Anyone watching the Raiders V Chiefs on KPIX yesterday? The D* broadcast was terrible. Every "closer" shot of a player had annoying blocking of the grass. The stream just couldn't keep up. Anyone watching on Comcast experience the same?

The game looked fine in Comcast for me. Not great, but fine.

The game looked fine in Comcast for me. Not great, but fine.

Of course, the results were great!

Keenan, Don't give up yet. Give it one more try after they get the new antennas placed at the top of the tower. Many stations are using antennas that are lower down right now. They will be moving up to the top of the tower soon. They are supposed be done with the work by the end of this month. Give it another try once that work is complete.

Greg

Oh yeah, I've tried. The tree in the pic below is 75' high, the antenna is a 91XG high gain and is feeding an extremely low noise Research Communication pre-amp. Rotor is a CM 9512A.

http://img197.imageshack.us/img197/7918/dsc0027eh.jpg
http://img34.imageshack.us/img34/9092/91xgsmall.jpg

http://www.terrestrial-digital.com/91XG.html
http://www.researchcomms.com/

It's a great setup which I plan to sell if I ever get my friend to go back up that tree to get it. :D

Keenan, Don't give up yet. Give it one more try after they get the new antennas placed at the top of the tower. Many stations are using antennas that are lower down right now. They will be moving up to the top of the tower soon. They are supposed be done with the work by the end of this month. Give it another try once that work is complete.

Greg

That's a good point, I hadn't thought of that, all my experimenting was done pre-move. Here's hoping I'm pleasantly surprised. :)

Just an FYI... don't waste your time driving over to KNTV. The front door is always locked and the only way to get in is via an NBC Universal prox card.

That's nice, they don't respond to email, don't return phone calls, and their front door is locked... and they call themselves a community TV station?

lol-good point. Maybe the "community" should go down and knock down the door :)

I tried tweeting at KNTV, maybe that will work. http://twitter.com/nbcbayareacom

That's nice, they don't respond to email, don't return phone calls, and their front door is locked... and they call themselves a community TV station?

You could file an FCC complaint. That usually gets your phone call returned.

That's nice, they don't respond to email, don't return phone calls, and their front door is locked... and they call themselves a community TV station?
FWIW, I left a feedback yesterday describing the problem and linking to posts in this thread. Probably get sent to the bitbucket though.

I signed up for the 'Sports Entertainment Package' (SEP) this weekend, wanting to get the NFL RedZone channel (427), but it did not come up on my Guide. Finally got to a rep today and found out that the RedZone is not available in my area yet. It is supposed to become available at the same time that the new HD channels come up, Oct 13 for Berkeley-Oakland, and perhaps other East Bay locations. (I thus cancelled the SEP addition.)

Just venting about Comcast's awful service - we have had mostly not working Bravo for over a month. I am talking about the channel 181 version, as Moraga has not yet been converted. Every time I call I get the "blame the victim" agent ("try disconnecting and reconnecting the cable from your cable box.") My wife was chatting with our next door neighbor and learned that she had a Comcast repair service last Friday because she was not getting Bravo. When she told them that her next door neighbor had the same problem, they agreed that it was likely a box down the street that they would fix on Monday. Checked tonight and got the "service will be available shortly" screen. I called and got disconnected the first time through. Second try I got an indifferent 19 year old. Snippets of the conversation were "we cannot look up your neighbor's account without her permission," "I can only credit you for 1 day's outage on one channel," and "we have no records that you have called 5 times over the past month and a half."

My response was that if I treated my clients this way I would not have any, and when I go to Dish Network I will take my neighbour with me.

This experience reminded me why Americans generally hate monopolies.

Today I watching a few of the season premieres and noticed that the quality of some of the shows seemed to be not as good as last season. Has anyone else noticed this? Normally the shows on CBS were really clear, but today they seemed to be not quite as sharp as I had remembered that. Not sure if it's just me or maybe I've been too spoiled from watching too much bluray.

Maybe.

I only watched HIMYM on CBS and it looked fine. Heroes on NBC and MNF on ESPN looked really great.

"Heroes" looked good, still getting the pop/clicks and garbled dialog though.

Called and got through to engineering at KNTV but it was just a voicemail box, nobody has called back yet.

Maybe more calls will do the trick. Select "newsroom" at the voice prompt and then ask for engineering when they answer, all other options seem to lead to a deadend(voicemail, unrelated selections, etc).

Phone: (408)432-6221

"Heroes" looked good, still getting the pop/clicks and garbled dialog though.

Called and got through to engineering at KNTV but it was just a voicemail box, nobody has called back yet.

Maybe more calls will do the trick. Select "newsroom" at the voice prompt and then ask for engineering when they answer, all other options seem to lead to a deadend(voicemail, unrelated selections, etc).

Phone: (408)432-6221

Oh I thought I was the only one getting the pop/clicks on KNTV. For some reason, I can especially hear them during Conan O'Brien's monologue. I thought I just had a crappy sound system.

I'm definitely calling the number.

Oh I thought I was the only one getting the pop/clicks on KNTV. For some reason, I can especially hear them during Conan O'Brien's monologue. I thought I just had a crappy sound system.

I'm definitely calling the number.

I think a lot of folks are probably thinking the same thing, or they're listening to something other than the DD5.1 audio. I noticed if I set my TiVo to PCM audio output(2 channel) the problems seems to go away. Now, that might indicate a problem with either the TiVo and/or the AVR, but it only has this problem with the single channel, so I really, really doubt the problem is with my equipment.

Hopefully as folks as possible will call, load up that voicemail and maybe they'll do something about it. Of course, I'm not convinced there's actually anyone in the engineering dept for KNTV anymore. :rolleyes::D

Yeah, I noticed the pops and clicks too. Ill call. Edit: I left a VM complaining about their pops and clicks and I mentioned I think it's caused by their equipment.

"Heroes" looked good, still getting the pop/clicks and garbled dialog though.

Called and got through to engineering at KNTV but it was just a voicemail box, nobody has called back yet.

Maybe more calls will do the trick. Select "newsroom" at the voice prompt and then ask for engineering when they answer, all other options seem to lead to a deadend(voicemail, unrelated selections, etc).

Phone: (408)432-6221

I think a lot of folks are probably thinking the same thing, or they're listening to something other than the DD5.1 audio. I noticed if I set my TiVo to PCM audio output(2 channel) the problems seems to go away. Now, that might indicate a problem with either the TiVo and/or the AVR, but it only has this problem with the single channel, so I really, really doubt the problem is with my equipment.

Hopefully as folks as possible will call, load up that voicemail and maybe they'll do something about it. Of course, I'm not convinced there's actually anyone in the engineering dept for KNTV anymore. :rolleyes::D

Nope. I have had mine set to PCM only since I got it, and I get the same problems. I also hear the same glitches through the Moto DCH-3200 cable box. So it's not your end.

So the old Motorola box my family's been using for a couple years now died last night. Today, we got a replacement from Comcast - the Pace RNG110 that's been mentioned here a few times before. Hooked it up and it works for the most part, but the big issue we're having is that sound on HD channels aren't working - every HD channel higher than 743 (Palladia) has no sound, as well a few others between NFL Network (730) and Palladia. Would anybody else who has/have had an RNG110 have a similar problem, or is it just my service?

ETA: Never mind, turns out it was the audio configuration on the RNG110. Set the audio language to English instead of Default and now those channels work.

The first positive sign of progress in Vallejo occurred today. There was a cable outage early this morning so I just checked. Channel 40 is barely visible and all of the analogue channels beyond it are gone. YAY!!

Correction. We didn't lose all of them. So far 41-60,66,69,75,77, and 78 are completely gone. The channels above 60 that remain are sort of viewable to barely viewable to not viewable due to video noise. I guess that we're only in phase 1.

NeoChaos: I didn't know that the Pace RNG110 is available in the Bay Area. What city are you located in and did you have to pick up the box from a local office or was it brought by a technician to your house?

I was not able to pickup the DCX3425 from my local office in Richmond, CA.

Surprised no one has put translators up on Mt. Tam or something for people in your area.
Seeing as how Mt. Tamalpais is a state park, I didn't think that was allowed. (Besides, there's also a forestry station at the peak - it is pretty much the only place where you can see all of the Marin headlands - and things like repeaters might interfere with it.)

Then again, putting a translator atop the hill in San Rafael (Porta Suela Hill, I think it's called) might work, if there aren't too many hills between there and Santa Rosa - KTIM had its transmitter tower up there.

-- Don

Seeing as how Mt. Tamalpais is a state park, I didn't think that was allowed. (Besides, there's also a forestry station at the peak - it is pretty much the only place where you can see all of the Marin headlands - and things like repeaters might interfere with it.)

Then again, putting a translator atop the hill in San Rafael (Porta Suela Hill, I think it's called) might work, if there aren't too many hills between there and Santa Rosa - KTIM had its transmitter tower up there.

-- Don

There is already one up on Mt Tam and another one coming....

http://www.choisser.com/sfonair2.html

A better spot yet would be Mt. Sonoma that could reach all the way to Cloverdale.

There is already one up on Mt Tam and another one coming....
One of these decades, I'm going to remember that "Mount Tamalpais" isn't just that one large peak...

-- Don

NeoChaos: I didn't know that the Pace RNG110 is available in the Bay Area. What city are you located in and did you have to pick up the box from a local office or was it brought by a technician to your house?

I was not able to pickup the DCX3425 from my local office in Richmond, CA.

I live in San Jose. Picked it up from the local office here.

FYI for those of you in San Jose, looks like they've added ESPN U ( 420) AND NFL Red Zone ( 427) to your channel line up effective today 9-24.

I saw them since yesterday. And RedZone showed 2 Sundays ago, but not last Sunday.

I'm not sure if ESPN U was there before yesterday.

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13409971

I wonder if this will delay the World of More upgrade...:rolleyes:

I just received a brochure today in the mail saying they are getting rid of channels 35-75 in analog on the week of October 26th. I live in Pleasant Hill. I'm assuming this is a good sign. Does that mean I'll get a bunch more HD soon after?!

http://www.contracostatimes.com/news/ci_13409971

I wonder if this will delay the World of More upgrade...:rolleyes:

Watch the KTVU video and see a well known around theses parts C* spokesperson.

http://www.ktvu.com/news/21102027/detail.html

From the news story, a standby generator was brought in and restored everything. From the sounds of that, there was nothing system critical lost if plugging in a power supply fixed it.

I just received a brochure today in the mail saying they are getting rid of channels 35-75 in analog on the week of October 26th. I live in Pleasant Hill. I'm assuming this is a good sign. Does that mean I'll get a bunch more HD soon after?!

Did you get one earlier saying July 22nd? The pamphlet I got for that date was for Pacheco, Martinez and Pleasant Hill. And no that date came and went with no changes. Maybe I'll get a October 26th one too. :D

i don't know whether to laugh or cry...

i'm so fed up with Comcast, i've spent th last hour trying to explain to the representative what a QAM tuner and not making any progress as he says the only way i can get digital channels.

sigh...all i really want is a technician to check my signal strength since i'm having massive drop outs for channels 7.1-11.x

and also 4.1 and 44.1 have disappeared in the last couple of months.

...any one know how to escalate things to get some decent service?

Follow-up: OK, talking calmly finally works...i got an appointment for sunday. i'm hoping and praying i get someone competent to help me out "live."

i don't know whether to laugh or cry...

i'm so fed up with Comcast, i've spent th last hour trying to explain to the representative what a QAM tuner and not making any progress as he says the only way i can get digital channels.

sigh...all i really want is a technician to check my signal strength since i'm having massive drop outs for channels 7.1-11.x

and also 4.1 and 44.1 have disappeared in the last couple of months.

...any one know how to escalate things to get some decent service?

Follow-up: OK, talking calmly finally works...i got an appointment for sunday. i'm hoping and praying i get someone competent to help me out "live."
Derek87,

What area do you live in ? I can tell you about the techs in the South Bay, for the most part they are very good at what they do. I've had no problems with any of them that have come to my house. When he/she gets there, show them what you are seeing but let him diagnose the problem. I know the urge is to tell him what you think it is and what to do about it but let him do his job first and then offer your suggestions. I know the urge, I was an electrician in the Navy for 20 years and it's hard not to give him your opinion on what to do about it but try your best to suppress it :p.
From what you have said, it sounds like a weak signal but a lot of things can cause a loss of signal or signal breakups and the tech will do his best to fix it, just let him do his job ;)
Let me know how it goes on Sunday and if it gets fixed or not.

Laters,
Mikef5

I was trying to figure out if it was my system or not but it seems the audio feed from kntv is just garbage. Everyone else having issues too?

yes.

some here have even taken the trouble to notify KNTV. the station does not seem to have responded yet.

>> i'm so fed up with Comcast, i've spent th last hour
>> trying to explain to the representative what a QAM
>> tuner and not making any progress as he says the
>> only way i can get digital channels....

> I can tell you about the techs in the South Bay, for
> the most part they are very good at what they do.

Techs are good at what they do, but they have never been educated on QAM, or PSIPs, or anything else outside of what Comcast wants them to know.

If you have a signal strength issue, technicians can help you out.

If the PSIPs are incorrect/corrupted and are causing QAM tuning issues then technicians are simply not trained to be of assistance.

More pops and clicks on the Jay Leno show. I wonder if that dude check's his messages (KNTV engineer).

yes.

some here have even taken the trouble to notify KNTV. the station does not seem to have responded yet.

i don't know whether to laugh or cry...

i'm so fed up with Comcast, i've spent th last hour trying to explain to the representative what a QAM tuner and not making any progress as he says the only way i can get digital channels.

sigh...all i really want is a technician to check my signal strength since i'm having massive drop outs for channels 7.1-11.x

and also 4.1 and 44.1 have disappeared in the last couple of months.

...any one know how to escalate things to get some decent service?

Follow-up: OK, talking calmly finally works...i got an appointment for sunday. i'm hoping and praying i get someone competent to help me out "live."
Comcast changed the frequency of 4.1 and 44.1 several weeks ago, so you need to rescan your qam tuner to find them again. Comcast changes things around every once in a while. They are getting ready to add a bunch of new hi def chans soon.

thx, Mike. thanks for the recommendation. i will do the best to bite my tongue and let the tech do his work. :)

i live in Santa Clara 95054

my symptoms.

pretty regular over the past few months break up, bad picture (pixelation) for channels 7.1-11.X (X=1-3) (ie, 7.1 through 11.3)

also, when they moved things around, i also lost 4.1 and 44.1 which i never got around to getting fixed, so hopefully that secondary problem can get solved too.

thanks, derek

ps. all the "extra" extended basic SD channels which i hardly ever watch (except the occasional Giants game when i'm gluttoning for punishment) are fine as well as the other lower channels...

Derek87,

What area do you live in ? I can tell you about the techs in the South Bay, for the most part they are very good at what they do. I've had no problems with any of them that have come to my house. When he/she gets there, show them what you are seeing but let him diagnose the problem. I know the urge is to tell him what you think it is and what to do about it but let him do his job first and then offer your suggestions. I know the urge, I was an electrician in the Navy for 20 years and it's hard not to give him your opinion on what to do about it but try your best to suppress it :p.
From what you have said, it sounds like a weak signal but a lot of things can cause a loss of signal or signal breakups and the tech will do his best to fix it, just let him do his job ;)
Let me know how it goes on Sunday and if it gets fixed or not.

Laters,
Mikef5

Comcast changed the frequency of 4.1 and 44.1 several weeks ago, so you need to rescan your qam tuner to find them again. Comcast changes things around every once in a while. They are getting ready to add a bunch of new hi def chans soon.

i've tried rescanning several times over the past couple of months with no success. i remember reading somewhere in here that the issue may be my "filter" for limited basic.

but since i have a technician here tomorrow, hopefully, things will get cleared up and fixed.

thanks!

i've tried rescanning several times over the past couple of months with no success. i remember reading somewhere in here that the issue may be my "filter" for limited basic.

but since i have a technician here tomorrow, hopefully, things will get cleared up and fixed.

thanks!

Derek87,

Try inputting 204-1 and 244-1, that's what 4-1 and 44-1 map out to in my area. Those are the SD versions for those channels.

Laters,
Mikef5

thanks for trying to help out, but no dice with those in my area.

i of course, want the HD version of 44.1...4 i hardly watch, but hey, it's HD though for something good occasionally...

i'm sure the SD versions of 4 and 44 are there somewhere in my messy 100+ channels the tuner picks up, though.

Derek87,

Try inputting 204-1 and 244-1, that's what 4-1 and 44-1 map out to in my area. Those are the SD versions for those channels.

Laters,
Mikef5

well, I've signed-up for Comcast Tipple Play today. I'm really sad to end my 13+ years with DirecTV. I've been very happy with them. However, with my wife no longer having a job I have to make some cost-savings sacrifices....saves me over $60/mo. plus, I no longer have to cuss at AT&T DSL on a daily basis.

Hey,

I recorded about 9m43s of Jimmy Fallon a few days ago to see if I could catch a few of the KNTV audio glitches. I got a bunch of 'em. You can hear little ones throughout, and a few prominent ones (for instance at about 1m5s in when Amy Poehler says "bit", you get the "rolled b" sound).

I put it up on Megaupload. It's pretty big at 1.2GB. I was going to transcode it into H.264 to reduce the size, but figured that it'd be best to leave it "as received" by the Tivo. From what I'm told, the Tivo writes the video to disk pretty much as it comes over the cable.

Here's the URL to the folder. It's in a RAR file split into two files:
http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3FCWXLS2

Maybe this can be some ammo to get 'em to fix things?

EDIT: BTW, the is a "decoded" .mpeg file, e.g. not an encrypted .tivo file, so it can be played in normal video players like VLC.

Hey,

I recorded about 9m43s of Jimmy Fallon a few days ago to see if I could catch a few of the KNTV audio glitches. I got a bunch of 'em. You can hear little ones throughout, and a few prominent ones (for instance at about 1m5s in when Amy Poehler says "bit", you get the "rolled b" sound).

I put it up on Megaupload. It's pretty big at 1.2GB. I was going to transcode it into H.264 to reduce the size, but figured that it'd be best to leave it "as received" by the Tivo. From what I'm told, the Tivo writes the video to disk pretty much as it comes over the cable.

Here's the URL to the folder. It's in a RAR file split into two files:
http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3FCWXLS2

Maybe this can be some ammo to get 'em to fix things?

I doubt it. Some orm of FCC complaint would work, or maybe even flooding Comcast's call center with requests for Sacramento's NBC affiliate to be carried. It's too bad the feed to DirecTV is also bad, else you could call comcast and threnten to leave unless it's fixed.

They don't seem to listen to users, but a call from the FCC or Comcast will likely get someone's attention. Maybe even calling NBC HQ in NYC and complaing might help.

Anyone esle having no audio on the NFL Redzone channel 427. it worked great last week.

Anyone esle having no audio on the NFL Redzone channel 427. it worked great last week.

Yup, same problem here.

I got a note earlier this week on my DVR that Red Zone was a free preview this week on 427. I turned it to 427 today and I'm getting "Not Authorized."

I doubt it. Some orm of FCC complaint would work, or maybe even flooding Comcast's call center with requests for Sacramento's NBC affiliate to be carried. It's too bad the feed to DirecTV is also bad, else you could call comcast and threnten to leave unless it's fixed.

They don't seem to listen to users, but a call from the FCC or Comcast will likely get someone's attention. Maybe even calling NBC HQ in NYC and complaing might help.

Richard Swank - retired VPoEng at KNTV said he was going to check on the audio problem with the station, but that was a few days and he hasn't posted back yet. I haven't watched any NBC since maybe Tuesday. If it's not fixed by Monday one tactic might be to flood the newsroom with calls about the audio issues, they'll get tired of fielding those calls pretty quick. I say newsroom as there doesn't seem to be anyone in engineering at that station, I know all I get is voicemail(with no return call), I'm guessing everyone else has as well.

Since the station is basically run on autopilot during prime-time by NBC Burbank, calling them might be a way to go as well.

[QUOTE=nocalbruin;17255152]Yup, same problem here.[/QUOTE
audio seems to be working now

Hey,

I recorded about 9m43s of Jimmy Fallon a few days ago to see if I could catch a few of the KNTV audio glitches. I got a bunch of 'em. You can hear little ones throughout, and a few prominent ones (for instance at about 1m5s in when Amy Poehler says "bit", you get the "rolled b" sound).

I put it up on Megaupload. It's pretty big at 1.2GB. I was going to transcode it into H.264 to reduce the size, but figured that it'd be best to leave it "as received" by the Tivo. From what I'm told, the Tivo writes the video to disk pretty much as it comes over the cable.

Here's the URL to the folder. It's in a RAR file split into two files:
http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3FCWXLS2

Maybe this can be some ammo to get 'em to fix things?

EDIT: BTW, the is a "decoded" .mpeg file, e.g. not an encrypted .tivo file, so it can be played in normal video players like VLC.

Can't get the 2nd part of the file, says download limit exceeded. Does Megaupload restrict to an amount per day maybe?

Can't get the 2nd part of the file, says download limit exceeded. Does Megaupload restrict to an amount per day maybe?

I didn't think it did. I tried to pick a free one that would allow me to upload a 1.2GB file w/o upload or DL restrictions. I first uploaded the file, then found that it limited DL to premium accounts if it was > 1GB. So I used RAR to split it into two pieces and re-uploaded it. Sigh. Maybe I'll try mediafire?

EDIT: According to the text listed under 'The Deal' on the main site, it should allow 20GB of download per day. But perhaps you have to register for the free membership if you do that (just requires an email address to register)?

I didn't think it did. I tried to pick a free one that would allow me to upload a 1.2GB file w/o upload or DL restrictions. I first uploaded the file, then found that it limited DL to premium accounts if it was > 1GB. So I used RAR to split it into two pieces and re-uploaded it. Sigh. Maybe I'll try mediafire?

MediaFire is superfast but the free accounts are only good for 100mb per upload. It's not a big deal to me, I know what it sounds like, I was just thinking sending it to KNTV might be worth a try, but it's going to be a little tough to get them to listen to it if they can't get both files.

This whole thing is ridiculous anyway, I can't believe they haven't fixed it already.

RE: registration, could be, although I'm leery of doing that at sites like that as they have a propensity to want to spam you to death. :D

MediaFire is superfast but the free accounts are only good for 100mb per upload. It's not a big deal to me, I know what it sounds like, I was just thinking sending it to KNTV might be worth a try, but it's going to be a little tough to get them to listen to it if they can't get both files.

This whole thing is ridiculous anyway, I can't believe they haven't fixed it already.

Yeah that's one of the reasons I used megaupload instead. I would have had to split it into ~12 files with RAR to use Mediafire.

I think if you get a free account with megaupload it'll let you DL the other 300MB of the file. At least according to what I read. Downloads for "non-member" access it says "very limited", and for "members" (not premium) it says "limited", and for "premium members" (pay) it's unlimited. I think you get 20GB/day for it.

You can also probably also DL the 2nd file if you just hose the cookies for that site (or DL it with a different browser). It probably doesn't track by IP since that'd cause problems with campus situations with lots of people behind a single NATed IP (e.g. if one person DLed a file, no one else in your whole campus or network could, if they were behind the same IP).

The free reg did the trick, DLing now.

The free reg did the trick, DLing now.
Ah good. Lemme know what u think. A lot of little glitches throughout, especially the bit @ about 1m in.

Also, I just did a test DL w/o a registered account, no login, and for whatever reason it allowed me to grab both files without a problem. Mebbe 'cause I used chrome. :shrug:

so...as i promised, i can report back. a Comcast tech showed up this afternoon. i had very little hope i was going to make much headway for several reasons:

1. he showed up and sat parked outside my townhome for at least 20 minutes (i thought he might have been on the telephone but after a while gave up and decided to go up to the van to see what was up. he appeared to be smoking a cigarette and listening to the radio and just daydreaming).

2. he lied to me: he said he checked the signal strength and said it was fine in the cabinet. yet, when i asked him if he could show me the signal entering the house compared to my neighbors. he said sure and then realized he couldn't get into the locked comm box.* fortunately, he was at least resourceful and used a screwdriver to open the lock on the door to our townhouse comm box (shared by 7 homes). (i guess something can be said for not calling someone out when you know they have lied)

*i need to check with my HOA but i thought comcast had a key to it already.

3. he said i shouldn't really be getting any channels except analog ones unless i had a Comcast box. yet, to his credit, he listened to me and didn't stonewall me and at least attempted to do something. (see below)

So... i hope that's not too much griping, but i think you can see why i was getting very pessimistic and seriously consider this as my last standoff and reason to go to Dish (which has it's own set of issues according to my neighbors).

But, i digress...Things turned out much better than i was thinking it was going to: the tech, after getting into the cabinet: he looked at my connection, removed the filter which turned out to be no small feat consider how hard it seemed for him to disconnect it and presto: things improved.

(i) Signal Strength:
i don't know if "signal scales" are comparable for different TVs or system (they sure don't line up between my TV and what the tech said i should be getting (he said -15 db to 1-2 db vs. what i was seeing previously 26-31 db)), but in the end, i saw a HUGE boost on what the Sony Bravia diagnostic screen said about my channels that i was have problems with.

11.1 went from a 26.9 db which gave me broken audio and muddled video up to 36-37db. all my other 31 db channels (that worked fine previously) also are coming in much higher now (36-37 db)

needless to say, i am thrilled. it was an especially pleasant surprise considering my initial annoyance and pessimism noted above.

(ii) Missing channels:
Moreover, after rescanning channels (takes about 30 minutes on my TV so i was a little worried that after he left this would still be an issue), i can now pull in 4.1 and 44.1, the HD equivalents for KRON and CW.

so: bottom line: if you are a limited basic customer having problems with your service going to a QAM tuner, you likely need a filter removed or modified since it may be not only cutting out channels you rightfully should be getting (digital versions of HD CW and KRON HD)but also reduced signal strength your TV's, etc. see.

(i am keeping my fingers crossed that when they eventually implement filters to block out the "extended basic" SD digital channels at the end of the year, they won't muck up the lower channels again for me)

anyway, thanks for listening and advising me, everyone.

^ It certainly sounds like the trap was blocking, or bleeding into, some of the frequencies associated with those channels. I had the same problem here several months ago when I couldn't get KBCW(712), removed the Expanded Basic trap and everything was fine.


On the KNTV audio front, I just called to see what the best time was to contact someone in engineering. The person in the newsroom gave me the breakdown of how their shifts work and said a little after 2pm would likely be the best time to call. I also explained about the audio problems of the last few weeks, he sounded genuinely interested and said he would pass the info onto the engineering dept. So we'll see...

Feel free to link the engineer to the capture so they can see/hear it for themselves. Presuming it verifies the problem we are both seeing.

thanks, keenan. i did a search and revisited and found your June posts and discussion.

my experience mirrors yours. the CSR people are definitely schooled to tell people that one can only get HD via their box else i must be getting it OTA. it's funny (sadly) that they try to tell you that surely you must be mistaken about not having an antenna hooked up to pull in the channels.

what really frustrated me (beyond the wasted hour) is i calmly asked (to gauge the person's understanding of what i was discussion) if they know what a QAM tuner was. the answer was "Yes! just give me a sec and i can read what it is." sigh...

but alls well, ends well, i guess. i hope this stays steady for a while...

^ It certainly sounds like the trap was blocking, or bleeding into, some of the frequencies associated with those channels. I had the same problem here several months ago when I couldn't get KBCW(712), removed the Expanded Basic trap and everything was fine.

He is technically correct, if you have "limited basic" you are only paying for analog channels 2-32 or so. Anything else you get is simply a bonus. If the digital channel is using a frequency inside the trap filter's range, that's tough luck.

The solution is upgrade to "standard" basic and they will remove the trap completely, then you should get every (non-encyrpted) digital channel.

He is technically correct, if you have "limited basic" you are only paying for analog channels 2-32 or so. Anything else you get is simply a bonus. If the digital channel is using a frequency inside the trap filter's range, that's tough luck.

The local HD channels are officially part of limited basic.

the tech, after getting into the cabinet: he looked at my connection, removed the filter which turned out to be no small feat consider how hard it seemed for him to disconnect it and presto: things improved.
Sorry that you got a marginal tech, even though he came through.
My experience was better - the tech replaced all old (owner installed) splitters, provided new cabling for me to replace some old RG/59, and seemed willing to discuss issues with 'direct connect QAM' reception on my mom's digital TV.
BTW he used a Comm-Scope brand SV-3G splitter and SV-DC-6G taps; IIRC the latter is used to provide *more* signal to DTAs on branches with analog tuners.
High quality splitters and cabling is extremely important if you have a lot of branches/TVs.

So today I see a message on my DCT STB about a free preview of NFL Red Zone channel 427 10-1 PM on Sunday Oct 4. But here I don't see 427 in the guide on DCT STB or TiVo. Channel hasn't been there in past weeks either.

Is this a problem with my headend or is it just not available everywhere yet? If it's not available yet, can't they route the messages only to appropriate STBs?

World of More Launches for the first week of October !!

October 6---San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno

October 8---Alameda, Hayward, San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Union City, Santa Rosa and Kenwood


Looks like Santa Rosa is no longer in Siberia, along with some other major cities :p:D

Laters,
Mikef5

thanks for the feedback. i'm glad you had a more positive experience. i've had better experiences in the past, too. i guess it's sort of "luck of the draw."

fortunately, i don't really have any big splits in my house. i'm only feeding two sets...but i definitely will keep in mind the option of upgrading my splitter, etc. if i need to in the future.

for my sony, it seems it is happy with a 30-31db signal so 36-37 db now has a fair bit of buffer. (don't know how low i can go except 27db is not enough)....again, all numbers on the "scale" of my Bravia TV's diagnostics.

Sorry that you got a marginal tech, even though he came through.
My experience was better - the tech replaced all old (owner installed) splitters, provided new cabling for me to replace some old RG/59, and seemed willing to discuss issues with 'direct connect QAM' reception on my mom's digital TV.
BTW he used a Comm-Scope brand SV-3G splitter and SV-DC-6G taps; IIRC the latter is used to provide *more* signal to DTAs on branches with analog tuners.
High quality splitters and cabling is extremely important if you have a lot of branches/TVs.

So today I see a message on my DCT STB about a free preview of NFL Red Zone channel 427 10-1 PM on Sunday Oct 4. But here I don't see 427 in the guide on DCT STB or TiVo. Channel hasn't been there in past weeks either.

Is this a problem with my headend or is it just not available everywhere yet? If it's not available yet, can't they route the messages only to appropriate STBs?
Maybe only in the areas with these latest channel additions?

World of More Launches for the first week of October !!

October 6---San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno

October 8---Alameda, Hayward, San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Union City, Santa Rosa and Kenwood


Looks like Santa Rosa is no longer in Siberia, along with some other major cities :p:D

Laters,
Mikef5
Any news on HDNet/HDNet Movies and those HBO channels? You know me, I'm never satisfied. :D

darn no news about oakland yet

Maybe only in the areas with these latest channel additions?Novato got most of the channels a couple of months ago. If they don't have the bandwidth here, then so be it, but don't sent messages that the channel is available for free view.

darn no news about oakland yet

Yup no Oakland, Fremont, or Newark, and nothing even close to a rumor about when those areas will get the World of More. :mad:

Novato got most of the channels a couple of months ago. If they don't have the bandwidth here, then so be it, but don't sent messages that the channel is available for free view.


If your city has already launched "World of More" then lack of bandwith is no longer an excuse. You should be getting that channel in your guide. Possible issue at the Headend maybe? Probabaly should call in on this one

World of More Launches for the first week of October !!

October 6---San Jose, Campbell, Los Gatos and Monte Sereno

October 8---Alameda, Hayward, San Lorenzo, San Leandro, Union City, Santa Rosa and Kenwood


Looks like Santa Rosa is no longer in Siberia, along with some other major cities :p:D

Laters,
Mikef5

Drat! That is when I'll loose the extended basic channels I've been getting on limited basic.

Lets see if they are smart enough to keep the digital HD channels they are required to provide with limited basic far enough away from the limited basic trap that they will actually work.

Novato got most of the channels a couple of months ago. If they don't have the bandwidth here, then so be it, but don't sent messages that the channel is available for free view.

Is Novato a 750MHz system? I'm curious about those systems because unless they have plans to expand the capacity we're still going to have a disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots". Either that, or everyone will have no more channels than what a 750MHz plant can handle. It was stated about 18-24 mos ago that the plan was to have all areas carry the same channels, but I don't see how that's going to happen unless some of these systems are upgraded. Maybe even more compression is in the plans...



I will say on the compression front, even though I haven't paid that close attention to it lately(I've accepted the fact that it is what it is), I noticed the gross artifacting on Syfy that I was seeing earlier seems to have subsided. I don't know if it's the material, Comcast actually did something, or I'm just not caring about it anymore, but my memory is telling me it's better.

Is Novato a 750MHz system? I'm curious about those systems because unless they have plans to expand the capacity we're still going to have a disparity between the "haves" and the "have nots". Either that, or everyone will have no more channels than what a 750MHz plant can handle. It was stated about 18-24 mos ago that the plan was to have all areas carry the same channels, but I don't see how that's going to happen unless some of these systems are upgraded. Maybe even more compression is in the plans...



I will say on the compression front, even though I haven't paid that close attention to it lately(I've accepted the fact that it is what it is), I noticed the gross artifacting on Syfy that I was seeing earlier seems to have subsided. I don't know if it's the material, Comcast actually did something, or I'm just not caring about it anymore, but my memory is telling me it's better.

With the reclaiming of the analog bandwidth they are able to add these channels even to the 750 MHz areas. That is the easiest and cheapest way to upgrade the system without having to invest in a lot of head end or system equipment upgrades. That is what the " World of More" is about, getting rid of the analog channels and reclaiming the bandwidth to add more channels and other services. You do realize that even in a 1 GHz area like we are, we can't use the entire bandwidth for tv ? I believe the boxes can only see/use approximately 860 MHz, the rest is for other services. So we are basically the same ( or at least close enough for some ;)) no matter what area you are in.

IMHO, they should just get rid of ALL the analog and go strictly digital just like the other providers are right now. It's time to come into the 21th century and dump the analog all together.

The reason you are probably seeing a better picture on the SyFy is that you are seeing the first signs of your area being upgraded with more bandwidth being available to allot to the channels and thus a better picture.

Laters,
Mikef5

With the reclaiming of the analog bandwidth they are able to add these channels even to the 750 MHz areas. That is the easiest and cheapest way to upgrade the system without having to invest in a lot of head end or system equipment upgrades. That is what the " World of More" is about, getting rid of the analog channels and reclaiming the bandwidth to add more channels and other services. You do realize that even in a 1 GHz area like we are, we can't use the entire bandwidth for tv ? I believe the boxes can only see/use approximately 860 MHz, the rest is for other services. So we are basically the same ( or at least close enough for some ;)) no matter what area you are in.

IMHO, they should just get rid of ALL the analog and go strictly digital just like the other providers are right now. It's time to come into the 21th century and dump the analog all together.

The reason you are probably seeing a better picture on the SyFy is that you are seeing the first signs of your area being upgraded with more bandwidth being available to allot to the channels and thus a better picture.

Laters,
Mikef5

Yes, I realize we only use, or can use, up to 860MHz as there are no tuners in service currently that will tune to the higher frequencies.

And no, any perceived improvement in Syfy would not be due to any analog reclamation being done here locally as SyFy comes pre-packaged with 2 other channels from CMC/HITS, every area gets the same bitrate/compression.

Once the WoM project is completed it will be interesting to see how much, if any, room is left. Is the plan still for everyone to have the same lineups, meaning 860/1000 systems will be restricted to what ever will fit on 750 systems?

Regarding 100% digital, Cablevison is trying to get the FCC to do exactly that. You realize that if they do that, all digital cable TV will very likely be encrypted, requiring some sort decryption device/box? I know what you're thinking, get rid of all the analog and leave the Limited Basic lineup unencrypted but 100% digital. I believe the temptation for cable companies to go 100% encryption as a theft deterrent would be overwhelming, which is what Cablevision is basing their request on. This means all HDHR's, PC tuner cards, QAM tuners in TVs would all become useless. I don't think Comcast intends to go this route, anytime soon anyway, but be careful what you wish for.

I will say on the compression front, even though I haven't paid that close attention to it lately(I've accepted the fact that it is what it is), I noticed the gross artifacting on Syfy that I was seeing earlier seems to have subsided. I don't know if it's the material, Comcast actually did something, or I'm just not caring about it anymore, but my memory is telling me it's better.
I've noticed it being better myself, on shows like Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, etc. It's noticeably better. Before I could hit pause on the Tivo, and I could see the blockiness, artifacts, black squares, etc. Now I don't.

Regarding 100% digital, Cablevison is trying to get the FCC to do exactly that. You realize that if they do that, all digital cable TV will very likely be encrypted, requiring some sort decryption device/box? I know what you're thinking, get rid of all the analog and leave the Limited Basic lineup unencrypted but 100% digital. I believe the temptation for cable companies to go 100% encryption as a theft deterrent would be overwhelming, which is what Cablevision is basing their request on. This means all HDHR's, PC tuner cards, QAM tuners in TVs would all become useless. I don't think Comcast intends to go this route, anytime soon anyway, but be careful what you wish for.

I'm confused by this discussion. I thought that's already happened. Isn't everything on Comcast in WoM upgraded areas now 100% digital? E.g., every channel is digital? Isn't that why you need a converter box now for limited basic and basic (or a QAM TV)?

I've noticed it being better myself, on shows like Warehouse 13, Sanctuary, etc. It's noticeably better. Before I could hit pause on the Tivo, and I could see the blockiness, artifacts, black squares, etc. Now I don't.

I notice the KNTV audio is still screwed up, which reminds me, it's just after 2pm, time to call KNTV engineering. :p

Yup no Oakland, Fremont, or Newark, and nothing even close to a rumor about when those areas will get the World of More. :mad:

Looks like they are moving forward with turning off the analog in Fremont, The analogs now are removed from channel 35-66. The channels above 67 are still there. So they still have 6 or so channels to remove.

This is a big improvement, when I checked a couple of weeks ago there will still 30 channels left to remove

I'm confused by this discussion. I thought that's already happened. Isn't everything on Comcast in WoM upgraded areas now 100% digital? E.g., every channel is digital? Isn't that why you need a converter box now for limited basic and basic (or a QAM TV)?

No, the Limited Basic lineup will still be distributed in analog format, for at least the next few years anyway. At the same time, that same Limited Basic lineup is also being sent out digitally. Those that have equipment to use the digital signals can, like clear-QAM tuners, TiVo, Comcast STBs, etc, but you won't be gaining any space on the system because that block of analog channels would still be there taking up all that space. In other words, every signal you use will be digital, but the analog signals will still be there. What the WoM is doing is reclaiming the Expanded Basic analog lineup, those analog versions will be gone forever and will become unaccessible to "cable ready" TVs/Displays/tuners. That's what the DTAs are for, to convert the now digital Expanded Basic lineup to analog to be sent out on ch 3 or 4 I think, I don't use one so I'm no exactly sure how they work. I know it's going to cause issues with folks that only have digital tuners in their displays though.

Yes, I realize we only use, or can use, up to 860MHz as there are no tuners in service currently that will tune to the higher frequencies.

And no, any perceived improvement in Syfy would not be due to any analog reclamation being done here locally as SyFy comes pre-packaged with 2 other channels from CMC/HITS, every area gets the same bitrate/compression.

Once the WoM project is completed it will be interesting to see how much, if any, room is left. Is the plan still for everyone to have the same lineups, meaning 860/1000 systems will be restricted to what ever will fit on 750 systems?

Regarding 100% digital, Cablevison is trying to get the FCC to do exactly that. You realize that if they do that, all digital cable TV will very likely be encrypted, requiring some sort decryption device/box? I know what you're thinking, get rid of all the analog and leave the Limited Basic lineup unencrypted but 100% digital. I believe the temptation for cable companies to go 100% encryption as a theft deterrent would be overwhelming, which is what Cablevision is basing their request on. This means all HDHR's, PC tuner cards, QAM tuners in TVs would all become useless. I don't think Comcast intends to go this route, anytime soon anyway, but be careful what you wish for.

The plan was to have the same lineups in all the areas but if you remember back when we were 550 MHz, did it stop them from adding channels in other areas and not in ours ? I can remember people saying that they shouldn't be limited by us in the 550 MHz and they felt our pain but we were just out of luck. I think it would be nice to have the same thing at the same price in any area of the Bay Area but will that happen ? I hope so but time will tell.

Yes, that's what I meant about the all digital system. Go all digital, leave the Limited Basic unencrypted ( which they are now required to do ) but I wouldn't encrypt the Extended channels but still use the filter traps. That way people that pay for the Extended channels can still use their tv/tuners to view those channels.

To encrypt everything would not be in the best interest of the cable company. What would you have to differentiate your service against some other provider ? Better picture, more channels, ..... maybe but you can say you are the only provider that will let you use your tuner, pc etc. with your Basic lineup without having a box on every tv. Not a big deal for some but to others that is a big deal. There are other things that I think are more important than that but it is one thing that I like about cable.

Personally, I wish they would have multi-room viewing on all your tv's from one box. I wish they would implement a true picture in picture interface so you can watch two channels at once. I wish the Giant's could win the World Series.... but I digress ;)

I don't think that Comcast will go the way of Cablevision, it's just not a very consumer friendly thing to do and the no box on all your tv's for basic cable is still a big draw for them and a selling point for them.

Ok, I'm off to pick up a friend for an early dinner, then it's off to the game. I've got tickets for tonight's game so I'll check back after the game. Season might be over for the Giants but I'm a die-hard fan and a game is a game.

Laters,
Mikef5

I notice the KNTV audio is still screwed up, which reminds me, it's just after 2pm, time to call KNTV engineering. :p

Yeh I still hear it too. I recorded the premier of the new NBC show Trauma (which is set in San Francisco, BTW) last night and watched it, and definitely heard more than a few of the audio glitches.

Looks like they are moving forward with turning off the analog in Fremont, The analogs now are removed from channel 35-66. The channels above 67 are still there. So they still have 6 or so channels to remove.

This is a big improvement, when I checked a couple of weeks ago there will still 30 channels left to remove

Same here in Newark, but still no time line for the launch of World of More in areas like Oakland/Fremont/Newark which is depressing. A good sign still doesn't tell us whether it coming in two weeks (doesn't look like it is coming next week according to Mikef5), November, or later.

If it comes in November, it will be four months since at least one Bay Area city had World of More. Just as I [sadly] predicted as it took four months to go from initial Docsis 3.0 rollout to final rollout in Fremont/Newark/etc.

No, the Limited Basic lineup will still be distributed in analog format, for at least the next few years anyway. At the same time, that same Limited Basic lineup is also being sent out digitally. Those that have equipment to use the digital signals can, like clear-QAM tuners, TiVo, Comcast STBs, etc, but you won't be gaining any space on the system because that block of analog channels would still be there taking up all that space. In other words, every signal you use will be digital, but the analog signals will still be there. What the WoM is doing is reclaiming the Expanded Basic analog lineup, those analog versions will be gone forever and will become unaccessible to "cable ready" TVs/Displays/tuners. That's what the DTAs are for, to convert the now digital Expanded Basic lineup to analog to be sent out on ch 3 or 4 I think, I don't use one so I'm no exactly sure how they work. I know it's going to cause issues with folks that only have digital tuners in their displays though.
OK I think I was confused by what the cable tech told me when they came out to fix the Tivo. He said that "all the channels where digital now". I think what he meant was that the cable boxes and cablecards use only the digital versions of the channels now, even the limited basic chans which still have analog versions.

OK I think I was confused by what the cable tech told me when they came out to fix the Tivo. He said that "all the channels where digital now". I think what he meant was that the cable boxes and cablecards use only the digital versions of the channels now, even the limited basic chans which still have analog versions.

Right, they'll use the digital versions even though there's still analog version on the line.

I'm sending you a PM about the KNTV audio situation, just spent 1/2 hr on the phone with their engineer, long story short, they are aware of the problems and have been trying to fix it, although there doesn't seem to be a clear answer yet. And it's not just in this market, although it's not in all of their markets, just to give you an idea of what they're going through to find the problem. Really nice guy BTW. :)

I thought Comcast got their FCC waiver and will be encrypting all non-basic channels soon?

OK I think I was confused by what the cable tech told me when they came out to fix the Tivo. He said that "all the channels where digital now". I think what he meant was that the cable boxes and cablecards use only the digital versions of the channels now, even the limited basic chans which still have analog versions.

I think it has been mentioned before here that the DVRs use the digital signals instead of encoding the analog. I would wonder if the later models even have encoders in them? The encoders Comcast has would do a better job than the DVR.

Yes, that's what I meant about the all digital system. Go all digital, leave the Limited Basic unencrypted ( which they are now required to do ) but I wouldn't encrypt the Extended channels but still use the filter traps. That way people that pay for the Extended channels can still use their tv/tuners to view those channels.


That would be a waste of bandwidth as it only takes about 4 regular channels or less for the SD versions of the Extended Basic. Even if you put the HD versions there too there would still be bandwidth left over unless they are going to ADD more channels to Extended Basic.

I would think there would be a major revision of tiers but they may be afraid of too many changes too soon might really piss their customers off. I also thought the paced rollout might be due to removing any traps on lines then encrypting the extended basic. But I think you or someone else mentioned their "converter" boxes couldn't decrypt. Kinda messy.

I thought Comcast got their FCC waiver and will be encrypting all non-basic channels soon?

Yes, they got a waiver to use encryption on the DTA. I would say it's more a matter of when they will be encrypting the Expanded Basic lineup, there doesn't seem to be any doubt they will do it. It's basically maintaining the status quo, it was just a matter of being allowed to use the DTAs to do it(or undo it as it were).

I think it has been mentioned before here that the DVRs use the digital signals instead of encoding the analog. I would wonder if the later models even have encoders in them? The encoders Comcast has would do a better job than the DVR.

It's been a while since I've used a Comcast-provided DVR (and I don't miss them at all), but I think the main difference between the 6xxx and 3xxx Motorola DVRs is that that the former has analog tuners, and the latter does not.

Looks like they are moving forward with turning off the analog in Fremont, The analogs now are removed from channel 35-66. The channels above 67 are still there. So they still have 6 or so channels to remove.

This is a big improvement, when I checked a couple of weeks ago there will still 30 channels left to remove

In this part of Fremont (Northgate), analog channels 40-60 have been gone since May, but I'm now seeing all of 35-66 removed also. Still hoping the rumor of 10/13 is true...

In this part of Fremont (Northgate), analog channels 40-60 have been gone since May, but I'm now seeing all of 35-66 removed also. Still hoping the rumor of 10/13 is true...

Northgate rules (Grew up there)! :D

Where did a rumor of 10/13 come from? Did someone in Fremont get a flier? I'm really ticked off by the lack of any word about timing for Fremont/Newark/Oakland getting World of More.

Northgate rules (Grew up there)! :D

Where did a rumor of 10/13 come from? Did someone in Fremont get a flier? I'm really ticked off by the lack of any word about timing for Fremont/Newark/Oakland getting World of More.

The CSR I talked to about a month ago said 10/13, and someone else here (don't remember who, but I think it was about 2 weeks ago) said they got a flier about Fremont that said 10/12 or 10/13.

The CSR I talked to about a month ago said 10/13, and someone else here (don't remember who, but I think it was about 2 weeks ago) said they got a flier about Fremont that said 10/12 or 10/13.

Here in the warm springs area I got a flier about the world of more for mid October. I don't remember the date but think it was 10/13.

I also got the date 10/13 several weeks ago when talking to Comcast about my DCX. Hope it holds true.

I've been having a strange issue with my Comcast Cable in SF. I've got on TV hooked up through a box, working fine. My other TV is hooked up through its built in tuner (Westinghouse W3223), and it worked great up until a few months ago (perhaps around the time of the switch to digital?). Since then, my digital channels (like 2-1) have been lagging out, getting worse and worse. Recently, I re-scanned and lost tons of channels that I used to get (most of 40-80) just fine.

Any ideas what this issue could be? Is it signal strength? Is my tuner in my TV dying? Has anyone else had these problems in San Francisco?

Also, the cable line to this TV is split once to my cable modem (not sure how many times it is split under the house). I've had a spate of internet connectivity issues during this same time, but the internet has been stabilized recently, yet the channels I used to get on this TV still no longer show up?

Should I just go get a box from Comcast for this second TV, or is there a fix?

Thanks!

I'm having the Same issues as #11598. I have a Panasonic HDTV and last month i did a channel scan and i got all the Basic HD CHannel. FOX, CBS, ABC ETC... and now i've lost FOX HD and CBS HD. Also all the digital channels like USA, MTV, FX have changed channels from the 111's to 71's, i looked for the channels manually. Is anyone experienceign the same problems? Will i get FOX HD Back? I NEED to watch my Football in HD. I already have a HD DVR Downstairs and the 2 free converter boxes hooked up to my other TV's.

That would be a waste of bandwidth as it only takes about 4 regular channels or less for the SD versions of the Extended Basic. Even if you put the HD versions there too there would still be bandwidth left over unless they are going to ADD more channels to Extended Basic.

I would think there would be a major revision of tiers but they may be afraid of too many changes too soon might really piss their customers off. I also thought the paced rollout might be due to removing any traps on lines then encrypting the extended basic. But I think you or someone else mentioned their "converter" boxes couldn't decrypt. Kinda messy.

OK, since the Giant's won tonight I'm going to be nice. What in this statement wastes bandwidth ?
Originally Posted by Mikef5 View Post
Yes, that's what I meant about the all digital system. Go all digital, leave the Limited Basic unencrypted ( which they are now required to do ) but I wouldn't encrypt the Extended channels but still use the filter traps. That way people that pay for the Extended channels can still use their tv/tuners to view those channels.
Dropping all analog and going all digital you would gain bandwidth to use for the addition of more channels. Using a frequency trap would allow you to block people that haven't paid for Extended basic but would also allow those that are paying for it to be able to use their own digital tuners/tv's without having to have a box. Extended basic in most areas is already digital and the analog channels are gone. They already use the traps now to block the extended channels for those that are only paying for limited basic. So how is this a waste of bandwidth ? It doesn't you in fact gain bandwidth and you keep people happy that want to use their own tuners/tv's to view the extended basic channels that they are paying for by leaving them unencrypted for them.

Laters,
Mikef5

New channels being added to the Bay Area


September 30th

NBA League Pass HD will launch on channel 450 as an a-la-carte service in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley, Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.

NHL/MLB League Pass HD will launch on channel 460 as an a-la-carte service in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley, Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.

truTV HD will launch on channel 748 in the Starter HD package in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley, Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.

CNN Headline News HD will launch on channel 774 in the Starter HD package in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley, Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.

Tennis HD will launch on channel 786 in the Sports & Entertainment package in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley, Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.

ESPN U HD will launch on channel 788 in the Digital Preferred package in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley, Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.

TCM HD will launch on channel 789 in the Digital Preferred package in Burlingame, Palo Alto, Healdsburg, Rohnert Park, Petaluma, Brentwood, Pleasanton, Pittsburg, Vacaville, Rio Vista, San Mateo, S. San Francisco, Daly City, Castro Valley. , Novato, San Rafael, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, Saratoga, Milpitas, Los Altos.


Going forward the above channels will launch the same time as the other World of More channel changes. (Starting with next weeks schedule)

Never thought that I'd see or hear " Ala Carte " on Comcast, it sounds so..... French :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

What is MLB League Pass?

And uh, how's about those HBO channels? Any news on those, or are they headed to the same "file" that the HDNet channels are in?

What is MLB League Pass?

And uh, how's about those HBO channels? Any news on those, or are they headed to the same "file" that the HDNet channels are in?

Not a clue. I came back from the game and found this in my in box :p
I'll ask tomorrow. As far as the other HBO channels that didn't make it in the last channel adds.... nothing yet but then again they've been trying to finish up this digital conversion before the end of the year, so far it looks like they might make it.

On another note, now I remember why I don't like night games.... I froze my butt off, guess I'm getting to old or I needed more anti-freeze :p

Laters,
Mikef5

Not a clue. I came back from the game and found this in my in box :p
I'll ask tomorrow. As far as the other HBO channels that didn't make it in the last channel adds.... nothing yet but then again they've been trying to finish up this digital conversion before the end of the year, so far it looks like they might make it.

On another note, now I remember why I don't like night games.... I froze my butt off, guess I'm getting to old or I needed more anti-freeze :p

Laters,
Mikef5

It's age, the skin gets thinner, becomes like paper, feels like it too. :p:D

PacBell must have been pretty chilly tonight. It was cold here in the South Bay.

Also, no joy on any of those new channels so far. :P

New channels being added to the Bay Area


September 30th


truTV HD will launch on channel 748 in the Starter HD package
CNN Headline News HD will launch on [U]channel 774 in the Starter HD package
Tennis HD will launch on channel 786 in the Sports & Entertainment package
ESPN U HD will launch on channel 788 in the Digital Preferred package
TCM HD will launch on channel 789 in the Digital Preferred package


My cable boxes in Vallejo had a message this morning about us now having the 5 channels listed above but they were not present when I checked. We haven't gotten any new HDs so far and may not until November although we have lost the 41-60 analogues. Could the message have been erroneous?

Any word, official, rumor or false hope, about an official Comcast TiVO availability in the Bay Area? Or do I really have to move to New England???

New channels being added to the Bay Area

September 30th



I didn't see the word "Berkeley" anywhere in that message.

PacBell must have been pretty chilly tonight. It was cold here in the South Bay.

Also, no joy on any of those new channels so far. :P

I'm in Sunnyvale, and now get Tennis HD, CNN Headline news and TruTV HD. I only subscribe to Digital Starter plus Sports package, so can't speak for those new channels in the Preferred package. The channel lineup brochure that I just picked up from the office two weeks ago is now out-of-date.

Thanks to MikeF for the good news. Yeah, HBO Signature would be nice...

Sounds like a signal strength issue to me, but i'm not sure if it's the same issue i ran across in my setup because it sounds like you wouldn't have filter given your HD DVR and having a full package as opposed to limited basic like me.

here's what i would do to test: remove as many splitters as possible and send a "fuller" or full strength signal to your Panasonic and see if that clears things up. if that's the case, it's a signal issue.

if it is, then your recourses are to go to Comcast (who may just say you are splitting your signal too thin and that's your problem) or to buy better splitters or to buy a signal booster which i'm sure you can find suggestions for if you use the search engine for this forum (there is a popular Motorola unit that runs around $30?)



I'm having the Same issues as #11598. I have a Panasonic HDTV and last month i did a channel scan and i got all the Basic HD CHannel. FOX, CBS, ABC ETC... and now i've lost FOX HD and CBS HD. Also all the digital channels like USA, MTV, FX have changed channels from the 111's to 71's, i looked for the channels manually. Is anyone experienceign the same problems? Will i get FOX HD Back? I NEED to watch my Football in HD. I already have a HD DVR Downstairs and the 2 free converter boxes hooked up to my other TV's.

I didn't see the word "Berkeley" anywhere in that message.

Can those of us who have not been receiving this expanded service for the last several months--and paying the same as others--apply for a refund?

New channels being added to the Bay Area


September 30th
........


Going forward the above channels will launch the same time as the other World of More channel changes. (Starting with next weeks schedule)

Never thought that I'd see or hear " Ala Carte " on Comcast, it sounds so..... French :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5
OK...I see that Pleasanton and Castro Valley are listed among the cities. Since Dublin is inbetween the two, would that mean it's included as well? ...just hoping :)

Can those of us who have not been receiving this expanded service for the last several months--and paying the same as others--apply for a refund?

You have the same chance of that as you have of being exempt from the rate increases scheduled for 10/15 (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/15/BUVK19N4NS.DTL&feed=rss.technology) even if you still don't have the additional channels. That is none and less than none. Believe me, I feel your pain. We're supposed to get the WOM roll out in November (I hope) but I'm sure that my bill will go up before that.

OK...I see that Pleasanton and Castro Valley are listed among the cities. Since Dublin is inbetween the two, would that mean it's included as well? ...just hoping :)

Hah, don't bet on that at all. Virtually every city/town surrounding Santa Rosa was upgraded a few months ago yet we're still waiting. Supposedly next week or so, but the point is, geography can mean very little when it comes to these things.

Dropping all analog and going all digital you would gain bandwidth to use for the addition of more channels. Using a frequency trap would allow you to block people that haven't paid for Extended basic but would also allow those that are paying for it to be able to use their own digital tuners/tv's without having to have a box. Extended basic in most areas is already digital and the analog channels are gone. They already use the traps now to block the extended channels for those that are only paying for limited basic. So how is this a waste of bandwidth ? It doesn't you in fact gain bandwidth and you keep people happy that want to use their own tuners/tv's to view the extended basic channels that they are paying for by leaving them unencrypted for them.

Laters,
Mikef5

Simply because it doesn't take 40 channels if you move both the SD digital version (about 4 channels) and the HD versions (which of course they would 3 pack as they do now and take about 14-15 channels) to the filter range you would have channels left over. Do the math. Are you saying the filters are adjustable for range? Then that would also help explain the slow rollout as they have to adjust or change the filters.

Simply because it doesn't take 40 channels if you move both the SD digital version (about 4 channels) and the HD versions (which of course they would 3 pack as they do now and take about 14-15 channels) to the filter range you would have channels left over. Do the math. Are you saying the filters are adjustable for range? Then that would also help explain the slow rollout as they have to adjust or change the filters.

Pretty sure they are not adjustable, the inline barrel trap that was on my line certainly isn't/wasn't. I think that's one of the advantages of the DTA, I think it can be adjusted, and from someone sitting on their butt in front of a computer terminal, not by having to do a truck roll to physically change it.

OK...I see that Pleasanton and Castro Valley are listed among the cities. Since Dublin is inbetween the two, would that mean it's included as well? ...just hoping :)


You've already had "World of More" launch in Dublin so you should be getting those channels. It works like this, If you've already had the WOM launched in your city then you should be getting the additional channels that were added today. The rest of us have to wait until WOM launches in our respective cities.

I've been having a strange issue with my Comcast Cable in SF. I've got on TV hooked up through a box, working fine. My other TV is hooked up through its built in tuner (Westinghouse W3223), and it worked great up until a few months ago (perhaps around the time of the switch to digital?). Since then, my digital channels (like 2-1) have been lagging out, getting worse and worse. Recently, I re-scanned and lost tons of channels that I used to get (most of 40-80) just fine.

Any ideas what this issue could be? Is it signal strength? Is my tuner in my TV dying? Has anyone else had these problems in San Francisco?

Also, the cable line to this TV is split once to my cable modem (not sure how many times it is split under the house). I've had a spate of internet connectivity issues during this same time, but the internet has been stabilized recently, yet the channels I used to get on this TV still no longer show up?

Should I just go get a box from Comcast for this second TV, or is there a fix?

Thanks!

I'm having the Same issues as #11598. I have a Panasonic HDTV and last month i did a channel scan and i got all the Basic HD CHannel. FOX, CBS, ABC ETC... and now i've lost FOX HD and CBS HD. Also all the digital channels like USA, MTV, FX have changed channels from the 111's to 71's, i looked for the channels manually. Is anyone experienceign the same problems? Will i get FOX HD Back? I NEED to watch my Football in HD. I already have a HD DVR Downstairs and the 2 free converter boxes hooked up to my other TV's.

Sounds like a signal strength issue to me, but i'm not sure if it's the same issue i ran across in my setup because it sounds like you wouldn't have filter given your HD DVR and having a full package as opposed to limited basic like me.

here's what i would do to test: remove as many splitters as possible and send a "fuller" or full strength signal to your Panasonic and see if that clears things up. if that's the case, it's a signal issue.

if it is, then your recourses are to go to Comcast (who may just say you are splitting your signal too thin and that's your problem) or to buy better splitters or to buy a signal booster which i'm sure you can find suggestions for if you use the search engine for this forum (there is a popular Motorola unit that runs around $30?)

It does sound like very much like it, sort of. RF ch 71 is very close to that Expanded Basic trap frequency cutoff, and as these traps are not brick wall it very well could be that the trap is bleeding enough that it's blocking the signal for that FOX channel. Neither poster is very clear on whether they do in fact receive the Expanded Basic lineup though so it's hard to say if a trap is the problem.

It could also be a case of load balancing/tilt from the node/amplifier. This can happen when new line is put in and/or channels are moved around. Having issues with internet connectivity/speed is one symptom of this. If that's the case, only Comcast can fix it, and it's typically not one of the normal install guys.

You've already had "World of More" launch in Dublin so you should be getting those channels. It works like this, If you've already had the WOM launched in your city then you should be getting the additional channels that were added today. The rest of us have to wait until WOM launches in our respective cities.Thanks for the clarification. I get my Comcast installed on Monday so I'll get all these goodies from the get-go.
Horay!...sort of....sad to leave DirecTV.

Pretty sure they are not adjustable, the inline barrel trap that was on my line certainly isn't/wasn't. I think that's one of the advantages of the DTA, I think it can be adjusted, and from someone sitting on their butt in front of a computer terminal, not by having to do a truck roll to physically change it.

Yup, I agree. The traps look to be a pretty old technology and built to be cheap. I would love to be able to tune in the HD Expanded Basic channels on my open QAM computer tuners. At some point maybe 4-5 years from now SD will be history since statistics show that people replace their TVs every 4-5 years (not me but this may not cover HT owners) and by then most sets will be HD.

Maybe Comcast is planning to add a bunch more channels to Expanded Basic and a bunch more dollars to the price thus boosting sales for satellite providers.

For the fun of it I was tuning around the Limited Basic channels using the NTSC tuner on my Pioneer set and noting how many channels Comcast seems to be playing as "center cut." I've been noticing that some shows are no longer composing for the 4:3 safe area. Neither are some composing for overscan resulting in some text at the bottom being cut off.

What is MLB League Pass?
I assume that MLB (and NBA and NHL) League Pass is the baseball (basketball, hockey) equivalent of DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket.

(If you're asking about what "MLB" is, it's Major League Baseball, which is the name for the combined National League and American League.)

-- Don

Simply because it doesn't take 40 channels if you move both the SD digital version (about 4 channels) and the HD versions (which of course they would 3 pack as they do now and take about 14-15 channels) to the filter range you would have channels left over. Do the math. Are you saying the filters are adjustable for range? Then that would also help explain the slow rollout as they have to adjust or change the filters.

The bandwidth of the filter is irrelevant. The only people who have the filter are those who only have limited basic. Since those channels above limited basic need to be encrypted anyway, it does not matter if an encrypted channel falls inside the filter or out of it since those with the filter should not be getting them anyway.

On another note, comcast could save bandwidth by only including the HD version of a channel and limiting the resolution in the STB for those who don't want to pay the HD surcharge.

I assume that MLB (and NBA and NHL) League Pass is the baseball (basketball, hockey) equivalent of DirecTV's NFL Sunday Ticket.

(If you're asking about what "MLB" is, it's Major League Baseball, which is the name for the combined National League and American League.)

-- Don

That equivalent being MLBEI(Major League Baseball Extra Innings) which as you say, is baseball's Sunday Ticket. I asked because with only one channel, how could it possibly be anything like MLBEI. I know Comcast has a few SD channels they use for MLBEI, but how many takers do they get for a few SD channels at the going MLBEI subscription rate, especially if there is no guarantee of seeing "every game of your favorite team"?

It can't be MLB-HD as they already have that channel. Great channel BTW, used to watch it on DirecTV before I trimmed my programming down, if you're a baseball fan MLB-HD is a must-have.

Anyway, I'm curious to see what that channel is all about.

Anyone, that is getting the new channels and has a Tivo, what are you seeing ?? Guide data ? Right program on the right channel ?

Laters,
Mikef5

Mikef5,

I have a I am not getting the new channels. I also lost channels. Here's the list: SPEEDHD 731, BRAVO 733, FXHDP 741, EHD 753, TRAVHD 755, FNCHD 760, FOX BUSINESS 761, CNBCHD 762, TOONHD 766, ENCR1H 775, HMHD 794. I get Guide Data but it says Searchiing for signal. I have a TIVO DVR HD. I called Tivo and reset my box. I called Comcast and was told me they would send out a Tech and replace my Mcard. Doesn't make to me so I'll call for the Tech.

John

Mikef5,

I have a I am not getting the new channels. I also lost channels. Here's the list: SPEEDHD 731, BRAVO 733, FXHDP 741, EHD 753, TRAVHD 755, FNCHD 760, FOX BUSINESS 761, CNBCHD 762, TOONHD 766, ENCR1H 775, HMHD 794. I get Guide Data but it says Searchiing for signal. I have a TIVO DVR HD. I called Tivo and reset my box. I called Comcast and was told me they would send out a Tech and replace my Mcard. Doesn't make to me so I'll call for the Tech.

John

John,

It could be a bad M-card it's hard to tell without really being there to see it. Have you tried switching tuners ? On your remote, hit the button in the upper right corner that says " Live Tv" that will switch between the two tuners. That should tell you if it just one of the tuners going bad or if it's the whole card going bad. Other than that let the Tech do his job, it's their M-card and they are responsible to get it to work for you.

Laters,
Mikef5

Mikef5,

I have a I am not getting the new channels. I also lost channels. Here's the list: SPEEDHD 731, BRAVO 733, FXHDP 741, EHD 753, TRAVHD 755, FNCHD 760, FOX BUSINESS 761, CNBCHD 762, TOONHD 766, ENCR1H 775, HMHD 794. I get Guide Data but it says Searchiing for signal. I have a TIVO DVR HD. I called Tivo and reset my box. I called Comcast and was told me they would send out a Tech and replace my Mcard. Doesn't make to me so I'll call for the Tech.

John

Times like this is the reason why I also rent out one of Comcast's HD digital box to compare to (that and on-demand).

Sounds like a signal strength issue to me, but i'm not sure if it's the same issue i ran across in my setup because it sounds like you wouldn't have filter given your HD DVR and having a full package as opposed to limited basic like me.

here's what i would do to test: remove as many splitters as possible and send a "fuller" or full strength signal to your Panasonic and see if that clears things up. if that's the case, it's a signal issue.

if it is, then your recourses are to go to Comcast (who may just say you are splitting your signal too thin and that's your problem) or to buy better splitters or to buy a signal booster which i'm sure you can find suggestions for if you use the search engine for this forum (there is a popular Motorola unit that runs around $30?)

Thanks for the advice. But, i was just informed by my roommate that he has also experienced the same issue with his TV which is the same as my TV. He has also lost FOX HD and CBS HD. We still have all the other basic HD Channels ABC HD, NBC HD, CWHD PBS HD. We are both directly plugged into the coax cable, no Comacast HD Boxes on our TV's. Anyone else experince channel loss?

Still no sign of the five HD channels listed on the STB message this morning, (truTV HD, CNN Headline News HD, Tennis HD, ESPN U HD, TCM HD) but I did get a card today from Comcast announcing the WOM roll out in Vallejo "beginning" the week of 11/2. What exactly does the word beginning mean in this context?

So for the ones that have had all the WoM channels for a few weeks now, what's your favorite channel?

Still no sign of the five HD channels listed on the STB message this morning, (truTV HD, CNN Headline News HD, Tennis HD, ESPN U HD, TCM HD) but I did get a card today from Comcast announcing the WOM roll out in Vallejo "beginning" the week of 11/2. What exactly does the word beginning mean in this context?


Seems like you recieved that message sent to your cable box in error Cal.
You won't be getting those channels until WOM rolls out in your area, based on the post card you got in the mail and also other things I've read that won't be until early Nov. in Vallejo. I think they use " beginning the week of" just to give themselves some wiggle room in case they run into some technical issues in rolling out those channels. So it will happend early that week( monday, tuesday, wed.). I just don't think they want to be tied down to a specific date

Thanks for the advice. But, i was just informed by my roommate that he has also experienced the same issue with his TV which is the same as my TV. He has also lost FOX HD and CBS HD. We still have all the other basic HD Channels ABC HD, NBC HD, CWHD PBS HD. We are both directly plugged into the coax cable, no Comacast HD Boxes on our TV's. Anyone else experince channel loss?

You're not the only one...I'm on limited basic with a single tv (straight coax cable from the outlet to the tv) that had scanned both FOX and CBS HD a couple months ago, but had them mysteriously disappear a couple days ago. All the other basic HD channels still scan fine for me though.

Thanks for the advice. But, i was just informed by my roommate that he has also experienced the same issue with his TV which is the same as my TV. He has also lost FOX HD and CBS HD. We still have all the other basic HD Channels ABC HD, NBC HD, CWHD PBS HD. We are both directly plugged into the coax cable, no Comacast HD Boxes on our TV's. Anyone else experince channel loss?

You're not the only one...I'm on limited basic with a single tv (straight coax cable from the outlet to the tv) that had scanned both FOX and CBS HD a couple months ago, but had them mysteriously disappear a couple days ago. All the other basic HD channels still scan fine for me though.

What programing package do you guys have? If it's just Limited Basic then the problem is almost certainly a case of the RF frequency that KPIX and KTVU were moved to is being blocked by the Expanded Basic trap bleedover.

The bandwidth of the filter is irrelevant. The only people who have the filter are those who only have limited basic. Since those channels above limited basic need to be encrypted anyway, it does not matter if an encrypted channel falls inside the filter or out of it since those with the filter should not be getting them anyway.


In my area and probably most others the local HD channels are way above the Limited Basic channels in fact above the Expanded Basic channels. I didn't have Expanded Basic up until about a year and a half ago. There was a filter on my line but I got the local HD channels and a bunch of other channels that were part of the older Digital Classic package. Those were all mapped above channel 76. To get the Sci-Fi channel I had to change to the Digital Starter package which included Expanded Basic so the trap was removed. Since I have an HDHomeRun I know where all the channels are located frequency wise.

So it looks like Tivo and Comcast got it right this time. I've already got Guide data for the new channels on my Tivo-HD and it's showing the proper programming for those channels.
Anyone not getting guide data on your Tivo or that is not correct ??

Laters,
Mikef5

Does anyone who has World of More have NFL Red Zone HD? There are reports about certain Comcast markets across the US that have it in HD, and I figured that people with WoM would have it. Is that the case? Thx.

I'm in Sunnyvale, and now get Tennis HD, CNN Headline news and TruTV HD. I only subscribe to Digital Starter plus Sports package, so can't speak for those new channels in the Preferred package. The channel lineup brochure that I just picked up from the office two weeks ago is now out-of-date.

Thanks to MikeF for the good news. Yeah, HBO Signature would be nice...


Anyone, that is getting the new channels and has a Tivo, what are you seeing ?? Guide data ? Right program on the right channel ?

Laters,
Mikef5
I get "not authorized" for the two low channels (450, 460), which is to be expected since I don't subscribe to them. So it looks like I would receive them if I subscribed.

Both the cable box and the Tivo get these new channels:

748 truTV HD
774 CNN Headline News HD
786 Tennis HD
788 ESPNU HD
789 TCM HD

The PG data for the Comcast cable box seems good.

Tivo, of course, has no program data for the new ones. Just "To be announced" which is normal for new channels which the cable card picks up but the Tivo doesn't know about. Plan to submit a line up report today.

It does sound like very much like it, sort of. RF ch 71 is very close to that Expanded Basic trap frequency cutoff, and as these traps are not brick wall it very well could be that the trap is bleeding enough that it's blocking the signal for that FOX channel. Neither poster is very clear on whether they do in fact receive the Expanded Basic lineup though so it's hard to say if a trap is the problem.

It could also be a case of load balancing/tilt from the node/amplifier. This can happen when new line is put in and/or channels are moved around. Having issues with internet connectivity/speed is one symptom of this. If that's the case, only Comcast can fix it, and it's typically not one of the normal install guys.

I've had so much weird stuff happen with my cable in the past that it seems like it could be anything to me. For instance, the SD box in my bedroom suddenly stopped receiving a few different random channels. Everything else was fine. Comcast had to send a tech. Turns out it was the cable from my wall to the TV that just suddenly "went bad" for no reason (it wasn't touched).

I also wonder if the type of cable used can make a difference. For instance, RG-59 vs RG-6.

My wife is a Headline News fanatic. It would make her year if it turns out that CNN Headline News HD does NOT have that annoying "Comcast Newsmakers" segment for the last few minutes of every half-hour and rather had the last segment of Headline News.


Has anyone who has WoM now checked out Headline News HD? Any chance that my wife's year will be made once we get WoM? Thx.

I get "not authorized" for the two low channels (450, 460), which is to be expected since I don't subscribe to them. So it looks like I would receive them if I subscribed.

Both the cable box and the Tivo get these new channels:

748 truTV HD
774 CNN Headline News HD
786 Tennis HD
788 ESPNU HD
789 TCM HD

The PG data for the Comcast cable box seems good.

Tivo, of course, has no program data for the new ones. Just "To be announced" which is normal for new channels which the cable card picks up but the Tivo doesn't know about. Plan to submit a line up report today.

Xn0r,

I'm getting Guide data for the new channels on my TivoHD so you should also. Try doing a connection to Tivo to try and get it to download the guide data. I got the upgrade message and the new guide data when I did it so it is available.

Laters,
Mikef5

My wife is a Headline News fanatic. It would make her year if it turns out that CNN Headline News HD does NOT have that annoying "Comcast Newsmakers" segment for the last few minutes of every half-hour and rather had the last segment of Headline News.


Has anyone who has WoM now checked out Headline News HD? Any chance that my wife's year will be made once we get WoM? Thx.

Pappy97,

I don't watch HLN-HD but I checked the guide data for it and it looks like it shows the same thing as the SD channel. I hope this channel isn't just an upconverted version of the SD channel but looking at the guide they're both showing the same thing at the same time.

Laters,
Mikef5

I've had so much weird stuff happen with my cable in the past that it seems like it could be anything to me. For instance, the SD box in my bedroom suddenly stopped receiving a few different random channels. Everything else was fine. Comcast had to send a tech. Turns out it was the cable from my wall to the TV that just suddenly "went bad" for no reason (it wasn't touched).

I also wonder if the type of cable used can make a difference. For instance, RG-59 vs RG-6.

Yeah, when it comes cable systems bugaboos it can run the gamut as to causes and solutions. :D

Does anyone who has World of More have NFL Red Zone HD? There are reports about certain Comcast markets across the US that have it in HD, and I figured that people with WoM would have it. Is that the case? Thx.
Is this channel even active on any day but Sunday?

Xn0r,

I'm getting Guide data for the new channels on my TivoHD so you should also. Try doing a connection to Tivo to try and get it to download the guide data. I got the upgrade message and the new guide data when I did it so it is available.

Laters,
Mikef5
Yeah it did the update last night at 2:30AM before the new chans were even there. So I just forced a connection. It's loading data right now. Hopefully it'll pull in the new chans. And hopefully it'll also correct the PG guide error with 841 (Thriller Max HD) that I submitted on the 21st.

EDIT: I forced a daily call and it actually added the channels!!! All the PG data looks good too. The ESPNU channel was showing vollyball when the guide said HS football, but I think that's because the Vball game ran a little long. Right now it's showing HS football and matching the guide. The Tivo and Comcast STB PG guide data also agree.

Yeah it did the update last night at 2:30AM before the new chans were even there. So I just forced a connection. It's loading data right now. Hopefully it'll pull in the new chans. And hopefully it'll also correct the PG guide error with 841 (Thriller Max HD) that I submitted on the 21st.

Xn0r,

The guide data for channel 841 ( Thriller Max HD) is still wrong, on the Tivo, even after these new channels got their guide data.

Laters,
Mikef5

Does Comcast have money to spend or what!? :D

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17276634&highlight=#post17276634

Does Comcast have money to spend or what!? :D

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17276634&highlight=#post17276634

Wow, the way the article reads it's a done deal. Deal or no Deal, that's a lot of cash to spend. Wish I had $48.44 billion in my bank account :p
I reread the article and it was only a $35 billion deal but I'd still put that in my account. :)

Laters,
Mikef5

Xn0r,

The guide data for channel 841 ( Thriller Max HD) is still wrong, on the Tivo, even after these new channels got their guide data.

Laters,
Mikef5
Yep. Same here. No fix. I wonder if I should resubmit it. It's been 11 days since I put in the lineup fix request with tivo and so far nada.

The feed is for 841 appears to be a west coast feed, but the PG data appears to be for the east coast feed of the channel (the show which is actually on the channel is one listed three hours ago in the PG).

Anyone else lose some channels recently?

Not sure of the extent, but I got home and Speed HD, Bravo HD, and Encore HD are just blank with no signal.

This is in Redwood Shores.

Anyone else lose some channels recently?

Not sure of the extent, but I got home and Speed HD, Bravo HD, and Encore HD are just blank with no signal.

This is in Redwood Shores.
That's likely an outage, or something going on with your wiring/equipment. Speed, Bravo, and Encore is working here. I'd call. Sometimes they have a recording, or the CSR can tell you about a possible outage.

Also, if you're an internet customer, you can log in and check local status on comcast.net.

This KNTV problem is getting so bad we are about ready to give up on a few shows we normally watch on NBC. Hopefully they get it fixed soon!

This KNTV problem is getting so bad we are about ready to give up on a few shows we normally watch on NBC. Hopefully they get it fixed soon!

I just got a bit of the 11pm news and some of Conan, and yeah, it sounds like it's getting really bad. I recorded the news and a portion of Conan to send to KNTV.

I heard several glitches on my recording of Mercy tonight.

Are other markets having the same issue? Or is it a KNTV issue? Are the SD channels having the same issue?
Here in San Jose we have another NBC channel, the one from Santa Cruz or somewhere like that, SD only of course, but only shows when the programming is not the same as KNTV. I'll try to check if I see any difference in the sound.

Are other markets having the same issue? Or is it a KNTV issue? Are the SD channels having the same issue?
Here in San Jose we have another NBC channel, the one from Santa Cruz or somewhere like that, SD only of course, but only shows when the programming is not the same as KNTV. I'll try to check if I see any difference in the sound.

Yes, it's happening in other NBC markets, but not all of them. I got the sense that it is much less than half, or even a quarter, but it's not just here. The fact that it happens on local content like the 11pm news tells me it's a local equipment problem as I don't believe the network would have anything to do with that broadcast so it wouldn't be the network distribution receiving equipment.

It would seem a simple thing to narrow down the problem, but we don't know what is happening in other markets - whether it happens with local content for example - in which case it could be narrowed down to a specific piece of equipment, likely an MPEG2 encoder. But even then, getting that piece of equipment to "cooperate" could be a major problem. Usually this means getting the equipment manufacturer involved as presumably they know best how to fix problems with their equipment, and apparently that is the case here, but even the manufacturer is having problems figuring it out.

What's curious to me is that DirecTV, which uses MPEG2>MPEG4 for their distribution to their customers has had a very similar problem on many of their channels, local and national, for several months now, the symptoms sound virtually identical in many cases. I mention this because less than a year ago NBC transitioned to MPEG4 for their network to local station distribution which means the incoming MPEG4 signal has to be re-encoded to MPEG2 for OTA and cable use. Sort of the opposite of the how DirecTV does it. This would not explain why it happens with locally generated content though so you can see why they've been having a lot of trouble with figuring it out.

My strong suspicion is that it's something wonky with the MPEG4<>MPEG2 transcoding but I'm not an engineer. What I have learned from the DirecTV discussion on their issue is that a less than perfect quality MPEG2 signal will give the apparently more discerning, not as forgiving, MPEG4 encoder problems. It could be a similar problem here with KNTV/NBC.

What programing package do you guys have? If it's just Limited Basic then the problem is almost certainly a case of the RF frequency that KPIX and KTVU were moved to is being blocked by the Expanded Basic trap bleedover.


I'm not sure what package i have, but my downstairs TV has a HD DVR with all the HD Channels Minus Speed HD and the Premium HD channels(HBO, SHow, MAX). I think i hve the Digital Preffered package

Sorry, hate to sound like an idiot but how do i resolve this issue, i dont really want to call Comcast and spend 20 mins on hold to only have the say there's nothing they can do about it or give me a run around and say i need to order a HD box.

I'm not sure what package i have, but my downstairs TV has a HD DVR with all the HD Channels Minus Speed HD and the Premium HD channels(HBO, SHow, MAX).

Sorry, hate to sound like an idiot but how do i resolve this issue, i dont really want to call Comcast and spend 20 mins on hold to only have the say there's nothing they can do about it or give me a run around and say i need to order a HD box.

So they're only missing on the clear-QAM tuner equipped TV? Everything works with the Comcast-supplied equipment?

If that's the case, then it must be something with the way your TV resolves the QAM channel assignments. There's some folks here that are much more adept at tracking those types of issues down, hopefully they'll pop in with some suggestions. Does your display need a firmware upgrade by chance?

Getting Comcast to help with non-Comcast equipment is likely to be an uphill battle.

BTW, when it comes to questions/problems about Comcast it's impossible to sound like an idiot. :D

So they're only missing on the clear-QAM tuner equipped TV? Everything works with the Comcast-supplied equipment?

If that's the case, then it must be something with the way your TV resolves the QAM channel assignments. There's some folks here that are much more adept at tracking those types of issues down, hopefully they'll pop in with some suggestions. Does your display need a firmware upgrade by chance?

Getting Comcast to help with non-Comcast equipment is likely to be an uphill battle.

BTW, when it comes to questions/problems about Comcast it's impossible to sound like an idiot. :D

Yes everything works on Comcast equipment. The only ones not working is the TV's that are hooked up directly to the Cable using the built in QAM tuner. I'm not sure if it needs firmware. We were getting Fox HD and CBS HD up until a few days ago.

Mikef5,

I have a I am not getting the new channels. I also lost channels. Here's the list: SPEEDHD 731, BRAVO 733, FXHDP 741, EHD 753, TRAVHD 755, FNCHD 760, FOX BUSINESS 761, CNBCHD 762, TOONHD 766, ENCR1H 775, HMHD 794. I get Guide Data but it says Searchiing for signal. I have a TIVO DVR HD. I called Tivo and reset my box. I called Comcast and was told me they would send out a Tech and replace my Mcard. Doesn't make to me so I'll call for the Tech.

John

This morning I checked the channels I reported above. All channels are now up and working. I still don't have the new channels. When I called in yesterday the Techs could not give me an appointment so I had to call in 4 times. They could not setup an appointment. None of them advised me there was an outage.

John

Does Comcast have money to spend or what!? :D

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17276634&highlight=#post17276634

The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125441107753456545.html) doesn't think the deal is so cut-and-dried.

-- Don

This morning I checked the channels I reported above. All channels are now up and working. I still don't have the new channels. When I called in yesterday the Techs could not give me an appointment so I had to call in 4 times. They could not setup an appointment. None of them advised me there was an outage.

John

John,

I know this is a basic question but do you have your Tivo setup to "show all channels" or just "show channels you receive" ?? If you have it set for showing only channels you receive you are not going to see the new channels. You have to go into the setup and check them off to see them. Go to Settings, then Channels, then Channels List. That will display all the channels, you need to check all the channels that you receive, the new channels will not have a check mark next to them, check them. Let me know if that works for you.

Laters,
Mikef5

This morning I checked the channels I reported above. All channels are now up and working. I still don't have the new channels. When I called in yesterday the Techs could not give me an appointment so I had to call in 4 times. They could not setup an appointment. None of them advised me there was an outage.

John

I just checked and my channels are working again. This has happened before with Comcast, and the people on the phone are not informed of any problems. I have found it easier (and less frustrating for myself and the support person), to wait it out.

I had a DCT6200 that started to turn off every 15-20 minutes. I called Comcast and the CSR sent 2 different hits to the box. The problem persisted. So yesterday I took the box in and exchanged it for a DCX3400. Hooked it up and called in to get it activated. This is around 5:30PM. All I got was a "One Moment Please" message. The CSR that I was talking to sent a hit to the box, still nothing. He had me check the SNR in the diagnostics - 35-36 db, which is very good (so he said). He waited a minute and sent another hit. Still nothing. He then put me on hold, I found out afterward, to talk to his supervisor. The only thing the supervisor could think of is that it was the signal coming in to the box, but the SNR does not confirm this. I have a splitter just before the box, with one line going to the box and one directly to the TV. When I switch inputs on the TV, I get a very good picture from the line going directly to the TV. If I switch that line to the cable box, I still don't get a picture. An hour or two later, the guide had populated completely, but still no picture. The same was true as of this morning when I checked before leaving for work. The CSR checked the history of the box and said I was the first to use it. Did I just get unlucky and receive a bad box?

I had a DCT6200 that started to turn off every 15-20 minutes. I called Comcast and the CSR sent 2 different hits to the box. The problem persisted. So yesterday I took the box in and exchanged it for a DCX3400. Hooked it up and called in to get it activated. This is around 5:30PM. All I got was a "One Moment Please" message. The CSR that I was talking to sent a hit to the box, still nothing. He had me check the SNR in the diagnostics - 35-36 db, which is very good (so he said). He waited a minute and sent another hit. Still nothing. He then put me on hold, I found out afterward, to talk to his supervisor. The only thing the supervisor could think of is that it was the signal coming in to the box, but the SNR does not confirm this. I have a splitter just before the box, with one line going to the box and one directly to the TV. When I switch inputs on the TV, I get a very good picture from the line going directly to the TV. If I switch that line to the cable box, I still don't get a picture. An hour or two later, the guide had populated completely, but still no picture. The same was true as of this morning when I checked before leaving for work. The CSR checked the history of the box and said I was the first to use it. Did I just get unlucky and receive a bad box?
MANNAXMAN,

So when your tv is connected to the Comcast box you see nothing ( no guide and no picture at all ) or do you see the guide with the "channel will be available shortly" message ? Also, how is the box connected to the tv, hdmi, component ??
EDIT...
Just reread your post and you said you get a full guide with data so you are getting a picture just not the channel picture. Do you get any channel at all ?
Laters,
Mikef5

The Wall Street Journal (http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125441107753456545.html) doesn't think the deal is so cut-and-dried.

-- Don

Yes, I know, but subsequent news coming out is leaning toward the rumor being true. Comcast has wanted into the content business in big way ever since the Disney deal collapsed, whether it's NBC/Uni or Time Warner or another media company, it's really only when and not if until they get what they're after.

Below is a link to the HOTP thread that's following the story, and the particular link goes to a classic "non-denial denial" from NBC/Uni prez Jeff Zucker. :p

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=17279114&highlight=#post17279114

MANNAXMAN,

So when your tv is connected to the Comcast box you see nothing ( no guide and no picture at all ) or do you see the guide with the "channel will be available shortly" message ? Also, how is the box connected to the tv, hdmi, component ??

Laters,
Mikef5

Mike,
The box is connected via HDMI. I can see the guide and a message. The guide even populated with all the channel and program info. Just no picture or sound. I will probably just disconnect the box when I get home from work and exchange it for a different one.

Mike,
The box is connected via HDMI. I can see the guide and a message. The guide even populated with all the channel and program info. Just no picture or sound. I will probably just disconnect the box when I get home from work and exchange it for a different one.

Before you do that, check to see if you get any channels at all. You said that if you hook the cable directly to the tv you see a picture. Check those channels on the cable box. I would also check the lower analog channels, using the cable box, to see if you get those (even if the box is not authorized you should see the analog channels ). It might just be that they have screwed up your account information, they haven't taken the old box off your account and haven't added the new box to your account but they can't authorize the new one until the old one is off your account. Ask them to check your account to see what box they have for your account, specifically it's MAC address or it's serial number. They should've asked you for the old numbers and what the new box numbers are but you never know if they entered it correctly.

Laters,
Mikef5

Yes everything works on Comcast equipment. The only ones not working is the TV's that are hooked up directly to the Cable using the built in QAM tuner. I'm not sure if it needs firmware. We were getting Fox HD and CBS HD up until a few days ago.

I'm not sure what to tell you. I'm assuming you've re-scanned to see if their RF location has changed. It's also possible the PSIP data has changed, or is not working correctly, it could be any number of things. I would see if any other member here in your area knows where those channels are located, maybe a manual tune with the correct(new?) location will bring them up. It could also be related to all the channel moving and channel additions that are being done currently.

Have you checked the below site? I'm not sure how updated it is, but it's worth a try.

http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us

You're not the only one...I'm on limited basic with a single tv (straight coax cable from the outlet to the tv) that had scanned both FOX and CBS HD a couple months ago, but had them mysteriously disappear a couple days ago. All the other basic HD channels still scan fine for me though.

What city are you located? i'm in San jose 95148 area code. I've rescanned numerous times since the loss of FOX HD and CBS HD and still nothing. Out of all the channels to lose too. They could've gotten rid of CW HD i would've been cool with that. But the Channels with Football Come on now! Thats messed up!

What city are you located? i'm in San jose 95148 area code. I've rescanned numerous times since the loss of FOX HD and CBS HD and still nothing. Out of all the channels to lose too. They could've gotten rid of CW HD i would've been cool with that. But the Channels with Football Come on now! Thats messed up!
ryany84 and stormer,

What is the make and model of your tv ? I can assure you those channels are still there, they are here in Milpitas, but your tv/tuner might have a problem with the psip data on Comcast or they change the frequency of those channels.
But knowing what kind of tv would help to know how your tv works. I have 3 different tv's and 2 different digital tuners so I know how some of the tuners interpret the psip data.

Laters,
Mikef5

What city are you located? i'm in San jose 95148 area code. I've rescanned numerous times since the loss of FOX HD and CBS HD and still nothing. Out of all the channels to lose too. They could've gotten rid of CW HD i would've been cool with that. But the Channels with Football Come on now! Thats messed up!

i'm in 95054... have you troubleshooted by trying to send a "stronger" signal to the TVs? it could be that signal level has dropped such that the splitters in your house have reduced the signal down to a level where you are having issues with the QAM tuners, yet not with the Comcast HD box.

just worth a shot in terms of diagnosis...beyond PSIP data and RF swapping, a lower S/N can certainly be a culprit. (it was for me and then i had to go about finding a solution to that problem)

<snip>

My strong suspicion is that it's something wonky with the MPEG4<>MPEG2 transcoding but I'm not an engineer. What I have learned from the DirecTV discussion on their issue is that a less than perfect quality MPEG2 signal will give the apparently more discerning, not as forgiving, MPEG4 encoder problems. It could be a similar problem here with KNTV/NBC.
Hrm. This is interesting. How does such a conversion work? From what I understand of working with video files in various container formats, the audio and video packets are interleaved into the file. I figured that in an MPEG2 or MPEG4 video stream it'd be similar.

If this were the case, only the video would be reencoded, and I'd think they'd allow the audio to pass through. When I save video files on the Tivo, which are supposed to be "as received", the files are mpeg2 video along with AC3 audio. Perhaps the MPEG4 streams they use to distribute don't use AC3, and are instead perhaps DTS or AAC and must be converted to AC3 first? I could see that transcoding screwing up. But if they just pass the audio through ...

Here's an example of a recent capture, for instance:


General|
Complete name | E:\e_vid\Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.mpeg
Format | MPEG-PS
File size | 436 MiB
Duration | 3mn 41s
Overall bit rate | 16.6 Mbps
|
Video|
ID | 224 (0xE0)
Format | MPEG Video
Format version | Version 2
Format profile | Main@High
Format settings, Matrix | Default
Duration | 3mn 41s
Bit rate mode | Variable
Bit rate | 15.5 Mbps
Nominal bit rate | 38.8 Mbps
Width | 1 920 pixels
Height | 1 080 pixels
Display aspect ratio | 16:9
Frame rate | 29.970 fps
Colorimetry | 4:2:0
Scan type | Interlaced
Scan order | Bottom Field First
Bits/(Pixel*Frame) | 0.250
Stream size | 409 MiB (94%)
|
Audio|
ID | 128 (0x80)
Format | AC-3
Format/Info | Audio Coding 3
Duration | 3mn 40s
Bit rate mode | Constant
Bit rate | 384 Kbps
Channel(s) | 6 channels
Channel positions | Front: L C R, Surround: L R, LFE
Sampling rate | 48.0 KHz
Video delay | -463ms
Stream size | 10.1 MiB (2%)
|
Text #1|
ID | 224 (0xE0)-608-0
Format | EIA-608
Muxing mode | MPEG Video / EIA-708
Muxing mode, more info | Muxed in Video #1
Stream size | 0.00 Byte (0%)
|
Text #2|
ID | 224 (0xE0)-608-1
Format | EIA-608
Muxing mode | MPEG Video / EIA-708
Muxing mode, more in
fo | Muxed in Video #1
Stream size | 0.00 Byte (0%)

I'm not sure about how they do it since the MPEG4 transition, but NBC used to send three 2-channel streams for the DD5.1 and it was "put back together" at the station level. This sometimes caused some weird effects when it didn't go right, wrong channel mapping producing echos and other strange stuff, bu tI haven't noticed any of that lately.

I'm not sure, I'll ask in my next email. I'm trying to put together a couple of mins of the beginning of the newscast last night. What software are you using? I tried VideoReDo and it's giving me a 2 channel audio output on the clip I make. It still has the glitches, but I want to try and send an unaltered file.

BTW, I think I've given you his email, feel free to contact him with any questions you have. I just learned something else today, apparently not all bay area Comcast systems receive the KNTV signal the same way, some are from the fiber feed, but some are from OTA capture by Comcast, which of course adds yet another variable in diagnosing the problem, and could explain why not everyone in the bay seems to be hearing it.

Before you do that, check to see if you get any channels at all. You said that if you hook the cable directly to the tv you see a picture. Check those channels on the cable box. I would also check the lower analog channels, using the cable box, to see if you get those (even if the box is not authorized you should see the analog channels ). It might just be that they have screwed up your account information, they haven't taken the old box off your account and haven't added the new box to your account but they can't authorize the new one until the old one is off your account. Ask them to check your account to see what box they have for your account, specifically it's MAC address or it's serial number. They should've asked you for the old numbers and what the new box numbers are but you never know if they entered it correctly.

Laters,
Mikef5
I didn't check the forum before I left work. So I ended up exchanging the box, as the payment center is only about a mile away from my house. Hooked up the new box, called in to get it activated and had a picture within 5 minutes or so of putting power to it. An hour and a half later, no problems. ::knock on wood::

But, on the first box, there was no picture on any channel, regardless of which tuner was selected.

KNTV sounds fine here (DirecTV)

I didn't check the forum before I left work. So I ended up exchanging the box, as the payment center is only about a mile away from my house. Hooked up the new box, called in to get it activated and had a picture within 5 minutes or so of putting power to it. An hour and a half later, no problems. ::knock on wood::

But, on the first box, there was no picture on any channel, regardless of which tuner was selected.

Glad to see it all worked out for you, it can get really frustrating trying to figure out what the problem is but all's well that ends well ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

KNTV continued to sound like crap tonight. As big a fans as we are of Joel McHale, it's really getting to the point we will have to give up watching.

I'd rather watch Hero's on my computer at this point....that is likely the extent of what we watch on NBC.

Do we really need to organize a boycott to get them to wake up?? Do they really not care that their digital signal sounds like absolute dogshit?

Chris

Here is My HD Channel Lineup in my Package in My Area:

450 NBA League Pass HD
459 NHL Center Ice / MLB Extra Innings HD 2
460 NHL Center Ice / MLB Extra Innings HD
702 KTVU-DT
703 KNTV-DT
704 KRON-DT
705 KPIX-DT
706 KICU-DT
707 KGO-DT
709 KQED-DT
710 KSTS-DT - Beginning 05/05
711 KKPX-DT
712 KBCW-DT
714 KDTV-DT - Beginning 05/05
715 KGO-DT2
716 KFSF-DT - Beginning 05/05
717 WGN America HD
718 HSN HD
719 QVC HD
720 Comcast SportsNet Bay Area HD
721 Comcast SportsNet California HD
722 Golf Channel HD
723 Versus HD
724 ESPN HD
725 ESPN2 HD
726 ESPNEWS HD
727 NBA TV HD
728 NHL Network HD
729 MLB Network HD
730 NFL Network HD
731 Speed HD
732 CBS College Sports HD
733 Bravo HD
734 A&E HD
735 TBS HD
736 SyFy HD
737 TNT HD
738 USA HD
739 Universal HD
740 TV One HD
741 FX HD
742 Style HD
743 Spike HD
744 G4 HD
745 Comedy Central HD
746 HGTV HD
747 Food Network HD
748 TruTV HD
750 Discovery Channel HD
751 Animal Planet HD
752 TLC HD
753 E! HD
754 HD Theater
755 Travel Channel HD
756 Science Channel HD
757 National Geographic Channel HD
758 History Channel HD
759 CNN HD
760 Fox News Channel HD
761 Fox Business HD
762 CNBC HD+
763 Disney XD HD
766 Cartoon Network HD
767 Nickelodeon HD
768 ABC Family HD
769 Disney Channel HD
771 Planet Green HD
772 Bio HD
774 HLN HD
776 The Weather Channel HD
777 BET HD
778 CMT HD
779 Fuse HD
781 VH1 HD
782 MTV HD
783 Palladia HD
784 Outdoor Channel HD
785 NFL RedZone HD
786 Tennis Channel HD
787 MSNBC HD
788 ESPNU HD
789 TCM HD
790 IFC HD
791 WE HD
793 Hallmark Channel HD
794 Hallmark Movie Channel HD
795 Lifetime HD
796 Lifetime Movie Network HD
797 MGM HD
798 AMC HD
801 HBO HD
805 HBO Comedy HD
807 HBO Zone HD
808 HBO Latino HD
809 Encore HD
816 Starz HD
817 Starz Edge HD
818 Starz Comedy HD
819 Starz Kids & Family HD
825 Showtime HD
826 Showtime Too HD
838 Cinemax HD
840 ActionMax HD
841 ThrillerMax HD
847 The Movie Channel HD
870 PPV Events HD - HD Access with Your Remote

Channels in Bold, means that are not included in my package.

I'm not sure about how they do it since the MPEG4 transition, but NBC used to send three 2-channel streams for the DD5.1 and it was "put back together" at the station level. This sometimes caused some weird effects when it didn't go right, wrong channel mapping producing echos and other strange stuff, bu tI haven't noticed any of that lately.

I'm not sure, I'll ask in my next email. I'm trying to put together a couple of mins of the beginning of the newscast last night. What software are you using? I tried VideoReDo and it's giving me a 2 channel audio output on the clip I make. It still has the glitches, but I want to try and send an unaltered file.

BTW, I think I've given you his email, feel free to contact him with any questions you have. I just learned something else today, apparently not all bay area Comcast systems receive the KNTV signal the same way, some are from the fiber feed, but some are from OTA capture by Comcast, which of course adds yet another variable in diagnosing the problem, and could explain why not everyone in the bay seems to be hearing it.
Hrm. A lot of things could go wrong. Maybe I'll shoot him off an email. I already have the first file copied to a 4GB USB flash drive I could go down there with.

I haven't tried it, but I've been told virtualdub (or virtualdubmod) can edit stuff without transcoding it on saving (copy stream or something like that).


KNTV continued to sound like crap tonight. As big a fans as we are of Joel McHale, it's really getting to the point we will have to give up watching.

I'd rather watch Hero's on my computer at this point....that is likely the extent of what we watch on NBC.

Do we really need to organize a boycott to get them to wake up?? Do they really not care that their digital signal sounds like absolute dogshit?

Chris
Yeh it IS annoying. I watch several shows on NBC and I constantly hear the glitches. You could always give OTA a try. Last time I did that it seemed better. Actually, I'm going to watch a bit of OTA right now (Conan/Fallon) to see how bad it is.

(EDIT: I just noticed you were in Livermore. Hrm. Not sure what you guys can get OTA there.)

KNTV continued to sound like crap tonight. As big a fans as we are of Joel McHale, it's really getting to the point we will have to give up watching.

I'd rather watch Hero's on my computer at this point....that is likely the extent of what we watch on NBC.

Do we really need to organize a boycott to get them to wake up?? Do they really not care that their digital signal sounds like absolute dogshit?

Chris
They're awake, I've been conversing with one of the engineers at KNTV all week.

What would help is if you could list a date/time/program/and what sort of problem you heard along with city and zipcode. As I noted in a previous post, KNTV's signal, seen via Comcast, is delivered or picked up by Comcast by both OTA and hard fiber connection. One of the diagnostic procedures they are asking for help in is the location as that's something they can't really do themselves. If the problems can be narrowed down to one type of transmission system, either fiber or via a Comcast antenna farm style pickup, then that will help tremendously as the two systems use 2 different encoders.

Additionally, short clips of sections of broadcasts that have the problems is also something they're looking for.

Bottom line, I think we bashed them enough(especially me :p ), they are, and have been trying to fix it.

Hrm. A lot of things could go wrong. Maybe I'll shoot him off an email. I already have the first file copied to a 4GB USB flash drive I could go down there with.



Yes, I would, if you could, there doesn't seem to be any hosting sites that will handle that size of file for free, maybe I could talk him into paying for one themselves. Mediafire will take up to 10GB files with a paid account and the upload is extremely fast, it will saturate my upload pipe at almost 4mb/s. Not sure what download is like, I would assume it's fairly fast as well.

Yes, I would, if you could, there doesn't seem to be any hosting sites that will handle that size of file for free, maybe I could talk him into paying for one themselves. Mediafire will take up to 10GB files with a paid account and the upload is extremely fast, it will saturate my upload pipe at almost 4mb/s. Not sure what download is like, I would assume it's fairly fast as well.

Well, with sites like megaupload you can use a utility such as RAR or 7-zip to break the archive up into files <1GB. Then I believe you can DL them as long as you sign up for a free account. I don't think you need a subscription.

Another thing I could do is put it on a fast web site I have control over where there are no restrictions, but it's on a friend's FiOS line, and I wouldn't want to make it a public thing.

Well, with sites like megaupload you can use a utility such as RAR or 7-zip to break the archive up into files <1GB. Then I believe you can DL them as long as you sign up for a free account. I don't think you need a subscription.

Another thing I could do is put it on a fast web site I have control over where there are no restrictions, but it's on a friend's FiOS line, and I wouldn't want to make it a public thing.

That what I used to send him the 90 sec clip of the news last night, Winrar and broke it into 2 pieces, 185mbs for just 90 sec. Although I like MediaFire as it's screaming fast for me. :D

I'll email him tomorrow, they ought to be able to setup and/or afford an FTP/file hosting site or something that can be used to send them files. At least for a month anyhow, I would hope this isn't going to take longer than that to fix...

ryany84 and stormer,

What is the make and model of your tv ? I can assure you those channels are still there, they are here in Milpitas, but your tv/tuner might have a problem with the psip data on Comcast or they change the frequency of those channels.
But knowing what kind of tv would help to know how your tv works. I have 3 different tv's and 2 different digital tuners so I know how some of the tuners interpret the psip data.

Laters,
Mikef5

I have a Panasonic TH-37PX50U.

ryany84 and stormer,

What is the make and model of your tv ? I can assure you those channels are still there, they are here in Milpitas, but your tv/tuner might have a problem with the psip data on Comcast or they change the frequency of those channels.
But knowing what kind of tv would help to know how your tv works. I have 3 different tv's and 2 different digital tuners so I know how some of the tuners interpret the psip data.

Laters,
Mikef5

I'm in 95126 (San Jose) using a Samsung LN46A550. Tried seeing if upgrading the firmware from 1004.1 to 1006.1 made a difference, but no luck there.

i'm in 95054... have you troubleshooted by trying to send a "stronger" signal to the TVs? it could be that signal level has dropped such that the splitters in your house have reduced the signal down to a level where you are having issues with the QAM tuners, yet not with the Comcast HD box.

just worth a shot in terms of diagnosis...beyond PSIP data and RF swapping, a lower S/N can certainly be a culprit. (it was for me and then i had to go about finding a solution to that problem)

Yea i took off the Splitter that leads to the Panasoinc and i did a channel rescan and no luck. FOX HD (KNTV HD) and CBS HD(KPIX HD) still not there.

Yea i took off the Splitter that leads to the Panasoinc and i did a channel rescan and no luck. FOX HD (KNTV HD) and CBS HD(KPIX HD) still not there.

Using the SiliconDust channel lineup listing it shows both FOX and KPIX are in the same RF frequency carrier so it explains why they're missing as a pair.

Have you checked to see if you can receive any the channels below or above RF channel 78? Going by the list, anything on 79 should be in the clear and you should be able to receive it, the biggest one being KNTV-HD. It would be very odd if it was just that one channel, 78, that was missing, unless it was a PSIP issue and/or the signal really is there but your tuner can't resolve it for some reason.

The above assumes that it's a map of your area and that it's still accurate as it's based on user submissions.

Using the SiliconDust channel lineup listing it shows both FOX and KPIX are in the same RF frequency carrier so it explains why they're missing as a pair.

Have you checked to see if you can receive any the channels below or above RF channel 78? Going by the list, anything on 79 should be in the clear and you should be able to receive it, the biggest one being KNTV-HD. It would be very odd if it was just that one channel, 78, that was missing, unless it was a PSIP issue and/or the signal really is there but your tuner can't resolve it for some reason.

The above assumes that it's a map of your area and that it's still accurate as it's based on user submissions.

Yea i got 79 KNTV and all the other channels.

My other housemate, he has a Vizio TV, just informed me that he is having the same issues as me and our other housemate. He does not have a splitter. on his TV.

Yea i got 79 KNTV and all the other channels.

My other housemate, he has a Vizio TV, just informed me that he is having the same issues as me and our other housemate. He does not have a splitter. on his TV.

So, as far as you know, it's just that one RF-QAM block of channels, 78-1(KPIX-HD), 78-2(KTVU-HD) and 78-3(KTVU-(subchannel)?

If so, I would have to go with PSIP problems since you can get KNTV... I'm assuming you can also get KBCW at 74-5? That would be a pretty narrow band for them to block/trap the newly digital Expanded Basic channels in, it would be only 3 frequency blocks, which could carry about 30 SD/digital channels, but I don't think it's room for all of them... besides, they would have had to come out and put a new trap in place... so it has to be a PSIP problem... I think, I'm not sure what else to tell you other than see if someone in your area can look at the data in the signal and see if the PSIP info is correct or not. That stuff gets into areas that I really haven't spent too much time in, so I'm not going to be much help at all there.

Got a message from Comcast saying "Now available in your HD lineup truTV, ESPN-U, Tennis HD, TCM HD and Headline News HD." Umm... no. I'm guessing someone pulled the trigger on this message a little early, since in Santa Rosa we're supposed to get more channels next week according to the flyer mailed out about a month ago.

Got a message from Comcast saying "Now available in your HD lineup truTV, ESPN-U, Tennis HD, TCM HD and Headline News HD." Umm... no. I'm guessing someone pulled the trigger on this message a little early, since in Santa Rosa we're supposed to get more channels next week according to the flyer mailed out about a month ago.

No they didn't, read my posts about the new channels and my post of when Santa Rosa will get upgraded to the " World of More ". When Santa Rosa is upgraded you will get the old new channels and also these new channels at the same time. You will be fully upgraded then and that should be sometime next week or sooner. I'm sure Keenan will let us know when it happens, won't you Jim ? :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5

No they didn't, read my posts about the new channels and my post of when Santa Rosa will get upgraded to the " World of More ". When Santa Rosa is upgraded you will get the old new channels and also these new channels at the same time. You will be fully upgraded then and that should be sometime next week or sooner. I'm sure Keenan will let us know when it happens, won't you Jim ? :p;)

Laters,
Mikef5
Sure will. :)

Meanwhile, my Dodgers are in danger of blowing it large...:rolleyes:

Yea i got 79 KNTV and all the other channels.

My other housemate, he has a Vizio TV, just informed me that he is having the same issues as me and our other housemate. He does not have a splitter. on his TV.

Well, here's what I have. I have a Vizio, Panasonic and a Sony Tv all of them show Fox 2-1 and CBS 5-1 as being there. My Lg and Samsung digital tuners show the same thing. So it looks like there might be psip data corruption in your loop because it's showing properly in my loop. So you need to talk to a tech at the head end for your loop to see if that is the case.

Laters,
Mikef5

Sure will. :)

Meanwhile, my Dodgers are in danger of blowing it large...:rolleyes:

NNNNOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as I love to hate the Dodgers :p, I don't want to root for a non-California team, especially the Rockies ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Sure will. :)

Meanwhile, my Dodgers are in danger of blowing it large...:rolleyes:

that's right, the dodgers blow!

I signed back up to Showtime last weekend for Dexter and began catching up on episodes of Weeds via OnDemand. Those files seem to have some audio dropouts. Anyone else notice this? However, "Nurse Jackie" is fine so it isn't a hardware problem. If I back up before the dropout occurs it doesn't occur again so it might be a high bitrate or server problem.

I signed back up to Showtime last weekend for Dexter and began catching up on episodes of Weeds via OnDemand. Those files seem to have some audio dropouts. Anyone else notice this? However, "Nurse Jackie" is fine so it isn't a hardware problem. If I back up before the dropout occurs it doesn't occur again so it might be a high bitrate or server problem.

OnDemand? You're probably about it being a server problem.

I just added Showtime for $1 a month for 12 months yesterday, along with the free HBO I'm pretty happy. :D

OnDemand? You're probably about it being a server problem.

I just added Showtime for $1 a month for 12 months yesterday, along with the free HBO I'm pretty happy. :D

Man I need to figure out how to renegotiate my deal w/ Comcast. I'm paying like $170-180/m for digital platinum (or whatever they call it). I get pretty much everything 'cept for the foreign lang channels, and some of the special sports chans, and the adult chans.

Also, how can someone living in NoCal be a Dodgers fan instead of an As or Giants fan!?!? :p

BTW, I watched about 30 minutes of late night TV on KNTV OTA last night, and must report again that there were hardly any glitches. The only things I thought I heard were a click here and there. But not "rolled" Bs or Ds or anything like I hear over Comcast. This is the same as I reported last time I did this, IIRC.

Man I need to figure out how to renegotiate my deal w/ Comcast. I'm paying like $170-180/m for digital platinum (or whatever they call it). I get pretty much everything 'cept for the foreign lang channels, and some of the special sports chans, and the adult chans.

Also, how can someone living in NoCal be a Dodgers fan instead of an As or Giants fan!?!? :p

BTW, I watched about 30 minutes of late night TV on KNTV OTA last night, and must report again that there were hardly any glitches. The only things I thought I heard were a click here and there. But not "rolled" Bs or Ds or anything like I hear over Comcast. This is the same as I reported last time I did this, IIRC.
While I was born in the People's Republic of Berkeley( :p ), I moved south very early and was raised in LA, been Dodger fan since I was a kid. :)

I've been getting the Comcast deals I have most likely because all I had was Limited Basic and HSI before I started taking advantage of all the promos/deals they've been offering. A little tweaking here and there and timing when ever I ask about them has allowed me to get a rather good lineup for very little money. I have Digital Preferred(Classic with some extra stuff, Encore HD I think) for $39.99 per month for a year. At the end of the year I may keep it or drop and go back the contracted Digital Starter which will continue at a rate of $39.99 for the next 12 mos. HBO I have free, as part of the Digital Classic signup(signing bonus :D ), for 24 mos. Along with the Preferred addition came Showtime $1 per/mo for 12 mos. Also got the 16/2 Blast HSI service for $29.99 per/mo when I got the Digital Starter signup.

For all the above I'm paying $78 per month for the coming year

Things will change somewhat when the first 12 months is up and I'll have to make some adjustments, but I couldn't be happier since before I started all this wheelin' and dealin' I was paying $73 per month for just Limited Basic and 16/2 HSI.

Regarding the KNTV problem, he hears the problem in the clips I sent him and said he was going to check the encoder logs for error entries. So they are actively working on fixing it.

Keenan, thanks for your efforts regarding KNTV. I've heard it consistently on the two episodes of Community, as well as the two most recent episodes of Heros. Before that I heard it on every episode of Merlin over the summer. That's where I first started hearing it, and I thought it was something in the Merlin show, but now I see it's widespread. Funny, as somebody else pointed out, the commercials don't seem to have this problem. Guess we know where the priorities are....;-)

Yeh it IS annoying. I watch several shows on NBC and I constantly hear the glitches. You could always give OTA a try. Last time I did that it seemed better. Actually, I'm going to watch a bit of OTA right now (Conan/Fallon) to see how bad it is.

(EDIT: I just noticed you were in Livermore. Hrm. Not sure what you guys can get OTA there.)

Funny you should ask, but I was watching (and recording) OTA in Livermore before pretty much anybody was....in 2001....via the old Hipix card. The signal from Sacramento was much better than from Sutro....but I could still pick up NBC via Sutro...until they moved to KNTV. That signal never worked. This is back in the "old" days when HD was full bandwidth.....it's too bad those days are long gone.

Keenan, thanks for your efforts regarding KNTV. I've heard it consistently on the two episodes of Community, as well as the two most recent episodes of Heros. Before that I heard it on every episode of Merlin over the summer. That's where I first started hearing it, and I thought it was something in the Merlin show, but now I see it's widespread. Funny, as somebody else pointed out, the commercials don't seem to have this problem. Guess we know where the priorities are....;-)

Xn0r has been pitching in as well. BTW, what is your zipcode as that will help(maybe) figure what/where the problem lies.

I first noticed it with the Sunday night football games, I watched probably only The Philanthropist on NBC over the summer and I don't recall whether I was hearing it or not. I may have heard it during a few eps of The Listener(?). Anyway, I've realized that I watch very little NBC programming anymore, but when I do it would be nice if it worked properly. :-D

Funny you should ask, but I was watching (and recording) OTA in Livermore before pretty much anybody was....in 2001....via the old Hipix card. The signal from Sacramento was much better than from Sutro....but I could still pick up NBC via Sutro...until they moved to KNTV. That signal never worked. This is back in the "old" days when HD was bull bandwidth.....it's too bad those days are long gone.

I thought I recognized your moniker from the SF HDTV Yahoo bbs. :D

Funny you should ask, but I was watching (and recording) OTA in Livermore before pretty much anybody was....in 2001....via the old Hipix card. The signal from Sacramento was much better than from Sutro....but I could still pick up NBC via Sutro...until they moved to KNTV. That signal never worked. This is back in the "old" days when HD was bull bandwidth.....it's too bad those days are long gone.

I can vouch for that! I saw his setup and soon had my own. I learned a lot from R8der.
We go back a long way, Baby! :cool:

i just got a recorded message from comcast saying i'm getting world of more on oct 6th...

i just got a recorded message from comcast saying i'm getting world of more on oct 6th...

Fantastic! Hope that also include Bezerkeley.

Is the recent signal quality just crap?

I'm in Cupertino and I can barely get KGO-HD on my TV using a QAM tuner. On my computer it's bearable but terrible. I tried to record the Cal - Oregon game and it was disgusting. I got audio only for the most part with bits of video.

I saw it on a big screen at another place (Oakland) which was using a QAM tuner (I don't know if they split), but there were a lot of points where the broadcast would jitter and video would cut out.

Can I ask if the Comcast Box actually gives you a boost in quality? I doubt it right? It'd only degrade the signal like my QAM tuner does already. I use a QAM tuner all around so I do not know about the comcast digital box. I have a splitter at my computer (cable modem) and at the TV (it used to use feed the VCR too). I guess I can take the splitter out at the TV but a level 1 splitter shouldn't mess things up that badly right?

When I was in college I used a 2 level splitter and instead of -3.5 dB it'd be -7.0 dB feeding my Fusion HDTV and it was always fine. My cable modem was fine too.

I don't get why I'm getting low signal now.

I'm leaving my house to stay at my gf's place for the weekend to attend the Cal USC game. Here's to hoping:

1) My Bears don't melt down
2) I currently can watch KGO-HD at home, but I set my recording to record tomorrow. I'm hoping I won't get a audio only with 30% of the video only like the Oregon game.

Seriously this is pissing me off.

I want to record my HD TV shows!!!! RAWR

Funny you should ask, but I was watching (and recording) OTA in Livermore before pretty much anybody was....in 2001....via the old Hipix card. The signal from Sacramento was much better than from Sutro....but I could still pick up NBC via Sutro...until they moved to KNTV. That signal never worked. This is back in the "old" days when HD was bull bandwidth.....it's too bad those days are long gone.
OIC. So can you still pick up KCRA from Sac OTA? I'd be curious to know if we get the same audio issues that way.

Mikef5

I took your advice re: All Channels. All the new channel designators were shown but TBA and no channels working. Tried the channel numbers still didn't work. Late this morning still says TBA but I now have all the channel. Maybe I'll get the guide data tommorow when TiVo does it's daily update.

Thanks,

John

Mikef5

I took your advice re: All Channels. All the new channel designators were shown but TBA and no channels working. Tried the channel numbers still didn't work. Late this morning still says TBA but I now have all the channel. Maybe I'll get the guide data tommorow when TiVo does it's daily update.

Thanks,

John

John,

You know you can force an update by manually connecting to Tivo. Go to Settings, then Phone & Network, then Connect to the Tivo service now or you could just wait until tomorrow like you said if it's not a big deal for you ;).

Laters,
Mikef5

I thought I recognized your moniker from the SF HDTV Yahoo bbs. :D

Wait, what was your "handle" back then Keenan? I had to leave that group because the same people kept coming in and asking the SAME questions....it was driving me bonkers!

Mark Del Secco....holy crap...where you been buddy?

Good to see the hardcore home theater crowd is still alive and well!

Anybody helping with KNTV...thank you! We watched Community (from last night) this evening....grr.....and then I realized we watched yet another show from NBC...The Office. It's sad when I can tell which shows are NBC by the way the show sounds. Double grr......

Chris

OIC. So can you still pick up KCRA from Sac OTA? I'd be curious to know if we get the same audio issues that way.

While the antenna is still up, I disconnected the HTC awhile back when we redid our living room. Hooking it back up to test would be a huge endeavor at this point. If I get bored one Saturday maybe I'll give it a shot!

Once we had the Comcast DVR, the Hipix card got used less and less....and the recordings I had in HD are now available on blu-ray in 1080p....so I really didn't see the value in keeping the unit hooked up.

Hell, I don't even use my c-band setup anymore...or the old HDD200. Times have changed!

Chris

Xn0r has been pitching in as well. BTW, what is your zipcode as that will help(maybe) figure what/where the problem lies.



Zip is 94550

@r8der: Could you hook the OTA antenna up to the TV? Tivo also supports OTA (I know u have a Comcast DVR).

Wow. C-Band. That's serious!

Wait, what was your "handle" back then Keenan? I had to leave that group because the same people kept coming in and asking the SAME questions....it was driving me bonkers!

Mark Del Secco....holy crap...where you been buddy?

Good to see the hardcore home theater crowd is still alive and well!

Anybody helping with KNTV...thank you! We watched Community (from last night) this evening....grr.....and then I realized we watched yet another show from NBC...The Office. It's sad when I can tell which shows are NBC by the way the show sounds. Double grr......

Chris
I can't even remember anymore, it was an ISP email address and when I dropped AT&T DSL I couldn't get logged back in, changed to a new account, that one always gave me trouble trying to login, finally got one that's been working fine for awhile. I guess if you don't use the account for a period it goes dormant and then good luck getting it to work again. Anyway, it must have been some variation of what I use here.

I remember you were always "yelling' at somebody or something. :p:D

Vallejo is on track for WOM. All of the analogue channels above 34 are now gone.

@r8der: Could you hook the OTA antenna up to the TV? Tivo also supports OTA (I know u have a Comcast DVR).

Wow. C-Band. That's serious!

I didn't even consider whether my set has an internal tuner. That might work. Let me do some quick research. I have the Samsung HL67A750.

I even disconnected the antenna rotator control...but that is easy to pull back out and connect. The only reason I left the antenna up is because I'm lazy...:o

Edit: What do you know...it has an OTA tuner. It just never dawned on me to check before. I'll see what I can do to check it out tonight after the Cal game.

i just got a recorded message from comcast saying i'm getting world of more on oct 6th...

*What part of Oakland are you in?
*What package do you have?

I'm in Adams Point using TivoHD with a multi-stream cable card and the Digital Starter package.

I didn't even consider whether my set has an internal tuner. That might work. Let me do some quick research. I have the Samsung HL67A750.

I even disconnected the antenna rotator control...but that is easy to pull back out and connect. The only reason I left the antenna up is because I'm lazy...:o

Edit: What do you know...it has an OTA tuner. It just never dawned on me to check before. I'll see what I can do to check it out tonight after the Cal game.
Heh. I'll be interested to know how it works out for ya. Just about every new TV I've ever seen has a built in ATSC tuner. Even my cheapo Olevia 242TFHD has one.

If it works you, you could get a Tivo or some other HD capable DVR that can do OTA and have another option until they fix the sound. ;)

Every new TV is required to have an ATSC tuner.
(that is if it has an NTSC tuner, and if it doesn't it's not really a "TV" it's a "monitor") :)

Every new TV is required to have an ATSC tuner.
(that is if it has an NTSC tuner, and if it doesn't it's not really a "TV" it's a "monitor") :)
Yep! And I also see lots of monitors which also have ATSC tuners in 'em these days. They're pretty popular with college kids, etc, allowing them to hook up their desktop computers to them as well as their Xbox, and watch TV on it. So the lines between TV and monitor are getting a bit blurry now. :D

For instance, this guy here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824001281

http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/24-001-281-03.jpg
http://c1.neweggimages.com/NeweggImage/productimage/24-001-281-16.jpg

The Wash/ND game on KNTV is just loaded with garbling audio...

The Wash/ND game on KNTV is just loaded with garbling audio...
I got a reply for the eng. He said he was able to get my files down from mega and hear the glitches, and that they were helpful. So they're still working on it I guess. Must be a heck of a problem!

The Wash/ND game on KNTV is just loaded with garbling audio...

Agreed. Ugh!!! I'm trying not to yell!! :eek:

I got a reply for the eng. He said he was able to get my files down from mega and hear the glitches, and that they were helpful. So they're still working on it I guess. Must be a heck of a problem!

I got the antenna connected to the set...and then realized I need to hook up the antenna amplifier or I'll never get a signal. That is out in the garage somewhere....so maybe I can find it tomorrow!

It's hard for me to imagine a requirement for a TV to have an ATSC tuner......that is so foreign to me....since my first set I bought in 2000 had no such thing!

I got the antenna connected to the set...and then realized I need to hook up the antenna amplifier or I'll never get a signal. That is out in the garage somewhere....so maybe I can find it tomorrow!

It's hard for me to imagine a requirement for a TV to have an ATSC tuner......that is so foreign to me....since my first set I bought in 2000 had no such thing!
I remember when the first HDTVs came out and the tuners were in separate boxes.

i have major audio dropouts on all my kntv/nbc HD DVR recordings the last month. snl thursday, snl, parks & recreation, & the office, specifically.

i came to this thread to learn of others experiencing audio "pops and degradation" etc....

i spoke to a very cordial kntv engineer earlier tonight and w told me he was aware of the problem and another local engineer was working on solving the issue.

i explained to him i was getting 1-2 second audio dropouts and major video pixelation every 1-2 minutes on my recordings. he seemed a bit surprised to hear this. he was aware of clicks and pops but not complete dropouts. it seems to be more than a local issue as the engineer told me people as far as san diego have reported the same audio pop/glitch issue.

i'm watching snl "live" now and have noticed a few of the minor audio pops/glitches that many of you have described. i'm sure when i watch my dvr recording later i will continue to get the audio dropouts in those same troubled spots.

I don't think the bulk of us are seeing major audio dropouts....just a garbling. The video, to me, is unaffected. It's on pretty much everything....the Washington/ND game today was absolutely AWFUL! I ended up muting it while I watched just to keep my blood pressure from flying off the handle.

I really don't understand how this can be a difficult issue. It likely is just a reset of an encoder....how could it be taking KNTV so long to get this resolved? Amazing!

Chris

i have major audio dropouts on all my kntv/nbc HD DVR recordings the last month. snl thursday, snl, parks & recreation, & the office, specifically.

i came to this thread to learn of others experiencing audio "pops and degradation" etc....

i spoke to a very cordial kntv engineer earlier tonight and w told me he was aware of the problem and another local engineer was working on solving the issue.

i explained to him i was getting 1-2 second audio dropouts and major video pixelation every 1-2 minutes on my recordings. he seemed a bit surprised to hear this. he was aware of clicks and pops but not complete dropouts. it seems to be more than a local issue as the engineer told me people as far as san diego have reported the same audio pop/glitch issue.

i'm watching snl "live" now and have noticed a few of the minor audio pops/glitches that many of you have described. i'm sure when i watch my dvr recording later i will continue to get the audio dropouts in those same troubled spots.

I haven't been having any video problems, in fact video quality has looked the best it's ever been on NBC(KNTV) for a long while. I believe this is a result of their transition to MPEG4 for their network distribution.

The audio issues has been discussed here quite a bit and a few of us are in contact with KNTV about it. That said, I haven't had any dropouts per se, they're all either garbling of the audio and/or pops and clicks, but no complete dropouts, that I recall anyway.

Given your description of the problems it sounds like a Comcast signal issue to me. The KNTV audio problem can certainly be exacerbating the problems you're having, but until now, no one has mentioned anything about video problems.

What DVR are you using, do you know how to check the diagnostics on it to see what some of the signal quality/strength readings say?

I remember when the first HDTVs came out and the tuners were in separate boxes.

I remember when we had to wait weeks at a time to get something in HD! Anything! I remember going to a party at KQED and asking them to train their HD cam on rain if they could....because we'd watch it! Just give us some fricking HD content.

Then they started subchannels....argh.....so much for the passion to watch pure HD.

Keenan....you and I need to get a life. Both of us responding to this thread at 1:20 in the AM is sad. lol

That being said...we need to hook up soon!

Chris

I don't think the bulk of us are seeing major audio dropouts....just a garbling. The video, to me, is unaffected. It's on pretty much everything....the Washington/ND game today was absolutely AWFUL! I ended up muting it while I watched just to keep my blood pressure from flying off the handle.

I really don't understand how this can be a difficult issue. It likely is just a reset of an encoder....how could it be taking KNTV so long to get this resolved? Amazing!

Chris
You would think it would be that easy, but only if the equipment itself was functioning properly after the reset or adjustment. I think that's why they are having the problems they are, the actual equipment, or pieces of equipment used in concert, are not operating the way they're supposed to.

As an example, DirecTV has had an ongoing problem for almost a year now with an audio problem that sounds just about identical to what we're hearing from KNTV. This problem developed, in part, when they started switching over to MPEG4 for delivery of their channels. Now, way back in the beginning it exhibited itself as out-of-sync audio/video, there wasn't really any audio issues as we're hearing them now, but it was out of sync. Apparently as they got closer to solving the sync problem, the audio garbling problems started to come about. There's at least 2 very long threads about the issue at DBS Talk and probably at SatGuys as well. And here's the kicker, it doesn't happen on all of their channels, only some of them, just like it's only happening in some local areas and markets with NBC. The hypothesis is that the MPEG4 encoding equipment is not fault-tolerant enough of the less than perfect MPEG2 incoming signals. If there's any errors in the MPEG2 signal, these MPEG4 encoders are "stumbling" on the signal processing and the result is a garbling of the audio, or an out of sync condition depending on which way the encoder is "dialed in", or biased toward as it were

I mention the DirecTV problems as NBC also went to MPEG4 net distro during the past year, although the other way around, DirecTV takes the MPEG2 signal and transcodes it MPEG4, whereas NBC takes the network native MPEG4 signal and has to convert it to MPEG2 for delivery OTA and to cable systems. In DirecTV's case, on local NBC anyways, it come from NBC as MPEG4, gets converted to MPEG2 by the station, then gets converted back to MPEG4 by DirecTV for the sat to user delivery systems.

It's just a bit curious that both companies are having a very similar problem.

As far as I know, only ABC/Disney is also currently using MPEG4 for their network to station distribution, I think, but they also don't seem to be having any audio problems. It could be the progressive nature of their signal, or even more likely, the actual brand/model of encoding/decoding equipment they are using, and the settings it's been set at. Even so-called factory-recommended settings on some of this type of equipment, is not the best, CBS has had trouble with Harris equipment and their reccos on encoder settings. If you've ever seen the occasional blurriness during NCAA basketball games on CBS, that's one of those settings that's "recommended" but isn't really right.

So, it's not like having a dead battery in a car that you can just swap out, it's more akin to finding a short in a modern, fully loaded luxury car. :D

Keenan....you and I need to get a life. Both of us responding to this thread at 1:20 in the AM is sad. lol

That being said...we need to hook up soon!

Chris

It is sad, very sad...:p:D

Mark Del Secco....holy crap...where you been buddy?
Good to see the hardcore home theater crowd is still alive and well!
Chris

I've been here all along...ever since you got me hooked on this stuff!
Welcome back!!!

Watching this discussion of KNTV audio problems, I decided to check.
They are running some infomercial right now, so I could not stand to watch for long, but I heard no audio glitches in several minutes of watching, either over the air, or on cable (95127).
How often do these glitches occur?
I wonder how much this is affected by the error correction ability of the tuner.

Watching the NFL Redzone channel, remember that's free this weekend, and it's really addicting. Too bad that's in SD. But I'd gladly pay $5/month for a HD version.

I've been following this thread for the past couple of days, ever since I noticed that Comcrap removed 2.1 and 5.1. The FCC regs on must carry for hd are a bit fuzzy, but it seems that there likely is no requirement that they pass through the HD feed, so long as they are passing through the sd feed. I'm not sure what (if any) contract requirements they have with the stations themselves, but there is a chance that the stations require the cable co. to pass through the HD.

I intend to call KTVU and KPIX to see if they can shed any light on why this is happening and whether they can do anything to kick the cable co. in the rear to get our HD back. I think the more people that call and put pressure on the stations, the higher the likelihood that we'll get our clear QAM HD back.

I'm very glad to hear that KNTV is working on the audio pops issue. I also noticed that for the past few weeks NBCHD (SNL stuff at least) was coming in in the high ~16mbps (nearly 17mbps). It had been ~12mbps for more than a year. Then last night, SNL was back down to ~12mbps. If any of you speak to the engineers there, please mention the reduction and ask that they continue to pump out their HD at closer to 17mbps.

CBS was full bitrate (17mbps+) when they were using the Harris encoders up until around late January, but then they reduced it down to ~15mbps...~14mbps...~13mbps. It varies now between 12-15, and the degradation of bits is apparent in the PQ.

Watching this discussion of KNTV audio problems, I decided to check.
They are running some infomercial right now, so I could not stand to watch for long, but I heard no audio glitches in several minutes of watching, either over the air, or on cable (95127).
How often do these glitches occur?
I wonder how much this is affected by the error correction ability of the tuner.
If you want to hear what they sound like, DL these files: http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3FCWXLS2

moic39 mentioned watching SNL with some audio glitches last night but for me, as it came on the picture was a pixellated mess with audio dropouts. Completely unwatchable. Switching to my LG DVR the transmission was clean, relatively speaking. :confused:

I've seen various folks mention they use Tivo with Comcast....can you advise how that works? I'd love to find a way to own the DVR versus paying Comcast to rent one.

Chris

If you want to hear what they sound like, DL these files: http://www.megaupload.com/?f=3FCWXLS2

I'm listening to the 11pm newscast from last night and I can't help but think that it's actually worse than it's ever been. The "amplitude" or severeness seems to be lower, but it's happen more often. Almost as if the adjustments that were made are masking the problem rather than eliminating it and in doing so it's happening even more often.

I've seen various folks mention they use Tivo with Comcast....can you advise how that works? I'd love to find a way to own the DVR versus paying Comcast to rent one.

Chris

You get a CableCard from Comcast and put it in the TiVo. Other than buying a TiVo box, you still have to pay for the TiVo service, either monthly, annually, or one-time lifetime (for the box).

I've seen various folks mention they use Tivo with Comcast....can you advise how that works? I'd love to find a way to own the DVR versus paying Comcast to rent one.

Chris

Big subject... basically, you buy the TiVo, they can be had for as low as $200(factory refurb), purchase a subscription plan that varies from a monthly($12.95) to one time lifetime cost of($399), get a CableCARD and you're pretty much good to go. For the cost of a 1TB drive you can have around 157 HRs of HD recording capacity either through internal drive swap or adding a TiVo-approved external storage drive.

TiVo DVRs (https://www3.tivo.com/dvr-products/home/index.html)
I guess they don't have any refurbs right now, but Amazon sells the TiVo HD for about $260

Service plans
https://www3.tivo.com/store/plans.do

I would look through the following posting, it will answer just about any question.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=879469

I've had my Series 3(HD) since the day they were released back in Sept '06 and I love it.

Factory refurbs
https://www3.tivo.com/store/boxes.do?type=renewed

Adding to the above ...

I have a Tivo HD, and also an old Philips HDR 112 SD Tivo which I've had forever (almost as soon as they came out) and which have been upgraded a few times. I also upgraded the Tivo HD w/ a 1TB AV drive soon after I got it.

Anyway, I'm a huge fan of Tivo. I can't say I've used many other DVRs, but from what people say on forums and such, they have the best UI, and work the best. Although I've also heard a few good things about the Motorola Moxi. I've heard that the Comcast DVR is awful in comparison.

One thing to note about the Tivo HD DVRs is that they can do both OTA and Cable simultaneously. The OTA channels just get added to the "channels you receive". And you can record them just like the cable channels, and make use of the dual tuner functionality.

My biggest problem with Tivo is the channel lineups. They seem to often take a long time to get them right, especially when new ones are added.

Thanks for all of the input on Tivo guys....awesome stuff! I've got some reading to do!

We have two Comcast DVR's right now......so it's getting old paying for them.

Thanks for all of the input on Tivo guys....awesome stuff! I've got some reading to do!

We have two Comcast DVR's right now......so it's getting old paying for them.

Tivo won't always save you money since you still have to pay them a subscription (vs comcast lease),
but for 2 tivo's vs 2 comcast boxes, it should be cheaper (once you pay for the boxes):
A second Tivo subscription (https://www3.tivo.com/buytivo/popups/msdpricing-message-ajax.html) is flat $9.95 a month discounted... (corrected from old 6.95 price)
plus, you can send shows between the two Tivos (MRV multi-room viewing),
which is pretty nice if you recorded on one, and want to finish eg watching in the bedroom TV. (if you get one HD box and one cheaper SD, the SD one can't view HD shows of course, but they can exchange SD ones.)

Plus, all the other great Tivo features like online scheduling, Netflix streaming (w/ HD box), photos/music,
transfer shows to PC or laptop for archiving/viewing on the road or iPod etc, etc...

sorry, us Tivo fans can and will go on forever ;-)

but, the biggest wins vs comcast's motorola box?

1. EXPANDABLE STORAGE (if you replace the disk drive, or add eSATA external)- my 1TB drive is full already :) ,
and 2. NO Motorola REMOTE BUTTON DELAY BUG (and general better/smarter scheduling & behavior.)

Thanks Cgould.....I definitely need to look into this. We don't record ANYTHING in SD.....nor do we watch anything in SD. If it's not in HD, we don't watch it in our house. You might as well drink Budweiser. I'd rather die of thirst.

I think you meant 1TB drive....right?

Motorola remote button delay bug? Perhaps I've been lucky...not sure what this refers to.

Chris

Tivo won't always save you money since you still have to pay them a subscription (vs comcast lease),
but for 2 tivo's vs 2 comcast boxes, it should be cheaper (once you pay for the boxes):
A second Tivo subscription is flat $6.95 a month discounted...
plus, you can send shows between the two Tivos (MRV multi-room viewing),
which is pretty nice if you recorded on one, and want to finish eg watching in the bedroom TV. (if you get one HD box and one cheaper SD, the SD one can't view HD shows of course, but they can exchange SD ones.)



The second TiVo now costs $9.95/month, or $99/year, or $299 lifetime. Not sure if there is any equipment discount on the second TiVo, but the refurbished TiVO HD for $200 is a good deal.

The biggest drawback to the TiVo is that it does not support Video On Demand.

Thanks Cgould.....I definitely need to look into this. We don't record ANYTHING in SD.....nor do we watch anything in SD. If it's not in HD, we don't watch it in our house. You might as well drink Budweiser. I'd rather die of thirst.

I think you meant 1TB drive....right?

Motorola remote button delay bug? Perhaps I've been lucky...not sure what this refers to.

Chris

Hah :-) Yes, I meant 1TB, sorry- corrected...
if you're only recording in HD, then a larger drive would be very nice, 1TB should hold like 140 hours (assume 7GB/hr).
The Motorola 160gb drive only holds 22hours...

Wonder if they finally fixed the motorola remote delay bug? I've had my Tivo S3 for years so maybe got fixed...
this is the bug where you press a button on remote, and the Moto box is busy processing something else, and doesn't respond, so you push again etc... then a minute later all the button presses suddenly catch up and the box goes bit crazy... frustrating eg w/ ffwd/rewind.

Thanks for the correction to 2nd (multi-service (https://www3.tivo.com/buytivo/popups/msdpricing-message-ajax.html)) subscription price. Forgot the raise since I'm grandfathered into the old price still (original Sony SD box; should cancel as half my analog channels are now gone anyway..)