Did no one notice the lack of HD on Fox 17 last night? Someone asleep at the switch again?

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
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

What are you using for a DVI cable and what's the length? Not all are created equal. Many people with DVI cable artifacts have found that a different higher quality cable can solve their problem.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
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.

In boston the unoffical rule is STANDARD cable before anything.

The REAL RULE is limited basic is fine for anything.
Pay channels are alacarte at 18.95 but for 24.95 for you can get dititasl plus with one premium channel which with digital plus by itself at 10.95 is nottoo bad a deal.

You DO have to ask.

Well as I predicted, the stupid decision to name channel 183 "WZTV", which is identical to channel 6, caused my 6412 DVR tonight to barf and record 24 on channel 6 even though I had set it up a couple of weeks back to record from channel 183. This is a known bug with the 6412, and not only that but the naming of 183 is completely inconsistent anyway with the other HD local networks (180 - 182).

Anyone know how to get them to rename 183 properly? I know that talking to the first level csrs on the phone will be a complete waste of time.

Originally posted by mr2828
Well as I predicted, the stupid decision to name channel 183 "WZTV", which is identical to channel 6, caused my 6412 DVR tonight to barf and record 24 on channel 6 even though I had set it up a couple of weeks back to record from channel 183. This is a known bug with the 6412, and not only that but the naming of 183 is completely inconsistent anyway with the other HD local networks (180 - 182).

Anyone know how to get them to rename 183 properly? I know that talking to the first level csrs on the phone will be a complete waste of time.

I thought the DVR used the channel number, rather than the call letters. When 183 showed up, I rescheduled series recording for Arrested Development, and it correctly recorded on 183.

We changed the series recording for both Arrested Development and 24 and magically the next day they were back on channel 6. I changed them again last night. We'll see if it stays.

It's a known bug in the 6412 software. See the main 6412 thread for more info. I rescheduled my series recording of 24 as soon as channel 183 was available, but last night it jumped back to channel 6. The only way to work around this is for Comcast to rename 183 to DWZTV (as they should have in the first place).

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
What are you using for a DVI cable and what's the length? Not all are created equal. Many people with DVI cable artifacts have found that a different higher quality cable can solve their problem.


I used the standard BenQ DVI cable (2m) that came with the projector. always had a problem with DVI, in 1080i mode i would see an intermittent line at the bottom row of pixels when the source was 1080i. in 720p mode, I would see a green line on the right side of the screen, if the source was 720p. Everything looks fine (ie no artifacts) if i watch in 720p mode when the source is 1080i. But I really would rather not scale the image using the motorola... and I'm quite sure its an inherent problem with the software in the box. recently I changed the cable to a longer, 5m, cable made to the exact same specs as the Benq cable, and is at the max end of the length spec for a DVI D cable... same deal. I refuse to spend $300 on a "monster DVI cable" to see if that solves my issue. I really doubt its a fault of the cable, because the signal is all digital, its not subject to interference...

anyway, are any of you, who have digital displays and using a DVI cable, having any sorts of the issues i have?

Ok well the deal was temporary for the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 it looks like. 183 is off the air and no HDTV for WZTV.

Man this is just stupid.

I hope the advertisers just run from crap like this.

I don't care at this point because my 6412 dvr refuses to correctly record from 183 instead of 6. I'm back to watching live from my attic antenna.

Originally posted by wineman
I hope the advertisers just run from crap like this. Why? The number of HD viewers is statistically insignificant and would not affect ad rates one way or the other. You evidently believe WZTV should spend millions to provide Comcrap another free channel to sell. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Jon J
Why? The number of HD viewers is statistically insignificant and would not affect ad rates one way or the other. You evidently believe WZTV should spend millions to provide Comcrap another free channel to sell. :rolleyes:

It's better than spending millions for just a tiny OTA audience. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by snowcat
It's better than spending millions for just a tiny OTA audience.
Bingo. The FCC forced the spending of millions but Comcrap wants in for free. I still say the Comcrap HD subscriber number is statistically insignificant

To my way of thinking, one million is statistically significant. That happens to be the number of Comcast HD boxes currently in use, about 5% of Comcast's subscriber base.

Originally posted by Jon J
Why? The number of HD viewers is statistically insignificant and would not affect ad rates one way or the other. You evidently believe WZTV should spend millions to provide Comcrap another free channel to sell. :rolleyes:

So the point of this is that they do not get charged by the other Networks. Why would comcast have to pay WZTV for their #4 ranked network station and not for the top 3.

I see a fundamental flaw in your reasoning.

If comcast decides to pay, don't you think that will open a can of worms that will never close.

i hope comcast never pays. screw fox.

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
i hope comcast never pays. screw fox.

I Agree

Originally posted by Supdawg
So the point of this is that they do not get charged by the other Networks. Why would comcast have to pay WZTV for their #4 ranked network station and not for the top 3.

I see a fundamental flaw in your reasoning.

Really? Analog (1 channel) is free. Digital (second channel) requires a fee.

Channel 5 required a second channel from Comcrap for carriage. Do you think that extra bandwidth is free?

You need to check the FCC's "must carry" rules.

Comcast will gain no new viewers if they get WZTV DT. Those eyes are already watching the analog signal. And you aren't a new pair of eyes wanting HD. You are just a non-paying user of their digital signal.

Originally posted by Jon J

Comcast will gain no new viewers if they get WZTV DT. Those eyes are already watching the analog signal. And you aren't a new pair of eyes wanting HD. You are just a non-paying user of their digital signal.

All I know is that I am watching a heck of a lot more ABC and CBS due to their HD programming than FOX.

All Sinclair is doing is persuading me to watch channels other than theirs. :(

(NBC just has no compelling HD content, IMO ;) )

Originally posted by snowcat
All I know is that I am watching a heck of a lot more ABC and CBS due to their HD programming than FOX.

All Sinclair is doing is persuading me to watch channels other than theirs.

I'm suggesting they aren't persuading you to do anything. Surely you won't watch ridiculous programs on Fox simply because they are HD.

I can't get my DirecTivo to record WTVF-DT so I still watch CBS shows on SD on my schedule rather than theirs. The time shifting feature is much more important to me than seeing HD.

Guess that's why they continue to make chocolate and vanilla ice cream. ;)

I can certainly say I watched a LOT more of the race Sunday than I would have otherwise because it was available on HD. Indeed, I would venture to guess I would not have even known the race was on 17 since I do not watch the analog channels on Comcast.

So there we were enjoying the Oscars in all their 720p HDTV glory when, about 1/2 to 2/3 of the way through the show -- after a commercial break -- the signal reverted back to SD? And it switched back to HD for the last few awards.

Very odd....

Did anyone else see this? Any inside word as to what happened? Was this just Nashville or did ABC misplace the HD feed for a while?

-John

It was just Nashville. There are a few comments in the Nashville-OTA forum.

volfan,

So the OTA folks noticed it too? That means it wasn't Comca$t per-se, but WKRN and/or ABC upstream? Interesting.

Have to say though that -- when it was in HD -- it looked stunning on my Mits DLP. 720p is remarkable!

-John

Originally posted by Jon J
You evidently believe WZTV should spend millions to provide Comcrap another free channel to sell. :rolleyes:
Technically, Comcast doesn't sell any of the HD channels. If you have the equipment to receive it off the wire (CableCard, etc.) then it's included at no cost. Heck, they even give you the CableCard for free...I know, I have one. What Comcast charges for, as you all know, is the equipment to decode the HD channels if you need it.

I don't understand what makes Sinclair think they're so special. Stations are licensed and broadcasters are regulated by the government, that's nothing new. So the FCC mandated new broadcast rules, and there's an expense in complying with them for all stations. And don't forget, the cable companies are investing in new equipment, too, and consumers are buying new gear...there's a cost to HD for everyone.

Eventually HD is going to become mainstream, and at that point, Sinclair will have to buckle if they're still playing this game. They only make money if they have viewers, so as the numbers shift, they'll have more disaffected customers and less leverage as I see it. ABC, NBC, CBS have already set the standard...Sinclair can only swim upstream for so long.

It looks like InHD 1 & 2 are no longer in the clear in Nashville. Can someone else confirm?

Originally posted by Jon J
Bingo. The FCC forced the spending of millions but Comcrap wants in for free. I still say the Comcrap HD subscriber number is statistically insignificant

According to the Tennessean, 15% of Comcast subscribers have an HD box. That's not insignificant.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
It looks like InHD 1 & 2 are no longer in the clear in Nashville. Can someone else confirm?

I'll check when I get home. I watched 2 iMax shows on INHD2 last night around 9pm...



rf

Nope, false alarm. InHD 1 & 2 are back now...

Originally posted by RaggedEdge
According to the Tennessean, 15% of Comcast subscribers have an HD box. That's not insignificant. I'll try again. These are not new subscribers who have come on board only to get HD. What level of programming at what cost is required to get only HD? :eek:

Originally posted by Jon J
I'll try again. These are not new subscribers who have come on board only to get HD. What level of programming at what cost is required to get only HD? :eek:

How can you assume that? Prior to purchasing a high definition monitor, I subscribed to satellite and occasionally watched the locals, primarily ABC and CBS with rabbit ears. As for WZTV (Sinclair), maybe an NFL game on Sunday and that was it.

Fast forward to the day the HD TV is delivered to my home. Within a week, I call Comcast and sign up for Basic+Digital+HBO+HD box rental. Thirty days later, I dump the satellite package. I have been with Comcast ever since.

Today, the majority of the programming I view is high definition. More importantly, I have been introduced to shows on WB and FOX solely because of the better viewing experience of HD and Dolby 5.1. Pre-HD, American Idol, Bernie Mac, Arrested Development, and Reba did not exist (in my world). I watched all of the Daytona 500 for the the first time EVER, because of HD.

Once again, Comcast does not sell a high definition package. They supply the HD box or HD-DVR, if the customer wishes, at $5 and $10. No one is making a killing off box rentals. The cost to receive local HD through Comcast is the same as analog, $12 per month.

Noted. One new Comcast subscriber solely because of their HD programming. Any more?

Originally posted by Jon J
Noted. One new Comcast subscriber solely because of their HD programming. Any more?

I switched in February from Dish just for the HD-DVR. Not having to fool with an antenna was also a plus (since I never could get NBC to work).

Two.

What frustrates me is that I had given up on seeing Fox in HD on Comcast and then it suddenly appeared last month, and I was happy. Now I've lost it again. Hopefully they work something out cause I enjoyed watching 24 in HD, except for having to reset it every week to record the HD channel.

I have been in email contact lately with someone technical at Comcast regarding fixing the duplicate naming of WZTV in the guide that causes problems with the 6412s. It still needs to be fixed so it will work properly whenever they get a final carriage contract with Sinclair. While he has promised to work on the issue, perhaps it would help if more people also asked him. If anyone wants his email address just PM me.

I was surprised to get in touch directly with someone there who knew something. I simply sent a tech support email in through their website form and asked politely that my issue be escalated immediately to someone who knew about it. This is surprisingly better service than I'll ever get from Dish network.

Originally posted by Jon J
Noted. One new Comcast subscriber solely because of their HD programming. Any more?

We have Comcast in addition to DirecTV for its HD offerings and have not subscribed to the digital cable tier. We still have a SD DirecTivo for its two tuner Tivo box, which is *far* more flexible than Comcast's DVR, plus we have it expanded to 400 gigs of starage.

Comcast alone would be nice for several reasons, but my wife and I are too spoiled by our Tivo's functionality to completely switch at this time. The 6412 is a lot better than the older 6208 box, but no cigar yet and the lack of user expandability makes it a non-starter in my book.

I will agree with McTNN that my wife and I watch far more HD programming than I thought we initially would on network TV. HD makes a lot of shows interesting to watch, especially on the big screen TV. OK, so we're not going to be watching American Idol anytime soon, but Desperate Housewives, Law and Order and many other shows are really cool in HD.

I'm starting to grow fond of Voom despite its shortcomings. It's a shame it's probably on its last legs.

Originally posted by mr2828
It still needs to be fixed so it will work properly whenever they get a final carriage contract with Sinclair.

I think this is a big 'if' now. Sinclair lost a good deal of their negotation leverage now that the Super Bowl and the Daytona 500 are over. There probably won't be as much pressure to get FoxHD back (outside of 24 fans) until baseball season gets started.

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20050301/ap_on_bi_ge/cablevision_voom_1

BETHPAGE, N.Y. - Cablevision Systems Corp. will shut down its Voom satellite television business after failing to reach a deal to sell the remaining assets of the business to Charles Dolan, Cablevision's founder and chairman.


Cablevision will provide the service to current customers during a transition period of at least 30 days, according to a statement from the company Monday.


The company in late January agreed to sell Voom's Rainbow 1 satellite and licenses to operate satellites at a certain orbital location to Echostar Communications Corp.


Dolan, who opposed selling the business, then signed a letter of intent to acquire Voom's remaining assets.


The letter of intent expired Monday.

Originally posted by Jon J
Two.

Dude, how do you measure the customers that Comcast has retained because they offer HD and an HD-DVR?

Originally posted by RaggedEdge
Dude, how do you measure the customers that Comcast has retained because they offer HD and an HD-DVR? Dude, I would use a yard stick, dude.

Originally posted by Jon J
Dude, I would use a yard stick, dude.

Well, at least it will be more accurate than the way you are trying to determine how many new subscribers Comcast has netted by offering HD.

Thanks, dude, I'll write that down.

Jon have u forgotten to take ur meds again?

No, dude, why do u ask?

JonJ and Trevor:

Cut it out. I've never been a thread nazi, but if you keep it up, I will report it to a moderator. I get an e-mail every time one of you guys responds to the other. I don't like wasting my time on this junk, I want info on Comcast in Nashville. All you're doing is annoying a bunch of people.

Originally posted by Jon J
Thanks, dude, I'll write that down.

I really don't understand why you are being so hostile. You made an assertion that Comcast's HD offerings do not net new subscribers. I question your logic on this and you get all goofy. Why?

If the Tennessean article is to be believed, and 15% of Nashville Comcast subscribers have an HD capable box then HD is much more significant to Comcast than you make it out to be. If they offered no HD at all, IMHO, they would loose a significant amount of HD subscribers to satellite.

I currently have D* with an HDTivo. I would have considered Comcast if they had WZTV. Since they don't, I am not a subscriber.

I have a question about my Comcast bill. This was my first full bill since I switched from Dish, and it does not seem right. I have the digital bronze package, one digital box, and two dual-tuner DVR's. I have a charge for the Digital Bronze and 9.95 each for the DVR's. But I also have a $9.90 charge for "digital service". :confused:

When I originally switched, the CSR never mentioned an additional 9.90 fee. I did call today, but the CSR claimed that their are two seperate fees with the DVR's...a 9.95 rental fee and a 9.90 digital service fee. It just doesn't seem right. For those of you with multiple DVR's (or possibly a single DVR and multiple digital boxes), do you have that 9.90 fee?

Originally posted by snowcat
I have a question about my Comcast bill. This was my first full bill since I switched from Dish, and it does not seem right. I have the digital bronze package, one digital box, and two dual-tuner DVR's. I have a charge for the Digital Bronze and 9.95 each for the DVR's. But I also have a $9.90 charge for "digital service". :confused:

When I originally switched, the CSR never mentioned an additional 9.90 fee. I did call today, but the CSR claimed that their are two seperate fees with the DVR's...a 9.95 rental fee and a 9.90 digital service fee. It just doesn't seem right. For those of you with multiple DVR's (or possibly a single DVR and multiple digital boxes), do you have that 9.90 fee?

I thought it was more like $15.95/mo. This is for the channels between 100 and 168. It's optional, so if you don't want it, say you didn't order it and try to get a refund.

For "non-pay" (HBO/Showtime/etc) cable, you can have four charges: Basic, expanded basic, digital, and equipment rental.

is that the digital tier fee? you know for channels from 101 to 168 or something, there is a 10 or 15 dolalr charge for that...

I just thought that the Digital Bronze package (which is $29.99 after the Dish discount) would cover any "digital" charges to my bill.

The customer rep made it sound like that charge has something to do with my DVR's.

Update: I talked to another rep, and she explained it to me in much better terms. Apparently, Comcast now charges the DVR fee in addition to the multiple digital outlet fees. For the first three months, I will be charged $4.95 per additional outlet (which is where the $9.90 comes from). After that, I will be charged $6.95 per outlet.

She said that the customer reps found out about this just last month, which is why I wasn't informed when I signed up.

Now I need to think about whether I really want a 2nd DVR. It is on my non-HD TV, but I can use S-video on it (or component if bought a component switcher). I use it for my non-HD DVR programming, so I don't take up space from my HD DVR.

Decisions decisions....

One last note...the comcast.com online bill is not accurate. It doesn't have the DVR charges on it, and the comcast reps know about it.

"One last note...the comcast.com online bill is not accurate. It doesn't have the DVR charges on it, and the comcast reps know about it."

Yeah, they've know about it for months (at least since December when I first called them about it) and have been supposedly "working on it" since then. I never look at my paper cable bill - it goes from the mailbox to the trash - because I always just pay it online. Well, in December, I just happened to open it up to look at the detailed charges because we changed packages. That's when I noticed the overdue charge of 9.95. Curious as to how I had any overdue charges because I always pay the amount on the website, I called, and discovered that the DVR charges weren't billing correctly. I just signed up for their checking draft a few days ago, so I'm wondering if that will actually bill the correct amount. Anyone know?

Tom

I looked through this thread and didn't see this answered so....

I have the 6412 and on any given night one of the HD channels is all artifacts and scrambled with the audio cutting in and out. But all the other channels come in fine while the one is scrambled.

I've never noticed this on ESPN but ABC, CBS and NBC all have done this. Most recently It happened on CBS on Thursday during CSI. This makes the shows entirely unwatchable.

Has anyone else had this happen? It is very annoying but 90% of the time the shows are perfect. I would think it was a cabling issue, but it only affects one channel at a time.

I haven't noticed any problems with reception on any HD channel.

Do you have to subscribe to a HD package to rent the Moto 6412 or can you rent it and use the PVR for the SD channels?

Originally posted by jhstn58
Do you have to subscribe to a HD package to rent the Moto 6412 or can you rent it and use the PVR for the SD channels?

You can use it just for SD if you wish. I have 2 of them, one for an HD set and one for an SD set.

You will get the HD channels, which is especially nice for the locals. The picture quality is so much better for the digital ABC, CBS, and NBC.

Sinclair/Comcast new deal:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050316/phw022_3.html

Everyone keep emailing comcast support to get channel 183 renamed properly to "DWZTV" so that our 6412s will record it.

Originally posted by bobofoosh
I looked through this thread and didn't see this answered so....

I have the 6412 and on any given night one of the HD channels is all artifacts and scrambled with the audio cutting in and out. But all the other channels come in fine while the one is scrambled.

I've never noticed this on ESPN but ABC, CBS and NBC all have done this. Most recently It happened on CBS on Thursday during CSI. This makes the shows entirely unwatchable.

Has anyone else had this happen? It is very annoying but 90% of the time the shows are perfect. I would think it was a cabling issue, but it only affects one channel at a time.

I have noticed the same thing with the 6408 too. Sometimes it will just reboot itself as well, and lose all of its guide information. I will call Crapcast and tell them to bring me a 6412 and see if that makes it better.

:rolleyes: :D

Actually my 6412 reboots once a week (Wednesday or Thursday) around 3 A.M. No, I don't know why

Originally posted by mr2828
Sinclair/Comcast new deal:

http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/050316/phw022_3.html

Everyone keep emailing comcast support to get channel 183 renamed properly to "DWZTV" so that our 6412s will record it.

This article also suggests that WB-HD will be coming later this year. :)

I am glad that FOX-HD will be back in time for baseball.

Interesting on the new Sinclair deal. The press release says that FOX and WB retransmission will happen later in the year. In Nashville, we already know everything is set up to make it happen. We've seen it work already. I'm wondering if there is anything contractual they have to tie up or were they just trying to cover their bases for the Sinclair markets that don't have the equipment setup yet? That may indeed be the case since I don't think that WB-58 is setup for Comcast in this market. Hopefully they won't dally on getting FOX-17 back on the air.

I have tried to search through this thread as much as possible before asking this question so please excuse me if this has been asked before but...

Is anyone using a capture card like MyHD 130 to try to capture Comcast HDTV?

I'm getting Comcast HD next week and I thought about ordering the MyHD 130 but I already have the ATI HDTV Wonder (which can't do QAM) so if all the HD channels are already encrypted (i.e. NOT "in the clear") then I might as well stick with my OTA for HD.

I had heard at one time that InHD 1 & 2 ARE "in the clear".

TIA

Before I signed up for a 6412 DVR, I was using the QAM tuner in my Sony TV to view INHD & INHD2 without problems. That was 5 months ago, but I don't think it has changed. I would love to flip over to the the tv tuner right now and check, but the silly 6412 doesn't have a coax pass-through.

All local HD stations plus InHD 1 & 2 are still in the clear in Nashville.

Originally posted by mr2828
Everyone keep emailing comcast support to get channel 183 renamed properly to "DWZTV" so that our 6412s will record it.

I wonder if this issue is unique to the 6412. There are still a couple of short segments from the Superbowl and Daytona 500 stored on my 6208 hard drive and in both instances, it says "183 WZTV" So at least for a couple of weeks, the DWZTV header was not required to record 183.

Funny thing though is I do recall having problems recording programs on 183 in the week just before the feed was cut off. The 6208 would accept a timer recordiing entry (on 183) but change to channel 6 when show started.

Could someone at Comcast deliberately disabled recordings on WZTV-HD, perhaps at the request of their lawyers?

Originally posted by rondotcom
Actually my 6412 reboots once a week (Wednesday or Thursday) around 3 A.M. No, I don't know why

I've got a 6208 that will reboot sometimes, but not always, when I use the channel + button to go from channel 176 to channel 178. Happens several times a month...

I believe the 3am reboot is a system-wide, once a week thing.

Thanks for the info. Looks like I'm gonna be ponying up the money for a MyHD card then. I sure hope they don't turn the flags on the week after!

Before I make my purchase, anyone here have experience with the MyHD card or any other QAM capable card that they have used in a PC?

TIA

I've been using the MDP-130 with Comcast in Franklin since they came. I've had no problems, though the Timeshift feature chokes on the size of the QAM feed, but that may just be my system (P4 2.8/Gigabyte 875P) -- using the new beta drivers did fix my recording problems however. The card also has the best software of any that I've seen (I had the HDTV Wonder and took it back a day later).

Thanks for the info.

So you mean that your system DID choke on the size of the QAM feed UNTIL you started using the new beta drivers?

I was hoping to use my File Server to timeshift with (I almost _never_ watch live TV) and it's only an overclocked P4 2.4 running at 3.0 (IC7 MAX3). I also use that server for serving DVD's and capturing SD with my Haupauge 250 via SageTV.

Any advice you can give me as to what type of STB to request or such?

I've also heard that, with the right STB, you can get HD content even if you only subscribe to the "Basic" package. Since almost all my movie watching comes from DVD's and I'd almost never watch anything I couldn't capture/timeshift (i.e. I don't watch live TV), I'm only really going to need the basic stuff and HD content.

TIA

BTW, I would _never_ use the HDTV Wonder with the included software but it works _fantastic_ with Windows MCE. In fact, the HDTV Wonder and MCE has been my most stable HTPC experience yet!

Yeah, until I got the beta drivers, I couldn't even record QAM with my system, but I seem to be one of the few with that problem according to the MDP-130 thread in the HTPC forum. With the new drivers I can record with no problem but still no timeshift, of course mine isn't a dedicated HTPC and I have the sneaking suspicion that my Matrox RT.X100 card is screwing stuff up out of spite.

As for in the clear programming, basic should get you WTVF, WKRN and WSMV (WZTV is there, but not working properly yet for me) as well as both INHDs. Also, I get any onDemand program that my neighbors are watching plus the ESPN Fullcourt package.

Anyone have problems with WSMV-HD via Comcast last night (3/23/05)? Especially during American Dreams?

I had the picture freeze several times during West Wing and I was using the signal off the air antenna. Must have been a problem with the station or network and not Comcast.

Thanks for the info!

I figured it might of been problems with the NBC feed because I think mine only screwed up during the show and not during local commercials.


Ronnie

Comcast has FOXHD labeled as DWZTV now. Didn't know if ya'll noticed this yet or not. The channel isn't on yet, but at least the name is fixed.

Excellent, my emailing paid off perhaps. Hope they get their GPS-sync system clock installed next.

anyone else lose the signal? OTA?


pmm8647

Originally posted by pmm8647
anyone else lose the signal? OTA?


pmm8647

I lost it. :(

Hi folks. I'll be moving to the Nashville area in a few months. I've waded through most of this thread but still a little unclear on exactly what HDTV is available from Comcast. Comcast makes you enter an address to see what's available in your area and since I haven't moved yet, this isn't much help. Can someone post an updated list of all current HDTV channels, similar to the originating thread? Thanks! :D

Nothing has really changed.

172 DISCOVERY
173 ESPN
174 INHD
175 INHD2
176 HBO
177 CINEMAX
178 SHOWTIME
179 STARZ
180 ABC
181 NBC
182 CBS

183 will be FOX, which should be up anytime now.

Fox appears to be up and running this morning on my MDP-130.

Originally posted by jp23mc
Fox appears to be up and running this morning on my MDP-130.

Yep, I just noticed that too. :) Just in time for baseball. :D

Originally posted by snowcat
Nothing has really changed.

172 DISCOVERY
173 ESPN
174 INHD
175 INHD2
176 HBO
177 CINEMAX
178 SHOWTIME
179 STARZ
180 ABC
181 NBC
182 CBS

183 will be FOX, which should be up anytime now.
Thanks for the channel update. But a bit of a shocker that there has not been any new HDTV channels added since the first post of this thread dated way back in 08-24-2003. Yikes! Glad to hear that Fox-HD may be coming soon though. After a 2 and a half years, I suppose we have to take what we can get :D Thanks again.

It is pretty shocking we've had about the same lineup since 8/2003!

After Fox and hopefully UPN, what's left? The WB and...PBS? How about after that?

Do any of the larger cable networks (SciFi, FoodTV/HGTV, Bravo, TCM, etc.) have HD feeds available? Heck, I'd be happy with a good-quality 480i feed from them....

-John

Bullrat, the 8/03 post was edited in the summer of '04 to reflect the changes. Comcast has added a few things like INHD and INHD2, Cinemax, Starz, Discovery, Fox (today) and even removed HBOW when Starz and Cinemax came onboard. WB might be happening later this year, but PBS is a no go for the forseeable future.

It has been a slow process, but never boring. (see Sinclair)

Actually, when PBS went digital, it was on Comcast as a digital channel. I picked it up with my QAM tuner. When Comcast realized that it was just 480i and not true HDTV, it was removed. Discovery HD was unscrambled at one time.

WB is now the only HD channel that you can receive OTA that Comcast isn't showing.

Even though Nashville PBS isn't showing HD, it still would be good if Comcast would provide their digital SD feed since it would look a lot better than the typical Comcast analog channel 8 version.

Originally posted by Nashville Cat
Actually, when PBS went digital, it was on Comcast as a digital channel. I picked it up with my QAM tuner. When Comcast realized that it was just 480i and not true HDTV, it was removed.

I wish WNPT would just go ahead and sell all of their digital bandwidth to the highest bidders and do ten subchannels. Just trash the whole thing.

It's sad what we are missing. 480i digital is worthless.

oops wrong forum

If anyone's noticed, Fox-17 returned to Comcast Nashville over this past weekend. It's named "WZTVD", which isn't the same format as the other stations (example: "DWTVF") but at least it's different that the analog WZTV station and therefore should be safe to avoid the recording bug with the Moto DVRs if twostations are named the same.

As far as WNPT not being digital, I'm not quite sure why that Comcast just doesn't carry the channel when you can pick up some of the local religious broadcasters in clear QAM. Eventually there's going to go all digital anyway, so you might as well set up WNPT now. The OTA digital signal at 480i is a lot better than the Comcast analog channel.

And if you want WNPT to go HD, start becoming a member to the station. :)

Originally posted by Sevenfeet

And if you want WNPT to go HD, start becoming a member to the station. :)

Yes, that's going to be my plan as well. I'm gonig to join and tell them they can double my donation by going digital (and triple it by carrying Charlie Rose).

WNPT has pretty much closed the door on HDTV. They plan to use the digital spectrum for the NPTcast system. www.wnpt.net/about/news/march04.html

Originally posted by McTNN
WNPT has pretty much closed the door on HDTV. They plan to use the digital spectrum for the NPTcast system. www.wnpt.net/about/news/march04.html

Though I'd selfishly like to see NPT's nature and science shows in HD, I feel this is probably a better use of their current digital resources.


rf

Originally posted by Ronnie Ferrell
Though I'd selfishly like to see NPT's nature and science shows in HD, I feel this is probably a better use of their current digital resources.


rf

As I understand it, their simulcast is for educational purposes. I would think that at 6:00, with the News Hour, they could switch to HD and still simulcast during the day.

Hope they make tons from NPTcast. They'll get no more from me.

WNPT missed the FCC mandated digital start date by a mile, is running less power than allowed (I'm told) and has now decided to forego HD in order to boost their bottom line by selling bandwidth.

Yet, they continue to beg for contributions for their "programming" even though they've made the corporate decision to forgo enhancing programming for their "subscribers" in order to enhance the bottom line.

vondo,

Excellent idea!!! Does anyone know if that kind of switch-over possible according to the broadcast spec? That would really be the best of both worlds and worth pitching to WNPT if it is possible.

As much as I might want to see Sesame Street in glorious 1080i HD....I'll be OK if that doesn't pan out.

:)

In any event, surely Comca$t could carry the 480i signal. It'd be better than the Channel 185 "Weather Page", yes?

-John

IMO, even for people who live or work in areas where landline high speed internet is unavailable for some reason, that NPTcast idea seems pretty lame. NPT should realize that once the digital switchover occurs (likely somewhere in the 2007-2009 timeframe), many of the old analog tv channels' spectrum will be sold off for use as high speed wireless internet. The speed and capacity of that new wireless internet will dwarf and obsolete anything NPT can offer.

I asked the NPT Director of Technology if NPT was NEVER going to broadcast in HDTV. Here is his answer:
Not at all. In fact, we just recently started the process to upgrade our
broadcast capabilities to include HD and an additional channel of
programming. We are early in the process, and hope to be on the air with
an HD signal within a year. At the same time, we are continuing to
develop our datacasting capabilities, which we're calling NPTcast.

That's good news, but I'm sure with the other stuff they are multicasting that the HD data rate will probably be the poorest of any major broadcaster in the Nashville area. (yeah I'm never happy :) )

It seems to me that WNPT is pinning any hopes of future high definition services on receiving multi-million grants from federal and state agencies to build the NPTcast infrastucture locally and statewide. A LOT has to fall into place before we will be enjoying HDTV on channel 8.

Here is the plan as outlined by WNPT's president: "We at Nashville Public Television see datacasting as our highest priority—so high that we’re reserving the bulk of our bandwidth for such services rather than providing full-time HD and multicast services. In fact, we’re currently offering only a single SD channel, rather than the more typical array of HD and multicast services offered by most public television stations, and will continue in this mode for the foreseeable future.

In terms of our local digital service plans, we see datacasting as our best hope to develop mission-consistent, revenue-generating services. While there may be opportunities for revenues in the consumer market at some point in the future, we see the biggest near-term opportunities in the provision of datacasting services to government and education sectors."

www.current.org/dtv/dtv0413datacast.shtml

Comcast is having a Starz Free Preview weekend April 7 - 10. :) Even though the message only mentions the 4xx channels, I would assume the HD channel would be available also.

someone update the main thread and add WZTVD

edit: updated, thanks

It looks like a GPS sync would have been a great idea today since they forgot to update the time. I'm calling them now (about 9:00).

I e-mailed Comcast and they told that the only box they have that has DVI is the DVR box. I read parts of this thread and many people are using DVI. Are all of these on DVR boxes?

The HD box I am using only has componant, but I am moving my box to a new room w/ a Projector that has HDMI so it is a good time for me to switch.

we have 3 comcast HDTV boxes all are non-DVR, and all have a DVI out. I dont know who told you its not available, just go down to the main office and ask them for it...

Thanks for the info. I thought by using Comcast e-mail support instead of the phone, I would get a more accurate answer, but I guess not.

The Motorola 5100 box is capable of HD but has no DVR. The first versions that Comcast in Nashville distributed did not have a DVI port, but later versions did. I know since my stepfather's 5100 that we recently upgraded to a 6412 did not have a DVI port, but another friend who I also helped to upgrade did have a DVI port on his 5100 (and was using it).

My 6412 apparently just started a software download (front panel shows "dl"). This is annoying though that it did it right in the middle of recording 24. That would be typical though of Comcast Nashville's technical "expertise" to force a download now instead of the more normal 3am timeframe. Oh well perhaps we'll finally catch up with the rest of the country and get the 9.15 firmware that should eliminate the green lines in analog channel recordings and the occasional lockup/reboots.

Well even the download got messed up apparently.

After it finished the box didn't reboot, it just tried to drop me back on the channel I was watching previously, except that now it can't seem to receive any channels at all (all say that they will be available soon).

I waited 30 minutes. Then pulled the plug. Now waited another 30 minutes. Looks like it is completely broken.

That download messed up my 6208 early last week. I was expecting something good like a firmware upgrade, but what I got out of it was a crippled menu, less than full functionality and no VOD.

I kind of freaked on Saturday when the 6412 received the same ummm "update".
Everything is still cool on that box, though I can tell you the firmware is still showing 9.12.

anyone's 5100 box update?

Well if anyone has any tips on how to un-cripple my 6412 please let em rip.

Right now it is still the same as last night, acts like it is completely unauthorized. I called tech support last night and they "hit" it once but no effect. Scheduled a guy to come out here tomorrow, who will probably either want to wipe the hard drive or replace it with a new box - both of which will lose the recordings I had saved on there to watch.

I went into the diagnostics by turning it off and hitting Ok/select. It shows the DVR functions are not enabled, but it does have a good lock on the Out-of-band signals so there is no reason it shouldn't be getting authorized. Firmware is still 9.12.

I just got a call from someone at comcast that I emailed about this problem.

Apparently they cut my DVR off on purpose in order to try and force me to upgrade from limited basic service to digital. I don't understand why the box has worked fine since last year if digital service was a requirement.

I still have satellite service, so I'm not too intrigued with paying $50+ more a month just to keep this DVR that I'm mainly using to record the few scattered HD channels. He's going to call me back to see if there is a cheaper solution.

Great. Comcast is attempting to retroactively enforce a policy that they have only recently introduced with their DVRs. It'll be only a matter of time before the rest of us are affected. Let us know what they say.

anyone have any ideas whether we will get TNT-HD in nashvegas before the end of the month, as predicted by the magic 8 ball? i called the local office, but they didnt really know or care.

Great. Comcast is attempting to retroactively enforce a policy that they have only recently introduced with their DVRs. It'll be only a matter of time before the rest of us are affected.

So Comcast's policy is to disable the PVR functions unless you subscribe for the digital pack? I was actually thinking of going the other way, since I rarely watch anything other than HD on cable.

They didn't just disable the dvr functions on mine - they completely disabled it. Couldn't receive any channels at all. Which is a bit of a crock since what the heck am I paying $9.95 a month for?

Anyway, to update: they refuse to provide any cheaper options. I called Dish network and found out I am no longer under a contract with them, so I'm thinking now I will dump them and get the Comcast dish-buyback deal in order to blunt the cost of getting their digital service and a second 6412 to replace my satellite receiver.

Anyone know if/when ESPN2 HD will be made available in Nashville?

Originally posted by mr2828
They didn't just disable the dvr functions on mine - they completely disabled it. Couldn't receive any channels at all. Which is a bit of a crock since what the heck am I paying $9.95 a month for?

Anyway, to update: they refuse to provide any cheaper options. I called Dish network and found out I am no longer under a contract with them, so I'm thinking now I will dump them and get the Comcast dish-buyback deal in order to blunt the cost of getting their digital service and a second 6412 to replace my satellite receiver.

Great....which means it's only a matter of time for the rest of us. I was actually thinking of going back to Comcast for more HD with the death of Voom coming in 2 weeks. But its #$%^ like this that gives me pause. Forced upgrades like this don't help Comcast's already lousy customer service reputation. For their sake, I hope they don't screw up the upcoming Tivo software option next year.

I searched and didn't see any definite answer for this so I thought I would fire away: I'm having comcast HD installed today. As I understand it, their boxes have DVI and component outs. I have a sony 27hs420 direct view CRT in the bedroom. My question is, will I see any appreciable difference in PQ with a DVI to HDMI connection versus component? If not, I won't waste money on a DVI to HDMI cable. Then again, not knowing might drive me nuts so I'll may end up buying the cable and trying anyway.

I searched and didn't see any definite answer for this so I thought I would fire away: I'm having comcast HD installed today. As I understand it, their boxes have DVI and component outs. I have a sony 27hs420 direct view CRT in the bedroom. My question is, will I see any appreciable difference in PQ with a DVI to HDMI connection versus component? If not, I won't waste money on a DVI to HDMI cable. Then again, not knowing might drive me nuts so I may end up buying the cable and trying anyway.

sorry for the double post, newbie screwup

Honestly the picture is so good on my XBR960 with component that I haven't bothered fooling with HDMI. I'm just leaving the one HDMI input on the tv for use in the future with something that really requires it like maybe a HD-DVD player (rumor is those players may not have analog component outputs).

I notice some 100 channels are also showing in the 200 channels. For example NFL Network 168 is also 275.

I've been getting a lot of artifacts and audio drop outs on Fox the last week. Anyone else experiencing this?

Lava Lamp Freak Re: dropouts on Fox. There has been mention of this in the Nashville OTA thread. It was happening Tuesday during American Idol....definately.

HDTITAN Re: new channels showing up in 200's. Good find! I had not noticed that. Right now, there are several baseball games on the Fox college regionals.

grisch Re: cables. I agree with mr2828. You should get excellent HD with a component connection, and that would be my first choice on a CRT. Analog channels tend to look best on a RG6 hookup, bypassing the HD box.

Sevenfeet Re: forced upgrades. If that was indeed their intent, it was a VERY clumsy effort. Why go to war with paying customers over a lousy $15/mo. digital upgrade?

dambro7 Re: ESPN2HD. We already have ESPNHD! Oh wait a minute, there is hardly any HD on ESPNHD. The suits in Bristol Ct. shifted the HiDef programming to the deuce....so no one can see it.

so noone knows anything about TNTHD?

Thanks for the help. I calibrated with DVE, hooked up the DVR box via the component connection and it looks outstanding.

After playing with the DVR box a couple of other questions popped up, is there any secret to getting PIP working? Also, I see some mention of firmware version 9.15. Mine shows 9.12, what's in the 9.15 version v 9.12? How do I download the new firmware or should I even try as I see others have had trouble. Thanks for the help.

Never mind, I found the official 6412 thread. No PIP, what a bummer.

Comcast has added 3 region foxsports network; fs atlantic fs central fspacfic and appears to be moving various sports channels to 200 series. This is probably going to be sports package option. Also TVONE and African American Family Channel has been added. The Golf and Tennis Channels appearing in the 200s is subscriber channels.

It's really starting to annoy me that other comcast areas have progressed to the 9.15 6412 firmware, or even some reports of a new 9.17 firmware, and we remain stuck with 9.12. Some engineering group here in Nashville is just not on the ball, and we are stuck with the 9.12 known bugs because of it.

(rant off) :)

Originally posted by titans4ever
Comcast has added 3 region foxsports network; fs atlantic fs central fspacfic and appears to be moving various sports channels to 200 series. This is probably going to be sports package option. Also TVONE and African American Family Channel has been added. The Golf and Tennis Channels appearing in the 200s is subscriber channels.

I'm about to make the move back to camcast(poor voomer here). Can you view those channels in the 200's yet. A sports package would be great and hopefully TNT will be added on the 24th as well. Then maybe ESPN2 and UniversalHD but I do not expect those anytime soon. Anyone know if comcast has had any talks about ESPN2?

Yes, the 200 channel are viewable except for the tennis network and goltv? Also, 134 and 135 has TVONE and Black Family TV respectively.

I forgot actually the three fox channels are college sports channel. FoxCollege Sports Atlantic, Central and Pacific. Not Foxsport Net.

Anyone having trouble with channel 182 (DWTVF) since last night? My 6412 either won't show it to me at all, or when it does I get stuttering video with no audio. This caused a recording on that channel last night to do the "jump immediately to the end when you try to watch it" behavior.

I had that problem last night too.

I had that problem too. Also, one of My6412s will not tune channel 183 or the new channels added last week.

okay so i am home for the weekend and discover that Ondemand doesnt work!

for the past 8 or so months, we have had the following plan:

basic cable chan 1-99
HBO 401-410
and the HD service 172-183 (2 NON-DVR boxes)

We dont and never have subscribed to the "digital" package, tahts like from 101-168 or something.

Ever since we got HBO we have had access to HBO OnDemand but now its gone. I called comcast since both boxes dont access the OnDemand service and after they did some checking, they said

"oh well yeah for a while everyone with a digital box was getting Ondemand, but then we did an audit and found out about those people and cut them off. You have to subscribe to the "Digital tier" in order to get Ondemand service"

Needless to say i was quite upset, as they made no notifications of this new policy. In fact I had called 3 times when we first got HBO to make sure that ondemand was in fact free and everytime they said "if you have HBO, and you have a digital cable box, you get access to Ondemand".

So what do you guys think or do you have any idea about this new policy?



BTW.... are we getting TNT-HD?

You know, after 8+ years with satellite I was a bit tired of having a contract with them. But now I see the other side - no contract with Comcast means they can change the rules at their whim. You're shafted in different ways with either company, so at this point I'm just picking the one with the better picture quality and DVR system. Best not to get too worked up about it.

Guys, there is some sort of promo going on now for Starz, the digital channels and On Demand at $9.95 mo. I can get the details if anyone is interested.

We have TNT on Channel 171:)

Okay I'm thinking of picking up a couple of dvr's tommorow since voom dies next week. I will have two boxes and internet coming in on a three way splitter outside. It splits again under the house for a total of six things hooked up to comcast. I'm I gonna need a amp again like I did before? I had the motorola amp I got form circuit city. Thanks in advance.

I took a look at 171 - are all the shows on this channel just bad looking stretched SD upconverts? Are there any movies or any real HD content on it besides basketball games?

hi, i am not getting TNT on channel 171! wtf! when did it start working for you?

Originally posted by mr2828
I took a look at 171 - are all the shows on this channel just bad looking stretched SD upconverts? Are there any movies or any real HD content on it besides basketball games?

Not often. Lots of steched movies with the occasional quality production.

I notice it about 3:00 pm. I live in Murfreesboro. ;)

do you have to have the Digital Tier to get this channel? Please folks I would love to know how you're getting it and if you subscribe to these packages.

i mean we get Discovery HD, ESPN HD, INHD1 and 2 in the clear... would they make TNT HD only available combined with Digital tier in addition to limited basic?

oh. well i called comcast and they said "you should be reciving it if you have an HD box" and that they needed to load the channel or something. told me to wait for about 20 minutes and then call back if it didnt work yet. lets see.

EDIT:

well its been one hour, and *still* NO TNT-HD....


Anyone in South Nashville/Brentwood area getting TNT-HD??? I am right on the border between nolensville road and concord road. Anyway i'm quite perplexed

I am getting TNT-HD on channel 171. It doesn't have any guide info or a channel name, but it is definitely the right channel.

"Ali" is playing right now.

I am in the Percy Priest Lake area.

Update: The channel name and program guide are showing up now. :)

Still nothing here. But the cable box recognized TNTHD and says "Ali" but it doesnt work. I called them quite a few times and they said that it is slowly updating across the system, so that they think it will be working by tommorrow at the latest. We'll see.

I've been getting it here ever since I got home from work around 7:30. I'm right next to Lipscomb.

yup
~charlie

So the comcast cable rep came to my house today to find out why it wont work. after investigating for a bit he realized that TNT-HD has been "bundled in" with the digital tier of channels from 101-169. When they activated those set of channels, TNT-HD started working just fine.

well we dont subscribe to the digital tier, and i explained to him how rediculous it was to charge $10 or whatever it is extra to recieve the HD feed of a channel we get through basic cable anyway. But it was out of his hands, and said that he would inform his supervisor... and to take it up with Comcast Marketing.

I have a feeling this is a mistake, that it should just be in the HD tier, like all the other non-pay HD channels. But at least now I know the reason why i wasnt getting this channel.

Any of you getting TNT-HD who dont have the digital tier?

Saw where the NFL NETWORK is now in HD. When will Nashville get this channel ?????

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
So the comcast cable rep came to my house today to find out why it wont work. after investigating for a bit he realized that TNT-HD has been "bundled in" with the digital tier of channels from 101-169. When they activated those set of channels, TNT-HD started working just fine.

TNT has gotta belong with the HD's and not the digitals. Espn and Discovery are included, so why not TNT. Was the tech sure it was "bundled in" or speculating? Maybe there is a glitch with the software in your box related to the OnDemand shutoff.

Well, I don't get espn and discovery, but I do get TNT, so that makes sense since I subscribe to basic cable and the digital bundle, but not expanded basic.

Well as I had said in another thread, the Comcast tech said "Comcast doesnt make mistakes, but it *is* possible here that one was made". He was also surprised to be getting a call about TNT-HD, as he figured noone knew about it yet. Since the rollout was so clandestine (even the dispatcher didnt know channel 171 worked), he speculated that it could simply be an oversight that was instituted on friday, and then the "bosses" left, and wouldnt be able to see the issue till whenever they returned to work today.

Anyway, I dont care how comcast is in other markets, but they have been really cool in nashville, and have never charged for the digital tier in order to get non OTA HD channels. I am hoping and praying that it was a simple mistake that can be (and hopefully will) corrected.

What is up with ESPN Channel 173. No picture !!!!!!!

Braves & Mets were blacked out here because the game was being shown on on TSS.

Has anyone had the problem of no DD 5.1 on programming that should be in 5.1 in the last couple of days. I'm having this problem on my 6412.

Threads merged.

Originally posted by jreed44
Has anyone had the problem of no DD 5.1 on programming that should be in 5.1 in the last couple of days. I'm having this problem on my 6412.

Try turning it off and on again. Sometimes it switches from DD (all kinds) to PCM.

Comcast channel 183 shows on the guide as ABCNW but schedule says "To Be Announced". What is ABCNW?? It is still showing the channel 2 weather stormtracker.

Thanks

ABCNW refers to what used to be "ABC News Now"

http://www.usatoday.com/life/columnist/mediamix/2004-08-15-media-mix_x.htm

My Channel 185 does not any call letters.

Did everybody get your mailers today from Comcast ???????

Originally posted by HDTITAN
My Channel 185 does not any call letters.

Did everybody get your mailers today from Comcast ???????

I guess I didn't....because I'm wondering "what mailer?"

Tom

so i am back in town and i turn on channel 171 and TNTHD now works! so thats great for Comcast for removing it from the digital Tier and putting it back on the HD tier. So much for "never making mistakes"

TNT itself looked really good with the NBA playoffs yesterday, but its freaking hard to figure out whats HD and what isnt.

It seems that if it is true HD, then there's a lag between channel 38 and 171. like a 2 or 3 second lag. i guess thats how you tell...

Has everybody left town ???? Are there anyone in Nashville with HD Comcast. Let's get some more HD Channels.

I hear ya, I miss my VOOM already.

Possible new HD channels:
WB - still the only OTA HD channel that you can't get through Comcast
Universal HD - Is D* the only provider or do other cable systems have it?
TBS HD / Braves HD - I want to see my beloved Braves in HD. If South Carolina can provide it, why can't Nashville?

Any other suggestions?

Possible new HD channels:
TBS HD / Braves HD - I want to see my beloved Braves in HD. If South Carolina can provide it, why can't Nashville?


I want nothing more than to get the Braves HD channel (or at the very least Turner South), but I don't think it's going to happen anytime soon. A firend of mine talked with one of the higher ups at Comcast and was told that we can't get those two stations because they broadcast Thrashers and Hawks games. Since Nashville is a Preds and Grizzlies market, they can't offer the channels. Apparently the Preds won't allow other regional hockey to be shown in Nashville. During the season Braves HD sohws the braves games, but in the off season, it shows Thrashers HD or Hawks HD, which violates the DMA contract for Nashville. He told me this back in February and said they were trying to work out a deal for alternate programming of Turner South and Braves HD for Nashville during baseballs off season, but that it wouldn't happen this year. Not sure if anything has changed since then or not. It sure would be nice, though.

yup
~charlie

anyone else's HD cable box freezes? mine freezes all the time, i'm wondering why

anyone else's HD cable box freezes? mine freezes all the time, i'm wondering why

Weak signal, bad cable (which causes weak signal), or bad box. I had/have the same problems. Once football season was over I took my HD DVR back and didn't get a new one. I will probably go get a new one this fall. I was mainly using it to backup the HDTivo and for ESPN HD.

Dennis

Thanks for the info, csd.

It does bug me that Charter in Clarksville carries Turner South but Comcast does not. I did go to high school in Clarksville with the President of Turner South, so maybe I should try to get him to get his channel in Nashville. ;)

Thanks for the info, csd.

It does bug me that Charter in Clarksville carries Turner South but Comcast does not. I did go to high school in Clarksville with the President of Turner South, so maybe I should try to get him to get his channel in Nashville. ;)


Do it! :)

My former classmate doesn't work at Turner South anymore, but he does have another postion at Turner, and gave me some information (which is nice considering I haven't talked to him in over 15 years :cool: ).

He basically said that Nashville is the only major market that they have had no success in cracking, despite numerous visits and meetings over the years. Turner South keeps trying to get into Nashville and offers them the same deal as every other market, but Comcast apparently claims there is no demand. :(

I guess that we Comcast subscribers (and especially Braves fans) need to talk to Comcast and keep pestering them for this station.

He didn't say anything about TBS in HD, but I bet that Turner South would be a pre-requesite.

I was listening to a Comcast radio ad yesterday, and it shocks me that they promote the fact they have 120+ Braves games. Every other cable company and satellite provider in the surrounding area has all 162 games. :mad:

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)



Can someone post an updated list of Comcast QAM frequencies?

A friend just got a new HDTV with QAM tuner and is missing WTVF - but would also like to make sure he is getting everything that is FREE from Comcast.

Thanks,
Dennis

Here's the reply my friend just got just by emailing the Comcast Customer Service address:

Thank you for contacting Comcast.

I have sent your request for Turner South to our marketing department.
When adding new channels we definitely try to add the channels most requested by our customers. In the future, we hope to provide this channel to you.

Just a bit of information you may not be aware of: with Comcast service you will receive a total of 108 games, even without Turner South.

73 games are shown on TBS ch 23
9 games are shown on Fox-17 ch 6
25 games are shown on Fox Sports South ch 28
1 game is shown on ESPN ch 11

Turner South will carry up to 54 games (mostly the Tuesday night games)

We work to keep our cost low, we don't think adding Turner South is in the best interest to our customers, considering the limited number of games they broadcast.

Turner South asks us to pay a significant monthly fee to carry that channel.

However, I will turn in your request, as I said Comcast works to give customers the service they want for the lowest cost.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. You may respond directly to this email. Thank you for your interest in Comcast.


Thank you for choosing Comcast



I emailed them too and got a standard form letter response. I'm thinking we aren't going to be able to get TS for a long time.

yup
~charlie

Charlie,

They gave you bad info on Turner South. Yes Nashville is Preds and Grizzlies territory, but all they have to do is blackout the Thrashers. I am pretty sure the 15 Hawks games are in the clear in Nashville.

It hacks me off when I see the Comcast add in left field that says "Official Cable Provider of the Atlanta Braves", yet Comcast won't carry Turner South in Middle Tennessee.

Nashville is listed as a city that Turner South is coming to on the My South on Tour this summer.

FWIW, Turner South is on in Memphis, the home of the Grizzlies.

In Livingston, Tennesse, Comcast groups the system with Comcast of Central Kentucky. I am betting that when Turner South is added, they won't put it on here.

I am outside of the city limits and get Turner South on Celina Cable Communications. If they ever drop Turner South, I am back to DirecTV.

Why Turner South of all things?? Maybe Junkin and Braves baseball would be worthwhile, but not so for the endless repeats of In The Heat Of The Night, tired old movies and the same cooking and home improvement themes seen elsewhere.

Comcast needs to cut a deal with Mark Cuban. HDNET would be a slam dunk.

Discovery HD Theater (HDTV - 95.02) is no longer broadcast in the clear.

WKRN-ABC (HDTV - 81-2)
WTVF-CBS (HDTV - 81-5)
WSMV-NBC (HDTV - 83-4)
WZTV-FOX(HDTV - 83-6)

DIY 85-1
SOAP 85-8
FINE LIVING 85-10

Check out 103-8 thru 10, 104-25, 105-39 & 40 and 106-54 & 55 for movies from time to time.

McTNN,

50+ Braves games is the main thing. I also like Blue Ribbon and Junkin'. I don't see the number of Braves games going down either. I think eventually Turner South will have 75 or so games with TBS showing around 50. FSN South's contract runs till 2012 or 2013.

Anyone else in the Nashville area having a problem with OnDemand right now? I'm trying to catch up on Deadwood season 2 and I'm getting a "Cannot connect to VOD server" message on both of my boxes - one 6412 and another non-HD/non-DVR box. It randoms between an error 206 and a 215. I watched it without any problems yesterday, and between 6am - 7am this morning.

Tom

Anyone else in the Nashville area having a problem with OnDemand right now?


Working fine for me. Actually it's working better since it usually takes forever to change screens.

~charlie

Thanks. I called Comcast and the rep said all she could do was "send a signal..." whatever that means. She said give it about 30 minutes and if it doesn't work to call back and they can send a tech out to check the box. I told her it was happening on both boxes, and she still said that was their only option. Is OnDemand really that flaky among boxes?

Discovery HD Theater (HDTV - 95.02) is no longer broadcast in the clear.

WKRN-ABC (HDTV - 81-2)
WTVF-CBS (HDTV - 81-5)
WSMV-NBC (HDTV - 83-4)
WZTV-FOX(HDTV - 83-6)

DIY 85-1
SOAP 85-8
FINE LIVING 85-10

Check out 103-8 thru 10, 104-25, 105-39 & 40 and 106-54 & 55 for movies from time to time.

Thanks!

I will pass the info along.

Dennis

Comcast had an ad in today's Tennessean that said, Satellite can't do the following:
100 Braves games, I thought to myself, true. DirecTV and DISH both have 162 Braves games in Middle Tennessee. I guess the parts about VOD and broadband were true.

Hey, has anyone noticed problems with 172 - InHD recently? At my house it has been almost unwatchable -- macroblocking, dropouts (audio and video), etc. for the past few days.

-John

Hey, has anyone noticed problems with 172 - InHD recently? At my house it has been almost unwatchable -- macroblocking, dropouts (audio and video), etc. for the past few days.


I'm not having trouble with INHD, but I am having trouble with non-HD digital channels. All the HBO channels (401-408) and 103 are dropping out every few minutes. The screen freezes and then goes black for about 3 or 4 seconds and then comes back to the program. I unplugged all my other connections and unplugged the box and plugged it back it and that didn't help at all. If I'm in the Diagnostics menu and I go to Inband Status, I can tell that it definately loses the signal. Everything goes to zeros and says invalid rather than good. It's not listed in the error counts, though, so it must be a total loss of the signal. It's odd to me that it's happening to the non-HD channels, but the HD ones are just fine. I guess I'll give it a few days since it doesn't happen on the channels I watch the most.

yup
~charlie

I'm not having trouble with INHD, but I am having trouble with non-HD digital channels. All the HBO channels (401-408) and 103 are dropping out every few minutes. The screen freezes and then goes black for about 3 or 4 seconds and then comes back to the program. I unplugged all my other connections and unplugged the box and plugged it back it and that didn't help at all. If I'm in the Diagnostics menu and I go to Inband Status, I can tell that it definately loses the signal. Everything goes to zeros and says invalid rather than good. It's not listed in the error counts, though, so it must be a total loss of the signal. It's odd to me that it's happening to the non-HD channels, but the HD ones are just fine. I guess I'll give it a few days since it doesn't happen on the channels I watch the most.

yup
~charlie

I'm having the same problem with 400 on up.

I am having the same problems on pretty much all my digitial and HD channels. :(

Update -- clearly, I need more coffee. INHD was fine, it was Discovery HD that was giving me the finger so severely recently. And of course, last night it was flawless, so go figure.

The odd thing is when I was tuned to that channel, I could go into the 6412 Diagnostic screen to view my signal strength and (un)correctable error rates, and it would go from GOOD to POOR on the tuner that had 172 tuned in, with 10,000s of errors. That's less severe than what csd saw, but still bizarre.

channel 170 is now HDPPV. although it says "off-air" since last night. I wonder if its the HD on demand PPV or something.

channel 170 is now HDPPV. although it says "off-air" since last night. I wonder if its the HD on demand PPV or something.

It was listed as Boxing on Sat. night, with a price of $44.95, so I'm assuming they added it for the Tyson fight. I bet it goes away soon.

yup
~charlie

I was thinking back to January when Sinclair and Comcast were locked in a very public battle over the Super Bowl carriage. One was unwilling to give away the signal for free, and the other had a policy of not paying for HD locals. Both were said to be dug in for the long haul.

Well, a deal was struck, but how did this come about, especially in light of all the Comcast ads running on Fox17? It does seem like for once, everyone got something they wanted, and viewers were not stuck with a rate hike.

Surely, Sinclair was compensated, but to what extent?

i think it was inevitable that this would happen. as mentioned in other threads, perhaps Sinclair was able to negotiate better rates for advertizing on comcast or has the option of addinig a "must carry" sub-channel at some future point (like 185). holding out for money was probably just a ruse. that was an unfair and unreasonable request for Sinclair to force consumers to pay for them dragging their feet on the HD upgrades that they themselves will need to compete with other broadcast network affails who did it for free.

My 6412 got upgraded to 9.19 firmware, possibly last night but I haven't been checking it very often. I'm glad we finally got rid of buggy 9.12 after watching other areas get 9.15 and 9.17 months ago.

Beware what you wish for: the infamous old 4:50 PM lockup occurred today on one 6412. That hasn't happened in months, so I have to wonder if it's related. Oh well the struggle continues...

I am so happy now! :)

The new update fixed my On Demand problem with one of my 6412's (one has always worked and one gave a blank screen after starting any On Demand show).

At least with all of my digital boxes, it isn't playing that preview clip like it used to when you selected channel 1.

I'm not so happy - 6412 locked up again overnight at 4:20 AM. This 4am / 4pm lockup thing was supposed to be fixed long ago, but now has crept back in.

The main thing that needed fixing on my 6412 was the mute bug. No lockups here with 9.12 or 9.19.

Yeah I've had some other problems with that particular 6412 so I finally took it today and swapped it out.

Hey, can one of y'all try and record something off Discovery Science (119) and let me know if it works for you? I've been going round-and-round with Comcast about some service problems I have on that channel and Discovery Times (120). Essentially, both my 6412s never record a complete program on those channels, and DVR functions don't work on live or partially-recorded shows on those channels.

And when the cable guy came out and tried his "known good" box from the van, it did the same thing. All other channels work as well as they ever do.

Please let me know if this is something local to my house or neighborhood (Franklin) or if they've screwed up something on the head end.

Thanks!

-John

I just popped over to 119 and it seems to work ok on my downstairs 6412 (didn't test the upstairs one):

paused it: works ok, but oddly seemed to step through 2 additional frames before fully pausing

restarted it: works ok, but some digital garbage as it restarts

fast forward to live: works ok, some more digital garbage as it goes live

record it: it records and plays back fine

skipping: I have the 30-second skip programmed on my remote and using it also causes momentary digital garbage to appear

So, it isn't pretty, but all the dvr functions work.

Well, the 9.19 firmware reboot was a little weird for me. I'm doing Limited Basic with a 6412 so every time they push something out to the boxes, I think I'm going to be cut off from service like a few others here. And at first I thought that would be the case for me. When I checked the box at first, all the local HD channels were disabled "This channel will be available shortly". Only InHD 1 & 2 were working. I unplugged the box and upon reboot, the local HD channels came back. Curiously, OnDemand is now missing from the menus and if you select it from the remote, you get the "The channe; will be available shortly" message. I almost never use OnDemand so it's no great loss, but the new software does seem to check first if you are on the Digital Cable tier before displaying the menu option .

why is WZTVD 183 broken? its been broadcasting SD since sunday...

I noticed that too...weird.

Same here

I'm new to this forum and just thought I'd ask if there was any new news on any channels being added soon? ESPN2HD maybe hopefully, in time for football season?

One other thing, can someone record something on the NFL network and see if they can fast forward through it? Ever since the upgrade i can't do this. It's the same problem I have always had on discovery home channel. I try to FF and it stops and asks me if I want to delete.

One other thing, can someone record something on the NFL network and see if they can fast forward through it? Ever since the upgrade i can't do this. It's the same problem I have always had on discovery home channel. I try to FF and it stops and asks me if I want to delete.

It's happening to me too. I had the Titans season overview recorded, and I couldn't fast foward through anything.

It's happening to me too. I had the Titans season overview recorded, and I couldn't fast foward through anything.

I hope they fix this crap....foxhd is still screwed up too.....has anyone called comcast?

I'm having the same problem on Discovery Science that you guys are on NFL network and DiscHome. I've called Comcast at least 3 times now and haven't gotten anywhere. A tech even came out and tried his box with the same results.

Any idea how to move calls up the chain past the first-level guys?

-John

I will PM you three the email address I have of a higher-up at Comcast support.

I found this at the link below....I wonder if the local comcast office is familiar with this? Also the weird thing is that I never had this problem on NFL network until recently.

Some channels can't be rewound or fast forwarded or have other problems with recording
Cause: Aparently some channels do not have marker frames, complete frames embedded in the digital stream. Instead, they encode the information which re-draws a new frame in multiple frames. The fast forward works on these marker frames and doesn't work for those channels.
Remedy: There is apparently a software update Comcast can get at the local office that will fix this. Not all locations appear to have this problem, but BBC America and the digital Discovery channels seem to have this problem.

I had to make 5 posts before it let me link the page.....

link (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorola_6412)

Update on my experience with channels 119/120:

I thought I was ok, but now I tested again and there are problems recording:

119: can record it, but when playing back it jumps to end/delete if I fast forward twice.

120: can't seem to record it at all. I hit the record button, it says the recording has started, but no red light comes on, and no entry in the dvr recordings screen.

Luckily I never watch these channels :)

yeah, I've always had those same problems with those i think......the NFL network is another story and it needs to be fixed!

Some channels can't be rewound or fast forwarded or have other problems with recording
Cause: Aparently some channels do not have marker frames, complete frames embedded in the digital stream. Instead, they encode the information which re-draws a new frame in multiple frames. The fast forward works on these marker frames and doesn't work for those channels.
Remedy: There is apparently a software update Comcast can get at the local office that will fix this. Not all locations appear to have this problem, but BBC America and the digital Discovery channels seem to have this problem.

Sounds plausible. I always suspected that something unique to the signal of NFL Network and a handful of other channels was at the root of the fast forwarding problems. From day one (August 2004 when NFL Network came to Comcast) this has been an issue. It was discussed briefly in this post on 11/22/2004
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
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).

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.

Hmmm, maybe it did used to do it on mine too. I just hadn't realized it, I didn't think so though. BTW, I called comcast last night about channel 183 not being HD. The lady didn't have a clue. She said one other person right before me had called about the same thing, but other than that she hadn't heard anything about it all week. Comcast support sucks. I didnt' get anywhere with her and I still don't have 183 in HD. Makes me sick how much I'm paying this company.

Customer service would be getting a lot of flak if an NFL game or American Idol was scheduled. The timing was perfect in one sense, The Nascar season just ended on Fox. Coincidence?

Very true....I need to figure out a way to get to a more technical support person. I sent an email to that guy you gave me yesterd. Still haven't heard anything.

It was actually mr2828 who sent the address...

That person is away from the office until Saturday, but I did get a reply from him this morning that he forwarded my channel 183 problem to a tech guru to look at.

You also can do as I did and use the email contact form at comcast.com and in your email ask them to forward your problem to someone technical. They usually will, and this will get you past 1st-tier know-nothings. From my experience, calling in is the worst method.

Tell me about it....when I was on the phone they put me on hold so they could turn their "test" tv to 183. When she came back she said Seinfeld is on right now sir, that show isn't in HD. Good grief.

does everyone have the problem with 183? this is ridiculous. has anyonce confirmed that we did get the firmware upgrade on the motorola's on sunday and that's probably what's caused this?

This is why I have an antenna in the attic and a tv with an atsc tuner. Makes a nice backup when I really want to see something in hdtv and comcast is down or messed up. It's easy to receive all the over the air signals here in Franklin.

I have a HDTV with a QAM tuner and get the INHD1 & 2(102.1, 102.2) and all the locals. i noticed the fox WZTV was coming at 480i which they do a digital broadcast off OTA of SD and HDTV. I had my HDTV locals go down one night last weekend(i forget which night) when they added the that new weather channel that channel 5 broadcasts OTA. ever since they have had Fox in SD(480i). my theory is when adding the the new nashville weather deal they reset up their channel and in the process choose the wrong signal from the WZTV because they broadcast both SD and HDTV OTA. i have called and complained about this hopefully they will get it fixed.

DId Comcast add a weather channel? The only thing I get from Channel 5 over the air, other than the HD, is a graphic on 5-2 that says "This channel is currently unavailable."

That's from channel2 WKRN

So, do you think there is any chance Comcast will fix the FOX-HD problem today (or at least this week)?

everyone just needs to call, I called like 3 times last week and got freaking nowhere....

whoa, its been a week and a half since i reported this and its still not up? when i called comcast, two sundays ago, they said it would have been up within hours. Im in school at IU right now so i don tknow... just came to check the thread since i'll be heading home soon.

is it a WZTV problem or a comcast problem? did you guys try asking directly for an HDTV rep? those ppl work during the daytime.

Has anyone gotten a firmware update for their 6200 box. Mine is 8.12 on both of my boxes. They both freeze up and you have to wait about 30 seconds for them to unfreeze. When I called comcast on this, they pinged both boxes and said I had a good signal.

I just checked 183 and I think it may be fixed - my tv is reporting it is receiving 1080i hdtv now instead of the 480i it was at for the last week+

Perhaps all those emails and calls from us all finally woke someone up :)

is it a WZTV problem or a comcast problem?

Good question, and only someone close to the situation would know the answer. I am hoping it is a technical glitch and not continuing squabbles with Sinclair management over rights.

Everyone remember that just over a month ago, Fox17 was running a crawler at the bottom of the screen suggesting that it might be in the best interest of Dish Network customers to switch to Directv or Comcast! The deadline for a contract extension was June 1 and unless a deal between Echostar and Sinclair was finalized, service would be terminated. Seems these two companies enjoy butting heads.

One thing I feel certain of is Comcast would not knowingly let HBO or Showtime HD's go dark. Premium channel customers are priority #1, unlike Limited and Expanded Basic subscribers. Perhaps they don't feel a sense of urgency over a downrezzed Fox, because HD locals in Nashville are unencrypted and remain free to all cable subs.

Until service is restored, it's all speculation and nothing more. I feel fortunate to live in an area where Fox and the rest of the HD locals come through with a set top antenna.

Has anyone gotten a firmware update for their 6200 box. Mine is 8.12 on both of my boxes. They both freeze up and you have to wait about 30 seconds for them to unfreeze. When I called comcast on this, they pinged both boxes and said I had a good signal.

30 seconds! Are you sure? That doesn't sound like firmware problem.

Yes, up to 30 seconds the boxes freeze and won't respond to the remote controls. I read in a forum back in march, it was because of the 8.12 firmware updating the guide and a new firmware was supposed to fix it. But I have never seen a firmware update for the 6200's and comcast says I have a good signal, when they ping the box.

I got an email back from my contact, and he confirmed it was a headend glitch - comcast's fault. It is definitely fixed now. I knew it had to be them because the over-the-air transmissions from WZTV-HD never faltered.

It's working for me too. :)

I did call Comcast this morning about the issue, but I am surprised it was fixed already.

already? it took a week and a half... thats a long time.

what's a headend glitch?

I am getting this same 30 second glitch mentioned by others. It makes OnDemand impossible to watch. Anytime I try to look through the menus it will freeze and say "Error retrieving data" I see that my 6200 says its running S/W VER 70.47 that can't be right?

Anyone I can email or call directly trying to talk to regular tech support about this is a lesson in futility.

For the last day or two I have seen a reduced signal on WSMV, channel 181, resulting in pixelation and dropouts. The other channels seem OK. Has anyone else noticed this?

For the last day or two I have seen a reduced signal on WSMV, channel 181, resulting in pixelation and dropouts. The other channels seem OK. Has anyone else noticed this?

I tried to watch Godzilla Saturday night on WSMV, and it was completely unwatchable. :( I don't know if it was because the local weather info was showing up too or what. I haven't really looked at that channel since.

I have noticed that also and on 183.

On my freezing problem with my 6200's, comcast came out and confirmed they have a problem when the guide is updating, it can freeze the box for up to 30 seconds because the processor is overwhelmed and they are waiting on a firmware update to fix the problem.

For the last day or two I have seen a reduced signal on WSMV, channel 181, resulting in pixelation and dropouts. The other channels seem OK. Has anyone else noticed this?
This is obviously a Comcast problem, since others are seeing it and it only happens on a couple of channels. Hopefully it will be fixed soon.

My Comcast-supplied PVR is the Motorola 6412. I found that watching on tuner no. 1, rather than no. 2, improves reception on channels 181 and 183 to some extent. As I understand it, there is an internal splitter in the 6412 ahead of tuner no. 2, so that the signal strength to that tuner will always be a little less than to tuner no. 1.

For the last day or two I have seen a reduced signal on WSMV, channel 181, resulting in pixelation and dropouts. The other channels seem OK. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yes I cannot watch channel 4 HD via comcast right now. The lower half of the screen is all pixelated. I switched over to OTA and the problem when away. So it is an issue with the Comcast signal.



Ronnie

Just checked and my 181 seems ok (in Franklin/Cool Springs). Probably there is some interference or noise with your local cable plant. Call the techs out and get them to start tracing it.

I've seen the WSMV-DT problem too in recent days. It seems to come and go. Weird.