O Canada! > Canadian > Rogers > [TV] Downgrade to Analogue

reply to LazMan

Re: [TV] Downgrade to Analogue

I give up...

reply to dtv guy
> ok mr hot shot, if the cable company decides to turn on clear quam,
> and i want a specialty pay channel, how do u suppose i will receive it

If you ever want to watch a pay channel, then you're going to have to have the CableCo's STB to see it. I'm not disputing that or saying it can be done without a box.

> without my neighbours watcing it for free when i have to pay for it?

Funny thing is that here in London, with my cable feed running directly into my HDTV (what else can I do? I don't have a box) -> I can watch some On-demand and (I think) PPV stuff on some of the channels between 81-nnn and 85-nnn. In the clear. Sometimes the video is paused, fast-forwarded and re-wind (by who-ever has ordered it I suppose).

> well what do u know, thats what the STB was invented for, its
> called a cable subscription.

Still doesn't explain why basic digital cable channels can't be clear-QAM'd. If the CableCo's need to efficiently regulate (ie - turn on or turn off a customer drop) I'm surprised they can't do that at the hub - instead of needing a tech to install a blocker. For those situations where they can remotely turn on or off a drop, then there's really no reason to NOT put basic cable in the clear.

because a STB can Turn ON OR OFF a subscription, ADD CHANNELS, DELETE CHANNELS. Clear QAM can NOT do that, without a truck roll. truck rolls cost money, a digital stb or even the cheap o DTA adaptors eliminate UNNECESSARY TRUCK ROLLS.

instead of dispatching a technician a week later to your place cus u want the super channel or the movie network, and you getting pissed off why its taking so long, the tech simply turns it on in the SGI and its instantly avaiable on your tv. and since u have a hd box, u get it in crystal clear hd, where if u had the clear qyam, it may be encrypted still.

hope this finally sinks in.

Well now, I've learned a lot after starting this thread - hoping to make a decision about dropping Rogers.

I've learned (although not understanding all acronyms):

1. The change from analogue to digital is entirely a business decision by Rogers - to improve, not the standard television subscriber experience, but to increase data flow for their Internet and video-on-demand subscribers. I will never subscribe to either. Although I might ask Teksavvy to hook me up to the Net with the Rogers cable instead of DSL on a Bell line, someday in the future. (No Bell Fibe here yet either.)

2. I can either take it or leave it. By that, I mean, I take the standard definition digital box (STB, I think) for our main tv (and lose the ability to record while watching another channel, and suffer from slow channel surfing), or switch to another option (dish or OTA).

3. If I stay with Rogers, I must wire the cable first to the digital box, then to the VCR/DVR, then out to the tv, in order to see content from both. I presume that I can record whatever I am watching at the moment under this hook-up (Duh! - should have thought of it myself, but wires were running through little holes in back of the cabinet).

4. Rogers will actually give me a second, identical remote for controlling their box from different room locations. (One set of batteries supplied, I presume.)

5. Rogers gives you poor quality STB boxes for free, which appears to be my only choice for continuing with their service.

6. Rogers has increased pricing for cable at a staggering rate. (They must be printing money at the head office.)

7. Moving to dish is not trouble free, at least for Shaw, because of the need for hard wired phone connections to each box. (Actually, I see $100 worth of adapters would let the phone signals communicate through the existing 110v wiring, to two dish boxes, without hard wiring.)

8. I can use one OTA (over the air) antenna, on a tower (with rotor perhaps), to share reception amongst several tv in the house, each with its own digital receiver and controller. The initial cost might be high, but the savings could be huge considering the monthly cost for cable and dish.

9. When my analogue cable channels are reduced to only those below 29, the signal for these channels may still exist on the line for a long time. If Rogers kept just a few of these analogue channels active for a cheap price, they might keep a few more customers. (Hence, no need for a truck roll to cut my line.)

10. From another thread, I learned that it is possible to establish a Dish Network account here in Canada. It's a bit tricky (regarding billing and US phone number and adress), but it can be done. (Not my cup of tea!)

reply to dtv guy
> because a STB can Turn ON OR OFF a subscription, ADD CHANNELS,
> DELETE CHANNELS. Clear QAM can NOT do that, without a truck roll.
> truck rolls cost money, a digital stb or even the cheap o DTA
> adaptors eliminate UNNECESSARY TRUCK ROLLS.

What is the common denominator for ANYONE that has cable TV?

Itin't it the lineup of BASIC CABLE CHANNELS?

Channels 2 to what - 30?

Regardless if they're SD or HD (NTSC or QAM) - EVERYONE gets a set of BASIC CHANNELS don't they? If so, then why would you NOT transmit the basic QAM channels in the clear?

So even if I'm forced to take a box, I can still choose not to use it, and instead I'll connect the cable to every SD and HD tv in the house and they'll all be able to display the basic channels.

The STB is a separate issue. If I don't have a STB because I didn't want one, then of course I can't expect them to be able to perform any changes / additions instantly, electronically.

reply to Tracer6
> I can use one OTA (over the air) antenna, on a tower (with rotor
> perhaps), to share reception amongst several tv in the house, each
> with its own digital receiver and controller. The initial cost might be
> high, but the savings could be huge considering the monthly cost for
> cable and dish.

You won't need a converter box for OTA for any wide-screen (LCD or Plasma) TV's. Only for older TV's that are not wide-screen or that have a glass picture tube (there are some rare exceptions).

Here is a link to a compass diagram showing what OTA channels are available in Bowmanville:

»www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapp···f8c2f6aa

It looks like you really have no OTA channels within a radius of about 40 miles, but between 40 and 60 you have about 16-18 channels - all of them LOS (line of sight). A moderately large UHF antenna with a pre-amp mounted 30 feet off the ground should pull them in.

As for US stations, it looks like you'd get PBS and CBS and maybe FOX, with ABC and NBC being a toss-up. These would all be Buffalo area stations. TVO, City, Global, CBC look good, but not CTV.

reply to sm5w2
not everyone who has a cable into their house is paying for TV service, they pay for INTERNET and PHONE, but they may not be paying for BASIC cable. if they do not pay for BASIC CABLE, then what does roger do? they ENCRYPT THE BASIC cable channels. if you PAY for cable, you will receive a FREE DTA adaptor that will DECRYPT them. This is how it works, its not hard to understand. I dont pay for cable? then I do not receive channels. it makes perfect sense from a consumer and a business standpoint.
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Happiness is like peeing your pants... Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its Warmth!!

reply to sm5w2

for now

this has been talked about to death, and im not sure why people still do not understand how it works?
--
Happiness is like peeing your pants... Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its Warmth!!

reply to sm5w2
You can always use channel block for the BET channel. That's what i do. I'd like to pretend the GD channel didn't exist in the first place.

whats the GD channel?

reply to Tracer6

wow just wow, someone needs to go through all that to run a phone line to a sat receiver? wouldnt it be easier and a lot cheaper to run a rj11 telephone cable along the baseboard to each receiver? damn why didnt anyone else think about that?
--
Happiness is like peeing your pants... Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its Warmth!!

reply to nitzguy
Not to mention the fact that you can bypass the telephone line thing by just calling to order your PPV movies. I do believe there is a service charge for that though.
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Tom

reply to Tracer6
What is this free digital box everybody is talking about?

We have the standard mini-box already and we are being billed 5.00/month for it.

Can somebody explain how to get one? I am located in the Oshawa region.

reply to Tkavil

Re: [TV] Downgrade to Analogue - NOT!

no one said it was mandated by the government. the crtc simply says once rogers hits 85 percent digital penetration they are no longer required to provide analog services, they are not being told they have to shut it down, they can continue keeping it, but since the crtc says they have a choice now, they are simply doing it to free up bandwitth. also digital does not mean hd so please do not get them confused.

actually analog is a downgrade. digital gives u better picture and quality and im not getting paid to say that ,ask anyone they can tell u
--
Happiness is like peeing your pants... Everyone can see it, but only you can feel its Warmth!!