San Francisco, CA - Comcast - Page 49  

rshaw,

Milpitas is 550Mhz...so they have room for some, but not all of the HD available from comcast.

If you just have them install an HD Box ($5/mth) along with Analog Cable then you will get CBS, NBC, ABC and PBS HD channels. If you add the lowest Digital Package (Digital Classic + $10/mth) then you will pick up ESPN HD also (along with some non-HD Digital Channels)...If you were on a 750Mhz or higher system you would also get InHD1, InHD2, Discovery HD and FoxSports Bay Area-HD with Digital Classic (550Mhz networks dont currently have the bandwidth for that...that's what everybody is upset about). If you subscribe to HBO or SHowtime then you would also get the appropiate HD channel in milpitas...Comcast also has Starz and Cinemax HD channels (available if you subscribe to those channels), but they are not available on most 550Mhz systems either.

-Steve

Hmm. A new channel just showed up on our 550MHz system in Saratoga on channel 194. At first, I was hoping this might be a new HD channel given its location, but it is ABC News Now, whatever the hell that is.

Anyone else getting this?

There's a thread on that here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...hreadid=427017

HELP! DVI on 6200 Problematic?

Anyone seen this? I have a BenQ LCD flat panel (model DV2680) connected to a Moto 6200 from Comcast (picked up at the SF Potrero office 7/29/04) via DVI. Note that the BenQ interface is HDCP compliant.

The problem: if I turn the BenQ off, and then on again, it will not display a picture using the DVI input. The ONLY fix seems to be to unplug the 6200, and then plug it back in. The picture then returns - and is wonderful. Just powering off the cable box does not fix the problem.

Seems like a weird handshaking problem. Any advice on accessing the more sophisticated menus on the 6200 (beyond just "Menu" after powering off the box) to fix this would be wonderful!

That's a known problem for the 6200, and has been known for a long, long time. It's the 7.10 firmware on the 6200, and some people already have the 7.15 firmware, where this is supposedly fixed.

The only way to keep from having to re-insert your DVI cable (doing the power cord means you have to wait for the box to re-download everything, which can sometimes take 5-10 minutes or more) is to make sure the cable box is turned OFF before you turn off the TV/projector or even switch inputs on it. Also make sure he TV/projector is turned on and switched to the DVI input before you turn the 6200 box on. If you remember to turn it on second and off first / before switching inputs, you should be fine.

Cyberbri - what you suggested works - turning off the cable box, then the display (when powering down), and then turning on the display, and then the cable box (when powering up). Thank you so much - although it's only a temp fix, at least I can use my new gear.

Questions:
1) When the tech from Comcast comes, can he flash my box w/v. 7.15 of the firmware, or do I need a new box?

2) Can anyone confirm that 7.15 fixes this DVI problem?

Thanks again Cyberbri!

bpearse,

I have 194 in Milpitas also, it's a 24 hour news station from ABC, just what we needed and it's a complete waste of bandwidth. Here's something else that's really odd. Channels 136 and 294 are both G4TechTv, not only are they the same channels they show the same exact thing at the same exact time, nothing different, again a waste of bandwidth that we don't have.

dcci,

You're very welcome. Some areas have the 7.15 update, and others, like mine, don't. I don't think a tech can just "flash" the box. Your area has to have the update -- I don't know why some would have it and other wouldn't - it should just be a software update for the hardware they're getting from Motorola.

If that's the only reason you're having your tech come out, you might want to cancel the appointment. It's a known problem, at least to the higher-up techs and people at Motorola. But there's nothing a tech can do for you if that's the only problem.


Mikef5,

Channel 194 was set up to cover the Democratic National Convention in Hi-Def, IIRC. It looks like they've left it on...

Tech TV and G4 were separate channels, G4 on 136 and Tech TV on 294, unitl about May 28. Then they combined into one channel (I didn't get TechTV on my digital tier, but I did get G4) that day, and the channel apparently has remained on both tiers. Yes, they could get rid of one of them, sometime down the road - so people who are used to watching one of the two don't get confused when that channel is dropped and only the other kept.

The way they do it in boston is the switch gets on one hour before the game and then goes until 3am.
I ve seen them do this even when the game is on another channel. (local broadcast)

not that its worth any bandwidth at all..but 194 is taking almost no bandwidth (about 1/10 the bandwidth of an analog channel)

even though G4techtv is showing on 2 channels, its only using up the bandwidth of 1 little digital SD channel (1/10 an analog channel)...They are using Virtual Channel Mapping (VCM) to make it appear in 2 different channels (since G4 and tech tv used to be separate channels before comcast acquired techtv)

I also was wondering about the A's game today.

Do you know if it might be tied to a contractual obligation to only preempt InHD2 every so often? I feel sorry for non sports fans who feel that InHD2 is one of their favorite channels when they have Sports events pre-empt their shows..often without much warning.

I hope that FoxSportsNet starts taping thier studio shows in HD, so that we can get a 24/7 FSNHD channel, instead of pre-empting Inhd2 sometimes. It would be cool if they used other FSNHD feeds to fill up the time slot with HD material, if they don't want to just mirror their SD stuff.

Can I take my current digital cable box (Moto DCT-2000) down to my local Comcast office and swap it for a 5100 (or better yet a 6200) and install it myself? I'd rather not take time off from work and wait around for the Comcast tech to arrive.

If not, what does the tech do that I couldn't do myself?

davisdog,

Thanks for the info on Virtual Channel mapping, that at least explains how they can show the same shows on different channels and not use up bandwidth.

cyberbri,
I watched the DNC on channel 194 and it was never in Hidef, digital yes, Hidef no. Don't know what they are going to do with it but since the convention has been over they keep showing repeats of it. I just wish they would give us Fox sports net HD and I'd be one happy camper.

Now for something entirely different. I was reading the Friday edition of the San Jose Mercury ( yes, I know it's Sunday, I'm a slow reader ) and Comcast had a section in it that tells of it's plans for channel changes for the different areas. As of 1 Sept. we people of the 550 system will have all the HD channels moved to the 700 channel area and 2 new channels will be added. The 2 channels are Nicklelodeon Too on channel 216 and BYU-Tv on channel 228, also channel 182 Ovation with be dropped from the Digital Premier tier. That's it, no HD channels were announced but it does seem that with the channel movement there maybe hope in the future, maybe.....

Sure - if you want a 6200, request a swap for a 1394 equipped box.

It may need a refresh hit, but customer support can do that with you over the phone.

I'm just repeating information I got - I assume that Peter Jennings will not be anchoring 23 hours a day.

Mikef5,
you may have already know, but all the channel movement has nothing to do with freeing up bandwidth in this case...It's all done in the VCM, so they existing HD channels will still use the same slots (and bandwidth) that they already had, just the channel mapper makes them appear somewhere else.

No if you ever see them make take away one of the Analog Channels...then that's a different story (and each disappearing analog channel would give them room for at least 2 HD channels)

By the way...do they still publish that stuff on page 2B of the Merc?...I used to look there but it was so infrequent I quit.

-Steve

I could've sworn it was. Maybe it was on 195. But I know we watched it a little on one of the early evenings, maybe Monday or Tuesday. It was in HD widescreen, as our scroll bar was only in the middle part of the screen and the picture was incredible. Or maybe we just had it in our area (San Jose, 95126), and you didn't in yours...

Cyberbri - what you suggested works - turning off the cable box, then the display (when powering down), and then turning on the display, and then the cable box (when powering up). Thank you so much - although it's only a temp fix, at least I can use my new gear.

Questions:
1) When the tech from Comcast comes, can he flash my box w/v. 7.15 of the firmware, or do I need a new box?

2) Can anyone confirm that 7.15 fixes this DVI problem?

Thanks again Cyberbri!

dcci,

You're very welcome. Some areas have the 7.15 update, and others, like mine, don't. I don't think a tech can just "flash" the box. Your area has to have the update -- I don't know why some would have it and other wouldn't - it should just be a software update for the hardware they're getting from Motorola.

If that's the only reason you're having your tech come out, you might want to cancel the appointment. It's a known problem, at least to the higher-up techs and people at Motorola. But there's nothing a tech can do for you if that's the only problem.

davisdog,

The article was on page 12D, sports page I believe, that's why I noticed it, love those Giants and A's

I realize that the channel movements have nothing to do with freeing up bandwidth but it usually is the first step to adding channels. I just wish they would even out the work load of updating the 330 Mhz area to all the area's that need to be updated. It really can't be that hard to update from 550 Mhz to 750 Mhz. My brother was an installer for TCI and AT&T so I know most of the area in Milpitas is pretty up to date, don't know about the headend though.

DCTDictator,
Are we in the Bay Area ever going to see firmware 7.15 ??? Getting real tired of having to unplug my DVI cable everytime I switch to any other connection and then reconnecting. Just a status check....

[quote]Originally posted by Mikef5


MikeF5,

I agree they should be able to work on Saramilgatos in parallel...most of the work is contractors...but I'm sure they have their reasons

Our cable should be fine (unlike SJ where I assume they have to replace it all)..but I believe one of the major problems is they have to replace all of the amps that are along the lines (the little black boxes that are spaced out on the cables along the poles)...it can get worse if they spacing of the amps has to change...The headends should be fine, I assume they have a fiber distrubution setup also..although all speculation on my part based on what I've read etc...

I think the channel lineup changes are more for syncronizing the channel lineups in the region as opposed to doing any bandwidth reallocations...

oh well....I'm a Giants fan also...sure which we had FSN-HD

Woohoo! The guy's out back now up on the pole to swap amplifiers for the HDTV, etc., upgrade in my neighborhood. He estimates "a couple of weeks" for the transition here. (I know--he's a contractor from NY and probably knows zip about local Comcast actual schedules but it's nice to see the action finally)

davisdog,

I have a pretty good idea on why Comcast is concentrating on the 330 Mhz area instead of our area. Let's say the 330 mhz system is 200,000 people ( just a number for arguement sake ). In that area they have no HD cable only basic cable and no cable internet access. Their choices are DTV, Dish, Voom etc. for HD programming and SBC for internet access. That is virgin territory for Comcast, no market penetration. Let's say there is also 200,000 people in the 550 mhz area. About 80% of the area gets their HD through Comcast and they have internet access with Comcast as well, in other words they compete well in that area. If you look at strictly the business side of this it makes sense to go after the area that you have no penetration in. Does that make it right to exclude the rest of the areas for this preferred area ??? I guess it depends on where you live.

Just turn off the cable box if you need to switch inputs on your TV.

I wish we could get it too, though. Isn't it just a piece of software that needs to be uploaded so the boxes can dl it?

cyberbri,

Just turning off the cable box doesn't work unless I turn the tv off also and there's a 2 minute cooldown for the tv bulb. Kind of inconvinent don't you think, when the firmware update fixes that DVI handshake problem and makes it work the way it is suppose to work. Not trying to be a smart a** but I just want things to work the way it is suppose to and this is a known problem and there is a firmware fix for it. Just for info sake, the set worked fine until they upgraded the firmware to 7.10.

Oh, okay. It works on my TV (Samsung DLP). Didn't realize it was that bad on other sets. I can leave my TV on, turn the 6200 off, switch to PC, component, etc., switch back to DVI, and then turn the cable box back on and it's fine.


Yeah, I'm waiting for the fix too. Sometimes if I turn off the cable box and hit Menu too soon (to turn on/off closed caption), the signal won't get through and I'll have to re-insert the cable. It's just a piece of software, so you would think it would be relatively easy to distribute, considering some areas already have it, and Comcast is getting the boxes from Motorola anyway...

If only that was the case! The issue when going from 550 to 750 is amplifier spacing changes. The distance between amps on a 750 system is smaller than on 550, which means you can't just go in and swap out the fiber node and amp modules. You actually have to install new modules in different locations. This also means you have to change the locations of the power supplies, since the 750 amps draw more current than the 550 ones.

This gets very expensive and can't be done without a lot of disruption to the existing service.

Of course, given the hassle involved, Comcast is also going to 860 instead of 750 in rebuilds, and also laying additional fiber in many areas to reduce node size. They did that in redwood city even though that was a 550 plant with ~600 HP/node.

You can take heart that when they rebuild your system, they are putting in the best infrastructure that they can.

Thanks,
Mike