Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 764

TWC here has been very inconsistent and non-compliant at times with their cable PSIP.

TWC dba Tampa Bay Bright House Networks is consistent in making WFLA unreliable on these Funais for the past 5+ months. Prior to that the same problem was occurring with WTTA. BHN now bundles WEDU's 4 channels (OTA actual 13, virtual 3.x) with WFLA's two channels (OTA actual 7, virtual 8.x) on cable 104, with the two HDs on the end IDs of the bunch. TVs and other tuners are stable, but the Funais switch WFLA HD between 3.6 and 8.1 and won't hold when the BHN stream changes. Typically it happens about 21:00:10 or 22:00:10, right after timer should be starting on SVU. I've set it to record during the day to see if there are other times, but not enough to be able to discern any pattern. Because of this I can't use the Funai timers with any expectation of recording anything but 60 minutes of black silence. I have to be at the ready with one remote in one hand with finger on CH button and another remote in the other hand with finger on record button to wait and see at the last possible instant whether it needs to be tuned to 3.6 or 8.1, if the episode is one I've not previously captured in its entirety; which is another problem, since audio drops on WFLA HD occur randomly whether coming from BHN or OTA. The audio drops in conjunction with the musical channel IDs are so annoying that since Harry's Law was dropped I don't ever even look to see what's scheduled on NBC except for SVU. Unless something changes radically, when new SVU episodes are terminated, I'll be done with NBC. Even from several different satellite channels NBC's non-standard prime time audio is trash in one way or another.

Bdfox is in the same local area as I am. Don't try to challenge him on the technical stuff, he's an enginer at the local Fox station and knows his stuff.

Well that didn't work. I could see the whole post a few days ago when I was researching a remote for my MDR515H.


Had to quote this post to see all the information for setting up the remote since the ads on the sides of the page were cutting off a large part of the post.



Edited by milom98 - 1/26/13 at 6:34pm

I'm not sure but there were only three ads on each page. Now the thread page has three but within the thread we have reviews, related junk and tags. Making the forum suck more is somebody's job and they do it well. I'm going to change the posts/page to see if it helps.

Amen Joe, thanks for saying what I was thinking..I could care less about some computer suggesting "Gear mentioned in this thread:" I think most here don't need (nor want) such "assistance".

Firefox with the Stylish add-on removes all of that. I think someone mentioned IE can be made to work the same way by inputting the same code in a stylesheet.
Stylish Code (Click to show)

I don't turn if off, I press the STANDBY button.

Only pressing the STOP button should stop a recording on a Philips 3575.

Here is a scenario - If I am watching a DVD, and the unit is recording a tv show, when the DVD is over and I am done watching tv, I press Standby. It has always finished the recording then entered Standby - now it stops and goes to Standby.

I been using a Harmony remote to control everything for over a year, never had an issue. The STANDBY command is part of the Macro that turns everything on and off. To rule out the universal remote, I tried to the original remote but still have the issue.

The only recent change I have made is a new TV - and now I am using HDMI. The two shouldn't be connected, but may have to rule it since it started about the same time.

I guess I could manually control the Standby by assigning a button on the Harmony remote. My main recording device is a Dtvpal DVR because of the dual tuners and TVGOS - which is going away

Any modern browser can use a user stylesheet, although all won't necessarily support site the specific component (first and last lines). I haven't kept up with the standards changes since IE8 came out, but by now there may well be an @document available in the latest browser versions.

Do note that the make text larger section above won't necessarily have the intended result in modern browsers that define a fixed ratio of 12pt=16px. Any who have personalized their PC by adjusting their browser default size should either match that rule to their personalized font size, or do it more generically via the CSS keyword sizes: xx-small, x-small, small, medium, large, x-large, xx-large, where medium equals the browser default size. By using the medium keyword, the size will be automatically matched to the browser default, whatever that may happen to be, and change any time it gets changed.

I don't use Stylish in the SeaMonkey I visit here in routinely, but my site specific stylesheet, which my generic userContent.css imports, makes most text legible and hides other nuisance content besides the sidebar:
It does exactly what it is intended to do for most posts, but for most of Wajo's help pages and some posts where special styling is applied, most text comes out smaller instead of larger because of the specificity the site uses to apply user selected special sizing.

You mean misfeature?

That section just makes the text in the reply box larger. Maybe it won't work for everyone, but it works for me with Firefox.

Hi everyone,

I haven't posted here in a while, been following/reading the thread on and off though.

When the 53x models came out, there were some discussions about the tuner being higher quality, and wondering if anyone who has both versions (pre 53x and post 53x) to compare.
Anyway, some of you may remember the OTA issues I've been having locally with some channels. Well... I just made new findings, by "mistake".

Had some free time Today, and as I unplugged and replugged wires over and over, attempting different configurations, at some point the "faulty" channel came up! And quite well too! The signal was strong enough, around 36 on the Maggy when 15 is enough to get a solid lock. I scratched my head, wondering how in the World I could go from 0 to solid signal without any apparent change in my wire setup. I checked the other channels, and found that although there wasn't a significant change in signal for local broadcasts, both CBS and NBC came in weaker, yet still over 50% so more than enough for a lock. I thought I magically scored the dreaded FOX channel, but then I got to PBS, which went to 0. So it appeared I lucked out on getting one channel (FOX) but lost out on another one. Even more head scratching...

I went back to take a look at the wires, and immediately figured out that I plugged the antenna input in the "OUT" connector on the Maggy.

I could not believe it. It appears that the internal splitter in the Maggy passes the signal through in both directions. And, somehow, it filters the signal differently depending on whether you plug your source in the IN or OUT connector.
So, when I plug in the IN, I get a stronger signal on most channels : UHF 14 (NBC), 22 (CBS), and 43 (FOX) but it somehow filters out 32 (PBS).
When I plug it in OUT instead, then I get channels 32 (PBS) although weak but enough for good reception, but I don't get channel 43 at all and 14 + 22 are weaker although still lock in with no pixelization . That's expected since I'm actually passing the signal through in the wrong direction, but why does that one channel 32 come in in the "reverse" direction but not in the "right" direction, and vice-versa for channel 43? My head will soon bleed from the violent head scratching : help!

When I leave it in the IN, and then link to my TV from the OUT (as it should) I then get all the channels in my TV's tuner, including 32 and 43. But, that's not so "new" since my TV has always outperformed the Maggy's tuner. I even get extra channels on my TV that I never even got a hint of getting on the Mag. Plugging the antenna in the OUT, and wiring my TV from the IN, yields similar results as in the Mag : PBS on channel 32 comes in (but much weaker than when "properly" wired but FOX on channel 43 is a no-go. Other channels, such as 14 and 22, get in, but weaker.

Has anyone EVER seen something like it? Does anyone care to test their own local OTA setup to see if they get similar results if they reverse the IN and OUT? Especially if your local channels are on similar UHF bands? BTW, for easier understanding, all the channel numbers I listed are the "real channels" not the "DTV or PSIP data" channels.

I hope my post isn't too confusing. I have a hard time figuring this thing out. The bottom line is:

• When antenna is plugged in the "IN" as it should, most channels (including 43) come in stronger, but I don't get channel 32 (but I do get it in the TV's tuner).
• When antenna is in the "OUT" connector, and the TV in the "IN", in the reverse order, then most channels are weaker, but still enough for safe watching, I lose 43 altogether, but I gain 32, weak but watchable.

Of course, this is puzzling, but still doesn't solve my original issue, since I record many shows on PBS that I can't get anywhere else, other than pbs.org. So, it looks like I'm actually better off leaving it plugged in the "OUT" connector, so I at least get PBS, but I won't get FOX this way. Most FOX shows are broadcast on local channels too (Global TV and CTV) so I rarely need to record FOX, I mostly watch it live for sporting events and such. There's always the option to reverse the connexions if I ever need to record FOX.

Do you mean all channels you listed are physical and not virtual? The use of "DTV" is confusing when applied to a Magnavox as I doubt you were talking about analog (vsb) channels.

It's a strange story either way.

The Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has just announced it will begin the World's First 4K (UHDTV) broadcasts in time for the final tournament of the Brazilian World Cup Soccer match July 2014.

I wonder if Funai is working on a UHDTV-DVR?




Source: http://headlines.yahoo.co.jp/hl?a=20130127-00000005-asahi-ind

Maybe, but it won't be for the USA.

And STILL not in the U.S.

Right, not the virtual ones

The FCC has agreed to allow cable to encrypt local channels. The rush is on to drop analog, move to all digital, and due to rampant cable theft they will encrypt everything.
This leaves Funai 3 choices in the US:
1. Get out of the DVR business
2. Create a unit with cable card support
3. Add an IR blaster to control a cable box

Or 4. Go to an OTA only recorder.

Isn't that kind of a given? If all the cable channels are scrambled the QAM tuner is useless and the DVDR automatically becomes an OTA-only device -- as far as the tuner is concerned.

When do you think we will see the first cable company to do this? It's been a year since they have been allowed, but I haven't seen any reports. They did use a great argument for having a STB for every TV: no more trucks needed for activation or deactivation. Losing analog is gradually happening for basic cable, but I wonder how many will drop cable and go to a dish instead. I don't see anybody coming out with new televisions without a clear QAM tuner. Someday, but not tomorrow.
Edited by JoeKustra - 1/28/13 at 6:42am

Bit of a stretch. It was adopted by the FCC on October 10, 2012 -- less than 4 months ago.

See: Here and Here

You're right. I thought it was earlier. And with the speed that 4k TVs are being introduced, anything is possible. We live in interesting times.

4K excites me about as much as 3D does -- which is to say, not at all.
A 70" Panasonic plasma (hopefully introduced in March) will excite me a whole lot more -- and open my wallet.

I believe the cable co has to completely dump analog broadcasting and go all digital before they are allowed to scramble everything. I've never understood why they have dragged their heels for so long when it comes to eliminating analog. FIOS did it years ago. As far as theft, one continues to read posts from people saying they only subscribe to Comcast internet and find they have the complete unscrambled channel lineup along for a free ride.
Edited by Kelson - 1/28/13 at 7:22am

I've hear from people with cable modems that also get locals. My cable supplier still offers analog "locals" for $20 a month. That also gets you "local" HD since they are not scrambled. My supplier won't provide cable modem service without that "local" service.

All cable is local. I've learned to not spend too much time on things I can't change.

I don't know if a 70" Panasonic would fit anywhere in my place. Best of luck.