Boston, MA - RCN

If you summarize the HD channels RCN offers and put it in the first post, I'll add this to the Thread Index and as other RCN subscribers come to the forum, they'll be directed here.

I am currently a Comcast customer with the whole bundle, phone, internet, TV etc and I am thinking about switching to RCN to save some cash. Does anyone have any experience with the HD and SD PQ on RCN? I'd rather not compromise on PQ with a $3000+ TV, but I am also sick of being screwed by Comcast and their SD PQ sucks.

Seems like this forum is kind of quiet compared to the Comcast equivalent. Is that a bad sign of the times for RCN?

RCN covers a smaller area than Comcast does so I would say that is the reason for less posted comments. Or is it that RCN is a better choice? I guess that is up to RCN/Comcast customers to debate. As for the HD and SD from RCN, you will get top quality. We are working on simulcasting a group of analog stations to digital also which will greatly improve quality. With our current promotions you will save a lot of $$. Ask for info on the 20/20/20 Promo.

I just had the new HD cable box installed after being an RCN customer for a few years. The box that I received was the Motorola DCT6412 III. So far so good. It only costs an extra $10 a month for the DCT6412 rental. Definitely think it is worth it!

Is the firewire port unlocked for recording with an htpc? Does anyone have any information on recording HD on an htpc with RCN?

Does RCN cover Salem, Mass, and if so, can I get a simple cablecard that will allow me to get the one station I need, which is NESN HD?

Thanks for the help.

i just got a phd-101 QAM/ATSC DTV tuner. does anyone know the channel numbers for nesn-HD, not the virtual number you see on the moto or sci-atl box , but the 'physical' channel number. i'm going to try the box on lexington RCN to see what DTV channels it can get via QAM. i bet it can get plenty with a weak UHF antenna too, but NESN HD is the real goal of course.
there is a slim chance that NESN-HD is broadcast in non-encrypted QAM by RCN.
it appears here in NH adelphia is indeed encrypting NESN-HD.
boo. the analog NESN is in the clear on the cable, so why not the QAM? waah!
manwithplan, to answer your question there are indeed cablecards which can enable the reception of encrypted content in tvs which are compatible. from what i've read, the people with such setups are are having more issues than those with the settop box, at least the scientific atlantas.

Can anyone provide the RF channel numbers for RCN MA digital service? which RF numbers correspond to which channels?
Thanks

Go to http://www.rcn.com/cabletv/lineupDet...hp?lineupID=12 for channel info.

Anyone know how to get the 30 second skip on the RCN 6412 Motorola DVR Box? My Sling Player's IR blaster does do the skip, so it works. It's just a matter of reprogramming the Synergy V remote.

Greetings,

Has anyone used a QAM tuner with RCN yet? If yes, how did it work out and which channels were successful? Or does RCN encrypt the broadcasts? According to the channel lineup for Massachusetts, I fall into the Needham/Newton system. If you were successful, can you also let me know which system you're on? Thanks in advance!

--yut

I have. I was able to get ABC/NBC/WB/ESPN/NESN/Showtime with just a wall-to-tv connection (no box). Your best bet is to start at channel 125-1 and go up from there, and you'll find them.

did anyone ever go and look for the QAM channels and make a list? my TV doesnt have the best menu setup for editing and checking digital channels.

on a side note, does anyone else absolutly despise the RCN menu and interface. ads everywhere, useless program guide browser... I could go on

ok took some time last night to go through the digital channels that my TV recognized.
well I went through all of them, and I will post a difinitive list when I am done figuring out what some of the channels are. Some music ones have no pictures, and I think I am getting some peoples on demand, since I was watching dane cook last night, and it rewinded, not to mention that dane cook was not on any channel at 9:00 last night.

anyways I was watching the sox game in HD. it was 119.1 I think? I dont have the list with me at work, but it was something like that. I will probably post the list tonight, when I get done messing with my TV

wow - NESN-HD is not scrambled by RCN? cool. i'll check adelphia again for NESN-HD - "wait till next year".
yeah, sounds like all RCN subscribers get to watch all their neighbors on-demand for free, as per the apparent design of 'digital on-demand' service. woo hoo.

Does anyone know if I need to subscribe to digital cable to see the basic HD channels on RCN?

I have a new 42PX60U and we subscribe to basic analog cable. When I connect the new TV to the cable a do a scan, I can see a bunch of digital channels, but they are on sub-channels and do not match up with the RCN listing. Also, the I most of the basic HD channels, but not ABC or NBC and the others I get are on sub-channels and do not match up with the RCN listing.

An example of this is RCN lists CBS-HD on 161 and I get it on 93-2.

Some insight is appreciated. Thanks!

tt_toe

No, you don't need to subscribe to get at least some of the digital channels. You can use a QAM tuner to get those digital channels that are "in the clear", but, as you noted, the channel numbers will not correspond to channel listings for use with a cable box. I was told by an RCN rep that you have to have a digital/HD box to get the digital/HD channels, so this is likely their official line, and so there are no channel lists available for direct tuning.

But there are a lot of digital channels you can get, and you can find what is available by simpling scanning all the available channels. I have most interest in the HD channels, here is what I have found:
113-1 is 38.1, 113-2 is 56.1, 120-2 is FSN-HD, 125-1 is 5.1, 125-2 is 7.1, 125-3 is 5.2.

But note that my tuner (MYHD-130) only goes to Ch 125, and I'm pretty sure that there are HD channels in the 126-135 range that I can't get (the obviously missing local DTV channels are 2, 4, 25). Also note that I don't get anything on 93-2, where you report getting CBS-HD (4.1). Since I can't all the local stations, I simply use an antenna and get them OTA. OBTW, I do have an HD box that I use with another display so I have that convenience and can also get Discovery HD, ESPN HD, etc.

wallen,

Thanks for the info.

I know that my TV has NTSC/ATSC/QAM. When I let the TV auto-scan on the cable, it seemed like it found most, if not all the digital SD channels, but I'm stumped why I haven't found, NBC-HD or ABC-HD. The only other HD channels the TV found are: ESPN-HD, CBS-HD, PBS-HD (WGBH 2 HD), and FOX-HD.

I'll check it out again.

This has been frustrating for football season...

tt_toe,

Interesting that I found what you haven't, namely ABC-HD and NBC-HD (on 125-1 and 125-2), plus 56-HD and 38-HD, and you've found what I haven't, namely PBS-HD, CBS-HD, FOX-HD and ESPN-HD!

Can you determine the physical channel numbers of the channels you receive? They are possibly in the 126 to 135 range with a "-1" or "-2" subchannel suffix. You might also try directly tuning the HD channels that I receive - 113-1, 113-2, 120-2, 125-1 and 125-2.

Good luck - once you've see football in HD you won't want to watch in SD ever again!

tt_joe,
what are the channel numbers for your HD channels?

Let me start by saying I'm a newbie, so I don't know all the tech jargon (like QAM).
But I just bought a TV with a digital tuner (atsc, qam, ntsc).
I plugged the cable directly into the TV and was quite surprised to receive many unexpected channels, including digital SD & HD.
Unfortunately, the channel #s are indeciferable.
Anyway, I see that people have already asked for a channel listing, and that's what I'm after too.
I have RCN in Waltham.
I seem to get premium movie channels too, although they seem to migrate from one channel # to another.
Many times I'll recieve a channel for the duration of the movie, and then at the end of the movie I'll get the message that there is no broadcast now (error 203).
My auto-tune function on my TV tunes in a ton of blank stations, and as I said, channels can be blank one moment and then have excellent content the next.
Some of the stations are consistent in their channel #, like NESN-HD, ESPN, PBS-HD, the local stations, etc.
Oh yeah, another frustrating thing is that I get many duplicates of the DTV (SD) stations.
All of this makes channel surfing an exercize in frustration.
Anyway, sorry to be a bit long winded, but this whole situation has me a bit confused, and I don't completely understand what I'm seeing.
**Is there anyway to get a comprehensive listing of the channel #s as received by my TV without the converter box?
Thanks,
Dennis

Dennis.G,

Do you get "garbage" for channel numbers, or just strange numbers, like "113-1"? These numbers refer to the actual (physical) transmission channel numbers. The channels are renumbered and named by the cable box (RCN) to make the system seem simple and easy to use for the customer.

I don't have a complete list of the physical channels, but you should be able to create one with some diligence. Then you can probably program a TV feature such as favorite channels to make for quick selection of those channels you're interested in.

Some channels are repeated as there are analog (old type, may be a little noisy) versions, generally appearing in channels up to about 80, and digital versions, generally appearing at higher number channel with dash numbers (i.e. the -1 in 113-1). The non-HD digital channels should be cleaner, but may be a little less sharp or have some blockiness with motion.

Some (maybe many!) channels will come up blank - these channels cannot be viewed without an "key" that is authorized by cable boxes that know what services you have paid for. The channels that have movies that appear irregularly are the on-demand channels - someone has paid to watch these and you're watching over their shoulder. I don't know why RCN has put these channels "in the clear" so you can see them . . .

I'm interested in any HD channels you are able to get - you should find the HD channels only have 2 or 3 subchannels (like 113-1 and 113-2, but nothing higher), since they can't be compressed as much as the normal SD (standard definition) channels. Please post any HD channel numbers of what you can find, such NESN-HD, ESPN, PBS-HD as you reported.

I hope this helps, and good luck with your new TV.

Thanks wallen,
I do get the physical channel #s as you described, except I see a "." instead of a "-".
I did start making a list and configuring my "favorites" last night, just as you suggested.
I deleted all the analog channels, as they looked like crap and I had them all in DTV anyway.
-Just realized I can tell which are HD and which are SD because my TV doesn't allow me to change the "view mode" of the HD channels (ie: "side bar" [4:3], "smart stretch", "zoom" & "stretch" [16:9]<-only choice for HD)
Here's what I have so far:
(while writing this I sat down in front of the TV with the TV listings & remote - so this is now a fairly exhaustive(!) list - duplicates and all)

80.1 - MTV2 (SD)
84.3 - WZMY (SD)
84.4 - Univision? (SD)
84.5 - TVLAND (SD)
84.6 - Telemundo? (SD)
84.12 - RTPI (SD)
84.13 - BET (SD)
85.1 - ETV (SD)
85.2 - MTV2 (SD)
85.3 - VH1 (SD)
85.4 - TCM (SD)
85.5 - SCIFI (SD)
85.6 - HISTORY (SD)
85.7 - MSNBC (SD)
85.8 - OXYGEN (SD)
85.9 - DISN (SD)
85.10 - AMC (SD)
85.11 - ESPN2 (SD)
86.1 - TWC (SD)
86.2 - ANIMAL (SD)
86.3 - SPIKE (SD)
86.4 - CNBC (SD)
86.5 - ESPNEWS (SD)
86.6 - COURT (SD)
86.7 - DSC (SD)
86.8 - COMEDY (SD)
86.9 - FX (SD)
86.10 - FSNE (SD)
87.1 - TVLAND (SD)
87.2 - WE (SD)
87.4 - WENH (SD)
88.2 - OMAX (SD)
88.6 - 5MAX (SD) - was there last night, and still there today.
88.8 - ESPNCL (SD)
88.9 - FOOD (SD)
88.10 - CSPAN2 (SD)
88.11 - WGBX (SD)
89.1-89.53 - cable music channels
90.1-90.3 - LOOR? (local access)
103.4 - LIFE (SD)
103.5 - NESN (SD)
103.6 - A&E (SD)
103.7 - USA (SD)
103.8 - TBS (SD)
103.9 - NIK (SD)
103.10 - AZNTV (SD)
104.1 - CSPAN (SD)
104.2 - FMC - (SD)
104.3 - ABCFAM (SD)
104.11 - HGTV (SD)
104.12 - WGN (SD)
105.2 - WYDN (SD)
105.10 - TRAVEL (SD)
105.12 - CMT (SD)
106.7 - WCVB (SD)
106.9 - TLC (SD)
106.10 - EWTN (SD)
107.4 - TVGUIDE (SD)
107.7 - EWAM (SD)
107.8 - BRAVO (SD)
107.9 - BLOOM (SD)
112.1 - CNN (SD)
112.2 - WSBK (SD)
112.3 - Fox News (SD)
112.4 - ESPN (SD)
112.7 - Encore Mystery (SD)
112.10 - NECN (SD)
112.11 - Fox 25 (SD)
113.1 - WSBK (HD)
113.2 - WLVI (HD) - "the CW"
115.1 - "Catholic TV" (SD)
115.2 - LMN (SD)
115.10 - WBZ (SD)
117.9 - CNNI (SD)
118.1 - FSE (SD) - Fox Sports en Español
118.5 - TNT (SD)
118.6 - WCVB (SD) - also on 106.7
118.7 - WLVI (SD) - "the CW"
118.8 - WHDH (SD)
118.9 - TOON (SD)
118.10 - CNNH (SD)
119.1 - G4TV (SD)
119.2 - MTV (SD)
120.2 - FSNHD - couldn't find FSN in the listings, and there was no programming, just an animated logo - but it looked damn good!
122.1 - "Star Wars ep. III" is playing now - can't find it in the listings - VOD? (SD)
124.2 - unidentified PBS channel (SD) - now playing "Backyard Safari" - not in listings
124.4 - "Star Wars ep. II" - same deal as 122.1 (SD)
124.6 - another VOD I guess - "Alexander" is playing but not in listings (SD)
124.7 - SPROUT (SD)
125.1 - WCVB (HD)
125.2 - WHDH (HD)
125.3 - not sure what this is - "7 News Weather Plus" - appears to be WHDH 24hr weather channel (SD)
126.1 - Fox 25 (HD)
126.2 - WGBH (SD)
126.3 - WGBH (HD) different programming from WGBH SD - all HD content - great stuff!
127.2 - SHOWHD(!) - Showtime HD - not VOD will see if it's still there later
128.1 - WBZ (HD)
128.2 - ESPN (HD)
129.2 - NESN (HD) - ooooooh I can't wait until next spring - GO SOX!

...and there it is - my labor of love - only took me about 2.5 hours!
don't know if I made any errors or if some of these numbers will change - we'll see.
Enjoy,
Dennis
p.s. My TV is a 37" Sharp LC-40C37U - Costco version of LC-37D40U - only $1399 at Costco. I am extremely happy with it's performance and price and I highly recommend it.

Dennis.G,

Thanks for your efforts and the resulting channel listing - it fills in the HD blanks I had (unfortunately I can't receive anything above 125), and will very likely be quite helpful to other RCN subscribers who want to directly access these channels with their new digital/HD displays. And yes, it is all subject to change as RCN evolves their system. Ultimately I expect all the analog channels (up to 80) to become digital as well, and this will free up tons of bandwidth for expansion.

Happy Viewing!

Anyone have the physical channel # for Discovery HD?
I realized that I never found that one.

you probably wont, my guess is that it is encrypted

but why that one, and not all the others that I can view?

HDNet and HDNet Movies are also missing, and are probably also encrypted. Note that you found nothing on 120.1, 127.1 and 129.1, but found HD channels on 120.2, 127.2 and 129.2. Since there can be two full HD channels per physical channel, just maybe the "missing" channels are being transmitted on those sub-channels.

I will say that I found nothing on anything above 125, and all i get for HD channels are pbs, fox, 38, NESN, and the cw? basically nothing really useful, although PBS did have an awesome show on with explosions, fires, meteors and stuff, made my brother go WOW when he saw how good it looked in HD