Originally posted by mikeaymar
I had the same problem with my box, but it cleared up. My guess is that the 'problem' was the following. When the DVR was installed it had channels for the San Jose area memorized, while we live in Los Gatos (which, BTW, has a simply horrid system, with not enough bandwidth to provide the same HD content as San Jose, but that's another thread...).
Anyway, the box dowloaded all the guide info, but kept the San Jose channel lineup, and whenever it got to a San Jose channel it would either pause for a long time, and appear to be stuck, or get stuck.
Anyway, after the guide info was complete, I did a power down and power up, and, voila, it all of a sudden only showed Los Gatos lineup channels, and hasn't frozen since then.
So, it seems it needs a manual power cycle to complete its synchronization to the local system. Maybe...
Good luck.
Mike

Did your box freeze up only when you entered a new channel? Mine will be running fine on a given channel and then (with no interaction from me) just "pause"-- no audio and the picture freezes. The only way to get it going again is to switch channels.

What exactly is a "power down"? Unplug the unit?

Originally posted by mds54
My choices for additional HD locals : FOX, WB, UPN

And MDS54 is in San Jose, where they have INHD1&2, Discovery, and so forth! Here in Los Gatos, we don't even have those! If ANY other provider had local HD channels I'd switch in a hurry. OTA isn't an option because Sutro Tower is hiding behind a few mountains between Los Gatos and the west side of San Francisco where the tower is.

Mike

Originally posted by John Mace
Did your box freeze up only when you entered a new channel? Mine will be running fine on a given channel and then (with no interaction from me) just "pause"-- no audio and the picture freezes. The only way to get it going again is to switch channels.

What exactly is a "power down"? Unplug the unit?

Can't quite remember everything I did. I am sure I power cycled with the power button on the front panel. I probably also unplugged the unit and plugged it back in during installation into my cabinet. I'd try both.
I had the same problem, usually on channel 2, where the video would freeze and there would be no audio, and I hadn't touched anything. Hasn't happened for a week now, and the unit has been fully responsive as well, with no delays like there were initially.
Good luck.
Mike

Suggestion....since we've all now had the DVR for a couple of weeks (is it that long already, or is it only a week?), we should start putting together a list of suggested iGuide revisions.....for example, I would prefer a "to-do" list that's in chronological list form rather than in "guide" form by by day/hour.

Originally posted by mds54
My choices for additional HD locals : FOX, WB, UPN

mine too

I want fox so bad i'd be willing to trade an INHD channel!!

Originally posted by dmlove51
Just curious what channels you don't have in HD that you'd like to have.

KTVU-Fox, HDNet, DiscoveryHD(No DiscHD in Santa Rosa) and TNT-HD.

Originally posted by mds54
My choices for additional HD locals : FOX, WB, UPN
I second that emotion.

UPN...eh, actually I could care less for that since I never watch UPN and the only thing worth watching, the Simpsons, is animated SD.

WB...Smallville in HD, need I say more?

FOX...Lots of important sports, the Bowl is coming, and I'd be interested if 24 was broadcast in HD. Boom boom, boom boom, boom boom.

Originally posted by mds54
My choices for additional HD locals : FOX, WB, UPN

These are my choices too. Enterprise on UPN is my favorite show, would love to see it in HD (Sutro obscured). Gilmore Girls on WB is my wife's favorite show, would love to validate my A/V obsession.

Originally posted by mikeaymar
Can't quite remember everything I did. I am sure I power cycled with the power button on the front panel. I probably also unplugged the unit and plugged it back in during installation into my cabinet. I'd try both.
I had the same problem, usually on channel 2, where the video would freeze and there would be no audio, and I hadn't touched anything. Hasn't happened for a week now, and the unit has been fully responsive as well, with no delays like there were initially.
Good luck.
Mike

I'll try it. BTW, my problem "went away" on its own for several days, then just came back all of a sudden. With luck, your problem won't resurface later...

Originally posted by dmlove51
Suggestion....since we've all now had the DVR for a couple of weeks (is it that long already, or is it only a week?), we should start putting together a list of suggested iGuide revisions.....for example, I would prefer a "to-do" list that's in chronological list form rather than in "guide" form by by day/hour.

Good idea... mines is the following...

When hitting the record button, allow a menu to pop up to record from the start of the live buffer for that channel or the program itself or even a certain point in the live buffer specified by the user. And probably allow the option of hitting stop to stop a recording similar to a VCR.

When doing a manual recording, instead of the start time being as early as the current time, allow it to go all the way back to the start of the live buffer assuming you're already tuned for that channel. And allow a way to enter the start/stop times using the 0-9 keys so a actual time can be entered or duration.

Originally posted by dmlove51
Suggestion....since we've all now had the DVR for a couple of weeks (is it that long already, or is it only a week?), we should start putting together a list of suggested iGuide revisions.....for example, I would prefer a "to-do" list that's in chronological list form rather than in "guide" form by by day/hour.

Mine woud be:
1) get ALL the HD channels to actually appear in the HD section of the iGuide (HBO HD doesn't show under HD, the MNF game on KGO HD didn't show, etc.)
2) add Fox HD ASAP
3) some additional search function comparable to Tivo would be nice (I'd like to record all Illinois NCAA basketball games automatically - don't think I can do that now without manually looking up all NCAA games in the iGuide to set recordings)
4) make the providers of the iGuide info better "flag" re-runs vs. 1st showings, so it can discern between them and only record what we want

If we gather a good list of thoughts and suggestions, does anyone know to whom we might send the list? I don't even know who prepares the iGuide.

Another suggestion.....networking (multi-room viewing, ability to schedule programs online).

I thought Sonoma Searcher said that the Microsoft guide/menu would be uploaded to our DVR's real soon (by end of year).

Anyone know what the status on this is?

Originally posted by dailowai
I want fox so bad i'd be willing to trade an INHD channel!!

For me, that would probably mean losing FSN-HD (shared by INHD-2) just to see the 49ers and the Superbowl, which is a bad trade in my opinion.

-Steve

I have a strong belief that Comcast has already reserved bandwidth on all systems, including 550 Mhz systems, for KTVU/Fox HD. So there is no need to speculate about one HD channel being removed in order to add KTVU/Fox HD.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I have a strong belief that Comcast has already reserved bandwidth on all systems, including 550 Mhz systems, for KTVU/Fox HD. So there is no need to speculate about one HD channel being removed in order to add KTVU/Fox HD.

Absolutely, if the sky opened up and suddenly KTVU and Comcast came to terms they would have had to have the BW ready to go. I haven't actually tallied all the channels and BW, but I suspect there is more BW there that is not being used than most people think.

Originally posted by dandrewk
I thought Sonoma Searcher said that the Microsoft guide/menu would be uploaded to our DVR's real soon (by end of year).

Anyone know what the status on this is?

It'd be better not to upload it. Otherwise, we will lose the 30 seconds skip function, which is not supported in MS.:rolleyes:

Originally posted by lmsyl
It'd be better not to upload it. Otherwise, we will lose the 30 seconds skip function, which is not supported in MS.:rolleyes:

And that's a 5th item: I have the black IDX remote (sans the Setup button), so I can't program the 30-second skip - how 'bout a fix for that?

Okay ... I'm going to be real lazy here and ask two questions that have probably been covered here a million times. Just hoping someone can give me some quick answers, since I don't live in your area. I'm checking for my sister who just moved down there (Oakland - specifically, Montclair) ...

1) What locals/networks does Comcast provide in the Bay Area?

2) Is the Comcast DVR readily available in all areas (or her's specifically)?

Thanks in advance - and sorry for my laziness.

No problem.

1) Locals: ABC, CBS, NBC, PBS. FOX is rumored to possibly be added before the Super Bowl, but one should not assume it will be.

Note that Montclair is probably a pretty good location to attempt to get OTA HD, if she wants to try it.

As long as she is not on a 550 Mhz system (and I am almost sure she isn't), she can get all the other HD channels Comcast offers, depending on her subscription level (ESPN HD, INHD, INHD2, Discovery HD, HDSE (NFL Network GOTW), HBO HD, Cinemax HD, Starz HD, SHO HD).

2) 6412 is available everywhere; however, immediate installation appointments might be difficult to get-- it could be 2 to 4 weeks before they will give her an appointment.

Hi all,
Just moved into a new house from the old one where I got the analog picture looking good. Here it's marginal. HD seems okay, at least all errors are correctable.

About the setup:
I've looked in the main access panel (it's a 5 year old house) outside the house. I see at least 8 splits:
- 4 going to each bedroom
- den, HT room, and playroom
- Cable modem.

Behind the HT display there is one split to the TV tuner and the other to the Comcast box (this is the minimum number).

On all HD channels the 6200 reports Fair SNR and AGC is 99% and poor. Eliminating the 2-to-1 splitter dropps AGC to 80%. The higher channels (analog) are snowy. I'm not seeing any real uncorrectable errors on HD, but a fair number of correctable ones.

I observed the snowy higher channels at my other house. A ramped amplifier (point towards in this forum) did the trick. I still have this amp. The problem is I don't see how to fit it into the cable access box on the side of my house, much less get power to the amp.

Is the simple thing to call comcast and have them come out?

Best,
jeff

Thanks, SonomaSearcher.

Want to put any odds on getting FOX in time for the Super Bowl?

I tried an experiment today to fix the "freeze frame" problem my 6412 has. My house has 3 TVs and internet served by comcast, so I have a 4-way splitter at the source cable outside. I went ahead and changed that to a 2-way splitter going to my HD TV and also to a 3-way splitter for everything else. This seems to have worked, at least for the time being. But I've found in the past that my internet signal is adversly affected by too much splitting as well, so I suspect that I will have fixed one problem and created another.

The signal inegrity in my neighborhood sucks. I'm hoping that if and when we get upgraded beyond 550MHz things will improve.

Does anyone have a definitive answer about VOD for those of us in the 550MHz areas? I get different answers (some say yes, some say no) from Comcast depending on whom I talk to.

Originally posted by AVWH
And that's a 5th item: I have the black IDX remote (sans the Setup button), so I can't program the 30-second skip - how 'bout a fix for that?

All you have to do is hold down the device button, cable until it flashes to get into setup mode but how to get the function in is another question. The ICX remote actually has the ABC buttons unused as it has dedicated Lock, Day-, Day+ buttons so we can use one of those for the 30 second skip. There is one function the Silver remote has, that's the TV/VCR button for the VCR function which this remote lacks even though it's supposed to control a VCR.

The San Francisco Fullfillment manager called me a few minutes ago after returning from holiday vacation since I called him about the freezing problem with the 6412 that I experienced which seems to be the boxes to be out of resources after 10 hours as the live buffer was stuck at 2AM when it was already 8AM with no video until I pull the plug and then plug it back in which immediately brought the box working correctly again. Power cycling the box using the power button still had the live buffer stuck. He asked me how the box was delivered and I told him that the boxes I got, the tech simply carry it and there was no packaging and only was the peel off plastic on the display. He mentioned that the 6412 boxes are supposed to be delivered in a plastic bag. He said he'll have a tech bring a new box in a plastic bag tomorrow morning along with a new Silver remote since the one the tech brought me last week during the box swap is the one without the Swap button. So I was wondering for others who had the 6412 installed, was it just the bare box and only a peel off plastic covering the display or was the box in a plastic bag? Thanks everyone.

Just got my DVR installed this afternoon (94086 area). So far no problems with the unit. The unit came in a box with all the original coverings. The remote is silver with the swap button. I do hear the hard drive, but only when the tv volume is very low. I think I can live with it... I still cannot believe I have it before the new year! Now, checking the old posts for the 30 second skip program feature!

BTW, I did not get charged for the installation. The tech was pretty much in and out in 15 minutes.

Originally posted by John Mace
So, VOD rolls out in SJ and Campbell today, according to the Merc. Is anyone in those areas getting it yet?

Nope - not here in SJ as far as I know.....how does one tell? If I click on the "OnDemand" button on the silver Comcast DVR remote, it just flashes "19" for a few seconds and then goes back to whatever I was watching. Is there more to it?

Originally posted by AVWH
Mine woud be:
1) get ALL the HD channels to actually appear in the HD section of the iGuide (HBO HD doesn't show under HD, the MNF game on KGO HD didn't show, etc.)
2) add Fox HD ASAP


I second those listed above, plus improving the iGuide to reflect what is actually playing on the HDSE channel (725 in San Jose). I've found the NFL Game of the Week and a few movies there just by luck, because the iGuide always just says "To Be Announced" whether there is programming there or not.

Originally posted by hd-salee
J The unit came in a box with all the original coverings.

Yah! South Bay does it right!!

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Originally posted by DCTDictator
Yah! South Bay does it right!!

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Hey, nice to see they let you out of your 20 days in the hole...:D

de-lurk: (v, n) 1. to appear out of the internet shadows, usually on a temporary basis; 2. an instance of de-lurking

:p

Hey, for you fellow 2%ers in Saratoga, Milpitas and Los Gatos, I received a call today from Todd Wallack of the SF Chronicle regarding Comcast's poor service for our areas. Looks like he may do an article early next week on the topic. Since I have dropped Comcast for HD, I have not followed what is going on lately with them in HD offerings for Saratoga and related areas. Has anything really changed, or are we still 2%ers?

Oh, and based on what Todd told me, the Comcast folks really do read these boards. While I am bothered that Saratoga is getting poor service from them, I give them credit for at least taking a serious look at what their customers are saying. Now, if they would just stop trying to say that 550Mhz is 'upgraded'!

Bob

Originally posted by bpearse
Now, if they would just stop trying to say that 550Mhz is 'upgraded'!

Bob

Good, if Comcast is reading this board, then how about not charging us folks in 550MHz areas the same rate as folks that have real upgraded systems and get all the available offerings. We still do not even get Discovery-HD up here yet.

(DirecTV has it though!) :D

Originally posted by bpearse
Hey, for you fellow 2%ers in Saratoga, Milpitas and Los Gatos, I received a call today from Todd Wallack of the SF Chronicle regarding Comcast's poor service for our areas. Looks like he may do an article early next week on the topic. Since I have dropped Comcast for HD, I have not followed what is going on lately with them in HD offerings for Saratoga and related areas. Has anything really changed, or are we still 2%ers?

Oh, and based on what Todd told me, the Comcast folks really do read these boards. While I am bothered that Saratoga is getting poor service from them, I give them credit for at least taking a serious look at what their customers are saying. Now, if they would just stop trying to say that 550Mhz is 'upgraded'!

Bob

Bob,

No Change in Saratoga...Still missing 7 HD Channels (Probably 8 after ESPNHD2 Launches). Will be interesting to see if we get VOD or digital-simulcast.

I had a good laugh (or should I say cry) with the Comcast Tech who dropped off my 6412 a couple weeks ago...He said, sure Comcast considers it an upgraded system, they just leave out the fact that is was last "upgraded" 10 years ago (and he remembers when it was done).

ps... I also heard from Todd...great to see the media is involved (If it wasnt for the media I bet many of us would not have our DVRs)

-Steve

Originally posted by hd-salee
Just got my DVR installed this afternoon (94086 area). So far no problems with the unit. The unit came in a box with all the original coverings. The remote is silver with the swap button. I do hear the hard drive, but only when the tv volume is very low. I think I can live with it... I still cannot believe I have it before the new year! Now, checking the old posts for the 30 second skip program feature!

BTW, I did not get charged for the installation. The tech was pretty much in and out in 15 minutes.

Wow, seems like the techs that service my address just carry the boxes in the truck with no protection. The only time I've ever seen a cable box in a box was in the TCI days when they had the Jerrold CFT boxes. All the other ones were just the bare units themselves. The remotes were always in their packaging though. I can hear the hard drive but it's not anything to be worried about. I still am trying to find the fan though.

Originally posted by DCTDictator
Yah! South Bay does it right!!

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Maybe it's because I live in Chinatown SF and the techs working this area just tosses things around after unpacking it before loading it on the truck to make their jobs less time consuming since I am in a AM only area. I know what you mean by bypass now, I thought you were talking about the RF Bypass module where if you shut the box off like the former DCT's but forgot that the 2nd tuner is using the signal as well. I headed to Radio Shack and picked up the Stereo DVD Install kit which included the Stereo RF Modulator and their Gold Series SVideo and Audio cables to solve the problem with the VCR/DVD Recorder.

Originally posted by Almighty1
Look at the serial number of the box... if the 4th to 6th digits is 436 or 437, you have a bad power supply and need the box swapped.

Thanks for the tip!

Where's the actual serial number?

I see the MAC address (docsis modem),
a "CN:" number under the AC power ("AW00AA13xx..."),
the "UA:" Unit ID to the left of that, vertically ("000-03313-0...") (think is box addressability ID),
and then (on the RF input section) a sticker: "GI437TC65..."_...
is that the 437? doesn't seem like 4-6 digits though.
I don't have problems w/ crash/reset, just the "no video/black" after poweroff.

FYI: ABC-7 KGO

Advisory: Our HD transmitter will be down for maintenance on Wednesday, December 29th between approximately 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. We apologize for the incovenience and appreciate your patience.

I'll reiterate this - upgraded in the Cable business means the plant has had a HFC fiber overlay deployed on it and is two-way ready. "Upgraded" is not about frequency range of the system. This is the definition in the cable world.

You can complain about not having 750, but it is incorrect to say it isn't upgraded!

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM
You can complain about not having 750, but it is incorrect to say it isn't upgraded!

Thanks,
Mike

You can call it whatever you want, the simple fact remains, 550MHz systems DO NOT have what 750MHz and above have as far as channels, which is really the only thing that matters to the subscriber. This is good to know though, for when Mr. Wollack writes his article I am sure he will be notating that the term used by Comcast to indicate upgraded systems has nothing to do with additional bandwidth or additional channels.

Something I am sure Comcast has already made very clear in there literature and press releases. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by cgould
Thanks for the tip!

Where's the actual serial number?

I see the MAC address (docsis modem),
a "CN:" number under the AC power ("AW00AA13xx..."),
the "UA:" Unit ID to the left of that, vertically ("000-03313-0...") (think is box addressability ID),
and then (on the RF input section) a sticker: "GI437TC65..."_...
is that the 437? doesn't seem like 4-6 digits though.
I don't have problems w/ crash/reset, just the "no video/black" after poweroff.

Hmmm, the serial number is on the bottom of the box and it should be on a sticker next to where the RF Cable input is. Are you sure yours isn't GI1437TC65...?

Originally posted by youngbuc
FYI: ABC-7 KGO

Advisory: Our HD transmitter will be down for maintenance on Wednesday, December 29th between approximately 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. We apologize for the incovenience and appreciate your patience.

OMG we are sooo lucky that Lost is a rerun tomorrow. I would have been pissed if next weeks Lost and Alias brand new 3-hour block was only in SD. I love those shows so damn much.

P.S. Asking again...does anybody with a standard cable installation w/ HD notice that INHD 1 and 2 are back??? Discovery is still gone for me, but those two are back in action and still looking great. Did Comcast lighten the restriction on their HD limitation? I mean, we do have to pay the same as a digital subscriber to get HD.

Originally posted by mds54
Nope - not here in SJ as far as I know.....how does one tell? If I click on the "OnDemand" button on the silver Comcast DVR remote, it just flashes "19" for a few seconds and then goes back to whatever I was watching. Is there more to it?

VOD is working in South SJ as of Dec 28 pm. My OnDemand button does the same as yours. However, if you use the Menu button and choose the OnDemand Icon, you will be able to access the OnDemand programs. I saw the CBS morning show and evening news, a number of kids programs, etc. Works pretty well.

Only issue is with trying to back out one level on the menus. Used to using the back arrow on my Tivo. Doesn't work on the cable box. End up having to go back to live tv half the time and then go back into the menus.

Update on box locking up all the time. A tech came out yesterday and swapped out the box. The new box seems to work pretty well. I noticed it freezed up the picture a couple times so I went and removed my splitter on the cable line. Other than that it seems to be working fine.

Originally posted by Almighty1
Hmmm, the serial number is on the bottom of the box and it should be on a sticker next to where the RF Cable input is. Are you sure yours isn't GI1437TC65...?

Yup, I see the stickers underneath... GI1437* , I missed the 1 in the dark :)
So it means I should swap box I guess. It's working ok so far- maybe my UPS w/ AVR is helping it along :) Maybe it will fix my black power-off video too!

Bummer, how do I transfer shows back & forth? luckily most are INHD* repeat programs, but...

If I record to some firewire capture on the PC, can I copy back to the box, or?
Wish they'd activate ext Firewire HDD storage, also!

Has anybody tried archiving their programs to DVHS?
thanks,
Sam

Originally posted by keenan
You can call it whatever you want, the simple fact remains, 550MHz systems DO NOT have what 750MHz and above have as far as channels, which is really the only thing that matters to the subscriber. This is good to know though, for when Mr. Wollack writes his article I am sure he will be notating that the term used by Comcast to indicate upgraded systems has nothing to do with additional bandwidth or additional channels.

Something I am sure Comcast has already made very clear in there literature and press releases. :rolleyes:

Keenan, I certainly agree with you that a 550 system as a lot less channel capacity than a 750 system. My only point is that you hurt your credibility by quoting comcast press releases about "upgraded" systems and asserting they are lying. They aren't. When people point this out in the press the argument then shifts to semantics rather than the lack of capabilities in certain markets and is a distraction to dealing with the real issue.

Just as industry terms aren't understood by most subs, press releases aren't for subs either. They are for wall street analysts, vendors and others in the industry that comcast wants to say something to. When comcast wants to talk to subs, they use something called advertising. :-)

I know the Comcast management folks in Philly, and they are very steeped in the industry. They are are trying hard to fix issues created by AT&T, and concentrate on being an excellent cable company. They have their issues of course, but lying in press releases about upgrades isn't one of them.

Thanks,
mike

Originally posted by lrcasey
Only issue is with trying to back out one level on the menus. Used to using the back arrow on my Tivo. Doesn't work on the cable box. End up having to go back to live tv half the time and then go back into the menus.

Try hitting the Last button on the remote. I asked about that last year since hitting Exit would require me to go through the entire menu system again.

Originally posted by bmark
Update on box locking up all the time. A tech came out yesterday and swapped out the box. The new box seems to work pretty well. I noticed it freezed up the picture a couple times so I went and removed my splitter on the cable line. Other than that it seems to be working fine.

Hmmm, just curious but what's the 4th to 6th digits this time around? The first one I got was 436 and then the Hard drive crashed 7 hours later. So they replaced it with a 443. For some reason, the 436 seems to have a better picture since the 443 box has flicker in the picture even when watching live tv. It's only perfect on the HD channels.

Originally posted by cgould
Yup, I see the stickers underneath... GI1437* , I missed the 1 in the dark :)
So it means I should swap box I guess. It's working ok so far- maybe my UPS w/ AVR is helping it along :) Maybe it will fix my black power-off video too!

Bummer, how do I transfer shows back & forth? luckily most are INHD* repeat programs, but...

If I record to some firewire capture on the PC, can I copy back to the box, or?
Wish they'd activate ext Firewire HDD storage, also!

Heh, if you did have a box that started with 437 instead of 1437, you would have a box that is like 3000 higher in the serial number and probably the newest box to roll out of Motorola. It's weird but the box with the bad ps is actually better than the one I got for a replacement. Guess it's never a good thing when there is any signs of scratches and or dents. I don't think you can transfer the stuff back from the PC... I think it's one way only.

Originally posted by Almighty1
Hmmm, just curious but what's the 4th to 6th digits this time around? The first one I got was 436 and then the Hard drive crashed 7 hours later. So they replaced it with a 443. For some reason, the 436 seems to have a better picture since the 443 box has flicker in the picture even when watching live tv. It's only perfect on the HD channels.

I have a 443 box as well. PQ is about the same from the old box but then again it went off so much with the old box I didn't really pay attention to it.

Originally posted by bmark
I have a 443 box as well. PQ is about the same from the old box but then again it went off so much with the old box I didn't really pay attention to it.

Yeah, I wouldn't have returned the old box if the Hard drive didn't crashed and became undetected to the box. The box still worked as a cable box but the DVR function was dead. It took 5 minutes to start up the box as the HDD isn't passing the Power On Self Test. The new box seemed to have more noise in the picture that it looks like slight flickering on my 43" Pioneer Plasma. I'm due for a box swap today anyways between 9-11AM. The Comcast Fullfillment Manager promised to send a box in packaging this time instead of bare. I'll see what happens.

Originally posted by MikeSM
Keenan, I certainly agree with you that a 550 system as a lot less channel capacity than a 750 system. My only point is that you hurt your credibility by quoting comcast press releases about "upgraded" systems and asserting they are lying. They aren't. When people point this out in the press the argument then shifts to semantics rather than the lack of capabilities in certain markets and is a distraction to dealing with the real issue.

Just as industry terms aren't understood by most subs, press releases aren't for subs either. They are for wall street analysts, vendors and others in the industry that comcast wants to say something to. When comcast wants to talk to subs, they use something called advertising. :-)

I know the Comcast management folks in Philly, and they are very steeped in the industry. They are are trying hard to fix issues created by AT&T, and concentrate on being an excellent cable company. They have their issues of course, but lying in press releases about upgrades isn't one of them.

Thanks,
mike

Mike,
I agree Comcast Mgt is using the industry term to impress the stock market..but they do a pretty good job of contradicting themselves...


Here's an excert from email AVSforum members have from the regional VP of Operations for Comcast in regards to a query about what they are planning to do about increasing bandwidth on the 550Mhz networks since they are out of capacity....Sure sounds like they are telling us subscribers they need to upgrade our network to fix the lack of bandwidth....


----------
..We are currently reviewing two strategies to upgrade the "550" networks that would provide additional network bandwidth Necessary to add more channels, products and services....If we choose not to upgrade the network now, the conversion to an "all digital" network would begin in mid to late
2006...
---------

I had my DVR installed yesterday in San Jose, 95125. So far everything seems to be working, and On demand works very well as well. I have a couple of questions

1. I asked the tech that if the DVR can record one channel and watch another channel at the same time, he said yes. But I played with it last night, and it doesn't seem I can do that. To be able to record multiple channels at the same time, the box needs to have 2 inputs, but it has only one. Is there anyway to record two channels at the same time?

2. I want to put up an antenna to receive FOX HD, how can I do this with Comcast box? Has anyone done this?

thanks

Originally posted by SamEdwards
Has anybody tried archiving their programs to DVHS?
thanks,
Sam

Already filled the hard drive (got to watch more of the movies I recorded). I copied "The Italian Job" to DVHS on my JVC 30K on Tuesday. A few glitches but it appears that they were in the original DVR recording. Checked parts of the recording and its seems to be OK.

I read some of the 6412 w/iGuide thread that had a few suggestions on using the 30K. I posted asking for confirmation of the steps but have not gotten a response.

Generally firewire to 30K (possibly turning 6412 off, connect firewire with on 30K, then restarting 6412 to address recognition issues- not clear if needed but some in 6412 w/iGuide thread appeared to think helps). Cued up show on DVR and started to play it; starting recording 30K.

I think that you can then swap tuners and view something else from 6412 but not absolutely sure about that.

Will try to copy to DVHS again tonite.

- Phil

Originally posted by elitelight
I had my DVR installed yesterday in San Jose, 95125. So far everything seems to be working, and On demand works very well as well. I have a couple of questions

1. I asked the tech that if the DVR can record one channel and watch another channel at the same time, he said yes. But I played with it last night, and it doesn't seem I can do that. To be able to record multiple channels at the same time, the box needs to have 2 inputs, but it has only one. Is there anyway to record two channels at the same time?

2. I want to put up an antenna to receive FOX HD, how can I do this with Comcast box? Has anyone done this?

thanks

I don't have one of the DVR boxes, but I think I can answer your question, since they've been asked before.

1. There is a swap button on certain remotes that lets swap between the two tuners. There is only one input, because the box splits the signal internally to the two tuners. If you don't have a swap button, I believe you can get a new remote or reprogram a certain button on your remote, you'll have to search back in this forum to see how to do that.

2. Now you can not get OTA with the motorola box. It does not have an OTA tuner.

Russ

davisdog,

I guess that is a good example of 1) We'll upgrade or 2) Where's the band-aid? :D

Okay, the tech was here at 9:30AM with the new 6412 box but it still wasn't in packaging except this is the only time the tech didn't take up the plastic covering the display. He also brought me the Silver DVR remote with the swap button. This new box doesn't have the flickering anymore on any of the channels. The GI1443TCxxxx was replaced with a GI1443TDxxxx. Still have the Seagate ST3120025ACE Hard Drive in this box. The tech stayed until 9:45AM when the download started. It just finished about 5 minutes ago. The channels appears to look fine now and this box is perfect both physically and electronically. :D

bmark,

What are the two letters right after the 443 on yours? I wonder if anyone got a 438-442 box since it seems like there are 436-437 and then the number jumps to 443.

Originally posted by Philip Klein
Already filled the hard drive (got to watch more of the movies I recorded). I copied "The Italian Job" to DVHS on my JVC 30K on Tuesday. A few glitches but it appears that they were in the original DVR recording. Checked parts of the recording and its seems to be OK.

I read some of the 6412 w/iGuide thread that had a few suggestions on using the 30K. I posted asking for confirmation of the steps but have not gotten a response.

Generally firewire to 30K (possibly turning 6412 off, connect firewire with on 30K, then restarting 6412 to address recognition issues- not clear if needed but some in 6412 w/iGuide thread appeared to think helps). Cued up show on DVR and started to play it; starting recording 30K.

I think that you can then swap tuners and view something else from 6412 but not absolutely sure about that.

Will try to copy to DVHS again tonite.

- Phil

If I remembered correctly, you have to power the 6412 off and then turn the 6412 back on before recording or the 6412 will crash after 30 minutes or so. You can't swap tuners because the firewire interface is just like your tv, so whatever you're watching on the screen is what it will record.

Originally posted by elitelight
I had my DVR installed yesterday in San Jose, 95125. So far everything seems to be working, and On demand works very well as well. I have a couple of questions

1. I asked the tech that if the DVR can record one channel and watch another channel at the same time, he said yes. But I played with it last night, and it doesn't seem I can do that. To be able to record multiple channels at the same time, the box needs to have 2 inputs, but it has only one. Is there anyway to record two channels at the same time?

2. I want to put up an antenna to receive FOX HD, how can I do this with Comcast box? Has anyone done this?

thanks

The answer to #1 is that you have to swap tuners with the swap fuction or button on the remote which basically allows you to jump back and forth between the two tuners. The newer Silver remotes Custom Control 3 comes with the swap button which is a row right under the TV/VCR,0,Enter buttons. On the Silver remotes without the swap button, follow the directions below:

1) Press the "Cable" button at the top of the remote to put it into Cable Box control mode.
2) Press and hold the "Setup" button until the "Cable" button blinks twice.
3) Type in the code 994. The "Cable" button will blink twice
4) Press (do not hold) the "Setup" button
5) Type in the code 00173 (for 30 second Skip) or 00236 (for Swap) or 00141 (for unmute).
6) Press whatever button you want to map the function to. I would suggest the Help button for the 30 second skip and the TV/VCR button for the swap button.

As for #2, you can't get OTA HDTV with the Motorola HD Comcast box.

Re upgrading 550 Mhz systems, a key issue is this:

Has Comcast (or its predecessors) upgraded systems from 550 Mhz to 750 Mhz or 860 Mhz or 1 Ghz in other areas of northern California, or in southern California or outside California?

If so, then why does Comcast have no plans to upgrade these Bay Area 550 Mhz systems to higher bandwidths? Why were other 550 Mhz systems upgraded, but these 550 Mhz systems are not?

If Comcast does have plans to upgrade the Bay Area 550 Mhz systems, what are those plans, and why hasn't Comcast spelled them out to the customers from those areas who have inquired?

Does Comcast have some unused bandwidth in those 550 Mhz systems and, if so, what is Comcast saving that unused bandwidth for?

Does Comcast charge customers in 550 Mhz systems the same for identical subscription levels as those in 750 Mhz and 860 Mhz systems, even though the 550 Mhz system customers receive fewer channels at any given subscription level? If so, why?

(For example, Digital Classic subscribers in 750 Mhz and above systems receive INHD (including NBA TV HD), INHD2, FSN Bay Area HD, Discovery HD, NFL GOTW HD but 550 Mhz Digital Classic subscribers do NOT receive these HD channels. Why do the 550 Mhz subscribers pay the same, if they receive far fewer channels?)

One theory I have is that Comcast has medium to long range plans to sell off some or all of its Bay Area franchises/systems. Why upgrade if you are going to sell the systems off?

Originally posted by davisdog
Mike,
I agree Comcast Mgt is using the industry term to impress the stock market..but they do a pretty good job of contradicting themselves...


Here's an excert from email AVSforum members have from the regional VP of Operations for Comcast in regards to a query about what they are planning to do about increasing bandwidth on the 550Mhz networks since they are out of capacity....Sure sounds like they are telling us subscribers they need to upgrade our network to fix the lack of bandwidth....


----------
..We are currently reviewing two strategies to upgrade the "550" networks that would provide additional network bandwidth Necessary to add more channels, products and services....If we choose not to upgrade the network now, the conversion to an "all digital" network would begin in mid to late
2006...
---------

I swore I wasn't going to get involved with this again but I just can't let this go without a comment. I tend to agree with Davisdog and Keenan with the definition of upgraded or not upgraded, the 2% area is not upgraded to the same standards as the 750 and above areas. I am a customer, since the days of TCI, and all I know is that I pay the same price for Comcast services and I don't get the same channels as the rest of the Bay Area. That in my opinion is not upgraded to the same standards as the rest of the Bay Area is.

I don't think that anyone is calling Comcast a lier but what they call upgraded and what a customer calls upgraded is not the same. It's a matter of semantics and they are good at semantics. So when Comcast says that all systems are upgraded are they lying ?? No, in their definition of upgraded. Are they telling the truth ?? No, in the definition of upgraded by a customer. What you need to do is ask the right question. Are all systems upgraded to the same level and services ??? I will let Comcast answer that question or maybe Mr. Wollack could propose that question to Comcast.
Let's not get bogged down with semantics but lets get all the systems up to the same standards and level of service.

Now, for a positive note. I am quite happy with the Comcast DVR. It does exactly as advertized and for the most part does so without flaw. Is it perfect ?? No, but I am sure with further upgrades ( bad word :) ) , I am sure that it will be improved. There are lots of things I would like added to the interface, so let Comcast know what you want added and I am sure eventually it will be added.

Ok, back to the shadows and recording the little HD that I do get and to DCTDictator glad to see you're out of the dungeon and back in the daylight.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by lrcasey
VOD is working in South SJ as of Dec 28 pm. My OnDemand button does the same as yours. However, if you use the Menu button and choose the OnDemand Icon, you will be able to access the OnDemand programs. I saw the CBS morning show and evening news, a number of kids programs, etc. Works pretty well.

Thanks for the info....the menu works as you said, BUT my VOD service does NOT work for me here in South San Jose. After pressing a few selections, I get error messages stating something about my tuner and to call Comcast referencing error "SRM-8001". The CSR is "hitting" my box and now I have to wait and see. Anyone else having this problem?

Originally posted by Almighty1
bmark,

What are the two letters right after the 443 on yours? I wonder if anyone got a 438-442 box since it seems like there are 436-437 and then the number jumps to 443.

TC is the two letters after 443 on my box.

A quick update. Tech came out. replace the rat's nest in the access panel with a straight 8-way splitter. Added my drop amp (ramped amplification - pointer to it from this forum - thanks guys) and all is right with the world. 50% AGC, SNR around 35 - good's all the way around.

Asked the tech about the DVR in Livermore valley. They have them, they have the right remotes. Does not require digital package, i.e. basic cable is sufficient or if you already have a HD box and get HD content then you can get/use the DVR.

His only comment is make sure it gets good ventilation. They will burn up.

Best,
jeff
P.S. this forum really moves fast! Happy New Year.

VOD is working fine for me too here in South SJ.

I think I've been looking more VOD than anything the last couple of days :P

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Re upgrading 550 Mhz systems, a key issue is this:


Nice post, these are all questions that need to be asked of Comcast and hopefully they will provide answers, my suspicion is that they wont or at the most it will be in general terms. Comcast certainly will not come right out and say, "No, we're not going to add anything additional to 550MHz systems" for fear of losing subscribers. Any business will be purposely vague when it come to something like this, especially being a monopoly to a large degree. I think the next 6 mos will be very interesting as by then DirecTV will have provided LiL HD and there will be no compelling reason to stay with Comcast. Yes, the Comcast DVR is nice and I like it a lot, and it's cheap, but the full boat of programming from DirecTV is about $25-35 less a month than Comcast is and that adds up, especially with cheaper NDS DVR coming out later in 2005 from DirecTV.

Personally I would like to stay with Comcast, but they have to give me a reason, maybe the digital/analog dual carriage thing talked about earlier will be the reason. With cablcos losing subs left and right to satcos they will certainly need to do something with these 550MHz systems. Sonoma, you may be right, Comcast may sell off the older systems.

Originally posted by mds54
Thanks for the info....the menu works as you said, BUT my VOD service does NOT work for me here in South San Jose. After pressing a few selections, I get error messages stating something about my tuner and to call Comcast referencing error "SRM-8001". The CSR is "hitting" my box and now I have to wait and see. Anyone else having this problem?

Looks like the "hit" to the DVR receiver may have taken care of it.....

I am a brand new subscriber to Comcast (switched from Dish Network), specifically to take advantage of DVR and HD channels over cable. As it turns out, where I live (Hayward) is still a 550Mhz system and so I only get 3.5 HD channels (ABC/NBC, PBS after 8pm, and ESPN HD). I was explicitly told I would get INHD/INHD2, DiscHD, NFL HD, CBS HD, etc, but it turns out I do not, so I am fairly ticked off. I would also call this a clear case of misinformation by the CSR who should have known better. I talked to a supervisor at the customer service number who claimed that they were working on the network now and it should be upgraded in a few months - mid 2005 at the latest. But the tech who installed the system claimed it would be over a year before they upgraded the 550MHz system. So a few questions:

1) Does anyone know any plans to upgrade the Hayward/San Leandro area?

2) Does anyone know the name of anyone at Comcast who I could ask?

3) If I decide to stick with Comcast in spite of the lower channels, I will want to run an antenna to an OTA receiver to at least get CBS and FOX. I only have one cable run inside my walls now. I don't believe this is possible, but just to check, is there any type of device that will allow me to "diplex" both an OTA antenna signal and a cable signal on a single coax line (similar to what you can do with an OTA signal and a satellite signal)? I know the frequencies overlap, but perhaps a "bandwidth stacker" of some sort so I don't have to figure out how to run another wire through the inside of my walls?

Thanks!

Originally posted by delphi
I am a brand new subscriber to Comcast (switched from Dish Network), specifically to take advantage of DVR and HD channels over cable. As it turns out, where I live (Hayward) is still a 550Mhz system and so I only get 3.5 HD channels (ABC/NBC, PBS after 8pm, and ESPN HD). I was explicitly told I would get INHD/INHD2, DiscHD, NFL HD, CBS HD, etc, but it turns out I do not, so I am fairly ticked off. I would also call this a clear case of misinformation by the CSR who should have known better. I talked to a supervisor at the customer service number who claimed that they were working on the network now and it should be upgraded in a few months - mid 2005 at the latest. But the tech who installed the system claimed it would be over a year before they upgraded the 550MHz system. So a few questions:

1) Does anyone know any plans to upgrade the Hayward/San Leandro area?

2) Does anyone know the name of anyone at Comcast who I could ask?

3) If I decide to stick with Comcast in spite of the lower channels, I will want to run an antenna to an OTA receiver to at least get CBS and FOX. I only have one cable run inside my walls now. I don't believe this is possible, but just to check, is there any type of device that will allow me to "diplex" both an OTA antenna signal and a cable signal on a single coax line (similar to what you can do with an OTA signal and a satellite signal)? I know the frequencies overlap, but perhaps a "bandwidth stacker" of some sort so I don't have to figure out how to run another wire through the inside of my walls?

Thanks!

Delphi,

1) They have not published any plans to upgrade the 550Mhz network you are on...I'm 99% sure the info the CSR Supervisor gave you is incorrect (dont hold your breath for the upgrade

2) I would send your story to Wallack, Todd [TWallack@sfchronicle.com]. He is planning to do an article about the issue of 550Mhz networks in the SF Chronicle next week..I'm sure comcast will be listening to what he writes.

3) It will be easier and cheaper to fish a wire through the wall (try attaching a another coax to the end of your existing wire and then tape a 2nd line to your existing one and pull it back through)

-Steve

Hrm...no VOD for me yet!! Then again I don't have DSCHD either. I think next time I move I'm going to move to the area that has the most HD content haha.

Originally posted by delphi
I was explicitly told I would get INHD/INHD2, DiscHD, NFL HD, CBS HD, etc, but it turns out I do not, so I am fairly ticked off.

This was my biggest complaint with Comcast. Even today if you call and ask if people in Saratoga get all these channels, they will say yes, even though we do not. I had to eat the installation fee but I had them take the box back and I went to Satellite.

Originally posted by delphi
I am a brand new subscriber to Comcast (switched from Dish Network),

Thanks!

Have you received a bill yet? I'm curious as to what you are paying, if it's the same as a 750-860MHz system, Mr. Wollack would be very interested in that.

Is there any way to record programs based on time on 6412?

like say record anything on channel 2 from 6:30 to 7:30 Mon-Fri?

Keenan,

I got a "special deal" because I was a satellite customer. Basically it ends up being $60 for Digital Gold (HBO+Starz), 1 DVR, and 1 additional digital box. It is a decent deal, and the only reason I switched, as I figured this was cheaper than paying $550 for Dish's HD DVR. This deal is only good for 12 months. After 12 months the price jacks up to I believe around $100 - at which point I will switch back to Dish or DirectTV since their HD DVR prices will have dropped. Or sooner if they are not going to upgrade this system. But the non-discounted price I will be charged (it is on my bill also) is exactly the same as everyone in the areas that get twice the number of channels...

Originally posted by lpaxmember
Is there any way to record programs based on time on 6412?

like say record anything on channel 2 from 6:30 to 7:30 Mon-Fri?

Yes, hit Menu, then the DVR menu from the Quick Menu, then DVR Schedule and then Create Manual Recording.

(Repost: Originally posted as a new thread instead of as a reply to thread to this thread)

New Comcast DVR install problems

I've been lurking here for the past couple months. Great board but I'm a little stuck and I haven't seen this problem posted yet. Apologies if I missed it.

Got the DVR install last night. Tech was late (1800) but at least called to tell us. We've had the HD box for the last 3 weeks without any reception problems.

Tech installed the box in same place as other box with no cable changes to TV. I installed the original HD myself running both DVI and component cables to the appropriate inputs. Tech left while unit was still dl'ing. Tech stated that our home was 'over-amplified' (10-20 ?) and thought we had an amplifier which we don't.

Once the unit dl'ed I turned on the box and got green lines all over the TV with a degraded PQ through the components and a very murky picture via the DVI (no green lines) which also was not in the correct aspect (4:3). (I also noticed this with the original HD box).

I unplugged the box, adjusted the component cables and unplugged the DVI altogether. Green lines went away but PQ was a lot worse than the original HD box itself in both HD and SD stations and INHD channels were so pixelated that they were unwatchable.

Green lines returned after aprox 1 hour. Per Comcast's CSR advice I unplugged the box and green lines went away but came back later although not as frequent as before. This AM INHD 1and 2 are still pixelated and PQ is still a lot worse than with original box. All the DVR recording functions are working well however.

Called the Tech this morning who said if he got a chance he would check the outer box if he got a chance and earliest that Comcast could setup an appointment to check it is next week...

Any quick fix suggestions as I am in panic mode because of the CAL game tonight!

Thanks for the help and sorry that I'm pawning Comcast tech support on you but as you know the CSRs are pretty useless.

quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by lpaxmember
Is there any way to record programs based on time on 6412?

like say record anything on channel 2 from 6:30 to 7:30 Mon-Fri?
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Yes, this REPEAT recording based on time(not title) was very important to me(available in Tivo), and it's possible, but not obvious that it was available.

Basically, you go through the manual recording step under the "DVR schedule" menu. It will seem like you're doing a one-time manual recording. Don't give up, and go through the steps with choosing the time, date and channel. Then in a couple of steps or so, you will see a button for "more options" or something like that. If you press that, you will see the first option being "Repeat", which has "Everyday", "Mon-Fri" etc. This will set up a manual repeat recording for a specific time.

These recordings show up as "Manual recording at time xx.xx on xx" unlike in Tivo, which displays the name of the program, but it's no big deal. The capability itself is more important.

For example, The Tonight show comes twice at 11:35PM and 2:05AM, and if you do just a title based series recording it'll record both(no matter if you specify new/repeats or whatever), which is a bigtime annoyance, given the limited disk space on the 6412. I also get some international channels that repeat programs upto 3 times a day, so without this capability 6412 would almost be a no go.

Originally posted by mds54
...BUT my VOD service does NOT work for me here in South San Jose. After pressing a few selections, I get error messages as soon as it goes to "play" mode stating something about my tuner and to call Comcast referencing error "SRM-8001".

Still not working......after sending a "hit" to the DVR receiver and initiating a new download, the problem is still occuring. How are the rest of you able to get VOD without this error message?

'Still not working......after sending a "hit" to the DVR receiver and initiating a new download, the problem is still occuring. How are the rest of you able to get VOD without this error message?'

I was getting the same error on the VOD screen for the first 2 weeks I had my HD only box. It eventually started working on it's own despite being 'hit' numerous times by Comcast. I have a feeling it's an internal Comcast problem.

Originally posted by keenan
Nice post, these are all questions that need to be asked of Comcast and hopefully they will provide answers, my suspicion is that they wont or at the most it will be in general terms. Comcast certainly will not come right out and say, "No, we're not going to add anything additional to 550MHz systems" for fear of losing subscribers. Any business will be purposely vague when it come to something like this, especially being a monopoly to a large degree. I think the next 6 mos will be very interesting as by then DirecTV will have provided LiL HD and there will be no compelling reason to stay with Comcast. Yes, the Comcast DVR is nice and I like it a lot, and it's cheap, but the full boat of programming from DirecTV is about $25-35 less a month than Comcast is and that adds up, especially with cheaper NDS DVR coming out later in 2005 from DirecTV.

Personally I would like to stay with Comcast, but they have to give me a reason, maybe the digital/analog dual carriage thing talked about earlier will be the reason. With cablcos losing subs left and right to satcos they will certainly need to do something with these 550MHz systems. Sonoma, you may be right, Comcast may sell off the older systems.

Well, you summed up my sentiments exactly. Cable is definitely the easiest solution out there, but at least in our area it doesn't deliver. I like the DVR (other than the freeze up problem I'm still having), but I'm sure the purchase price will start dropping significantly pretty soon, and COMCAST is going to have to give us a reason to stay with them. Right now, I don't see it.

Originally posted by bmark
Update on box locking up all the time. A tech came out yesterday and swapped out the box. The new box seems to work pretty well. I noticed it freezed up the picture a couple times so I went and removed my splitter on the cable line. Other than that it seems to be working fine.

My experiment with removing the splitter was not as successful as I originally posted. I did see some freeze up even with the outside cable fed directly to my HD TV. I've got a tech coming out today to try to fix it. I'm not especially optimistic, though, as these intermitent problems are a bitch.

And, the "no split" arrangement is impractical anyway. There's absolutely no way I'd stay with cable if I could only run 1 TV off of it.

wow, woke up this morning and found out on demand was working, this is KICK @$$! AWESOME!

Does anyone have an update as to when we can expect FOX HD?

Originally posted by Mikef5
I swore I wasn't going to get involved with this again but I just can't let this go without a comment. I tend to agree with Davisdog and Keenan with the definition of upgraded or not upgraded, the 2% area is not upgraded to the same standards as the 750 and above areas. I am a customer, since the days of TCI, and all I know is that I pay the same price for Comcast services and I don't get the same channels as the rest of the Bay Area. That in my opinion is not upgraded to the same standards as the rest of the Bay Area is.

I don't think that anyone is calling Comcast a lier but what they call upgraded and what a customer calls upgraded is not the same. It's a matter of semantics and they are good at semantics. So when Comcast says that all systems are upgraded are they lying ?? No, in their definition of upgraded. Are they telling the truth ?? No, in the definition of upgraded by a customer. What you need to do is ask the right question. Are all systems upgraded to the same level and services ??? I will let Comcast answer that question or maybe Mr. Wollack could propose that question to Comcast.
Let's not get bogged down with semantics but lets get all the systems up to the same standards and level of service.

...

Laters,
Mikef5

Mikef5, you misunderstood what I said. The issue isn't Comcast's definition, it's the industry's definition. If someone came along and insisted on calling main memory as "CPU cache", they would be flogged and rightly so. Yet, someone might consider this reasonable in isolation if you are thinking about the memory as a cache of the disk. The analogy isn't perfect, but trying to change industry terms and then hold people accountable for these definitions isn't fair.

As for variety in services, don't you remember AT&T Broadband? Heck, these guys had a way bigger variety of technology in the Bay Area before Comcast bought them. Some systems were 750 with 2-way, others were 550 with 2-way, and the biggest systems were 330 with no 2-way. Hercules had more advanaced services than San Francisco, and folks in nice neighborhoods were screaming for Internet service. Things have come a long way.

Why do you think service has to be uniform in a service area? It's not that long ago that all these systems were very different and run by different companies. The franchise authorities are different for the different areas, so why should you expect consistency? Why beat up Comcast when your franchise authorities control the amount of spectrum dedicated to public access and such. They failed to get Comcast to commit to a rebuild with 750 at the last franchise renewal after all. They are supposed to be looking out for you.

I'm not saying these aren't nice things, but I don't understand why people complain comcast isn't delivering it when no other cable operator did it before in this market?

I have been around the industry for awhile, so maybe that's why I have this perspective. The whole industry has come a long way in 10 years.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM
I'm not saying these aren't nice things, but I don't understand why people complain comcast isn't delivering it when no other cable operator did it before in this market?

I have been around the industry for awhile, so maybe that's why I have this perspective. The whole industry has come a long way in 10 years.

I can't speak for Mikef5, but I'm not interested in blaming anyone. I just want to get the best service I can at my residence. If Comcast can give that to me, great. If not, I see no reason to wait around until they can, especially when they offer contrictory and confusing info whenever I ask them when I'll be getting "x" service.

Originally posted by John Mace
My experiment with removing the splitter was not as successful as I originally posted. I did see some freeze up even with the outside cable fed directly to my HD TV. I've got a tech coming out today to try to fix it. I'm not especially optimistic, though, as these intermitent problems are a bitch.

And, the "no split" arrangement is impractical anyway. There's absolutely no way I'd stay with cable if I could only run 1 TV off of it.

My DVR box seems to work perfect since I removed the splitter on the cable line in the living room. I still have a splitter on my tv and cable modem in the bedroom with no problem. I'm not sure if that made a difference or not. In your case, it sound like there is a signal issue somewhere.

Originally posted by MikeSM
Mikef5, you misunderstood what I said. The issue isn't Comcast's definition, it's the industry's definition. If someone came along and insisted on calling main memory as "CPU cache", they would be flogged and rightly so. Yet, someone might consider this reasonable in isolation if you are thinking about the memory as a cache of the disk. The analogy isn't perfect, but trying to change industry terms and then hold people accountable for these definitions isn't fair.

As for variety in services, don't you remember AT&T Broadband? Heck, these guys had a way bigger variety of technology in the Bay Area before Comcast bought them. Some systems were 750 with 2-way, others were 550 with 2-way, and the biggest systems were 330 with no 2-way. Hercules had more advanaced services than San Francisco, and folks in nice neighborhoods were screaming for Internet service. Things have come a long way.

Why do you think service has to be uniform in a service area? It's not that long ago that all these systems were very different and run by different companies. The franchise authorities are different for the different areas, so why should you expect consistency? Why beat up Comcast when your franchise authorities control the amount of spectrum dedicated to public access and such. They failed to get Comcast to commit to a rebuild with 750 at the last franchise renewal after all. They are supposed to be looking out for you.

I'm not saying these aren't nice things, but I don't understand why people complain comcast isn't delivering it when no other cable operator did it before in this market?

I have been around the industry for awhile, so maybe that's why I have this perspective. The whole industry has come a long way in 10 years.

Thanks,
Mike

Mike,
I'll try this one more time and then I'm through. On your first point, yes, it is an industry definition but even that definition doesn't say that 550 is the standard on which to define what is upgraded and what is not. I have several emails from Mr. Germano ( West Coast Manager for Comcast ) where he talks about trying to get funding to upgrade the 550 MHz systems ( upgrade, his words not the industry ). I also have the email where he says Comcast is not going to upgrade the 550 systems , again his words. I have had several phone calls with Mr. Johnson, ( VP of Communication for Comcast ), where we talked about the 550 systems and why they are not going to be upgraded, his words about upgrading not the industry. So when two senior people of Comcast use the words upgrade in that context that is what I believe that's what they are talking about and what they mean.

On your second point. Yes, I remember AT&T, not broadband but cable , heck, I remember TCI cable. My brother was an installer and tester for TCI, he left when AT&T took over TCI. I'm not saying Comcast has done a bad job, on the contrary they've done a great job getting us to were we are now. If we still had TCI or AT&T we wouldn't have half the stuff we have now but that doesn't mean we should be satisfied with what is now offered or what could be offered. If you just sit there and hope things will change then you will be waiting a long time.

On your third point. The service I'm talking about is this. Comcast offers, as an example, Digital Platinum Package to all areas, but the channels that you get in one area is not the same as what another area has but the price you pay is about the same for all areas. I have looked up what Comcast charges for the major cities in the Bay Area and they are about the same, from $92 to about $94 for the Platinum Package, so you are getting more or less channels depending on what area you live in but pay about the same in all areas. Is this only a Comcast problem?? No, and I have gone to the franchise board for my area but they are not up to speed on the cable industry and had no idea on what was going on with Comcast, to be nice they are Cable Industry Challenged.

On your last point. Just because no one else did it doesn't make it right and if you don't let someone know what the problems are they will never get fixed. They will just think all is well with the world and continue on their merry way. I spent 20 years in the military and dealt with similar attitudes. Someone would have a good idea or suggestion but it would get shot down because, " That's the way it's always been done ", even though they agreed that the suggestion or idea had merit. Yes, it will always be done that way because no one takes the initiative to get it changed.

My final point. Let's drop semantics and talk about what is happening or not happening. I agree Comcast has made great strides fixing problems and adding more bandwidth to the Bay Area, but why stop there ? Let Comcast know what you expect and what you would like to see happen, who knows it may get added but it won't if you don't let your feelings known.

Enough of the soap box. I wait for VDO to hit the 2% areas, I got the DVR for Christmas so for New Years how about some VDO ???

Laters,
Mikef5

It works, thanks.
The interface is not very intuitive though.
Maybe it will be better if we get Microsoft FE sooner.


Originally posted by foobart
quote:
Yes, this REPEAT recording based on time(not title) was very important to me(available in Tivo), and it's possible, but not obvious that it was available.

Basically, you go through the manual recording step under the "DVR schedule" menu. It will seem like you're doing a one-time manual recording. Don't give up, and go through the steps with choosing the time, date and channel. Then in a couple of steps or so, you will see a button for "more options" or something like that. If you press that, you will see the first option being "Repeat", which has "Everyday", "Mon-Fri" etc. This will set up a manual repeat recording for a specific time.

These recordings show up as "Manual recording at time xx.xx on xx" unlike in Tivo, which displays the name of the program, but it's no big deal. The capability itself is more important.

For example, The Tonight show comes twice at 11:35PM and 2:05AM, and if you do just a title based series recording it'll record both(no matter if you specify new/repeats or whatever), which is a bigtime annoyance, given the limited disk space on the 6412. I also get some international channels that repeat programs upto 3 times a day, so without this capability 6412 would almost be a no go.

One benefit of Comcast based on an experience an hour ago...

You dont have to go out in the middle of a snow storm, wade through 4 feet of powder and throw snowballs at your Dish 25" up on your roof, just so you can knock off enough snow to get reception back on the Cal Game (Snowed in at our place in Tahoe..no cable up here)...Cal better come back or I'll be pissed (and cold)

Originally posted by davisdog
One benefit of Comcast based on an experience an hour ago...

You dont have to go out in the middle of a snow storm, wade through 4 feet of powder and throw snowballs at your Dish 25" up on your roof, just so you can knock off enough snow to get reception back on the Cal Game (Snowed in at our place in Tahoe..no cable up here)...Cal better come back or I'll be pissed (and cold)

Pray for more snow, the score is 24-14 at the half.....:eek: But at least it's being broadcasted in HD on ESPN so we can watch Cal lose in glorious HD :) Kind of like watching the 49er's losing in HD :p
Watch out for the yellow snow.

Laters,
Mikef5

I have been out of touch for a little while with the holidays, but going back a week or so and searching, I didn't see anything about the upcoming launch of ESPN2 HD next week (Jan 6th I think).

Anyone know if this will be added around here and what channel it would be? I am guessing 724 here in Dublin because ESPN HD is 723 and 724 is currently unused.

Thanks for any info anyone has.

Originally posted by MikeSM
Why beat up Comcast when your franchise authorities control the amount of spectrum dedicated to public access and such. They failed to get Comcast to commit to a rebuild with 750 at the last franchise renewal after all. They are supposed to be looking out for you.


Over the past few months, I have gone from blaming Comcast for poor sevice in Saratoga to now blaming the City of Saratoga. I worked with the city staff for months, and they they seemed more concerned with defending Comcast than pushing them to take any action. Admittedly, the city does not have THAT much leverage, but they could at least make an effort. Saratoga, in the end, never did a thing to push on Comcast. It is as if Comcast were paying them to roll over and play dead. Of course, the City does get a lot of money from Comcast, so maybe there is some basis for this.

Foobart and anybody else in Fremont having problems with channel 719 and 720.

Comcast have finally fixed INHD and INHD2. They are now coming in with a 36db SNR and working consistantly :)

The noise on Analog channel 65 and 66 has also cleared up. The interference source must have been leaking over it too. Not that I ever watched it.

Tomorrow morning I will have to call my Comcast escalation rep and thank them! It took them 2 months but they finally fixed it.

Kevin

Looks like I spoke too soon.

I have figured out the problem though.

Tonight with the bad weather Telemundo UHF channel 48 and Univision UHF Channel 14 OTA transmitterswere off the air.

I have checked INHD and INHD2's frequencies and they are at 681Mhz. So with:

UHF 48 - 675 MHz

The audio carrier will be straight on top of the 681Mhz for INHD. This will make the 256QAM undecodeable from the low SNR. There will be way too much noise.

It explains why it is bad in Fremont, we are right next to the Transmitter!

Comcast needs to either find where the OTA RF is getting into their system or move the channels to a frequency that is not interfered with.

Now how the heck do I find some one at comcast to explain it to!!!

Kevin

From Steve Kroner in the 12-31-04 SF Chronicle:

Void near end?: For months, Comcast customers with high-definition TV have been frustrated by the lack of the HD signal for KTVU (Channel 2). The void has resulted from a dispute between Cox Broadcasting, KTVU's parent company, and Comcast.

A source familiar with the negotiations says there is reason to believe the impasse is near an end. The source said it's "possible" KTVU's HD signal will be available on Comcast by Jan. 9, the date of Fox's first NFL playoff telecast. The source said it's "likely" KTVU-HD will be available by Feb. 6, the date of the Super Bowl on Fox.

searched through this thread and the comcast/iguide one...

but i cant seem to find a 30 sec programming code for the BLACK/ICX remotes...

only for the silver ones...

has someone done this already?

Originally posted by mazman49
From Steve Kroner in the 12-31-04 SF Chronicle:

Void near end?: For months, Comcast customers with high-definition TV have been frustrated by the lack of the HD signal for KTVU (Channel 2). The void has resulted from a dispute between Cox Broadcasting, KTVU's parent company, and Comcast.

A source familiar with the negotiations says there is reason to believe the impasse is near an end. The source said it's "possible" KTVU's HD signal will be available on Comcast by Jan. 9, the date of Fox's first NFL playoff telecast. The source said it's "likely" KTVU-HD will be available by Feb. 6, the date of the Super Bowl on Fox.

While I'm not going to start printing my "HD Super Bowl Party" invitations yet, this is definitely good news. Keep you fingers crossed...

Good news re KTVU HD. I would love to be a fly on the wall to know the exact details of what is causing the seeming breakthrough in negotiations and what the remaining contractual details are.

I hope this is not a disenguous marketing ploy designed to slow defections to DirecTV now that DirecTV has ABC HD, NBC HD, CBS HD and (for those with a waiver or an appropriate service address) FOX HD.

Here is one factor which I think has positively influenced negotiations:

Recently, Cox Communications (cable company) recently completed its conversion from a publicly traded company to a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, which also owns KTVU and other television stations around the country.

Prior to the conversion, Cox Communications took the same position as Comcast regarding compensation for digital (HD) signals. But the television station group of Cox Enterprises took essentially what was a contrary position regarding such compensation.

This dissonance between the positions of two Cox Enterprises subsidiaries (Cox Enterprises controlled a majority of Cox Communications' shares while the latter was publicly traded) regarding compensation for digital signals was rationalized in part by executives at the respective businesses as a justifiable difference in business philosophy by two businesses with different ownership. Regardless of whether you agreed with this reasoning, the basic fact was true because a substantial portion (but less than a majority) of Cox Communications was not owned by Cox Enterprises.

However, now both the Cox cable company and the Cox television ownership group are entirely 100% owned by Cox Enterprises. So there is no longer any "different" ownership argument. (Notwithstanding different corporate subsidiaries which now exist primarily for tax and regulatory purposes.)

So, it is now significantly more difficult to justify the dissonance between the Cox cable business and the Cox television station group.

Bottom line: Cox Cable going 100% private was good for KTVU HD carriage on Comcast.

Of course, like fender, I will believe it once we get word that all the t's have been crossed and i's dotted and the respective corporate execs have all signed on the dotted lines.

Note: IIRC, the direct fiber feed for KTVU HD from Sutro to Comcast is already set up, so we needn't worry about that technical detail taking up valuable time after the contractual documents are signed.

Originally posted by bmark
My DVR box seems to work perfect since I removed the splitter on the cable line in the living room. I still have a splitter on my tv and cable modem in the bedroom with no problem. I'm not sure if that made a difference or not. In your case, it sound like there is a signal issue somewhere.

My GI1443TD box has been working perfectly without any freezes or any other problems for over 48 hours since I got it. The only thing is I noticed when I hit the Live TV button, the bar sometimes is all white and the yellow bar is at the wrong position and later updates itself. This probably is a bug in the software. Did you get a Seagate hard drive on yours too? I wonder what were the serial number for the first 6 characters for people who has the Maxtor hard drives as the three boxes I've had in the GI1436 and GI1443 all contained Seagate drives. So perhaps some of the boxes are newer revisions.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
I would love to be a fly on the wall to know the exact details of what is causing the seeming breakthrough in negotiations and what the remaining contractual details are.

You and me both, I think KTVU/Cox is starting to feel some pressure of being in the No. 6 DMA and not having their digital signal on the local cableco.


I hope this is not a disenguous marketing ploy designed to slow defections to DirecTV now that DirecTV has ABC HD, NBC HD, CBS HD and (for those with a waiver or an appropriate service address) FOX HD.


This would depend on who the source is, if the source is Comcast, well....

For an example of where Cox is on the other side of a similar dispute see this:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=4894018#post4894018

Originally posted by ldivinag
but i cant seem to find a 30 sec programming code for the BLACK/ICX remotes...

It can't be done ... you can confirm this by going to the ICXglobal web site and reading the detailed documentation on the remote. You may be able to pick up a silver remote at a Comcast local office if you really need the ability.

[Note: nice universal remotes are getting pretty cheap and may be a better option in the long run]

Originally posted by UCSB
It can't be done ... you can confirm this by going to the ICXglobal web site and reading the detailed documentation on the remote. You may be able to pick up a silver remote at a Comcast local office if you really need the ability.

[Note: nice universal remotes are getting pretty cheap and may be a better option in the long run]

I, too, have the black ICX remote w/o the "Setup" button (two of 'em, in fact, for both my DVRs).

So, a good universal remote, like a Harmony, would give me the ability to do the 30-second skip for my DVR, when the Comcast-provided remote won't ?? If that's true, there's another great incentive for a universal remote....

Originally posted by AVWH
I, too, have the black ICX remote w/o the "Setup" button (two of 'em, in fact, for both my DVRs).

So, a good universal remote, like a Harmony, would give me the ability to do the 30-second skip for my DVR ...

There are instructions for both the Pronto (which is what I'm using) and the Harmony on the iGuide thread. But, any nice learning remote can learn the code. If you have the ICX black remote, you can pick up a silver remote (even the one for the Motorola 6200 HD STB) program it and transfer the code to your new learning remote. I have the ICX black remote, but I also have the remote that came with my prior Motorola 6200. So I just programmed the 30 sec skip into the old remote then transferred all of the codes to my Pronto 3000.

More on the digital/analog simulcast.

http://www.cabledatacomnews.com/jan05/jan05-2.html
Cable Digital News

Originally posted by keenan
More on the digital/analog simulcast.

http://www.cabledatacomnews.com/jan05/jan05-2.html
Cable Digital News

Thanks for article, Keenan. If I'm reading this right, it looks like the simulcast can only happen in "high bandwidth" areas becasue (quoting the article):

"Comcast will keep its 80-channel or so analog lineup intact for its non-digital subscribers as it begins its transition to all-digital systems. So the MSO, while taking care not to lose any of its analog customers, will use up precious bandwidth transmitting the 80 channels in both analog and digital format."

Even though they then talk about the immediate benefits, the last bit of the article says this about Adelphia:

"...executives are studying their fully upgraded 750-MHz systems to see where they have enough capacity to carry the same channels in both analog and digital format."

So it looks like the only benefit to the simulcast is that channels that are normally analog will be in digital which will produce "higher quality pictures...for large TV's". However because the system will still support analog channels, more bandwidth will be needed for this. Personally, I don't see much benefit here since I don't really watched analog-based channels on my large HDTV.

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Good news re KTVU HD. I would love to be a fly on the wall to know the exact details of what is causing the seeming breakthrough in negotiations and what the remaining contractual details are.

I hope this is not a disenguous marketing ploy designed to slow defections to DirecTV now that DirecTV has ABC HD, NBC HD, CBS HD and (for those with a waiver or an appropriate service address) FOX HD.

Here is one factor which I think has positively influenced negotiations:

Recently, Cox Communications (cable company) recently completed its conversion from a publicly traded company to a wholly owned subsidiary of Cox Enterprises, which also owns KTVU and other television stations around the country.

Prior to the conversion, Cox Communications took the same position as Comcast regarding compensation for digital (HD) signals. But the television station group of Cox Enterprises took essentially what was a contrary position regarding such compensation.

This dissonance between the positions of two Cox Enterprises subsidiaries (Cox Enterprises controlled a majority of Cox Communications' shares while the latter was publicly traded) regarding compensation for digital signals was rationalized in part by executives at the respective businesses as a justifiable difference in business philosophy by two businesses with different ownership. Regardless of whether you agreed with this reasoning, the basic fact was true because a substantial portion (but less than a majority) of Cox Communications was not owned by Cox Enterprises.

However, now both the Cox cable company and the Cox television ownership group are entirely 100% owned by Cox Enterprises. So there is no longer any "different" ownership argument. (Notwithstanding different corporate subsidiaries which now exist primarily for tax and regulatory purposes.)

So, it is now significantly more difficult to justify the dissonance between the Cox cable business and the Cox television station group.

Bottom line: Cox Cable going 100% private was good for KTVU HD carriage on Comcast.

Of course, like fender, I will believe it once we get word that all the t's have been crossed and i's dotted and the respective corporate execs have all signed on the dotted lines.

Note: IIRC, the direct fiber feed for KTVU HD from Sutro to Comcast is already set up, so we needn't worry about that technical detail taking up valuable time after the contractual documents are signed.

SonomaSearcher,
I really hope this is what is really going to happen with the Fox HD being available to the Bay Area but unfortunately the people of the 2% areas will not see this added to our bandwidth deprived system. As a matter of fact when I had my DVR installed they were flabbergasted that it actually worked on the 550 system. We have not had any new channels added for a long time and until they do the all digital change over ( and that means dropping the analog channels ) we are not going to see any changes to our line up but we will see an increase in our cable bill. I just got my cable bill and with it the new pricing for Comcast's packages. The price for Digital Platinum has gone up from $92 to $96. I called Comcast and asked what the increase was based on and the CSR told me it was to pay for the upgrades ( upgrade was her words ) to the system. I informed her that no upgrades were done on the SaraMilgatos area that we are still at 550 MHz, to which she said ALL areas are going to pay for the upgrades. So it seems the 2% er's are going to pay for the upgrades and not get the benefits. Not a good situation to be in, I love the new DVR but with the price increase and the lack of channels to record it's just a nice toy that will get limited use. I was hoping that VDO would be available to the Saramilgatos area but when I talked to some of the techs they implied it would be shakey at best to be implimented on our system. Well, I'll give Comcast the benefit of a doubt and see how this plays out for the next couple of months, if I see no movement on this I'll reassess wether or not to stay with Comcast or cause another media stink. Oh, I did try and go through my Franchise Authority and they were of little use and said they had no control of what Comcast does or does not do.

Laters,
Mikef5

Originally posted by fender4645
Thanks for article, Keenan. If I'm reading this right, it looks like the simulcast can only happen in "high bandwidth" areas becasue (quoting the article):


Yes, you saw the same thing I did, I don't see how this is going to be of any value on a 550MHz system, unless at such time the analog is completely shut off. Another case of higher bandwidth systems getting more for their dollar and nothing for us 2%'ers, while paying the same rate of course. :rolleyes:

Originally posted by Mikef5
SonomaSearcher,
I really hope this is what is really going to happen with the Fox HD being available to the Bay Area but unfortunately the people of the 2% areas will not see this added to our bandwidth deprived system.

Mike, I am 99.9% certain that there is bandwidth reserved for KTVU on 550MHz systems. In fact, according to a fairly knowledgeable tech who installed my original 6200, when I asked him about DiscoveryHD, he said there was actually room on the system but that a decision was made to hold off, presumably for "more important" channels, of which KTVU would be one. I would be flabbergasted if Comcast did not put KTVU-HD on 550MHz systems due to BW restrictions, I would get the local media and have them watch as I torch my 6412 right in front of the Comcast office. :D

Originally posted by keenan
Mike, I am 99.9% certain that there is bandwidth reserved for KTVU on 550MHz systems. In fact, according to a fairly knowledgeable tech who installed my original 6200, when I asked him about DiscoveryHD, he said there was actually room on the system but that a decision was made to hold off, presumably for "more important" channels, of which KTVU would be one. I would be flabbergasted if Comcast did not put KTVU-HD on 550MHz systems due to BW restrictions, I would get the local media and have them watch as I torch my 6412 right in front of the Comcast office. :D

Keenan,

I just hooked up my LG 4200a, hd receiver for OTA and cable QAM, just to see what is on with no cable box. I saw the SHO channels are unencrypted, a promotional I presume, but what was interesting is a channel that seems to be showing what's available on ON DEMAND, this channel is not on the 6412 box or in the guide. It seems the head end is blocking this channel from the Motorola box but is viewable with a digital receiver. What I hope this means is VDO is being tested in the Saramilgatos loop and maybe available sooner than later. But then again my hopes have been dashed before but it is interesting. So anyone in the Saramilgatos loop and you have a digital receiver that will do QAM scan for channel 72-3, that's what it is in Milpitas.

Laters,
Mikef5

Short update, the channel that is showing up with the digital reciever is called E News Live for Comcast.

Laters,
Mikef5

Heads Up...

For all you people with new DVRs, you might want to set it to record Rose Parade tomorrow on Discover HD. Last year it was dazzling.

Originally posted by hiker
Heads Up...

For all you people with new DVRs, you might want to set it to record Rose Parade tomorrow on Discover HD. Last year it was dazzling.

if it's not rained out... lol....

i have family down south right now, who gets a primo spots from friends who owns a building right on the route...

i'll tell them in HD it looks better... lol...

btw KRON will be doing the simulcast too, according to lastnite's brief promo during their news show. and the big "HD" was present too...

Ugh...I hate it when reporters give an exact date for something as anticipated as KTVU-HD. I just hope this isn't another case of something "likely" happening due to intense anticipation rather than fact. However, Comcast will piss a lot of people off if we don't see KTVU added this month. The thought of thousands of people canceling their HDTV premium and putting up an OTA box should make them shiver. Lets keep our fingers crossed, as I would like nothing more than to see the Super Bowl in HD, and that "possible" Jan 9th date would please everybody in the bay.

P.S. Does anybody know whats the reason Comcast doesnt have WB and UPN in HD?

Had my DVR installed yesterday afternoon. I think I was the last stop of the day -- the techs were in a hurry to take off for new year's eve. All I can say about recorded HD picture quality is WOW!!!!! The TIVO is history for HD channels.

Now I really want a hard drive upgrade. It looks like it took 5.5 GB to record a 30 minute HD show. The total storagae available for programs is 114 GB. By the same token, 30 minutes of SD seems to take 1-1.5 GB. Not that I want to do this, but I imagine that it would be possible to remove the 120GB HD, and clone it to a 300 GB drive. I am not quite techie enough to figure out how to do this.....

Edited to change MB --> GB

They were also supposed to install a cable card for me when they installed the DVR. They had no record that they were supposed to do so and told me that they were out of them at the warehouse. I figured this would give me PIP and allow me to watch one channel while the cable box is surfing (less of an issue now that the cable box has 2 tuners).

How have people been doing with cable cards in the bay area? and specifically with cable cards on Pioneer plasmas?

mikel51,
I guess you mean GB, not MB? I wish it was only 5.5 MB for 30 mins HD. :)


Rose parade just started on Disc HD, not on KRON-HD (black screen).

re OTA & FOX/KTVU- if you want your bases covered, plus get WB, UPN and other non-Comcast stations:
I'm selling my Samsung SIR-T150 HDTV OTA receiver (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/offering/list/-/B000065T4W/used/ref=olp_tab_used/002-5902523-7766451) ; I'll throw in a UHF antenna & mast for local deliveries :-)
PM me if anyone interested! (selling on amazon but can do local sale/deliv if want)
I'm still determining fair price, so far looks under $100 or so - paid $500 2 yrs ago :(

I too really, really want external firewire/HDD storage!! running out of space, and 4hr Rose Parade is really going to wack my free space :)

Everyone tune in the parade & enjoy! KGO (707) is also showing nice HD coverage, w/ 5.1 sound (but kind of muffled)
PS it NEVER rains on the Rose parade. ever. shhhh!

Originally posted by neoufo51
P.S. Asking again...does anybody with a standard cable installation w/ HD notice that INHD 1 and 2 are back??? Discovery is still gone for me, but those two are back in action and still looking great. Did Comcast lighten the restriction on their HD limitation? I mean, we do have to pay the same as a digital subscriber to get HD. [/B]

Yes, I noticed. I thought maybe my 20 minutes debating the english language with
the support manager may have had an impact, or maybe someone just hit the
wrong switch. Who knows. Enjoy it while it lasts. I'd love to get Discovery back too.
A bigger disk on the DVR would be nice too... but christmas is over so I guess santa
is not going to come through for us.

Originally posted by mikel51
Not that I want to do this, but I imagine that it would be possible to remove the 120GB HD, and clone it to a 300 GB drive. I am not quite techie enough to figure out how to do this

I'm pretty sure it's not as easy as "cloning" the hard drives. Other PVR's like Tivo and Replay do not dynamically look at the hard drive capacity and let you record based on how much actual space you have left. The software assumes you have a specific hard drive size and bases all of the calculations from that (i.e. total capacity, space remaining, etc.). I know when I upgraded my Replay, I also had to "tell" the software how big a hard drive I was putting in so it could re-calculate my available space. This, of course, was done through the open-source and/or 3rd party tools.

I'm hoping that due to the popularity of the Moto boxes, someone will step up and begin a "hacking project" for it. However if Moto and/or Comcast locked the box down, it could be virtually impossible.

In Livermore, INHD, INHD2 and ESPN-HD are all live. HDSE is not blocked though. Don't know for how long...

Hope that helps.
jeff

mikel51,

And those that want more storage, simply get another one. You'll have more space and two more tuners.

Quick question about the Moto 6200.

I just tried to connect it to my pj via dvi and I get all the standard def and menus. BUT when I try an HD channel I just get a blank screen with no meunus. Sound is present but my pj shows no signal.

I have a CRT pj and am using a DVI to VGA converter ( I know I know, HDCP, but I've been told that the converter handles this. Tried with a dvd player and the Star Wars DVD's and works.) Any thoughts on whats going on? Even if this is HDCP does the 6200 apply it to only the HD signals and not to the SD signals?

I've gone in the setup menu, and setup 16:9, 720p, and 480p and still nothing on the HD channels. Called the tech and confirmed that I have the hd activated. Any thoughts? I may need to get a component to vga adapter to try but would hate to waste money if I don't have to.

Thanks,

Andy

BTW, I'm in Fremont 94539 area.

Originally posted by AndyN
Quick question about the Moto 6200.

I just tried to connect it to my pj via dvi and I get all the standard def and menus. BUT when I try an HD channel I just get a blank screen with no meunus. Sound is present but my pj shows no signal.

I have a CRT pj and am using a DVI to VGA converter ( I know I know, HDCP, but I've been told that the converter handles this. Tried with a dvd player and the Star Wars DVD's and works.) Any thoughts on whats going on? Even if this is HDCP does the 6200 apply it to only the HD signals and not to the SD signals?

I've gone in the setup menu, and setup 16:9, 720p, and 480p and still nothing on the HD channels. Called the tech and confirmed that I have the hd activated. Any thoughts? I may need to get a component to vga adapter to try but would hate to waste money if I don't have to.

Thanks,

Andy

BTW, I'm in Fremont 94539 area.

On HD channels you can see their output on the component and s-video outputs. I'd connect something to one of those outputs to confirm that HD channels are working correctly. If they are, then I would connect the a DVI cable between the 6200 and a DVI device (monitor) to check DVI output. If that is working, I'd call manufacturer of the adapter you are using.

Originally posted by AndyN


I've gone in the setup menu, and setup 16:9, 720p, and 480p and still nothing on the HD channels.

If you are using a CRT projector you want 1080i set on the Moto box dont you?

Thanks guys.

Bill, what do you mean by "see their output on component and s-video"? Would I get an info screen of some sort via s-video? I tried 480p out via component to my scaler and then to my pj and do get SD channels. Just nothing on the HD channels.


Keenan,

I somewhat prefer 720p for my pj since I'll mainly be watching sports in HD. But when I used an OTA HD receiver 1080i was indeed beautiful. But unfortunately 1080i doesn't work either.

Andy

Is the PJ HDCP compliant? If so, it sounds like the converter is doing something wrong.

Well, my pj is not HDCP compliant but the converter I'm using supposedly takes care of it. And from some testing I think it does lift the HDCP requirements. I'll have to get a component to VGA transcoder to check the component outs.

But, does the 6200 apply HDCP at all times? or just with HD signals?


Andy

Originally posted by AndyN
Well, my pj is not HDCP compliant but the converter I'm using supposedly takes care of it. And from some testing I think it does lift the HDCP requirements. I'll have to get a component to VGA transcoder to check the component outs.

But, does the 6200 apply HDCP at all times? or just with HD signals?


Andy

What's the make and model of that converter? I would be really surprised if it stripped out the HDCP on the signal, it would defeat the whole purpose of having the HDCP there in the first place. The thing is, I'm not sure if the STB is HDCP compliant, I don't think it is, which means something that converter is doing is causing the problem. The STB applies 5C CP, you can check on each channel by going into the diagnostics menu.

Before I hooked up surround sound from my 6412, the iGuide showed most HD movies as 5.1 Dolby. Since I've actually HAD surround sound to go with my HDTV, I've not been able to find a single HD channel showing movies in 5.1 Dolby, according to the iGuide (not even HBO-W).

What gives?

Just called Comcast. They tell me I would have to go from paying about $25 a month after taxes for limited basic and the HDTV box to $55.95 before taxes for the Expanded Basic (channels 2 to 80-something) and the DVR. So it would probably be like $35 more a month after taxes.

Then there's the $15.99 charge for installation.

So is it worth it guys? I tried to count the number of HDTV programs I would record with the DVR. It's like 5 programs now. If they added KTVU, it would add 3-5 more.

I've had my Motorola DCT6412 DVR from Comcast for two days now.

In general, I think it's a very good piece of equipment. Far superior to the previous Moto cable box I'd been using, but not as user-friendly as a Tivo. I haven't had any crashes or reboots, and the disk drive is acceptably quiet.

But I have been seeing some problems relating to the way high definition programming is handled in the iGuide. I wonder whether others are seeing this as well. High-definition programs do not show up in the "Search by Title" list. Showings of Lost appear on SD channel 7 but not on HD channel 707, for example. I have to set a manual program to record the show on 707. This seems to be the case for all HD shows.
The "What's on HD Now" menu button shows me only three HD channels: I get 703 (DKNTV), 704 (KROND), and 723 (ESPND), and that's all. No sign of 705, 707, 709, 730, etc. These do show up in the Guide display, but it seems that the iGuide does not know that they are HD channels.Are others seeing these issues also?

Does anybody know the right people to contact to try to get these fixed?

Thanks,
Bob in Sunnyvale

Hard drive for DCT6412?
Has anybody investigated expanding theirs?
Is there any possibility that an external firewire drive would work on the firewire ports?
I'm assuming the internal drive is ATA. Has anybody ever heard of an ATA bus that supports only one drive?
cheers,
Sam

Originally posted by bweissman
I've had my Motorola DCT6412 DVR from Comcast for two days now.

In general, I think it's a very good piece of equipment. Far superior to the previous Moto cable box I'd been using, but not as user-friendly as a Tivo. I haven't had any crashes or reboots, and the disk drive is acceptably quiet.

But I have been seeing some problems relating to the way high definition programming is handled in the iGuide. I wonder whether others are seeing this as well. High-definition programs do not show up in the "Search by Title" list. Showings of Lost appear on SD channel 7 but not on HD channel 707, for example. I have to set a manual program to record the show on 707. This seems to be the case for all HD shows.
The "What's on HD Now" menu button shows me only three HD channels: I get 703 (DKNTV), 704 (KROND), and 723 (ESPND), and that's all. No sign of 705, 707, 709, 730, etc. These do show up in the Guide display, but it seems that the iGuide does not know that they are HD channels.Are others seeing these issues also?

Does anybody know the right people to contact to try to get these fixed?

Thanks,
Bob in Sunnyvale

I haven't used the "search" function, but the HD button on the "home" page is pretty worthless-- it shows 703, 723, and 730 all the time, but no other stations. I'm generally awar of what is and what isn't supposed to be in HD, so it's not really a bid deal to me.

I've just tried searching by title and you're right, "Desperate Housewives" shows up only on channel 7, not 707. Obviously, there are some kinks to be worked out in the software/guide.

Question, how can you be sure you're at the beginning of a recorded program when you turn on the TV, so you don't, for example, see the 4th quarter score of a basketball game when you intended to watch from the beginning). With TiVo, you can avoid the problem by pressing "Now Playing" 2x before the TV is turned on. Then when it comes on, you're in the TiVo Central screen. But with the Moto, when you're in the guide, etc., you have the live screen in the upper corner. Any ideas?

Also, last night, I was taping the Warriors game while we went out to dinner. Came home, tried hard to avoid the upper right corner of the screen and got the game back to the beginning (it wasn't over yet). Fast forwarded to the second half. Now's the weirdness. All of a sudden, the Moto went black, there were ---- in the LED screen on the box and all my guide information was gone ("to be announced"), and if I hit the menu button, it said "This information will be available shortly". A minute later, everything came back to normal AND the warriors game was recording again and showed up as a separately recorded program in "My DVR". ?????

Originally posted by AVWH
Before I hooked up surround sound from my 6412, the iGuide showed most HD movies as 5.1 Dolby. Since I've actually HAD surround sound to go with my HDTV, I've not been able to find a single HD channel showing movies in 5.1 Dolby, according to the iGuide (not even HBO-W).

What gives?

Apparently, all I had to do was post this - suddenly today, the HBO-W movies are showing up again in 5.1, and almost all the other HD programs also show the Dolby logo in the info bar. Weird.....

Originally posted by wco81
Just called Comcast. They tell me I would have to go from paying about $25 a month after taxes for limited basic and the HDTV box to $55.95 before taxes for the Expanded Basic (channels 2 to 80-something) and the DVR. So it would probably be like $35 more a month after taxes.

Then there's the $15.99 charge for installation.

So is it worth it guys? I tried to count the number of HDTV programs I would record with the DVR. It's like 5 programs now. If they added KTVU, it would add 3-5 more.

Ask for the digital tier (not package, just digital channels only) on top of your basic analog- that should qualify you for the DVR also. My brother's in the same spot, gave same advice, see how it works out... if they resist, try another CSR, too :)
That should only be around $10-15 more?

I think for HD it's worth it to get the Digital Classic tier, since they include INHD1-2, ESPN, DiscoveryHD, etc... more than just "network shows", they have a lot of good, "eye candy" stuff on there...
stuff like hdtv-converted IMAX stuff, few movies, nature & other specials etc, that look great!
Even the wife enjoys some of those specials, when she couldn't care less about network series, but likes the nature/travel/documentary/IMAX stuff on INHD & DiscHD!

I think that's worth the extra $10 a month...
certainly if it lets you get the HD-DVR.

I'm a Tivo fanatic (can't live w/o it), and now that I have HD recording...
I can finally watch HD, basically! No way to do live TV w/ a toddler and work and other demands, IMHO. You can record & keep some of the eye-candy shows to "demo" to friends whenever they come by too.

Another example, I recorded the "Fireworks" show (conclusion of Thunder over Louisville airshow) few days ago, for us to watch New Yrs Eve; saved it until then, watched it just before bed (on our time, not tv sched), so we could get "fireworks" experience, then go to bed on time, w/o staying up til midnight. Bunch of other stuff "accumulated" over time, watch it when we get to it- usually in multiple pieces, depending on toddler & wife schedule :)

Trust me, anything is worth it to get DVR!! Like Tivo says, your TV watching will never be the same (and you won't want to go back!!)

Well they turned of InHD to basic+HDTV subscribers like me.

But they've been back the past week so the only thing I don't have is Discovery HD. And Showtime HD has been on for the past couple of days that I've noticed.

On Comcast.com, Standard Cable is $24.99 for 3 months and $44.50 thereafter.

Digital Classic is $34.99 for 3 months and $54.45 thereafter.

Originally posted by wco81
Just called Comcast. They tell me I would have to go from paying about $25 a month after taxes for limited basic and the HDTV box to $55.95 before taxes for the Expanded Basic (channels 2 to 80-something) and the DVR. So it would probably be like $35 more a month after taxes.


I have the limited basic and the digital silver package for $28 on top of the ~$11 for limited basic analog. Digital silver includes one premium set--and I have HBO. Add $5 for HD and $10 for the DVR (since the DVR is so new, I am not sure if it will be $5 + 10 or just $10). The HD and DVR are definitely worth it to me.

Originally posted by SamEdwards
Hard drive for DCT6412?
Has anybody investigated expanding theirs?
Is there any possibility that an external firewire drive would work on the firewire ports?
I'm assuming the internal drive is ATA. Has anybody ever heard of an ATA bus that supports only one drive?
cheers,
Sam

Alot of discussion about it but nobody seems to have succeeded in replacing the internal drive. There is talk that motorola will upgrade the firmware in the future to allow firewire drives to be attached for extra storage but so far it doesnt work

Hi Folks,
If anybody has a JVC DH3kU or similar and a 6412 could you please send me PM?
thanks,
Sam

I live in Santa Rosa and I have been reading this thread for the last hour or so to try to understand the coming changes wrt digital service. Please indulge me while I ask a few basic questions.

Some background: I subscribe to Comcast analog cable. I use a PC-based PVR to record and watch saved content. The PC has two analog tuners fed by a splitter coming from the analog line. I own a HDTV TV (w/o tuner) with both DVI and component connections and I currently feed the PC display to the TV using component connections.

I have been considering the purchase of a PC-based HDTV tuner card that can tune unencrypted QAM64 and QAM256 signals because I have been told that Comcast broadcasts the OTA HD channels in an unencrypted format over analog cable. I neither receive nor want premium content.

Now the questions:

1) With the changes that have been proposed wrt analog simulcast, will I (in essence) get a digital signal "for free" along with my current analog signal? Will a STB box be required to tune the digital signal (thus necessitating the "upgrade" to basic digital)?

2) Will I still be able to receive the unencrypted OTA HD signals via my existing cable service?

3) Will the change to simulcasted signals require decoders at each device? As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, that would be very very messy.

Thanks,
Kevin

Originally posted by AndyN
Thanks guys.

Bill, what do you mean by "see their output on component and s-video"? Would I get an info screen of some sort via s-video? I tried 480p out via component to my scaler and then to my pj and do get SD channels. Just nothing on the HD channels.

I have a multiroom system. I feed HD to my main monitor, but use s-video to feed a TV in my gym. On the s-video feed you can watch all of the HD channels (they just are down shifted to 480i). I was just suggesting that you check on the s-video output to make sure that you are receiving your HD channels as the first diagnostic step in trying to figure out your problem. If the HD channels are black on the s-video connection then there is something wrong with your cable box and it is a waste of time to continue to try to dbug the problem.

Originally posted by avekevin
Now the questions:

1) With the changes that have been proposed wrt analog simulcast, will I (in essence) get a digital signal "for free" along with my current analog signal? Will a STB box be required to tune the digital signal (thus necessitating the "upgrade" to basic digital)?

2) Will I still be able to receive the unencrypted OTA HD signals via my existing cable service?

3) Will the change to simulcasted signals require decoders at each device? As someone mentioned earlier in the thread, that would be very very messy. 1) A lot remains to be determined. However, I believe any channel you get with limited basic would also be sent unencrypted QAM 64 when the digital simulcast starts. The expanded basic channels (most of the channels 35 through 82) would likely be encrypted QAM 64.

2) Yes, the HD locals should still be sent out unencrypted QAM 256.

3) If you are talking about the generic simulcast plans that Comcast has for all its systems by the end of 2005, the answer is no. Everything will remain the same but analog channels 2 through 82 will also be sent out in QAM 64 with digital standard definition (480i) picture quality. This will use a lot of bandwidth so any bandwidth deprived systems will not be implemented this way.

If you are talking about what might be happening in Santa Rosa sometime in the first or second quarter 2005, I am not sure what the answer is.

If the Santa Rosa plan is to have a device which converts certain digital channels back to analog where the signal enters the house, then it would seem only one device would be needed somewhere between where the signal enters the house and where the first split occurs. If this is the plan, you could still plug your old TV's directly into the coax at each drop.

However, if the Santa Rosa plan is to convert everything to QAM 64 without a device to downconvert it back to a standard analog signal, then a small STB will be needed at every TV. Essentially, every TV would be "forced" to go to digital cable with a smaller STB at every TV and channel changes would happen via the STB, not directly through the TV.

To find out which plan Comcast (and the City of Santa Rosa) are contemplating, the fastest way to find out for sure would be to contact the Santa Rosa City Manager's office. Also, keenan may already know which of these two plans is being contemplated (and perhaps both are being contemplated-- a lot depends on the digital to analog conversion technology out there and the relative costs of one method versus another).

I am in Fremont and I have a Sony Wega with built in tuner and cable card slot. I have limited basic comcast and was getting HD discovery (98.1) initially with a bunch of 480i channels. Then I ordered a cablecard, but contrary to what the CSR told me, I did not get any more HD channels than the HD Discovery I already got. Then about several weeks ago I lost the HD Discovery as well.

I called comcast again and ask if I get digital classic tier for $10, what do I get. And was told ABC NBC CBS PBS which I already have OTA, not even inHD.

Anybody in the same camp as me?

Originally posted by hbt
I called comcast again and ask if I get digital classic tier for $10, what do I get. And was told ABC NBC CBS PBS which I already have OTA, not even inHD. This is incorrect. Digital classic tier gives you INHD, INHD2 (including FSN Bay Area HD), ESPN HD, Discovery HD and HD Special Events (NFL GOTW in HD). It should also give you access to VOD, including HD VOD (if you rent the Comcast HD STB-- no VOD with cablecard).

Unless Comcast has recently changed its pricing/subscription requirements for these channels, which I have not heard anything about.

Originally posted by hbt
I am in Fremont and I have a Sony Wega with built in tuner and cable card slot. I have limited basic comcast and was getting HD discovery (98.1) initially with a bunch of 480i channels. Then I ordered a cablecard, but contrary to what the CSR told me, I did not get any more HD channels than the HD Discovery I already got. Then about several weeks ago I lost the HD Discovery as well.

I called comcast again and ask if I get digital classic tier for $10, what do I get. And was told ABC NBC CBS PBS which I already have OTA, not even inHD.

Anybody in the same camp as me?

Limited basic gets you ABC/NBC/CBS/PBS (and Fox when they add it)...the reason you got DiscHD was because they hadnt encrypted it (yet)...its not part of limited basic.

If you add the Digital Classic Package ($9.95/mth) you will get ESPNHD, DSCHD, InHD1, InHD2, Fox Sports Bay Area-HD, HD Special Events + 15 or so Non-HD channnels...its a pretty good deal (assuming you area has enough bandwidth for all of this...I think you do)

SonomaSearcher> If the Santa Rosa plan is to have a device which
SonomaSearcher> converts certain digital channels back to analog
SonomaSearcher> where the signal enters the house, then it would
SonomaSearcher> seem only one device would be needed somewhere
SonomaSearcher> between where the signal enters the house and
SonomaSearcher> where the first split occurs.

I defer to your more investigated expertise but I find it extremely hard to believe that any such device would be deployed at each house. As opposed to a set-top box which can convert a SINGLE QAM-64 (although I'd suspect QAM-256 would be used instead) Digital Station to an Analog Station makes a lot of sense, deploying a box which does it for ALL the currently Analog Stations sounds very expensive indeed!

What makes you think any such option is being considered? However "convenient" for all those hoping to stay sans-settop (e.g. they rely upon the Analog Cable tuning capabilities of their current equipment), this option doesn't appear to make any economic sense.

I do, however, entertain the possibility that such a "All Channel" QAM->Analog converter "box" might be deployed at the "neighborhood" level - adding more to the confusion abounding in discussions of what Comcast is doing where...

Keenan,

The box is a dtronics converter. You can catch current threads about it in the Video processor and CRT forum. It apparently works so I still confused. 480p via dvi all works ok but hd dvi doesn't. HD component works ok so everything is activated. I'll have to take the STB to a friends and try on their monitor straight out of the dvi output.

Thanks,

Andy

FYI - I have COMCAST Standard Cable which is the 2nd from lowest tier.

I receive channels 2-100 or so.

I also pay for HD and get NBC, KNTV, CBS, ABC, INHD 1&2, discovery, ESPN and special events HDTV channels.

You really dont need anything more for how much they charge us.

I wish they would get the TBS HD channel for L & O repeats.

If I have to watch the FOX Superbowl in Analog, I might be sick.

Originally posted by whitehorn
FYI - I have COMCAST Standard Cable which is the 2nd from lowest tier.

I receive channels 2-100 or so.

I also pay for HD and get NBC, KNTV, CBS, ABC, INHD 1&2, discovery, ESPN and special events HDTV channels.

You really dont need anything more for how much they charge us.

I wish they would get the TBS HD channel for L & O repeats.

If I have to watch the FOX Superbowl in Analog, I might be sick.

You are lucky to be getting InHD, Discovery, ESPN and HD SE...They are NOT part of the standard package...and paying the $5 for "HD" is only for the box (it doesnt give you the right to receive any particular HD channels)...either they have screwed up your account (in your benefit) or they dont have the encryption enabled in your area yet...good luck, hope they dont disappear anytime soon

What's on the Special Events HD channel?

Only thing ever on this channel is once a week you will get an NFL network game of the week. If I had NFL network, the channel would be useless.
Honestly nothing is ever on this channel, just a splash screen that seems to taunt me as I look for more HD content. I am not sure what they have planned for it. As I become more and more addicted to HD, I seem to wonder why I dont switch to Voom. Then again I have HDTV and DVR (TIVO) and it only costs me $10 more a month, so I guess that is why.

Originally posted by whitehorn
Only thing ever on this channel is once a week you will get an NFL network game of the week. If I had NFL network, the channel would be useless. Honestly nothing is ever on this channel, just a splash screen that seems to taunt me as I look for more HD content.

Other than the NFL HD Game of the Week, I stumbled onto a couple of pretty good HD movies last month, but you'd never know it because the Guide will always say "To Be Announced" even if there is an active program.

I figured out that the HDSE channel shows INHD programming when ever there is an INHD NBA game on the INHD1 or 2. I think it is provided to mso's to prevent the INHD channel from going dark when there is a black-out restriction of the game in their area.

Originally posted by edmc
I do, however, entertain the possibility that such a "All Channel" QAM->Analog converter "box" might be deployed at the "neighborhood" level - adding more to the confusion abounding in discussions of what Comcast is doing where... This seems most logical to me, as well. You would only need one converter per node, I would think. That would make it transparent to the consumer, and I presume cheaper than upgrading the fiber backbones. It might even give better analog picture quality, since the signal would be degrading over a shorter distance.

Just a quick newbie question:

I've moved back to Campbell after 3 years and plan to get an HDTV and the new Moto 6412 HD-DVR from Comcast- I thought I read on this thread that the 6412 isn't compatible with A/B systems but can't find the post.

When we used to live here with AT&T we had the A and B channels- Is this still the case and can I get a 6412 here in SW Campbell? I'm getting very worried- thanks!

Originally posted by 2cats1dog
Just a quick newbie question:

I've moved back to Campbell after 3 years and plan to get an HDTV and the new Moto 6412 HD-DVR from Comcast- I thought I read on this thread that the 6412 isn't compatible with A/B systems but can't find the post.

When we used to live here with AT&T we had the A and B channels- Is this still the case and can I get a 6412 here in SW Campbell? I'm getting very worried- thanks!

True the 6412 doesnt work on A/B systems, but that's irrevalent since the A/B System only had 330Mhz of bandwidth and couldnt support HD anyway. They are upgrading the area to a new Single Cable system (860Mhz capacity I believe) with HD, VOD, DVR, Internet etc... They should be done with most of it, I'm not sure if your area is cutover or not...you'll have to check..if its now single cable you are in great shape...if still A/B is should be redone shortly.

-Steve

Thanks Steve for the quick reply. I've been getting lots of telemarketing calls from Comcast that high speed internet is now available the past 3 months- So I guess we are upgraded with enough bandwidth. thanks!

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
Also, keenan may already know which of these two plans is being contemplated (and perhaps both are being contemplated-- a lot depends on the digital to analog conversion technology out there and the relative costs of one method versus another).

I'm not sure which method is going to be used. The initial information I got was that it would require a STB. Now whether that was a "box" per house or a "box" per TV, I don't know. The date mentioned was March and I was going to wait until Feb to start asking questions again, the contacts I have will know more by then.

Anyone with 6412 troubles?

I'm having a problem with the DVR on my 6412. Doing a search, I see that this is sometimes referred to a a phantom recording. I ave a recording of 0 minutes that has a date of 12/31/1989! I have tried various things to eliminate it, including deleting all other recordings and doing a reset by pulling the plug. Unfortunately, when I tried the reset, I ended up with another phantom. It says to call support with an error code of NH. I called, and they said it was not something they could fix online, so I have an appointment for tomorrow AM. I'm anticipating a box swap.

Does anyone know any info about defragging, formatting, etc on the DVR disk? Anyone else had this type of problem? The box seems to work well otherwise, but the phantom is troublesome in that doing things with it can cause problems. Trying to delete it can cause other recordings to be deleted. Trying to play it or move around (back to beginning, FF, etc.) can cause the box to lock up. This seems to be a serious bug,

Does anyone know if there are plans to allow networking, in particular, multi-room viewing such as is available with TiVo's Home Media Option?

Originally posted by dmlove51
Does anyone know if there are plans to allow networking, in particular, multi-room viewing such as is available with TiVo's Home Media Option?

Yes they have something on there roadmap called HMA...no idea when it will become available but we might here more about it at the Consumer Electronics Show that starts tomorrow in Vegas.

Here is a little info about it

http://www.motorola.com/mediacenter/news/detail/0,,4149_3504_23,00.html

Well UWB schemes are suppose to make an appearance at this CES.

The other thing people are talking about is "place-shifting" or the ability to access you home content on the road. Like Tivo2Go but more generalized.

Sling Media will show a $250 box that lets you hook up your Tivo or any other video source to the Internet and then access it with any Internet-connected device.

Remains to be seen if there is that big a market for people who HAVE to see their shows while on vacation.

I currently have the DCT5100 and a TiVo, and am thinking about upgrading to the 6412. A few questions:

1) Any reason not to swap the 5100 for a 6412 (aside from the $15 service call charge)?

2) I currently have the component output of the 5100 going to the TV (for HDTV viewing) and the S-Video going to the TiVo, which then goes to the S-Video of the TV. Would I keep the same setup with the 6412? I assume the TiVo's IR blaster could control the 6412 as well.

3) Someone in this thread talked about splitting the signal prior to the 6412, and sending one run to the TiVo and one to the DCT. But then the TiVo would only be able to record basic cable. Why would you do this?

Thanks!

(1) No.

(2) I don't really recommend trying to record from the 6412. Your recordings on the Tivo would be messed up if you operated the guides or menus. I would set up the Tivo to just record analog straight off of a cable split, rerunning guided setup with cable / no box. Then you can use the Tivo to record from all the analog channels, saving precious space on the 6412 for digital & HD recording.

(3) You can already record 2 digital / premium channels on the 6412, which would be better quality than what the Tivo can do off of its analog output. So why would you need the Tivo to record from these channels? If you run the Tivo off of analog that also gives you the option of recording 3 channels simultaneously. The question isn't why you would do this, it's why you *wouldn't* do this.

The Tivo would make a worst job of recording the digital cable channels that the 6412. The DCT 6412 will store all of the digital channels without the MPEG encoding step performed by the Tivo. The Tivo is better with the analog channels than the DCT6412 would be. Use the split method, that way you get the best quality with the analog channels and use the DCT6412 for all the others.

1) Using the Tivo would take a digital signal convert it to analog on the s-video and then into the Tivo to be MPEG encoded (again). What is the gain in this? (Recording analog channels this way would add another analog to digital encoding step.)

2) Using the DCT6412 for all the digital channels and the Tivo for the analog only channels allows all three tuners to be used. (Three shows could be recorded at once this way)

3) You can always transfer manually to the Tivo via the s-video any show you wanted to share using the Home Media option.

4) The ability to record the HD channels is a real joy. (Well worth the extra $5) The Tivo cannot do this. Dual tuners is also really nice.

Originally posted by petersw
I currently have the DCT5100 and a TiVo, and am thinking about upgrading to the 6412. A few questions:

Thanks!

You could always keep the 5100 as well as get the 6412...

Originally posted by ercrons
Anyone with 6412 troubles?

Does anyone know any info about defragging, formatting, etc on the DVR disk? Anyone else had this type of problem? The box seems to work well otherwise, but the phantom is troublesome in that doing things with it can cause problems. Trying to delete it can cause other recordings to be deleted. Trying to play it or move around (back to beginning, FF, etc.) can cause the box to lock up. This seems to be a serious bug,

I saw this on my box last weekend. Only once so far and it seemed to have cleared up after I unplugged the box. I'm watching for it again. I've seen a couple of other reports on this in the HDTV Recorders thread. And I think all of us got caught in the natural tendency to try and delete the phantom, but then you wind up deleting real progams as you say ... It is ugly.

I do have the TIVO hooked up to the SVideo output of the 6412. I plan to unhook it because I want to make sure that I don't have the TIVO programmed to change channels on the 6412 when it is supposed to be recording something with one of its two tuners. I haven't tried using the TIVO as an analog tuner yet for my plasma to see if it gives better picture quality than the 6412 or the tuner built into the television (the television tuner and the 6412 are about equal--pretty lousy for channels 2-6 and better for higher channels).

As others have pointed out, the TIVO has terrible picture quality compared to the 6412 recordings for any digital channels and especially for HD channels.

I've posted this question in at least one other thread before I came to this one, so apologies for the repeat. I'm in S.F. and would like to upgrade to the DVR--anyone notice reduction or significant degradation in PQ on non-HD channels on the 6412 vs Moto 6200?

Also, is there any update to an ETA for TNT in HD for S.F.? Would be cool to watch X-Files re-runs in HD....

Thanks!

I just had a 6412 DVR hooked up on 12/31 last week. I crashed it last night trying to program more than 5 different scheduled series events.

It did some phantom recording for 0-1 minutes in the middle of the night and again this morning. Once I got back home at 5pm today it seems to be wokring fine. I have a feeling problems like this arent going away. My box freezes up every once in a while but if you just channel up/down and go back to your show you are fine. It is a bit noisy I feel but I leave it on 24/7 all night long since I dont own it.

The new 6412 DVR menus are so far superior in terms of quality and speed that it is a no brainer to upgrade. The old multicolor menus of the 5100 series remind me of Atari pong games now.

In terms of analog PQ loss upgrading to DVR, I would say YES perhaps, but this Sonoma County area is notorious for some of the poorest analog signals in the bay area. The more I watch HD the more Analog looks worse and worse. Sort of like pulling out a cassette tape and listening to it after you have been listening to CD's for the past 15 years. I may be desensitized now.
The Comcast Tech said they are in the process of switching all analog over to digital soon, but I am not holding my breath.

While I don't have a Tivo, I do have a replay 5000 series DVR hooked to my 6412. The twin tuner design actually works pretty well with the replay - the 6412 can be programmed to record a program, and then the Replay IR blinks to the 6412 when it needs to record something, and the live video switches to the channel selected by the 6412, while the HD recording on the other tuner goes on.

There are a couple of good reasons for using a Replay (though not necessarily a Tivo). The most important is archiving. For example, my wife loves America's Test Kitchen. I record the episodes on the Replay, and then use DVArchive to offload them to my server. They can be played at anytime from the replays or PC's in the house, even on Xbox media centers. You can't archive programming to PC's effectively with the 6412.

The 2nd is related. You may want to play back programming recorded on the DVR in different rooms. I used to modulate channels, but since Comcast upgraded mmy system to 860, I had to hack things in my CATV system because I couldn't find modulators that operated above 860. Plus the quality was lousy compared to digital streaming. I can play programming recorded on the replay in the family room where the 6412 is there, or on a 2nd replay in the bedroom, or on Xboxes elsewhere in the house. The 6412's don't network, even if you paid the monthly fee to stick a 6412 in every room.

3rdly there is the issue of commercial skip. We record children's programming for my daughter, and I don't want her seeing commercials. She doesn't hit the 30 sec skip button on the remote when a commercial shows up. On the replay, the commercials are automatically bypassed. There is no auto commercial skip on the 6412.

Lastly there is the issue of storage. I have stuck a lot of expanded storage in the replays, close to 300 hrs worth on each. This allows me to store lots of episodes (and using the theme capabilities on the Replay, it's easy to do!) and store them all locally. The ones I really care about can then be archived at my lesuire. The 6412 isn't hackable (it's Comcast's equipment anyway - I'm just leasing it), and doesn't yet support expanded storage.

All these are good reasons to use a Replay as a front end to a 6412, for non-HD programming. And I find the quality of recording digital and even HD content via the 6412's S-video connection to be pretty good. In fact, for analog, the quality is much better than watching it natively on the TV via a component feed from the 6412. Analog TV looks awful feeding a TV set via component with 1080i format, because the TV's noise reduction and frame doubling isn't done when feeding it via component or DVI. But it does get triggered via S-video. On my set, that's a big deal. The 6412 has a lousy comb filter and frame doubler in it, at least compared to my TV's.

Don't get me wrong, the 6412 is a nice box, and I like the Comcast service very much, but it's very limited with th ability to network and share programming, and auto commercial skip is important to us too. I doubt these features will be added to the 6412 because of Hollywood bullying. Just like the cowards at Tivo didn't implement what ReplayTV and Myth have done to cotow to Hollywood. It's really gotten them far too. Note that I don't P2P the programs I have recorded, or RIP pirated DVD's, etc.... I just want the flexibility to view programming on any device in my home, in any room in my home, and avoid seeing any programming that I choose not to watch.

Thanks,
Mike

Originally posted by MikeSM
There are a couple of good reasons for using a Replay (though not necessarily a Tivo). The most important is archiving. For example, my wife loves America's Test Kitchen. I record the episodes on the Replay, and then use DVArchive to offload them to my server. They can be played at anytime from the replays or PC's in the house, even on Xbox media centers. You can't archive programming to PC's effectively with the 6412.

This is exactly the reason why I'm having a hard time giving up my Replay's. Using DVArchive to archive shows is just too damn easy with them. However, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and cancel the Replay subscriptions. I find myself archiving less and less and I figure if I ever want to, I can just output firewire to my PC and pull it off that way. Sure, it has to be done in real-time. And sure, you have to watch the show on the PC. But paying ~$40/month for DVR service for 2 TV's is just too much (this includes both the Comcast and Replay service). I'm hoping that Comcast/Moto will offer a networked solution soon...or at least before 5c begins to be implemented.

Originally posted by fender4645
This is exactly the reason why I'm having a hard time giving up my Replay's. Using DVArchive to archive shows is just too damn easy with them. However, I think I'm going to bite the bullet and cancel the Replay subscriptions. I find myself archiving less and less and I figure if I ever want to, I can just output firewire to my PC and pull it off that way. Sure, it has to be done in real-time. And sure, you have to watch the show on the PC. But paying ~$40/month for DVR service for 2 TV's is just too much (this includes both the Comcast and Replay service). I'm hoping that Comcast/Moto will offer a networked solution soon...or at least before 5c begins to be implemented.

That's a lot of money for DVR service - both my replays are prepaid (actually, the lifetime subscriptions were from older replay units that now have been retired, and ReplayTV let me move the subscriptions to the new refurbed 5000's I got for $29 each from the ReplayTV store), so I don't pay monthly charges for them.

Though it would be more expensive, you can do everything the replays can today with a MythTV configuration. Of course that's Linux and PC based, so it's not for everyone, but it also supports DVD and CD ripping and archiving, as well commercial skip (and extraction), and a host of other features.

In any case, my main point is that there still are good reasons for non 6412 DVR's in the home, particularly since most TV's in the home aren't HD yet. S-video from an all digital source (also with digital sound) looks awfully good on a analog TV set. Not for the primary TV, but for the others in the home.

Thanks,
Mike

I had my service call with Comcast this morning. The tech was clueless about the problem and had no solution. He said he would swap out the box, but recommended against doing so. The reasoning was that the box was otherwise functioning, and a new box could be one that "locked up", a problem that he said he was seeing frequently. So I decided to keep the box, and see if the phantoms increased, went away spontaneously, etc.

I think this has to be a software problem, and there doesn't seem to be any recourse. I have sent emails to both Motorola and Comcast, and await their reply. It does seem that others are seeing the problem, and it's not just a SF bay area thing, so I guess I'll go to the thread on the 6412 in the HDTV Recorders forum. Thanks for listening, and if others experience this problem, please let me know.

Looks like Todd over at the SF Chron will get an article published this week regarding the 'under serviced' folks in Saratoga, Milpits, Los Gatos and other 550MHz areas. They had a photographer out at my house today taking a few pictures of me happily watching HD DirectTV. I kind of doubt the picture will get included, but what the heck. I just hope the article drives some sort of response from Comcast and the city of Saratoga (and other under-served cities).

Cool! Please post section and page once it comes out- I'm a subscriber and would like to read the article- thanks!

Originally posted by bpearse
Looks like Todd over at the SF Chron will get an article published this week regarding the 'under serviced' folks in Saratoga, Milpits, Los Gatos and other 550MHz areas.

bpearse
If you have Todd's email I'd be happy to through in my two cents about Comcast in Milpitas.

Originally posted by pgran
I've posted this question in at least one other thread before I came to this one, so apologies for the repeat. I'm in S.F. and would like to upgrade to the DVR--anyone notice reduction or significant degradation in PQ on non-HD channels on the 6412 vs Moto 6200?



While opinion seems to be mixed, my subjective opinion is that analogue quality has decreased appreciably. I have not noticed a change, positive or negative, to the HD portion.

- Phil

Originally posted by rshaw
bpearse
If you have Todd's email I'd be happy to through in my two cents about Comcast in Milpitas.

He says he's got plenty of info right now (plenty of AVS members willing to provide an opinion)...I'd wait until the article is out (in the next couple days) and then respond if you want (he usually includes his email address on articles he writes...I'm sure we'll have a link to the article her when it comes out.

What I'm really hoping for is Comcast makes some firm commitments to fix the underserved population based on what Todd and others in the media are bringing forward.

Originally posted by davisdog
He says he's got plenty of info right now

I hope he didn't forget about us up here in the wild country..:p

While opinion seems to be mixed, my subjective opinion is that analogue quality has decreased appreciably. I have not noticed a change, positive or negative, to the HD portion.

My opinion is not entirely relevant because I last had the 5100 not the 6200, however, between the 5100 and the 6412 I see a significant degradation of analog quality. HD is as spectacular as ever - no change.

Boy am I disappointed today... I was scheduled for a HD/DVR install today and instead received a call letting me know that it will be another 2 weeks before the upgrade in my neighborhood (west san jose). I should be watching it and not making this post. The wait is killing me... (calm down it is only another 2 weeks... 2 more weeks... 14 days...sigh).

I promise in 2+ weeks I will join you guys in complaining :D

Originally posted by maverick_geek
Boy am I disappointed today... I was scheduled for a HD/DVR install today and instead received a call letting me know that it will be another 2 weeks before the upgrade in my neighborhood (west san jose). I should be watching it and not making this post. The wait is killing me... (calm down it is only another 2 weeks... 2 more weeks... 14 days...sigh).

I promise in 2+ weeks I will join you guys in complaining :D

Yes...2 weeks, so close you can taste it...I lived in West SJ 8 years ago and it was always only 6 more months until they finished the upgrade from 330Mhz...6 months turned to 8 years.

of course, when I moved 8 years ago to Saratoga I got on an "upgraded" system...but now it is ancient and you'll have more than me in 2 weeks :(

Anyone know what the bandwidth of the Cupertino system is?

dmlove51> ...between the 5100 and the 6412 I see a significant degradation of analog quality.

Uh, for Analog stations, the difference is no doubt ENTIRELY due to the "always Live" nature of the 5100 and the "always MPEG-encoded/MPEG-decoded never Live" nature of the 6412.

dmlove51> HD is as spectacular as ever - no change.

And this is, of course, because regardless of "live" versus "(possibly only slightly) delayed" the process is the same (i.e. only MPEG decoding is done by the 5100/6412 for HD & SD-Digital stations).

I really wish we could play with the Saturation, Contrast, etc... settings on the Analog stations PRIOR to the MPEG encoding. I have used various MPEG-encoding PCI cards in my HTPC for many years and have noticed dramatic variations in the quality of the encoding as these settings are varied. I have a sneaking suspicion that such controls would make it quite easy to at least get some improvement over the current (default) settings in the 6412.

Is it just me or do all of the HD stations have soft sound during shows and blaring sound during commercials.

I am relatively new to HD with bot a new TV and a new 6412 cable box. All of the HD channels seem to have very soft sound that requires me to turn the volume near max. Last night on ABC I had the volume all the way to the max, and it was still not real loud. Of course as soon as the commercials come on, they are unbearably loud.

Oh well, more incentive to time shift. Now you are forced to do something about commercials--you choice is mute or fast forward. In the past, I could let them slide, now they are too painful to bear.

Originally posted by wco81
Anyone know what the bandwidth of the Cupertino system is?

750Mhz...

You should have everything Comcast offers (InHD, DSCHD etc...) and some room to spare

Originally posted by davisdog
Yes...2 weeks, so close you can taste it...I lived in West SJ 8 years ago and it was always only 6 more months until they finished the upgrade from 330Mhz...6 months turned to 8 years.

of course, when I moved 8 years ago to Saratoga I got on an "upgraded" system...but now it is ancient and you'll have more than me in 2 weeks :(

I never thought it will get done. But 8 years that is a long wait...

Atleast I know this is imminent since as of Tuesday the B-side was out since it will be a single cable system with the upgrade. This made me doubly sure that the install scheduled for wednesday would be perhaps among the first in the neighborhood.

I think it should be working now but perhaps final testing etc is not complete.

Originally posted by mikel51
Is it just me or do all of the HD stations have soft sound during shows and blaring sound during commercials.

I am relatively new to HD with bot a new TV and a new 6412 cable box. All of the HD channels seem to have very soft sound that requires me to turn the volume near max. Last night on ABC I had the volume all the way to the max, and it was still not real loud. Of course as soon as the commercials come on, they are unbearably loud.

Oh well, more incentive to time shift. Now you are forced to do something about commercials--you choice is mute or fast forward. In the past, I could let them slide, now they are too painful to bear.

This is for analog sound, right? (out the RCA jacks, not via receiver/Dolby decoding)

Try go to the Menu, box settings, audio (advanced)-
make sure Stereo is set to Matrix (for DolbyDig out correctly),
and for analog try different Compression settings- mine was too quiet until I set to Heavy.
You can also try set the volume on the box (not tv; the remote may be "locked" to TV), but Heavy compression did it for me, now audio is same for TV inputs & 6412 analog out, including ads.

does anyone knows if and when are we going to have ESPN2 HD?

Originally posted by rsra13
does anyone knows if and when are we going to have ESPN2 HD?

Looks like we got shafted.....the official announcement says only Adelphia Cable
and DirecTV. No ESPN2....no FOX HD NFL playoffs....Comcast is begining to lose
out on the HD front IMHO :(

Does anybody have any idea when VOD is going live in Fremont. With all the dozens of VOD is here commercials you would figure it would be soon but I have heard nothing.

The 12/28 date posted here has come and gone. Just wondering if anyone has an updated date.

Ch 725
Was just wondering if anybody has experienced a "Not Authorized" message when tuning to the Hi-Def channel Ch 725 HDSE. I know this channel has had little to offer outside of couple hours maybe 2 days a week, showing a select NFL game special......but it is one less channel in HD that I am now not receiving. Last night amazingly it was supposedly airing a movie!! I have the so called digital "gold" package and had been receiving this HDSE channel fine for the last 3 or 4 months. I called Comcast today and they said it would be best if I were at home (not a bad idea) and called them then so they could address my box. I was just wondering if anyone else in the tri-vally area has experienced this.

Tivo press release from CES:
http://www.tivo.com/5.3.1.1.asp?article=234

No details on ETA, or price, or harddisk size :) but it WILL be a tivo, and that makes a difference-
I'm still getting used to odd quirks of the 6412 and the iGuide scheduler etc... kind of like Microsoft vs Mac, 6412 works (mostly well enough), but is sometimes painful :)


"TiVo Developing High-Definition, Digital Cable Ready DVR

TiVo® DVR with CableCARD Will Offer Flexible, Fully Featured Platform for Accessing HD Broadcast and Broadband Content

January 6, 2005 - CONSUMER ELECTRONICS SHOW, Las Vegas, NV – TiVo (NASDAQ: TIVO) today will demonstrate a high definition, digital cable ready DVR that will enable TiVo subscribers to access the growing number of high definition broadcasts available over the air or through their cable provider without a separate set-top box. The DVR will support CableCARD technology, enabling consumers to access their favorite premium and HD cable channels with the ease of use and powerful search capabilities of the TiVo® service. Moreover, as part of the "Tahiti" strategy announced at CES today, the new DVR will also allow consumers to access, download, and manage broadband content.

"We believe that the deployment of CableCARD technology is an essential development for the future of digital television. By eliminating the need for a separate set top box, consumers will enjoy more choice and flexibility over their entertainment delivery," said Mike Ramsay, chairman and chief executive officer, TiVo. "TiVo will play a key role in driving this technology forward to bring it to the masses."

TiVo's HD CableCARD DVR will be a premium product marketed toward consumers that want the very best in home entertainment. Consumers will be able to record their favorite entertainment from many different sources – high-definition channels, premium cable channels, and video content available via broadband.

CableCARDs free consumers from needing a cable set top box and offer consumers choice in how they get their digital entertainment. By providing consumer choice, companies like TiVo can provide an alternative to the traditional cable set top box and offer innovative services and content that address the consumer's personal interests.

The new HD CableCARD DVR is in development and TiVo plans to launch the product early next year.

"

Originally posted by NorCal
Ch 725
Was just wondering if anybody has experienced a "Not Authorized" message when tuning to the Hi-Def channel Ch 725 HDSE. I know this channel has had little to offer outside of couple hours maybe 2 days a week, showing a select NFL game special......but it is one less channel in HD that I am now not receiving. Last night amazingly it was supposedly airing a movie!! I have the so called digital "gold" package and had been receiving this HDSE channel fine for the last 3 or 4 months. I called Comcast today and they said it would be best if I were at home (not a bad idea) and called them then so they could address my box. I was just wondering if anyone else in the tri-vally area has experienced this.

Yes, same here. I have digital classic. Had it previously, now get the same message.

Originally posted by cgould
Tivo press release from CES:
http://www.tivo.com/5.3.1.1.asp?article=234

No details on ETA, or price, or harddisk size :) but it WILL be a tivo, and that makes a difference-


Not holding my breath...They were quoted has saying this will not be released until early 2006 (at the earliest)

Well HD Tivo has pretty much been orphaned by D* today with the announcement of new DVRs developed and designed by NDS and the announcement that all their HD channels will now use MPEG4 AVC compression.

So Tivo has nowhere to turn but to cable.

Considering how large a portion of the Tivo customer base came from D*, Tivo's long-term viability is now in great doubt.

Originally posted by wco81

Considering how large a portion of the Tivo customer base came from D*, Tivo's long-term viability is now in great doubt.

I think it always was as soon as News Corp purchased DirecTv.

Originally posted by Philip Klein
While opinion seems to be mixed, my subjective opinion is that analogue quality has decreased appreciably. I have not noticed a change, positive or negative, to the HD portion.

- Phil

What about non-HD digital channels? How do they compare? Comcast is supposed to go national with converting all analog channels to digital sometime soon, so maybe that will help.

Originally posted by wco81
Well HD Tivo has pretty much been orphaned by D* today with the announcement of new DVRs developed and designed by NDS and the announcement that all their HD channels will now use MPEG4 AVC compression.


Wow- you mean the current HD-Tivo DirectTV receivers (and any other current HD-DirectTV stb), will be incompatible w/ new D* HD MPEG4 broadcasts?

If true, that's a pretty bitter pill to swallow, given the HD-Tivo's cost $800-1000...
I heard about DirecTV and Tivo splitting ways, & possible new D* DVR, but that's different...

Lots of rumblings about same concern on the HD-Tivo forum. ouch.
Unknown if D* would give them a (cheap) upgrade path (that still included tivo)

For those interested in the saga of 550 Mhz systems, this is an excerpt from the Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette. What is interesting is the comment by Comcast that these 550 Mhz systems in PA will be "upgraded" this year. If 550 Mhz merits an upgrade in PA, why not in CA?

Q: My question is about Comcast channels. Recently, I upgraded to a DVR offered by Comcast and that meant I get all the HDTV Channels. Excited by this, my husband and I splurged and got a HDTV!
However, we noticed we do not get Discovery-HD, even though all the literature from Comcast says that we should have it. I called them and they couldn't give me reason why I don't have it. We literally get everything you can channel-wise from Comcast.

Do you know something we don't? Is Discovery HD available anywhere in Pittsburgh?

I love your columns. As you can tell, I'm a TV junkie myself. We share similar opinions and that is wonderful!

- Erin Butkovic, Glenshaw

Because various companies have owned a patchwork of area cable systems over the years, a Comcast spokesman said there are some portions of Ross, Penn Hill and Castle Shannon where Discovery Channel and two InDemand high-definition channels are not yet available. Comcast expects to complete upgrades and begin offering those channels sometime this year.

http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/questions/

Originally posted by SonomaSearcher
For those interested in the saga of 550 Mhz systems, this is an excerpt from the Pittsburgh, PA Post Gazette. What is interesting is the comment by Comcast that these 550 Mhz systems in PA will be "upgraded" this year. If 550 Mhz merits an upgrade in PA, why not in CA?



http://www.post-gazette.com/tv/questions/

Nice Find...I just forwarded it to Todd Wallack to add to his research (and maybe get a response from Comcast out here)

ps...Got a note back from Todd w/ a thanks for the info and a mention that the article is ready to run, just waiting for a slot (probably within the next week or so)

Originally posted by pgran
What about non-HD digital channels? How do they compare? Comcast is supposed to go national with converting all analog channels to digital sometime soon, so maybe that will help.

SD looks the same (much nicer than Analog).

btw, All digital conversion is still a ways off, but they are talking about creating and simulcasting an SD version of all of the Analog channels (in addition to the regular Analog channel). That would help the 6XXX user, since we could use that channel instead and it would look much better not having to go through the A/D conversion at the STB (and would take less recording space also)...the issue is it takes bandwidth to do that.

Thanks davisdog. That pretty much answers my only concern as I don't think I even watch channels that are still delivered in analog. Guess I'll be ordering the 6412 pvr soon!

I have the "high end" digital package (forced upon me by Comcast when we HAD to upgrade to a more expensive digital package or lose HBO) - and I don't get 725 (HDSE) or Cinemax (732).

Shouldn't those be included with HD and gold digital - or do I need "super platinum" ?? ;):(

Since I have broadband DSL w/ Comcast, too, my cable bill is now approaching $170/month (which also includes two DVRs) - you'd think I could get someone to change the channels and move the cursor on the iGuide for me, for that price - or least get every damn channel they have, not "you are not authorized" on more than 10% of the HD channels offered.

Just realized Daly City has VOD on channel 1. The VOD button doesn't work though.

Originally posted by AVWH
I have the "high end" digital package (forced upon me by Comcast when we HAD to upgrade to a more expensive digital package or lose HBO) - and I don't get 725 (HDSE) or Cinemax (732).

Shouldn't those be included with HD and gold digital - or do I need "super platinum" ?? ;):( If you get the Cinemax digital multiplex channels, you should get Cinemax HD. Don't you get two premiums with the Gold package? What are your two premiums?

With Digital Gold, you definitely should be be getting HD Special Events. It's an authorization issue-- call up and complain and they will send a hit to authorize it for you. (But not until the 4th CSR. The first three will insist that there is no channel 725 on your system. :) )

Heads up for those with VOD and Starz, if you are a James Bond fan, Starz has 17 Bond films available on VOD in January. Not HD and probably not OAR, but still good for a 007 fix if you don't have the DVD's.

Originally posted by cgould
This is for analog sound, right? (out the RCA jacks, not via receiver/Dolby decoding)

Try go to the Menu, box settings, audio (advanced)-
make sure Stereo is set to Matrix (for DolbyDig out correctly),
and for analog try different Compression settings- mine was too quiet until I set to Heavy.
You can also try set the volume on the box (not tv; the remote may be "locked" to TV), but Heavy compression did it for me, now audio is same for TV inputs & 6412 analog out, including ads.

That's the ticket. Thanks cgould. Heavy compression did it for me. I had it set to no compression.

Originally posted by Jizzay1
Just realized Daly City has VOD on channel 1. The VOD button doesn't work though.

I notice that the "on demand" button on the silver remote attempts to change the digital cable box to channel 1. If your area has availability, then it should do so. If not, then your area will have to wait. Here in Sacramento, only certain areas currently have availability but not turned on at this time.

I got home tonight and VOD is now up and running in Santa Clara. Just watched the Starsky and Hutch pilot episode. I can just about remember watching it as a youngster in the UK.

The download to enable VOD just completed and it is active in Mountain View. Looking at Tombstone on Showtime VOD now.

web

You have to have a DVR to get VOD?

How much do they charge for VOD?

Originally posted by wco81
You have to have a DVR to get VOD?
No, you need to be at least Digital classic and have a STB for the TV.
How much do they charge for VOD?
Shows from content providers you already get with your current cable package are free. The new release movies are about $3.99 and up from what I can see.

Is the VOD selection any different from the usual PPV? Do they have a lot of older movies or do they just have the current ones?

I would think they would have limited storage so they would just put the current releases up there. It would be cool if you could dial up any old movie you wanted.

Digital package is not required for VOD. Just the HD or DVR STB is required. I have expanded analog and an HD STB and receive VOD.

Best,
jeff

Any word on when San Mateo is going to get VOD?

Hi all: I want to find out about issues/problems/success stories with OTA reception of HDTV in the Evergreen Area of San Jose. I also want to find out which tuner/decoder I need (if I don't want to get the DISH n/w 811/921 receivers). Can someone point me to the appropriate thread for this please?

This thread seems to be very Comcast specific.

thanks.

I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, but...

What exactly is involved in upgrading an area from 550 to 750MHz? Do they have to pull new cable, or are we talking about hardware upgrades at some hub station(s), or is it something else entirely? I'm trying to understand the physical difficulties to doing the upgrade.

BTW, I'm still getting freeze-up from time to time on my DVR, but I'm going to ride it out until Comcast seems to understand what the problem is and how to fix it. I don't think swapping out the box, which is what they want to do, is necessarily the way to fix it-- especially since we already swapped one out and it didn't seem to make any difference.

Anyone other than me get annoyed when using the silver remote with VOD? Hitting the Exit button dumps you back out to the regular channel lineup. It is a bad mapping as it is common to use this button to get out of the guide menus and by habit it is often too easy to hit this button while navigting the VOD menus.

I wonder if we will get another HD movie soon on VOD. Currently it is only Envy and a bunch of I-MAX stuff. I did notice they added some free SD VOD movies this week. I would watch some of the SD offerings if they were anamorphic and 480p (even if they were just the pay ones). I wonder if that is possible and maybe coming down the pipeline? Currently the analog SD looks greenish and widescreen is just too lores when zoomed.

There an SF area OTA thread in this forum.

Originally posted by wish_i_had_hdtv
Hi all: I want to find out about issues/problems/success stories with OTA reception of HDTV in the Evergreen Area of San Jose. I also want to find out which tuner/decoder I need (if I don't want to get the DISH n/w 811/921 receivers). Can someone point me to the appropriate thread for this please?

This thread seems to be very Comcast specific.

thanks.

Originally posted by greeno
There an SF area OTA thread in this forum.

Thanks! I will look for it.

Originally posted by Brian Conrad
Anyone other than me get annoyed when using the silver remote with VOD? Hitting the Exit button dumps you back out to the regular channel lineup. It is a bad mapping as it is common to use this button to get out of the guide menus and by habit it is often too easy to hit this button while navigting the VOD menus. Use the Last button, not Exit and it will go back to previous screen.

Originally posted by John Mace
.What exactly is involved in upgrading an area from 550 to 750MHz? Do they have to pull new cable, or are we talking about hardware upgrades at some hub station(s), or is it something else entirely?

In most cases, this requires either adding amplifiers in more frequent locations along the line (expensive) or with some new technologies that have been developed recently, just replace the existing amps with new ones (less expensive).

bpearse

Originally posted by John Mace
I'm sure this has been covered elsewhere, but...

What exactly is involved in upgrading an area from 550 to 750MHz? Do they have to pull new cable, or are we talking about hardware upgrades at some hub station(s), or is it something else entirely? I'm trying to understand the physical difficulties to doing the upgrade.

John, assuming the fiber part of the network is up to spec and no changes need to be made to it (if you plan on doing a lot of VOD and have large number homes per fiber node, you may want to divide the nodes which makes thing somwhat more complicated), then it's generally a matter of swapping out the amplifiers.

The problem is that in many cases the spacing between 550 amps is greater than the spacing allowed for 750, because the hardline has higher loss at higher frequencies. If that's the case, then it's a whole lot of work, since you can't just do the upgrade one amp at a time. You have to pull new cable and install new taps along with the 750 amps so you can keep the old network running while you overlay the 750 design on it. Once the new amps in the new locations are done and the segment balanced, then you move users to the new taps and shut down the old cable and amps, and go to the next segment that needs to be upgraded.

You can't just stick in 750 amps in the spots they are supposed to go in if the 550 amps are still active in the path. And in any case, you wouldn't have enough power from the power supplies to power both.

Sometimes the 750 spacing changes the locations of where the power suuplies need to be, and this adds more complexity to it.

You could do it a lot cheaper if you were willing to take a few days of downtime per segment when you were doing the swap. But noone would tolerate that.

I think in some situations the 550 build was done in a way that you could just swap the amp housings with 750 electronics and not have to change spacing (and the associated taps), but I don't think TCI built systems that way.

Thanks,
Mike

Yeah, what he said.

A few VOD-related questions......
1) On the VOD movie menu listing, what does "LC" mean? (next to "NEW")
2) The pixillation of VOD SD programs (such as any of the "Free Movies")
is practically unwatchable, especially during action shots. Is this the norm?
3) How good is the PQ of VOD HDTV movies/shows? Are they DD5.1 audio?
4) Is there any description on the VOD program/movie listings that will denote the
audio format (DD5.1, etc.) before purchasing? The only format descriptions I've
seen so far have been "Letterbox".

Originally posted by greeno
Digital package is not required for VOD. Just the HD or DVR STB is required. I have expanded analog and an HD STB and receive VOD.

Best,
jeff

VOD also works on DCT2000, DCT1800 and DCT2500 bpxes. Only the first generation DCT1000 or DCT1200 boxes are not able to get VOD

I've been checking it out using a DCT2500, like fitzwest the Starsky & Hutch episodes bring back childhood memories.

Anyone know how to reprogram the OnDemand button on the remote? Mine tries channel 19 or 199. Pressing the number 1 then OK is just plain unsatisfying.

Thanks in advance!

Hey I just got my 6412 installed at about 8:00 am today in san francisco. It's now about #:45 PM and the guide still does not extend beyond about 5 hours into the future. I called comcast at one point and they said they would resend the guide which when they did resulted in a reboot of the device and then no guide at all for about 30 minutes at which point i saw the same +4 hours info.

I read many of the posts in this forum but have only seen referneces to the guide taking a "long time" can someone send some details on when i should expect the full guide.

Also I am NOT a digital cable subscriber but since the install I have full digital and HD channels (including show time but not PPV or HBO) I assume that once the guide is done these will no longer be available...anyone have other experience?

A few other comments/questions:
+any updated news on PIP availability? when I called comcast she was totally confused and convinced that that was merely a TV feature (even though I explained that that would be impossible using S-Video)

+ The comcast rep that came to do the install tried to convince me that the DVR was only made for HD TVs. I had to laugh a bit but I explained that the box has numerous outputs that would work with non-HD TVs including S-Video and the single wire "video" RCA wire. (I was his 1st ever install)

+since I have a non-HD TV and I'm viewing in 480i it seems like i cannot use the setup features on-screen at all am I right? I would love to be able to view the config and diagnostic screens...is there anyway to do this over S-video or the non-composite RCA video?

any help and comments much appreciated

Thanks

-Barnaby Richards

Originally posted by aussiewannabe
Anyone know how to reprogram the OnDemand button on the remote? Mine tries channel 19 or 199. Pressing the number 1 then OK is just plain unsatisfying.

Thanks in advance!

The 6412 iGuide thread has extensive documentation on programming the remote.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=464986&perpage=20&pagenumber=1

Barnaby,

Just wait for the guide data to download. It takes a long time. When you wake up tomorrow morning, all 15+ days worth of guide data will be there. (Don't have them send a hit just because the download is slow.)

There will be no PIP feature with the 6412. The hardware is incapable of it.

Consider the full panoply of digital channels a 'free preview'. It will disappear soon.

There is a way to view the diagnostics via S-video, I think you just need to change the resolution setting for your TV-- I will check on this. Perhaps someone who knows a lot about the DCT boxes can post the information-- or not. :)

I am merging your thread into the SF Comcast thread.

Anyone know when the i-guide will be up and running for non DVR users? My DCT6200 is itching to try out this new guide.

The digital transmitters for KGO, KQED and KMTP are off the air due to an antenna failure at Sutro Tower. They're getting a high VSWR alarm at all three stations that share one of the antenna sections.

This will not affect the KGO and KQED feeds to Comcast cable. They get separate feeds from the stations and do not use the off-the-air signal.

Larry
SF

Yeah this is one of the times I don't mind having to get HDTV through cable.

Too many stories about OTA interruptions. Not outages like this but brief interruptions.

OK, I see a bunch of "free" movies On Demand.

Are these really free? I'm using an HDTV box (not the DVR).

So I tried one of the Showtime movies even though I'm not subscribed to Showtime (I've been getting Showtime HD however).

And it's playing!. But it's clearly not in HD and it's stretched. I better not see it on my bill.

Free Showtime promo (all Sho channels) has been going on for past few weeks and will apparently continue for next month and a half. I guess that includes VOD content as well.

Enjoy!

B

Originally posted by techdood
I notice that the "on demand" button on the silver remote attempts to change the digital cable box to channel 1. If your area has availability, then it should do so. If not, then your area will have to wait. Here in Sacramento, only certain areas currently have availability but not turned on at this time.

If it's doing channel 1, then it's working correctly since manually entering 1 will bring up VOD. With the ICX remote, hitting the VOD button will bring up On Demand correctly. The Silver DVR with Swap remote appears to do the same thing as hitting Guide and then I see 19 on the display of the screen. So perhaps the Silver remote has the OnDemand button programmed incorrectly since it works on the ICX black remote.

Originally posted by Ace of Space
Anyone know when the i-guide will be up and running for non DVR users? My DCT6200 is itching to try out this new guide.

Same here. I still have the 7.15 firmware on mine. Dying to use the new I-Guide.

I want to know if I'll need to have satellite by Feb for the Superbowl.

Sorry. This is for the SF Area. But I think it goes for most of the country.

You'd think that the biggest TV day of the year would be on HD with Comcast.

Who's running that company?

Well, us 2%ers are actually 16%ers, according to Comcast. Not sure that makes me fell any better. Todd's article was published today in the SF Cron.

Underserved by Comcast (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/01/10/BUG94AMKVV1.DTL)

Originally posted by bpearse
Well, us 2%ers are actually 16%ers, according to Comcast. Not sure that makes me fell any better. Todd's article was published today in the SF Cron.

And look at bpearse....in all his glory!!! You're not anonymous anymore :)

Originally posted by fender4645
And look at bpearse....in all his glory!!! You're not anonymous anymore :)
Ha, didnt notice that that was him in the picture. Looks like he's watching a Harry Potter movie?

I noticed this:
To ease the complaints, Comcast plans to start upgrading some of its narrower Bay Area networks later this year to all-digital technology, which would allow Comcast to squeeze more channels onto the systems, said a source familiar with the company's plans.

They should expect a lot more complaints if they start small with the upgrades.

Originally posted by cedosada
I want to know if I'll need to have satellite by Feb for the Superbowl.

Yeah, it was pretty frustrating to see 3 of the games in HD then have to watch the Fox game in SD. Come on Comcast and FOX let's get it together by next weekend, which will have 2 games on FOX.