TVGOS ( TV Guide On Screen ) Devices - Page 43

Sorry Gregg, I'm in a monopoly. Comcast is nearby, but my cable feed is SECV.COM and they are legacy only.

I did send a mass email to all the top people at SECTV and one of them called me, they don''t have a clue!! This guy says he can see the guide on channel 50 scrolling up the screen!? The other guy, head of service, I called him because a service guy came out when we were away and left a note on the door, "Sorry we missed you". I called Service Mgr. and told him that the cable card is working fine, I am not getting the analog VBI signal on channel 50, Rovi Confirmed, he agreed it has nothing to do with my card since it was remapped for analog for channel 50 which it is and I confirmed that. I don't know if any SECTV customers in the Lehigh valley are getting the TVGOS signal.
Edited by SamThing - 9/9/12 at 9:23am

Ask the Comcast Engineer if they are grooming the broadcast feed from the station that is carrying the TVGOS data. If the station is stat muxing multiple channels and Comcast is not carrying all the stations sub channels they may be grooming out the sub channel feeds which in turn maybe grooming out the two TVGOS PIDs. If this is the case then they will have to tell the groomer to stop removing the PIDS.
Another thing that may be the issue is if they are receiving the feed from the broadcaster over fiber. If they are is the fiber feed hooked up before the TVGOS insertion equipment at the broadcast station.
One last thing is if tis problem began with the installation of new or additional equipment in the headend then maybe it is interfering with or not compatible with the TVGOS data.

These are the only things that are coming to my mind right now.

I receive Comcast (with cable card) in the Seattle Metro area. TVGOS support is good when you can get to it. Calling first tier support rarely works and there is no second tier. A few months ago time synchronization was all over the map making it near impossible to record shows unless you were watching carefully to compensate. I was only able to get help by requesting the OTA station's engineering department to forward a detailed description of the issue to " the right person in Comcast." That person then contacted me and worked with me to resolve the issue. Ask your "Comcast Head Engineer" to contact the engineering group in Seattle. That should be a step in the right direction.

SCTV?

 

Is that station still on the air? I thought it was in Canada somewhere.

 

(By the way, tell Guy Caballero, Moe Green, Edith Prickley, Earl Cannonbear, Lola Heatherton and Harvey K-tel I said hi. I'd mention Johnny LaRue, too, but I know he passed away some time ago.)

Edited by Rammitinski - 9/8/12 at 8:12pm

SECTV http://www.sectv.com/

Small private cable company.

Yeah, I know.

 

Where's that dry sense of humor you usually exhibit? 

Sorry, I find humor is really hard in print. I do feel bad I can't work out his problems. My SE now owns the SE used by Jed1, so we have a common focus. The OP's SE is far west and until the right connection can be made [humor] between SE and Rovi he's screwed. With good communications it took Jed1 & me almost two months to get the guide back. Now my HD is one decimal place, and he's trying to get rid of the four decimal places they gave him so he can map channels on the DHG.

I still live by my motto: It's not a DVR it's an adventure.

I think I'm probably stuck with the four number problem, too, as my firmware is the earliest.

I have found that there are two DHG firmware issues and I'm sorry to drift off topic. The .13 update fixes the problem with going back to "Auto HDMI" when any 480i channel is selected. It doesn't look as good as a fixed "1080i." The .21 gives a message that you can't make a manual recording unless the channel is in the TVGOS lineup. I probably could use the .21 now since I have the TiVo for basic cable HD and my clear QAM 1080i looks the same as the Tivo.

Decimal places are determined by your cable headend and has nothing to do with firmware per se. My Sony TV has four decimal places.

I did contact the local CBS engineer about the Comcast problem. He told me that they were sending the same data to Comcast as they send out OTA. And then he added this depressing comment, “If Comcast is not sending out the TVGOS data then they would drop TVGOS from their QTA. Without the viewership from Comcast there wouldn’t be enough users of TVGOS to justify the expense to keep broadcasting the data OTA”.

That statement scared me so much that I called back the next day, lied to him and told the engineer that all was OK, my mistake; I was getting data from Comcast. So I guess I burnt that bridge…

My next move will be, have Comcast Chico CA. contact Seattle WA. Comcast.

Thanks for that info, Gregg.

USA USA USA, free market ???

Hi All. I'm also in Seattle, and having TVGOS issues with my Sony XBR9 tv and basic "Wave Broadband" cable without any cable box. The Sony xbr9 TV has v10 of the TVGOS software. Therefore it is able to receive the updates over the internet.

Since I'm using the TV's QAM tuner to receive just clear channels provided by wave broadband, I have to go through the process of manually re-mapping the HD and Digital cable channels I receive to the old analog "real channels" that TV guide has data for. e.g HD Channel ABC 25.1 remapped to ABC analog 4

I can set this all up, receive the TV channel icons, set up to receive updates over the internet, get a full grid of guide data ..... and all work great for about 3 or so days ... and then I start getting No data in the grid. At that point the only thing to do is to reset the guide with a slightly different zip code (very flaky), or in some cases, re-do the process again from scratch. A real pain !

So ... is anyone using v10 of the guide with a Sony XBR9 tv, and choosing to receive updates over the internet? Does it work ok for you? Not sure if the issue is with the guide software, or the fact that I mess with the guide by remapping the HD channels to the analogs in the guide?

I'm going to try receiving updates over the tuner instead, although I'm not confident that wave broadband is actually passing the TVGOS data on any of the channels.

Thanks.

I'm probably as close as you will get. I have a 32EX700 with a WiFi dongle. I have found V10 and the Sony never lasts more than a few weeks before causing a problem. Usually the "Favorites" function stops working. Since I am cable only yet still get the first 25 in analog I have tried mapping. Just enabling the guide will cause loss of the clock eventually. I get 120 clear QAM channels. I label the ones I watch and don't do mapping anymore. The Favorites is good enough. My older 32XBR9 doesn't support the guide.

My advice is to use the guide to get the time only. See how stable that is. Good luck.

Thanks for that. Well, trying to get the update from the tuner didn't work after leaving the set 48 hrs. I suspected this - didn't think Wavebroadband cable would be pushing the TVGOS signal. So went back to internet, cleared out the channel list and re-downloaded. SO right now, I just have the analog channels with guide data .. all is good. I'm going to see how long this lasts before it goes bad ! I won't do a channel mapping.

It wouldn't matter if your cable company had TVGOS since your model (and mine) can only get data via the OTA PSIP or the internet. The V10 guide data (like V8 and V9) assume you have a valid PSIP or a cable card (why you map). There are a few locations that do get V10 OTA, but I don't recall which ones. Try adding your location to your profile. A known bug in the EX700 is that even if you turn off TVGOS the TV will try to get the clock at midnight. A missing clock may mean an update for the TV has been received. The EX700, 710 and 720 are great sets. I wish I could buy another.

Ah. Thanks for the clarification. I didn't realize that. Well, I wont waste anymore time trying to get a update OTA then.

In terms of setting the location, yes, it is set. In fact its a requirement, without the location or zip code set, the TVGOS is unable to get any data.

Its all very flaky though. You can force a update manually, but sometimes it can't find the zip code you have set in their system even though it worked fine the day before. Very odd.

On location, I was speaking of your AVSForum "My Profile". That means your location will display under your name. Sometimes there are people in your area that can help better.

On the Sony TV, TVGOS is a virus. My opinion only.

**** Progress ****

The Host Channel is found, we are loading the TVGOS from SECTV here in the Lehigh Valley!! I check it yesterday and it started to get some numbers in the VBI settings but no data packets, I new something was happening. This afternoon channel menu came up but with incomplete listing. I checked the diags and saw it was loading packets and locked into the HOST Channel so I let it on channel 50. Later this afternoon is was streaming along and storing listings, I can watch the numbers ascending in the store area. I am going to let it rest overnight by tomorrow I should be in great shape. Life is good, thanks AVS for your support, SECTV Engineering, Rovi Engineering, and SECTV Field Tech Patrick. I helped get things in gear and bring them all together, now can't wait to kick back have a brew and watch some TV!!
Edited by SamThing - 9/19/12 at 5:19pm

Sounds great. Expect some bumps with listings for the next few weeks as the new season starts and the debates muck things up.

Was working, then lost the HOST Channel, had a lot of Packet Data Errors, then HOST came back but no LISTING, It was all over the place? So far last night it was working again but the TVG Test showed errors. I advised ROVI and sent pictures.

Your last picture seems to indicate a full reset was done. Also, I have never seen RF as a channel. Mine says CABLE. I think your headend got a new analog inserter that is not going to work with the SE DAC. Same problem that Sunbury and Hazleton/Mahanoy City had in the spring. It took a while to fix it for Jed1 and me. Once Rovi verifies you have an SE problem, you can start telling SE to fix it. Good Luck.

BBS channels never have listings. That's normal.

You could do a reset since there is already bad data in the unit. The bad data should get you a clock in a day or so.
Edited by JoeKustra - 9/23/12 at 6:15am

I did a TV soft reset because of the errors, this was after it found the HOST again but data was bad so it could not update the lineup. I was tuned to channel 50 the TVG channel, normally it shows the listing but for some reason it is missing from the lineup. Any channel not listed in the lineup shows up as RF, I can edit it later in the editor and find it and turn it on. I want to wait until the Guide stabilizes first.

That is correct, ROVI and SECTV had equipment replaced, ROVI sent SECTV the new equipment to install, the engineers just need to learn how to use the SCTE 127 and set it up correctly. The Engineers from ROVI are working with them.

Guide is working this morning, like you said, maybe the bad data has to work out of the system. Seems to be updating faster then it used to with the older equipment. It finds the Host Channel faster.

I have the ROVI transfer whitepapers right here, got off the ROVI TECH page, it helps understand that it is very complex operation:

Rovi_CE_TV-Guide_data_delivery-whitepaper.pdf 321k .pdf file
Edited by SamThing - 9/23/12 at 9:55am

Actually, Rovi sent Service Electric an old analog inserter that used to be inserted in the feed of the analog OTA signal of the PBS stations. The legacy stream and document that you have is for the new digital inserters which is embedded in KYW HD feed from Philly. If SECTVs equipment is SCTE 127 capable and set up right the legacy data from KYW HD should be embedded in the analog copy of KYW of your cable line up. If it is not there then they either don't have the right equipment or it is not set up right. The digital TVGOS data (TVG1) will be embedded in the feed of KYW HD of your cable lineup. You will need Version 9 or 10 guide to receive this. The only Version 8 device that can read TVG1 data is the Sony DHG.

If you look at the VBI stats screen you should see on the lower right hand side of the screen three lines, 2x lines, Gemstar lines, and Enabled lines, when working properly you should have a hecidecimal of 0x780078 on all three lines. If any of the lines have a different value then the equipment at SECTV maybe corrupting or miss placing the data. You have to be tuned to your host channel to see if they are correct. In Joe and my case SECVs DAC was corrupting two of the VBI lines and SECV had to change the DAC for that channel to get it working right. When I was with SECO the cheif engineer had to same problem in 2009 when he hooked up the TVGOS analog inserter in the Wilkes Barre headend.

Rovi told me that all of the Service Electrics are the most cooperative of US cable companies when it comes to supporting TVGOS data. Every headend that Service Electric operates has an analog TVGOS inserter installed in it.

Thank you Jed1, I just checked my VBI Stats screen, you nailed it, I got the same problem you had. Thanks for the tip and all your valuable input; I will send this valuable info to ROVI and SECTV. I am using TVGOS version 8 on my Panasonic TV, don't know how to find an update or if there is one. I used to get TVGOS sometimes from KYW 3 analog, it used to switch back and forth sometimes when the HOST Channel went missing. That screwed things up because it had to reload a new lineup instead of rebuilding one.


Edited by SamThing - 9/23/12 at 1:15pm

It has been a while, and I don't think I can blame Sandy, but my TVGOS legacy cable feed is gone or running at 1/2 speed. Anyone in the NE have a problem?

Really good timing.

Update: The cable company is preparing to go all digital. They forgot to re-enable the inserter. This is happening to me now. There is still one inserter in Lehigh Valley to change. My data is back to 100%.

I had to reset my guides the other day due to the power going on and off from the storm and I noticed that I only receive listing at the first type 70 download at 2:31am. The rest of the day there is data showing in the VBI Stats screen during the type 70 downloads but it does not fill in the grid. I reset one of the guides in the morning and at the end of the day I had no listings. When I woke up the next day I had listings. Now this is only for people that still have access to analog TVGOS, either from an actual analog inserter or from the converted legacy stream. This is not for those who are receiveng their data from TVG1.
I do not have my DHG hooked up because I need to make a change in the wiring in my home do to all the changes that have been made to my cable system lately. I see this happening on my two version 9 Pioneer Kuros.

As for the rumors about TVGOS ending I can see this happening for the equipment that uses the legacy analog TVGOS data. The FCC has green lighted cable companies to eliminate all legacy analog broadcasting and switch their lineups to all digital and also full encryption of their line ups. Since there is no more TVGOS converter boxes beening sold and then there will be no cable companies that support analog broadcasting it will make sense that Rovi end analog TVGOS data. This is bad news for Joe Kustra and I as we have no source of digital TVGOS in our market unless Rovi sends our cable system a digital TVGOS inserter. At that time it will be lights out for TVGOS for us. I guess it is time to start saving for a couple of Tivos.

Too bad that someone doesn't come up with a TVGOS "adapter" box for us with legacy TVGOS equipment. Something that can download the data from the internet (Wifi?), and create an analog TV signal with the data properly formated data (VBI) using a variation of the "channel 3" modulators that old VCR's use to use. The "adapter" box could sense when the equipment is powered 'on' and 'off', and use that to switch the RF automatically from cable passthru to ch 3 w/ TVGOS data. I mean, since our equipment only looks for TVGOS data when its powered 'off', the created data only needs to be made available then.

I would buy one.

Heads up! See this post/thread about the end of TVGOS.

http://www.avsforum.com/t/537711/sony-dhg-hdd250-500-official-thread/25290#post_22559681