Cox Cable Box with HDMI?

[Howie411]

Anyone got a digital cable box from COX with an HDMI port thats not the DVR Box? I've called twice and they tell me if I want a box with a HDMi I need to upgrade to the DVR box.

[miniz]

Just use an HDMI to DVI converter plug or all-in-one cable. They don't cost much and will give you the exact same picture as HDMI does. You just won't have the audio on the same cable.

[Howie411]

but then I'm forced to have a seperate cable for Audio. I just want 1 cable for everything.

[blankfaze]

No, there are not any, if you live in a Cox market that uses SA (Scientific Atlanta) boxes. Only the SA8000HD and SA8300HD converters have HDMI output. The SA3250HD has a DVI out, like someone else mentioned, but you are correct, that requires you to have separate audio cabling.

Sorry.

[miniz]

The SA8000HD does NOT have an HDMI output. That is incorrect above.

I would complain to COX. My local TW does the same thing. They keep giving me excuses of how they just spend all the money they had on buying out Adelphia. They say that they have no money to purchase new STB's.

[blankfaze]

You're right, I'm sorry. The 8000HD does not have HDMI. But there is no use complaining to Cox... AFAIK Scientific Atlanta does not currently manufacture any other converters with HDMI output.

[Howie411]

SA website, the Explorer 4250HD has an HDMI out instead of a DVI out.

[miniz]

4250HD has HDMI, as said above. Tell your cable company to get their act together and demand a 4250HD.

[blankfaze]

Ah, you are right. My Cox system doesn't carry that model. Regardless, you are not going to get anywhere demanding a specific converter from Cox.

1) They're not going to do it. Maybe if they got some kind of huge influx of calls from customers demanding that specific model. Mayyyyybe. But I doubt it.

2) There is absolutely no financial gain to Cox by doing this.

[jwscif]

Yeah, I've got a S.A. 4240HDC from Cox with a HDMI connector

[jrcarter]

Just got back in the USA after 8 yrs and bought a SOny HDtv. I am in Georgia and have Cox cable. I ordered the HDMI cable with the TV and I am now wondering if I will be able to use it when I get the TV. Do the converters Cox leases have HDMI connections now?

If they don't is it better to just purchase a converter from another source?
If I do would it work with Cox?

New to HD so feel free to talk to me like a 1st grader......

[HDMI Guy]

Originally Posted by jrcarter

Just got back in the USA after 8 yrs and bought a SOny HDtv. I am in Georgia and have Cox cable. I ordered the HDMI cable with the TV and I am now wondering if I will be able to use it when I get the TV. Do the converters Cox leases have HDMI connections now?

If they don't is it better to just purchase a converter from another source?
If I do would it work with Cox?

New to HD so feel free to talk to me like a 1st grader......

If you just got the HDTV it most likely has a QAM tuner. A QAM tuner will tune in HD channels that are in the clear, usually the local network channels only. You will need a Cox cable box to receive most of the HD channels. If the HDMI cable does not work with the cable box you will need a component video cable. If you can not use the HDMI cable keep it because if you get a new upconverting DVD player you can use the HDMI cable to connect that to the HDTV.

[jrcarter]

If I can't use the hdmi what is the next best cable type to use?

[Tulpa]

Component video. Red/blue/green RCA plugs.

[jrcarter]

it has a QAM tuner but all the "free" basic HD channels from Cox cable require you to have a box to get to them as they are in the 700-731 channel range

[Tulpa]

A QAM tuner should scan and find whatever channels, HD or standard digital, are in the clear. They're supposed to at least provide the locals with a basic subscription, and probably a couple others. I'd be very surprised if they encrypted everything and required a cable box. They most likely won't advertise that they send stuff in the clear, but there should be some.

They'll be different channel numbers than what's on the cable box, and will probably have a decimal, something like 52.2. The way to find out is to hook up the TV directly to the cable and run the scan.

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by jrcarter

it has a QAM tuner but all the "free" basic HD channels from Cox cable require you to have a box to get to them as they are in the 700-731 channel range

According to Cox, that's not the case. Here (Baton Rouge) they told me we can get 7 local HD channels without the cable box. But I'm just now checking out a HDTV I got my mother and it can't pick up a freakin' one of them! It says the signal is too low for all 7! So Cox FAIK could be "extorting" it's customers and forcing them to pay more for a freakin' cable box just to view the local channels in HD, by purposely limiting the signal of those local HD channels.

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by Howie411

Anyone got a digital cable box from COX with an HDMI port thats not the DVR Box? I've called twice and they tell me if I want a box with a HDMi I need to upgrade to the DVR box.

Apparently it depends on where you're located because of what boxes are available. I don't know which boxes they give us because......there's actually no model# anywhere on the box! They are Motorola and the look exactly like the DCT6400 series http://broadband.motorola.com/dvr/dct6412.asp but it does NOT have a DVR in it, and it does have HDMI connectors. From what I gather, it's just missing the hard drive. So the answer to your question is both yes, and no. It supports DVR, but the DVR is optional. If I wanted the DVR I would guess I'd take this box back to them and they'd give me one just like it but with the DVR enabled.

[zaphod7501]

Originally Posted by Clint S.

According to Cox, that's not the case. Here (Baton Rouge) they told me we can get 7 local HD channels without the cable box. But I'm just now checking out a HDTV I got my mother and it can't pick up a freakin' one of them! It says the signal is too low for all 7! So Cox FAIK could be "extorting" it's customers and forcing them to pay more for a freakin' cable box just to view the local channels in HD, by purposely limiting the signal of those local HD channels.

The Digital channel numbers used by Cable Companies are Virtual and do not specify the frequency. Actual QAM channels are usually located in the 80 - 135 physical channel range. This is in the UHF band so any local UHF channels could interfere if there is any ingress (leakage) from their broadcasts.

Since they are much higher frequency than traditional cable channels, the splitters and other devices that worked for standard cable may dramatically reduce the signal strength on the QAM stations. You need splitters, amps, and cables rated to 1000Mhz or greater all throughout the distribution system. The higher the frequency, the more the signal strength is reduced by those devices, or even cable length.

Another hidden culprit could be an old VCR that the cable connects through. Their internal splitters won't pass QAM frequencies hardly at all.

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by zaphod7501

The Digital channel numbers used by Cable Companies are Virtual and do not specify the frequency. Actual QAM channels are usually located in the 80 - 135 physical channel range. This is in the UHF band so any local UHF channels could interfere if there is any ingress (leakage) from their broadcasts.

Hello, not sure what you mean by virtual and don't specify the frequency, but this is the list they gave me:
NBC WVLA.......Ch. 3......093-1 (703)
ABC WBRZ ..........Ch. 5.....100-1 (705)
FOX WGMB...........Ch. 6.....099-2 (706)
CBS WAFB........... Ch. 7.....100-4 (707)
WBRL..................Ch. 10....098-2 (710)
WLPB..................Ch. 12.....093-2 (712)
KPBN..................Ch. 13......073-1 (713)
The (700's) are the channel # using the cable box. Taking the first one as an example, that ch. # is 93.1, but on the remote you have to press 093-1 to get to it (I did it like that so my mother wouldn't get confused, the column in the middle like "Ch. 3" is the old # on basic SD cable). The channels "load", but the screen is blank, the signal meter is 0 and it says "low signal".

Since they are much higher frequency than traditional cable channels, the splitters and other devices that worked for standard cable may dramatically reduce the signal strength on the QAM stations. You need splitters, amps, and cables rated to 1000Mhz or greater all throughout the distribution system. The higher the frequency, the more the signal strength is reduced by those devices, or even cable length.

The only splitter used is 1ghz, that's the one in the attic. I'm unaware of any co-ax cable rating in Mhz or Ghz.

Another hidden culprit could be an old VCR that the cable connects through. Their internal splitters won't pass QAM frequencies hardly at all.

No VCR was hooked up, nothing at all. Just the cable from the wall to the TV.

[Speedskater]

Clint, how did you get that list and did it have all 400 or so channels or just the locals?

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by Speedskater

Clint, how did you get that list and did it have all 400 or so channels or just the locals?

I didn't sleep yesterday so I was a bit out of it. I'm not sure why I posted that, somewhere I thought I saw someone mention local TV channels. (Or maybe now I just haven't woken up yet. ) That's just the local TV channels they (Cox) broadcast in HD that allegedly do not require the cable box. But I can't pick up any of them. I can't try on another TV because the other HDTV doesn't have the ATSC/QAM HD tuner, it's the type that must use a cable box to display HD.

It wasn't easy getting the list, I had to ask and ask and ask, and I kept getting "I'll check into this and let you know" for weeks before someone finally sent it. What I asked was "which channels can an HDTV receive that do not require the cable box". 7 is pathetic, we should be able to receive ALL up to channel 99, all basic cable channels and we should NOT be required to have to key in the 700x series of numbers (therefore the cable box) to view HD content! But they extort their customers into shelling out even more $ per month just to be able to use their HDTV sets! So any HDTV with the ATSC/QAM tuner is totally useless and a waste of money with Cox if you want to watch HD content! That should be illegal. From what I've heard, they're only legally bound to show the local channels in HD with no box. But obviously they've found a way around that by "capping" or limiting the HD signal of said local channels so they can't even be picked up. So my mother is going to have to pay more $ per month to watch HD content. And the have the gall and audacity to claim "All HD content is free", that's BS.

So I'm wondering if anyone has been able to view any HD channels on cable without using the cable box.

EDIT: Sorry, I'm also posting in the Baton Rouge forum and I got this forum confused with that one. So everything I said above is for local Baton Rouge customers only, I don't know if that applies to other areas of the country.

[Tulpa]

Originally Posted by Clint S.

So I'm wondering if anyone has been able to view any HD channels on cable without using the cable box.

EDIT: Sorry, I'm also posting in the Baton Rouge forum and I got this forum confused with that one. So everything I said above is for local Baton Rouge customers only, I don't know if that applies to other areas of the country.

There are plenty of people that can view HD channels with no box all across the country. I just helped a friend get his QAM tuner to not only pick up locals, but a few extra channels, too, although that's totally up to the cable company at that point.

Basic analog cable won't use QAM, it should use the analog tuner. If you can't get either of those, sounds like the signal needs to be boosted or maybe unfiltered.

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by Tulpa

There are plenty of people that can view HD channels with no box all across the country. I just helped a friend get his QAM tuner to not only pick up locals, but a few extra channels, too, although that's totally up to the cable company at that point.

Ok so I need to find out why I can't here. I asked this in the Baton Rouge forum.

Basic analog cable won't use QAM, it should use the analog tuner. If you can't get either of those, sounds like the signal needs to be boosted or maybe unfiltered.

I haven't tried any OTA stations with an antenna yet, just cable channels. So how would the signal be boosted or "unfiltered"? Would I have to buy an amp or does the cable co supply that? If I have to buy an amp, which one is good? How would I "unfilter" the line?
Thanks.

[Tulpa]

Any filters would have to be removed by the cable company, but I think that's actually unlikely to be your culprit, now that I think about it. It's probably a low signal and the cableco just needs to juice it up at your place. I don't know if an amp you install will work or not.

Either way, I don't think they're intentionally limiting your service, I think you just have a less than optimal signal. More them being sloppy or inattentive than anything outright fraudulent.

[zaphod7501]

Originally Posted by Tulpa

Any filters would have to be removed by the cable company, but I think that's actually unlikely to be your culprit, now that I think about it. It's probably a low signal and the cableco just needs to juice it up at your place. I don't know if an amp you install will work or not.

This is probably correct: but, do you subscribe to a "lifeline" analog package by any chance ? (~ch2-22) or an expanded basic or classic ? (~ch2-70/99) The filter to block 23+ could also block all of the QAM, depending on their hardware.

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by Tulpa

Any filters would have to be removed by the cable company, but I think that's actually unlikely to be your culprit, now that I think about it. It's probably a low signal and the cableco just needs to juice it up at your place. I don't know if an amp you install will work or not.

Either way, I don't think they're intentionally limiting your service, I think you just have a less than optimal signal. More them being sloppy or inattentive than anything outright fraudulent.

Ok thanks for the info. I'll ask them about this. I'm also looking into various amps and better splitters right now but I don't know the frequency range of HDTV so I don't know if 1ghz hardware is enough or if 2150mhz is needed. I'm about to post something about that (unless someone here knows).

[Clint S.]

Originally Posted by zaphod7501

This is probably correct: but, do you subscribe to a "lifeline" analog package by any chance ? (~ch2-22) or an expanded basic or classic ? (~ch2-70/99) The filter to block 23+ could also block all of the QAM, depending on their hardware.

On TV's with the cable box, we get all channels available except for some of the movie channels like HBO's line. We get Cinemax & Showtime channels, etc., just no HBO. All TV's without a cable box get all channels (that are available) from 2-99. So what is that called? What does the "filter to block 23+" mean exactly?
Thanks.

[Tulpa]

Originally Posted by Clint S.

All TV's without a cable box get all channels (that are available) from 2-99. So what is that called? What does the "filter to block 23+" mean exactly?
Thanks.

2-23 or so is what's called "lifeline" basic cable or Broadcast Basic (or something to that effect, depends on your cableco), which is like the lowest package available from most cable companies. It should be most of what you'd get OTA, and a few other channels (the networks, PBS, public access, maybe a couple foreign language stations, depends on your area and the audience the region has.)

2-99 is usually called "expanded basic" and when cable was all analog, it was like the biggest selection, minus the premiums like HBO. TVs started having analog tuners built in to receive these. These are the so-called "cable ready" TVs, although since digital came along that term has fallen into disuse. But if you still have an analog tuner, you should get those channels as long as the cableco sends an analog signal and you subscribe to expanded basic.

If you don't subscribe to expanded basic, the cable company can put a filter on to block channels 23 on up. Now if you just have the lowest basic, there should still be HD channels coming in through clear QAM, but sometimes the filters screw with it. If you're getting 2-99, there's probably no 23+ filter in place, and it's more likely to be a weak signal.

[Clint S.]

Tulpa, thanks for the explanation.