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Raylock
@comcast.net
| Local digital stations in limited basic subscription? I subscribe to limited basic service only. The service description shown on Comcast.com for my area (Central NJ) shows that the local HD stations (ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox etc) are included in the limited basic service. I have a separate digital tuner that finds these stations (and only these stations), however my new Sony TV does not find them in the digital scan (for cable). I have talked to Sony who has talked to Comcast. Comcast told Sony that I was not entitled to HD in my limited basic subscription and that I was stealing the stations by using my separate tuner. Sony has concluded, therefore, that it is not a problem with their TV. Am I off base here? Should I NOT be receiving the digital signal for locals as part of my limited basic service? I feel that I am stuck between Comcast and Sony with not much chance of getting anything fixed.
I would appreciate any incites or others experience.
Thanks | |
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dtv09
@nauticom.net
| Re: Local digital stations in limited basic subscription? Neither, it's the fault of your local stations. Until Feb 2009, only your stations can ask Comcast to offer your locals "in the clear", if they are not charging Comcast for carry like Sinclair Media. To do additional searches, you are referring to "clear QAM": stations that can be watched with a digital tuner without a box (STB) or cable-card. On Feb of 2009, the DTV switch will occur and these local stations will then be allowed to file for "must carry" or "for profit" licenses. If they are "must carry" and carry the same feed on HD and SD, then Comcast will have to provide both feeds as "clear QAM". CBS's Les Moon-whatever, has publicly stated he does not want his HD to be free. Expect local CBS affiliates to not allow their HD feeds as "clear", others will depend on the local stations itself. If a station does not authorize Comcast to carry it's signal, it can't... that includes price packages as well as straight up availability. The FCC has not yet concluded the DTV regulations. As of May 2008, a "channel" was defined as "multiple streams" and the HD stream, if carrying the same content as the SD stream, will be held against the Must Carry practices that have existed since the early '80's. The National Broadcasters Association is heavily fighting this definition, against cable operators and PBS who want "Must Carry" to mean the channel, not specifically picked streams within. Until resolution, most systems have all digital stations encrypted. | |
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raylock
@comcast.net
| Thank for the information. Sounds like a complicated situation. My issue is I am now receiving DTV through a separate generic DT tuner (not provided by Comcast). It receives the unencrypted QAM signals but my Sony TV will not receive them. Comcast is telling Sony that I am receiving signals that I am not entitled to. However, according to the lineup published on Comcast.com the limited basic subscription does include the local HD DTV stations. So I CAN receive them on a tuner (unencrypted QAM) but not on my TV (unencrypted QAM) Comcast is telling Sony that I should not be able to receive those signals (but I do and they are included in the lineup). Consequently Sony is no longer trying to figure out why I can't receive them on their TV. So whatever permissions are or can be given, I don't understand why I can receive them on one TV and not on another. Can a generic tuner (PHD-205) receive something a TV tuner can not?
Ray | |
| | davehowles
join:2002-05-11
Charles Town, WV
| Re: Local digital stations in limited basic subscription? Post your model # of Sony television.
I'd guess, only a WAG that maybe your set is looking for a "cable card" which of course you don't have! You might just need to swap something in one of the menu screens! Like I said WAG but it's the most reasonable solution! If your TV is supposed to do "clear QAM" it should!
If something on your PHD-205 is at say 84-2 can you get your Sony to directly access 84-2? What does it see if it will? | |
|
raylock
@comcast.net
| The Sony is a 46Z4100 which does not have a provision for a cable card. Yes, I can enter the station directly but the TV message is that the station can't be decoded. This is the second TV that I have had so I think it is something systemic between the Comcast signal and the TV. To Sony's credit, I received an email this morning saying that they are trying to determine what the problem is. They were originally thrown off course by Comcast's comments to them that I was not entitled to local digital channels in my basic cable subscription. Has anyone else had trouble getting their Digital capable TV to decode unencrypted Comcast channels? | |
| |
dtv09
@nauticom.net
| Re: Local digital stations in limited basic subscription? That TV only has one RF input. Are you correctly searching for "Cable" or "QAM" digital channels? You may be searching for "OTA" or "ATSC" digital channels, of which you will find none on cable (only an antenna). In addition, what does "now receiving DTV through a separate generic DT tuner" mean, exactly? DTV is over the air, not cable. If you want to find unencrypted digital stations on cable, you must plug the coax DIRECTLY into the TV with no other tuners (including cable boxes) between Comcast and the TV and then search using "Cable" or "QAM" options/settings. Is this separate generic DT tuner picking up your local stations over the air? Can you confirm Comcast is not encrypting your local HD stations? | |
| raylock0
join:2006-02-07
Berkeley Heights, NJ
| I was searching on the cable setting for digital channels. I also did a search on OTA and was able to bring in one station just to make sure that the digital tuner worked. Sorry I misused DTV. I have a PHD-205 unit which is a third party OTA and QAM digital tuner. I can receive Comcast's unencoded digital cable channels using that tuner so I know that we are receiving digital signals. My question now is whether anyone who receives Comcast digital signals has had a problem getting their QAM capable TV to find them. As I said earlier, Sony recognizes this as a problem and is trying to understand what the issue is. Thanks | |
| | dishrich
join:2006-05-12
Springfield, IL
1 edit | Re: Local digital stations in limited basic subscription? said by raylock0  :My question now is whether anyone who receives Comcast digital signals has had a problem getting their QAM capable TV to find them. As I said earlier, Sony recognizes this as a problem and is trying to understand what the issue is. Yes, I have a Sony SXRD XBR2 & I had issues in the past with our local clear QAM channels with Insight - others I know have had the same issues as well. What the problem seems to be is that these Sony tuners, when they do a digital channel scan, get confused & sometimes think the clear QAM channels are actually scrambled, then "hides" them so that when you channel up/down, it skips over them. (I think it might be where Comcast might mix scrambled & non-scrambled channels on the same QAM group, but this is only a guess)
What you need to do, is go into the manual channel add/delete list & you'll have to stop on each physical QAM channel group (the first digits BEFORE the decimal point) & check the hidden channels. Most likely, you'll find some of them to pop in. Once you find them, you can unhide them & you're all set. Of course, it's a pretty tedious process, but if you want these channels...
Interestingly, after Comcast took over our system & they realligned the entire digital lineup, my Sony now correctly finds EVERY single one with no manual intervention on my part. | |
| johncase3
Premium
join:2008-05-25
Hillsborough, NJ
| I have a Sony KDF E42A10 and have no problems getting clear QAM, but we have only been Comcast for a few months (ex Patriot) and I have the whole Digital/HD package. I also have a Happauge PC tuner card that gets clear QAM. I recently got a K-World USB ATSC/QAM tuner for my laptop. It does well with ATSC but it does not decode clear QAM properly. I only get the sound. | |
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raylock
@comcast.net | Thanks for the comments | |
| 
crashnburn
join:2000-12-13
Bay Area
| I having similar issue with my Sony KDL-40v3000 and comcast cable. I did channel scan (digital) and it was able to pick up all the channels. However, one particular channel I cannot view is NBC HD (KNTV on Ch 11.1). I am able to see ABC HD, CBS HD, etc. The error I'm getting is "sognal cannot be decoded."
Here's the weird thing. Downstairs in my living room, I was able to view NBC HD with my Sharp LCD.
I'm using Comcast Cable. | |
|
Raylock
@comcast.net
| Well, after many hours I found that I can actually add the channels manually. The TV just doesn't find the digital channels during a scan. Once I had entered the channels manually, I found I had to go into the "hidden-unhidden" screen and hide the master channel e.g. 11. All channels with the same digits before the decimal (e.g. 11.1, 11.3, 11.5 etc) were being pointed to the same physical channel (e.g. 11) and the TV would report "unable to decode." Once I hid the main channel, then the sub channels would appear. I don't have an explanation for this but it worked for me. I was able to get a list of channels in my area from this site »www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels | |
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