I think what it is, is that FCC is requiring for EAS systems to be installed on any and all subchannels, and the thing is, is that Sinclair, who owns MyTV 30, is requiring The Tube Network to purchase the necessary equipment. The Tube hasn't paid or won't pay or something like that, and they (Sinclair) can't do anything about it until The Tube pays for equipment. FCC says if requirements for the necessary equipment aren't met, subchannels don't go on. So therefore, it comes down to (No Money = No Equipment = No Channel). I think that is how someone else in another forum explained it. Hope that helps.

NashDigie signing off.

I recently got a Panasonic TH-PX60U 42 inch Plasma that has the QAM HD Tuner built in. I have read and heard that you can pick up the unencrypted channels through comcast without the STB in play, but I am not having any luck at all getting anything beyond the basic cable channels of 2-99. Can anyone provide me with a good source of info for setting this up, troubleshooting it, and just seeing if it's even available in Franklin, TN?

Thanks!

Check your owner's manual about how to scan for digital channels. You can't tune them if the receiver doesn't know they are there.

Would that be more than just telling the TV to auto program both analog and digital signals? I have gone through that process, but I wasn't able to pick up any channels above 100. Does anyone here have a channel guide of what I should be able to get in this area? For instance, channel 231 with the STB is our local ABC affiliate. Should I be able to tune to that channel on my TV and pick up the same HD content without the box?

Be sure you are scanning for digital cable channels. My Sony allows me to direct it to scan OTA and cable separately. Digital QAM channel numbers will not be the same number as OTA or STB channel numbers. If memory serves, they will be above 88 and probably involve a decimal...e.g. 92.6, etc.

I recently got a Panasonic TH-PX60U 42 inch Plasma that has the QAM HD Tuner built in. I have read and heard that you can pick up the unencrypted channels through comcast without the STB in play, but I am not having any luck at all getting anything beyond the basic cable channels of 2-99. Can anyone provide me with a good source of info for setting this up, troubleshooting it, and just seeing if it's even available in Franklin, TN?

Thanks!

Step 1 would be to RTFM to see how to hook it up and how to scan for digital clear QAM channels. This varies widely from set to set from brand to brand.

It looks like for this set there is just a single coax input, so you can't go wrong there. Then on the menus you choose cable TV and "all" (digital and analog) then do the scan - it will take a LONG time, maybe 15 minutes.

User Jon J is correct for OTA channels - you have to let the TV scan and find them and map then to the local channel numbers. HD channel 4 is on VHF 10, for example. So when it finds a digital signal OTA on 10 it sees in the ID that it is "4.1" to that is what it displays and that is what you tune. So your TV has learned that 4.1 = HD digital VHF 10. This is not the case in a QAM tuner. If you know that channel 4 in HD is on 93.4 or than channel 8 HD is on 115.1 you should be able to tuner those up w/o scanning first. Just hit 93 prog 4 or 115 prog 1 on your remote to directly access these.

As has been covered here a 'zillion times now, the HD digital channels can be hard to get and any older/bad splitters, amps, and coax will prevent you from getting all the QAM channels locked in. If you have trouble, then wire your TV up as direct as possible to where the cable enters the house bypassing all other drops, splitters, etc. You can get a double F female and roll of RG-6 with the ends in place (in several lengths) from RadioShaft. String the coax in through the window, across the floor, whatever. Once you have all the channels coming in good, then start adding the other stuff back. You may find (as others have) that you are going to need new coax, new splitters, and maybe an amp or two.


The list of QAM channels is posted many times in this thread and I think Franklin's channels = Nashville, but I could be wrong.

Dennis

Step 1 would be to RTFM... :confused: Wonder why this is so often overlooked??

Hi all,

I have limited basic service in Nashville with an HD box. The quality has been pretty good, but I noticed that on sports programs (and sometimes on INHD) there tends to be a lot of artifacts that look like the signal is really compressed. Am I the only one getting these? Perhaps a bad box or my TV (not the most high-end TV, but looks fine when viewing HD videos from my computer)? Fox tends to be the worst since it's only 720p- CBS definitely looks better.

Channel 4 is the worst since locally they use up bandwidth on the OTA signal for Telemundo sub-channel. I watched the game last night (OTA) on my HD Tivo and it looked fine - about like Fox always does. I rarely notice compression effects on the football with Fox or CBS, but always did (bad) on NBC Sunday night games.

I have QAM tuners too and had an HD box from Comcast at one time, and never noticed any quality difference between the OTA, QAM, and the HD box - and I do not notice in any between clear QAM and OTA. I have been told that Comcast sends the OTA HD signal without any compression or changes so it should look just like OTA.

If you are seeing a lot of problems on Fox I would guess the problem could be on your end - or you have a more critical eye than I do :D . Years and years of being a Dish and then DirecTV subscriber tend to make you more immune to noticing compression artifacts that other folks. Fox or 17 does have a problem with audio drop outs (in 5.1) - I didn't notice it during the game, but I have during some of the normal prime time shows in the past.

Dennis

Thanks for the quick reply! I was wondering how the channels looked on OTA; I'm thinking about picking up an antenna and comparing. It very well might be something on my end, although my component inputs seem to be working well since I play xbox using them all the time. I'd say generally sports looks the worst (yesterday night's game looked a lot better than the Giants on Sunday though), especially for fast-moving objects.

Perhaps it is my eyes, but I feel like I'm getting used to it already :p

What model TV do you have? I assume since you want to try OTA that it has an ATSC tuner in it? I also assume that since you are renting the digital HD box from Comcast ($5 a month, I think) that your set does not have a QAM tuner in it ?

If you have a QAM tuner in your TV you can bypass the Comcast box and get the locals and INHD in HD via clear QAM and see how that looks.

Depending on where in town you are and how high up your TV room is VS the surrounding hills you may be able to pick up some or all of the locals on a simple loop or bow tie antenna. All but 4.1 are on UHF and may come in fine for you. A step up would be something like the Zenith Silver Sensor directional UHF antenna, which is not expensive - but does cost more than a loop or bow tie. Heck, for testing you could even try rabbit ears just to see how it goes.

Dennis

I'm using a viewSonic TV; you're right in that it doesn't have a QAM tuner but it does have ATSC. In fact, I tried putting the cable directly into the TV just to make sure. I'm not too far from downtown, but since I'm on the first floor and there's some two-floor buildings around, I'll just have to try to see what kind of signals I get. I guess the antenna hunt starts now!

Yesterday, I received a mailer from Comcast warning that their negotiations with Sinclair for carriage of Sinclair's HD stations are still ongoing with Feb 2 being the cutoff date unless an agreement is reached.

While I do understand the business behind not "rolling over" for any and all rate increases from content providers, I get a little preturbed when my mailbox is littered with propaganda urging me to contact Sinclair (and I also am aware that Sinclair is problematic with most carriers). But, in an era when cable co's are recording record profits and still raising rates, I detest having to listen to their whining and solicitation to "write a letter."

In fact, this was the reason I left Dish Network in the first place.

Does this aggrevate anyone else here?

I am OK with it. The NFL season is winding down and with the exception of a few PO'ed American Idol fans, I don't expect much of a reaction one way or the other. Let Sinclair run a test pattern all night long....their loss, not mine.

check this out....pics of the comcast tivo interface.....I want this now! Anyone know when it'll come our way?

http://www.engadgethd.com/2007/01/09/comcast-dvr-with-tivo-pics-features/

So i'm surfing for new channels this past weekend, 'cause every once in a while, I'm hoping Comcast will adde a few ;) I got to 103-09, and noticed what seemed to be an X-rated movie! But, the picture would freeze and kinda fastforward.

I don't subscribe to SHO, Spice or any of those channels. What is this channel?

nc

I am OK with it. The NFL season is winding down and with the exception of a few PO'ed American Idol fans, I don't expect much of a reaction one way or the other. Let Sinclair run a test pattern all night long....their loss, not mine.

Nascar fans will disagree, this will not be pretty in Feb.

So i'm surfing for new channels this past weekend, 'cause every once in a while, I'm hoping Comcast will adde a few ;) I got to 103-09, and noticed what seemed to be an X-rated movie! But, the picture would freeze and kinda fastforward.

I don't subscribe to SHO, Spice or any of those channels. What is this channel?

nc

Sounds like you happened upon a neighbor watching On-Demand.

Hello All,

Looking for some general feedback: I live in Murfreesboro and will be switching soon to Comcast from D* due to D*'s HD Lite and because I'll be getting the Tivo S3. My question is this: How does the Comcast analog SD look in comparison to D*'s SD on your HDTV displays?

I'm hearing general rumblings that in many places, Comcast analog SD is starting to look better than D* because a) Comcast is getting slightly better in that regard, and b) D*'s SD has progressively gotton worse over time. Is that true of Nashville/Murfreesboro?

Generally speaking, will they look about the same on an HDTV display? Are there noticable differences? What is your take on this?

Didn't Comcast and Sinclair go through this about this time last year until one or both of them blinked?

As much distaste as I have for cable companies in general and Comcast in particular, Sinclair is far worse IMHO: This kind of last-minute screw-twisting is just crazy. Comcast obviously had no problems arriving at deals for any of the other 200+ channels they carry, but one regional provider wants them to pay through the nose for something they could pick up OTA and rebroadcast intact?

Give me a <blank>ing break.

-John

Mike, Comcast now has digital simulcast for their SD channels. So if you pick up one of the newer all-digital-only set top boxes like the 3416 DVR for example you will only be able to get the SD channels in MPEG-2 digital just like from satellite.

I used to be a Dish customer, and in my opinion Comcast provides a better digital SD quality than Dish was providing me 2 years back.

does Comcast have new HDTV boxes that they are handing out as well or just digital SD boxes only? We have 3 DCT-5100 boxes...

I've been successfully watching the usual OTA HD channels (NBC, CBS, ABC, INHD, etc) for quite a few months on my Sony Bravia with my Comcast Basic Analog cable service. Within the last couple of days they have disappeared! I'm no longer able to get any digital signals into the TV.

Has Comcast changed something? Do I have other options apart from "finally" upgrading to Digital cable? I was quite satisfied with the few channels I was receiving.

thanks for any ideas or input.

does Comcast have new HDTV boxes that they are handing out as well or just digital SD boxes only? We have 3 DCT-5100 boxes...

Comcast supplied me with a Motorola DCT3416-I set top box and I love it.

Well, the new VS and Golf HD channel appeared today. Does this channel have ANY HD content? What a waste of bandwidth!

I think it's supposed to have some NHL hockey?

there was a Red Wings game from VS. on last night.

OK, that's one show in 24 hours. Wheeee.

It's not listed but the FSN south feed of the Predators- Red Wings game is on INHD in HD!

(EDIT) I stumbled across the game while channel surfing between periods. There was no announcement of the broadcast that I heard about. There was no sort of "Presented in HD" logo on either the SD (Ch. 28) broadcast or the HD (Ch. 206) broadcast and no mention of the HD airing by the announcers. Must have been a test by FSN South. It was our local broadcast with Pete Webber and Terry Crisp calling the game and local commercials. The game looked great! Commercials were in 4:3 and the game was only in 2ch stereo sound. There a few production glitches in the early part of the game (commercials not comming on and such.) Hopefully we can expect either a FSN HD channel or at least Preds or Grizzlies games getting aired in HD soon.

Tonights Predators - Blackhawks game is also being aired on InHD. Pete Webber even mentioned the fact it's the first home game broadcast in high def durring the pregame. So I guess we can look forward to HD Preds games from here on.

It looks really good too, except they interviewed David Legwand during the pre game, he had cuts all over his face, a black eye (purple actually) and a missing tooth maybe HD ain't such a good idea for hockey they look pretty rough in 1080i LOL.

Hey guys, what's up? Been checking this place out for a few weeks and decided to join today. I have Charter instead of Comcast though. Didn't see a thread for mine so I'll just chat with you guys. Got me a Sony 40V2500 last December and loving it.

Where have CNN and CNN Headline News gone? Is it just Nashville?

Anyone else seeing ads back in their guide?

Anyone else seeing ads back in their guide?

Yep. Oddly enough on the day I decide to start looking into satellite. I'm thinking Comcast is sending me a hint.

Yeah, ads are back in rutheford co. too.

CNN & Headline news are both working for me

I absolutely cannot wait for some real competitive IPTV services to become available so I can dump Comcast (and satellite alternatives) the same way I dumped Bellsouth years back for VOIP. Crap like these ads just makes me ready to leave even sooner. I did send a note about this to them today just in case it may help them realize their mistake.

what is this again???? seriously? they already tried this stuff last year and got horrible backlash and they think they'll get a favorable response now? I seriously cannot wait till FIOS or something else to come along if Comcast continues to do this, after raising our rates even.

Got this response from customer Care.


I understand you have some concerns regarding the banner ads now appearing on your Interactive Program Guide (IPG).

Comcast is using our technology to educate our customers about the value of Comcast Digital Cable service. The banner ads you are seeing on your guide, which will run during prime-time hours, provide tips and instructions on how to use certain features, like Parental Controls and Favorites. They also promote various programs that are in your regular channel line-up, and provide you with the option to easily set a reminder or recording, tune directly to the program, see other show times, and perform the other functions available on the program information screen.

You will not be charged for view details of any banner ad. The banners simply lead you to information on programs that may be of interest to you. You will only be charged if you order a program with an associated charge - for instance, a Pay Per View or ON DEMAND program or movie.

If you would like to scroll through your television listings without highlighting the ads, use the Page Up and Page Down buttons on your remote.

Comcast is planning to continue showing these ads; however, we do appreciate you sharing your point of view. It is our goal to make sure your Digital Cable television experience is as valuable to you as possible. Thank you for your feedback. I will be happy to share it with the Comcast team that is working on these ads.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any more questions. You may respond directly to this email.

Thank you for choosing Comcast.

Sincerely,

Iva
Miramar eCare Support
Comcast Customer Care Specialist



I love that she signed it "Thank you for choosing Comcast" -- as if I actually had a choice.

Anyone else not getting the CW-58 HD on Comcast this weekend? Can someone else check to see if theirs is out as well? I switched around some splitters yesterday and don't know if that is the reson or is it everyone.


Thanks!


Ronnie

Hey Ronnie!

CW-58 appears to be down at my house too. So it's not just you.

Hope you and your wife are doing well. The Parasound amp has been nearly flawless since you allowed me to give it a new home. :)

yep, just looked, CWHD out at my house in M-boro too.

That is the one on QAM 85-6? Yes, it is out here and has been since sometime Saturday, I think.

I just checked over on OTA 58-1 and I have no signal. So it sounds like the problem is not on the Comcast end....

Dennis

NewsChannel 5 WTVF has announced that it will become the first Tennessee local station to broadcast local news in HD!

Their first newscast in HD will be Sunday after the SuperBowl.

Very Cool!

http://www.wtvf.com/global/Category.asp?c=92320

Folks should subscribe to both this thread and the OTA thread as well - this was posted there the other day. Just like "we" knew that 58-1 was gone before it was posted in that thread. A lot of the things discussed have interest to both groups - no matter if you get your stuff OTA or from Comcast. I do have both so I follow both, but it should be of interest to anyone watching Nashville HD by any means.

Dennis

Sorry...didn't realize this was old news.

:-(

news to me, just saw the ad on channel5. kudos to them. now i just wonder how many field cameras they upgraded, or the helicopter even.

news to me, just saw the ad on channel5. kudos to them. now i just wonder how many field cameras they upgraded, or the helicopter even.

It should be an interesting day in Nashville TV news. For Chris Clark, it's been an amazing ride of technology. When he started in the anchor chair 40 years ago, most households in Nashville still had black and white TVs. Weather was on static weather maps. All field cameras were film, which means no live news and if the film didn't get down to the station by a certain time, it didn't make the news that night (the 10 o'Clock news often had better video highlights and interviews). And on screen graphics for names and titles? Most of us would laugh if we ever saw the machines that did that stuff.

Kudos to Newschannel 5 for being first in the state, especially in front of WSMV which I think got caught flatfooted. WSMV had made a significant investment in HD Avid editing decks in the last year or so in preparation to do HD, but WTVF beat them to the punch. Best of all, WTVF goes-live in the day where most HD sets in the city will be tuned to their station...they couldn't ask for more viewers to make a statement. As for WKRN, even their SD news broadcasts have crummy video quality. They have the most work to do.

I also have charter just south of Nashville in Spring Hill. Does anyone have any experience with Charter Clear QAM channels? I'm able to get NBC, ABC, CBS, and PBS. I'm able to get HDNET and HDMOVIES and ESPN HD but without sound. Has anyone else seen a similar issue on Charter or Comcast?

yeah, i was totally not expecting any of the local channels in nashville to go HD. It would be great if WSMV followed suit (not that i watch a lot of local news anyway but still nice to see it happen). I wonder if they will upgrade all their shows to HD, like talk of the town and all the newcasts. gotta agree there about this being the best time to introduce HD, wont have a bigger audience than on sunday, lets hope they dont turn off the tower or something.

Want to watch the Preds in HD on the QAM Tuner.

As far as OTA signal goes, WNAB 58-1 is back on the air, but it is at low power. The thing is I am too far out to receive the low power signal. I don't know if Comcast cable has it though since I don't have that. The engineer e-mailed me back. The response is below.


Just a note that we have temporarily brought WNAB's digital
transmitter back on the air at low power. We are currently running at
about 5% of our usually transmitter power. (This is the same power
output that we originally went on the air with digitally, FYI).
We are waiting on a part for the transmitter in order to resume
transmitting at full power. ETA on this looks like next week but we are
hoping for a quicker recovery.


The original power output is about 18kw.

That's all for now.

NashDigie signing off.

That is funny, I have them rock solid (86-88) on my HD Tivos at the current power. I was 8-1 was this strong :D

Yes, they are back on clear QAM in HD/SD digital once again.

Dennis

What is your take on this situation? Friend just bought a Sony 40" 1080P set.

He has the STANDARD BASIC package -- $49.99.

He calls Comcast and tell him he needs a STB for $6.95 a month (not a DVR, a HD Box, they called it.)

NO change of package, just standard with this box.

1. Why does he need the box of his TV has a digital, QAM tuner?
2. How does he get the HD channels including ESPN 202 with the Standard Basic package (not just the locals)?
3. If #2 is fact, then why am I paying for the Digital Bronze package if I don't want the HBO? Why wouldn't I just get standard with the DVR?

Only a few channels are in clear QAM digital HD. If your friend hooked up his set direct to cable and scanned for digital channels he would find them. HD ESPN and ESPN2 are not there, just the locals in HD and INHD are clear QAM HD. There are some other digital, but SD, channels he could tune w/o a box - but not all the stuff he wants or is used to, I would think. You can't do in demand or have any of the premium channels either.

If his TV has a cable card slot, he could go pick up one of those. Last I heard they rent for $5 a month. Install that in the TV and hook up the cable and get the card authorized from Comcast and he should have all the channels in the package he pays for without a STB. Still no PPV or in demand, though.

The HD STB used to be $5 a month, sounds like they have gone up on the price. The DVR user to be $10 a month, but I think they raised that price as well. What I KNOW is that they changed their policy to require a digital package to get the DVR. At one time I had the DVR as a test (it failed) and I am on the $13 limited basic cable. Others still have them and are "grandfather in" w/o having a digital package. Now if anyone has or wants the DVR you have to have a digital cable package. The minimum one shown on the Comcast page is the bronze pack (digital cable + 1 premium) but folks on the forum report that Comcast has a digital add-on to standard cable (maybe $15-20 a month?) that adds the digital channels, qualifies you for the DVR, but does not include a premium channel. It is not listed online, but is supposed to be on their printed price guide and/or in the system.

Dennis

You can definitely drop the premiums and keep the other "digital" stuff and DVR. I did.

Well, I finally took the plunge and am making the slow march away from DirecTV. I purchased two Series 3 Tivos from Costco.com (in case I change my mind). I decided to hook up the first one last night after securing two CableCards from Comcast in Metrocenter.

Setup originally seemed to go well with the Customer Rep on the phone. All the info for the Cablecards are in their system when you get home so you don't need to tell them the serial numbers back unless something goes wrong. The first card took it's information on the first try. The second was harder...it took three tries. But then after going through Guided Setup, something wierd was going on. One tuner was working on all channels, the other was only working on analog channels. Turned out that the first Cablecard was on, but it wouldn't take it's real programming at all. So Comcast is going to have to make a service call this morning to fix it. *Sigh*.

BTW, Cablecards now cost $6.95 a month...each. And if you don't have digital cable, the Cablecards are free. Comcast doesn't really want their customers to have cablecards versus cable boxes. Even the pamphlet you get when you take out a Cablecard spends half its time trying to talk you out of it. The pricing structure only reinforces that.

I also hooked the Series 3 up to the outdoor antenna to see if the Tivo could pull in the OTA stations any better than my old Voom box or the Mitsu TV I've owned for three years. Since I'm in Bellevue behind hills, most of Nashville's stations don't come in at all. As expected, the clean line-of-sight stations, WKRN and WNPT came in strong. WSMV on Knob Hill came in but not a constant lock. All other stations didn't come in at all, but WZTV did show up occasionally on the strength meter, which is better than I've seen previously. Regardless, I need a better antenna to have any hope of pulling anything better in.

BTW, Cablecards now cost $6.95 a month...each. And if you don't have digital cable, the Cablecards are free. Comcast doesn't really want their customers to have cablecards versus cable boxes. Even the pamphlet you get when you take out a Cablecard spends half its time trying to talk you out of it. The pricing structure only reinforces that.


Hold the phone - I have always been told that the cards cost money (used to be $5 each) so I would need to spend $10 a month + taxes if I wanted to get an S3. But you are saying that since I am on limited basic cable I can get them for free? Sure, I would only get the locals in HD and not much each - but other than the Tivo money I would have to spend nothing extra with Comcast? You have that in writing in the pamphlet as I have found no information on freebie cars on their web page (what a shock) .

Thanks,
Dennis

BTW, Cablecards now cost $6.95 a month...each. And if you don't have digital cable, the Cablecards are free. Comcast doesn't really want their customers to have cablecards versus cable boxes. Even the pamphlet you get when you take out a Cablecard spends half its time trying to talk you out of it. The pricing structure only reinforces that.

I also hooked the Series 3 up to the outdoor antenna to see if the Tivo could pull in the OTA stations any better than my old Voom box or the Mitsu TV I've owned for three years. Since I'm in Bellevue behind hills, most of Nashville's stations don't come in at all. As expected, the clean line-of-sight stations, WKRN and WNPT came in strong. WSMV on Knob Hill came in but not a constant lock. All other stations didn't come in at all, but WZTV did show up occasionally on the strength meter, which is better than I've seen previously. Regardless, I need a better antenna to have any hope of pulling anything better in.
I'm also upset about the $6.95/month charge for each Cablecard. This seems to be at the high end of what they are charging in other areas. When I got my TiVo Series 3, I kept the Comcast Motorola 3412 DVR, but I think I will turn it in since I use the S3 almost exclusively now. I'm wondering if that will reduce my bill by the DVR monthly charge (~$12 per month), or if they will find some way to tack on extra access fees. The Comcast pricing structure is, to me, very confusing.

Although my S3 picks up all the digital cable channels, I also connected an OTA antenna. A cheap UHF hoop antenna picked up some, but not all, of the local channels. I purchased the DB2 (http://www.antennasdirect.com/DB2_Indoor_antenna.html) antenna and, mounted indoors behind my equipment console, it will pick up all the local stations. It's nice to be able to get the local over-the-air HD broadcasts in case of cable problems. (Note that I am within Nashville city limits.)

Hold the phone - I have always been told that the cards cost money (used to be $5 each) so I would need to spend $10 a month + taxes if I wanted to get an S3. But you are saying that since I am on limited basic cable I can get them for free? Sure, I would only get the locals in HD and not much each - but other than the Tivo money I would have to spend nothing extra with Comcast? You have that in writing in the pamphlet as I have found no information on freebie cars on their web page (what a shock) .

Thanks,
Dennis

I was told this by the rep at Comcast when I went to pick up the Cablecard. Yes, I questioned her about it too since it didn't make sense at first, but it was what was on her computer screen.

I think what's happening here is that the limited basic service is a regulated rate negotiated with the city. If somebody buys a Cablecard ready TV that wants that level of service, then they probably have to give the cards away so that the prenegotiated rate stays the same. All the rest of us shmoes end up paying $6.95 ($5 + taxes I think) since Digital Basic isn't regulated.

Hey turn on Newschannel5! They went HD early on the local news!

thanks for the tip. looks good. of course as expected, all the graphics are in 4:3 and they have a new 5HD bug, which shows on both HD and SD channels. looks like they bought a lot of equipment, it seemed like all the local field cameras were HD, and their national feeds where 4:3 SD... essentially stuff they dont have control over. They also upgraded the citycam to HD. good effort i think. Great to see nashville in the top 20 of all cities to have an HD news station.

also, i'm a bit confused about cablecards. I thought cablecards were free as long as you paid the upfront activation charge or something. They cost money per month just like a regular cable box?? so what good is that then?

if you just have expanded basic and a premium channel and you want a cablecard, you have to pay 6.95 a month for it just like you would a regular cablebox?

Wow, the news in HD looks so good.

Comcast Nashville doesn't change you a Cablecard installation if you want to do it yourself. (A savings of $35). But they do charge you $6.95 a month if you have digital service...expensive with a two cable card Series 3 Tivo.

I think Comcast and their pricing is intentionally trying to get people not to take Cablecards out and to use their boxes, or upsell them to DVR boxes at $20 a month and mandatory digital cable service. Even the Cablecard pamphlet they give you tries to upsell you to a cable box.

Ironically, even though there is a seperate "Digital cable" tier, there are no such thing as the old non-HD cable boxes. They've been discontinued.

It looks like a teaser ad during the newscast said that Talk of the Town would be in HD as well. It looks like WTVF didn't just mess around with HD...they went all the way.

yeah, i figured they'd upgrade their entire studio to HD, would make sense. During last night's 10pm newscast, I saw that 90% of all their field shots were in HD, that was surprising. And they didnt put a soft focus on the anchors... that lady kristin i thought was like 30 or something (i havent watched the local news in like 15 years), she's pretty old, revealed by HD. and I thought i twas funny hwo they were milking the HD conversion by changing all their studio graphics and stuff to HD this and HD that.

about comcast: what do you mean by digital service? do you mean that any service you get will be digital or if you subscribe to the 'digital tier' then you would have to pay comcast the 6.95/card fee per month? All we have is expanded basic and HBO, and we have 3 HDTV boxes from comcast. If we got 3 cablecards, would we have to pay 6.95 x 3 per month?

If so, i think thats horribly unfair because back when regular analog cable was popular, all tvs had CATV tuners where you didnt need to rent the box. Now if we want to get 5 or 6 HDTVs in our house, we HAVE TO pay extra for these cards per month? thats ludicrious, i think.

I hope the FCC passes some legislation to prevent this fleecing as HD gets more and more popular.

OK, I took the plunge and purchased a Sharp 32" LC-32D40U for a great price at Office Depot. I live in Madison, TN and have Comcast limited+standard w/o a cable box + Comcast hs internet.

I have a couple of QAM questions.

I did a auto ch search and found what looks like most of the digital QAM channels (std and hd). Some of my subchannels aren't the same as what many of you post. The CW is at 85.1 (most of you have it at 85.6, I think). My CBS 92.1, ABC 92.2, NBC 93.1, FOX 93.2. Why the shift on some station but not others?

My search didn't find TNT HD channel. Is this scrambled now?

Also is INHD2 the same as INHD1? I get INHD1 at 87.1 but 87.2 is the exact same .

Thanks for and info,

Doit2it

I have a Zenith C32V37 CRT HDTV with a QAM tuner. When I scan I get ABC at 92-2, NBC 93-4. I also have a multimedia computer with a MyHD HDTV capture card. When I scan with it, I get ABC at 92-1 and NBC at 93-1. It seems your QAM tuner is doing that.

Hello all. I recently purchased a Samsung HPS4253 42" plasma and currently do not have HD programming. Over the weekend I set up Comcast to be installed this Friday, Feb. 9th. I am currently a Dish customer, but after talking to Comcast they seem to have the best rates (in my situation). I have always been skeptical of cable, but they told me I could do the Dish buyback program (or whatever it is called). To sum it up, I should get the Digital Platinum Package, HD programming, and a DvR for ~$70/mo for a guaranteed year. Sounds too good to be true, so I'm expecting something to go wrong.

I've heard a lot of this thread and people seemed to be fairly happy w/Comcast HD service. Does anyone have any advise for someone new to the HD world? Maybe something you would have done different or wish you have known once you received the service?

Also, would you recommend connect the HD box w/HDMI or component/digital audio cables?

Thanks for any input.

yeah, i figured they'd upgrade their entire studio to HD, would make sense. During last night's 10pm newscast, I saw that 90% of all their field shots were in HD, that was surprising. And they didnt put a soft focus on the anchors... that lady kristin i thought was like 30 or something (i havent watched the local news in like 15 years), she's pretty old, revealed by HD. and I thought i twas funny hwo they were milking the HD conversion by changing all their studio graphics and stuff to HD this and HD that.

about comcast: what do you mean by digital service? do you mean that any service you get will be digital or if you subscribe to the 'digital tier' then you would have to pay comcast the 6.95/card fee per month? All we have is expanded basic and HBO, and we have 3 HDTV boxes from comcast. If we got 3 cablecards, would we have to pay 6.95 x 3 per month?

If so, i think thats horribly unfair because back when regular analog cable was popular, all tvs had CATV tuners where you didnt need to rent the box. Now if we want to get 5 or 6 HDTVs in our house, we HAVE TO pay extra for these cards per month? thats ludicrious, i think.

I hope the FCC passes some legislation to prevent this fleecing as HD gets more and more popular.

I was surprised as well by how many field shots were in HD. It looks like any field footage that can get back to the station in time for broadcast is in HD. Who knows...it might be possible to file-transfer raw footage back to the station with a good broadband connection, depending on the resources available. Live remotes that aren't in front of WTVF are in 16:9 480i. They did use HD lightlights of the Super Bowl....nice touch. Old 4:3 stock footage is regularly mixed and matched with 16:9 footage.

My impression from Comcast was that subscribing to the Digital Basic Tier got you a $6.95 Cablecard fee, but the regular basic tiers did not. Since I'm going to need four cards for two Series 3 Tivos, I'm not happy about it and it begins to negate my cost savings for going to cable in the first place.

OK, I took the plunge and purchased a Sharp 32" LC-32D40U for a great price at Office Depot. I live in Madison, TN and have Comcast limited+standard w/o a cable box + Comcast hs internet.

I have a couple of QAM questions.

I did a auto ch search and found what looks like most of the digital QAM channels (std and hd). Some of my subchannels aren't the same as what many of you post. The CW is at 85.1 (most of you have it at 85.6, I think). My CBS 92.1, ABC 92.2, NBC 93.1, FOX 93.2. Why the shift on some station but not others?

My search didn't find TNT HD channel. Is this scrambled now?

Also is INHD2 the same as INHD1? I get INHD1 at 87.1 but 87.2 is the exact same .

Thanks for and info,

Doit2it

TNT HD I believe is scrambled since it's a part of Expanded Basic. INHD2 doesn't exist anymore.

Hello all. I recently purchased a Samsung HPS4253 42" plasma and currently do not have HD programming. Over the weekend I set up Comcast to be installed this Friday, Feb. 9th. I am currently a Dish customer, but after talking to Comcast they seem to have the best rates (in my situation). I have always been skeptical of cable, but they told me I could do the Dish buyback program (or whatever it is called). To sum it up, I should get the Digital Platinum Package, HD programming, and a DvR for ~$70/mo for a guaranteed year. Sounds too good to be true, so I'm expecting something to go wrong.

I've heard a lot of this thread and people seemed to be fairly happy w/Comcast HD service. Does anyone have any advise for someone new to the HD world? Maybe something you would have done different or wish you have known once you received the service?

Also, would you recommend connect the HD box w/HDMI or component/digital audio cables?

Thanks for any input.

I switched from Dish to Comcast too, mainly because of ease of getting an HD DVR. The buyback program is great, though I just got Digitial Bronze to save some money. Comcast just takes $40 off you bill each month for a year.

I would definitely recommend component cables, because there appears to be a bug with the HDMI. If your TV is turned off while your cable box is on, The HDCP connection is lost. When you turn you TV back on again, all you see is snow/static. You have to either unplug the cable and reattach or turn off the cable box and turn it back on again. This is a firmware issue with all the Motrolla DVRs.

If someone is getting HDMI to work, please let us know.

Overall, I am very pleased with Comcast's service and quality. The price is higher than Dish, though it evens out if you consider the price of the HD DVR. If you want high speed internet, there is nothing faster than Comcast.

I am being charged $6.95 per month of each of the 2 CCs installed in my TiVo Series 3. However, a poster on the TiVo Community Forum pointed out this Comcast FAQ (http://www.comcast.com/Customers/FAQ/FaqDetails.ashx?Id=2651) which seems to say that the cost should be much lower.

I am about to go on a trip and will not be able to follow up on this for several weeks. If anyone has any further information about Nashville Comcast CableCARD charges in light of this FAQ, I would appreciate your posting it.

The answer to your question is right there on the page in the FAQ you linked to:


Disclaimer: Regulated Prices quoted above may not apply in all markets. Please call 1-800-COMCAST to learn more about Regulated Prices for your area

If you (or I) live in a market where the local government does not regulate cable card charges, then they can charge what the market will pay. It would appear that in Nashville, this charge is not regulated so this price does not apply to us.

Dennis

I am being charged $6.95 per month of each of the 2 CCs installed in my TiVo Series 3. However, a poster on the TiVo Community Forum pointed out this Comcast FAQ (http://www.comcast.com/Customers/FAQ/FaqDetails.ashx?Id=2651) which seems to say that the cost should be much lower.

I am about to go on a trip and will not be able to follow up on this for several weeks. If anyone has any further information about Nashville Comcast CableCARD charges in light of this FAQ, I would appreciate your posting it.

I just had a long sprited discussion with Comcast Nashville's Call Center on the Cablecard controversy. Apparently the information I was given first when I picked up my Cablecards was true. It goes like this.

1. If you have Digital Basic service (soon to be renamed Preferred Service), then each Cablecard will cost $6.95, regardless of what it is used for (TV, Tivo, etc).

2. If you just want Limited or Expanded Basic (soon to be renamed Full basic), then Cablecards are free.

3. The website is incorrect, even though we all can read.

Needless to say, I am not happy. I went this route to do away with Comcast DVR boxes and my secondary service with DirecTV. I will save $11 not having the Comcast DVR, but will spend nearly $24 extra on 4 Cablecards for two Series 3 Tivos. Nowhere else in the country do I know that people are being charged this much for Cablecards, which are basically a passive technology and cost a fraction to make and to purchase versus a Motorola cable box (any type).

I have the main call center number in Philadelphia where you are supposed to go when you have a gripe like this. But I have a feeling that this will end up in the main regulating body of the Nashville Metro government as a complaint of policy incompatible with Comcast's charter. And yes, I will go there.

thats quite ridiculous. I feel exactly the same as you do and hopefully in time FIOS will extend to our area here and give comcast some competition. they've been good about this stuff in the past, i dont understand why all these unreasonable charges suddenly started to appear.

I have the main call center number in Philadelphia where you are supposed to go when you have a gripe like this. But I have a feeling that this will end up in the main regulating body of the Nashville Metro government as a complaint of policy incompatible with Comcast's charter. And yes, I will go there.
If you come up with a way of registering a complaint that might be effective, please let us know the details. In addition to complaining, when I return from a trip I'm going to return my Motorola DVR. If not for the outrageous CableCARD fees, I'd probably keep it as a backup.

I switched from Dish to Comcast too, mainly because of ease of getting an HD DVR. The buyback program is great, though I just got Digitial Bronze to save some money. Comcast just takes $40 off you bill each month for a year.

I would definitely recommend component cables, because there appears to be a bug with the HDMI. If your TV is turned off while your cable box is on, The HDCP connection is lost. When you turn you TV back on again, all you see is snow/static. You have to either unplug the cable and reattach or turn off the cable box and turn it back on again. This is a firmware issue with all the Motrolla DVRs.

If someone is getting HDMI to work, please let us know.

Overall, I am very pleased with Comcast's service and quality. The price is higher than Dish, though it evens out if you consider the price of the HD DVR. If you want high speed internet, there is nothing faster than Comcast.

Wow.... My HDTV has been in the shop for the past 5 months. I've always used prior to the TV going into the shop a HDMI to DVI converter. Up until the time the TV broke, I hadn't experienced a problem with it. After I got my TV back 3 weeks ago, it has been doing that. Sometimes the screen is black, and sometimes I get the snow. It seems to happen a lot when the box comes on and records two shows at the same time. I was unplugging it from the wall. That worked, but I lost several minutes of recording and lost my guilde data.

I called Comcast a few weeks ago, and told them to bring me a new cable box. I didn't tell them I just got my TV back from repair. The tech replaced the box, but added he hadn't seen one of those cables, and my symptoms sounds like a bad cable. After I the new box didn't fix my problem, I went to monoprice and purchased a new cable. That didn't fix it.

My question is this. I used the HDMI port without any issues. My TV broke, and I used the same box, but used component for the 4 months it was in the shop.

Did Comcast change firmwares during this 5 month span in Nashville from August to January?

I had narrowed down the problem to either the TV repair man broke something else while he repaired it, or something to do with HDCP/HDMI.. .Because I didn't experience any issues with component.

Weird thing is I called tech support and they hadn't heard of the issue. It would seem they would be aware of the HDMI problem.

Anyways... i am overjoyed to know my TV isn't broke again. Now im out just 10$ for the new cable.

So I guess I should switch to component and be done? IMHO, the HDMI looks better.

Thanks for the information, I've been dying to find out.
:D

What happened to the digital music channels?
I have Comcast basic expanded service with a cablecard. It previously wasallowing me to receive all the forty or so digital music channels, but now they disappeared. Anyone know why these are now gone? Thanks for any info.

Did Comcast change firmwares during this 5 month span in Nashville from August to January?

So I guess I should switch to component and be done? IMHO, the HDMI looks better.

Thanks for the information, I've been dying to find out.
:D

Yes, they did update the firmware during that time. :(

I would just use component until they get it fixed, though who knows how long that will be.

What happened to the digital music channels?
I have Comcast basic expanded service with a cablecard. It previously wasallowing me to receive all the forty or so digital music channels, but now they disappeared. Anyone know why these are now gone? Thanks for any info.

The Music Choice channels used to be available with Limited Basic. They appear now to only be available from the Digital Basic tier.

I switched from Dish to Comcast too, mainly because of ease of getting an HD DVR. The buyback program is great, though I just got Digitial Bronze to save some money. Comcast just takes $40 off you bill each month for a year.

I would definitely recommend component cables, because there appears to be a bug with the HDMI. If your TV is turned off while your cable box is on, The HDCP connection is lost. When you turn you TV back on again, all you see is snow/static. You have to either unplug the cable and reattach or turn off the cable box and turn it back on again. This is a firmware issue with all the Motrolla DVRs.

If someone is getting HDMI to work, please let us know.

Overall, I am very pleased with Comcast's service and quality. The price is higher than Dish, though it evens out if you consider the price of the HD DVR. If you want high speed internet, there is nothing faster than Comcast.

No problems at all here. I have a Sony 50" LCD and have HDMI cable from DVR to TV. I have NO issues whatsoever. Period. Never have.

If you come up with a way of registering a complaint that might be effective, please let us know the details. In addition to complaining, when I return from a trip I'm going to return my Motorola DVR. If not for the outrageous CableCARD fees, I'd probably keep it as a backup.

Ok an update. In discovering the high price of Cablecards in Nashville, I figured that I had three options to try to do something about it.

1. Complain to Comcast Nashville Management. I figured with a few phone calls I could probably reach somebody who wasn't in a call center, but that I wouldn't have much leverage to get them to change things.

2. Complain to the city's CATV board that works for Metro Government. The CATV board is a good option but the board meets irregularly and it may not be a priority for them (although an old childhood friend is on that board).

3. JOIN the CATV board as a member. In order to do this you have to be nominated by the mayor. Since my brother knows the mayor well, he's offered to help out with that. Two members of the board roll off on 3/1/07 so it might be a good time to ask for nomination. We'll see where this leads. A spot on the boardis a 3 year commitment, but I think I can contribute something positive.

We'll see where this goes in the coming weeks.

Ok an update. In discovering the high price of Cablecards in Nashville, I figured that I had three options to try to do something about it.

1. Complain to Comcast Nashville Management. I figured with a few phone calls I could probably reach somebody who wasn't in a call center, but that I wouldn't have much leverage to get them to change things.

2. Complain to the city's CATV board that works for Metro Government. The CATV board is a good option but the board meets irregularly and it may not be a priority for them (although an old childhood friend is on that board).

3. JOIN the CATV board as a member. In order to do this you have to be nominated by the mayor. Since my brother knows the mayor well, he's offered to help out with that. Two members of the board roll off on 3/1/07 so it might be a good time to ask for nomination. We'll see where this leads. A spot on the boardis a 3 year commitment, but I think I can contribute something positive.

We'll see where this goes in the coming weeks.

Good luck Sevenfeet. As a Nashville resident, I am behind you!!

I noticed last night that INHD programming was pre-empted for an FSN South broadcast of the Memphis Grizzlies game in HD.

Good luck Sevenfeet

[QUOTE]Good luck Sevenfeet. As a Nashville resident, I am behind you!!

DITTO THAT!

I think it is outrageous that Nashville Comcast is gouging Tivo Series 3 owners (2 cablecards x $6.95 = $13.90) when in most markets Comcast provides the first card free and the second one for only $1.50.

Also, I have a copy of a letter dated 12-22-26 addressed to the Federal Communications Commission from the Natonal Cable & Communications Association which reports to the FCC the status of "CableCARD Deployment and Support" by each cable company. In the Comcast section, it states:

"Comcast does not charge monthly lease fees for CableCARDs except in the case of a device that requires a second CableCARD. Second CableCARDs in the same device are billed at $1.50/month. Installaton fees may apply. along with monthly programing service fees."

Are not the $90+/- I pay for all the other Comcast charges per month "monthly programming service fees????" Obviously in many other Comcast markets that is the way Comcast is billing.

I believe this letter from the Natonal Cable & Communications Association makes the FCC think incorrectly that Comcast is charging very reasonable CableCARD fees when in fact in the Nashville market they are instead GOUGING as the quasi monopoly that they are!

Send me a PM and I'll email you the letter.

good to see someone fighting the battle from our side sevenfeet. thanks for being so proactive and persistent.

I ended up getting my service installed today. The contractor who came to install it basically asked if he could get just drop the digital boxes off since I would be replacing them w/an HD DvR. Of course I responded no (good thing as many adjustments needed to be made). Everything looks great, and it seems like a service I'll really enjoy.

When I go to an HD channel for a slight moment I see the picture on split screens then it goes into HDTV. This doesn't really bother me too much, but I just want to see if anyone this anything might be wrong. Any thoughts? Like I said though, it's only for an instant. Currently I using component cables.

The Music Choice channels used to be available with Limited Basic. They appear now to only be available from the Digital Basic tier.

I'm still receiving them on my QAM tuner here in Madison, TN

skinlikewinter: that same thing happens here too.

Has NPT moved or gone off of Comcast QAM? Just checked 115.1 and low signal. Never had any problem before. Thanks

Question here:

I have a Samsung HPS4253 connected via the following thru Comcast:

HDMI out from the HDDvR to HDMI in on a Samsung HTTQ85 HTIB
HDMI out from Samsung HTTQ85 HTIB to HMDI 1 in on the TV

When I have this connected the non HD channels are surrounded by black bars (~5 inches all around). When I had it connected via component cables this was not a problem. Also, when I change the video source on the Tv to "Cable" it doesn't do this (but PQ is poor).

Any suggestions on fixing this situation? I tried to go back to using component cables but it's doing the same thing w/them as well (black bars outside of picture).

Has NPT moved or gone off of Comcast QAM? Just checked 115.1 and low signal. Never had any problem before. Thanks

I'm having all types of issues tonight with NPT and FOX via clear QAM going to both my TV and to my Fusion5 tuner in my HTPC.

My HTPC tuner will pick up 115.1 with a good signal but not my TV.

Neither my HTPC or my TV will get FOX via QAM. BOth my TV and HTPC show good signal and that they are not getting any error, but I get nothing on the feed. I recorded American Idol and if I run the saved TP file through HDTVtoMPEG2 I can see the show in the preview section but when I try to play the file, I get nothing.

All of the other clear QAM stations are perfect on both the TV and HTPC, even the DOC channel.

Anyone else having issues with NPT and or FOX via clear QAM?


Ronnie

I just tried to watch my copy of tonight's Bones from channel 234 on my comcast HD DVR and it is badly stuttering video. I haven't tried watching more than the first couple minutes - hope the whole thing isn't FUBAR.

I have a Samsung HPS4253 connected via the following thru Comcast:

<snip>

Any suggestions on fixing this situation?Could you have changed the setup of your set? What does the manual advise?

American Idol moved in slow motion for me last night; I couldn't watch it. Other channels seemed fine and my recording of 24 played fine as well. I'm hoping whatever caused the problem wasn't permanently embedded in the recording, but I'm not optimistic.

American Idol moved in slow motion for me last night; I couldn't watch it. Other channels seemed fine and my recording of 24 played fine as well. I'm hoping whatever caused the problem wasn't permanently embedded in the recording, but I'm not optimistic.

It was embedded - both my Comcast DVRs recorded the same, slow-jerky-stuttering HD version of Idol. The SD version on my TiVo didn't stutter but the audio was absolutely terrible.

Bad signal issues, I guess.

Anybody else?

-John

hey i am new to the board and new to hd (i got my hdtv and cable in october).i have been satisfied with the comcast hd programing for the most part, but now that the new has worn off i want the most hd channels i can get, i was watching a predators game last night and i saw that the friday game was going to be on fsn hd, that got me to thinking how many other hd channels are out there that i don't get. does anybody know who is the best provider for the most hd programing and i also read somewhere and i may have read it wrong but with direct tv that unlike comcast that even shows that are not the "primetime" shows are all in hd i guess kinda like how everything on tnt is hd. thanks for the help

I'm having all types of issues tonight with NPT and FOX via clear QAM going to both my TV and to my Fusion5 tuner in my HTPC.

My HTPC tuner will pick up 115.1 with a good signal but not my TV.

Neither my HTPC or my TV will get FOX via QAM. BOth my TV and HTPC show good signal and that they are not getting any error, but I get nothing on the feed. I recorded American Idol and if I run the saved TP file through HDTVtoMPEG2 I can see the show in the preview section but when I try to play the file, I get nothing.

All of the other clear QAM stations are perfect on both the TV and HTPC, even the DOC channel.

Anyone else having issues with NPT and or FOX via clear QAM?


Ronnie

My NPT is moved to 115.8. The original 115.1 mysteriously disappeared. :(

Can someone update a complete OTA HD channel for us? Thanks

According to a several published news reports, AT&T is lobbying in favor of a new bill to push for their entry into Tennessee's cable TV provider market. The bill would allow AT&T and electric utilities to sidestep rules that require a provider to get a contract from a local municipality in order to provide service. Against the bill is the association representing cable TV operators and many of those same local municipalities which would lose some control of the licensing of new operators.

As someone who is lobbying to get on Nashville's CATV board, I have mixed emotions about this. Here's where I see things:

1. Competition is always a good thing. Right now the only competition that Comcast has right now is two satellite companies, both of which have higher barriers of entry for consumers (equipment fees, credit checks, long term committments, etc).

2. Loss of local control may not be a good thing. Local governments often require cable companies to do things for the "public good", i.e., inexpensive basic tier service for the poor, service for all areas (no cherry picking), local access programming, etc. AT&T may argue that they are more like a satellite company that doesn't have to play by those rules, but since we're talking about fiber, copper and coax wiring, that argument won't likely hold.

3. One thing that isn't discussed in all this is that higher speed broadband is coming from the telcos...it has to be in order to make this work. It may not be FIOS though. A friend who owns a local ISP told me that Bellsouth was working on higher speed technology over copper through new technology that would make them competitive with cable modems now and FIOS later. FIOS of course has much more potential bandwidth, but this solution is cheaper and could be rolled out faster (in theory). Whether this is enough to handle video bandwidth or not is an interesting question.

This bill has already started a huge fight over the subject on Capital Hill. If it passes, I doubt it will be in the current form since I think AT&T would lose. But I think that AT&T will really push to get into the busines here since it's more profitable for them to get back into the TV business long term over infrastructure they already know and control (versus their old CATV business years ago). Being a glorified ISP and phone company won'y likely be enough of a profit motive for them and with Comcast selling phone service now as well as Internet and TV, AT&T sees this bill as a logical extention to their overall plans.

Stacy Briggs of the TN Cable Telecommunications Association said that the bill in question would allow a telco to cherry pick the neighborhoods to provide service to, saying "We expect Belle Meade not Bordeaux will get the benefit of competition." As someone who grew up in Bordeaux, I can say that not all of Bordeaux is low income or working class....far from it actually. Ironically, Bordeaux was the first Nashville neighborhood to get cable back in the late 70's. It was the closest residential area to MetroCenter where the cable company was, and still is, located (what name were they back then?). Bordeaux was the beta test for all of Nashville. I remember my school classmates in Belle Meade and Forest Hills having to wait two years for cable.

My NPT is moved to 115.8. The original 115.1 mysteriously disappeared. :(

Can someone update a complete OTA HD channel for us? Thanks

Thanks for the 115.8 info! (I guess they switched the sub to following their "subchannel # = their SD channel #." Like they do for 2 is 92.2 ,4 is 93.4 , 5 is 92.5, and 6 (local 17 SD on cable) is 93.6.

That makes perfect since now why I still got NPT on my HTPC tuner card. The Fusion software scans for subchannels on the tuned channel in the background every time I flip to a channel. I bet it did the scan on 115 when I tried to flip to 115.1 and saw that 115.8 was the first good signal and tuned it in.

AFAIK: The FOX issue last night was a Comcast issue. FOX 17.1 OTA was fine last night. I flipped from QAM to OTA at the beginning of Idol when I noticed the issue and never had a problem. During commercials I'd switch back to QAM and it was always messed up. I checked it this morning and the FOX QAM was back to normal.


Ronnie

Sevenfeet: i read that in the city paper today and i was hoping to learn more about it in this thread, hoping you would have chimed in. Thanks for that. I dont know much about AT&T's service, but after comcast: raised their HD cable box rental rates, put those stupid ads back into the guide, and havent added any new HD channels in our areas that they have in other areas, i welcome the competition.

In the medium to long term it seems to me fully predictable that internet bandwidth to the home will reach the point of allowing IPTV from any and all providers in the USA. In other words a situation very similar to VOIP today - I can get super cheap phone service from dozens if not hundreds of companies, and the stranglehold Bellsouth used to have on me years ago is wonderfully dead.

So I look forward to buying my HD streaming internet TV from some young and smart company in a few years that I may not of even heard of - the competition and pricing will be tremendously better than the current situation, and there will be a great deal more content available.

Bottom line: all I care about is who can get me a 50mbps pipe to my house, for relatively cheap, and I'll buy my other entertainment and communications needs from 3rd parties.

All this franchise talk is mostly irrelevant in such a world.

Could you have changed the setup of your set? What does the manual advise?

No, I didn't change any settings on anything. I couldn't find any mention of this in the manual either.

Sevenfeet,

Re: AT&T looking to provide TV services in Tennessee

Any thing that gives price gouging Comcast some competition, we should all be in favor of. That is what America and free enterprise is all about.

Chris

Sevenfeet,

Re: AT&T looking to provide TV services in Tennessee

Any thing that gives price gouging Comcast some competition, we should all be in favor of. That is what America and free enterprise is all about.

Chris


ditto, what he said

Sevenfeet,

Re: AT&T looking to provide TV services in Tennessee

Any thing that gives price gouging Comcast some competition, we should all be in favor of. That is what America and free enterprise is all about.

Chris

Competition is a great concept, but in dealing with utilities, it's a fairly new concept. Long Distance choice has only been around since the late 70's, then came power generation and now TV services over land lines.

Part of the problem with competition is the extreme costs of entry that's typical for this business. In the case of what became Comcast in Nashville, it took 4 years to wire the city for cable. So only companies who have wide existing line networks are potential competitors. That limits you to phone companies and power utilities.

In the old days, communities gave exclusive contracts to cable providers in exchange for wiring all of a city and providing public services on their networks. These days most of those exclusive deals have lapsed, but the cost of construction still keeps competition at bay in most cases.

The real problem in getting the bill passes is that as written, AT&T will play by a different set of rules versus Comcast, Charter, Time Warner or anyone else (there are a lot of smaller cable coops in rural counties). Again, I can't see the bill getting passed as proposed. I'd love for Comcast to have a serious competitor in this market. But they are a formidable lobbying force in this area.

Question here:

I have a Samsung HPS4253 connected via the following thru Comcast:

HDMI out from the HDDvR to HDMI in on a Samsung HTTQ85 HTIB
HDMI out from Samsung HTTQ85 HTIB to HMDI 1 in on the TV

When I have this connected the non HD channels are surrounded by black bars (~5 inches all around). When I had it connected via component cables this was not a problem. Also, when I change the video source on the Tv to "Cable" it doesn't do this (but PQ is poor).

Any suggestions on fixing this situation? I tried to go back to using component cables but it's doing the same thing w/them as well (black bars outside of picture).

Wow, I feel really dumb. I didn't realize when you change connections you need to change how the Motorolla device receives the signal. Basically, I had to have the cable box off and press menu, then adjust the screen settings from there. I am still having issues w/my HDMI connection though. Often, the audio is behind the picture. However, once I change channels it seems to work okay.

I'm getting ready to buy an HDTV. I currently have digital bronze and a Motorola DCT2425 box from Comcast, plus a TIVO Series 2 DVR. I am loathe to give up the TIVO functionality (I use Get a Season Pass for almost all my TV viewing and the search functionality so that I never miss my favorite team), but I won't be able to record in HD with my current TIVO box. I hope I won't have to wait too long until Comcast rolls out TIVO to their DVRs.

My plan is to return the DCT2425 and get an HD DVR from Comcast. I'm trying to figure out pricing. I'll have to pay an extra monthly charge of $6.95 for HD and $5.00 for the DVR. I'll cancel my TIVO subscription for a net savings of $1 a month.

I also have a smaller HDTV in my bedroom with all the required tuners. It is hooked directly to the coax plus an OTA antenna. I can receive the local HD channels by either method except that channel 5 won't scan in OTA even though it's the closest to my house! I also get the non-scrambled digital channels via the coax.

Are there any other charges I haven't thought about or any setup considerations that I haven't considered? Is there any better way to set things up and keep the cost about the same per month?

Will Comcast let me swap out the digital box and do all the wiring for the new TV myself?

Has anyone had problems getting an HD DVR in Nashville. I'm hoping there is not a shortage like in other cities?

One more question. Would my current box receive HD channels if I decided not to get the DVR? Would it give me the local HD channels that I get on my smaller TV or would I have to pay the HD monthly fee? I know the monthly fee would be required for ESPNHD, etc.

I'm getting ready to buy an HDTV. I currently have digital bronze and a Motorola DCT2425 box from Comcast, plus a TIVO Series 2 DVR. I am loathe to give up the TIVO functionality (I use Get a Season Pass for almost all my TV viewing and the search functionality so that I never miss my favorite team), but I won't be able to record in HD with my current TIVO box. I hope I won't have to wait too long until Comcast rolls out TIVO to their DVRs.

My plan is to return the DCT2425 and get an HD DVR from Comcast. I'm trying to figure out pricing. I'll have to pay an extra monthly charge of $6.95 for HD and $5.00 for the DVR. I'll cancel my TIVO subscription for a net savings of $1 a month.

I also have a smaller HDTV in my bedroom with all the required tuners. It is hooked directly to the coax plus an OTA antenna. I can receive the local HD channels by either method except that channel 5 won't scan in OTA even though it's the closest to my house! I also get the non-scrambled digital channels via the coax.

Are there any other charges I haven't thought about or any setup considerations that I haven't considered? Is there any better way to set things up and keep the cost about the same per month?

Will Comcast let me swap out the digital box and do all the wiring for the new TV myself?

Has anyone had problems getting an HD DVR in Nashville. I'm hoping there is not a shortage like in other cities?

One more question. Would my current box receive HD channels if I decided not to get the DVR? Would it give me the local HD channels that I get on my smaller TV or would I have to pay the HD monthly fee? I know the monthly fee would be required for ESPNHD, etc.

We are in a similar situation. We have the HD tv with bronze and we are paying for the HD channels because we would need 3 antennas to catch all the HD OTA channels and that would still be missing TNT and ESPN. We are also using a S2 Tivo.
We are going to be giving up on Tivo for the downstairs and get the Comcast DVR, hopefully the 160gb one and save on the Tivo subscription.
Plus you can use a Tivo without a subscription as a time shifting device with no recording, so we will put that in the bedroom to be able to pause live tv and skip commercials.
Additionally, Comcast is getting Tivo software in the next few months according to Tivo and Comcast customer service. So having the Comcast DVR will allow for HD recording with a Tivo interface for hopefully just a few dollars extra.
Let me know how it goes in trying to find a DVR box and whether they are hard to come by.

Got a message on the Cable box this morning:

Effective March 1st. UniversalHD will be on channel 208, National Geographic HD will be on channel 210, A&E HD will be on channel 211.

well thats good. I was hoping for foot network since A&E HD is utterly useless. UniversalHD is a plus though.

Is A&EHD same programs as A&E or a separate lineup?

Is A&EHD same programs as A&E or a separate lineup?

I anxiously await March 1st. to find out. LOL

Is A&EHD same programs as A&E or a separate lineup?

I think it is the same because if you go to the guide on channel 41 on some shows it will actually say HD in the program listing. So I am betting it is the same.

I just hope we can get NFL Network in HD as I am surprised it is taking this long to get it but I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the message this morning saying we are getting 3 more channels cannto wait to see them.

I was hoping for foot network...You mean now there's a network dedicated to feet?

I just hope we can get NFL Network in HD as I am surprised it is taking this long to get it

Way, way, way, way too many repeats on the NFL network to make it worth the bandwidth for an always on HD channel. I like they way they replace INHD1 with NFL HD from time to time with HD content (college bowl games, HD game of the week replays, Thursday night NFL games, etc). If you want to watch 16 reruns a day of "Inside the NFL" then it is the channel for you :D

Dennis

Way, way, way, way too many repeats on the NFL network to make it worth the bandwidth for an always on HD channel.Amen. I've dropped the HD addon on DirecTV until next football season. Of course, they'll probably have gone all MPEG4 by then and it won't make a difference. ;)

I wonder which is the correct add date for the new HD Channels? Is it March 1st per the message via my DVR or March 21st via the letter I got in the mail from Comcast today?

Amen. I've dropped the HD addon on DirecTV until next football season. Of course, they'll probably have gone all MPEG4 by then and it won't make a difference. ;)

In case you did not notice, D* is doing the same thing as Comcast. They have an HD channel (79?) and they use it from time to time to carry NFL network stuff in HD. So they don't think it is worth doing HD 24/7 either, but will (normally) carry some of the HD content on that channel.

Dennis

crossing my fingers for Mar. 1

OK, I took the plunge and purchased a Sharp 32" LC-32D40U

i don't know if you've looked around on this site. the 40U model is actually an Orion Panel.

I also live in Madison. I'm moving to Hendersonville. My QAM strength could drop. Not really sure. I'm getting around 76 signal strength. I'm able to get the main HD channels (ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox) and INHD. I get digital SD stations as well. Seems like random stuff pops on and off if i do a search for channels. I'm a big sports fan and ESPN SD is ugly. I don't like the idea of having to add a cable box+remote to get a couple extra HD channels.

i meant the food network HD.

Does anyone watch "the L word" on SHOHD? The last two weeks I watched I've gotten persistent audio drop outs.

I wonder which is the correct add date for the new HD Channels? Is it March 1st per the message via my DVR or March 21st via the letter I got in the mail from Comcast today?

I got the letter from Comcast on Saturday. It said Mar. 21st. as well. :confused:

Does anyone watch "the L word" on SHOHD? The last two weeks I watched I've gotten persistent audio drop outs.
That has been happening to me as well. And last night either someone from CBS HQ or Comcast Nashville HQ really messed up during The Amazing Race All Stars. I got the audio from The CW or a beep for half of the show.
.

Quick question. I have a HDTV with a QAM tuner. I have a basic cable service from comcast, of course! I just connected coaxial cable directly to the TV and did a scan. Actually several HD channels come out. But the TNT channel (101.1) is "scrambled". My question is if I get a HDTV box from comcast, am I able to get TNT/ESPN HD? NBA playoffs are coming up. That is one of the reasons I got the TV.

Thanks

Quick question. I have a HDTV with a QAM tuner. I have a basic cable service from comcast, of course! I just connected coaxial cable directly to the TV and did a scan. Actually several HD channels come out. But the TNT channel (101.1) is "scrambled". My question is if I get a HDTV box from comcast, am I able to get TNT/ESPN HD? NBA playoffs are coming up. That is one of the reasons I got the TV.

Thanks

Yes. You will get those two HD Channels and more. There should be a list on page one of this thread.

National Geographic HD, A&E HD and Universal HD have all shown up today. But my S3 Tivos don't show any programming when you choose the stations. Are these channels really live (and therefore my Cablecards screwed up) or are they still blank for everyone?

They don't show up for me on my Comcast DVR.

No new stations showing up on my DVR box either

The new HD channels are up and running this morning (at my home). :)

The new HD channels are up and running this morning (at my home). :)


Comcast turned them on between 2:00 and 2:30 this morning. I have get up early to go the work.

I didn't check, but I guess Fox is still with us. For the time being.

Comcast turned them on between 2:00 and 2:30 this morning. I have get up early to go the work.

I didn't check, but I guess Fox is still with us. For the time being.

Yeah, my Tivos have them today. Still no Food Network HD...still no Boomerang. :(

And what about Fox? Is Sinclair acting up again? I thought they had this settled in our market?!?!?

Yeah, my Tivos have them today. Still no Food Network HD...still no Boomerang. :(

And what about Fox? Is Sinclair acting up again? I thought they had this settled in our market?!?!?

I think they settled it with Medicom in KY. Not sure about middle TN, though.

Looked when I got home this afternoon and all three new HD channels are up and running in M-boro! :)

I got an interesting call today...apparently AT&T is paying for phone banks to lobby for the new TV law they have before the state. They are really pulling out all the stops.

Yeah, my Tivos have them today. Still no Food Network HD...still no Boomerang. :(

And what about Fox? Is Sinclair acting up again? I thought they had this settled in our market?!?!?

Sinclair is wanting double what Comcast is now paying them for their HD feeds. Sinclair was pulling the plug Mar 1, but they have extended the negotiation for 10 more days.

rf

do you have to have the 'digital tier' of channels in order to get NGC HD?

Can someone please point me to the QAM channel line-up for Nashville comcast please, I tried the search engine without finding it. Thanks

I think the latest QAM scan posted is on page 47 of this thread... I think it's about right, plus or minus a few channels
Apparently I haven't posted enough to be able to post links...

I just have a cablecard and basic cable. I now have both A&E and Universal, but no National Geographic. The number showed up on my channel list, but nothing comes through.

I got an interesting call today...apparently AT&T is paying for phone banks to lobby for the new TV law they have before the state. They are really pulling out all the stops.

I guess AT&T is expecting the public to blindly support their effort. I want to hear some specifics before jumping on board. Under the broad scope of competition being beneficial, perhaps this will force Comcast to be more innovative. I hold little hope that it will drive prices lower based on AT&T's track record - not exactly pro consumer.

I saw a television commercial against ATT and their efforts, saying how ATT will actually cause proces to go up by removing government subsidies...
I guess the battle is heating up.

The government does not subsidize the local exchange carriers(LEC), including AT&T. On the contrary, they watch them closely to ensure they never do anything remotely anti-competitive while maintaining specific, relatively low return on investment. The LEC's are even required to sell/rent their infrastructure at cost or below to their own competitors (CLECS) who in turn resell those services. If you had a lemonade stand, and the government came buy and told you they were letting a guy setup right next to you, you'd say OK, my lemonade is better so I'm OK with that. But then they say, oh yeah, you have to give him your cups and your lemonade at what it cost you to get it here. Now, not so good. THis is what teh phone companies are dealing with in their markets. Meanwhile, the cable companies are completely unregulated. Their prices have skyrocketed compared to any phone company increase. They pretty much do what the feel like when it comes to pricing. They are now doing phone business, too and "cream skimming" where they can. The LECs are required to provide "universal service". That is, they might have to spend a 10's of thousands of dollars to provide one line for grandma's one house 10 miles down a country road. Historically, the LECs could recover some of that cost through their business lines. Now, CLECS including cable companies choose the most lucrative locations, with the least overhead, shortest distances (e.g. high rise buildings, new subdivisions, etc.), and target those for phone service using VOIP. They don't have to provide universal service. They don't even provide cable where it's not lucrative, much less phones. Hopefully the phone companies can get a level playing field in both video and phone service. The cable companies understandably don't want to compete, they have a franchise monopoly but they can compete withthe phone companies without restriction.

Anyone have their comcast service go out lately? Mine did a while back. I called in a ticket and they said, no problem we can have a man there thursday after next, or the following Monday. I basically was offered a 2+ week restoral commitment. I had a phone problem with my DSL rescently too. The LEC repaired it the next morning. Damn glad my phone wasn't on Comcast. I'd like to say I get what I pay for. With cable, not so much.

I think if both were treated equally, then we would all see significant benefits. Competition will bring the prices in line, and the service standards up. IMHO.

My new Sony KDL-46V2500 was delivered today, and I swapped out my digital cable box for Comcast's HD DVR. I was sad to call and cancel my TIVO, but I hope Comcast will roll it out to us soon. When I called comcast to ask about getting the HD DVR, she told me I could go to a local office and pick one up to avoid the $34 installation charge. I opted for self install, and the rep told me that my local office had an HDMI dual tuner DVR as of 8:21 am this morning (it was about 1:30 pm when I called). I had to bite my tongue to keep from asking, are we talking about Cabbage Patch Dolls or DVRs (but figured she was too young to understand).

I plugged the HDMI cable in, and everything worked perfectly. I didn't even have to call Comcast and get them to ping the box. The HD stuff is amazing (you can see Vicki Yates individual eyelashes on Channel 5 news) and even DVDs played on my cheap Emerson DVD player look great on this TV.

I also got a dual tuner DVR last week with HDMI. However, I am having a minor issue, everything works well as I watch cable, but if I switch the inputs on the TV to another input, then return to the HDMI, it seems the TV and the box have a handshake issue and I get about a second of snow, then my TV says low signal... and I have to power down then up either the cable box or the TV to get signal back.
I have a samsung TV that works just fine on HDMI with my PS3 and a DVD player, so could it be the cable box? Could you test and see if you get similar results?

You have to admit, the AT&T "cable" commercials are real cute - both the ones on TV and the ones on the radio . They do make a good point, if the cost of a loaf of bread or a gallon of gas had gone up as much and as fast as cable prices folks would be rioting in the streets :D

The ONLY bargain in the Comcast lineup is limited basic for < $13 (< $8 if you are in Sumner county) everything else is a rip off. I love my cable modem speed, but that too is priced too darn high.

I shed no tears for the "poor" LEC having to provide the last mile to competitors - they had a monopoly for years and are as money grubbing and greedy as the rest of them. Charging the public an "enhanced 911" fee to pay for the installation of new local switches to handle the E911 stuff - then using the new switches to be able to sell CID, CID+name, 3 way calling, etc as pay extra services to the public. Then keep charging the fees "forever" even after the equipment is in place. I ditched them when I could and went to VoIP - paying them $37 a month for dial tone, touch tone (charging extra for touch tone, what a joke), and CID+name, and a zillions taxes and fees) VS $9 - 17 per month WITH MORE FEATURES. Sure, VoIP is not as 100% reliable, but I am "Sticking it to the man" every month I don't pay BS for service.

So bring on the competition - we all know Comcast will raise the prices any chance they get and they WILL no matter if ATT is providing service or not. So let's try it with some more competition and see how it goes.

Dennis

I also got a dual tuner DVR last week with HDMI. However, I am having a minor issue, everything works well as I watch cable, but if I switch the inputs on the TV to another input, then return to the HDMI, it seems the TV and the box have a handshake issue and I get about a second of snow, then my TV says low signal... and I have to power down then up either the cable box or the TV to get signal back.
I have a samsung TV that works just fine on HDMI with my PS3 and a DVD player, so could it be the cable box? Could you test and see if you get similar results?

I have the HDMI from the DVR connected to Video 6 and a DVD player connected to Video 4 (HD/DVD input). I did not have any problem switching between them yesterday. No snow, low signal or anything you described.

I also got a dual tuner DVR last week with HDMI. However, I am having a minor issue, everything works well as I watch cable, but if I switch the inputs on the TV to another input, then return to the HDMI, it seems the TV and the box have a handshake issue and I get about a second of snow, then my TV says low signal... and I have to power down then up either the cable box or the TV to get signal back.
I have a samsung TV that works just fine on HDMI with my PS3 and a DVD player, so could it be the cable box? Could you test and see if you get similar results?

Mine does something similar, but I never have to power down. Sometimes I get a bright green sceen, and to fix it I scroll through my A/V receiver inputs one full cylce until I return to HDMI in. I almost never had the audio and video synchronized when I initially turn them on. But by changing the channels its gets back to normal.

Thanks guys for responding.

I looked it up and this is what i got so far. Its a Comcast/motorola issue due to their firmware. Right now we are on 16.20, and the issue of handshaking seems to be one that was just introduced in the latest firmware and of which both comcast and motorola are aware.

Nothing I do gets it back on. When it handshakes well, there is absolutely no problem. It only loses it if I switch inputs then go back. If i turn off the tv then turn back on, no problem, everything i try is fine, except for the switching of TV inputs. And the issue is fixed by cycling the cable or the tv on/off.

Oh well, its not hard to fix and its not like I switch inputs every ten seconds. Plus the rumors are that we are getting some sort of new firmware soon... and the Tivo software on top of that...

UPDATE: the 16.35 firmware is being rolled out and it fixes HDMI problems and any handshake issues. Its being reported in various places, blogs and other threads here.

I have a relatively new 20" Vizio TV. I have the Comcast digital bronze package and used the TV's built in QAM tuner with coax from the wall plugged directly into the TV. The TV receives all the local HD channels just fine. It provides a great HD picture for a 20" inexpensive TV. However, I've noticed if an HD channel is not playing an HD show (like M*A*S*H on UPN HD) the audio and video are often out of sync for the entire show. Also, periodically the video seems to freeze and then stream double time to catch up. The TV is hooked to a rather long coax cable running directly from the coax outlet that was installed in a really stupid place in the bedroom when the house was built. I haven't tried swapping out the coax, because it's painstakingly tacked along the wall to try to hide it, and the outlet is behind a dresser that almost weighs too much to move.

I have a HD DVR and a Sony 46" HDTV in another room, and it does not exhibit this problem. I have no splitters or signal boosters on the cables inside the house. About 10 years ago, Comcast installed a splitter outside where the cable comes into the house and added an additional coax outlet for internet.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Should I suspect a problem with the TV, the coax cable, signal strength or something else?

I have a relatively new 20" Vizio TV. I have the Comcast digital bronze package and used the TV's built in QAM tuner with coax from the wall plugged directly into the TV. The TV receives all the local HD channels just fine. It provides a great HD picture for a 20" inexpensive TV. However, I've noticed if an HD channel is not playing an HD show (like M*A*S*H on UPN HD) the audio and video are often out of sync for the entire show. Also, periodically the video seems to freeze and then stream double time to catch up. The TV is hooked to a rather long coax cable running directly from the coax outlet that was installed in a really stupid place in the bedroom when the house was built. I haven't tried swapping out the coax, because it's painstakingly tacked along the wall to try to hide it, and the outlet is behind a dresser that almost weighs too much to move.

I have a HD DVR and a Sony 46" HDTV in another room, and it does not exhibit this problem. I have no splitters or signal boosters on the cables inside the house. About 10 years ago, Comcast installed a splitter outside where the cable comes into the house and added an additional coax outlet for internet.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Should I suspect a problem with the TV, the coax cable, signal strength or something else?

The freeze/catch-up issue is probably signal related. Try the TV in the other room and see what you get. I purchased the same TV this weekend and do not have any of the issues you mentioned. I sometimes get the lipsync issue with SD content over a digital signal but the issue is in the broadcast and not the TV. i.e. when I get it with M*A*S*H on one TV, I get it on all my HD tuners (Sony TV, Fusion tuner card, MyHd tuner card.)

Anyone else notice the ads are gone from the guide? Temporary or permanent this time?

Anyone else notice the ads are gone from the guide? Temporary or permanent this time?

I got all excited when I noticed them gone last night. I checked on the Comcast message boards and the Comcast forum on broadbandreports and nobody mentioned it.

Seem to be back again

I have a relatively new 20" Vizio TV. I have the Comcast digital bronze package and used the TV's built in QAM tuner with coax from the wall plugged directly into the TV. The TV receives all the local HD channels just fine. It provides a great HD picture for a 20" inexpensive TV. However, I've noticed if an HD channel is not playing an HD show (like M*A*S*H on UPN HD) the audio and video are often out of sync for the entire show. Also, periodically the video seems to freeze and then stream double time to catch up. The TV is hooked to a rather long coax cable running directly from the coax outlet that was installed in a really stupid place in the bedroom when the house was built. I haven't tried swapping out the coax, because it's painstakingly tacked along the wall to try to hide it, and the outlet is behind a dresser that almost weighs too much to move.

I have a HD DVR and a Sony 46" HDTV in another room, and it does not exhibit this problem. I have no splitters or signal boosters on the cables inside the house. About 10 years ago, Comcast installed a splitter outside where the cable comes into the house and added an additional coax outlet for internet.

Has anyone else experienced this problem? Should I suspect a problem with the TV, the coax cable, signal strength or something else?

Ronnie is right....these are classic symptoms of signal related problems. Have Comcast come out to the house for a service call to fix the signal strength issue. It shouldn't cost anything, unless they need to install an amplifier, which you will have to pay for. I recently had Comcast rewire many of the connections in my parent's house since the HDTVs they own were much more sensitive than the older sets. With 5 bedrooms in the house, including 5 SD TVs and 3 HDTVs and a cable modem, their old splitter upon splitter upon splitter topology was awful. Now there is a two way splitter feeding the TVs and the cable modem, and then a 8 way amplified splitter downstream from the two way split. All our problems vanished after the service call.

Just looking thru the OnDemand menus and noticed HBO now has a section called "Sopranos HD"!

Just looking thru the OnDemand menus and noticed HBO now has a section called "Sopranos HD"!

The "last season" starts on April 8. It is actually, the last half season since they rooked us out of these episodes last year to stretch it out for another year.

Dennis

The "last season" starts on April 8. It is actually, the last half season since they rooked us out of these episodes last year to stretch it out for another year.

Dennis


Yeah, I know. Remember "Sex and the City" did the same split season stunt with it's last season. I think that's where they came up with the idea.

The real big deal to me is this would be HBO's first HD OnDemand offering.

For those of you newbies like me...

I just did a QAM scan. Here's my current updated list:

79.1 ABC
79.2 NBC
79.3 CBS
79.4 FOX
79.5 NPT
79.6 My Network TV 30
79.7 TBN
79.8 PAX WNPX
79.9 CW 58
79.10 WGN
79.11 CTN WHTN
79.12 ShopAtHomeTV
80.6 VH1
80.7 CSPAN
80.8 CSPAN2
80.12 QVC
83.1 Univision
83.3 Oh! Oxygen
85.1: The Tube
85.6: CW 58 HD
85.14: My Network TV 30 HD
86.11: Nashville Weather Channel
86.14: NPT2
87.1: INHD
87.2: INHD2
89.2 Telemundo
92.2: ABC HD
92.5: CBS HD
93.4: NBC HD
93.6: Fox HD
94.1: Starz HD (I can't get this, it says scrambled)
101.1: TNT HD (I get a clear HD picture but no audio)
103.1-106.55: frequencies carry neighbors' PPV and/or VOD
110.15-110.22 Spanish Music channels (no picture, audio only)
111.7 NBA League Pass commercial
114.5: CSPAN 3
114.8 Comcast TV Guide tutorial
114.11 Sprout
114.14 Current VC2
115.8: PBS HD
116.5-116.50: 45 different Music Choice channels
117.1 Metro3
117.2 Arts Public Access
117.3 Arts Public Access
117.4 Community Access

Has anyone else lost 93.4 / 93.6 in the past few days? I try to tune straight to them on my VP42, and nothing.

Has anyone else lost 93.4 / 93.6 in the past few days? I try to tune straight to them on my VP42, and nothing.

They have been working fine for me, and I just re-checked them and all is well.

You might want to edit your channel list and delete INHD2 as it was dropped some time back.

Dennis

We need SportSouth!!! This is the new name for Turner South since Fox acquired it, and it carries about half the televised Braves games. If you're not familiar with the story, DirecTV carries it in Nashville, but Comcast doesn't. Comcast has said in the past that they don't want to bring in the Thrashers and Hawks games that Turner South carries because they would compete with the local Predators and Grizzlies games. All I want is the Braves games, plus the Braves-HD channel that a lot of other cities around here have for home Braves games. Any other Braves fans out there? I've just called customer service and sent an email at https://www.comcast.com/customers/contactUs/EmailUs.ashx.

An old classmate of mine was the VP of programming for Turner South a few years ago, and he told me about how stubborn Comcast of Nashville has been about getting Turner South. Every other major city in the South has it, as well as other cities in middle TN (like Clarksville). Turner South has really tried to get into this market, but Comcast will have nothing to do with it.

I am also a big Braves fan, and it very frustrating losing all of those games.

Hi, I'm moving to Nashville this summer and will be keeping my Directv service (for baseball). I would like to get the PBS HD channel and was thinking about at least getting the local channels in HD. Is there a just basic channel HD package? Do I need a tuner box or cable card or if my tv just has a qam tuner, is that all I need? Sorry, for the stupid questions, but I've been using satellite for the past 4 years for my HDTV needs.

Hi, I'm moving to Nashville this summer and will be keeping my Directv service (for baseball). I would like to get the PBS HD channel and was thinking about at least getting the local channels in HD. Is there a just basic channel HD package? Do I need a tuner box or cable card or if my tv just has a qam tuner, is that all I need? Sorry, for the stupid questions, but I've been using satellite for the past 4 years for my HDTV needs.

If your TV has a tuner of any sort, you can get the PBS channel in HD, either over the air or over cable (if you get the "lifeline" cable service.) I'd recommend a cheap indoor antenna and seeing what kind of performance you get. antennaweb is a great place to start... see how far you'll be away from TV broadcast antennas, etc.

And, welcome to Nashville. Be sure you've purchased your guitar prior to arrival.

They have been working fine for me

Thanks. Evidently, if my TV gets a blip in its reception, the QAM tuner decides the channel doesn't exist any more. A rescan replaced them all.

You might want to edit your channel list and delete INHD2 as it was dropped some time back.

It wasn't my list... but it could be mine now in this post:

79.1 ABC WKRN (broadcast/cable 2)
79.2 NBC WSMV (broadcast/cable 4)
79.3 CBS WTVF (broadcast/cable 5)
79.4 FOX WZTV (broadcast 17/cable 6)
79.5 PBS WNPT (broadcast 8/cable 8)
79.6 My Network TV WUXP 30
79.7 TBN WPGD (broadcast 50)
79.8 PAX WNPX (broadcast 28)
79.9 CW WNAB (broadcast 58)
79.10 NewsChannel 5+ (cable 50)
79.11 CTN WHTN (broadcast 39)
79.12 ShopAtHomeTV
80.7 CSPAN
80.8 CSPAN2
80.11 WGN
80.12 QVC
83.1 Univision
85.6: CW 58 HD
85.14: My Network TV 30 HD
86.11: Nashville Weather Channel (broadcast 2.2)
86.14: NPT2 (broadcast 8.2)
87.1: INHD
89.1: Comcast lineup scroll
89.2 Telemundo (broadcast 4.2)
91.7: The Military Channel (new!)
92.2: ABC HD
92.5: CBS HD
93.4: NBC HD
93.6: Fox HD
95.2: ABC again(?)
95.5: CBS HD again(?)
103.1-106.55: frequencies carry neighbors' PPV and/or VOD
111.7 NBA League Pass commercial (?)
114.5: CSPAN 3
114.8 Comcast TV Guide tutorial
114.14 Current VC2
115.8: PBS HD
116.5-116.50: 45 different Music Choice channels
117.1 Metro3
117.2 Arts Public Access (analog 9)
117.3 Annenberg/CPB Channel (analog 10)
117.4 Community Access

Does anyone know which HD channels are provided by Comcast with Limited Cable for ~$11?
The website lists just one and I was wondering if I could get more.
My TV does not have HD tuner so I am looking to buy one. Not a big fan of TV, though :)

So I need to go and exchange my HD cable box in the bedroom for one with HDMI, whats new in the comcast DVR/HD box world? I have a 6412 P3 hooked up in the HT, is there anything out that is bigger and better yet?

Does anyone know which HD channels are provided by Comcast with Limited Cable for ~$11?
The website lists just one and I was wondering if I could get more.
My TV does not have HD tuner so I am looking to buy one. Not a big fan of TV, though :)

All locals (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, CW) + INHD.

Man im happy!! After I bought a Philips MANT510 antenna which did nothing for me i started flipping through the channels today. Apparently I can get the HD channels for free with my basic cable. They are channels 79.1 -93.6 Im glad i decided to randomly flip through the channels today and it just automatically went to 79.1 after 78 and I was pleasantly surprised :)

These i know so far for sure....
86.14 NPT 480i 4:3
87.1 NBAtv 1080i 16:9
89.1 Telemundo 480i 4:3
91.7 Military Channel 480i 4:3
92.2 ABC 720p 16:9
93.4 NBC 1080i 16:9
92.5 CBS (which looks very nice right now while im watching NCAA tourney)


there are plenty more but i dont have time to list them all, needless to say im quite excited that i dont have to buy some expensive antenna to get these channels :) :) :)

Anyone else's video pretty much gone right now?

Did anybody see the commercial for Lee Heating and Air Conditioning at the end of the Championship Game between Florida and Ohio State? With the exception of Channel 5's spots promoting their HD news upgrade, I don't think I'd ever seen a locally produced HD commercial. The quality was very good too...looks like it was shot in 1080/24p.

So Iget this letter in the mail from Comcast. It states I can receive digital starter service for free. They will UPS me the receiver for nothing also.

Is this free? Do I have to pay a monthly rent fee or anything?

I was put on hold for 30 minutes and hung up.

My question to Comcast would be "If I get this receive in the mail, will my monthly bill increase AT ALL next month?

If I have a plasma with all the necessary HD tuners and such. will I still get the new digital channels?

Would I HAVE to have the receiver to get the free On-Demand shows?

Can someone PLEASE elaborate a bit here?

Please help me!

nc

You have to have the receiver or a cable card to decrypt the digital channels. As for the pricing, I think there is a long thread on this offer over at the fatwallet forum, might want to check there.

having some audio sync problems on the digital channels using a qam tuner

Any insight into what the "satellite issue" was last night that prevented all the ESPN channels from working during the Lady Vol's game? Was it raining in space too??

-John

Any insight into what the "satellite issue" was last night that prevented all the ESPN channels from working during the Lady Vol's game? Was it raining in space too??

-John
http://tennessean.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070404/COUNTY09/70404028/1006/NEWS

So Iget this letter in the mail from Comcast. It states I can receive digital starter service for free. They will UPS me the receiver for nothing also.

Is this free? Do I have to pay a monthly rent fee or anything?

I was put on hold for 30 minutes and hung up.

My question to Comcast would be "If I get this receive in the mail, will my monthly bill increase AT ALL next month?

If I have a plasma with all the necessary HD tuners and such. will I still get the new digital channels?

Would I HAVE to have the receiver to get the free On-Demand shows?

Can someone PLEASE elaborate a bit here?

Please help me!

nc

Check the comcast.com website. It tells you about the digital starter package and you can see the channel lineup.. It is the same price as standard basic ($49.99 in Davidson County) and includes one free set top box. You don't get any of the "premium" digital channels like the Turner Classic Movies. I assume you will be able to get the Hallmark and Game Show channels that are moving from analog to digital.

My Dad got the same letter, and he switched. He complained about only one free box, and they threw in two extra boxes for free for three months.

Anyone know if channel 5 is televising the Masters today?

Anyone loose channel 4 this morning? I was watching Aaron and Holly and the pic died :(

nc

Anyone loose channel 4 this morning? I was watching Aaron and Holly and the pic died :(

nc


Yeah I did too. I Just looked and it's back now.

Not sure if anyone else has the problem but the audio does not seem to be synced on channel 4 either for me. Noticed it on wednesday and again this morning.

Also I went to swap my motorolla cable box out to get one with an hdmi connection to test out and was given the 3412 all digital box and on my end it made a big difference on the analog channels. Just wanted to pass along the info. Got it at the metrocenter location.

Not sure if anyone else has the problem but the audio does not seem to be synced on channel 4 either for me. Noticed it on wednesday and again this morning.It's got to be a network problem since everything syncs on local programming. Can't remember which program it first showed up on but the picture froze, audio continued then Ch4 switched to the analog feed on their digital channel. When they switched back to the digital net feed the problems showed up and have been there ever since.

It's got to be a network problem since everything syncs on local programming. Can't remember which program it first showed up on but the picture froze, audio continued then Ch4 switched to the analog feed on their digital channel. When they switched back to the digital net feed the problems showed up and have been there ever since.

I agree totally, as of today it seems that the problem is ok but it was kind of an off and on again problem for me. Hopefully they have fixed it

anyone else lose HD on ABC last night? didnt see it for DWTS or with BL. :(

I lost it as well

No HD on Tuesday night on ABC for Boston Legal for me either. Was in a local thing, or an ABC thing?

So last night I get a call from "TOLL FREE #" (I have caller-id.) I almost never picl it up because of ir probably being a tele-marketer. I let the thing finisha dn hang up. The I dial the number from where the call originated. I call it and get a long recording. It basically states that this is an "outgoing" number only. It did, however, say that it was related to a Comcast function. I looked far and wide on my Comcast.net homepage to fi nd a way to OPT OUT of these calls. I also an on the DO NOT CALL list and still get calls like this.

I know this goes beyond Comcast here, folks, but I was wondering if this WAS a service of Comcast and is there a way out? Has anyone else gotten calls like these from Comcast?


Thank you all,

nc

Have not gotten any calls, like you I do not answer them. I wonder if it has anything to do with the whole AT&T deal that is going on and trying to get their customers to support them, who knows though might of been trying to sell you more services.

Last night, I was very pleased to see the Braves in HD on INHD. They replaced the normal programming with Fox SportsSouth HD, just like they have done for some of the Preds games this year. I imagine this will only happen on Wednesday nights, but one night a week is better than nothing. ;)

Anyone with a DVR suffering from brief pauses/loss of sound on many channels?

Anyone with a DVR suffering from brief pauses/loss of sound on many channels?
The main sound problem I've had lately is that video and sound are sometimes not synchronized on NBC, channel 232. Other channels are OK. (TiVo Series 3)

My ESPN is terribly pixelated. None of the other channels are pixelated at all. It's been this way at least two days.

Anyone else seeing this?

My ESPN is terribly pixelated. None of the other channels are pixelated at all. It's been this way at least two days.

Anyone else seeing this?

My ESPN's HD 1&2, SD 1&2 all look good.

I know that Hallmark channel and Game Show network are moving to the digital tier this week. Since coming home,I've noticed new additions to the digital tier.

190 Hd On Demand
191 Free Movies HD ON DEMAND
192 HD Premium Channels On Demand
193 HD Music On Demand
194 Movies On Demand

298 Local on Demand
299 Free Movies On Demand
300 HBO On Demand

Do these additions mean we may be getting the new "Comcast Central" - an update to the guide that is coming out in some areas?

Audio sync issues... This came up a while back in the thread, but I've been noticing it on channels 232 and 233 recently. Anyone else?

Audio sync issues... This came up a while back in the thread, but I've been noticing it on channels 232 and 233 recently. Anyone else?

Yeah I noticed it as well on 232, NBC, but it seems to be an off and on issue as it does not do it all the time on mine. Seems ok as of this morning, I noticed it last I think it was last Friday.

ok THANK GOD for this thread. I thought I was going crazy!! I cant even watch CBS anymore. "How I met your mother" is one of my favorite shows and i cant watch it because the video is so much faster than the audio. If it was the other way around, i could fix it via my pre-amp pro. Letterman's off, I saw that NCIS is also off. Then i switched to channel 4 yesterday, and The tonight show was off and so was Conan! What is going on??? I'm just glad its not my new audio gear. Its obviously a local issue as there are no threads in the national HDTV program...

I don't watch a whole lot of prime time network TV, but do see Letterman/Leno regularly and also channel 5 news since they went HD. The night Kirsten Dunst was on Letterman (Mon?) the audio was so badly synched that I had to turn it off. And it was not just comcast, the OTA signal was messed up too.

Whether it is our local station or the network that is the source of the problem, I am not sure, but I cannot recall seeing the same thing happen on locally produced shows.

the local news on WTVF (channel 5) is perfectly synched, and there have been no threads about the lipsync issues in the national HDTV forum, so i'm guessing its a local issue and i agree this is just ridiculous. I couldnt watch tobey mcguire on letterman yesterday becuase of the sync. Has anyone called the Engineering department at channel5 yet? someone should be proactive here, i think.

"The reading of the line coming into your set should be between 0 and +5."

"The drop outside feeding your house should measure at least +12."

"A splitter can reduce your input between -3db to -5db."

"A power amplifier for the feed in your house can significantly boost your gain."


Any elaboration would be appreciated. I had the "Cable guy" over for a coouple of hours yesterday, and this is what I gleened.

Thanks!

nc

I can't attest to the veracity of the first two statements, since I don't posess the equipment needed to test the levels.

I can say for sure that every splitter, even the best quality, will drop the signal at least 2gb - the more "way" the splitter the more loss (2 way less than 3 way).

A quality amp can make all the difference.

When I tried to get digital cable to work and later a QAM tuner I had to replace some splitters (they were quality brands, but replacement splitters worked better) and I installed a couple of amps and all is well. I used the Motorola "Cable Modem" signal booster amp, like this one http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-484095-001-00-Signal-Booster/dp/B000066E6Y

You can also have bad coax inside the house - or even from the street to the house. Less than RG-6 is fine until they started doing cable modems, QAM, and digital cable boxes.

Dennis

"The reading of the line coming into your set should be between 0 and +5."

"The drop outside feeding your house should measure at least +12."

"A splitter can reduce your input between -3db to -5db."

"A power amplifier for the feed in your house can significantly boost your gain."


Any elaboration would be appreciated. I had the "Cable guy" over for a coouple of hours yesterday, and this is what I gleened.

Thanks!

nc

These are more "rules" of thumb. What matters is what is happening in your environment at your house. Let's start with what's coming in from the street. The signal should be well amplified to carry it the last mile into your home, but often it may not be enough for quality digital signals across all frequencies used by Comcast. For example, I live in a single family home, but my cul-de-sac has a splitter that serves six home instead of coming straight off the main pole (all utility lines in my neighborhood are buried). In the early days of cable modems out in Bellevue, I was one of the first @Home customers. In my (then) condo, I was repeatedly having problems with signal strength. When Comcast came out to look at it, I was sharing six home runs with other owners. Comcast's solution was pretty basic...they put me as one half of a two way splitter and everyone else got the other half. Sure that solved my problem, but if anyone else got a cable modem, they would immediately have issues.

As dwynne said, even the line to the street might be a problem. That happened to me. As I said before, all lines are buried in my neighborhood. The line underneath the driveway from my house to the cul-de-sac splitter was an RG-59 coax cable....OK for analog traffic in 1991, but horrible for digital traffic now. They restrung a new higher bandwidth RG-6 line to replace it. Oddly, much of the lines inside my house were RG-6, just not the circuit leading to my house!

A +12 indication on the signal meter is just a rule of thumb, but it allows for losses once the signal gets split up inside your home. As you do more splits, the signal drops over every line. Splits after splits make the matter worse and virtually impossible for digital TV or cable to work properly. At the TV, you want the signal to be above zero since zero is the level that signal is no stronger than background noise. For every foot of distance in your cable lines, you can expect to lose signal strength by a predictable amount. Further complicating the matter is that the circuit might be stronger in some frequencies and not others. In my case, when I first got HDTV, I had a strange problem where everything worked except for NBC and INHD. It turns out that I had a specific frequency loss issue, which was correctable.

Amplifiers are often used to boost the power of the signal, but you must use common sense with them. My parents have a large home in Bordeaux that has 8(!) TVs, three of them HD, as well as a cable modem. Over the last 30 years they've had cable (they were one of the first customers in the late 70s), the house has been wired haphazardly with various technicians making additions until the signal was just unusable for digital TV. When we added two HDTVs in their home, the signal was so bad that digital TV just didn't work at all. I called Comcast to not only bring an 8 way splitter, but also to eliminate all of the splits beyond splits that had been put into the system over the years, and any suspect wire that was either RG-59 or beyond its life span. After two hours, my folks house now had two splitters (down from four). The first two way splitter handled the cable modem versus the rest of the house. The 8 way amplified-splitter then serves all the other TVs and worked flawlessly. Cable modems can't be on amplified circuits so they must be split off before any amps are added for TVs.

Cable modems can't be on amplified circuits so they must be split off before any amps are added for TVs.

The Motorola "Cable modem" amp I use and I linked to is bi-directional so it can be used ahead of a cable modem. I think it amps the input and is "about lossless" to the output back to the cable company - I don't think it really amps both ways.

What I did is bring up the signal strength web page on the cable modem (http://192.168.100.1 , if I remember correctly) and run just the cable modem only - no amps and no splitters - and note the readings. If the signal is not enough at the modem, then try the amp and see if that helps. Also connect the modem to the earliest you can where the cable enters the house - if the strength is too low the run inside or to the street is bad, or they are just no sending you enough signal.

Then add stuff and recheck, etc to make sure I kept proper signal on the modem. I think I ended up with amp, 2-way (one to cable modem one to rest of house). I use a second Moto amp to "push" a long cable run to a distant room with a QAM equipped TV. The goal is to get enough signal to the modem and have all the clear QAM (or digital cable box) channels come in fine. The latter is pretty easy to tell without test equipment - no pixellization or freezes or black outs and the signal is good :)

Some folks on limited basic can have a problem with a buggy "trap" - it is blocking the analog channels we don't pay for but incorrectly cutting into the signals we are supposed to get. The Comcast tech can remove it (usually in the cable box on the side of your house) and see if that helps things. If it does, he can try to replace it with one that works correctly - if that fails they will usually just leave it out :rolleyes:

Dennis

The newest electroline amps are sweet!

This amp (http://www.electroline.com/en/products/drop_amplifiers/eda_ft/eda_ft.pdf) has 0-dB loss (or even active gain on certain models if needed) in the return path with 3-dB forward gain on all legs. As long as your entry point is clean, with this amp you can hook a modem on any leg of the amp.

If you don't have a a "2-way device" like a modem This amp (http://www.electroline.com/en/products/drop_amplifiers/eda_ug/eda_ug.pdf) is really sweet. All 4 or 8 legs automatically have the same gain as the entry point.

Now if they could combine these two amp's features into one amp to have an amp that supplies same entry point gain on all 4 or 8 legs with 0-dB return path loss on all legs, that would be the end-all drop amp in my book!


Ronnie

Is there any particular channel that is a good barometer of the signal I get? For instance, I know channel 15 (sorry, donnot recall what this station is), is aweful, and snowy! I n orher words, what channekl should be the best, and what channel is bad?

BTW, thanks for all the great info you guys offer!

nc

Any of the HD clear QAM channels were the hardest for me to tune before I replaced splitters/amps/cables. No snow on the digital QAM channels - just black screens, pixels, freezes, etc. As was mentioned, a channel that was harder for me to tune may not have been the tough one for someone else - just based on where my hardware was cutting the signal levels.

I don't watch analog cable any more, so I don't know snow :) . I do know when I fixed things so the HD clear QAMs and SD clear QAMs come in fine the analog pictures looks a clearer on the channels I checked. You could have crystal clear analog cable and not get a single HD channel to lock in due to the losses in cables/amps/splitters.

Dennis

well CBS and NBC now seem like they are back in sync with the audio. Here's to hoping that problem never occurs again.

my dad actually somehow got comcast to give us a free amp... imagine that. so if you need one, and you're a long time customer (we are for about 16 years), you might twist their arm a little.

my dad actually somehow got comcast to give us a free amp... imagine that. so if you need one, and you're a long time customer (we are for about 16 years), you might twist their arm a little.

You must have got an installer who was having a good day and tossed it in for ya. Not here. I tried everything I could, they would not budge on the price. They ran test and even agreed that an amp was the only thing that would fix my issue. It was $85 installed no if ands or buts. The amp they install can be picked up for < $40 on ebay. I broke down and paid the $85 to Comcast because the installer also tossed in 2 new room runs and replaced some old cable I had to another TV. He also gave me several 6-foot cables and 3 to 4 new splitters. It would have cost me about the same if I'd of done it all myself.

I am at a point now where they've (COmcast) has done everything they can do other than replace cables that run under my house. Every line from wall-to-set was changed. Even the "thing" at the end of the cable line was replaced. His offer was to "fish" a line, it would be $35. Not too bad since I only really need it for the plasma. BUT, he can't gaurantee the picture q. would improve, and also, he may have to put holes in my floor to run the lines to the crawlpace under the house. He also suggested a power amp. I think I tried the amp once and it only amplified a bad picturelol.

I really don't know what to do. Maybe I'm a bit nutty wanting "that perfect pic". But heck,. I spent 5g's on the plasma, I want the best pic possble.

nc

It was $85 installed no if ands or buts. The amp they install can be picked up for < $40 on ebay. I broke down and paid the $85 to Comcast

Not bad, if he would have taken it back if that did not solve the problem. If you had purchased your own amp, then you would be stuck with it in any case. With all the freebies and the fact that they fixed you up, "overpaying" for the amp was a pretty good deal :) .

Dennis

I really don't know what to do. Maybe I'm a bit nutty wanting "that perfect pic". But heck,. I spent 5g's on the plasma, I want the best pic possble.

What I would do:

Figure out how much cable you would need to run direct from the entry point of the Comcast cable to your new TV. Go to RadioShack or someplace and get a roll of RG-6 with connectors already attached long enough to make it - running it in the window, through the door, whatever - the most direct means - for a test. Get the cable roll and a double F coupler (at RS this would be "F-81 Cable Coupler Model: 278-213" for $2). In a pinch you could use a ground block to connect these together if you can't find the coupler.

Connect the new cable via the coupler to the early entry point - no splitters, amps, etc. Run the other end to the new TV and hook up. What do you get? If the everything is super then you know the set is OK as is (likely) the signal you are getting from Comcast. If you can get someone from Comcast to work with you then you can bypass the entry cable and hook up direct to the cable box on the side of your house.

Once you have established you can get a picture you like and all the HD digital channels are rock solid, then you can start adding stuff back in and re-checking the signal/picture on the new set. You should then be able to figure out which splitter/amp/cable or combination of them is/are causing your problem. You may end up with a quality amp at the entry position "pushing" the signal throughout the house. Keep in mind if you need 100' or more of cable to test, you may need an amp at the head of all the cable to have enough signal at the TV to work properly.

Spending $5k on a plasma these days MAY be a "little nuts", unless you got one of the new 1080p models :D . Amazon had the top rated 50" (I think) model with QAM tuner for $1,900 or so delivered. Costco has the 58" 780p Panny plasma set for $2700 plus tax, free shipping.

Dennis

no one talked to the installer, somehow my dad got the customer service rep to give us the amp for free. I guess they got the run around a couple of times or something, i'm not quite sure, anyway we have 7 runs into our house, and we never had a problem with a signal, just that ondemand would infrequently work, so that was irritating, but the amp solved that problem.

spending 5k is not nuts, given the great picture you get from a screen like that and being on the cutting edge of technology costs money. of course i have to defend you since we just got done spending a small fortune on our screen...

Not bad, if he would have taken it back if that did not solve the problem. If you had purchased your own amp, then you would be stuck with it in any case. With all the freebies and the fact that they fixed you up, "overpaying" for the amp was a pretty good deal :) .

Dennis

Yep. that is the one thing I give Comcast, they might not get it correct the first time but they WILL keep trying to fix the issue. The $85 for the amp and install was %100 refundable if I was not happy with it.

So nashvillecat, you might want to have them install an amp first. But the cable guy might be correct about the line needing replaced as well especially if it is RG-59.

What I would do:

Figure out how much cable you would need to run direct from the entry point of the Comcast cable to your new TV. Go to RadioShack or someplace and get a roll of RG-6 with connectors already attached long enough to make it - running it in the window, through the door, whatever - the most direct means - for a test. Get the cable roll and a double F coupler (at RS this would be "F-81 Cable Coupler Model: 278-213" for $2). In a pinch you could use a ground block to connect these together if you can't find the coupler.

Connect the new cable via the coupler to the early entry point - no splitters, amps, etc. Run the other end to the new TV and hook up. What do you get? If the everything is super then you know the set is OK as is (likely) the signal you are getting from Comcast. If you can get someone from Comcast to work with you then you can bypass the entry cable and hook up direct to the cable box on the side of your house.

Once you have established you can get a picture you like and all the HD digital channels are rock solid, then you can start adding stuff back in and re-checking the signal/picture on the new set. You should then be able to figure out which splitter/amp/cable or combination of them is/are causing your problem. You may end up with a quality amp at the entry position "pushing" the signal throughout the house. Keep in mind if you need 100' or more of cable to test, you may need an amp at the head of all the cable to have enough signal at the TV to work properly.

Spending $5k on a plasma these days MAY be a "little nuts", unless you got one of the new 1080p models :D . Amazon had the top rated 50" (I think) model with QAM tuner for $1,900 or so delivered. Costco has the 58" 780p Panny plasma set for $2700 plus tax, free shipping.

Dennis

Please don't take this the wrong way, and I really do appreciate the feedback, but don't you think that for my monthly payment to Comca$t, THEY should diagnose and fix this problem?

( BTW, I paid the 5g's a year ago. I know that by today's market, thats too much, but a year ago, 5000 for a 5-year warranted 50" panny is ok.)

Please don't take this the wrong way, and I really do appreciate the feedback, but don't you think that for my monthly payment to Comca$t, THEY should diagnose and fix this problem?

( BTW, I paid the 5g's a year ago. I know that by today's market, thats too much, but a year ago, 5000 for a 5-year warranted 50" panny is ok.)

Sure, they SHOULD fix it and some folks have have good luck with them and others bad luck. I just said what I would do if I were you - I was answering you when you said you did not know what to do.

A Comcast install normally would include a single cable outlet, if you want more drops you would normally have to pay them extra (which should include the cable, splitter(s), labor, and an amp if needed). If Comcast wired your home at your expense then you can make a case that they need to fix it, no matter the problem. If your house was pre-wired or you or a previous owner did it themselves, then I can't see that it is Comcast's job to fix it for free.

What Comcast should do - or you can do yourself with a $25 roll of coax and a $2 coupler - is make sure that there is enough signal at the connection point (or just inside your house) to satisfy you on your plasma. If your set is working properly and the bypass test fails, then Comcast is not providing you enough signal and they need to fix that. If you are testing from inside the house at the closest connection point and it fails, then the coax from there to the outside could be bad - and you still need Comcast to help you test. If the test works, then somewhere in the maze of inside wiring the signal is getting attenuated to where the set can't give you what you want. If this was not Comcast supplied and installed then you will have to either fix it yourself, pay Comcast to fix it, or pay someone else - I would think.

Other have had good luck with some Comcast tech going out of their way to fix stuff for free that technically was not something they had to fix. Get one of those techs out to the house and you may be very happy, otherwise you will need to spend some time, money, or both to get it right.

Dennis

May I swerve slightly offtopic for a moment please?

1. What brand(s) and model number(s) DVR is Comcast now supplying?

2. Any rumors about when TiVo software will be available for the Comcast DVRs?

Thanks,

- Jon

1. What brand(s) and model number(s) DVR is Comcast now supplying?


The one I just got is the Moto 3416.

Charlie

Just got a message saying the SEC Baseball Tournament will be broadcast in HD on a special channel 201. As a Vanderbilt fan, I must say woohoo.

EDIT: Found a link.

http://www.secsports.com/index.php?s=&url_channel_id=5&url_article_id=8987&change_well_id=2

Can someone who has the $11/mo cable tell me how many digi channels their QAM tuner picks up?

I'm about to buy a Vizio and was wondering what to expect.

Thanks!

Can someone who has the $11/mo cable tell me how many digi channels their QAM tuner picks up?

With the proper splitters and amps (if needed) you get all the local channels in HD, INHD/Mojo, several SD digital channels, and whatever your neighbors are watching "in demand" in SD (Playboy channel, kids stuff, movies, HBO, you never know).

Dennis

Can someone who has the $11/mo cable tell me how many digi channels their QAM tuner picks up?

I'm about to buy a Vizio and was wondering what to expect.

Thanks!

I've got both $11 cable and a Vizio 20" (yeah, I'm cheap, I mean "frugal" too! :) )

I get most of the channels I got using my old analog SD TV and $11 cable but in digital. I delete most of the analog stations and digital shopping/religious stations.

This leaves me with: WKRN, WSMV, WTVF, WNPT, WZTV, WUXP, WNAB, and MOJO in HD.

I keep these SD digital stations as well: The Documentary Channel (WNPT2) and Channel 2's 24-hour weather station. I really like the DOC channel.

If you watch C-SPAN, you'll have to keep it as an Analog channel.


Ronnie

Dennis...Where are the "in demand" channels?

I will have to check, but they are above the locals in HD (which are 92.x and 93.x) and before you hit WNPT digital (sometimes HD) at 115.x.

On my Sony CRT set it tunes from HD 2, to 5, to 4, to 17, to Univision (or something in spanish), to CSPAN, to CSPAN2, to a bunch of in demand channels. My other QAM tuner tunes the digital channels together.

Your tuner should find them on a scan but many of them have a black screen when not in use. Some will have a twin pair of small in demand come on windows in the black screen. Once a neighbor fires something up then you get to watch along. It can get frustrating (or be comical) when they rewind and fast forward through shows.

Dennis

i get on demand on channels 103.1-106.10

if you have a lot of time on your hands you can keep searching through those channels until you find some nice movies to watch. it's frustrating when the movie cuts off, but it's free.

I just realized that the HD OnDemand offerings don't come through in HD if you have your 4:3 overide set to 480i . I was going to watch The Tudors in HD via OnDemand and it still had black bars on the bottom and top of my screen.and the screen size option I should see if I'm getting an HD signal didn't show up when I pressed that button on my models remote. However if, I turn my 4:3 overide to off things seem to look like they're supposed to.

Does anybody know why the local stations were available in the 79.x channels, but now the 79.x channels are gone? I was watching non-HD shows for WZTV (local Fox) there because the audio and video are so out of sync and erratic on 93.6 (or is it 92.6?). I've tried everything I know to do to fix the problem with WZTV short of getting Comcast to come out. I swapped out all the external wiring with RG-6 coax, and added a signal amplifier. I don't have the problem on my other TV, but I use a DVR there. My house is on a slab, so I figure Comcast will have to tear the walls out to replace the internal wiring in the house.

I just realized that the HD OnDemand offerings don't come through in HD if you have your 4:3 overide set to 480i . I was going to watch The Tudors in HD via OnDemand and it still had black bars on the bottom and top of my screen.and the screen size option I should see if I'm getting an HD signal didn't show up when I pressed that button on my models remote. However if, I turn my 4:3 overide to off things seem to look like they're supposed to.

I was watching Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest via Starz OnDemand the other day. It began with the black bars on top and bottom of the screen. I was wondering WTF was going on so I paused the program. When I un paused it the bars were gone and it was in glorious screen filling HD.

It worked again the next day with an episode of The Tudors as well.

What is the deal with SportSouth (the newtwork formerly known as Turner South)? It carries over 50 Braves games and year and 80 next year (many of which appear to be in HD). Is it available on Comcast in the area? The only network I could find it on with a google search was DISH. My dad wants to get just Braves, but it looks like unless he buys the extra innings package, he is SOL.

Does anybody know why the local stations were available in the 79.x channels, but now the 79.x channels are gone? I was watching non-HD shows for WZTV (local Fox) there because the audio and video are so out of sync and erratic on 93.6 (or is it 92.6?). I've tried everything I know to do to fix the problem with WZTV short of getting Comcast to come out. I swapped out all the external wiring with RG-6 coax, and added a signal amplifier. I don't have the problem on my other TV, but I use a DVR there. My house is on a slab, so I figure Comcast will have to tear the walls out to replace the internal wiring in the house.

Those are/were the SD digital versions of the first 10 (or so) analog channels. When they first appeared way back when, I figured they were a test but they stayed on. The assumption is they are mirrors for the basic analog channels for when (in the near future, Comcast says) they will be "all digital". They would map those channels over the analog ones in the digital boxes so when someone tuned to channel 2 they would get 79.x in digital clarity.

I have not checked them in a while and did not know they were gone. It is possible they were moved to another "channel" so a re-scan and some flipping may turn them up.

As to problems getting 93.6, what I always recommend is bypassing everything in the house to see if the problem goes away. Connect up either outside at the cable "panel" or at the first connection point inside the house. Run a length of RG-6 through windows, across the floor, whatever to get the the set with the problem. If the problem goes away with bypassing everything, then you know you have a faulty splitter, coax, amps, or some combination. If the problem still exists, then either that set has a problem or Comcast is not giving you enough signal.

Dennis

What is the deal with SportSouth (the newtwork formerly known as Turner South)? It carries over 50 Braves games and year and 80 next year (many of which appear to be in HD). Is it available on Comcast in the area? The only network I could find it on with a google search was DISH. My dad wants to get just Braves, but it looks like unless he buys the extra innings package, he is SOL.

No! :mad: If you search for posts from me and user leewcraft, you'll find us complaining about this going back a few years. Comcast does not have Sportsouth. Back when it was TurnerSouth, several people I know called both TurnerSouth and Comcast about it. TurnerSouth said they were offering to Comcast in Nashville and Comcast just wouldn't pick it up. Depending on who you talked Comcast (these were higher up people, not just CSR's), they said that TurnerSouth was demanding a ridiculous amount of money, or that there wasn't enough demand in Nashville to pay the money to TurnerSouth. It turns out that the Nashville Predators are also a big part of the reason we don't get it. They have an exclusive agreement to be the only hockey on TV here in Nashville, so we couldn't have the Atlanta Thrashers on SportSouth. Now, I know other stations can (and do - all the time) black out games that aren't allowed, so I don't really see the problem with blacking out Thrashers games.

We were hoping that the aquisition by Fox would help, but so far, nothing seems to have changed here. Of course, as a fan here in Nashville we get hosed all the way around, because the antiquated blackout rules have us in the home market for the Braves, so we can't order their games on Extra Innings (which I would happily pay for if I could). It also means we can't order their games on MLB.tv, which I would also do. Bud Selig has promised that he wants to change the blackout rules, but who knows when he'll get around to that, or if it will even be an improvement.

Oh, and unless you live really close to Murfreesboro and can pickup the AM Braves affiliate there, you can't even listen to them on the radio.

So you can probably tell I'm very frustrated about this. Maybe it's time to start calling Comcast again and hounding them about it. Or maybe I should start hoping the new Preds owner takes the team to Canada, so that area of conflict is gone. ;)

charlie

I second all that.

I'm about to try to bring this up on the SportsZone on 104.5. It sounds like the kind of thing they could get fired up about. I was waiting for hockey and basketball to finish, but I think it's about time.

I was watching Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest via Starz OnDemand the other day. It began with the black bars on top and bottom of the screen. I was wondering WTF was going on so I paused the program. When I un paused it the bars were gone and it was in glorious screen filling HD.

It worked again the next day with an episode of The Tudors as well.
Thanks for the tip. It worked.

FWIW...Comcast announced today it will begin rolling out its TiVo DVR interface in the Boston area in August.

FYI for Nashvillians: Tivo has a sale + $200 rebate going on right now until June 16 on the Series 3 HD DVR... bringing price down to $400 at Amazon and other sellers.

Since most of the stuff I watch is on the major networks that I can get OTA, I'm dumping Comcast's video and DVR except for cable modem service, and switching to Tivo OTA + Netflix + internet video via my Xbox 360.

Has anybody noticed that Comcast now has their OnDemand channels listed with real channel numbers? For example, there are a cluster of HD OnDemand channels listed between 190 and 194, right below the regular HD channels. Others are also on the list. What's up with that?

Anyone have stuttering issues on NBC HD?
It happens during the nightly news, also during the NHL finals. Quite annoying. And the sound was about half a second delayed.

Last week it was fine.

Anyone have stuttering issues on NBC HD?
It happens during the nightly news, also during the NHL finals. Quite annoying. And the sound was about half a second delayed.

Last week it was fine.
I have had problems with sound and video not being in sync on NBC HD for several weeks, off and on. I have a TiVo S3, and thought it might be a TiVo problem. However, I see the same thing when tuning the NBC HD QAM channel with a cable connected directly to the TV. It also shows up using the over-the-air tuner in the S3. This problem has been mentioned on the TiVo Community forums by people in the mid-Tennessee area. It doesn't appear to be a Comcast or TiVo problem, but some type of network transmission problem.

I haven't noticed the stuttering issue--possibly it's masked for me by the sync problem.

Does anybody have any concrete idea when Comcast will add Food Network HD and/or HGTV HD to the Nashville market?
Also will we see the "improved" Iguide "Comcast Central"?

I'm trading in the Motorola box for a card (I'm getting the Tivo Series 3 PVR). I know I give up VOD and the interactivite features (other than the guide I never use them anyway), but are there any other drawbacks?

I'm trading in the Motorola box for a card (I'm getting the Tivo Series 3 PVR). I know I give up VOD and the interactivite features (other than the guide I never use them anyway), but are there any other drawbacks?
In addition to the initial cost of the Series 3, you will be paying more per month (TiVo monthly charge plus Comcast charge per cablecard). Note that you will need two cablecards in the S3 for full two-tuner functionality. But, you will gain a vastly superior operating environment, plus considerably more disk capacity for storing recordings. To me , the extra cost of the S3 is worth it.

I'm enjoying my S3 that arrived a few days back. For me it is vastly cheaper since I prepaid 3 years of service, plus dropped comcast down to limited basic so I don't need cable cards.

One other thing I've heard about for cable card users that you should know about is called switched digital video (SDV). This is something cable companies are experimenting with where they will no longer be sending every channel all the time 24/7 to your neighborhood's cable plant. Instead when a channel needs to be watched the STB or cable card 2.0 (which Tivo S3 does not support) has to request the channel be fed to your area. This will allow more free bandwidth for other services by freeing up space little-watched channels are taking up.

Supposedly Tivo is going to work on a way around this, but so far there is nothing.

Anyone haing issues with Comcast local HD channels? Some times they are full screen and then sometimes they have the bars. When they have the bars I will watch for a few minutes and the full screen picture will pop in and vice versa.

It's almost like my tv is not picking up the HD signal and adjusting the screen. I don't have this problem with the other HD stations just locals. It was very bad during the US Open.

I use the Motorola DVR box.

I was watching the golf via OTA and it had the same issue. It seems a channel 4 problem, and not related to cable. They seemed to have kept losing the HD feed or something temporarily.

Is SDV here in Nashville? How will it affect the Motorola DVR, which also records on two channels simultaneously?

I'm enjoying my S3 that arrived a few days back. For me it is vastly cheaper since I prepaid 3 years of service, plus dropped comcast down to limited basic so I don't need cable cards.


If you do not have cable cards you can't use the Tivo guide, right? Unless Tivo fixed the "Bug" there is no way to map the clear QAM channels to the channel guide in the Tivo. So it knows what is on WTVF-HD but does not know to tune to 92.5 to get it. You have to manually record everything - no season passes, no guide data.

The good news is Comcast now offers the first card free and less than a $1 (or is it less then $2?) for the 2nd one.

Dennis

One other thing I've heard about for cable card users that you should know about is called switched digital video (SDV). This is something cable companies are experimenting with where they will no longer be sending every channel all the time 24/7 to your neighborhood's cable plant. Instead when a channel needs to be watched the STB or cable card 2.0 (which Tivo S3 does not support) has to request the channel be fed to your area. This will allow more free bandwidth for other services by freeing up space little-watched channels are taking up.

There's a lot of discussion of SDV on this TiVo Community Series 3 Forum (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=51). I'm not too concerned about it at present.

If you do not have cable cards you can't use the Tivo guide, right? Unless Tivo fixed the "Bug" there is no way to map the clear QAM channels to the channel guide in the Tivo. So it knows what is on WTVF-HD but does not know to tune to 92.5 to get it. You have to manually record everything - no season passes, no guide data.

The good news is Comcast now offers the first card free and less than a $1 (or is it less then $2?) for the 2nd one.

Dennis

That's good if they went down on the card pricing - last I heard it was like $6.95 in the Nashville market. Can anyone else confirm?

I don't think I'll get any though. The reason I switched to the tivo is I noticed 90% of what I was recording on the comcast dvr came from the major networks that I can get via OTA with the tivo. The few other shows I'll get on dvd later.

The tivo guide works great for the ota channels without any cable connection at all. It gets all the info nightly via ethernet.