[Rangoonred2002]

A friend suggested that you folks would be able to either answer my questions or put me out of my misery.


I have Cox digital cable (Phoenix,AZ) which requires I use their box (unless I want to throw away three TVs and two VCRs all less than 2-years old) the output of this box is an analog channel 3 signal.


The net result is that all the x-tra functions like PIP, record timers in the VCR and such are no longer usable. When I asked Cox how I can make my stuff work I was told to get multiple boxes, one for each device - Yeah right.


Anyway the question is. I am thinking of buying a hard disk recorder. The unit I'm looking at has two tuners, timers etc. As far as I can tell this will also be usless and I will have to use the Cox box for all the timers and will only be able to record one show, and not be able to watch another at the same time.


Is there a way around this? Can this actualy be acceptable.


Any thoughts will be appreciated.



Thanks



Ritchie

 

[CCarncross]

For digital cable(channels above 100), you need the cable box. For analog channels(2-99) you can use the tuners in your tv or vcr. There is no way around it. You can thank all the people who stole cable for years forcing the cable companies to encrypt the signal to feel like they were getting paid for service provided. YOu can also thank all the people who wanted cable to be able to compete with the superior sat systems forcing the move to digital to be able to provide what DSS has had for years, thus increasing the cable rates to almost as high as the where the sats are in the sky.

 

[Rangoonred2002]

Actually on my system here in Phoenix only 2 > 13 opperate that way. Anything above 13 requires the box!


Ritchie

 

[miniz]

That only means that channels 14 and up are analog scambled, which you run into many times in the cities, to prevent cable theft. channels over 100 are digital encypted. What I would seguest you do is rent the DVR from the cable company, it will give your hard drive recorder you want, 2 digital and analog tuners, PIP on any TV, and the ability to watch one show on channel x and record another on channel y. you will be able to say goodbye to the outdated VCR. If you really insist on buying, get one of newer HD DVR's with cablecard. It will take away your EPG, on-demand and anything else that requires two way communication but it will receive and decode every channel you get now for a fraction of the monthly price the box costs now. Downside, you lose two way services, costs $600 and up, plus the rental of the cablecard and it isn't yet available.

 

[Jordan420]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rangoonred2002 I am thinking of buying a hard disk recorder. The unit I'm looking at has two tuners, timers etc.

What hard disk recorder are you looking at? ( model #)

 

[CCarncross]

The best compromise right now is to rent/buy DVRs from your cable company. They have their digial cable boxes biult-in.

 

[bpm3k]

I have COX (Santa Barbara, CA) and i rent the the DVR from them for $10 a month. I am happy with it. This is my second box after 8 months the old one started having audio problems (sounded like audio was in slow motion, while video was normal). I exchanged it for another box no problem.


I am very happy with it.

 

[RandyWalters]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rangoonred2002 I have Cox digital cable (Phoenix,AZ) which requires I use their box (unless I want to throw away three TVs and two VCRs all less than 2-years old) the output of this box is an analog channel 3 signal. The net result is that all the x-tra functions like PIP, record timers in the VCR and such are no longer usable. When I asked Cox how I can make my stuff work I was told to get multiple boxes, one for each device - Yeah right. Anyway the question is. I am thinking of buying a hard disk recorder. The unit I'm looking at has two tuners, timers etc. As far as I can tell this will also be usless and I will have to use the Cox box for all the timers and will only be able to record one show, and not be able to watch another at the same time. Is there a way around this? Can this actualy be acceptable.

I just looked at Cox Phoenix's Home Page and see they offer digital cable, HDTV, and DVR service. Digital cable boxes have composite outputs so the box you're talking about must be some basic analog-only box with just an RF output. I haven't seen one of these it over twenty years ! Why would you not be able to get a digital box at least?


If you don't mind recording onto a hard-drive instead of your VCR you might like the DVR service. The DVR has two tuners and PIP, and is much more convenient for recording shows than a VCR. I used to use 3 VCRs to time-shift just about everything but one DVR takes care of everything and does it better.


The other option is switch to DirecTV and get two-tuner Tivo. Similar convenience as the cable DVR but doesn't have PIP.

 

[AntAltMike]

Quote:

Originally posted by Rangoonred2002 Actually on my system here in Phoenix only 2 > 13 opperate that way. Anything above 13 requires the box!

Make sure that your analog TV tuner is set up in "cable" tuning mode rather than "antenna mode", otherwise if the TV is tuned for channels 14-64, the screen will be blank.