Tivo can't receive from Comcast DTA

westbend · 11-02-2009, 02:41 PM

I have a Series 2 single tuner (branded AT&T built by Tivo) and Comcast. Comcast in my area is switching to digital for all but (very) basic cable.
I just got a DTA (The label on it reads Thompson). The DTA only has RF out. I checked out the DTA by sending the RF directly to my TV and it works fine. As a quick check, I set my Tivo to channel 3 ( the output channel of the DTA) and hooked the DTA to it. The Tivo gives me the "Searching for signal on Basic Cable In" message. My TVs and VCRs can receive from the DTA but the Tivo can't. I added a cable amp from the DTA to the Tivo with no help. Changes to the output channel of DTA and input channel of the Tivo are also of no help.

Does anyone know why this does not work? I know some cable systems use slightly different frequencies for the channels ( google "hrc vesrse on air frequencies" ) but those don't usually cause problems.

On the plus side: By using an old VCR as an RF to composite converter (VCR to channel 3, connect the composite out of VCR to Composit in of Tivo) and running guided setup telling the Tivo I had a Comcast Digital Adapter, I am able to get the Tivo to "play nicely" with the DTA. This is a very ugly setup!

CrispyCritter · 11-02-2009, 03:05 PM

Now that you've re-run guided setup, have you gone back and tried connecting the DTA directly to the TiVo again? You really should be able to just get rid of the VCR.

Pretty much all the Comcast DTA's have RF out only, and can be connected directly to the TiVo. The key is to have already run guided setup telling the TiVo to expect a Comcast Digital Adapter (instead of whatever brand name the adapter happened to be). Make sure the TiVo tuner itself is tuned to channel 3 (not just the back of the TiVo).

westbend · 11-02-2009, 05:31 PM

How would I set the tuner for channel 3? If I use the remote to set a channel won't it just send the IR signal to the DTA? It won't affect how the Tivo is receiving the RF. Is there a screen for setting the source input and channel?

I know that going through guided setup without the VCR but telling setup everything was working did not result in a a working system. When I went to the Account and System Info screen, the source input setting is composite as opposed to "Coax RF in" (The setting with my pre-DTA setup). That seems to tell me that the Tivo is going to ignore the RF input when I use the DTA setup.

Since I still have a couple days to get this working and I want tonight's recordings, I have reverted to my pre-DTA setup. I won't be able to try again until tomorrow. (The recession has given me plenty of free time.)

CrispyCritter · 11-02-2009, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westbend

I know that going through guided setup without the VCR but telling setup everything was working did not result in a a working system. When I went to the Account and System Info screen, the source input setting is composite as opposed to "Coax RF in" (The setting with my pre-DTA setup). That seems to tell me that the Tivo is going to ignore the RF input when I use the DTA setup.

Then you need to figure out why it thinks the source input is composite. If everything had gone right with guided setup, then there is no reason for it to expect input on composite, given that the Comcast DTA (for me and thousands of others) is known by the TiVo to have coax output. Perhaps making sure that there's no composite input attached when you do guided setup will be enough.

If you don't believe that tuning to channel 3 after guided setup is done will help, then tune it before you do guided setup. It can't hurt.

gastrof · 11-02-2009, 10:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by westbend

How would I set the tuner for channel 3? If I use the remote to set a channel won't it just send the IR signal to the DTA? It won't affect how the Tivo is receiving the RF. Is there a screen for setting the source input and channel?

I know that going through guided setup without the VCR but telling setup everything was working did not result in a a working system. When I went to the Account and System Info screen, the source input setting is composite as opposed to "Coax RF in" (The setting with my pre-DTA setup). That seems to tell me that the Tivo is going to ignore the RF input when I use the DTA setup.

Since I still have a couple days to get this working and I want tonight's recordings, I have reverted to my pre-DTA setup. I won't be able to try again until tomorrow. (The recession has given me plenty of free time.)

Something's wrong with the way you're doing the setup.

When you tell the TiVo you're using a cable box, it should ask how the box is connected, either by a/v cables, or by RF. Believe if RF it'll also ask what channel (3 or 4).

Exactly what menus are you using and what are you clicking on when you start "Guided Setup"?

Walk us thru it step by step, preferably while you're doing it.

katek · 11-04-2009, 12:28 AM

I'm having the same problem and Tivo's phone support couldn't help me. I keep reading that there is supposed to be an option for "Cable with box" right at the beginning of guided setup, but there isn't. My only viable options are "Cable only" or "Antenna". I've tried both and neither one works. When I go through "Cable only", I can tell it that I have a digital box, but it expects the signal to come from the composite inputs. The option to tell it which box I'm using, btw, comes AFTER it tries to look for the input, so there's no way that it would know which input to check.
Is "Cable with box" actually supposed to be a word-for-word option at the beginning of setup? If so, does anyone have any ideas why some of us are unable to see this option? Also, does anyone know if there are signal quality issues from the DTA to Tivo Series 2 single tuners? I did have problems with my media center PC -- I had to remove the cable from my surge protector in order to get all of the channels to show up reliably, so I wonder if there is a similar issue with the Tivo.

gastrof · 11-04-2009, 05:07 AM

KATEK-

What type of TiVo do you have, EXACTLY, and what type of cable box are you trying to use with your TiVo?

westbend · 11-04-2009, 09:21 AM

I get the same options as katek when I go through guided setup.
I got my Tivo through AT&T
The model number (from back panel) is TCD130040
from the system info screen:
Brand: Comcast
Platform: Series2
Software Version: 9.3.2b.01-2-130

My DTA model is: DCI1011COM
label says "Made in China for THOMPSOM"

katek · 11-04-2009, 12:59 PM

I have the same setup as westbend -- Series 2 single tuner and a Thompson DTA. I'm just not sure about the AT&T part and I can't check now as i'm not home. The only difference for me is that I don't get the "Searching for signal on Basic Cable In" -- it will look only on the composite input. I also verified that the output from the DTA is working by using an old tv instead of going through my Tivo.

westbend · 11-04-2009, 05:09 PM

Minor clarification:
I don't get the "searching" message during guided setup.
Before I changed any thing (Tivo was set to cable only [no box]) I connected the DTA to the Tivo and set the Tivo to channel 3. I wanted to see if the Tivo would receive from the DTA. It did not. This is when I saw the "searching" message.
So it looks like there may be two problems to solve. First is getting the Tivo to use the RF input. The second is to get it receive the RF correctly.

gastrof · 11-07-2009, 03:52 AM

Guys...

I just realized...

You have to call Comcast to get the things activated. (Or so I've been told.)

I should'a thought of this... I've been delaying in doing it with the ones I got from them, because I didn't want to wait on the phone.

EDIT:
I don't mean to insult anyone's intelligence, but don't forget the thing needs to be plugged into a wall socket too. It requires power to work too, not just Comcast activation.

westbend · 11-08-2009, 10:06 AM

Reasonable thought. Both katek and I alluded to checking the DTA with a straight tv connection so I think we are good on the activation front.

deni999 · 11-15-2009, 12:55 PM

I've read thru the forums and haven't found an answer to my specific problem

I have a dual tuner series2, and it has been hooked up so that one input went thru my existing cable box and the other input went direct to the Tivo.

Comcast is now changing the signals such that channels 40-60 are no longer visible thru Tivo with this setup. If I just run the signal thru a DTA (bypassing the Tivo) - The channels are fine.

MY question is: Since I already have the cable box on one path, is it possible to set up the Tivo with the DTA (using IR) to allow the Tivo to capture those channels on the basic channel input?

Or is it possible to force Tivo to look for those channels thru the existing cable box?

Or any other suggestions?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide

jrm01 · Yesterday, 04:14 PM

You cannot have two boxes as input to TiVo. However, you can use the cablebox for the mising channels. Just go into the Channel List and change the check marks for these channels from CBL to BOX.