Now that I'm a Cinemax subscriber again, I'm willing to deal with the loss of the ooops-I-missed-that HBO-HD West feed until SDB adds it back. Just in case my vote counts.

So, when the day comes that all feeds everywhere are HD, what kind of issues will SDB solve, and what can't it solve?...


Only Non-Max subs get to vote right now.....

SDB solves bandwidth constraints

Don't even know how to answer the other question - maybe World Peace?

Only Non-Max subs get to vote right now.....
Rats...


SDB solves bandwidth constraints

Don't even know how to answer the other question - maybe World Peace?OooooK, but in what way does SDB solve the constraints? In a VOD-too-bad-if-it's-overloaded way?

And while World Peace would be nice, I was focusing more on things like how many HD cable channels will I really be able to get. Will there be a two(or more)-tiered system, with some channels always in one spot and others only available if the bandwidth demand isn't too high? The free VOD stuff remains spotty, so I'm not expecting Cinemax-HD as VOD to work out well yet...

Diana:

Make that a bijillion and 1 for ESPN2HD [though my vote may have already been cast months ago]. I am also an HBOHD customer and strongly side with your reasoning regarding Cinemax HD. Many thanks to your thoughtful responses, as always.

SDB is streaming, but remember the SDB world doesn't contain constantly used analog bandwidth, so its more likely you'll win the lottery than run out of potential streams.

The quantity of new channels hasn't been deminsioned yet and I believe this is because there is so much capability with SDB its a mute point.

You guys are getting way too concerned that you aren't going to see your programming when you want - that really is so very highly improbable. (1) Our HD customer base is growing at a higher percentage than our SD base and will continue to do so, so that when you vote with your remote there are a great many of you doing so - and more every single day. (2) We monitor viewing stats on 360 channels - currently HD channels range in ranking from 106 to 276 meaning you have about a 100 channels more likely to hit the 'sorry no can do' limit than the HD channels.

Also, if your On Demand isn't working you need a service call because the stuff works like a charm.

Diana,
Does the analog tier go away completely with SDB?
____
Bruce

If my memory is correct, yes...sort of. SDB is all digital but the signal will be converted to analog at the node level if necessary.

Diana,
Does the analog tier go away completely with SDB?
____
Bruce

Depends on if you mean analog bandwidth or the capability to purchase the Basic Cable Package from us?

Ultimately analog bandwidth will go away entirely - with an evolution via the description D-Nice describes. Upon conversion of Broadcasters to all Digital and the placement of 'cheap' descrambling converters in all US homes then it is gone entirely.

However, the Basic Cable package will still exist for our customer to select as a purchase option.

... Ultimately analog bandwidth will go away entirely - with an evolution via the description D-Nice describes. Upon conversion of Broadcasters to all Digital and the placement of 'cheap' descrambling converters in all US homes then it is gone entirely. .
Got it. At some point "we" will need convertors for all tvs in our home. ("we" meaning those of us beyond just basic cable).

Not quite - one definate possibility with the Digital transition of Broadcast networks is the provision of 'cheap' converters to all households to convert the broadcaster signals (if the household has not yet purchased a Digital TV) in that instance we get 100 % penetration on households with some sort of device (either cheap converter or internal tuner, ie the Discovery HD, TNT HD situation today)

Hi Diana,

I'm sure if *I* request ESPN2-HD that will put them over the top, so add my request please !!

:D

----

Also in another thread around here some guy who claims to know a bigshot with TWC Corporate supposedly says:

"still, we are close to having deals for UPN, ESPN 2, Universal, Starz, Cinemax and TMC, We already have a deal with In Demand... I think it realisitic to anticipate that these deals will be done in the next few months and be added to the system in early '06..."

But who knows if this is accurate, hey "I heard it on the Internet!"..

-- Cain

Which Al Gore Invented!

Is that the same as WMD's in Iraq that G. Bush invented? :-)

Is that the same as WMD's in Iraq that G. Bush invented? :-)

Yep, the same ones Clinton's Intel people also said Iraq had..

:D

If we add Cinemax HD prior to achieving SDB we will have to drop HBO W HD to do so - that mean's you would have to pay $7 more per month the have the same number of HD screens you get now (2)...

Wow I love cable-speak. :) "HD screens"?? But they are the same with just a 3 hour time differential. With the proliferation of DVR's and Tivo's, having the E & W feeds of a channel is not nearly as convenient as it used to be about 5 years ago. If my vote mattered (obviously it doesn't, although I pay $150/month for cable, we still dont have ESPN2-HD or ESPN-U) I would prefer to have two "HD screens" that show two totally different programming lineups each day. Thats like if it really came down to it I'd prefer ESPN-U over getting the HD feed of ESPN2, whole other channel of college sports.

Just thought I would check in and update everyone on WLTX-DT.

We have been experiencing several issues with our aging analog transmitter. Thus the absence from the forum........no I wasn't run off due to some irate posts, Bob. Just extremely swamped.

We have upgraded our HD receiver in an effort to rid ourselves of the motor boating audio issue. It seems to have worked. I haven't heard it in months.

I noticed several of you had posts concerning our feed to TWC. Diana, I was under the impression that your system would revert to OTA if the fiber went down. I guess that is not the case or it was not working at the time.

I am going to step into it now but here it goes anyway......
5.1 audio status.......I am still working on it. CBS has rolled out a lot of new shows in 5.1 The issue is they haven't designed a way to switch between the stereo show and the 5.1 shows. At this point we would have to switch our encoder manually after each show. Crazy isn't it. But in the rush to get things on the air, some MINOR issues get dropped through the cracks.

I hope all is well with everyone on the forum. We are all fine here at WLTX for now.

Thanks,

........no I wasn't run off due to some irate posts, Bob. Just extremely swamped.Thanks,

That's good!, but could of fooled me! There is strength in numbers!! :)

Check PM Dan..

So is the broadcast flag problem still a SA issue? Having trouble separating fact from fiction here. ;)

I just received my CableCard from TWC and was excited to finally have HD. However, the channels seem to cycle quite frequently showing pixels and dropping the audio for a few seconds. The best channels are the HD Tier channels including ESPN HD as well as HBO. The Braves vs. Cubs game is clear except for minor glitches, the ABC MNF game is the worst followed closely by CBS. NBC seems pretty good as well.

I currently run the cable to the Monster Power HTS 1000 and then to my new Samsung 5667. I just removed the Monster Power and barely got a signal on any HD channel; therefore, I reconnected it.

Any suggestions or recommendations? Do I need to call TWC and have them send a technician? Could the weather be a factor as we've had quite a bit of rain? Or is this how HD is going to be? Any help would be appreciated, because this is not what I expected.

Interesting web site

Doesn't anyone use antennas to get DTV over the air these days? Why pay for something you can get for free?

Doesn't anyone use antennas to get DTV over the air these days? Why pay for something you can get for free?

There is more HD to have than the couple of hours of HD on the locals in the evening.

> Doesn't anyone use antennas to get DTV over the air these days? Why pay
> for something you can get for free?

You seem to be defining "free" as "without paying a monthly fee". There's nothing free about buying an antenna, buying a pole to put it on, climbing up on the house, figuring out whether it will recieve all the channels, fixing it when it doesn't work, scrapping the whole thing and starting over when it turns out you can't quite pick up the one channel you really watch the most, etc., etc.

Then there's the matter of recording HDTV programs which I can do with my HD-DVR. That ain't gonna be "free" with an antenna either.

So the answer is, if you'll come install an antenna and HDTV recorder at my house for "free" and not charge me a monthly fee...well, I'm all over that and goodbye TWC.

Doesn't anyone use antennas to get DTV over the air these days? Why pay for something you can get for free?

Why buy extra equipment such as an OTA tuner and antenna when you can get the exact same thing for free from Time Warner. They don't charge a dime for the local affiliates in HD.

Doesn't anyone use antennas to get DTV over the air these days? Why pay for something you can get for free?

Hardly free. I'd have to go out and purchase an HD tuner plus an antenna. Then I'd only be able to pick up the local channels... if I'm lucky. There's no guarantees I could even pull in the signal... I could be too far from the broadcast tower. And again, I'd only be able to rope in a few channels. No thanks.

I just received my CableCard from TWC and was excited to finally have HD. However, the channels seem to cycle quite frequently showing pixels and dropping the audio for a few seconds. The best channels are the HD Tier channels including ESPN HD as well as HBO. The Braves vs. Cubs game is clear except for minor glitches, the ABC MNF game is the worst followed closely by CBS. NBC seems pretty good as well.

I currently run the cable to the Monster Power HTS 1000 and then to my new Samsung 5667. I just removed the Monster Power and barely got a signal on any HD channel; therefore, I reconnected it.

Any suggestions or recommendations? Do I need to call TWC and have them send a technician? Could the weather be a factor as we've had quite a bit of rain? Or is this how HD is going to be? Any help would be appreciated, because this is not what I expected.

Did you have a converter prior to the Cable Card and if so was the reception the same? I'm hesitant to have you call into Customer Service for a Service Call on Cable Card because the nature of Cable Card technology and how it works with various TVs is just so unstable. I didn't watch HD last night, so I don't know if ABC and CBS were having a bad night - or if that big ole lightening strike yesterday afternoon didn't do some damage in your neighborhood.

Input from the forum is requested - if it looks like you have a Cable Card issue, I'd rather handle it to get you a Tech that has as much experience as possible with the device.

Have I told you guys how much I love you lately!

Have I told you guys how much I love you lately!
You've got bad news don't you?

Oh no..... its just very cool to see you guys refute the "why pay for something that is free argument".

So, just admiring your intelligence!

Ok, it just sounded like what my wife says before she's got bad news. :)

Maybe she's got good news... like they've added ESPN2 HD. In which case, we love you too! :D

38hdfun: FWIW, OTA HD here for the most part works. We have some folks here who view HD via OTA only and others who have both OTA and Cable (for redundancy and/or multiple HDTVs). Cable gets lots of talk since many here choose to avail themselves of and talk about the extra HD programming cable offers along with their HD DVRs.

Dan'sHiPix: Dan, thanks for the update. I did not know you all had added a fiber connect to TWC. And, like many, am looking forward to DD5.1 audio if/when. Last, a comment on the radar channel... problems there? We had a number of thunderstorms as of late and when I went to check the channel was not weather.

Diana: chortle...

sheppardwk: Appreciate hearing about your cablecard experience; few of us have tried them yet so your info is of interest. With what you said plus other comments here on AVS about the cablecard, it seems there have been problems. Do keep us posted on how things go. Also, regarding your report that your cable signal's strength was improved by your Monster Power HTS 1000, I would not have expected that. Interesting.

Did you have a converter prior to the Cable Card and if so was the reception the same? I'm hesitant to have you call into Customer Service for a Service Call on Cable Card because the nature of Cable Card technology and how it works with various TVs is just so unstable. I didn't watch HD last night, so I don't know if ABC and CBS were having a bad night - or if that big ole lightening strike yesterday afternoon didn't do some damage in your neighborhood.

Input from the forum is requested - if it looks like you have a Cable Card issue, I'd rather handle it to get you a Tech that has as much experience as possible with the device.

Diana,

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I had a Digital Converter Box (Explorer 2000) and received the Digital Tier, Movie Tier, and HBO. The picture quality on my Samsung 5667 with this box was good on the analog channels and better on the digital channels. I did not want the HD Converter Box for several reasons - need additional cables, can't produce Dolby 5.1, and additional cost.

When the Tech came yesterday, it took approximately 30 minutes for him to install it, call the "head-end" and relay information, and call customer service because channels above 101 did not come in. Once we had all the channels, he left, but as soon as he left, the Digital Channels did not work. A few minutes later they worked. However, the HD Channels were very unstable. The best channel was INHD2 (I think 941) that was showing the Phillies vs. Giants baseball game. Outstanding picture, great sound, no pixels or drops. HBO-HD was very good - only a few hesitations, followed closely by ESPN-HD, Discovery INHD1 and NBC/WIS. As I indicated previously, ABC/WOLO was poor with several pauses and hesitations every 5-10 seconds, but the worst was CBS/WLTX. CSI-Miami was being shown and you could not follow the conversation due to the constant pausing and dropping.

I unhooked the cable from the Monster Power and connected the TV straight to the outlet, as a friend recommended, and the signal basically disappeared. I kept receiving a blue screen with the words - Weak Signal or Scrambled Channel. Reconnecting it through the Monster Power, the signal was the same as before. I called TWC this morning and they recommended that once I'm home tonight, unplug my TV, call them back and they can send a signal to the card. If it doesn't improve, they suggested a technician to come out and troubleshoot.

I'm not aware of any lightning damage in the neighborhood - most of it had finished prior to the installation of the card (6:00 p.m.). It seems as though the subscribed HD channels were the best, followed by WIS and the others. If you have any other thoughts or suggestions, I would appreciate it.

sheppardwk: Appreciate hearing about your cablecard experience; few of us have tried them yet so your info is of interest. With what you said plus other comments here on AVS about the cablecard, it seems there have been problems. Do keep us posted on how things go. Also, regarding your report that your cable signal's strength was improved by your Monster Power HTS 1000, I would not have expected that. Interesting.

I, too was a little surprised, as a friend recently disconnected his surge protector at the insistance of the TWC technician and received better PQ. I spoke with him this morning about my situation and he indicated that was exactly like his previous problem; however, once he disconnected his surge protector (it was not Monster, though) the picture was perfect.

I'm going to experiment a little tonight - swap some coaxial cables in and out and see what might work. I'm using one TWC supplied RF and one gold-plated heavy duty cables purchased from Radio Shack. Any other thoughts or suggestions?

Got a question I am sure has been asked before here, but this thread is too big to find. Are the video inputs on the front of the 8300 DVR active? If not, why not? It would be great to use the terrific scaler (compared to my iscan) built into the cable box for camcorders and VHS. Of course, I could always cheat and use an RF box to transmit on channel 3 analog before the box, but who knows what digital functions that switchbox could block. Just trying to find a way to watch my VHS in my home theater without adding yet another piece of hardware.

I'm going to experiment a little tonight - swap some coaxial cables in and out and see what might work. I'm using one TWC supplied RF and one gold-plated heavy duty cables purchased from Radio Shack. Any other thoughts or suggestions?
Seems the best connect setup would be from your wall drop to your TV (no splitters; no amps). When it comes to using a power conditioner... I do not know since I have no experience using one on my HDTV. The room's drop should be a home-run cable to the house's cable box (demarc) and from there to the street pedestal. The cables that TWC has always provided here have worked fine; heavy duty RG-6 coax with large F-Connectors. Suggest you remove any cable that is RG-59. Always a possibility you have a bad cable so swapping with another would be a good check. If all else fails; get a tech out there to check it out. They can install a low-noise preamp at the demarc to boost the the signal level if needed.

sheppardwk - I watched a good portion of the preseason football game on ABC and had no troubles with it. In fact, I was thinking at the time that it had exceptional audio and video quality. I flipped around to ESPNHD to watch a few minutes of the baseball game and it also was coming in just fine. Watched a few minutes of INHD too and it looked and sounded great.

Just thought you'd like to know in case you were wondering if others were seeing what you were seeing last night. Oh, and I'm near blythewood.

I'm having problems with ABC HD. The picture kind of "shakes" up and down every couple of seconds. I haven't noticed it on any other channels. Is this a problem with ABC 720p programing being upcoverted to 1080i? Anyone experience this?

I'm having problems with ABC HD. The picture kind of "shakes" up and down every couple of seconds. I haven't noticed it on any other channels. Is this a problem with ABC 720p programing being upcoverted to 1080i? Anyone experience this?
I see by your (similar) post over in the display forum that you have a Mits 42313 but you don't say what kind of STB you are using. You might well be seeing some kind of artifact with the transconversion from 720p to 1080i but that would occur within the STB and not your set. Your STB might be sending out a flawed 1080i signal. It might have been an anomaly with that particular broadcast so I would suggest you check another ABC broadcast along with one from ESPN and/or FOX HD to see how their 720p looks and get back to us. More detail about your setup would be helpful. Please include your STB (HD Cablebox or DBS STB w/ATSC receiver), how you set it up (what resolution set to if a TWC box) and how you connected it to your set (DVI or YPrPb).

Acutally, it happens on most, if not all, ABC programing in HD. I just mentioned the MNF for reference. I will get back with you on the other info, but I haven't noticed it on Fox or ESPN. I believe its a SA 3170 STB?
I connect my set using YPrPb to my "DTV" input on the Mitsu.

I do not know how to set the resolution on the TWC box?

Thanks for your help and patience. I live in Lexington if that helps.

Seems the best connect setup would be from your wall drop to your TV (no splitters; no amps). When it comes to using a power conditioner... I do not know since I have no experience using one on my HDTV. The room's drop should be a home-run cable to the house's cable box (demarc) and from there to the street pedestal. The cables that TWC has always provided here have worked fine; heavy duty RG-6 coax with large F-Connectors. Suggest you remove any cable that is RG-59. Always a possibility you have a bad cable so swapping with another would be a good check. If all else fails; get a tech out there to check it out. They can install a low-noise preamp at the demarc to boost the the signal level if needed.

I installed an Electroline EDA-2400 (4-port) Low-Noise Amplifier several years ago to improve the picture quality throughout my house. When we built the house years ago, I insisted on RG-6 in every room. I'm at a loss to what's going on as well. I'm planning on re-tightening all of the connections and try several different combinations tonight. If all else fails, I'm considering purchasing 75-100' of new coax and running it to the amp and/or Monster Cable Coaxial and see if it clears it up. TWC said they could come out as early as Friday for a service call.

sheppardwk - I watched a good portion of the preseason football game on ABC and had no troubles with it. In fact, I was thinking at the time that it had exceptional audio and video quality. I flipped around to ESPNHD to watch a few minutes of the baseball game and it also was coming in just fine. Watched a few minutes of INHD too and it looked and sounded great.

Just thought you'd like to know in case you were wondering if others were seeing what you were seeing last night. Oh, and I'm near blythewood.


Thanks for the response. Do you use the CableCard feature or do you have a set-top-box (STB)? I'm in Chapin.

Acutally, it happens on most, if not all, ABC programing in HD. I just mentioned the MNF for reference. I will get back with you on the other info, but I haven't noticed it on Fox or ESPN. I believe its a SA 3170 STB?
I connect my set using YPrPb to my "DTV" input on the Mitsu.
I do not know how to set the resolution on the TWC box?
Thanks for your help and patience. I live in Lexington if that helps.
Suggest you do check out the other 720p broadcasts to try and narrow down the problem. Also get the model number off your STB and surf over to Scientific Atlanta's Explorers Club (http://www.scientificatlanta.com/explorerclub/default.asp) (you will need to sign up the first time). Once there go check out the manuals and guides... they have a setup guide for each of their boxes. You need to make sure your box is set so that 720p signals are displayed (crosscoverted) as 1080i). TWCSC (http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/FAQ/TWCFAQCategories.ashx?CatID=917&MarketID=12) does have a couple of manuals on their web site but I did not see one for a 3170HD model box. (If what you have is 3100HD box, then I suggest you immediately swap it out for a 3250HD or a 8300HD DVR. The latter is a DVR and best deal going BUT it does cost $5/mo more than a regular converter. Hopefully others here will see your delimma and possibly add to this discussion as well. Keep us posted...

----
Bruce

I installed an Electroline EDA-2400 (4-port) Low-Noise Amplifier several years ago to improve the picture quality throughout my house. When we built the house years ago, I insisted on RG-6 in every room. I'm at a loss to what's going on as well. I'm planning on re-tightening all of the connections and try several different combinations tonight. If all else fails, I'm considering purchasing 75-100' of new coax and running it to the amp and/or Monster Cable Coaxial and see if it clears it up. TWC said they could come out as early as Friday for a service call.

Let TWC check it out; signal levels needed for HD are kinda picky. And things like splitters or splicers are generally not good (separate lines are best). In my experience, TWC installs their amps at the house box and then distributes the boosted signals over single runs to each room. The only splitter they use is at the demarc location. The power feed is injected into the system from any drop. Good luck!

---
Bruce

Diana,

Thanks for the response.

Yes, I had a Digital Converter Box (Explorer 2000) and received the Digital Tier, Movie Tier, and HBO. The picture quality on my Samsung 5667 with this box was good on the analog channels and better on the digital channels. I did not want the HD Converter Box for several reasons - need additional cables, can't produce Dolby 5.1, and additional cost.


Sorry, I didn't do a good job asking my question. I was wondering if you had an HD Converter previously, that would allow us to isolate the issue to the Cable Card/your sets operation via a Cable Card and eliminate plant or programmer issues. If you wanted..... take your HD Manual to a convenient front counter and pick up a 3250 or 8300 and test it out. let me know and I'll make sure you don't pay for the converter during the test - that would really give you a head's up prior to Friday on the real issue your dealing with....

Are the video inputs on the front of the 8300 DVR active? If not, why not? .


No

Don't know - don't know if SA ever provided software to activate them OR if SA did provide software, but it didn't pass our Engineering tests for push down.

I believe its a SA 3170 STB?



It will either be a 3100 or 3250. I kinda hope its a 3100 because that is a Known issue with ABC in Columbia that way we don't have to worry about 'something new'.

If it is a 3100 please swap it immediately for a 3250! And let me know so that I can send another email to the warehouse to keep those converters out of the field!

Let TWC check it out; signal levels needed for HD are kinda picky. And things like splitters or splicers are generally not good (separate lines are best). In my experience, TWC installs their amps at the house box and then distributes the boosted signals over single runs to each room. The only splitter they use is at the demarc location. The power feed is injected into the system from any drop. Good luck!

---
Bruce

That's exactly how I have mine set up. Feed from the street into the powered amp. Then there are four (4) separate runs to the TV's in the house. No splitters are used on any of the single runs.

Sorry, I didn't do a good job asking my question. I was wondering if you had an HD Converter previously, that would allow us to isolate the issue to the Cable Card/your sets operation via a Cable Card and eliminate plant or programmer issues. If you wanted..... take your HD Manual to a convenient front counter and pick up a 3250 or 8300 and test it out. let me know and I'll make sure you don't pay for the converter during the test - that would really give you a head's up prior to Friday on the real issue your dealing with....

It would have to be tomorrow if I need my manual. However, I could print a few pages off the .pdf that I have on my computer. The most convenient counter would be Greystone. How do I obtain the HD box to test? Do I mention your name or reference something? I'll try whatever is necessary to pinpoint the problem.

Doesn't anyone use antennas to get DTV over the air these days? Why pay for something you can get for free?

<waves arms> :D

But I have to admit I'm kind of weird in that I've never had cable or satellite. When I moved into my current house seventeen years ago, it already had a roof antenna and rotor, so I just kept on using it, and ended up replacing it a couple of times. After the second replacement last May, I began to wonder if I could pick up DTV with it, out here in the boonies. So I bought a HD receiver, hooked it up, and son of a gun, it worked! :eek:

Even with my old SD TV, when I can receive a DTV station, the picture is usually significantly better than with the corresponding analog station. This is especially true for Columbia stations, whose analog signals are pretty much unwatchable here. Unfortunately there are a lot of trees right behind my house, in the direction of Columbia, so only WOLO-DT (which uses a VHF signal) is really reliable. The other stations range from slightly flaky (WACH-DT) to watchable only late at night (WLTX-DT).

I usually watch Greenville-area stations, but now I turn to Charlotte and Columbia occasionally, for variety, and to give the rotor some exercise.

Thanks for the response. Do you use the CableCard feature or do you have a set-top-box (STB)? I'm in Chapin.

I have a STB. I just wanted to comment on the quality I was seeing in case you were wondering if TWC in general was having problems yesterday.

Hey Bruce,
Yes our radar is down due to lightening. It received a direct hit a while ago and is still being tested after repairs were completed last week. We hope to have it up and running sometime this week. As soon as it is there, I will put it back on 19-2.

Not taking sides in the Cable or OTA debate. However, I have OTA and haven't paid a penny since my initial install in 2002. So for me it is free.

Hey Bruce,
Yes our radar is down due to lightening. It received a direct hit a while ago and is still being tested after repairs were completed last week. We hope to have it up and running sometime this week. As soon as it is there, I will put it back on 19-2.

Dan... appreciate the update. While I do bounce back and forth between WLTX's weather channel and WOLO's, I much prefer the scale and presentation of your radar info. Hope to see it up and running again soon.

---
Bruce

It would have to be tomorrow if I need my manual. However, I could print a few pages off the .pdf that I have on my computer. The most convenient counter would be Greystone. How do I obtain the HD box to test? Do I mention your name or reference something? I'll try whatever is necessary to pinpoint the problem.


No, you will need the actual manual. Just tell them you want an HD Converter nothing else - it will only confuse the issue if you tell them I have asked you to test a converter. When you get home pm me with your home phone number. I'll do the credit on the back end.

Ultimately you will see a charge and a corresponding credit on your bill.

Thanks for the info on the inputs. It's a shame they don't work. But now I have a new glitch. How often should I expect all my recorded content to disappear? It has happened twice now. I did unplug it yesterday for a hour but have done that before several times during lighting storms. Besides, a hard disk is non-volatile memory. I had at least 6 HD movies recorded and some shows and a few scheduled recordings. Now it's all gone. I don't feel like going through the trouble of finding programs to record anymore if I can't watch them. Is this just another software bug, or should I bring my box in to be swapped out? Has anyone else had this happen? I am using the 8300 DVR box.

UPDATE: OK, I rebooted the box and the movies are back now. I did this by accident as I was trying to add some programs to my scheduled list and it was telling my that my hard disk was full, and showing 0% usage at the same time. A reboot corrected this and my movies came back. I sure am glad as there were some that I can't get back now.

Ok. I checked it out and I do have the 3100 STB. What do I need to do? Just go up to Greystone and tell them I want to swap it out for the 3250? Will there be a charge?

No, you will need the actual manual. Just tell them you want an HD Converter nothing else - it will only confuse the issue if you tell them I have asked you to test a converter. When you get home pm me with your home phone number. I'll do the credit on the back end.

Ultimately you will see a charge and a corresponding credit on your bill.

Thanks Diana - I'll try and get by there and test it out.

I just had the CableCard installed on Monday to my brand new Samsung HL-R5667 and have numerous problems as indicated above.

When the technician first installed it, none of the Digital channels worked - 101 and above. Finally, they came in and as soon as he left, they went off again. Watching HD was difficult because of all the pause and audio drops. The best channels are 941 and 814 - absolutely stunning. I've watched two baseball games these past two nights and all I can say is incredible. ESPN-HD and NBC-HD are next with ABC-HD and CBS-HD bringing up the rear. How can several channels be perfect and the rest be terrible? Every so often, the digital channels go off again, but I cannot determine why.

Now onto my most recent concern. When I turned on my Sony receiver there was a visible flicker on the TV screen. Then I noticed a transparent bar about 2 inches tall slowly rolling up the screen. I turned off the receiver but the bar was still present. I turned it back on and then off again and the bar went away. This never occurred with the Digital Set-Top Box (Explorer 2000) and the Samsung - last 10 days or with my previous TV. Also, when I plugged in the vacuum cleaner to an outlet in the room, there was a noticeable distortion to the TV with green pixels, flickers and bars. Again, this never happened with the STB or previous TV.

The Samsung is connected to the Sony receiver via the Audio Out with a THX Monster optical connection and they both plug into the Monster Power HTS 1000. These problems just started happening after the installation of the CableCard. Coincidence?

Any help would greatly be appreciated, as I am very frustrated. I do plan to stop by TWC and pick up a HD STB and see if I can receive the channels better.

Ok. I checked it out and I do have the 3100 STB. What do I need to do? Just go up to Greystone and tell them I want to swap it out for the 3250? Will there be a charge?


Yes - just go up to Greystone with teh 3100 and ask for the Model 3250

No charge

Thanks for the info on the inputs. It's a shame they don't work. But now I have a new glitch. How often should I expect all my recorded content to disappear? It has happened twice now. I did unplug it yesterday for a hour but have done that before several times during lighting storms. Besides, a hard disk is non-volatile memory. I had at least 6 HD movies recorded and some shows and a few scheduled recordings. Now it's all gone. I don't feel like going through the trouble of finding programs to record anymore if I can't watch them. Is this just another software bug, or should I bring my box in to be swapped out? Has anyone else had this happen? I am using the 8300 DVR box.

UPDATE: OK, I rebooted the box and the movies are back now. I did this by accident as I was trying to add some programs to my scheduled list and it was telling my that my hard disk was full, and showing 0% usage at the same time. A reboot corrected this and my movies came back. I sure am glad as there were some that I can't get back now.


I'm glad you got it back, because unless you exerience drive failure, you should never lose the recordings. Unfortunately machines do totally break down sometimes.

Also, remember to set the expiration date to never or else they will delete themselves per the schedule.

I noticed a transparent bar about 2 inches tall slowly rolling up the screen.
This is usually a grounding problem.

This is usually a grounding problem.

That was my thought.

This is usually a grounding problem.

How does one go about correcting this as I mentioned it did not start occurring until Monday after the CableCard was installed?

Try unplugging one thing at a time while it is happening. When it stops that component was the problem.

Diana,


When will our old SARA dvr software be updated? :confused:

Diana,


When will our old SARA dvr software be updated? :confused:


No ETA - I asked local and Corporate Engineers and they do not know when it will clear testing.

Thanks, for your prompt response. I will be looking forward to the software being updated. Seems to quite a few improvements, as well as stability added to the lastest firmware.

When I had a grouding problem, I was all over the house looking for the problem. Never found it. In the end it was the ground connection outside the house. The wire tap from the cable to the grounding rod was loose. Make sure this connection is clean and secure.

After swapping around 4 cards and jumping through various hoops w/ TWC in attempts to resolve my four missing HD channels, they moved my CC to slot 1 from slot 3 on the head end and I magically began receiving the channels. They only finally looked into my account setup in depth after 3 service calls and a new TV didn't solve the issue. Their CC guru said the CC often acts flakey when not on slot 1 at the head office.

Anyway, PQ via CC is awesome, but like some of you my optical audio is being disabled on INHD and HDNET on my Panny TH-42PX500. IIRC, this has to do w/ the broadcast flag. Anyone have any advice on how to resolve this? Suppose I'll start by complaining to TWC. It's certainly maddening that a show broadcast in DD5.1 can't be enjoyed in 5.1.

Found this on the Hardware Board regarding the position of the CableCard at the head end. Could moving the CC to slot 1 (not sure the location of mine, could be slot 1 for all I know) solve my issue of some of the HD Channels (primarily ABC, CBS, Fox, TNT) constantly pausing and dropping audio?

Haven't had any DD 5.1 problems with my CC, but I'll monitor it.

I get audio drops and video pauses using a 8300HD with TNT-HD. I do not think this channel is stable from TWC.

I just recently had the Scientific Atlanta (SA) Cable Card inserted in to my Samsung HL-R5667W DLP set. We had problems right from the start, some HD channels (INHD1 & 2) are incredible, others are good (HBOHD, ESPNHD, NBCHD) with slight pauses and audio drops, and the rest (ABCHD, CBSHD, FOXHD) are unwatchable due to the constant freezes and drops.

Diana at TWC (who is so helpful - thanks again) suggested trying a Set-Top-Box to troubleshoot and rule out poor cable. I received a SA 8000HD/DVR, ejected the CableCard and connected the component cables and only the RF cable input to the cable box. (The manual online did not specify to connect a RF coaxial to the TV input.) Waited for the box to power on and went through the setup. I saved all of the six (6) screen formats and went about completing the setup. The HD channels are perfect - no pixels, pauses or audio drops. So, it must be the CableCard, right?

In the meantime, I have a few questions about this setup.

1. The regular cable and digital channels don't appear as sharp. What is the best format for analog channels - 480i STD? Do you have to switch back and forth when you watch a HD channel and then a SD channel?

2. I must have printed a few sheets from the 8300HD manual because I did not see a heading in the Settings menu for Set Picture Format. Under this you can choose Fixed, Pass Through, Up Convert-1 and 2. I could not find this under Settings, but what I've read if you choose upconvert or Pass Through then programming automatically is formatted with the best picture. Is this available with the 8000HD box?

3. If I connected a coaxial cable from the box to the TV input and then used that source on the TV, would I receive a clearer SD picture?

4. How would you recommend receiving the best picture using this box?

5. Any other thoughts about troubleshooting or does this indicate the CC is the problem?

Thanks for any help.

Press Settings twice. Select pass-through. Run through set-up saving only 1080i and 720p letting the cable box do the upconvert for analog channnels and see if they look better.

[snip] In the meantime, I have a few questions about this setup.

1. The regular cable and digital channels don't appear as sharp. What is the best format for analog channels - 480i STD? Do you have to switch back and forth when you watch a HD channel and then a SD channel?

2. I must have printed a few sheets from the 8300HD manual because I did not see a heading in the Settings menu for Set Picture Format. Under this you can choose Fixed, Pass Through, Up Convert-1 and 2. I could not find this under Settings, but what I've read if you choose upconvert or Pass Through then programming automatically is formatted with the best picture. Is this available with the 8000HD box?

3. If I connected a coaxial cable from the box to the TV input and then used that source on the TV, would I receive a clearer SD picture?

4. How would you recommend receiving the best picture using this box?

5. Any other thoughts about troubleshooting or does this indicate the CC is the problem?

Thanks for any help.


Most find the 8000's upconvert picture quality not quite good enough so most folks watch NTSC on a separate input on their TV. (upconvert: box takes a 480i signal and converts it to 1080i (or 720p) and sends it out over the component cables (assuming that is what you are using). HDTVs then almost always then line double that to 480p. (fwiw, the 8300HD does have decent enough upconvert so it can be used for just about anything. Also it also has HDMI too for those whose sets can use it).

As for which connection to use with a SA8000HD, I usually used composite myself but many folks preferred to use S-Video or even coax. Might try out all of them to see what works best for you. I usually had a spllitter in my line so that I could also do a straight in coax to my TV, in part so I could do PIP when desired. Note that this can significantly degrade your signal strength so be aware of that fact. (I have an amp in my system so my split signal is still good enough).

Note that it is natural for HD displays to make the NTSC artifacts appear worse; something we learn to live with.

8000HD... I seem to have forgotten most of what I knew... try Gary J's recommendation. If that does nto work; you should be able to download the manual from Scientific Atlanta web site (it might be on TWCSC;s too; I don't remember). Keep in mind the 8300HD is a more capable box than the 8000.

I don't know enough about the cable card system but it does sound like your setup there needs tweaking/fixing. If you decide to stay with a DVR vice a cable card, I suggest you swap out the 8000 for the 8300 model. You will have to visit your local TWC office and ask if they have an 8300HD in stock. If yes; chances are you will have to run home and get your old one and go back and then do the swap. Again, the 8300HD has HDMI.. so if your TV has it too you may find that gives you the best PQ.
____
Bruce

Press Settings twice. Select pass-through. Run through set-up saving only 1080i and 720p letting the cable box do the upconvert for analog channnels and see if they look better.


I pressed it twice, but there is not a Set Picture option available. I'm going to swap it out for an 8300 next week.

It will be in the 8300.

I pressed it twice, but there is not a Set Picture option available. I'm going to swap it out for an 8300 next week.


Make sure they give you an 8300 Guide Book - they should have given you an 8000 and I apologize for that.

Good Morning,

We are happy to announce an agreement with Universal HD that allows us to air the US Open Tennis Tournament in HD on our HD Special Events Channel 814.

Below please find a schedule of specific viewing times in which the Tournament will be on Channel 814. When the tournament is not on the air, you will see a Black Screen. There will be limited exposure to regular Universal HD programming as we activate the signal each day. Most specifically, we will keep the window open an extra hour each night in hopes of making sure we don't cut off any matches still in progress each night.

Non-HD coverage of the US Open Tennis Tournament is available on USA Network. If the HD feed gets cut off, you can view the remainder of the match on this Basic Cable channel.

Before you ask:
Our Corporate Office is still in negotiations for full time carriage of the network and we do not have an estimated timeframe in which the channel MAY launch full time, nor have we considered yet whether it will be a free channel or part of the HD Tier.


Date Day Start (et) End Time (et) Session
8/29/2005 Monday 7:00 PM 11:00 PM 2 - Live

8/30/2005 Tuesday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 2 - Repeat From Monday night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 4 - Live

8/31/2005 Wed 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 4 - Repeat From Tuesday night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 6 - Live

9/1/2005 Thursday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 6 - Repeat From Wed night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 8 - Live

9/2/2005 Friday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 8 - Repeat From Thursday night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 10 - Live

9/3/2005 Saturday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 10 - Repeat From Friday night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 11 - Live

9/4/2005 Sunday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 11 - Repeat From Saturday night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 12 - Live

9/5/2005 Monday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 12 - Repeat From Sunday night
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 13 - Live

9/6/2005 Tuesday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 13 - Repeat From Monday night
11:00 AM 6:00 PM 14 - Live
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 15 - Live

9/7/2005 Wed 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 15 - Repeat From Tuesday night
11:00 AM 6:00 PM 16 - Live
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 17 - Live

9/8/2005 Thursday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 17 - Repeat From Wed night
11:00 AM 5:00 PM 18 - Live
7:00 PM 11:00 PM 19 - Live

9/9/2005 Friday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 19 - Repeat From Thursday night

9/10/2005 Saturday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 17 - Repeat From Wed night

9/11/2005 Sunday 6:00 AM 10:00 AM 19 - Repeat From Thursday night
1:00 PM 2:30 PM 20 - Live

You know what - its just impossible to copy an Excel spreadsheet to this forum.....

Hope the schedule makes sense to everyone.

On 9/4
Could you put Va. Tech. @ N.C. State on the Special HD Events channel 814 for me instead of the US Open? :)

Yeah - deep addressability for sporting events... I don't know why we couldn't just have that ready for Monday....200 and NOT 5. ;)

But, seriously why wouldn't they want be "ACTIVE" instead of being "REACTIVE?


Maybe a better way to say it would be," Be the leader, and not the follower".

You get all the company's that own sports rights to agree and I'm all over it - Big Ten games in HD for me every day!

Not exactly HD related I know, but what the heck happened for us Irmese people today? No TV or Internet for 9 or 10 hours today. What a drag when you've been home all week sick. Plus it was down for a while on Tuesday afternoon too I believe.

All's good now though.

Hope you feel more better now!!

Hope you feel more better now!!

thanks!

Let's just say that some of the drugs they make these days are awesome.

That said, I'd happily trade my tv viewing to get rid of this illness. :D

Dan,

Can you have someone to flip the DD 5.1 switch for The Carolina game on the 17th?

Can you turn off the weather radar for the game?

Is the Clemson game not being filmed with HD cameras or something? I get HD commercials (non-stretched but crystal clear) and very poor PQ non-HD video with 5.1 surround sound. What is going on? I called in to TWC and was told that they are watching it in full HD video and Audio. All my other HD channels are beautiful right now.

This is VERY annoying!

This was not a HD game. Regional games on ABC are not in HD. TWC has nothing to do with this, and the the game audio was DD 2.0 and was "faked" to DD 5.1 by Wolo.


FWIW: use your on screen guide for what is HD.

What on the screen guide tells you it is in HD?

I didn't think that it was TWC's fault but this is the only format that I would get an answer in without having to wait until tomorrow. If the CSR had just said yeah its not an HD game I would have been satisfied (dissapointed, but satisfied).

I also don't understand why it is not in HD for "regional' games. Its ABC's primetime showing, there were only 2 choices of games ND vs Pitt or Clemson vs TAMU.

Oh well, Clemson won and that is all that really matters. Of course it would have been better if I had been able to see the winning drive but no, ABC had to break in with news that Rehnquist had died along with a restrospective of his life. HELLO who cares!!!

If the CSR had just said yeah its not an HD game I would have been satisfied (dissapointed, but satisfied).


Nucleartiger - Unfortunately, at this point in time, your expectation for our CSSRs knowledge of HD programming on a specific channel is simply not reachable. We spend a great deal of time innundating our Call Center with a vast amount of information about all three of our products. It really is beyond what I can accomplish in my own day, to spend time looking at programming schedules to determine if everything we are being sent is actually in HD, much less put it together and send it to the group. I apologize that our CSSR added to your frustration, but your wish is simply beyond our capabilities at this time. If you were to have asked me the same question, my response would have been, we pass through what we get, so its a question for ESPN. In their mind if you asked about ESPNHD programming, so logically to them the answer would be, Its in HD, nothing more.

Sheppardwk - How's the Cable Card working?

Does anyone know if WIS OTA signal is off the air? I lost it yesterday.

WIS-DT Ch 41 is up and running. Remapping is not working so you might need to tune in 41.x vice 10.x
____
Bruce

I can confirm that WOLO-DT 25-1/ABCHD 815 is off the air at this moment.

I can understand that it is a little much to ask of the CSR to check the signal coming through. The reason that I called was because I (mistakenly) thought that the game was supposed to be in HD. (Still think that it is BS that it wasn't). So when I called, the CSSR (Who was very nice and tried to help as much as possible) said that the game was in HD there at the TWC office. Thats what really frustrated me, it had me thinking that the game was in HD and I was missing it.

Thanks for addressing my concerns Diana. We may not say it often but we are all lucky to have you there at TWC helping us.

Danny

Oh before I forget, Kevin mentioned something about the onscreen guide telling you if the game is an HD broadcast or not. Where does that info show up at?

I can confirm that WOLO-DT 25-1/ABCHD 815 is off the air at this moment.


looks fine at this point from where I can see..

Yea,

It must had burped off for awhile, all is fine now.

It has had a case of dyspepsia of late, working on a software update for it..

Example:

Press Guide
Then punch in 805
Then scroll till 7:00 ET Countdown to Green
Then press the INFO button Twice
Most of the time it will say HDTV at the end

You can also press the INFO button while tuned to a specific channel and it will give a program description, and usually say HDTV is it suppose to be HD

The FSU Miami game says HDTV for tomorrow for ABCHD if you check on it.

There is also a HDTV programming section on this forum that is very imformative.
I hope this helps.

The locals have been known not to pass the HD feed on occasion, even if it is listed as HD. TWC passes the "FREE" local HD channels as they are broadcast. There have been rare occassions when there may be a problem from TWC, but TWCSC is very stable in their transmissions.

[QUOTE=Nucleartiger] So when I called, the CSSR (Who was very nice and tried to help as much as possible) said that the game was in HD there at the TWC office. Thats what really frustrated me, it had me thinking that the game was in HD and I was missing it. QUOTE]


Any chance you got the name because I would like to find out how they knew that considering the lack of HD TVs in the Call Center..... WE never advocate their 'making things up' - this would fall into the education category.

And, thanks much for the kind words - we get a great deal out of our partnership with the forum and I like to think overall you help us make HD better for everyone in our service area.

Dang, that's why my bill's so high, to pay for all those plasmas. :p

Bruce, I can't get either...10.x or 41.x. Is that from the problem you mentioned? Thanks

10.1 is fine ota.

Bruce, I can't get either...10.x or 41.x. Is that from the problem you mentioned? Thanks
Not sure why you are not getting either of the numbers. WIS-DT broadcasts on Channel 41 but usually on DTV receiver it shows as 10.x (TWC broadcasts it two channels; Ch 805 and 806). Digital stations typically use virtual remapping to make it appear it is as their old NTSC channel number and for WIS that is Channel 10.x (the x means one of the three three sub channels they have; one HD; one weather, and one a SD multicast). Depending on your receiver; you may need to rescan your channels. If still nothing and we are getting a signal then something is amiss.
____
Bruce

Bruce...Any other suggestions on how to troubleshoot what is wrong. It has worked for 6 months just fine and then gone on Saturday. No 10.x or 41.x. I have OTA antenna not TWC. I rescanned and checked signal with no luck. Signal is there but no picture. Thanks

Bruce...Any other suggestions on how to troubleshoot what is wrong. It has worked for 6 months just fine and then gone on Saturday. No 10.x or 41.x. I have OTA antenna not TWC. I rescanned and checked signal with no luck. Signal is there but no picture. Thanks
I have not heard nor experienced any recent problem here with WIS and I don't think power level has changed recently. They are up and running right now. I do have to punch in "41" to get it rather than "10" (they are not remapping the channel number). You said you are getting a signal but no picture. Perhaps the signal is too poor for the receiver to decode the picture. That makes me think the antenna orientation is off; the signal level is to low; or your antenna is not adequate. Can you get the other Cola UHF stations okay? WACH-DT CH 48; WLTX Ch 17, WRLK Ch 32? If the rescan did not help; maybe try these ideas:

- Double-check the antenna orientation just in case: WOLO and WIS are on the same tower so if you can get WOLO Ch 8 (remaps to 25.x) your antenna orientation should be okay. WOLO is VHF Ch 8 so its reception may well be different than WIS UHF Ch 41. Rescan after tweak.

- Double-check the coax and its connections from the antenna to the receiver. Maybe swap another cable out if possible.

- Try another antenna (and rescan). More details over your antenna model and where you live would help; I tried to search your past AVS posts for that but they halted that for now due to server overload.

Note that sometimes amps or pre-amps help. Note that amps work best when there is a decent signal but one that is just low. If the signal is just poor they just amplify noise and do not help. I would not recommend buying one of these yet.

Let us know if any of this helps.

____
Bruce

OK Bruce...I have tried another antenna and rescanned as you suggested. I can now receive the 41.x but not the 10.x. All other channels are OK as well...WOLO, WLTX, WACH. Guess the rescan worked as I can now receive 41 on both antennas. I have the TERK 44 which I know is not much good and I have the TERK 55 indoor and have better luck with it.

I live in NE Columbia off Polo Road/Mallet Hill near I-20. Neither one of these antennas will pull in WRLK-32 and never have. Any suggestions on that. Thanks a bunch. Sue

[QUOTE=bdenman]I
- Double-check the antenna orientation just in case: WOLO and WIS are on the same tower

WOLO and WACH are on the same tower..However, WIS is about a mile or so away.. :)
-

OK Bruce...I have tried another antenna and rescanned as you suggested. I can now receive the 41.x but not the 10.x. All other channels are OK as well...WOLO, WLTX, WACH. Guess the rescan worked as I can now receive 41 on both antennas. I have the TERK 44 which I know is not much good and I have the TERK 55 indoor and have better luck with it.

I live in NE Columbia off Polo Road/Mallet Hill near I-20. Neither one of these antennas will pull in WRLK-32 and never have. Any suggestions on that. Thanks a bunch. Sue
bob: pfttttttttttttttttttttttt (oops) :) (thanks for the correction).

SA039: WIS.. thats right; they will only come in right now as Ch 41. You need to find out where you are in respect to WRLK/Ch 32 and repoint your antenna for them. Their broadcast tower is not in the same general area as are most of the others. Here is a map to WRLK's (http://tiger.census.gov/cgi-bin/mapgen/gif?lon=-80.936944&lat=34.118333&iwd=750&iht=750&mark=-80.936944,34.118333,bluestar,WRLK-TV_COLUMBIA_SC&on=water,miscell,counties,places,CITIES,&off=streets,GRID,shorelin&ht=0.5&wid=0.5) tower. (the blue star near the center of the map). From your location; you may have to point your antenna North or Northwest to get them (difficult if you have one of those TERK's that are mounted on a dish antenna (and thus point pretty much SW).

Someone has to help the wife keep you straight there Bruce!

Question for you SA8300HD owners/tweakers.

Can we get an external SATA Drive and expand our HD recording capacity in Columbia yet ??

Thx!!

-- Cain

Is WOLO getting an HD feed from ABC for the Miami-Free Shoes game tonight?

Ha... flipped over as I was typing the question. Thanks!

Audio sync seems to be a problem though.

Is WOLO getting an HD feed from ABC for the Miami-Free Shoes game tonight? Thanks!

Yes, but it should not have taken 10 minutes.. We'll have to revoke the MCO's bathroom breaks again.. And when they get home at night, their fat and psychopathic wives will thrash them to within inches of their lives!! :eek:

Sheppardwk - How's the Cable Card working?

Diana,

Smiley came by Friday afternoon and just as you mentioned, he was very knowledgeable and easy to talk to. Unfortunately, we had the same result with the new CC. He was scratching his head just like me. The only other possibility is that both cards were manufactured on the same day - 5/2/05. He was going to go back and research it but did not believe that was the problem as there would have been a memo indicating that they were bad. By the way, he also saw the flicker when I turned on my Sony receiver - again he did not have an answer.

We then hooked up the SA 8000 HD/DVR and the picture was perfect. He then accessed the diagnostic menu through the box and found that my signal strength was exceptional - no dB loss and no errors. He indicated that he could bring me an 8300 HD/DVR this week and swap out the 8000, but I said that shouldn't be necessary - I could exchange it at Greystone or meet him at the office. He also left the card with me if I wanted to continue trying to troubleshoot it.

So, it appears as though the STB will be my mode of receiving the HD channels unless there is a definitive solution to the CC.

Thanks again,

Kevin

Question for you SA8300HD owners/tweakers.

Can we get an external SATA Drive and expand our HD recording capacity in Columbia yet ??

Thx!!

-- Cain


Not Yet - haven't heard any Engineers talking about it since early this year.

Sheppardwk - we will take the information Smiley gathered and send to Corporate Engineering. They work directly with the CE's to identify and ultimately resolve known issues with particular models. There is a known issue with another similar model.

Thanks for your patience and cooperation as we worked through it. Believe it or not, there are those who don't treat the cable company as kindly as you have,

Yes, but it should not have taken 10 minutes.. We'll have to revoke the MCO's bathroom breaks again.. And when they get home at night, their fat and psychopathic wives will thrash them to within inches of their lives!! :eek:


I sent a quick little message to hdtv@wolo.com at about 8:05. Within a few minutes the switch was flipped and all was well from then on. I don't know if it was my email that did the trick, but if it was then they definitely responded quickly to the request. :)

most likely was, as the evening mco supervisor gets the emails as well..

Good stuff... thumbs up to wolo for that quick response

Not Yet - haven't heard any Engineers talking about it since early this year.

Thank you for the reply Diana.

So does this mean they will eventually upgrade our 8300 software so we can do this, like many others in other areas are doing (not sure if they are TWC customers or not though). ?

-- Cain

The SATA does work with the 8300 so I have to assume you are correct that a software upgrade will be necessary to accompany the rollout of the equipment.

To my knowledge no TWC Division has started deployment.


I'm in HR Training all day again today - so you guys have a good one!

Question about available HD boxes.

Back when I first got a 8000HD, the video-out only worked when in PIP mode so I didn't connect my VCR anymore. I had a project last week to copy a HD program to tape and when I used the cable out from my 8300HD I noticed the HD channels were auto-scaled to fit a SD picture size and this worked PIP or no PIP. Since this was grainy, I tried the video-out and found it worked too but was less grainy. I'm going to leave my VCR wired up now.

Is there a non-DVR HD box that I could get to be able to watch the HD channels on another TV? It'd have to be as flexible as the 8300HD is (working video and s-video out) without the extra cost of the DVR option. I'd be swapping out a (I believe) Explorer 2100 SD box.

Thanks...

This is a *little* off topic, so I apologize in advance, but I was wondering if anyone has tried the "archive to VCR" feature on their HD-DVRs?

I tried this feature for the first time over the weekend, archiving the USC-UCF game (it was SOS first game, natch), and was pretty impressed with the video quality I got over the composite cables. For some reason, I didn't expect the transfer to be made in widescreen (knew it wouldn't be in HD), but it ended up in a kind of "letterbox" format, which I would prefer over lopping off the sides as I expected.

Of course, once you start the archive you can't stop again until you're finished, but I found that I could still "skip" the commercials just by pausing the VCR record during their duration while I was watching.

Anyway, just thought I'd share my experiences since I haven't seen this discussed before (prolly cuz it's off-topic ;) )

I noticed today that "The Tube Music Videos" appeared on TWC 821.

Can I assume that this is a WACH sub-channel?

Yes, The Tube is WACH multi-plex

When you get some time Diana take a look at this thread, lots of folks are using external drives to significantly increase their HD recording time, and it is very simple to do.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559&highlight=sata

Anyone notice "The Tube" was added to TWC on same day that D* added Espn-HD2? :confused:

When you get some time Diana take a look at this thread, lots of folks are using external drives to significantly increase their HD recording time, and it is very simple to do.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=516559&highlight=sata


I understand, but we can't release equipment without corporate approval.....

One thing about them I didn't like last time I looked at the technology (very early this year) - that I hope they change by the time we get to launch - is the sidecar mated for life to one DVR. So if you have saved a quantity of recordings to the sidecar, but your DVR crashed, you still lost everything. This was a measure to prohibit illegal sharing of programming, but I don't know why we couldn't accomplish the same protection while having the ability to re-assign a MAC address to a sidecar...

anybody know of sa8300hd availability. I have one at home that has been in repeated reboot loop for weeks and Greystone can't seem to get any.

Go to the West Columbia location. I have never had a problem getting one there.

I understand, but we can't release equipment without corporate approval.....

One thing about them I didn't like last time I looked at the technology (very early this year) - that I hope they change by the time we get to launch - is the sidecar mated for life to one DVR. So if you have saved a quantity of recordings to the sidecar, but your DVR crashed, you still lost everything. This was a measure to prohibit illegal sharing of programming, but I don't know why we couldn't accomplish the same protection while having the ability to re-assign a MAC address to a sidecar...

I'm not sure what you meant by "release equipment".

What those folks are doing is simply buying their own SATA Drive, get a cable SATA 1-->SATA2, hook the HD to the 8300, turn it on, it says "do you want to format the HD" you say "Yes" and than you are finished. And now they have double or triple their HD recording time. There is no new equipment from TWC, they are buying the external drives and cables themselves, and the 8300 manual tells you how to do this, pages 16 and 17: http://www.scientificatlanta.com/ExplorerClubGuides/getting_started/4003986.pdf


All we need is the software on our 8300's to recognize an external SATA Drive.

Heck, come to think of it we may have that now. Anyone got a SATA Drive laying around they could check this out for us ??

-- Cain

I believe the firmware TWCSC is running is one of the only ones that does not have the SATA port enabled. The SATA port on the 8300 is not a standard SATA as you stated, it must be a SATA one to SATA two.

I know of no cable companies that are renting SATA drives for storage expansion.

WE NEED NEW FIRMWARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thx Kevin,

Do we know which software and exactly which Version of it we are running here ??

I'm seeing a bunch of TWC folks in that other thread having success with connecting their external SATA Drives.

-- Cain


This also from that thread for your info:

------------------------------------------------------------
SATA External Hard Drives Compatible with Scientific-Atlanta DVRs

As of July 2005, the two Maxtor SATA (Serial Advanced Technology
Architecture) external hard drives listed in the following table have
been tested and are known to work with the Scientific-Atlanta Explorer
8300 series DVRs (including the 8300 HD, 8300 MR, and 8300 HD-MR DVRs).

SATA-to-DVR Compatibility Table
These SATA external hard drives Are compatible with these DVRs
Maxtor QuickView Expander
160 GB External Drive, Part # P08K160
300 GB External Drive, Part # J08M300
Explorer 8300 HD
Explorer 8300 MR (not available in all markets)
Explorer 8300 HD-MR (not available in all markets)

Note: The DVR SATA port complies with FCC's mandate for Copy Protection.

Educating the Customer
Because [cable company] does not sell, rent, install, or repair external hard
drives, customers are asked to contact the manufacturer of the SATA
external hard drive for more information.

Maxtor: www.maxtor.com
Seagate: www.seagate.com
Western Digital: www.westerndigital.com
------------------------------------------------------------

The Sata execute line is not listed on any of the 30 pages of diagnostics. I believe someone on a SC coastal tread tried it on the TWCSC system and it did not work.


On my newest 8300HD SA has switched to a Western Digital 160HD. It is much louder than the Maxtor drives. I have personally found that Seagate drives to be more reliable, and they have a better warranty.

[QUOTE=kevinivey]

I know of no cable companies that are renting SATA drives for storage expansion.

[QUOTE]


Maybe not yet, but that's what we were exploring early this year, prior to it getting shelved for reason's unknown to me.

So, sorry Cain, I was only familiar with the concept via equipment provided by us that would be permanently mated to the DVR from us.

It seems there is a new HD DVR every year or so. What happens with the SATA drive when the 8300HD is replaced?

Reformat and use it again. Yes, recordings are lost. May never be a issue if the current firmware is permanent.

Note: the second Fox game tomorrow on Wach-DT is in HD with DD 5.1. It is not listed as HD on the TWC guide. The game is the Cowboys at the Chargers.
The Panther game is not in HD, but sometimes the SD game can show up as a 720p upconvert. We can only hope.

The Titan game tommorrow at 1:00 on Wltx-DT
is supposed to be HD with DD. 5.1.


Another Note: I have been watching the Clemson game on ESPN-HD. I know it's not a HD game, but the audio drops , and video glitches are horrible. I switched over to the analog, and it is correcrt in regards to audio and video.
Espn-HD and TNT-HD are the two HD channels that are the poorest on my TWCSC system. I have never seen any postings from anyone in this local forum to confirm my observations. I hope there is some improvement before the USC game at 5:30.

It seems there is a new HD DVR every year or so. What happens with the SATA drive when the 8300HD is replaced?

I put it in my PC, or my new DVR.....

It seems to me the best use is for archiving. And if all is lost when attaching to a new DVR that is not good.

Gary,

If the external drive were easily usable for archiving programming content, it either wouldn't have been available in the first place or it wouldn't be available for long once the content providers realized it. Remember that to providers of programming what you and I think of as "archiving" they think of as "stealing our valuable stuff". There may be a fair use doctrine that says archiving is OK under certain conditions but it doesn't mean they're obliged to provide a good means for doing so...

NBCHD TWC Channel 805 is down, and 10.1 ota is down.


The USC versus BAMA game on Saturday will not be HD on TWC Channel 810 or WLTX- DT 19.1 (or anywhere else).

Just thought I would check in and update everyone on WLTX-DT.


5.1 audio status.......I am still working on it. CBS has rolled out a lot of new shows in 5.1 The issue is they haven't designed a way to switch between the stereo show and the 5.1 shows. At this point we would have to switch our encoder manually after each show. Crazy isn't it. But in the rush to get things on the air, some MINOR issues get dropped through the cracks.

I hope all is well with everyone on the forum. We are all fine here at WLTX for now.

Thanks,


Can the 5.1 switch be turned on for the Panther game next Sunday at 1:00.


Couldn't you just leave in 5.1? I believe Wolo-DT operated this way for their first couple of years. 2.0 will come from the R and L speakers by default when it is detected if I am not mistaken?

Anyone else notice MNF switching back and forth from HD to SD.

NBC-HD 805 does not seem to be working at all. I have a black screen. Haven't noticed MNF switching in and out, but I'm flipping through some channels.

Anyone else notice MNF switching back and forth from HD to SD.
Yes, it is switching between the two.

Kevin - I noticed that the TWC program guide is not showing the USC-Bama game as HD, but where did you get your definitive info?

Are none of the CBS games of the week going to be in HD this year? They have been the past 2 years, so it would be a major bummer to drop back down to SD.

CBS only has one HD truck for college football, and it is being used for the 8:00 pm game for UF and UT. They usually only show one game on Saturday, but this week it is a doubleheader.


http://www.hdsportsguide.com/
HD Sports Guide - HDTV Sports Listings & News

Thanks for the link, Kevin!

Bummer !! so no HD for the game this Saturday at Williams-Brice, eh ???

Bummer !! so no HD for the game this Saturday at Williams-Brice, eh ???

It was never supposed to be. I assumed it would be because it was the 3:30 game.
I will be there, but would had liked to have watched the replay in HD .

Mr. Ahrendt,

I have noticed that Wis-DT-10.1 is off the air a lot ,and rarely broadcast in HD. Is Wis not committed to HD and a digital broadcast? Wis by far has the most problems broadcasting a reliable signal compared to all the other local stations. I just wanted you to be aware of what is going on, if you are not already aware.


Kevin Ivey

We had multiple problems with our DTV signal. The major glitch was
traced to a piece of equipment called the Flexicoder. As I'm sure
you've noticed, we've fixed the problem and 10.1 is back on the air.

We are being more vigilant about our HD broadcasts, but we're certainly
not where we want to be yet. Thanks for your interest and your
patience. And I appreciate the feedback you've been giving us.

Barry Ahrendt
Director Of Marketing and Programming
WIS Television

CBS only has one HD truck for college football, and it is being used for the 8:00 pm game for UF and UT. They usually only show one game on Saturday, but this week it is a doubleheader.


http://www.hdsportsguide.com/
HD Sports Guide - HDTV Sports Listings & News

This is not true......
CBS has the capability to do at least 4 HD games at one time. If you recall, during March Madness, they do 4 regional basketball games in HD every day. I am not sure if they own all of the truck or lease them. However, I do know they have the capability to do that many if desired.
It comes down to draw. If the game is big enough and they can sell enough advertisement to cover the added expense to cover the game in HD. If you notice, every year they have had the SEC game of the week in HD, they have had a corporate sponsor. That is why they only do 1 game in HD on Saturdays.

Hey guys. I got my SA 3100 replaced and upgraded to the 8300 DVR. ABC Channel still has some "shake" too it. Why?

This is not true......
CBS has the capability to do at least 4 HD games at one time. If you recall, during March Madness, they do 4 regional basketball games in HD every day. I am not sure if they own all of the truck or lease them. However, I do know they have the capability to do that many if desired.
It comes down to draw. If the game is big enough and they can sell enough advertisement to cover the added expense to cover the game in HD. If you notice, every year they have had the SEC game of the week in HD, they have had a corporate sponsor. That is why they only do 1 game in HD on Saturdays.

They are doing 3 NFL games in HD on Sunday. :rolleyes: Technicallly you are right, but they are not going to drop a NFL HD for any college matchup no matter who is playing.

Can the 5.1 switch be turned on for the Panther game next Sunday at 1:00.


Couldn't you just leave in 5.1? I believe Wolo-DT operated this way for their first couple of years. 2.0 will come from the R and L speakers by default when it is detected if I am not mistaken?


? :confused:

Hey guys. I got my SA 3100 replaced and upgraded to the 8300 DVR. ABC Channel still has some "shake" too it. Why?


Your location, your monitor, your settings, and your signal strength?

Kevin,
The 5.1 delivery method for ABC and CBS are vastly different. 5.1, in the broadcast plant, is not as simple as it is on the home world where all you do is hook up one cable.. :(

Bob,

Does the CBS station your involved with pass the DD 5.1 signal from CBS?

Yes..WAKA-DT...

ALL of 7 our stations pass 5.1..

Wow, that's impressive. Watched " Theshold" last night on CBS, and throughly enjoyed it. It would had been even better for me if it were available in DD. 5.1 from WLTX-DT.

What's wrong with you guys??? No ugly posts about WOLO-DT being off during Armageddon?? You guys are slipping!!!

What's wrong with you guys??? No ugly posts about WOLO-DT being off during Armageddon?? You guys are slipping!!!
Tennesee vs. Florida is an excellent game.

What's wrong with you guys??? No ugly posts about WOLO-DT being off during Armageddon?? You guys are slipping!!!

It's on my TV - 720P format with DD 5.1. However, Florida St. vs. Boston College on ESPNHD is not in HD - even though the Guide indicates it is supposed to be.

It's on my TV - 720P format with DD 5.1. However, Florida St. vs. Boston College on ESPNHD is not in HD - even though the Guide indicates it is supposed to be.

ESPN apologized earlier in the game and said "Technical Difficulties" were preventing the game from being broadcast in HD.

DVHS Recorded Armageddon, will freak out later about no HD. I time shift my rage too.

What's wrong with you guys??? No ugly posts about WOLO-DT being off during Armageddon?? You guys are slipping!!!


Maybe the content had a little to do with it. :p

Can the 5.1 switch be turned on for the Panther game next Sunday at 1:00.






I guess that would be a NO. :eek:

MY 8300HD has crashed twice in the last few days, once each Saturday and Sunday. Channel flipping eventually led to a freeze and then a reboot.

Was an update applied recently that has caused instability?...

The Clemson vs. Wake Forest game on October 1st is going to be on ESPNU. Right about now would be a good time to get that deal worked out. Is there anything that can be done to faccilitate the process. Can I call someone, pay someone, or write my congessman to make this happen. :mad:

Man, do I wish there was something we could do, chilley. The whole negotiating process seems to take forever with each station. We didn't have FoxHD until the beginning of this year, and I suspect that we still wouldn't have it if the superbowl hadn't been shown on Fox. TWC had been working on a deal for Fox for a long time and then suddenly the two sides come to an agreement a day before the superbowl. I suspect there was so much pressure put on them by all of us that TWC realized they had to give in a bit to reach an agreement and make us happy. I've heard the deal they're working on is for both ESPN2HD and ESPNU. Hopefully that will get worked out soon. I'm just trying to remain patient.

With a 10' c-band dish, 4DTV receiver and HDD decoder..ESPN-HD is no problem, with gorgeous video to boot.. Of course, most neighborhoods won't allow that now..

MY 8300HD has crashed twice in the last few days, once each Saturday and Sunday. Channel flipping eventually led to a freeze and then a reboot.

Was an update applied recently that has caused instability?...

Update to XOD software early am Saturday - I haven't seen any problems with On Demand and I haven't had a reboot issue.

Does your On Demand work (just try a Free on Demand channel to see anything between 849 and 899)?

Where exactly in Columbia are you?

I haven't had any crashes but my 8300HD wouldn't let me pause or rewind the race on Sunday afternoon. Even though I was recording it just in case I wasn't home and I was watching it from the very beginning it would not let me rewind it.

The Clemson vs. Wake Forest game on October 1st is going to be on ESPNU. Right about now would be a good time to get that deal worked out. Is there anything that can be done to faccilitate the process. Can I call someone, pay someone, or write my congessman to make this happen. :mad:

Based on how long it took to get ESPN-HD, and understanding that ESPN-2-HD and ESPN-u are a part of the same packet negotiation, I would guess early 2007 before we see those two channels on TWC .. but who knows ..

Does your On Demand work (just try a Free on Demand channel to see anything between 849 and 899)?

Where exactly in Columbia are you?I'll test when I get home tonight.

I'm near Clemson & Hardscrabble...

I haven't had any crashes but my 8300HD wouldn't let me pause or rewind the race on Sunday afternoon. Even though I was recording it just in case I wasn't home and I was watching it from the very beginning it would not let me rewind it.
Sounds like it needed a reboot... tough when you are in the middle of a program. Have you done a reboot since then or tried to watch and rewind another recording?

____
Bruce

I've noticed lately that nothing is listed as HDTV on the local Fox HD (820). This is for all the days listed.

I didn't try a reboot. I was afraid that it wouldn't come back on at all if I did that. I tried to pause and rewind a show the next day and it worked fine. Unfortunately my cable service seems to be hit or miss. Somedays it works like it should some days it doesn't work at all.

My STB doesn't love me this morning... Anyone else receiving the "not authorized" msg this morning? Unfortunatly, the offices aren't open yet, and the voicemail box for reporting service issues if full... I don't think I'd want to be at TWCSC today, sounds like a nasty day is ahead

Does your On Demand work (just try a Free on Demand channel to see anything between 849 and 899)?BBC America OnDemand gave me Error 218, but it may have been busy. AOL OnDemand worked OK.

The lockup/reboot happened after much channel surfing, so until the weekend when I'm home most of the day it may not happen again...

In case anyone is interested.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=583134

In case anyone is interested.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=583134
Well, I find the lower volume on all the HD channels annoying, whatever format it is. Flip in, crank up the volume, flip out, have my eardrums blasted until I crank it down. Makes me wish my RCA had a way to control the volume level across channels, so one setting would fit pretty-much all...

Kevin,
In your post on the other thread, you stated that your CBS local station has the equipment but chooses not to use it because of the way CBS switches.
That is not the case. We have not purchased the necessary equipment to do 5.1 audio to date. If we had it, I would use it even if CBS had no switching capabilities at all. I really enjoy good audio as well. If you were talking about another CBS station, please disregard

Just thought I would check in and update everyone on WLTX-DT.



We have upgraded our HD receiver in an effort to rid ourselves of the motor boating audio issue.

I am going to step into it now but here it goes anyway......
5.1 audio status.......I am still working on it. CBS has rolled out a lot of new shows in 5.1 The issue is they haven't designed a way to switch between the stereo show and the 5.1 shows. At this point we would have to switch our encoder manually after each show.


:o Oh well, I guess I can only dreaming...


How does one work on something that one doesn't have?

Well, I find the lower volume on all the HD channels annoying, whatever format it is. Flip in, crank up the volume, flip out, have my eardrums blasted until I crank it down. Makes me wish my RCA had a way to control the volume level across channels, so one setting would fit pretty-much all...




CBS channel 810 is louder than most of the other HD channels, because it is the only channel that is not DD 5.1. The lower volume on alll the other HD channels is due to the 5.1 mix versus the stereo mix. If you are listening through your monitor's speaker the volume level on all channels can be equaled out through the stb. settings. If you are listening through a surround sound system with the digital connection then there isn't any solution to your problem.

CFB South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Auburn Tigers 7:00 PM ESPN2HD (720p) DD 2.0


This Sunday's Carolina Panther game at 1:00 pm is one of Fox's HD games. It not listed as HD on the TWCSC guide or by TitanTV, but it is in HD with DD 5.1 surround sound.
Both games on Wltx-DT will be in HD with DD. 2.0 sound.

If you are listening through your monitor's speaker the volume level on all channels can be equaled out through the stb. settings.What STB settings should I play with? I tried wide and narrow, but can't tell if it made any difference. My F38310's speakers haven't been buzzing lately, so I may have adjusted something correctly...

:o Oh well, I guess I can only dreaming...


How does one work on something that one doesn't have?

I was working on purchasing the gear. That is what I was talking about. Don't make assumptions on your part and be upset when they are not correct. Try asking a question first.
Bruce always ask how a situation is being addressed at each station and calls if he need clarification. Why don't you follow his lead.
I don't mind answering all of the questions in the world. However, I do mind being misquoted.
If you can't get me through this thread you can call the station at 776-3600 and ask for me. If I am unavailable you can leave a voice mail. I think Bruce will agree, I usually get back to you quickly.

If I want to get another HD-DVR box (not turning any in just adding another one to the account) By doing this will it cause my whole cable package to change or will just be my old package and price with the additional monthly rental fee for the new DVR? Thanks

CFB South Carolina Gamecocks vs. Auburn Tigers 7:00 PM ESPN2HD (720p) DD 2.0

No need to post this here....

:(

Need help. Just got new Sony LCD. Got the 8300 on Wednesday, and the box cut off this afternoon and read, "Your set-top-box is unauthorized for use." Called customer service and bills have been paid and no outages in area. I live in downtown Columbia. She sends a hit to the box and we do the normal troubleshooting. To no avail.

Ride up to Greystone before they close and get new 8300. It loads the guide and comes on.......but only for a minute or two. After that it just goes to black. I'm still able to surf the channels, but I get no picture or sound. Clock is still showing the correct time. Unplug and start over.....same result.

Any suggestions?

Hi y'all. Long time no visit here. I am having a problem with my 8300 HD-DVR. It is not letting me record either by setting a recording, or selecting record the show I am watching. It will let me pause rewind and fast forward. Anyone have any ideas, or do I need to call CSR to have them send out someone to replace it. I'm not unplugging it and taking it to the office multiple times until I can get an 8300. Any suggestions?

Thanks,
Mark

Lots of stuff gets fixed by pulling the plug.

Mark

I agree with Gary J; reboot the box.

Bruce

I did Bruce, and it seems to work. Will try it more in a bit.
BTW Hi Bruce. Long time no see. I still have your antenna in the attic. Too hot to get up there yet. Talk to you later.

Mark

Got the 8300 on Wednesday, and the box cut off this afternoon and read, "Your set-top-box is unauthorized for use."
Any suggestions?


Sorry I haven't gotten back to this sooner. We had some sort of issue with 'unauthorized' converters Tuesday and Wednesday, but I understand it has been resolved now. I don't know yet what happened.

If you are still having trouble let me know - again, so sorry - really a very hectic week.

I saw this on the 1st page and was curious as to whether the tower was done and broadcasting. Anyone know? I don't see to be picking it up on my antenna, if it's up...

Thanks!

"*WBHQ Ch 63 (formerly known as WQHB and UPN/WB) has analog tower near Columbia and is on TWC. Their digital tower however is just east of Sumter, transmits very low power, and pretty much can be received in/near Sumter. Broadcast hours are approximate and subject to change and are SD only (No HD capability). They went WB only after 9/10/04. Word came on 10/07/04 however that WBHQ-DT is constructing a new digital broadcast capability in Columbia. They will be using the same tower they now use to for their analog signals and their coverage will be kidney shaped (wide east to west; more south than north); and ERP = 500kW). They expect to be up by June 2005 and able to pass through HD at that time."

I saw this on the 1st page and was curious as to whether the tower was done and broadcasting. Anyone know? I don't see to be picking it up on my antenna, if it's up...

"*WBHQ Ch 63 (formerly known as WQHB and UPN/WB) has analog tower near Columbia and is on TWC. ... They expect to be up by June 2005 and able to pass through HD at that time."
Good question and I don't know the answer right now (the GM is not in right now and their engineer is out as well). I see the station is still broadcasting a low-power DT/SD signal from their Sumter based tower on Ch 39. I will try a followup call later.

Good question and I don't know the answer right now (the GM is not in right now and their engineer is out as well). I see the station is still broadcasting a low-power DT/SD signal from their Sumter based tower on Ch 39. I will try a followup call later.

I've been wondering about WBHQ myself, because its digital signals are on the same channel (39) that WWWB in Charlotte is using. According to the service area maps on the FCC site, it looks like when WBHQ starts using its new transmitter, the two stations are going to overlap significantly unless WWWB cuts back its service area.

WBHQ map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1000284.html)

WWWB map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT497327.html)

Where I'm located, the two signals should be roughly the same strength, and I currently get fairly good reception on WWWB.

I've been wondering about WBHQ myself, because its digital signals are on the same channel (39) that WWWB in Charlotte is using. According to the service area maps on the FCC site, it looks like when WBHQ starts using its new transmitter, the two stations are going to overlap significantly unless WWWB cuts back its service area.

WBHQ map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT1000284.html)

WWWB map (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/FMTV-service-area?x=DT497327.html)

Where I'm located, the two signals should be roughly the same strength, and I currently get fairly good reception on WWWB.
Their maps seem to be confusing. WBHQ's radiation pattern will be directional and is shown on this polar plot (http://www.fcc.gov/fcc-bin/polarplot?temp=66995&rotate=0.00&p0=0.260&p10=0.260&p20=0.260&p30=0.300&p40=0.380&p50=0.490&p60=0.620&p70=0.740&p80=0.840&p90=0.920&p100=0.980&p110=1.000&p120=1.000&p130=0.980&p140=0.960&p150=0.940&p160=0.940&p170=0.930&p180=0.930&p190=0.930&p200=0.940&p210=0.940&p220=0.960&p230=0.980&p240=1.000&p250=1.000&p260=0.980&p270=0.920&p280=0.840&p290=0.740&p300=0.620&p310=0.490&p320=0.380&p330=0.300&p340=0.260&p350=0.260&p360=0.260&). This pattern is kidney shaped and it does appear designed to avoid coverage in the Charlotte area.

And I just talked to the station manager and the new projected (drop dead) date for moving to the Columbia tower is now July 1, 2006 (FWIW, they will be on the same tower as WACH and WOLO). I was also told they would be HD capable at that time.

----
Bruce

Just found this forum today. Good info!

I'm in Elgin. Have had HD from TW for just over a year. Pretty happy with it, but like many of you would like to see new HD channels added quicker (ESPN2 is on my mind today).

I have the SA 8000HD DVR. I saw a post where the 8300HD was recommended. Can someone give me the rundown on what makes the 8300HD a better unit? Should I swap mine out?

Thanks!

Just found this forum today. Good info!

I'm in Elgin. Have had HD from TW for just over a year. Pretty happy with it, but like many of you would like to see new HD channels added quicker (ESPN2 is on my mind today).

I have the SA 8000HD DVR. I saw a post where the 8300HD was recommended. Can someone give me the rundown on what makes the 8300HD a better unit? Should I swap mine out?

Thanks!
Welcome! Glad you found us! As I recall, the reasons why the 8300HD is generally considered the better DVR include: slightly better picture quality; active HDMI; a bit more flexible on its output formats including concurrent analog output (with downrezzing of HD programs to 480i); improved Closed Captioning options and fewer operational hiccups. I also believe some have reported the GUI works a bit faster as well over the 8000HD.

As far as you asking if you should swap your 8000 out for one.... probably BUT realistically its "improvements" may matter little to you. Having said that, however, I don't know anyone who has regretted swapping an 8000 for an 8300. Note there is a small hassle involved and it may entail you visiting your TWCSC office several times to find an available 8300HD; you cannot call ahead to get that info. All you can do is walk in and ask. Good luck!

The Warehouse has promised me that they will send half and half 8000s and 8300s every day to the Greystone office, so I would check there first.

Personally I think the PQ of the 8300 is head and shoulder's above the 8000.... I had already had a 3100, 3250 and 8000 on my HD over the course of about 15 months and when I connected the 8300 I actually said WOW outloud.

Thanks for the input!

Is the hard disk on the 8300HD the same size as that of the 8000HD, or larger?

Thanks for the input!

Is the hard disk on the 8300HD the same size as that of the 8000HD, or larger?
Same size. It has a 160GB Hard Drive which allows recording and storage of 20 hours of HD programming.

Did TWCSC add a hD pay-per-view channel on 814?

Are we ever going to get any more HD channels? I can't even recall the last HD channel added. What was it? Fox-HD for the superbowl back in Jan? Has TWC even added any new channel period? We want ESPN2-HD and ESPN-U!!! Missing a helluva lot of college football. :mad:

Did TWCSC add a hD pay-per-view channel on 814?

Its for PPV Fights - we have done a couple in the past and place on the Special Events channel. Its not 24/7 events, just when we get them.

Are we ever going to get any more HD channels?

Ever..... sure.

It never fails to amaze me how long people will wait for a channel and then forgive a
company immediately. ESPNHD took forever, ESPN2HD and ESPNU are taking a while
already. Add to that continual posts here about ultra-buggy STBs and DVRs that don't
record properly, and it's a wonder more people haven't gone to D* or Dish.

The only advantage to TWC I can think of is not having to buy equipment and having an HD
DVR. Well, if the latter doesn't work very well it's no big deal. And honestly having bought
the equipment already I look at it as money well spent reading posts here.

So why do you all stick with Time Warner? Just curious to hear some opinions on why,
that's all... not saying there's any one perfect service out there because there isn't...

Because the picture quality from the satellites is (for now) HD Lite.

It

So why do you all stick with Time Warner? Just curious to hear some opinions on why,
that's all... not saying there's any one perfect service out there because there isn't...


INHD1, INHD2, All Braves home games in HD, All Local HD,TNT-HD, NO CONTRACT, no fee for adding or dropping services. I started with a 2000HD then a 3100HD, then a 3250HD ,then a 8000HD and now a very stable 8300HD. I had Dish for SD before I switched to TWC. $300.00 dish buyback ,and I never looked backed.


I had a D* RCA DC-100 installed temporarily for the USC game this past Saturday. The feed for ESPN2-HD looked good, but as I flipped through to HBO, UHD ,and HDNET it was not like any HD that I had ever seen.
(ESPNU looked heavyly compressed.)

Because the picture quality from the satellites is (for now) HD Lite.

I seen Dish HD displayed and it is my opinion that it looks good. Their SD looks worse than D*.

It never fails to amaze me how long people will wait for a channel and then forgive a
company immediately. ESPNHD took forever, ESPN2HD and ESPNU are taking a while
already. Add to that continual posts here about ultra-buggy STBs and DVRs that don't
record properly, and it's a wonder more people haven't gone to D* or Dish.

The only advantage to TWC I can think of is not having to buy equipment and having an HD
DVR. Well, if the latter doesn't work very well it's no big deal. And honestly having bought
the equipment already I look at it as money well spent reading posts here.

So why do you all stick with Time Warner? Just curious to hear some opinions on why,
that's all... not saying there's any one perfect service out there because there isn't...


1) I would like to watch TV when it is pouring outside.
2) I like to watch my HD at nearly full bandwidth.
3) I prefer my house not look like some military radar installation with the satellite
dish and additional antenna to pick up my HD locals.
4) I prefer to rent my equipment and get free upgrades instead of paying
hundreds of dollars for a hd receiver let alone a dvr.
5) I like the reality of knowing that when TWCSC converts to switched
broadcasting next year, they will have the capability to provide me with far
more HD channels that satellite ever will.
6) The capability to use a cable card and see a picture than no cable box can
EVER provide.


Do you need anymore reasons?

4) I prefer to rent my equipment and get free upgrades instead of paying hundreds of dollars for a hd receiver let alone a dvr.
I did the math on a $15 cable box and I am also happy to go pick up new boxes as time goes by, rather than buy one and hope it still works when, say, MPEG-4 replaces MPEG-2 down the road.

Now, I'd also like uncensored stuff only available on satellite since I consider 'cable versions' a waste of bandwidth, but them's the breaks...

So why do you all stick with Time Warner? Just curious to hear some opinions on why,
that's all... not saying there's any one perfect service out there because there isn't...

Unfortunately where I live to have a dish I would need to put it on a 20'-30' pole because I am surrounded by huge oak trees. Otherwise I would drop TWC in a second. I'm so fed up with paying $150/month and they can't get the channels that we want and you can't ever get a straight answer out of anyone there about when they will be coming. All you get is the standard P.R. answer "Oh we are currently in negotiations." Nuclear weapons reduction treaties have been negotiated faster. Its just the simple fact that Time Warner dispises the idea of giving in to Disney, plain and simple.

TWC does have a few good points. RoadRunner is great although it is still a lot more expensive compared to DSL, the HD-DVR is pretty nice when its working properly, umm I guess thats all.

1) Mine hardly ever drops out... in fact, my cable modem is out more often (hence
cable TV too if I had it)

2) There's always someone that complains about the PQ for every provider, I'm
not so naive to think mine is better that everyone else's... perhaps there isn't as
much compression on cable than satellite, but my PQ looks good on the HD
channels I watch and acceptable (could be better) on the SD ones... course,
that's comparable to having 80 analog channels which are great for some and
awful for others.

3) I have one dish on the house and an antenna in my attic. Let's not get
melodramatic here, man.... radar installation?? ;)

4) Well, I'll give you the HDDVR thing... satellite will come around on that
eventually, but I did list that as an advantage of cable. As for the other STBs, do
the math on the rental fee and factor in the deals you get from CSRs from D* and
I've had my boxes long enough that they've paid for themselves already.

5) With Spaceway, D* should have PLENTY of capacity... not sure what Dish's plan
is though. However, the bigger point here is whether that has any relevance
right now. It's like the channel thing... are you excited about someday having
ESPN2HD because you know TWC will eventually offer it? There aren't "far more
HD channels" out there right now, so what do I care about future capacity?
When there are abundant channels, then this will matter. At that point I would re-
evaluate the service providers, but right now this is a non-issue.

6) Haven't read anything about this one, so I'm not sure what you're talking
about... is this something you use now or another future capability? And is this a
1% technology... something that gives you 1% better picture in theory so people
can have pissing contests over it? Or is it a 20% better picture and worth it?

Anyway, I'm not looking to flame cable people or start a cable/sat argument,
honestly... I was just curious to hear people's reasons since people seem to
complain here a LOT whereas I'm happy with just about everything from D*,
that's all.

Now the 'surrounded by oak trees' reason... that I can understand.

1) I would like to watch TV when it is pouring outside.
2) I like to watch my HD at nearly full bandwidth.
3) I prefer my house not look like some military radar installation with the satellite
dish and additional antenna to pick up my HD locals.
4) I prefer to rent my equipment and get free upgrades instead of paying
hundreds of dollars for a hd receiver let alone a dvr.
5) I like the reality of knowing that when TWCSC converts to switched
broadcasting next year, they will have the capability to provide me with far
more HD channels that satellite ever will.
6) The capability to use a cable card and see a picture than no cable box can
EVER provide.


Do you need anymore reasons?

1) Mine hardly ever drops out... in fact, my cable modem is out more often (hence
cable TV too if I had it)

2) There's always someone that complains about the PQ for every provider, I'm
not so naive to think mine is better that everyone else's... perhaps there isn't as
much compression on cable than satellite, but my PQ looks good on the HD
channels I watch and acceptable (could be better) on the SD ones... course,
that's comparable to having 80 analog channels which are great for some and
awful for others.

3) I have one dish on the house and an antenna in my attic. Let's not get
melodramatic here, man.... radar installation?? ;)

4) Well, I'll give you the HDDVR thing... satellite will come around on that
eventually, but I did list that as an advantage of cable. As for the other STBs, do
the math on the rental fee and factor in the deals you get from CSRs from D* and
I've had my boxes long enough that they've paid for themselves already.

5) With Spaceway, D* should have PLENTY of capacity... not sure what Dish's plan
is though. However, the bigger point here is whether that has any relevance
right now. It's like the channel thing... are you excited about someday having
ESPN2HD because you know TWC will eventually offer it? There aren't "far more
HD channels" out there right now, so what do I care about future capacity?
When there are abundant channels, then this will matter. At that point I would re-
evaluate the service providers, but right now this is a non-issue.

6) Haven't read anything about this one, so I'm not sure what you're talking
about... is this something you use now or another future capability? And is this a
1% technology... something that gives you 1% better picture in theory so people
can have pissing contests over it? Or is it a 20% better picture and worth it?

Anyway, I'm not looking to flame cable people or start a cable/sat argument,
honestly... I was just curious to hear people's reasons since people seem to
complain here a LOT whereas I'm happy with just about everything from D*,
that's all.

Now the 'surrounded by oak trees' reason... that I can understand.


To answer 5 and 6, DirecTV's new satellites will only allow then to carry a total of 1500 more stations and that includes the local HD channels which will roughly take up 1350 channels. That only leaves the capacity for 150 National HD channels. Switched broadcasting allows for thousands of additional HD channels with minimum/no compression of the original HD stream. Do you think DirecTV will NOT compress the HD data when all of their satellites are up? If you want further details about switched broadcasting...goggle it. As far as total HD channels available, currently TWC beats DirecTV. Yes it is a shame that TWC doesn't have a deal in place for ESPN2HD, but who cares. How much actual HD programming do they offer per week, yet alone per day? ESPNHD and ESPN2HD combined don't even hit 20 hours per week of HD. So call me when they reach that and I will actually care about not having ESPN2HD.

BTW, TWC is already rolling out switch broadcasting in other regions.

I just found this post...I didn't realize how many HDTV enthusiasts there are around Columbia. I have a Samsung SIR-151, but when I connect an antenna to it it still says that it can not find any HDTV signals. I live on Forest Drive (near Richland Mall). Does anyone know what I should do? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

What type of antenna do you have? Where is the antenna located?

I just found this post...I didn't realize how many HDTV enthusiasts there are around Columbia. I have a Samsung SIR-151, but when I connect an antenna to it it still says that it can not find any HDTV signals. I live on Forest Drive (near Richland Mall). Does anyone know what I should do? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!
What kind of antenna are you using; do you have it pointed towards the brodcast towers over near Elgin, and did you go into your menu and tell the receiver to scan for channels?

Anyone having problems with cable channels above 101 as well as HD channels? Everything below 100 works fine. I have an Explorer 2000 in another room and all of the digital channels above 101 work fine on it. I have the SA 8300 DVR and the pictures are all pixelated with no sound? Had TWC send a signal and rebooted, but still not working. We did have some power outages late this afternoon - could that be it?

Anyone having problems with cable channels above 101 as well as HD channels? Everything below 100 works fine. I have an Explorer 2000 in another room and all of the digital channels above 101 work fine on it. I have the SA 8300 DVR and the pictures are all pixelated with no sound? Had TWC send a signal and rebooted, but still not working. We did have some power outages late this afternoon - could that be it?
No problem here that I can see with any of my digital tier channels including HD. Given your 2000 is working fine and your 8300 is not, I would guess the 8300 might have been damaged by a power surge. Not sure what to recommend other than to call TWC tomorrow. You might just need to swap out the box to fix the problems but that would cause you to lose any recordings. The CSR might recommend a tech visit to check things out. I don't know though if they usually carry replacement 8300HD though. Good luck!

No problem here that I can see with any of my digital tier channels including HD. Given your 2000 is working fine and your 8300 is not, I would guess the 8300 might have been damaged by a power surge. Not sure what to recommend other than to call TWC tomorrow. You might just need to swap out the box to fix the problems but that would cause you to lose any recordings. The CSR might recommend a tech visit to check things out. I don't know though if they usually carry replacement 8300HD though. Good luck!

I checked about an hour after I posted, and all the channels had cleared up - not sure what was the problem. Maybe some type of interference? What puzzles me though - Why would the Explorer 2000 work with all channels, but the 8300 only work with channels below 100?

Anyway, it's working, or at least it was when I turned it off last night. I'll check again tonight.

Thanks.

I checked about an hour after I posted, and all the channels had cleared up - not sure what was the problem. Maybe some type of interference? What puzzles me though - Why would the Explorer 2000 work with all channels, but the 8300 only work with channels below 100?

Anyway, it's working, or at least it was when I turned it off last night. I'll check again tonight.

Thanks.
Glad to hear that things got better! HD converters have been noted to be more sensitive than standard digital converters when it comes to signal quality... so perhaps that was the case here. Some how the signal to your house was temporarily degraded (lower strength maybe). One other item I did not think of was for you to check your cable connection to the box itself. Just this morning we had some static on the analog channels (only) on our SD box in the bedroom (8000DVR) and it turned out to be the coax was a bit loose.
-----
Bruce

sheppardwk: Was the outage in the early afternoon? Don't forget that around this time of year (and also in the spring) that there is a period of "sun transit" that can interfere with satellite reception.

What does that have to do with cable TV, you ask? Most of the CATV progams (except for local off-air) are delivered to the CATV headends by C-band or Ku-band satellites that are in geostationary orbits. Twice a year for a few days near the equinoxes the sun will line up with the receive dish's path to the satellite, and the electrical "noise" of the sun overwhelms the dishes low noise downconverter or receiver. The date and time depends on the particular satellite and the downlink location, and it usually only lasts for a few minutes. I mention this because I believe I saw this effect the other afternoon on Discovery HD.

On the other hand if your problem was late in the day or at night, sun transit is probably not to blame.

Mike

Who is going to be watching baseball playoffs on TWC ESPN2HD today? I can't seem to find that channel.

That only leaves the capacity for 150 National HD channels. Switched broadcasting allows for thousands of additional HD channels with minimum/no compression of the original HD stream.

Alright, TWC fanboy.

150 national HD channels sounds great to me!

Thousands of HD channels?? No way! Even if TWC did away with every one of their analog channels there isnt enough bandwidth in a 750MHz QAM cable system for thousands of HD channels. Each analog channel takes up the same amount of bandwidth as 8-10 digital SD channels depending on their bitrate. As you know if you watch TWC digital cable some digital channels look as good as DVD's and some look pretty blurry and over compressed, it just depends on what bitrate they send out to the cable co's. Each analog channel takes up the same bandwidth as 1-2 HD channels. So even if you did away with all 70-something analog channels on TWC right now thats only a maximum of around 140 HD channels. Thats a lot and would be great but its far from the "thousands of HD channels" that you speak of.

When you say that TWC has more HD channels than DTV offers I think you are wrong again. You cant count ABC,NBC, ABC, and Fox because those come in with a DTV reciever also, granted you do have to add an OTA antenna. TWC has INHD1 & 2 that DTV doesnt, but they have Bravo-HD, Universal-HD, and ESPN2-HD, that I can think of off the top of my head. Now that MLB is over there isnt squat worth watching on INHD1&2 meanwhile there is a lot of good programming on Universal-HD and ESPN2-HD. I do agree that some, not all, of DTV's HD channels are kind of like HD-Lite, but even at 1280x1024 they still are a lot better than analog or digital SD and look good on an HDTV. I do like the fact that TWC doesnt compress any of the channels they receive, they just remodulate them and pass them on.

I dont think that USC Boy meant to turn this into a DTV vs TWC rant. He just asked a few simple questions and stated his opinion, and a few oversensitive cable people took it the wrong way. But you were just spurting out all kinds of misinformation.

Edited for spelling.

Who is going to be watching baseball playoffs on TWC ESPN2HD today? I can't seem to find that channel.

Yeah I cant find it either. Guess you'll have to go to Icy's or Wild Hare to watch that.

Oops, nevermind, you're in Pawleys Island, thought you were in Cola.

D* offers 10 HD channels (UHD,and ESPN2HD,NFL NetworkHD ,and PPV HD are exclusive)BRAVO-HD became UHD.

TWCSC offers 11 HD channels(TNT-HD, INHD1,INHD2,HBOHD-W, and SHOHD-W are exclusive).(TBS-HD and Turner South- HD are not listed because they are part time)

Anyone else notice that TWCSC was quoted to have 11k HD subs?

Anyone else not getting emails for our local HD forum?

Alright, TWC fanboy.

150 national HD channels sounds great to me!

Thousands of HD channels?? No way! Even if TWC did away with every one of their analog channels there isnt enough bandwidth in a 750MHz QAM cable system for thousands of HD channels. Each analog channel takes up the same amount of bandwidth as 8-10 digital SD channels depending on their bitrate. As you know if you watch TWC digital cable some digital channels look as good as DVD's and some look pretty blurry and over compressed, it just depends on what bitrate they send out to the cable co's. Each analog channel takes up the same bandwidth as 1-2 HD channels. So even if you did away with all 70-something analog channels on TWC right now thats only a maximum of around 140 HD channels. Thats a lot and would be great but its far from the "thousands of HD channels" that you speak of.

When you say that TWC has more HD channels than DTV offers I think you are wrong again. You cant count ABC,NBC, ABC, and Fox because those come in with a DTV reciever also, granted you do have to add an OTA antenna. TWC has INHD1 & 2 that DTV doesnt, but they have Bravo-HD, Universal-HD, and ESPN2-HD, that I can think of off the top of my head. Now that MLB is over there isnt squat worth watching on INHD1&2 meanwhile there is a lot of good programming on Universal-HD and ESPN2-HD. I do agree that some, not all, of DTV's HD channels are kind of like HD-Lite, but even at 1280x1024 they still are a lot better than analog or digital SD and look good on an HDTV. I do like the fact that TWC doesnt compress any of the channels they receive, they just remodulate them and pass them on.

I dont think that USC Boy meant to turn this into a DTV vs TWC rant. He just asked a few simple questions and stated his opinion, and a few oversensitive cable people took it the wrong way. But you were just spurting out all kinds of misinformation.

Edited for spelling.

WHOA.....

First, I'm not a TWC fanboy, far from it. I don't like some of the things they do like charge more than they should for their cable packages and do not allow tenured customers to take advantage of new promotions that they offer new customers.

Second, do you know what switch broadcasting is? Based on your comments, you don't. Google it. Reading is fundamental. Maybe I should be very conservative and say that switched broadcasting would allow for hundreds of HD channels but is theoretically capable of thousands.

Third, hmmmm...how to even say this....where have you been cause last I checked BravoHD became UniversalHD and if you visited DirecTV's website you can actually count the number of HD channels they had ( @ 6:40PM on 10/6/2005 I counted 12 compared to TWC's 16)

Fourth, ALL of DirecTV's HD broadcasts are compressed...even ESPNHD is not transmitted at full bandwidth. And for you to say "but even at 1280x1024 they still are a lot better than analog or digital SD and look good on an HDTV" is just silly cause macroblocking, picture artifacts, and near DVD bitrate HD is unacceptable.

I hope this clears up your "misinformation" label you placed on my name. I really would suggest you actually research your information before you attempt to attack me again.


uscboy,
I apologize if you were offended by my response to your original post. No harm intended.

Holla

I too had problems with my HDDVRs today. Around 7pm I lost a bunch of channels below 100 and lost DiscoveryHD, SHHD1, INHD1 and INHD2. This was on both the 8300 and the 8000HDDVR's.

As Far as the cable/sat discussion:

I too would like to see more HD channels available for us on TWC but I will be patient for now. To be honest about the quality of TWC's product it is pretty poor.
My cable drops out more per month than my Cox Cable out in Omaha Neb did in 2 YEARS.

I too had problems with my HDDVRs today. Around 7pm I lost a bunch of channels below 100 and lost DiscoveryHD, SHHD1, INHD1 and INHD2. This was on both the 8300 and the 8000HDDVR's.

As Far as the cable/sat discussion:

I too would like to see more HD channels available for us on TWC but I will be patient for now. To be honest about the quality of TWC's product it is pretty poor.
My cable drops out more per month than my Cox Cable out in Omaha Neb did in 2 YEARS.


You may want to give customer service a call and have a tech come out to check your signal.

You may want to give customer service a call and have a tech come out to check your signal.

Please - or let me help - if it goes out, there is a problem to find and solve...

Second, do you know what switch broadcasting is? Based on your comments, you don't. Google it. Reading is fundamental. Maybe I should be very conservative and say that switched broadcasting would allow for hundreds of HD channels but is theoretically capable of thousands.



We will begin testing SDV (Switched Digital Video is the latest nomenclature) and Digital Simulcast very very very soon and should have it rolled out within a few months.... yes, I'll keep you posted.

Just yesterday the smartest Engineer I know said SDV would provide the capability in SC for 1000s of channels within 3 years. But I think you guys are more concerned about the lawyers running programming deals than the engineers making everything work....

Both INHDs were out for me last night.

They are on this morning - don't have a reason why they were off last night ...

We will begin testing SDV (Switched Digital Video is the latest nomenclature) and Digital Simulcast very very very soon and should have it rolled out within a few months.... yes, I'll keep you posted.

Just yesterday the smartest Engineer I know said SDV would provide the capability in SC for 1000s of channels within 3 years. But I think you guys are more concerned about the lawyers running programming deals than the engineers making everything work....


I would love to be a beta tester for SDV ;)

Won't be necessary - you'll start to get it and you won't even notice..... No REALLY - you won't feel a thing.....

Anybody notice slow response on their HD-DVR's lately?

Seems like it's taking a fraction of a second longer when navigating the guide and record list. It's also not fast forwarding nearly as fast through commercials on recorded content. Normal commercial breaks are about a "10 count" but now they're 20-count plus...

Wondering if it's just me.

Anybody notice slow response on their HD-DVR's lately?

Seems like it's taking a fraction of a second longer when navigating the guide and record list. It's also not fast forwarding nearly as fast through commercials on recorded content. Normal commercial breaks are about a "10 count" but now they're 20-count plus...

Wondering if it's just me.

I haven't... I'll ask engineering if they have reported any latency.

Won't be necessary - you'll start to get it and you won't even notice..... No REALLY - you won't feel a thing.....

I've heard that SDV will not work properly with current cable cards. Is this true?

I've heard that SDV will not work properly with current cable cards. Is this true?

Yes - current cable cards (and the associated sets they work in) are one-way, so they don't work with any two-way services. One of the main thing we tell customer's about when they call in to subscribe with Cable Card.

Both INHDs were out for me last night.

I had that problem as well.

I too noticed several channels out in the early evening last night, some HD, some SD below 100 (such as MSNBC for one), but it all seemed to be working later after about 10PM.

Yes - current cable cards (and the associated sets they work in) are one-way, so they don't work with any two-way services. One of the main thing we tell customer's about when they call in to subscribe with Cable Card.

Ouch. I wonder how bad they will affect cable cards. Other regions got a letter stating that they would lose sub channels, HBO2, and Showtime 2. If those are the only loses, it's acceptable for me.

Our letter drops Monday. In the end, the one-way cable card will be severely impacted because we will move more and more services to SDV over time.

Our letter drops Monday. In the end, the one-way cable card will be severely impacted because we will move more and more services to SDV over time.

Diana-

Can you comment on how the proposed TWC transition to SDV will affect legacy analog NTSC sets? Right now we have 8 receivers in our home (10 if you count the two VCR's with their own tuners associated with two of them). Only 1, our HD plasma, is fed by one of your STB's and presumably would be replaced with an SDV-compatible equivalent for what we are paying now. The other sets all get basic analog NTSC from splits and do not require any hardware from TWC to function.

Once SDV is implemented, will we need 7 (or 9?) mini-STBs for these sets? Or does SDV somehow continue to provide basic analog in the 54-500 MHz portion of your bandplan as it does now?

Thanks,

Mike

There will be no impact. Analog only will exist as it does today. Current Digital Converters and DVRs will handle both SDV and Digital Simulcast with no exchange of equipment. The Digital Channels that are converted to SDV will provide enough additional bandwidth to (1) maintain existing Analog lineup in the full 550 MHz it currently uses, as well as (2) simulcast all Analog signals in Digital for our existing Digital Customers AND (3) provide a method to add more SD and HD channels to our lineup.

World Peace is next!

World Peace is next!
I'd settle for ESPN2HD.