Official Comcast CableCard Thread!

[johnnylundy]

Yep. The Comcast Customer Service is 100% useless, as are their installers/techs.

They should fire the whole bunch and save us some money.

The only time that I actually got a problem or issue remedied correctly was after contacting the regional VP or one of the area managers.

The management seems to be completely unaware of how incompetent their techs are.

[BobB]

Originally Posted by pnwn21

Thanks. Can I just keep the HD cable box and use it with the HD Tivo (not series 3) or do I HAVE to use a cable card?

You need to swap it out for a cablecard, the HD TiVO has no way to tell the cable box to change channels so it can select programs to record. But that should save you money in the long run, since there is a higher charge for a cablebox than for an M card, especially if it's the only Comcast-provided tuning device in your house.

[oldradio99]

I am not as eloquent as most here but my hatred of Comcast is equal to none.

I have been a Comcast customer for as long as they have owned AT&T Cable in my area (before AT&T got into TV). My only reason was we did not like a satellite dish on our house and I needed the high speed internet connectivity. I cannot obtain reliable DSL as I am 12,000 feet from the CO.

My current tale of woe. I decided to upgrade my entertainment system and purchased a TIVO HD box. Was told by Comcast I could pick up the cable card at the local sales office. Went there and found out they moved. But of the course the telephone rep had given me the old address.

Went to the new address and was told cable cards must be installed by a technician. The only good thing was that they waived the install fee.

First technician came and cards were activated in a relatively short period of time (under 1 hour) but he left before all channels were synced. Called the number he gave me for his supervisor 3 hours later and two more technicians came to the house. Seems the signal at the PED (sp?) (the post on my back yard) had a weak signal. These technicians were not authorized to work on the signal before the pole so was told would take 2-3 days.

Three days later, still no HD channels so called again. New technician came out. Says signal at post now good but problem with my wiring. He did replace some splitters but he did want to sell me an amplifier for $75. These are the same ones that Best Buy has for $30. Nice mark up Comcast.

So after 3 trips, I finally had a decent signal and thought all was well.

Then I received my bill. I am being charged $1.50 for the cable card. Two hours of phone calls and chat room discussions with Comcast has yielded that they do not charge for the first cable card but they consider an M card two cards and therefore charge the $1.50 for an extra card. Plus Chicago area only installs M Cards.

Now $1.50 is not much and they are not charging me for a cable box which I still have but take that $1.50 times 1 million Chicagoland customers.

The most frustrating part of all of this is that their customer service reps do not know diddly squat. Talk to 4 and get 4 answers. I also swear their chat rooms are managed overseas as all those reps can do is quote prescripted text form a book of answers. And now every conversation they ask “How do you feel today?”. Told them I was pissed and crappy and it made no difference. I do not think they even read what you type.

So bottom line is

1. Service is crappy
2. Customer Service is crappy
3. They do everything they can to screw the consumer
4. And they really do not care.


In conclusion, comcastmustdie

[KraziJoe]

Originally Posted by TroyGoode

Okay, good news for the Arlington people! I know today is supposed to be the day they get the cards in, but I actually had a Comcast technician show up on Saturday with an M card. Thankfully it worked fine and he was out the door 30 minutes later.

Just in case anyone else continues to have an issue with not getting the cards, here is the trick: We called Comcast's Executive Office # after finding it earlier in this thread (215-665-1700) on Friday afternoon. After weeks of being jerked around and still not being promised cable cards, the executive office was able to have my TiVoHD up and running in less than 24 hours.

I've learned my lesson. Any problems I have with Comcast from now on are going straight to the top. :-)

That is my next step. I called today and got an install for tomorrow afternoon. Lets hope it will happen!

[hoyatables]

Originally Posted by KraziJoe

That is my next step. I called today and got an install for tomorrow afternoon. Lets hope it will happen!

I just called the Executive number as well. The rep couldn't have been more understanding. With any luck I'll get some resolution. Thanks for sharing that number!

[grandroyal]

Well, this forum is my last shot at getting my tivo to work with comcast out of pittsburgh PA. Sorry if i leave out any information, ill do my best to provide the details.

Problem: "Pixalation" or "Tiling" as comcast called it. Happens on both cards, however on CC #2 it happens so bad that the stations are unwatchable, especially my HD and higher channels. In addition that prevents me from being able to record and watch at the same time - it records with CC #1 (i think) and uses CC #2 to allow me to watch while recording hence the problem.

Goal: To have CC1 and CC2 working with little to no tiling while being able to view/record HD television.

Backround: I got the tivo and unpacked it to learn that i needed these cable cards. Quick call to comcast and 3 days later a tech arrived and installed the cards quickly and left. Well, being pretty green towards the tivo i assumed he knew what he was doing and when he left the job would be done (yes, i know some of you are laughing out loud).

Well, that didnt work, the problem listed below has been around for 2 weeks now.

Comcast made a return 3 days after that with a tech who didnt know what he was doing either so he called another tech "who had a better backround" with cable cards and he came. They fussed around with the tivo menus and checked the signal (100%). Made sure the host numbers were present/correct. Called comcast home and activated them. Still the same problem. So after 2 techs spent 3 hours on my tivo they left scratching their heads. Told me to get a hold of tivo and then call them back.

Well the truth is.. Its not the tivo.. Its either they set them up incorrectly or the cable cards are faulty.

Now my questions:

1: If the signals are to strong could that cause "tiling" and if so how can this be fixed.
2: Is there a site/area i can look for instructions for a complete installation guide for cable cards from start to finish?
3: How do i know if my cable cards are multi stream or single stream, and which slots to which ones go? If i have a multistream do i need still need the aditional single stream? Or is it standered to use two single streams.
4: Could an MCard be a possible solution? Are they available in the comcast pittsburgh area?
5: Am i fighting a battle that cant be won?

Off topic/Off thread: Does the tivo wireless adapter able to connect to a WPA enabled wireless security?

Thanks for your help guys, ill be in this thread avidly to add additional information.

[Jon65]

Originally Posted by Jon65

Here's my sad story. Add it to the pile. I'm looking for suggestions as to what my next move should be.

I've had my tivo-hd and comcast with two s-cards working since October. However, when I tried to get the billing adjusted for the second outlet fee, it ended with the CSR removing the second outlet, and my second cablecard along with it. So, adding back the outlet restored the card. All was well.

Then, Comcast added new HD channels: FoodHD and TBSHD. Now, cable card 1 receives them all, but cable card 2 does not receive the new channels. That was a couple months ago, and I've been living with it mainly because I didn't have time to deal with the situation.

Comcast recently added SciFi HD and a couple others. So, I called today to try to get this resolved. First CSR was clueless, but tried. Problem was she deauthorized both my cablecards!!!! Now I have basic channels but nothing else. Then I get disconnected. Call back yields a more clueless, but more helpful CSR that eventually takes my card and host ID numbers to pass along. She was supposed to call me back, but did not. Third time I lose the CSR roulette and get the angry woman who doesn't even want to talk to me, hates cable cards, and want to send the technician out, on my tab. I decline and she spits out that she is noting I declined on my account. OK.

So, here I am. At this point I'm thinking the only way I can get the card info to the folks that need it is to relent and let the tech come out and read the numbers.

What's my best move at this point?

I'm located in Carroll County, MD

Thanks for helping, and for listening. :-)

Jon

Update: Truck roll is scheduled for Saturday. Do I need to treat this as an initial install for the tivo, i.e. pulling each cable card and authorizing separately? Or can the tech just call in the numbers and get them entered?

Thanks!

Jon

[Gregor]

Originally Posted by Jon65

Update: Truck roll is scheduled for Saturday. Do I need to treat this as an initial install for the tivo, i.e. pulling each cable card and authorizing separately? Or can the tech just call in the numbers and get them entered?

Thanks!

Jon

The tech should just be able to call in the numbers. However, when my cards lost their channels, they replaced the cards.

[ninjadvr]

Originally Posted by grandroyal

Now my questions:

1: If the signals are to strong could that cause "tiling" and if so how can this be fixed.
2: Is there a site/area i can look for instructions for a complete installation guide for cable cards from start to finish?
3: How do i know if my cable cards are multi stream or single stream, and which slots to which ones go? If i have a multistream do i need still need the aditional single stream? Or is it standered to use two single streams.
4: Could an MCard be a possible solution? Are they available in the comcast pittsburgh area?
5: Am i fighting a battle that cant be won?

Off topic/Off thread: Does the tivo wireless adapter able to connect to a WPA enabled wireless security?

Thanks for your help guys, ill be in this thread avidly to add additional information.

Possible answers:
1. If, and it's a big if since I've not known comcast to have particularly strong signals - in my building the problem is opposite and I occasionally get tiling/pix. A suggestion of one of the websites is "Signal Strength Attenuator Pads Mix Bag" from smarthome dot com slash 7800 dot html (if the website doesn't post): http://www.smarthome.com/7800.html

From the text:
- Eliminate auto buzzing on some channels
- Fixes the problem of having too much signal strength

Install in-line with coax cable and reduce signal strength by rated amount. Try different combinations until you get the best picture quality. Use to balance signal strength from different sources.

2. Suggest doing a little research first before posting, but it is on the tivo website support section: go to tivo dot come, setup & support, then "HD and CableCard" - pick the one that matches you, i.e. series3 installation, or TivoHD installation, etc. I don't think you indicate which box you have.

3. I don't know how to tell the difference between S-type (singlestream) and M-type (multistream) apart from asking the techs. What I understand from previous posts is if you have a series3, as long as you have two of either (x2 "S" or x2 "M" CableCards), it will work. If you have the cheaper TivoHD, one M-type calblecard will work.

4. See 3. above. No idea about Pittsburgh, but S-type are older, so depends if they are starting to use only M-type cablecards.

5. Optimism....keep at 'em, hard to fathom, but eventually comcast will give in.

Good luck! Anyone else wiser that can correct any answers, feel free!

Tivo wirelss adapter: I can't see why it wouldn't work with WPA, but I'll let you know in a few days when I test it myself.

[mchief]

I have been using the Tivo Wireless Adapter with WPA for more than a year without a problem.

[BanditWS6]

Using WPA on my TiVo wireless adapter also, no problems here either.

[KraziJoe]

Originally Posted by KraziJoe

That is my next step. I called today and got an install for tomorrow afternoon. Lets hope it will happen!

No Tech, No Call.
I call and wait for a reply...
They called back 30 minutes later and state that they are out of Cards and the tech forgot to call me.
I go up one side and down the other of the Manager. What good does it do? None what so ever.
They say Feb1 they will have the new cards. I have an appt for Feb 1. I am still going to call the executive number tomorrow because this is ridiculous.

I've been with Comcast since they came to the region about 10 years ago and spend $200 a month for all of their "Services" and they can't get me a freaking Cable Card?
Now I am all PO'd and the cats and wife are staying away from me...ARGH!!!

[oly]

I live in the Portland, OR area. At the end of December we decided to bite the bullet and upgrade our entertainment systems. As part of this upgrade we purchased two home theater series 3 HD Tivos. Once I had made the purchase I contacted Comcast to determine which package we were interested in purchasing and what our monthly service fee would be. In our area, until March 31st, Comcast is offering a $39 a month Digital Preferred Special including HBO (after the first three months the cost jumps to $65.84 a month plus $15.99 a month for HBO). The CSR told me I could not receive this special since I was currently paying more for our expanded basic cable. After getting no where with her and being told my expenses would increase to over $100 a month I finally ended the call and then went ahead and booked the cable card install on the internet (at the special price). Booking via the internet brings you to a Live Chat session at the end. I very specifically informed the CSR that I would need four cable cards for two different machines. He told me that was noted in my work order and then abruptly ended my live chat session before I had had all of my questions. Two weeks later I contacted Comcast by phone only to discover that they had me down for an install, but not for cable cards. After spending about an hour on the phone with this CSR I was informed that my order was all set to go for today (January 23rd) and it would actually cost me less than what I expected. She was actually very helpful and I felt fairly positive that the installer would show up with at least four cards.

However, having read through the 160+ pages of complaints I was not looking forward to this visit. Even though our HD TVs will not arrive until next week, I had plugged in our new Tivos, had run guided set-up and everything has been working for about two weeks. When the installer arrived today, on-time, I asked her if she would like to use the instructions I had printed off from the Tivo website. She said she would really appreciate that since this was only her second cable card install with a Tivo. I read the instructions to her and we went through step by step. We did run into a little glitch with the first card - we found out she had to call in the serial number first (before installing the card). It did take several minutes for the Host / Data screen to appear, but then everything went smoothly. She was told to call back once the host / data screen came up but then the "office tech" remained on the phone with her through the installation of all four cards. Both the installer and office tech thought that I only needed two cards, but I insisted that I needed all four (even though they are M-cards). We discussed the fact that sometimes the cards do not work so she had actually brought along two spare cards.

I have re-run guided set-up and currently everything looks great on both systems. I still have the cable split directly to the TV too so I can receive the expanded basic channels on the TV, providing me with a third tuner for the lower channels (until we go all digital at the end of the year).

I am being charged $1.79 per month for the second cable card in each unit. I am also being charged $6.99 for an additional outlet fee. These costs were expected and well explained to me by the CSR I talked with earlier this month.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will continue to work well and my bill will be correct. However at this point I feel very pleased with my installation experience.

[dawgdaes]

They tried to pull that crap on me in the detroit area. Had the appointment for a week. 30 minutes before the guys leaves me a message on my cell that he does not have any cards. I called him back and told him to go to another office and get some. Luckily his boss was aware and intervened and found some.

Originally Posted by KraziJoe

No Tech, No Call.
I call and wait for a reply...
They called back 30 minutes later and state that they are out of Cards and the tech forgot to call me.
I go up one side and down the other of the Manager. What good does it do? None what so ever.
They say Feb1 they will have the new cards. I have an appt for Feb 1. I am still going to call the executive number tomorrow because this is ridiculous.

I've been with Comcast since they came to the region about 10 years ago and spend $200 a month for all of their "Services" and they can't get me a freaking Cable Card?
Now I am all PO'd and the cats and wife are staying away from me...ARGH!!!

[dwit]

Originally Posted by oly

I live in the Portland, OR area. At the end of December we decided to bite the bullet and upgrade our entertainment systems. As part of this upgrade we purchased two home theater series 3 HD Tivos. Once I had made the purchase I contacted Comcast to determine which package we were interested in purchasing and what our monthly service fee would be. In our area, until March 31st, Comcast is offering a $39 a month Digital Preferred Special including HBO (after the first three months the cost jumps to $65.84 a month plus $15.99 a month for HBO). The CSR told me I could not receive this special since I was currently paying more for our expanded basic cable. After getting no where with her and being told my expenses would increase to over $100 a month I finally ended the call and then went ahead and booked the cable card install on the internet (at the special price). Booking via the internet brings you to a Live Chat session at the end. I very specifically informed the CSR that I would need four cable cards for two different machines. He told me that was noted in my work order and then abruptly ended my live chat session before I had had all of my questions. Two weeks later I contacted Comcast by phone only to discover that they had me down for an install, but not for cable cards. After spending about an hour on the phone with this CSR I was informed that my order was all set to go for today (January 23rd) and it would actually cost me less than what I expected. She was actually very helpful and I felt fairly positive that the installer would show up with at least four cards.

However, having read through the 160+ pages of complaints I was not looking forward to this visit. Even though our HD TVs will not arrive until next week, I had plugged in our new Tivos, had run guided set-up and everything has been working for about two weeks. When the installer arrived today, on-time, I asked her if she would like to use the instructions I had printed off from the Tivo website. She said she would really appreciate that since this was only her second cable card install with a Tivo. I read the instructions to her and we went through step by step. We did run into a little glitch with the first card - we found out she had to call in the serial number first (before installing the card). It did take several minutes for the Host / Data screen to appear, but then everything went smoothly. She was told to call back once the host / data screen came up but then the "office tech" remained on the phone with her through the installation of all four cards. Both the installer and office tech thought that I only needed two cards, but I insisted that I needed all four (even though they are M-cards). We discussed the fact that sometimes the cards do not work so she had actually brought along two spare cards.

I have re-run guided set-up and currently everything looks great on both systems. I still have the cable split directly to the TV too so I can receive the expanded basic channels on the TV, providing me with a third tuner for the lower channels (until we go all digital at the end of the year).

I am being charged $1.79 per month for the second cable card in each unit. I am also being charged $6.99 for an additional outlet fee. These costs were expected and well explained to me by the CSR I talked with earlier this month.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that everything will continue to work well and my bill will be correct. However at this point I feel very pleased with my installation experience.

Why did you insist on 2 M-cards in each Tivo HD unit? Only one each is necessary.

[KraziJoe]

Originally Posted by dawgdaes

They tried to pull that crap on me in the detroit area. Had the appointment for a week. 30 minutes before the guys leaves me a message on my cell that he does not have any cards. I called him back and told him to go to another office and get some. Luckily his boss was aware and intervened and found some.

Supposedly I talked to the techs boss and he confirmed there are none.
It really sucks that people a few towns over can get them and yet I cannot in my zone...I really wish I could get FIOS or D*

[wizzy]

Originally Posted by oldradio99

Then I received my bill. I am being charged $1.50 for the cable card. Two hours of phone calls and chat room discussions with Comcast has yielded that they do not charge for the first cable card but they consider an M card two cards and therefore charge the $1.50 for an extra card. Plus Chicago area only installs M Cards.

It's probably a case of YMMV, but I'm in Chicago, have a M-card, and am not paying anything for it.

[ninjadvr]

Originally Posted by dwit

Why did you insist on 2 M-cards in each Tivo HD unit? Only one each is necessary.

I believe he said he has two series 3 boxes, therefore, two cards per unit is necessary. It's only the Tivo HD (cheaper unit) that can work with one M card.

[dwit]

Originally Posted by ninjadvr

I believe he said he has two series 3 boxes, therefore, two cards per unit is necessary. It's only the Tivo HD (cheaper unit) that can work with one M card.

You're right. Thanks.

[kizer_soce]

First off, thanks for all who have shared their stories and advice on this forum. It's been a great help and I sympathize with those who had trouble.
After years of successful service from my hacked DirecTivo, a tree is growing in the way of my dish. So, I decided to finally go back to cable but there was no way I was using their DVR...Hello Series 3.

I was skeptical after reading all the horror stories, but I called Comcast to add cable to my package (already an internet customer) and the CSR was actually nice and seemed to know what she was talking about. She looked up what specials they were currently running and I went with the Digital Preferred for $48/mo for 6 mo. I also told her that it would be a Tivo Series 3 install and would need 2 cable cards. She said no problem it would be an extra $1.50/mo. I made sure with her that I was getting 2 cable cards and she referred to it as the "Tivo pack" and it came with 2 cable cards. I scheduled the appointment for a few days later. After I got off the phone I was thinking to myself "it can't be that easy".

The morning of the appointment arrived and the Tech was right on time. I asked him if he'd ever done a Tivo install before and he said no. I was then kind of worried. First he went out and checked my line and removed the filter and verified that my service was set up for my new cable service. I handed him the instructions but he jumped the gun a little and unplugged the Tivo to install the cards. He then read a little more and realized that the Tivo needed to be on. We then had to wait for the Tivo to boot up. After that he inserted the first S-card and the diagnostic screen came up. I was really surprised and happy when he used his 2-way direct connect phone and contacted the Service Tech directly, no waiting on hold! He communicated instantly reading the numbers. The Service Tech hit the first card and in a couple minutes the test channels came in. We then went on to the second S-card and nothing happened. It looked to be a bad card. He then pulled out an M-card and we repeated the steps and this one worked as well. Even though it was the Tech's first Tivo install, he seemed to be competent and even resisted the urge to try both cards at the same time. The whole appointment took about an hour.

Wow, that was pretty painless. I now have a working Series 3 with 1 S-card and 1 M-card. Man I love Tivo and in HD nonetheless.

[Newbie]

I'm in the seattle area with comcast basic cable.
I discovered channel 110 KYMQDT has disappeared. A blue caption says looking for signal.

However, using a SD comcast cable box I can hear channel 110. On tivo3 I also get channel 109 and 111, and also channel 10 (KYMQ SD).

I rebooted tivo3 but no help. I called comcast and they sent two signals one each to my cablecard. I received the signals, but didn't fix the problem.

So they scheduled a tech to visit me. I'm wonder if anyone has seen this and knows the solution. I'm not 100% confident with their tech support.

[funseeker22]

Just wanted to post my nightmare experience, and affirm that Comcast incompetency is alive & well in the Boston area.

Just an update - the 2nd tech DID come last Saturday, as promised, and successfully installed two M-cards into my two TivoHD's. The kicker this time - he was a contractor too! The first contractor jamoke who claimed he 'couldn't do the Tivo install' was really screwed up. So it's like playing the slots - you never know how you'll make out.

I did get a follow-up call from the Comcast manager who arranged the rescheduled appointment (and provided me the inconvenience billing credits), after the tech was gone to make sure all went OK. So, she was good (yet it's still sad that it took a manager in order to get the job done).

The M-card installs did take awhile (40mins or so), because the tech was on-hold for a longtime w/HQ, waiting to do the pairings.

Now that Comcast is out of the picture, it's on to other dealings. Generally, so far so good. BUT we have been victims of the 'Grey/Black Screen of Death' numerous times. Hate to say it, but as bad as the Comcast DVR was, it didn't duplicate this horrendous behavior.....

[oldradio99]

Originally Posted by Newbie

I'm in the seattle area with comcast basic cable.
I discovered channel 110 KYMQDT has disappeared. A blue caption says looking for signal.

However, using a SD comcast cable box I can hear channel 110. On tivo3 I also get channel 109 and 111, and also channel 10 (KYMQ SD).

I rebooted tivo3 but no help. I called comcast and they sent two signals one each to my cablecard. I received the signals, but didn't fix the problem.

So they scheduled a tech to visit me. I'm wonder if anyone has seen this and knows the solution. I'm not 100% confident with their tech support.

Each channel is on a different POD and I suspect 110 POD is bad

There are other channels on that POD that you may not subscribe to so you dont know

Ask the tech to check signal strength of the channels on that POD

[RS4]

Originally Posted by kizer_soce

First off, thanks for all who have shared their stories and advice on this forum. It's been a great help and I sympathize with those who had trouble.
After years of successful service from my hacked DirecTivo, a tree is growing in the way of my dish. So, I decided to finally go back to cable but there was no way I was using their DVR...Hello Series 3.

I was skeptical after reading all the horror stories, but I called Comcast to add cable to my package (already an internet customer) and the CSR was actually nice and seemed to know what she was talking about. She looked up what specials they were currently running and I went with the Digital Preferred for $48/mo for 6 mo. I also told her that it would be a Tivo Series 3 install and would need 2 cable cards. She said no problem it would be an extra $1.50/mo. I made sure with her that I was getting 2 cable cards and she referred to it as the "Tivo pack" and it came with 2 cable cards. I scheduled the appointment for a few days later. After I got off the phone I was thinking to myself "it can't be that easy".

The morning of the appointment arrived and the Tech was right on time. I asked him if he'd ever done a Tivo install before and he said no. I was then kind of worried. First he went out and checked my line and removed the filter and verified that my service was set up for my new cable service. I handed him the instructions but he jumped the gun a little and unplugged the Tivo to install the cards. He then read a little more and realized that the Tivo needed to be on. We then had to wait for the Tivo to boot up. After that he inserted the first S-card and the diagnostic screen came up. I was really surprised and happy when he used his 2-way direct connect phone and contacted the Service Tech directly, no waiting on hold! He communicated instantly reading the numbers. The Service Tech hit the first card and in a couple minutes the test channels came in. We then went on to the second S-card and nothing happened. It looked to be a bad card. He then pulled out an M-card and we repeated the steps and this one worked as well. Even though it was the Tech's first Tivo install, he seemed to be competent and even resisted the urge to try both cards at the same time. The whole appointment took about an hour.

Wow, that was pretty painless. I now have a working Series 3 with 1 S-card and 1 M-card. Man I love Tivo and in HD nonetheless.

I had quite a similar experience in Indy - used Comcast for internet only, being a long-time DirecTV customer. I got upset with DirecTV because of not supporting Tivo any longer and because there is a 2-yr commitment just to try out their box.

I called Comcast on Tuesday to find out what the packages were and with the help of the CSR, found one. I made an appointment for Wed pm. Tues evening, Comcast called to confirm the appt. Wed pm, they called back to re-confirm and let me know the trucks were rolling. Two guys showed up, fixed some cabling, installed the M card in the Tivo HD and were gone within the hour. It was the first time for a Tivo install for both of them, but once they verified the cabling was working properly, installing the Mcard went very quickly.

I was totally impressed with the Comcast service and with how good the video looks compared to my DTivos. Years ago, I had bad results with Comcast, but it seems things have changed here. With a lot of help from other members of this forum, I got my DD5.1 working with my receiver and I now have gotten a second Tivo HD and am looking forward to trying MRV. I'm just amazed at how much better I like the Tivo HD compared to the DTivos.

[illthreat]

I recently discovered the clear QAM channels on my Mitsu DLP. Most excellent!

After this discovery, I decided to upgraded to the Tivo HD.

I have Comcast coming out on Monday for the CC install. In the meantime, I figured I'd try and pull in the clear QAM channels I received when coax is directly on the TV, on the Tivo.

I ran a channel scan- nada.. Tried reseting, etc.. I end up with a few QAM mapped to channel 0?? But, still not all of the clear QAM channels I had when I simply had the coax directly to the TV.

Tried to manually enter the QAM channel on the Tivo HD, ie: 33-1 Doesn't work.
Put a coax directly to the TV and manually enter 33-1- works perfect..

Any ideas?
QAM tuners not the same? (Tivo HD XXX_XX format vs. the TV XXX_XXXX format??)
Signal strength not strong enough for Tivo HD but okay enough for the QAM tuner in the TV?


Thanks !!!! Sorry if this is off-topic! I'm sure it will all work fine when I get the CC installed.. Just wondering why I cannot pull in the same stations with the TivoHD as I can when directly working with the TV.

[CrispyCritter]

Originally Posted by illthreat

I recently discovered the clear QAM channels on my Mitsu DLP. Most excellent!

After this discovery, I decided to upgraded to the Tivo HD.

I have Comcast coming out on Monday for the CC install. In the meantime, I figured I'd try and pull in the clear QAM channels I received when coax is directly on the TV, on the Tivo.

I ran a channel scan- nada.. Tried reseting, etc.. I end up with a few QAM mapped to channel 0?? But, still not all of the clear QAM channels I had when I simply had the coax directly to the TV.

Tried to manually enter the QAM channel on the Tivo HD, ie: 33-1 Doesn't work.
Put a coax directly to the TV and manually enter 33-1- works perfect..

Any ideas?
QAM tuners not the same? (Tivo HD XXX_XX format vs. the TV XXX_XXXX format??)
Signal strength not strong enough for Tivo HD but okay enough for the QAM tuner in the TV?


Thanks !!!! Sorry if this is off-topic! I'm sure it will all work fine when I get the CC installed.. Just wondering why I cannot pull in the same stations with the TivoHD as I can when directly working with the TV.

Lot's of people seem to be encountering this all of a sudden. Here's a post of mine from a couple of days ago. In short, the TiVo tunes well with good PSIP data, but doesn't handle bad data as well as some TVs.

[illthreat]

Originally Posted by CrispyCritter

Lot's of people seem to be encountering this all of a sudden. Here's a post of mine from a couple of days ago. In short, the TiVo tunes well with good PSIP data, but doesn't handle bad data as well as some TVs.

Very interesting- thank you!

[ninjadvr]

Originally Posted by TroyGoode

Okay, good news for the Arlington people! I know today is supposed to be the day they get the cards in, but I actually had a Comcast technician show up on Saturday with an M card. Thankfully it worked fine and he was out the door 30 minutes later.

Just in case anyone else continues to have an issue with not getting the cards, here is the trick: We called Comcast's Executive Office # after finding it earlier in this thread (215-665-1700) on Friday afternoon. After weeks of being jerked around and still not being promised cable cards, the executive office was able to have my TiVoHD up and running in less than 24 hours.

I've learned my lesson. Any problems I have with Comcast from now on are going straight to the top. :-)

How did all my fellow Arlington VA tivo folks get on with getting CableCards installed?

I just called again (Friday afternoon) and was told that the local warehouse is still out but the new date is February 6th (Wednesday). She wouldn't make an appointment and said I could call back on the 31st to schedule an installation. She said they only have M-cards, but understood when I said I had a series3 and needed two. She also said that they do have experienced technicians for Arlington since they've had many requests since the holidays. I did try calling that comcast corporate number just now but it went to an anonymous voicemail so no luck with that yet. It sounds like we have a bit of a fight on our hands to get these cards.

[KraziJoe]

Originally Posted by ninjadvr

How did all my fellow Arlington VA tivo folks get on with getting CableCards installed?

I just called again (Friday afternoon) and was told that the local warehouse is still out but the new date is February 6th (Wednesday). She wouldn't make an appointment and said I could call back on the 31st to schedule an installation. She said they only have M-cards, but understood when I said I had a series3 and needed two. She also said that they do have experienced technicians for Arlington since they've had many requests since the holidays. I did try calling that comcast corporate number just now but it went to an anonymous voicemail so no luck with that yet. It sounds like we have a bit of a fight on our hands to get these cards.

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/sho...55#post5906055

[ninjadvr]

Originally Posted by KraziJoe

http://tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/sho...55#post5906055

I click on this but it leads to this same page. I did read everyone's post from Arlington VA, but was wondering if there was an update. Based on my call today they are out of cartds till Feb. 6th.