Cable Box and QAM in Columbus Ohio

[QuasiInsomniac]

I was wondering if anyone had tried to do QAM with any services in Columbus, Ohio. Particulary with Wide Open West (WOW), but I would settle for the evil Time Warner if it meant I could do QAM without a cable box. Wait, nevermind, I just remembered how long the hold times were with Time Warner. Insight will have to do.

Also, has the technology evolved yet so that Sage can control cable boxes and tune channels through a USB or serial interface rather than thru an IR Blaster?

[sainswor99]

Someone posted this link in a previous post; it helped me decide that I wasn't really missing much QAM. SiliconDust (manufacturer of the HDHR) has a database of QAM channels by zipcode:

http://www.silicondust.com/wiki/hdhomerun/channels

As far as controlling cable boxes by USB, AFAIK, nothing's changed.

[Shield]

I'm doing it with Time Warner, and I've tried it with WOW. I had WOW service a few years ago and my cable feed is still "hot" from them, so I've tried them both.

HD you can get from TW: ABC, CBS, NBC, WWHO, FOX, WOSU, and UNI-HD
HD you can get from WOW: ABC, CBS, NBC, WWHO, FOX, WOSU

This is QAM obviously, and was last tested about 2 months ago.

Good luck!

[QuasiInsomniac]

Thanks guys, that REALLY helps.

Silly question, what about all the other HD channels, for example, ESPN, SCI-FI, etc. Where those never intended to come across QAM and if so, will subscribing to "digital" cable, allow the signal to come through and the HVR-1600 to decode those channels (without cable box of course)?

[QuasiInsomniac]

Just took a look at that link listed above. I noticed all the standard local broadcast stations and a bunch of crappy music channels. My question; Is this what we are all supposed to be expecting from QAM. I was kinda under the impression that if you had cable, you could have an incoming QAM signal and get all the standard cable stations. And for the one's that were HD, they would come in as HD (without subscribing to digital cable or a cable box). And if not that way, order digital cable on your account and instead of using a cable box, have Sage just tune into the digital signal with a QAM compatible card to get your HD stuff.

Also, now that it looks like QAM may not be what I thought it was, if I want to use an IR blaster with a cable box, do I need one IR blaster for each tuner I have? And if I want four inputs, do I need two dual-tuner cable boxes to accomplish this?

Thanks in advance.

[Conejo]

Originally Posted by QuasiInsomniac

My question; Is this what we are all supposed to be expecting from QAM. I was kinda under the impression that if you had cable, you could have an incoming QAM signal and get all the standard cable stations. And for the one's that were HD, they would come in as HD (without subscribing to digital cable or a cable box). And if not that way, order digital cable on your account and instead of using a cable box, have Sage just tune into the digital signal with a QAM compatible card to get your HD stuff.

You're correct, but wrong. The Cable Companies want to make money, so they 'encrypt' the non-local QAM channels to create pay-tiers accessible only with their authorized Set-Top-Boxes or Cable-Cards. Otherwise any cable user could make a one-time purchase and upgrade their channel access for free.

Also, now that it looks like QAM may not be what I thought it was, if I want to use an IR blaster with a cable box, do I need one IR blaster for each tuner I have? And if I want four inputs, do I need two dual-tuner cable boxes to accomplish this?

Dual-tuner STBs can ONLY output one video stream, so if you want FOUR tuners you will require FOUR STBs. Most people will use the USB-UIRT because one device can control multiple STBs. Take a look at the FAQs, available to all forum users in the Forum Header. Here you will find Information Resources for Remotes, Receivers, and IR Blasters.

[QuasiInsomniac]

Hey, thanks for those links and those explanations. That clears some stuff up for me.

I guess this leaves me with one last question, where is Sage at with regards to cable cards and does anyone have any info on whether or not we'll be able to get two or three of these hooked into a PC someday? And are they cable cards with tuners or do you still need a tuner to pick up the station?

[alphapenguin]

i just got HD homerun, and I guess it is working more or less so far. I cant get it to work quite right with my LINXMCE Media director, but I think that is cause my components are old. aside from that, I just hope one day more channels will be in the clear, otherwise i dont have a whole lot of use for the HDhomerun...

You guys getting good use out of it?