Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 251

I know $ is an issue now, Stump, but you might want to get at least one full STB instead -- it's only a few dollars a month *(at least that was the case around 6 months ago), and if and when they actually make the switch you will get a lot better reception and (possibly) more channels including HD (if they send you a good box) rather than using that crummy "free" one. We had one postcard warning that analog only customers would need the DTA, but NO mention as to what/how digital customers would be affected - it may not affect your QAM . Wait and see -- the analogs were scheduled to disappear as of 11/16, but ... nothing has changed... yet.

Okay...

Now it's getting weird.

Today I rescanned with my 80GB Maggie, just to see if it would have the same channels come up in the same places.

Ummm....

A bunch showed back up again. I mean A BUNCH.

Pretty much everything is in a new place except for the locals (both the widescreen and 4x3 versions).

I'll have to compare the old list I made up with the new one, to see if anything's missing.

Here's the odd thing, tho-

Our Fox affiliate and our Univision affiliate are, oddly enough, sharing their main channel number with a range of sub-channels...

In both cases, there's another channel that also falls on the ".1" sub-channel.

The Fox channel is sharing its virtual channel number with the Weather Channel, the Univision channel with C-Span.

In both sets of channels, the OTHER channel comes up first. If I then step up thru ".2", ".3", etc., the local channel comes up last, somehow again showing the ".1" subchannel number, at the END of the sub-channels.

Another step up moves on to the next main channel number.

Since I don't speak Spanish, this won't be a problem with the Univ. channel, but with the FOX affiliate, it's a problem. If I try to program a recording for the widescreen version of the Fox affiliate, the recorder will go to the Weather channel and record that.

I believe someone else mentioned they'd also run into the identical problem with their cable system.

Here's the kicker-

I'd had trouble getting the second DTA box to activate, and while on the phone with someone at Comcast, I complained about having lost my QAM channels.

It was not long after this I discovered they were back, although most had moved.

I'm wondering now if they really AREN'T trying to stop us from using QAM equipment, and if a call to one of the technical people might get a fix for this, even if it means having to rescan AGAIN.

Anyone have any experiences with this or any suggestions?

EDIT:
I've checked, guys. Everything from the old list is back. Just those two overlap channels that'll be a problem.

Well, the new unit arrived today, and I'm starting to feel really jinxed.

Right out of the box, the remote was very unresponsive - required several pushes of any button to get anything to happen. I finally got through all of the initial set-up, and got all of the channels pre-set, both analog and digital. After powering down for a few minutes, I turned it back on and the video started cycling on and off while the audio remained on. I then toggled between analog and digital with the DTV/TV button, and then the video started behaving.

I wanted to try the SKIP 079 test to make it do a self-test, but I could not get the V.SKIP 079 command to register, even though I followed the wajo instructions: "With DVDR on live TV and on either HDD or DVD drive, point remote at unit and sequentially ... ."

I just went through the "hard reset" routine, and things appeared to be functioning for a couple of minutes, then got worse ... Now I cannot get anything to happen - the front panel buttons are completely dead - no power on (or off), no disc open or close, no selection of either HDD or DVD, etc.

A few minutes later ... tried again, and everything is working perfectly, except for the entry of the SKIP commands.

I have trouble-shot electronic equipment for over 55 years, and this one has me puzzled. I gave it a mechanical "bump" just in case a connector was marginally inserted, but was not able to detect anything that might be loose which would show up as any distortion or static on screen. However, if problems return tomorrow, I'm packing it up for return and will cart it back to WalMart.

Anyone believe in Leprechauns?

Dave

I can understand the reasoning behind different remotes, but why is it more expensive than the refurbed 2160 which is essentially the same machine? All I can think of is no format bug? Or, better tuner ? Someone who has both (Wajo?) care to weigh in ?

Wow, that's tough -- two in a row. Third time's the charm? Only thing I can think of is that maybe the power source that's feeding your machine is somehow faulty/weak. Have you tried plugging it in on another outlet? I wouldn't mess with removing the cover to check connections -- just get another one. Leave it off awhile before plugging it in and try one more time. Also, you might want to try different batteries in the remote --or at least reinsert tem and check connection.My second maggy had sluggish remote and reseating the batteries seemed to help.

Also -- have you bought a lottery ticket ? Your luck's about to change......

Whoa! First of all, that's great that the QAM channels came back. Did you rescan analog AND digital -- i'm curious if the analog are still gone, or if they brought them back to coexist with the new (digital) iterations of the same stations.

Not so great that they're all occupying the same spot! I have that conflict with MHZWorldnet and MTP Md. Public television. OTA MHZworldnet is 30, but comcast is sending it out at 22.1 22.2, 22.3 through 22.10. MPT is also at 22.1 .2 .3 (it shows up after the first set of subchannels, and it also appears as 22.34. I thought I could record the unique number but it doesn't 'take' -- the weird thing is as I click up channel the sequence repeats at the end and goes back to the other 22.1 , just as you described. Another difference--the magnavox digital tuner picks up both sets of stations , but the tuner in my tv does not.

If I just type in the numbers for that station, it won't take - but if you are ON that station when you set the timer it usually knows which is which. CRAZY. For failsafe recording you have to be home to click the record button when the (dual ) channel is tuned in, but you may have some luck with setting the channel by GOING TO the correct one first to make sure, and then letting the channel auto enter into the programming field/ It seems to know the difference.

Plan B would be to record channels like fox that are available OTA as well, rather than trying to tune them in as "twin" stations. (you could use a CECB to Line input if you don't want to toggle the antenna input)

This subject isn't off topic. This is connected to our use of out machines and is right on topic.

Also, this is talk about loss of QAM channels, which are not analogs. They're the cable version of digital.

interesting - that's what I thought, but I think I remember someone here saying he has been getting many more stations on the philips that he could not tune in on the magnavox.

Good thing we like that crummy brand

The Maggies (I think the Philips machines too) only allow a combined scan of analog and digital on cable, so yeah, I scanned the analogs.

Something DID have to have happened out there on the lines, because before the DTA was activated I got the remaining analogs where they'd always been, but with occasional warnings plastered over half the screen.

Now, all the analogs are GONE, except for the locals. My activating the first DTA must have triggered something. Maybe I was the last holdout in my neighborhood?

As for "then all being in the same spot", they aren't.

Only two (or four, I guess) channels are having that problem. Our Fox station shares its channel number with the Weather Channel, and the Univision channel with C-Span.

As for already being on that channel when I set up a recording, and the machine apparently "knowing" which of the duplicate channel numbers I really mean, hey, that's a work around I can live with. Doesn't bother me.

I may have stuck my foot in it a little by saying the machine would go to the first of the two listed, since I think that's what the other guy mentioned. Was it you? Anyway, I haven't actually tried a recording on that channel yet. I'm about to now. If the work-around is successful, I'll post about it.

Thanks, provisionally.

EDIT:
-I tried setting up a one minute recording on our Fox channel's number, while tuned to another channel. Failure. It recorded the Weather Channel.
I then tried setting up another one minute recording while actually tuned to our Fox channel, and then tuned to another channel to wait for the recording to start. Failure number two. It again recorded the Weather Channel.
-Third attempt- I set the machine on the Fox Channel, and set up another one minute recording, leaving it on that channel. Success. It did record Fox.
-My next attempt will be leaving the machine on the Fox station, but turning the recorder off. Let's see if it boots up to the Weather Channel and records that, or sticks with Fox.

EDIT #2
Rotten machine won't let me turn it off. I had to set up a recording over an hour away before it let me shut it down. More to come...

that's what I do on my conflicted channel. Turn it to that station, set recording, leave it on that station, touch nothing That way, you can still record while away -- you just cant record to multiple channels without playing Russian Roulette. Sometimes it works when off, sometimes it doesnt - I haven't figured out the reason yet. This is the only recording glitch I've encountered and it's not the maggy's fault

Another thing to check - Wajo used to advise tuning to the fox channel for a time signal -- if yours has moved, you might want to double check to be sure you're not going to the old channel setting for 'time'.

as for this

The Maggies (I think the Philips machines too) only allow a combined scan of analog and digital on cable, so yeah, I scanned the analogs.
I was pretty sure I have a choice .... I have 2160A .. but just checked -- I mis-remembered -- it was the ANALOG that offered the single scanning option, the digital + analog is combined.

I haven't been here for a while & was delighted to find the mag 2160 bug has been squashed! I had been finalizing 2160 discs on a 3576 which was a bit tedious. I also prefer the editing functions & picture quality of the 2160(A). Now that you've made it a properly functioning unit, it's an incredible buy. Funai should be sending you a bonus.

I wish you could set a "virtual" hour for the start of a day for timer recording, eg 4am instead of midnight. As it is, if you want to Mon-Fri or Mon-Sat a show that starts after midnight, you'll also be recording something you probably don't want in the wee hours of Monday morning. And if there is something else in those wee hours that you really do want to record, you'll get a timer conflict that really isn't.

A refurbished Magnavox 2160MW9A of May 2009 manufacture arrived late this afternoon. This 2160 "A" was purchased from J&R. It came in a factory sealed box. The 2160 and the remote control appear as new. The RF and A/V cables are of better quality than those supplied with my "new" 2160 of August 2008 manufacture (purchased from walmart.com in December 2008). The Owner's Manual is original and appears to have been consulted by the original owner. The warranty seal is intact.

This 2160 was connected to a Comcast coax cable as its main signal source with a secondary signal source from a Zenith DTT901 CECB connected through the rear composite input. This 2160 is set up with composite and S-Video feeds through a switch box to a Dynex LCD HDTV and a secondary composite feed to a 13" RCA CRT TV. This 2160 was configured with a Manual clock setting, Auto Clock set to OFF, DST set to OFF, Auto Chapters set to 10 minutes and Make Recordings Compatible set to ON. A cable analog/digital channel scan was run where the results are about as expected. (Earlier this week Comcast scrambled around sixty of the former clear QAM extended basic sub-channels.)

The hard drive had no previous recording(s). A brief test recording was made to the hard drive.

The first photo shows the box end stickers indicating a refurbishing date of 10/1/2009. The second photo shows the box being unpacked. The third photo shows the firmware version screen. The fourth photo shows six minutes of DVD read time with no DVD writing time. The fifth photo shows hard drive power-on of twelve hours. (The screen shots show the 13" RCA CRT TV.)

Just got an e-mail saying my Magnavox 2160 Refurb has been shipped. It is due on Monday. Who said Mondays were always bad...lol. That will make a grand total of three Maggie's in the stack. Pretty soon A&E will be doing a program called "The Maggie Intervention" for us addicts! And I will fight so hard not to get the help people think I need . Oddly enough, they do not show on their website though....hmmmm. Maybe everyone here cleaned out the inventory before they could even list them.

Latest update on the problem with duplicated channel numbers-

Left the machine off, set to record the channel number of our Fox affiliate.

The recording ended up being of the Weather Channel, despite having been set up while the machine was tuned to Fox. Blah. Oh well, my old analog only Philips DVR/DVDR is connected to a digital OTA box as well as the cable DTA. If I have to record Fox in widescreen, guess that could do the job.

Just a little curious about something, tho'-

You people with Comcast... Does this channel lineup look familiar to any of you? (I've deleted all locals. Please excuse the occasional "RELIG", because I don't know what channels those religious ones are. May be cable, may be local but I don't recognize them.)

I wonder if our local Comcast office didn't have any choice in the channel lineup, like maybe things are being standardized, leading to the duplicated numbers in some areas.


25.1 WEATHER
25.2 RELIG
25.3 SPIKE
26.1 TOON
26.2 COMEDY
26.3 MTV
26.4 DISNEY
26.5 NICK
26.6 SYFY
26.7 AMC
26.8 DISCOVERY
26.9 TLC
26.10 VH1
26.11 USA
27.1 C SPAN
27.2 ANIMAL PLANET
27.3 TRAVEL
27.4 TV LAND
27.5 CNN
27.6 GOLF
27.7 HLN
28.1 HGTV
28.2 ABC FAM
28.3 LIFETIME
28.4 FOX NEWS
28.5 A&E
28.6 HISTORY
28.7 MSNBC
28.8 CNBC
28.9 TRU TV
28.10 FX
29.1 VS
29.2 HALLMARK
29.3 BRAVO
29.4 E!
29.5 FOOD
29.6 TBS
29.7 TNT
29.8 ESPN
29.9 ESPN 2
29.10 CSN
30.1 EWTM
30.2 LIFETIME MOV
34.3 FOX BUS
34.7 RELIG
70.1 PREVIEWS
84.1 PUB ACCS
84.2 PUB ACCS
84.3 ARTS
84.4 infomercials
84.5 SPEED
84.6 RTP
87.5 -blank screen-
87.9 HSN
87.10 QVC
111.3 QVC HD
122.3 previews

Todd?

Might I ask how you're preventing them all from responding to the same remote?

I only ask because for now my 80gig machine is in the same room as the 2160A, and I'm currently using the pathetic method of putting an open magazine over the top of one and tucking it under so it covers the front.

Yeah, real 21st century method, huh?

Or, perhaps, the 2160 is an unadvertised special that one must order by phone. Jacques may have to come in on his day off (Friday) to keep up with the avalanche of 2160 orders.

In my home office there are two 2160 models. One is in the stack atop the table and the other is under the table, as seen in the first two photos. The 2160 in the stack receives a Comcast STB signal passed through from a Philips 3575 in the next room. The 2160 under the table is connected directly to the Comcast coax cable. I use a single remote for both 2160 models. The third photo shows GORT (the Zenith DTT901 CECB) that provides the local ATSC sub-channels that Comcast doesn't carry.

same here...i'm looking forward to it very much....and i wouldnt have ordered it sight unseen if it hadnt been for the great info supplied here by all the regulars....hopefully there will be no major issues/problems, etc like DaveFinton had...and his two 2160 units were brand new....

Update (the next morning) ...

This morning the display was stuck at 11:59, and the unit was not responsive either via the remote or the front panel buttons. After removing power the display then indicated the current time, but the unit was still not responsive. After doing a reset (power off for 10 minutes, then restore power while depressing the Standby-On switch) I was able to regain control and I went through the set-up routine one more time.

The Clock settings are: Current date and time, Auto Clock Setting -> OFF, and Daylight savings time -> ON(MAR-NOV). The Auto Channel Preset is set to Cable (Analog/Digital). I am connected to Comcast cable (just South of Grand Rapids, Michigan), directly into the unit (no set-top box), and then to the TV. I can receive 43 digital channels in addition to those analog channels available on my Extended Basic service.

Whatever is required for this unit to do a SKIP 079 test, I cannot do it. When I try to input the V.SKIP 079 information, I occasionally get CH 9 selected, as if I am inputting a channel number.

After powering off for a few minutes, I turned it back on, and the video started to disappear every few seconds while I heard a slight popping sound. After a few minutes of this, the video information completely disappeared - just a grey screen, but I can hear audio. After perhaps 3 more minutes, the video returned, and now all is beautiful. Edit: It looks beautiful, but actually is completely unresponsive - cannot control unit again, either via remote or via Standby-On button - had to remove power to get it OFF.

In spite of being completely disappointed, I would really like to have one of these units that works for me! Am I doing something wrong? Should I return this one and order another (3rd) ?

Thanks for any tips!

Dave

Thanks artwire, but I do already have the modem-sized Motorola DCT700 that came with the digital starter package I got in 2007 as part of their promotion for basic digital free for a year. I didn't renew, but kept the box activated from back then anyway. I have it connected to E1 on my 3575 and sometimes use it for recording channels that are not in the clear through the 3575's tuner.

Only the 2160A has the format bug, not the original 2160. Neither the original 3575 nor the 3576 ever had the bug. Anyway, the Philips has always been more expensive whether new or refurbished just based on the brand name.

That said, my 3575's tuner works whereas the 2160's doesn't. I sure wish I could afford to get the 3576 refurb which has a more stable tuner.

My Magnavox 2080 and 2160 models have been the reliable clear QAM performers while my Philips 3576 clear QAM performance has been unsatisfactory. (I also own a Philips 3575 but it is enslaved to a Comcast STB.)

My 3576 of February 2008 manufacture was purchased from overstock.com in April 2009 as a "renewed" product. The 3576 was, at first, connected directly to the Comcast coax cable feed. At first the 3576 clear QAM tuner received around 115 clear QAM sub-channels. After a couple of months' use the 3576 lost the ability to tune clear QAM sub-channels through the channel up/down selector but those sub-channels could still be selected by direct entry. A month or so later (just after the factory "renewed" warranty ran out) there were only about twenty clear QAM sub-channels that the 3576 could still tune. Replacing the coax cable and running several 3576 analog/digital cable channel scans did not find the usual 115 clear QAM sub-channels.

I should add that my Magnavox 2080 of July 2007 manufacture has been connected to the same Comcast coax cable feed. The 2080 has reliably tuned around 115 clear QAM sub-channels with that same Comcast coax cable connection. Two of my original non "A" 2160 models also reliably tuned around 115 clear QAM sub-channels.

Around July 2009 the 3576 was pulled off the Comcast cable coax connection and was connected to an antenna. An antenna channel scan found all the expected ATSC channels. Since that time the 3576 has been the ATSC recorder, as well as the main recorder used for dubbing from external sources.

Beginning 11/17/09 clear QAM performance has become somewhat moot as Comcast scrambled around sixty clear QAM extended basic sub-channels.

Was wondering if it is all possible to take two titles on the hard drive and combine them into one? I know you can divide the titles but not merge them. This would be very useful when attempting to piece together two different broadcasts of the same programme, each of which has a problem.

Also was wondering f anyone has had titles on the HD they have recorded that no longer can play. I have a couple, that have no thumb nail screen pop up and when you try to play all you get is black. I tried copying one to a DVD and got a DVD that played but the audio was no where to be heard.

On a seperate note was wondeirng if there is a fix to get this to play DVDs from other regions or in PAL. Have another DVD player that can play DVDs from any region (in PAL or NTSC) but it will only play the silver stire bought ones.