[jruhnke]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dashwrx /forum/post/19238119


Does anyone know if the line filters that comcast uses are remotely programmable or are they fixed?

As far as I know, Comcast uses nothing but simple low-pass filters that attenuate (block) frequencies above a cutoff point. If you have access to your local tap (mine is in my back yard), and it's not locked, you can probably just open it up and look; you'll probably see a device something like the size of an AA battery in between the tap and the cable that runs to your house. If you were to subscribe to digital cable, then the tech would come out and open that box, unscrew the filter, screw your cable straight into the tap, install a set-top box in your viewing room, and be done.

 

[mike1812]



Quote:
Originally Posted by g6civic13 /forum/post/19235597


I called Comcast and they said that everything is now encrypted. I have a hard time believing we can't even get the local channels in HD through QAM.

Thanks for this comment. That now explains why even my cablecards are not giving me locals now. Appears my cards got un-paired or unauthorized somehow (even though tv cablecard screen says otherwise). Now the fun talking to Comcast. . .

 

[dashwrx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jruhnke /forum/post/19238349


As far as I know, Comcast uses nothing but simple low-pass filters that attenuate (block) frequencies above a cutoff point.

The strange part is that i get analog 2-20 then analog 52-54 and then 78 and above (where cable modem starts).

So it's not just low-pass specifically.


As to the comment about everything being encrypted, at this moment in time, I can confirm that HD locals are unencrypted in clear lake, sheldon (far east houston) and near hobby airport. And they are all on the 70s as jokah stated above.


I'm not kidding that this conversation happened with me and comcast two days ago:

Comcast Support: "You MUST have an HD cable box from comcast to get HD"

ME: "I'm watching CH 611 news via clear qam this second"(and i quoted what was on tv)

Comcast: "Sir, that's not possible, you MUST have an HD Cable Box from comcast to get HD"

 

[jruhnke]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dashwrx /forum/post/19239261


The strange part is that i get analog 2-20 then analog 52-54 and then 78 and above (where cable modem starts).

So it's not just low-pass specifically.

Hmm. Can't explain that. When I first moved in (~2002), I ordered the cable modem and digital cable together, but they got installed as two separate events. RoadRunner cablemodem came first, and for a few days I had cable modem and all analog channels. When the tech showed up to set up digital TV, he removed a single filter from the tap in the backyard, hooked up the STB, made a few calls to get the STB authorized, and left. A few days later, the RoadRunner quality assurance guy came by to check the cable modem install, saw the filter had been removed from the tap, and reinstalled it, which killed my digital TV. I called and complained, and they had to send another tech out to pull the filter again...(classic case of left hand not knowing what right hand was doing....)

 

[gumby1]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jokah /forum/post/19236643


Following a re-scan tonight, this is my HD lineup (Greenway Plaza):


70-608 PBS

70-613 ABC

71-605 CW

71-612 NBC

72-604 KTXH

74-609 FOX

74-611 CBS

I have Windows 7 Media Center and all was well until today. All of my QAM was gone as well. I went into the setup and edited the channels to change them from the 100 range to the 70 range as stated and still no go. Feeling a bit frustrated I deleted the channels and just re-added them. Much to my surprise it worked. I now have all the above channels working again. So my advice is not to edit the channels, but to delete and then re-add. I had just bought another Hauppauge 1600 tuner that I was going to add to my HTPC and this is what I walked in to. This is my second tuner and I should now have 2 analog and 2 digital channels to watch and record.


Brian

 

[justabaldguy]

I'm still trying to figure out this out. Thanks for the list Paw Paw. We cannot get digital HD via cable, but can find it fairly easily over the air (I'm in NW Houston, off 249 towards Tomball). My wife called to check on the price today and asked about the HD channels. As has been reported here, the ignorance runs deep. The customer service rep could only say we were not supposed to ever get channels without a box. Smart enough not to argue we let it go.


Oddly enough, it looks like our solution is to keep basic cable and use the antenna to get HD channels. Why? As it stands, our bill is cable for $21 and cable internet for $40. Were we to drop cable, our cable internet would go up to $58!! That makes no sense to me, so while I would rather have HD in the TV I am sick of rescanning every month or so. This is nuts man...

 

[gumby1]

I am still on basic cable as well. I pay $12 a month. Wanted to go to cablecard but bill would go up to about $55 a month. Not worth it to me at this point. I get the seven local HD stations and all analog on all my HD TV's and HTPC. Still thinking about satellite to gain many more channels, but the monthly box rental is a real downer for me. About same price for a basic digital package and 4 TV's, around $55 a month. I inquired about a week ago about dropping my basic cable and they said my internet ($45) would not go up at all. With Comcast it all depends on who you talk too. The bottom line, if you don't like what you hear, just call back until you hear the right answer

Brian

 

[RobertWy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jokah /forum/post/19236643


Following a re-scan tonight, this is my HD lineup (Greenway Plaza):


70-608 PBS

70-613 ABC

71-605 CW

71-612 NBC

72-604 KTXH

74-609 FOX

74-611 CBS

After rescanning, I got the same channels. Plus about 4-500 empty slots I had to ignore in my TV setup. I can't match the channels I'm getting with anything from HDHomeRun or Comcast channel lineup for Bellaire.

 

[dashwrx]



Quote:
Originally Posted by justabaldguy /forum/post/19240027


I'm still trying to figure out this out. Thanks for the list Paw Paw. We cannot get digital HD via cable, but can find it fairly easily over the air (I'm in NW Houston, off 249 towards Tomball). .

Your situation sounds exactly like mine. You have "very basic" cable and you probably have a line filter blocking the 70s where they moved the qam channels to.

 

[zaxxon1982]

I loathe Comcast. They took encrypt Cartoon Network, AMC, and SyFy. And from time to time they move the QAM for no reason and won't even acknowledge its existence. I can't believe nobody offers a one-stop decryption device that will send the signal out to QAM tuners throughout the house.

 

[lizard_boy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dashwrx /forum/post/19243951


Your situation sounds exactly like mine. You have "very basic" cable and you probably have a line filter blocking the 70s where they moved the qam channels to.

Crap, that must be my problem also. I have "limited basic" also and can't get to the new QAM channels.

 

[mmatheny]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertWy /forum/post/19243943


After rescanning, I got the same channels. Plus about 4-500 empty slots I had to ignore in my TV setup. I can't match the channels I'm getting with anything from HDHomeRun or Comcast channel lineup for Bellaire.

The empty slots are OnDemand sessions that people open up, then they get closed because the users are through with the show or stopped it early. They just happened to be live when you did the scan, now they are no longer live.

 

[mmatheny]



Quote:
Originally Posted by RobertWy /forum/post/19237610


Great. I enter my address and zip code and try to print out my channel lineup and I get Nassau Bay & Seabrook.

https://www.comcast.com/Customers/Cl...p.ashx?Reset=1

https://www.comcast.com/Customers/Cl...nt=1&CGID=2512


Doesn't give me a lot of confidence in Comcast.


I wonder why they won't publish the Clear QAM channels.

http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun...lineup_2777625


Use the dropdown to pick the best listing for your area.

 

[mmatheny]

Again, I can somewhat handle the channel shuffle (been doing it forever) but AT THE BEGINING OF THE FALL SEASON!!! Come on Comcast - I pay $110 for your service - ok - take away about $20 for the cable DVR, and I still pay $90 a month FOR YOUR SERVICE!!!! - just because I use a piece of equipment other than YOUR cable box, be it a PC or a TV with a cQAM tuner in it, doesn't mean you can just up and futz a system up with no announcements! That's NOT customer service in the least.

 

[dougleto]

Hi all. I recently moved to League City from Tucson, AZ where I had Cox Cable. I subscribed to comcast cable/internet and am considering cancelling my cable sub and going back to an antenna for the reasons that you all point out. When I called comcast to cancel, I was informed of a cancellation fee (I can't remember how much they said it was). Is this true or was the rep I got just trying to extort me? And if it is true, is there any way around it? I find it pretty ridiculous to have to pay them to stop their service.

 

[brizzo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by dougleto /forum/post/19251190


Hi all. I recently moved to League City from Tucson, AZ where I had Cox Cable. I subscribed to comcast cable/internet and am considering cancelling my cable sub and going back to an antenna for the reasons that you all point out. When I called comcast to cancel, I was informed of a cancellation fee (I can't remember how much they said it was). Is this true or was the rep I got just trying to extort me? And if it is true, is there any way around it? I find it pretty ridiculous to have to pay them to stop their service.

I recently switched my TV service from Comcast to DirecTV, but I kept my internet with Comcast. I was charged a "downgrade fee" of $16.95 which I didn't agree to. 3 unhappy calls later and I had it removed. I'm not sure if Comcast does contracts with their new promos, but I was month to month. I would look at what they gave you when you signed up. Apparently the $16.95 was for them to come and install a trap on my line. With the recent QAM channel re-shuffle, I don't get any of the network stations in the 70-72 range. I'm pretty sure it is against FCC regulations to block out any of the QAM channels which are also available OTA. Rather than try and explain all of that to a moron CS rep, I think I'm just going to get an antenna so I don't have to deal with the re-mapping of channels every few months. FWIW, I'm pretty happy so far with DirecTV. I realize there are pros and cons so no need to start a debate about which service is better, but for my situation I'm saving a lot of money compared to Comcast and I get almost twice as many HD channels (and NO, on-demand doesn't count!).

 

[tedbragg]

I gave Comcast a call today. Told them about not being able to pickup HD or SD digital locals now. He did some digging, came back a few minutes later and 1) gave me a CREDIT to my bill (!!!) and 2) arranged to send a tech out to the apt. complex to remove the filters affecting us. Apparently, they used the wrong ones that block out that range of cQAM.


Local HD channels are still being transmitted unencrypted -- there's no plan to lock them down from the head-end. If you cannot pickup locals anymore, it's a simple filter issue. They're putting them in as a measure to stop signal theft.


If you call Comcast, be patient and assume the person on the other end has already had a hell of a day. Be their bright spot. Of course, if you get ahold of a butt-head -- well, then...y'know. Call back later, get somebody else.


The tech comes out Wednesday. We'll see what happens then.

 

[justabaldguy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by tedbragg /forum/post/19252938


The tech comes out Wednesday. We'll see what happens then.

Let me know what you find out. Where around Houston do you live?

 

[RobertWy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by jokah Following a re-scan tonight, this is my HD lineup (Greenway Plaza): 70-608 PBS 70-613 ABC 71-605 CW 71-612 NBC 72-604 KTXH 74-609 FOX 74-611 CBS

My rescan found these channels in Bellaire. I'm working on a spreadsheet of the active channels I get with my Premier Pack. I haven't ID'd all of them yet.

 

Bellaire_QAM_Dynex.pdf 25.30859375k . file

 

[treydismukes]

Have you guys in Humble/Atascocita found an antenna that works well? I tried for years to go with an antenna rather than ClearQAM, but none of them ever worked well enough.