not calling from Northeast Ohio! :)

That makes sense. It sounds like it's similar to how calling 911 is effed up. Now TWC is blocked.

Or else THEY blocked YOU on purpose. They're probably saying, "Jeeze, that Hookbill dude is calling again!". ;)

nickdawg

09-08-09, 01:41 AM

I'm giving a thumbs up to WJW. This morning the "Bonnie Hunt Show" premiered for the first time on WJW. At first the show appeared to be squeezed inside the 4:3 frame but later on it was shown in full screen 16:9. I applaud WJW for showing it in 16:9 even though it is not HD. WEWS only showed it in 4:3, even though a 16:9 "digital widescreen" version does exist. I guess it fits in with that FOX station, since the FOX network does alot of digital widescreen programming.

mnowlin

09-08-09, 02:10 AM

Speaking of VoIP issues, AIEEE!!!!

I've spent the last fifteen hours staring at a call routing problem on a Cisco CME at one of our offices... Pretty sure this has resulted in permanent brain damage. What keeps going through my head? "This is stupid-simple to fix on Asterisk..."

(Sorry - had to vent.)

hookbill

09-08-09, 05:37 AM

Although I only considerate a moderately entertaining show its one if the wife's favorites. Medium is moving to Friday night this fall. They have also jumped from NBC to CBS.

I can only speculate that NBC which has hit bottom let the show go due to costm. CBS is a winner here because Medium will follow Ghost Whisperer. Can anyone else see the possibilities during ratings sweeps of the shows crossing over? I've joked with my wife about that many times but now I expect it will happen.

Don't forget to reprogram your DVRs.

Cathode Kid

09-08-09, 07:17 PM

Rbuchina

09-08-09, 07:35 PM

Sometime today TWC Mentor has finally did something. We now have what most areas recieved back in June,,,CNN, Fam, NGHD, MLBHD. I think I'm gonna cry.

Ray

hookbill

09-08-09, 07:46 PM

Sometime today TWC Mentor has finally did something. We now have what most areas recieved back in June,,,CNN, Fam, NGHD, MLBHD. I think I'm gonna cry.

Ray
Well well well! Welcome to the wonderful world of SDV. See it was a good move turning in your moto box.

shooter21198

09-09-09, 03:11 PM

How many more areas are left for the SDV enabling

Inundated

09-09-09, 07:11 PM

Nice theory but its always worked previously. Its just this weekend that it stopped working. No big deal its not like I get charged for dialing the local number. Anyway I'm sure it will get fixed.

Maybe TWC changed the configuration on their toll-free number? I seem to recall I had this same issue with the old Adelphia not long after I got my Vonage service, but it was fixed somehow.

Could just be a glitch, like the problem I'm having with my VZW cell phone right now. I can't get EVDO (higher speed) data service at home. It always dumps to 1x. I'm bathing in a strong VZW signal about a mile from their nearest tower, and have always had EVDO until this happened (second time in the past 2-3 months or so, it happened before for a while and magically cleared up, and now it's back).

VZW CS is telling me stuff like "well, maybe the map shows you have EVDO service there and you don't have a good enough signal it". Well, I did, until this...and it's a full-bar signal! And if I drive just two miles away from my home area in any direction...I get EVDO. Pretty much every corner of Northeast Ohio has EVDO service, even out in the boonies, and even the Youngstown/Warren market was recently converted from 1x.

Yipes. I have a bad feeling this will never get resolved in my favor.

THis has nothing to do with HDTV service, but I had to vent. Thank you for listening. :)

(Well, on topic, I can call TWC from my cell phone either way. :D)

Rbuchina

09-09-09, 10:23 PM

How many more areas are left for the SDV enabling

In Mentor I have not noticed any change in performance. How can I see if we are recieving via SDV or not in Mentor. I know how to get into the diagnostic screen and page 8 of 14 seems to have a lot of SDV info. Someone posted awhile back about what to look for to see if SDV was active or not but I could not find it in my search. Anyone remember what to look for?

Ray

hookbill

09-09-09, 10:37 PM

In Mentor I have not noticed any change in performance. How can I see if we are recieving via SDV or not in Mentor. I know how to get into the diagnostic screen and page 8 of 14 seems to have a lot of SDV info. Someone posted awhile back about what to look for to see if SDV was active or not but I could not find it in my search. Anyone remember what to look for?

Ray
Trust me Ray your getting SDV. All that activity you see on the SDV screens is an indicator. I forget what diagnostic you look at while you're tuned to the channel. Nickdawg or Vchat can probably tell you.

kb8vkg

09-10-09, 12:59 AM

nickdawg

09-10-09, 01:09 AM

Trust me Ray your getting SDV. All that activity you see on the SDV screens is an indicator. I forget what diagnostic you look at while you're tuned to the channel. Nickdawg or Vchat can probably tell you.

Tune to a channel and go to page 8 of diagnostics. Under "Primary Tuner State:" it will say either NON SDV or SDV.

Also helpful is page 5. "Name & Grid-Banner" usually has "SDV" in the name of the channel. Example, if WOIOHD were a SDV channel it would say:

Name & Grid-Banner: WOIOHD SDV WOIOHD

Vchat20

09-10-09, 01:46 AM

nickdawg

09-10-09, 01:52 AM

Actually, the banner name is not really a clear indicator as, at last check, both USAHD and STOHD still had SDV in the name there even though they have long been out of that mess. It's just a behind-the-curtain channel name for their systems and probably not a high priority to be updated.

Though the 'tuner state' lines are a definite. If it says SDV, I can guarantee and will be my life on that it's set for SDV and you are receiving it that way.

I've seen that. USA HD is still called SDV. That's why I thought it was still SDV before I checked the other screen. But if they're adding new channels: F/X, Discovery, ABC Family, etc and they're called SDV, they probably will be.

Page 8 seems to be the most accurate way of telling what's what.

Also, why in the mickey mouse h*ll do they have WOIOHD labelled as SDV? Does it actually show up as SDV under the tuner state line?

No. It's not really labeled SDV. I was watching Craig Ferguson when I posted that comment and didn't want to change the channel. So I made it up. All the local channels are NON SDV.

Funny thing is last year when they were first making "test" channels up in the 700s/900s, they actually had WEWHD SDV and WJWHD SDV as test channels. They were deleted later and never seen again.

k2rj

09-10-09, 08:22 AM

schandorsky

09-10-09, 08:36 AM

How many more areas are left for the SDV enabling

We don't have it in Amherst (Eyria area) yet. As far as I know most of the far west side of Cleveland, the old comcast area, doesn't have it yet either.

hookbill

09-10-09, 09:36 AM

Tried it tonight from my Vonage line and got the same recording. Made one call, listened to the canned "this number cannot be dialed from this phone" play twice. I then stayed on the line and the call was then mysteriously connected to TWC. Very strange. Give it a try

OH really!!!!

Trying now.

Wow, that is so strange. So it's NOT a Vonage issue but a problem with this "info highway communications." Just like you I heard it say wrong number twice but on the third time it went to TWC!!!

I'm suspicious again that TW is doing this on purpose trying to make other VoIP look bad. Cathode Kid, what's up with this?

hookbill

09-10-09, 09:41 AM

I noticed an interesting thing last night... I happened to be watching A&E HD between 8 and 9 last night and, all of a sudden, there was a lot of pixellation/breakup of the signal... but then they went to a locally-inserted commercial and the picture was fine. When they switched back to the network feed, the pixellation returned for a minute or two and then went away for the rest of the show. This leads me to believe that the problem was on the network feed or the satellite reception. I wonder how often this type of phenomenon gets mixed into the SDV thing....

Happens all the time. You can kind of tell though the difference between a network transmission error and a SDV error. I had some pixelation going on the baseball game I was watching. I was just about to curse SDV when the "Dodger" logo appeared for a couple of seconds on the screen. Obviously a transmission problem there.

On the other hand, these things do happen a lot and I think we have a tendency to always blame the cable company when it may not always be their fault.

Rbuchina

09-10-09, 09:53 AM

We don't have it in Amherst (Eyria area) yet. As far as I know most of the far west side of Cleveland, the old comcast area, doesn't have it yet either.

That's why I'm suprized we have the new channels in Mentor. We were not even mentioned in last months letter about the box swap. I never recieved anything from the Mentor office about swapping the box. I swapped mine out a couple months ago in anticipation. Perhaps Mentor figured out how to use the existing boxes.

Ray

hookbill

09-10-09, 10:04 AM

That's why I'm suprized we have the new channels in Mentor. We were not even mentioned in last months letter about the box swap. I never recieved anything from the Mentor office about swapping the box. I swapped mine out a couple months ago in anticipation. Perhaps Mentor figured out how to use the existing boxes.

Ray

I strongly doubt that's the case. I think they simply turned it on for people with existing capable boxes. Why they didn't do this in Elyria I have no idea. It could be that they have more boxes already distributed in Mentor and they feel they don't need to make a promotion for that area.

So no new HD in Elyria yet, huh? Well, hang in there it's coming.

Cathode Kid

09-11-09, 08:39 PM

OH really!!!!

Trying now.

Wow, that is so strange. So it's NOT a Vonage issue but a problem with this "info highway communications." Just like you I heard it say wrong number twice but on the third time it went to TWC!!!

I'm suspicious again that TW is doing this on purpose trying to make other VoIP look bad. Cathode Kid, what's up with this?

It's not deliberate. When you call a toll free number, the PSTN does a database dip to see what local number the TF number points to, then the call is routed to the real (local) number and billed at the TF rate. It sounds like this lookup process is hitting a bad or missing identification string in the database, prompting Vonage to erroneously play the intercept message even though the call is ultimately being routed.

SIP and SS7 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Signaling_System_7) signalling can be really messy.

Vchat20

09-11-09, 09:53 PM

Anyone notice that STOHD changed from 1080i to 720p? I had to do a doubletake at the front of the 8300HDC and check things a few times but it's passing through a 720p picture now.

hookbill

09-11-09, 10:02 PM

Anyone notice that STOHD changed from 1080i to 720p? I had to do a doubletake at the front of the 8300HDC and check things a few times but it's passing through a 720p picture now.

What I find interesting about this is WKYC broadcast in 1080i. I have seen converted telecast before like on the old Mojo but these guys share the same telecast. Should be interesting.

nickdawg

09-11-09, 11:24 PM

That is odd. WKYC is 1080i so it seems like it would make sense to use the same format from the same building.

Everything for me is 1080i so it could be broadcasting in 285x and I wouldn't have noticed it. ;)

nickdawg

09-12-09, 05:47 PM

Is anyone else watching SDV and getting the "Try Again" message? Just about every channel that is SDV has the message. 432, 434, 438, 439, 440, 483,...

If anyone is watching the game on these new ESPN channels there must be a lot of pissed off football fans out there. :D

Vchat20

09-12-09, 05:48 PM

Yeah. It died on a number of SDV channels here for me as well a short bit ago. Time to call up and bitch again. *sigh*

nickdawg

09-12-09, 05:54 PM

Maybe that's why it doesn't work, those channels might be overloaded. I press A and then it just goes to a black screen, that makes me think something else is wrong.

I'm pissed because I haven't seen "Not Available" in almost a month. I thought things were finally fixed. But I guess there's no such thing as "fixed". There's only "slightly less fxcked up"! :p

Channel 258 FUSE works, but the picture occasionally freezes/breaks up. Why the hell they put that channel on SDV, I know they did it just to piss me off. :mad:

hookbill

09-12-09, 05:58 PM

I didn't get the message, I just didn't get a picture. I did get the message on channel 450 and channel 740 but when I pressed select on 450 I got the programming. I didn't get anything but the message on 740 and that's MLBnet HD. Nothing showing there anyway. The other MLB channels came on with no problem.

TW is totally worthless. Can you imagine being a college football fan and seeing this crap. I'm sick of their excuses and I'm tired of making excuses for them.

They suck. Bottom line.

Vchat20

09-12-09, 05:59 PM

Same thing here hook. No 'Unavailable, press A to try again'. Just nothing whatsoever. Blank screens on half the SDV lineup (that I have actually tried).

nickdawg

09-12-09, 06:04 PM

Oh fun!! It's doing the "random freeze every couple of minutes and then go back to normal" thing again.

Remind me again how this "high definition" thing is an improvement? Right about now I'd rather be paying what I currently pay for 125 analog channels instead of this digital/SDV/HD crap. At least the fuzzy analog used to WORK!! Sometimes you just don't realize how good things are until they're gone...

nickdawg

09-12-09, 06:09 PM

FUSE is freezing frequently. ESPNU, CNN are giving me Try Again. Also, after pressing A the screen is returning at a faster rate. I think I'm gonna keep punching A until the button comes through the other side of the remote!!

Mark my words, you're gonna be seeing a lot more dishes going up, especially at bars/restaurants. Could you imagine being at a bar or restaurant right now? The customers want to watch the game, and CHANNEL NOT AVAILABLE!! Business owners should really be riding TWC's ASS right now over this!!

And the Situation Room is now in HD, and I don't get to watch it!! :mad:

hookbill

09-12-09, 06:15 PM

shooter21198

09-12-09, 06:20 PM

nickdawg

09-12-09, 06:24 PM

I called TW customer service and the message says technical problems with channels 432 to 454....Sorry, we are aware.....our techs are working on it....blah blah blah.

Didn't something like this happen last weekend too?

Isn't it amazing how when you think we're taking a step forward in technology we are really taking a dozen steps backwards. :rolleyes:

Remember your phone problems the other day? For a hundred years you pick up the phone, there's a dial tone and you make a call. Then along comes this internet sh!t and you can't even call TWC!!

Or analog cable. I don't ever remember having problems with analog cable, other then when it would go out because of down lines, technical work, etc. And that was rare. Now it's a miracle if we make it through a week with no problems. You'd think these people just started doing cable the other day.

I can only hope things get better once that ****** Fry is out. I read something in the Beacon last week that said he didn't even graduate from college. They just plucked some idiot installer (fry) out of the field and made him manager. No wonder things sucked so much!

hookbill

09-12-09, 06:31 PM

Isn't it amazing how when you think we're taking a step forward in technology we are really taking a dozen steps backwards. :rolleyes:

Remember your phone problems the other day? For a hundred years you pick up the phone, there's a dial tone and you make a call. Then along comes this internet sh!t and you can't even call TWC!!

Or analog cable. I don't ever remember having problems with analog cable, other then when it would go out because of down lines, technical work, etc. And that was rare. Now it's a miracle if we make it through a week with no problems. You'd think these people just started doing cable the other day.

I can only hope things get better once that ****** Fry is out. I read something in the Beacon last week that said he didn't even graduate from college. They just plucked some idiot installer (fry) out of the field and made him manager. No wonder things sucked so much!

Actually nickdawg I posted about that. Doesn't surprise me, you don't read the entire post frequently.:eek:

OK don't get your panties in a bunch. Just stating fact. Anyway I thought it was last week end when we had the problems but TW just continues to show how bad they really are. I'll say this: I've ALWAYS had problems with cable companies and their pictures. Not as bad as this but always. The only company I never had a problem with was Primestar. They were super and things didn't change when D* bought them out, they just got better because of TiVo.

I will say this to anybody who has cable: Do not by a TiVo, get off cable and go satellite. Their clear digital picture just can't be beat.

Anyway TiVo is coming to Direct TV eventually.

nickdawg

09-12-09, 06:45 PM

Actually nickdawg I posted about that. Doesn't surprise me, you don't read the entire post frequently.:eek:

OK don't get your panties in a bunch. Just stating fact. Anyway I thought it was last week end when we had the problems but TW just continues to show how bad they really are. I'll say this: I've ALWAYS had problems with cable companies and their pictures. Not as bad as this but always. The only company I never had a problem with was Primestar. They were super and things didn't change when D* bought them out, they just got better because of TiVo.

I will say this to anybody who has cable: Do not by a TiVo, get off cable and go satellite. Their clear digital picture just can't be beat.

Anyway TiVo is coming to Direct TV eventually.

I haven't been checking in as much, I saw that TWC phone problem as I was passing through.

The last part is obvious. It would be suicide to buy a Tivo for cable. Besides, I wouldn't want TWC's sh!t cable card/tuning adapter violating my Tivo! ;) And it would suck to have a superior recording device connected to crap service.

hookbill

09-12-09, 06:48 PM

I haven't been checking in as much, I saw that TWC phone problem as I was passing through.

The last part is obvious. It would be suicide to buy a Tivo for cable. Besides, I wouldn't want TWC's sh!t cable card/tuning adapter violating my Tivo! ;) And it would suck to have a superior recording device connected to crap service.

It sucks having any device connected to their service right now.;):D I just heard an ad for a "special, sale ends Sunday" on their crappy service for a year for 39.95. People beware do not purchase Time Warner Cable. Their service is horrible.

hookbill

09-12-09, 06:52 PM

Does anybody actually buy a PPV from this company? Considering that's all on SDV now (at least I think it is) would you really shell out 90.00 on a fight that you may or may not see?

I mean at least I got to see 99% of the baseball season for my 190.00. But take tonight for example, Dodgers vs Giants on MLBnet HD and I might not be able to see it if they don't fix this crap by then.

Well, actually I'll probably watch it on MLB Extra Innings because Vin Scully is announcing tonight. SD but I'll be able to partially see the game in between macro blocking and pixelation.

nickdawg

09-12-09, 06:53 PM

It sucks having any device connected to their service right now.;):D I just heard an ad for a "special, sale ends Sunday" on their crappy service for a year for 39.95. People beware do not purchase Time Warner Cable. Their service is horrible.

Also they make you sign a contract. I've gotten ten letters in the last two months telling me how I can "save money" by buying MORE of their services. As if I would EVER get their internet or phone after I see how awful their TV service is!! If you want the "money saving deal" with their internet service, you have to sign a TWO YEAR CONTRACT that costs $200 penalty to end early. They're just as bad as satellite. No, worse because at least satellite worked on bright sunny days, unlike TWC today!!

nickdawg

09-12-09, 06:58 PM

Does anybody actually buy a PPV from this company? Considering that's all on SDV now (at least I think it is) would you really shell out 90.00 on a fight that you may or may not see?

That actually happened. I remember Jeremy Moses(Tri Sate Media---linked from OMW) saying that in TWC down there people who bought some event in HD didn't get to see it because the channel didn't work. I believe TWC had to refund everyone who purchased it.

I mean at least I got to see 99% of the baseball season for my 190.00. But take tonight for example, Dodgers vs Giants on MLBnet HD and I might not be able to see it if they don't fix this crap by then.

Well, actually I'll probably watch it on MLB Extra Innings because Vin Scully is announcing tonight. SD but I'll be able to partially see the game in between macro blocking and pixelation.

If the Extra Innings Channels are SDV, they probably won't work too. I can't believe they actually make you pay full price for that. Considering how TWC's service has been lately, they should AT LEAST cut the price in half, since the channels don't work half of the time.

Michael P 2341

09-14-09, 01:00 PM

Actually nickdawg I posted about that. Doesn't surprise me, you don't read the entire post frequently.:eek:

OK don't get your panties in a bunch. Just stating fact. Anyway I thought it was last week end when we had the problems but TW just continues to show how bad they really are. I'll say this: I've ALWAYS had problems with cable companies and their pictures. Not as bad as this but always. The only company I never had a problem with was Primestar. They were super and things didn't change when D* bought them out, they just got better because of TiVo.

I will say this to anybody who has cable: Do not by a TiVo, get off cable and go satellite. Their clear digital picture just can't be beat.

Anyway TiVo is coming to Direct TV eventually.D* already had a genuine TiVO DVR then went with their own. I'm not sure if the D*-TiVO was HD or SD. IT may still be available.

hookbill

09-14-09, 01:10 PM

D* already had a genuine TiVO DVR then went with their own. I'm not sure if the D*-TiVO was HD or SD. IT may still be available.

Yes, I started out with Direct TiVo. Then Fred Murdock came along and decided to kill the deal with TiVo and do their own DVR. Since then D* was sold and another deal has been made.

From the NY Times:

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/09/03/directtv-strikes-deal-to-offer-tivo-recorder/

Notice this is a year ago. I don't know what progress or lack of has taken place.

The old Direct TiVo was actually based on Series 2 TiVo's, had dual tuners but did not have home media capabilities. They were not HD.

I don't think those old DVR's work with Direct TV any longer.

Gary16

09-14-09, 01:36 PM

The D* Tivos were in fact HD and had dual tuners. They are still available from some authorized D* suppliers but do not receive the new HD channels from the newer satellite. The new D* Tivo units are slated for some time in 2010.

hookbill

09-14-09, 01:38 PM

Gary16

09-14-09, 01:48 PM

Gary, they were NOT HD capable. I had two of them I know they wern't.

Here's the description which seems to match what I had at home:
DIRECTV HR10-250 HD DVR TIVO RECEIVER 250GB

From the manufacturer:

Records up to 30 hours of DIRECTV® high-definition programming or up to 200 hours of standard definition programming. With your 250 GB Hard Drive, it allows you to watch whenever youre ready.
Access high definition and standard definition DIRECTV® programming, as well as off-air ATSC digital broadcasts from one receiver in digital form on an internal hard disk drive.

hookbill

09-14-09, 02:03 PM

Here's the description which seems to match what I had at home:
DIRECTV HR10-250 HD DVR TIVO RECEIVER 250GB

From the manufacturer:

Records up to 30 hours of DIRECTV® high-definition programming or up to 200 hours of standard definition programming. With your 250 GB Hard Drive, it allows you to watch whenever youre ready.
Access high definition and standard definition DIRECTV® programming, as well as off-air ATSC digital broadcasts from one receiver in digital form on an internal hard disk drive.

HR 10-250 was actually a product of Hughes Electronics, made for Direct TV and used TiVo software. It did not have the TiVo brand on it, and is only capable of mpeg 2 HD which to the best of my knowledge D* now uses 4 mpeg for its HD transmissions.

The boxes I referred to as D-TiVo's had the TiVo brand right on the box itself and were not HD capable. These HR10-250 boxes had a similar menu to TiVo but did not have the TiVo character in the menus. They since have been discontinued.

rluyster

09-14-09, 02:59 PM

HR 10-250 was actually a product of Hughes Electronics, made for Direct TV and used TiVo software. It did not have the TiVo brand on it, and is only capable of mpeg 2 HD which to the best of my knowledge D* now uses 4 mpeg for its HD transmissions.

The boxes I referred to as D-TiVo's had the TiVo brand right on the box itself and were not HD capable. These HR10-250 boxes had a similar menu to TiVo but did not have the TiVo character in the menus. They since have been discontinued.

There is an HR10-250 in a room just a few feet from where I am sitting typing this and I can confirm that it indeed DOES have a color "Tivo" emblem prominently displayed on it in the lower right-hand corner of the receiver. It's no longer in service (I want to get rid of it) so I'm not sure about the "Tivo" character being in the menus.

You are correct that it is mpeg 2 only and can only receive the 4 or 5 HD channels that D* still broadcasts in that format. Those last few are scheduled to be eliminated in the near future. All other D* HD is mpeg 4.

hookbill

09-14-09, 03:31 PM

There is an HR10-250 in a room just a few feet from where I am sitting typing this and I can confirm that it indeed DOES have a color "Tivo" emblem prominently displayed on it in the lower right-hand corner of the receiver. It's no longer in service (I want to get rid of it) so I'm not sure about the "Tivo" character being in the menus.

You are correct that it is mpeg 2 only and can only receive the 4 or 5 HD channels that D* still broadcasts in that format. Those last few are scheduled to be eliminated in the near future. All other D* HD is mpeg 4.

OK, I stand corrected you are right the TiVo logo is on the right hand corner, I missed it I thought it would be on the top. I took at another look at the picture and sure enough it's on the lower right corner.

My D-TiVo's originally had the TiVo character on screen, but when D* began plans to eliminate TiVo as a supplier of their software they removed the TiVo logo from the software screen. This was probably a good two years before the HR10-250 was developed. Technically yes, it was a TiVo but one that was doomed to extinction...but then again all hardware is.

I don't know who you are planning to sell that thing to. 4 or 5 channels? I think I'd either trash it or take of a picture of it and use it for a door stop. Not too much you really can do with it. But you are right, it was definitely a D-TiVo. Just not like the ones I had. I'd forgotten all about them.

amtrak23

09-15-09, 11:07 PM

sweet...lots of "channel not available" and blank screens. Awesome work TW *applauds with middle finger*...

hookbill

09-15-09, 11:13 PM

I've got it on SDV and I am not having an issue. MLBnet.

Gary16

09-16-09, 12:54 PM

hookbill

09-16-09, 12:58 PM

Thank you. I knew I wasn't dreaming this.

Nope, and I apologize I completely forgot about that model. I knew it had TiVo software but I could have sworn by that time the TiVo emblem was no longer on the machine.

I am certain however that it is not in the software itself. Yes it's TiVo software but Murdock had them pull the TiVo logo off there. And I'm also pretty certain there will be another D-TiVo.

nickdawg

09-17-09, 01:22 AM

I watch the SD versions of the local affiliates and I've noticed something over the last two days. There is a message that says "Press Select For Enhanced" that appears every time I tune to channels like WEWS, WKYC and WBNX. I recall the Jassole saying something about Start Over in that blog of things to not come true about NE Ohio HDTV earlier this year. Judging by what I've seen about Start Over, it uses that kind of dialogue box.

Right now all it does is tell me there is a HD version of WKYC or WBNX or WEWS, which is pretty stupid since this is a SDTV set and it puts those ugly bars on the top and bottom of the screen. And I imagine it's even worse with a SDTV only box, since those boxes just have a blank screen on HDTV channels. Way to go TWC!! Confuse the customer!

Vchat20

09-17-09, 01:32 AM

Well if you are using an HD box on an SD set, expect it to tell you there are HD channels available and suggest switching to them. Not like it can be Nostradamus and know you have an SD set hooked up.

And that enhanced dialog covers just about all extra info on that channel and not just startover. This includes the links to the HD channels, startover, possibly future use of referring to episodes of a show you are watching on VOD (if they choose to do that), the old on-screen poll system from Passport, etc..

And no, SD boxes will not allow you to view HD channels. Only ancient Passport boxes did that as I recall and after a while I think TWC fixed the channel lineup fed to the boxes to block HD channels on SD boxes.

nickdawg

09-17-09, 01:45 AM

Well if you are using an HD box on an SD set, expect it to tell you there are HD channels available and suggest switching to them. Not like it can be Nostradamus and know you have an SD set hooked up.

Back when I had that ancient Pioneer box, some of the channels like ESPN had that same message appear on screen. And it actually linked to ESPN HD, which was a black screen. I don't recall ever seeing HD channels on the SD box. I remember checking out those channels back in 2003 or 2004 when they were first added. I remember finding a show I wanted to see in the guide, only to find out it was on Universal HD or HD Net. :(

And that enhanced dialog covers just about all extra info on that channel and not just startover. This includes the links to the HD channels, startover, possibly future use of referring to episodes of a show you are watching on VOD (if they choose to do that), the old on-screen poll system from Passport, etc..

I was thinking Start Over since the TV season is beginning and it would be a logical time to make that feature available since it covers broadcast channels. But then again, we're talking about TWC so nothing ever makes sense! I wonder what other features they're gonna add? I've seen something called Quick Clips and the polls you mentioned in that Navigator book that came with my new box.

And no, SD boxes will not allow you to view HD channels. Only ancient Passport boxes did that as I recall and after a while I think TWC fixed the channel lineup fed to the boxes to block HD channels on SD boxes.

Doesn't it require special hardware inside the box to decode HD? That always seems to be the problem whenever the idea of feeding HD only channels to the settop boxes comes up---the old SD boxes would have to be replaced.

And as far as this whole thing, Mr. Nickdawg would like to give you some advice. Take notes, TWC. This is exactly why the HD boxes should force 4:3 output through the outputs other than Component. If RF, S Video and Composite forced a 4:3 image rather than a boxed in image, it would make it easier to eliminate the extra versions of channels carried. The cable company is using extra bandwidth to do what the settop boxes should be able to do internally. Even the CECB boxes are capable of this. And this "Enhanced" thing would be the perfect way to start training the viewers to find the new channels.

nickdawg

09-17-09, 02:00 AM

I am certain however that it is not in the software itself. Yes it's TiVo software but Murdock had them pull the TiVo logo off there. And I'm also pretty certain there will be another D-TiVo.

I see, so it's Pirate Rupert's fault D* stopped doing the Tivo thing.

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq66/CityLightsLover/Rupert_Murdoch_Pirate6hv.jpg

Regardless, even if D* started Tivo tomorrow I wouldn't subscribe as long as Murdoch has so much as .0001% of an interest in that company.

Vchat20

09-17-09, 02:10 AM

Doesn't it require special hardware inside the box to decode HD? That always seems to be the problem whenever the idea of feeding HD only channels to the settop boxes comes up---the old SD boxes would have to be replaced.

And as far as this whole thing, Mr. Nickdawg would like to give you some advice. Take notes, TWC. This is exactly why the HD boxes should force 4:3 output through the outputs other than Component. If RF, S Video and Composite forced a 4:3 image rather than a boxed in image, it would make it easier to eliminate the extra versions of channels carried. The cable company is using extra bandwidth to do what the settop boxes should be able to do internally. Even the CECB boxes are capable of this. And this "Enhanced" thing would be the perfect way to start training the viewers to find the new channels.

Yes it does require specific hardware for HD decoding. And I don't think anyone has really missed the point about all those boxes needing to be replaced. But keep in mind that the boxes TWC is pushing now like the 8300HDC and the Samsungs are HD boxes and they are supplying them to SD customers so this is already starting. However long it takes though is dependent on the old boxes dying out or people swapping them. Or like the case of Elyria's part of the region, do a mass swap-out in an emergency.

One thing you should realise is that you are in a vast minority here. People who would be running an HD box on an SD set aren't gonna care about the picture being letterboxed. Especially with a lot of SD channels feeding letterboxed programming these days and making it an expected norm. Anyone who's gonna be overly anal about this sort of thing is more than likely gonna have and use an HD set with the right STB and connection.

Also keep in mind the locals are the only channels where a 4:3 crop would really be feasible as they have to make things backwards compatible with SD sets due to the CECB's and such. Cable HD networks don't have to since the only viewers those HD channels will be getting are those with HD sets. In which case I'd wager a guess that a large chunk of all known programming on these channels has valuable content outside the 4:3 safe zone so a 4:3 crop would kill things real easily.

hookbill

09-17-09, 09:27 AM

Awoke this morning to find both of my tuner adapters have the 8 flashing lights with a pause. According to a tech I spoke with, this means they are bricked (can be recovered however).

Already placed a call to my contact at TW. A little surprised I haven't heard back from her.

Anyone else with a T.A. having problems this morning?

nickdawg

09-17-09, 10:23 AM

Anyone else not have audio on WEWHD? It's only on TWC. I checked the TV with the DTV converter box, OTA works fine. It must be a problem with the channel on TWC.

hookbill

09-17-09, 10:56 AM

Anyone else not have audio on WEWHD? It's only on TWC. I checked the TV with the DTV converter box, OTA works fine. It must be a problem with the channel on TWC.

I assume you meant WEWS HD I have sound, and I had sound when you posted as well.

My tuner adapter problem has been resolved. No explanation as to why it happened. TW must have done something last night.

shooter21198

09-17-09, 03:25 PM

I noticed yesterday on Erie suburbs only cleveland local (WUAB) that it had Press Select for Enhanced while the Erie locals did not have that option

nickdawg

09-17-09, 05:01 PM

Speaking of this Enhanced thing, when I was watching CNN on the SDTV, the Enhanced banner appeared. I pressed Select to see what options come up. "Enhanced TV is currently unavailable".

Why does TWC have this "not available" fetish? :rolleyes:

They're telling me the option to tune to CNNHD is not available? What a load...

I'll bet these people need a recipe to make ice! ;)

hookbill

09-17-09, 05:02 PM

nickdawg

09-17-09, 05:12 PM

Why the hell did both tuner adapters crap out last night? Nobody knows. WTF.

WHAT!! Are they totally dead or did they just reboot?

hookbill

09-17-09, 05:57 PM

WHAT!! Are they totally dead or did they just reboot?

Posted previously: When I got up this morning the one in the bedroom was flashing 8 blinks and a pause. That means it's bricked. I phoned you know who immediately.

When I got downstairs the other T.A. was doing the exact same thing. About an hour later I got a call and she sent me a couple of hits. The boxes shut off and we waited a few minutes. I hit the on button and both were restored.

Easy to fix but the point is what caused it? Obviously TW must have done something on their end for both boxes to crap out. But nobody knows anything...of course.

bassett123

09-17-09, 07:46 PM

Check out the latest update from twcneo:

Legal Notices for September 11, 2009

Paper: Cleveland Plain Dealer Legal Notices

Time Warner Cable’s agreements with programmers to carry their services routinely expire from time to time. We are usually able to obtain renewals or extensions of such agreements, and carriage of programming services is discontinued only in rare circumstances. The following agreements with programmers are due to expire soon, and we may be required to cease carriage of one or more of these services in the near future.

*** No changes at this time. ***

From time to time we make certain changes in the services that we offer in order to better serve our customers. The following changes are planned:

On or after August 15, 2009, RFD TV, Military History Channel and Crime & Investigation Network will be added to the Digital Choice Package and Daystar will be added to the Digital Basic Tier.

On or after September 1, 2009, CNBC World will be added to the Digital Basic Tier.

On or after September 14, 2009, Hollywood Celebrity Products will be dropped from the Digital Access level of service; The Gem Shopping Network, The Black Shopping Channel and Wize Buys will be added to the Digital Access level of service.

On or after September 15, 2009, Sundance Channel will be added to the Digital Basic level of service.

From time to time we make certain changes in the services that we offer in order to better serve our customers. The following changes are planned on or after October 15, 2009

Sleuth and Hallmark Movies will be added to the Digital Basic Tier.

The following channels will be added to standard HD: Cartoon HD, TCM HD, HLN HD, E! HD;

The following channels will be added to HD for customers with the Digital Basic Tier: Biography HD, Disney SX HD, Outdoor HD, Fox Business News HD, Style HD, Hallmark Movies HD

* Changes will vary by service area. Not all services available in all areas.

Vchat20

09-17-09, 09:11 PM

Well about damned time we got new HD channels. Though none of it is really of any interest. Still waiting for MSNBC and The Weather Channel. Cartoon Network would be good if they bothered to air more than 0.2% of their programming in HD. Even shows which are produced/filmed in HD is aired in SD and stretched.

hookbill

09-17-09, 09:19 PM

I see a couple of channels that if I had nothing else to look at I might glance at. But I am basically unimpressed..

nickdawg

09-17-09, 10:24 PM

Seriously!! We get the f--king Faux OUT OF BUSINESS Network before MSNBC HD!!

I think TWC has a SERIOUS political bias!! That also explains why the volume is 20dB lower on MSNBC analog than the rest of the channels!

ErieMarty

09-19-09, 07:57 AM

to be added. after this group

off the top of my head I can only come up with MSNBC, Weather and Spike..

what ever happened to Fox Ohio being 24/7 in HD...I assume they will add Fox Ohio in HD once Cavs season starts..

Vchat20

09-19-09, 12:32 PM

hookbill

09-19-09, 12:36 PM

nickdawg

09-19-09, 03:43 PM

Someone else around this forum keeps spouting off the idea that the reason we haven't gotten Spike, Nickelodeon, CMT, or any other Viacom owned channels in HD is because TWC doesn't have carriage agreements for the HD channels. But if that is the case, why do we have Palladia since it is just as much owned by Viacom as all the other channels.

TWC had Palladia back in the day when it was called MHD. The other Viacom networks HD channels didn't exist yet. It seems the same as when we didn't have USA HD but we had Universal HD.

But yeah, not much more to add after this that are actually WORTH adding. As stated, just the likes of MSNBC, Weather Channel, Spike... But we know TWC's gonna drag their feet and add bottom feeder channels before anything useful. If there was ONE channel I'd like to have added right now is MSNBC above all else but that is not likely to happen soon.

Headline News HD = totally worthless. I think the only HD that channel has is in primetime. It's like CNN where the "newsroom" coverage is SD. Although CNN Newsroom is supposed to be going HD in October, so Headline News might benefit too. But still, Headline news is way too much trashy celebrity news and Nancy Grace makes my skin crawl!

Faux Business News is useless too. It's jokingly called the "FOX Out Of Business" Network because it gets its ass handed to it in the ratings by CNBC. Besides, why do we need another version of CNBC, we already have that useless channel.

Vchat20

09-19-09, 04:18 PM

TWC had Palladia back in the day when it was called MHD. The other Viacom networks HD channels didn't exist yet. It seems the same as when we didn't have USA HD but we had Universal HD.

But that still doesn't make sense. Though carriage agreements are one of those 'chock full of legalese' things so they probably made some very specific agreements that don't cover the newer HD channels they own. *groan* I'd say screw Viacom but unfortunately they own enough channels where some of them you actually do want and need to pay for the whole bunch to receive. As bad as Disney.

Headline News HD = totally worthless. I think the only HD that channel has is in primetime. It's like CNN where the "newsroom" coverage is SD. Although CNN Newsroom is supposed to be going HD in October, so Headline News might benefit too. But still, Headline news is way too much trashy celebrity news and Nancy Grace makes my skin crawl!

Faux Business News is useless too. It's jokingly called the "FOX Out Of Business" Network because it gets its ass handed to it in the ratings by CNBC. Besides, why do we need another version of CNBC, we already have that useless channel.

To be honest I agree. All they same cookie-cutter copy-n-paste crap. Though once they found out they can actually make coin off 24/7 news and business/finance networks, boy they were right on it.

nickdawg

09-19-09, 05:00 PM

But that still doesn't make sense. Though carriage agreements are one of those 'chock full of legalese' things so they probably made some very specific agreements that don't cover the newer HD channels they own. *groan* I'd say screw Viacom but unfortunately they own enough channels where some of them you actually do want and need to pay for the whole bunch to receive. As bad as Disney.

I say screw Viacom. We don't want Nickelodeon or MTV in "HD" now. Neither of those channels show actual HD programming. MTV only has special events like the VMAs in HD. MTV was showing movies awhile back. The movie wasn't HD On the HD Channel! Nickelodeon has a few new live action or cartoons in HD, but be honest---HD isn't gonna make them watchable. I'd take the SD shows from the 90s any day!!

Same thing goes with Cartoon Network. I'm pissed they are adding that one before MSNBC. Cartoon Network has no HD programming, it is the analog channel stretched. Which makes it worse than the Viacom networks because at least the Viacom networks respect OAR and do not stretch.

Oh wait, Cartoon Network HD will probably only show the commercials in OAR with "Cartoon Network HD" sidebars like TNT and TBS have! :rolleyes:

To be honest I agree. All they same cookie-cutter copy-n-paste crap. Though once they found out they can actually make coin off 24/7 news and business/finance networks, boy they were right on it.

I just wonder how long the Faux one will last. I remember CNN used to have a financial news channel in digital cable land a long time ago. Eventually they shut it down and replaced it with that world news channel. I could accept CNBC HD being added because it is CNBC and they are very respected in TV financial news. But not Faux. It's been two years and FBN never really caught on. Plus it's Faux, so that automatically makes it questionable!

In honor of "Talk Like A Pirate Day" (arrgh) I'll post this picture of (arrrgh) Mr. Faux himself, Pirate Rupert!!

http://i434.photobucket.com/albums/qq66/CityLightsLover/Rupert_Murdoch_Pirate6hv.jpg