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Seattle, WA - Comcast

2M views 16K replies 1K participants last post by  LHenton 
#1 ·
I officially have no new news! However, I wanted to have a thread that I could subscribe to. After Ken took away our little "ATT advertising HDTV" thread, I felt that we needed a new little home to gripe and whine about the fact that Comcast still isn't delivering locals.


I will try to get Ken to send out a note to those subscribed to the other thread.


Cheers,

Steve
 
#10,781 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by BACONlover /forum/post/12288194


hmm..if i do have a dish installed and have to move before the contract is up, i guess they can move the dish. but then i'd have to pay for that and a reinstall right? anyone have any experience with this?

With DirecTV moving is free. They install the new dish at the new place and hook up the receives (that you move yourself).

If you don't want to risk damages to the place you lease now, you could see if the dish can be installed not on the house (free standing post, fence,...) so you can easily remove it when you move.
 
#10,782 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Todd Nicholson /forum/post/12292939


Does anyone have problems with macroblocking on CBS's (107) football broadcasts? It's even very noticable when they transition with their "flying cbs logo". ESPNHD, FOXHD and even NFLHD last night don't exhibit this problem. It's as if our local CBS doesn't allow enough bandwidth for a better signal. I went to the Kiro website but couldn't find anywhere to send a complaint regarding it.

We've had this discussion a couple times before in this thread - what? you didn't read all 10,000 previous posts? :)


KIRO uses some of their HD bandwidth to multicast a 2nd digital channel, usually showing their Queen Ann tower cam or something. The lower bitrate on the primary HD channel results in very noticable macro-blocking when entire screen changes quickly (like during the flying logo).
 
#10,784 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Spike89 /forum/post/12295445


Similar problem in Kitsap County (Indianola) this morning... many channels were missing or a frozen image. Seems ok now.

Most channels seem fixed I can't get 660 and 661 anyone else with a problem on those 2 channels? it says "please wait available shortly" never tunes in...update i got through...other people in my area have called regarding the same channels ...she zapped my signal no luck...the dreaded cable guy will be here between "now and six'...I'll repost later
 
#10,785 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by jimre /forum/post/12294354


We've had this discussion a couple times before in this thread - what? you didn't read all 10,000 previous posts? :)


KIRO uses some of their HD bandwidth to multicast a 2nd digital channel, usually showing their Queen Ann tower cam or something. The lower bitrate on the primary HD channel results in very noticable macro-blocking when entire screen changes quickly (like during the flying logo).

Thanks for the info. I will try to find a way to complain to them, not that it'll do any good....
 
#10,786 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by newlinux /forum/post/12290465


I'm using mythtv with a dvico fusion 5 lite, Avermedia A180, and Kworld ATSC 110s tuning QAM with no problems (I did it with a pchdtv 5500, but I sold that card as it was overpriced, and bought two Kworlds with the proceeds). You shouldn't need to modify a channels.conf file anymore, you should just be able to scan and edit channels with the frontend editor or using mythweb. Is the scanning not working (what goes wrong)?

Wow, great to hear your positive experiences with MythTV and other hardware! That's [unfortunately] encouraging, so I suppose I'll keep futzing around with this stuff for a while.



In my setup, scanning seems to work fine, and I end up with a channels.conf file that has 340 lines, and some of the channels even have real names like "KING DT". I've attached the output of my scan using scandvb from the dvb-apps and the "us-Cable-Standard-center-frequencies-QAM256" file. This is the frequency file I think I'm supposed to use when the cable line from Comcast is plugged into the pcHDTV-3000 (because when my HDTV tunes a channel, it reports QAM is being used to tune the signal).


However, once I use the channels.conf file with mplayer or xine to try and tune/watch live tv, the picture has tons of MPEG artifacts, only a few frames actually display, audio skips, and a52 corruption errors spit out in the console. I've tried this when X isn't running and capturing directly from /dev/dvb/adapter0/dvr0, all without success.


I've had similar problems when using MythTV to scan for channels (seems to work for some channels) and tune channels (choppy audio, picture is blocky and MythTV automatically closes the Watch TV app after about 20 seconds).
 
#10,787 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by izub /forum/post/12291464


anybody having trouble getting several channels? 10 pm 660, 661 not coming in 110 and sevral in the 60's breaking up with artifacts...I called Comcast recording says higher than normal volume calls because of problems...North Seattle...Anyone else?

Those are the three channels that have been giving me trouble. 110 didn't used to do it, but lately it has. 660 UHD and 661 MTVHD have given me trouble since they came online a few months ago. Lately it has been more reliable, but if my Motorola is having trouble tuning in the HD channels, those are the two that give me fits. I'm curious how the new HD channels coming on December 8th are going to be.
 
#10,791 ·
174 out in Lake City area - fortunately, not a game I planned on watching. But they better get it fixed soon!


edit: 6:10 PM it's back in time for Clemson - SC game (only a backup for the Apple Cup - you need something to watch during commercials and halftime). Go Dawgs!
 
#10,793 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by pastiche /forum/post/11775174


One very simple reason: I don't know how to make it a sticky.



I have tried to remember to remove the old lists when I upload the new ones to keep it simple. If there's an easier way to do this, let me know!

It would be helpful if you could put a link to the updated post in the old post when you remove the old one. Just my 2 cents. Either way, really appreciate your updates!
 
#10,795 ·
Hi local HD'ers,


I moved up to the Renton/Kennydale area (98056) a few months ago from AZ, and got the basic digital cable from Comcast (the $33/mon thing). I just got my first HDTV (thank you, Black Friday!), and am trying to decide between adding HD content onto my Comcast service (online it looks like it's $6.50/mon) and getting an antenna for OTA stuff. Can you help me choose? What i'd like to know is: What channels will i get with Comcast in HD? Is it really $6.50/mon? Would i be better off going with OTA? TVfool.com says i should get all the major channels really easily: all between 9 and 12 miles away, and 299-304 deg.


Thanks for any insight you can offer!
 
#10,796 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by saldog78 /forum/post/12310730


Hi local HD'ers,


I moved up to the Renton/Kennydale area (98056) a few months ago from AZ, and got the basic digital cable from Comcast (the $33/mon thing). I just got my first HDTV (thank you, Black Friday!), and am trying to decide between adding HD content onto my Comcast service (online it looks like it's $6.50/mon) and getting an antenna for OTA stuff. Can you help me choose? What i'd like to know is: What channels will i get with Comcast in HD? Is it really $6.50/mon? Would i be better off going with OTA? TVfool.com says i should get all the major channels really easily: all between 9 and 12 miles away, and 299-304 deg.


Thanks for any insight you can offer!

If you hook up your cable TV signal directly to your new HDTV you should receive all of the same digital channels that are available OTA for no additional cost from Comcast. I have Comcast Limited Basic for $15 per month and I get all of the OTA-equivalent stations.


If you are satisfied with the combination of the local digital channels (for no extra cost) and the other channels you already receive with your cable box (if you have one) then you simply need to connect a splitter between the incoming cable to support both your TV directly and the cable box. The connection from the cable box should be the best available, from component to s-video to composite video.
 
#10,797 ·
Hi, I'll be getting my own place next month in Kirkland and was wondering, if I call up Comcast and act hard to get and mention Verizon and DirectTV and their offerings/rates, is there a chance of getting them to give me a lower overall non-promotional rate or will they just tell me to take a hike? Has anyone else tried that to see if it will work since I hate the constant rate hikes, how much they charge for their packages, the fact that were constantly the last for the new HD channels and I'm not completely positive I can get DirectTV because of the trees in my area.
 
#10,798 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Master843 /forum/post/12311449


Hi, I'll be getting my own place next month in Kirkland and was wondering, if I call up Comcast and act hard to get and mention Verizon and DirectTV and their offerings/rates, is there a chance of getting them to give me a lower overall non-promotional rate or will they just tell me to take a hike? Has anyone else tried that to see if it will work since I hate the constant rate hikes, how much they charge for their packages, the fact that were constantly the last for the new HD channels and I'm not completely positive I can get DirectTV because of the trees in my area.

It really depends on who you talk to. I played that game and was told "good luck" before they hung up. I called back 15 min later to see what would happen and I got a different person. This person did not want me to get off the phone. I only got the promotional price of cable. (34.99 for digitial cable and hbo). However she knocked my cable internet price down to $33. That's the price you would give you if you got VOIP, cable, and internet together. I only have two of the three. Not much of a deal, but it was something. I now pay about $10 more a month and have digital cable with HBO. I think it depends on the rep. The first person could care less. Good luck! It doesn't hurt to try.
 
#10,800 ·

Quote:
Originally Posted by Budget_HT /forum/post/12311004


If you hook up your cable TV signal directly to your new HDTV you should receive all of the same digital channels that are available OTA for no additional cost from Comcast. I have Comcast Limited Basic for $15 per month and I get all of the OTA-equivalent stations.


If you are satisfied with the combination of the local digital channels (for no extra cost) and the other channels you already receive with your cable box (if you have one) then you simply need to connect a splitter between the incoming cable to support both your TV directly and the cable box. The connection from the cable box should be the best available, from component to s-video to composite video.

Awesome, thanks for the info. I'm currently enjoying the Pats game on channel 5.1 and it looks beautiful. I did exactly what you suggested: split the signal, with one lead going directly to the TV, and the other going to the Comcast box.
 
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