Can I take out my cablecards?

[TerpBE]

I just got my S3 yesterday, and did the setup using the basic cable input. I got a lot of "in between" channels, like 71.3, etc. I've heard that some cable systems use these for the ondemand shows, so if you're lucky and have good timing you might get to see an ondemand movie for free.

Today I had my cablecards installed. It took a little work, but eventually I got everything up and running. But, with the cablecards installed, you can't tune to the "in between" channels.

So I was wondering, could I take the cablecards out temporarily just to play around with the Tivo tuner, or will that screw up my cablecards when I plug them back in? I'd like to see what I can do without the cablecards plugged in, but not if I'm going to have to have them reactivate them once I plug them in. I just want to play around with the Tivo to see what it can do.

[jbell73]

My HDTV that is CATV ready tunes to ABC/FOX/NBC HD channels on the sub channels. If 2 = CBS then 2.1 = CBSHD, same for the other HD supported channels.

I don't think you'll get anything for free, but I may be wrong.

-Jeff

[MichaelK]

I wouldn't mess unless you have time to experiment and call your cable compnay to fix it if need be.

There's a thread here somplace (i dont see it now) titled something like "are cablecards tied to the HD".

Speculation seems to be that some versions of harware/software on some cable systems generate a new "data" pairing # each time the cards are inserted. If your cards do that and your provider used the "data" number then unplugging them could lead to trouble.

Chances are it wont affect you, but if you are one of the rare unlucky one's then pulling the cards could hose your digital cable.

[JimPa]

If you remove and then put them back into your S3, you'll have to call your cable company to have them reauthorize them as some of the info on the pairing screen changes.

Not a good idea to do this.

[MichaelK]

If you remove and then put them back into your S3, you'll have to call your cable company to have them reauthorize them as some of the info on the pairing screen changes.

Not a good idea to do this.


just to be clear- this is not ALWAYS the case- but frequently is. Some folks particularly on some comcast systems have reported they can move cards around never mind in and out of the S3 but also between devices. Seems that some older moto headend firmware versions dont bother with the DATA number to auth the cards. If folks are lucky enough to be on such a system then in theory it's no problem. B

ut for many folks the DATA value on the pairing screen could change and those folks would get hosed.

[PhantomDilbert]

I was able to pull the cable card out of my Samsung TV and put it into the Series 3 tivo, worked fine. On Comcast bay area. But as said previously, YMMV....

[btwyx]

I was able to pull the cards out, scan all the QAM channel to see what's there, then put the cards back and have them work without talking to Comcast about it. I did guided setups on pulling them and on putting them back.

I can't see why pulling and putting them back would need a call to the cable company, its basically the same as pulling the plug on the TiVo from the card's point of view.