I purchased my Panasonic TC-32LX70 TV a few days ago, and went to my local office to exchange my previous SD DVR with an HD DVR. I walked out with a Scientific Atlantic Explorer 8300HDC. I hooked it up at home and followed the instructions to "Activate Service" on the sticky note attached to the box. I then started browsing through channels, and noticed that the basic HD channels display fine, as does any free channel. The Premium HD Channels, or even regular digital movie channels (which my non HD boxes display fine) will not display. I get 2 seconds of video, then it freezes, and I see the text... "In order to start your service please call 1-866-301-1947", followed by a Cable Card number, a Host ID, and Host Type: Two way.

I called Customer Care twice trying to get it figured out. They verified that the HD Pack had been purchased, and activated, and scheduled an appointment for a tech to figure out the problem.

I'm wondering that if since my box is an Explorer 8300HDC(Cable Card) that it will not work on Premium channels without one. I do not have a cable card, and just wanted the normal HD DVR. Should they have given me the 8300HD instead?

I will probably end up calling them back tomorrow, but I wanted to see if anyone here has any idea.

I believe the 8300HDC is their "default" HD-DVR nowadays. They either need to "re-hit" your box (it can take multiple attempts) or you may have low signal levels. I presume they tried the re-hits when you spoke on the phone. A tech visit is req'd to confirm, or correct, low signal levels.

The customer service person told me how to get into diagnostics, and both tuners are showing 36-37db S/N. Sometimes I can get 3-5 seconds of HBOHD after I've tuned to a working HD channel for a few minutes, then the error pops up. The rep also told me that the current 8300HDC's do not have cable cards. Mine sure seems to as it's reporting a cable card number and host ID.

The other problem I"m having is through this box, with my TV on FULL aspect mode(the proper mode for HDTV), Component Cable hookup results in a 4:3 image, and coax results in widescreen with bars at the top and bottom of every channel.

The other problem I"m having is with my TV on FULL aspect mode(the proper mode for HDTV), Component Cable hookup results in a 4:3 image, and coax results in widescreen with bars at the top and bottom of every channel.
Only get that with my SA8300HD and CRT RPTV when switched to S-video (a 2nd input) on the display. Most viewing here is 1080i-only from the STB to the display's YPbPr inputs. In S-video display mode on the RPTV, with another setting stretching 4X3 to 16X9 (Panoramic), images appear as you describe in S-video. Suggest setting the STB for 1080i-only YPbPr output initially, and ensuring the display is on the right input. Disconnecting the coax input temporarily might help simply things. -- John

Only get that with my SA8300HD and CRT RPTV when switched to S-video (a 2nd input) on the display. Most viewing here is 1080i-only from the STB to the display's YPbPr inputs. In S-video display mode on the RPTV, with another setting stretching 4X3 to 16X9 (Panoramic), images appear as you describe in S-video. Suggest setting the STB for 1080i-only YPbPr output initially, and ensuring the display is on the right input. Disconnecting the coax input temporarily might help simply things. -- John

I will see if removing the coax input improves anything. I only had 720p and 1080i selected on the box. I have a fairly old Toshiba SD-3950. Widescreen DVD's show up in full widescreen through the same component cables, so it's not a problem with the tv.

Hopefully I either got a bad box, or one that had a cable card installed for some reason. I'll find out Friday if they're open.

Happy Thanksgiving

EDIT: Just to update, original box was bad. Swapped it out and the new one works fine, except for one issue. I tried to tape Mythbusters SD (Don't get regular Discovery HD with Brighthouse, only HD Theater) manually, and it would display record on the front of the unit for about 3 seconds, then stop and flash the mail icon 3 times. I finally rebooted the box, lost 15 minutes of the show, and it started recording the next time I selected it.