In the past, PPV was a static broadcast, while VOD was a dynamically generated broadcast (similar to SDV). Have they now switched PPV to dynamically generated? I don't follow PPV stuff very closely.

The distinction would become important if you have an STB in your house and a CableCARD device. If you call in to purchase the PPV on statically broadcast channel, I believe all your devices can see it by tuning to the channel. If you order the VOD from the STB, only the STB will be able to see it.

I'm not a 100% sure, but I believe (at least on my system) they don't offer the static channel PPV anymore. It's only done through the VOD menu. I'll check tonight.

Actually I've never tried DVR'ing a PPV channel, I don't think I've ever ordered one... it might work.

I know 100% for sure you can't DVR a VOD channel. Er, not channel, but you know what I mean.... And sorry for using DVR as a verb. ;)

From my understanding of this copy protection thing is you shouldn't be able to copy ( even with the Motorola box ) PPV or On Demand, basically anything that you have to pay for outside of your digital package. You still should be able to do the movie channels and the rest of the channels that are included in your package as usual. If not I'll be pi**ed, I time shift most everything I watch. See if you can do the PPV or On Demand now that the copy protection thing is in place.

Laters,
Mikef5
I can understand On Demand, since you should be able to go and get it anytime you want anyway. But if you can't copy PPV, that sucks.

On another note, does anyone know if we're getting tonight's Shark's game in HD? HD Sports Guide shows it on Versus-HD, and I could swear I saw it listed there on Wed on the On-screen guide. But now the guide says "Golf", and that's what's usually on 721 on Fridays during that time slot. FSN-HD shows off-air, even though FSN-SD is showing the game. WTF good is 720 if they don't show a play-off game on it, perfering to keep it blank???

I can understand On Demand, since you should be able to go and get it anytime you want anyway. But if you can't copy PPV, that sucks.

But you can get PPV anytime you want...I think that's why Comcast doesn't distinguish between the two anymore. It's one thing if PPV is on a static channel and is non-interactive (i.e. it just repeats shows and you have to "catch it" at the right time). PPV = VOD+$

You can't record VOD/PPV on the Comcast DVR. It just doesn't let you.
Where are you getting this from? I record PPV stuff all the time. And not just porn, either, sometimes I record sporting events like boxing! :)

I can't talk about VOD, living in a 550 MHz slum as I do, but it's my understanding that you aren't supposed to be able to record that. But then, why would you? Kinda defeats the whole purpose of VOD, doesn't it?

But you can get PPV anytime you want...I think that's why Comcast doesn't distinguish between the two anymore. It's one thing if PPV is on a static channel and is non-interactive (i.e. it just repeats shows and you have to "catch it" at the right time). PPV = VOD+$
What about stuff like UFC? That is typically only shown once (or twice, really, but that's just back-to-back), and then it's gone. And what about porn? Those are different from the movies that are shown repeatedly.

My HBO won't show up now, i'm using cablecard, it was ok yesterday, anyone is having the same issue in milpitas area now? all my other channels are fine.

My HBO won't show up now, i'm using cablecard, it was ok yesterday, anyone is having the same issue in milpitas area now? all my other channels are fine.
It is because they enabled CPMS Copy Protection Management System and there were problems getting the CableCARDs configured properly for the new system. You need to call it in, tell them you have a problem with your CableCARD, give them your host/data IDs from the CableCARD config screen and pray it reaches somebody who knows what is going on. It could end up being a painless 15 minute call or a multi-day adventure.

I set my 6412 to 1080i and every thing is ok. I turn it off and back on -1080i.
I check it the next day 1080i output.

2 or 3 days later it is set to 480p on its own.

Whatsup with that?

I set my 6412 to 1080i and every thing is ok. I turn it off and back on -1080i.
I check it the next day 1080i output.

2 or 3 days later it is set to 480p on its own.

Whatsup with that?
The simplest way to handle that is to have them replace the box or go to your local Comcast center and exchange it for another. It's not your job to trouble shoot the equipment, that's their job and it's not worth the aggravation to you. Life's to short to worry about that kind of thing ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

I set my 6412 to 1080i and every thing is ok. I turn it off and back on -1080i.
I check it the next day 1080i output.

2 or 3 days later it is set to 480p on its own.

Whatsup with that?
My box got reset to 480p for the first time I can remember a couple of days ago. All the config settings in PowerOff->Menu got reset also. Just a stab in the dark, it might have something the CPMS work they did this week. Could be unrelated also.

Hi, looking for some help to find ABC/KGO in San Jose, 95116. Have a built in QAM ? Cannot locate. anybody have an idea...?? Thanks

Anyone able to get QAM in these areas?
If so what channels?
Really interested in getting TNT in HD hopefully.

Newark 94560

San Jose 95133

Thanks

It is because they enabled CPMS Copy Protection Management System and there were problems getting the CableCARDs configured properly for the new system. You need to call it in, tell them you have a problem with your CableCARD, give them your host/data IDs from the CableCARD config screen and pray it reaches somebody who knows what is going on. It could end up being a painless 15 minute call or a multi-day adventure.

Can't get 730 HD with Cable Card either and calling Comcast follows this thread's prediction. CSR's, all three, told me their supervisor's would get signal through to set my card to copy protection to prevent piracy (Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into law by Hilary Clinton's and Monica Lewenski's shared lover) which has not occurred. So fully expect next call to result in a truck roll. I asked about TIVO due to friends having and I was told they should rent a DVR! Were rather negative about cable cards one CSR told me they're having trouble with. CSR is to call back after supervisor's fourth try. I'll get out my appointment book!

Look forward to the new American Heroes surmounting this silliness ----------- being DRM hackers!

slannes

Can't get 730 HD with Cable Card either and calling Comcast follows this thread's prediction. CSR's, all three, told me their supervisor's would get signal through to set my card to copy protection to prevent piracy (Digital Millennium Copyright Act signed into law by Hilary Clinton's and Monica Lewenski's shared lover) which has not occurred. So fully expect next call to result in a truck roll. I asked about TIVO due to friends having and I was told they should rent a DVR! Were rather negative about cable cards one CSR told me they're having trouble with. CSR is to call back after supervisor's fourth try. I'll get out my appointment book!

Look forward to the new American Heroes surmounting this silliness ----------- being DRM hackers!

slannes


Never called back. So first available appointment for tech next Tuesday!

Lot's of luck to other Comcast suspected pirates.

slannes

Never called back. So first available appointment for tech next Tuesday!

Lot's of luck to other Comcast suspected pirates.

slannes

UPDATE: Just discovered none of the premium channels being those above basic service work. On sixth call to Comcast they sent signal through again several times to no avail. And, admitted tech will do the same Tuesday but may insert new CC. They said they are having trouble with all CC sets and frankly don't know how to resolve. Thus, regardless of Congressional intent re CC's
it appears I'll have to rent a Comcast STB and live with rotten SD PQ until all digital service implemented.

Seems copy protection is renders CCs extinct!
slannes

My box got reset to 480p for the first time I can remember a couple of days ago. All the config settings in PowerOff->Menu got reset also. Just a stab in the dark, it might have something the CPMS work they did this week. Could be unrelated also.

Thanks to you and Mikef5 for the posts.

I think I will wait for the symptom to reappear. Has already happened 2-3 times.

I have a bunch of HD stuff on the DVR that I want to put on disk via firewire.

I won't turn the box in until I those programs are re-scheduled.

BTW, I called comcast abt the digital QAM channels that "disappeared" when they got encrypted last week. They of course said that wasn't supported in the first place without cablecard, but they did say that they are running a promo where you can get up to 4 new DCT700 STB's if you already had a digital TV service (classic, etc...) for 1 year. The downside is the DCT700's don't have anything more than composite outputs (!), but they are trying to seed the market with STB's so they can clear up space off analog.

It's also a strange install model - they mail order the boxes to you from Gilroy. You install yourself, which is fine with me, but kind of odd since apparently you can't pick them up at a comcast office nor will they send someone out to install them. This is definitely a new program designed to keep costs down.

It doesn't really solve my problem - composite SD looks like crap on my FP's, but on old sets it should work. The low end DBS boxes all have component out at least. Funny they didn't feel the need to be competitive with them.

Thanks,
Mike

what kinda dumb ass implementation is that? they don't even verify it on CC first before putting them in effect? I remember they hired some 3rd party company to call us and got all CC ID information, are they supposed to get all CC properly configured? that was almost 4 months ago.



UPDATE: Just discovered none of the premium channels being those above basic service work. On sixth call to Comcast they sent signal through again several times to no avail. And, admitted tech will do the same Tuesday but may insert new CC. They said they are having trouble with all CC sets and frankly don't know how to resolve. Thus, regardless of Congressional intent re CC's
it appears I'll have to rent a Comcast STB and live with rotten SD PQ until all digital service implemented.

Seems copy protection is renders CCs extinct!
slannes

MikeSM, Thanks for the tip on the free (for one year) DCT 700's. I just ordered mine from a very confused CSR. She said I could only get up to 3 but still that is great. She also thinks that in "my area" (santa Cruz) they will be offering the same deal on their DVR version in a couple of months. It has always bugged me that I would have to pay extra to get these digital channels on my SD TVs. If they add a few more HD channels for my HDTV I might just stay with comcast????

what kinda dumb ass implementation is that? they don't even verify it on CC first before putting them in effect? I remember they hired some 3rd party company to call us and got all CC ID information, are they supposed to get all CC properly configured? that was almost 4 months ago.

I gave CC numbers to third party agent months ago. But, Comcast CSR said my files got washed out of system. Four attempts last night after reading numbers again did no good. CSR and his and her supervisors did not know what to do due to major problems they are having with CCs on entire system. Gave me $59.00 credit on the spot, so must be doing for others, but I told her I want my TV to work not money back.

slannes

Giants? 702 Where is the HD???

I have been lurking around for quite some time and live in the Santa Cruz mountians and have not been able to find what I am looking for. I just ordered my HDHomerun and wanted to know if anyone else is on the Comcast Santa Cruz system that can confirm what channels I should get "in the clear" QAM.

Hey Subarunut - how did you go with the HDHomeRun? I'm about to order one and wondered what your experiences with it have been.

What channels did you end up with in clear QAM? I'm in the Oakland Hills, so probably not directly relevant for me, but interesting to know nevertheless.

Cheers,

Nile

I gave CC numbers to third party agent months ago. But, Comcast CSR said my files got washed out of system. Four attempts last night after reading numbers again did no good. CSR and his and her supervisors did not know what to do due to major problems they are having with CCs on entire system. Gave me $59.00 credit on the spot, so must be doing for others, but I told her I want my TV to work not money back.

slannes

I tried one last time today (7th try in two days) before tech comes Tuesday but I doubt can do anything. CSR sent signal again which did nothing. She said I am not alone – and they are trying to diagnose in Comcast system the problem that is with feed to CC sets. She attempted to give me credit but noticed I was given credit last night. So, I assume CSRs have been told to offer credit to thsoe CC users calling in with lost service on premium channels. I was shocked when she said Ccs are getting popular. I doubt that. Must just be due to rash of complaints exclusively from CC users.

If not resolved, I will no doubt be converted from CC to a STB Tuesday based on choices of: 1.) bad SD PQ with STB; or, 2.) or stay with CC that won't work any longer (since 18th) and get no premium channels! :mad:

slannes

MikeSM, Thanks for the tip on the free (for one year) DCT 700's. I just ordered mine from a very confused CSR. She said I could only get up to 3 but still that is great. She also thinks that in "my area" (santa Cruz) they will be offering the same deal on their DVR version in a couple of months. It has always bugged me that I would have to pay extra to get these digital channels on my SD TVs. If they add a few more HD channels for my HDTV I might just stay with comcast????

DVR version for free soon? That might be really nice for my FP's. If you find out they are doing that, please post here and let us know...

Thanks,
mike

I had a truck roll today due to CC issue. Replaced both of them and things are working again. Two things of interest according to the guy:

1) This recent change not only hit their CC customers, but also new DVR installs, and they had to replace those boxes.
2) He's noticed that the updated Data ID for a cable card do not always "take". He's seen older number pop up after they thought they have entered a new number. This makes more sense to me that just human error on updating the numbers.

I had a truck roll today due to CC issue. Replaced both of them and things are working again. Two things of interest according to the guy:

1) This recent change not only hit their CC customers, but also new DVR installs, and they had to replace those boxes.
2) He's noticed that the updated Data ID for a cable card do not always "take". He's seen older number pop up after they thought they have entered a new number. This makes more sense to me that just human error on updating the numbers.
Thanks for the report. Sounds like I'll be able to keep my CC.

slannes

DVR version for free soon? That might be really nice for my FP's. If you find out they are doing that, please post here and let us know...

Thanks,
mike

Want a Pace Vegas DVR? There should be a promo on those too. Very cheap. But there's no Self Install of them - gotta call or drop by.

Plus I bet if you went to a service center they'd hand over 4 DCT700s.

Want a Pace Vegas DVR? There should be a promo on those too. Very cheap. But there's no Self Install of them - gotta call or drop by.

Plus I bet if you went to a service center they'd hand over 4 DCT700s.


I will let you know. When I called to get them shipped to me the CSR reported that for the Santa Cruz area the computer said "no". They offered a free install or a trip to the service center. I will be loading up the kids and going this a.m.-report to follow...

...
Plus I bet if you went to a service center they'd hand over 4 DCT700s.I wonder if they will be charging the $6.99/mo Digital Additional Outlet Service fee for each DCT700?

I will let you know. When I called to get them shipped to me the CSR reported that for the Santa Cruz area the computer said "no". They offered a free install or a trip to the service center. I will be loading up the kids and going this a.m.-report to follow...

Hold off on that trip. Santa Cruz is not ADS - no 700s, no Pace.

I wonder if they will be charging the $6.99/mo Digital Additional Outlet Service fee for each DCT700?
I was checking out my rate sheet and was surprised to find the non-return charge for the DCT700 was $96. That is for a complete set top box. The CableCARD non-return charge is $90. I would guess these numbers are related to actual cost + some adjustments (ie the price listed may not be actual, but relative pricing to each other is likely preserved)

So a complete tuner is only $6 more than a CableCARD. I wonder what happens with the integration ban in July when they can't deploy the DCT700 anymore as the low-end solution. I'm sure there is another DCT700 equivalent that uses CableCARD, but is that box really only $6? :) I'm just joking of course, but I think the CableCARD costs are going to come way down with the integration ban kicking in. Otherwise the #s just don't make sense.

I'm thinking out loud here, but I wonder if these "free" offers are related to getting boxes out there before the integration ban?

After the 1yr free, if they charge you more than $1.50 for these boxes, IMO it is a rip-off because they cost roughly the same as a CableCARD. $6.99 seems way too much for them. At 6.99/month you could buy the box in a year. Typically the rates they charge for leasing are roughly the return costs divided by 50 (months).

I'm thinking out loud here, but I wonder if these "free" offers are related to getting boxes out there before the integration ban?
I'm hoping that this "free offer" is to get people off their analog addiction and we can finally get rid of those bandwidth wasting analog channels... ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Sure thing, that is a beneficial side-effect (at least from Comcast's standpoint and many all digital users' standpoints), but they've had over a year to try seeding with free boxes and nothing like this ever showed up. The Comcast Chicago push to drop all analog by July 2007 (even limited basic) even *before* OTA shutoff and the free DCT700 offers are suspiciously timed near the integration ban date.

It could all be coincidence of course.

I wonder what happens to DCT700 boxes that have already been ordered/received by Comcast, but not distributed yet, once the integration ban comes into place. Is the ban a hard cutoff date based on deployment, or based on when it was ordered and received by Comcast? I thought I saw reference it is the former.

I wonder what the cost of the replacement low-end CableCARD version of the DCT700 is relative to the current DCT700 cost. If it is more, it makes sense to get as many DCT700 boxes out there as they can prior to the integration ban.

Sure thing, that is a beneficial side-effect (at least from Comcast's standpoint and many all digital users' standpoints), but they've had over a year to try seeding with free boxes and nothing like this ever showed up. The Comcast Chicago push to drop all analog by July 2008 (even limited basic) even *before* OTA shutoff and the free DCT700 offers are suspiciously timed near the integration ban date.

It could all be coincidence of course.

I wonder what happens to DCT700 boxes that have already been ordered/received by Comcast, but not distributed yet, once the integration ban comes into place. Is the ban a hard cutoff date based on deployment, or based on when it was ordered and received by Comcast? I thought I saw reference it is the former.

I wonder what the cost of the replacement low-end CableCARD version of the DCT700 is relative to the current DCT700 cost. If it is more, it makes sense to get as many DCT700 boxes out there as they can prior to the integration ban.

Well, thanks to the FCC holding the line to comcast, we get them now having a surplus of committed orders to MOT for things like DCT700's that they need to get out soon, and this also prevents them from going SDV since the cablecards don't support that. Also good news. People should weigh in on the docket and make the FCC hold comcast's feet to the fire on this one.

The DCT700's BOM is quite low. The cablecard's cost is pretty low, but the volume isn't really there yet so costs have not plunged as much as you might think. Volume is everything. This will all change if comcast doesn't get a waiver and millions of cablecards will be needed.

The other reason the DCT700's net cost is low is that I don't think it's actually DFAST certified. That is, on the inside I bet it's like other MOT boxes - no data path protection for video and a bunch of other stuff. This makes R5000-HD mods possible and the like. It also is a lot cheaper.

Any device that supports cablecard has to be DFAST compliant, which means protected video paths, etc... All that adds a lot of cost. Hence anything built around a cablecard is going to much more expensive than the "integrated" unit. The functionality is different... DFAST was done partly to cripple cablecard, and now the cable industry is going to have to eat it's own dogfood.

Thanks,
Mike

Sure thing, that is a beneficial side-effect (at least from Comcast's standpoint and many all digital users' standpoints), but they've had over a year to try seeding with free boxes and nothing like this ever showed up. The Comcast Chicago push to drop all analog by July 2008 (even limited basic) even *before* OTA shutoff and the free DCT700 offers are suspiciously timed near the integration ban date.

It could all be coincidence of course.

I wonder what happens to DCT700 boxes that have already been ordered/received by Comcast, but not distributed yet, once the integration ban comes into place. Is the ban a hard cutoff date based on deployment, or based on when it was ordered and received by Comcast? I thought I saw reference it is the former.

I wonder what the cost of the replacement low-end CableCARD version of the DCT700 is relative to the current DCT700 cost. If it is more, it makes sense to get as many DCT700 boxes out there as they can prior to the integration ban.
Here's the driving force for most cable companies. The way the contracts are written right now the major networks and providers see that the analog channels have the best bang for their bucks ( the most viewing audience ) and that's where they sink their advertising dollars into, analog. That's why we still have analog channels but now with the analog cutoff date coming up the broadcasters will have to move their advertising money to the digital channels, they have no choice. It's all about money and advertising dollars but even Comcast is seeing that analog is dying and digital is the future, the real hold up for this transition to all digital is the broadcasters. They will have to invest major amounts of money to upgrade their equipment to do all digital and they just don't want to do that unless they have no other choice, but even they are beginning to see the writing on the wall, it's going to be an all digital world, like it or not. ;)
That's why until now the adoption of these DCT700 boxes has not taken off but I'm pretty sure it will come now sooner than later.

Laters,
Mikef5

That's why until now the adoption of these DCT700 boxes has not taken off but I'm pretty sure it will come now sooner than later.
Adoption of DCT700 will drop off tremoundously come July :) :). That is one thing I'm pretty sure of. The replacement box, now that is a different question :)

I do think "free" is the right equation to ween people off of analog. There is still that hidden electricity a/o fee to contend with, but very few folks realize that is hitting them.

Maybe the integration ban will even give us enough reason to start building nuclear power plants again.

Adoption of DCT700 will drop off tremoundously come July :) :). That is one thing I'm pretty sure of. The replacement box, now that is a different question :)
I don't know what box will be adopted for those with old analog tv sets and just can't kick their analog addiction, I just want analog to die a horrible death. I'm tired of being in a bandwidth starved area. If it were up to me analog would have died yesterday. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Well, thanks to the FCC holding the line to comcast, we get them now having a surplus of committed orders to MOT for things like DCT700's that they need to get out soon, and this also prevents them from going SDV since the cablecards don't support that.
CableCARDs even 1.0 ones are inherently 2-way devices so they should support SDV fine. The question is whether the *Host* device, ie the DCT700, TiVo S3, etc. is a 2-way device or a UDCP (Unidirectional Digital Cable Product)

If the host device hardware is a 2-way design, it can potentially support SDV with the appropriate software upgrades.

If the host device hardware is a UDCP design, it will never support SDV with just software upgrades.

I don't know what box will be adopted for those with old analog tv sets and just can't kick their analog addiction, I just want analog to die a horrible death. I'm tired of being in a bandwidth starved area. If it were up to me analog would have died yesterday. ;)
You have that choice now. All that is required is to move to Chicago. Isn't competition great? :)

CableCARDs even 1.0 ones are inherently 2-way devices so they should support SDV fine. The question is whether the *Host* device, ie the DCT700, TiVo S3, etc. is a 2-way device or a UDCP (Unidirectional Digital Cable Product)

If the host device hardware is a 2-way design, it can potentially support SDV with the appropriate software upgrades.

If the host device hardware is a UDCP design, it will never support SDV with just software upgrades.

I don't believe I have seen a certification notice for any of the cablecard host interfaces other than UDCP. I don't think that host hardware is in wide service. I know the Tivo S3's, probably the most advanced cablecard implementation, aren't 2-way capable. I believe many folks were waiting for multi-stream cards to do the 2-way support. It's a matter of supporting chipsets I believe.

thanks,
mike

I don't believe I have seen a certification notice for any of the cablecard host interfaces other than UDCP. I don't think that host hardware is in wide service. I know the Tivo S3's, probably the most advanced cablecard implementation, aren't 2-way capable. I believe many folks were waiting for multi-stream cards to do the 2-way support. It's a matter of supporting chipsets I believe.
If you want to see "the most advanced cablecard implementations" you need to look at Motorola products, not TiVo products. TiVo S3 is actually not very advanced as far as CableCARD implementations go. It is a fine DVR, but for various reasons, many out of TiVo's control, it's CableCARD host/pod interface is a simplistic early model.

Here are some Motorola products that support M-Card and OCAP (OCAP by definition is a 2-way host) Look at the DCH-100, DCH-200, DCH-3200, and DCH-3416
http://broadband.motorola.com/catalog/productdetail.asp?ProductID=522

Here is information regarding S-cards vs M-cards (notice CableCARD 1.0 can support SDV if the host is 2-way and has the appropriate software):
http://www.opencable.com/primer/cablecard_primer.html
The media has frequently reported that first-generation CableCARD 1.0 modules are one-way devices1. This is simply not true. CableLabs had always intended to develop the CableCARD module and host receiver standards with two-way capability. However the manufacturers of digital TVs requested that a host standard be developed that only had one-way capability. This one-way cable-ready receiver was defined by the FCC's Plug & Play order and by the Joint Test Suite (JTS). It is the definition of this one-way receiver that lacks the ability for two-way functionality, not the CableCARD module. While the FCC defined the elements of the one-way cable-ready receiver, CableLabs continued to define specifications for two-way receivers.

When a CableCARD 1.0 module is used with a two-way receiver (e.g., Samsung HLR5067C) that card supports all the necessary two-way functionality for VOD, SDV, and other interactive services.

According to this Motorola seminar notes (whether the integration ban actually requires 2-way or not, Motorola looks to be operating under that assumption, so it could be just a practical assumption):
http://broadband.motorola.com/noflash/Prep_OCAP_Seminar_Motorola_SCTE_7_7_2006.pdf
OCAP OVERVIEW
OCAP creates a common software platform upon which interactive services may be deployed
Administered by CableLabs OpenCable initiative
FCC ruling: In July 2007 new STBs will be required to support 2-way removable security (CableCard)
CableLabs also specifies OCAP for 2-way Hosts

Motorola also upgraded the backend DAC system for 2-way auto-pairing support for CableCARDs in version 3.1.1.

There have been reports Motorola is no longer shipping S-stream cards. All future cards are M-stream. This is most likely related at least indirectly to the integration ban.

So basically that is why I feel the integration ban and deployment of CableCARD devices doesn't necessarily stave off SDV. It will really depend on which boxes Comcast is deploying come July. If they are the DCH-100/200/3200/3416 then those all have the hardware needed to support SDV.

I know the Tivo S3's, probably the most advanced cablecard implementation, aren't 2-way capable.
One more comment on the TiVo S3.

It is interesting to note that all these new "DCH" products from Motorola support "Whole Home" and "Follow me" technology:
http://broadband.motorola.com/fmtv/followMeTV_overview.html

This is basically TiVo MRV (Multi-room Viewing) feature implemented on a different transport.

I wonder how long TiVo S3 MRV is going to be stuck in this CableLABs approval nightmare. The competition already has the same features coming out and TiVo S3 is still stuck in endless approval processes.

It will be ironic and sad if one of the reasons people bought into TiVo S3 (eventual enablement of MRV) is still stuck getting approved a year later (or never shows up at all) while the "crappy" cable company DVR has this stuff available in July.

Hold off on that trip. Santa Cruz is not ADS - no 700s, no Pace.


I picked up my free 700's today. Hooked them up and now have all the channels that my HD STB gets (except of course for the HD channels) on my three SDTV's. As long as the service is free I am happy!

Do they charge the add'l outlet fee for these?

I have the HDHomeRun and have used it for a while and I think it's awesome. It's integrated into Windows Media Center and I have 2 of them, so I have 4 HD tuners on my media center.

I get all the broadcast HD stations in San Francisco, so the ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, PBS, KRON, etc... I also get a bunch of other digital, non-HD channels, which I think are the digital equiv to the analog stations.

Russ

Hey Subarunut - how did you go with the HDHomeRun? I'm about to order one and wondered what your experiences with it have been.

What channels did you end up with in clear QAM? I'm in the Oakland Hills, so probably not directly relevant for me, but interesting to know nevertheless.

Cheers,

Nile

Sorry Mike,

I want analog to stay as long as possible, because that's how my S1/S2 Tivo works and my old media center. I do record unencrypted QAM with the HDHomeRun...

I like sfhub's idea... you could move to Chicago... J/K :)

Russ

I don't know what box will be adopted for those with old analog tv sets and just can't kick their analog addiction, I just want analog to die a horrible death. I'm tired of being in a bandwidth starved area. If it were up to me analog would have died yesterday. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Sorry Mike,

I want analog to stay as long as possible, because that's how my S1/S2 Tivo works and my old media center. I do record unencrypted QAM with the HDHomeRun...

I like sfhub's idea... you could move to Chicago... J/K :)

Russ
Well, it's coming whether anyone likes it or not and I did live outside of Chicago when I was much younger ( Geneseo to be exact ). Nice area but the Cubs are a heart break team so I'll stay with the Giant's and A's :p
You guys really need to come into the 21st century. I can't imagine watching analog ever again, once you see digital/HD you will not want anything else. ;)
Now if it's a money thing then I can understand but eventually you will have to get rid of your analog stuff and go digital.

Laters,
Mikef5

Do they charge the add'l outlet fee for these?


No Additional outlet or any other fee...for the first year. If I understand correctly you must have some version of digital cable for one year to qualify.

My plan is to take advantage of this for one year and then re-eval a switch to Satellite if no more HD is added.

BTW anyone have any info on when/if any HD upgrade to the Santa Cruz area is to occur ( I know this is not the Santa Cruz thread but just wondering)?
thanks

If I understand correctly you must have some version of digital cable for one year to qualify.
Is that really true? If so, it doesn't really target the hardcore analog folks and I think will not be as affective in weening them off analog. Again if that is true, it is mostly useful for people with digital that have some TVs still using analog. If you are hardcore analog, forcing someone to upgrade to digital to get 4 free DCT700s isn't the most appealing deal. You'll probably be paying more in service fees than the DCT700s are worth on leased month-to-month basis.

the other thing is that, in most areas, you get a really good analog picture in an analog tv without box. I don't know if you have noticed that. If with the DC700 you get lower picture quality, I'd expect that, expect some people to complain about that too. :)

That can't be right, with the Dish 622 and the DirecTV HD-TiVo you can record PPV content and keep it as long as you want.

Now, trying to "copy" it off of the STB(as in firewire output) is a different story, that I'm sure is not allowed, but I think it's always been that way.

Well, it certainly screwed up my firewire port. I haven't checked lately, but, some time in the last week or so, I can't get my firewire port to work. I have a DVHS VCR so, it is 5C compliant, but, it seems to hang the bus when the 6412 is linked in. All my Season 3 BSGs are filling up my puny drive.
Man, I really which I had fewer trees around and could have gone back to satellite. But, if I get a S3 TiVo at least I can still get OTA.

Hey Subarunut - how did you go with the HDHomeRun? I'm about to order one and wondered what your experiences with it have been.

What channels did you end up with in clear QAM? I'm in the Oakland Hills, so probably not directly relevant for me, but interesting to know nevertheless.

Cheers,

Nile
When you get the HDHomeRun download their latest firmware and libraries. There is a Windows app that will scan for channels and list them along with encryption status. All the locals are unencrypted. On Linux where I also use the device this is done by running the library from a terminal program.

Be sure to keep checking for firmware/software updates on their site as it is a work in progress.

I also just use some simple utilities which were posted by other customers to record using Scheduler on Windows and cron on Linux.

HBO is also free for a Year!

HBO is also free for a Year!

How's that?

Indeed, I'm listening...

Also, has anyone ever seen this site?

http://www.comcastspecial.com/state/california/california.html
Comcast California - Comcast Cable Television, High Speed Internet, & Digital Phone Service - California

I know what you are saying, as most of my watching is Digital/HD and why my questions always revolve around if Comcast will ever encrypt the regular broadcast HD channels. So any serious TV watching I do is HD, but I do a lot of non-serious channel surfing through MTV, E, Comedy Central, etc and at that point, I don't really care, because the analog picture is good enough.

I'm not a big fan of monthly service fees and Cable just keeps getting higher and higher for channels I don't really watch. 2 TVs and digital classic with HD is about $80 a month. That's a lot in my eyes.. most industries you tend to get more for less over time. Long distance, cell phone, high speed internet, computers, electronics, etc... with cable, they are raising the analog rates and moving channels away from it just to push people to the even more expensive digital tier.

I really think an ala-carte at $1-$3 or so a channel would be much better, and once your past a certain number of channels it makes sense to go to a package.

Russ


I can't imagine watching analog ever again, once you see digital/HD you will not want anything else. ;)
Now if it's a money thing then I can understand but eventually you will have to get rid of your analog stuff and go digital.

Laters,
Mikef5

Indeed, I'm listening...

Also, has anyone ever seen this site?

http://www.comcastspecial.com/state/california/california.html
Comcast California - Comcast Cable Television, High Speed Internet, & Digital Phone Service - California

Doods, I'm working here...

Also, has anyone gotten one of these? I have . . .

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a4/barovelli/mcardt.jpg

Doods, I'm working here...

Also, has anyone gotten one of these? I have . . .

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a4/barovelli/mcardt.jpg

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a4/barovelli/mcardt.jpg
Does it work in the TiVo S3?

Doods, I'm working here...

Also, has anyone gotten one of these? I have . . .

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a4/barovelli/mcardt.jpg
Ok Dave, spill the beans. Are these things going to be available in our area any time soon ??? If these things can be used in the HD Tivo's I'm running out to buy one right now :p

Laters,
Mikef5

Anyone get a message on their STB saying you can get the DVR for $1 for a year???

Is this the Pace Standard Def DVR or something else?

No idea. It just "Do you want to control what you watch? Get a DVR for $1 for a whole year" (or something like that).

Ok Dave, spill the beans. Are these things going to be available in our area any time soon ??? If these things can be used in the HD Tivo's I'm running out to buy one right now :p

Laters,
Mikef5

In stock, but not ready to be released (I think). Does not work in anything yet it seems.

Bargain DVRs are Pace Vegas'.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a4/barovelli/mcardt.jpg
Does it work in the TiVo S3?
Jim,
Do you know if the S3 will work with the M-cards ?? I thought the ability to use them is built into the hardware but needs a software update to be able to use them. With the price on the S3 down to $500 I'd snatch one up in a heart beat if they can use these cards.

Laters,
Mikef5

Jim,
Do you know if the S3 will work with the M-cards ?? I thought the ability to use them is built into the hardware but needs a software update to be able to use them. With the price on the S3 down to $500 I'd snatch one up in a heart beat if they can use these cards.

Laters,
Mikef5

Even if the M-card works with S3, wouldn't the functionality be the same as two S-cards?

Even if the M-card works with S3, wouldn't the functionality be the same as two S-cards?
Just found the specs for the M-cards and it's still unidirectional it just will take the place of 2 S-cards, just like you mentioned. I can't believe they are wasting so much time on a useless card that can't take advantage of bidirectional cable programing. So that begs the question, how is Comcast going to come up with a cable card that will do bidirectional streams for their new cable boxes ?? I guess we'll just have to wait until July to find out. :rolleyes:

Laters,
Mikef5

Just found the specs for the M-cards and it's still unidirectional it just will take the place of 2 S-cards, just like you mentioned. I can't believe they are wasting so much time on a useless card that can't take advantage of bidirectional cable programing. So that begs the question, how is Comcast going to come up with a cable card that will do bidirectional streams for their new cable boxes ?? I guess we'll just have to wait until July to find out. :rolleyes:

Laters,
Mikef5

This is why they are seeking a waiver from the FCC, and precisely why we must hold their feet to the fire. If they solve the problem for their own boxes then it may pave the way for solving it with Tivo.

BTW, not being bidirectional also means no SDV support. :-)

PS Technically, all these new boxes include a DOCSIS modem, so it's possible they could use that for the return channel and signaling to the network. It's a hack, but I think is possible under OCAP.

Thanks,
Mike

Just found the specs for the M-cards and it's still unidirectional it just will take the place of 2 S-cards, just like you mentioned. I can't believe they are wasting so much time on a useless card that can't take advantage of bidirectional cable programing. So that begs the question, how is Comcast going to come up with a cable card that will do bidirectional streams for their new cable boxes ??
All M-cards and S-cards are bi-directional.

It is the Host device (TiVo S3 in this case) that is a unidirectional design. It's usage of the CableCARDs will always be unidirectional regardless of whether you are using S-card or M-card. That is simply a property of a UDCP product like S3.

M-cards have 200Mbps bandwidth while S-cards have 40Mbps bandwidth. M-cards can thus theoretically do 5 simultaneous streams if the host device supports that functionality.

TiVo S3 is supposed to have M-card ready hardware so it can theoretically use 1 M-card in place of 2 S-cards. However the information from TiVo is the certification plan for M-cards used in UDCP devices wasn't available at the time of TiVo S3 release, so they are still going through the certification process. While this process is going on, M-cards in S3 will act as S-cards, in that you will still need 2 of them (and thus cannot reduce your monthly CableCARD rental costs)

There have been early reports from some folks that received M-cards that they do not work in S3's, even when used as S-cards. Don't know what the problem is. People have said Motorola is no longer shipping S-cards and all new CableCARDs are M-cards, so TiVo better figure out what the problem is soon.

This is why they are seeking a waiver from the FCC, and precisely why we must hold their feet to the fire. If they solve the problem for their own boxes then it may pave the way for solving it with Tivo.

BTW, not being bidirectional also means no SDV support. :-)
They are seeking the waiver because for the low-end boxes that they plan to deploy to many many folks, the CableCARD design adds significant cost, percentage-wise. They will likely have to eat this cost because of competition with DBS and FIOS. For the high-end boxes, the percentage increase is not nearly as bad and they get paid more for the DVR boxes to start with.

It is highly unlikely the M-cards not being bidirectional is the reason they are seeking the waiver, especially when it isn't true :)

Doods, I'm working here...


Have you heard anything about the Pace HD DVR called Tahoe or TDC775D

Have you heard anything about the Pace HD DVR called Tahoe or TDC775D

Heard about it, but do not expect to see any.

Heard about it, but do not expect to see any.

Not soon or not ever?
Any particular reason why not. They were in the original Comcast/Pace deal.

I read the Cable Labs primer for the Cable Card Specs and here's what is in the primer just so everyone is on the same page as far as terminology. It seems the equipment manufacturers wanted a limited spec for products that are unidirectional, so the limitation is a manufacturer problem and not a problem with the CCard specs.


CableCARD Terminology

Since CableCARD-2.0 Interface specifications now included all the requirements from both the original (single-stream) CableCARD interface and the new (multi-stream) CableCARD interface, terminology was developed to distinguish between the two different operating modes and product types:

* S-CARD: A two-way CableCARD module that follows the original CableCARD 1.0 Interface specification or implements only the single-stream portion of the CableCARD-2.0 Interface specification.

* M-Card: A two-way CableCARD module that implements all of the multi-stream functionality as well as the single-stream functionality (for backward compatibility purposes) of the CableCARD-2.0 Interface specification.

* S-Mode: The operating mode of the interface when the original parallel transfer function is being used in single-stream mode, which limits the video transfer rate to 40 Mbps in each direction.

* M-Mode: The operating mode of the interface when the new serial transfer function is being used, regardless of how many transport streams are actually being delivered, to provide up to 200 Mbps data transfer rate for the video stream in each direction.

* S-Host: An OpenCable Host 2.0 device or UDCP that operates exclusively in the S-Mode, regardless of how many tuners are included.

* M-Host: An OpenCable Host 2.0 device or UDCP that has implemented the M-Mode variation of the interface, regardless of how many tuners the device includes.

This is really dry reading but if you can stay awake long enough and read through the entire specs you will see that the Cable Card specs do allow for bidirectional operation for all cable cards, it's the manufacturers that have bastardized the specs for what ever their reasons are ( I suspect cost as usual ).

Laters,
Mikef5

How's that?

I received a message on my box over the weekend about free HBO for a year. I called Comcast on Monday and they activated HBO.

Is this the Pace Standard Def DVR or something else?

I also asked the CSR about the $1 a month DVR for a year and he said that this is for the non-HD DVR. The free non-DVR box (also for a year) is also non-HD. Both boxes are all digital.

It seems the equipment manufacturers wanted a limited spec for products that are unidirectional, so the limitation is a manufacturer problem and not a problem with the CCard specs.
IMO you should read CableLab's story, then read TiVo's side of the story, then the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It is apparently a very politicized situation.

I also asked the CSR about the $1 a month DVR for a year and he said that this is for the non-HD DVR. The free non-DVR box (also for a year) is also non-HD. Both boxes are all digital.
So I'm still not sure, are these the same boxes, the $1/1stYr box and the free/1stYr box?

IMO you should read CableLab's story, then read TiVo's side of the story, then the truth lies somewhere in the middle. It is apparently a very politicized situation.
I'm sure you are right and I wouldn't dispute that fact ( I did read the Cable Labs story on their website ) but you would think that they both would do what's right for their customers/public and try and come up with a standard they both can live with and get on with making products that are usable for their customers/public and not allow for any divergence from that spec. That to me would make sense, here's the spec and you make equipment to that spec or you don't, it's that simple. If the cable companies are thwarting that spec then they should be held responsible for that but it's my feeling manufacturers are more concerned with making a product at a minimal cost and will cut corners when they can. The cable companies are IMO trying to maintain their own proprietary system and lock out any competition to that system. So we the customers sit in the corner waiting for them to sort out the mess that they have created.

Laters,
Mikef5

I picked up my free 700's today. Hooked them up and now have all the channels that my HD STB gets (except of course for the HD channels) on my three SDTV's. As long as the service is free I am happy!
Do you know what headend you're served out of? I'm out of Scotts Valley, and the supervisor I just talked with said that it wasn't ADS yet.

Do you know what headend you're served out of? I'm out of Scotts Valley, and the supervisor I just talked with said that it wasn't ADS yet.

Embarrassed to say that I do not even no what a headend is??? Ok so I dont know what ADS stands for either (i am a soft scientist).

Embarrassed to say that I do not even no what a headend is??? Ok so I dont know what ADS stands for either (i am a soft scientist).
Sorry, headend is the cable office which has all the equipment to distribute the video signal (equivalent of the Phone Company's CO - Central Office, if you understand that :)). There's one in Scotts Valley that I thought served Santa Cruz.

ADS = Analog-Digital Simulcast. If you have a DCT700 (which is only digital), and you're seeing any channel below 100, that means they have digital versions of them on the cable.

ADS = Analog-Digital Simulcast. If you have a DCT700 (which is only digital), and you're seeing any channel below 100, that means they have digital versions of them on the cable.

Also digital-only boxes are 3412 & 3416 HD DVRs, and the Pace Vegas.

Santa Cruz is not ADS, and would not issue/install these boxes.

Not soon or not ever?
Any particular reason why not. They were in the original Comcast/Pace deal.

All I see on the horizon is Motorola DCH units. Sometimes a division gets one thing and other divisions get the other. Things like Moxi, Microsoft GUI, etc are nowhere near SF Bay either.

Sorry, headend is the cable office which has all the equipment to distribute the video signal (equivalent of the Phone Company's CO - Central Office, if you understand that :)). There's one in Scotts Valley that I thought served Santa Cruz.

ADS = Analog-Digital Simulcast. If you have a DCT700 (which is only digital), and you're seeing any channel below 100, that means they have digital versions of them on the cable.


Thanks for the explanation. My headend is in Santa Cruz (123 Doyle st.).
If I understand correctly then Santa Cruz must be ADS as the three DCT700 i installed on my SDTV's all show channles below (and above) 100.

All I see on the horizon is Motorola DCH units. Sometimes a division gets one thing and other divisions get the other. Things like Moxi, Microsoft GUI, etc are nowhere near SF Bay either.

Wasn't Comcast going to start "phasing out" the Moto boxes and replace them with Panny's? Or are the Panasnonic's like the Moxi's and only going to selected areas?

All I see on the horizon is Motorola DCH units. Sometimes a division gets one thing and other divisions get the other. Things like Moxi, Microsoft GUI, etc are nowhere near SF Bay either.

No one in their right mind is going to deploy a new product in the SF Bay Area. If it has issues, their reputation will be beaten into the ground here, as opposed to other large tech savvy markets like DFW or Seattle...

Thanks,
Mike

No one in their right mind is going to deploy a new product in the SF Bay Area. If it has issues, their reputation will be beaten into the ground here, as opposed to other large tech savvy markets like DFW or Seattle...

Thanks,
Mike
Indeed, Comcast has been burned bad more than once here. :p

No one in their right mind is going to deploy a new product in the SF Bay Area. If it has issues, their reputation will be beaten into the ground here, as opposed to other large tech savvy markets like DFW or Seattle...

Thanks,
Mike
That's really to bad. You would think that a company would go to the area where they know they would get a fair yet brutally honest opinion on the strengths and weaknesses of their product. If it were up to me, I'd beta test out here first because if it can pass here it will pass anywhere and I wouldn't have to deal with problems that pop up later because of shoddy beta testing. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

AT&T uVerse coming to Petaluma (http://www1.pressdemocrat.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070426/NEWS/704260330/1036/BUSINESS01)

Only 3 nodes yet. They service what, about 1500 feet each?
Still, sounds interesting. Competition is good.
The $140 package is about what I get now, only I'd have HBO/Showtime/etc (I just have the most basic digital package).

in another thread, U-verse's HD quality is described as very poor:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=700011&page=20&pp=30

in another thread, U-verse's HD quality is described as very poor:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=700011&page=20&pp=30
These are the two relevant posts,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10347993#post10347993
AT&T U-Verse (Project Lightspeed) - AVS Forum

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=10356626#post10356626
AT&T U-Verse (Project Lightspeed) - AVS Forum

If Jeff says it bad, then it's bad.

Well who cares how much it sucks if it forces Comca$t to lower their prices? ;)

Agreed, but it would be nice to have a real, viable, alternative to Comcast, not just something that forces Comcast to move quicker, and/or add more channels/services.

I wish we were in Verizon country rather than AT&T country, now that would have made it interesting, Verizon by most accounts having stellar PQ, and channel selection.

The main reason I'm still with Comcast is the PQ is still the best, better than both sats, and now, so far, still better than U-Verse. In my PQ oriented world, there still really is no alternative to Comcast, OTA being a real hit or miss proposition up here.

Agreed, but it would be nice to have a real, viable, alternative to Comcast, not just something that forces Comcast to move quicker, and/or add more channels/services.

I wish we were in Verizon country rather than AT&T country, now that would have made it interesting, Verizon by most accounts having stellar PQ, and channel selection.

The main reason I'm still with Comcast is the PQ is still the best, better than both sats, and now, so far, still better than U-Verse. In my PQ oriented world, there still really is no alternative to Comcast, OTA being a real hit or miss proposition up here.

True enough. I just heard from a friend that SBC has decided to kick out Alcatel as the lead vendor for VDSL gear and move to Adtran... I'm not sure it will help much, esp. on our region due to the p***poor outside plant.

If AT&T gets bludgeoned enough over this they may throw in the towel and go fiber, but it will have to be an enormous crater to make this happen. My bet would be they buy dish for video and give up on video on pair/fiber...

Thanks,
mike

From Comcast -- New Channels to be added next month --

Just received this update to the survey you guys did a while ago and these are the channels that most of you wanted now. I'm posting it as I received it so there is no question on what was said or how it was said.

____________________________________________________________ ______

You may post this on the Forum....

MikeF5: Thanks again for putting together the recent survey of Forum participants asking folks to name the three HD channels they'd like to see added to our HD lineup.

On May 16th we are adding the following channels. As you can see we definitely took into account the feedback we received from the Forum members.

Unfortunately these changes will not take place in our 550 MHZ systems, including your hometown of Milpitas.


KBCW HD (CW Network) launches on Digital Classic HD channel 712 in selected systems in the Bay Area.

(Let me clarify what "selected systems" means. Simply put, the following cities will not be receiving CW HD. In brief, cities in the Sacramento DMA, and the 550 systems)

Pittsburg/Antioch (non-upgraded area) - it launches in the rebuilt portion

Hayward

Santa Rosa

Isleton

Tower Park

Sunnyvale

Saratoga

Los Gatos

Milpitas

Santa Cruz

Half Moon Bay

Travis AFB

Rio Vista

Vacaville

Fairfield



National Geographic HD launches on Digital Classic HD channel 715 in all upgraded systems in the Bay.

A&E HD launches on Digital Classic HD channel 718 in all upgraded systems in the Bay.

Vs/Golf HD launches on Digital Classic HD channel 721 in Santa Cruz.

Universal HD launches on Digital Classic HD channel 727 in Santa Cruz.



Let me anticipate, and deal with, the "what's next and when" question that always pops up when I pass this information on to the Forum members.

I anticipate Comcast will be adding even more HD channels in the fall. For obvious competitive reasons I am reluctant to provide any specifics at this time, but will gladly provide the Forum members, through you, advance notice.



Thanks, as always, for your help.
____________________________________________________________ _

So there you go in a nut shell. If you are in an upgraded area you will be getting these channels on or about the 16th of May. These are the channels that most of you wanted to see right away and there are more to come later this year.
If you're in a non upgraded area like I am, the upgrades are in progress and I hope that they will proceed without delay. I know it sucks to see other areas get all these channels but our day will come.

Laters,
Mikef5

awesome news mike. looking forward to all 3 new additions. mr. J definitely did take notice of the forum's preferences.

with CW coming, i can finally rid myself of this crappy indoor antenna i ended up not using much.

KBCW HD (CW Network) launches on Digital Classic HD channel 712 in selected systems in the Bay Area.
Is it possible the tier level is a typo. All the other broadcast channels are in the "Limited Basic High-Definition" tier as opposed to the "Digital Classic High-Definition" tier

The implication being "Limited Basic High-Definition" is not an encrypted tier. Some folks will care about this while for others it won't make any difference.

KBCW HD (CW Network) launches on Digital Classic HD channel 712 in selected systems in the Bay Area.

Is it really going to be part of the Digital Classic HD tier, or is it available for Limited Basic customers as well (unencrypted)?

EDIT: sfhub asked the same question while I was typing mine.

Thanks for the info, Mike. Good news for most of the BA.

Is it possible the tier level is a typo. All the other broadcast channels are in the "Limited Basic High-Definition" tier as opposed to the "Digital Classic High-Definition" tier

The implication being "Limited Basic High-Definition" is not an encrypted tier. Some folks will care about this while for others it won't make any difference.
Good point. If I remember right the CW network is a sister station of CBS and is available over the air which should mean that it would be like the rest of the broadcast stations, be on the Limited Basic HD and be unencrypted. I'll have to ask Mr. J. to get clarification on this one.

Laters,
Mikef5

Thanks for the info, Mike. Good news for most of the BA.

Agreed, even though I would have preferred HIST-HD myself. I guess they are working hard to deliver a pre-emptive strike on any U-verse offerings that are coming. Hopefully they'll have CNNHD and the 3-4 other national HD channels that others are carrying in the summer.

Thanks,
mike

Congrats on getting more channels. :)

Has it been 18 months yet? The gap between the have-nots and the haves is as big as the Grand Canyon now, or will be in a few weeks. :(

BTW, KBCW has to clear-QAM, it's a local broadcast station.

This particular group of channel adds hurts more than previous ones as KBCW-HD is the one channel that I've been trying to get for years as is not available up here any other way than OTA, which is not reliable at all. Too bad they couldn't at least squeeze that one on the 550 systems.

If you're in a non upgraded area like I am, the upgrades are in progress and I hope that they will proceed without delay. I know it sucks to see other areas get all these channels but our day will come.

Laters,
Mikef5[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the great news. Is Santa Cruz considered one of the areas that are to be upgraded? I am never sure if we are considered a part of the bay area??

Nice to see new channels being added. C'mon, my S3's 750GB HDD says "feed me!"

Wohoo!! Great news on the CW as long as it is really going to be unencrypted.

Thanks Mike for your continued inside information.

Soooo at what point is it worth it to pay an extra $47+ dollars to go from limited basic to Digital classic, if I already get ESPNHD, DiscoveryHD, INHD, FSNHD, etc... from being grandfathered?

Right now with the new channels, looks like I wont get: UHD, VSHD, MHD, and now AEHD and National HD....

Russ

I just ordered Comcast-HD. I also have OTA ATSC reception. How much of a quality difference is there between Comcast locals and OTA ATSC locals? If I had a choice of both, which one should I use? How much further does Comcast compress their locals from the original 19.2Mbit/sec?

The locals on Comcast look just as good as their OTA counterpart. What Comcast receives, they pass along. A positive for the Comcast signal is that, when a transmitter problem happens at Sutro, the Comcast sub gets the programming just fine.

A positive for the Comcast signal is that, when a transmitter problem happens at Sutro, the Comcast sub gets the programming just fine.

Just to add a comment, this is because Comcast taps into the fiber at the base of Sutro -- nothing is actually sent OTA in the "chain" before it gets to your house.

Thanks for the addition Fender. That does make it more clear.

I just ordered Comcast-HD. I also have OTA ATSC reception. How much of a quality difference is there between Comcast locals and OTA ATSC locals? If I had a choice of both, which one should I use? How much further does Comcast compress their locals from the original 19.2Mbit/sec?
Comcast does not compress the locals at all, what the stations send to Comcast is what you get, so it makes no difference in picture quality. Now you might have a tuner that does a better job of displaying the picture than the Motorola box does but that's an equipment problem not a signal problem.

Laters,
Mikef5

I just read the post about the new channels and that sounds great. I don't expect to see a lot from those channels but it's always good to have a lot of options in HD.

Good job Comcast! That's Comcastic! (:p)

Anyone know which shows are in HD on these new HD channels. The only ones I can find info on are the CW shows, Everyone Hates Chris, Girlfriends, All of Us, Gilmore Girls, and Veronica Mars. NGC-HD does not say which shows are HD, and A&E doesn't even mention HD at all on their website. I guess I have to wait till they show up in the guide.

From Comcast -- New Channels to be added next month --


On May 16th we are adding the following channels. As you can see we definitely took into account the feedback we received from the Forum members.




Awesome news!!

Another A's game, another A's game not in HD - well this one is not even on on because they pre-empted with the Giants game....

Another A's game, another A's game not in HD - well this one is not even on on because they pre-empted with the Giants game....

its on FSN + on chan 410

[If you're in a non upgraded area like I am, the upgrades are in progress and I hope that they will proceed without delay. I know it sucks to see other areas get all these channels but our day will come.

Laters,
Mikef5
When you say "in progress", what does that mean? Has any hardware actually been replaced yet?

Good news on the new channels in May... for those you who will actually get them.

When you say "in progress", what does that mean? Has any hardware actually been replaced yet?

Good news on the new channels in May... for those you who will actually get them.
In progress means just that, they are doing the upgrades right now and yes hardware has been replaced in some areas and no I'm not allowed to say which areas. The reason Comcast doesn't reveal where they are doing the upgrades is just like them AT&T reads this forum also. You don't let your competition know what or where you are doing your upgrades or what the upgrades contain. All I can say is they are doing them now and in some areas faster than others. I wish I could say more but trust me they are doing them.

As far as not getting the new channels, I know what you mean ( I live in a 550 MHz area ) and if I thought that Comcast wasn't really going to finally get all the areas upgraded I'd be the first to leave but I'm sure they are so all I can say is our time is coming. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Does anyone know if SCI-FI, MTV, and VHI are encrypted or on the clear QAM?. I just ordered a PC capture card which will record on the clear QAM. It would be nice to know which channels are on the clear.

Does anyone know if SCI-FI, MTV, and VHI are encrypted or on the clear QAM?. I just ordered a PC capture card which will record on the clear QAM. It would be nice to know which channels are on the clear.

Where are you located? In most of the bay area, none of those are QAM or digital at all, only analog. Some have SciFi on Digital Classic, might be encrypted.

Im located in Vallejo. Im getting the HD cable package; which inherently has QAM. Im just curious about the people with Comcast in the bay area with QAM. Particularly , the East Bay.

Where are you located? In most of the bay area, none of those are QAM or digital at all, only analog. Some have SciFi on Digital Classic, might be encrypted.

Does anyone know if SCI-FI, MTV, and VHI are encrypted or on the clear QAM?. I just ordered a PC capture card which will record on the clear QAM. It would be nice to know which channels are on the clear.

All of these are digitally simulcast, and in Redwood City at least, the digital versions are all encrypted. Pretty much all the non-local ADS is now encrypted with a few exceptions like CNN, Animal Planet, Discovery, etc...

Thanks,
Mike

..with a few exceptions like CNN, Animal Planet, Discovery, etc...

Thanks,
Mike

Mike, can you tell me the "etc" part of it; or, do you know of a way day to look it up for my area? Do you know if the cable provide will keep taking away all the channels until they are just local channels. I was hoping for the SCI-FI channel to be on the clear.

Mike, can you tell me the "etc" part of it; or, do you know of a way day to look it up for my area? Do you know if the cable provide will keep taking away all the channels until they are just local channels. I was hoping for the SCI-FI channel to be on the clear.

I have a mapping done for my headend in redwood city, but I think the line up is different in MP where I think you live. PA/MP are run out of different groups than the rest of the west bay...

So the best way is to try it. With my hdhomerun, I scanned through all the channels, and tuned into to the unencrypted ones, watched TV long enough to figure out what channel it was, and then mapped it in Sage. I think you can probably do something similar with any QAM tuner card.

I have not heard of SCI-FI channel being in the clear here in the SF market, but I don't have complete knowledge either.

Thanks,
mike

I just moved several blocks in the Inner Sunset of San Francisco from a place that had Digital Classic service to one that has Limited Basic service. Since moving to the new place, I am unable to receive any QAM stations at all. I'm fairly sure this has something to do with the filter that Comcast is using to block analog channels above 33. Has anyone had any experience with this in the Bay Area? Is it possible to get a better filter that does not block QAM channels?

I just got off the phone with a Comcast representative who stated that I was not paying to receive any channels digitally. I asked why they list the KQED digital sub-channels in their limited basic channel lineup online and he didn't want to go look at the web site himself. Are there any specific things I should reference or ask for when talking to Comcast?

All I want is to be able to get NBC and other stations in HD without having to pay for all the cable only channels, which I don't really care about. I am using a QAM tuner (EyeTV 500) on my computer, so just getting a box probably won't help me. I would however pay another $6-7/month for a box if they would change the filter to allow my own QAM tuner access.

I've done some Googling around to try and find out more about what the FCC regulations say about this sort of thing. I told the representative that I would do some more research and get back to them.

Thanks for any help you guys have to offer!

For basic cable subscribers, Comcast typically uses a band-stop filter that removes from about ch 40 to about ch 70 and the digitals are mainly above that range. Likely your real issue is low signal quality. How do the analog channels look? Are they clear or snowy and noisy? If the latter, try removing all the signal splitters between your QAM tuner and the cable drop. Then, if you find the digitals, you may be able to still use the splitters after installing a distribution amplifier ahead them in the signal path.

If you have a snowy analog picture with no splitters, it's time to call Comcast about fixing your service.

I would however pay another $6-7/month for a box if they would change the filter to allow my own QAM tuner access.
If you are at wits end, that might be the quickest way to get this resolved. Pay $5 for an HD STB and don't let the install person leave until they get HD locals working. If the STB works and you still can't get HD locals, it's probably something on your end.

Does anyone know if SCI-FI, MTV, and VHI are encrypted or on the clear QAM?. I just ordered a PC capture card which will record on the clear QAM. It would be nice to know which channels are on the clear.

This question seems to come up a lot and I'm often left wondering. If you have a PC capture card, why bother asking the forum this question? With a PC capture card, you have access to software that can answer this question a lot better than the forum, especially if it's installed in a Linux box. After all, it's not like the idiot channel scan you get with most consumer grade TV's.

The answer to your question is.... I don't have a capture card yet. I just ordered two online. My comcast service will be installed this Saturday. Don't presume.


This question seems to come up a lot and I'm often left wondering. If you have a PC capture card, why bother asking the forum this question? With a PC capture card, you have access to software that can answer this question a lot better than the forum, especially if it's installed in a Linux box. After all, it's not like the idiot channel scan you get with most consumer grade TV's.

The answer to your question is.... I don't have a capture card yet. I just ordered two online. My comcast service will be installed this Saturday. Don't presume.
To answer your question. Only local HD stations and public access ( like KQED ) are not encrypted, also analog channels 2 - 74 are in the clear. This may vary from area to area but those channels are the norm for the Bay Area.

Laters,
Mikef5

So I moved into my new house, very close to my old apartment, only about 2 miles away. They told me to take the STBs with me so I did, hooked both of them up, and the cable modem - bam everything works. It's like I never even moved.

So like.... can I call Comcast and cancel the truck roll, and more importantly, will this also "cancel" the $50 install fee (or whatever it is, maybe not that much) or are they going to be dicks about that?

If you are at wits end, that might be the quickest way to get this resolved. Pay $5 for an HD STB and don't let the install person leave until they get HD locals working. If the STB works and you still can't get HD locals, it's probably something on your end.
Sorry, the difference between "limited basic" and "standard" is a lot more than $7. It's more like .... $25-30.

You should check all your splitters though, there might just be an old (analog) splitter on the line. If it's digital-friendly it will say something like "5-1000 Mhz" (1Ghz). If you don't have access to all of them, then yeah you can order a HDTV box and they will have to go check all the wiring and make it work.

If you live in an apartment in the city, I bet $5 says someone tapped into the line to "borrow" some cable TV... :D

So I moved into my new house, very close to my old apartment, only about 2 miles away. They told me to take the STBs with me so I did, hooked both of them up, and the cable modem - bam everything works. It's like I never even moved.

So like.... can I call Comcast and cancel the truck roll, and more importantly, will this also "cancel" the $50 install fee (or whatever it is, maybe not that much) or are they going to be dicks about that?
Did a CSR tell you to just take the boxes with you or did you go to a local office ?? If the CSR told you then all you need to do is give them the changes to your billing info, phone number and address change. They should have known that the boxes would work and not rolled a truck but if they did by all means call and cancel the truck roll, it's not needed and you will be charged for the roll.

Laters,
Mikef5

Anyone know which shows are in HD on these new HD channels. The only ones I can find info on are the CW shows, Everyone Hates Chris, Girlfriends, All of Us, Gilmore Girls, and Veronica Mars.
WWE is doing tests before deciding whether or not to record Smackdown in HD. The two things they (and by "they," I mean Vince McMahon in particular) are worried about are, it may be more obvious when a wrestler misses a move but the other wrestler acts as if contact was made, and any "imperfections" the "divas" have will be magnified.

-- Don

From the Hot Off The Press thread:

TV Sports
Comcast to Buy Cablevision's Stake in Sports Nets
By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek April 30, 2007

Comcast has agreed to acquire Cablevision’s stake in two regional sports networks for $570 million in cash.

Under the terms of the deal, which was announced by both parties Monday morning, Comcast will snap up Cablevision’s 60 percent interest in Fox Sports Net Bay Area and its 50 percent interest in Fox Sports Net New England. The latter transaction gives Comcast full control over FSN New England; the remaining 40 percent stake in the Bay Area RSN will continue to be held by a News Corp. affiliate.

Once the sale of the RSN assets is finalized, Cablevision will no longer have a stake in any sports properties outside of the New York DMA.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/recent_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003578159

I know it's apples and oranges, but every time I see mention of Comcast spending multi-millions of dollars for things like the above I wonder why it takes so long for me just to get another HD channel up here.

I have seen many posts regarding "filters" used on cable lines to cut out some of the channels. What do these look like? Reason I ask is when I was visiting my parents 3000 miles away, and Comcast customers, they had a funny looking silver
tube both outside and inside the house. It was about the size of an electric toothbrush handle. The cable comes into the house into a splitter then out to this tube and then out to the house. I though they might be some type of interference filter.

Thanks

I just moved several blocks in the Inner Sunset of San Francisco from a place that had Digital Classic service to one that has Limited Basic service. Since moving to the new place, I am unable to receive any QAM stations at all. I'm fairly sure this has something to do with the filter that Comcast is using to block analog channels above 33. Has anyone had any experience with this in the Bay Area? Is it possible to get a better filter that does not block QAM channels?

I just got off the phone with a Comcast representative who stated that I was not paying to receive any channels digitally. I asked why they list the KQED digital sub-channels in their limited basic channel lineup online and he didn't want to go look at the web site himself. Are there any specific things I should reference or ask for when talking to Comcast?

All I want is to be able to get NBC and other stations in HD without having to pay for all the cable only channels, which I don't really care about. I am using a QAM tuner (EyeTV 500) on my computer, so just getting a box probably won't help me. I would however pay another $6-7/month for a box if they would change the filter to allow my own QAM tuner access.

I've done some Googling around to try and find out more about what the FCC regulations say about this sort of thing. I told the representative that I would do some more research and get back to them.

Thanks for any help you guys have to offer!

From the Hot Off The Press thread: Originally Posted by fredfa
TV Sports
Comcast to Buy Cablevision's Stake in Sports Nets
By Anthony Crupi MediaWeek April 30, 2007

Comcast has agreed to acquire Cablevision’s stake in two regional sports networks for $570 million in cash.

Under the terms of the deal, which was announced by both parties Monday morning, Comcast will snap up Cablevision’s 60 percent interest in Fox Sports Net Bay Area and its 50 percent interest in Fox Sports Net New England. The latter transaction gives Comcast full control over FSN New England; the remaining 40 percent stake in the Bay Area RSN will continue to be held by a News Corp. affiliate.

Once the sale of the RSN assets is finalized, Cablevision will no longer have a stake in any sports properties outside of the New York DMA.

http://www.mediaweek.com/mw/news/re...t_id=1003578159
Darn Jim, you bet me to it. I just got an email about this same topic. Maybe we can finally get a 24/7 FSNBA-HD and they can stop turning it on and off all the time.

So Jim, who owns Directv these days ?? News Corp or Liberty Media ?? and I wonder if this will affect Dish and Directv ?? I know D* probably has a long term contract but after that expires it will be interesting to see what comes of it and does this help or hurt Dish trying to get FSNBA-HD ??

Laters,
Mikef5

One other thing. About the new channel CW-HD.

Customers can receive the CW HD feed by subscribing to the Basic Tier,
HD Tier, and an HD box. Just like any of the other local broadcast
stations.

The other 2 new channels do require Digital Classic HD.

Laters,
Mikef5

Darn Jim, you bet me to it. I just got an email about this same topic. Maybe we can finally get a 24/7 FSNBA-HD and they can stop turning it on and off all the time.

So Jim, who owns Directv these days ?? News Corp or Liberty Media ?? and I wonder if this will affect Dish and Directv ?? I know D* probably has a long term contract but after that expires it will be interesting to see what comes of it and does this help or hurt Dish trying to get FSNBA-HD ??

Laters,
Mikef5
It's still News Corp but Liberty will probably assume control within the year.

Since FSNBA-HD has already been on sat Comcast won't be able to pull the terrestrial loophole scheme they do with Philadelphia area RSN.

I don't know about Dish, they seem to be against the wall as far as bandwidth goes. They seem to have most all the HD channels available now with a few exceptions like FSNBA-HD, but with the influx of all the coming channels this year, SciFi, FX, etc, they will probably be in trouble as far as keeping up with the Jones'.

That's sweet... what was the date for this? I think someone mentioned May... I've been missing smallville in HD, but looks like that wont be for long!

Russ

One other thing. About the new channel CW-HD.

Customers can receive the CW HD feed by subscribing to the Basic Tier,
HD Tier, and an HD box. Just like any of the other local broadcast
stations.

The other 2 new channels do require Digital Classic HD.

Laters,
Mikef5

That's sweet... what was the date for this? I think someone mentioned May... I've been missing smallville in HD, but looks like that wont be for long!

Russ
On or about May 16th ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

I have seen many posts regarding "filters" used on cable lines to cut out some of the channels. What do these look like? Reason I ask is when I was visiting my parents 3000 miles away, and Comcast customers, they had a funny looking silver
tube both outside and inside the house. It was about the size of an electric toothbrush handle. The cable comes into the house into a splitter then out to this tube and then out to the house. I though they might be some type of interference filter.

Thanks

The filter that was on my line was a tube about half an inch in diameter and maybe three inches long at most. They put a security collar around the connectors on the end to make it difficult to remove.

The filter that was on my line was a tube about half an inch in diameter and maybe three inches long at most. They put a security collar around the connectors on the end to make it difficult to remove.

Some line amps also look like filters, although I believe they would indicate if it was amplifier (i.e. display the impedance or something)

One other thing. About the new channel CW-HD.

Customers can receive the CW HD feed by subscribing to the Basic Tier,
HD Tier, and an HD box. Just like any of the other local broadcast
stations.

The other 2 new channels do require Digital Classic HD.

Laters,
Mikef5
City or Cities receiving this channel?

kTVU not HD!@#!@#!@#@!

^^^^^^^^

Yeah, what's up with this? I turned on TV to watch 24 tonight and NO HD!!!!! Is this a temporary thing or is it Comcast's way to try to force us with QAM tuners to officially order their digital service to get HD broadcast channels?

OTA is not getting 24 in HD either...

OTA is not getting 24 in HD either...
Forgot to flip the switch or is this a feed issue?

i think feed issue, since KTVU's logo is on the widescreen area

I recorded the Sharks game on FSN HD tonight on my TiVo S3. While the picture came through in HD, there was no sound at all. There was no sound during the game, nor during commercials. I'm in the 550MHz area of Sunnyvale.

Fortunately, I also had it recording on the analog FSN channel as well, so we could watch and hear Drew Ramenda at the same time.

Anyone else see this (or working sound during the Sharks broadcast)?

i think feed issue, since KTVU's logo is on the widescreen area
I never miss 24 and it was in HD the entire time, never saw it not in HD at least here in the 550 MHz area. Did you see it switch to HD or was it not HD the entire time. I know my eyes are getting old and tired but I'm sure I'd notice one of my favorite shows not being in HD. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

I never miss 24 and it was in HD the entire time, never saw it not in HD at least here in the 550 MHz area. Did you see it switch to HD or was it not HD the entire time. I know my eyes are getting old and tired but I'm sure I'd notice one of my favorite shows not being in HD. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

how the hell? OTA and directv users are all reporting that KTVU was in SD tonight. how did you get HD?

I never miss 24 and it was in HD the entire time, never saw it not in HD at least here in the 550 MHz area. Did you see it switch to HD or was it not HD the entire time. I know my eyes are getting old and tired but I'm sure I'd notice one of my favorite shows not being in HD. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5
Do you have a cable box from Comcast? I was using my QAM tuner and it definitely was not HD, and I'm not saying that just because it wasn't widescreen either. I'm in Fremont, not sure what the frequency is here.

how the hell? OTA and directv users are all reporting that KTVU was in SD tonight. how did you get HD?
That's a good sign. I was scared for a moment that Comcast was encrypting HD KTVU now and only keeping the ADS version of KTVU in the clear!

I recorded the Sharks game on FSN HD tonight on my TiVo S3. While the picture came through in HD, there was no sound at all. There was no sound during the game, nor during commercials. I'm in the 550MHz area of Sunnyvale.

Fortunately, I also had it recording on the analog FSN channel as well, so we could watch and hear Drew Ramenda at the same time.

Anyone else see this (or working sound during the Sharks broadcast)?

No problems for me. Recorded/watched the entire game -- sound the whole time.

Sorry, the difference between "limited basic" and "standard" is a lot more than $7. It's more like .... $25-30.
If you only have limited basic with no STBs, it costs $5 for an HD STB that will display "Limited Basic HD" tier. There is no reason to get "standard" to receive "Limited Basic HD" tier. Comcast will provide the HD STB for $5 in this situation.

The whole point of the suggestion was if the OP had exhausted the simple reasons he could address himself.

Upon further reflection, it would cost $5 HD STB + $15.99 for the truck roll, but definitely OP would not need to upgrade to "standard". In fact upgrading to "standard" would yield *zero* additional HD channels over sticking with "limited basic"

I never miss 24 and it was in HD the entire time, never saw it not in HD at least here in the 550 MHz area. Did you see it switch to HD or was it not HD the entire time. I know my eyes are getting old and tired but I'm sure I'd notice one of my favorite shows not being in HD. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5
That's very odd, it was definitely a 4x3 SD image in a 16x9 frame for both Comcast and Dish up here in Santa Rosa, and I don't ever recall KTVU being seen in two different versions at the same time in the bay area, I'm not even sure that's possible. It was HD from KTTV LA via DirecTV.

Are you sure it was 16x9 HD that you saw?

I recorded the Sharks game on FSN HD tonight on my TiVo S3. While the picture came through in HD, there was no sound at all. There was no sound during the game, nor during commercials. I'm in the 550MHz area of Sunnyvale.

Fortunately, I also had it recording on the analog FSN channel as well, so we could watch and hear Drew Ramenda at the same time.

Anyone else see this (or working sound during the Sharks broadcast)?I've had S3 problems with missing sound on FSN-HD in the past but not with the Sharks game last night. I think the sound was missing on the Giants game over the weekend and the solution was to change the channel down to 719 and back to 720 and sound appeared. Of course that solution doesn't help if you are recording unless maybe you are there to stop and start the recording. It appears to be some kind of audio synchronizing glitch when they flip the switch over to the live broadcast.

I recorded 24 last night with my Dvico HD tuner (OTA) and it was in SD 4:3 in a 16:9 format. Only a 2.9 gig file vs the normal HD file size of 6-7 GB. Definetly not HD, but have not watched the entire show yet to see if it switches back to HD or not.

In fact upgrading to "standard" would yield *zero* additional HD channels over sticking with "limited basic"Right, but upgrading to Standard would remove the trap on the line, if that was the problem (his QAM tuner wasn't finding anything, right?) Though I'm guessing it's something else.

That's very odd, it was definitely a 4x3 SD image in a 16x9 frame for both Comcast and Dish up here in Santa Rosa, and I don't ever recall KTVU being seen in two different versions at the same time in the bay area, I'm not even sure that's possible. It was HD from KTTV LA via DirecTV.

Are you sure it was 16x9 HD that you saw?
You know Jim, the more I think about it I'm now not sure at all but I'm sure you know what a stickler I am about HD so you would've thought that would of triggered my old eyes that something was wrong with the picture and it just didn't. Now I was shifting back and forth watching the Giants game so I might have been absorbed more with the game than watching 24 ( Giants are a higher priority than 24 :) ). Most of the time I record 24 and watch House but it was a rerun last night so I just watched 24, in between innings of the Giants game. Man I got to go out and get these old eyes checked ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Big ad in today's Chronicle about the superiority of Comcast HD over satellite. Here's their web ad:
http://www.comcast.com/hdchallenge/

I totally agree that Comcast HD is better PQ than DirecTV or DISH. Let's hope they keep it that way.

Bad news: Comcast bought FSNBA. So does this mean FSN-HD will stop broadcasting 1080i and move down to 720p?? I'm not sure I like this move at all.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5790925?source=rss

Comcast takes over

Comcast's long-rumored purchase of Fox Sports Net Bay Area (as well as FSN New England) was announced Monday. According to TV Week, the cable giant paid $570 million to Cablevision for 60 percent of FSN Bay Area and the half of FSN New England that it didn't own. (News Corp., parent of Fox, owns the other 40 percent of FSN Bay Area.)

A few quick thoughts about what this means to viewers:

All hope has ended of getting overflow channel FSN Plus back on analog cable. Not that there was much hope anyway, but Comcast wants to move subscribers to its higher-priced digital packages. Owning the channel and the distribution method is a pretty effective way of doing it.

The channel will probably be re-branded as Comcast SportsNet. Can't imagine that's going to make one whit of difference in anyone's life.

Games will feel more like events. In other markets, Comcast offers much more in the way of pregame, postgame, studio shows and the like. Shows like the special "Warriors Round Table Live" pregame that aired Sunday night figure to become much more commonplace.

I wonder if KTVU blew the same box they did a year or so ago which cost over $100K to replace? That killed their network HD feed for around two weeks. Their news was in HD though.

Bad news: Comcast bought FSNBA. So does this mean FSN-HD will stop broadcasting 1080i and move down to 720p?? I'm not sure I like this move at all.


Why would you think that?

Why would you think that?

Because most FSN's were broadcasting in 720p and FSNBA was one of the exceptions because it was owned by Rainbow Media, and thus 1080i.

Now that it is owned by Comcast, I figured they might change it.

I wonder if KTVU blew the same box they did a year or so ago which cost over $100K to replace? That killed their network HD feed for around two weeks. Their news was in HD though.
Maybe the network splicer went bad, I don't know if that's needed to do the local stuff.

Bad news: Comcast bought FSNBA. So does this mean FSN-HD will stop broadcasting 1080i and move down to 720p?? I'm not sure I like this move at all.

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_5790925?source=rss

The channel will probably be re-branded as Comcast SportsNet. Can't imagine that's going to make one whit of difference in anyone's life.
But what happens to existing FSN programming like, say, The Best Damn Sports Show Period?

-- Don

Because most FSN's were broadcasting in 720p and FSNBA was one of the exceptions because it was owned by Rainbow Media, and thus 1080i.

Now that it is owned by Comcast, I figured they might change it.
If FSNBA was being bought out and majority owned by FSN then it might be an issue, but since Comcast is buying it I don't think they'll change it from what it is. What format does Comcast Sportsnet use in other markets?

Because most FSN's were broadcasting in 720p and FSNBA was one of the exceptions because it was owned by Rainbow Media, and thus 1080i.

Now that it is owned by Comcast, I figured they might change it.
I don't think Comcast is going to change anything. They don't own the station completely, there is a 40% ownership by an affiliate of News Corp. I think you should give Comcast the benefit of a doubt until they actually do something. I'm sure Comcast knows the old adage " If it ain't broke, don't fix it " . ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Right, but upgrading to Standard would remove the trap on the line, if that was the problem (his QAM tuner wasn't finding anything, right?) Though I'm guessing it's something else.
Nope, the trap only removes ch30~70. HD locals are all above that range.

Even in the remote chance it was the problem, you get HD locals with your "Limited Basic" subscription, so if you got the HD box for $5, they would have to fix any improperly working traps (or anything else improperly working on their end) so you could get your HD locals which you pay for with your "Limited Basic" subscription.

[QUOTE=Mikef5]I never miss 24 and it was in HD the entire time, never saw it not in HD at least here in the 550 MHz area. Did you see it switch to HD or was it not HD the entire time. I know my eyes are getting old and tired but I'm sure I'd notice one of my favorite shows not being in HD. ;)


In South San Jose (860 Mhz) it was in SD the entire time....no HD at all :(

If FSNBA was being bought out and majority owned by FSN then it might be an issue, but since Comcast is buying it I don't think they'll change it from what it is. What format does Comcast Sportsnet use in other markets?

I wonder this too and that is what scares me. If other Comcast Sportsnets elsewhere broadcast in 720p, they may make the move to 720p here as well.

[QUOTE=mds54]


In South San Jose (860 Mhz) it was in SD the entire time....no HD at all :(

I live in Milpitas.

I just recently bought my plasma and was watching 24 HD first time yesterday.. I am glad I found this thread, as I thought that was a crappy HD quality and was quite disspointed as its my fav show.

I agree, it was in SD and the logo was right outside the picture on the bottom right.

Did anyone else think that 24 was darker than usual as well? The SD broadcast I recorded off of DirecTV seemed to be much brighter than the pseudo-HD broadcast I recorded off of Comcast QAM. The former was recorded with a DirecTiVo and the latter with a HDHomeRun and MythTV, so there could be differences with the two different front-ends, so I'm wondering if it's just me. Thanks!

-Mike

KTVU Engineering replied to an email I sent doubting that 24 was not in HD last night. I don't think they have a clue. There is an ad for a position as director of engineering there. I hope they fill the position soon.

Did anyone check any HD network feeds to see if they were also in SD?

Guess American Idol tonight would be a test of whether they fixed it.

Last night CBS (king of queens and 2 and a half men and csi: miami) sitcoms/dramas were all in HD and looked great (as per usual) using 6412 PIII DVR.
Best,
jeff

You know Jim, the more I think about it I'm now not sure at all but I'm sure you know what a stickler I am about HD so you would've thought that would of triggered my old eyes that something was wrong with the picture and it just didn't. Now I was shifting back and forth watching the Giants game so I might have been absorbed more with the game than watching 24 ( Giants are a higher priority than 24 :) ). Most of the time I record 24 and watch House but it was a rerun last night so I just watched 24, in between innings of the Giants game. Man I got to go out and get these old eyes checked ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

It was SD in SF, but it took me a while to realize it. Picture was dark and to my tired old eyes it seemed like the picture blended into the sidebars.

I've seen this happen before with 24 and with some other programs, sometimes it switches to HD midway, but on at least one other occasion 24 was SD the whole program.

OK, American Idol is in HD. There is hope for 24 next week.

Do you realize that you just admitted to everybody that you watch American Idol? :eek:

But, seriously, does anybody know if Comcast San Jose will be implimenting the new multi-room DVR's from Motorola, and if so, will they also be available with the upcoming Tivo software?

Do you realize that you just admitted to everybody that you watch American Idol? :eek:

But, seriously, does anybody know if Comcast San Jose will be implimenting the new multi-room DVR's from Motorola, and if so, will they also be available with the upcoming Tivo software?
The last rumor that I heard was they where in beta testing but having some problems with the software for parental controls but that was a while ago and they may have taken care of that problem. As far as the Tivo software, there's been no updates for quite a while but they were doing in house testing but there was alot of bugs. I don't think it's ready for prime time yet ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

Did anyone else think that 24 was darker than usual as well? The SD broadcast I recorded off of DirecTV seemed to be much brighter than the pseudo-HD broadcast I recorded off of Comcast QAM. The former was recorded with a DirecTiVo and the latter with a HDHomeRun and MythTV, so there could be differences with the two different front-ends, so I'm wondering if it's just me. Thanks!

-Mike
Definitely was darker to me. I usually have my backlight set to -2 (out of -8) and last when I watched 24 on Monday, I had to bump it up to 0 to see the details.

As far as the Tivo software, there's been no updates for quite a while but they were doing in house testing but there was alot of bugs. I don't think it's ready for prime time yet ;)

Is that Tivo on the multi-room DVR, or on the 34xx/64xx in general?

BTW, the reason I ask about the motorola multi-room stb's is that I see that Verizon is now offering them with their FiOS service. Man, I wish we had Verizon here instead of SBC/ATT for a variety of reasons.

Is that Tivo on the multi-room DVR, or on the 34xx/64xx in general?

BTW, the reason I ask about the motorola multi-room stb's is that I see that Verizon is now offering them with their FiOS service. Man, I wish we had Verizon here instead of SBC/ATT for a variety of reasons.
Tivo is software just like the Iguide and can be used on both 34xx or 64xx boxes. Those boxes also have the firmware to do multi-room built into them. I don't know how they are going to do the upgrades to the boxes. Whether they will have a new separate dvr that will be used as a server and use existing boxes as slaves off that server box or if they can use existing boxes but upgrade them to be a server or slaves is the 64 million dollar question. ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

There's a bunch of new "Connected Home" stuff in the service menu, as of the last firmware upgrade (in Oct or so?) It's just all disabled...

KTVU Engineering replied to an email I sent doubting that 24 was not in HD last night. I don't think they have a clue. There is an ad for a position as director of engineering there. I hope they fill the position soon.

Did anyone check any HD network feeds to see if they were also in SD?

Guess American Idol tonight would be a test of whether they fixed it.

I'm in the No. Bay[same KTVU feed] and 24 was in SD and it was 4:3! The news followed were in HD and 16:9
Maybe I should apply for the job! :D

Could someone here please make a sticky thread or add to the one on the first page, with the following:

List of all clear QAM stations in the bay area that come with standard cable WITH THE CHANNELS where they can be found???

That would be a big help, as this information is very hard to find.

Thanks.

Could someone here please make a sticky thread or add to the one on the first page, with the following:

List of all clear QAM stations in the bay area that come with standard cable WITH THE CHANNELS where they can be found???

That would be a big help, as this information is very hard to find.

Thanks.

Germinator, this question seems to come up almost every week and the answer is the same each time: channel frequencies are different from head end to head end and change on a fairly regular basis. There is NO point posting this info because a) we would need a section for every head end in the Bay Area, and b) this would have to be updated at minimum once a month. Maybe if Comcast stopped moving the channels around we could do this. But they've been doing it for years and I don't see any signs of stopping.

Anyone lose the MusicChoice channels starting yesterday? It appears that they have started encrypting MC and now my DCT-6200, TiVo S3 and Sharp TV QAM tuner are no longer authorized to those channels. CSRs I've spoken to don't have a clue as to what the problem is. I have Digital Classic tier so I should be authorized.

Works fine here, I was just listening to some music last night.

Anyone lose the MusicChoice channels starting yesterday? It appears that they have started encrypting MC and now my DCT-6200, TiVo S3 and Sharp TV QAM tuner are no longer authorized to those channels. CSRs I've spoken to don't have a clue as to what the problem is. I have Digital Classic tier so I should be authorized.
If the Motorola box isn't getting those channels you have more of a problem than just encryption. The MC channels are basically thrown in with Digital Classic and should be available to you on that box and I would find it strange to encrypt music channels. I know that there are areas being upgraded and this will sometimes affect the availability to receive certain channels during the day. I don't know if your area ( Novato ) is being upgraded or not but the CSR should be able to check to see if there is work in your area. Talk to a supervisor if the CSR can't help you.

Laters,
Mikef5

I went down to my local office to see if their box was receiving MC channels and they were. I called again and asked for a warm refresh and they said the refresh commands were backlogged so I'm still waiting. Talking to the CSR, she said they just started encrypting the MC channels for Limited Basic customers like me but since I have Digital Classic I should be receiving.

I went down to my local office to see if their box was receiving MC channels and they were. I called again and asked for a warm refresh and they said the refresh commands were backlogged so I'm still waiting. Talking to the CSR, she said they just started encrypting the MC channels for Limited Basic customers like me but since I have Digital Classic I should be receiving.
To me that means they haven't provisioned your box properly. Have them check your account to insure you are provisioned for Digital Classic, that should allow your box to see the channels. As far as encrypting the music channels, I'm finding that hard to believe that they think that those channels need protection from unauthorized copying :rolleyes:

Laters,
Mikef5

Apparently they did start encrypting MC since my Sharp TV QAM (without cablecard) can't tune to those channels anymore.

Just verified this with supervisor... no more MC with just Limited Basic and Digital Classic effective May 1. I need Standard Cable now. This sucks. They even admitted to me that they overlooked customer notification. :( Best they could do is offer me free Standard Cable for 6 mos and then it would be $35 more a month. No thanks.

Apparently they did start encrypting MC since my Sharp TV QAM (without cablecard) can't tune to those channels anymore.

Just verified this with supervisor... no more MC with just Limited Basic and Digital Classic effective May 1. I need Standard Cable now. This sucks. They even admitted to me that they overlooked customer notification. :( Best they could do is offer me free Standard Cable for 6 mos and then it would be $35 more a month. No thanks.
I just checked to see if they had encrypted the music channels here in my area and they are still in the clear ( not that I really listen to them, I'm old fashion and use a radio :) ) but it ticks me off that it seems every area does whatever they want and there is no consistency in their product offerings throughout the Comcast system. They really need to consolidate their areas and be consistent it what it does or doesn't do in all the areas they serve. I haven't heard that this was a Comcast policy to encrypt those channels, to me it seems it's something that one area has decided to do but I'll find out if this is really Comcast's policy.

Laters,
Mikef5

I'm interested to see what you can find out. Don't know if they are giving me the runaround as a ploy to get me to upgrade to Standard Cable. They've done things in the past to try to get me to upgrade, like taking away a DVR. Thanks

In my area Sharp QAM tuner still picks up MC channels, however it picks up fewer channels, which probably indicates some are being encrypted.

I'm interested to see what you can find out. Don't know if they are giving me the runaround as a ploy to get me to upgrade to Standard Cable. They've done things in the past to try to get me to upgrade, like taking away a DVR. Thanks
Here's your update.

The Novato supervisor is correct, they are suppose to be encrypted and the requirements are right. These music channels were suppose to be encrypted all along but weren't do to an oversight by Comcast. Sorry it's not better news but at least it has been confirmed by Comcast as their policy. Why customers were not informed is beyond me but then again I rarely get any messages on my box except for pay for view fights and such.

Laters,
Mikef5

Hi,

Is it possible to keep Limited Basic + Digital Classic, specifically in the North San Jose area, without adding Extended Basic? I was forced to move to Exteded Basic in order to keep the DVR. I said fine take the DVR and downgrade the service to LB + DC, and they still won't do that even I returned the DVR! :mad: So frustrated now...

Tim

Hi,

Is it possible to keep Limited Basic + Digital Classic, specifically in the North San Jose area, without adding Extended Basic? I was forced to move to Exteded Basic in order to keep the DVR. I said fine take the DVR and downgrade the service to LB + DC, and they still won't do that even I returned the DVR! :mad: So frustrated now...

Tim
Some areas allow Limited Basic and Digital Classic and some areas don't. At one time my area did so that is what I currently have. I have talked to the people at my local Comcast office and they don't allow that combo any more so I guess I am grandfathered.

When the Comcast DVR first became available, I got one with Limited Basic and Digital Classic. Then their billing system automatically upgraded me to Standard Cable (Limited + Extended Basic). When I saw my bill I returned the DVR and downgraded back to Limited Basic. I guess, from your experience, they are getting hard-nosed and not allowing that any more.

What you might try is to go back to just Limited Basic without Digital Classic, wait a few days and call and maybe the CSR with allow you to add Digital Classic. Maybe your local office people are trying to coerce you. I think the billing system allows the addition of Digital Classic to Limited Basic.

As always if you are really not happy with the service tell them you are cancelling and going to satellite. If they ask to transfer you to the retention dept. say yes ... and if they don't ask, ask to be transferred yourself. Then tell that person why you're not happy, like because of the high cost, and sound like you are on the fence, like maybe they could get you to stay if they offered you some free/discounted services for 6 mo. or a year or so. They are pretty good about making deals in the retention dept. Outside of totally crazy stuff (like a house full of 7 DVRs for free for 5 years) they are generally happy to "retain" you even if they are only getting $30/mo instead of $80, because that's better than $0. That's their job...

Heck when I moved last week the CSR gave me a free year of the 2nd HD box, just for being a good long-time customer (will save me about $144)!

I had better luck adding digital classic to limited basic through the phone than at the local office. This was last November.

Some areas allow Limited Basic and Digital Classic and some areas don't. At one time my area did so that is what I currently have. I have talked to the people at my local Comcast office and they don't allow that combo any more so I guess I am grandfathered.

When the Comcast DVR first became available, I got one with Limited Basic and Digital Classic. Then their billing system automatically upgraded me to Standard Cable (Limited + Extended Basic). When I saw my bill I returned the DVR and downgraded back to Limited Basic. I guess, from your experience, they are getting hard-nosed and not allowing that any more.

What you might try is to go back to just Limited Basic without Digital Classic, wait a few days and call and maybe the CSR with allow you to add Digital Classic. Maybe your local office people are trying to coerce you. I think the billing system allows the addition of Digital Classic to Limited Basic.

Thanks. What ticks me off is the attitude of the Comcast call center. The rep did not seem to care about what I want (keep the LB + DC and remove EB), and insisted there is no way he can do that. I mentioned I've kept the LB + DC combo for at least 18 months, he simply asked me to talk to the local office and literally did not want to talk to me anymore... what a nice 'customer service' they have. :(

Sorry for the rant. I wish I had another choice (like ATT Uverse) right here, right now...

Tim

Here's your update.

The Novato supervisor is correct, they are suppose to be encrypted and the requirements are right. These music channels were suppose to be encrypted all along but weren't do to an oversight by Comcast. Sorry it's not better news but at least it has been confirmed by Comcast as their policy. Why customers were not informed is beyond me but then again I rarely get any messages on my box except for pay for view fights and such.

Laters,
Mikef5Thanks.
I have no problem with them encrypting the MC channels. But to be sneaky about removing MC from Digital Classic and requiring Standard Cable is another thing. :mad:

Has anyone been able to find the remapped channel numbers (not the ones in the 700's) for ESPN-HD and Disc-HD in Sunnyvale? Just curious to find out if they are unencrypted or not.

Comcast sure is getting a lot of "play" tonight at the GS game with the t-shirts and thunder sticks. Pretty good marketing move.

how's the signal your getting from tnt for the warriors games on comcast? are you seeing macros, stuttering, signal breakup. sattelite subs are seeing some of this on the tnt playoff games. wondering if this is an d* and e* thing or a crummy tnt hd signal

how's the signal your getting from tnt for the warriors games on comcast? are you seeing macros, stuttering, signal breakup. sattelite subs are seeing some of this on the tnt playoff games. wondering if this is an d* and e* thing or a crummy tnt hd signal

I didn't see any of that. It was the typical TNT signal -- not great, but good.

Germinator, this question seems to come up almost every week and the answer is the same each time: channel frequencies are different from head end to head end and change on a fairly regular basis. There is NO point posting this info because a) we would need a section for every head end in the Bay Area, and b) this would have to be updated at minimum once a month. Maybe if Comcast stopped moving the channels around we could do this. But they've been doing it for years and I don't see any signs of stopping.

Well, OK. How many head ends are there in the Bay Area?

Even if it needs to be updated often, it still would be worth doing.

Any way to stop Comcast from moving the channels so often? Do they do it on purpose?

I know there are some people with TiVo S3s who have the "Data" portion of the Host/Data changed from what Comcast has recorded, either due to TiVo "Clear and Delete Everything" or through HD upgrade with different image, or through swapping CableCARD #1/#2. Since the CPMS wasn't active before, they may have mistakenly thought that these activities (and resulting Data ID regeneration) don't affect their CableCARD setup, but they will find out it likely does come tomorrow when CPMS is turned on.

I didn't modify the tivo in any way, but I am getting the "Host Validation: unknown" on both cable cards in the tivo S3... I wouldn't touch it after it took them 3 attempts to get the cards installed! :confused:

still getting 730 and 734 (hbo and starz)... guessing they haven't flipped the switch yet.

so is this going to enable HDCP through my HDMI connection with my Tivo -> AVreceiver -> TV? If so, I hope there's no HDCP bugs in my system, as I doubt it's been tested yet in my configuration... :eek:

I didn't modify the tivo in any way, but I am getting the "Host Validation: unknown" on both cable cards in the tivo S3... I wouldn't touch it after it took them 3 attempts to get the cards installed! :confused:

still getting 730 and 734 (hbo and starz)... guessing they haven't flipped the switch yet.

so is this going to enable HDCP through my HDMI connection with my Tivo -> AVreceiver -> TV? If so, I hope there's no HDCP bugs in my system, as I doubt it's been tested yet in my configuration... :eek:
We've already gone through this before with Comcast a few weeks ago. If your Host Validation says unknown, you will lose channels with non-zero CCI when they actually enable the CPMS system. Roderigo kindly mentioned this is normally a two step process. Send the cards the validation message. This can happen before or after the CPMS is turned on, ideally it happens before, maybe days to weeks before. Next, turn on the CPMS system.

If you look through your TiVo diagnostics page you will see which channels are marked with non-zero CCI. Even though you receive those channels now, you will likely lose them once CPMS in enabled.

Comcast decided to roll back CPMS the last time they turned it on due to too many issues with Host Validation unknown.

Well, OK. How many head ends are there in the Bay Area?

Even if it needs to be updated often, it still would be worth doing.

Any way to stop Comcast from moving the channels so often? Do they do it on purpose?

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of head ends in the Bay Area. As an example, Rohnert Park has one, Petaluma one, Santa Rosa as least two. San Francisco has a bunch. What you are suggesting isn't really doable.

Comcast keeps moving things around to better use the bandwidth that they have.

To unmodified TiVo S3 owners, it looks like a method to add an eSATA expansion drive has been discovered utilizing the eSATA port on the S3. :)

I'm going to give it a try on my S3 with a 500-750gb drive later today.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=350491
How to activate eSATA port on TiVo Series 3 - TiVo Community & Store

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/04/how-to-use-your-tivo-series3-esata-port-to-add-an-external-driv/
How-to: Use your TiVo Series3 eSATA port to add an external drive - Engadget

There are hundreds, perhaps thousands of head ends in the Bay Area. As an example, Rohnert Park has one, Petaluma one, Santa Rosa as least two. San Francisco has a bunch. What you are suggesting isn't really doable.

Comcast keeps moving things around to better use the bandwidth that they have.

This is misleading. All the video in the SF bay area comes down from satellite in 2 facilities, one in Santa Clara, the other is the old Viacom facility in Pleasanton. Locals are inserted at Mt Sutro and a couple other places. The video is then distributed on a fiber optic ring to interconnect all the headends. The local headend is a much less interesting place than it used to be.

The channel map on the fiber system is very consistent. There is hardware at each head end that takes groups of channels and modulates it to a local frequency map at each headend. Many of the headends you reference are just cabling facilities.
For example, Redwood City is fed from the San Mateo headend. These larger headend feed the formerly separate smaller facilities with fiber. No channel mapping hardware exists there.

I pretty sure comcast was trying to get fairly consistent channel maps for 550, 750 and 860 systems. By and large, with the exception of some local access channels, the frequencies should be more or less the same within the grouping of headends with the same available spectrum. Locals are solved at the box. That is, in Redwood City, I can receive local access programming for all the peninsula local access channels. They don't show up on my STB as available, but for simplicity, the same group of local channels is set to the whole set of headends.

Comcast may not have cleaned up mappings and such in all these markets, but that's what they are supposed to do. It makes the management easier.

Thanks
mike

This is misleading. All the video in the SF bay area comes down from satellite in 2 facilities, one in Santa Clara, the other is the old Viacom facility in Pleasanton. Locals are inserted at Mt Sutro and a couple other places. The video is then distributed on a fiber optic ring to interconnect all the headends. The local headend is a much less interesting place than it used to be.

The channel map on the fiber system is very consistent. There is hardware at each head end that takes groups of channels and modulates it to a local frequency map at each headend. Many of the headends you reference are just cabling facilities.
For example, Redwood City is fed from the San Mateo headend. These larger headend feed the formerly separate smaller facilities with fiber. No channel mapping hardware exists there.

I pretty sure comcast was trying to get fairly consistent channel maps for 550, 750 and 860 systems. By and large, with the exception of some local access channels, the frequencies should be more or less the same within the grouping of headends with the same available spectrum. Locals are solved at the box. That is, in Redwood City, I can receive local access programming for all the peninsula local access channels. They don't show up on my STB as available, but for simplicity, the same group of local channels is set to the whole set of headends.

Comcast may not have cleaned up mappings and such in all these markets, but that's what they are supposed to do. It makes the management easier.

Thanks
mike
Another problem is that not all tuners read the channels the same. I have a LG 4200 that reads channel 7 HD as 99.1 but my Sony reads it at 7.1. One maps the signals using the actual broadcast frequency and the other uses the psip data stream. I know that Comcast is trying to get all the channels in all the areas to be the same but that's not going to be possible until all the areas are upgraded to the same levels and are getting the same programing in all the areas. You can thank TCI and AT&T for leaving this mess the way it is, hopefully Comcast can get this straightened out sometime soon.

Laters,
Mikef5

Milpitas Upgrades ????

I need to know if anyone in Milpitas has received a letter from Comcast about the upgrades that are going to be happening this month in our area. I got my letter last Tuesday and I find it hard to believe that I'm the only one in Milpitas that got this letter, but then again I thought I saw 24 in HD a couple of days ago :p except this time I've got the letter in my hands ;)

Laters,
Mikef5

To unmodified TiVo S3 owners, it looks like a method to add an eSATA expansion drive has been discovered utilizing the eSATA port on the S3. :)

I'm going to give it a try on my S3 with a 500-750gb drive later today.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=350491
How to activate eSATA port on TiVo Series 3 - TiVo Community & Store

http://www.engadget.com/2007/05/04/how-to-use-your-tivo-series3-esata-port-to-add-an-external-driv/
How-to: Use your TiVo Series3 eSATA port to add an external drive - Engadget

Hooked up a 500GB Seagate drive and I now have 98 HRs of HD recording capacity with my S3.

Cost was $162 plus 15 mins of time to hookup and do procedure. Easily one of the best $162 I've ever spent. :)

Is the big fight tonight between De La Hoya and Mayweather on HD PPV on Comcast?

Rock on Comcast.

I mentioned before that I moved my DCT, DVR, and HSI modem to my new house and they all worked.

I had an app't. this AM (Sat) to have the new boxes "hooked up". I tried to cancel it but they insisted they had to "register" the boxes. Ok whatever, there will be no charge so I don't care.

Well yesterday (Fri) while I'm at work, they sent a truck out here to DISCONNECT my cable. Totally gone, no CATV, no internet. Well I had to listen to the Giants game on the radio, but I'da been POed if like a Warriors playoff game was on....

In other words, they sent TWO truck rolls out here within 14-16 hours of each other, when they needed to send exactly ZERO guys. Hooray for bureaucracy?

Not that this is particularly interesting... I just had to vent.. =)

Not that this is particularly interesting... I just had to vent.. =)

I hope you have called Comcast to get some $$$ out of this event.

I had to see it for myself under a very good large high res display. The difference in picture quality isnt what I expected. The people in this thread were right about one thing, there's no added compression for Comcast.. but the picture is still 5% or so softer. I was able to notice this particularly when watching video 1080i deinterlaced to 1080p (jay leno, David letterman, etc).

Michael--

If "there's no added compression" (which I believe is currently true) how can the picture be "5% or so softer". How are you measuring "softness" and how are you capturing and locally processing/displaying the respective files?

During fast moving scenes with lots of things moving around, I could see the same exact mpeg2 compression artifacts in both sources. Which suggests compression hasn't been added.

I used the term "softer" because it doesnt look as sharp... .nothing to do with mpeg2 compression. I'm guessing Comcast has to put this feed through more equipment before it gets to our homes.

5% or less was just a guess. I think it was a pretty good one. However, I have to emphasize, this kind of difference most people would not even see; nor, would most people care. I certainly don't care that much about it ...just enough to at least share what I'm seeing with others. :)

BTW: I just tried the comparison on my 60" 4 year old display, I couldnt tell the difference at all. Both looked pretty good.

OOps... I didnt read the last question:

Im using QAM/OTA tuners on an PC and doing video deinterlacing/processing with the latest Nvidia Purevideo hardware based decoders on a Geforce 7950GT... deinterlacing 1080i to 1920x1920p on a 46" LCD Sony Bravia display via HDMI.

Michael--

If "there's no added compression" (which I believe is currently true) how can the picture be "5% or so softer". How are you measuring "softness" and how are you capturing and locally processing/displaying the respective files?

Michael--

If "there's no added compression" (which I believe is currently true) how can the picture be "5% or so softer". How are you measuring "softness" and how are you capturing and locally processing/displaying the respective files?
Plus are you using the same tuner to view the same channel at the same time ?? If you use the Motorola box and a separate OTA tuner then the difference is in the tuners. 5%, I wish my eyes were that good :p

Laters,
Mikef5

Im using QAM/OTA tuners on an PC and doing video deinterlacing/processing with the latest Nvidia Purevideo hardware based decoders on a Geforce 7950GT... deinterlacing 1080i to 1920x1920p on a 46" LCD Sony Bravia display via HDMI.Did you analyze the two capture files to make sure that both are free of TEI and Continuity Errors? I'm highly skeptical that your test is valid, as the differences you talk about are subjective and my own inspection of two parallel captures from OTA and cable found them to be, AFAICT, bit-for-bit identical video streams.

I'm using QAM/OTA tuners on an PC and doing video deinterlacing/processing with the latest Nvidia Purevideo hardware based decoders on a Geforce 7950GT... deinterlacing 1080i to 1920x1920p on a 46" LCD Sony Bravia display via HDMI.

So what tuners are you using ??? Does the Geforce 7950GT have an HD tuner or are you using an external tuner ?? The reason I ask is I'm looking for a good HD tuner for my computer.

Laters,
Mikef5

Mikef5, the simplest PC tuner to set up and use with digital cable is still the MyHD.

I honestly dont care that much to prove the difference that I can see... it is what it is. Same exact hardware on my end for showing OTA/QAM. What puzzles me is that you say you can prove that the streams are bit for bit the same exact video stream by the time they reach the tuners. Anyway, no big deal...

Did you analyze the two capture files to make sure that both are free of TEI and Continuity Errors? I'm highly skeptical that your test is valid, as the differences you talk about are subjective and my own inspection of two parallel captures from OTA and cable found them to be, AFAICT, bit-for-bit identical video streams.

So what tuners are you using ??? Does the Geforce 7950GT have an HD tuner or are you using an external tuner ?? The reason I ask is I'm looking for a good HD tuner for my computer.

Laters,
Mikef5

What application do you want to use to manage the recordings. Are you looking Tivo functionality or are you looking for VCR functionality?

I have the Fusion 5, MyHD, and the HDHomeRun.

I like the HDHomeRun because of it's QAM integrated capabilities into MCE. Prior to that, the MyHD was consistant, but wasn't integrated into MCE, but it was a good substitute until the HDHR came out.

I now have 2 HDHomeRuns, which provide 2 tuners each. (I still have the MyHD and Fusion, but will probably decomission them soon.)

Russ

What puzzles me is that you say you can prove that the streams are bit for bit the same exact video stream by the time they reach the tuners.Not just to the tuners, but in the files on the HDD. AIUI, Comcast takes the TS as received from the broadcaster and retransmits it with (mostly) appropriate changes to the PSIP data. There is only one digitization of the video stream (at the network) so that the received video data are identical. If that's actually the case, as my analysis of the received data indicates it is, you're imagining the differences.

I honestly dont care that much to prove the difference that I can see... it is what it is. Same exact hardware on my end for showing OTA/QAM. What puzzles me is that you say you can prove that the streams are bit for bit the same exact video stream by the time they reach the tuners. Anyway, no big deal...
If Terry says they are bit-for-bit the same, they are. You probably should look at other factors to explain what you see.

Okay, sorry. :)

If Terry says they are bit-for-bit the same, they are. You probably should look at other factors to explain what you see.

http://i8.photobucket.com/albums/a4/barovelli/box.jpg

You know, it's too bad Moto doesn't put larger hard drives in their DVRs, it looks like the above DCH is only 160GB. I'm sure it's a cost cutting measure, but at the volume they would be getting them, HDDs are CHEAP nowadays.

Will it have a usuable eSATA?

One would hope, but based on previous info from Comcast, I doubt it very much.

You know, it's too bad Moto doesn't put larger hard drives in their DVRs, it looks like the above DCH is only 160GB. I'm sure it's a cost cutting measure, but at the volume they would be getting them, HDDs are CHEAP nowadays.
Now you wouldn't want the DVR to compete with OnDemand would you? :)

One would hope, but based on previous info from Comcast, I doubt it very much.
I've heard if you kick the Motorola 62 times, the esata port becomes active.

Now you wouldn't want the DVR to compete with OnDemand would you? :)
Really, can't have that. :rolleyes: :p

BTW, you have an S3 don't you? Have you checked out the eSATA drive addon threads at TiVoCom? So far, I'm loving it, the drive I got is quiet, cool and appears to be working exactly as expected.

I've heard if you kick the Motorola 62 times, the esata port becomes active.
:D :D

No, that's the S3 you need to "kick" "62" times. The Moto box probably requires a large hammer. :p

BTW, you have an S3 don't you? Have you checked out the eSATA drive addon threads at TiVoCom? So far, I'm loving it, the drive I got is quiet, cool and appears to be working exactly as expected.
Yah, I've got a 750GB internal drive so I need to decide whether I want to put the original drive back in and move the 750GB to external (and lose my recorded shows in the process)

:D :D

No, that's the S3 you need to "kick" "62" times. The Moto box probably requires a large hammer. :p

At my work, my team was testing a data tape drive for compatibility (manufacturer will stay unknown) and we found a bug where if you "tap" the drive exactly 64 times while it was writing data, a hardware error would occur and it would stop writing. 100% reproducible...not 63...not 62...but 64.

spy photos - in da house

Dave,

I noticed that this uses a M-Card. Does that mean you are also testing M-Cards and is this the box that will be used for the "Whole house" networking ??

Laters,
Mikef5

At my work, my team was testing a data tape drive for compatibility (manufacturer will stay unknown) and we found a bug where if you "tap" the drive exactly 64 times while it was writing data, a hardware error would occur and it would stop writing. 100% reproducible...not 63...not 62...but 64.


Must have used one of those new-fangled 64-bit processors.....

Must have used one of those new-fangled 64-bit processors.....

Right. I think the resolution was to only use 63 of those available bits. :D

Yah, I've got a 750GB internal drive so I need to decide whether I want to put the original drive back in and move the 750GB to external (and lose my recorded shows in the process)
Yeah, it's like 6 of one, half a dozen of the other. One recommendation I would make is to get an ext drive that will restart on it's own if there is a power outage, otherwise the S3 will hang at the divorce screen.

I'm not sure if the model I got will do that, it has an on/off button, I'm thinking of opening it(if I can, at first glance I didn't really see anyway to get in to it) and hardwiring the power, bypassing the on/off switch.

At my work, my team was testing a data tape drive for compatibility (manufacturer will stay unknown) and we found a bug where if you "tap" the drive exactly 64 times while it was writing data, a hardware error would occur and it would stop writing. 100% reproducible...not 63...not 62...but 64.
That's too freaky, sounds like the plot for a scifi movie. :D

ARGH. NBA 2nd round playoff action finally getting interesting and no TNT-HD.

Those "We Believe" shirts worked well enough for getting the Warriors into the playoffs and past the Mavs. Too bad they don't work on getting Comcast off it's butt and upgrading the underserved areas. The ultimate irony is that those yellow shirts are sponsored by Comcast!

End rant of a crazy person. Move along, nothing to see.

The guide has the Sharks game on Versus HD, but I don't get any signal on that channel (I just get a freeze frame of whatever the previous channel was showing). Anyone getting the game in HD?