Time Warner Cincinnati SDV Tuning Adapter

gamo62 · 02-02-2009, 02:12 PM

Please post your hits and misses with the Cincinnati area TWC regarding the SDV Tuning Adapter. I have signed up, but no one here seems to know what it is. Anyone out there in this area have any luck?

derspiess · 02-02-2009, 05:42 PM

Yeah, I haven't spoken with anyone yet at TWC who has an idea what a tuning adapter is, or even what SDV is.

But check the latest post in this thread: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb...ght=cincinnati

gamo62 · 02-13-2009, 06:46 PM

I got a call from TWC, and was told that I could pick up the TA or have it shipped. the closest to me was either Eastgate mall or the Dayton mall. I decied to have it sent.

I got a letter from TWC that states on February 25th, we will implement SDC. Good thing they are getting these out to the people before the 25th.

dolfer · 02-17-2009, 10:07 AM

gamo... I still keep getting the "We are testing it" email! Did you actually receive a tuning adapter or not? And are you in Cincinnati or Dayton?

I live relatively close to Eastgate and would get one in a second if they actually had it.

derspiess · 02-17-2009, 11:19 AM

We got a letter Saturday with a list of channels moving to SDV (some of which I thought were already SDV). It also mentioned that the Tuning Adapter should be released to TiVo HD/S3 customers "on or about" February 11th.

I may try calling again; I'm half tempted to just go to the Eastgate location with the letter & ask them what's up.

dizneykev · 02-17-2009, 12:54 PM

I went to the Eastgate store yesterday and picked mine up. They have plenty in stock. The only stores that apparently have them are the Eastgate and Dayton mall stores. NEVER rely on Warner telling you when something is in. RUn, don;t walk to the Mall store and pick up your adapter before others do. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has the pixelation issues I did with the cable that came with mine.

Dizneykev

derspiess · 02-17-2009, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizneykev

I went to the Eastgate store yesterday and picked mine up. They have plenty in stock. The only stores that apparently have them are the Eastgate and Dayton mall stores. NEVER rely on Warner telling you when something is in. RUn, don;t walk to the Mall store and pick up your adapter before others do. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has the pixelation issues I did with the cable that came with mine.

Dizneykev

Thanks. That'll be my first stop once I leave work & pick up my kid from the sitter

SASouth · 02-17-2009, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizneykev

I went to the Eastgate store yesterday and picked mine up. They have plenty in stock. The only stores that apparently have them are the Eastgate and Dayton mall stores. NEVER rely on Warner telling you when something is in. RUn, don;t walk to the Mall store and pick up your adapter before others do. I would be interested to hear if anyone else has the pixelation issues I did with the cable that came with mine.

Dizneykev

I didn't have pixelation issues, but I couldn't receive 702, 707 and 708 (WDTNDT, WHIODT, and WHIODT2) on the supplied cable. Once I swapped it out the problem went away and I was able to tune them in.

dab9324 · 02-17-2009, 04:04 PM

I picked mine up on Saturday after reading the #3 post above. I have not tried to install yet. I am watching to see what may go wrong. I will evaluate the cable problem when I do the install.

gamo62 · 02-17-2009, 07:33 PM

We got ours today. Setting it up was no problem. Called the number, and hit 6. Soon after the LED went solid. There doesn't seem to be SDV here in Cincinnati at the moment. So, I will have to wait until the 25th when they start going to SDV.

derspiess · 02-17-2009, 10:22 PM

Picked mine up at Eastgate today-- fairly painless. The guy said they had given out about 10 so far.

Hooked it up about an hour ago, and it doesn't look like I'm getting all my channels yet (we did have several channels move to SDV last fall IIRC). Rebooted a couple times already & might do it once or twice more before I call it a night.

gamo62 · 02-18-2009, 02:57 AM

What channels moved to SDV? Are you here in Cinti, or up North? According to the list I received in the mail, it isn't supposed to start until the 25th. (At least here in Cinti.)

dizneykev · 02-18-2009, 09:11 AM

Gamo -

There were quite a few channels that were "added" to the system as SDV channels back in November, I believe. These channels were all HD channels and were above channel 981, I believe. Some that I know for sure that I could not tune were USAHD, AnimalPlanetHD, ESPNUHD, etc. Now, with the tuning adapter, I get all of them.

Dizneykev

bferrell · 02-18-2009, 10:33 AM

Got 5 (!) tuning adapters UPS last night in Mason, even though we told them we only need 2 (for our 2 S3 Tivos, we'll be getting rid of the card in the TV eventually)...

dab9324 · 02-18-2009, 10:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dab9324

I picked mine up on Saturday after reading the #3 post above. I have not tried to install yet. I am watching to see what may go wrong. I will evaluate the cable problem when I do the install.

I had a call from TWCable (long distance number) to explain the new SDV and to tell me they were going to send a tuning adapter. (I had requested the device online a month ago.) I told them I had already picked one up and they ended the call (rather abruptly). I have to assume the push to get the SDV rolled out in the Cincinnati market is on.

derspiess · 02-18-2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizneykev

Gamo -

There were quite a few channels that were "added" to the system as SDV channels back in November, I believe. These channels were all HD channels and were above channel 981, I believe. Some that I know for sure that I could not tune were USAHD, AnimalPlanetHD, ESPNUHD, etc. Now, with the tuning adapter, I get all of them.

Dizneykev

I'm getting just a few of the channels I didn't get before I connected the TA. After about 5 or 6 reboots of both the TivoHD and the TA, I'm starting to think there maybe an issue of some sort with my cable card. I don't get ESPNUHD (grr) and most of my channels between 100 & 199 are still not showing up.

One thing that sticks out in my mind is that the TWC rep at their Eastgate location acted confused as to whether I had a cable card or not. He finally found the completed work order for it from last year-- something tells me it isn't configured correctly.

I'll probably be on the phone with TWC for an hour or two tonight, assuming they don't just blow me off & schedule a truck roll

derspiess · 02-18-2009, 11:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gamo62

What channels moved to SDV? Are you here in Cinti, or up North? According to the list I received in the mail, it isn't supposed to start until the 25th. (At least here in Cinti.)

I'm in Anderson. We received a letter back in August (-ish) that a bunch of channels were moving to SDV, and not long after that I lost them. What's odd is that in the latest letter, it looks like some of the same channels are listed.

Mind if I ask what number you called, per your message above?

wolskinj · 02-18-2009, 02:36 PM

Went down to the East Gate location and told them that I got a letter in the mail about the tuning adapter. After a few questions, they went back and got one and I was on my way. Pretty painless (almost too easy so far).

I'll update my install outcome after I get home from work today.

urfarz · 02-18-2009, 08:27 PM

I picked up my Tuner Adaptor from the Eastgate Mall this past Sunday. However I am not getting all the channels in the Digital Tier between 101 and 150. It is hit and miss. Some are coming and some are not.

The tuner adaptor diagnostics screen is not displaying any information from TWC. Tried resetting the adaptor and Tivo couple of times. Finally TWC is sending someone out this Saturday. Hope they show up. Does anybody get information in regards to the tuner adaptor on their screen under Tuner Adaptor Diagnostics?

lafos · 02-18-2009, 08:55 PM

In Dayton, we got a call today offering to send someone out to install the TA's on our two carded tiVos at no charge. They're coming out Monday. Wonder if that change is due to issues or because they think we're not able?

derspiess · 02-18-2009, 09:18 PM

Update to my situation: it turns out someone had removed one of our tiers right about the time I turned in my 8300 box last year. Got that restored, and I'm getting all my channels now.

Glad I finally got someone to help; was frustrating as hell, though, as I had had problems going back to last September.

At any rate, I'm getting ESPN U now in beautiful HD

Oh, btw we got a voicemail today from someone from TWC reading from a script, telling us that "due to the digital transition", our cable cards "will no longer work" and that we needed to get the TA soon to ensure we don't lose any channels. I wonder if that's for cable card users without Tivos.

gamo62 · 02-18-2009, 11:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by derspiess

I'm in Anderson. We received a letter back in August (-ish) that a bunch of channels were moving to SDV, and not long after that I lost them. What's odd is that in the latest letter, it looks like some of the same channels are listed.

Mind if I ask what number you called, per your message above?

Here's the number:
513-247-5060...Option 6. If that doesn't work, then dial 513-469-1112 and select "technical support for cable TV service" option.

I hope that helps.

gamo62 · 02-19-2009, 07:36 AM

Does someone in Cincy have a current list of any SDV channels before the ones on Feb. 25th are added? Thanks.

dab9324 · 02-19-2009, 08:28 AM

I connected mine yesterday but it hosed all of my local cannels, lower, and most of my HD channels. The local HD (900's) would not work but some USA HD did work. I disconnected the device and will wait to F/U with TWCinti when the dust settles. (Just not up to it for now.) Bounced both devices several times, but it did not help. Is a call to TWC required to get it working?

dizneykev · 02-19-2009, 10:22 AM

I think the biggest problem is with the crappy patch cable they put in the box. I have seen quite a few people post that this cable was a big issue. I replaced the cable and all my problems went away. Luckily, every time I have a truck roll to my house, I make them make me a patch cable or 2 so I always have a good one laying around. Never know when you are going to want to add a new TV somewhere.

Dizneykev

webhead · 02-19-2009, 11:01 AM

Ok, so I have had similar experience thus far. Received the letter and then received the phone call. I told the caller that I would pick up the TA at the Eastgate store. When I arrived they told me I have to swap the CableCard for the TA. Is that the case? They told me nothing like that on the phone.

Do I keep the CableCard installed in the Tivo or do I really trade it for the Tuning Adapter? I am reluctant to hand over the CableCard until I know the TA works.

Thanks.

derspiess · 02-19-2009, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dizneykev

I think the biggest problem is with the crappy patch cable they put in the box. I have seen quite a few people post that this cable was a big issue. I replaced the cable and all my problems went away. Luckily, every time I have a truck roll to my house, I make them make me a patch cable or 2 so I always have a good one laying around. Never know when you are going to want to add a new TV somewhere.

Dizneykev

I already had the the cable split, so I didn't even take their patch cable out of the box. I knew it looked pretty cheap; glad I didn't bother using it.

derspiess · 02-19-2009, 12:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by webhead

Ok, so I have had similar experience thus far. Received the letter and then received the phone call. I told the caller that I would pick up the TA at the Eastgate store. When I arrived they told me I have to swap the CableCard for the TA. Is that the case? They told me nothing like that on the phone.

Do I keep the CableCard installed in the Tivo or do I really trade it for the Tuning Adapter? I am reluctant to hand over the CableCard until I know the TA works.

Thanks.

DEFINITELY keep your cable card. I think TWC Cincy is getting their wires crossed as to how this will affect TivoHD users vs. how it will affect people with other cable-card devices.

The guy I spoke with on the phone last night, who was generally pretty knowledgeable, got tripped up on that himself until he realized I had a Tivo. I confirmed with him that we need *both* the cable card *and* the tuning adapter.

realityboy · 02-19-2009, 06:40 PM

I'm in Dayton, and I picked one up last week at the Dayton Mall store. Pretty painless. I just asked for a tuning adapter and, I was given one. I installed it that night and haven't had any problems since. The only channels in Dayton that have been in switched digital AFAIK have been a few of the new HD channels (CNN & Paladia from the first set added and all except USA and SciFi in the second group) as well as Hallmark Movies. I can get all of these fine now. I have no idea if 726 WBDT and the new WKOI and Chiller are SDV since they were added after I already had the adapter. And the ones that were supposed to move in August are finally moving on the 25th.

The only thing that I noticed was that it didn't start working until the light was on solid then I disconnected/reconnected the USB cable from the Tivo and it came up with the screen for the Tuning Adapter. Oddly a reboot of the Tivo didn't do this which was the first thing I tried.

dizneykev · 02-20-2009, 08:56 AM

I would agree that no one at Time Warner has any idea how cable cards worked. I had another service call setup yesterday to bring an M card to my house to replace my two suspect S cards. I finally got a supervisor who started to tell me about how my cable cards will stop working very soon. I spent about 5-10 minutes "educating" him on how cable cards worked, what an "S" card, "M" card and tuning adapters were and explaining to him that an "M" card had nothing to do with being 2-way devices. This seems to be the biggest point of confusion. Everyone on the phone seems to think that everyone wants to get a true 2 way device. No matter how much I explain to them what I want and how they need to deliver it, I never get through to anyone.

So far, over the last 6 weeks I have had to call Warner about 7 times to have them run diagnostics on my cards to get them both working again. (This seems to be the only tried and true way to fix my particular problem). This along with 6 failed appointments for an M card install on top of it. Each failed call, I insist that they give me my $20 great service guarantee credit, which they do. So, I have already been credited $120 over the last month and a half. I have another truck roll scheduled for today, I am sure another $20 is on its way to my account. I will keep making appointments and making them credit me until it becomes cheaper for them to fix my problem than to keep me unhappy.

Dizneykev