Your filter can be activated and de-activated remotely by Comcast. Historically it was used to turn off the unencypted extended basic channels to the homes of those that did not subscribe to that service.

Can the filters really be activated and deactivated remotely? From my experience Comcast always has to do a truck roll to physically add or remove the filter when you change your service between limited and extended cable.

I can see why Comcast would want to go the encrypted route... they have 100% control on their end and there is no way for consumers to circumvent it to get access to more channels. With a physical filter, the consumer can always remove it.

Can the filters really be activated and deactivated remotely? From my experience Comcast always has to do a truck roll to physically add or remove the filter when you change your service between limited and extended cable.

I can see why Comcast would want to go the encrypted route... they have 100% control on their end and there is no way for consumers to circumvent it to get access to more channels. With a physical filter, the consumer can always remove it.

At my house, the filter is up at the attachment point on the telephone pole. Messing with that filter is a crime with significant punishments. It also requires special tools to remove. I would not suggest attempting it. The money you would save is not worth the risk.

At my house, the filter is up at the attachment point on the telephone pole. Messing with that filter is a crime with significant punishments. It also requires special tools to remove. I would not suggest attempting it. The money you would save is not worth the risk.

Oh don't worry, I wasn't planning on removing the filter, I was just curious. The filters in the last apartment complex I was in were just screwed on the line, and in a lock box (I know since I had to help the technician locate it). Are the remote filters powered then? And just have an IP on the cable network which they can remotely control? That's pretty cool if that's how it works.

The filter covers a broad number of channels and even if they gave you the HD versions along with the HD versions of the Extend Basic channels in the notch filter range they would still have room left over they could be using for more channels. That may be the reason for the encryption.

i called comcast and got a message they knew something was amiss...i hope that they figure it out soon, but i wanted to check to confirm i'm not the only one with these problems.

(7.1, 9.1, 11.1 are zero signal)

Can the filters really be activated and deactivated remotely? From my experience Comcast always has to do a truck roll to physically add or remove the filter when you change your service between limited and extended cable.

There are no remote activated filters. Was a budding technology back in the 80's though.

dlou99, nice program. Have you found a way to automatically determine which VCT_ID is the appropraite choice? In my area I need to use 3055, but it took a fair amount of comparing of the VCT tables to schedulesdirect to figure out the right one. I'm figuring there must be some way to do this automatically, as the DTA box they shipped to my house somehow figures it out...


Unfortunately, no. For now, the fastest way is to get a DTA and punch up the diagnostic screen (http://picasaweb.google.com/virgegx/ComcastDTAUnboxing#5276142959144255586).

However, you might be able to help. If you could take screen caps of the diagnostics, then go to someone else's house who you know has a different lineup, plug it in and then take more screen caps, that might help with figuring out if it's even possible to automate that aspect and maybe perhaps find clues as to how.

The filters aren't remote-controllable that I know of, they are just dumb "dongles" attached to the line. Mine is in a utility box literally in my front yard (cableco has a small easement to my property) it serves my house and 3 others on my "court". If I wanted to I could EASILY open it and remove the filter, though I wouldn't bother since cable has nothing I don't already get on satellite... except maybe the KNTV weather channel... LOL.

Speaking of which, PQ on the Giants game on KNTV 11 (Friday night?) was pretty lousy. Very bad MPEG2 blocking and such during movement. Way to go guys, that's okay we don't need picture quality, what we really need is another weather channel!

Can someone inform me about the Jade channel move? If I downgrade my service to limited basic, will I be able to order the Jade channel? I keep getting contradictory info from the CSRs.

OK, so Anyroom On Demand is sort of interesting, but probably not to most users. What would be really interesting is Anyroom DVR or more. We have four Comcast HD DVR's in our house (the pathology behind this is for another thread), and it would be nice to be able to:
- Watch a program recorded on one DVR on another tv in the house which is also connected to a DVR.
- Watch a live program from one DVR on another DVR which is already recording programs on it's two built-in tuners.
Anyone have any idea if either or both of the above capabilities will be offered by Comcast in our lifetime?
Thanks
Mike

i called comcast and got a message they knew something was amiss...i hope that they figure it out soon, but i wanted to check to confirm i'm not the only one with these problems.

(7.1, 9.1, 11.1 are zero signal)

anyone else? still have problems and right now on hold over the phone with TOTALLY clueless CS folks who say that i'm mistaken and i must be having my antenna (ie, OTA) not working properly. Sigh...

Can someone inform me about the Jade channel move? If I downgrade my service to limited basic, will I be able to order the Jade channel? I keep getting contradictory info from the CSRs.


Yes, you will be able to order Jade with limited basic. You will have to have a cable box hooked up( since Jade is currently on ch. 262 and moving to ch. 360 in a couple days). So your monthly bill would be $10.95 for Jade, $3.20 for the monthly box rental charge,( That $ amount may be off just a little bit, I forget what the exact amount is now) .Plus however much limited basic is per month in your city. That charge is different from city to city

Good news! (for some)

NFL and Comcast settle dispute. The NFL Network channel should be back as part of the digital package.

Good news! (for some)

NFL and Comcast settle dispute. The NFL Network channel should be back as part of the digital package.

so i don't need the sports tier right?

so i don't need the sports tier right?

That's what I understand. Digital Plus maybe? or whatever is called right now.


Comcast and the National Football League said Tuesday they had reached an agreement for the nation’s largest cable operator to carry the football channel on its second-most popular digital cable tier.


http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=ap-nflnetwork-comcast&prov=ap&type=lgns

cool, now i make use of a channel that's only useful 8 times during the year, give or take a few college bowl games mixed in.

I wonder if I will be good with the digital Silver tier when it comes to the NFL Network?

Yes, you will be able to order Jade with limited basic. You will have to have a cable box hooked up( since Jade is currently on ch. 262 and moving to ch. 360 in a couple days). So your monthly bill would be $10.95 for Jade, $3.20 for the monthly box rental charge,( That $ amount may be off just a little bit, I forget what the exact amount is now) .Plus however much limited basic is per month in your city. That charge is different from city to city

You sure? I asked again and they said I need to at least be on a digital tier (expanded basic) to order it.

I'm going to be moving to Fremont, right next to the 680 off the Washington exit.

Does anyone know if parts of Fremont are on a 550Mhz system??

I really don't want to run into a situation where I have limited HD channels.

I'm going to be moving to Fremont, right next to the 680 off the Washington exit.

Does anyone know if parts of Fremont are on a 550Mhz system??

I really don't want to run into a situation where I have limited HD channels.

From everything I've heard, all of Fremont is 750 Mhz, and currently in the process of the digital transition (a bunch of analog channels disappeared yesterday, but not all of 35-84).

You sure? I asked again and they said I need to at least be on a digital tier (expanded basic) to order it.


Yes, I'm 100% sure on that one. I'll send you a PM to give you the contact info to a CSR who actually know's what he's talking about. Then he can set you up with limited basic + the Jade channel.

My wife and I are looking to cut down our cable bill as much as possible. We cut our total cable + internet from $179/mo to under $100/mo, but we want to slash it more. Basically there is only one channel we cannot live without: CSN-BA HD, for the Sharks primarily. And we must have HD DVR functionality because we love to record the game (Regular season) and then start watching a half hour or hour later to avoid commercials and intermissions.

1.) Can I reduce my service to "Expanded" (or I think they call it Standard now) Basic and still keep my Comcast HD-DVR and still receive CSN-BA HD? I pay a fee for this HD-DVR, so I don't see why they wouldn't let me keep it with Expanded/Standard. Right now I'm on "Digital Starter" I think it's called, I know for sure I'm on the lowest "Digital" package.

2.) Can I reduce my service to expanded/standard and still get a cablecard for a TiVo HD? Does it even make sense to get a TiVo HD these days with Comcast Bay Area cable or is Comcast doing something to render them useless on their systems?

3.) Any other suggestions for the cheapest way to get CSN-BA HD with an HD-DVR (an actual HD DVR set top box, not a PC QAM tuner) that I am missing?

Thanks!!

You sure? I asked again and they said I need to at least be on a digital tier (expanded basic) to order it.
Yes, you can get it with just limited basic.
Also check out the current promotion if you are in the listed cities.
http://www.tvbusa.com/index.asp?version=1&root=147&categoryid=754

You sure? I asked again and they said I need to at least be on a digital tier (expanded basic) to order it.

Let me check my headend...

$ ./scte65scan | grep JADE
PID 0x1ffc found
Collecting data (may take up to 2 minutes)
System Time Table thinks it is Tue May 19 21:15:00 2009
System Time Table thinks it is Tue May 19 21:16:00 2009
262 95.7 4 JADE


Yup, I can get it. You probably can too.

My wife and I are looking to cut down our cable bill as much as possible. We cut our total cable + internet from $179/mo to under $100/mo, but we want to slash it more. Basically there is only one channel we cannot live without: CSN-BA HD, for the Sharks primarily. And we must have HD DVR functionality because we love to record the game (Regular season) and then start watching a half hour or hour later to avoid commercials and intermissions.

1.) Can I reduce my service to "Expanded" (or I think they call it Standard now) Basic and still keep my Comcast HD-DVR and still receive CSN-BA HD? I pay a fee for this HD-DVR, so I don't see why they wouldn't let me keep it with Expanded/Standard. Right now I'm on "Digital Starter" I think it's called, I know for sure I'm on the lowest "Digital" package.

2.) Can I reduce my service to expanded/standard and still get a cablecard for a TiVo HD? Does it even make sense to get a TiVo HD these days with Comcast Bay Area cable or is Comcast doing something to render them useless on their systems?

3.) Any other suggestions for the cheapest way to get CSN-BA HD with an HD-DVR (an actual HD DVR set top box, not a PC QAM tuner) that I am missing?

Thanks!!
I'm 99% sure CSN-BA (and CSN-CA where the Sharks are moving to next season) HD are only available with a digital package. I think the cheapest one should suffice - I had "Classic" but I think they phased it out... check the web site.

Yes you can turn in the Comcast HD-DVR ($16/mo) and rent a CableCard instead, which is cheaper, in fact the first one might be free, but for DVR you'd have to buy a TivoHD ($250 or so?) and pay the monthly fee ($10-15?) so it wouldn't really be cheaper - though the service and equipment (especially) might be much better.

If you just want the "analog" versions, ch 40 and ch 89 is it? Then yes you can downgrade to Standard cable (and grab a free DTA box when they phase out analog if they haven't already), but that means no HD.

I'm 99% sure CSN-BA (and CSN-CA where the Sharks are moving to next season) HD are only available with a digital package. I think the cheapest one should suffice - I had "Classic" but I think they phased it out... check the web site.

Yes you can turn in the Comcast HD-DVR ($16/mo) and rent a CableCard instead, which is cheaper, in fact the first one might be free, but for DVR you'd have to buy a TivoHD ($250 or so?) and pay the monthly fee ($10-15?) so it wouldn't really be cheaper - though the service and equipment (especially) might be much better.


As to the first point, I've now downgraded to the lowest digital package, Digital Starter. If I have to keep that to keep CSN-BA HD/CSN-CA HD, ugh but okay.

Instead of TiVo, what about Sony DHG-HDD250/500? They don't make it anymore, but you can find it on ebay/secondary market. They accept cablecard, and had no monthly fee (instead they used a free TV Guide EPG or something).

I don't think I can live with only analog CSN-BA HD/CSN-CA HD. :)

The first CableCard is free, even with limited basic. TiVo HD is around $210-$250, and lifetime service can be purchased for around $300. Upgrade it to 1TB for <$100. I've had various TiVos over the past 7+ years, all with lifetime service.

OK, so Anyroom On Demand is sort of interesting, but probably not to most users. What would be really interesting is Anyroom DVR or more.
Anyone have any idea if either or both of the above capabilities will be offered by Comcast in our lifetime?

This could be a feature of the new DCX boxes. The boxes should hit the streets this year or sooner.

DTA Experience - Not impressed
I came home last night in Milpitas, and found that the Expanded basic stations were gone. They had gone digital and I needed to install the DTAs I had picked up from the Comcast office. After hooking all four units up I called Comcast to have them activated. The agent I spoke to sounded like she was over seas but activated all 4 boxes; only one came up with video. Two others went to a solid light but no picture, and the third was still blinking two quick blinks and pasuse. After about 1/2 hour I called again, still no success with the remaining three. The agent I spoke to this time kept thanking me but couldn't get them working. He said they were upgrading their system and they would come up within an hour. After one hour still no picture so I disconnected the DTAs and am now just watching onlly the Basic chanels. I'll try again this afternoon.

DTA Experience - Not impressed
I came home last night in Milpitas, and found that the Expanded basic stations were gone. They had gone digital and I needed to install the DTAs I had picked up from the Comcast office. After hooking all four units up I called Comcast to have them activated. The agent I spoke to sounded like she was over seas but activated all 4 boxes; only one came up with video. Two others went to a solid light but no picture, and the third was still blinking two quick blinks and pasuse. After about 1/2 hour I called again, still no success with the remaining three. The agent I spoke to this time kept thanking me but couldn't get them working. He said they were upgrading their system and they would come up within an hour. After one hour still no picture so I disconnected the DTAs and am now just watching onlly the Basic chanels. I'll try again this afternoon.

My two came up fine when talking to the agent on the phone. But that was a couple months ago, and I suspect the system is under pressure now to activate a lot of DTA's...

That said, I don't use them to watch any video, just for QAM channel mapping. :-)

The first CableCard is free, even with limited basic. TiVo HD is around $210-$250, and lifetime service can be purchased for around $300. Upgrade it to 1TB for <$100. I've had various TiVos over the past 7+ years, all with lifetime service.

Are you talking about basically the first box being free, and if it happens to be a cablecard box, then the cablecard is therefore free, or are you saying the first cabelcard is free even if you have other STB's activated?

I'm thinking about getting a Tivo HD to replace my dead DCT6416 that stopped working 3 months ago. It's a pain to excise it from my media center rack, so I haven't gotten around to swapping it. We don't use it much given the SageTV system we have in place, but I keep an extra around for backup in case I have the primary system down for maintenance and the little ones need their barney fix.

I hate Comcast VoD, so I won't miss it, and the Tivo can deal with a lot of other VoD services too, but I'm sure sure about paying the Tivo monthly charge plus $12 for 2 cablecards every month.

If I don't go the Tivo route I might just replace the DCT with a DCX non-DVR unit...

MiikeSM, one of my TVs is QAM but I can't find some of the channels my son watches like NICK or DIS or TOON. I scanned last night but didn't spend a lot of time looking for the channels yet.

MiikeSM, one of my TVs is QAM but I can't find some of the channels my son watches like NICK or DIS or TOON. I scanned last night but didn't spend a lot of time looking for the channels yet.

Scanning for these channels sometimes is dicey on the TV's since Comcast doesn't add PSIP data to the mpeg stream. You might want to see what the DTA says is the frequency and program number for NICK etc... and manually tuning it on the TV. If that works, then save it as a favorite or whatever your TV supports.

Are you talking about basically the first box being free, and if it happens to be a cablecard box, then the cablecard is therefore free, or are you saying the first cabelcard is free even if you have other STB's activated?

First card without any other STB. Otherwise, you will be charged additional outlet fees.

Sorry to ask this question here, rather than at silicondust.com, but I wasn't able to find the answer to my question over there. Since there have been so many references to that website from this forum I'm hoping that I can find out what I need here, instead.

The channel mapping function at silicondust for my ZIP code (94022) happens to have 5 possibilities; 1 for over-the-air digital, and 4 for Comcast cable. The four Comcast possibilities have slightly different numbers of channels (~120) and the mappings produced are slightly different. Does anyone here know why there are so many? Does it reflect 4 distinct zones of some sort for Comcast in my ZIP code? The URLs for the 4 possible selections have one number that's different between them. The values are:

286065
286335
286765
286901

If anyone here can shed some light on how to determine which one covers my area I'd appreciate it.

Thanks in advance,
Alan

For now, the fastest way is to get a DTA and punch up the diagnostic screen.
I remember playing around with one of my new DTAs a few weeks ago and finding the channel map, but where is it on a Motorola DCH70 DCT? I found out how to get into the diagnostic screens, but can't find an option that displays a channel map.


Thanks!
Patty

I remember playing around with one of my new DTAs a few weeks ago and finding the channel map, but where is it on a Motorola DCH70 DCT? I found out how to get into the diagnostic screens, but can't find an option that displays a channel map.

You can lookup the current frequency, but there is no map like the DTAs have.

Ever go to cable box setup, view configuration and hit FAV on the remote? Ooodles of jibber jabber.

You can lookup the current frequency, but there is no map like the DTAs have.

Ever go to cable box setup, view configuration and hit FAV on the remote? Ooodles of jibber jabber.

But there is no VCT map that I am aware of, unless this is different on the DCX than the DCT's...

thx
mike

From Comcast's California Press Page, the latest on digital migration. Looks like the Benicia/Vallejo area, about 144,000 residents total gets nada again.

May
MOUNTAIN VIEW, 5/4/2009

PALO ALTO, MENLO PARK, EAST PALO ALTO, ATHERTON, LOS ALTOS HILLS, WOODSIDE, PORTOLA VALLEY, STANFORD, REDWOOD CITY, 5/5/2009
FREMONT 5/7/2009

SUNNYVALE 5/19/2009

BERKELEY 5/5/2009

BURLINGAME,MILLBRAE,HILLSBOROUGH 5/13/2009

CUPERTINO,LOS ALTOS 4/7/2009

MILPITAS, 5/15/2009

MILL VALLEY,SAUSALITO,BELVEDERE TIBURON 5/11/2009

SAN PABLO, HERCULES, PINOLE, RICHMOND, EL SOBRANTE, RODEO, CROCKETT, PORT COSTA 5/6/2009

PETALUMA,PENNGROVE 5/25/2009

WINDSOR, HEALDSBURG, SANTA ROSA, GUERNEVILLE, FORESTVILLE, RIO NIDO, MONTE RIO, SEBASTOPOL 5/20/2009
CLOVERDALE,GEYSERVILLE 5/21/2009

PITTSBURG, BAY POINT 5/26/2009

BRENTWOOD, OAKLEY, BYRON, KNIGHTSEN, BETHEL ISLAND, DISCOVERY BAY 5/26/2009

SUNNYVALE 5/19/2009
ROHNERT PARK,COTATI,PENNGROVE,SANTA ROSA,SEBASTOPOL,PETALUMA, 5/27/2009

SANTA ROSA,KENWOOD,FULTON,WINDSOR 5/26/2009

FAIRFIELD,SUISUN CITY,TRAVIS AFB 5/27/2009

FREMONT 5/26/2009

REDWOOD CITY,MENLO PARK,WOODSIDE,EMERALD HILLS,SAN CARLOS, 5/26/2009

SARATOGA 5/11/2009


June
SAN JOSE,ALVISO,MORGAN HILL 6/1/2009

SAN FRANCISCO 6/1/2009

SEBASTOPOL, SANTA ROSA ,BODEGA BAY, MONTE RIO, CAZADERO, CAMP MEEKER, OCCIDENTAL, GRATON, PETALUMA, FORESTVILLE ,BODEGA, 6/1/2009

FREMONT 6/1/2009

BRISBANE 6/2/2009

DALY CITY,PACIFICA 6/2/2009

FREMONT 6/3/2009

BAY POINT, PITTSBURG 6/1/2009

NEWARK 6/3/2009

VACAVILLE, 6/15/2009

SAN JOSE,CAMPBELL,LOS GATOS, 6/17/2009

ANTIOCH, PITTSBURG 6/22/2009

ANTIOCH 6/22/2009

ANTIOCH 6/23/2009

CASTRO VALLEY 6/24/2009

From Comcast's California Press Page, the latest on digital migration. Looks like the Benicia/Vallejo area, about 144,000 residents total gets nada again.

Where did this list come from? I don't see it on http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43, and the duplicates in there (I see 4 dates for Fremont) are confusing.

Intereing list. When Comcast took over AT&T here the first sign was contractor trucks rolling into the neighborhood to upgrade the system. Guess it paid to be on a really old stinking system. Then I look at Castro Valley which was a test bed for Comcast Internet years ago and it is among the last to upgrade.

Where did this list come from? I don't see it on http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=43, and the duplicates in there (I see 4 dates for Fremont) are confusing.

http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=110
Way down in the "Need More Answers to the World of More? Check Out Below" section. The download link is:
What Does Comcast's World of More Migration Equipment Look Like?

Hi All,

I'm in Dublin, CA and cannot receive Travel Channel - HD #755 (comcast). I know a friend in Walnut Creek who does receive it however. Does anyone know why?

http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=110
Way down in the "Need More Answers to the World of More? Check Out Below" section. The download link is:
What Does Comcast's World of More Migration Equipment Look Like?

So if my city is not listed, does that mean no upgrade?

So if my city is not listed, does that mean no upgrade?

No, the whole Bay Area is going to be migrated over by the end of the year. So if you're city isn't on the list it probabaly will be done at some point after June 24th, which is the last date the list shows

I'm in Dublin, CA and cannot receive Travel Channel - HD #755 (comcast). I know a friend in Walnut Creek who does receive it however. Does anyone know why?

Travel Channel HD is part of a handful of new HD channels only introduced where the existing network had the highest amount of bandwidth (860MHz). So Walnut Creek is probably an 860 neighborhood and you are 750MHz. It has to do with when your neighborhood was upgraded. In my neck of the woods, Marin County, the upgrade was done earlier and hence I am in an 750MHz zone. And thus those new HD channels were not available. See Why Doesn't Berkeley Have Travel Channel HD? Reply (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=16189005#post16189005) for an earlier explanation.

When Comcast finishes moving analog cable channels 35 to 82 throughout the Bay Area, one presumes that available bandwidth in your neighborhood will allow them to add those channels. It was the lack of progress on HD channels that was a significant factor in causing me to move to DirecTV.

To the point of my last post--is there any indication that Comcast is prepared to make use of freed-up bandwidth on a neighborhood by neighborhood basis? My impression is that they are waiting until the entire region undergoes the conversion before they roll out additional channels or services. The list of "new" channels on the previously linked press release page does not contain anything that I recognize as new.

You can lookup the current frequency, but there is no map like the DTAs have.
Oh, okay, thanks. Yeah, I saw lots of details about the current channel, but was hoping there was a way to get a summary channel map of all of them.

Ever go to cable box setup, view configuration and hit FAV on the remote? Ooodles of jibber jabber.
I didn't know about that one. In my case, it doesn't display much info (about 2/3 of a screen), but it's interesting to know that it's there.


Patty

I saw lots of details about the current channel, but was hoping there was a way to get a summary channel map of all of them.
...
I didn't know about that one. In my case, it doesn't display much info (about 2/3 of a screen), but it's interesting to know that it's there.

One of those bits of info is VCT_ID, which you can feed into scte65scan (http://scte65scan.sourceforge.net) and it will read the map from the cable for you. However, you'll need a PC based tuner or an HDHomerun to do so.

I didn't know about that one. In my case, it doesn't display much info (about 2/3 of a screen), but it's interesting to know that it's there.
Patty

Keep going - keep hitting FAV and it pages through the whole subset.

(edited, tried it on a DCX3400 :D)

The channel mapping function at silicondust for my ZIP code (94022) happens to have 5 possibilities; 1 for over-the-air digital, and 4 for Comcast cable. The four Comcast possibilities have slightly different numbers of channels (~120) and the mappings produced are slightly different. Does anyone here know why there are so many? Does it reflect 4 distinct zones of some sort for Comcast in my ZIP code? The URLs for the 4 possible selections have one number that's different between them. The values are:

286065
286335
286765
286901


Alan, your assumption is correct -- it represents 4 distinct lineups, only one of which is the correct lineup for your house. Here are some ways to figure out which one applies to you:

1. Check to see which virtual channel # SciFi, Hallmark and Oxygen are on vs. what your cable box shows those channels being on. Those stations tend to show up on different channels for different lineups.

2. Look at the name of the local access channels -- do any of them have a name that is sugestion of your area? As an example, my lineup's local access station had the name of my city in it.

3. If those suggestions don't work, try a brute-force process of elimination by tuning the suggestion physical channels until you find discrepancies that enable you to rule out 3 of the 4 lineups.

Assuming you have an DTA box you can get the VCTID from the diagnostic screen, but I'm not sure how the VCTID relates to silicon dust's ID numbers.

First card without any other STB. Otherwise, you will be charged additional outlet fees.

That's what I suspected. Oh well, I thiink I'll just return the dead DCT and be be done with it. Sage is pretty reliable so it's just not worth paying that much for a backup DVR...

Thanks; glad to hear I was on the right track. What's the procedure, or link to one, for getting to the DTA diagnostic screen? I searched AVS a little last night for that info but couldn't come up with the specifics.

ABG

How easy would be to implement an HTPC solution to save a few bucks in re DVR?

I am wondering, for example, if I could downgrade to a HD box that didn't have a DVR from Comcast, but had firewire output such that I could use my computer as a DVR and record sports off CSN-BA HD.

Is this doable on Comcast Bay Area systems? And what is the savings is moving from the dual-tuner HD DVR to a HD STB with no DVR functionality? Thanks!

How easy would be to implement an HTPC solution to save a few bucks in re DVR?

I am wondering, for example, if I could downgrade to a HD box that didn't have a DVR from Comcast, but had firewire output such that I could use my computer as a DVR and record sports off CSN-BA HD.

Is this doable on Comcast Bay Area systems? And what is the savings is moving from the dual-tuner HD DVR to a HD STB with no DVR functionality? Thanks!

The HTPC route is ALWAYS more expensive than the STB route. If you go that route its because you care about other things than cost.

Firewire still needs a box and doesn't work with most of the encrypted channels that are set to not allow recordings.

cablecard is a better choice, then you can use Tivo or windows media center, but both have issues. You can use STB's with an R5000-HD mod or hook them to HD-DVR encoders, but both are expensive and you still pay for box rental (though not the DVR fee).

Though I have a Comcast DVR I can also use my Ubuntu machine along with HDHR to record two open QAM channels at once. The machine is only a 2.4 Ghz P4 and a good use for an old board. I have another machine with a Fusion Gold HDTV card on it too. So that is three open QAM channels I could record at the same time. I can also play them back over my network on my HD set with my Linkplayer2. I also have a KWorld 340U stick which I bought cheap and sorta works though the software can never get through a complete channel scan. If it worked that would make 4 additional open QAM DVR options. I got the stick to test areas for ATSC reception with my notebook though it also does QAM.

There are plenty of cheap tuners (~$50) that might do the trick on an older computer. Go over and see what people are doing in the HTPC section these days.

Though I have a Comcast DVR I can also use my Ubuntu machine along with HDHR to record two open QAM channels at once. The machine is only a 2.4 Ghz P4 and a good use for an old board. I have another machine with a Fusion Gold HDTV card on it too. So that is three open QAM channels I could record at the same time. I can also play them back over my network on my HD set with my Linkplayer2. I also have a KWorld 340U stick which I bought cheap and sorta works though the software can never get through a complete channel scan. If it worked that would make 4 additional open QAM DVR options. I got the stick to test areas for ATSC reception with my notebook though it also does QAM.

There are plenty of cheap tuners (~$50) that might do the trick on an older computer. Go over and see what people are doing in the HTPC section these days.

Thanks for the advice. My biggest problem is you are talking about QAM options, but my need is for watching and recording CSN-BA HD/CSN-CA HD, and by all accounts, that is encrypted so those options are out for me. (If these channels are NOT encrypted, could someone please kindly let us know here and I'll get on my HTPC stat!). I don't need to really record anything else, just that.

If the Sharks had a significant local broadcast network deal (like they used to back in the day with KICU-36), I'd simply go to OTA with an HTPC to record shows.

P.S. What is the cost savings to downgrade from Comcast's HD-DVR to Comcast's HD STB with no DVR? Thanks.

The HDDVR is $16/mo, the HD box is $8. So, $8/mo.

CSN is definitely encrypted, so you can't record it with clear-QAM, you would need a PC tuner with CableCard, which can only be bought with a brand new Vista computer, and I don't even think they make them any more.

Or you could try that Happauge HD-PVR that records from component video, it's $250. Plus you need the Comcast HD box.

The HDDVR is $16/mo, the HD box is $8. So, $8/mo.

CSN is definitely encrypted, so you can't record it with clear-QAM, you would need a PC tuner with CableCard, which can only be bought with a brand new Vista computer.

Or that Happauge HD-PVR that records from component video, it's $250.

$8/mo isn't that much, but I'm intrigued by the possibility of going down to the HD STB with no DVR and using the combination of Hauppage HD-PVR and Sage TV on an HTPC.

From what I read, that would allow me to record content from on-demand, for example. And record many many shows, limited only by my hard disk space. It would only be a single tuner, but as I said before, that's not a problem.

Plus if I switched to satellite, I could just use that same HD-PVR + Sage TV set up for DVR functionality with sat. Interesting.

Thanks!

Keep in mind that recording from component signals means there are additional mpeg decoder and encoder in the path, which most likely would result in lower quality video and audio.

True it's another generation, but it records in high-quality MPEG4 (h.264 or what it's called...) so you probably don't lose much, if anything you can even notice.

The advantage is there is NO restrictions on what you can record/store/backup/etc.. ANY channel you can get, VOD, PPV, etc.. cable, satellite, OTA, etc... Anything that you can output to component. Then play it back on any media device, computer, xbox, playstation, etc etc... or convert it to your iPod/etc other portable format.

When I looked into a box like that about 2-3 years ago they cost $1000-1500. For $250 it seems like a steal.

In other news, I see ch 11 is doing their patented "Lame-Def" broadcast for the Giants game tonite. Way to suck guys. When's their contract up? Bring back KTVU please.

Well I said earlier that JADE was on basic. Looks like it's in a state of flux now. It's no longer showing up in the S-VCT. But I still seem to see it in the clear.

In other news, I see ch 11 is doing their patented "Lame-Def" broadcast for the Giants game tonite. Way to suck guys. When's their contract up? Bring back KTVU please.

I'd say the PQ is probably worse than even the preseason game, and even Faux's old stretch SD beat it. On the bright side, no Raj whatever his name is.

I really wonder what the contract specifies, since it's listed as HD.

And, of course, it's on HD on FSN-NW everywhere else but the Bay Area...and I actually like listening to Niehaus.

Heh.. Raj is ok. I prefer him to most of the people they have, Amy G, "Bip", FP Santangelo.. ughh.. Even JT Snow isn't that good.

Considering we got Jon Miller, I'll suffer with the Lame-Def.

In Milpitas, we went from a 550MHz system to a 1GHz system. I wonder if it is a coincidence that we also have Docsis 3.0 here also (22Mbit down, 6Mbit up, powerboost up to about 42Mbit). Do the Docsis 3.0 modems use any of that nice space between 860MHz and 1GHz?

Well I said earlier that JADE was on basic. Looks like it's in a state of flux now. It's no longer showing up in the S-VCT. But I still seem to see it in the clear.

I'm in SF and am not getting JADE anymore. This past week, it stopped showing up on ch.68 and 262. It was move to ch.360 which I could only receive on my digital receiver but not my DTAs. I was able to watch it for one day, but starting today I got the not authorized message. So it looks like the move to making it a premium only channel with no free periods is complete in my area.

From what I read, that would allow me to record content from on-demand, for example. And record many many shows, limited only by my hard disk space. It would only be a single tuner, but as I said before, that's not a problem.
Thanks!

On-Demand is now encrypted too.

DTA Experience - Not impressed
I came home last night in Milpitas, and found that the Expanded basic stations were gone. They had gone digital and I needed to install the DTAs I had picked up from the Comcast office. After hooking all four units up I called Comcast to have them activated. The agent I spoke to sounded like she was over seas but activated all 4 boxes; only one came up with video. Two others went to a solid light but no picture, and the third was still blinking two quick blinks and pasuse. After about 1/2 hour I called again, still no success with the remaining three. The agent I spoke to this time kept thanking me but couldn't get them working. He said they were upgrading their system and they would come up within an hour. After one hour still no picture so I disconnected the DTAs and am now just watching onlly the Basic chanels. I'll try again this afternoon.
Anyone tried to activate a DTA online?

A friend in Fremont told me that he activated his 3 DTAs online. I don't have the URL, but he told me it is the same page to order the DTAs.

He basically activated all DTAs on the same coax outlet one after the other, then installed them at TV/monitors later. He said it was si much easier than getting his CableCard paired with a Tivo.

I had my DTA activated back in Mar or Apr when they first appeared at a local Comcast office. They have not switched yet in my area.

Oh, joy. Another game where CSN Bay Area can't be troubled to provide an HD feed even though FSN NW has one. Oh, well, the Giants are playing terribly anyway. Guess I'll just not watch. Hear that, advertisers?

In other news, I see ch 11 is doing their patented "Lame-Def" broadcast for the Giants game tonite. Way to suck guys. When's their contract up? Bring back KTVU please.

I saw that. I was watching SportsCenter and they showed the play where they had a double play with all bases loaded. So I started searching for the game, 720, 721, and then 703, I almost laughed when I saw the picture. And yeah, the play they showed in ESPN was REAL HD.

Oh, joy. Another game where CSN Bay Area can't be troubled to provide an HD feed even though FSN NW has one. Oh, well, the Giants are playing terribly anyway. Guess I'll just not watch. Hear that, advertisers?
Tom,

That's odd, I watched the whole game and it was in HD all through the game and if you had watched you would've seen they FINALLY won a game ;)

Don't know why you didn't get the feed. What channel where you watching ?

Laters,
Mikef5

Anyone tried to activate a DTA online?


Yes, I activated mine online, worked in 10 seconds.

The get to the URL after you enter your account number at this URL:
http://www.comcast.com/digitalnow/

That's odd, I watched the whole game and it was in HD all through the game and if you had watched you would've seen they FINALLY won a game ;)
Mikef5

Thanks for the scoop. As you might remember, I switched to D* before the season started. They didn't pick up the HD feed, probably because Comcast didn't tell them there was one. See this schedule from the Comcast site.

Comcast Giants HD Schedule (http://west.comcastsportsnet.com/pages/schedule_giants_hd)

I looked at the schedule and figured there was no HD available. I'm guessing that D* was given that schedule and didn't know to look for an HD feed. Score one for Comcast in their battle to maintain a monopoly on HD broadcasts, at least when they can sneak one by. Same thing seems to happen when the Comcast listing indicates that the game is a fiber transmission. Walk and I need to figure out how to poke a stick in the right eye at D* when this happens to get the HD feed up.

Was glad to see that Cain pitched such a great game. After being extremely wild in his last start, looks like he decided to trust his stuff and throw strikes. And it worked. He scattered 10 hits, all singles. 111 pitches, 81 strikes; 7 Ks and no BBs. Very impressive.

Thanks for the scoop. As you might remember, I switched to D* before the season started. They didn't pick up the HD feed, probably because Comcast didn't tell them there was one. See this schedule from the Comcast site.

Comcast Giants HD Schedule (http://west.comcastsportsnet.com/pages/schedule_giants_hd)

I looked at the schedule and figured there was no HD available. I'm guessing that D* was given that schedule and didn't know to look for an HD feed. Score one for Comcast in their battle to maintain a monopoly on HD broadcasts, at least when they can sneak one by. Same thing seems to happen when the Comcast listing indicates that the game is a fiber transmission. Walk and I need to figure out how to poke a stick in the right eye at D* when this happens to get the HD feed up.

Was glad to see that Cain pitched such a great game. After being extremely wild in his last start, looks like he decided to trust his stuff and throw strikes. And it worked. He scattered 10 hits, all singles. 111 pitches, 81 strikes; 7 Ks and no BBs. Very impressive.
I watched the game, and although it was shown on the CSNBA HD channel, the feed looked like it was SD upconverted.

it doesn't look like road games on either KNTV or CSNBA are ever in HD except when they are in LA. home games are almost always in HD on both networks.

On-Demand is now encrypted too.

Encrypted doesn't matter for Hauppage HD-PVR, which simply can assist in the recording of anything that outputs component video.

it doesn't look like road games on either KNTV or CSNBA are ever in HD except when they are in LA. home games are almost always in HD on both networks.
Today was HD!

The Friday night Giants game on KNTV 11 was upconverted for whatever they call.. that.

Saturday on CSN was not in HD according to their HD schedule. http://west.comcastsportsnet.com/pages/schedule_giants_hd
It may have been on the Comcast cable HD channel (720) but upconverted, they do that sometimes, and frankly it looks pretty good on smaller screens, it almost fooled me on my folk's 34" CRT.

Sunday was in HD and looked great on CSN-BA HD (696-1 for D*).

The Friday night Giants game on KNTV 11 was upconverted for whatever they call.. that.

Saturday on CSN was not in HD according to their HD schedule. http://west.comcastsportsnet.com/pages/schedule_giants_hd
It may have been on the Comcast cable HD channel (720) but upconverted, they do that sometimes, and frankly it looks pretty good on smaller screens, it almost fooled me on my folk's 34" CRT.

Sunday was in HD and looked great on CSN-BA HD (696-1 for D*).

Agreed on all this . . . and to make this directly relevant to Comcast subscribers . . . the problem for D* is that their non-upconverted SD is truly awful. This doesn't seem to be true on all channels, but the RSNs (which of course include CSN-BA) seem to be truly bad. When I was a Comcast subscriber, I thought that their SD was pretty bad, particularly when viewed through a Motorola box. (My cablecard seemed to do a better job.) But the D* PQ on low-def Giants games is truly awful. And so those games where D* does not get either a true or upconverted HD feed . . . and doesn't do an upconvert itself . . . the PQ is truly abysmal. I would be much happier if they got a clean SD feed and upconverted it. I'm betting that Comcast is telling D* (to the extent D* is even aware) that they don't have to provide D* with their "work" in upconverting SD as part of the Comcast-D* contract.

All that having been said, I'm reaping the benefits of SAF for D* as my wife happily surfs among the six feeds of the French Open Tennis Mix channel. Only a few (maybe just one--she doesn't appreciate my tinkering while she's watching) are true HD. The others are European SD widescreen or internet feeds from ESPN (the latter of which are pretty bad, actually). But she is a pretty happy camper. And the only feed that would be available on Comcast in HD would be whatever ESPN2 might pick up, of course. Tennis Channel is available only in SD and only if you pay for the sports package.

So every carrier has its pluses and minuses.

This topic was discussed sometime back but I could not find it.

I just got DTA from Comcast. It has only only one output through cable (channel 3 or 4). My TV has only one cable IN. If I want to install DTA :

How can I get both channels from DTA and HD Local on direct cable on QAM tuner?

Technically I might not need to use DTA with QAM tuner since the DTA channels might not be encrypted. But I prefer not to hunt some many channels.

I just got DTA from Comcast. It has only only one output through cable (channel 3 or 4). My TV has only one cable IN. If I want to install DTA :

How can I get both channels from DTA and HD Local on direct cable on QAM tuner?

I would give you an A/B switch. A more tech-y solution would be to demodulate the ch 3 output of the DTA and feed it to some open RCA jacks on the TV - I googled tv demodulator and the first thing on the list was a repurposed item from Alltronix down in San Martin.

I sometimes see remote controlled A/B switches in the scrap returns. Those were the days . .

I would give you an A/B switch. A more tech-y solution would be to demodulate the ch 3 output of the DTA and feed it to some open RCA jacks on the TV - I googled tv demodulator and the first thing on the list was a repurposed item from Alltronix down in San Martin.

I sometimes see remote controlled A/B switches in the scrap returns. Those were the days . .

Wow, A/B switches, that goes back to the days of TCI when they actually ran two separate lines into the home and you had to choose between Cable lineup A or B. That's also when 550 MHz was the top of the line in system bandwidth. Boy, do I remember that, being stuck in a 550 MHz area for so long.
Darn Dave are we really that old to remember that :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

How can I get both channels from DTA and HD Local on direct cable on QAM tuner?

Technically I might not need to use DTA with QAM tuner since the DTA channels might not be encrypted. But I prefer not to hunt some many channels.
I still have analog TVs and thus got a couple of free DTAs from Comcast recently. But I thought when I get around to buying a digital TV that I wouldn't need the DTAs any more. Do they really do some sort of decryption in addition to digital-to-analog conversion? I'm trying to understand under what circumstances one would need a DTA with a QAM tuner. Sorry, I don't understand your comment about hunting for channels, but maybe it has something to do with that?


Thanks!
Patty

I still have analog TVs and thus got a couple of free DTAs from Comcast recently. But I thought when I get around to buying a digital TV that I wouldn't need the DTAs any more. Do they really do some sort of decryption in addition to digital-to-analog conversion? I'm trying to understand under what circumstances one would need a DTA with a QAM tuner. Sorry, I don't understand your comment about hunting for channels, but maybe it has something to do with that?

It is a long story, but the summary is that, QAM is not practical since it is not easy to locate where each channel is located (ie. Comedy Central may be at 89.67 for e.g.). For hassle free channels you either need CableCard in your TV or a set-top box.

In my case, for digital I am only interested local HD channels (ABC, NBC etc). These are located at more reasonable (virtual) channels like 7.1, 11.1 etc. This again depends on the TV. So I want use DTA for for normal digital channels and QAM for HD locals (DTA can't do HD).

It is a long story, but the summary is that, QAM is not practical since it is not easy to locate where each channel is located (ie. Comedy Central may be at 89.67 for e.g.)

That's not entirely true. It is possible to quickly determine where each channel is located. scte65scan (http://scte65scan.sourceforge.net) takes at most 59 seconds to run (the maps are transmitted every minute on the minute) and produces output that looks like this:

...
CABLE TV
CHAN CHAN NAME
410 99.40 4 CSNBP(FSN+)/Jewlry TV
504 89.4 4 LMN
620 95.6 4 KBWB4
621 91.9 4 KQEDV-Me
622 79.3 4 KTVUL-LATV
715 117.7 4 KGODT
851 78.5 4 MSNBC
...


Yeah, entering a channel number like "78.5" is a little harder than entering "851" but I wouldn't say it's impractical.

The channel mapping table is intended for electronic devices, not people. I cannot imagine that many people would want to use the mapping table manually, especially when the table can change at anytime. Furthermore, you cannot generate that table unless you have a PC QAM tuner.

Will the following work for converting ut to RCA : connect DTA to a 'DTA for Antenna (bought with a government coupon)' and set the later to channel 3?

I would give you an A/B switch. A more tech-y solution would be to demodulate the ch 3 output of the DTA and feed it to some open RCA jacks on the TV - I googled tv demodulator and the first thing on the list was a repurposed item from Alltronix down in San Martin.

I sometimes see remote controlled A/B switches in the scrap returns. Those were the days . .

In my case, for digital I am only interested local HD channels (ABC, NBC etc). ... So I want use DTA for for normal digital channels and QAM for HD locals (DTA can't do HD).
Okay, so you don't mind downconverting most channels to analog and watching them that way? I guess that makes sense if you don't want to pay for a cable box just to get the SD digital stations mapped back to logical channel numbers.


Patty

Here you go...scroll down, last box on the right.

http://www.comcast.com/corporate/customers/customer_support/digitalsettopbox.html

That's not entirely true. It is possible to quickly determine where each channel is located. scte65scan (http://scte65scan.sourceforge.net) takes at most 59 seconds to run (the maps are transmitted every minute on the minute) and produces output that looks like this:


I downloaded scte65scan but coulnd't figure out how to use it. I'm using Vista.

I was switched over today where my expanded basic no longer works. I really miss the organization that Comcast has had through the analog channels. All the Kids channels were organized together (Disney, Nick, etc), News stations (CNN, CNBC, etc). Now On my TV, it's a mess!! 8x-1x, and 70-x tons of unorganization. Like if I want to surf on my remote from CNN to CNBC, I have to go through a bunch of junk, kids channels, latino channels, espn radio channels.

I'm only using QAM. I don't want a DTA on it or a comcast motorola dvr/dt box. I like the built in TV DTV/QAM Tuner much more. It uses one less power outlet, clean look -- less cables (only 1 needed) and no box (that takes up space), and I like my Samsung remote much more-- rather than having to use two (or programming to 1 remote which is a mess)

I hope Comcast organizes their DT channels over QAM. It's a surfing mess!!

I was switched over today where my expanded basic no longer works. I really miss the organization that Comcast has had through the analog channels. All the Kids channels were organized together (Disney, Nick, etc), News stations (CNN, CNBC, etc). Now On my TV, it's a mess!! 8x-1x, and 70-x tons of unorganization. Like if I want to surf on my remote from CNN to CNBC, I have to go through a bunch of junk, kids channels, latino channels, espn radio channels.

I'm only using QAM. I don't want a DTA on it or a comcast motorola dvr/dt box. I like the built in TV DTV/QAM Tuner much more. It uses one less power outlet, clean look -- less cables (only 1 needed) and no box (that takes up space), and I like my Samsung remote much more-- rather than having to use two (or programming to 1 remote which is a mess)

I hope Comcast organizes their DT channels over QAM. It's a surfing mess!!If your TV can take cableCARD then it will map channel numbers like a cable box. The problem is most newer TVs don't have cableCARD slot and Comcast will charge you $6.99/mo for each additional one after the first.

I was switched over today where my expanded basic no longer works. I really miss the organization that Comcast has had through the analog channels. All the Kids channels were organized together (Disney, Nick, etc), News stations (CNN, CNBC, etc). Now On my TV, it's a mess!! 8x-1x, and 70-x tons of unorganization. Like if I want to surf on my remote from CNN to CNBC, I have to go through a bunch of junk, kids channels, latino channels, espn radio channels.

I'm only using QAM. I don't want a DTA on it or a comcast motorola dvr/dt box. I like the built in TV DTV/QAM Tuner much more. It uses one less power outlet, clean look -- less cables (only 1 needed) and no box (that takes up space), and I like my Samsung remote much more-- rather than having to use two (or programming to 1 remote which is a mess)

I hope Comcast organizes their DT channels over QAM. It's a surfing mess!!

Don't expect that to happen. The easiest way for them to make it easy for clear QAM TV users is to add PSIP data to the QAM streams so that the TV can map the channels that way. But they really won't want you doing what you are doing.

Good luck finding cablecard on modern TV's. It's an extinct animal...

Total outage in South San Jose since yesterday evening.....
no cable, no internet, no phones.
They are working on it...I spoke to a tech on the street this morning.
It seems to be a total node outage at the headend. They will apply a credit if you ask.
I've never known all services to go out at one time, especially for over 12 hours now....

In other news, I see ch 11 is doing their patented "Lame-Def" broadcast for the Giants game tonite. Way to suck guys. When's their contract up? Bring back KTVU please.
I have a feeling Rupert Murdoch pretty much gave KTVU a choice between the Giants and FOX. (Besides, imagine if a late-running game collides with one of the later rounds of American Idol - there isn't enough time to get KICU to air the show, and it has to air pretty much live because of the voting window.)

-- Don

I just got mom a HDTV, 32" Vizio. QAM Tuner. I had informed her that the time is coming to get a box either a DTA or finally take the jump to a DVR (she still has a VHS . . .).

First step was to let it scan the channels and start writing down the numbers for the HD versions of the clear QAM HD channels. Next look at the remote. There is the 1-0 keypad and a "-" that serves as the decimal. I wrote down all the HD channels and left mom with my homebrew channel guide.

She was impressed with the PQ, even on SD channels.

I'm predicting about a month of mom remembering to convert KSBW to it's mangled channel number before she surrenders to a box. Unless she takes the easy route and falls back on the analog channels in which case no box until the analogs drop off.

Anyone near Wolfe/Old San Francisco have problems with their internet? Since Sunday it has been a roller coaster for me, the modem keeps loosing signal every 30-45 minutes. Considering the line was perfect for the previous year, are they doing some maintenance or something? My signal for Received Signal Strength went from -1 - +1dB to -4-5dB and the upstream from 47-48dB to now 52dB+ :\ Also the upstream modulation keeps chaining from QAM16 to QAM64 but I think that is due to the bad signal.

Anyone near Wolfe/Old San Francisco have problems with their internet? Since Sunday it has been a roller coaster for me, the modem keeps loosing signal every 30-45 minutes. Considering the line was perfect for the previous year, are they doing some maintenance or something? My signal for Received Signal Strength went from -1 - +1dB to -4-5dB and the upstream from 47-48dB to now 52dB+ :\ Also the upstream modulation keeps chaining from QAM16 to QAM64 but I think that is due to the bad signal.Sounds exactly like my problems from Jan-March or so, yep.

Only thing you can do is have a tech out to look at it and possibly replace the modem(s). Expect to call back 5-10 times before it's fixed though, unless it's just some maintenence, and then expect to call back 5-10 times and then it magically "fixes" itself....

I still get random drops from time to time but it seems to have "fixed" itself since the last 1-2 months. My guess is it's part of the upgrades to D3.0 but the right hand at Comcost doesn't talk to the left so nobody knows a damn thing about anything.

Anyone near Wolfe/Old San Francisco have problems with their internet? Since Sunday it has been a roller coaster for me, the modem keeps loosing signal every 30-45 minutes. Considering the line was perfect for the previous year, are they doing some maintenance or something? My signal for Received Signal Strength went from -1 - +1dB to -4-5dB and the upstream from 47-48dB to now 52dB+ :\ Also the upstream modulation keeps chaining from QAM16 to QAM64 but I think that is due to the bad signal.
I posted about having this problem about a month or so ago. I was out of the country on business for two weeks and haven't really been online at home since getting back. But I don't think the problem has gone away. So I doubt it's a maintenance problem.

http://www.speedtest.net/result/483597454.png

This is in Newark, CA. I am on 6/1 (or whatever the lowest tier is). Is this evidence of Docsis 3.0 deployment and thus a free increase to 12/2 for those on 6/1?

The internet was out late last night (around midnight) so I was thinking perhaps Docsis 3.0 was launched here.

Hey everyone,

New guy here from Milpitas. I got a problem and hopefully someone has an answer for me. :)

So here is the thing, I just got my HD box (DCH 3200) a couple days ago. After I hooked it up, everything was fine. I tested out the HD channels and I get all of them except TNT HD and ESPN2 HD. Now, I have searched through the thread but haven’t found any recent answers. I did learn that both those channels are on the same frequency pack or something. So that must be why I’m not getting them both. I have also read that my area had the 1GHz bandwidth upgrade. So that means there shouldn’t be any bandwidth problems, right? Now, I have called customer service and they tried to send some signals but it still didn’t help. They suggested getting my box replaced. I was just wondering if anybody in my area is also experiencing this. Do you guys think it is my box? Or does Milpitas just not get TNT HD and ESPN2 HD, which I would think is weird. I see a handful of members from Milpitas here who could probably help me out. Thanks.

BTW, love the thread. It is very informative.

Joe

Hey everyone,

New guy here from Milpitas. I got a problem and hopefully someone has an answer for me. :)

So here is the thing, I just got my HD box (DCH 3200) a couple days ago. After I hooked it up, everything was fine. I tested out the HD channels and I get all of them except TNT HD and ESPN2 HD. Now, I have searched through the thread but haven’t found any recent answers. I did learn that both those channels are on the same frequency pack or something. So that must be why I’m not getting them both. I have also read that my area had the 1GHz bandwidth upgrade. So that means there shouldn’t be any bandwidth problems, right? Now, I have called customer service and they tried to send some signals but it still didn’t help. They suggested getting my box replaced. I was just wondering if anybody in my area is also experiencing this. Do you guys think it is my box? Or does Milpitas just not get TNT HD and ESPN2 HD, which I would think is weird. I see a handful of members from Milpitas here who could probably help me out. Thanks.

BTW, love the thread. It is very informative.

Jay

Hi Jay-

What are the symptoms of "not get(ting)" the two stations? Do you get a "one moment please" message in a blue box, just static or nothing at all (blank screen)? If I'm having signal strength issues, I usually see it in the higher frequency channels (KNTV-HD and DiscoveryHD are particularly problematic) as either extreme pixellation, or the "one moment please" message. Can you check the signal strengh reaching your cable box (you might have to do a little searching around the AVS website to get specific instructions; I only know how to do it on the Motorola 6412 unit)?

Alan

http://www.speedtest.net/result/483597454.png

This is in Newark, CA. I am on 6/1 (or whatever the lowest tier is). Is this evidence of Docsis 3.0 deployment and thus a free increase to 12/2 for those on 6/1?

The internet was out late last night (around midnight) so I was thinking perhaps Docsis 3.0 was launched here.

Actually, Comasts lowest tier is a 1 mega bit connection. I know this because this is what I have. They don't advertise this, you must ask for it, and you must also get some form of cable TV to get it, they do not sell it separately.

Hi Jay-

What are the symptoms of "not get(ting)" the two stations? Do you get a "one moment please" message in a blue box, just static or nothing at all (blank screen)? If I'm having signal strength issues, I usually see it in the higher frequency channels (KNTV-HD and DiscoveryHD are particularly problematic) as either extreme pixellation, or the "one moment please" message. Can you check the signal strengh reaching your cable box (you might have to do a little searching around the AVS website to get specific instructions; I only know how to do it on the Motorola 6412 unit)?

Alan

Thanks for the reply Alan. Yeah, both those channels say "one moment please". I'm not quite sure how to check my signal strength. I'll try searching around real quick.

Joe

edit: I tried searching for a way to check the signal strength on my box. I only found how to do it on a DVR. It talks about using two tuners but I'm assuming I only have one. Maybe someone can help me out.

Thanks for the reply Alan. Yeah, both those channels say "one moment please". I'm not quite sure how to check my signal strength. I'll try searching around real quick.

Joe

edit: I tried searching for a way to check the signal strength on my box. I only found how to do it on a DVR. It talks about using two tuners but I'm assuming I only have one. Maybe someone can help me out.

ESPN2 HD and TNT HD were the 2 signals I had trouble with. After replacing splitters with better quality ones and adding a signal amplifier these 2 are now working fine.

Durny1

ESPN2 HD and TNT HD were the 2 signals I had trouble with. After replacing splitters with better quality ones and adding a signal amplifier these 2 are now working fine.

Durny1

Which signal amplifier are you using? And how much does it cost? I'm trying not to spend too much but if it's the only way, then I'll probably get one.

Joe

Which signal amplifier are you using? And how much does it cost? I'm trying not to spend too much but if it's the only way, then I'll probably get one.

Joe

I got the signal amp from Radio Shack. I don't remember what the brand was, but RS only had a couple of options (2 outs or 4 outs) and both were gold plated. Don't remember what the $...maybe $40?

I also got the splitters from Radio Shack - gold plated.

If you just have a straight connection from the wall (i.e. no splitters) check that the connections inside the wall are solid. A so-so connection is all you need to spoil the signal strength. Also, hard to believe, the quality of the cable connecting the wall outlet to your TV or device, also makes a difference. I would first invest $ in getting these connections top notch before investing in a signal amp.

Durny1

Actually, Comasts lowest tier is a 1 mega bit connection. I know this because this is what I have. They don't advertise this, you must ask for it, and you must also get some form of cable TV to get it, they do not sell it separately.

Is that around $25?

I got the signal amp from Radio Shack. I don't remember what the brand was, but RS only had a couple of options (2 outs or 4 outs) and both were gold plated. Don't remember what the $...maybe $40?

I also got the splitters from Radio Shack - gold plated.

If you just have a straight connection from the wall (i.e. no splitters) check that the connections inside the wall are solid. A so-so connection is all you need to spoil the signal strength. Also, hard to believe, the quality of the cable connecting the wall outlet to your TV or device, also makes a difference. I would first invest $ in getting these connections top notch before investing in a signal amp.

Durny1

Thanks for your help Durny1. I'll head to Radio Shack and see if a signal amplifier will help.

edit: I went to Radio Shack. I got a 40 dollar signal amplifier and every HD channel works now. I really appreciate the help. Thanks. :)
Joe

http://www.speedtest.net/result/483597454.png

This is in Newark, CA. I am on 6/1 (or whatever the lowest tier is). Is this evidence of Docsis 3.0 deployment and thus a free increase to 12/2 for those on 6/1?

The internet was out late last night (around midnight) so I was thinking perhaps Docsis 3.0 was launched here.

What cable modem are you using?

I just signed back on with Comcast yesterday. I purchased a new Moto SB6120 cable modem (doc 3.0) and am experiencing max speeds of 15/9 in Dublin. I am considering to see what my older Linksys BEFCMU10 (doc 1.1) will get me though.

San Fran
http://www.speedtest.net/result/484430340.png (http://www.speedtest.net)

San Jose
http://www.speedtest.net/result/484431194.png (http://www.speedtest.net)
I'm signed up with their Performance Plan (up to 15 Mbps downloads).

WOW what is up with Giants game on ch 11? I know I've complained about this before but this is by FAR the worst PQ I've ever seen (yes even counting BSG on Comcast lol). When the camera moves the whole screen just turns to mush. When I first saw it I thought it was raining at the ballpark or there's a heavy fog or something.

Just awful.

WOW what is up with Giants game on ch 11? I know I've complained about this before but this is by FAR the worst PQ I've ever seen (yes even counting BSG on Comcast lol). When the camera moves the whole screen just turns to mush. When I first saw it I thought it was raining at the ballpark or there's a heavy fog or something.

Just awful.

Agreed! It looks awful.
Is this a Comcast issue or a Channel 11 issue?

If the KNTV broadcast were a DVD, we'd talk about it being starved of bit-rate in the MPEG2 encoding. Even starting from the expectation that it is basically a widescreen SD broadcast, it looks far worse than, say, the old Fox national widescreen SD broadcasts of Saturday afternoon baseball. Do you figure that the KNTV engineers at the game don't know how to run the equipment?

WOW what is up with Giants game on ch 11? I know I've complained about this before but this is by FAR the worst PQ I've ever seen (yes even counting BSG on Comcast lol). When the camera moves the whole screen just turns to mush. When I first saw it I thought it was raining at the ballpark or there's a heavy fog or something.

Just awful.

Well Walk, I watched the whole game and it was not as bad as you make it out to be. Was it on par with what CSN or ESPN does ? No, but to call it awful is a little harsh IMHO. I think there is either a problem with your set up or your headend area is doing something wrong but to say it looked like there was a heavy fog or raining just isn't so ( at least in my area ). Is this the only channel that you are seeing this problem or is it just during the Giant's games ? If it is as bad as you claim, have Comcast do a truck roll and have them diagnosis/fix your problem. That's what they are there for, to fix your problems.

Laters,
Mikef5

Turned this on to see what the complaining was all about, caught the last half-inning, and it was pretty bad. If it was truly an HD broadcast, it was some of the worst HD I've seen. I don't really believe it was actually HD, it couldn't have been, it was far too grainy/fuzzy in areas where it shouldn't have been.

i guess KNTV's broadcast defeats my theory that all home games are in HD :\ oh well giants win looks just as good in SD...

I watched much of the game and it wasn't HD, but not as bad as said. In fact, it looked better than most of the games I've seen lately. A tad better than DVD I'd say. Not much though.

I think we are all seeing the same thing; it's just that some people are more sensitive to the issues. It's probably related somewhat to screen size, but also how much you care about/notice picture integrity during fast action and camera movement. When the picture was from the centerfield camera over the pitcher's shoulder to the batter in the box, and nothing was moving, the picture was very good quality SD widescreen. Whenever a camera panned to follow action, the quality decreased markedly, starting with the background blurring out to low def swirls, and as the movement increased even the foreground would become very low quality.

Initially, regardless of our sensitivity, I don't think anyone here would argue that we are really seeing an HD feed, as opposed to SD widescreen upconverted to 1080i. Right?

Now walk and I are watching the broadcast as an HD local on D*, so folks may want to argue we are seeing something different. But I watch a reasonable amount of content on HD locals, including KNTV. The only time this issue comes up is with Giants broadcasts on KNTV. It seems pretty clear to me that either the KNTV folks don't know what they are doing with the broadcasts, or they are using equipment that is very substandard. I'm pretty used to upconverted SD widescreen. We've seen it on the Fox MLB Saturday broadcasts in prior years. It lacks resolution, of course, but I'm not used to seeing the artifacts we see in the KNTV production. Don't know enough to know if it is the cameras they are using; the digital encoding; something in the upconversion; something else. But it seems clear that even within the limits of the format, they ought to be able to do better.

And they shouldn't be saying that the Giants games on KNTV are in HD. Because broadcasting it in 1080i does not mean it is HD.

I think we are all seeing the same thing; it's just that some people are more sensitive to the issues. It's probably related somewhat to screen size, but also how much you care about/notice picture integrity during fast action and camera movement. When the picture was from the centerfield camera over the pitcher's shoulder to the batter in the box, and nothing was moving, the picture was very good quality SD widescreen. Whenever a camera panned to follow action, the quality decreased markedly, starting with the background blurring out to low def swirls, and as the movement increased even the foreground would become very low quality.

Initially, regardless of our sensitivity, I don't think anyone here would argue that we are really seeing an HD feed, as opposed to SD widescreen upconverted to 1080i. Right?

Now walk and I are watching the broadcast as an HD local on D*, so folks may want to argue we are seeing something different. But I watch a reasonable amount of content on HD locals, including KNTV. The only time this issue comes up is with Giants broadcasts on KNTV. It seems pretty clear to me that either the KNTV folks don't know what they are doing with the broadcasts, or they are using equipment that is very substandard. I'm pretty used to upconverted SD widescreen. We've seen it on the Fox MLB Saturday broadcasts in prior years. It lacks resolution, of course, but I'm not used to seeing the artifacts we see in the KNTV production. Don't know enough to know if it is the cameras they are using; the digital encoding; something in the upconversion; something else. But it seems clear that even within the limits of the format, they ought to be able to do better.

And they shouldn't be saying that the Giants games on KNTV are in HD. Because broadcasting it in 1080i does not mean it is HD.

Tom,

For the most part I agree with most of what you are saying. KNTV does use a combination of SD and HD cameras when they broadcast the games. The center field camera is most definitely a SD camera with a long range lens on it which will make the picture very soft and prone to blurring. Some of the infield cameras are also SD but most of them are HD and they do an acceptable job most of the time. The last time I was at a home game, I walked around the field to see the setup that they were using and talked to some of the cameramen and trust me these guys care about the program they are providing. People need to let the station know if the program is not up to their expectations. If you don't let them know, then they assume all is going well. Remember, constructive criticism is wanted and appreciated by any provider.

Laters,
Mikef5

What cable modem are you using?


Now using a Moto SB5101 (Docsis 2.0), but got that particular speedtest on the Terayon I got from Comcast in 2005 (Which just crapped out so I swapped out for 5101).

I suppose if the Fremont office of Comcast (which covers Fremont/Newark/Union City) is still giving out 2.0 modems, Docsis 3.0 isn't ready for primetime here just yet.

Is that around $25?

24.95 + whatever you pay for your level of cable TV service.

I think the picture got a little better towards the end of the game, or maybe I just got used to it. Whatever, it was without a doubt the worst looking game they've done so far, and they've done some lousy looking games. I know it wasn't an equipment issue because the commericals looked better! (the ones in HD anyway)

In the 1st inning, when Fred Lewis hit that ball to the base of the wall, the high-home camera panned to follow it, that's when I thought it looked like heavy fog or rain.. then later on, again the high-home camera, when it settled (not moving) the picture was ok - blurry and obviously not true-HD but OK, but when the camera moved even a little bit, the chalk lines on the field did this very disturbing aliasing-type thing. The graphics, like the score/inning overlay at the top, were also sub-par the entire game.

Yes it looked exactly like it was MPEG2 starved for bit-rate. I just assume that's because they are multiplexing with another HD channel ("Universal Sports" ??). Maybe later on in the game they dialed in more bias for the Giants game, I don't know.

As far as "constructive" critism, point taken, but there is nothing "constructive" that can be said about what KNTV 11 is doing with the Giants games this year. Frankly if their engineers don't see it themselves with their own eyes, they shouldn't be in the television business. It seem obvious they know what is going on, they just don't have the bandwidth to make it any better and multiplex the other HD channel in the same signal. Can't blame the engineers for that, the fault there lies squarely on the bean counters / upper management at KNTV. How they even thought they could get away with such a thing is a mystery, though in facing tough economic times and 2x the channels = 2x the ad revenue...

I think the picture got a little better towards the end of the game, or maybe I just got used to it. Whatever, it was without a doubt the worst looking game they've done so far, and they've done some lousy looking games. I know it wasn't an equipment issue because the commericals looked better! (the ones in HD anyway)

In the 1st inning, when Fred Lewis hit that ball to the base of the wall, the high-home camera panned to follow it, that's when I thought it looked like heavy fog or rain.. then later on, again the high-home camera, when it settled (not moving) the picture was ok - blurry and obviously not true-HD but OK, but when the camera moved even a little bit, the chalk lines on the field did this very disturbing aliasing-type thing. The graphics, like the score/inning overlay at the top, were also sub-par the entire game.

Yes it looked exactly like it was MPEG2 starved for bit-rate. I just assume that's because they are multiplexing with another HD channel ("Universal Sports" ??). Maybe later on in the game they dialed in more bias for the Giants game, I don't know.

As far as "constructive" critism, point taken, but there is nothing "constructive" that can be said about what KNTV 11 is doing with the Giants games this year. Frankly if their engineers don't see it themselves with their own eyes, they shouldn't be in the television business. It seem obvious they know what is going on, they just don't have the bandwidth to make it any better and multiplex the other HD channel in the same signal. Can't blame the engineers for that, the fault there lies squarely on the bean counters / upper management at KNTV. How they even thought they could get away with such a thing is a mystery, though in facing tough economic times and 2x the channels = 2x the ad revenue...
Walk,

You really can't blame the engineers for this either. With all the stations trying to cut their expenditures they have gone to an automated engineering setup, I believe ( the last I heard ) everything is being controlled out of the L.A. control room and with the staffing cuts there is only one person monitoring the system and that's using a meter system not a visual setup. I'm pretty sure this is what KNTV is using, I'm not sure about KGO but I did hear they were headed in the same direction ( automated system in a central local ). Like I said if you don't let them know that you are dissatisfied with their broadcasts they will continue to do it thinking everything is fine since they've received no complaints about it. If they get enough complaints they just might reconsider what they are doing but in these economic times they are looking to cut costs any way they can and unfortunately we the customer suffer for it.

Laters,
Mikef5

Let the Giants know:
https://secure.mlb.com/help/email.jsp?c_id=sf&primarySubject=Other&secondarySubject=Other&dest=other@giants.mlb.com

Let KNTV know:
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/about_us/

Done and done, thanks.

Today's game looked really good... in CSN-HD :D

I'm going to tomorrow's game. My wife received 4 free tickets so we are going there with the kids.

I agree the CSN-HD broadcast was excellent. That's what is so puzzling to me. Does KNTV use different cameras? I presume not, and I presume that the two channels are instead using the same cameras in the same places. Why does KNTV look the way it does? I doubt that multiplexing (either OTA, with the sub-channels) or via Comcast three-packing has anything to do with it. Again, I watch KNTV shows pretty regularly and their HD broadcasting is just fine. It seems to me most likely that the problem originates in KNTV's production of the broadcasts. Either I'm right that the production is entirely SD widescreen, and not particularly good SD widescreen at that, or they REALLY don't know what they are doing with HD. One of the reasons given for not producing every game in HD, in the early days, was the lack of available HD trucks. Maybe KNTV isn't allowed to use the CSN-BA production equipment and thus has to rely on their own. And they aren't very good with it. Would sure love to have more than my speculation when I try to light a fire under the station and the Giants.

rsra13, enjoy the game in "real reality 3D HD" . . . and bring home a win.

It seems to me most likely that the problem originates in KNTV's production of the broadcasts. Either I'm right that the production is entirely SD widescreen, and not particularly good SD widescreen at that, or they REALLY don't know what they are doing with HD. One of the reasons given for not producing every game in HD, in the early days, was the lack of available HD trucks. Maybe KNTV isn't allowed to use the CSN-BA production equipment and thus has to rely on their own. And they aren't very good with it. Would sure love to have more than my speculation when I try to light a fire under the station and the Giants.

With all this KNTV bashing going on, I feel like I have to chime in.

I'm about 99.9% sure that Giants games aired on KNTV are produced entirely by Comcast SportsNet for the Giants Television Network (of which KNTV is the flagship), using CSNBA crew and trucks/gear. That's why the games use the CSN graphics package with the NBC peacock logo subbed in where the CSN logo usually is. It's a similar arrangement that the Yankees have where YES also produces the games aired on WWOR. So in reality, the only thing KNTV supplies is the airtime. OK, so they were also able to shoehorn in Raj Mathai as the dugout reporter to give the telecasts a little more NBC Bay Area-ness. NBC Universal is cheap--rest assured, if they had to rent a production rig plus pay an entire crew for each Giants telecast they air, they wouldn't have gotten into it in the first place.

Granted, KNTV does starve the HD side of bandwidth by running two additional sub-channels, but I've watched many a Giants and Sunday Night Football game in HD without many complaints over picture quality before... so I doubt that's the issue in this case.

If you guys feel the need to vent about the Giants broadcasts' HD quality, I really think you should complain to the Giants since they are the ones who are in charge of what goes to KNTV and the rest of the OTA affiliates. Last night's game was also aired on KMAX (the Sacramento Giants affiliate) in horrible 4:3 SD, so I'm going to speculate that there was some issue in the distribution system that affected every station in the network.

Hi All,

I was wondering if anyone could help me or direct me to a site / thread / someone that can.

Background: I have basic cable and am watching HD and SD digital channels with my Pioneer 5020 with the cable plugged directly into the TV...no comcast box. I believe this is referred to as OTA, but not sure. Located in San Carlos.

Up to two days ago I was recieving dolby digital through the set and passing it via optical to my denon receiver....no problems.

Two nights ago, the sound went away. If I set the TV to PCM rather than Dolby Digital the digital sound I can pass to the receiver comes back, but it no longer works when set to Dolby Digital. I can use PCM or just listen through the TV, but I really would rather listen with it set to Dolby Digital.

Has anyone experienced this and know it may have happened?

Thanks...

rsra13, enjoy the game in "real reality 3D HD" . . . and bring home a win.

Thanks, it was a good game, and the Giants won!

When I was there I checked at the TVs they have in the stadium and the telecast looked really great, from CSN-HD of course. I wonder if next time a game is shown in NBC, if someone attends the game, they check the local tvs to see if the image is good in there.

After the game was done, we were still in Build-a-Bear and looking at the TV they were showing the kids running the bases, that wasn't a CSN transmision, maybe a stadium TV (?) channel and the image didn't looked like HD, it certainly looked like Widescreen SD. Is NBC using those cameras?

Thanks, it was a good game, and the Giants won!

You're pretty good--you managed to get Aurilia to hit his first dinger of the year. If you can't get KNTV to broadcast in HD, nobody can . . . .

When I was there I checked at the TVs they have in the stadium and the telecast looked really great, from CSN-HD of course. I wonder if next time a game is shown in NBC, if someone attends the game, they check the local tvs to see if the image is good in there

Looks like the next game on KNTV is on Saturday the 13th:

Giants 2009 Schedule (http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/schedule/index.jsp?c_id=sf)

I happen to be going to that game. It's the 1989 Team reunion night, so I'll make a point of looking at the monitors inside the stadium. I'm also planning on DVRing that game as well as the previous night (a CSN-BA game) to do a comparison.

Background: I have basic cable and am watching HD and SD digital channels with my Pioneer 5020 with the cable plugged directly into the TV...no comcast box. I believe this is referred to as OTA, but not sure.

If the cable you have plugged into the box is a Comcast cable, you are not using OTA ("over-the-air"). You are picking up a digital transmission from Comcast in what is called the Clear-QAM format. "Clear" as in "in the clear"--meaning not encrypted. As far as HD broadcasts are concerned, you are probably limited to just the local channels. (Although some folks, as Comcast moves around the Bay Area shifting its transmissions from the analog cable format to digital cable, have benefited--temporarily--from ordinarily encrypted broadcasts being temporarily unencrypted.)

In any event, that's a long way of saying that you found the right thread.

As to your problem, I'm no help. I'm somewhat surprised that your TV would re-transmit the digital bitstream in the first place, as that requires some additional circuitry. But if it once worked for Dolby Digital and doesn't any longer, I could only speculate that you are seeing some local problem with your Comcast head-end not transmitting the Dolby Digital signal, or alternatively an accidental glitch in your TV-receiver setup. But perhaps someone else from San Carlos will chime in. Because of the need for a STB or Cablecard for encrypted channels, there aren't a lot of people using your type of setup though.

Background: I have basic cable and am watching HD and SD digital channels with my Pioneer 5020 with the cable plugged directly into the TV...no comcast box. I believe this is referred to as OTA, but not sure. Located in San Carlos.

Up to two days ago I was recieving dolby digital through the set and passing it via optical to my denon receiver....no problems.

Two nights ago, the sound went away. If I set the TV to PCM rather than Dolby Digital the digital sound I can pass to the receiver comes back, but it no longer works when set to Dolby Digital. I can use PCM or just listen through the TV, but I really would rather listen with it set to Dolby Digital. "OTA" refers to using an antenna rather than cable.

The issue that you describe (a sudden change on all channels) is most likely an unintentional change in your system setup somewhere rather than a Comcast change.

PS: I just checked and my Onkyo AVR is still happily receiving DD5.1 from Comcast's KGO-DT feed via my Samsung HDTV tuner.

If you guys feel the need to vent about the Giants broadcasts' HD quality, I really think you should complain to the Giants since they are the ones who are in charge of what goes to KNTV and the rest of the OTA affiliates. Last night's game was also aired on KMAX (the Sacramento Giants affiliate) in horrible 4:3 SD, so I'm going to speculate that there was some issue in the distribution system that affected every station in the network.

I'd love to take the problem to the Giants directly. I am a season-ticketholder and frequently take advantage of the Giants' usually good response to complaints from their loyal customers by going directly to my season-ticket representative with the team. (I have my issues with the Giants' player personnel decisions, but their business people are very good and very responsive.) I was just hoping that someone in the extremely knowledgeable and well connected readership of this thread would be able to give me more to go on. The more specific we can be about the cause of the problem, the more likely we can fix it. Doesn't anybody have a contact at KNTV that could ferret out the reasons for the problems?

BTW, caliwxdude, I presume your post from Sunday was actually referring to the Friday night game, the KNTV broadcast in SF of which caused a bunch of us to complain. Kind of interesting that you got 4:3 SD in Sacramento when we got what most of us identify as widescreen SD. Again, I wonder if the only production capability for KNTV broadcasts is SD, and we just got a more refined widescreen presentation than you got in Sacramento.

This is the response I got back from KNTV. Nothing about the unusually bad macroblocking but at least they admit not all their games are in HD.

Thank you for your note.
The SF Giants game on 5/29 was broadcast in wide screen SD.
We realize that HD is the optimum viewing experience. However, we are
broadcasting half of our games in HD this season.
We are hoping to add more HD to this season's schedule.

As of now, here is this season's schedule of games on KNTV-NBC Bay Area.

S.F. GIANTS ON KNTV NBC Bay Area 2009

Wed 4/15 7:00pm SF at LA Dodgers (HD)
Fri 4/24 6:30pm SF at Arizona
Wed 4/29 7:00pm LA Dodgers at SF (HD)
Fri 5/8 7:00pm SF at LA Dodgers (HD)
Fri 5/15 7:00pm NY Mets at SF (HD)
Fri 5/22 7:00pm SF at Seattle
Fri 5/29 7:00pm St. Louis at SF
Sat 6/13 7:00pm Oakland A's at SF (HD)
Sat 6/20 6:00pm Texas at SF
Mon 6/22 7:00pm SF at Oakland A's (HD)
Fri 7/3 7:00pm Houston at SF
Fri 7/24 6:00pm SF at Colorado
Fri 7/31 7:00pm Philadelphia at SF (HD)
Mon 8/10 7:00pm LA Dodgers at SF (HD)
Tue 8/25 7:00pm Arizona at SF
Fri 8/28 7:00pm Colorado at SF
Fri 9/11 7:00pm LA Dodgers at SF (HD)
Sat 9/12 6:00pm LA Dodgers at SF (HD)
Fri 9/18 7:00pm SF at LA Dodgers
Sat 9/26 6:00pm Chicago Cubs at SF

http://www.nbcbayarea.com/station/as_seen_on/Giants-KNTV-Schedule.html


Again, thanks for writing. We appreciate hearing from our viewers.
Program Department
KNTV-NBC Bay Area

^^ That makes sense as there was no way that broadcast was in HD.

Mikef5, maybe time to get that prescription checked?! :p:D

I thought before the season started that KNTV announced that the games they would broadcast would all be in HD, my memory must be bad on that.

"OTA" refers to using an antenna rather than cable.

The issue that you describe (a sudden change on all channels) is most likely an unintentional change in your system setup somewhere rather than a Comcast change.

PS: I just checked and my Onkyo AVR is still happily receiving DD5.1 from Comcast's KGO-DT feed via my Samsung HDTV tuner.

Thanks for all the help Tom and TPeterson. I had gone through the setup menu on the receiver, but didn't see anything out of the ordinary, so decided to check the lights on front of the unit and sure enough the input was set to PCM rather than auto, which would exactly explain why I could only recieve the PCM signal from the TV. Now all is well and am listening to DD again. We just had our first son 4 days ago and I must have hit something in my sleepy state at 4am that caused something to go wrong. Anyway thanks.

Thanks for the clarification on clear QAM also. I am only getting the major networks in HD which is the majority of what we watch, but I do miss discovery looking good (rather than a digital broadcast of SD) and it would be nice to catch a Giants in game in HD.

We will probably get a comcast HD DVR box and digital cable soon, it is just so much more money than limited basic, especially with the unit fee and DVR added on....oh well.

Thanks again...

DTA box question

Sorry if this has been asked and answered already; my quick search did not find anything. I have two DTA boxes from Comcast that I have not installed. Can these decrypt digital channels like Tennis that appear on my cable-card equipped TV's? I have subscribed to HBO also. Would these boxes let me watch the non-HD HBO channels on a TV (that does not have cablecard) after I activated them?

DTA=no decryption

DTA=no decryption

Thanks for the quick answer. I guess I really have no need for these boxes then.

DTA box question

Sorry if this has been asked and answered already; my quick search did not find anything. I have two DTA boxes from Comcast that I have not installed. Can these decrypt digital channels like Tennis that appear on my cable-card equipped TV's? I have subscribed to HBO also. Would these boxes let me watch the non-HD HBO channels on a TV (that does not have cablecard) after I activated them?
Not quite sure which other channels you're interested in, but it will decrypt channels 35-82. I'm not sure what the highest channel is, but it definitely starts at channel 35.

Not quite sure which other channels you're interested in, but it will decrypt channels 35-82. I'm not sure what the highest channel is, but it definitely starts at channel 35.This statement is not accurate. The DTA will properly TUNE and DECODE those channels. They are not and never will be encrypted because the DTA box is technically incapable of decryption. If you are on limited basic and aren't paying for those channels they will be blocked by a filter. In many areas these channels are not currently in the filter-blocked range but I'm willing to bet that they will be moved into that range eventually.

- Mike

Anyone know what's going on with the World of More digital transition? The last day listed on the May/June list from Comcast for Fremont was 6/3 (the list also included 5/7, 5/26, and 6/1), and most of the analog stations are still there. I also noticed that http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=110 no longer links to a timetable at all, which can't be a good thing.

So my cable modem locked up sometime over night, wouldn't respond to anything so I power cycled it. Came back up alright but when I did a speed test the download was normal (~15mb) but the upload is crazy high, like 9mb+ (was normally 3mb) is this some new powerboost speed? I have standard 6/1 tier.

So my cable modem locked up sometime over night, wouldn't respond to anything so I power cycled it. Came back up alright but when I did a speed test the download was normal (~15mb) but the upload is crazy high, like 9mb+ (was normally 3mb) is this some new powerboost speed? I have standard 6/1 tier.

Some of the upload speeds I've seen people report often don't make sense to me. I have a friend in Healdsburg, up in hills no less, and her upload speed is around 11mb/s and she has the cheapest tier, go figure...

Anyone know what's going on with the World of More digital transition? The last day listed on the May/June list from Comcast for Fremont was 6/3 (the list also included 5/7, 5/26, and 6/1), and most of the analog stations are still there. I also noticed that http://comcastcalifornia.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=110 no longer links to a timetable at all, which can't be a good thing.

From what I've heard they've slowed down the transition just a little a bit.This was done to avoid further confusion with the june 12th OTA FCC mandated digital migration. Those of us on forums like this obiviously know the difference between what Comcast is doing and what's happening on June 12th. However a good portion of the public is still confused about it and plenty of customers are complaing that Comcast has been misleading them. On one hand they've seen plenty of commercials saying that Comcast " has you covered" when it comes to the Dig transition and that you don't have to do anything. Then not too long after they're getting a letter or a phone call stating that a box is needed all tv's or else you're going to lose channels. Again, we know the difference but for the average customer it's confusing.

They've already switched over a few nodes in Fremont ( Niles area of Fremont in particular) and have also done quite a bit in Livermore, Pleasanton, San Carlos, Santa Clara, Milpitas, San Mateo and Berkely just to name a few. Even as far north as Healdsburg and Gurneville. So I'm pretty sure they'll pick it up again in full force once all the smoke clears from June 12th.

Some of the upload speeds I've seen people report often don't make sense to me. I have a friend in Healdsburg, up in hills no less, and her upload speed is around 11mb/s and she has the cheapest tier, go figure...

Seeing a lot of weird errors in the log too.
2009-06-03 21:19:00 5-Warning TSM: TxError WatchDog - Restart Upstream
2009-06-03 21:19:00 5-Warning HAL: Overcoming Tx Error (reseting the US - DMA)
2009-06-03 21:18:59 4-Error DIST: Management Message with unidentified Version->4 - Discard message

From what I've heard they've slowed down the transition just a little a bit.This was done to avoid further confusion with the june 12th OTA FCC mandated digital migration. Those of us on forums like this obiviously know the difference between what Comcast is doing and what's happening on June 12th. However a good portion of the public is still confused about it and plenty of customers are complaing that Comcast has been misleading them. On one hand they've seen plenty of commercials saying that Comcast " has you covered" when it comes to the Dig transition and that you don't have to do anything. Then not too long after they're getting a letter or a phone call stating that a box is needed all tv's or else you're going to lose channels. Again, we know the difference but for the average customer it's confusing.

They've already switched over a few nodes in Fremont ( Niles area of Fremont in particular) and have also done quite a bit in Livermore, Pleasanton, San Carlos, Santa Clara, Milpitas, San Mateo and Berkely just to name a few. Even as far north as Healdsburg and Gurneville. So I'm pretty sure they'll pick it up again in full force once all the smoke clears from June 12th.

This seems like reasonable justification for holding off on new areas, but I don't see how leaving an area in a partially-converted state helps anyone. Analog channels 40-60 were shut off about 3 weeks ago, but 35-40 and 60-84 still exist. I know that if I were switching to Comcast right now and trying to use analog, the current state would be a lot more confusing than if the transition had been completed.

Does anybody know how to access the settings on the Ambit U10C035 modem that Comcast now uses for it's 30mb line?

Thank You,
Jason

Walk, thanks for getting confirmation on the KNTV Fauxovision Giants broadcasts and a schedule for games that we can expect either to see better quality or complain quite a bit further.

I was not surprised to see Johnson's 300th win last night in HD, but I was to see the followup 20 minutes later in Faux. Like...did the control booth clear out someplace, or were they using MASN's feed?

Those of you, like me, who watch expanded basic on clear QAM channels directly, don't get too used to the current set of channels. I'm in Sunnyvale and noticed last night that in the analog-vacated channels there are digitals popping up (like at 42.xxx) which look like duplicates of the existing ones up higher. My guess is they are playing musical channels and once they have the lower ones fully digitally-populated they will switch and change/turn off the upper ones. Also KRON and KBCW (4.2 and 44.1 with psip) have been moved to 73.1 and 73.2 physical RF from up higher. Don't know if they have re-enbled psip for these. Maybe the new frequencies are more in line with filters for the various tiers of service?

Jim

Those of you, like me, who watch expanded basic on clear QAM channels directly, don't get too used to the current set of channels. I'm in Sunnyvale and noticed last night that in the analog-vacated channels there are digitals popping up (like at 42.xxx) which look like duplicates of the existing ones up higher. My guess is they are playing musical channels and once they have the lower ones fully digitally-populated they will switch and change/turn off the upper ones. Also KRON and KBCW (4.2 and 44.1 with psip) have been moved to 73.1 and 73.2 physical RF from up higher. Don't know if they have re-enbled psip for these. Maybe the new frequencies are more in line with filters for the various tiers of service?

Jim

That's interesting, I lost KBCW-HD about a month or so ago(showed no signal) and never really checked into for a number of reasons, anyway, I just checked to see if I get KRON-HD and that one is missing as well. I wonder if Comcast moved those channels into an RF band that is blocked by the Expanded Basic lockout filter on my line?

That's interesting, I lost KBCW-HD about a month or so ago(showed no signal) and never really checked into for a number of reasons, anyway, I just checked to see if I get KRON-HD and that one is missing as well. I wonder if Comcast moved those channels into an RF band that is blocked by the Expanded Basic lockout filter on my line?

You can check the RF frequency on TiVo's diagnostic screen. If it's near the filter cut-off point, you may have problem receiving that channel.

In Mountain View, the expanded basic digital channels were moved to the filter range in the last two weeks or so. Now they're out of the filter range again.

That's interesting, I lost KBCW-HD about a month or so ago(showed no signal) and never really checked into for a number of reasons, anyway, I just checked to see if I get KRON-HD and that one is missing as well. I wonder if Comcast moved those channels into an RF band that is blocked by the Expanded Basic lockout filter on my line?

In my area, those two are on the same transponder and got moved to a different frequency. Unfortunately, looks like they forgot to turn on PSIP for them as I don't see the PSIP PID in the bitstream.

Can someone with a DTA, an HDHomerun and WindowsXP or higher do me a favor? I was playing around with programming some GUI code and decided to hack it into scte65scan. If you have the above combo, can you do me a favor and beta test it for me?

Thanks.

Why is the DTA needed? I have HDHR and Windows 7 test machine, but when I ran your GUI it crashed after the setup screens without displaying any error message that lasted long enough to read nor anything useful in the event log. Does the program write a diagnostic log anywhere else?

P.S.: I also tried running the CLI exe with -H FFFFFFFF,0. It reported two "warnings":

unable to connect to device
exiting

HDHR_config (GUI) seems to have no trouble connecting. I turned off the firewall and that made no difference.

That's interesting, I lost KBCW-HD about a month or so ago(showed no signal) and never really checked into for a number of reasons, anyway, I just checked to see if I get KRON-HD and that one is missing as well. I wonder if Comcast moved those channels into an RF band that is blocked by the Expanded Basic lockout filter on my line?In Los Altos and possibly others like Cupertino that use the Santa Clara head end, KBCW is on 92 with KNTV. For a while it was on 131 with KRON. I don't know where KRON is now - probably because doesn't have PSIP any more. In any case, these OTA rebroadcast stations should never be in the Limited Basic notch filter range.

- Mike

You can check the RF frequency on TiVo's diagnostic screen. If it's near the filter cut-off point, you may have problem receiving that channel.

They both show at 489mHz and I'm guessing that's probably a trapped frequency in the analog Expanded Basic region. I tried to narrow it down, but all my Expanded Basic channels have already been moved to digital so I'm not getting any of the analog versions, or at least I'm not sure how I would tune them in to check the cut-off freq.

In my area, those two are on the same transponder and got moved to a different frequency. Unfortunately, looks like they forgot to turn on PSIP for them as I don't see the PSIP PID in the bitstream.

They're on the same here as well, although as I noted above, I think it's a blocked frequency. I sub to Limited Basic only, so there's a filter on my line to block the analog Expanded Basic channels and I believe that's where Comcast moved KBCW and KRON when they added that ridiculous KGO-LiveWell channel, I lost KBCW the very same day.

489MHz is RF68, definitely in the trap. Mine is at 519MHz, RF73.

489MHz is RF68, definitely in the trap. Mine is at 519MHz, RF73.

That's what I figured, so it's like, what were they thinking..?? Am I expected to sub to ExpBasic to get those channels? Silly people...

Does anybody know how to access the settings on the Ambit U10C035 modem that Comcast now uses for it's 30mb line?

Thank You,
Jason

http://192.168.100.1/ is the standard for home modems.

for business modems it's something like http://10.1.10.1 ... try that or searching for similar...

I sub to Limited Basic only, so there's a filter on my line to block the analog Expanded Basic channels and I believe that's where Comcast moved KBCW and KRON when they added that ridiculous KGO-LiveWell channel, I lost KBCW the very same day.

That doesn't make sense. All of the broadcast channels are included in Limited Basic, so you should still be getting KRON and KBCW. Of course, you need the appropriate version of LB for the feed you want--regular LB for the standard-definition feeds or HD LB for the high-definition feeds. If you aren't getting those two stations, call Comcast, because something is wrong.


Patty

Why is the DTA needed? I have HDHR and Windows 7 test machine, but when I ran your GUI it crashed after the setup screens without displaying any error message that lasted long enough to read nor anything useful in the event log. Does the program write a diagnostic log anywhere else?

P.S.: I also tried running the CLI exe with -H FFFFFFFF,0. It reported two "warnings":

unable to connect to device
exiting

HDHR_config (GUI) seems to have no trouble connecting. I turned off the firewall and that made no difference.

I've never gotten the HDHR to connect that way. Instead I grab the channel map by recording the signal from the map channel which is 116 someting in my area and having the program parse the .ts file. I'll have to see if the version above has improved documentation.

....I grab the channel map by recording the signal from the map channel which is 116 someting in my area and having the program parse the .ts file.Thanks, that works for me too (with both cli and gui versions in the above zip). Neat. :)

I currently have extended cable. On the digital side I get the local channels. Do I need a box to get the extended cable channels in HD? Will I lose these channels?

Do I need a box to get the extended cable channels in HD?

Box or CableCard. Those channels are encrypted.

I've been reading a number of threads going back over the past few weeks, and know that this issue has been kicked around for a while. Part of my question is about wanting to find an answer, and part of it is about being cranky.

We have two OTA / Cable / Satellite ready devices with ATSC and QAM tuners, connected to Comcast in Marin County. We also have 2 DTA boxes (which some characterize as digital-to-analog, but Comcast says are digital transport adapters), and one honest to goodness digital cable box which we've had for 2 or 3 years.

Problem (as most of you know only too well):

There's no way for the QAM tuner to associate 97.10 with the more recognizable Versus 81, for example. Punching in "81" on the remote gets us a black screen, and "No Signal".

So the question is, how in the world are we supposed to "tune" into some of our channels that are now digital, and not on the same QAM channel as they were on the NTSC channel? Is the only way to do this to manually scroll through all 120 or so channels, and write them down for ourselves?

And will it all change again and again as Comcast re-jiggers their actual cable channel assignments?

The cranky part of this is doesn't Comcast care that everyone with digital tuners is getting s*** from them? Do they not care that they're screwing around with paying customers who send them money every month?

How do we stop the juggernaut called Comcast, short of getting a class-action lawsuit to stop them?

Jerry

P.S. I see that there is software that we might run in a computer with a QAM tuner card, but we don't have one of those -- and dammit -- no one should have to do it this cumbersome way.

So the question is, how in the world are we supposed to "tune" into some of our channels that are now digital, and not on the same QAM channel as they were on the NTSC channel?

Standard set top box, DTA, or CableCard device.

Standard set top box, DTA, or CableCard device.

I realize we can do it with the devices you suggest (though I don't have any devices with slots for cable cards). We do have the Comcast DTA installed, to feed RF signal into our Series 2 TiVo. But I've also got the cable going directly into the TV and the DVD recorder/player.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I meant, how do we tune into favorite channels using only the QAM tuner built into the digital TV set and the digital DVD recorder/player?

It would seem, Comcast either has a secret plan which they are unwilling to communicate clearly, or they don't care about customer satisfaction.

Jerry

Keenan wrote:

> there's a filter on my line to block the analog Expanded
> Basic channels and I believe that's where Comcast moved
> KBCW and KRON...

wintertime wrote:

> All of the broadcast channels are included in Limited
> Basic, so you should still be getting KRON and KBCW.

There is a wide variation in ATSC tuners which affect what you can/cannot see, and here's what I see on Comcast:

- KRON comes in on 4 and 72.2 in analog and 73.1 in QAM
- KBCW comes in on 12 and 72.10 in analog and 73.2 or 73.5 in QAM (depends on tuner)

KNTV-D is my quirkiest channel.

- The DVRs (Philips/Magnavox) can pick up 11.1 and if 92.1 is selected they jump to 11.1
- The Samsung TV cannot pick up 11.1 and selecting 92.1 reverts to current channel
- The Sony TV cannot pick up 11.1 but can select 92.1

The Samsung scan cannot find some channels that the Sony and DVRs can.

Sub-channels vary between devices e.g. DVRs pick up KBCW HD (which was 44.1) on 73.2 and the TVs find it on 73.5

jwpottberg wrote:

> Those of you, like me, who watch expanded basic on clear QAM
> channels directly, don't get too used to the current set....
> ....once they have the lower ones fully digitally-populated
> they will switch and change/turn off the upper ones.

Agreed, the sands have been shifting the last couple of days.

A scan turned up 40 new QAM channel additions, many of the expanded basic stations are now appearing in two banks and some banks are switched around. Here are the changes that showed up and there may well be others.

- 78.x is now also on 44.x
- 84.x is now also on 42.x
- 128.x is now also on 43.x
- Mix of channels moved to 42.x
- 73.x have moved to 72.x

One quirk since the shuffling occured is that the analog DVRs which have autoclock set to 9 (KQED) are being set to EST but the digital DVRs set to 9.1 are fine.

Another oddity is that the QAM of local stations now drift in and out of garbled speech e.g. KRON-HD on 73.1 will be garbled but KRON on 72.2 will be fine.

mrwheels wrote:

> Is the only way to do this to manually scroll through all
> 120 or so channels, and write them down for ourselves?

It is painful, but that's the only way I know of. Watching through an STB composite cable sucks, so it is worth the effort to locate the QAMs and watch them directly.

> It would seem, Comcast either has a secret plan which they
> are unwilling to communicate clearly,

It is not a secret plan. Comcast wants to move from providing service to the home to providing service at every viewing outlet in the home.

The QAM channels of expanded basic are not encrypted (at present), so equipment with ATSC tuners do not need STBs. Comcast is not making it easy for you because the objective is to have you use an STB at every viewing outlet to watch anything above 30.

> ...or they don't care about customer satisfaction.

The cable companies don't have to care, because there is no equivalent alternative service. The satellite services require STBs.

I meant, how do we tune into favorite channels using only the QAM tuner built into the digital TV set and the digital DVD recorder/player?Until and unless Comcast starts sending standard PSIP-based virtual channel info for the standard-definition channels, just as they are (sometimes) doing for the HD channels, you need to use some sort of rosetta stone like dlou's program or the Silicondust website--or just dope it out for yourself by tuning and mapping all 100 or so channels.

But I think that it would take an FCC rule to make them do that, since they seem to have the idea that they can make their customers use Comcast tuning gear instead of making their signals compatible with industry standards.

Why is the DTA needed?.

Well, if you were able to get a little farther than you did, stuff like getting/verifying your VCT_ID would have been a little bit easier.

I have HDHR and Windows 7 test machine, but when I ran your GUI it crashed after the setup screens without displaying any error message that lasted long enough to read nor anything useful in the event log. Does the program write a diagnostic log anywhere else?

P.S.: I also tried running the CLI exe with -H FFFFFFFF,0. It reported two "warnings":

unable to connect to device
exiting


Thanks. Much appreciated. Looks like Silicon Dust may have wrote some compiler specific code since the Win32 CLI exe should be nearly identical to the Linux CLI binary (I'm using gcc). I'll have to look into that and maybe give Visual C++ Express a try.

:
There's no way for the QAM tuner to associate 97.10 with the more recognizable Versus 81, for example. Punching in "81" on the remote gets us a black screen, and "No Signal".

Actually, I noticed that on some of the newer remotes you can assign station ID icons to some of the buttons for instant channel changing. The cheaper ones just use a sticker for the icon and you have to reprogram the button on the remote, but I think one of the Logitech Harmony's allow you to put it on its LCD and is programmed via a USB port. I'm kinda thinking it'd be cool to combine an HDHomerun or PC QAM tuner and an LCD remote with an SCTE-65 (DTA) parser. That way you don't have to remember any numbers at all. Just look on your remote for the icon of the channel you want to watch and press the button. When Comcast changes the channel assignments, just spend a minute doing the table scan then pop your remote into the USB port for a few seconds and you're all set.

And will it all change again and again as Comcast re-jiggers their actual cable channel assignments?


If I recall correctly, Comcast has re-jiggered it about 4-5 times in the past month where I live.

Well, if you were able to get a little farther than you did, stuff like getting/verifying your VCT_ID would have been a little bit easier.
OK, but since you display them all it's not hard to pick the one that fits best. As per my later post, I was able to use the GUI to examine a captured file. (Note to others in this thread: This would work using any PC tuner that can capture the full transport stream, including MyHD, Fusion units with either TSBrowser2 or TSReader Lite, and probably all the others)
Thanks. Much appreciated. Looks like Silicon Dust may have wrote some compiler specific code since the Win32 CLI exe should be nearly identical to the Linux CLI binary (I'm using gcc). I'll have to look into that and maybe give Visual C++ Express a try.Great! Let me know when you need another round.

Hi Jay-

What are the symptoms of "not get(ting)" the two stations? Do you get a "one moment please" message in a blue box, just static or nothing at all (blank screen)? If I'm having signal strength issues, I usually see it in the higher frequency channels (KNTV-HD and DiscoveryHD are particularly problematic) as either extreme pixellation, or the "one moment please" message. Can you check the signal strengh reaching your cable box (you might have to do a little searching around the AVS website to get specific instructions; I only know how to do it on the Motorola 6412 unit)?

Alan

ESPN2 HD and TNT HD were the 2 signals I had trouble with. After replacing splitters with better quality ones and adding a signal amplifier these 2 are now working fine.

Durny1

Just curious, does anyone know WHY these two channels have the lowest signal strength? It seems this is a phenomenon in multiple locations around the Bay area - I'm in Los Altos, but others are in Milpitas or elsewhere. Using the signal strength meter on my Tivo HD, I see on the other HD channels about high 80's (out of 100) signal, but on these TNT HD and ESPN2 HD it is not only low but fluctuates between 30 and 55.

I probably need to replace a splitter or two as well to solve this as well, but just wondering what makes one digital frequency worse than the others.

I probably need to replace a splitter or two as well to solve this as well, but just wondering what makes one digital frequency worse than the others.

What's the frequency (on the diagnostic screen)?

I don't think it's a big mystery, look at the options Comcast has:

1. Spend 10 minutes to enter the correct the PSIP for the QAM channels.
Pro: every customer now has correct channel info for all their free-QAM TV tuners.
Con: it takes effort and they don't get any more money from basic cable subscribers.

2. Do nothing.
Pro: requires no effort and every basic subscriber who wants correct channel numbers now has to pay an extra $7/mo per TV, AND they can purchase PPV and VOD content ($$$$$)
Con: some customers complain, maybe they lose a few to satellite or other services.

I realize we can do it with the devices you suggest (though I don't have any devices with slots for cable cards). We do have the Comcast DTA installed, to feed RF signal into our Series 2 TiVo. But I've also got the cable going directly into the TV and the DVD recorder/player.

Perhaps I wasn't clear. I meant, how do we tune into favorite channels using only the QAM tuner built into the digital TV set and the digital DVD recorder/player?

It would seem, Comcast either has a secret plan which they are unwilling to communicate clearly, or they don't care about customer satisfaction.

No, I think Comcast just thinks (and are probably correct), that the vast, vast majority of the customers will just use digital box or DTA and be content. Only a very small percentage of their customer base who frequent forums like this are technically savvy enough to want to use clear-QAM tuners to get the better picture quality/save the outlet fee/use for recording.

I'd recommend getting a TivoHD. None of these numbers to remember, dual HD recording. I watch something like 98% HD anyway now. Most of the expanded basic channels have an HD equivalent which I watch, I think the only one I watch occasionally is MSNBC. I suppose I'd seek the other channels if one of the quasi-HD channels were showing stretchovision garbage version of a show I really wanted to watch, but mostly I just ignore those shows as I have plenty of real HD to watch.

Just curious, does anyone know WHY these two channels have the lowest signal strength? It seems this is a phenomenon in multiple locations around the Bay area - I'm in Los Altos, but others are in Milpitas or elsewhere. Using the signal strength meter on my Tivo HD, I see on the other HD channels about high 80's (out of 100) signal, but on these TNT HD and ESPN2 HD it is not only low but fluctuates between 30 and 55.

I probably need to replace a splitter or two as well to solve this as well, but just wondering what makes one digital frequency worse than the others.

My theory is FM radio interference, I used to have problems with these particular channels until I properly terminated all my unused splitter ends. Other channels weren't in the radio frequency band. But I could be wrong.

1. Spend 10 minutes to enter the correct the PSIP for the QAM channels.

PSIP generators are not free.

Ah! So now I understand why it takes so long for them to get the PSIPs fixed on the HD channels. They have to schlepp the generator around to all the headends. :D

Ah! So now I understand why it takes so long for them to get the PSIPs fixed on the HD channels. They have to schlepp the generator around to all the headends. :D

I was serious with my comment. A price I saw was more than $10K, and I don't know how many streams are included at that price.

Fine, they have to spend some money. More money that is, they also have to give everyone who wants one a DTA. Even more reason it will nnnnnnever happen.

The retransmitted OTA HD channels already have PSIP, so they just have to avoid stripping it out. Generating PSIP for all the SD expanded basic channels is really too much to ask. Why would they spend money to add something to their signal that's not used by their equipment. I personally understand why it would be useful to customers, but there's just no business case to do it.

- Mike

The retransmitted OTA HD channels already have PSIP, so they just have to avoid stripping it out.Sorry, Mike, but that's not correct. They modify the OTA PSIP info such that it's correct for the cable transmission (and so that it doesn't include all of the EIT packets :(). So, evidently, they already have (at least) one PSIP-capable encoder. ;)

As per my later post, I was able to use the GUI to examine a captured file. Great! Let me know when you need another round.

I think I know why it didn't work. %$#@ legacy architecture from Windows 3.1, Winsock.dll needs to be manually loaded/started whenever you want networking. Can you try this one now?

Thanks.

Can you try this one now?Yes, but not "right now". I'll spin it when I get back home this weekend, thanks!

So, here we've changed from AT&T phone & DSL to the 3 pack Comcast phone, HSI & cable. It'll cost pretty much the same as if I kept the old arrangement, with the addition of free Showtime for a year (more porn!! :D). However when I checked Cinemax it was blocked, even though we have HBO and IIRC HBO & Cinemax are a package in themselves. Speedtesting HSI using Vudu's speed tests as well as the Speakeasy tests shows I'm getting an average of 16 down, 9 up. Sometimes though, it seems as if I still have DSL speeds. I realize that Internet traffic and poor equipment can cause this to happen. I'm hoping we didn't make a mistake by doing this. Is it advisable to anyone else with Comcast phone for me to have the modem on a UPS? I figure to do that but want someone's experience to back me up.

Was new operating software for the box (a 3416 in my case) pushed through the last few days? I left town Sunday morning and everything worked; returned last night and this morning the HDMI connection gives two seconds of picture and then the green screen of death. TV works fine with other inputs. Powering the motorola box off and back on did not fix it, nor did tuning to SD channels or changing picture resolution. I haven't switched to component connections but will probably do so tonight. Called Comcast and they suggested that my cable was probably bad. But nothing was moved or changed, and HDMI has worked fine for a couple of years.

No issues here with my DCH-3416 and HDMI. I actually have it plugged to a switch and then to my projector. But zero problems.

Juan: I also have triple pack and it has been working fine for me for more than six months. I don't have any UPS so I can't comment about that. Internet works really well, I had 2 laptops using VPN, one for my wife's work and one for me, different companies. They are 24/7 most of the time, I also play a lot of Xbox Live, torrents (rarely), etc. Everything works just perfect.

Try replacing the cable. I had one that I'd been using for about 2 years just die on me.

Is it advisable to anyone else with Comcast phone for me to have the modem on a UPS? I figure to do that but want someone's experience to back me up.

The modem/eMTA has an internal back up battery, but it's only on the phone portion. I doi keep the eMTA and a router on a small UPS - got over 10 hours out of it in one nasty storm/power outage.

The modem/eMTA has an internal back up battery, but it's only on the phone portion. I doi keep the eMTA and a router on a small UPS - got over 10 hours out of it in one nasty storm/power outage.

Excellent! That's exactly what I wanted to hear. My concern regarding the phone service was if it went out during a power failure or some large disaster. Thanks Barovelli.

I just noticed that we now have Ion HD on channel 711. Major League II is on now and the PQ is far from impressive. It's pretty dull looking.

Now that you pointed it out, I checked it & it is dull, with muted colors. Getting a fair amount of macroblocking especially in crowd scenes.

Now that you pointed it out, I checked it & it is dull, with muted colors. Getting a fair amount of macroblocking especially in crowd scenes.

Same thing OTA on 65.1 - the station isn't using a high enough bit rate for good HD.

Now that you pointed it out, I checked it & it is dull, with muted colors. Getting a fair amount of macroblocking especially in crowd scenes.

I saw a lot of blocking as well. Just love those digital shifts and artifacts:( I took my TV's backlight and color up a bit and the picture was a bit better but Ion doesn't have a whole lot of programming yet so whatever.

Remember that we are having free HBO and Cinemax this weekend. I just checked and here in south San Jose the channels are already available, I'm using a Comcast box. They are suppose to be free until Monday (midnight?).

I already setup my DVR to record Eastern Promises and the Cotto vs Cottley boxing match. And yeah, some other movies I won't post here, and no, they are not skinmax "movies". :p

Remember that we are having free HBO and Cinemax this weekend. I just checked and here in south San Jose the channels are already available, I'm using a Comcast box. They are suppose to be free until Monday (midnight?).

Just out of curiosity, are these free preview channels showing up on DTA's as well as STB's?

Remember that we are having free HBO and Cinemax this weekend.

Yeah, don't forget about the "Dark Knight" premiere tomorrow night! And the new season of "True Blood" on Sunday.

Just out of curiosity, are these free preview channels showing up on DTA's as well as STB's?

No, the DTAs are very basic converters designed to provide access to the channels that were on Extended Basic analog. Aside from those, they only get a few other channels, such as CalChannel, CSPAN-3, and some of the local digital subchannels. They don't get the premium channels or even the other non-premium digital channels.


Patty

No, the DTAs are very basic converters designed to provide access to the channels that were on Extended Basic analog. Aside from those, they only get a few other channels, such as CalChannel, CSPAN-3, and some of the local digital subchannels. They don't get the premium channels or even the other non-premium digital channels.

This is not true from a technical standpoint. DTAs are designed to provide access to unencrypted QAM. Comcast could just turn off encryption during HBO free preview weekend and push out an updated VCT so that the DTA can see it.

I know that they did the former. My question was regarding whether they had actually done the latter.

This is not true from a technical standpoint. DTAs are designed to provide access to unencrypted QAM. Comcast could just turn off encryption during HBO free preview weekend and push out an updated VCT so that the DTA can see it.

I know that they did the former. My question was regarding whether they had actually done the latter.

I don't think they did the latter - after seeing HBO/Max come in on clear QAM on my main TV I searched all channels on the DTA in the back room with no joy.

This is not true from a technical standpoint. DTAs are designed to provide access to unencrypted QAM. Comcast could just turn off encryption during HBO free preview weekend and push out an updated VCT so that the DTA can see it.

Okay, sorry. From the list I received with the DTAs, I thought they could only tune up to the 100s channels, and the premiums are in the 500s. I didn't have my DTA hooked up last night because I was set up to record analog OTA, but I just checked and you're right that it can get higher channels. Perhaps Comcast figures it isn't worth opening up the free preview on DTAs because customers who only have those can't become HBO subscribers after the preview anyway, since those units aren't capable of handling subscription flags for premium channels, right?


Patty

Right. (But they could still be hooked into getting the normal STB and an HBO subscription, having had their appetites whetted on the preview...hmm?)

Many of the movies they are showing are "cropped" 'scope films. IOW, not worth watching that way. You don't get to see the whole movie. I note that Comcast is running "center cut" 4:3 now on most of the locals. How long are they going to keep that up? After all DVD has been around over a decade so many people are used to letterbox. I would think they would want to see the whole show too.

And when to the Extended Basic go away as analog? Does anyone know the schedule?

I have only Limited Basic with a TiVo S3. When I tune to HBO/Cinemax the grey CableCARD screen pops up, pressing Clear will get rid of it and allow the channel to display. I recorded 2 films off HBO last night and they both recorded fine, although I believe this was due to already being tuned to the channel on the S3. I've just set a test recording with the TiVo tuned to 2 other channels to see if the CC page prevents the recording on HBO.

I'm curious why the the CC page even comes up, there must still be some sort of encryption "trigger" on the HBO and Cinemax signals. Maybe it's because my CC's are set to block the channel and tuning to it causes them to hiccup when they see the "clear" signal.

I'm a little confused. The broadcast networks have their analog shut off, right?

Thus when I watch on comcast the "analog" version of a broadcast channel, I should really see their digital channel downconverted, right?

What I am saying is, I am watching Golf in HD on 705 (KPIX) right now. When I turn to Channel 5, I expect to see 16:9 SD golf (or letterboxed golf). Instead I see a 4:3 SD image which confuses me.

What's going on here? Are the networks still giving cable co's crap [analog] although over the air they are digital only?

Right. (But they could still be hooked into getting the normal STB and an HBO subscription, having had their appetites whetted on the preview...hmm?)
True!

At least Comcast sent a message to my STB about the HBO preview. DirecTV has finally started mentioning their free previews in their monthly bill inserts, but they never send out messages about them. Pretty dumb considering that many people pay electronically and never get the flyers.


Patty

And when to the Extended Basic go away as analog? Does anyone know the schedule?

The schedule is different in different parts of the Bay Area. I'm on the Santa Clara headend, and we've lost everything above about ch. 34 now.


Patty

I'm a little confused. The broadcast networks have their analog shut off, right?

Thus when I watch on comcast the "analog" version of a broadcast channel, I should really see their digital channel downconverted, right?

What I am saying is, I am watching Golf in HD on 705 (KPIX) right now. When I turn to Channel 5, I expect to see 16:9 SD golf (or letterboxed golf). Instead I see a 4:3 SD image which confuses me.

What's going on here? Are the networks still giving cable co's crap [analog] although over the air they are digital only?
I can't remember the exact details, there was a couple of threads about this a few months back, but basically, the cableco is taking the digital signal provided to them from the broadcaster and, I believe, center-cutting it to a 4x3 image. This was the reason for moving the channel bug from the far left or right in a 16x9 image to the 4x3 "safe" area on HD broadcasts - when it was center-cut the bug would be still be there. On carriers that are not 100% digital, like Comcast, I think they are converting that digital signal to analog for those folks who are still using analog TVs.

Also, if I remember correctly, this was also a major reason why the DTA's came about, the plan was that Comcast wanted to avoid having to provide those analog signals, but because they could not show that they were 100% digital at the time they were stuck having to provide them. The DTA was supposed to allow them to be 100% digital - convert the digital signals to analog for those analog displays - but evidently they've only gone with converting the Expanded Basic analogs, so far. I think, I haven't used any analog displays for years, so I haven't really followed what Comcast is doing with the DTA's beyond the Expanded Basic channel conversions.

Remember that we are having free HBO and Cinemax this weekend. I just checked and here in south San Jose the channels are already available, I'm using a Comcast box. They are suppose to be free until Monday (midnight?).


Here in San Francisco, I am receiving the preview of HBOHD and MAXHD on 119-1 and 119-2 both in 1080i via both with the cable plugged straight into a Samsung HDTV and also plugged into my Hauppauge pci-e card running through Windows 7 x64 Build 7077 Media Center (DVR). No STB or DTA. Looks great as it should in 1080i.

I can't remember the exact details, there was a couple of threads about this a few months back, but basically, the cableco is taking the digital signal provided to them from the broadcaster and, I believe, center-cutting it to a 4x3 image. This was the reason for moving the channel bug from the far left or right in a 16x9 image to the 4x3 "safe" area on HD broadcasts - when it was center-cut the bug would be still be there. On carriers that are not 100% digital, like Comcast, I think they are converting that digital signal to analog for those folks who are still using analog TVs.

Also, if I remember correctly, this was also a major reason why the DTA's came about, the plan was that Comcast wanted to avoid having to provide those analog signals, but because they could not show that they were 100% digital at the time they were stuck having to provide them. The DTA was supposed to allow them to be 100% digital - convert the digital signals to analog for those analog displays - but evidently they've only gone with converting the Expanded Basic analogs, so far. I think, I haven't used any analog displays for years, so I haven't really followed what Comcast is doing with the DTA's beyond the Expanded Basic channel conversions.

The last I heard the local stations ( ABC, CBS, NBC etc... ) will still provide an analog signal to Comcast, even though they have shut down their broadcast analog signals from Sutro. Comcast never got their signals from Sutro but had/has a direct feed from the local stations. That's why when they did work on Sutro it didn't affect the channels on Comcast.

In a way I can see why they would do this, they ( the local stations ) can still make money with their old analog equipment for a couple more years by providing that analog signal to Comcast. Also, the final date for dropping all analog from their ( Comcast ) system will be in 3 years, that may have changed but that was the last I heard. Personally, I would've dropped them all a long time ago.

Laters,
Mikef5

The last I heard the local stations ( ABC, CBS, NBC etc... ) will still provide an analog signal to Comcast, even though they have shut down their broadcast analog signals from Sutro. Comcast never got their signals from Sutro but had/has a direct feed from the local stations. That's why when they did work on Sutro it didn't affect the channels on Comcast.

In a way I can see why they would do this, they can still make money with their old analog equipment for a couple more years by providing that analog signal to Comcast. Also, the final date for dropping all analog from their ( Comcast ) system will be in 3 years, that may have changed but that was the last I heard. Personally, I would've dropped them all a long time ago.

Laters,
Mikef5

I was aware that those analog feeds were via hard-line, but I wasn't aware they were going to continue to supply an analog signal to the carriers like Comcast.

I was aware that those analog feeds were via hard-line, but I wasn't aware they were going to continue to supply an analog signal to the carriers like Comcast.

That was the last I heard and to me it makes sense if you want to still provide an analog signal to your customers. Why would you invest a lot of money into a conversion system to take the digital signal and convert it to a crappy analog signal when you can get the local stations to use the equipment that they already have and provide that analog signal to your customers. Which do you think would be cheaper and which would you use if you are trying to save costs or more cash layouts ? They already have the system in place right now so why go through all the expense of converting signals ? Plus the local stations can get some return on their old analog equipment. It's a win/win for both.

Laters,
Mikef5

In Cupertino, all analog channels above 34 are now gone. And channel 2, 3 & 4 analog have poor signal quality (snow on cable).

I wonder of Comcast is doing the "center cut" for the locals, or if the locals are feeding Comcast two signals, one in HD and the second in 4x3 SD. Remember, Comcast is running a digital 4x3 signal in parallel with the analog signal for the locals. Comparing the signal quality of KTVU Fox analog (channel 2) to the digital 4x3 ( 72-1) it is apparent that Comcast is not converting the analog to digital.

Greg

That was the last I heard and to me it makes sense if you want to still provide an analog signal to your customers. Why would you invest a lot of money into a conversion system to take the digital signal and convert it to a crappy analog signal when you can get the local stations to use the equipment that they already have and provide that analog signal to your customers. Which do you think would be cheaper and which would you use if you are trying to save costs or more cash layouts ? They already have the system in place right now so why go through all the expense of converting signals ? Plus the local stations can get some return on their old analog equipment. It's a win/win for both.

Laters,
Mikef5

Silly me for thinking that cable customers would now be watching the digital versions of the broadcast networks. Here I was hoping those people who only have limited/expanded cable would watch American Idol (and many other programs) and it would be letterboxed and hopefully realize they could use an HDTV. I know NBC broadcasts some shows in letterboxed SD, but would have been nice if everything that was HD (even local news) was letterboxed. Besides DTA, I'm not liking that these low end (in Comcast's POV) customers are seeing no change in their TV watchingl.

I'm sure that those who produce the local news would also like to stop worrying about the "4:3 safe" area. The station bean counters at some point will figure out how much extra that costs and then maybe the practice will go away. But perhaps there is a planned obsolence for what was a bad aspect ratio to begin with (realize that at the same time Edison started making movies in 4:3 the Lumiere brothers in France were making them in 5:3 or 1.66:1 which is still used in European film today).

I suspect they didn't want to bombard the public with too many changes during the transition though NBC did some letterboxed broadcasts 10 years ago and commercials shown that way for years. KTSF has been showing movies letterboxed for years but perhaps the Asian community is less concerned about "black bars" and would like to see the whole movie.

I used to kid a friend when he was watching football on his old TV with "where's the rest of the game?" He had seen my HD set and knew what I was talking about. Now he has an HD set and loves the difference.

Does anyone get Travel HD?

So I just swapped out my old Comcast Moto box (I had a DCT3416 that just died, replaced it for a DCH3416 which died within a week) for a Tivo HD XL. Love the switch for all of the extra features (netflix, amazon VOD, multi-room viewing, online scheduling).

Anyway, when I was setting up the channels the Tivo lineup shows me getting Travel HD on channel 755. Well, I never saw that channel available in Mill Valley on the old boxes and lineup so I'm guessing that is a mistake on the Tivo lineup. But I've run into issues before in Mill Valley where channels don't come in so I thought I'd check. Are we supposed to be getting Travel HD or not?

My Samsung TV with a clear-QAM tuner is able to tune in the hidef version of KRON & KBCW. Unfortunately, my mythtv system is not able to find these channels when I do a full scan. I have 3 different brands of digital tuners and I get the same result on all 3. My Comcast subscription plan includes expanded basic, so I should not have a notch filter inadvertently blocking my access.

Here are some more details in case they are helpful:

The hidef version of KRON is on channel 73.1
The hidef version of KBCW is on channel 73.5
Neither of these channels is properly mapped to their proper OTA channel number (4.1 for KRON; I forget what the number is for KBCW), so it looks like the PSIP data either isn’t there or is messed up.
Based on what I have been able to look up, it appears that the channels on “73” are at a frequency of 519000000 (519mhz)


I’ve noticed that some others are having difficulty with these two channels – does anyone know if there are steps I can take to resolve this? Thanks for any help you can provide!

Marc

I just got High Speed Internet this weekend in Fremont... but the contractor gave me some really old beat up equipment.

What is the latest cable modem Comcast rolled out in Fremont?

I just got High Speed Internet this weekend in Fremont... but the contractor gave me some really old beat up equipment.

What is the latest cable modem Comcast rolled out in Fremont?

Although I live in Newark, the Newark comcast office closed and we go to Fremont. My old cable modem which I got in Fremont in 2005 crapped out (Terrayon).

2 weeks ago I went to the Fremont office and got a Motorola SB5101. That's what you should have got. If you got an old piece of crap terrayon, just go to the Fremont Comcast office and swap it out (bring the modem and power cord). They'll swap it out. Just try to go on a weekday not named Friday (if possible) since Fri and Sat are packed with people getting DTA boxes.

A brand new cable modem can be purchased for around $50, and used one for much less than that. If you have not signed up yet, you can go through at least a couple of different sites to get one for free after rebate.

Does anyone get Travel HD?

So I just swapped out my old Comcast Moto box (I had a DCT3416 that just died, replaced it for a DCH3416 which died within a week) for a Tivo HD XL. Love the switch for all of the extra features (netflix, amazon VOD, multi-room viewing, online scheduling).

Anyway, when I was setting up the channels the Tivo lineup shows me getting Travel HD on channel 755. Well, I never saw that channel available in Mill Valley on the old boxes and lineup so I'm guessing that is a mistake on the Tivo lineup. But I've run into issues before in Mill Valley where channels don't come in so I thought I'd check. Are we supposed to be getting Travel HD or not?

I have since the second round of HD channels came online sometime last year. Strange thing is, my non DVR DCT6200 cable box is probably older than your DCT3416 so it's weird that you weren't receiving Travel HD.

Is Comcast 3-packing HBO? I haven't spent any real time watching HBO on Comcast in over 5-6 years, but this weekend I've watched quite a few hours of it. Caught some of Transformers, The Dark Knight and the True Blood special so far and I'm surprised at all the artifacting I'm seeing. This channel does not handle fast motion well at all, I've seen it in everything I've watched so far. Is this normal for this channel? If so, that's terrible and it's a crime what Comcast is asking for it.

Maybe Comcast is transcoding the the native MPEG4 feed from HBO to MPEG2 for delivery and that's causing the problems? What ever it is, I have to say that HBO does not look very good on Comcast.

Is Comcast 3-packing HBO?
The last time anybody checked, as far as I can tell, Comcast had HBO, Cinemax, and TLC on the same frequency.

-- Don

It was quite gritty looking which surprised me. I have a Showtime subscription and I don't see quite as much grittiness.

Yep, HDHomerun shows 3 programs on rf110, which is where HBOHD lives here.

Why do the cable boxes that Comcast is giving to basic cable customers not receive and downconvert unencrypted HD channels? The voucher boxes prove that it can be done cheaply, and if done this way, Comcast would not have to have two copies of every channel (one HD and one SD for the converter boxes).

That's too bad about HBO, the shame of it is that HBO really doesn't need a full 19mb/s bandwidth to look good given the nature of it's content, but somehow Comcast has found a way to make it look like crap even with the presumably 12-14mb/s they're giving it.

In contrast, the native HBO MPEG4 feed at about 8mb/s via DirecTV looks much, much better.

BTW, I'm just commenting on what I see given the chance to observe the Comcast feed of HBO this weekend. I realize there's little to nothing anyone can do about it and I'll finish up by saying, IMO, Comcast subs are definitely, without any doubt, not getting their money's worth with HBO. I was just really surprised at how bad it actually looked.

Yeah, I watched The Incredible Hulk and it looked really bad, specially in the fast moving scenes.The sound was really great though. And I thought that it was an issue with HBO, but now that I know, I'm glad that I don't pay for HBO.

I noticed a marked improvement in PQ when i switched from my DCT3416 to Tivo, especially on HBO. No, it's still over compressed and it is noticeable on fast moving scenes but much, much less than with the older box.

That's too bad about HBO, the shame of it is that HBO really doesn't need a full 19mb/s bandwidth to look good given the nature of it's content, but somehow Comcast has found a way to make it look like crap even with the presumably 12-14mb/s they're giving it.

In contrast, the native HBO MPEG4 feed at about 8mb/s via DirecTV looks much, much better.

BTW, I'm just commenting on what I see given the chance to observe the Comcast feed of HBO this weekend. I realize there's little to nothing anyone can do about it and I'll finish up by saying, IMO, Comcast subs are definitely, without any doubt, not getting their money's worth with HBO. I was just really surprised at how bad it actually looked.
Jim,

I recorded both the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk and both looked fine. I didn't see any macro blocking or smearing or any of the normal compression artifacts. I wish they weren't copy protected or I'd upload some shots of my screen. One big factor may be than most people use the Motorola boxes, which are not know for their abilities at doing signal processing properly and I'm using my TivoHD using the pass through setting. The Tivo boxes do a much better job at displaying the picture than the Moto boxes do and that might be one factor that might explain differences that we're seeing. Also, Comcast is still doing the analog conversions in some areas and still rearranging channels and channel allocations, which I'm sure is screwing things up in some areas. I can only tell you that, at lease in my area, that they are fine, not as good as Blue ray quality or uncompressed OTA but not as awful as some people are seeing.

Laters,
Mikef5

Finally had a tech come out on the KBCW-HD/712 and KRON-HD/704 problem I've been having. Lost both of them when Comcast added LiveWell-HD/715 awhile back, and sure enough, it was exactly as I thought it was. He removed the Expanded Basic line trap and both channel came back in. So now I'm getting the analog versions of the Expanded Basic lineup as well as the digital versions I was already getting, whoopee! :p

It was interesting to see how the customer service reps at the Comcast office responded to my problem though, to a CSR, they all "explained" that I needed to have a Comcast box in order to get the local channels in HD. It was "explained" that any HD locals I was getting now were from OTA(I don't even have an antenna feed hooked up to the TiVo) and the reason I was missing those 2 channels was not a Comcast issue. She even showed me on the price sheet the cost for HD - it was a price for the HD STB, which I tried to explain to them, but it simply wasn't getting through.

Bottom line, through either ignorance, or by design, the mantra that you need to rent Comcast equipment in order to get HD is definitely drilled into the CSRs at the Santa Rosa office. It was actually a little weird witnessing the responses.

Jim,

I recorded both the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk and both looked fine. I didn't see any macro blocking or smearing or any of the normal compression artifacts. I wish they weren't copy protected or I'd upload some shots of my screen. One big factor may be than most people use the Motorola boxes, which are not know for their abilities at doing signal processing properly and I'm using my TivoHD using the pass through setting. The Tivo boxes do a much better job at displaying the picture than the Moto boxes do and that might be one factor that might explain differences that we're seeing. Also, Comcast is still doing the analog conversions in some areas and still rearranging channels and channel allocations, which I'm sure is screwing things up in some areas. I can only tell you that, at lease in my area, that they are fine, not as good as Blue ray quality or uncompressed OTA but not as awful as some people are seeing.

Laters,
Mikef5

+1

Totally explains my experience in improved PQ by moving from Moto boxes to Tivo. Just wish I had done it sooner...

Jim,

I recorded both the Dark Knight and the Incredible Hulk and both looked fine. I didn't see any macro blocking or smearing or any of the normal compression artifacts. I wish they weren't copy protected or I'd upload some shots of my screen. One big factor may be than most people use the Motorola boxes, which are not know for their abilities at doing signal processing properly and I'm using my TivoHD using the pass through setting. The Tivo boxes do a much better job at displaying the picture than the Moto boxes do and that might be one factor that might explain differences that we're seeing. Also, Comcast is still doing the analog conversions in some areas and still rearranging channels and channel allocations, which I'm sure is screwing things up in some areas. I can only tell you that, at lease in my area, that they are fine, not as good as Blue ray quality or uncompressed OTA but not as awful as some people are seeing.

Laters,
Mikef5

It could be due to different systems I suppose, but the stuff I was seeing was your box-stock lack of sufficient bandwidth issues.

BTW, the signal readings I was getting for HBO at the time were perfectly fine, so it was not due to any signal problems at my location.

Finally had a tech come out on the KBCW-HD/712 and KRON-HD/703 problem I've been having. ...I assume you meant KRON-HD/704?
I have the same problem so now I know it's probably the trap also. Those channels are missing even with my DCT-6200 as well as my S3. Is tech going to come back and install another trap? Or are they working on a different solution at the headend?

+1

Totally explains my experience in improved PQ by moving from Moto boxes to Tivo. Just wish I had done it sooner...

We just can't sit still with anything these days, can we?
How do you switch from a DCH3416 to a Tivo? What all is involved?

We just can't sit still with anything these days, can we?
How do you switch from a DCH3416 to a Tivo? What all is involved?
Buy a TiVoHD (info here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994)), install a cableCARD and return the DCH. You won't get VOD or PPV, however.

Buy a TiVoHD (info here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994)), install a cableCARD and return the DCH. You won't get VOD or PPV, however.

Thanks for that. I've been studying their website.
I guess it comes down to VOD vs HD PQ now? :(

Thanks for that. I've been studying their website.
I guess it comes down to VOD vs HD PQ now? :(

You may not get Comcast VOD but you can get LOTS of video on demand: you get Netflix instant, Amazon VOD (up to 1080i), CinemaNow, YouTube, and more. And Blockbuster set to launch in the not too distant future. The VOD thing kept me out of Tivo for a while due to my kids (lots of free kid programs on Comcast VOD). That was a red herring though - there are literally hundreds (maybe more) options for the kids including all of their favorites. If that is what is keeping you back don't worry about it. You can verify that the programs you like are available by just checking the associated web sites.

With respect to setup, it's pretty straightforward. Order the box, pick up an M-card (or 2 s-cards) from the Comcast office and follow the setup procedures. As long as you get a good m-card the whole process can be done in an hour or so. Very happy so far. There is an absolutely fantastic thread on AVS for the Tivo HD with all of the detail you could ever wish for if you have more questions.

I assume you meant KRON-HD/704?
I have the same problem so now I know it's probably the trap also. Those channels are missing even with my DCT-6200 as well as my S3. Is tech going to come back and install another trap? Or are they working on a different solution at the headend?

Yes, KRON-704 is what I meant. :p

And no, he didn't replace the trap, the line is open and clear now. His reasoning was I'm already getting the Expanded Basic channels in their digital form already, and because the folks at the plant weren't thinking when they moved the 2 channels around, on top of the fact that the channels will likely be moved again when the analogs are shut off, this was the simplest solution. Basically he won't tell as long as I won't tell. Obviously, it's impossible to say if you'll get the same solution down there, this guy had been here twice before, once when the CC's were installed, so we had a bit of history already.

The alternative is to have the plant re-map the 2 channels at their end, which seemed like a lot of trouble given, as apparently, only 1 subscriber(me) has even called to complain about the problem. That says a lot for Comcast's marketing machine, that maybe only a handful of subs in Santa Rosa realize that they can get local HD with just a Limited Basic sub and no Comcast STB required. In fact, I may be the only one, at least the only one that noticed the channels were missing and finally called about the problem.

As I noted in the earlier post, the personnel at the Comcast office are completely oblivious to the fact that HD can be had with nothing more than the cheapest subscription, in fact, they're adamant that you have to use their STBs to get HD. It's possible this is by design, that they're trained to say this, but it was pretty obvious to me they were just clueless about it.

Buy a TiVoHD (info here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=419994)), install a cableCARD and return the DCH. You won't get VOD or PPV, however.
You'd still need a subscription to one of Comcast's digital packages, though, wouldn't you? I'm only paying about $3/month for digital, because I'm already on a Bulk Tenant Extended Basic account. So I would have to keep paying that even if I got a TiVo and didn't use Comcast's STB, right?


Patty

You'd still need a subscription to one of Comcast's digital packages, though, wouldn't you? I'm only paying about $3/month for digital, because I'm already on a Bulk Tenant Extended Basic account. So I would have to keep paying that even if I got a TiVo and didn't use Comcast's STB, right?


Patty

You should get all the local HD channels. I'm not sure about any of the others as I don't know anything about the plan you're on. Do your neighbors get any HD channels?

I had HBO HD in about 2004 on Comcast, it seemed over-compressed then (macroblocking etc). They also cropped Cinemascope movies (2.35:1). I was glad to quit after my free period.

Then again early this year when I switched to DirecTV I got HBO for free, it seemed better as far as compression, but they still cropped some movies - again I didn't miss it when my free period ended.

We didn't get the recent free weekend on DirecTV (?) so I can't say what it looked like, but last time I watched it, it was decent-looking. If Comcast is 3-packing it you know they aren't doing you any favors.. no surprise if it looks like @#$% - though really it will never compare to Blu-ray as far as movies (no "bugs" or popup ads there either, and full 7.1 uncompressed sound, etc etc...)

I had HBO HD in about 2004 on Comcast, it seemed over-compressed then (macroblocking etc). They also cropped Cinemascope movies (2.35:1). I was glad to quit after my free period.

Then again early this year when I switched to DirecTV I got HBO for free, it seemed better as far as compression, but they still cropped some movies - again I didn't miss it when my free period ended.

We didn't get the free weekend on DirecTV (?) so I can't say what it looked like.

It will be free on DirecTV this weekend, in fact, all of D*'s channels will be free-view this weekend. Works for me as it saves me from purchasing HBO to see "True Blood" two weeks in a row. :)

I got a mailing from Comcast today that says that channels 35-75 (Expanded Basic) will go digital on July 22nd for Martinez, Pacheco and Pleasant Hill. Maybe we'll see some more new HD channels then.