keenan,

That is very interesting. I'll be checking the bit rate on KQED on cable after September 20th to determine if it has gone up.

I thought the below from KQED would be of interest. Does Comcast give KQED a full 19MB for it's 9.1 HD channel?
That sounds like really good news. KQED finally back to the standards they were at 3-4yrs ago. If folks were around back then (IIRC) ATSC/OTA KQED was HD 24/7 and wasn't multicasting yet. Some of the best HD that was ever seen (IMO)

In my area this is what KQED is currently bundled with in it's 38.4Mbps slice:

753 7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
753 9.1 709 117.2 KQED-DT KQED HD
753 9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
753 9.5 192 117.4 KQED-K KQED Kids
753 9.4 191 117.5 KQED-L KQED Life
753 9.3 190 117.6 KQED-W KQED World
753 7.2 194 117.7 KGO-DT ABC DT
753 7.3 195 117.8 KGO-W ABC Weather

So it is possible stuff may need to move around a little to give KQED-HD the full bandwidth and maintain HD and SD channels 24/7. Possibly we'll see more inequities with 550 and 750/860?

so...this is starting to make sense. if you subscribed to limited basic, it would be 11-16 bucks, depending on your location; therefore, for $56 a month, you're paying ~$14 extra which about covers the limited basic plan which provides you the channels seen "in the clear."

well, i've had the cable internet for a couple years now and only recent took the time to plug into the new HD TV. there wasn't a big need since i get better signal for the analog stations via rabbit ears. Except NBC, never got it. But now that i want to see the games and maybe a few mickeymouse cartoons, then it looks like i'll have to spend a little more money.

The HSI is $56+ and if i get cable tv then it drops to $42+. They must have figured in the extra tv stations i'd get in case i tried the tv.

wendek

so...this is starting to make sense. if you subscribed to limited basic, it would be 11-16 bucks, depending on your location; therefore, for $56 a month, you're paying ~$14 extra which about covers the limited basic plan which provides you the channels seen "in the clear."

yea, that's what i'm beginning to think. Still i wonder if i should call them for the Digital classic for approx $9.95 month (?) and see what discoun't i get with HSI, so it evens out and then i get an "official" cable card for one TV and maybe the online tv guide?

funny, can they tell i plugged in the tv recently? i got a "welcome letter" in the mail to my name or current resident, welcoming me to the services they offer. Couldn't tell if it was a sales letter, or for real. ?

Have a cable box question. You see a bunch of cables boxes on ebay for sale, namely the regular DCT2524 and the HD 6412. if one were to buy one of these, what would it entail to get it working at your house?

Ideally i'd like to buy a cable box, and not have to rent one anymore from Comcast.


Do you still have to pay a monthly $6.95 fee if you own your own boxes?

Do i have to let them know i have a new box, or will it work when i plug it in?

Thanks.

Jay

Have a cable box question. You see a bunch of cables boxes on ebay for sale, namely the regular DCT2524 and the HD 6412. if one were to buy one of these, what would it entail to get it working at your house?

Ideally i'd like to buy a cable box, and not have to rent one anymore from Comcast.


Do you still have to pay a monthly $6.95 fee if you own your own boxes?

Do i have to let them know i have a new box, or will it work when i plug it in?

Thanks.

Jay
You can't use a cable box such as the 6412 in the US without it being rented from the provider since they will not activate it. Only cable boxes with cable cards can be used and activated.

That sounds like really good news. KQED finally back to the standards they were at 3-4yrs ago. If folks were around back then (IIRC) ATSC/OTA KQED was HD 24/7 and wasn't multicasting yet. Some of the best HD that was ever seen (IMO)

In my area this is what KQED is currently bundled with in it's 38.4Mbps slice:

753 7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
753 9.1 709 117.2 KQED-DT KQED HD
753 9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
753 9.5 192 117.4 KQED-K KQED Kids
753 9.4 191 117.5 KQED-L KQED Life
753 9.3 190 117.6 KQED-W KQED World
753 7.2 194 117.7 KGO-DT ABC DT
753 7.3 195 117.8 KGO-W ABC Weather

So it is possible stuff may need to move around a little to give KQED-HD the full bandwidth and maintain HD and SD channels 24/7. Possibly we'll see more inequities with 550 and 750/860?

So how is KQED going to get anymore bandwidth than Comcast will give them? Assuming it's half of a 6MHZ QAM slot, that's not going to be any more than they can do OTA. The impression is that 9.1 will be allocated 19Mb, and the subchannels will be in another slot using more bandwidth. I'm confused about what they are saying exactly.

And yeah, if that is what they are doing, then yes, even more inequities for 550 systems.

And the bigger question is, if Comcast is giving a full 38MB to KQED(a PBS station) why the hell don't seem to have room to add any more channels? I guess the answer is they do in 750/860 systems. Just seems odd though that they would give KQED that much bandwidth.

I wonder if this indicates the advent of Comcast implementing rate shaping/statmuxing/grooming in the bay area.

keenan, you're forgetting that cable QAM has effectively twice the density of OTA 8VSB. That's why KQED's OTA bw is 18 Mbps in a 6-MHz channel but Comcast can get 38 Mbps in that same 6 MHz. So what the announcement means effectively is that Comcast evidently has agreed to let KQED have one whole 6-MHz channel, instead of the 1/2 channel that they've had up until now. (Your questions about the equity of this are still valid, of course)

keenan, you're forgetting that cable QAM has effectively twice the density of OTA 8VSB. That's why KQED's OTA bw is 18 Mbps in a 6-MHz channel but Comcast can get 38 Mbps in that same 6 MHz. So what the announcement means effectively is that Comcast evidently has agreed to let KQED have one whole 6-MHz channel, instead of the 1/2 channel that they've had up until now. (Your questions about the equity of this are still valid, of course)
Yes, I realized the difference between QAM and ATSC, I just hadn't realized that Comcast would allocate 6MHz of QAM bandwidth given that the ATSC bandwidth signal would fit into 3MHz of QAM bandwidth.

Comcast doesn't do this with the other stations do they? Or, is it because the other stations don't have the same capability KQED does, to be able to actually utilize the full 38MB 6MHz QAM slice?

IOW, if KQED gets 6MHZ, won't KPIX, KNTV, etc all want the same, or is it a money thing? You'd think that if Comcast were allocating 6MHz QAM for local broadcast stations they'd be falling all over themselves rushing to fill that bandwidth with multicasted channels.

...
I wonder if this indicates the advent of Comcast implementing rate shaping/statmuxing/grooming in the bay area.

What do you mean here? that as usual we Bay Areans have to pay thru the nose again?

wendek

What do you mean here? that as usual we Bay Areans have to pay thru the nose again?

wendek
No, it's one of the methods of squeezing 5 lbs of poop in a 1 lb bag. It's something on Comcast's end where they try and utilize their available bandwidth to it's fullest. Things like putting 3 HD channels into one 6MHz QAM slot limiting each channel to less bandwidth than the 19mb they could use if they chose to.

Most stations do not fully utilize the full 19MB all the time, it varies depending on content. A movie on KPIX will take less bandwidth than say a basketball game, rate shaping takes advantage that by allocating that unused bandwidth for different content, like maybe a subchannel from even a different station.

There's different ways of doing it, some better than others with the less capable methods impacting picture quality. The reason I brought it up is that, to date, Comcast says they do not do any thing to the signal except convert it to QAM for carriage on the cable system. The methods mentioned above all actually manipulate the signal itself, altering it from what was sent from the station.

ok, is that why the channels hop around so much? is it all automated or is there some guy sitting at a desk moving things around and shipping the shows out to us?

and... does that also mean if they alter the signal, then they can filter it or charge us for it when it started out as in the clear/free?

i think a tour of the behind-the-scenes at the stations and towers would be a very cool thing. :)

wendek
wendek

Have a cable box question. You see a bunch of cables boxes on ebay for sale, namely the regular DCT2524 and the HD 6412. if one were to buy one of these, what would it entail to get it working at your house?

You can't use a cable box such as the 6412 in the US without it being rented from the provider since they will not activate it. Only cable boxes with cable cards can be used and activated.

DCP501s are heavily discounted right now. Works fine and is legit.

All others? No. nada. never.

I scanned all channels last night and this is what I show...

D850 Movies
D862 Shopping
D921 NBC-SD
D922 KICU
D923 Telemundo
D924 Chinese
D925 BBC i
D982 C-SPAN
D983 Animal Planet
D984 t
D985
D986 CNN
D987 QVC
D988 Headline News
D989 Golf Channel
D1010 Sprout
D1040 HGTV
D1041 Movies
D1060 News?
D1061 San Jose Community
D1062 Community
D1063 Sports
D1064 mun2
D1065 NASA
D1066 Community
D1067 KSBW
D1068 TV Guide
D1070 FOX
D1071 KRON
D1072 CBS5
D1073 KQED
D1074 CBS5
D1075 TV20
D1076 KTSF
D1077 Spanlish?
D1078 Bay Area CW
D1079 ABC
D1080 Spanish
D1081 Business
D1082 Shop@Home
D1083 KCSM
D1084
D1190
D1207 CourtTV
D2110 Discovery
D9210 Comcast SportsNet
D9412 History
D9810 Shopping
D9811 C-SPAN 2
D9810

ok, is that why the channels hop around so much? is it all automated or is there some guy sitting at a desk moving things around and shipping the shows out to us?
No, the channel mapping is something else, I'm not sure why they move them around like that.

and... does that also mean if they alter the signal, then they can filter it or charge us for it when it started out as in the clear/free?

i think a tour of the behind-the-scenes at the stations and towers would be a very cool thing. :)

wendek
wendek
Filtering is part of the signal manipulation process, but all of this is transparent to the viewer, the viewer is not effected by it other than it may effect the PQ. Cost to the sub a non-issue, this is an engineering thing on Comcast's end. They may raise rates the next go-around to help defray the cost of the equipment, but Comcast raises rates every year anyhow. Whatever they do, or are doing, you won't see a direct impact on the cable bill.

Arranging a tour would be nice, might be something Mikef5 could ask Mr. J about, although it would probably have to be blessed by the folks that run the Sutro Tower broadcast center.

And the bigger question is, if Comcast is giving a full 38MB to KQED(a PBS station) why the hell don't seem to have room to add any more channels? I guess the answer is they do in 750/860 systems. Just seems odd though that they would give KQED that much bandwidth.
So I got this message on my STB that said starting 9/20 they are going to add SOAPnet to digital classic at ch184. This is for 860MHz area.

I'm still wondering why, if Comcast is saying you guys don't get stuff because of bandwidth reasons, they don't just move SOAP to digital (and SciFi to digital in SaraMilGatos) Clearly other areas with more bandwidth have these channels in the digital tier thus exaggerating the bandwidth difference even more.

IOW, if KQED gets 6MHZ, won't KPIX, KNTV, etc all want the same, or is it a money thing? You'd think that if Comcast were allocating 6MHz QAM for local broadcast stations they'd be falling all over themselves rushing to fill that bandwidth with multicasted channels.
Well if KPIX, KNTV, etc. are willing to send true HD content 24/7, I think they should get more bandwidth, but not this upconverted SD crap.

I support KQED getting more bandwidth because they are giving us real HD 24/7.

BTW from what I can tell, it appears that is exactly what is happening, KQED is getting more bandwidth. The reason I say this is because I see KQED-W and KQED-K SD channels have been duplicated on my system. This leads me to believe they will drop off RF117 and move to RF91, freeing up bandwidth for KQED-HD. My STB indicates CH190 and CH192 are still using RF117 versions though.

627 9.3 190 91.6 KQED-W KQED World
627 9.5 192 91.8 KQED-K KQED Kids

753 7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
753 9.1 709 117.2 KQED-DT KQED HD
753 9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
753 9.5 192 117.4 KQED-K KQED Kids
753 9.4 191 117.5 KQED-L KQED Life
753 9.3 190 117.6 KQED-W KQED World
753 7.2 194 117.7 KGO-DT ABC DT
753 7.3 195 117.8 KGO-W ABC Weather

What are people doing for HD DVRs?

It seems like there's some dissatisfaction with Comcast's 6412. What is the minimum package needed to get the DVR service? And it's $10 for each DVR?

I'm currently with Direct TV and they're demanding $300 up front for their HD DVR (unlike the deals some on AVS are getting) plus the mirroring fee.

So I'm looking around.

I priced a setup with Dish and that seems to require about $300 and a monthly fee of like $96 for HD Silver, HBO, two rooms.

That compares to $70-75 which I'm paying for Total Choice, HBO and 3 receivers.

What are people doing for HD DVRs?

It seems like there's some dissatisfaction with Comcast's 6412. What is the minimum package needed to get the DVR service? And it's $10 for each DVR?

I'm currently with Direct TV and they're demanding $300 up front for their HD DVR (unlike the deals some on AVS are getting) plus the mirroring fee.

So I'm looking around.

I priced a setup with Dish and that seems to require about $300 and a monthly fee of like $96 for HD Silver, HBO, two rooms.

That compares to $70-75 which I'm paying for Total Choice, HBO and 3 receivers.
There really isn't much of choice if you want a dual tuner HD DVR. The only option I know of is the TVIO S3 but the cost including subscription fee plus possible fees for cable cards doesn't make too much sense if you are already a digital subscriber. The other options are 1 tuner HD DVRs.

Actually, I think the Motorola 6412 is a pretty good deal at $9.95 per month. For me, the only issues are the intermittent response time and limited hard drive capacity. Everything else about the DVR is what I need or even want. I'm hopingr the SA 8300 HD will become available in my area which should solve those problems.

Well if KPIX, KNTV, etc. are willing to send true HD content 24/7, I think they should get more bandwidth, but not this upconverted SD crap.

I support KQED getting more bandwidth because they are giving us real HD 24/7.

BTW from what I can tell, it appears that is exactly what is happening, KQED is getting more bandwidth. The reason I say this is because I see KQED-W and KQED-K SD channels have been duplicated on my system. This leads me to believe they will drop off RF117 and move to RF91, freeing up bandwidth for KQED-HD. My STB indicates CH190 and CH192 are still using RF117 versions though.

627 9.3 190 91.6 KQED-W KQED World
627 9.5 192 91.8 KQED-K KQED Kids

753 7.1 707 117.1 KGO-HD ABC HD
753 9.1 709 117.2 KQED-DT KQED HD
753 9.2 189 117.3 KQED-E KQED Encore
753 9.5 192 117.4 KQED-K KQED Kids
753 9.4 191 117.5 KQED-L KQED Life
753 9.3 190 117.6 KQED-W KQED World
753 7.2 194 117.7 KGO-DT ABC DT
753 7.3 195 117.8 KGO-W ABC Weather

I agree about the 24/7 HD, even though a fair amount of it is upconvert. I was just curious about the mechanics and the financial(does KQED have some sort of better deal for carriage?) aspects of it. It just seems a little too convenient that KQED would get more bandwidth because they have a 24/7 HD channel, the other stations would surely want to have the same amount, you'd think anyways.

What are people doing for HD DVRs?

It seems like there's some dissatisfaction with Comcast's 6412. What is the minimum package needed to get the DVR service? And it's $10 for each DVR?

I'm currently with Direct TV and they're demanding $300 up front for their HD DVR (unlike the deals some on AVS are getting) plus the mirroring fee.

So I'm looking around.

I priced a setup with Dish and that seems to require about $300 and a monthly fee of like $96 for HD Silver, HBO, two rooms.

That compares to $70-75 which I'm paying for Total Choice, HBO and 3 receivers.
For the "privilege" of renting Comcast's HD-DVR it will run you about $70-75 a month, total bill amount.

The minimum package is Standard Cable(Limited and Expanded Basic) + Digital Classic.

You should be able to get the DirecTV MPEG4 HD-DVR for a better price than that. Look in the MPEG4 HD-DVR threads, there's a Retention phone number listed somewhere in the posts, many, many folks are getting it for $19.95, most have been few years, which will play a part in the price. The standard CSRs you get when calling the regular number are pretty inflexible on pricing whereas the Retention guys works all sorts of deals.

If you look back through the posts here I ran a bunch of dollar amount scenarios comparing the Comcast DVR to the TiVo S3. While it may be too long term for most, I'll definitely end up saving money with the S3. Over a 3 year period I'll save about $1000, plus I'll own the DVR, and that doesn't even include any resale value. This is with a Limited Basic subscription, which is all I want.

BTW, I hooked up the TiVo S3 about an hour ago sans CCs, this unit is pretty sweet, going through the QAM channels right now.

I agree about the 24/7 HD, even though a fair amount of it is upconvert.
In the old days it was all HD sourced stuff (IIRC) mostly WETA HD stuff. Lots of nature, trains, travel, etc. I hope they go back to the all true HD format KQED used to have.

Hi,

I'm wondering what the cheapest options are for me to get some HDTV content. Here's my situation: I live in Palo Alto and currently have the cheapest basic cable that Comcast offers (~$16 per month), which essentially just gives me local channels. I currently have the coaxial cable hooked directly into my 20" standard def CRT TV. I'm thinking of making things a bit better =) I just ordered the new TiVo Series3 HD DVR and am planning on getting a reasonably priced HDTV in the near future (probably a 32" LCD for around $1200; maybe the Panasonic at Costco...)

So what are the cheapest options for getting some HDTV content onto the new TiVo? When I called Comcast a couple months ago to ask, I was told I needed to upgrade to some package that was something like $50-70/month which I don't want to do. I like that my cable bill is only $16/month and I'd like to keep it in that ballpark if possible. I don't care about getting all the extra channels. I mainly just want to be able to get local channels in HD (if available). What are my options?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Dan

Hi,

I'm wondering what the cheapest options are for me to get some HDTV content. Here's my situation: I live in Palo Alto and currently have the cheapest basic cable that Comcast offers (~$16 per month), which essentially just gives me local channels. I currently have the coaxial cable hooked directly into my 20" standard def CRT TV. I'm thinking of making things a bit better =) I just ordered the new TiVo Series3 HD DVR and am planning on getting a reasonably priced HDTV in the near future (probably a 32" LCD for around $1200; maybe the Panasonic at Costco...)

So what are the cheapest options for getting some HDTV content onto the new TiVo? When I called Comcast a couple months ago to ask, I was told I needed to upgrade to some package that was something like $50-70/month which I don't want to do. I like that my cable bill is only $16/month and I'd like to keep it in that ballpark if possible. I don't care about getting all the extra channels. I mainly just want to be able to get local channels in HD (if available). What are my options?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated,
Dan

After you get the TiVo box and the HDTV, all you need from Comcast is a CableCARD, two of them if you want to utilize the dual channel recording capabilty of the TiVo. The CableCARDs should only add about $7 to your cable bill, and it's possible that it may not even be that depending on how Comcast sees the TiVo unit since it really is just one device, with one digital connection.

I just hooked an S3 up tonight, and I can already tell I'm really going to like it. One thing I've noticed is the picture quality is better than the Comcast DVR, plus, it allows for native resolution output which works great with my DVDO VP30 allowing it to do all the scaling/deinterlacing instead of the "just good enough" Comcast box. Even the standard analog cable channels look better.

I had stopped using the tuner in my display when I got rid of the CC I had originally and I had forgotten how good the picture looked compared to the Comcast DVR, the S3 has given me that back, very nice indeed.

sfhub, you had asked about channel mapping on the S3.

Without the CC it maps the channels just like my Mits QAM tuner does,

2.1 KTVU
5.1 KPIX
7.1 KGO
7.2 KGO
7.3 KGO
9.1 KQED
9.2 KQED
9.3 KQED
9.4 KQED
9.5 KQED
11.1 KNTV
11.2 KNTV

and I noticed that Discovery-HD is still unencrypted up here on ch 76.4

It also lists all the channels in the guide, for example,

5 analog cable
5 analog ant OTA
5.1 digital cable
5.1 digital ant OTA

and then you just trim out the ones you don't want, like for the above, all I kept was 5.1 digital cable, as I can't get KPIX up here OTA.

Also, oddly enough, it lists Sacramento channels as well with my zipcode selected.

I'm really luvin' that native res output... :)

After you get the TiVo box and the HDTV, all you need from Comcast is a CableCARD, two of them if you want to utilize the dual channel recording capabilty of the TiVo. The CableCARDs should only add about $7 to your cable bill, and it's possible that it may not even be that depending on how Comcast sees the TiVo unit since it really is just one device, with one digital connection.

Don't you need at least digital classic to get the CableCards? If so, that's limited basic ~$15 + digital classic $10 = $25. Hopefully the 2 CableCards are free for one device.

Don't you need at least digital classic to get the CableCards? If so, that's limited basic ~$15 + digital classic $10 = $25. Hopefully the 2 CableCards are free for one device.
No, Digital Classic is not required. Keep in mind you'll also need the TiVo monthly service fee which ranges from about $8 to about $16 I think.

No, Digital Classic is not required. Keep in mind you'll also need the TiVo monthly service fee which ranges from about $8 to about $16 I think.

I cannot think of any logical reason for Comcast to provide free CableCard with just analog service.

TiVo service is $12.95 or $6.95 per month, unless you get lifetime.

I cannot think of any logical reason for Comcast to provide free CableCard with just analog service.

TiVo service is $12.95 or $6.95 per month, unless you get lifetime.
I'm paying $8.31 per month, new subscriber, maybe current TiVo subs are getting the lower price.

Limited Basic also has the digital sub-channels of the local stations which the CC will map to the Comcast channel guide, not to mention the local HD channels are available with Limited Basic as well.

$8.31 is 3-year prepay for $299. $12.95 is the regular monthly rate, and $6.95 is the MSD (multi-service discount) rate for multiple units on the same account.

I'm paying $8.31 per month, new subscriber, maybe current TiVo subs are getting the lower price.
I think you can transfer lifetime from existing TiVo for $200. Whether that makes sense depends on the person.

That's pretty nice. In many areas we constantly lose PSIP for 7.x, 9.x, 11.x, so despite being in 550, you have better PSIP information than many folks. (or are you saying 7.x, 9.x, 11.x are for OTA/ATSC?)

So one obvious question is can you use the guide data without CableCARD. You would hope if you have good PSIP data, you could use the OTA/ATSC guide data to record, but who knows how they designed S3.

That would be nice setup, because it eliminates any incremental costs completely even if you had multiple S3s and gets rid of any potential CableCARD goof ups, incompabilities, authorization problems, etc.
sfhub, you had asked about channel mapping on the S3.

Without the CC it maps the channels just like my Mits QAM tuner does,

2.1 KTVU
5.1 KPIX
7.1 KGO
7.2 KGO
7.3 KGO
9.1 KQED
9.2 KQED
9.3 KQED
9.4 KQED
9.5 KQED
11.1 KNTV
11.2 KNTV

and I noticed that Discovery-HD is still unencrypted up here on ch 76.4

It also lists all the channels in the guide, for example,

5 analog cable
5 analog ant OTA
5.1 digital cable
5.1 digital ant OTA

and then you just trim out the ones you don't want, like for the above, all I kept was 5.1 digital cable, as I can't get KPIX up here OTA.

Also, oddly enough, it lists Sacramento channels as well with my zipcode selected.

I'm really luvin' that native res output... :)

keenan,
From where did you get your S3? I ordered from tivo.com so I can transfer lifetime sub, but have not heard anything yet.

Did you get any digital channels without cableCARD that are recordable by using the guide?

Also doesn't the native pass thru resolution give you the problem described here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4375448&&#post4375448)?

DishHD Platinum is $99/month. It has nearly all channels including all the movie channels. Plus no DVR fee.

No, Digital Classic is not required. Keep in mind you'll also need the TiVo monthly service fee which ranges from about $8 to about $16 I think.
I'm pretty sure you do need Digital Classic to get the Cable Cards. Why else would they give them to you (for just analog service)? The Cable Card is free, but in place of a digital STB. You don't get (or need) a digital STB w/o Digital service...

I think the bigger question is (at least here in Sunnyvale) is it worth it to pay $9.95/month just to add DiscoveryHD (which is all we seem to get for adding Digital Classic). I guess ESPN-HD is supposed to be come with it too, when it's not already unencrypted.

The one other (subtle) thing you get seems to be channel mapping. I just don't get why TiVo S3 can't map the QAM channels to their channel guide equivalents. After three channel scans, I got the S3 to finally recognize the HD channels, but they show up (just like they did on my TV's built-in tuner) as 7-1, 9-1, 9-2, etc. Why on earth can't S3 map (or even let ME map) program guide info to those?

This ends up just being a (probably totally unplanned by anyone) back-handed way to get me to pay Comcast $9.95/month for two cable cards which only get me ONE (or two) more HD channels, but more importantly make the program guide work so I can get season passes to HD shows. If it weren't for the program guide I wouldn't bother.

Good thing I have lifetime -- no TiVo monthly service charge for me, but Comcast is now making another $10/month off my TiVo. Perhaps if they realized that, they wouldn't be so hostile to people trying to get Cable Cards, but see each S3 as an opportunity for increasing their revenue. <sigh>

I only have Comcast basic cable and am interested in possibly getting a QAM tuner to get "in the clear" HD channels through comcast. I don't know much at all about QAM. I assumed I would need to go OTA to get any HD but I was curious about what channels may be "in the clear" with Comcast in the Bay Area.

I think you can transfer lifetime from existing TiVo for $200. Whether that makes sense depends on the person.
I don't have an existing TiVo sub, I have the DirecTV TiVo but it doesn't count to the best of my knowledge.

keenan,
From where did you get your S3? I ordered from tivo.com so I can transfer lifetime sub, but have not heard anything yet.

Did you get any digital channels without cableCARD that are recordable by using the guide?

Also doesn't the native pass thru resolution give you the problem described here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4375448&&#post4375448)?
I got it from Best Buy, Santa Rosa last night, there was one left on the shelf when I left, it was about 9pm. I only came across it by looking at the BB site and using the store availability checker. I think it showed stores as far south/east as San Rafael/Vallejo didn't have it, just Santa Rosa. I had ordered it from TiVo Tuesday specifying overnight delivery but yesterday evening got an email saying it wouldn't be shipped until Friday, today. That wasn't going to work for me as I had already scheduled Comcast for Monday AM so I went to BB. Called TiVi this morning and canceled with them.

No, the digital channels without CC have no guide data, you can set a manual recording for a time period, but presently, the CC will be needed for program info.

The native res output works great for me, it takes no longer than say a channel change, almost instantaneous. Keep in mind though that the S3 is feeding a DVDO VP30 which is feeding my display a constant 1080i output so the VP30 is the one handling the resolution changes, and I gotta tell you, it works really nice. I wish all my TV sources output NP.

702,703,704,705,707, and 709 (8pm-12) are "clear". The rest are encrypted and you need a Digital package and Cablecard.

The Digital packages get you a helluva lot of (SD) channels, but as for just HD they get you INHD, FSN-HD (during games), ESPN1/2, NFL-HD (during HD games or the Game of the Week), DiscoveryHD, and in the future MTV-HD and TNT-HD. Not all those are available in 550mhz areas though.

edit: Some of those MAY not be encrypted, but the ones above (702-709) are the only ones guaranteed to be clear.

I got it from Best Buy

I was just at Best Buy in Pleasant Hill (getting something else) and the employee in the TV section said they ran out yesterday and that all of the other stores in the area (Pinole, Emeryville, and Dublin) were all out as well. He didn't know when they would come back in stock.

Seems like everyone I ask has a different response :-)

Is there any way to find this out without trying it ?

Obviously I need cable cards for the series3 TiVo.

Can I get the cable cards with just the $15/month anolog basic cable and will it work?

What HD channels will I receive? (I'm mainly interested in the major networks: ABS, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc)

When I go to the Comcast website and enter my zip, the cheapest digital package I see listed is Digital Classic with On Demand for $59/month. So I'm really hoping I don't need this!

Hoping somebody can clarify all this,
Dan

The one other (subtle) thing you get seems to be channel mapping. I just don't get why TiVo S3 can't map the QAM channels to their channel guide equivalents. After three channel scans, I got the S3 to finally recognize the HD channels, but they show up (just like they did on my TV's built-in tuner) as 7-1, 9-1, 9-2, etc. Why on earth can't S3 map (or even let ME map) program guide info to those?
Most likely because many areas don't have the PSIP information sent properly from the cable company.

The 7.1 9.1 9.2, etc channels are actually virtual mappings. The underlying RF channel will be something like 117.1, 117.2, ... and for many of us, that is the channel we need to use to do the tuning because we are missing PSIP info.

Now the problem becomes 117.1 could be ABC-HD and 117.2 could be KQED-HD today, but somehwere down the road, 117.1 could be KGO-Weather, 117.2 could be ABC-HD and 117.3 could be KQED-HD.

These physical stream changes aren't published to any guide service I know of, which is what TiVo uses. I think if the PSIP information was guaranteed to be there for all channels, then TiVo could probably use the OTA guide data for unencrypted QAM that has matching PSIP info.

Another problem is some OTA stations aren't transmitting PSIP channel mapping info either, so when it gets to comcast, it still doesn't have PSIP channel mapping info.

Is this a solveable problem, sure it is, you could do manual mapping, you could force Comcast to send PSIP info for all HD locals, etc. etc.

Is the problem solved right now? According to the S3 FAQ it is not, thus you need your CableCARDs to get the STB channel mappings instead so you can use the digital cable guide data.

Obviously I need cable cards for the series3 TiVo.
It will work without the CC, it just won't put anything in the guide data, hence rendering 80% of the Tivo's usefulness useless.


Can I get the cable cards with just the $15/month anolog basic cable and will it work?
I think you can get them but you'll be paying $6.95 for each CableCARD. Basic doesn't come with an STB rental so I imagine you'll have to pay the rental fee seperately. As others have talked about you may be able to use the 'single device' reason for only paying for one card as opposed to two. What makes yours and Keenan's situation unique is that you're asking for a CC for just the guide data. Most people get the CC because they want digital cable.

What HD channels will I receive? (I'm mainly interested in the major networks: ABS, CBS, NBC, FOX, etc)
FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, and KQED.

When I go to the Comcast website and enter my zip, the cheapest digital package I see listed is Digital Classic with On Demand for $59/month. So I'm really hoping I don't need this!
You shouldn't. But like I said, the CSR's may not understand that you want a CC without digital cable. Before the S3 Tivo, there wasn't a reason to have a CC unless you wanted to the digital tier of programming.

That's pretty nice. In many areas we constantly lose PSIP for 7.x, 9.x, 11.x, so despite being in 550, you have better PSIP information than many folks. (or are you saying 7.x, 9.x, 11.x are for OTA/ATSC?)

So one obvious question is can you use the guide data without CableCARD. You would hope if you have good PSIP data, you could use the OTA/ATSC guide data to record, but who knows how they designed S3.

That would be nice setup, because it eliminates any incremental costs completely even if you had multiple S3s and gets rid of any potential CableCARD goof ups, incompabilities, authorization problems, etc.
The channels I listed in your quote are the cable channels, they are mapped just like my Mits reads them. Each one of the cable channels listed also has the analog OTA, analog cable and digital OTA along with the digital cable, and any sub-channels for the digital channels, both on cable and OTA. It took me a bit to go through and make sure I was adding the right ones to a favorites listing.

I think a reason for the constant mapping is that there is no room here to move them around anyways, much like a can of sardines. Can't move one, you'd have to move at least two. :p

TiVo has said that they are working on providing the ability to have a guide for the clear QAM, un-CC'ed cable channels, we'll see if that happens.

I'm pretty sure you do need Digital Classic to get the Cable Cards. Why else would they give them to you (for just analog service)? The Cable Card is free, but in place of a digital STB. You don't get (or need) a digital STB w/o Digital service...
One reason, and it would be reason enough, is to map down the digital sub-channels of stations like KNTV and KGO, in fact, to map down the HD locals themselves, not all QAM tuners mapdown like the TiVo does, or my Mits display for example, See sfhub's posts about the in-the-clear QAM channels constantly moving around, CableCARD fixes that. All you would need to do is tell KGO or KNTV that you can't find their digital channels because Comcast moves them around all the time and you'll have Comcast knocking at your door with a CC. Of course, they'll want you to take one their STBs, but you're not required to.
I think the bigger question is (at least here in Sunnyvale) is it worth it to pay $9.95/month just to add DiscoveryHD (which is all we seem to get for adding Digital Classic). I guess ESPN-HD is supposed to be come with it too, when it's not already unencrypted.
If HD is the only thing you're concerned with, like me, and you're in most 550 areas, Digital Classic gets you ESPN-HD and Discovery-HD decrypted and that's it. Rather expensive for two HD channels. Discovery-HD has been in the clear up here since Day 1, although I'm not sure what will happen to it if Digital Classic is dropped, I suspect it will still be there., at least in Santa Rosa.

The one other (subtle) thing you get seems to be channel mapping. I just don't get why TiVo S3 can't map the QAM channels to their channel guide equivalents. After three channel scans, I got the S3 to finally recognize the HD channels, but they show up (just like they did on my TV's built-in tuner) as 7-1, 9-1, 9-2, etc. Why on earth can't S3 map (or even let ME map) program guide info to those?
TiVo is supposedly working on that.

[QUOTE]This ends up just being a (probably totally unplanned by anyone) back-handed way to get me to pay Comcast $9.95/month for two cable cards which only get me ONE (or two) more HD channels, but more importantly make the program guide work so I can get season passes to HD shows. If it weren't for the program guide I wouldn't bother.

Good thing I have lifetime -- no TiVo monthly service charge for me, but Comcast is now making another $10/month off my TiVo. Perhaps if they realized that, they wouldn't be so hostile to people trying to get Cable Cards, but see each S3 as an opportunity for increasing their revenue. <sigh>
Yes, right now, the CCs are needed for the PG info to be able to record by program instead of using manual record times.

702,703,704,705,707, and 709 (8pm-12) are "clear". The rest are encrypted and you need a Digital package and Cablecard.

The Digital packages get you a helluva lot of (SD) channels, but as for just HD they get you INHD, FSN-HD (during games), ESPN1/2, NFL-HD (during HD games or the Game of the Week), DiscoveryHD, and in the future MTV-HD and TNT-HD. Not all those are available in 550mhz areas though.

edit: Some of those MAY not be encrypted, but the ones above (702-709) are the only ones guaranteed to be clear.
The digital sub-channels of KGO and KNTV are also in the clear. Only 2 additional HD channels are available in most 550 areas, Disc-HD and ESPN-HD.

I was just at Best Buy in Pleasant Hill (getting something else) and the employee in the TV section said they ran out yesterday and that all of the other stores in the area (Pinole, Emeryville, and Dublin) were all out as well. He didn't know when they would come back in stock.
Yes, when I talked to TiVo this AM the rep gave the impression that they were having some distribution issues, and, that they were a bit overwhelmed by the demand for the product.

FOX, NBC, ABC, CBS, and KQED.


You shouldn't. But like I said, the CSR's may not understand that you want a CC without digital cable. Before the S3 Tivo, there wasn't a reason to have a CC unless you wanted to the digital tier of programming.

So assuming I can get just the CableCard from Comcast, will I definitely be able to record/view the above HD channels with no issues? You'll have to excuse my ignorance. I have no idea if the digital cable feed is somehow different from my current analog feed.

Thanks,
Dan

So assuming I can get just the CableCard from Comcast, will I definitely be able to record/view the above HD channels with no issues? You'll have to excuse my ignorance. I have no idea if the digital cable feed is somehow different from my current analog feed.

Thanks,
Dan

I don't want to go so far as say "definitely", but there's not reason why you shouldn't. I don't think anyone on this thread has an S3 Tivo with a CableCARD w/ Basic cable. There are no commitments with Comcast so worse comes to worse, you bring back the CableCARD and retrun the S3 if it doesn't work. The most you'll be out is the 1-month rent for the CableCARD.

You don't need a Cablecard or anything special to tune in those local channels, or any channel that's not encrypted. Any QAM tuner will pull those in off the cable, they are already there with or without a "digital package". You just have to deal with the above problems of crazy channel mappings, that may change at any time... if you don't have the Cablecard.

Though, if you have limited-basic with a trap on the line, I don't know how that will affect reception. It may not if they are up in the 117 range, the traps generally filter out about ch 36 thru 72, and anything above 72 starts coming in again...

For the "privilege" of renting Comcast's HD-DVR it will run you about $70-75 a month, total bill amount.

The minimum package is Standard Cable(Limited and Expanded Basic) + Digital Classic.

In Milpitas, I have been getting the DVR with just "Standard Cable". It costs me ~$46 for std cable, + $9.95 "DVR w/ HDTV", + $4 "digital equipment", but no Digital classic. So ~$64 in total after franchise fees/taxes. Supposedly the "digital equipment" fee is included in Digital classic, and would go away if I subscribed to that tier, so I save net $6/month for not getting that tier. Supposedly I would lose ESPNHD/DSCVHD/INHD except I was grandfathered in.

It seems like one ought to be able to get a CableCard for just that $4 digital equipment fee without subscribing to Digital Classic. If you get Dig. Classic should get one CableCard free. How they will charge for the second, I have no idea. Try to argue yourself out of additional outlet fee if you can.

Anyone have any news on KBCW? What's holding it up, bandwidth, contract issues, both?

Anyone got a S3 Tivo yet? Any improvements over Motorola DVR's guide info? I get a lot of misses on INHD1 regarding A's games. Also when Comcast adds/removes channels such as the latest UHD moves, how good is Tivo's guide and channel lineup data?

Anyone have any news on KBCW? What's holding it up, bandwidth, contract issues, both?


I thought my S2 TiVo mentioned it switches over on the 20th of Sept.

is this what you mean ? http://www.cwtv.com/

The channels I listed in your quote are the cable channels, they are mapped just like my Mits reads them.
...
I think a reason for the constant mapping is that there is no room here to move them around anyways, much like a can of sardines. Can't move one, you'd have to move at least two. :p

That's a nice thought that 550 actually has advantages over 750/860.

So how are you determining stuff doesn't move around in 550? 2.x, 5.x, 7.x, 9.x, 11.x are the virtual channel #s after being remapped with PSIP info. If those are what you interact with daily the underlying RF could be changing daily or never and your TV/PVR should be able to find the new channels as long as they are in the same 6MHz slot. If they move to different 6MHz slots then your TV/PVR might need a rescan, but that doesn't happen very often for HD channels, even in 750/860 areas. Most of the movement for HD channels is stream ordering within the same 6MHz slot. However for digital cable and ADS channels the movement can be between 6MHz channels and within 6MHz channels.

That's a nice thought that 550 actually has advantages over 750/860.

So how are you determining stuff doesn't move around in 550? 2.x, 5.x, 7.x, 9.x, 11.x are the virtual channel #s after being remapped with PSIP info. If those are what you interact with daily the underlying RF could be changing daily or never and your TV/PVR should be able to find the new channels as long as they are in the same 6MHz slot. If they move to different 6MHz slots then your TV/PVR might need a rescan, but that doesn't happen very often for HD channels, even in 750/860 areas. Most of the movement for HD channels is stream ordering within the same 6MHz slot. However for digital cable and ADS channels the movement can be between 6MHz channels and within 6MHz channels.
I don't know really if they are moving around as my display and the S3 "follow" them and list the same channel number every time. I don't think my previous display did that, but I don't recall how much, if any, trouble I had with it, at the time I was primarily using the 5100/6200 STBs.

I thought my S2 TiVo mentioned it switches over on the 20th of Sept.

is this what you mean ?
No, I am trying to find out if anyone knows if there is any hope of Comcast carrying KBCW in HD for this season.

No, I am trying to find out if anyone knows if there is any hope of Comcast carrying KBCW in HD for this season.
You said that you live in Milpitas, so do I, and if so you will not get KBCW do to the lack of bandwidth in this area. The SaraMilgatos area is a 550 MHz area and is not going to be upgraded any time soon. So unless they do some major shuffling around of channels to free up bandwidth, we will not see any additions ( like the rest of the Bay Area gets ) until they upgrade our area.

Laters,
Mikef5

I only have Comcast basic cable and am interested in possibly getting a QAM tuner to get "in the clear" HD channels through comcast. I don't know much at all about QAM. I assumed I would need to go OTA to get any HD but I was curious about what channels may be "in the clear" with Comcast in the Bay Area.


Welcome Jeff!

For computers there are (2) QAM tuners for PC and (1) I believe for Mac.
The 2 for PC are Fushion HD and MyHD. Fushion makes several varieties a USB and a PCI slot one. The MyHD is only a PCI slot one. I do not know if there is a Set Top Box (STB) QAM tuner readily available for retail purchase. You can buy a HDTV and if it is cable card ready it is QAM capable. Now a days the newer, higher end models HDTV's have QAM.

I have both a Fushion and MyHD with Comcast's Sunnyvale basic cable service. I get all the local channels in the clear along with PBS.
I like the MyHD b/c of the Cliff Watson EPG program the guys here have created. But I like the Fushion a little better if I was using strictly a computer to view it as I can resize and adjust the video window as I please.

I've been reading about QAM being not as good as OTA b/c QAM can be compressed HD. Can anyone confirm that.
I will be going to OTA as soon as I move in Dec and will compare the two then.

I've been reading about QAM being not as good as OTA b/c QAM can be compressed HD. Can anyone confirm that.

All digital signals are compressed in one way or another. The difference between providers (OTA, Cable, DBS) is usually based on how much bandwidth is allocated to each signal (see the above discussion on KQED's bandwidth scope). Comcast has stated they do not re-encode each providers signal and they transmit as-is. I believe it's the same for OTA.

You said that you live in Milpitas, so do I, and if so you will not get KBCW do to the lack of bandwidth in this area. The SaraMilgatos area is a 550 MHz area and is not going to be upgraded any time soon. So unless they do some major shuffling around of channels to free up bandwidth, we will not see any additions ( like the rest of the Bay Area gets ) until they upgrade our area.

Laters,
Mikef5


Will it be available OTA?

Will it be available OTA?

It already is on channel 45 (44.1).

It already is on channel 45 (44.1).

oh that's right. ha!
so CW is taking over channel's 44 and 44.1 then?
what is their plans for channel 20 or are they giving that up?

CW under Viacom/CBS owns KBCW 44/45. KBWB Ch 20 is owned by different company, running as independent since WB no longer exists. Looks like this year ch 20 is going to look like KRON after they lost NBC, except even less popular syndicated shows. At least KRON had the Frasier reruns; yourtv20.com is touting According to Jim. I think I will remove it from my Tivo "ch I receive list" :).

I know 550 Mhz areas have additional limitations, just wondering if CW shows up in the other areas this year.

You said that you live in Milpitas, so do I, and if so you will not get KBCW do to the lack of bandwidth in this area. The SaraMilgatos area is a 550 MHz area and is not going to be upgraded any time soon. So unless they do some major shuffling around of channels to free up bandwidth, we will not see any additions ( like the rest of the Bay Area gets ) until they upgrade our area.

Laters,
Mikef5

I just started my own bandwidth upgrade in Saratoga this morning (was growing old waiting for Comcast to do it)

By this time next week I should have ~30 HD Channels via E* instead of 8 1/2 via comcast ;)

All digital signals are compressed in one way or another. The difference between providers (OTA, Cable, DBS) is usually based on how much bandwidth is allocated to each signal (see the above discussion on KQED's bandwidth scope). Comcast has stated they do not re-encode each providers signal and they transmit as-is. I believe it's the same for OTA.
It is, all Comcast does is remodulate it to QAM whereas OTA uses one of the ATSC formats.

CW under Viacom/CBS owns KBCW 44/45. KBWB Ch 20 is owned by different company, running as independent since WB no longer exists. Looks like this year ch 20 is going to look like KRON after they lost NBC, except even less popular syndicated shows. At least KRON had the Frasier reruns; yourtv20.com is touting According to Jim. I think I will remove it from my Tivo "ch I receive list" :).

I know 550 Mhz areas have additional limitations, just wondering if CW shows up in the other areas this year.
KRON is also the MyNetwork TV affiliate, running the serialized telenovella stuff 5 days a week in primetime.

I just started my own bandwidth upgrade in Saratoga this morning (was growing old waiting for Comcast to do it)

By this time next week I should have ~30 HD Channels via E* instead of 8 1/2 via comcast ;)
There you go, now that's a real bandwidth upgrade. :D

BTW, I discovered last night ,actually in the wee hours of the morning :p that the TiVo S3 has a much better QAM tuner set than the Moto 6412. I had the Moto signal booster in line with the S3 as that's the way I needed it for the 6412, but the S3 was giving me some occasional pixelization so I removed it and the cable signal strength went up on the S3 and the pixelization went completely away.

I should mention that the S3 has a cable signal strength meter, just like an OTA meter which it also has, although I'm not sure what exactly it's measuring. I just now that with the booster inline I was getting in the 70's to low 80's readings and with the booster out I'm now getting in the 90's, with no picture problems.

Also, a SF bay area located member at the TiVoCommunity site has reported that he is getting the the 2 CCs for no monthly charge, evidently that particular CSR understood the single digital device scenario.

I just started my own bandwidth upgrade in Saratoga this morning (was growing old waiting for Comcast to do it)

By this time next week I should have ~30 HD Channels via E* instead of 8 1/2 via comcast ;)
I plan on doing the same after baseball season or when FSNBA-HD is actually on Dish, which ever comes first. But if the Giants keep playing the way they did last night, I might just do it sooner or become an A's fan :p

Laters,
Mikef5

Also, a SF bay area located member at the TiVoCommunity site has reported that he is getting the the 2 CCs for no monthly charge, evidently that particular CSR understood the single digital device scenario.
That's good news, was he limited basic, limited+dig-classic, limited+exp-basic+dig-classic?

That's good news, was he limited basic, limited+dig-classic, limited+exp-basic+dig-classic?
I don't recall, I'll have to go back and find the post.

Raiders game is not in HD.

But neither are the highlights from the other games. Some of those must be in HD?

Is KPIX not broadcasting in HD or just the Raiders game isn't in HD?

Guess we'll see at half time.

Raiders game is not in HD.

But neither are the highlights from the other games. Some of those must be in HD?

Is KPIX not broadcasting in HD or just the Raiders game isn't in HD?

Guess we'll see at half time.
Not all games are HD. you can always go here (http://www.hdsportsguide.com/nfl.php) to see which games are.

Raiders game is not in HD.

But neither are the highlights from the other games. Some of those must be in HD?

Is KPIX not broadcasting in HD or just the Raiders game isn't in HD?

Guess we'll see at half time.

CBS only has 3 games in HD a week. raiders are very unlikely to make that cut every week. raiders are very unlikely to sell out, so we won't even see their home games anyway, SD or HD.

niners game will be in HD today thank god.

The KPIX game is not only not in HD, it's in terrible SD! :mad:

Half time show on CBS isn't in HD either, not the studio nor it looks like the highlights.

Half time show on CBS isn't in HD either, not the studio nor it looks like the highlights.


What is wrong with KPIX CBS 5? i never get a "good" signal from them even OTA on SD 5 or "HD" 5.1 if it comes in at all.

Wendek

The KPIX game is not only not in HD, it's in terrible SD! :mad:
That's not the only thing that's terrible, at a possible rate of 1.5 points scored per game so far, the Raiders are looking....well, I just don't know how to put it...has any team ever had a worse start...?

That's not the only thing that's terrible, at a possible rate of 1.5 points scored per game so far, the Raiders are looking....well, I just don't know how to put it...has any team ever had a worse start...?


Yep, It's painful to watch !

niners game looks very nice, great 5.1 sound too.

That's not the only thing that's terrible, at a possible rate of 1.5 points scored per game so far, the Raiders are looking....well, I just don't know how to put it...has any team ever had a worse start...?
Gee, let me think.... try watching the 49er's for a real heart break :p At least in today's game they are keeping it close.

Laters,
Mikef5

Just got off the phone with a comcast customer service rep who mentioned that TNT-HD will be available on the 20th. Is this true? Just one more month to basketball season. Would be nice to watch the thursday games in HD

Gee, let me think.... try watching the 49er's for a real heart break :p At least in today's game they are keeping it close.

Laters,
Mikef5

And then they go an win it.......... Rams back to lambs...... :)

Just got off the phone with a comcast customer service rep who mentioned that TNT-HD will be available on the 20th. Is this true? Just one more month to basketball season. Would be nice to watch the thursday games in HD
Apparently so, I was at the Comcast Service Center a couple of weeks ago exchanging my 6412 and saw a brochure stating that TNT-HD was coming on 9/20. Hopefully that's a preview of what's to come...

And then they go an win it.......... Rams back to lambs...... :)
Yep, just finished a nice dinner of crow :p
They came out in the second half like a team that wanted to win. Now if they could play like that all the time I wouldn't have to take all that antacid for my heart burn ;)
At least the Giant's didn't lose again today...........oh, wait, rained out :D

Laters,
Mikef5

Apparently so, I was at the Comcast Service Center a couple of weeks ago exchanging my 6412 and saw a brochure stating that TNT-HD was coming on 9/20. Hopefully that's a preview of what's to come...

most of us will get TNTHD (replacing INHD2), but if you don't have INHD2 to begin with (most 550 areas), its unlikely you will have TNTHD.

Remember this sequence of posts?



BTW, a programming note. I happen to buzz ahead in the PG and I noticed that next Monday KTVU is airing a Giants game....during the same time period as "Prison Break"...not a worry for me as I can get it from another provider, but does KTVU have record/playback capability, to possibly show at a later time period?

With a serialized show like "Prison Break", missing an episode sucks.
Keenan,

I just checked the Comcast guide and my guide shows Prison Break still scheduled but the list I got from KTVU shows the Giants playing on that day. I checked the Giant's site and it shows the game at 5:35 pm on KTVU so my guess is that it will be on KTVU and Prison Break will be on KICU. Not for sure but a good guess.

Laters,
Mikef5
That's exactly what they have done in the past. However, when I just looked at my guide, I don't see a baseball game, I see Prison Break, tonight, next Monday and the following Monday. :confused:

...well, check the guide now, it shows a MLB game during that time period for tomorrow night, again. I knew I wasn't seeing things...

Remember this sequence of posts?

...well, check the guide now, it shows a MLB game during that time period for tomorrow night, again. I knew I wasn't seeing things...
I saw that. Prison Break is on KICU (channel 6) at 8:00 and Vanished is on KTVU at its regular time/channel, 9:00.

I saw that. Prison Break is on KICU (channel 6) at 8:00 and Vanished is on KTVU at its regular time/channel, 9:00.
This is one of those times when having those LA DNS HD channels from DirecTV comes in handy.

most of us will get TNTHD (replacing INHD2), but if you don't have INHD2 to begin with (most 550 areas), its unlikely you will have TNTHD.

I hope thats not the case since we don't have INHD2 in our area (sunnyvale) :mad:

Anyone having problems with OnDemand?

When I hit the button for OnDemand it says "FEATURE UNAVAILABLE - This feature is currently unavailable. Please try again later or call your cable operator for more information"

Any ideas?

Anyone having problems with OnDemand?

When I hit the button for OnDemand it says "FEATURE UNAVAILABLE - This feature is currently unavailable. Please try again later or call your cable operator for more information"

Any ideas?


Working fine for me. Usually this message is indicative of either bandwidth problems or somehow your account/box got screwy. Check your signal strength in the Diags menu. If the problem continues you may need a hit sent to your box.

Yeah its pretty annoying that they are airing Prison Break on a non-HD channel. :(
I saw that. Prison Break is on KICU (channel 6) at 8:00 and Vanished is on KTVU at its regular time/channel, 9:00.

Hmmm, thanks for the info. That reminds me, my friend who lives in the same city said his wasnt working the other day but I didnt check mine until today. Could just be our area :rolleyes: Working fine for me. Usually this message is indicative of either bandwidth problems or somehow your account/box got screwy. Check your signal strength in the Diags menu. If the problem continues you may need a hit sent to your box.

This is one of those times when having those LA DNS HD channels from DirecTV comes in handy.
As a side note, your S3 should have warned you of the change (I think)

Same thing happens with House and Standoff on Tue 9/26. They get shifted to KICU6.

As a side note, your S3 should have warned you of the change (I think)

Same thing happens with House and Standoff on Tue 9/26. They get shifted to KICU6.

Thanks for the warning. I just scheduled House for 9/26. With Season Pass (single channel), TiVo would not know. You would need to use Wish List (any channel) to pick it up.

As a side note, your S3 should have warned you of the change (I think)

Same thing happens with House and Standoff on Tue 9/26. They get shifted to KICU6.
I haven't scheduled anything on the S3 yet, waiting for the CCs, due Monday. Adding the CCs requires a re-setup of the unit.

Anyone having problems with OnDemand?

When I hit the button for OnDemand it says "FEATURE UNAVAILABLE - This feature is currently unavailable. Please try again later or call your cable operator for more information"

Any ideas?

Check the "Interactive Info" diagnostic and see if its pulling an IP address. No IP address often happens when the return path is bad..

Originally Posted by keenan
Also, a SF bay area located member at the TiVoCommunity site has reported that he is getting the the 2 CCs for no monthly charge, evidently that particular CSR understood the single digital device scenario.


That's good news, was he limited basic, limited+dig-classic, limited+exp-basic+dig-classic?

Dunno if it was me, but I have confirmation so far...
I have full std basic + digital classic, and local office and CSR confirmed it is $15.99 truck roll, NO charge for 2 cards (If I have no other STBs.)

I called the 24hr svc # on my bill, asked for upgrd svc, to get cable card, they txferred me right away...

Tom was very knowledgeable, he asked right up front if I needed 2 cards for the Tivo! I said yes, he confirmed the pricing- $15.99 truck roll, cards are free (I have Digital Classic+std cable), then he mentioned $6.95 addnl outlet fee-!
which I started complaining about, then realized I still had my HD-DVR STB, so the Tivo *IS* a 2nd outlet. (oops)
I confirmed with him the $6.95 should go away once I return the Comcast STB.

I have an appt for next wed, Tivo arrives thurs, so I'll give an update after that.

Dunno if it was me, but I have confirmation so far...
I have full std basic + digital classic, and local office and CSR confirmed it is $15.99 truck roll, NO charge for 2 cards (If I have no other STBs.)

I called the 24hr svc # on my bill, asked for upgrd svc, to get cable card, they txferred me right away...

Tom was very knowledgeable, he asked right up front if I needed 2 cards for the Tivo! I said yes, he confirmed the pricing- $15.99 truck roll, cards are free (I have Digital Classic+std cable), then he mentioned $6.95 addnl outlet fee-!
which I started complaining about, then realized I still had my HD-DVR STB, so the Tivo *IS* a 2nd outlet. (oops)
I confirmed with him the $6.95 should go away once I return the Comcast STB.

I have an appt for next wed, Tivo arrives thurs, so I'll give an update after that.
Don't you also currently pay a $5/mo HD equipment fee? I do. If so, I wonder if they will drop that. I have a S3 on the way and would like to know what to expect. I have Limited Basic + Digital Classic tier with DCT-6200.

Don't you also currently pay a $5/mo HD equipment fee? I do. If so, I wonder if they will drop that. I have a S3 on the way and would like to know what to expect. I have Limited Basic + Digital Classic tier with DCT-6200.
I was told I don't have to pay this. From everything I've read, it is as you say, an "equipment" fee. That means it is for the HD STB. If you have TiVo S3 and cable cards, you don't need the HD STB (or even a regular STB) and should not pay for it. If you have no other STB then you don't have to pay $6.95 "second outlet fee" either. The two cable cards are free (except for the truck-roll "installation" fee), as long as you subscribe to Digital Classic (or a bigger package that includes it).

I had expanded basic analog previously so I did have to add Digital Classic ($9.95/mo), but that includes a (non-HD) STB or two cable cards. Some Comcast reps (like in the retail stores since they don't seem to know about TiVo Series 3 yet) will swear that you need the HD box to get HDTV, but I don't believe that to be true.

Some people who are just looking for local (network) channels in HD subscribe to analog basic plus digital classic, but that would seem to rule out the expanded basic channels (comedy central, HGTV, etc.) so I didn't go that route.

Maybe some day Comcast will get the correct information out to all of their employees and prove that the mis-information is not intentional. In the mean time, it's a shame that people have to either research this stuff online for themselves (and hope they find the right answer) or listen to what the reps say and most likely end up overpaying for services they don't actually need.

Don't you also currently pay a $5/mo HD equipment fee? I do. If so, I wonder if they will drop that. I have a S3 on the way and would like to know what to expect. I have Limited Basic + Digital Classic tier with DCT-6200.

No, the $9.95 DVR fee covers that in effect. $5 would be for HD-capable STB, since it's more expensive than plain digital STB (which is otherwise paid for in your digital tier package.)
You shouldn't have to pay $5 "HD fee" if you don't use either the HD STB or DVR (eg, just Cable Cards, on a HD-capable device like an HDTV or Tivo S3.)
If you ask for cable cards or DVR w/o a digital package, your fees would be higher (eg 6.95 digital device "outlet"), since the digital pkg subsidides the STB/card cost. Might as well get some more HD channels with that cost :)

I was actually impressed that so far the local office semi-informed staff, plus the phone CSR when I asked to install CableCards, both got the pricing & details right. But I guess this region has a bit more techno-geek early adopters than other places :) (CSR said he'd been handling S3 CC install calls since last Monday, guess some beta/insider S3 owners...)

Thanks for the reminder about PB. My wife would kill me if she's ready to watch PB and it's not in the DVR.

Let's see if she can see the difference between HD and SD. Any bets? :p

If you ask for cable cards or DVR w/o a digital package, your fees would be higher (eg 6.95 digital device "outlet"), since the digital pkg subsidides the STB/card cost. Might as well get some more HD channels with that cost :)
Yeah, if only that were the case. ESPN-HD is still in the clear here in Sunnyvale, meaning I'm paying $9.95/mo for one additional channel, DISC-HD, plus HD channel numbers that are (unlike QAM channels) compatible with TiVo's program guide info, and for two ("free") cable cards...

Yeah, if only that were the case. ESPN-HD is still in the clear here in Sunnyvale, meaning I'm paying $9.95/mo for one additional channel, DISC-HD, plus HD channel numbers that are (unlike QAM channels) compatible with TiVo's program guide info, and for two ("free") cable cards...


True- it's probably worthwhile for (esp 550 areas) to check exactly how much it would cost for 2 cable cards but NO digital tier (maybe with or without "expanded" analog.) I think it would be $6.95/mo for the "single digital outlet", but can't confirm.
Given that, for $3 more per month, might as well get some more HD (and SD) channels w/ digital tier also, not just the cards.... but true, poor 550 areas get stuck again and only get 1-2 more channels. :(

If people don't want the expanded analog, at least that's some savings since Tivo DVR doesn't require buying full analog (for bay area) to get a DVR :) but I like all my analog channels, so I pay... sigh.
Some areas Comcast required them to get Digital tier for their DVR also, so it's a tossup sometimes.

Edit:
At least the S3 also gives option for OTA HD recording, if you can receive w/ antenna... not sure what reception the 550 areas get?

I'm pondering setting up my UHF antenna mast again for that, if only to try and get CW in HD til Comcast adds it. I was mostly wondering for the new "revamped" Star Trek: Original Series, started this weekend, but CBS ended up not sending it in HD after all, so analog was good enough. Lucky since my S3 isn't here yet:)
Not sure if it's worth it only for Smallville :) my reception was spotty anyway (tree in the way, cheap antenna) but worth a shot, esp if CC install takes a while to get right.

Edit:
At least the S3 also gives option for OTA HD recording, if you can receive w/ antenna... not sure what reception the 550 areas get?


I highly recommend you try the antenna, the S3 has spectacular OTA ATSC and NTSC tuners, I'm getting stations I never got a whiff of before, plus the 1-2 stations I did get before, come in much stronger and are way more stable.

I suspect that it has at least a Gen 5 tuner in it, maybe even something else that may be better.

I highly recommend you try the antenna, the S3 has spectacular OTA ATSC and NTSC tuners, I'm getting stations I never got a whiff of before, plus the 1-2 stations I did get before, come in much stronger and are way more stable.

I suspect that it has at least a Gen 5 tuner in it, maybe even something else that may be better.

OK Jim, own up. What stations are you getting now on your ATSC tuner? How stable are they really?

I highly recommend you try the antenna, the S3 has spectacular OTA ATSC and NTSC tuners, I'm getting stations I never got a whiff of before, plus the 1-2 stations I did get before, come in much stronger and are way more stable.
I just talked to someone who (like me) has noticed lots of audio dropouts and video artifacts on HD channels on Comcast. Is that "typical"? I thought that's what satellite people had to deal with but didn't realize it was a cable issue too. :(

Would adding an OTA antenna (though a bit of a PITA I shouldn't have to bother with for what I pay for cable) have similar issues? My cable modem works relatively well and HD is otherwise fine, but it's really annoying to have to deal with these audio dropouts from time to time. The whole thing makes me almost prefer analog recordings on my old TiVo which, though fuzzier, don't have the audio dropouts (which the brain is generally much more sensitive to than momentary image problems).

I highly recommend you try the antenna, the S3 has spectacular OTA ATSC and NTSC tuners, I'm getting stations I never got a whiff of before, plus the 1-2 stations I did get before, come in much stronger and are way more stable.

I suspect that it has at least a Gen 5 tuner in it, maybe even something else that may be better.


That is so odd. When i did a simple peruse of the TiVo site, i couldn't find any info on the S3 and OTA. It was buried under much info about getting the cable cards, etc. I get fantastic HD most days - depending on the weather, and was concerned about being able to use it with the S3.
wendek

No, the $9.95 DVR fee covers that in effect. $5 would be for HD-capable STB, since it's more expensive than plain digital STB (which is otherwise paid for in your digital tier package.)
You shouldn't have to pay $5 "HD fee" if you don't use either the HD STB or DVR (eg, just Cable Cards, on a HD-capable device like an HDTV or Tivo S3.)
If you ask for cable cards or DVR w/o a digital package, your fees would be higher (eg 6.95 digital device "outlet"), since the digital pkg subsidides the STB/card cost. Might as well get some more HD channels with that cost :)

I was actually impressed that so far the local office semi-informed staff, plus the phone CSR when I asked to install CableCards, both got the pricing & details right. But I guess this region has a bit more techno-geek early adopters than other places :) (CSR said he'd been handling S3 CC install calls since last Monday, guess some beta/insider S3 owners...)


So, in effect an HD DVR from Comcast is actually $9.95 + $5 for content = $14.95 ?

OK Jim, own up. What stations are you getting now on your ATSC tuner? How stable are they really?
I'm not sure, I didn't recognize most of them. I didn't spend much time with it and actually deleted all the OTA channels except for the one I wanted, which was KBCW, which has been strong since the S3 has been hooked up to it. Watched a complete ep of Star Trek last night without a single glitch.

I'm going to add the OTA stations back into the channel list and then go through them and see which ones are worthy enough to keep. I know I saw KGO, KPIX, KRON, KTVU and half a dozen other ones that I'm not familiar with, I think I even got a bit of KQED. Some of them were breaking up, some weren't, but I usually never even get a signal with many of those stations. These were all digital. The S3 also has an analog tuner although I don't have any plans to retain those.

Keep in mind, this was with one scan and the antenna in a stationary position, I never even tried to dial it in to see if I could get stronger signals with the stations I did see. Plus, the channel list has SAC channels as well and in the past I have had a bit of luck getting Walnut Grove so I'm really curious if any of those come in.

Of the 4 ATSC tuners I've used with my present antenna setup, this one is definitely the best so far.

I just talked to someone who (like me) has noticed lots of audio dropouts and video artifacts on HD channels on Comcast. Is that "typical"? I thought that's what satellite people had to deal with but didn't realize it was a cable issue too. :(

Would adding an OTA antenna (though a bit of a PITA I shouldn't have to bother with for what I pay for cable) have similar issues? My cable modem works relatively well and HD is otherwise fine, but it's really annoying to have to deal with these audio dropouts from time to time. The whole thing makes me almost prefer analog recordings on my old TiVo which, though fuzzier, don't have the audio dropouts (which the brain is generally much more sensitive to than momentary image problems).
I haven't seen/heard any issues with the Comcast channels. I will say that I had to remove the Moto cable amp from the line feeding the S3 as it was causing problems like you describe when I first hooked it up. It seems the S3 has better QAM tuners in it than the 6412, the amp was actually overdriving the tuners. The 6412 still needs the amp. So, evidently the S3 does a better job of pulling the signal out of the crap than the 6412 does.

...Keep in mind, this was with one scan and the antenna in a stationary position...
That's another concern... From Sunnyvale, it seems that stations come from (at least/) two directions. Now if only we could get a USB antenna tuner, and S3 support to make sure the antenna was pointing the right way... but what to do if you needed the antenna to point one way for one tuner/channel and the other way for the other? :rolleyes:

That's another concern... From Sunnyvale, it seems that stations come from (at least/) two directions. Now if only we could get a USB antenna tuner, and S3 support to make sure the antenna was pointing the right way... but what to do if you needed the antenna to point one way for one tuner/channel and the other way for the other? :rolleyes:
Two antennas. The folks in the OTA thread can give you, in excruciating detail, exactly what you'll need and how to do it. Not as difficult as it sounds.

I'm sort of thinking that comcast might be the "easiest" way to get TV and HDTV into the house. I already have cable internet and although a friend has run DirecTV over the same lines with comcast internet simultaneously, i don't know if i want to go the extra investment with satellite TV just yet. And tho I have a lifetime sub on my S2 not willing to pay $1000+ for S3 TiVo yet.
So, I'm wondering what are the "better" ComcastHD DVR's and what combo might be best for my set up: 32" philips LCD w/ATSC and QAM and Cable Card slot with S2 80hr TiVo hooked up via split OTA; 27" LCD w/ATSC & QAM and; 27" tube with the 40hr S2 TiVo hookup. All are hooked to rabbit ears, and i've checked out the signals on the cable now and get better more stable HD channels that way.

Would i lose those HD channels (ABC, NBC, KQED, ESPNHD) if i did not get the Comcast HD package?

I'd like to get an HD DVR but wonder if i really would need one, if i went with the cable card on the 32", and what kind of picture would really come thru the S2 TiVo via digital (if possible?) cable.

Also, what is the best way to tell which Daly City/Pacifica channel line up i am included in as there are several.

thanks for any thoughts on this...
wendek

great...... not only can't i watch prison break because the giants are getting slaughtered 20-7, but KICU is SD and is having breakup issues....

KTVU? FOX? someone turn on the HD feed for vanished!!

KTVU? FOX? someone turn on the HD feed for vanished!!
It's a KTVU problem, HD on KTTV from LA, as was Prison Break. :p

great...... not only can't i watch prison break because the giants are getting slaughtered 20-7, but KICU is SD and is having breakup issues....

I didn't have any break-up issues...but man, does KICU have BAD picture quality.

Does anyone know if you order the NHL center ice package you will get coverage of pre-season games?

Pre-season NHL started this week and I would love to watch. I ordered it last year but can't remember if I got them or not.

I called Customer Service and she could not tell me for sure. She just said it was orderable now and she new when the regular season started....

-Mike

So, in effect an HD DVR from Comcast is actually $9.95 + $5 for content = $14.95 ?

Not for me.
I pay $9.95 for digital classic (on top of $50 std (lim+exp basic) analog cable),
$9.95 for "DVR service with HDTV", and that's it.

I believe they may add back the $5 HD equip (or $6.95 for digital outlet) if you do NOT get digital classic, since that partly subsidizes the STB box cost (hd or not.)... need to ask. Maybe multiple times until you get desired answer :)

Other region prices/requirements may vary, eg require full standard analog cable, and/or a Digital tier, etc... see Keenan's sticky edits to first post as well.

So, in effect an HD DVR from Comcast is actually $9.95 + $5 for content = $14.95 ?
From my understanding, you cannot get a DVR from Comcast unless you subscribe to digital cable and than the price is $9.95 when you exchange the STB provided with digital for the DVR. I believe you can only get a STB if you subscribe to analog.

You can't get the DVR unless you subscribe to Digital Classic plus Standard Cable. Comes to about $70-75 a month with the DVR fee, local taxes and surcharges, etc. It's an expensive rental fee if you only want Limited Basic.

Limited Basic is actually digital cable as it passes the local HD plus sub-channels.

Wendek, you need to read the 1st post, it has most of the info you seek.

When people ask which they should go with, satellite or cable, I always recommend they try cable first, because it doesn't cost you anything up-front, and you can always cancel at any time. If you don't like it, then maybe try satellite.

As for what is the "best" Comcast DVR, you won't have a choice really, and they all pretty much suck equally so...

Wendek, you need to read the 1st post, it has most of the info you seek.

When people ask which they should go with, satellite or cable, I always recommend they try cable first, because it doesn't cost you anything up-front, and you can always cancel at any time. If you don't like it, then maybe try satellite.

As for what is the "best" Comcast DVR, you won't have a choice really, and they all pretty much suck equally so...


Thanks, Walk. I did. i'm still trying to digest it all and understand. I guess i'm also trying to get around the fact that it costs so much every month to watch more TV than the "free" OTA i get.
Thanks for the advice.
<sigh>
wendek

You can't get the DVR unless you subscribe to Digital Classic plus Standard Cable. Comes to about $70-75 a month with the DVR fee, local taxes and surcharges, etc.

Not true, at least not true everywhere around here. Can get DVR w/ just std cable (limited + expanded basic). Digital classic not necessary.

I believe they may add back the $5 HD equip (or $6.95 for digital outlet) if you do NOT get digital classic, since that partly subsidizes the STB box cost (hd or not.)... need to ask. Maybe multiple times until you get desired answer

This is the actual situation for me in Milpitas. On my bill I currently get a $4 "digital equip" charge for this, I think it was $5 at some earlier time, I didn't carefully track when it dropped. My total bill for the cable portion (before HSI) is ~$64, = ~$46 (limited + expanded basic) + $4 (digital equip) + ~$10 ("DVR w/ HDTV") + $4 (franchise fees + taxes).

It is the expanded basic that is really expensive. If you want the expanded basic channels (I certainly do), but not the digital channels, you can save $5-6/month on DVR by not getting digital tier. Unfortunately need digital tier for ESPNHD/DSCVHD/INHD for new subs (I'm grandfathered & get it anyway). I suppose if I didn't get this I'd cough up the extra dough, though satellite would start to look more attractive. Guess I'll see if I get TNTHD or not tomorrow.

Not true, at least not true everywhere around here. Can get DVR w/ just std cable (limited + expanded basic). Digital classic not necessary.



This is the actual situation for me in Milpitas. On my bill I currently get a $4 "digital equip" charge for this, I think it was $5 at some earlier time, I didn't carefully track when it dropped. My total bill for the cable portion (before HSI) is ~$64, = ~$46 (limited + expanded basic) + $4 (digital equip) + ~$10 ("DVR w/ HDTV") + $4 (franchise fees + taxes).

It is the expanded basic that is really expensive. If you want the expanded basic channels (I certainly do), but not the digital channels, you can save $5-6/month on DVR by not getting digital tier. Unfortunately need digital tier for ESPNHD/DSCVHD/INHD for new subs (I'm grandfathered & get it anyway). I suppose if I didn't get this I'd cough up the extra dough, though satellite would start to look more attractive. Guess I'll see if I get TNTHD or not tomorrow.

So in Milpitas you can get the DVR with Standard Cable only? Then you should be able to get it with just Limited Basic..somehow I don't see that being possible. I see you are paying an additional $4 which must be for the cable modem as the $10 for the DVR covers the DVR cost.

Since you have HSI as well that may be a reason why they don't require Digital Classic for the DVR.

Yeah, if only that were the case. ESPN-HD is still in the clear here in Sunnyvale, meaning I'm paying $9.95/mo for one additional channel, DISC-HD, plus HD channel numbers that are (unlike QAM channels) compatible with TiVo's program guide info, and for two ("free") cable cards...
Just to clarify my own earlier post... While it's true that Digital Classic only gets me one additional **HD** channel than I had previously (or two if you count ESPN-HD), it ALSO adds a new batch of (digital) SD channels that we did not previously receive (the rest of the "Digital Classic" offering), and digital music too...

Has anyone gotten their CableCARDs to work in a S3 Tivo yet?

The installer just left (Mountain View), and said such fun things like "they don't work with TiVo's except Sony" and "it'll take 4 hours to activate".

Luckily he left the cable cards here, usually Comcast is good at taking back their toys if anything goes wrong. :( We'll see if things are operational when I get home from work.

Has anyone gotten their CableCARDs to work in a S3 Tivo yet?

The installer just left, and said such fun things like "they don't work with TiVo's except Sony" and "it'll take 4 hours to activate".

Luckily he left the cable cards here, usually Comcast is good at taking back their toys if they don't work. :( We'll see if things are working when I get home from work.
I had a similar experience this morning. I was told "Too bad you're in Sunnyvale". Yeah, I know. Besides the reduced set of HD channels (and lack of "on demand"), another issue seems to be that it takes a longer time for the cards to activate.

I give TiVo a "C" for activation -- both the experience (on the TV) and the instructions. There should be a LOT more information on the cable card installation sheet that comes inside the box.

After installing the first card and calling corporate to activate it, we watched a screen for quite a while (spinning beach ball) that said it was waiting for channel information but that we could press TiVo to escape. Eventually it timed out, and informed me that we must run guided setup (but that claims to take a half hour and I suspect no cable guy is going to wait around for that). Somewhere in the process of futzing around with it, the box actually rebooted, somewhat unexpectedly. I got more messages about needing to do guided setup. Trying to view live TV showed only the beach ball "waiting for channel information" screen.

At this point I was stumped. The cable guy (who obviously wanted to leave) suggested we install and activate the second card. It wasn't at all clear to me if we should do this since I would liked to have seen some live TV coming through the first card before adding the second (as implied by the documentation).

Unfortunately, the documentation is not at all clear on this. The cable guy did say that for TVs, you just stick in the card and "it just works", usually fairly quickly.

TiVo needs to clarify whether it is possible to view live channels before re-running guided setup (the answer should be yes but I don't know). They should also clarify exactly what you should see (and what the cable card diagnostics should indicate) after installing and activating the first card, but before attempting to install the second card.

I had read several stories about bad cable cards not being able to be activated, but then also heard that activation information can take a while to arrive on the 550 system in Sunnyvale. So what we were to think?

Fortunately we just kept going -- he only had two cards, so we decided to install and activate both of them, and leave me to call Comcast if there was a problem. I re-ran the guided setup (which did take about 20 minutes over broadand) and finally got back to being able to view live TV. I'm still not seeing all of the channels I should be getting but I am seeing some of the new Digital Classic channels so it would seem that at least one of the cards is working.

As for the still-missing ones, I suspect, or hope anyway, that my channel 75-80 notch filter for AVCast is simply blocking a few of the digital channels. I need to pull that out at least temporarily to see if more channels come in; if so, I'll need to get an un-notched cable routed to the S3 box just like I did for the cable modem... that should be fun. (Is there any way to figure out what (analog) channel frequencies the digital channels live on? Specifically, would notching 75-80 potentially block some, but not all, digital and/or HD channels?

I tried searching, but this thread is bit unweildy. Does anyone know for sure if Comcast do digital simulcast in Mountain View? If they do, what magic code word can I use so that support will know what I'm talking about, and how do I get it turned on?

I'm just setting up a Series 3 TiVo, I managed to get the 2 cable cards for it, and its all working. However, the basic cable channels are coming through as analog, very bad analog at that. I really don't want to try to get Comcast to fix their analog, I'd be quite happy to use digital if they were sending it my way.

So the first question is, are they sending it? Second question how to I get them to reprovision the card?

One of the good things that's coming out of this S3 release and CableCARD's is that it's forcing MSO's to take the CableCARD seriously. I'm sure when people called up in the past who have a CC-ready TV and asked about it, many people were "persuaded" to get an STB because of all the "additional features". The lack of CSR/Installer knowledge is proof that not many have gone out up to this point.

I just spoke to Comcast support, the rep there seemed to understand the situation and told me that my part of mountain view had not been upgraded yet, so I get analog channels, no digital below 120. So I scheduled a technician visit to see if they could fix the analog. Amazingly they do 2 hour windows for the appointment.

Has anyone gotten their CableCARDs to work in a S3 Tivo yet?

The installer just left (Mountain View), and said such fun things like "they don't work with TiVo's except Sony" and "it'll take 4 hours to activate".

Luckily he left the cable cards here, usually Comcast is good at taking back their toys if anything goes wrong. :( We'll see if things are operational when I get home from work.
My install was a piece of cake. The S3 had already been setup as I was using it prior to getting the CCs and did not need a complete re-setup after doing the CCs. It says you do, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

The whole procedure took about 30 mins and two phone calls by the tech, one for each card, in fact that's all he did as I did the actual installation.

I gave him a copy of the insert directed to the cable company and a copy of the TiVo document available online concerning installation.

We discussed briefly the cost of the cards but I could see right away that it would be fruitless. I did have him notate on the work order the very specific make and model of the unit the cards were going into, and that it was a single digital device. I was also specific that he indicate that there were no "Additional Digital Outlets", which seems to be the nomenclature used for the cards, added or needed.

I can't wait to see how much fun I'm going to have when I turn the DVR in.

Has anyone gotten their CableCARDs to work in a S3 Tivo yet?

The installer just left (Mountain View),There was no problem with the cable cards for me. There was a problem getting the insatller to arrive when he was supposed to and he couldn't get through to the people who needed to authorise the cards, it took him 5 min or so hitting his beep beep button on his phone before someone answered him. It took them another 10 min before anything actually came of this. The 161-4 error also popped up, but I'd seen that was something to ignore.

The cable guy didn't want to install the cards individually, just put them both in and make one call. (With the call centre being so responsive, I can understand that.) I'd heard of someone else who'd done it that way, so apart from pointing to the instructions and saying the advice was to do it one at a time, I let him and it worked.

Any word on when Comcast might deign to carry HD for UPN/WB (now the CW)?

I just spoke to Comcast support, the rep there seemed to understand the situation and told me that my part of mountain view had not been upgraded yet, so I get analog channels, no digital below 120. So I scheduled a technician visit to see if they could fix the analog. Amazingly they do 2 hour windows for the appointment.
There are many folks in MtView who have confirmed ADS is available. It was actually one of the first areas to have ADS. I guess it is possible MtView has different sections which haven't been upgraded yet, but I tend to think the CSR just said something to move you along.

Why don't you just manually tune to ch119.x using your S3 QAM tuner? I don't know if CableCARD completely disables tuning by entering the RF channel or not. If so, you might need to remove your CableCARDs to try that out (unless you have another QAM tuner lying around)

There are many folks in MtView who have confirmed ADS is available. It was actually one of the first areas to have ADS. I guess it is possible MtView has different sections which haven't been upgraded yet, but I tend to think the CSR just said something to move you along.I'd be quite surprised if the centre of town didn't have ADS, they rebuilt that physically sometime around 2000. That stopped my cable (at the time) sucking, and got digital. I've moved to an outlying area now.Why don't you just manually tune to ch119.x using your S3 QAM tuner? I don't know how to do that, and what would it tell me? Is all ADS comming on 119? I haven't worked out how to persuade the TiVo to tune to a particular cable channel. This is complicated by the OTA and cable being active at the same time, if I type in a channel number its not certain if I get OTA or cable.

I just started my own bandwidth upgrade in Saratoga this morning (was growing old waiting for Comcast to do it)

By this time next week I should have ~30 HD Channels via E* instead of 8 1/2 via comcast ;)

does E* carry bay area fsn? is it in hd? i must have it for to feed my giants/warriors addiction

I'd be quite surprised if the centre of town didn't have ADS, they rebuilt that physically sometime around 2000. That stopped my cable (at the time) sucking, and got digital. I've moved to an outlying area now.

I don't know how to do that, and what would it tell me? Is all ADS comming on 119? I haven't worked out how to persuade the TiVo to tune to a particular cable channel. This is complicated by the OTA and cable being active at the same time, if I type in a channel number its not certain if I get OTA or cable.
What would it tell you? Well if you tuned 119.1 and you got a picture, it would tell you that ADS is being broadcast in your area of MtView. Ask Keenan how to manually enter a QAM channel, he seems to have the most experience with S3 around here. I wouldn't think it is that difficult, but maybe slightly confusing with the different tuners.

I just picked an easy channel for you to check. 119 has CNN, CSPAN, and some others. 114 has FOX, CBS, ABC and most of the locals. 91 has most of the govt access. 84 has NBC, the rest of the locals, and some spanish channels.

They are all there and I'd be surprised if all of MtView didn't have them. They are broadcasting all the time. The only reason most people don't see them is their STB isn't programmed to tune to those channels instead of the analog ones. Just a matter of sending your box new channel mappings. See the post a page or 2 back from Barovelli regarding channel mappings and accounts.

If it is a pain to get the S3 tuning QAM channels that are manually entered, see if your neighbor has a QAM capable TV (or if you have a QAM-capable TV that would work also)

Any word on when Comcast might deign to carry HD for UPN/WB (now the CW)?


I am waiting for that as well!!!

You can't tune by RF channel with the S3. With CC in it uses the Comcast mapping and with it out it uses the PSIP that comes with the signal that Comcast passes. This would be for the local digital channels. The analog cable channels have the same numbering as normal.

As far as telling the difference between channel source, I believe it says so in the info banner. In the channel listing/scan menu it also gives the source/type of channel.

If ADS is there, the channels should show up in the channel list, although I have not experienced it myself has there is no ADS up here.

Actually there is one I think, one of the KQED sub-channels shows up as digital cable channel 95, I think, I can't check it right now.

So with a full scan you would have,

KQED-all OTA channels-both analog and digital
KQED-all cable channels both analog and digital, plus any ADS, I think, I 'll have to check later.

So you can have up to 5 different listings for one channel.

Try looking for any channels that have an asterisk next to them in the channel scan/list menu. I think these are channels that have either a PSIP problem and/or could be the ADS channels.

I'd be quite surprised if the centre of town didn't have ADS, they rebuilt that physically sometime around 2000.
If it was 2000, it might very well be a 550 area as I believe that was the SOTA at the time. While Santa Rosa is a city unto itself, all the surrounding communities, towns and cities have all been upgraded whereas Santa Rosa has not, so it's not a stretch that central Mt View hasn't been either.

Was Mt View a TCI/AT&T system previously to Comcast?

does E* carry bay area fsn? is it in hd? i must have it for to feed my giants/warriors addiction
No, not yet to subs anyhow. The signals are being uplinked, they just haven't been turned on for the subs yet.

I am in San Jose (95134) and I have quite a few channels in digital (CNN, CSPAN, Animal Planet etc) in the clear. But I don't have ADS. I think with ADS we should have *all* channels in digital. I don't know if all of them would be in clear or not. I certainly don't have all the analog channels in clear digital. Regd 119, I have to check if CNN is on 119. Can some with ADS confirm if all the analog channels are in the clear or encripted.

One CSR told me we should get ADS by end of the year and another said she does not know.

What would it tell you? Well if you tuned 119.1 and you got a picture, it would tell you that ADS is being broadcast in your area of MtView. Ask Keenan how to manually enter a QAM channel, he seems to have the most experience with S3 around here. I wouldn't think it is that difficult, but maybe slightly confusing with the different tuners.

I just picked an easy channel for you to check. 119 has CNN, CSPAN, and some others. 114 has FOX, CBS, ABC and most of the locals. 91 has most of the govt access. 84 has NBC, the rest of the locals, and some spanish channels.

Was Mt View a TCI/AT&T system previously to Comcast?It was South Bay Cablevision, which got Borged by TCI, and then AT&T, that was when I last had cable. Since then its obviously become Comcast.

Actually there is one I think, one of the KQED sub-channels shows up as digital cable channel 95, I think, I can't check it right now.I have some KQED channel showing up as 96 at the moment. I haven't worked out what it is.So with a full scan you would have,I haven't done a scan, that maybe what I'm missing. I was letting the cable card do the work.So you can have up to 5 different listings for one channel.5? There's be Analog OTA, Analog cable and Digital Cable all showing up as X. The digtial OTA would be X-1 etc, where's the 5th?Try looking for any channels that have an asterisk next to them in the channel scan/list menu. I think these are channels that have either a PSIP problem and/or could be the ADS channels.I was wondering what they were.

I have some KQED channel showing up as 96 at the moment. I haven't worked out what it is.I haven't done a scan, that maybe what I'm missing. I was letting the cable card do the work.5? There's be Analog OTA, Analog cable and Digital Cable all showing up as X. The digtial OTA would be X-1 etc, where's the 5th?I was wondering what they were.
The 5th would be the ADS equivalent of the analog cable channel.

For example, you could have,

KPIX-analog OTA
KPIX-digital OTA
KPIX-analog cable
KPIX-ADS cable of the analog version
KPIX-digital cable

and if the channel has subchannels like KQED you could have crapload of listings for one station.

Up here, the 95404 zip also loads the Sacramento stations into the channel list as well as the SF stations. Took me awhile to sort it all out.

So in Milpitas you can get the DVR with Standard Cable only? Then you should be able to get it with just Limited Basic..somehow I don't see that being possible. I see you are paying an additional $4 which must be for the cable modem as the $10 for the DVR covers the DVR cost.

Since you have HSI as well that may be a reason why they don't require Digital Classic for the DVR.

I don't know if they let you order with just limited basic as I never tried; I want some of the expanded basic channels (and I think earlier in this monster thread or the 6412 monster thread over in HD recorders it was perhaps mentioned that at least expanded basic was required). The $4 is definitely for the DVR, not for a cable modem. I use my own cable modem & am getting the discounted rate for HSI w/ own modem. Also at one point I tried to get that $4 charge removed, but they told me that fee is part of the Digital Classic charge I am not paying, have to either pay that or get Digital classic.

Also, HSI has nothing to do with it, I used DVR for some months & was charged as I described (except prob $5 for box rather than $4) before getting HSI last year.

most of us will get TNTHD (replacing INHD2), but if you don't have INHD2 to begin with (most 550 areas), its unlikely you will have TNTHD.
I'm in a 550 area, and I get INHD2. Which areas don't-- I'm surprised to hear that there are worse areas than mine!

I just started my own bandwidth upgrade in Saratoga this morning (was growing old waiting for Comcast to do it)

By this time next week I should have ~30 HD Channels via E* instead of 8 1/2 via comcast
Good for you! Do you get all 3 local networks in HD? I'm not that keen on getting the NYC feeds only (or even the LA feeds).

Anyone having problems with OnDemand?
What is this "OnDemand" of which you speak. :)

I have some KQED channel showing up as 96 at the moment. I haven't worked out what it is.I haven't done a scan, that maybe what I'm missing. I was letting the cable card do the work.5? There's be Analog OTA, Analog cable and Digital Cable all showing up as X. The digtial OTA would be X-1 etc, where's the 5th?I was wondering what they were.

Channel 96 is a mirror of channel 9, KQED. When it first came up in Rohnert Park channel 96 was at 64 QAM. Since Rohnert Park has gone ADS, it is now analog and channel 9 is 256 QAM. They did a reversal.

You can't tune by RF channel with the S3.
You mean you can't punch in the RF channel, but you can scan using the QAM tuner or you mean there is absolutely no way to get clear QAM signals recording/tuned? I thought S3 could work w/o CableCARD but it just wouldn't use the guide data properly? I'm probably just reading your response the wrong way.

If it was 2000, it might very well be a 550 area as I believe that was the SOTA at the time. While Santa Rosa is a city unto itself, all the surrounding communities, towns and cities have all been upgraded whereas Santa Rosa has not, so it's not a stretch that central Mt View hasn't been either.

Was Mt View a TCI/AT&T system previously to Comcast?
I doubt his problem in MtView is 550. (not that you would know this, mainly for btwyx's benefit) MtView has 3 zip codes for Comcast. 94040 el camino hospital area, 94041 downtown area, 94043 rest of mountain view.

The guide data shows all the 750/860 favorites like INHD1/2, ESPN2HD, STRZHD, SHOHD, KRONHD, etc. I guess it is possible the guide data is wrong, but the analog lineup is also exactly the same for the 3 zip codes. Telltale sign of 550 is if analog channels are reordered or missing.

I am in San Jose (95134) and I have quite a few channels in digital (CNN, CSPAN, Animal Planet etc) in the clear. But I don't have ADS. I think with ADS we should have *all* channels in digital. I don't know if all of them would be in clear or not. I certainly don't have all the analog channels in clear digital. Regd 119, I have to check if CNN is on 119. Can some with ADS confirm if all the analog channels are in the clear or encripted.

One CSR told me we should get ADS by end of the year and another said she does not know.
I think sometimes there is a disconnect. In my mind an area has ADS when ADS signals are present on the line, regardless of whether the STB is programmed to use them or not, because you can manually tune the channel using a clearQAM tuner or PC QAM tuner card. I think you are going by the definition of your STB being programmed to use ADS as the definition. Even after ADS is available, it may take some time for Comcast to change your account profile to use it. In some cases you can accelerate this by getting a 3412 added to your account.

119 is only valid for MtView (or parts of MtView), it could easily be something else in your area. Every headend can have differences, that is why nobody can just publish one RF guide and have that be valid for everybody in the bay area.

I believe the majority of expanded basic ADS is encrypted but I don't know for sure.

I have some KQED channel showing up as 96 at the moment. I haven't worked out what it is.

I'm increasingly curious what this is. Here in Sunnyvale, I'm thinking its an analog simulcast. Turning on the diagnostics on my Sony EA4210 (using a CableCARD), two columns are displayed -- "In Band (FAT)" and "Out of Band (FDC)". When I'm tuned to a digital channel, both coumns have values (FDC is always displayed, implying to me that it's the analog info); FAT data includes the type of QAM modulation used (64/256), further implying to me that it's digital.

Tuning to 96, my TV recognizes it as KQED, and only displays the FDC data (all values in the FAT column are blank or zero).

So am I to understand that Comcast is pissing away 6MHz of bandwith on my 550 system for no reason? Someone please tell me I'm crazy...

I'm increasingly curious what this is. Here in Sunnyvale, I'm thinking its an analog simulcast. Turning on the diagnostics on my Sony EA4210 (using a CableCARD), two columns are displayed -- "In Band (FAT)" and "Out of Band (FDC)". When I'm tuned to a digital channel, both coumns have values (FDC is always displayed, implying to me that it's the analog info); FAT data includes the type of QAM modulation used (64/256), further implying to me that it's digital.

Tuning to 96, my TV recognizes it as KQED, and only displays the FDC data (all values in the FAT column are blank or zero).

So am I to understand that Comcast is pissing away 6MHz of bandwith on my 550 system for no reason? Someone please tell me I'm crazy...
Are you talking about real RF96 or mapped ch96?

AFAIK Comcast does not use analog above 8x. My area maxes at 82. Those are real RF channels. ch96, if it is mapped, can be anywhere in the range. I don't think it is analog because I've never seen an analog channel that high. Usually RF 96 is for digital cable.

hmm.. I just checked there is a channel 96 and it is analog. Checked through STB's 'inband status' menu to confirm that it is analog (also no Dolby sound). But this not an RF channel since my TV doesn't see anything at 96. This might be Camcast's eperimentat to map analog channels. When ADS is switched on, the analog versions might be mapped some other channel number like this.

So am I to understand that Comcast is pissing away 6MHz of bandwith on my 550 system for no reason? Someone please tell me I'm crazy...

I think this is just an internal mapping of ch 9 to 96.

hmm.. I just checked there is a channel 96 and it is analog. Checked through STB's 'inband status' menu to confirm that it is analog (also no Dolby sound). But this not an RF channel since my TV doesn't see anything at 96. This might be Camcast's eperimentat to map analog channels. When ADS is switched on, the analog versions might be mapped some other channel number like this.
My STB says it is 189MHz, which is the frequency for ch9 on your analog tuner. Looks like a mapping of an existing analog channel to me, so no wasted bandwidth.

You mean you can't punch in the RF channel, but you can scan using the QAM tuner or you mean there is absolutely no way to get clear QAM signals recording/tuned? I thought S3 could work w/o CableCARD but it just wouldn't use the guide data properly? I'm probably just reading your response the wrong way.
I'm not sure anymore, I do remember without CC it will scan and find the cable RF channel and it will list it in the guide as I recall deleting all the music channels like 20.xx, with the xx being up to 20 different numbers, maybe more. But I'm almost positive that for the local HD it listed by PSIP number, KPIX-HD was 5.1, in fact I know it did. Discovery-HD was on 76.4 I think, with CC it's on 722.

Without CC, I think what it does is list the cable digital channels by cable RF and the OTA locals by their PSIP as I would not find KPIX on say 117.x or something like that, it would be listed as 5.1, just like my Mits display does. The analog cablenets are listed by the same channel as you find in the Comcast guide, or with the CC. I would have to pull the CCs to check but I'm pretty certain that is how it was working.

The S3 will list all the clear QAM channels, there is just no guide data, it just says Digital Service for the program description in the guide. You can record these channels/programs by setting a manual recording by the channel/date/time. I know that works as I have already tried it.

I probably haven't explained it very clearly, and I'm not even 100% positive I have it right, I'll pull the CCs tomorrow and see what it does.

I have some KQED channel showing up as 96 at the moment. I haven't worked out what it is.
So am I to understand that Comcast is pissing away 6MHz of bandwith on my 550 system for no reason? Someone please tell me I'm crazy...
In Santa Rosa, channel number 96 is nothing but a mirror channel mapping of analog 9. They are both the same bandwidth and frequency location, just different channel numbers, much like DirecTV mirrors HBO/SHO on 70/71 and 509/543, so there is no bandwidth being wasted on a duplicate channel.

I don't know if they let you order with just limited basic as I never tried; I want some of the expanded basic channels (and I think earlier in this monster thread or the 6412 monster thread over in HD recorders it was perhaps mentioned that at least expanded basic was required). The $4 is definitely for the DVR, not for a cable modem. I use my own cable modem & am getting the discounted rate for HSI w/ own modem. Also at one point I tried to get that $4 charge removed, but they told me that fee is part of the Digital Classic charge I am not paying, have to either pay that or get Digital classic.

Also, HSI has nothing to do with it, I used DVR for some months & was charged as I described (except prob $5 for box rather than $4) before getting HSI last year.
Did you have an old AT&T package, or a package from the previous cableco that has been upgraded to a Comcast packaging plan? I know that some areas have some odd pricing and packaging. That could be what that $4 charge is, a differential between what you paid before versus what Comcast charges now.

I doubt his problem in MtView is 550. (not that you would know this, mainly for btwyx's benefit) MtView has 3 zip codes for Comcast. 94040 el camino hospital area, 94041 downtown area, 94043 rest of mountain view.

The guide data shows all the 750/860 favorites like INHD1/2, ESPN2HD, STRZHD, SHOHD, KRONHD, etc. I guess it is possible the guide data is wrong, but the analog lineup is also exactly the same for the 3 zip codes. Telltale sign of 550 is if analog channels are reordered or missing.
Yes, I was just guessing given how things are around here. The ghetto system here is surrounded by fully upgraded systems.

Are you talking about real RF96 or mapped ch96?

AFAIK Comcast does not use analog above 8x. My area maxes at 82. Those are real RF channels. ch96, if it is mapped, can be anywhere in the range. I don't think it is analog because I've never seen an analog channel that high. Usually RF 96 is for digital cable.
It's a mapped channel, here it is on frequency 189MHz for both 9 and 96.

<edit> I see you found it, I have been responding to posts in order and just saw yours. :)

It looks like I do have simulcast. To persuade a Series 3 TiVo to tune to a random QAM channel, you have to unplug the cable cards. Then I can do a channel scan including OTA and QAM, and it finds 430 channels. A lot in the 83-119 range, CNN is 119-7. A quick look through the others finds a lot of the basic channels, but not many expanded basic.

I'll have to call Comcast again and see if they can reprogram my cards.

It looks like I do have simulcast. To persuade a Series 3 TiVo to tune to a random QAM channel, you have to unplug the cable cards. Then I can do a channel scan including OTA and QAM, and it finds 430 channels. A lot in the 83-119 range, CNN is 119-7. A quick look through the others finds a lot of the basic channels, but not many expanded basic.

I'll have to call Comcast again and see if they can reprogram my cards.
Did you try just plugging them back in, and maybe do a channel scan again? That's all I had to do with my Mits display when using a CC. I took it out and put it in number of times and it never failed to work properly. Haven't tried it with the S3 yet.

Says I'm "Not Authorized". Hopefully this will be corrected shortly.

most of us will get TNTHD (replacing INHD2), but if you don't have INHD2 to begin with (most 550 areas), its unlikely you will have TNTHD.

Well, it's 9/20 now. =)

720 is currently showing up as "not authorized" =(

The Guide shows the programming as TBA though, so maybe the feed isn't quite ready yet.

I've got only standard cable, so I guess theoretically, I'm not supposed to get TNT-HD (INHD2 did come through in the past).

Edit: Whoops, missed the post above mine.

TNT now on 726 and looking good here in cupertino,no more 720 inhd2 though.

I wonder where they will put any games on FSNBA-HD now that 720 InHD2 appears to be going? 720 still showing a RAINBOW Network Communications logo.

In Rohnert Park this AM 726 has TNT-HD. INHD2 says OFF AIR in the guide but when you tune the channel you get a slate with music saying Rainbow Communications, Bethpage, NY, Technical Operations Center. These are the folks that own FSN Bay, I believe.

It does not appear that TNT-HD is coming to Sunnyvale.

No MHD as the message promised. I was not expecting it though since only some areas got the MHD message.

Kevin

I wonder where they will put any games on FSNBA-HD now that 720 InHD2 appears to be going? 720 still showing a RAINBOW Network Communications logo.

I emailed FSN bay Area, and they said FSN will remain on channel 720.

i watched a bit of ER this morning on TNTHD, and it looks really good. the stretched commercials are hurting my eyes tho. 720 says "not authorized" for me. why would comcast have two part time HD channels?? seems to me they should combine NFL and FSN bay area!

No MHD as the message promised. I was not expecting it though since only some areas got the MHD message.

Kevin

i wonder how miscommunication can be that amazing at comcast. i mean how could they even send a message like that?? it was irresponsible at best.

I'll have to call Comcast again and see if they can reprogram my cards.
I don't think they need to reprogram your cards. What they need to do is change your account profile to be ADS. If you happen to have a DCT-3412 PVR on your account every device on your account including your CableCARDs should switch to using the ADS channel mappings. Comcast is also doing this slowly even if you don't have 3412 so some people might just have their equipment running with the ADS channel mappings.

Well, INHD2 is gone and nothing is replacing it. What's really going to piss me off is there's a Giants game at 12 o'clock and it's suppose to be on FSNBA-HD, which I no longer get. What's up with that Comcast ?? Take a channel, don't put programing to replace it and worse I now can't watch today's game.
NOT A HAPPY CAMPER ....... :mad: :mad:

Laters,
Mikef5

Well, INHD2 is gone and nothing is replacing it. What's really going to piss me off is there's a Giants game at 12 o'clock and it's suppose to be on FSNBA-HD, which I no longer get. What's up with that Comcast ?? Take a channel, don't put programing to replace it and worse I now can't watch today's game.
NOT A HAPPY CAMPER ....... :mad: :mad:

Laters,
Mikef5

i thought mr. J assured you that wouldn't happen to your area??

i thought mr. J assured you that wouldn't happen to your area??
This has nothing to do with Mr. Johnson, Comcast does what it want's to and doesn't give a rat's behind about customers, it's all about the bottom line to them. On the other hand Mr. Johnson has always been upfront with me and is a main reason I've stayed as long as I have. All he can do is put in his input to the company, Comcast decides what it's going to do or not going to do and in this case they've pissed me off big time. I've already sent an email to find out if this is the way it's going to be or if it's an oversight. It's time Comcast stopped screwing over the 550 MHz areas.

Laters,
Mikef5

This has nothing to do with Mr. Johnson, Comcast does what it want's to and doesn't give a rat's behind about customers, it's all about the bottom line to them. On the other hand Mr. Johnson has always been upfront with me and is a main reason I've stayed as long as I have. All he can do is put in his input to the company, Comcast decides what it's going to do or not going to do and in this case they've pissed me off big time. I've already sent an email to find out if this is the way it's going to be or if it's an oversight. It's time Comcast stopped screwing over the 550 MHz areas.

Laters,
Mikef5

man if they took away an HD channel (inhd + FSN) and didn't put another back (TNT), i would raise hell too. that's pretty eff'ed up. even if they took away ur giants HD and gave u TNT i would still be pissed. what the heck does 12 hour reruns of ER do for the average HD customer??

man if they took away an HD channel (inhd + FSN) and didn't put another back (TNT), i would raise hell too. that's pretty eff'ed up. even if they took away ur giants HD and gave u TNT i would still be pissed. what the heck does 12 hour reruns of ER do for the average HD customer??
TNT does nothing for me, their programing sucks to say the least. I've already been in contact with Mr. Johnson and he's looking into it. As far as I can tell right now, channel 720 was not suppose to be taken off of our area. So we'll see what is really going to happen. Noon time is the start of the game, I want to watch the Giants lose in HD darn it ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

TNT does nothing for me, their programing sucks to say the least. I've already been in contact with Mr. Johnson and he's looking into it. As far as I can tell right now, channel 720 was not suppose to be taken off of our area. So we'll see what is really going to happen. Noon time is the start of the game, I want to watch the Giants lose in HD darn it ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Mike,

Take a look at 720 right now...Looks like they have ESPN2HD showing on it (in SD)? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

note: this is Saramilgatos 550Mhz

note2: The Dish Installer is coming at Noonish Today :D

Mike,

Take a look at 720 right now...Looks like they have ESPN2HD showing on it (in SD)? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

note: this is Saramilgatos 550Mhz

note2: The Dish Installer is coming at Noonish Today :D

disney is the omnipotent. clearly.

Mike,

Take a look at 720 right now...Looks like they have ESPN2HD showing on it (in SD)? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

note: this is Saramilgatos 550Mhz

note2: The Dish Installer is coming at Noonish Today :D
I just checked and I can't tune to channel 720. Doesn't exist here, no channel 720. I find it odd that you get it and we are on the same loop. That doesn't make sense. But I get nothing at all, can't even switch to it.

Laters,
Mikef5

Did you try just plugging them back in, and maybe do a channel scan again?With the cable cards in the channel scan just becomes an OTA scan, its not remembering any of the channels it found with the QAM scan. I have to go thrrough the entire "guided" setup process each time the input changes, or I don't get guide information of the new channels.

I just talked to Comcast again. The rep said that Cable cards couldn't get the digital simulcast channels, I needed a cable box for that. I couldn't persuade her that the cable card would happily get the digtial channels, if they'd only progam them correctly. Supposedly a supervisor will call me back, I told her bluntly "I don't beleive you" when she said someone would call me back. No one ever gets callbacks.

I read a post somewhere else which said they magically started receiving digtial simulcast channels when they got a digtial only box, so maybe she was actually right. Getting the box causes the headend to reprogram the cards. But its not the box, its the reprogramming I need.

So yesterday the rep was all set to reprogram the cards and then said I didn't have digtal simulcast. Today they admit I do have digital simulcast but don't admit they can reprogram the cards. If I continue to call, I might get the right person who decides to do the right thing.

I just checked and I can't tune to channel 720. Doesn't exist here, no channel 720. I find it odd that you get it and we are on the same loop. That doesn't make sense. But I get nothing at all, can't even switch to it.

Laters,
Mikef5

Bizarre...

My guide is blank for 720 (Shows TBA) but its definetly got ESPN2HD broadcasting on 720 over here

maybe its a last ditch effort to keep me...

Bizarre...

My guide is blank for 720 (Shows TBA) but its definetly got ESPN2HD broadcasting on 720 over here

maybe its a last ditch effort to keep me...
720 doesn't even show in the guide. We're on the same head-end and should be seeing the same thing, now not even the guides are the same, how is that possible ??
1 1/2 hours to game time and the clock is ticking..... ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

With the cable cards in the channel scan just becomes an OTA scan, its not remembering any of the channels it found with the QAM scan. I have to go thrrough the entire "guided" setup process each time the input changes, or I don't get guide information of the new channels.

I just talked to Comcast again. The rep said that Cable cards couldn't get the digital simulcast channels, I needed a cable box for that. I couldn't persuade her that the cable card would happily get the digtial channels, if they'd only progam them correctly. Supposedly a supervisor will call me back, I told her bluntly "I don't beleive you" when she said someone would call me back. No one ever gets callbacks.

I read a post somewhere else which said they magically started receiving digtial simulcast channels when they got a digtial only box, so maybe she was actually right. Getting the box causes the headend to reprogram the cards. But its not the box, its the reprogramming I need.

So yesterday the rep was all set to reprogram the cards and then said I didn't have digtal simulcast. Today they admit I do have digital simulcast but don't admit they can reprogram the cards. If I continue to call, I might get the right person who decides to do the right thing.
Call Comcast and tell them you have poor PQ on analog channels. Maybe they will send out a tech who can tell you if you have ADS.

The only way I've seen getting ADS to work on analog/digital boxes like the DCT-6412 or DCT-6200 was to add a DCT-3412. This causes all boxes to use the ADS channels. You could go to your local office and see if they are giving out DCT-3412's and that should tell you if you have ADS. You could even add one and return it and maybe the ADS auth would stick.

With the cable cards in the channel scan just becomes an OTA scan, its not remembering any of the channels it found with the QAM scan. I have to go thrrough the entire "guided" setup process each time the input changes, or I don't get guide information of the new channels.

I just talked to Comcast again. The rep said that Cable cards couldn't get the digital simulcast channels, I needed a cable box for that. I couldn't persuade her that the cable card would happily get the digtial channels, if they'd only progam them correctly. Supposedly a supervisor will call me back, I told her bluntly "I don't beleive you" when she said someone would call me back. No one ever gets callbacks.

I read a post somewhere else which said they magically started receiving digtial simulcast channels when they got a digtial only box, so maybe she was actually right. Getting the box causes the headend to reprogram the cards. But its not the box, its the reprogramming I need.

So yesterday the rep was all set to reprogram the cards and then said I didn't have digtal simulcast. Today they admit I do have digital simulcast but don't admit they can reprogram the cards. If I continue to call, I might get the right person who decides to do the right thing.

See sfhub's post above about ADS and adding the 3412-post #12492-it seems once a digital only STB is hooked up and activated, the ADS channels will be available. I suppose you could get a 3412, hook it up, have them "hit" it. Check for ADS, and then disconnect the 3412 and return it. Seems stupid to do it that way, but apparently they're having trouble doing it any other way.

Yes, regarding "callbacks", no they never call back, I had visited the local office 2 times and made a phone call where they said every time they would call back with the info I wanted. Never happened, I'm pretty sure they don't even have outbound phonelines.

See sfhub's post above about ADS and adding the 3412-post #12492-it seems once a digital only STB is hooked up and activated, the ADS channels will be available. I suppose you could get a 3412, hook it up, have them "hit" it. Check for ADS, and then disconnect the 3412 and return it. Seems stupid to do it that way, but apparently they're having trouble doing it any other way.

Barovelli may be able to confirm but that should work. Once your account is labled as "ADS", it should stay that way regardless of the box.

Barovelli may be able to confirm but that should work. Once your account is labled as "ADS", it should stay that way regardless of the box.
Yes, that's what I've gathered, it just seems utterly ridiculous that it has to be done that way....of course, way up here we don't have to deal with such nonsense and silliness. :D

Did you have an old AT&T package, or a package from the previous cableco that has been upgraded to a Comcast packaging plan? I know that some areas have some odd pricing and packaging. That could be what that $4 charge is, a differential between what you paid before versus what Comcast charges now.
I told you what the $4 charge is, it's "digital equipment + remote" & specifically for the DVR. Charge wasn't there when I had HD non-DVR STB only; HD box had different description. This charge appeared after I got DVR, HDTV box charge went away. Don't know why you keep on trying to tell me it's not what I say it is, it's printed on bill & I confirmed with CSR. It is not an old AT&T package. I don't have billing statement reading comprehension problems.

I told you what the $4 charge is, it's "digital equipment + remote" & specifically for the DVR. Charge wasn't there when I had HD non-DVR STB only; HD box had different description. This charge appeared after I got DVR, HDTV box charge went away. Don't know why you keep on trying to tell me it's not what I say it is, it's printed on bill & I confirmed with CSR. It is not an old AT&T package. I don't have billing statement reading comprehension problems.
Sorry, a lot of posts, and a lot of questions.

What I was getting at was, you shouldn't be paying more than $9.95 total for the DVR. If I recall, you stated that you had the $4 charge, plus the $9.95 charge for the DVR, and that's what I'm questioning. I don't doubt that you're paying it and that it's on your bill, I just don't understand why.

In an earlier post you stated,
Also at one point I tried to get that $4 charge removed, but they told me that fee is part of the Digital Classic charge I am not paying, have to either pay that or get Digital classic. and that's why I asked about the packaging.

Anyone in the Saratoga, Milpitas or Los Gatos area, does anyone still have INHD2, channel 720, in your guide or able to tune to it ??? I'm trying to find out if it's a head-end problem or just me not getting it.
One hour to game time and the clock is still ticking.....

Laters,
Mikef5

I don't doubt that you're paying it and that it's on your bill, I just don't understand why.

It's on there, because I do *not* have digital classic tier. You claimed some many posts ago that digital tier was necessary to get DVR. I was saying that it is not, at least in my area; you can pay this slightly lower fee instead, still get the DVR, just fewer channels.

To get the DVR you can either:
1. Subscribe digital classic/higher, (9.99 more than expanded basic), pay DVR fee (9.95), net 19.94 over expanded basic alone
or
2. Pay "digital equip" fee (4.00), pay DVR fee (9.95), net 13.95 over expanded basic.

The difference between (1) & (2) is that with (1) you get authorized for the digital tier channels (e.g. ESPN Classic, National Geographic, etc.), while with (2) you do not. With (2) you still get all HD locals , but you will not get ESPNHD/DSCVHD/other encrypted HD (if those channels encrypted on your particular system) unless you have been grandfathered; they want you to pay digital tier for those now.

I use DVR 98% to record HD locals, I get ESPNHD since I am grandfathered, and don't care much about the other digital tier channels, so I decided to just save the $5.99 month & not get digital tier.

What I don't know, which you asked about, is if they will let you do (2) w/ just a limited basic sub without expanded basic.

Anybody catch the season premiere of Boston Legal last night on ABC-HD? To me it was horrible PQ, extremely grainy (usually BL has good PQ), but other people in different markets say it was great PQ so I am wondering if this was a KGO/Comcast issue. Thanks.

This has nothing to do with Mr. Johnson, Comcast does what it want's to and doesn't give a rat's behind about customers, it's all about the bottom line to them. On the other hand Mr. Johnson has always been upfront with me and is a main reason I've stayed as long as I have. All he can do is put in his input to the company, Comcast decides what it's going to do or not going to do and in this case they've pissed me off big time. I've already sent an email to find out if this is the way it's going to be or if it's an oversight. It's time Comcast stopped screwing over the 550 MHz areas.
At least they can't claim you don't have bandwidth now (unless they filled up INHD2's bandwidth with more music channels?)

As an aside, for my area, 726 TNTHD is currently occupying 99MHz, which was formerly being used by INDMD movies/sports prior to them going with VOD.

It's on there, because I do *not* have digital classic tier. You claimed some many posts ago that digital tier was necessary to get DVR. I was saying that it is not, at least in my area; you can pay this slightly lower fee instead, still get the DVR, just fewer channels.

To get the DVR you can either:
1. Subscribe digital classic/higher, (9.99 more than expanded basic), pay DVR fee (9.95), net 19.94 over expanded basic alone
or
2. Pay "digital equip" fee (4.00), pay DVR fee (9.95), net 13.95 over expanded basic.

The difference between (1) & (2) is that with (1) you get authorized for the digital tier channels (e.g. ESPN Classic, National Geographic, etc.), while with (2) you do not. With (2) you still get all HD locals , but you will not get ESPNHD/DSCVHD/other encrypted HD (if those channels encrypted on your particular system) unless you have been grandfathered; they want you to pay digital tier for those now.

I use DVR 98% to record HD locals, I get ESPNHD since I am grandfathered, and don't care much about the other digital tier channels, so I decided to just save the $5.99 month & not get digital tier.

What I don't know, which you asked about, is if they will let you do (2) w/ just a limited basic sub without expanded basic.
I think what Keenan is trying to say is that you seem to be the first person in the Bay Area that's been able to do this. There have been many people on this forum who've tried to get just local HD + DVR (w/o digital) and have not been successful. Comcast states you must have a digital package in order to get the DVR so you should consider yourself lucky.

It's on there, because I do *not* have digital classic tier. You claimed some many posts ago that digital tier was necessary to get DVR. I was saying that it is not, at least in my area; you can pay this slightly lower fee instead, still get the DVR, just fewer channels.

To get the DVR you can either:
1. Subscribe digital classic/higher, (9.99 more than expanded basic), pay DVR fee (9.95), net 19.94 over expanded basic alone
or
2. Pay "digital equip" fee (4.00), pay DVR fee (9.95), net 13.95 over expanded basic.

The difference between (1) & (2) is that with (1) you get authorized for the digital tier channels (e.g. ESPN Classic, National Geographic, etc.), while with (2) you do not. With (2) you still get all HD locals , but you will not get ESPNHD/DSCVHD/other encrypted HD (if those channels encrypted on your particular system) unless you have been grandfathered; they want you to pay digital tier for those now.

I use DVR 98% to record HD locals, I get ESPNHD since I am grandfathered, and don't care much about the other digital tier channels, so I decided to just save the $5.99 month & not get digital tier.

What I don't know, which you asked about, is if they will let you do (2) w/ just a limited basic sub without expanded basic.

Okay, now I understand, it's sort of a hybrid charge, giving you the DVR without a full Digital Classic package. Interesting. This is info I may use if things don't go well when I return the DVR as I'm a supposedly grandfathered subscriber as well.

Well, the game's started and guess what NO INHD2 !!!!!
So it's watch the game in SD or not watch it at all :mad: :rolleyes:
My blood pressure is high enough without all this grief, just upgrade the darn system so this sh*t doesn't keep happening.

Laters,
Mikef5

Well, the game's started and guess what NO INHD2 !!!!!
So it's watch the game in SD or not watch it at all :mad: :rolleyes:
My blood pressure is high enough without all this grief, just upgrade the darn system so this sh*t doesn't keep happening.

Laters,
Mikef5

not sure if this will raise or lower your bloodpressure...

but over in Saratoga they switched to FSNHD on 720 (from ESPN2HD) for the Giants game (so I have it on...amazingly the giants arent behind yet)

hopefully its just a screwup in Milpitas so you will still have it for the last couple games of the season (I think only 2 are left on FSNHD)..who knows what I'll have on 720 in a couple hours

-Steve

not sure if this will raise or lower your bloodpressure...

but over in Saratoga they switched to FSNHD on 720 (from ESPN2HD) for the Giants game (so I have it on...amazingly the giants arent behind yet)

hopefully its just a screwup in Milpitas so you will still have it for the last couple games of the season (I think only 2 are left on FSNHD)..who knows what I'll have on 720 in a couple hours

-Steve
I don't know how Saratoga gets the channel and Milpitas doesn't, it's the same head-end but you know what, it's just the last straw that finally has made me realize it's just not worth the grief any more. They're never going to upgrade this area so we're always going to have this problem with programing and bandwidth. To bad, cable has everything going for it except they red line/exclude areas as not cost effective enough to upgrade but are happy to take their money. Enough is enough.....

Laters,
Mikef5

Saw Judging Amy and now Charmed on TNT-HD. It's just SD streched to HD aspect ratio. Besides the streched video, the upconversion sucks. There are "screendoor" deinterlacing artifacts all over the place. This is the reason why I can't watch Battlestar on UHD?

BTW, Giants game is on 720, the guide just says To Be Anounces. Hope the A's game is on tonight as well.

I'm in San Jose Willowglen.

So what does TNT show in HD?

So what does TNT show in HD?

Basketball on thursdays. Woohoo :D

But not sure if I will be getting this in Sunnyvale :mad:
Will check when I go home in the evening

i for one am elated we got TNT HD. i've been avoiding watching NBA on TNT for 2 years now and it was really annoying to watch all the good PQ TNT had on sportscenter. UHD had great content, some good movies, but i'd still pick TNT if it had no HD content except for its NBA coverage.

in fact they will show HD stuff, but i think primarily in primetime. I did see ER in HD this morning, looked like a film transfer.

Basketball on thursdays. Woohoo :D

But that's just during the season, right? Does TNT have any original programming? I honestly don't watch TNT at all so I have no idea.

But that's just during the season, right? Does TNT have any original programming? I honestly don't watch TNT at all so I have no idea.

'the closer', and that's pretty much it

But that's just during the season, right? Does TNT have any original programming? I honestly don't watch TNT at all so I have no idea.

I highly recommend watching "The Closer". Thats on during summer. Good show. Didn't really get into the first season last year. But the second season rocked

they also have PGA golf and NASCAR

i for one am elated we got TNT HD. i've been avoiding watching NBA on TNT for 2 years now and it was really annoying to watch all the good PQ TNT had on sportscenter. UHD had great content, some good movies, but i'd still pick TNT if it had no HD content except for its NBA coverage.

in fact they will show HD stuff, but i think primarily in primetime. I did see ER in HD this morning, looked like a film transfer.

I'd trade you Thur TNT-HD if I can get UHD on Fri.

I think what Keenan is trying to say is that you seem to be the first person in the Bay Area that's been able to do this. There have been many people on this forum who've tried to get just local HD + DVR (w/o digital) and have not been successful. Comcast states you must have a digital package in order to get the DVR so you should consider yourself lucky.
Pretty sure I'm not the first. It's certainly possible that they have changed local policy since DVR first introduced. Also possible that most CSRs are misinformed about bay area policies and applying standards for other regions.

Let's go back into this thread's time machine to December 2004: (maybe 2007 we should start new thread, this one getting kind of hard to search?)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4794985&&#post4794985
(repost of SF Chronicle article, including section:
"In another confusing statement, Comcast said in a press release and on its Web site that customers needed to subscribe to the digital cable level of service, which starts at more than $52 a month. That would have meant that a customer with only basic or standard analog cable TV service would have had to upgrade to a costlier service.

While that may be true in other Comcast markets, it won't be the case in the Bay Area.

According to Johnson, Bay Area customers who have standard analog cable service, which averages around $42 a month, can add DVR service without upgrading. The 10 percent of customers with basic service need to upgrade to at least the standard tier to get it"
Johnson is Comcast local VP Andrew Johnson.

Also I first asked about my charges here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4860804&&#post4860804). Others explained so I don't think I'm only one who got it this way.

Mikef5 explained the grandfathering after certain HD chs started getting encrypted here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6344279&&#post6344279).

I'd trade you Thur TNT-HD if I can get UHD on Fri.

someday they'll have both. someday. comcast keeps promising UHD will come back permanently.

You are absolutely right. thanks. My account also needed to be 'enabled'. I have 6200 and instead of 3412 DVR, I went to the local comcast office and got 700 series (small, entry level non-HD digital STB). The person the desk said once I hook it up I need to call comcast. During lunch, I hooked it up and called comcast. CSR said he is sending the signal and sure enough this switched my 6200 also to ADS. I unpluged 6200 briefly just to be sure. Not sure if unplugging is necessary or not.

May be just calling CSR and telling him that you have ADS capable box might be enough. Some one could try it. Otherwise, others who don't have DVR service can add DTC 700 to account. Btw don't forget to returning the new box. there is a monthly charge for it.

Also, once my box switched to ADS, 96 was same as 9 (i.e. digital 9 instead of RF 9).

I think sometimes there is a disconnect. In my mind an area has ADS when ADS signals are present on the line, regardless of whether the STB is programmed to use them or not, because you can manually tune the channel using a clearQAM tuner or PC QAM tuner card. I think you are going by the definition of your STB being programmed to use ADS as the definition. Even after ADS is available, it may take some time for Comcast to change your account profile to use it. In some cases you can accelerate this by getting a 3412 added to your account.

...

I believe the majority of expanded basic ADS is encrypted but I don't know for sure.

You are absolutely right. thanks. My account also needed to be 'enabled'. I have 6200 and instead of 3412 DVR, I went to the local comcast office and got 700 series (small, entry level non-HD digital STB). The person the desk said once I hook it up I need to call comcast. During lunch, I hooked it up and called comcast. CSR said he is sending the signal and sure enough this switched my 6200 also to ADS. I unpluged 6200 briefly just to be sure. Not sure if unplugging is necessary or not.

May be just calling CSR and telling him that you have ADS capable box might be enough. Some one could try it. Otherwise, others who don't have DVR service can add DTC 700 to account. Btw don't forget to returning the new box. there is a monthly charge for it.

Also, once my box switched to ADS, 96 was same as 9 (i.e. digital 9 instead of RF 9).
So once you returned the DCT-700 and they deactivated it, your DCT-6200 still showed ADS channels, not analog?

See sfhub's post above about ADS and adding the 3412-post #12492-it seems once a digital only STB is hooked up and activated, the ADS channels will be available. I suppose you could get a 3412, hook it up, have them "hit" it. Check for ADS, and then disconnect the 3412 and return it. Seems stupid to do it that way, but apparently they're having trouble doing it any other way.

Yes, regarding "callbacks", no they never call backI was most surprised to get a callback. She called the wrong number first and had no idea what I was wanting to talk to her about. That may be because I made a point of asking for the reps name and number, and the supervisors name when the callback promise was made. I was allset to see if customer serive would send them a rocket when they didn't call. The callback spoiled that fun though.

The supervisor said the same BS, said I needed a box. She denied that I'd get ADS if I got the box, but I thought I'd give it a try, especially as she said I could pick one up, not wait for a visit. She said I needed a DCT700, so I got one of those and plugged it in. This seemed to change the cable cards so fast I couldn't see the output from the box. I plugged it in via RF as its so primitive it only has RF and composite and I'm not setup for composite. It'd changed analog 3 to digital 3, so I couldn't see what it was saying. I plugged it into the antenna to see it, and checked I had digital channels. This had confused me, and the tech hitting the box for quite a few minutes.

The DCT700 seems to be the solution for analog holdout once they go digital, the super cheap digital box. I may or may not keep it. Now the magic wand has done its work on my cable cards, I no longer need it. I might investigate VOD and PPV though, or I could just return it and say thanks for the loan of the magic wand.

You are absolutely right. thanks. My account also needed to be 'enabled'. I have 6200 and instead of 3412 DVR, I went to the local comcast office and got 700 series (small, entry level non-HD digital STB). The person the desk said once I hook it up I need to call comcast. During lunch, I hooked it up and called comcast. CSR said he is sending the signal and sure enough this switched my 6200 also to ADS. I unpluged 6200 briefly just to be sure. Not sure if unplugging is necessary or not.

May be just calling CSR and telling him that you have ADS capable box might be enough. Some one could try it. Otherwise, others who don't have DVR service can add DTC 700 to account. Btw don't forget to returning the new box. there is a monthly charge for it.

Also, once my box switched to ADS, 96 was same as 9 (i.e. digital 9 instead of RF 9).

how much time do u have to return the box before they charge you a full month for it? do they prorate it or something?

so TNT-HD wont air the HD versions of Law & Order, Without A Trace, Las Vegas, Alias, etc? its just an upconverted version of whats shown on TNT-SD?

also, does TNT-HD mirror whats on the TNT-SD channel?

how much time do u have to return the box before they charge you a full month for it? do they prorate it or something?

I would think they will prorate. In the past comcast was good at prorating all charges. I think a Federal law prohibiting them from charging for anything they haven't provided has some to do with it. I returned to today itself on my way back to office.

So once you returned the DCT-700 and they deactivated it, your DCT-6200 still showed ADS channels, not analog?

Yes, for now it is still digital on 6200. I think this is more like enabling some flags for my account and not a one time message to the box.

There is still some possibilty that 6200 could go back to old behaviour if I power cycle it but I don't think that would be the case. Such a thing would be receipe for eternal headache for comcast.

tnt-hd will have one more live nascar race this sunday and six nascar races next year. tnt-hd will also broadcast the thursday-friday rounds of next years british open and pga championship.

No, not yet to subs anyhow. The signals are being uplinked, they just haven't been turned on for the subs yet.


why bother uplinking if you don't broadcast the signal?
is the fact that they're uplinking bay area fsn an indication that they will start broadcasting it to their subs soon?

I needed a DCT700, so I got one of those and plugged it in. This seemed to change the cable cards so fast I couldn't see the output from the box. I plugged it in via RF as its so primitive it only has RF and composite and I'm not setup for composite. It'd changed analog 3 to digital 3, so I couldn't see what it was saying.I'm thinking it was probably the girl in the office typing into my account setup that I had the DCT700, not plugging in the box which caused the cable cards to be reprogrammed. She managed to do exactly what support on the phone said they couldn't. I could have gone into the office, got the box and given it straight back to her, if I'd thought of that.

Mike,

Take a look at 720 right now...Looks like they have ESPN2HD showing on it (in SD)? :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused: :confused:

note: this is Saramilgatos 550Mhz

note2: The Dish Installer is coming at Noonish Today :D


please let us know the status of fsn bay area on dish. I'm in saramilgatos and want to switch to dish, but I need my giants/warriors games big time. if fsn not available now, will it be soon?

btwyx, good to hear you got it working.

why bother uplinking if you don't broadcast the signal?
is the fact that they're uplinking bay area fsn an indication that they will start broadcasting it to their subs soon?
It usually is an indication, but they could have a contract start date or they could still be playing around with exactly where to put the channels, hard to say. I'm not worried, it will come eventually, sooner rather than later.

Pretty sure I'm not the first. It's certainly possible that they have changed local policy since DVR first introduced. Also possible that most CSRs are misinformed about bay area policies and applying standards for other regions.

Let's go back into this thread's time machine to December 2004: (maybe 2007 we should start new thread, this one getting kind of hard to search?)
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4794985&&#post4794985
(repost of SF Chronicle article, including section:
"In another confusing statement, Comcast said in a press release and on its Web site that customers needed to subscribe to the digital cable level of service, which starts at more than $52 a month. That would have meant that a customer with only basic or standard analog cable TV service would have had to upgrade to a costlier service.

While that may be true in other Comcast markets, it won't be the case in the Bay Area.

According to Johnson, Bay Area customers who have standard analog cable service, which averages around $42 a month, can add DVR service without upgrading. The 10 percent of customers with basic service need to upgrade to at least the standard tier to get it"
Johnson is Comcast local VP Andrew Johnson.

Also I first asked about my charges here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=4860804&&#post4860804). Others explained so I don't think I'm only one who got it this way.

Mikef5 explained the grandfathering after certain HD chs started getting encrypted here (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=6344279&&#post6344279).
Nice job digging all that up, it will be nice to have that data when I turn my 6412 in. Hopefully there won't be any issues, but you never can tell with Comcast.

In addition to all the above, TNT will probably be doing MLB in HD, I think it starts next season.

I'm thinking it was probably the girl in the office typing into my account setup that I had the DCT700, not plugging in the box which caused the cable cards to be reprogrammed. She managed to do exactly what support on the phone said they couldn't. I could have gone into the office, got the box and given it straight back to her, if I'd thought of that.
A wise grasshopper once told me getting it working is more important than being right.

I've learned a long time ago, sometimes it isn't worth arguing over stuff with CSRs, just go with the formula that has proven to work despite how circuitous it may seem.

Now you can teach that lesson to your kids when they need to deal with Comcast :)

It's a mapped channel, here it is on frequency 189MHz for both 9 and 96.

I went back and compared the freq. on each, and I now see that they're the same.

I guess now my question is, what's the rationale behind this? :rolleyes: I'm not sure I understand the point...

Pretty sure I'm not the first. It's certainly possible that they have changed local policy since DVR first introduced.
I used to have the DVR without the digital tier (analog + DVR fee + $5 equipment fee for not having digital). Then one time I was bitching to a CSR about how our HD lineup sucks and now they were expecting even more $ for digital to get FSN+, so he gave me a deal for a few months where I would get digital+HBO for cheap (less than I was paying for analog). When that ran out, I called to revert back to the old analog+DVR plan I was under previously, and it was explained to me that this no longer was available, and the system wouldn't let him switch me back to it once it was changed to something else. Luckily, the CSR gave me digital for free for 12 months, so now I have the DVR without having to pay an extra equipment fee, plus the very few extra digital channels available in Santa Rosa for free.

So long story short, it's no longer possible to get a DVR without digital, but it used to be available.

I guess now my question is, what's the rationale behind this? :rolleyes: I'm not sure I understand the point...
The point? Umm, you realize this is Comcast we are talking about right?

Joking aside, it is probably just to test things out.

Don't know when it happened but Comcast added KFTY-DT on ch199 for my area. I don't think we have KFTY on analog so I suspect this is the KFTY-DT OTA digital channel, but I didn't check my ATSC tuner to compare.

Also as expected,
KQED World, KQED Life, and KQED Kids
moved to a new RF channel clearing the way for 24/7 KQED-HD which is on right now. The former slots for KQED-W/L/K now have nothing broadcasting.

please let us know the status of fsn bay area on dish. I'm in saramilgatos and want to switch to dish, but I need my giants/warriors games big time. if fsn not available now, will it be soon?

I sure will...just got Dish installed this afternoon and suffering from too much HD now ;)

the report I saw the other day from a good source was the contracts were all signed and they'd already uplinked FSNBA-HD (and other RSNs) for testing prior to go-live.

They've got a software issue they need to work out before they turn it on to subs though but they're working on it and will hopefully have it solved really soon so we will have it on Dish in HD also.

btw...FSNBA is on Dish (as you probably know)...and their SD channel is far better than Comcast's analog Ch 40...Its good enough to hold me over until they turn on the HD side (Ch40 on comcast is horrible in comparison)

Content on TNT-HD is interesting. This evening, at least, both 726 and 37 are showing some kind of Without a Trace marathon. The 726 (TNT-HD) content seems to be true HD, although I'm getting some jitters/dropped frames. The low def content on 37 is also Without a Trace--but different episodes than those airing on TNT-HD.

Just called comcast and was told we are not gonna get 726 because of bandwidth issue, she can't explain why can't put back one program with one taken off, she said it's frequency issue, well, guess we're out of luck.

I'm in damn milpitas, a forgotten corner. :(

alias looks great on TNT! maybe its worth having all the stretched crap for daytime tv, and having only HD stuff in primetime. 1080i + 5.1.. you can't go wrong with that :)

Just called comcast and was told we are not gonna get 726 because of bandwidth issue, she can't explain why can't put back one program with one taken off, she said it's frequency issue, well, guess we're out of luck.

I'm in damn milpitas, a forgotten corner. :(

mikef5 can tell you all about milpitas... he's pretty pissed.

Well, I wasn't home today to see if the Giants game came in on FSN-HD on 720, but right now I am looking at 720. What is see is "To Be Announced" in the guide, and a really annoying computer generated page from Rainbow, Network Communications, Bethpage New York, Technical Operations Center. The audio is some bass heavy, heavy metal repetitive crap. Doesn't mention Comcast anywhere in this drivel.
No TNT, no INHD2, no nothing.
I will soon be joing MikeF and Keenan if this doesn't get better. The only reason I have stayed with Comcast is FSN-HD coverage of our local teams. If I lose that....
As I posted earlier, I also recevied an email from Mr. J about the Comcast commitment to Los Gatos, and the other 550 areas, but it doesn't seem to be panning out. It is obviously well beyond his control what Comcast is going to do, or more importantly, not do, in some of the bandwidth starved areas.
Mike

Well, I wasn't home today to see if the Giants game came in on FSN-HD on 720, but right now I am looking at 720. What is see is "To Be Announced" in the guide, and a really annoying computer generated page from Rainbow, Network Communications, Bethpage New York, Technical Operations Center. The audio is some bass heavy, heavy metal repetitive crap. Doesn't mention Comcast anywhere in this drivel.
No TNT, no INHD2, no nothing.
I will soon be joing MikeF and Keenan if this doesn't get better. The only reason I have stayed with Comcast is FSN-HD coverage of our local teams. If I lose that....
As I posted earlier, I also recevied an email from Mr. J about the Comcast commitment to Los Gatos, and the other 550 areas, but it doesn't seem to be panning out. It is obviously well beyond his control what Comcast is going to do, or more importantly, not do, in some of the bandwidth starved areas.
Mike

if you have 720 still, you had the giants game. 720 is not active until there is a FSNBA HD game, for all of us. mikef5 just didn't have 720 period, and its probably a mistake.

Just called comcast and was told we are not gonna get 726 because of bandwidth issue, she can't explain why can't put back one program with one taken off, she said it's frequency issue, well, guess we're out of luck.

I'm in damn milpitas, a forgotten corner. :(
The reason they can't put TNT-HD on the SaraMilgatos areas is that it is being muxed on the same signal as ESPN2-HD. Since we don't get ESPN2-HD we're not going to get TNT-HD either, due to lack of bandwidth. Channel 720 was suppose to remain on our system so that they could show FSN-HD when they had HD programing to show and from what I could garner from Mr. J's last email was that we would also get HDSE and NFL-HD on that channel when they broadcasted HD content. Wether that is true or not is yet to be seen. It also seems that I'm the only one not getting 720. Saratoga and Los Gatos seem to have the channel and I'm in that same loop but not getting the channel, how is that possible ??? I don't have a clue and I'm still waiting to hear back on why that is the case. If anyone else in Milpitas is not getting channel 720 let me know or even if you are getting it, that will narrow the possible problems.
Still a very pissed off camper :mad: :mad:

Laters,
Mikef5

I sure will...just got Dish installed this afternoon and suffering from too much HD now ;)


LOL...it is a lot isn't it? :D It took me about 3-4 channel lineup adjustments to make sure I had all the HD channels for a favorites list. Some of my favorites are World Cinema, FilmFest, Food, Equator, Rave, HDNet Movies, NatGeo...way more HD than I can watch..well worth the price IMO.

The reason they can't put TNT-HD on the SaraMilgatos areas is that it is being muxed on the same signal as ESPN2-HD. Since we don't get ESPN2-HD we're not going to get TNT-HD either, due to lack of bandwidth.
I'm directing this at Comcast's response, not you Mike.

This is Comcast, anything is possible but I find it hard to believe that they cannot separate out the TNT-HD stream and mux it with a different grouping.

For a long time many of us had 2 ESPN2HDs on our system. The official one, and a second copy. If they can do that with ESPN2HD, I find it hard to believe they cannot take the TNT-HD stream and put it in the slot previously occupied by INHD2.

I'm directing this at Comcast's response, not you Mike.

This is Comcast, anything is possible but I find it hard to believe that they cannot separate out the TNT-HD stream and mux it with a different grouping.

For a long time many of us had 2 ESPN2HDs on our system. The official one, and a second copy. If they can do that with ESPN2HD, I find it hard to believe they cannot take the TNT-HD stream and put it in the slot previously occupied by INHD2.
SfHub,
Actually, I do understand what they are doing. Channel 720 was never suppose to be taken off our area since it was still going to show FSN-HD when it had HD content to show and supposedly they were going to show NFL-HD and HDSE on it also. So if 720 was to still be there, according to them we don't have the bandwidth to add any more HD to our system. This is the same mantra that I've been saying all along, they have to upgrade our area or we're going to be screwed every time they add more content. We will never get more programing until they UPGRADE OUR AREA !!!!

Now here's the part I don't believe. I just checked to see if channel 720 was on my system. Not on the guide, can't enter it manually, did a hard reset ..... I still don't have channel 720. But it seems that Los Gatos and Saratoga do have the channel ( same loop that I'm in ). How is that possible ??? That's why I need more people in Milpitas to let me know if you get the channel or not.
Still a very unhappy camper :mad: :mad:

Laters,
Mikef5

NFL Network HD
Weren't we supposed to get NFL Network in HD on channel 725? I got it last year, but now I just get the INHD screen.

NFL Network HD
Weren't we supposed to get NFL Network in HD on channel 725? I got it last year, but now I just get the INHD screen.
I was referring to the 550 MHz areas only. Everybody else in the Bay Area gets those channels in their normal places.

Laters,
Mikef5

NFL Network HD
Weren't we supposed to get NFL Network in HD on channel 725? I got it last year, but now I just get the INHD screen.

NFL HD is on 725, but only when there is actual HD content. its just another FSNBAHD... active only when there's a game on. there are NO live NFL games on NFLHD until thanksgiving, i think. and i think they will replay an HD game of the week but I haven't seen it yet.