Denver, CO - Comcast - Page 134

Are the Denver OTA HD broadcast channels available on Comcast (Longmont Specifically) in clear QAM? I see some discussion above about it but can't tell if a final answer was determined or not.

Thanks for any info you have.

When I last checked Comcast, 64 channels were being broadcast in clear QAM, including all of the locals in HD. I'm assuming that little has changed since I dumped Comcast for DirecTV just over three months ago. I cut my costs in half by making the switch. From standard def and no DVRs, I now have high def and two DVRs. Also, I have LESS tiling, blocking, etc. with DirecTV than I ever had with Comcast. With Comcast, I had complete picture loss for multiple minutes on more than one occasion. Comcast's ads about satellite interruptions is an outright fib.

As you can tell by the lack of response to your query, this thread is quietly dying. My comments above refer to service in Erie (via Boulder), but things should be similar in Longmont.

What about when all of the discounts and incentives expire. How long of a contract are you roped into?

I think I'm gonna ditch comcast for ota+Netflix+hulu

I'm down in the Springs and have the same macroblocking/tiling issue. The screen freezes for sometimes 15 to 20 seconds. Very infuriating. I was going to double check my cable & splitter connections. I seriously doubt this to be the problem. What do you think the root cause is? Someone on the COS thread thought it's comcast overcompressing the tv channels to the point where the bit bandwidth drops to a crawl when/if a burst of traffic occurs. If this is true, it would seem that entire regions are equally affected. Have you heard this to be a widespread problem? I'm just researching it now.

I called them a couple months ago about this issue, and they did not acknowledge any network problems. They simply point to your cable connections as the root cause.

The normal contract with DirecTV is for two years. AFTER all discounts are gone at the END of those two years, DirecTV will cost almost exactly what Comcast WAS costing for ONLY standard definition and NO DVRs. Of course, even that limited Comcast service will have gone up another 15% over the two year time period if past increases are any indication.

I cannot tell how happy I am with the fact that the two DVRs look like one big four-tuner DVR. Anything recorded on either machine can be viewed anywhere in your system.

All of a sudden I am getting dropouts/no signal on Channel 9 and 31 HD channels. Does anyone know if they have recently been moved to a higher frequency and my cable runs are more susceptible to a dropout/loss of signal?

Update: When I called comcast they said it was a Denver wide issue that they were working. Reception has improved, not sure it is fully solved yet.

Sound seems kind of lacking on channel 9's broadcast of the Broncos game. Anyone else notice this?

Seems like the center channel is where everything is coming from.

I have seen exactly the same problem. Frustrating. I am happy to see that it is not my system. I changed some cables right around that time and I thought that I had issues at my end.

has Comcast come out with a low profile cost effective basic HD box? I would like to run an HD signal to some secondary TVs like my covered patio.

I have been using a streaming solution but now that SageTV has been purchased by Google, they don't sell thier extender anymore...

I am still having problems with my TV that has the longest drop. Things are worse the last few days. Going to contact Comcast again.

Update on my troubles with channel 9 HD (653). WHen the tech came to my house they were fully aware of the problem. THey reassigned channels 653 and 655 to a higher frequency making it more vunerable to cable/connection issues. The tech redid all connections and removed a splitter from my setup and things are ok for now. Tech thought the cable running through my house (built 10 years ago ) was contributing to the problem given how much flex he as seeing in the center cable.

I currently have a couple old 27" analog tubes hooked up to Comcast with their free little converter boxes. Do these boxes just convert the digital cable to NTSC? If I replace one of them with an HDTV, will it work for cable HD, or do I need to rent another HD converter (I already rent a Motorola HD DVR for my tuner-less Sony HDTV in my living room).

The "free little converter boxes" are standard definition only. High definition will require you to rent another HD converter.

Does QAM2 only get you the local rebroadcast channels such as 2-31? Are basic tier cable channels such as non-HD ESPN and Speed not available on QAM2?

A few years ago before the full switch to high power OTA HD, I attempted to build my own mythTV HTPC with an HDHomerun tuner, but couldn't get it to work - couldn't receive OTA very well and not even sure I ever got QAM, but had issues with mythTV as well. I've since pulled the hard drive and reformatted it with Windows 7 to use as a dual boot (Ubuntu) in my main PC. I'm still sick of paying Comcast close to $150/month just for basic tier HD cable and their DVR with limited disk that keeps filling up and failing to record shows even when it's only 70% full (my VCR never failed except with human error {PM v. AM, etc.}). I want to buy a 2TB hard drive and give my HTPC build another chance. The only channels I regularly watch other than the locals are Speed (for F1) and ESPN/ESPN2 for college football.

Generally speaking, clear QAM will only give you the local stations. Before I gave up Comcast for DirecTV in March, there were a few non-local channels that were also in clear QAM. At that time, ABC Family, Bravo, Colo. Channel, CSPAN1, CSPAN2, QVC, Hallmark, TVGuide, WGN, and maybe one or two more were also in clear QAM. The simplest way to find out is to do the channel scan with your digital TV. The channels in clear QAM are pretty much those listed in the Comcast "Basic Service". There may be a few other "bonus" channels, but there are no guarantees.

Unfortunately, I bought my HDTV in 2003, so it has no built-in tuner (who's stupid idea was that not to originally include tuners??? I complained about it back then but all 5 or so manufacturers didn't include tuners then!). I rely on Comcast's DVR tuner.

I just ordered a USB ATSC/QAM tuner from Newegg ($30 daily deal) for my laptop (mainly for ATSC, but another reason for asking the previous question about QAM) so will test it when it arrives.

In the Firestone area, my Tivo just received a message about several HD channels being added including Fox Soccer, BBC America, Hub, ESPNU, Sprout, etc. Though it will not tune them yet.

The channels all tune except for Hub HD. I checked the Comcast receiver and it has all of the channels except Hub HD, so I am assuming that was a mistake and we are not getting it.

The current bill states that the Tennis channel and Tennis HD are coming on 12/22 so I think the only HD channels that we would be missing would be the Hub, DIY, and Cooking.

Well goood news. Now Hub HD is tuning also.

Wow, it only took six years, but Denver now has the Tennis channel on 707 in HD. Given the pace, I honestly thought I would take this request to the grave with me, but it's actually there. It will be nice to be able to watch some matches throughout the year other than mostly just the grand slams.

BBC America HD on 773 is also here at long last. Doctor Who in HD!!!

Thank you to Comcast for *FINALLY*, *FINALLY*, *FINALLY* adding these channels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Has anyone else lost Altitude Sports? I am in the Parker area and unplugged my HTPC a few days and when I plugged it back in Altitude was showing as scrambled. Channels 7 and 20.1 were saying the same thing but I deleted them and readded them and they are okay now. I tried the same with Altitude but no luck still says scrambled.

Is it only me, or have some HBO HD channels disappeared? I could have sworn I had a couple more in the past.

I just got off the phone with customer service. Apparently, Comcast has decided to drop these channels in HD for the Denver area. (I am in Highlands Ranch)

HBO Family HD 864
HBO Zone HD 865
5 StarMAX HD 869
OuterMAX HD 872
MoreMax HD 873
Starz Edge HD 876
Starz Kids HD 877
Starz Comedy HD 878

Apparently, they aren't getting "watched enough". So, prices go up and content gets reduced.

Except that FCC ordered Comcast to offer Tennis channel in a non-discriminatory fashion in a sports tier no more expensive than Golf channel or Versus. Tennis in Denver is now on the extra-cost sports entertainment tier. Comcast lawyers are still slugging it out with Tennis channel lawyers.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/21/sp...h-comcast.html

Does anyone know what the clear qam channel for kwgn hd is now?

I am watching the Patriots vs. Ravens game right now and I have a small 3/4" black bar across the top of my screen. CBS is the only channel that has this bar. Does anybody else have this issue?

I'm beginning to lose clear QAM channels in Superior, CO (southeast Boulder County). Last week I lost most everything except 4.1 and 7.1 and I caught a field tech just now and he confirmed it started last week and I'll lose the rest soon. It can only mean sending more $ to Comcast, or change my approach to getting HD.

According to a tech friend I have there, Comcast has been going through all of the neighborhoods putting filters on lines to homes to block the clear QAM channels if you do not subscribe to their video services.

New to Denver, hooked up the cable to my PC tuner and was pleased to find I had the clear QAM channels available.

Got all the locals, plus WGN, CSPAN, TBS SD and Bravo SD. One I couldn't find was KBDI Ch 12.1 - I got the subchannels, but not the primary.

Can anyone confirm KBDI primary channel isn't available?

Thanks,
Matt
Edited by bigrig - 8/28/12 at 6:01pm

KBDI !2.1 (aka CPT 12.1) is available in clear QAM in Denver. You should also get the primary PBS set of stations (KRMA - Rocky Mountain PBS on 6.1, 6.2 and 6.3).