Been told by the the moderators it ok to start one so here we go.

Channels now available.

202 ESPN
203 ESPN2
204 TNT
205 Discovery HD Theater
206 INHD1
207 INHD2
209 MHD
215 HBO
219 Cinemax
223 Showtime
227 Starz
231 WKRN (ABC)
232 WSMV (NBC)
233 WTVF (CBS)
234 WZTV (FOX)
235 WNAB (WB)
236 WUXP (UPN)




Rumored


???? UPN




Jerry

Hey Jerry thanks for putting the info in one location, I cant wait to see what inhd is all about.

No problem. Thanks for providing some good info on this forum. I got the new channel line-up in the mail today. It looks offical for inhd on the 9-23. I cant wait myself. I noticed there showin alot of WKU games on there. I know of some people alum around here that are ready for that.

Jerry

inhd is on 174 as of 10 am this morning(9/23). I called to see what was up with inhs2 and was told there was a techmical issue and would be another couple of weeks.

Jerry

jl-I was so pumped to see INHD yesterday-I got home from work to watch...WRESTLING!! Ugh. Had some errands to do and when I got back I got to see BASEBALL!! double Ugh!!. I hope comcast comes through with HDnet someday so I can get my HD hockey fix. Overall I am very pleased with Comcast in the Nashville market they seem to be very HD programming driven.

By the way at least from the commercials INHD looks like some of the best HD I have seen equal to some of HDnets shows.

Where is the rest of you Nashville?

I was actually home most of the day yesterday and saw a few things that I liked. The had some shuttle stuff and pq was awesome. BUt yea for the most part the programming is a dud unless is something off topic that your just in too. I really wanted to see the In Theaters show but I missed it. They had a commercial for some show about the artic(I guess) and it looked really good too I would like to see it.

Yea looks like they may have some NBA but I havent heard a thing about the NHL I would be real nice if they would get CSS up and running in HD so we can see the Preds in HD. Arent other Comcast markets about the same size are up and running? Wishful thinking I guess.

Overall I'm also happy with where Nashville is at too.

Anyone else having problems with ESPN? On my set, ESPN is stretched to fill the screen when the broadcast is not in HD. Non-HD content on the local stations is displayed properly.

I received a letter from Comcast yesterday saying that the free ESPN-HD preview will end Thursday, Oct. 2. I am currently only subscribing to limited cable (ch. 2-22) because I was told 30 days ago that I would continue receive all digital locals plus ESPN-HD and INHD with this service. After a long, frustrating, and irritating call to Comcast, I learn that I must subscribe to at least the expanded basic service (channels 2-78) to continue to receive ESPN and INHD. I was transferred to the HD CSR who informed me initially that INHD was a pay-per-view service only! After I explained that it was not and after she had conferred with other "highly knowledgeable" reps, she confirmed that no, it was not actually pay-per-view. I am a DBS user with a DVR and I want to continue using that service, but I am stuck between using my highly valued DVR and receiving the much more convenient Comcast HD service. I suppose this is the price we pay for being early adopters. Obviously the ultimate solution is a DVR capable of recording OTA local digital channels and other HD programming from satellite (which is clearly right around the corner, but at a very steep price).

Richard-Check the HDTV programming section about ESPN stretch. It was espn's decision to show stretched (a bad stretch I might add) programming when not showing an HD event.

It is not a problem but a decision of ESPN.

Originally posted by jreed44
I received a letter from Comcast yesterday saying that the free ESPN-HD preview will end Thursday, Oct. 2. I am currently only subscribing to limited cable (ch. 2-22) because I was told 30 days ago that I would continue receive all digital locals plus ESPN-HD and INHD with this service. After a long, frustrating, and irritating call to Comcast, I learn that I must subscribe to at least the expanded basic service (channels 2-78) to continue to receive ESPN and INHD. I was transferred to the HD CSR who informed me initially that INHD was a pay-per-view service only! After I explained that it was not and after she had conferred with other "highly knowledgeable" reps, she confirmed that no, it was not actually pay-per-view. I am a DBS user with a DVR and I want to continue using that service, but I am stuck between using my highly valued DVR and receiving the much more convenient Comcast HD service. I suppose this is the price we pay for being early adopters. Obviously the ultimate solution is a DVR capable of recording OTA local digital channels and other HD programming from satellite (which is clearly right around the corner, but at a very steep price).

Same letter here. I called and asked about expanded service - it was going to be about $30 more than I'm paying now. I asked if there were any package deals and I got expanded service + SHO/TMC for about $30 (same as expanded service).

INHD2 is now up and running in Nashville.

Jerry

Anybody else having problems getting the INHD channels? I had no problems with any of them when they launched INHD2, but I haven't been able to pick up either INHD channel for about 2-3 days now. It just says "This channel should be available shortly." No problems with HBO or locals, though.

Lee

Both INHD channels have been working normally for me.

both work fine here as well

mine are up and running fine

Jerry

Thanks guys. Turned out to be my cable being split too many times (I hate having to have 3 TVs out for college football season).

Sent a email to WZTV as far as HDTV and Comcast. Here is the response.

In this year's cap-x budget (July03-June04), we have included the
equipment required to pass network HD but I have no ideal when this will
happen. Our corporate office decides if and when this will be done.
Sorry, I wish I could tell you more. I can only speculate that it may
happen sometime next year.



How come I can recieive all my major local channels in HD expcept
WZTV via comcast? I know that right now FOX is Digital. I am also
aware that FOX is in the
process of upgrading to HDTV with a ETA of early 2004. Where is WZTV at
in the process. I would really appreciate a update as far as reaching a
deal with Comcast.
Sinclair stations are quickly getting a bad wrap for not supporting what
is happing with these federally mandated updates. Thanks for ant
information you could give me on
this.

Jerry

Of course the totally avoided the Comcast issue. I have emails out to wb58 and upn30 as well. I will let you know as soon as I have a response.

Jerry

Here is the response from UPN30.

Your note and one from earlier today is the first word I have heard about
any HD content on UPN. WUXP does not have any plans at this time for HD
transmissions. Comcast is waiting on the stations to transmit HD before
agreeing to carry them.
Thanks,
Gibson



Jerry

Hey Nashville, are any of you getting a "not authorized" message on espn-hd? I am going to call to find out what is up.

Last time I looked 9 cst or so mine was fine.

Jerry

Same problem here. I have a feeling it's a splitter problem too. Cable boxes don't like splitters because the updates don't always work.

Originally posted by bluepred Hey Nashville, are any of you getting a "not authorized" message on espn-hd? I am going to call to find out what is up.
I was getting this all weekend too. I had the same problem about a week or so ago and so I called Comcast who helped me troubleshoot the problem for 20 minutes or so before finally asking his supervisor for ideas. At that time his supervisor told him ESPN-HD was having problems and it would hopefully be back on soon. The next day it was working fine. I figured this would cure itself too, but it hasn't. I just called home and it's still out, so I guess I'll give Comcast another call tonight :(

pr3d-Call comcast and tell them to send a signal to the box, aparrantly they were working on the channel and sometimes the boxes need to be zapped. They did this to mine and all is well now. By the way be sure to ask for the HD department when you call.

Mine was working last night but today it's not working. Guess I will give them a call. Thanks for the heads up, and always ask for the HD department.

Jerry

Boy that's going to get old at Comcast as more and more HD customers come on board. Imagine 100,000 subscribers all calling asking for their boxes to be zapped!

I have a email into Comcast on when Nashville may receive the motorola 6208 hd pvr box. I will post when I get something.

Jerry

I wish they would get UPN on this service.

Forget WZTV because Fox has no true HD content anyway.

I watched Enterprise in HD in another city and it was awesome.

Sounds like the clueless response for UPN 30 will mean the wait is on.

I had the same screwup with ESPN HD as well. I had limited basic and got shut out of ESPN HD as well. I added the other tiers because once you have seen a football game in HDTV, you will never go back. I have a regular crew of neighbors on the weekend coming over to watch football this fall.

The 480P output sucks on the Motorola 5100. I switch back to 480i when not watching HD content.

I think adding NFL Sunday ticket games in HD will do nothing for Titans fans because every game is sold out and will be on TV anyway. I was disappointed that CBS did not put the Jags game in HD :mad:

I havent seen 480P on the 5100 yet. Maybe it will be better on the 6200 boxes. Comcast response on Comcast on Demand was they didnt know what box would be used or when the service will be out. We know that's not true based on the info posted in the AVS Forum HDTV recorders area. I'm gonna keep my fingers crossed that it will be out in Nashville late this year.

As far UPN30 goes my guess would be middle of next year at the earliest. I never heard from WB58 I will fire off another email to them.

Jerry

Well for you SEC Football fans this weekend, Nov.1

The Florida-Georgia game will be on in HDTV at 3:30p.

The Vols will be on ESPN gameplan but blacked out if you are in TN. Most cable systems will have UT v. Duke on PPV. No idea what the price is on Comcast since I will flipping to the satellite to watch this on ESPN gameplan.

Never thought I would say this, but Go Gators!

Originally posted by jl1718
I never heard from WB58 I will fire off another email to them.

Jerry

FOX, UPN, and WB in Nashville are all owned/operated by Sinclair. Last I heard from Gibson we might have WB in HD and Fox ED later this year. I would assume that once they're broadcasting that Comcast will work out a deal to pass it through to cable customers. I really wish it was in place now cause I want to see 24 in widescreen tonight! Haven't heard back after emailing him about UPN HD.

http://www.sbgi.net/business/markets/nashville.shtml

Last I heard from Gibson we might have WB in HD and Fox ED later this year.

Do you really think WZTV will do ED at all? Considering that FOX will be HD late this year ar early next. And for everyone with Comcast I'm under the understanding that Comcast Nashville will not pass through anything but HD. But, who knows until we see it.

Originally posted by jl1718
Last I heard from Gibson we might have WB in HD and Fox ED later this year.

Do you really think WZTV will do ED at all? Considering that FOX will be HD late this year ar early next. And for everyone with Comcast I'm under the understanding that Comcast Nashville will not pass through anything but HD. But, who knows until we see it.

I don't know if it makes a difference but we do have Fox digital (not HD, of course) included for what they call the HD channels on Comcast in the Atlanta area.

Originally posted by wineman
I think adding NFL Sunday ticket games in HD will do nothing for Titans fans because every game is sold out and will be on TV anyway.

NFL blackout rules apply to Sunday ticket as well, so if a game isn't sold out, you can't get it from your local station or on ST. The only thing ST is good for is watching games that are out of your local market (like if you were a Pittsburgh Steelers fan in Nashville and couldn't ever watch their games because our local carries the Titans.

FWIW...Antennaweb.org says PBS is supposed to be broadcasting as of Nov 1 (Saturday). Anybody know any more info?

Lee

Originally posted by leewcraft

FWIW...Antennaweb.org says PBS is supposed to be broadcasting as of Nov 1 (Saturday). Anybody know any more info?

Lee

Lee that's weird you bring PBS up, I e-mailed the tonight to get specifics. I was told at one time a deal with Comcast was already done. I will post the response as soon as I get it.

Here is the response from WNPT 8.

Thanks for your email, Jerry. Yes, when a program in our schedule is available in HD from PBS, it will be broadcast in HD on our digital channel. DT46 will not be HD all the time, though. Unfortunately the delivery of part we need has been delayed so our digital broadcast may not happen until December. We had planned to be up and running on 46 some time in November. Digital will be a reality soon though, and carried by Comcast.

Can someone please confirm for me that INHD and INHD2 are available on Comcast Nashville as part of the regular HDTV package? I have been unable to get either channel since they started up and when the technician finally showed up the other day, the office told him that channels 174 and 175 are PPV only. I told him that was crazy, but would like someone to confirm it for me based on atually seeing it.

The technician is returning today, so a prompt response would be most appreciated.

Yea it's apart of the basic HD package. I know people who get the service with expanded basic programming subscription. They are by now means pay per view only. If the tech can't solve the issue call Comcast and ask for the HD department.

Jerry

INHD 1 and 2 have always been pretty unreliable for me. Some days they are there and some days not. And even when there are they there, I sometimes experience artifacts (what is the term for when portions of the picture seem to freeze and then gradually get updated as the picture changes later?) for a few moments every now and again. The other 4 channels are perfectly fine. It's a shame because the INHD channels tend to have the type of programming that lends itself well to demonstrations of HDTV to friends and family. I heard reports of the same type of behavior from folks not on this message board too, but I'm not sure where to take these issues.

I have had just the opposite experience with the INHD channels, save for one time when inhd2 froze at launch they have been incredible. Some of the best HD that I have seen, the underwater shows are especially stunning. As Jl1718 said THEY ARE NOT PAY PER VIEW.

I like inhd as well. Excellent PQ. It's a shame Comcast doesent have NBA TV I was really looking forward to those games. Cant wait to see the collage hockey though.


BTW I'am hearing that we may have the PVR's in Nashville late Nov. early Dec. I hope it's true.

Jerry

Our Fox and WB stations are also owned by Sinclair in Baltimore. Actually this is the corporate Sinclair headquarters. And their stations here have no plans for widescreen 480p transmissions (States so on their own website). Sinclair is infamous about not supporting Fox's WS or other network stations' HD. So you may have a much longer wait than you would think.

Rich N.
Baltimore

I'm hopefull for FOX next year in HD. I rteally think it will be awhile before we see WB.

Jerry

Hey Jl you mentioned college hockey, I have really been looking forward to this but I have emailed INHD twice with no response regarding college hockey. It showed up on the guide a couple of times but the programming did not match. DO we or DON'T we get college hockey on INHD?

Wonder if it is the same reason we dont get the NBA? Is it blacked out on Comcast or was there something else on? We may not receive it here because we do not have the Collage Sports Network. I'll do some digging.

Jerry

Originally posted by bluepred
It showed up on the guide a couple of times but the programming did not match. DO we or DON'T we get college hockey on INHD?

Yeah, I tuned in for it like you did and did not get it. It was Minnesota-Duluth at Minnesota. But I went back and looked at the inhd.com schedules for those days, and there were no references at all for it. (It might have been there at one time, but if so it was removed.)

So "College Hockey" appeared on the on-screen program guide, but not at www.inhd.com.

So I think they must have been planning on getting an HD truck there but it did not work out.

This next game (on 11/14) IS showing up on www.inhd.com, so I think it will happen this time.

It's definitely not a black-out situation. That rarely if ever happens with college sports, and when it happened with the NBA game I got a blank screen (not any "substitute" programming).

I just noticed that WSMV is airing its local newscast in full widescreen with no black side bars. It is definitely a digital signal and almost looks HD.

After further review, it appears that Comcast is sending the WSMV signal as it sends those from the digital tier (101-165)-with gray bars. My TV was in the stretch mode.

Anyone have any idea when we might see Cinemax and Starz in Nashville? Wonder if we will be included in the 12/22 rollout? Nobody at the Comcast office knows.

Jerry

I see that Comcast is adding DVR capabilities to their set-top boxes soon. Any word on whether these boxes will record in HD?

(Since I don't have the necessary 5 posts, I'll have to break the URL into peices. Sorry)

news . com . com / 2100-1033-5113132.html

According to Motorola's web site, the DCT 6208 set top box that I believe Comcast is going to use will support analog, DTV and HDTV recording.

It is indeed HD capable. Some people at Cocmast say by the end of the year and some say after the first of the year. The Mot. 6408 is due out in the middle of the year and is a dual tuner.

Jerry

Well, after getting my 55" Mitsu 55813 RPTV a couple of weeks ago, I began a quest on how to best get HD locals OTA. Well, after screwing around with several antenna including the Zenith Silver Sensor, a Radio Shack Omnidirectional dish, and the Channel Master Stealthtenna, I came to the realization that I had feared: my neighborhood in Bellevue is a OTA dead zone. The only thing I could get was WKRN (ABC) since their tower is to the southwest of me where line of sight is easy. WSMV (NBC) is about the same distance as WKRN, but it's blocks by several hills between my house and Knob Hill where WSMV's antenna is located. WTVF (CBS) has their tower located in North Nashville on the same vector as WSMV, and of course I did no better than trying to get WSMV.

Which means as a recent DirecTV customer, I had to sheepishly go back to Comcast and ask to be reconnected to limited basic service. Fortunately they didn't charge me for a re-hookup fee. I decided to allow my Mitsu's built in ATSC tuner to try to pick up the unscrambled QAM channels instead of getting the Moto 5100 cable box they offer for $5 a month.

The good news is that the Mitsu was able to pick up all unscrambled DTV channels that Comcast offers. WSMV, WKRN and WTVF are all available in their HD glory. Unfortunately, the Mitsu has one major annoying problem. NetCommand 3.0 allows the TV to search for all available DTV channels. It successfully does that, but it also picks up every scrambled DTV broadcast channel that Comcast is either using or has the frequency reserved. Of course, the TV can't make any sense of the scrambled channels and just blinks the screen at you. It takes manual intervention to go in and delete all the bad channels from the database. It's really important for a few channels since for some unknown reason, if you tune the TV to them, the TV completely loses its marbles and shuts down.

The only other weird thing is that there are some channels that are being broadcast as SDTV in the proper ATSC format that the Mitsu's tuner picks up. These channels are: the Tennis Channel, the Fine Living channel, ESPNow, the Independant Film channel, NickToo and Nick Gas as well as a Comcast channel explaining the virtues of digital cable. I'm not sure why Comcast is sending these channels in SDTV in the clear, but they are there in case anyone's interested.

Thats some good info thanks for posting.

Jerry

Anyone else in Nashville having problems with INHD and INHD2. The signal seems to be breaking up on these 2 channels - distorted video and to a lesser extent, audio. No problems on the other HD stations.

I have been having the same problems in Hendersonville, for about 2 weeks now.

Any one know when Stars or Cinemax are going to be added??

Ok so after some digging I found out the Titans game is going to be on ABC (WKRN) in HDTV this Sat.!!

A rare event for any Titans game, but it will be nice to see our team in HD finally.

I hope Comcast adds more HD channels soon.

My top picks would be PBS and UPN.

I'd give an arm and a leg if we could get Fox digital so I can watch 24 in widescreen.

My top picks would be PBS and UPN. [/B]

Why UPN? What do they broadcast in HD?

Originally posted by volfan
Why UPN? What do they broadcast in HD?

Right now, only Star Trek: Enterprise and Jake 2.0 on Wednesday nights.

Originally posted by wineman
Ok so after some digging I found out the Titans game is going to be on ABC (WKRN) in HDTV this Sat.!!

A rare event for any Titans game, but it will be nice to see our team in HD finally.



And it was beautiful to watch. The last time the Titans were in HD, we lost. :mad: I'm glad to see the outcome was a little different this time.

Has anybody had to swap Moto boxes? The last four days I have had major problems with my HD abc and cbs stations-they are pixellating, having audio dropouts, and sometimes both. Sometimes they do not even come in, is all I get is the "channel will be available shortly message".

I have a tech coming out on Wed to bring me a new box and hopefully this will solve this. For the amount of money I am paying for their service this is not acceptable.

Originally posted by bluepred
Has anybody had to swap Moto boxes? The last four days I have had major problems with my HD abc and cbs stations-they are pixellating, having audio dropouts, and sometimes both. Sometimes they do not even come in, is all I get is the "channel will be available shortly message".

I have a tech coming out on Wed to bring me a new box and hopefully this will solve this. For the amount of money I am paying for their service this is not acceptable.

Actually, what you are describing sounds more like a signal strength issue rather than a box issue. Could be caused by signal being split before going into the Moto 5100 or even the cable itself not being of good quality or simply not a good connection. You can check the signal strength by accessing one of the problem channels, then power off and Menu within 2 seconds. Go to the Inbound status menu option and observe the SNR AGC settings (will show Good, Fair, Poor, etc.) and also observe the correctable and uncorrectable error counts which change every few seconds. If the uncorrectable errors exceed 10k, you may have a signal strength issue with that channel. Good info to pass to Comcast.

hey Disney if what you said was the case would I not have problems on other HD channels? If it is the connection it seems that it would carry on to other channels.

Originally posted by bluepred
hey Disney if what you said was the case would I not have problems on other HD channels? If it is the connection it seems that it would carry on to other channels.

I would have thought so too, but apparently some HD channels are more problematic than others for Comcast. Just had a problem this morning with 2 of my HD channels completely out while the others were fine. Retightened my cable into the Moto 5100 and voila, there they were.

Disney I tried the power off then menu while on one of the channels and the menu comes up but I can only access tv type, ypbpr output, 4x3 override, and closed caption. The other choices are greyed out but seem to only have to do with background color etc.

Any suggestions of how to access the items you mentioned.

Originally posted by bluepred
Disney I tried the power off then menu while on one of the channels and the menu comes up but I can only access tv type, ypbpr output, 4x3 override, and closed caption. The other choices are greyed out but seem to only have to do with background color etc.

Any suggestions of how to access the items you mentioned.

Yes, the menu you got to is accessed by pressing Menu when you power off. You get to the main diagnostic screen by pressing OK when you power off.

the snr says 30.8db-fair
the agc says 82% poor

What does this mean and is there anything I can do to help it?

Thanks for your help

Originally posted by bluepred
the snr says 30.8db-fair
the agc says 82% poor

What does this mean and is there anything I can do to help it?

Thanks for your help

If you have a splitter before the cable goes into the Moto 5100, remove it. Also, if you have the cable from the wall running through a surge protector, remove it and go straight into the box. Try a different cable also if you have one. If that does not help, call Comcast for a service visit. You have to stay after them until it is working with good signal on all HD channels.

Disney thanks for your help. It appears that my network channels are all fair and poor while my inhd channels are both good. The hbo's show fair and poor but picture is great with no problems audio or video.

What do agc and snr stand for? the numbers for these in the oob status are both good-go figure.

Originally posted by bluepred
Disney thanks for your help. It appears that my network channels are all fair and poor while my inhd channels are both good. The hbo's show fair and poor but picture is great with no problems audio or video.

What do agc and snr stand for? the numbers for these in the oob status are both good-go figure.

No problem, hope you get it working better. Check this link for a FAQ on the Moto 5100 that explains many of the diagnostic menus.

http://cjhengineering.com/DCTHDFAQ.htm

I had the same problem over the weekend. I believe it was a problem at the Comcast end.

I haven't watched too much since so I can't vouch that it's fixed, but my wife hasn't complained.

HEY-

Any word on Starz and Cinemax? Knowing that some Comcast customers have it and I don't is killing me- especially when I try to watch LOTR TTT.

yeah I'm pretty upset about not having yet, too. I emailed comcast here was there response.

Dear Mr. Lawless,

Thank you for your inquiry about Starz and Cinemax in HD.

Unfortunately we have not released information about the release of
Starz HD or Cinemax HD in the Nashville/Middle Tennessee market. We do
realize that Comcast Cable has announced that we're providing it,
however, individual markets will be releasing the channels on their own
schedules.

Please stay tuned for announcements in the mail and on your digital
cable menu's message center.

With that in mind I had earlier in December emailed the person at Comcast that had made the annoucement and was told it would be everywhere by the end of the first qtr. Keep emailing and harassing like me and maybe we will get it sooner rather than later.

Jerry

Disney again thanks for the info. The service tech that came was blown away with all the info I knew and that I knew how to access the diag menu's. After some poking around he discovered that there were a couple of splitters that were perhaps causing the problem. Outside the house there was a 4-way with one of the lines not being used (and never will) and the line that that the HDbox was on was being split to the internet modem. I have scheduled an installer to come out and run a dedicated line to the HDbox and hopefully this will solve the issue.

He said that signal strengths tend to become a little weaker in the winter and this is the reason that I was just now noticing problems.

Originally posted by bluepred
Disney again thanks for the info. The service tech that came was blown away with all the info I knew and that I knew how to access the diag menu's. After some poking around he discovered that there were a couple of splitters that were perhaps causing the problem. Outside the house there was a 4-way with one of the lines not being used (and never will) and the line that that the HDbox was on was being split to the internet modem. I have scheduled an installer to come out and run a dedicated line to the HDbox and hopefully this will solve the issue.

He said that signal strengths tend to become a little weaker in the winter and this is the reason that I was just now noticing problems.

Good deal, information is power. One thing that some folks have had done here by Comcast is the installation of a signal amp. I have not needed that myself so far. Just reducing splitters makes a big difference, along with good quality cables.

Any news on Fox?

Originally posted by Lava Lamp Freak
Any news on Fox?


In this year's cap-x budget (July03-June04), we have included the
equipment required to pass network HD but I have no ideal when this will
happen. Our corporate office decides if and when this will be done.
Sorry, I wish I could tell you more. I can only speculate that it may
happen sometime next year.

Jerry

Jerry,

Thanks for the info.

Much appreciated.

-Reagan

Just some info for you Nasvillians interested. Over in the "area home theater meets" section a thread has been started to gather interest for a Nashville Home theater group. This will probably be a gather at folks houses and look at setups, go to the a/v stores for demo's, and probably just some general get togethers. Go take a look at what some of the other HT groups around the country are doing?

Might be fun.

Just thought I'd let everyone know. I have a close friend who is a CAE in Nashville. According to her there are no updates of any changes on the system. Meaning they have no idea when more channels will be added or when new features added. VOD is coming very soon. They had some hardware problems which is why it is not active. Should be any day now. PBS was supposed to be on by now, but of course PBS is having problems gettin off the ground. Other channels are all in negotiatons and I certainly hope we get some more channels soon. As for the PVR they have just mentioned that eventually it will be available. Probably 3rd or 4th quarter at the earliest. So just be patient, I'm sure we will eventually catch up and the wait will be worth it.

I've lived in many different areas that had diff cable cos and I must say I'm very happy with Comcast Nashville. One other thing.. my friend had mentioned that basically CAE's don't find out usually til it happens or a few days before.

thanks for the info.

I know for sure that the negotiations are done for stars and max for the whole country. I would defiantly like to see them get on the ball here in nashville and get us the channels that most of the other comcast systems already have.

I agree too.... However, even though Comcast may have a national contract with them. Nashville may be trying to work out details for the local contract. That and I think Nashville is more concerned with rolling out the VOD and higher internet speeds right now.

i would love to see those higher internet speeds, that would make up for them being slow on the rest of the rollouts.

Thanks fo rthe heads up. I called PBS Wednesday and they told me that they where up and running now. I was told there OTA channel was 46. If someone could I would love to know if it is up and running.

I'm happy with the service but the bad information coming out of there is a bit obsurd. If what I was told was accurate we would already have PVR, VOD, and Starz and Cinemax. In a email I was sent from customer service they basically said they know that starz and cine are out there but they just dont know when they will get to it.

Keep in mind also that there are updating the old telemedia markets that bought in Oct 03. There still not done. I can understand being backed up. But when thats done I would like to see them do better with channel rollouts. Just a FYI here is the email I received about starz and cinemax.

Unfortunately we have not released information about the release of
Starz HD or Cinemax HD in the Nashville/Middle Tennessee market. We do
realize that Comcast Cable has announced that we're providing it,
however, individual markets will be releasing the channels on their own
schedules.

Please stay tuned for announcements in the mail and on your digital
cable menu's message center.

I tried to tune in to channel 46 and it didn't do anything. So PBS digital channel is not running as of now.

Buddy of mine just told me they have sent out letters today to Nashville subs.

Jan 30th we will be getting Starz-HD and Cinemax HD. :)
We will however be losing HBO HD west coast feed.

PBS is still a work in progress!

thanks for the news. too bad we have to lose the west feed, I hope we get DVRs soon to compensate for the loss.

Did anyone else get the new HD lineup in the mail today? 177 becomes Cinemax and 179 Starz. Better late then never IMO.

I got the letter, however I am not happy with it..We currently only have the silver package whiches gives us the two HBOHD channels and the ShowtimeHD channel along with about 10 SD of each which I will never watch!

Now to get the new channels I have to upgrade to their highest package so that I can only watch two more channels.

So I am going to be paying the same for less HD channels.

Bring on ala carte channels!

well most of the comcast areas either have east or west. So I was sorta expecting us to lose one of the feeds for now. Who knows, maybe they will just move it but didn't mention it. but we all know that no matter what happens, there will always be someone who will be upset.

as for a la carte, you can order the premiums a la carte. or since you have the silver, I do believe that the platinum is $10 more and will give you all the premiums.

Does anyone know when the PVRs will be available thru Comcast? TIVO is the SINGLE reason I am holding onto DirecTV at this point. Considering how much I travel, I couldn't function without it. I'm in the Mt. Juliet area and would love to hear from anyone who has info. Thanks.

I'm still hearing that it should be sometime in the first qtr. But, noone seems to know for sure. A post earlier in this thread by unk seems to be dead on the internet stuff. I was told they may have quicker speeds up by Friday but, again, not for sure. Supposedly they have increaded internet speed in some other markets maybe someone could chime if they have seen that.

Do you know if it will be able to record both HD and SD programming?

I would hope so but the person I talked too wasnt for sure. The ones being rolled out through do.

yes both SD and HD recording

Called comcast today. They say 2 weeks on PVR. Although, I think that they are confused with VOD. I pushed hard and they said that it was the PVR. I will believe it when I see it.

from my sources there is no specified date for PVR yet. I wouldn't expect it till the 2nd or 3rd quarter.. to be honest. No way they are getting PVR in 2 weeks, had to be VOD. If they were to release it, I'm sure my source would have told me she was getting trained on it....

VOD is slated to be released VERY soon. Not sure where the person you talked to got 2 weeks from, but maybe we shall get lucky and get it by then or earlier. They've been trying to release it but I did find out they ran into a couple problems. Again, from my sources they are doing everything they can to get this going.

And the speeds, are supposed to go up on the internet soon (maybe the 30th). Starz and Max HD should be here by then too. Maybe we will get lucky and get VOD tomorrow too.

Comcast sent a letter saying that their internet speeds were going to double at a new rate of 3.0 MB/sec. That's a dramatic upgrade on internet speed.

Thanks for the info, guys. Keep me posted. I have no beef with DirecTV or Direcway other than the fact I can't get HD locals without mounting a monstrous antenna. Of course, I say that without ever having tried a smaller antenna but I'm just being pessimistic. Anybody have any success with antennas and HD in my area? I'm approx. 20-25 miles from the feeds.

well, its 2 am.. anyone have anything yet? Nothing here. I imagine it will be sometime during the day.. I am anxiously waiting! :)

2 pm and nothing new on the iNet speeds.

Starz HD is on 179 and looks like 177 Max is about to go online.. there is a channel, but nothing listed.

Internet speeds are here too.. make sure to unplug your modem for a few seconds.. then plug back in so the new bootfile can load in your modem.

Woo...

yup, it now says MAXHD on 177, still no pic. Guess they are about to flip the switch. One thing i also noticed.... there is an ad for Rugrats VOD in the menu. Maybe...just maybe... would be a sweet day if that gets turned on too.

I got home about 4:30 and my HD box wouldn't work so I unplugged it. Now it seems ok but, I dont have 177 yet, is that right? Also when I hit the menu button the middle row now says Comcast in Demand with the row being blank. Could be a good day indeed. Have yet to reset my cable modem.

Jerry

177 MaxHD is still saying one moment please on my box. However 179 StarzHD is working. Nothing with the on demand yet.

When you unplugged the box it also erased the memory of the box. All the menu info and channel info will have to rebuild. It can take some time.. (up to 2 hrs).

The new higher speeds on the internet are great!! I'm getting 3.0 MB/sec now. I ran a speed test after I reset my modem and then went to www.bandwidthplace.com/speedtest

anyone have ch 177 maxhd yet???? Still getting the same. I may make a call tomorrow to see if they are just having tech dificulties.


*EDIT*
Called my friend and she said they were having problems and -should- have it up Monday sometime.

nope not yet either.

Jerry

I just received some info regarding a re-structuring of Comcast's Digital packages. Starting tomorrow they will be offering a CHOICE of three of the five premium packages for the same price. For example I currently have the silver package HBO-HD, Shotime-HD, and TMC (non HD)...I can now drop TMC for either the Cinemax package (HD included) or the Starz (HD included) and not pay anymore. This is good news because I hated seing the HD channels go across the screen with the dreaded "subscription note". The only catch is that you have to ask for it as they will not be advertising it.

Good luck as you will probably know more than the CSR's.

Now which should I get Starz or Cinemax?

I would say Cinemax. I havent watched much on there yet but I'm not pleased with Starz. I havent seen a whole lot in HD yet. I was looking foward to watching Gangs of New York but was upset to see it's not in HD. Maybe down the road there will be more stuff but not right now.

Does anyone know if they are upgrading the boxes for DVI yet? Also heard a rumor they may be dropping the Motorola boxes, does anyone know anything about this?

Jerry

from my understanding, all CSR's have been trained on this and will have the info on it... it is true they will probably not be advertising this, as normally you only see ads for the specials. However they should have a rate card like they have now with the updated packages. Afterall the old ones will not be available after tomorrow. Old customers will not have to change their package rates. They will still recieve the same packages, unless they call and change something.

I signed up for Comcast digital bronze just last week which comes with showtime and tmc by default, but wanted to switch to hbo (sopranos rocks). I was told i couldn't switch out just tmc or just showtime for hbo because showtime and tmc are one in the same, so i had to drop both to get hbo. Are you saying that they can now switch you from tmc to another premium lineup without having to also drop showtime?

On a similar note i'm also a little upset that one of my hbo hd channels was dropped to make room for cinemax hd. Why couldn't they just add another channel? Basicly i'm still paying the same price and getting less hd channels, which is hard because now i'm spoiled and will hardly watch anything unless it's in hd.

Hey Armstrong I think that we are all spoiled. Starting today you should be able to swap out TMC, just tell them that you know the packages are changing and that you want the most HD channels you can get. I am not sure of the specifics of the bronze package but it will probably work the same as the silver.

INHD - do we have to have digital basic to get these channels? I only have the HD locals right now (anxiously awaiting DVR so that I can drop Directivo). Sometimes INHD works, while other times it says "channel will be a vailable shortly".

Thanks

Alright everyone I apparantly jumped the gun (Comcast actually did) The new packages are not available just yet, they said maybe next week. I will keep you posted.

Domer-I believe that you have to get the bronze digital package to receive INHD 1 and 2. (they are GREAT channels in my opinion)

Thanks pred. I will definitely get them as soon as the *amn dvr comes out. Called CS today and this lady said March. I guess that this is consistent with what the other areas of the country are hearing from Comcast re: recalls on 6208, etc.

I agree with bluepred, the INHD picture is the best i've seen yet from a HD perspective. If you didn't catch their coverage of the 7th hole at Pebble Beach yesterday i highly recommend it. You can see it again today live around 2pm i think and a replay at around 9pm. Absolutely breathtaking, even if you don't care for watching golf.

Speaking of INHD; has anyone noticed that when they have a sporting event scheduled, it's blacked out here? Every time I've tried to watch one of their NBA or College games, I get nothing. Anyone know why this is?

I have had no problems with any of the sporting events except the NBA as they have contracts with individual markets and the majority of the games here are blacked out. You should get the baseball, college sports, golf, tennis just fine.

I get the same problem. I hadn't made the connection with the sports thing but now that you mention it you're right. I could get golf yesterday, but it seems that every time i try to tune into an NBA game the channel changes but i get a frozen frame of whatever program i was tuned to previously, and it stays like that until i change to another channel. Should probably report it to comcast.

Originally posted by Armstrong
I get the same problem. I hadn't made the connection with the sports thing but now that you mention it you're right. I could get golf yesterday, but it seems that every time i try to tune into an NBA game the channel changes but i get a frozen frame of whatever program i was tuned to previously, and it stays like that until i change to another channel. Should probably report it to comcast.

Nothing to report. This is unfortunately how they choose to handle the fact that Comcast does not yet have rebroadcast rights for NBA TV. They sometimes will show historical games but they simply block out the channel for real time NBA games on INHD. Don't know why they can't put a message on the screen, I guess that would make too much sense.

Thanks for the info everyone. Makes sense about the NBA. I feel certain there have been others besides NBA games though, but I'll keep an eye out again.

NBA is blacked out in this market. Nothing anybody can do at Comcast here... except get a contract with NBA Tv.

I'd still like to know where these people who work there are getting March on the DVR's from. I was told that * On Demand * will be functional by March. And DVR 3rd or 4th quarter if there are no problems with technology, contracts, etc... Be sure when you call that you specifically mention the DVR as a recorder. Being in Nashville, us as customers have not had this technology yet. therefore neither have they. Most probably have never heard of a DVR. also, being on this forum we know more than the general public about the new technology. So perhaps we should just be patient with them.. Nothing they can do to roll this stuff out quicker... I'm sure once it is released word will spread real fast on here.

bump

Even the in store reps are telling us that. It's crazy, I tell them what it is. They say yeah thats it but where not switchin boxes, lol, still hadbt figured that out.

Jerry

that *IS* crazy. Maybe someone is reading this that can do something about the confusion with the reps.

Okay, so this has nothing to do with HDTV, but it is on topic of Comcast. Some of this is not correct info such as ESPN and Discovery. Apparently Comcast does not have VOD contracts with them as of now. And this is available to anyone who has digital service.

Comcast to offer on-demand choices for digital subscribers

By KEITH RUSSELL
Staff Writer

Area subscribers to Comcast's digital cable television service could soon be able to watch last month's Sopranos episode or the ESPN game they missed last night with a click of their remote control.

Comcast, Middle Tennessee's dominant cable provider, has tentative plans to roll out a new on-demand viewing service in the early spring. Employees at Comcast's Metro Center offices are testing the service. Small numbers of customers could see the service available next month.

''We should have it (available) full-blown here by around April 1,'' Comcast Area General Manager Virgil Caudill said.

The on-demand viewing will break down into three categories. The first is a group of channels, including ESPN and the Discovery Channel, which will make certain programs available at a customer's whim for free. Caudill said that would comprise about 60% of the on-demand service.

A second group includes premium channels such as HBO, which will make past episodes of The Sopranos and other series available to its pay subscribers at no extra charge. The final category is traditional pay-per-view programming, except the new service will allow subscribers to view a movie whenever they want rather than waiting for a scheduled start time.

The best news of all about the new service: Caudill promises it won't come with a general rate increase.

The service, however, will only be available to higher-paying digital subscribers.

http://www.tennessean.com/business/archives/04/02/46535489.shtml?Element_ID=46535489

Posted a new thread because I didn't see this one. Comcast Nashville has upgraded the firmware in the DCT5100 to 7.07 which has enabled the DVI port. We get a fair ammount of requests for this option, so I thought I'd give you the heads up in the official Nashville thread.
If your box doesn't have the new software, then you can hold menu and select and then unplug and plug in the box. This will wipe the current software. It will take about 20 minutes to download the new software, and then you need to call in, to have Comcast 'hit' the box.
OnDemand is currently in beta at the moment, and should be ready within the timeframe described in the article above. On-Demand is a cool product as it will allow you to watch, pause, rew, ff programs at will.

-ice1138

Thanks Ice,

Noticed that we had the 7.07 but when I hooked up DVI it did not work. I called and asked a CSA and they said that that feature was not enabled yet. Also, how do you get on the list to be a beta tester?

Jerry

DVI is working on my set. I hooked it up this very day. Looks great! No artifacts or other apparent problems so far. Another nice (but I'm sure temporary) advantage is I'm getting all HD channels, even ones I didn't subscribe to.

Also, how do you get on the list to be a beta tester?

The beta is limited to employees only.

-ice1138

Ice,
thanks for the heads up! Any word on DVR'S? I don't want to buy a TIVO, but I can't wait much longer.......

Originally posted by jhstn58
DVI is working on my set. I hooked it up this very day. Looks great! No artifacts or other apparent problems so far. Another nice (but I'm sure temporary) advantage is I'm getting all HD channels, even ones I didn't subscribe to.

Do you leave the componets hooked up as well? I thought it was just a matter pf hooking it up. Did you have to power cycle the box?

Jerry

Newver mind I'm up and running. Musta looked at it wrong.:confused:

Amen cwallen! Any info. on the DVRs would be much appreciated, Ice.

hey, can i get INHD, and/or ESPN with just the limited basic cable package, if I get an ATSC QAM tuner?

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
hey, can i get INHD, and/or ESPN with just the limited basic cable package, if I get an ATSC QAM tuner?

i think the answer is no, But I get INHD with limited, and I got ESPN
with just standard.

One thing, as of right now you need the Comcast HD box to get HD thru cable. As for ESPN, with limited cable you cannot get ESPN, therefore no ESPN HD.

INHD, you still need the HD box.

Originally posted by ice1138
The beta is limited to employees only.

-ice1138

can you get us all consulting positions so we can beta the DVR's? :D

yeah, well Sevenfeet says "The good news is that the Mitsu was able to pick up all unscrambled DTV channels that Comcast offers. WSMV, WKRN and WTVF are all available in their HD glory. Unfortunately, the Mitsu has one major annoying problem. NetCommand 3.0 allows the TV to search for all available DTV channels. It successfully does that, but it also picks up every scrambled DTV broadcast channel that Comcast is either using or has the frequency reserved. Of course, the TV can't make any sense of the scrambled channels and just blinks the screen at you. It takes manual intervention to go in and delete all the bad channels from the database. It's really important for a few channels since for some unknown reason, if you tune the TV to them, the TV completely loses its marbles and shuts down."

he gets all unscrambled HD channels without an HD box from comcast, i'm assuming that means he gets it all except like HBO or showtime or somehting. if thats true, then that would be awesome to just get a QAM tuner and get the only channels worth seeing and not pay comcast's stupid exorbidant rates. I hate having to pay for digital cable just because I want HDTV, screw comcast.

Any update on PBS?

can you get us all consulting positions so we can beta the DVR's?

Sure.......I think I need 40 to 50 assistants to help evaluate quality control for new product launches. lol.

No realistic time frame worth mentioning on the DVRs quite yet. I don't think weve even received any of the 6208 boxes in our warehouse yet.

-ice1138

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN

he gets all unscrambled HD channels without an HD box from comcast, i'm assuming that means he gets it all except like HBO or showtime or somehting. if thats true, then that would be awesome to just get a QAM tuner and get the only channels worth seeing and not pay comcast's stupid exorbidant rates. I hate having to pay for digital cable just because I want HDTV, screw comcast.


You don't need to have digital cable to get comcast hd channels. limited + the $5 rental fee for the box and you have the locals in HD. Standard + $5 will give you all the HD channels except the premiums.. and the premium channels you can add on for $12.95 each w/o getting digital cable.. Only thing digital cable does is give you a discount from the a la carte prices by getting in a packag... and gives you a few more channels :)

are you sure/serious? I called like 5 times to get them to just give me the cable box but they refused to do so! that makes me so mad. d*mnit, i got owned by the Customer reps again! i hate ignorance, and i hate myself for falling for it. can i get INHD1, 2, and ESPN HD if I get just the limited cable + HDbox or must i get the expanded service?

limited will only give you abc, nbc, cbs. Standard will give you those + inhd and espn. just ask for an HD rep

I emailed them last week, this was the response.

We just installed the hardware linking our studio with our transmitter this week. Over the next few weeks, you will see us on Channel 46 periodically in SD, as we test and tweak the equipment. Once this phase is complete, we will begin broadcasting in SD most of the day, switching to HD prime time when the program is available from PBS in HD.

I do not know when Comcast will begin carrying our HD content.

Thanks for watching!



Jerry

Do you leave the componets hooked up as well? I thought it was just a matter pf hooking it up. Did you have to power cycle the box?

I did leave the components hooked up. And, I was able to A/B it quite well. Even my wife noticed that the colors were brighter and cleaner. Component looks good, but DVI is jaw-dropping. What's even better, the analog and digital SD channels looked MUCH better through DVI than through components.

No power cycling was required for me, but that may be because I had to swap out my box when I realized (early yesterday morning) that the box they gave me didn't have a DVI port . It's possible, therefore, that any power cycling was already done at Mainstream Drive.

BTW, the HD channels are now restored to just those I subscribe to. Goodbye Cinemax and Starz!

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
yeah, well Sevenfeet says "The good news is that the Mitsu was able to pick up all unscrambled DTV channels that Comcast offers. WSMV, WKRN and WTVF are all available in their HD glory. Unfortunately, the Mitsu has one major annoying problem. NetCommand 3.0 allows the TV to search for all available DTV channels. It successfully does that, but it also picks up every scrambled DTV broadcast channel that Comcast is either using or has the frequency reserved. Of course, the TV can't make any sense of the scrambled channels and just blinks the screen at you. It takes manual intervention to go in and delete all the bad channels from the database. It's really important for a few channels since for some unknown reason, if you tune the TV to them, the TV completely loses its marbles and shuts down."

he gets all unscrambled HD channels without an HD box from comcast, i'm assuming that means he gets it all except like HBO or showtime or somehting. if thats true, then that would be awesome to just get a QAM tuner and get the only channels worth seeing and not pay comcast's stupid exorbidant rates. I hate having to pay for digital cable just because I want HDTV, screw comcast.

This is true. Of course, I get no other channels than ABC, CBS and NBC. How much is standard service?

The price for standard varies from area to area. Its lower in the areas where they don't have all the channels available in the rebuilt areas. But most of the time (Metro and surrounding areas) it is $42.95

Originally posted by unk
The price for standard varies from area to area. Its lower in the areas where they don't have all the channels available in the rebuilt areas. But most of the time (Metro and surrounding areas) it is $42.95

Doh! Too much for me, especially since I'm already spending $90 for DirecTV. That's too much to pay for just adding three HD channels to the mix. If you could order ESPN and INHD ala carte, that might be another matter altogether.

Well think of it this way, you could get every HD channel + all premiums + high speed internet for about $130... and do like i did. Get on the dish-buy-back program where they give me $35 credit for 16 mos. not bad if you ask me.

thats what im going to do as soon as they roll out the DVR.

Hey UNK that's $25 for 16 months = $400. If you are getting $35 heads are gonna roll :)

Originally posted by unk
Well think of it this way, you could get every HD channel + all premiums + high speed internet for about $130... and do like i did. Get on the dish-buy-back program where they give me $35 credit for 16 mos. not bad if you ask me.

I use DSL since I run web, ftp and mail servers out of my home office for my business purposes. I need that as well as a hard IP address, which Comcast won't do for me (at least not without charging me steep business rates). Otherwise I might consider it.

The other issue is TiVo. My first TiVo is a series 1 standalone perfectly compatible with either cable or satellite. My second TiVo is a DirecTivo so I'd have to leave it behind if I change (I've already maxed the hard drive sizes). Currently, I know there will be an (expensive) HDTivo for DirecTV. The jury is still out for how good the Comcast DVR will be.

Originally posted by bluepred
Hey UNK that's $25 for 16 months = $400. If you are getting $35 heads are gonna roll :)


Okay, so you got me. :) If you are a brand new customer (internet and cable) then you get $35 for 10 mos and the remaining 6 mos is $25. If you already had internet and then decide to get video services then it is only $25 for 16 mos. catch is, to get the full credit you have to sign up for both services under the plan at the same time....

hey folks, i just got a HDTV projector, and am ready to use the DVI input. The PJ uses a DVI-I input, what does the HDTV box from cmcast use? DVI-I? is it enabled on all the boxes?

Yeah I belive they all are DVI enabled now.

Jerry

funny the comcast rep "supervisor" adamantly told me that it wasnt available and that they do not support it. Nice to know that it is, and that they are up to date on their info.

Just make sure the firmware(?) version is 7.07. (turn the box off and hit menu on the panel) Check this thread there is a Comcast employee telling us its available. I go here to get my HD info. I havent trusted what a rep has told me in months. Not there fault they just arent given the information like they should be. If you have any problems do a search in the HD forum lots of good information here.

Jerry

you have a DVI-I to DVI-I cable right?

Anybody else having problems with HD locals? Yesterday and today watching the Masters, the local HD channels will just go away for a few minutes at a time. HBO and ESPN still come in ok, and the cable box diagnostics say that the signal is still strong.

I am having the same problems, and I'm not happy about it. I have been looking forward to the Masters in hd and was frustrated Friday when I couldn't get Inhd and now this today!

The local HD channels went down last night around 8:30PM, and have not been up since. It's not looking good for the Masters. Has anyone called Comcast to get an update?

It's back up, finally!

Anyone been able to get baseball on INHD yet?

Jerry

I was told that INHD would be out until Monday.

Were the Preds in HD on ESPN-HD or was that blacked out, too?

HD was blacked out, too. FSN had the local rights to it. Boooooooooo!

yea, that totally sucked.

Jerry

I fired off a pretty aggressive email to the preds. I am sure that they will quickly hit the delete key.

InHD is back. Anyone know why we lost those channels for so long?

Any new news on the DVRs?

Yea the Masters signal dropped out several times during the masters. It came back in time to see Lefty shoot his last several holes to win it. Good going Lefty. "Can you believe it?" I think that the reson we are seeing drop outs is because Comcast is upgrading each box one at a time to "Ondemand". When I called about the INHD dropout on Friday, the CSR sent a signal to my box and upgraded it. Now there is an Ondemand menu selection. It is still buggy. The first time I did it, it drop the signal and said try again. Then when I try again it usually works. This happens all the time noe. The second attempt seems to work. I have been watching old episodes of The Sopranos that I missed and Scarface. Other than the one time I lost the signal during Sopranos, it has been really nice. You should call the CSR and get yours today.

My ondemand is up and running. Thanks for the heads up sailomb.

Jerry

do you pay anything extra for Ondemand?

Nope, not yet.

Jerry

Any Information as to whether ESPN-HD will be blacked out for tomorrows Preds game.....Time for me to start complaining...I am sure I will win this time :)

fox sports net has the exclusive broadcast local rights. I doubt you will win, but it's worth a try. I am a bit suprised that you were not at the game yourself. And what an awesome game it was. GO PREDS.

On-Demand is free and I think it will stay that way. You get On-Demand HBO, Starz, Cinemax, and Showtime if you subscribe to the channels already. It still costs you money if you get a pay-per-view movie, but you can watch it as many time as you want in a 24 hour period (or longer in some cases). You can also pause, rewind and fast forward.

so, i'm assuming that when they release the DVR, thats when you'll have to subscribe to those crappy 10-15 digital channels for like an extra $15, in order to be able to use the DVR box... right?

they would certainly corner the market if they simply gave us the DVR for free to use with any of the services we wanted, like expanded basic cable...

one can dream

Hey Sail...I was at the games. Would not miss them for anything. We even looked into going to Detroit for one of the away games to shove some of that nasty octopus into their stupid winged wheel mouths...Sorry got carried away...No I did'nt. :)

I was referring to tonights game in Detroit and hoping I could get the HD feed from ESPN. I have talked to Pete Weber, folks at the NHL, and Folks at Fox Sports Net...Only to get the expected answer, FSS has the broadcast rights so ESPN will be blacked out.

I WISH BLACKOUT RULES DID NOT APPLY TO HD GAMES!!!

bluepred...actually I almost had to go to Detroit for work on Thursday. Thanks for trying to get HD here in the area. If you had DirectTV, it would not have been blacked out. Maybe thats what you should do for next year. I am waiting for the new HD DirectTivo box to come out to make the switch. Then I won't have a chance of the Preds or the Titans getting blacked out.

With regards to OnDemand are the HD and/or widescreen movies a part of this service?...when I pick one of the widescreen movies it tries to charge me...funny thing is the other movies not in widescreen are still in DD5.1.

If the widescreen movies are not part of this I probably will not be using it that much.

From what I've seen there are no HD channels. The only time I've been asked to pay is when it is a movie that is currently running on pay-per-view.


Jerry

This fall is looking very promising.... Fox will be here some time next
month to install a second network satellite dish. This will enable Fox
to have the required bandwidth to pass HD.
Locally, we have recently received some of the pass through equipment to
enable WZTV to pass the HD signal to the transmitter. I'm guessing we
should have all of this working by the end of August.

Take it for what its worth. It is a Sinclair station.

Hi, just wanted to find out what equipment you all are using for your HD. I have had Directv, and over the air for local HD programing. Building a new house and thinking of switching to comcast (I now have 2 HD capable TV's) Wanted to if you all were using their equipment, or your own HD box? or how all that works with comcast? Just looking for a bit of in site before I make the switch.

Thanks
Jeff

If you're going with cable for HD, Nashville is a good place to do it. We're one of a very small number of markets that has all the over-the-air networks over cable (the ones that are transmitting in HD). With Comcast, you'll lose HDNet and Discovery, but you'll pick up INHD. I rent my box from Comcast ($5/mo) and I like the service. You also have to subscribe to the digital tier to get INHD and ESPN-HD. All in all, I like it.

Lee

you dont have to subscribe to the digital tier for INHD or espnD. you do have to have expanded basic cable, so like channels 2-79 or something.

we also recently got two HDTVs, do you guys with more than one, rent two boxes or just one, and move it around? One is a regular use tv downstairs and the other is in the HT...

I have two sets and two boxes. It's $5 per month, why hassle with moving one around?

i guess, just cant justify spending an extra $60 a year just so i can be lazy and not have to carry the box with me when i seriously want to watch a movie, i guess. it sucks that the channel memory and crap gets erased the second the box is cut off from electricity

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
i guess, just cant justify spending an extra $60 a month just so i can be lazy and not have to carry the box with me when i seriously want to watch a movie, i guess. it sucks that the channel memory and crap gets erased the second the box is cut off from electricity

It's not an extra $60 PER MONTH, it is an extra $60 per YEAR. No big deal IMHO.

I have a question about the On Demand service for Nashville. I currently have extended basic service and I'm renting a Moto 5100 for the HD channels.

Do you have to subscribe to digital cable to get access to On Demand or do you just need the 5100? I was told by a Comcast rep that I just need the STB and not digital cable but I'm not sure if that is accurate or not.

Also, for anyone who is currently using On Demand, what type of show selection do you currently have? Are they recording all kinds of content (i.e. sitcoms, movies, kids programming, etc.) or is it pretty limited right now? If On Demand requires a subscription to digital cable, I want to make sure that it's worth it right now.

Here is my understanding and take.

I believe you need a digital tier for ondemand programming.

With regards to programming available as of now it is only the premium channels and some cable favorites (HGTV, History channel, a&e, etc) not the networks. The movies, while there are a lot of them, they are 4X3 non hi def, DD5.1 works but I can't bring myself to watch a 4X3 movie so all the movies are pretty much useless to me.

If you have a subscription to HBO, Cinemax, Showtime you will get a large portion of their programming...Including "adult" content.

There is still quite a few bugs in the ONdemand service.....I probably will not use it and stick to tivo for non-HD stuff.

Originally posted by bluepred
Here is my understanding and take.

I believe you need a digital tier for ondemand programming.

With regards to programming available as of now it is only the premium channels and some cable favorites (HGTV, History channel, a&e, etc) not the networks. The movies, while there are a lot of them, they are 4X3 non hi def, DD5.1 works but I can't bring myself to watch a 4X3 movie so all the movies are pretty much useless to me.

If you have a subscription to HBO, Cinemax, Showtime you will get a large portion of their programming...Including "adult" content.

There is still quite a few bugs in the ONdemand service.....I probably will not use it and stick to tivo for non-HD stuff.

Thanks for the quick response. Doesn't sound worth it to me right now either. The only reason that I was thinking about it is because I don't have a Tivo and I'm living in VCR hell at the moment. Guess I'll wait for the 6208 or bite the bullet and finally get a Tivo. All my friends have Tivos but I gotta sell the wife on it.

"sell the wife on it"

This is the only piece of electronics my wife has DEMANDED! You should have no trouble at all...They are having a Mother's day sale now @ tivo.com

good luck...PS there is a Nashville HT group that is tring to get some movie nights and meets together over on the "area Home theater meets section" if interested.

hi, i read in some thread where comcast updated the firmware to require HDCP over DVI. have they done this in nashville? i havent and do not plan to check myself, because the benq can be picky about HDCP...

yeah its up and running in Nashville.

Jerry

WTVF-HD Audio is messed up right now.

Any updates on additional HD channels?

Havent heard anything new on HD channels. Any Nashvillians here have VOOM?

Jerry

Any scoop on the DVR? I am quite fed up with the slow roll out/lack of info.

I just saw the DVR and OnDemand in action when I was in Atlanta over the weekend. Me wantee.

Hey everyone DiscoveryHD went active today on channel 172. I think it is still has some bugs because they just received the signal...but here nonetheless. Keep it up Comcast!

Yeah I noticed DiscoveryHD when I was flipping through channels and when I passed ESPN HD, I noticed that the TV was still in HD. I was thinking hey what's going on...did Sundance go HD or what? Then I realized that it was Discovery HD and was happy that Comcast was getting more HD. What's next, FOX?

DVR update...

Spoke to marketing manager for about 15 minutes. He said that they are definitely waiting for the 6408s rather than rolling out the single tuner. The biggest hold up is the software upgrade to the TV guide thing. His earliest estimate is September for deployment of the DVRs.

Originally posted by leewcraft
I just saw the DVR and OnDemand in action when I was in Atlanta over the weekend. Me wantee.

At least you guys have Discovery HD. No sign of it yet here in Atlanta. I do have the 6208 DVR which is primitive but gets the job done for recording HD. Will definitely want the dual tuner model whenever it comes out but I can see it being delayed in Atlanta since the 6208's have just recently been released.

Last night when I tried to watch Comcast in HD I got a huge blue message across the entire screen that said my display's HDCP was compromised and that I should switch from the DVI connection to component (actually , it didn't say component, it used the Cr,P, Y, etc). When I switched over to component I got a picture, but not in HD. When I switched back to DVI it was disabled. I have the motorola Comcast box connected to a Dwin TV3 front projector, and have been watching HD on it for 5 or 6 months without a problem. Any ideas as to what might be wrong, and how I can fix it?

I just had the same problem, and turning my Motorola box off and back on fixed it. I think it has something to do with the box being turned on when the TV is off, or something to that effect. I think it's trying to protect your equipment. I didn't have the problem before I switched to DVI, but that may just be coincidence.

Lee

The firmware was bumped to 7.10 this week.

omg! same problem with then benq 8700+. Yesterday after the longest time i powered up the pj and the cable box. no picture on DVI. the day before i got that wierd message on a blue screen about switching to component. but when i turned it off and back on again it was fine. This was saturday night when was the last time i was able to use DVI. Today, i tried again, no signal. Then i unplugged the box for like 20 seconds and tried again, got the blue message, then it worked for about 10 seconds then stopped again. Is the box messed up, are you guys getting it exchanged from Comcast because apprently leaving it unplugged doesnt work...

This should be of interest to anyone having problems with DVI, HDCP and their front projector system.

http://cjhengineering.com/hdtv/cablehdtv/dctfirmware.htm

-Firmware 7.10 has allowed for functionality of
Firewire recording to a Windows XP machine with
some software & a little TLC.

-Audio Crackling problem that was apparent on 7.07
seems to be fixed with 7.10.

-7.10 has also enabled 5C HDCP on both the DVI &
Firewire. This has caused an issue with
"unauthorized" messages on the DVI inputs of
HDCP compliant Televisions.

The reason for this is that the DCT has a default
setting in it that automatically sends out an
"unauthorized" signal to the display device for
approximately 30 sec, when it doesn't see the HDCP
"handshake". This happens when the displays input
is changed or the television is turned off before the
DCT is turned off.

The "band-aid" is to make sure that the STB gets
turned OFF BEFORE the television is turned off or
the input is changed from DVI. Also, that the
Television is turned "ON" or tuned to the DVI input
"BEFORE" the DCT is turned back "ON".

For most users it will only require a "redo" of their
macros. But for users that are running a Front
Projector they will have to wait until a permanent fix
comes along via firmware.

Also another quick fix which may be easier for some is
to just unplug & plug back in the DVI cable. When
you do this the STB automatically asks for the
handshake and will reacquire signal.

I have Comcast (and D* with DTivos and an HDTivo) and while I generally tend to run down the cable company (too much money for too little) I must say the $5 a month for the HD box is a bargain! I can't Tivo off of it, but I do get 2,4, 5 (when will 8 and 17 go full time HD?), ESPNHD, INHD, INHD2, and now DiscoveryHD for $5 including the box. That is a deal. D* wants $11 for a lot fewer channels an no locals.

Dennis

I use Comcast on the cheap through my TV's built in QAM tuner to get HDTV. My family just took a week-long trip only to return and find out that they've been shuffling some of the frequencies the HD stations broadcast on. They are still broadcasting ABC and NBC on the old frequencies but CBS wasn't there....apparently they were broadcasting ABC on the old CBS channel. Weird.

So I decided to ask the set to reacquire it's frequencies. What's weird is that I got CBS back, but all local stations are now on other frequencies than before...I'm not sure why I don't see the old duplicates, but I'm guessing the old frequencies will be used for something else shortly.

The big news is that INHD 1 & 2 are now being broadcast in the clear, which is way cool. All other non-premium but digital cable fare like ESPN-HD and Discovery HD are being scrambled.

Originally posted by dwynne
I have Comcast (and D* with DTivos and an HDTivo) and while I generally tend to run down the cable company (too much money for too little) I must say the $5 a month for the HD box is a bargain! I can't Tivo off of it, but I do get 2,4, 5 (when will 8 and 17 go full time HD?), ESPNHD, INHD, INHD2, and now DiscoveryHD for $5 including the box. That is a deal. D* wants $11 for a lot fewer channels an no locals.

Dennis

What is your total package price of your Comcast bill to get your current HD channels (I'm assuming you're not doing premium channels)? Like you, I have DirecTV for everything else but HD content since I own a DirecTivo, but not an HDTivo.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
What is your total package price of your Comcast bill to get your current HD channels (I'm assuming you're not doing premium channels)? Like you, I have DirecTV for everything else but HD content since I own a DirecTivo, but not an HDTivo.

I have a cable modem, so I pretty much have to have either "lifeline cable" ($12.75) or "basic cable" ($42.50). Since I also have a stand-alone Tivo with lifetime service, TVs in other rooms not connected to Sat, and I am a "Weather Channel Junkie" I have basic cable. The HD set-top box adds another $5 and gives the channels I listed, plus all the stuff I get in basic cable, plus some "digital cable only" things like music channels.

Prior to getting the HD box, I would have dropped back to "lifeline" cable if I could have somehow gotten the local weather some other way. Now I guess I will keep it, unless they will do "lifeline" and HD for $17.75 :D

They are doing a promo right now for new customers - seems like $20 a month for the first 3-4 months? That plus $5 for the HD box would be what you would need. Since I was already a customer, I just cruised down to Metro Center and picked up the box and remote. When hooked it up it ran in full unlock mode for a while so I got to sample HBO, Starz, etc in HD - looked good. I get HBO and Showtime (free) in HD from D* - good thing Show is free since the "HD" channel has very little HD content. I wish they would drop it in favor of Starz HD. HBO does a much better job with almost every "made for HBO" show in HD plus most of the movies upconverted as well. The Comcast STB seems to work pretty well to - I have the HD channels set as favorites and can cycle through them pretty quick to see what is on. The box can output in 480i/480p/720p/1080i - which is nice since my Mitsu RP can't do 720p.

I put up a UHF antenna to feed the HDTivo and I am still working on getting it "tuned" - but 2 and 5 come in with about no effort. 4 is a challenge since they are VHF (channel 10) and 8 and 17 are testing with low power and no HD content. UPN and WB seem to have good power, but never pass any HD content either.

Comcast has said they would add 8 and 17 when/if they ever get serious about passing HD content.

Dennis

Originally posted by dwynne
Comcast has said they would add 8 and 17 when/if they ever get serious about passing HD content.


Well, they've said that, but no Sinclair owned station currently has allowed their digital channel to be carried by a local cable company. I know that Comcast corporate has a policy of not paying additional money for an HD channel that is a simulcast of an SD channel they already have.

Lee

Originally posted by dwynne
I have a cable modem, so I pretty much have to have either "lifeline cable" ($12.75) or "basic cable" ($42.50). Since I also have a stand-alone Tivo with lifetime service, TVs in other rooms not connected to Sat, and I am a "Weather Channel Junkie" I have basic cable. The HD set-top box adds another $5 and gives the channels I listed, plus all the stuff I get in basic cable, plus some "digital cable only" things like music channels.


I'm paying the $12.75 charge now. It's a shame there's nothing between it and $42.50 for the HD only customers.



They are doing a promo right now for new customers - seems like $20 a month for the first 3-4 months? That plus $5 for the HD box would be what you would need. Since I was already a customer, I just cruised down to Metro Center and picked up the box and remote. When hooked it up it ran in full unlock mode for a while so I got to sample HBO, Starz, etc in HD - looked good. I get HBO and Showtime (free) in HD from D* - good thing Show is free since the "HD" channel has very little HD content. I wish they would drop it in favor of Starz HD. HBO does a much better job with almost every "made for HBO" show in HD plus most of the movies upconverted as well. The Comcast STB seems to work pretty well to - I have the HD channels set as favorites and can cycle through them pretty quick to see what is on. The box can output in 480i/480p/720p/1080i - which is nice since my Mitsu RP can't do 720p.


Hmmmm...I might be able to get away with that with my wife for about 4 months...:)



I put up a UHF antenna to feed the HDTivo and I am still working on getting it "tuned" - but 2 and 5 come in with about no effort. 4 is a challenge since they are VHF (channel 10) and 8 and 17 are testing with low power and no HD content. UPN and WB seem to have good power, but never pass any HD content either.

Comcast has said they would add 8 and 17 when/if they ever get serious about passing HD content.

Dennis

I'm in a frequency dead zone here in Bellevue. I figure I'll need a antenna on the house the size of a Christmas tree in order to bring in WTVF (CBS). (In Nashville, it's worse since WSMV broadcasts its HD signal on VHF). Even WSMV (NBC) doesn't come in here at all and I'm not that far from the tower. I can get WKRN (ABC) since the hills that block me for the other stations aren't a problem for WKRN since their antenna is over just off Old Hickory in south Nashville...I have a great line of sight to it. My second problem is finding someone in town who can do a professional antenna installation to handle my problem. I'd rather not buy 4 antennas before getting the right one.

INHD 1 & 2 look gorgeous on the big Mits, but I'm suffering from a lot of pixellation problems. I'm not sure if others are having this issue, but I'm guessing it's a signal strength issue at my house.

Rick,

Why not run down to Comcast in Metro Center and pick up an HDTV box? Maybe they will not "notice" your account is on lifeline and give you one. I am thinking it will work - I think the trap they put up takes out the analog signals you don't pay for. You mentioned before you could get some of the HD channels via the Mitsu tuner, so that tells us they are not being blocked by your lifeline trap. If this works, then I would probably do the same - go with lifeline + HD. If it does not, you will be out $5 (or part of it if you run the box back to them) and your time and gas.

Worst case, I could drive out to Bellevue sometime with my box and we could try it out.

I saw the promo spot again last night, it is $19.95 for 4 months - but that is for new customers.

I have done all my own inside wiring (for better or worse) and I had some problems with some of the HD channels off the box when I first hooked it up. I got to checking and I had it off of a non-broadband splitter. Once I cleaned that up the channels all showed up and look good. That said, I have had a couple of cases of INHD1/2 pixelating in the last few days - so maybe there is a problem upstream causing it. I don't watch THAT much of it, so it could be doing it a lot and I don't see it.

I live out in Hermitage, so channel 5 comes in strong - and the arc I need to cover to get 2 - 4 - 5 is FAIRLY narrow (70 degrees?). The 4 bay CM from Randolf and Rice on a short pole should do the trick, but I am going to add a CM mast mounted amp since I have a fairly long cable run. I know it will be fine if 8 and 17 would crank up the power :)

I will ask around and antenna installers, but it may be a "lost art" now....

Who did you get your Mitsu from? I got mine from Tweeter up at Rivergate (WS55413) and I have been very pleased with it - plus I got "a deal" on it :D

Dennis

I have heard that you can get HD locals with lifeline service plus the $5/mo for the HD box. Never seen it in action, though.

Lee

Anyone else here having trouble picking up WZTV and UPN OTA. Comes in fine on my Comcast channels but cant pick up anything OTA with my VOOM receiver.

Jerry

Originally posted by jl1718
Anyone else here having trouble picking up WZTV and UPN OTA. Comes in fine on my Comcast channels but cant pick up anything OTA with my VOOM receiver.

Jerry

There is a thead here about Nashville OTA - and another about Nashville FOX - just search this forum on Nashville.

From what I can tell ZTV is doing low power and seems to be days only. It is in the same location as other stations I can get fine. WNPT is the same thing. I can get UPN pretty good, but I noticed last night they were not up - so it is possible that they shut down at night as well. None of these is passing HD content that I have heard of - so you can get a digital SD signal from them when they are up. That makes them useless to us for now :)

Dennis

Thanks for the heads up I apreciate it.

Jerry

Originally posted by dwynne
Rick,

Why not run down to Comcast in Metro Center and pick up an HDTV box? Maybe they will not "notice" your account is on lifeline and give you one. I am thinking it will work - I think the trap they put up takes out the analog signals you don't pay for. You mentioned before you could get some of the HD channels via the Mitsu tuner, so that tells us they are not being blocked by your lifeline trap. If this works, then I would probably do the same - go with lifeline + HD. If it does not, you will be out $5 (or part of it if you run the box back to them) and your time and gas.

Worst case, I could drive out to Bellevue sometime with my box and we could try it out.


I just may do that, and I don't think I have to be on basic cable to get a box if all I want to do is HDTV channels which Comcast broadcasts in the clear. Comcast in this market has always left ABC, NBC and CBS unscrambled and I have been receiving my HD this way for 8 months. I was a little surprised to see that INHD 1 & 2 are clear as well since I couldn't pick it up months ago.

Bringing your Moto box out to my house is a great gesture, but it won't workk since your box is registered in Comcast's system out to one of its substations in Hermitage, and the upstream hardware in Bellevue wouldn't recognize it.


I have done all my own inside wiring (for better or worse) and I had some problems with some of the HD channels off the box when I first hooked it up. I got to checking and I had it off of a non-broadband splitter. Once I cleaned that up the channels all showed up and look good. That said, I have had a couple of cases of INHD1/2 pixelating in the last few days - so maybe there is a problem upstream causing it. I don't watch THAT much of it, so it could be doing it a lot and I don't see it.


I went to my folks house yesterday and looked at INHD on their JVC HDTV set. It looked sharp and wonderful with just a tad of pixellation but not the extreme problems I'm seeing. I may have to get the guys in the truck out to gauge my frequency response across the bandwidth. Right now, ABC, NBC and CBS are sharp as a tack. Also, Comcast is broadcasting a few select SD channels as unencrypted digital SDTV that can be picked up by a QAM tuner....ESPN Classic, Nickelodeon, International and some others.



I live out in Hermitage, so channel 5 comes in strong - and the arc I need to cover to get 2 - 4 - 5 is FAIRLY narrow (70 degrees?). The 4 bay CM from Randolf and Rice on a short pole should do the trick, but I am going to add a CM mast mounted amp since I have a fairly long cable run. I know it will be fine if 8 and 17 would crank up the power :)

I will ask around and antenna installers, but it may be a "lost art" now....


At one point earlier this year I went into Randolf and Rice and they told me that "Channelmaster was getting out of the antenna business" and that I shouldn't bother with them. I know that they were acquired some time ago, but I thought their take on the situation was strange.

Also, how are you handling the channel 4 problem with your 4 bay CM antenna? That antenna is UHF only, and WSMV is one of the few stations out there that is broadcasting HD on VHF.


Who did you get your Mitsu from? I got mine from Tweeter up at Rivergate (WS55413) and I have been very pleased with it - plus I got "a deal" on it :D

Dennis

I also got mine from Tweeter. They price matched an after Christmas sale by HiFi Buys (not a Tweeter store in the Nashville market for those reading this) so I got a killer deal. One of these days if we talk in the real world, I'll tell you that story. :)

I was not aware the box would "Care" where it was in the system - at least not for a temporary test. If we knew it worked, then I might try calling them up and switching to "lifeline" and just keep the HD box :)

Like you, I never see any problems on the locals. ESPN HD (what a JOKE that channel name is, since there is about 0 HD content) and INHD1/2 seem to be the ones most likely to have a problem. The new Discovery HD seems to rarely have a problem but it has not been up long. Since I only have the Comcast box, I don't know what freqeuncy each channel is REALLY on. My guess would be that the ones we get good are lower in actual frequency than the ones with problems. You mentioned that they had shuffled them around some.

R&R still carry CM stuff and are still the local distributor (along with Bluff City, who now stocks NOTHING from CM - but can get it). I tried to get the 7777 amp from them but they didn't have any so I ordered from SolidSignal.

In other thread someone posted "even a piece of wire will receive an RF signal" - going on that theory my CM UHF antenna does pick up channel 4 (10). I do have some freezes and pixellization, but I am hoping the amp will help. If not, the 7777 has a VHF input and I will get "something" to put up for that. My friend took an old "Nashville special" antenna and cut it to use on "Channel 4" HD. I have one of those up on my roof that I don't use, so I may do the same. I checked into single channel VHF antennas, but the smallest I could find was a 2' long boom antenna for that channel. If I have to I can go higher - either add to the pole I put up or hit the roof - but I am betting I don't have to.

At the invitation of a friend I attended a special SMPTE HDTV meeting at Tweeter last year. The manager gave the attendees a discount coupon. I waited until I was ready (and the set I wanted was on sale) and used it. They were "surprised" since it had been a while, but there was no expiration date on the coupon :) Sears warehoused some and they could be ordered there, but to get a super deal you had to order after they dropped the price (a BUNCH) and before they ran out. HH Gregg offered me an even better deal, but then it turned out all they had left was the floor samples.

Dennis

OK, I called Comcast and they said they would send someone out to the house on Tuesday morning to investigate a "snowy" picture (the best description that fits the bill in their call center software). Curiously, the customer service rep told me that of all the HD customers he's talked to, I'm the first one who's TV actually received Comcast HD without the cable box. :eek: Either most people erroneously tried to directly connect the cable line to the TV without the QAM tuner, or the few people out there with QAM tuners in their sets couldn't make it work. I'll admit that it's not an easy prospect in my Mits....CableCard in future models will likely make the issue easier (I hope).

We'll see what happens on Tuesday.

Hey, I live down in Franklin and just purchased a Samsung TX-P2670WH set with a built-in QAM tuner. I already have a Comcast DCT5100 HD box upstairs that works, so I know the signal's available down here. In theory, it should be possible to tune in the non-premium HD channels w/o another 5100, right?

But for the life of me, I can't figure out the setup to make it work. My questions are:

1) Is non-premium HD decoding possible with an in-set QAM tuner for Comcast/Nashville?

2) My set's asking me if the cable system is STD, HRC or IRC. Which one is it?

3) Assuming I get 1 & 2 sorted out, where do the HD channels show up "on the dial" with an in-set tuner?

Thanks in advance!

-John

Originally posted by John Williams
Hey, I live down in Franklin and just purchased a Samsung TX-P2670WH set with a built-in QAM tuner. I already have a Comcast DCT5100 HD box upstairs that works, so I know the signal's available down here. In theory, it should be possible to tune in the non-premium HD channels w/o another 5100, right?

But for the life of me, I can't figure out the setup to make it work. My questions are:

1) Is non-premium HD decoding possible with an in-set QAM tuner for Comcast/Nashville?


Yes. I've been doing it for 6 months.


2) My set's asking me if the cable system is STD, HRC or IRC. Which one is it?


I've used STD on my Mitsubishi.


3) Assuming I get 1 & 2 sorted out, where do the HD channels show up "on the dial" with an in-set tuner?


It's a little weird on my set but I think it's an issue where non-CableCard QAM sets never had a channel mapping feature like OTA does. So on my set, INHD 1 & 2 is broadcasting at 102.1 and 102.2 respectively. I had to let the Mits scan the entire frequency range for channels. Unfortunately, the Mits doesn't know the difference between scrambled and unscrambled channels, so you have to go back and lock out all the scrambled channels later. That's more channels than you might think since Comcast in Nashville broadcasts some channels in the clear as 480i SDTV (Nickelodeon, ESPN Classic, International) and I know that channels like Music Choice are all SDTV channels (versus the typical analog cable presentation). When my parents JVC HDTV tunes in a music choice channel on the Moto 5100 box, it changes into a digital TV mode (it's pretty obvious) versus how it displays all other non DTV channels.

OK, an update:

Comcast came out to the house to check my signal strength problem. I'm doing pretty good from the street to the splitter on the side of the house, but pretty crappy going from the 4 port splitter into the house. Since I'm only using Comcast on one television (the HD set), we decided to eliminate the splitter altogether, which was a good idea since I discovered that not one but two of the cables leading from the splitter literally led to cut cables inside the house. There's nothing like a couple of unterminated coax cables acting like antennas to screw up your signal.

Once that was fixed, the signal strength was a lot better and INHD 1 & 2 are now solid as a rock. So I sent the Comcast tech on his way and decided to ask the TV to reacquire it's channels to see if anything else would show up. Lo and behold, something else did show up...

Discovery HD! In the clear! Hooahh!

However, Discovery HD is suffering from the same problem that INHD 1 & 2 used to have (bad pixellation), which means I'm still having some frequency signal issues going on. I'm calling Comcast back, although our options for fixing this will be limited. One thing we could do is replace the entire cable going from the former splitter location to the inside since not only is there a wall plate where the TV plugs into Comcast that could be changed to a simple cable connection through the wall, but the cable leads to another f-type extension cable under the house that could be restrung with a single cable. Given the layout of the house, replacing the cable will not be hard.

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

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

There's also a channel used for describing how to use a Comcast cable box and other features that is in constant repeat (SDTV - 87.06). Originally, Fine Living and the Tennis channel were both in the clear, but Fine Living no longer shows up, and I think the Tennis channel was dropped by Comcast Nashville.

There may be more, but I'll know more when I finally solve my signal problems.

Thanks for the update, I wish I had spent the extra bucks for the tuner version of the Mitsu :)

Aren't on you on the lifeline cable package? It is surprising that they would do all this work (and be concerned about you NOT getting these channels clear) when you pay them so little....

Dennis

Originally posted by dwynne
Thanks for the update, I wish I had spent the extra bucks for the tuner version of the Mitsu :)

Aren't on you on the lifeline cable package? It is surprising that they would do all this work (and be concerned about you NOT getting these channels clear) when you pay them so little....

Dennis

Yes, I'm on "Lifeline". But as long as they choose to broadcast these channels in the clear, then I'm going to enjoy them.

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
Yes, I'm on "Lifeline". But as long as they choose to broadcast these channels in the clear, then I'm going to enjoy them.

And insist that they come in rock solid :)

We have a running joke around the office, YEARS ago one of the owners of the company had a program he got from Parson's (they used to sell cheap programs direct). He had a problem with something printing correctly, and he spend a lot time on the phone with tech support and they could not get it just right. The support tech finally said "Mr _______, just how much did you pay for this software?" :D So now we say "just how much did you pay for that" (to ourselves) when one of our customers is giving us a hard time about one of our programs.

Dennis

Another update:

I got the same tech from Comcast back to the house this morning and without my asking, he already had the new spool of wire out to do some replacement. I had thought he was going to replace the wire in the house, but instead he wanted to replace the one from the junction box at the street corner which has an underground pull from the street to my house. So I let him do that which didn't take as long as I thought it would.

It turned out that the buried coax wire from the house to the junction box was a RG-59...completely inadequate for this kind of use, but apparently 12 years ago when it was laid, digital TV or cable modems weren't being used and this kind of wire was considered adequate. I wouldn't use RG-59 in my house, much less in a buried cable pull. The rest of my house has the more robust RG-6.

Anyway, with the new cable run, Discovery HD Theater is now rock solid, just like INHD 1 & 2 and the broadcast networks. I did have a brief bit of concern when WTVF (CBS) didn't come back after I asked the TV to reacquire its channels, but this seems to have been a temporary issue at Comcast which passed after about 30 minutes.

I have updated my previous email to include the channel listings of QAM channels in the clear in Nashville and I've now added their frequencies. At this point, I don't expect any new channels to be added until WZTV-FOX comes online sometime in late summer.

Good deal, Rick!

BTW, the WTVF DTV signal went off the air last night in the storm - the OTA signal, so no wonder it was not on Comcast. I didn't have time to check it this morning before work, but when I went to bed last night 5.1 and 5.2 were down.

Dennis

okay, does anyone else have this problem:

whenever i unplug the cable box, or if the power goes out, the box loses all its settings, channel guides, and stuff. even if the power goes out for a second. it takes like 20 minutes for it to rememorize all that stuff. This is like the second box with this issue, do they all do this or just my wierd luck?

they all do this...I believe that is a problem for all boxes including sat boxes

Mine does it too, the sat boxes (DirecTV) do not have this problem - it is just a design flaw in the Comcast STB.

If you watch the Sunday paper, Office Max/Depot/Staples will usually have a cheap UPS for $20-25. Pick up one and the problem goes away.

Dennis

thats not the reason. We have two hd sets, one in the family room and one upstairs in the bonus room, but only one hd cable box. my parents feel its an unecessary expense to get 2 cable boxes and spend an extra $60 a year just to have a cable box for the ocasional hd movie we watch in the theater room.

so i just shuttle the box upstairs and downstairs based on what i'm watching. I've been getting wierd artifacts with the dvi connection, so i think the box might be screwed and have comcast come and change it out.

do any of you get a green line at the right side of the screen in 720p mode?

or a grey line on the right or bottom in 1080i mode?

So does anyone what the story is with On Demand in Nashville? I know you can go through the menu and go to On Demand there and access all the shows, but as far as I can tell, none are free. I was in Atlanta a couple weeks ago and was playing with my friend's on demand and most were free based on his subscription level. Do we think that this is just the way it's going to work here, or are they maybe waiting for the full rollout to happen at the same time as the DVR rollout? Just for reference Atlanta has the 6208 dvr available now.

Are you certain? From my experience most all are free; you do have to 'purchase' every show through the guide, however the cost is $0.00

Anyone know when to expect DVR here?

I've seen the same thing. There's all sorts of stuff listed for OnDemand, but it costs like $3.99-$5.99 per movie. Some things don't have a price listed, but I'm scared to order them.

The last I heard is that Comcast in Nashville is waiting for the dual-tuner Motorola box to come out (the 6408, I believe).

Lee

Originally posted by Sevenfeet
Yes, I'm on "Lifeline". But as long as they choose to broadcast these channels in the clear, then I'm going to enjoy them.

With Comcast,BROADCAST HD channels are PART of the "lifeline" service.

Originally posted by Scrawner
Are you certain? From my experience most all are free; you do have to 'purchase' every show through the guide, however the cost is $0.00


Let me clarify. The HBO Movies section has them all free cause I get HBO, but the generic Movies section is not free. If I go in to the Widescreen-Dolby section, they all cost something, even though they are movies that were shown on HBO originally. Irritating. They also need to fix the 'ordering' cause in atlanta it says they are complimentary and you click on watch, while here it says order, but with no price listed. I assume it's free, but it's still a little misleading, and like Lee i'm hesitant to click on order.

so are the DVR's here?? I saw an add on TV and Radio for them today!!!

Anyone know what channel the NFLNetwork is going to be on?

A friend of a friend said he has the DVR box. $10 a month (VS $5 for the HD box). Said it got all the HD channels as well. Around 30 hours SD and 8 hours HD (the exact numbers escape me). They are supposed to be coming out with a dual tuner model and ones with larger capacity down the road.

It is on the web page as an option now. It does say you have to be on a digital package to get the DVR.

Dennis

I picked up the Comcast DVR box last week and have been using it since. The software is relatively primitive, and it has only one tuner, but it has recorded what I have asked it to record. Trying to record the Olympics in hd has been a nightmare since the guide lists information that is correct for analog channel 4, and the hd channel (181) is following a completely different schedule. Nonetheless, it is nice to finally be able to record hd.

I decided to pick up the Comcast DVR two weeks ago in preparation for the Olympics (it was either that or an HDTivo and my wife wasn't happy about spending another $1000).

The 6208's interface is indeed primitive and a bit buggy. For example, I tried to get it to record a specific show on INHD in vain. I finally just made a manual recording of the channel and that worked. Comcast Nashville is still on the older version 7.0.7 firmware, which means my Mitsubishi TV doesn't know that it's a recording device and firewire playback of anything is almost useless. But it does record HD, which is better than nothing I suppose.

I got the DVR today. Cool stuff, but I don't think I'll use it much since there's almost always someone watching tv at my house. I was hoping Comcast Nashville would hold out for the dual-tuner version. Maybe they'll get the dual-tuner when it comes out anyway.

Lee

what do you guys think of WSMV's NBC HD feed? i know everyone on the board is raving about the pq, but I see its quite pixellated at times, although its been getting better especially in the gymnastics finals. I dont see why they need to simulcast the news and interrupt the HD loop right in the middle of somethign important. besides that, all is well...

btw, do the new comcast boxes fix the issues we are having with the DVI input?

Originally posted by Ou8thisSN
btw, do the new comcast boxes fix the issues we are having with the DVI input?

Yeah, the DVR box does not have the problem of "Your content protection has been compromised". That was really annoying, but seems to be fixed, even though it's the same 7.07 firmware.

Got my DVR boxes yesterday. Ok I know I am late to this party, but this is rather cool. Especially the HD recording.

These boxes had some hookups that I can only hope that are being used. The USB slots maybe to add additional recording time via an external hard drive. The firewire connection was on there and that would be great to suck off recorded content to play with offline.

I think my top request would be to be able to schedule something to be recorded without actually being home. Like pop into Titan TV and click on the program and have the request directed to my DVR box.

I bet that is close to being there with the Ethernet hookup on the box. I doubt you would even need that.

I liked the fact that you could now see the guide over the SVideo connection now. That was annoying with the original HDTV box. I liked the new guide although I found the thing lethargic compared to the old HDTV box.

I have not figured out how to browse the guide with first changing a channel and then you can use the arrows. The arrows seem to activate DVR actions and not browse the guide as this worked before.

I wish this had the TiVO feature of just picking a program and getting the season pass. You can browse by showname but this only had programming out 4 days which does nothing for a weekly show.

BTW- It took a little while for my HDTV channels to come alive when I first hooked this up. I also had no VOD hookup even after 5 hours. Maybe that will change later today.

Originally posted by wineman

I have not figured out how to browse the guide with first changing a channel and then you can use the arrows. The arrows seem to activate DVR actions and not browse the guide as this worked before.


Hit "OK" to bring up the channel bar, then you can flip just like normal. It's sorta annoying that the arrows control the DVR, especially since there are play, pause, rewind buttons on the remote as well. I guess it makes it easier to program multi-device remotes, but still annoying.

Lee