| Why cableCard The cable provider is required to provide the local broadcast channels in the clear so if they provide the local HD channels they do not require any cable STB. Can someone explain the need for a cableCard in this case? Or is the FAQ at the TiVO site misleading and you only need the cableCard for non-local broadcast channels? |
|
|
|
wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
 ·Cox HSI
 ·T-Mobile US
| said by WhyCableCard :
The cable provider is required to provide the local broadcast channels in the clear so if they provide the local HD channels they do not require any cable STB. Can someone explain the need for a cableCard in this case? Or is the FAQ at the TiVO site misleading and you only need the cableCard for non-local broadcast channels?
TiVo requires the CableCARD to map the channels properly and associate the guide data with them. For example, on Cox in Tulsa, the PBS affiliate's HD channel is 711 in all their literature and all their boxes. It's really on RF channel 73, subchannel 2 (73-2 on my TV set that has a clear QAM tuner and the TiVo without CableCARDs)
The biggest problem is that the cable companies move them around at their whim. Since the cable boxes and CableCARD devices have facilities to map virtual channel numbers to their real RF channel/subchannel it doesn't appear to change from an end user standpoint. Unless you're using a clear QAM tuner, of course. What's more, that information is not published anywhere, so even if TiVo wanted to provide mappings, there's not really a feasible way, without requiring the user to do it themselves. Since TiVo considers themselves an enemy of complexity, they refuse to create a facility for users to make their own channel maps. |
|
keeskaPremium
join:2007-04-06
Sedona, AZ | quote:
TiVo requires the CableCARD to map the channels properly
Not really necessary - may be nice to have but not worth paying the cable company for 2 cableCards *plus* $35.00 (or maybe $70.00 to install both - I didn't ask)to slide it into the PCMCIA slot.
quote:
and associate the guide data with them.
Is this a TiVO limitation? I have a couple of DVRs which provide Guide information for the QAM channel, not the mapped channel since they do not map the channels. It isn't searchable like TiVO but the program descriptions match pretty closely.
So will this new box tune the QAM channels using the channel numbers if I do not have a cableCard or will it refuse without the cableCard? |
|
wierdo
join:2001-02-16
Tulsa, OK Reviews:
·Cox HSI
·T-Mobile US
| If it works like the Series 3, it will tune the channels and you can make manual recordings, but you can't set up season passes or anything of that sort. It has a feature that will let you scan the cable for available clear QAM channels.
Again, it's not really necessary that TiVo take that stance, they just do because their target market is not the sort who would put up with messing around with QAM channel mapping and having to re-do it on a regular basis.
I don't know about your cable company, but Cox changes things around every month or two as they add and remove channels and reallocate VOD frequencies and what not.
Really, the Series 3 and the new TiVo HD box are designed mostly for OTA and use with CableCARDs.
You'd probably be better off with MCE if you don't want to use OTA or the cards. |
|
keeskaPremium
join:2007-04-06
Sedona, AZ | quote:
I don't know about your cable company, but Cox changes things around every month or two as they add and remove channels
I have heard Cox does this in some areas. Here (Tucson, AZ) I have not had to rescan for awhile. The local HD channels have not moved since I started watching them via cable. Two new ones were added in the past couple of months but I just added those manually. The rest remained on the same QAM channels.
I wonder why Cox practices vary so much between regions. |
|
