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Key to Channels without Cable Box?

post #1 of 6
1/15/13 at 3:15pm
Thread Starter 
I have Comcast and hooked up my new LG LCD TV to the cable, but not through the box Comcast rents. I get reception, of course, but the channels are like 81-5 for what would be CBS (654 or 054) with the box. How do I decode this so my kids will know what channel is what and can key in the channel they want to watch. I'm in northern COlorado, Ft Collins.

S
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post #2 of 6
1/15/13 at 3:50pm
You are receiving what is called clear QAM, the channel numbers will generally be odd like you've found out, nothing you can do to correct this other than to rent a STB or DVR. To make matters worse cable companies like Comcast have a nasty habit of occasionally rearranging the channel numbers requiring a rescan. Generally at least in my area the locals have the same channel numbers, eg. OTA channel 4.1 will be Comcast 4.1 but other channels aren't so nice and never expect to get the numbers like 242 etc, without anything other than a cable company STB, DVR or Cable Card.
PS, generally it's frowned upon to post the same question in several forums, especially minutes apart smile.gif
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1452139/channel-codes-for-cable-without-box
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1452142/channels-dont-make-sense
Edited by jjeff - 1/15/13 at 3:55pm
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post #3 of 6
1/15/13 at 4:23pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jjeff View Post

You are receiving what is called clear QAM, the channel numbers will generally be odd like you've found out, nothing you can do to correct this other than to rent a STB or DVR. To make matters worse cable companies like Comcast have a nasty habit of occasionally rearranging the channel numbers requiring a rescan. Generally at least in my area the locals have the same channel numbers, eg. OTA channel 4.1 will be Comcast 4.1 but other channels aren't so nice and never expect to get the numbers like 242 etc, without anything other than a cable company STB, DVR or Cable Card.
PS, generally it's frowned upon to post the same question in several forums, especially minutes apart smile.gif
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1452139/channel-codes-for-cable-without-box
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1452142/channels-dont-make-sense

Thanks a lot. I just wasn't sure which forum was appropriate.

Any idea how I could get a list of which channels are which? Or, is this something I just have to slog through myself, which I'll do , if I have to. I already pay Comcast a monthly rent for the service and a slick HD box. I just can't see paying them rent again for a second room.
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post #4 of 6
1/15/13 at 6:50pm
SiliconDust has a list on their website: http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/
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post #5 of 6
1/15/13 at 7:34pm
Also note that channel numbers may be different depending on the brand and age of the TV, not sure how that Silicondust site can claim to be accurate unless it's meant for a specific brand of tuner? guess that would make sense.
I've found the only way to really know whats going on in your area is to do a channel scan and go through the channels one at a time, deleting the dead ones or ones you don't care about. Unfortunately like I said Comcast has a bad habit of changing things around which requires another rescan and delete process, a real pain frown.gif
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post #6 of 6
1/17/13 at 10:22am
Not to mention thanks to the recent FCC ruling I believe Comcast is going to start scrambling all QAM channels soon, so he might not be getting those Clear QAM channels much longer anyway.
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