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Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os to JimmyK814

Member

to JimmyK814

Re: [Cumberland] Analog Expanded Basic Channels Out

By simulcasting, he means that there is an analog and a digital version of the channel. People with digital equipment see the digital channel. This is very common with Time Warner Cable, but takes up a lot more bandwidth without Switched Digital Video (SDV).

And ABB is issuing Cisco boxes in Altoona? The old old old cable boxes of the early 90's were Scientific Atlanta here under TCI, but everything in the digital cable era has been General Instrument/Motorola.
JimmyK814
join:2010-12-29
Altoona, PA

JimmyK814

Member

I'm familiar with what the simulcasting is. I just never saw it with ABB in any area other than Uniontown. I was hoping maybe that it was the start of something in another area, like yours, that would end with analog going away in more places. With MountainTech mentioning the simulcasting, we may have uncovered something going on. I wasn't sure if he was referring to that or something else.

They're still using those old Scientific Atlanta boxes here with the same guide and menu setup from the 90's that Charter introduced.

The HD boxes are hybrids of those old boxes with the same guide and menu that run at better resolutions. The latest is the Cisco Explorer 8652HDC, I believe.
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os

Member

Well heh, I learn something new everyday. There's no Cisco/SA anything down here anymore. I wonder if this has affected some of the transitions. I know Comcast had a much longer wait to go all digital in its Cisco areas (which were largely inherited from Adelphia), but have now accelerated those areas beyond the Motorola areas.

What guide is it running? Everything down here runs TV Guide On Screen iGuide. The first DVR's here ran the Passport Echo guide (Motorola boxes), but that disappeared somewhere along the way.

The DVR's now run the same guide as the other boxes.
JimmyK814
join:2010-12-29
Altoona, PA

JimmyK814

Member

»www.atlanticbb.com/pdf/R ··· 2012.pdf

Check out pages 9-10 and 13 in the PDF on this link. You can see where they're showing two different "systems." We have the one on the left on page 13.

I'll have to check at home what it's actually called. I don't remember.

Mountaintech
join:2003-05-30
Cumberland, MD

Mountaintech to Os

Member

to Os
JimmyK, Osraven is correct on his description of simulcasting and it does take up extra bandwidth but not as much as you would think.

This allows a slower and a lot less intrusive roll out to customers of eventually turning the plant into a all digital system.

As for box types Uniontown, Kingwood, Altoona, Johnstown, Miami, are all S/A (Scientific Atlanta) systems that use S/A boxes.

All the others are Motorola like Cumberland, MD/DE, Aiken, all the northern PA systems and the rest of the WV use the GI/Motorola boxes.

Hope that helps.
JimmyK814
join:2010-12-29
Altoona, PA

JimmyK814

Member

Thanks,

I never realized there were two different types of systems, but that makes sense if different areas were purchased from different companies over time.

Do you know if Altoona/Johnstown will be simulcasting anytime soon? I am a fan of Windows media center and use it for my DVR. I hate the quality I get from the analog tuners, but the digital ones are always beautiful. I wish I could find one that had the same quality as a tuner in a TV or the set top box... but even the best rated ones seem to be lacking.

Jim
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

1 edit

Os to Mountaintech

Member

to Mountaintech
If everything is being simulcast, 76 analog channels, depending on how many SD's you put on a QAM, at the minimum takes 6 (If you're doing 14 per QAM, Comcast has put this many on 1 QAM) to as many as 13 QAM's.(if you're doing 6 per QAM).

That's anywhere from 12-39 HD channels, depending on the number of QAM's used, and whether you do 2:1 or 3:1. That, to me, is a significant amount of bandwidth. I could easily fill a request list at the top end of that.

Were some things moved around in the HD's? I've noticed my previous problems with FX HD have all but disappeared. It was at 843MHz before.

And how slow are we talking a transition? Cable companies going all digital has been happening for 4 years now. To say we're a little behind is an understatement.
JimmyK814
join:2010-12-29
Altoona, PA

JimmyK814

Member

I have a Silicon Dust tuner with a CableCard. I've only ever noticed once back in December, quite a few channels got moved around as far as frequency and the true digital channel numbers. It took me a while to remap them back to the guide.

Ever since then, I see some of the HD channels freeze and stutter from time to time even though my signal strength seems perfect and I don't see any CRC errors... almost like they squeezed too many into a QAM.

I was thinking about 10 SD channels per QAM and about 5-6 QAMs thinking they might not bother with the channels below 23, at least at first.

While it would be a waste of bandwidth, I'm thinking when the analog channels went away is when we would see more HD channels.

Have you gone searching for the digital versions of the lower channels?
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os

Member

I don't have any way of doing that except in the diagnostic menu, but I will go one at a time to try and do a QAM map for Cumberland.

Now knowing this about digital simulcasting, that's why I've held off doing the HTPC thing, maybe now it's time to get in on that. I hate not being able to record anything, but I'm not paying for an ABB DVR, especially after the horrible experiences I had with them. I went through at least 10.
JimmyK814
join:2010-12-29
Altoona, PA

JimmyK814

Member

I went through two of the older HD-DVR's, and one of the newer ones over the course of about 8 months. They all went out a little differently. The lady behind the counter scolded me on the last one, insisting that if it happens again, she will have to send a tech out rather than have me return it because the cable line must be causing them to go bad. She was kind of mean about it, as if she personally owned the boxes.

So I ended up getting a CableCard. They were able to activate it in seconds over the phone, which shocked me after the stories you read online about the horrors.

HTPC's are not always a picnic. Sometimes I miss the simplicity of the cable box... but the interface makes it worth it. I stocked up on 2TB drives before the floods raised the prices.. so I have an 8TB array that shows like 4,200 hours of HD or 52,000 hours of SD.

Of course I use that for other things as well. How much TV could you possibly record!
Os
join:2011-01-26
US

Os

Member

That's just nothing but an attempt at more $.

I'm going through, and nothing appears to be digital on my box. TV Guide (ch 2) comes in at 57MHz, TBS (ch 24) comes in at 225MHz, USA (ch 25) comes in at 231MHz.

I'll have to screw the cable out of the wall, and see what happens.