comcast encrypts everything

[pjpjpjpj]

Sleeeves, apologies if I missed something and this is a dumb question, but have you tried an antenna? If you were only worried about content available on QAM, most of that (and sometimes more) is available free over the airwaves, and you wouldn’t have to turn your HDHRs into doorstops.

I was somewhat surprised that you said you were losing QAM and everyone immediately suggested HD-PVR and digital/HD cable. To me, the closest equivalent to QAM (in terms of available channels) is OTA, not HD Cable.

Again, if you have previously posted that OTA is not an option, my apologies for being a dummy.

[Tiki]

The HDHR should still be useable for the local channels - they should still be unencrypted QAM.

I have a Comcast DVR at home that is separate from my Sage system, and I have to say it is a horrible device. The only reason I have kept it is that it is difficult to get an ethernet cable to that room to run an extender and WiFi has not been reliable enough for me to use.

It's had to be replaced twice in 18 months due to erratic operation (turns out the fans are under-sized and frequently fail - even when fans are working, the boxes tend to overheat). When the boxes get too hot they become unresponsive (sometimes it takes up to 5 minutes to respond to a button press on the remote or the front of the box).

The software that runs in the Comcast DVR's is absolutely awful and full of bugs (though it has been improved via firmware updates that get pushed down automatically). You really miss the features of Sage when you try to use the Comcast DVR.

As far as recording reliability, it is really not any better than Sage with a USBUIRT blaster to control a cable box. I have occasionally missed recordings with both solutions.

Some of the really weak areas of the Comcast DVR are: Conflict resolution and search. For example if you want to record "How the Grinch Stole Christmas," you might go to the search screen and look for it so you can setup the recording. In Sage, you could type "grinch" and it would find it, but not in Comcast - you must start with the first word when you do a search ("How" or "How the" or "How the Grin" would all work, as long as you remember the exact title).

Another problem with the Comcast DVR is that it does not manage its tuners well (it is a 2-tuner DVR). For example, if you are recording a show on 1 tuner and you decide you want to watch that show at the same time, rather than show you the one it is already recording it will grab the second tuner and use that for the live tv. Then, if another scheduled recording tries to start, it will throw a conflict because both tuners are in use.

There are many other annoyances with the Comcast DVR that make me glad I use Sage most of the time. One example is the fact that it insists on popping-up messages whenever it starts or ends a recording.

Another one is with their category search. For example, you can bring up a list of all upcoming football shows. The list is ordered by time slot, so you can use the right and left arrows to move through the timeslots and up and down arrows to move through the list of channels that have "football" shows on in that time slot. The first problem is that the slots are all 30 minutes, so if there is a 15-minute pregame show on at 3:00 and the game starts at 3:15, it will show the pre-game but not the game. The second problem is that if the current time is at the top or bottom of the hour when you are browsing the list, it will reset and the time slot you are looking at back to the current time.

Oh, and Comcast just announced that DVR service goes up to $17.95 per month starting January 1st (at least in the Detroit area), and I believe the disc capacity is only 80 or 100GB, so it runs out of space fast (especially if you record HD).

I recommend HD-PVR with non-DVR box or one of the many Standard def capture cards with a regular box from Comcast for the premium content and keep using the HDPVRs for locals in hi-def.

[hemicuda]

160GB in ours; fills up REAL fast. I have firewire cable on the way if I can figure out where the drivers are. The .msi file I have requires MCE2k5 so I have to figure out how to expand it to a folder.

[S_M_E]

Originally Posted by hemicuda

The .msi file I have requires MCE2k5 so I have to figure out how to expand it to a folder.

Try a yahoo search for orca msi editor, you can change the requirements...

[sleeeves]

Originally Posted by pjpjpjpj

Sleeeves, apologies if I missed something and this is a dumb question, but have you tried an antenna? If you were only worried about content available on QAM, most of that (and sometimes more) is available free over the airwaves, and you wouldn’t have to turn your HDHRs into doorstops.

I was somewhat surprised that you said you were losing QAM and everyone immediately suggested HD-PVR and digital/HD cable. To me, the closest equivalent to QAM (in terms of available channels) is OTA, not HD Cable.

Again, if you have previously posted that OTA is not an option, my apologies for being a dummy.

The problem was Comcast suddenly began encrypting all the extended basic channels that I was comfortably receiving via the HDHR and the HVR-1600. The local channels still come in un-encrypted (+ a bonus HD HDT channel !) So, I can still record any 3 HD local channels at any given time, but had to revert to the Comcast box to get the extended (and now premium) channels back... So, I don't need the antenna as I can still use cable to feed the HDHR and HVR-1600.

[sleeeves]

Originally Posted by Tiki

The HDHR should still be useable for the local channels - they should still be unencrypted QAM.

Yes, I still get un-encrypted locals, which is great as now I can record 5 channels at once if necessary (2x HDHR, 1x HVR-1600, 2X Comcast DVR.)

Originally Posted by Tiki

I have a Comcast DVR at home that is separate from my Sage system, and I have to say it is a horrible device...Some of the really weak areas of the Comcast DVR are: Conflict resolution and search...

YES, it can be pretty awful at times! It can't resolve a "conflict" to save its life. Just the other day it would not let me record two things at once - It's a DUAL tuner It made no sense but SageTV to the rescue - I set the "conflicting" show to record successfully via Sage. And yes, the entire Comcast interface is far far inferior to SageTV - even if you went back to SageTV's earliest versions it still blows away Comcast.

Originally Posted by Tiki

Oh, and Comcast just announced that DVR service goes up to $17.95 per month starting January 1st (at least in the Detroit area), and I believe the disc capacity is only 80 or 100GB, so it runs out of space fast (especially if you record HD).

It sux to hear about Comcast raising DVR service prices - but I expect nothing less from this P.O.S. company. My DVR has the 160GB HD so it holds a decent amount. It works because I don't really save entire seasons - shows get deleted soon after being watched...

[Sparhawk6]

Comcast is pushing forward with their efforts to eliminate most analog channels. We all knew this was eventually going to happen, but now it appears that it's moving forward. Comcast calls it "Project Cavalry." At most they say they will leave 20 channels in analog.

http://www.dslreports.com/shownews/C...ndwidth-102221

It's good news on one hand, because it means more bandwidth for HD channels as well as internet, but it's horrible news for us SageTV owners. Less flexibility. I'm going to be forced buy multiple HD-PVRs ($$$$$$$$).

[QueOnda]

Search the forums, There's been talks for months regarding this. IN a nutshell, you will be able to use HDHRs. They are converting most of the analog to Clear QAM.

[jvl711]

Originally Posted by QueOnda

Search the forums, There's been talks for months regarding this. IN a nutshell, you will be able to use HDHRs. They are converting most of the analog to Clear QAM.

I have already seen this start to happen in my area (Philadelphia Suburbs). I am only using 1 HDHR and one HD-PVR, so this is good news for me. A good portion of the basic/expanded cable is in the clear now.

[nyplayer]

I received a letter a while back that they would be eliminating channels above 30. They simply sent me a free Digital converter for my analog TV's so I can get all digital channels.. I went the route of the HDHomerun and am glad I did. (Portland Or.)

[Ryokurin]

Yep. I'm in Atlanta, where they recently started to simulcast around 20 or so channels in clear QAM in prep for the switch. It's a pain in the butt to setup as zap2it does not recognize them, but it does seem to be reliable. About the only thing I'm possibly thinking about doing is selling off my hvr-1600s for 2250s just to cut down on the cables I have running in the back.

[Sparhawk6]

Originally Posted by QueOnda

Search the forums, There's been talks for months regarding this. IN a nutshell, you will be able to use HDHRs. They are converting most of the analog to Clear QAM.

Does that include HD channels?

Regardless, I will be forced to buy new hardware. I only have one clearQAM TV tuner.

[Tiki]

I live about an hour West of Detroit and have Comcast. They made this switch by me almost 2 years ago, claiming that it needed to be done so they could offer HD. HD channels were not available until a few months after they dumped most of the analog channels.

So, now Channels 2-21 are the only channels available on an analog TV (or with a tuner card like Hauppauge PVR-150, 250, 350, 500) without a converter box. These are the locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, MyTV, PBS) plus Community Access, TV Guide Channel, and QVC and HSN.

I bought a HDHomerun a few months ago and can pickup the following over Clear QAM:
1. Everything I can get with the analog tuner (listed above) in SD (standard Definition) except HSN.
2. The HD versions and alternate broadcast channels of the locals.
3. Discovery, History, AMC, TNT
4. A whole bunch of religious channels

Everything else requires a converter box. So, basically, I gained HD versions of the local channels and lost about 50-60 basic cable channels unless I use a converter box.

[Ryokurin]

HD as in local channels. everything else clear will be the standard basic SD tier like TNT, MTV and so forth, even if they do offer it in HD. Expect the locals to show up as their correct numbers, but they probably will be named slightly wrong so you'll have to map it to the correct listing. The only way you'll need multi HD-PVRs and cable boxes is if you plan on capturing the locked HD content.

One thing to note is that the only way you'll have to move on this soon is if you are in a area where Comcast has competition from uverse or fios. For instance, uverse is a few towns away, and there Comcast offers up to the 50 megs of bandwidth and cut the analog channels, but the only change where I currently live is the simulcasting of some analog channels in digital. bandwidth is still 8 megs max.

[reggie14]

I'm kind of looking forward to the digital conversion, as long as Comcast keeps up the use of the DTAs, which I think is the plan. My analog TV reception isn't awful, but it's not great either. It would be a good excuse to get an HDHR.

Though, I will say I'm a bit concerned that any significant change, like moving to an all-digital network, could impact my ability to record over firewire. I like being able to record TNT-HD, FX-HD, USA-HD, SciFi-HD, CNN-HD, Universal-HD, Discovery-HD, ESPN-HD (and several more) without having to resort of the HD-PVR.

[evilpenguin]

Originally Posted by Tiki

So, basically, I gained HD versions of the local channels and lost about 50-60 basic cable channels unless I use a converter box.

Yep, same thing is coming to Seattle this year too. I'm not excitted.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by evilpenguin

Yep, same thing is coming to Seattle this year too. I'm not excitted.

It sounds like Tiki had to go through the switch prior to Comcast's large purchase of DTAs. So, you might have better luck at picking up all or most the expanded basic lineup over clear QAM.

[jhkoenig]

We have been living the DIGITALNOW dream for several months in the San Francisco area. In brief, is sucks. Every few days, weeks at the most, channels move without warning, leaving us with hours of "No Signal" favorites. I rescan my HDHRs at least twice a week and nervously check each night's recording to see what damage Comcast has done to our household WAF.

[evilpenguin]

I'm pretty much thinking that i'll be canceling cable when this happens. It shouldn't be too bad as 90% of my favorites are available OTA and of the remaining all but 1 or 2 are are available online.

[robmarch]

cartoon network was my first casualty.

I'm not counting on most of the channels moving to clear qam.