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curmudge1
@columbia.edu

curmudge1

Anon

Clear QAM?

New FIOS user in West Orange, NJ.

I have a Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK DVD-recorder that has a QAM tuner, I was able to tune in (view and/or record) HD (or at least, widescreen) local TV channels with Comcast digital cable.

Now, I'm having problems getting clear QAM with FIOS, some channels don't come in. When I channel surf "up" to 2-1, I briefly see 2-1 WCBS displayed, but no video, and quickly it says "no signal". NBC (ch 4) doesn't make an appearance, either.

Is anyone having any luck getting clear QAM TV, and with what? And, will Verizon assist if I call? Their TV FAQ mentions something about clear QAM.

Thanks for any help.
--
Dave in West Orange

mm
I Did It My Way
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Summerville, SC

mm

Premium Member

I have been using clear QAM since day 1. Only issue is the mapping is not always correct. Try 71-25 for CBS or 72-27 for NBC. I am also in NJ, Monmouth County area. I use a Samsung TV.
hubrisnxs
join:2009-12-30
Fountain Valley, CA

hubrisnxs

Member

»www.silicondust.com/supp ··· hannels/

this should show you your clear qam's, but amke sure to use fios in the drop down.

keyboards
join:2001-02-14
Doylestown, PA

keyboards to curmudge1

Member

to curmudge1
Keep in mind that Verizon has had issues with their PSIP injection (header that re-maps to 2.1, 3.1, etc.). This has presented issues since they first turned it on and some sets / tuners still choke on it. The suggestion by mm See Profile to use the QAM channel as opposed to the OTA channels is the only other wrok around I am aware of.
batsona
Maryland
join:2004-04-17
Ellicott City, MD

batsona to curmudge1

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to curmudge1
I tried putting the COAX into the back of my TV, which has a digital tuner. I must have had 100 channels show up, most of which were dark, and I couldn't make heads-or-tails of the numbering scheme. I screamed, and went back to using the Slingbox to get TV upstairs. Slingbox is on the STB downstairs.

curmudge1
@columbia.edu

1 edit

curmudge1 to curmudge1

Anon

to curmudge1
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I tried telephone support, and I was disappointed but not surprised.

Asked for a higher support level/supervisor, and was transferred to another phone support. The 2nd level person said the same as the first, that I could not watch FIOS TV without a FIOS set top box. Both tech were clear & adamant. I asked her if she was familiar with the term "Clear QAM" and she admitted that she was not. Both techs were nice, polite, but not very knowledgeable.

Spent quite awhile looking for the place where Verizon tells you you can view Clear QAM, and remembered that I saw it during the ordering process, this doesn't seem to be available from the regular web site.

I would try an attenuator, but there is a 4-way splitter at the start of the coax from the ONT (Router, and 3 inside drops, 2 used) and then a 2-way splitter after the cable comes out of the floor (1-HD DVR/STB, and the other one to the Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK which has the QAM tuner)

--
Dave in West Orange, NJ

mm
I Did It My Way
Premium Member
join:2001-04-07
Summerville, SC

mm

Premium Member

said by curmudge1 :

I tried telephone support, and I was disappointed but not surprised.

Asked for a higher support level/supervisor, and was transferred to another phone support. The 2nd level person said the same as the first, that I could not watch FIOS TV without a FIOS set top box. Both tech were clear & adamant. I asked her if she was familiar with the term "Clear QAM" and she admitted that she was not. Both techs were nice, polite, but not very knowledgeable.

Spent quite awhile looking for the place where Verizon tells you you can view Clear QAM, and remembered that I saw it during the ordering process, this doesn't seem to be available from the regular web site.

I would try an attenuator, but there is a 4-way splitter at the start of the coax from the ONT (Router, and 3 inside drops, 2 used) and then a 2-way splitter after the cable comes out of the floor (1-HD DVR/STB, and the other one to the Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK which has the QAM tuner)

--
Dave in West Orange, NJ

I am not surprised, when the installer hooked up my TV's I had him do the kitchen set without a box, he insisted every which way it won't work. Well he ate his words. I helped a neighbor with his install and a different installer was equally insisting it won't work and of course he was as surprised as my installer when it did. These folks are not well trained, I know someone who is a FIOS installer in NJ and I shake my head every time I have a chat with him, he just prays the customer knows how to hookup the PC's and such because he admits he has very little knowledge of this stuff.

Vamp9190
Premium Member
join:2002-02-11
Chantilly, VA

Vamp9190 to batsona

Premium Member

to batsona
said by batsona:

I tried putting the COAX into the back of my TV, which has a digital tuner. I must have had 100 channels show up, most of which were dark, and I couldn't make heads-or-tails of the numbering scheme. I screamed, and went back to using the Slingbox to get TV upstairs. Slingbox is on the STB downstairs.

ROFL, too funny.

syrgeek
join:2009-06-04
Syracuse, NY

syrgeek to curmudge1

Member

to curmudge1
said by curmudge1 :

I tried telephone support, and I was disappointed but not surprised.

Asked for a higher support level/supervisor, and was transferred to another phone support. The 2nd level person said the same as the first, that I could not watch FIOS TV without a FIOS set top box. Both tech were clear & adamant. I asked her if she was familiar with the term "Clear QAM" and she admitted that she was not. Both techs were nice, polite, but not very knowledgeable.

Spent quite awhile looking for the place where Verizon tells you you can view Clear QAM, and remembered that I saw it during the ordering process, this doesn't seem to be available from the regular web site.

The Fios phone techs aren't trained on it, they don't support it.
ClearToLand
join:2002-12-20
South Plainfield, NJ

ClearToLand to curmudge1

Member

to curmudge1
said by curmudge1 :

New FIOS user in West Orange, NJ.

I have a Panasonic DMR-EZ48VK DVD-recorder that has a QAM tuner, I was able to tune in (view and/or record) HD (or at least, widescreen) local TV channels with Comcast digital cable.

Now, I'm having problems getting clear QAM with FIOS, some channels don't come in. When I channel surf "up" to 2-1, I briefly see 2-1 WCBS displayed, but no video, and quickly it says "no signal". NBC (ch 4) doesn't make an appearance, either.

Is anyone having any luck getting clear QAM TV, and with what?

It's probably the tuner in your DMR-EZ48VK - I have the same problem with a DMR-EZ17 - worked with Comcast, has TONs of trouble finding Clear QAM channels on FiOS. Try other Clear QAM tuners - TVs, DVDRs, etc...

I have two Magnavox 2160A DVDRs that work fine on FiOS, along with 2 HDTVs. As someone else mentioned, the PSIP 'translation' varies between devices. Being an 'Old Fart' where, in the NYC area, NTSC / Analog Channel 2 was CBS, 4 was NBC, 7 was ABC, etc... this business of ATSC / Digital 33 RF being 'translated' in 2-1, 28 RF to 4-1, 7 RF is still 7-1, etc..., while sort of useful for OTA reference gets REAL SCREWY on cable systems where, one day, 2 / CBS could be on 72-1, 4 / NBC on 72-2, 5 / FOX on 72-3, 7 / ABC on 72-4 etc... and a few months later, without notice, everything could be moved to 88-1, 88-2, 88-3, etc... While all of their STBs *AUTOMATICALLY* re-map the changes back to 2, 4, 7, etc... your Clear QAM devices will have to re-scan and you'll have to update your Excel 'Channel Mapping' spreadsheet (*AND* your DVDR recording schedule).

The Verizon people I've spoken with, both before and after my install, were pretty clueless about Clear QAM and what channels my devices without STBs would be able to receive.

More useful info about Clear QAM and your Panasonic DVDR's tuner can be found at:

AVS Forum: DVD Recorders

Vamp9190
Premium Member
join:2002-02-11
Chantilly, VA

Vamp9190

Premium Member

Very nice overview, thanks.
ClearToLand
join:2002-12-20
South Plainfield, NJ

1 edit

ClearToLand

Member

Clear QAM & PSIP "Interference"

said by ClearToLand:

...I have two Magnavox 2160A DVDRs that work fine on FiOS...

I have an update.

Yesterday I finally got a ROUND TUIT and decided to re-wire my Entertainment Center so that my two Magnavox 2160As could feed my now OBSOLETE (i.e. only have NTSC tuners) ReplayTVs *WITHOUT* having to rent multiple Motorola DCT-700s. Initial experiments with Manual ReplayTV Recordings using S-Video on HD channels were VERY positive, with CLEAR 16:9 Anamorphic recordings instead of the old blurry SD 4:3 Postage Stamps. But...

Following a re-scan on one 2160A before building my Excel Channel Mapping Spreadsheet, I ran into problems - I had TWO channel 2.1s and blank channels 3.1 - 3.10 and 5.1 - 5.10. AND, I also had 10 subchannels on 2.x that alternated between commercials and black screens.

After building the spreadsheet and then comparing 2160A #1 to 2160A #2, I noticed the re-scan picked up some new, but blank, channels - namely, 3.x and 6.x. Now, here's the most interesting part - by deleting 3 and 6, the subchannels with commercials disappeared from 2 and the REAL 5.1 now appeared, although it's between 5.10 and 7.1 which still bothers me. Experimenting more with the channel 3 DVDR, I found that going UP, I had the commercial channels on 2.1 - 2.10, then the REAL 2.1, then 3.1 - 3.10; going DOWN, after 3.1 was the REAL 2.1, and then L3 (i.e. the commercial channels 2.1 - 2.10 were gone going DOWN, but re-appeared when going UP!).

An interesting post on this topic is:

AVS DVDR Forum: Missing or Nontunable Channels

My next step will be to (re)find the 'Service Menu' code for the Motorola 7232 and determine the QAM frequencies of the 'Problem Channels'. Then, I might be able to find the relationship between channels 3.x and 6.x and the desired REAL channels 2.1 and 5.1. I read somewhere (DSL I think...) that FiOS uses many, if not all, of the available QAM channels for VOD, Movie Rental, etc... so hopefully by removing the unneeded channels, I'd have a reliable DVDR once again (at least until they remap! ).

Another useful discovery is SIGNAL STRENGTH - I don't have the LINK handy but one user found that the Verizon FiOS signal was TOO STRONG for his QAM tuner. He bought various attenuators ranging from 3db to 30db and found that he got 'Better Scans' with reduced signal strength. Last night, I tried 3.5db (i.e. 2-way splitter with 75 ohm resistor on output #2), 6db, 10db, 16db. 16db got me a good scan on a 2160A (no luck yet on the EZ-17 ) but later on that evening, I noticed LOADs of pixelation while recording CBS (Signal Strength on the 2160A 'Meter' was still above 90, was 98 - 100 without the attenuators, so I don't see why the pixelation). Luckily I had a 'Quick Connect' RF cable in line so I could quickly remove the attenuators creating just a few second 'glitch' in the recording.

More Fiber
MVM
join:2005-09-26
Cape Coral, FL

More Fiber

MVM

said by ClearToLand:

I read somewhere (DSL I think...) that FiOS uses many, if not all, of the available QAM channels for VOD

Not true. FIOS delivers VOD using IP, not QAM.

icemannyr1
join:2001-04-11
Township Of Washington, NJ

icemannyr1 to batsona

Member

to batsona

Re: Clear QAM?

The series channels that tune in and have no content are used for the local cable ads.