Tivo HD success story w/ tips

I'm not going to document the 7 plus house calls made to get this thing to work (there are plenty of those horror stories on these boards already). What I will do is explain what went right today which amounted to about 2 minutes of work and success.

Facts:
Tivo HD
RCN Chicago
HDMI cable in use
Motorola M-card

Issue:
I had my basic cable channels and the local HD channels. I was missing premium HD channels (HD ESPN, Discovery, etc) and HBO. This is a common issue if you search around the boards.

A new technician came out today that had more cablecard experience on tivo than the last 3. Always try to request this when making your call. Whether or not they do send out someone that even knows what a cablecard is is out of your control but it doesn't hurt to ask.

I removed the two multi cards that were in the tivo from the last service call (yes the prior tech insisted on using two even with my warnings).

I inserted a new multi card that the current tech brought out into slot 1. A diagnostic screen comes up which is the black and gray screen which says displayed on behalf of you cable provider. This info meant nothing to the tech. I checked the 'conditional access' screen to see if the card was connected. If you browse the 'Troubleshooting CableCARD Activation and Channel Issues' guide from tivo you can gain some understanding of what these diagnostic screens should say. Anyway, it was connected (Con:Yes EBCP: Yes) However the card was not paired (Val: ?).

The tech requested a 'hit'. I exited to tivo home and went back through the menus to do the channel check and low and behold it worked. I then checked the other feed (by pressing live tv and it worked to). All of this in about two minutes.

After debriefing with the tech, this is what I learned and might help you. Before he came he "activated" the card at the office. Doing that told him the card worked and may have put the correct key on it for my service but I'm not sure on that.

Second he explained that there are several different kinds of 'hits' that can be done from the office. He requested a "refresh" hit. That's it.

He speculated that people before may have sent "activation" hits which did no good. He also said they think they are having problems getting a card to activate while inside the tivo hd. that is why he activated it at the office first then did the "refresh" hit while the card was in my box.

I hope this helps some people out there. If you have any questions let me know, I'll check this thread periodically over the next few days.

Good Luck and don't give up.