Orange County, CA - Cox - Page 233

Ok, Sorry for the confusion.

I really don't consider the comparison fair between TIVO and WMC as an "apples to apples" comparison. One is primarily just a DVR with some streaming apps added in. The other is a DVR with the ability to be an all-in-one replacement for all other STB/Blu-ray player/Gaming system/computer.

I do agree that the TIVO's have come a long way, but for me it still lacks the "all-in-one" feature set that WMC gives. I was posting in response to the AppleTV or other "media streamers" as DVR's. They are not, they have no cable card support or even a blu-ray player. Probably never will - it's beyond their price point.

Since this thread is about our cable TV provider, I feel it's worth pointing these things out - so first time readers don't get confused as to what these other media streamers can and can not do.

TIVO & WMC are:
"Still, a much, much better solution than whatever Cox can provide."

-No argument there

Advanced Wishlists? Send me what that is exactly and I'll program it for you

On TiVos an example of 1 is:
1. First match "NBA Basketball" in the title
2. Next match "Los Angeles Lakers" in the subtitle and/or description
3. Record only from all the HD channels
4. Record only new episodes matching the above - i.e. not replays from years past and don't record any repeat showings after the live event.

I have similar ones for other sports teams. With the above I never have to worry about scheduling individual games to record.

This year looks like Clippers is going to be a higher priority wishlist

The one main reason I got a TiVo is because at the time, the Cox DVR only held 10 hours of HD. The TiVo I bought upgraded can hold ~117.

That should be possible. I'll program this over Christmas break.

I have the Cox Silver HD DVR currently. After a week or so of the "New" HD Ch's in the 1000's, what is everyone's opinion of the move??? I don't really like it as we have to re-learn where many of the networks are. Picture quality is troubling, the Networks look OK, but the Movie channels that I'm paying extra for look awful. HBO, Showtime, TMC, Epix and Encore... AMC HD really looks bad.
Why are they in the 1000, 1100, and 1300 levels??? To get many of the New HD Ch's we have to up-grade to their New HD DVR and pay an extra $5.00 per month, although it does have a much larger Hard Drive, and thats a good thing... Interested in hearing what you all are seeing....

I'm not seeing any difference as far as PQ. HBO and Showtime still look great to me. AMC has always been lousy. The channel numbers are supposed to mirror the SD channels, so if it's channel 309 SD, it's 1309 HD, etc.

The "plus pak" only premium channels are extremely annoying -- I feel that if I pay the $10 a month for HBO and Showtime, I should get all the channels in HD that Cox offers. I'm not going to give up my TiVos for it, though. How many HD hours does the Whole Home DVR have, anyway?

Seems to me the higher in the Band the worse the picture quality is:
Ex. NHL, Nfl, and Vs, and the Movie Channels look very grainy and bit-starved

There are a few HD stations that have 4+ channels in a single stream...comes out to less than dvd quality for these hd stations.

Since last night channel 1002 has been very pixelated, and the audio drops out every few seconds for a second or two. So you can't watch it. Other channels seem fine. This happens on both my motorola DVR boxes, and I've rebooted them both, with no effect. This also happened a few weeks ago, and several CBS HD recordings were unusable. I've sent in a web request for Cox support last night, but I have not heard back yet. Is this likely something in the Cox feed, or is there something else I can do on my end?

I've also had problems with KCBS on Cox at times over the past few months. I don't know if it is related to the frequency Cox assigned to it, the other channels seem ok.

Well I just returned from Philly and saw what HD Cable TV should look like....Fios, stellar picture quality, miles ahead of what we see here in OC. For example Band of Brothers was on Spike HD, it almost looked 3D. ALL of the Movie Channels are in HD if you purchase them. Same TV as I have and I set it up just like mine, Professional Pani. HD Plasmas..Video was popping off the screen, remember the early days of HD here on Cox???? Looked at a Comcast set-up and also rated it higher than Cox, but lower than Fios...Very nice interface on their HD DVR...Too bad we can't get it. The "after promo" price is less than we pay with much better quality, and many more HD Channels....

1002 is now showing "Temporarily Off Air" for me, but all other channels work fine. Happens even with a straight feed into the TV. I'll try support again. Strange that all the other channels work.

Working for me right now.

I pretty much never have 1002 working; also 1009 works only about 1/2 the time. I've tried support but without success.

I've started having problems on 1002 also, on one of my two TiVo's. The signal strength is only about 50, where other channels are about 87. Lots of uncorrected errors too.

Have a tech come out and adjust your db levels. I got mine pretty close to 0 now

It just strikes me as odd that the problem is only on one channel.

Maybe it's Irvine specific? I haven't had any issues with 1002 and TiVo Diagnostics show good numbers and low error counts last I checked.

I talked to a Cox representative on the phone this morning about channel 1002 not displaying. The e-mail support had not been helpful at all. The phone rep told me the problem is the new SCE wireless electrical meters causing an interference with the cable. The problem I have started right after my new SCE meter was installed, so that's got to be it. I hadn't put those two facts together. She said they are working with SCE to fix the problem, but they do not have an ETA yet.

Do the others that have trouble with 1002 also have the new SCE electronic meter?

So whatever other channels are sharing the 1002 channel frequency should be affected as well if that's the case. You guys having trouble with 1002 might also want to check 1009 which shares the same frequency (105 MHz). Theoretically should be having problems as well if it is indeed frequency-specific interference.

For me channel 1009 is also showing "Temporarily Off Air". Same with 1008. I don't normally watch 1008 or 1009, so I hadn't noticed those two. But 1002 I do record shows from.

Yes, I have the new meter too. It doesn't seem to be causing a problem on the TiVo where I have a signal-boosting thingie, but on the other one, both 1002 and 1009 are unwatchable. I probably didn't notice it until now because I never watch CBS live on that TV, and the shows I record on it have mostly been on hiatus.

That's great that they've figured out the cause, hopefully they can fix it now. Please let us know if you hear anything.

Well that's not good for you guys because 1008 is next QAM frequency up @111 MHz. So looks like anything close to 100 MHz is being affected which should be quite a few channels.

Note that here in Southern Mission Viejo we are with San Diego Gas & Electric which explains why we are not affected by this. SDG&E did put in a new digital meter at my house a while back but I guess it did not interfere with anything for me.

Hrm, maybe I should just buy another signal booster for the other TV. The new meter isn't causing a problem on the TV where I'm already using one.

yep; I have the new meter and don't get 1002; also don't get 1009 most of the time.

Same with me, SDG&E digital meter and no issues.

Anyone else notice with the EPG (DVR box) that when a show goes over the :00 or :30 mark it is shown twice (consecutively)? For example, last night Modern Family had a run time of 31 minutes and in the guide it was listed from 9:00-9:30 and 9:30-10:00. Whatever show was on from 9:30-10:00 did not even display in the guide. I think it may only display this way if a program is set to record but I have not verified it.

Yep, I've seen that for the first few months. I first I thought the shows were doubled up (back to back), but then when I tried to find a specific comedy that was not listed I saw that issue. I recorded it by using the search to find the show since it did not show up in the guide.

With regard to the electric meter and 1002/1009 signal issue -- for me, an Electroline amp solved the problem. I know it's annoying to spend money to fix something you didn't break, and if this was the Golf Channel or something I wouldn't care, but I do watch/record shows on CBS and wanted it to work. As soon as I installed the amp, the signal went from 50 to 87 with no errors, and 93-100 on most other channels where it was about 85-90 before.