 PFHBully For You
join:2003-06-26
Saint Louis, MO |
PFH
Member
2013-Dec-13 9:59 pm
[CATV] St. Louis City going all-digital (?)The Mrs. got a voice mail / robot call from Charter saying that StL would be going to all-digital, and that each TV would need a set-top box, etc. The call didn't say when. I guess I'll need to rebuild my recording PC with digital tuners, new HD extenders, etc., as I'm only doing analog. It's a shame, though, as this PC has been running unmodified since 2005.
Anyone have more details? |
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 fnord76Elder God
Premium Member
join:2002-05-14
Troy, IL |
fnord76
Premium Member
2013-Dec-13 10:02 pm
begenning of the year. |
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to PFH
What date? I haven't seen anything in my bill yet or on any STB. |
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PFHBully For You
join:2003-06-26
Saint Louis, MO |
PFH
Member
2014-Jan-14 10:27 am
Well, it went in this morning. Only Channel 3 has an analog graphic about the transition.
Silly me - I thought I could get CableCards at my local Charter shop when I dropped in last week. Since they no longer really support Tivo, the guy says, they don't stock the cards in the stores. They promise I'll get them in the mail Real Soon Now. So my old 2005 WinXP SnapStream BeyondTV recording box can only record analog snow, and my shiny new WMC7 recording PC is all dressed up, but has no place to go. |
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techie01
Anon
2014-Jan-14 11:39 am
You should actually be able to do that, all offices should have them in stock along with tuning adapters if your area is SDV. |
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dso25a50 to PFH
Anon
2014-Jan-14 11:46 am
to PFH
Go back and talk to someone else, they can get CC at the local offices, they actually. They should have them picked one up less than 2 weeks ago. Charter does not support Tivo but they do support CC |
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PFHBully For You
join:2003-06-26
Saint Louis, MO |
PFH
Member
2014-Jan-14 12:55 pm
Heh. I tried that - don't you think I would have tried that?  The guy said they had none in the central STL office, and he checked in their system to see if a couple of other offices might have some. Negative. I had to order them through the main phone number, and who knows how long this is going to take.  I even called in again the next day to ask if any STL-area shops had 'em, and after getting bounced between the TV and the Internet guys a couple of times (as soon as you mention a PC, they transfer you to Internet), the story was the same - none available in the STL storefronts. |
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dso25a50
Anon
2014-Jan-14 1:32 pm
Not sure what the problem is, I just talked to a friend in one of the St Charles County locations, he said all the offices should have them, or should be able to get them from the warehouse as they are shipping hardware to the stores in bulk. If you cant get one from the store you are going to you could always go to Charter Commons in Town and Country but the St Charles County location I talked to said they had a pile. |
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| dso25a50 |
dso25a50
Anon
2014-Jan-14 1:33 pm
I would keep the PC part out of it, just tell them you need a cable card and you may need a tuning adapter but they should give you what you need. |
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techie01
Anon
2014-Jan-14 3:39 pm
Agreed, don't mention the PC part. |
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fnord76Elder God
Premium Member
join:2002-05-14
Troy, IL |
to PFH
Agreed, and the Town and Country office should have them. They had a conference room full of equipment filled in preperation for the transition. |
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PFHBully For You
join:2003-06-26
Saint Louis, MO |
PFH
Member
2014-Jan-14 8:37 pm
Tried again at my nearby office, no luck. Called the customer service number to see if I could get a shipping status, and found that last week's friendly 'Bob' tier-1 rep lied to my face, telling me they had shipped. In fact, they STILL haven't shipped. Grrrrr.
I'll see if The Mrs. will run out to Town and Country or St. Chuck tomorrow. |
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dso25a50
Anon
2014-Jan-15 9:37 am
If she makes the venture to St Charles have her go to Winghaven as they had them yesterday. 7760 Winghaven Blvd OFallon |
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PFHBully For You
join:2003-06-26
Saint Louis, MO |
PFH
Member
2014-Jan-15 11:23 am
Thanks for the tip - I passed that along to her before she left the house. |
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elgibby
join:2014-01-15
Saint Louis, MO |
to PFH
No evidence of digital switch here yet in 63118 -- channel numbers/order are supposed to change, hasn't happened.
BTW: I got that BS from Charter about "not supporting TiVo" when I called to activate a cable card transferred from an old TiVo to a new TiVo. The CSR essentially said too bad, you lose, conversation over. After throwing stuff around my office, I called back and was told, of course, they support cable cards in any device (as is required by the FCC, I should have told the first guy). What they don't support is the Charter-branded TiVo that lasted a minute and a half in Texas.
Whenever you hear something from Charter that sounds like BS, call back and try someone else. Throwing stuff at the wall is optional. |
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I am in the same boat as you are. I live in 63146 and even though I got a robo call about a week ago saying I am going all digital, it has not happened as of today. I also cant get the Charter Caller ID app to work on my TV yet. I was told that I need a new cable box because they are not able to update the firmware over the air. I guess I'll be making a visit to the Town and Country Customer Service Center. |
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bozzy
join:2009-08-25
Simpsonville, SC |
to elgibby
said by elgibby:BTW: I got that BS from Charter about "not supporting TiVo" when I called to activate a cable card transferred from an old TiVo to a new TiVo. The CSR essentially said too bad, you lose, conversation over. After throwing stuff around my office, I called back and was told, of course, they support cable cards in any device (as is required by the FCC, I should have told the first guy). What they don't support is the Charter-branded TiVo that lasted a minute and a half in Texas. When you called Charter did you say CableCard at the voice prompts? I've had good luck with them lately. However, in order to transfer a CableCard, a regular CSR can't remove the old pairing. They will have to get a supervisor. So it is important you mention this to them or they may waste time trying to remove something tha they can't. After they get a supervisor to remove the pairing, you should be able to get it paired with the new host/data ids and serial number. |
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dso25a50
Anon
2014-Jan-16 2:35 pm
Agree, I understand there is now a specific group that has special training on cable cards, if you say at the VRU cable card or cable card pairing you should get transferred to this group. |
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mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state |
mdavej
Member
2014-Jan-16 3:29 pm
This appears to be the case. I called to set up a cable card a few weeks ago and was up and running in about 10 mins. In the past, it would have taken multiple phone calls over hours or days because nobody I talked to had the faintest idea what a cable card was, much less how to authorize one. |
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PFHBully For You
join:2003-06-26
Saint Louis, MO |
PFH
Member
2014-Jan-16 8:34 pm
I've had good luck with the CSRs when I've said "cable card activation". I've had to call in a buncha times, as one of my cards appears DOA, but activating and troubleshooting has gone pretty well. |
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elgibby
join:2014-01-15
Saint Louis, MO |
Thanks to PFH and all who suggested saying "cable card" at the voice prompt. I'll try that next time. |
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 CoolMan
join:2008-01-07
Maryville, TN
Netgear R7000
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said by elgibby:Thanks to PFH and all who suggested saying "cable card" at the voice prompt. I'll try that next time. Please check your IMs as well. |
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to PFH
1-Last night customers complaining to Channel 4 News of being forced to pay extra to upgrade to digital when on a "fixed income". Charter stated some free boxes for the first year. 2-Today, Belleville News Democat announcing "Charter rolling all-digital service" » www.bnd.com/2014/01/21/3 ··· tal.html3-Yesterday........Charter Getting Ready To Roll Out 60 Mbps Base Internet Service! » www.legitreviews.com/cha ··· JEVyX.99 |
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Mr Guy
Anon
2014-Jan-21 2:40 pm
said by BoMarty:1-Last night customers complaining to Channel 4 News of being forced to pay extra to upgrade to digital when on a "fixed income". Well maybe able cable TV shouldn't be a priority for them. They could always go with DirecTV or DishNetwork or U-Verse. Oh wait they all require boxes too. |
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mdavej
join:2004-06-09
united state |
mdavej
Member
2014-Jan-21 3:58 pm
said by Mr Guy :said by BoMarty:1-Last night customers complaining to Channel 4 News of being forced to pay extra to upgrade to digital when on a "fixed income". Well maybe able cable TV shouldn't be a priority for them. They could always go with DirecTV or DishNetwork or U-Verse. Oh wait they all require boxes too. Nice. When a company raises prices, you have no right to complain. Just roll over and take it or do without. That's really easy to say when it doesn't affect you. Tough luck grandma, if you can't afford a box, no more TV for you. Get your priorities straight, old woman. |
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Mr Guy
Anon
2014-Jan-21 6:25 pm
said by mdavej:Nice. When a company raises prices, you have no right to complain. Just roll over and take it or do without. That's really easy to say when it doesn't affect you. Tough luck grandma, if you can't afford a box, no more TV for you. Get your priorities straight, old woman. When all the other pay TV companies require a box and charge a fee and have for years. Not a peep form anyone. Totally expected. If charter does it they are evil. You don't see anything wrong with that attitude? What is Charter supposed to do not charge for them at all? Which buy the way they are giving out up to 2 for free for a year. Before complaining please point out your solution to this. |
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 nunyaLXI 483
MVM
join:2000-12-23
O Fallon, MO ·Charter
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nunya
MVM
2014-Jan-22 1:06 am
Here's the problem I see: Charter could convert to 100% digital basic and still not require set top boxes. You would just need a newer TV. They chose to scramble the digital basic so you HAVE to get one of their converter boxes or cable cards.
So, from where I sit it looks like a money grab by Charter. I don't blame people for being mad.
This could potentially backfire for Charter. One of the big reasons a lot of people kept inferior cable TV vs. satellite is they didn't want to deal with a box on every TV.
I don't have their TV service. I have an OTA antenna where the picture is 2X better than Charter. When I go to someones house who has Charter TV, the HDTV always looks "fuzzy" and pixelated (yes, I do know the difference between SD and HD!). I don't know what kind of compression they use, but it sucks. |
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said by BoMarty:1-Last night customers complaining to Channel 4 News of being forced to pay extra to upgrade to digital when on a "fixed income". Charter stated some free boxes for the first year.
2-Today, Belleville News Democat announcing "Charter rolling all-digital service"
»www.bnd.com/2014/01/21/3 ··· tal.html
3-Yesterday........Charter Getting Ready To Roll Out 60 Mbps Base Internet Service!
»www.legitreviews.com/cha ··· JEVyX.99 Hey, this post was intended to state the all digital is happening now in St Louis. The grandma issue is a different topic |
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Mr Guy to nunya
Anon
2014-Jan-22 3:45 am
to nunya
said by nunya:Here's the problem I see: Charter could convert to 100% digital basic and still not require set top boxes. You would just need a newer TV. They chose to scramble the digital basic so you HAVE to get one of their converter boxes or cable cards.
So, from where I sit it looks like a money grab by Charter. I don't blame people for being mad.
This could potentially backfire for Charter. One of the big reasons a lot of people kept inferior cable TV vs. satellite is they didn't want to deal with a box on every TV. If they are complaining about a $7 box (A box they don't even have to pay for a year ) then they certainly aren't going to want to spend $250 or more on a new TV. And no they can't decrypt part of their channels. Read up on why they are converting to digital beyond the bandwidth being freed up. Besides you want to subsidize these people's not having to pay for box by having YOUR box cost $10 a month because that's the other alternative. And if someone only wants locals the vast majority can use an antenna and get a better picture anyway. |
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CoolMan
join:2008-01-07
Maryville, TN ARRIS BGW210-700
Netgear R7000
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to nunya
said by nunya:Here's the problem I see: Charter could convert to 100% digital basic and still not require set top boxes. You would just need a newer TV. They absolutely could, in fact another cable company I know did exactly that. Suddenlink went all digital in markets but they actually left limited basic and expanded basic unencrypted in Clear QAM (encrypting everything else) informing customers to re-scan there TVs (in the transition period prior to the analog removals) and if they had a TV with only a NTSC tuner they could get DTAs for free, with no monthly fees and you could get as many as you needed (no limit). |
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The guy said they had none in the central STL office, and he checked in their system to see if a couple of other offices might have some. Negative. I had to order them through the main phone number, and who knows how long this is going to take. 
I even called in again the next day to ask if any STL-area shops had 'em, and after getting bounced between the TV and the Internet guys a couple of times (as soon as you mention a PC, they transfer you to Internet), the story was the same - none available in the STL storefronts.
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