HDHomeRun/QAM/Channel Availability

[TBoneJones]

Hello All,

I've been following the HDHomeRun thread for a bit and I, like many others, are very intrigued. The problem I have at the moment is, what is a good way to determine what channels I may/may not be able to watch before I buy the hardware. I've got a motorolla STB which I've used for firewire viewing. This has just been some messing around, that currently isn't configured into my SageTV system. Anyway, with it I can capture all the lower level digital channels, but anything higher up is a no go due to 5c limitations. From some searching online, this may not indicate that the HDHomeRun will not funciton for those channels, just the firewire port on the STB has been disabled for those (I am not completely clear on this though).

Anyway, does anyone out there have a HDHomeRun (or similar QAM tuner) in Rhode Island? Can they comment on what channels are available. This may be a good forum for Sage to setup. QAM Availability by state. A parent group of QAM availabilty, then a sub group for each state. It may be a bit of work to setup, but having that information handy for folks just trying to get started with this hardware would be very useful.

Thanks,

Keith

[gplasky]

Originally Posted by TBoneJones

Hello All,

I've been following the HDHomeRun thread for a bit and I, like many others, are very intrigued. The problem I have at the moment is, what is a good way to determine what channels I may/may not be able to watch before I buy the hardware. I've got a motorolla STB which I've used for firewire viewing. This has just been some messing around, that currently isn't configured into my SageTV system. Anyway, with it I can capture all the lower level digital channels, but anything higher up is a no go due to 5c limitations. From some searching online, this may not indicate that the HDHomeRun will not funciton for those channels, just the firewire port on the STB has been disabled for those (I am not completely clear on this though).

Anyway, does anyone out there have a HDHomeRun (or similar QAM tuner) in Rhode Island? Can they comment on what channels are available. This may be a good forum for Sage to setup. QAM Availability by state. A parent group of QAM availabilty, then a sub group for each state. It may be a bit of work to setup, but having that information handy for folks just trying to get started with this hardware would be very useful.

Thanks,

Keith

I don't think your channel availability is going to be any different between the firewire ot the HD Homerun. anything that is 5c neither device can receive. Locals in the higher channel may be available (ABC, NBC, etc.) in Hi-Def. There is already a thread started where people are listing the channels they can get with the HD Homerun.

Gerry

[delgross]

At least for me they are different. TWC in my area encrypts everything
except the locals on my HD Homerun. The best way I found to find out what you can get is to go to the AVS Forum. They have a forum set up just for
this. You can search on your town and if you are lucky people will have already posted what you can get. Also, if you can get the right person usually the cable company will tell you.

ED

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by gplasky

I don't think your channel availability is going to be any different between the firewire ot the HD Homerun. anything that is 5c neither device can receive. Locals in the higher channel may be available (ABC, NBC, etc.) in Hi-Def. There is already a thread started where people are listing the channels they can get with the HD Homerun.

Gerry

This is not the case. For example, 5C may kick in on a STB's 1394 output because the network tells it not to allow recording of the program, but it may be carried in the clear on cable.

The opposite is also common, where 5C is not active but the channel is encrypted as delgross mentioned.

I have even found unencrypted channels that are perfectly receivable that aren't even listed in the channel guide.

The MSO decides some of this stuff by policy, like for HBO, which is always encrypted. But a lot of this has to do with how the local affiliate receives channels from HITS and packages them for transport on the fiber ring, and if they are using multichannel encrypters, etc.. It's not all rational, so don't expect that.

Without getting an HDhomerun, the best way to look for clear QAM channels is using a TV with a QAM tuner, and scanning for signals. Or by using a card like a DVICO Fusion 5 PCI card, etc... If it's clear for them, it'll be clear for the HDhomerun.

If you have a DCT6*** there is a way to tell by using the diagnostics, but its too cumbersome to scan that way.

Thanks,
mike

[blade]

If you have a HD STB you can go into the service menu and it should tell you which channels are encrypted and which aren't.

[TBoneJones]

Originally Posted by mikesm

This is not the case. For example, 5C may kick in on a STB's 1394 output because the network tells it not to allow recording of the program, but it may be carried in the clear on cable.

...

If you have a DCT6*** there is a way to tell by using the diagnostics, but its too cumbersome to scan that way.

Thanks,
mike

Mike,

I checked the status page for a few of the digital channels on my DCT6412. For Channel Type, I have
Digital ENC 0x12
So I'm guessing if I see "ENC" then the channel is encrypted. I went thru earlier this afternoon and found the majority of digital channels allowed firewire capture, but several of those still listed the channel type as above.

-Keith

[blade]

Originally Posted by TBoneJones

I checked the status page for a few of the digital channels on my DCT6412. For Channel Type, I have
Digital ENC 0x12
So I'm guessing if I see "ENC" then the channel is encrypted.

That means it's encrypted and you couldn't watch it via the HDHomeRun. When I checked mine the unencrypted local channels said Channel Type:
Digital Unk 0xXX (don't recall the exact numbers)

I can also get a few other unencrypted channels, but they said something different from Unk or Enc.

I went thru earlier this afternoon and found the majority of digital channels allowed firewire capture, but several of those still listed the channel type as above.

To tell if you can capture the channel via firewire you need to look elsewhere in the menu. You should see something that says 5c I believe.

[Scriber]

Originally Posted by TBoneJones

I've been following the HDHomeRun thread for a bit and I, like many others, are very intrigued. The problem I have at the moment is, what is a good way to determine what channels I may/may not be able to watch before I buy the hardware.

Like Mikesm indicated, if you have a QAM capable HDTV, the easiest method is to hook that up to CATV and see what digital channels are viewable. I've just presumed FW is the same.