what do you guys think of WSMV's NBC HD feed? i know everyone on the board is raving about the pq, but I see its quite pixellated at times, although its been getting better especially in the gymnastics finals

Ou8thisSN,

IMHO, this is probably a result of the conversion from euro-HD (1080/50i) to US-HD (1080/60i). The faster the image moves, the worse it looks to me, while still shots of the crowd and background images look very clear.

The "travelog" footage they run in-between events looks good as well. Love that blue dome church!

What irks me about NBC in general is the one-day delay on HD broadcast. So much for "See it in HD!! " ads, eh?

Oh well.

I'm just hoping WZTV gets their act and equipment together so we can all watch the NFL in 720p on FOX this fall. And maybe WUXP will come online one of the years.

I'm not holding my breath. :eek:

-John

To recap, all the channels that Comcast is broadcasting in DTV unscrambled include (with their QAM frequencies):

WKRN-ABC (HDTV - 81.02)
WTVF-CBS (HDTV - 81.03)
WSMV-NBC (HDTV - 83.02)
ESPN Classic (SDTV - 85.05)
GAS - Nick Games and Sports (SDTV -91.08)
Nick Too (SDTV - 91.10)
Discovery HD Theater (HDTV - 95.02)
Comcast InDemand Previews (SDTV - 101.09)
INHD 1 (HDTV - 102.01)
INHD 2 (HDTV - 102.02)
International Channel (SDTV - 116.08)


Back to the QAM part of this thread; I have a Panny with a built in QAM tuner but am having trouble acquiring Channel 2 (ABC). I can only enter xxx-x for channels and these frequencies appear to be four or five digits (xxx-xx). If I enter 81-2 for ABC it just skips over to CBS-DT. What's the deal? Anyone else with this problem?

comcast updated the firmware, i noticed today to 7.15 from 7.10 i think. it seemed to fix the dvi issue, that i no longer have to force the handshake...

when i first power up the projector, the image is severly misaligned on the horizontal axis on the DVI input, like 60% of the image shifts to the left, and the part thats cut out is displayed on the right. but all you have to do is flip the channels once, and all is corrected. This is much better and tolerable than plugging/unplugging... thanks comcast

Ou8thisSN,

I'll have to check my f/w, but I just noticed (this weekend) that my DVI/HDCP handshaking between my 5100, iScan HD and JVC set starting working every time, all of the sudden.

It is odd though that the first HD channel I go to is is shifted so far to the left that it wraps to the other side of the screen.

I'll take that any day over power-cycling my set to handshake, though!

-John

So I just went by the the Hifi buys on Nolensville Road, before Harding Mall. They have a Qualia 004 on display! its freaking beautiful, and words dont describe it. The picture looks crappy but its not calibrated and set up correctly yet. They were running the Olympics HD feed. the guy said soon they hope to hang it from the ceiling and have like a blu ray player with some 1080p stuff to demo... Only one in TN, definitely worth a check out. Thought i'd pass it along.

Originally posted by gillum
To recap, all the channels that Comcast is broadcasting in DTV unscrambled include (with their QAM frequencies):

WKRN-ABC (HDTV - 81.02)
WTVF-CBS (HDTV - 81.03)
WSMV-NBC (HDTV - 83.02)
ESPN Classic (SDTV - 85.05)
GAS - Nick Games and Sports (SDTV -91.08)
Nick Too (SDTV - 91.10)
Discovery HD Theater (HDTV - 95.02)
Comcast InDemand Previews (SDTV - 101.09)
INHD 1 (HDTV - 102.01)
INHD 2 (HDTV - 102.02)
International Channel (SDTV - 116.08)


Back to the QAM part of this thread; I have a Panny with a built in QAM tuner but am having trouble acquiring Channel 2 (ABC). I can only enter xxx-x for channels and these frequencies appear to be four or five digits (xxx-xx). If I enter 81-2 for ABC it just skips over to CBS-DT. What's the deal? Anyone else with this problem?

With the 7.1.5 firmware upgrade several days ago, Comcast Nashville has discontinued in-the-clear broadcasting of Discovery HD Theater. :mad:

why would their firmware upgrade of their boxes affect your recieving of discovery HD theater? seems strange

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
why would their firmware upgrade of their boxes affect your recieving of discovery HD theater? seems strange

I lost it too when I received my DVR box. I assumed it was because I subscribe only to Limited Basic + Digital/HD. I don't get ESPN-HD, either.

I am on "basic" cable (is you can call something that cost > $40 a month basic) - not a digital plan. I have the HD box for $5 a month extra. I get Discover HD and ESPN HD along with the 2 INHD channels and the 3 locals.

I have an HDTivo, but I was thinking about seeing if Comcast would let me have the HD/PVR for $5 more a month. It would be nice to be able to have another way to record HD stuff - and it is only $5 more a month. Of course, if I lose 2 of the HD channels I get now, or have to increase to one of the digital packages then I will get my $5 box for now.

Dennis

i just got a dvr yesterday and i was not receiving Discovery HD or ESPNHD (ONDemand didn't seem to work either, but i didn't try to hard to make it).. i noticed that some or many of you were at the very least not receiving Discovery and at least one of you did not get ESPN..

has anyone talked to Comcast to find out what the situation is? are these channels starting to work after a period of time without doing anything? is there a fix in the works?

i'm going to try and get in touch with comcast this afternoon or tonight, but everyone knows how difficult that is..

I have the $5 HD box and I am still getting Discovery HD and ESPN HD, but at times ESPN HD is very pixellated or drops out. It used to be fine, I assume low signal in my neighborhoos lately?

Dennis

Originally posted by cnoble356c
has anyone talked to Comcast to find out what the situation is? are these channels starting to work after a period of time without doing anything? is there a fix in the works?


Eventually, Comcast sent a weekly update to the box. Apparently they send these out on Monday mornings. As a plus, I was getting all the premium movie channels during this period, so I didn't end up calling. If you get the HD people to "hit" your box, it should fix the problem.

i finally got a hold of comcast yesterday afternoon and they sent an update that made Discovery, ESPN, and ONDemand work.. the only problem was when i got home to see if it had worked (and it did), they had somehow removed Showtime from my account.. so i had to call and get that fixed.. unfortunately, the guy on the phone didn't get the fact that i wanted to simply add Showtime.. he added it and removed HBO.. luckily that was fixed before he hung up the phone..

those people are so inept.. it's not funny

This may be old news, but yesterday I received a reply from Comcast about the future availability of a dual-tuner DVR. Obviously, they wouldn't say much, but I'm optimistically taking their comment as a confirmation that it's in the works:

As with the dual tuner, we will offer this service in the future but the cost and the time frame are unavailable at this time. We will keep our customers informed as to when this product will be launched.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
why would their firmware upgrade of their boxes affect your recieving of discovery HD theater? seems strange

It has nothing to do with it. But Comcast apparently decided during the upgrade to disable sending Discovery HD Theatre in the clear while they were at it, bringing us into line with Comcast policies in other cities.

I spoke with the CableCard guy at Comcast yesterday who was very helpful. I told him of my issue in not properly receiving ABC in HD through my QAM enabled HDTV. He said mine was the second call that day regarding that issue and he'd talk to the engineers. I checked this afternoon and I'm now receiving it. I'm no longer receiving the INHD channels though. I wonder if they just relaized the growing number of QAM HD enabled TVs out there and are limiting these extra channels?

Nashville PBS is broadcasting HDTV on their ATSC channel now.
The show on now is the same one as on the s.d. channel (The Video Game Revolution)
Check it out

Originally posted by oe800
Nashville PBS is broadcasting HDTV on their ATSC channel now.
The show on now is the same one as on the s.d. channel (The Video Game Revolution)
Check it out

That looks like standard definition digital TV to me.

Dennis

Originally posted by gillum
I spoke with the CableCard guy at Comcast yesterday who was very helpful. I told him of my issue in not properly receiving ABC in HD through my QAM enabled HDTV. He said mine was the second call that day regarding that issue and he'd talk to the engineers. I checked this afternoon and I'm now receiving it. I'm no longer receiving the INHD channels though. I wonder if they just relaized the growing number of QAM HD enabled TVs out there and are limiting these extra channels?

I just looked at my set and I'm still getting both INHD channels. This must be something on your end. Don't underestimate a signal strength issue...they sometimes come and go.

My HDTV said that NPT was standard definition. Here's a quote from the NPT station engineer: As of right now, NPT only has the equipment to broadcast an SD (480i) signal. We do plan on purchasing the equipment to broadcast HD sometime in the future, but I do not know when we will be able to do that yet.

Originally posted by Nashville Cat
My HDTV said that NPT was standard definition. Here's a quote from the NPT station engineer: As of right now, NPT only has the equipment to broadcast an SD (480i) signal. We do plan on purchasing the equipment to broadcast HD sometime in the future, but I do not know when we will be able to do that yet.

Which is also why we likely won't see an HD slot on Comcast for WNPT before they get the equipment to do true HD. On the other hand, I hope that we'll be seeing WZTV-HD FOX by the weekend football season opener since they've up and running on HD now.

When I got my HDTV with built in QAM tuner a few months ago, I was getting NPT digital on Comcast. Then, it went away about 3 weeks ago. It was one of the sub-channels with the other local HDTV channels.

Hey Nashville Kat,

Are you able to consistently tune into the digital channels using your QAM set? I'm not. I went by Comcast and picked up a CableCard which supposedly will fix my channel mapping issue. We'll see.

I'm getting INHD1 at 102-1, INHD2 at 102-2. CBS at 81-2, ABC at 81-3 and NBC at 83-2. The 3 major networks have been moved recently but INHD has stayed at the same location for months. I was getting Discovery HD at 95-2, but that has been scrambled. I occasionally get some InDemand stuff at 106-55. You'll have to tune to 106 first then go to 106-55. It comes and goes.

how much is a cablecard card? is there a monthly fee like renting the box?

CableCard is Free! No charges whatsoever.

Originally posted by Nashville Cat
When I got my HDTV with built in QAM tuner a few months ago, I was getting NPT digital on Comcast. Then, it went away about 3 weeks ago. It was one of the sub-channels with the other local HDTV channels.

That's news to all of us. Which QAM channel was WNPT being broadcast on?

I wrote them down. When I first got the HDTV in May, I was getting the following: 81-27 ABC, 81-56 CBS, 83-2 INHD2, 83-10 NBC, 95-3 INHD1, and 83-46 NPT. For some reason, Comcast moves these channels around. I'm not sure why. I guess NPT was dropped because it is not true high def. I have to switch to a rooftop antenna to get the other local OTA digital channels.

did you guys see that ABC News Now is added to channel 185?

they left two spaces open... 183 and 184, i'm assuming 183 is for FOXHD, and 184...?

Yes, ABC News Now is on the air in Nashville. I'm not sure what QAM slot it's taking...I'll have to have my Mitsu rescan the channels. On the surface, the service looks very Bloombergish, and very beta. It's also super-compressed, which isn't surprising considering the content. I'd be curious if Comcast was compressing it that bad, or if WKRN was doing it as a subchannel from their normal HD station signal. If someone has an OTA antenna out there, maybe you could tell us.

It would also seem that they are making room for Fox to go live on Sunday on either channel 183 or 184. If I had to guess about the other channel, I'd guess the WB, since they have a significant amount of HD in prime time this year, and UPN just has Enterprise.

OTA channel is 2-2.
QAM channel is 92-8

I also noticed channel 185, but it does not look like the same frequency as the HD stations. Let's hope that we are all correct in thinking FOX will go live tomorrow... keep your fingers crossed.

Originally posted by Nashville Cat
OTA channel is 2-2.
QAM channel is 92-8

Added it. Thanks.

So I can't get fox yet. Also, no mention on wztv.com.

I'm getting Fox OTA. Looks pretty good. Not as good as ESPN/ABC if you ask me, but I'm judging them by the first 10 minutes of their first HD game. Time to start calling Comcast daily until they get it added.

Lee

Grrrr, curse you Sinclair and Comcast!

Interesting that they put that little plug in for www.myfreehdtv.org at the beginning of the broadcast...I guess that's for all of us that own HD but can't get it through cable or satellite yet. "Sponsored by your local broadcasters"

yeah, well why no comcast fox HD? they made room on their lineup, what gives? anyone call them yet?


Okay, I just called Fox17, they said that they havent gone HD yet, so I dont see how leewcraft says he's watching OTA HD of FOX HD...
The guy at the fox news desk said MIDDLE OF OCTOBER for fox HD

Then I called Comcast, and the rep also confirmed that fox has not yet gone HD, so it hasnt been added yet, and that they are broadcasting digitally but not in HD...

i dont know if these are BS lines or anything but if anyone else wants to check for themselves, feel free. I just checked with the local people, not the FOX 17 engineers, or the HDTV rep at comcast, so it could all be wrong... I know they have their splicer installed from the other thread, why the delay?

BS, the Bucs/Redskins game is in HD right now on WZTV.

I'm sitting next to leewcraft and FOX looks pretty HD to me. Falcons-49ers game looks good, too.

Yeah, they don't know what they're talking about. They're on to the Falcons-49ers game now, and it looks a lot better than the other game.

so its comcast's fault? why did they make room for a new channel then if they werent ready to launch?

I am in Bellevue, and cannot get FOx OTA at all - no signal whatesoever. I am using the Channel Master 4221 in my attic. I wanted the 4228, but it wasnt in stock at Randolph and Rice. I get ABC, NBC, CBS, and WB with great signal strength, but no Fox, and tiny strenght for UPN. I cant figure out why I get no Fox at all.

I am in Kingston Springs, and I'm not getting FOX OTA either. I usually get a very high signal, but they must be working on it. I'm using the 4228 antenna and it works great for all the channels.

Where did you get your 4228?

That is good to know, maybe Fox is just down right now and not my setup. I do want to change to the 4228 from my 4221.

Does anyone have a direct number to the engineers at Fox 17?

I bought my 4228 from Randolph and Rice a little over a year ago. I had to order it from them as they did not have it in stock. The 4228 is an excellent antenna. I also have the Channel Master 7777 preamp which helps boost the signal. I can pick up all the digital stations from Nashville all with high signal levels.

adam,

We have the same antenna/amp combo.

As for Fox 17, my hope is that they took it offline to boost the signal strength. My fear is that something broke.

-Reagan

I've noticed with my setup (cheap directional antenna w/separate amp) that I get Fox much more consistently in the evenings and on Sunday afternoon than I do during the day on weekdays. I wonder if they're boosting their signal when there's HD material on now that people might actually be watching it? I haven't tried watching it since Sunday, though, so I don't know what's going on the last couple of days.

Originally posted by adam8833
I bought my 4228 from Randolph and Rice a little over a year ago. I had to order it from them as they did not have it in stock. The 4228 is an excellent antenna. I also have the Channel Master 7777 preamp which helps boost the signal. I can pick up all the digital stations from Nashville all with high signal levels.

Interesting...several months ago I went down to R & R to get a Channelmaster antenna and I was told "not to bother" since they were "getting out of the business". I'm not sure where they were getting their information from. I ended up solving my problem with Comcast, but I'd still like to do OTA in order to get yet another entertainment expense off the monthly budget and make my wife happy.

Any further word on WZTV in HD?

I called Comcast a week ago, they said they have no plans to get Fox in HD. I repeatedly asked to speak to an HD rep, but all I got were regular customer service agents. I couldnt get a hold of fox engineers at wztv either.

any updates or information about FoxHD and comcast adpotion?


EDIT: okay, I just talked to Comcast again, and spoke with this really nice lady, who was just surprized that WZTV went HD, because they havent heard about it. Although she couldnt give me any idea when they would turn it on, she did give me some info.

She said call the Comcast Marketing department at 244-7462, and dial extention 0, and ask the operator to speak with Will Jefferson. He is someone who should know or would be able to do something about getting it cut on here, for the Nashville market. I guess if we all called and created a genuine interest perhaps Comcast will expediete its addition.

Thanks folks,

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
any updates or information about FoxHD and comcast adpotion?

The only thing I have seen OTA on Fox in HD has been a football game, the "prime time" shows are all SD. I would guess into Fox has more HD content and the local station is carrying it they will not be adding Fox17 HD to the lineup. I would like it if the UPN station started broadcasting in HD though, a lot of the UPN content is supposed to be HD.

Dennis

i dont know if you read the other threads in HDTV forum, but FOX has a lot of stuff thats gone HD, and they are really working on getting a lot more content up in HD, they are supposed to have already started football, but also will start NASCAR and baseball, and next year will be American Idol in HD, as well as 50% of their primetime lineup. Plus, on sundays they will probably start showing 20th century fox movies in HD, like they did with Deuce Bigelo a week ago. So, needless to say, I'm just itching till Comcast picks up this channel, and i find it amazing that it is available in other markets but not ours, especially when WZTV is UP and transmitting!

In Nashville, Fox17 UPN30 and WB58 are owned by Sinclair Broadcast Group which
will not allow Comcast or any other cable company to carry its signal without compensation. They will not give it away, for several reasons. I'm not optimistic this policy will change anytime soon.

Comcast refuses to pay local affiliates for rights to HD programming. Of course, Comcast could break with established policy, just to make us happy, but then the floodgates would open. WTVF, WKRN etc. would demand big bucks and our rates would increase.

Sinclair is running ads nationwide which touch on this battle with cable companies. Simply stated, it says no one needs cable TV to recieve high definition programming. It is free to everyone over-the-air.

How this eventually plays out is anyones guess. The only HD I've seen here was Redskins-Bucs and Falcons-49ers on Sept 12. Seahawks vs Bucs was aired last Sunday. Monday there was an hour of HD. Quality was not the greatest

That explains the http://myfreehdtv.org web site that FOX has been plugging since they went live in HD. A quick check of whois.net shows that Sinclair owns the myfreehdtv web site....big surprise! :( Sinclair has a strange interpretation of the "must carry" FCC rules...I hope that eventually they get slapped for this.

It's also interesting that they say that doing "free HDTV" is easy. Well, first you have to have a TV with an ATSC tuner....most people up until now have only bought HD monitors without tuners (the tuners can significantly raise the price). Second, that setting up an antenna is easy...depending on where you live and your ability to receive signals, it can be very hard. I live in the city limits of Nashville but the hills surrounding my house make HD reception of many channels (including FOX) very difficult.

oh okay, thanks for explaining that, so i guess no foxHD ever through comcast right

I wouldn't say "ever." Ultimately, it's in the best interest of both to have Fox 17 on Comcast. It's just a matter of compensation. Sinclair has just put out this garbage to put pressure on the cable companies to pay them for their digital channels. Just business.

Lee

well, okay, that doesnt make much sense, i mean Comcast and every other cable service carries FOX, UPN, etc in SD, without making you pay extra right. So why are they allowed to even theaten compensation for when their digital counterparts, which will become the norm in a few years anyway, as mandated by the FCC and John McCain.

Someone on the programming forum from Pennsylvania emailed his cable co. and got this response:


"I'm disappointed to tell you, Sinclair Broadcasting has taken a hard line stance to date concerning access to their digital signal. They have not signed a deal anywhere in the country to date. Negotiations are being handled by their corporate office and local officials are not involved. They will shortly start running commercials that "over the air" digital reception is the way to go (ignoring the fact that over 90% of present HD sets don't include a digital tuner). Their present demands foreshadow a difficult retransmission consent process in the future. We will continue trying"


I would be willing to bet that nothing gets done until the 2005 Superbowl, at the earliest. I'd rather see Comcast "compensate" HDNET and add it to the lineup and let Sinclair do its own thing. The dilemma is whether to pay the locals, especially if the asking price is outrageous.

i wont pay 1 red cent over $5. especially for fox, they can suck it.

HBO makes money charging viewers to watch, the networks make money selling our eyeballs to advertisers. For Sinclair to expect us to watch commercials AND pay is just plain stupid. The more folks watch their shows the more they can charge the advertisers, so blocking cable companies from carrying your HD signal reduces your viewing audience and thus (potentially) your advertising revenue.

If someone only has a single tuner HD box or PVD from the cable company and you can watch/record a show in HD on ABC, NBC, or CBS (and hopefully UPN and WB soon) or watch/record a FOX show in SD which would you choose? The Fox show had better be a LOT better or folks with HD sets just will not bother. Fox also only has 2 hours of "PrimeTime" as well, so paying for that really would be stupid.

Now, in the real world :) I have an HDTivo and don't watch their stupid commercials anyway and can Tivo two HD shows at the same time while watching another AND I have a CM UHF antenna up so I can get Fox HD for "free".

Dennis

you probably wont see UPN or WB in HD any sooner, as all three are O&O by Sinclair in Nashville. indeed i agree with you about paying for commercial overrun channels. I only had one reason for wanting fox. Everyone knows the story about once you go HD, you will find yourself watching anything and everything, simply because of the simple reason that it is in HD- for me this was football, and eventually I grew a mild interest in it. I guess I would be kind of keen to be able to watch the Superbowl in HD but even that is a stretch as I probably wont be in nashville around that time. So, meh...

Originally posted by McTNN
Sinclair...says no one needs cable TV to recieve high definition programming. It is free to everyone over-the-air. The Sinclair stations are clustered on a hill just SW of WTVF's tower. I'm completely blocked for OTA. My signal strength meter shows a tiny signal every once in a while for WTVF...never for the Sinclair triumvirate.

The digital signal can be flakey out this way too. When I hook up 75 ft. of RG6 to an antenna and carry it from one part of the house to another, I lose some stations. Like at the southeast bedroom, WDCN, WKRN, and WSMV will dropoff. Move it to the northwest side, and everything but WDCN is good. The basement is the absolute worst, and high on the west wall upstairs has generally been reliable for all. Weather does not seem to affect things too much, but occasionally a truck or low flying aircraft will mess things up. Then there is the unexplained like during Joey on NBC last night. Signal strength was OK but the picture kept breaking apart, while Comcast was clean.

Some of you may remember many years ago when the local channels made deals with Comcast/Intermedia/Viacom (whichever it was) in order to allow the cable company to carry the local channels. I can only remember the deal CBS made which was to force the cable company to also carry News Channel 5+ (which did not exist prior to the deal) which you can find on channel 50 to this day.

So there was definitely a precedent set at that time which Sinclair hopes to take advantage of.

I spoke with a helpful person at Fox17 today who agreed with me that Sinclair is being unreasonable in asking Comcast to purchase the HD feed for distribution to cable customers. He suggested we contact Sinclair directly to voice our opinion. Let's let them know how we feel at: comments@sbgi.net

Uhhh...That helpful person who agrees his/her employer is "unreasonable" when speaking to a customer should keep their opinions to themselves or be prepared to hit the street.

Channel 5 blackmailed Comcast into carrying 50+. What's the difference?

The Channel 5+ channel controversy was again over the FCC "must carry" rule but in this case, WTVF felt that then-Intermedia Nashville should carry Channel 5+ in addition to Channel 5 (as they had since the 70's). Comcast eventually capitulated, despite the fact that Channel 5+ isn't broadcast over the airwaves, not even as an digital subchannel (thank goodness). This is different from the Sinclair controversy where Sinclair won't allow their publicly available HD signal without payment.

Comcast Nashville has recently followed their Channel 5+ airing precendent by carrying the ABC News Now channel in this market that WKRN does broadcast over the airwaves in a digital subchannel (thankfully compressed heavily to fit in the HD frequency space with their regular 720p HD broadcast.

Originally posted by McTNN
The digital signal can be flakey out this way too. When I hook up 75 ft. of RG6 to an antenna and carry it from one part of the house to another, I lose some stations. Like at the southeast bedroom, WDCN, WKRN, and WSMV will dropoff. Move it to the northwest side, and everything but WDCN is good. The basement is the absolute worst, and high on the west wall upstairs has generally been reliable for all. Weather does not seem to affect things too much, but occasionally a truck or low flying aircraft will mess things up. Then there is the unexplained like during Joey on NBC last night. Signal strength was OK but the picture kept breaking apart, while Comcast was clean.

You need a pre-amp.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
Comcast eventually capitulated, despite the fact that Channel 5+ isn't broadcast over the airwaves, not even as an digital subchannel (thank goodness).

5+ is broadcast as a sub-channel on 5-2. I don't know if it was part of the digital broadcast when Comcast/Intermedia started carrying it, but it is now. I think they need to compress 5+ more than they do. They're more strapped for HD bandwidth than WKRN is since 720p takes up less bandwidth than 1080i. You can definitely see more blocking on CBS HD football here than you do in Atlanta, where they don't have any sub-channels.

My mistake. It's nearly impossible to get Channel 5 over the airwaves out here in Bellevue so I was conjecturing on old data.

Anybody notice the sound on Comcast for the Titans game is terrible on the HD channel? Yeah the game is an SD upconvert today, but the DirecTV soundtrack is far better today.

It seems like only 1 or 2 of the Titans games this year have "rated" HD - pretty sad. I do have the D* Sunday ticket so I have other games to watch, but keeping having to watch the Titans in SD.

Dennis

Well, a 2-3 start doesn't help...that and CBS (AFC football) doing less HD than FOX (NFC football) this year, ironically.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
"You need a pre-amp."


That would be sweet, though pairing these rabbit ears with a preamp is much like strapping a rocket engine to a tricycle.

oops, I thought you had an outdoor antenna. I need to read these threads more closely.

Originally posted by dwynne
"It seems like only 1 or 2 of the Titans games this year have "rated" HD - pretty sad. I do have the D* Sunday ticket so I have other games to watch, but keeping having to watch the Titans in SD."



We aren't doing quite that bad, though I agree, it often seems that way.
Titans-Cowboys preseason ABC
Titans-Dolphins CBS
Titans-Colts CBS
Titans-Packers ABC

AND

Tennessee vs. Alabama and Titans vs. Vikings in HDTV this weekend. Yes!

Originally posted by McTNN
Tennessee vs. Alabama and Titans vs. Vikings in HDTV this weekend. Yes!

With the porous Titan secondary and the potent Vikings air attack it is likely to be an HDTV slaughter! Hopefully Mr. Moss really hurt his hammy last night and will take this Sunday off :)

Dennis

I hope we can find out how to provide some pressure on Sinclair to get with the process to let the cable companies retransmit their signals. I hope that FOX and UPN but the pressure on Sinclair that this hurts all of their programming playing this game.

I want FOX and UPN in HD!!!

Originally posted by dwynne
It seems like only 1 or 2 of the Titans games this year have "rated" HD - pretty sad. I do have the D* Sunday ticket so I have other games to watch, but keeping having to watch the Titans in SD.


Unfortunately, we also suffer from being in one of the smallest media markets in the NFL. NY and Boston teams typically get the A broadcast team even when they're not doing well.

(We got selected for the HD game on CBS exactly zero times last year)

i really want TNT HD. Its almost like poor man's HBO.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
i really want TNT HD. Its almost like poor man's HBO.

I have Dish, so I get TNT HD. It is funny how the channel guide puts the HD symbol next to every show, even though very little of it is in HD. :rolleyes:

TNT has beautiful NBA HD action. Other than that, I don't have much reason to watch reruns of Law and Order.

I assume that this is old news, but I picked up a Motorola 6412 today (dual tuner DVR). Much improved with the TV Guide interface.

Do you have any idea how long ComCrap has been using the 6412?

They said a couple of weeks. I am just so glad to have a dual tuner HD DVR.

Originally posted by bigdomer
They said a couple of weeks. I am just so glad to have a dual tuner HD DVR.

I have had one for MONTHS - my HDTivo, now expanded with dual 250gb drives :)

That said, I am paying $5 a month for the Comcrap HD box. If the dual tuner DVR is just $10 a month (or $5 more) then I will probably run this one back to MetroCenter this week and pick up the dual tuner DVR for the extra money. What is the recording limit in HD on their box?

Dennis

Dennis...

Please post the results of your visit. I would be really interested in getting just the local channels from CC and a dual tuner box. I figure this should run about $20 per month.

And, if memory serves, the Motorola box can record about 30-35 hours HD. I may be a little low. I own three DirecTivos and have considred the new HD model. But, a kilobuck just for HD is a little much, when all I really want is to be able to record network HD. I may have to add ComCrap just for that.

Jon

The manual says 15 hours of HD or 45 hrs of SD (or obviously a combination in the middle). However, others in the HD recorders foum say only 10 hours. I will let you know what my experience shows.

Originally posted by Jon J
Dennis...

Please post the results of your visit. I would be really interested in getting just the local channels from CC and a dual tuner box. I figure this should run about $20 per month.

And, if memory serves, the Motorola box can record about 30-35 hours HD. I may be a little low. I own three DirecTivos and have considred the new HD model. But, a kilobuck just for HD is a little much, when all I really want is to be able to record network HD. I may have to add ComCrap just for that.

Jon

The only thing that concerns me is that the web page says "Please note you must subscribe to Digital Cable to receive Digital Video Recorder.". I am on basic cable with the $5 HD box + Internet. It looks like the DVR is only $4.95 more a month (than the $5 HD box), but if I also have to upgrade from digital cable to something more expensive then I would probably not do it.

I had "help" from Direct getting my HDTivo. In addition to buying it online (avoiding the tithe to the state) Direct gave me a one time credit of $200 when I activated it, plus $10 off a month for 6 months - and also free Showtime (w/HD) for 6 months. So $260 of the purchase price was covered in discounts, so the price was not as bad as "full retail". You just have to call customer retention and complain about the high cost, and how Comcast has the same thing for $9.95 per monht or Voom has HD for less, etc. Some folks got a little more, some folks got a little less - there is a thread about this over on the TivoCommunity bbs.

Dennis

The web page is incorrect. You can get a digital cable DVR box with any tier of Comcast service, even Limited Basic (which stilll gets you the local HD channels and INHD 1 & 2). I should know since I have limited basic service and I picked up my 6412 today (upgrading my 6408). They also have remote controls in stock..originally they were out last week. Get 'em while they're hot...

Is there a special location you have to go to in the Nashville area to get one of these, or is there somewhere closer to Franklin that would have one?

Originally posted by mr2828
Is there a special location you have to go to in the Nashville area to get one of these, or is there somewhere closer to Franklin that would have one?

Franklin office did not have them on Friday and the mall has been more rigid about upgrading bixes at the kiosk. I went ahead and drove to metrocenter on Saturday.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
The web page is incorrect. You can get a digital cable DVR box with any tier of Comcast service, even Limited Basic (which stilll gets you the local HD channels and INHD 1 & 2). I should know since I have limited basic service and I picked up my 6412 today (upgrading my 6408). They also have remote controls in stock..originally they were out last week. Get 'em while they're hot...

Did you get the new one at metrocenter? They were out of remotes on saturday.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by bigdomer
The manual says 15 hours of HD or 45 hrs of SD (or obviously a combination in the middle). However, others in the HD recorders foum say only 10 hours. I will let you know what my experience shows. [/QUOTE

By the way...I remembered incorrectly. It is 60 hrs of SD or 15 hrs of HD.

The main headquarters at MetroCenter has 6412s *and* remotes today (Monday). Even I was surprised that the remotes showed up since I had been told last Friday that it would be another two weeks.

Actually, in many ways the older remote (6208) was better. The new remote is a dull deep gray with lots of small lookalike buttons. The older remote was better laid out with buttons you could easily determine their function. The MyDVR button was large and prominent. The new remote has a DVR button, but its been renamed and doesn't look any different than its neighbors. At least the swap button works...I have proven this thing has two working tuners.

The also provided me a combination component video cable + left/right audio cable with the cable box (five total RCA connections). I didn't really need it since I already was using DVI and toslink digital, but it's nice that they are at least eliminating an expensive trip to Circuit City or elsewhere in order to watch HD

Of course it seems to be taking forever for the blasted thing to download the program guides...hopefully by tomorrow it'll be finished.

FYI for anyone else who wants a 6412 and only has limited basic or basic:

I went over to metrocenter today to get one and they gave me a heck of a time about it, but eventually gave in and gave me one with the proviso that they were virtually certain that it wouldn't work unless I subscribed to digital cable. I had to get 3 people there involved, and all 3 of them told me flat out that dual tuner DVRs were not available to me since I have limited basic.

I have it sitting now in front of me hooked up and seems to be working great!

Moral of the story: we know much more about this subject than they do.

P.S. I got the "new" remote, but they forgot to give me a component cable to hookup to my xbr960 and I forgot to ask for it. Make sure to ask them for it if you go.

Darn, it is a regular parade of AVSForum members to MetroCenter :)

I called the other day and was assured I would only have to pay $4.95 more (basic cable + $5 HD box currently) to swap out for the dual tuner box.

I finally had time to go swap boxes today. Other than waiting in line behind some of the dregs of society (finally paying their cable bills to get service restored or arguing over the bill) the trip was pretty simple. Hand them the old box, get the new box. I got the 5 RCA bundle cable which I thought was a nice touch. I also liked the old remote better, the new one is too many same size/shape buttons with hard to read markings.

Just like when I got the HD box, I have lots of channels I don't pay for (all of the premiums in SD and HD) but not all of the ones I am supposed to have (ESPN and Discovery HD). It is taking FOREVER to download the guide, that is really a poor setup. The dual tuner works well and I can toggle from one to the other, rewind, etc. The UI is not nearly as nice as my Tivo, but for the price I can't complain. If I get enough guide info I will try to schedule some stuff to record and see how that plays back Thursday night.

Dennis

Originally posted by mr2828
FYI for anyone else who wants a 6412 and only has limited basic or basic:

I went over to metrocenter today to get one and they gave me a heck of a time about it, but eventually gave in and gave me one with the proviso that they were virtually certain that it wouldn't work unless I subscribed to digital cable. I had to get 3 people there involved, and all 3 of them told me flat out that dual tuner DVRs were not available to me since I have limited basic.

I have it sitting now in front of me hooked up and seems to be working great!

Moral of the story: we know much more about this subject than they do.

P.S. I got the "new" remote, but they forgot to give me a component cable to hookup to my xbr960 and I forgot to ask for it. Make sure to ask them for it if you go.

I've had Comcast's customer service reps in the call center tell me this too. IT IS NOT TRUE! The Comcast head-end systems will accurately program your DVR to whatever package you subscribe to, including basic and limited basic cable. What seems to have happened is that either somebody somewhere tried to make a policy decision that Basic or Limited Basic customers could only have the Moto 5100 box and nothing else, or there is an erroneous rumor going around on the subject. Regardless, this is my second DVR from these guys, the first one (6208) was in my home for months with no issues. What may be happening is that they are trying to keep the 6412's only in the hands of higher revenue customers since the supply of 6412's is probably limited.

And Dwynne, I too was having problems getting the guide to update upon installation (mine went for two days with no program guide info). Call the Comcast call center number at 244-5990 and have them try to reset the box. Mine finally got the message after I removed a splitter in front of the box (You should see the letter "dl" and a spinning box on the display when they reset the box). I'm still having Comcast come out to the house on Friday to see if there is a signal strength issue since the splitter came from Comcast and if I elect to wire more rooms in the house, I'd rather not have any problems with them.

Someone, tell me about the new guide on the 6412. I thought the old DVR's would get upgraded to the new software automatically?? Mine still has the TV guide .

Also, what about the hard drive? Any quieter?

Has anyone received a CableCard from Comcast in Nashville?

If so, how is it working? What does it cost?

Originally posted by McTNN
Someone, tell me about the new guide on the 6412. I thought the old DVR's would get upgraded to the new software automatically?? Mine still has the TV guide .

Also, what about the hard drive? Any quieter?


My HD box had already gotten the new guide before I turned it in and the new box has the same new guide. It is for sure an improvement VS the old one. Of course, I don't use it all that much since I just had the HD box for ESPN HD and the locals (if I had off the air troubles) and an occasional show in INHD.

With 3 Tivos in the same room running plus some computers, this box was not noticeable :)

Dennis

Originally posted by McTNN
Someone, tell me about the new guide on the 6412. I thought the old DVR's would get upgraded to the new software automatically?? Mine still has the TV guide .

Also, what about the hard drive? Any quieter?

The new iGuide software is used on the 6412, the older 6208 and even the non-DVR 5100 (my stepfather still has a non-DVI original 5100 and I noticed it had the new guide last weekend). But it takes a while to update all the boxes in the system....they appear to be done in waves so it seems to depend on your neighborhood.

As far as I can tell, the noise of this unit is no different than the 6208.

As previously noted, I installed the 6412 on Saturday. I still do not have guide info for 3 days forward. I wonder if the thing ever catches up and gives you at least a week.

Ok, I picked up (2) 6412 dual tuners DVR's today. About the same as the 6408 box. The new guide takes some time to learn. Not really quite sure of all those features of the new guide. Browse is more like a mini guide.

The dual tuner feature is not intuitive and I am gadget freak.

Press SWAP and cruise as usual.

PIP does not work and apparently is a software issue that is the case with all the unit deployed by Comcast. I read a thread on another board with lots of comments from users in Dallas. So for now it's swap and that is all.

I read 2Q 2005 but that is not confirmed from any Comcast source.

No stretch feature that I could tell either. Still goofy setup for X1 with aspect changes on the HD channels.

They sent a message to the box saying the guide would arrive on or around
Nov 8. Sometimes I'll unplug the DVR just to kill the hard drive noise and chances are that's why it still has the old software. No way one of these things ever goes into the bedroom until someone builds a quiet(er) DVR.

The comments about the new guide taking a long time to update is concerning. While the TV Guide system was crude and clunky, it loaded the info in a reasonable amount of time, and for the most part was capable enough.....recording HD.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
I too was having problems getting the guide to update upon installation (mine went for two days with no program guide info). Call the Comcast call center number at 244-5990 and have them try to reset the box. Mine finally got the message after I removed a splitter in front of the box (You should see the letter "dl" and a spinning box on the display when they reset the box).

Mine has gotten and lost the guide info several times now. It got some guide info within a few hours after being plugged in, but while playing with the box it reset itself and lost all the guide info. When I got home last night I had a pretty good bit of guide info (looked like 3-4 days) but again while playing with the guide (searching for a show) it appeared to lock up and reboot and lost it all again. After the last reset the menu would not even come up

I will try to call them from work today to have the reset it and see what I have when I get home. Still no ESPN HD or Discovery HD but all the premium HD channels are still there. I hate to complain and lose the free channels, but I would like ESPN HD working by kickoff time Sunday night.

Dennis

I called and had them "hit" this box, but I will not know if it worked until I get home tonight. The guy said it did work - in that he got the correct response back from the box.

BTW, I asked him about "on demand" which has never worked for me and he said he was pretty sure I had to be on a digital package for this to work. He did offer to put me on digital + HBO + on demand for $9.95 a month more for 6 months, but I turned him down (enough is enough, and I get HBO in HD from DirecTV).

It could be that me trying to pull on on demand hoses the box somehow, so I will quit trying to do that :) I guess I will lose all the free channels I had - I like starz and D* does not carry it in HD, but hopefully ESPN HD will be working now.

So I guess you can have basic cable ($45?) + 2 tuner DVR ($10) w/o digital cable. Once football season is over, I may try slipping back to lifeline cable but keep the DVR box and see if that flies.

Dennis
Dennis

So, what's the latest?

Can I get just limited basic and a DVR? Hope so.

Jon

I have limited basic and the dual tuner 6412 I picked up earlier this week is still working great. I am also though only seeing around 3 or 4 days of guide listings. Will it ever get a full week or more?

Originally posted by mr2828
I have limited basic and the dual tuner 6412 I picked up earlier this week is still working great. I am also though only seeing around 3 or 4 days of guide listings. Will it ever get a full week or more?

By "limited basic" or you meaning what they call or used to call "lifeline cable" - which is the locals, CSPAN, and government access. I think it is $14 a month.

I asked the guy on the phone today about the program guide into and he said "I don't know for sure, but I would think it should have at least a week". I will post what I have when I get home and check it.

Dennis

which model remote did you guys get for the 6412. I exchanged mine today for the one with the swap button and it does not look the same at all.. in fact the MY DVR button no longer exists, it just says "LIST". It is a model DRC-800

man, i really like this new menu. Thank god they got rid of those annoying TVguide ads that would take up half the screen, and only show how long the show was in 30 minute intervals. Why would anyone get D* compared to what comcast is offering now. Not ComCrap any longer.

Yes, limited basic is the "lifeline" version.

I also got the DRC800 remote. No sir, I don't like it. At least compared to my dish network remote. No UHF signalling, no 30 second skip button, the buttons have worse tactile feedback, etc. Even compared to my other IR-only remotes, this one seems to have less "power" - have to point it almost directly at the 6412 even from just 8 feet away.

If anyone figures out how to do the 30 second skip, please post it.

Originally posted by mr2828
If anyone figures out how to do the 30 second skip, please post it.

For real, got used to that with the Tivos and miss it on the cable box.

When I got home Friday night I had lost all the free premium channels off the box, but did have Discovery and ESPN in HD as I should. No more trouble with the guide - except for lots of "to be announced" entries - until Sunday evening when it all got wiped out again. I will get it a few more days, but I think I will have to return this box and try another.

Dennis

We need to jump up on down on the heads of Comcast and Sinclaire(sp?) the local WB in now at 1080i.


Jerry

I don't think swapping your 6412 for another one will increase the amount of guide listings. Mine also is still limited to 3-4 days worth. It's doubtful that both of our boxes are broken in that one single specific way. More likely that all 6412s in Nashville have the same issue.

I asked previously and got no response: is anyone seeing a full week or more of listings on their 6412?

30 Second skip: Go look in the "Official 6412/iGuide thread." There are instructions there.

Can someone with a 6412 (or maybe even 6208) try something for me? I've had lots of problems with Digital cable (SD). I can't really rewind or FF live or recorded TV on lots of channels. For instance, 129 BBC America is really bad. So, tune to it and let it record for a minute or two. Then try rewinding at the first or second speed. Does it really go all the way back? Mine doesn't, I get a "Code HW" error message.

After a lot of calls and a couple of service calls, they are now telling me this is the case everywhere in Nashville, which I find hard to believe since I don't see anything here about it. I live in Antioch and have had this problem for months. (Ever since I got a 6208).

The 30 second skip instructions posted elsewhere only apply to the old remote control (the one with a setup button). They don't work for the new one (DRC800).

okay, today i found out something interesting, if you subscribe to any premium channel, you can get access to the OnDemand service for that premium channel for free... doesnt matter if you have "digital tier" cable or not. How cool is that?

at first I was afraid to try it because I didnt want any additional fees, but then I called comcast and the serivce rep confirmed that it is free, so i guess if they charge me, i can yell at them.

anyway, so if anyone's confused, we just have basic cable + HBO + HDTV box. thats it, no digital tier channels like the ones from 100-169 or something in the middle that they normally try and stick you with whenever you sign up for premium service. in fact one cable guy who came to our house when i had service trouble said that if you wanted you could get any of their services with anything else, all you would have to do is be firm with them. Like there are a bunch of people acc to him that have like lifeline cable service (channels 1-13) or something, and HBO or showtime, or just the mexican channels! its news to me.. because i always thought you had to have some basic minimum service in order to get premium services or what not...

but back a few months ago, when we originally started to subscribe to HBO, i tried the ondemand thing, and it didnt work, which is what i expected since we didnt have "digital tier cable" that costs the extra $15. but today it works... and comcast says it should be that way. Whatever, cool i guess, just thought i'd share


btw, i'd much rather have TNT HD than FOX or WB, sinclair can suck it

I'd much rather have all three.

Originally posted by mr2828
The 30 second skip instructions posted elsewhere only apply to the old remote control (the one with a setup button). They don't work for the new one (DRC800).

i dont know which remote you're talking about, but we have this silver looking one, and if you open the part that contains batteries, it has a jp 1.1 connection, supposedly you could reprogram it if you wanted. In fact, the cable guy "punched through" the volume button on that remote, so no matter what device i select for the remote to operate (TV, Cable, Aux, etc), the volume control always controls my Onkyo reciever. if yours has that jp 1.1 slot, you could forseeably reprogram a button to do what you wanted with relative ease...

Vondo, re: moto 6208

FF and REW works fine on digital channels 100-168. FF2 FF3 FF4 and REW2 REW3 REW4 will sometimes lock up. Seems to happen a lot on NFL Network.

Freaking weird...

That's what I saw with my 6208's. But, the channels are consistent. For instance, I never have a problem with 122 on any speed, but never got 129 to really work.

Originally posted by mr2828
I don't think swapping your 6412 for another one will increase the amount of guide listings. Mine also is still limited to 3-4 days worth. It's doubtful that both of our boxes are broken in that one single specific way. More likely that all 6412s in Nashville have the same issue.

I asked previously and got no response: is anyone seeing a full week or more of listings on their 6412?

I'm only seeing three days at most as well. This seems to be a Comcast issue in general, not specific to any of us. You don't appreciate the two weeks of program guides you get with Tivo until you try another service that doesn't have it.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
okay, today i found out something interesting, if you subscribe to any premium channel, you can get access to the OnDemand service for that premium channel for free... doesnt matter if you have "digital tier" cable or not. How cool is that?

........


but back a few months ago, when we originally started to subscribe to HBO, i tried the ondemand thing, and it didnt work, which is what i expected since we didnt have "digital tier cable" that costs the extra $15. but today it works... and comcast says it should be that way. Whatever, cool i guess, just thought i'd share


btw, i'd much rather have TNT HD than FOX or WB, sinclair can suck it

But does OnDemand extend to HBO HD or just the SD channel?

And I agree, Sinclair can suck it, but they have the Super Bowl this year in our market and I have no way to get them over the air because of terrain (Bellevue). :(

Originally posted by jl1718
We need to jump up on down on the heads of Comcast and Sinclaire(sp?) the local WB in now at 1080i.


They have UPCONVERTED 1080i - they are passing no HD content so I would not expect Comcast to get in any hurry. The same is true for Fox (almost no prime time HD content) and channel 8 (lacks the ability to pass HD). I WOULD like to see "Enterprise" in HD on UPN, though - I can pick it up if they ever broadcast it.....

Dennis

Originally posted by vondo
30 Second skip: Go look in the "Official 6412/iGuide thread." There are instructions there.


After wading through all the posts it seems this will not work with the new remote - only the old one (which I turned in with the HD box). Maybe someone in the area could host a "remote party" where we all bring over a programmable remote and learn this IR sequence :) ?

Dennis

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
But does OnDemand extend to HBO HD or just the SD channel?



no, its just all SD stuff, but the list is fairly comprehensive. its a nice feature (if indeed its free) HD or no.

Subscribing to this thread. :)

Originally posted by dwynne
After wading through all the posts it seems this will not work with the new remote - only the old one (which I turned in with the HD box). Maybe someone in the area could host a "remote party" where we all bring over a programmable remote and learn this IR sequence :) ?

Dennis

If you work downtown and want to stop by Vanderbilt, I'll bring in my remote. For Pronto and (I think) Harmony owners, there are codes out there on other boards. I've got a Pronto 3000 file I can send to anyone who wants it.

Originally posted by vondo
If you work downtown and want to stop by Vanderbilt, I'll bring in my remote. For Pronto and (I think) Harmony owners, there are codes out there on other boards. I've got a Pronto 3000 file I can send to anyone who wants it.

My daughter works at Vandy so I get down there from time to time to take her to lunch, but I DO have one of the original Pronto remotes. I assume any of the Pronto codes will work on my "early adopter" version Pronto?

Thanks!
Dennis

I would think so. I don't have the hex code at hand right now, but do a search and you should find them for mute, swap (both useful for 6412) and 30sec skip for 6208/6412.

If you don't find it, let me know.

I set my Comcast DVR to record the Colts game on 5 in HD today (so I didn't miss the start while eating lunch with the family). Big mistake - nothing but freezes, drop outs, and pixels. I checked and channel 2 in HD is also hosed, but all the other HD channels are OK. I should have programmed the HD Tivo to record it off the air, since that was fine.

Anyone else having this problem with the locals in HD today?

BTW, the Cowboys game on Fox in HD is breaking up on my HDTivo. Seems to be a low signal level, since all the other locals seem fine.

Some days you just can't win :(

Dennis

not here in nolensville/brentwood... it was crystal clear as the colts dominated. i didnt see any hiccups although i only saw most of the first and 3, 4th quarters, didnt see any of the second...

I just re-checked and 2 and 5 are fine in HD on the Comcast box now....

Dennis

Are INHD & INDH2 still down for everyone here? I read over in the main hdtv programming thead that their satellite died, but it seems many local comcast cities have already resolved this issue and gotten these channels back, but so far my 6412 tells me they are still gone here in Franklin.

They are down here as well.

BTW, my box lost the guide info again this morning, so I guess I will be taking it back for a swap out at Comcast this week.

Dennis

Hi guys. I'm an HD virgin...I've read the entire thread and I just want to make sure I am doing the right thing.

I just placed an order for a Sony 36" WEGA HDTV, model KD-36XS955. I can't stand projection TVs, and this was the largest HD tube I could find.

The Sony KD-36XS955 has a CableCard slot and a built-in HDTV tuner. That means I should be able to get HD channels without needing a cable box, right?

I tried calling Comcast to verify everything with them, and all they did was confuse me. First, they said the CableCard is $15/month. I told them I thought it was provided for free, and please check again. Then they said the actual CableCard is free, but you have to subscribe to digital cable. I told them I don't want digital cable, I just want my regular channels in HD. Ultimately, they said to drop by Mainstream Drive and pick up a CableCard, and I should get the networks and a couple other channels for free. But that took 25 minutes to figure out, most of which was spent on hold as the CSR told me she doesn't know much about HD and needed to ask someone else about it. I am an HD newbie, and I felt like I almost knew more about it than they did. So I wasn't left with total confidence that I had ultimately been given the correct answer.

Can anyone verify this for me, that the CableCard and regular (non-premium) HD channels are free, and that's all I need to be able and watch HD on this TV?

Also, what are the current HD channels I should expect to receive? I assume ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, ESPN and Discovery, and then there are two INHD channels, correct?

Thanks in advance for the help.

Folks,

Pardon the interruption, but I'm wondering if anyone watched the "Seinfeld" special on Thanksgiving Night on WSMV-DT? Did anyone have problems with the audio or video? I'm trying to compare complaints in other markets to see if they also showed up in Nashville. Thanks for your help.

Just post it here, and I'll check back.

Hey, does the new Comcast/Moto DVR have an active Firewire output that'll work with a Mitsubishi TV? And does it also have a coax digital out?

Thanks!

-John

Originally posted by hphase
Folks,

Pardon the interruption, but I'm wondering if anyone watched the "Seinfeld" special on Thanksgiving Night on WSMV-DT? Did anyone have problems with the audio or video? I'm trying to compare complaints in other markets to see if they also showed up in Nashville. Thanks for your help.

Just post it here, and I'll check back.

Watched the entire hour. HD except for the clips. Very enjoyable.

ToddlerTN,

My understanding is that the cable card is free with a limited basic subscription. This includes HD channels WKRN, WSMV, WTVF, INHD and INHD2 as well as twenty or so analog stations. Digital cable is not required to get this package. Total cost is about $12/mo.

ESPN-HD and Discovery HD are included in the $45/mo. basic plan. FoxHD and PBS-HD are not available to Comcast.

i saw the seinfeld hour long special, we had 0 interruptions. wish all the clips were in HD, that would have been a great surprise, but i gladly take what i can get.

Sorry, don't know how this post showed up again this morning.

Originally posted by John Williams
Hey, does the new Comcast/Moto DVR have an active Firewire output that'll work with a Mitsubishi TV? And does it also have a coax digital out?

Thanks!

-John

Comcast now offers the 6412 Moto DVR in the Nashville market. It's Firewire port is active and is controllable from Mitusbishi's NetCommand software (I have a Mitsu 65813). With the current firmware, the Firewire port is AV/C compliant, but not HaVI compliant, so while the Mits can schedule the taping of a show from the Moto to a firewire equipped DVHS player or capable home theater PC, you're not going to see the rich HaVi features like the Moto's program guides in the Mits' Netcommand screens.

Finally, the 6412 has both coax and toslink connectors for digital sound.

I am getting nervous about the Superbowl. Any rumors on Fox17?

why do you care? titans arent going anyway... screw sinclair and fox, i wont beg

I currently have a non-HD DirecTiVo with 80 hours of recording time. I understand the 6412 can only record 15 hours of HD. Noone I can reach at Comcast can tell me if I can parallel two 6512's and use one for HD and the other for SD feeding both into my HD TV. Has anyone tried this?

Also, is a digital cable box required in addition to the 6412?

Thanks

Jon

You do not need an additional box. You can certainly rent two 6412s and use one for HD and one for SD (or any combination). Seems like it would be burdensome to maintain two guides.

I think that some smart folks on the HD recorder subforum are working on firewire or usb harddrive additions to the 6412 - that may be a better option for you.

Thanks. I'll have a look.

Any word on comcast adding hd channels???

did you guys notice the new mode in the service menu for 480 override?

its now 480p, 480i, off, and stretch

what does stretch mode do exactly? i usually leave it at 480p, but that causes a momentary flicker when changing from 480p to 1080i. but when "stretch" mode, there is no flicker whatsoever, and it stretches the picture to fill the screen.

its like "off" mode, as thats the only one that doesnt have flicker when going from hd to sd, but off mode has black bars, while "stretch mode" doesnt

is it a non-linear stretch or a zoom mode or what?

Whoa, my 6208 DVR (with the old TV Guide menu) is showing INHD listings clear through January 6, 2005. This sure beats the five days forward limit we've been getting. Verrrry cool.

What about you guys with the 6412's?

Is anybody in Nashville using a connection from the Comcast 5100 box to a TV via a DVI - HDMI cable? I have tried this, but I consistantly get a nice picture for about 3-4 seconds, and then it blacks out. I power off/or uplug of the cable box is the only way I can get it to come back on for that short period of time. I read the entire thread, but didn't see any tricks other than powering the cable box on last.

The TV is a Toshiba 46HM94 if that matters.

Firmware is 8.12 with a software version of 70.47. Also, when I go into Interface Status, it shows "DVI PORT - Device Connected NO" even though the TV is connected (I have to switch over to the component output to get this info).

TIA!

Hmmmm....have you tried a new cable? I know those things are expensive. You also might see if Comcast will swap out the box. I'm using the DVI output and haven't had any problems, but I'm on the new DVR box from Comcast with firmware 9.12.

Originally posted by leewcraft
Hmmmm....have you tried a new cable? I know those things are expensive. You also might see if Comcast will swap out the box. I'm using the DVI output and haven't had any problems, but I'm on the new DVR box from Comcast with firmware 9.12. I haven't tried another cable yet. I'll give that a try next I guess.

Thanks!

One more question regarding the cable, I have what I thought was a DVI-D/HDMI cable. After further research it sounds like I have a single link DVI to HDMI cable. (no pins surrounding the large pin, and 2 banks of 9 pins each (total of 18). Could this cause the problem? It's a cheapo cable. I might go ahead and try a Monster cable once the holidays are over.

I was able once to get it to work perfectly. I was able to switch channels, etc without any problems. However when I turned the cable box off (just the cable box) and turned it back on, I was back where I started. I'm stumped.

I'd at least swap out the 5100 for a 6208 DVR to see if the firmware change will matter for you...it just might. Get the 6412 if you want the 2-DVR model. Otherwise, you may be looking at getting a different cable. I'd also ping the other Toshiba owners in the RPTV forum to see if they have seen similar issues.

It looks like Nashville Comcast is shortly going to activate channel 185. It is listed on the directory as "To be announced". Does anyone have an idea what it will be?

That's interesting. 185 used to be ABC News Now, which is a multicast SD channel from WKRN. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but today is the day that ESPN2-HD launches. Hmmmm.......

I would prefer WZTV-HD :D

Dennis

Originally posted by dwynne
I would prefer WZTV-HD. Simple. Over the air antenna. Done.

That doesn't really help if you want your shiny new 6412 dual tuner hdtv dvr to record the 24 premier on Sunday. I'm also hoping for WZTV.

I'm new to the forum and would like some feedback on Nashville Comcast PQ vs. D* (current D* customer). I am familiar with the programming differences between the two. The only HD signal I've received is OTA, which looks fantastic. How will that compare to the two options mentioned above? I've heard of inconsistencies with D* PQ and that HD cable varies by market. Obviously Comcast pricing is more attractive. HELP and any info is much appreciated. I want to be fully informed before dropping serious cash on a HD D* receiver. Thanks in advance!

it would cost you like 10-30 more dollars for the same service comcast offers with D* in nashville, if you have like 5 or 6 tvs that is. IMO comcast is awesome, their HD channels are great quality, no real pixellation, no disruptions in service. I hate D*, we have that at my apt at school and its very annoying anytime it gets cloudy or rains or something. anyway, someone there has a 35 inch tv and the SD channels look awful. I really dont like satalite service. Comcast has even improved their guides, which was my biggest complaint. anyway, i think i'll go hug my cable box now, brb.

Originally posted by ihal
I'm new to the forum and would like some feedback on Nashville Comcast PQ vs. D* (current D* customer). I am familiar with the programming differences between the two. The only HD signal I've received is OTA, which looks fantastic. How will that compare to the two options mentioned above? I've heard of inconsistencies with D* PQ and that HD cable varies by market. Obviously Comcast pricing is more attractive. HELP and any info is much appreciated. I want to be fully informed before dropping serious cash on a HD D* receiver. Thanks in advance!

Comcast high definition quality in Nashville is the same as OTA, which is superior to the Directv HD signal. I'd rate Comcast digital--- channels 101-168---as slightly better than those same offerings on D*. Where Comcast falls short is in the analog tier....when passed through the Motorola HD-DVR....viewed on a digital TV. Very grainy and lacking any pop. A simple RG6 conncection run directly to an analog TV is the best way to go for channels 1-99. That setup combined with a CRT gives great results.

I prefer Comcast for several reasons. Among them, no one year commitment as well as better overall picture quality. Ten bucks a month for a Motorola 6412, which includes the cost of the high definition programming. If Comcast customers were asked to pay $1000 for the DVR, plus $50/mo to use it, people would scream bloody murder. Yet, thats exactly what Directv asks of its customers.

I too agree that the Comcast HD signal blows away the D* signal. It's not even close.

Originally posted by jhstn58
I too agree that the Comcast HD signal blows away the D* signal. It's not even close.

That's interesting because I've always thought the digital cable channels look really bad. The channel I watch most is 122, Fine Living. I see lots of compression artifacts and it looks, IMO, worse than broadcast on my 65" RPTV. Do other people see that the basic digital channels are better than analog?

Originally posted by jhstn58
I too agree that the Comcast HD signal blows away the D* signal. It's not even close.

I have HBO and Sho HD via the HDTivo - plus the locals OTA and the Sunday Ticket HD games. Plus I have the $10 DVR from Comcast with ESPN HD, INHD1/2, DiscHD, and the locals in HD. I would not say the image from Comcast blows the D* image away - both look fine on my RP set. It is not apples to apples since I don't have the same channels on both, but when I first got my STBs from Comcast I had the premiums in HD and I don't think they looked any better either.

I opted for the $5-10 STB from Comcast rather than pay D* for their rather lame for the price "HD Package".

I did get a nice discount on the HDTivo and it does work MUCH nicer than the Comcast DVR plus I have 2 250gb in it now so it has LOTS more storage. But, if someone was buying now it would be hard to pass up $10 a month VS several hundred for the D* box. I am going to have to swap out my Comcast box since it acts up a lot - and they really need to put a larger hard drive in it, but it is a "steal" for $10 added to your cable bill.

Dennis

Originally posted by vondo
That's interesting because I've always thought the digital cable channels look really bad. The channel I watch most is 122, Fine Living. I see lots of compression artifacts and it looks, IMO, worse than broadcast on my 65" RPTV. Do other people see that the basic digital channels are better than analog?

Yeah, Fine Living can look a bit busy with the artifacting. Now that you mention it, I always had good luck on channels 1-99 with the old 5100 box on a RPTV using a DVI connection. My LCD TV's struggle with the analog. They really shine when fed a diet of digital.

My comment was directed at the HD channels only. I watch D* for everything else.

I've dug as deeply in the Comcrap website as I know how and cannot find a breakout by what channels are analog and what are digital. I'll only want a digital converter on one of my sets but would like to know what the others will receive without one.

Who has an idea where I can get this information?

Jon

Go to the Comcast home page (http://www.comcast.com/default.html) and click on "My Channel Lineup" (right side of the page about the middle of the screen) then put in your ZIP code (if it does not already have a cookie set).

I think everything that is not a premium channel up through 99 should be an analog channel you can get without a STB. I would have to check a TV at the house to be sure where it stops - but around 99.

Dennis

we have like two digital tvs, and 3 analog tvs, the picture of the non hd channels look really good on the analog sets without the cable box. but on the cable box, they all look awful except the HD channels. to be honest though, i havent seen a great picture on an HDTV of an SD channel, box or no. In nashville though, comcast is still a great deal.

Hi guys, I am having some issues with my HDTV- Currently, on all HD channels I now have black bars at the top and bottom of the screen. It didn't used to be like this. The HD broadcasts always filled the screen. I am pretty sure its not the TV because analog broadcasts stretch to fill the screen and 1:78 DVDS fill the screen as well.

I was running DVI to my Panny TV and I thought maybe I could try component to see if the problem still exists. It does. I have unplugged the Comcast DVR- 6408 and still it exists. Has anyone heard of this problem? I havent called Comcast yet, because I wanted to make sure it wasnt something I did to cause it.

Duh, I just called Comcast and problem solved. Somehow my cable box defaulted back to 480i mode. I turned off the power and hit the menu button. It then allowed me to change to 1080i.

Should have called tech support earlier. Oh well, lesson learned.

Originally posted by Jon J
Who has an idea where I can get this information?


Use the list at the link I provided in the earlier message. These are the channels you can get (analog) with "basic cable" ($45)with no STB. If you have "digital cable" and a STB on another TV these would still be available on any other sets in the house you connect to the cable.

2-6,8-15,17-66,69-75,96,98-99

Dennis

who here knows how to hardwire the volume control buttons for AUX input on all the various modes (tv, cable, aux) on the comcast HD remote? this cable contractor came and did it for one remote but my folks got another one and i dont know how to do it on this one. it is not explained in the manual nor should it be but i know it can work.

also, have any of you reprogrammed that remote using the JP1.1 connection in the battery compartment?


EDIT: thanks Jim, that really helped.

I assume you have already unlocked the volume control from the default setting of TV. In that case, simply press the AUX button, then press and hold the setup button until the AUX button blinks twice, press 9-9-3, then AUX again. The volume controls should then be locked on AUX regardless of what device mode you are actually in.

I may be mistaken, but I believe I read that the remote is in fact NOT programmable through the JP1 connection.

You know, Dennis, it looks like someone at Comcrap would be smart enough to come up with a way to indicate which of the channels are analog, doesn't it? ;)

Originally posted by Jon J
I've dug as deeply in the Comcrap website as I know how and cannot find a breakout by what channels are analog and what are digital. I'll only want a digital converter on one of my sets but would like to know what the others will receive without one.

Who has an idea where I can get this information?

Jon

Comcast channels 2-79 are old style "cable-ready" analog. Most everything else is "digital cable" except for the HD channels and music channels, which are standard ATSC MPEG-2 format.

okay, i have a quandry. I think i have for the first time an opportunity to watch the Superbowl at home. Usually I hve an exam or something on monday to do, so I cant usually make it home, but this time none! So i'm gonna go home and head back up on monday, but ther eis one problem.


no foxHD on comcast!!!11 So what should I do? I was thinking about buying an OTA box and getting an antenna to see if I can get FoxHD. any recomenndations? Do these things have a DVI out interface? I live in South Nolensville road, like on the border to Brentwood, about a mile from where Concord Road meets Nolensville Road (sugar valley). what are my chances of easily getting fox reception in this area? could it be done with an indoor antenna or rabbit ears i got laying around?

when we first moved in, it was very easy to get ABC, but thats about it... please let me know if you guys have some advice.

Try the Nashville OTA forum. MY guess is a sirt 151 samsung for the box. I'm not sure about the antenna. Go somewhere with a good return poilcy.

Jerry

hey, do you know that one website everyone uses to figure out how far away they are from the antenna or whatnot? i dont know what to search for....


nvm: antennaweb found it...

This is a bit off topic, but nonetheless maybe beneficial to members who watch this thread.


To all,

As many of you know, Comcast will be raising the upload and download speeds for all Comcast High-Speed Internet customers. Thees upgraded speeds will be given to all customers at no additional costs. The following explains the new speed tiers we will be moving to:


Current New
(down/up) (down/up)
Base service: 3Mbps/256kbps 4Mbps/384kbps
$10 add-on
speed tier: 4Mbps/384kbps 6Mbps/768kbps



On January 26th, by roughly 1:00pm EST, the following markets should be updated to the new speeds:

Albuquerque, NM
Ann Arbor, MI
Auburn Hills, MI
Augusta, GA
Boston, Ma
Chesterfield, VA
Charleston, SC
Chattanooga, TN
Connecticut
Dallas, GA
Dallas, TX
Delaware
Detroit City, MI
FL - West
Fort Wayne, IN
Hattiesburg, MS
Huntsville, AL
** Indianapolis, IN delayed
Independence, MO
Knoxville, TN
Lake County, FL
Little Rock, AR
Maryland
Meridian, MS
Mobile, AL
Muncie, IN
Naples, FL
Nashville, TN
NJ - North
NJ - South
Olathe, KS
PA - Central
PA - Metro (Philadelphia)
Paducah, KY
Panama City, FL
Pima, AZ
**Pittsburgh, PA scheduled for Jan 31
Portland, OR
Savannah, GA
** Springfield, IN delayed
Springfield, MI
Tallahassee, FL
TN - East
Tuscaloosa, AL
Virginia
Washington, DC


If you reside in any of the above mentioned areas, you will need to power-cycle your modem in order to obtain these new speeds. To power-cycle your modem, turn off your computer, unplug the power cord to the modem, wait 1 minute, re-connect power cord to the modem and wait for modem to come back online (usually about 1-5 minutes to come back online), then restart the computer. Also, these speeds are estimated to go live by 1:00pm EST today. If you do live in one of these areas, have power-cycled your modem and have not received the new speeds, please try peridically power-cycling throughout the day to see if your modem will aquire the new config files.

If your market is not in the above list, your area will be receiving the update at a later time. This is the most up-to-date list at this time and we ask that you please not contact Comcast to inquire when your city will receive the upgrade as our customer service representatives will have no additional information about schedules for this upgrade for cities not in the list above.

All Comcast markets are expected to be updated to these speeds by March 31, 2005.

There have been a few other threads in the Comcast forums and other forums that are showing detailed lists of the markets that are receiving these updates. For the most part these lists are correct but a small number of markets have changed. We will be updating this thread with the most up-to-date information that we have available so please check back frequently if your area is not included in the above list.

Since the speed upgrade is a popular topic in the forums, we will keep this thread locked and we will update it when new information becomes available. This way it will be easy to provide the updates to you so they will not get lost in a long thread of posts. If you have any questions or comments regarding these speed upgrades or if you live in one of the areas mentioned above but are still not receiving the speed increase, please post a reply in this thread or start a new topic in this forum and we will do our best to provide an answer to your questions.

Interestng. The best I've gotten with Comcast is 1.5 Mbps. Normal would be around 1.2 to 1.3

Anyone know of a forum geared to broadband in the Nashville area?

i'd be really interested if the upstream was improved, if it really goes from 30kbps cap to 256-384kbps that would be totally awesome.

Well, I have decided to go back to the dark side and get Comcast again. :eek:

I have been a Dish customer, but I really wanted an HD DVR, and it doesn't look like Dish will lease one to me. I am not about to spend $550 on the 921 or $750 on the 942 if both will be obsolete after a year.

I am getting two PVRs and a regular digital cable box for my 3 TVs (one is HD). How would you recommend hooking up the two PVRs? For my HDTV, I was going to use my DVI-HDMI cable to connect it (just like my E* 811 receiver). For my non-HDTV, I was going to use S-video (assuming the PVR has it). I only have one set of component inputs on it, and one of my DVD players is using it.

Does this sound right?

Mostly, it boils down to personal preference, and to a lesser extent, the type of TV you are using. DVI and component both work well with my equipment. DVI is brighter and has less overscan, but I find component equally pleasing. There is one S-video and RCA out, plus coaxial and optical out for Dolby 5.1.

I think you be will be reasonably happy with the DVR's. Welcome back to the "dark side"

I have heard something about the Superbowl was going to be aired in HD? This came from my mothers boyfriend who read something in the Tennessean about it.

I can't find the article, but he said it was in the past few days. He remembers the key words : HD, Sinclair Broadcasting, and they were going to air the superbowl and one other show.

Does anyone know anything about this?

Sinclair is definitely airing the Super Bowl in HD over the air, but it looks unlikely we'll be able to get it on Comcast. Here's the blurb from the Tennessean:


Hi-def update: With just nine days before the Super Bowl it appears unlikely many Nashville-are viewers will get to see it in hi-definition television. No agreement has been reached between providers Comcast, DirecTV or Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcasting, owner of Nashville's Fox affiliate. The Feb. 6 game is on Fox and the local affiliate is negotiating with all three providers but has not yet reached an agreement. Sinclair Broadcasting General Manager Steve Mann did not return phone calls from The Tennessean yesterday.

I have a LG 4200A and i am getting all the Locals OTA, when i plug in to cable and switch it to cable on the LG i can get INHD 1 and 2 but i can't get the Locals. 2-1, 4-1, 5-1 it will give me a black screen and then i will have to turn off the box and back on to get INHD agian.
anyone else having this problem.
thanks
tihS

If you get INHD1 at 102-1 and INHD2 at 102-2, then ABC is 81-2, CBS is 81-5 and NBC is 83-4.

I Tried that and All i get is a blank screen and to then to tune in 102.1 i have to turn it off and back on. I have good siginal on 81-2 but no picture or sound.

Originally posted by leewcraft
Sinclair is definitely airing the Super Bowl in HD over the air, but it looks unlikely we'll be able to get it on Comcast. Here's the blurb from the Tennessean:


Hi-def update: With just nine days before the Super Bowl it appears unlikely many Nashville-are viewers will get to see it in hi-definition television. No agreement has been reached between providers Comcast, DirecTV or Dish Network and Sinclair Broadcasting, owner of Nashville's Fox affiliate. The Feb. 6 game is on Fox and the local affiliate is negotiating with all three providers but has not yet reached an agreement. Sinclair Broadcasting General Manager Steve Mann did not return phone calls from The Tennessean yesterday.

Man, aint that some bull crap. Such extortion should not be permitted by the FCC.
These jokers at Sinclair need to get dealt with.

I refuse to go out and spend more money over their guerrillaesque tactics. I pay enough money to Comcast each month. :angry:

http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=10&screen=news&news_id=39006

This is from today's City Paper. The Super Bowl will definitely not be broadcast on Comcast. :(

This is the main reason I am waiting till next Tuesday to switch from Dish to Comcast. At least with Dish and its built in OTA tuner, I can get FOX HD from my home. ;)

Has anyone ever asked why cable boxes don't have OTA tuners? I guess it would be a cost issue more than anything else, but it would solve some of the problems like this one.

Originally posted by snowcat
http://www.nashvillecitypaper.com/index.cfm?section=10&screen=news&news_id=39006

This is from today's City Paper. The Super Bowl will definitely not be broadcast on Comcast. :(



The dude in the article needs to visit antennaweb.org...

from City Paper
Gish, who has tried three separate over-the-air antenna setups at his home off White Bridge Road, says WZTV's signal just phases in and out despite his residence being physically close to the station's transmitter on Knob Road.


rf

I use the voom ota antenna in murfreesboro and I get fox 17 hd just fine.

I have been away from Comcast for a little over two years now, and it appears to have really changed in that time. The HD-PVR boxes is what really has me sold, but On Demand looks to be a real winner too.

I didn't realize that Comcast had Anime Network On Demand programming. :cool: I am also looking foward to NFL Network (though it won't be as useful in the offseason),which I didn't have with Dish.

The only channel that I don't see in the Comcast lineup that Dish had is Turner South. I am a big Braves fan, but I guess I can miss a few games this year. :rolleyes:

Hopefully, sometime Comcast and Sinclair will agree to broadcast FOX and WB in HD. Otherwise, I guess I can get an OTA tuner, since I know I can pick up both of those channels that way.

Originally posted by dscconway
I use the voom ota antenna in murfreesboro and I get fox 17 hd just fine.

That's because you have a better line of sight from the southeast of Nashville. Us west Nashville folk are tearing our hair out right now due to all the hills over here.

Fox HD on Comcast? I Tune Channel 83-2 and it changes over to Channel 6-1 WZTV, my lg box will not pick up locals on comcast. some one else that can try and see what you get.
Tihs

friend of mie just called...

said george plaster just announced on his radio show that a deal with sinclair had been reached and that the superbowl would be in HD on comcast 183 !

anyone else who can confirm this ? also, (as i just dropped $200 on a tuner yesterday), did anyone hear if fox will stay in HD or is it just for the superbowl ?..

hope it's true

stephen

Fox17 is on channel 183!!!!!!!

Originally posted by sshep12345
did anyone hear if fox will stay in HD or is it just for the superbowl ?..


Yeah, me too. I wonder if this means they will also carry WB-HD, which is also owned by Sinclair?

Just got an update from Comcast, and we now have Fox HD!! Yes, I am watching King of the Hill in HD right now!!!!! Thank you Comcast, and hello Superbowl HD!!!!! Awesome. . . .

yeah, just saw that. is this temprary or forever? and how much extra are we going to pay?

Sweet, but don't put your STB up for sale on Ebay...yet. This is not a long term deal nor do we have WB58.

Originally posted by McTNN
Sweet, but don't put your STB up for sale on Ebay...yet. This is not a long term deal nor do we have WB58.

I was wondering if this would just be throughout the weekend, just for the Super Bowl. I wonder if this will be permanent.... I was able to go 2 weeks ahead in the guide for schedules, but on that same note, I notice that you can't browse 183 when looking at the HD schedules.

i called comcast twice, they said its permanent. I asked about rate hikes, the guy asked his supervisor, and none of them know anything. in fact they didnt even know they were broadcasting on that channel until i basically told him. they said the decision came down from comcast hq or something. anyway, today, not even 3 hours ago, i went to sears and circuit city to buy an OTA recieverr and an antenna. hooked them up, set it up, and started measuring the signal strength on Fox17 while King of the hill was on, and I see the little banner at the bottom.

I felt happy that we have it on comcast, sad that I spent all that time and money for basically nothing. Sometimes procrastination pays off, i wish i had...

It's not permanate, its a seven city deal just for the super bowl. They continue to work on a long term deal. In the main hdtv forum they sy they may also have a temp deal for the 500.

i doubt they will shut it off though after the superbowl... have you ever seen a company that gives you a channel then takes it away?

not that i care, i refuse to pay for Fox if thats what it takes to keep it permanent. especially after football season

yeah last seasons superbowl deal between cbs and directv

Wohoooo!!!

So for sure, no one knows if this is permanent or temporary. I guess I am just happy for it to work for the superbowl.

As someone above alluded to, I will stand for a rate hike for this station channel. Either Comcast needs to eat the loss or Sinclair needs to take a hike.

Future is still clouded, I managed to find the press release.

http://www.sbgi.net/press/release_200524_99.shtml

Super Bowl to be Carried in High Def on Comcast Cable System


BALTIMORE (February 4, 2005) - Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. (Nasdaq:
SBGI) is pleased to announce that it has reached an agreement in principle
with Comcast to offer its high-definition signals, including coverage of
this weekend's Super Bowl XXXIX in six markets where Sinclair owns and/or
programs a FOX affiliate.

Carriage of the FOX digital signals should begin immediately in the
following Comcast markets: Baltimore (WBFF-TV), Pittsburgh (WPGH-TV),
Nashville (WZTV-TV), Richmond (WRLH-TV), Charleston, SC (WTAT-TV), and
Paducah, KY (KBSI-TV).

Under the agreement in principle, the FOX digital signals will be
available in time for viewers with Comcast's HD service to enjoy the
ultimate television viewing experience for what is traditionally the
highest rated television program of the year. Comcast customers can check
local listings for channel numbers.

The companies will continue discussions with the hope of reaching a
final definitive agreement for Sinclair's digital signals in the next
couple of weeks.

Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc., one of the largest and most diversified
television broadcasting companies, currently owns and operates, programs or
provides sales services to 62 television stations in 39 markets.
Sinclair's television group reaches approximately 24% of U.S. television
households and includes ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, WB, and UPN affiliates.
###


Back

It really sounds like it will be permanent.

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050204/phf025_1.html

Now I wish I had the Comcast installer come out Sunday morning instead of Tuesday. ;) Oh well, at least my OTA tuner still works pretty well.

Wow. Oh well, at least I get to play with Voom for a short while. :)

Price would almost certainly be a term of an agreement in principle, although it is rather strange that the deal applies only to six markets. Perhaps these markets agreed to pay for Fox. the agreement in principle may set forth a price range, with the exact price to be determined in the definitive.

I wonder what happens to the markets that get Nashville stations but not Comcast cable...:confused:

For instance, Charter is in Clarksville. For some reason, they get only NBC and CBS in HD (at least they did this past summer).

I would imagine that those markets will still be without FOX HD (except via antenna).

Originally posted by jhstn58
...although it is rather strange that the deal applies only to six markets. Maybe these are the only Comcast markets where Sinclair owns the Fox affilitate. I hope Sinclair is compensated fairly for a product for which Comcast is paid.

I have one complaint about the new channel 183. They named it WZTV, which is the same as channel 6 in the guide. This likely will cause a known problem with the motorola 6412 dual-tuner DVRs where if you schedule a series recording on the HD channel, it tends to mess up and record the old analog channel by accident when both channels are named identically. So far this hasn't been an issue for us in Nashville since the other HD network channels have a "D" in front of the name. If anyone from Comcast reads this thread, please consider renaming channel 183 to DWZTV, thanks.

Good news about the Superbowl and WZTV, although I rarely watch anything apart from football, Arrested Development, and Frasier reruns on 17.

Does anyone know what's going on with WNPT (PBS)?

dude, its brand new. if you try and add 183 as a favorite channel, it doesnt work. acc to the CSRs, noone really knew it would get added until geeky customers who hang out here told them about it.
all i know and read on the main HD forum was that comcast isnt likely to budge on paying for the xmission, but they worked out other forms of compensation. I hope they write about it in the tennessean or something and let people know that foxHD is up and running on comcast.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
I hope they write about it in the tennessean or something and let people know that foxHD is up and running on comcast.

It was in today' (Sat) Tennessean, right on the front page. :cool:

For QAM users, Fox is at 83-6. Also, college basketball at 86-4 thru 86-9. Movies sometimes on 103-10, 104-25, 105-40 and 106-55.

Well when/if my VOOM goes dark hopefully I wont have to worry about STB.

Jerry

I seriously hope that Comcast has DVR boxes set away for installs this week. The Tennessean mentioned today that by 11:30 yesterday morning, 3 of the 4 Comcast locations were out of boxes that receive HD signals, which I would assume would include DVRs.

My install is set for Tuesday with 2 DVRs, and I hope I don't get screwed. :(

That's great that FOX is now available on Comcast. However, Sinclair also owns UPN and WB in the Nashville market. Any word on when they'll be added? Apparently Comcast already had their trigger fingers ready to add FOX because it went on channel 183 right after the deal was made. I still want UPN and WB, though!

Is comcrap passing 5.1?

So how did the game look/sound on Comcast?

Originally posted by Doctor
That's great that FOX is now available on Comcast. However, Sinclair also owns UPN and WB in the Nashville market. Any word on when they'll be added? Apparently Comcast already had their trigger fingers ready to add FOX because it went on channel 183 right after the deal was made. I still want UPN and WB, though!

UPN isn't broadcasting in HD in Nashville, even OTA. I do hope WB gets added, but its only been a month since it has been broadcasting in HD.

Originally posted by snowcat
UPN isn't broadcasting in HD in Nashville, even OTA. I do hope WB gets added, but its only been a month since it has been broadcasting in HD.

It looked pretty good, IMO.

Does anyone know why the games broadcasted on ESPN looks so much better than the CBS and FOX games? Is it because the CBS and FOX games are running 720, while the ESPN games are going in 1080?

It's actually the other way around...CBS is 1080i and IMHO looks the best. ESPN and ABC are second and Fox a distant third. The superbowl did look very good, however.

Originally posted by Doctor
That's great that FOX is now available on Comcast. However, Sinclair also owns UPN and WB in the Nashville market. Any word on when they'll be added? Apparently Comcast already had their trigger fingers ready to add FOX because it went on channel 183 right after the deal was made. I still want UPN and WB, though!

I heard that the infrastructure to broadcast WZTV-DT on Comcast had been ready for a year, but the deal to do it had never happened until laast Friday.

who cares about the WB or UPN, they dont have one good show i'd even remotely consider watching.

Ok. Any word on when UPN will begin broadcasting in HD? And what about PBS?

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
I heard that the infrastructure to broadcast WZTV-DT on Comcast had been ready for a year, but the deal to do it had never happened until laast Friday.

Maybe it's the cameras. Or maybe it's my TV.

My TV is a native 720ish resolution. Would that make a difference?

I didn't think the game on Fox was all that great?

I know in the past, some ESPN games at night have looked stunning.

Hm...:confused:

Originally posted by Doctor
Ok. Any word on when UPN will begin broadcasting in HD? And what about PBS?

PBS in Nashville may never be in HD. :( I don't think they can afford the equipment. If you want PBS in HD, you better starting pledging. :D

Who knows about UPN... WB came on in HD out of the blue with no announcement, so I expect the same with UPN.

i thought the presentation of FoxHD was stunning. although i despise the cartoonish style in which fox produces its football telecasts, overall i'd say the PQ was right up there with MNF or CBS.

btw... i'm in school now. is wztv-dt still on chan 183?

Anyone with a 6412 dvr getting the last 30 to 45 seconds of shows cut off in the past 2 or 3 days? Maybe it's a coincidence and all the networks I'm recording from are running their shows late, but it is odd and I'm wondering if the clock in my 6412 is off a bit.

Originally posted by mr2828
Anyone with a 6412 dvr getting the last 30 to 45 seconds of shows cut off in the past 2 or 3 days? Maybe it's a coincidence and all the networks I'm recording from are running their shows late, but it is odd and I'm wondering if the clock in my 6412 is off a bit.

I've been having the same problem. And now that you mention it, the clock on mine is about 50 seconds fast, compared to my radio-synchronized desk clock.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
i thought the presentation of FoxHD was stunning. although i despise the cartoonish style in which fox produces its football telecasts, overall i'd say the PQ was right up there with MNF or CBS.

btw... i'm in school now. is wztv-dt still on chan 183?

Yes.

I am pretty sure someone earlier in this thread said you can get the Motorola 6408 from Comcast without subscribing to digital cable, but I can't seem to find that post anymore.

Anyway, I went to MetroCenter and tried to get the box, and they said I have to pay for digital cable in addition to the box. I told them I don't want digital cable, just the box so I can time-shift HD shows, but they refused.

I also asked her what happens if I get digital cable and the box, and then cancel digital cable, but don't return the box...they will obviously charge me for the box until I return it...and she just said "I don't know."

Any advice?

Those guys at metrocenter are BS artists. Be adamant and they will eventually give you a 6412 ("dual tuner dvr"). When I got mine there 3 months ago I had to get two levels of managers to come out to the front and talk to me before they grudgingly gave it to me. Make it clear you aren't leaving until you get it, repeatedly explain that you have friends who have it already and it works for them, and ask for the technical manager.

I only have limited basic and my 6412 works great, including VOD and the free INHD channels.

BTW, regarding the time problem, I checked my 6412 against my computer's synchronized clock and the 6412 clock is definitely set almost a minute fast. It's also about a minute faster than my cell phone time and satellite box. Quite annoying - anyone know how to report this so it will actually get fixed? I don't feel like wasting my time waiting on hold just to talk to a no-nothing first level customer rep.

its true, a very nice installer told me the same thing. he said you had to be adamant to get exactly what you wanted.

they told me for a while that you couldnt get HBO or any other premium service unless you got the digital tier, that costs $15, but that was BS too. just firm.

Originally posted by mr2828


BTW, regarding the time problem, I checked my 6412 against my computer's synchronized clock and the 6412 clock is definitely set almost a minute fast. It's also about a minute faster than my cell phone time and satellite box. Quite annoying - anyone know how to report this so it will actually get fixed? I don't feel like wasting my time waiting on hold just to talk to a no-nothing first level customer rep.

As long as I'm prepared to wait a day or so for an answer, I'm generally satisfied with Comcast's EMail support. As of this afternoon, I've already been treated to the obligatory hand-off from the no-nothing first level, so hopefully I'll hear something back by Monday. With any luck, I'll get something better than "we'll send someone out to replace your box." Who knows? Maybe I'll reach someone who can explain why Comcast can't accomplish a daily time-synchronization task, something my $40 Casio wristwatch manages every night!

hey, is it true that comcast converts all signals to 1080i before they send it to the cable box? some tech told me that once...

Looks like someone fixed the clocks so now my 6412 is within about 2 seconds of my cell phone. Let's hope it stays fixed.

Any Idea how to record CSI-without all the spike TV repeats? Setting to first run only does not seem to work.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
hey, is it true that comcast converts all signals to 1080i before they send it to the cable box? some tech told me that once...

No, but the cable box will convert 720p to 1080i or vice versa depending on the settings of the box. Unfortunately, there is no native mode.

If you want to test whether or not the box stores 720p and 1080i as they were originally broadcast, record about 3 hours of shows on ABC/FOX and see how much disk space you have left. Then erase them and do the same for CBS/NBC or any of the premium channels (not including ESPN).

that fine, what sucks is that on the DVI connection, it still has those artifacts that are very very annoying. so I just leave it on 720p all the time, although that causes problems for sources that are 720p native... oh well thanks for clearing that up