Portland, OR - Comcast - Page 159

They've added Olympic Basketball HD on Channel 895 and Olympic Soccer HD on Channel 896.

Looks great so far. The colors are vivid and the text is crisp!

Yes, and the sound was good too.

The FCC has declared an analog cable sunset date.

http://www.fcc.gov/document/viewability-rule-sunsets-affordable-boxes-or-analog-carriage-allowed

So cable TV no longer have to carry local channels in the analog format after December 12, 2012 at all. But until that time, they "can" switch to digital provided they provide a digital to analog converter box.

I see some people are already getting a "you will need a digital to analog converter after September 12, 2012" notice from Comcast.

By my count, that's 26 physical channels being converted from analog to digital. That's a lot of new HD channels?

in the Corvallis market we got a letter for a switchover date of August 14th

Is anyone else hearing a static ticking noise on NBC/KGW? It seems to fade in and out. I hear it very loudly on both 708 and 8, but only those channels, none of the other channels are making the noise. It's been happening for a couple days now.

I can't imagine it's specific to me or my equipment since it's only happening on NBC/KGW and nothing else.

Sorry, it's as clear as a bell here.

Absolutely! I was going to post "MAKE IT STOP!" (And I'm not talking about Viera's and Lauer's incessant inane yammering.) It's driving me nuts. It's actually been happening since Wednesday night, AFAIK.

The ticking sound is driving me nuts!

Are you folks talking about the sound on the right channel? I can barely hear it.

It's been coming and going for the last hour or so. Right now it's quiet. Next time I hear it I'll run over and put an ear by the right channel WAIT! During that little clip from "Wonderful tonight" it happened. Yes, heard it mainly from the R channel.

EDIT: during the commercial break that just ended, verified it is the right channel only.
Edited by Goes to 11 - 7/27/12 at 9:07pm

I heard it too. I thought it might be somebody breaking into my house, possibly killing me and putting me out of my misery while watching the opening ceremony. I could only hope.

My receiver appears to be masking the noise (whatever it is) very well. I have to put my head next to the speaker to hear it and I have it cranked up pretty high.

ha ha ha. Yes, it's reminding me why I haven't watched any part of he Olympics for many years. [Coming up: Bobsled! Wait 3 hours, see the US team (come in 19th), see the gold medal winner, see a puff piece on a bobsledder with a transplanted wookie heart, that's it.] I really didn't need them to tell me that was Captain Hook I just saw, or that J.K. Rowling has sold a gazillion books. And did they really have to ruin Chariots of Fire, even though I like Atkinson? Once I see Paul McCartney, I'm outta here.

I'd say you don't have your levels adjusted properly, except that I know from lurking in these forums that's not you. maybe Comcast is having this problem worse some in some areas than others? I'm just SE of Washington Square.
EDIT: Skyfall commercial--I'd say it's louder in right rear than right front. (5.1 system)
Edited by Goes to 11 - 7/27/12 at 9:41pm

If anything I have the left and right speakers turned up far too loud!


I doubt it. I compared both Comcast and OTA and my receiver is generating exactly the same noise at the same level.

Yes....on watching the olympic opening. Mostly gone during commercials, but sometimes even then. Very annoying. I hope it's not permanent.

I first noticed it during the Jimmy Fallon show on Wednesday... pretty much made everything un-watchable. I ended up calling Comcast yesterday and they said it was coming from the network and that they were aware of it and it should be fixed soon. I don't notice it today, so hopefully they've fixed it!

I didn't notice it last night. I hope it's gone for good, too.

I had the same experience: annoying ticking in the right channel that fluctuated in level during the Olympic opening.

Now they just need to fix the Jimmy Fallon show...

Parents finally upgraded from an old CRT to an HDTV that I set up for them over the weekend. I do not subscribe to a digital comcast tier as my parents do, and frankly, I was offended when I saw the channel guide on the HD set. Is there any way to upgrade this to an HD version available now? 4 lines of programming over 1.5 hours is not ok. Any way to optimize this further? I saw on some comcast threads that they are rolling out an HD Guide 2.0 in some very specific areas, and only with Cisco boxes. My parents have a motorola DCH3416. Looks like there is a Guide3.0 in development, but may not be rolled out until 2013, or possibly later. Does anybody have more info on the rollout of these new HD guides for the Portland area?

How has comcast gone this long with a guide ca. 1999? Why did they not have an HD guide ready when HD cable boxes started coming out 5 or more years ago? I would hope they know HD tv's have saturated the market since 2007. Now that my parents have one, it is over-saturated!! Comcast waiting so long to upgrade their channel guide is fairly disappointing, maybe we can put some pressure on them to get this rollout sped up. Feel sorry for those of you with $3000 plus HDTVs and $200/month full cable bills and be forced to browse through this channel guide.

I feel sorry for anyone "forced to browse through" a channel guide. I stopped doing that many years ago.

I use a DVR. Specifically a TiVo brand DVR. Perhaps Comcast's are inferior, but they should be capable of basic functionality equivalent to "Season Pass".

To steal from an old Ron Popeil infomercial, just "Set it, and forget it!"

Because the DVR records so much, I have far too many pre-recorded shows to watch to even want to browse anymore.

I dunno, maybe it's an age thing, sometimes "parents" are just too old to deal with a DVR. I'd personally give up TV altogether (except maybe for the Super Bowl) than watch it without a DVR.

And certainly DVRs and/or TiVos are affordable to people who buy $3000 HDTVs and/or pay $200/mo for cable.

The channel guide is basically the same on Comcast's DVR and regular cable box. If you have a lot of series recordings set up, you don't have to deal with the guide as much. But you still have to deal with it when setting up the series recordings. You don't ever do it once and leave it alone forever. New TV seasons come and go. Series get canceled and added. Plus there are one-off events such as the Academy Awards, Olympics, and other sporting events. So, no matter what, you have to deal with the guide.

That being said, I'd much rather have a lot of other things fixed on the Comcast DVRs (like the black screen problem) before I'd complain about a lack of an HD guide. It's not like you're going to spend a lot of quality time looking at the thing. And how many more lines do you think you'll be able to comfortably read in HD anyway? The current guide can be set to five lines. My real complaint about the guide is that if you have to reboot the box or have a power outage, the entire guide has to reload, taking many HOURS to complete (which is still better than years ago, when it took DAYS to reload). The guide should be stored on the hard disk and be instantly available even after a power outage. Companies like ReplayTV solved this problem more than a decade ago. To me, this is much more aggravating than having to look at an SD guide.

The guide is certainly usable as is. I guess my complaint has more to do with comcast taking a decade to solve issues or implement features that are already in competitor devices. The benefit of pseudo-monopolies.

We are in violent agreement there.

I've found that using my PC to schedule recordings is the best way to navigate the TV choices:

http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/mytv/dvr

The actual DVR guide is just as bad as you think.

Pac-12 Network goes live today, channels 420, 421, and 720.

Channels 420/720 will be the Oregon regional SD/HD coverage with channel 421 being national network.
Edited by earletp - 8/15/12 at 11:49am

well on the 14th they turned off that analog in the Corvallis/Linn county system as expected Screen Shot 2012-08-17 at 7.49.55 PM.png 234k .png file

Price hikes coming, beginning in October:

Digital Economy goes from $29.95 to $34.95
Digital Starter goes from $65.99 to $67.49
Digital Preferred goes from $83.99 to $85.49
Digital Preferred Plus goes from $117.99 to $119.99
Digital Premier goes from $137.99 to $139.99

Sports Entertainment package goes from $8.99 to $9.99

DTA 1st and 2nd additional outlets goes from $0 to $1.99 each

Service Protection Plan goes from $2.99 to $3.99

Performance Internet with TV and/or phone goes from $48.95 to $51.95
Blast Internet TV with and/or phone goes from $58.95 to $61.95

All Triple Play packages increase by $5