Channel 3 not working

On July 14 I saw a crawl saying the CBS affiliate, at Channel 3 in my area, would be dropped by Spectrum. On July 19, the 6:00 news on Channel 3 didn't record. I hadn't seen a crawl lately so I assumed the dispute had been settled. I did notice one show was recording on my Series 2. I couldn't remember whether the Season Pass was for Channel 3 or Channel 22 (I am lucky to have two CBS affiliates on my cable system, but who knows how long that will last?) I was relieved to discover the program was actually recorded from Channel 3, so there was no removal of the channel due to a dispute. And yet when I checked the Roamio, Channel 3 gave me a V53 error. I couldn't ask this question because my modem quit working, so the problem has already been solved.

It was so late when I confirmed the problem that I didn't call then. When I had a chance to, someone at Spectrum said it must be a tuning adapter problem, so I should unplug my tuning adapter and plug it back in. I did that, and the channel came back. What could have been happening?

 

All the other channels worked, though.

 

I think they all are.

 

I've had the message "no tuning adapter" appear on the screen and unplugging worked, but all the channels worked anyway. I have a VERY basic package.

 

I didn't try all the channels but this morning I turned on the TV and the channel was not available. I tested Channels 2 and 3 and got the same result. On my Series 2 everything was working. I haven't actually tested the channels since I unplugged by tuning adapter and plugged it back in because I didn't want to go through turning on iHeartRadio again, but what looks like an HDMI cable had come loose from what plugs in before I plugged it in. I don't know whether it was loose before but maybe that explains it. I've never seen anything like that.

 

And only Channel 3 was fixed. Channel 2 was not. Channels 6, 8 and 9 were also out. I called Spectrum and there was one thing I was told to do that I didn't do, but a technician is coming and I'll update what happens. I'm sure the technician can do the other thing I was told to do, but the person I talked to said the tuning adapter was three years old and needed replacing. Doesn't seem very old.

 

The man from Spectrum didn't show up and the more time I had to think about what could go wrong, the more I thought about what else I could do. I had to update my phone number since I had misunderstood the time of my appointment and wasn't going to be home to be called in advance. But I wasn't called except by a recorded voice which told me to press 1 or the appointment would be cancelled. Which it was because there weren't enough technicians and they were overbooked.

I had also tried to play a recording and seen that it cut off in the middle and I thought this might be useful. The person from Spectrum who I talked to about my phone number said there were several possible causes, which concerned me.

When the man didn't show up, I tried something I had been told to do here. I couldn't do it when I was told to by someone from Spectrum, although I'm not certain this person told me to do it. I think that's what I was supposed to try. But I couldn't then. I knew I'd have to try harder if I wanted to switch the Roamio to an antenna. So I did it. I disconnected the wire coming from Spectrum from the tuning adapter and plugged it directly into my Roamio. Same error message on channels I didn't get. But a blank screen for channels I was getting. I called again and was asked if I had a Cable Card. I was transferred to a person who knew about Cable Cards. He said to unplug the USB cable, and when I did, the channels came back. I wish I had paid more attention. What he said could be helpful to people reading this. It was something like the channels in the TiVo didn't match the channels in the tuning adapter. Because I have broadcast channels and only a few others, I don't actually need the tuning adapter, which I knew since the recordings happened even when I was constantly getting messages saying I had no tuning adapter.

 

And that's what I was told.