Digital Channel Problems
Mark Tiedemann
channels?
For the past 4 weeks now, 1/2 of the DMX channels have been displaying
the message that the chanel will return shortly.
When I talked to a tech. person they said it was a national problem
and there is nothing they can do about it.
I was wondering if it had anything to do with the strength of the
cable that is going into my apartment. Because I also have been
having problems with my @Home cable modem service. (Service will go
down for about 3 hours everyday for no reason).
Thanks,
Mark
Scott
wrote:
>Has anyone else been having problems with some of the Digital
>channels?
Not here in CT.
>For the past 4 weeks now, 1/2 of the DMX channels have been displaying
>the message that the chanel will return shortly.
Are the channels that are out contiguous, or not?
>When I talked to a tech. person they said it was a national problem
>and there is nothing they can do about it.
Doubtful. Curious: What cable company do you have?
>I was wondering if it had anything to do with the strength of the
>cable that is going into my apartment. Because I also have been
>having problems with my @Home cable modem service. (Service will go
>down for about 3 hours everyday for no reason).
Sounds like a reasonable assumption. Curious: Does the modem go out
for the same 3 hr period everyday? It sounds like a high frequency
problem. The modem uses frequencies that are fairly close to the
highest digital channels, so it is reasonable to think that the two
problems are related.
>Thanks,
>Mark
Scott
All that is necessary for Evil to triumph,
is for good people to do nothing.
Mark Tiedemann
> >the message that the chanel will return shortly.
> Are the channels that are out contiguous, or not?
Yes
>
> >When I talked to a tech. person they said it was a national problem
> >and there is nothing they can do about it.
> Doubtful. Curious: What cable company do you have?
Currently it's AT&T. However, our local system was recently bought
out by Mediacom and it is suppose to change over in Sept. (I'm in Iowa
City, IA).
> Sounds like a reasonable assumption. Curious: Does the modem go out
> for the same 3 hr period everyday? It sounds like a high frequency
> problem. The modem uses frequencies that are fairly close to the
> highest digital channels, so it is reasonable to think that the two
> problems are related.
>
It pretty much goes out at around 2:00pm everyday. I should give them
a call again and have them come out here and do a line test. I just
hope they don't come out here and find nothing wrong and charge me for
a service call.
Thanks for the information Scott.
This is off subject, but does anyone know if Mediacom subscribe to
HTS? IF they don't I was thinking that they probably don't care as my
system is being switched over in a couple of weeks.
Thanks,
Mark
Scott
wrote:
>> >For the past 4 weeks now, 1/2 of the DMX channels have been displaying
>> >the message that the chanel will return shortly.
>> Are the channels that are out contiguous, or not?
>
>Yes
Good.
>>
>> >When I talked to a tech. person they said it was a national problem
>> >and there is nothing they can do about it.
>> Doubtful. Curious: What cable company do you have?
>
>Currently it's AT&T. However, our local system was recently bought
>out by Mediacom and it is suppose to change over in Sept. (I'm in Iowa
>City, IA).
Don't know Mediacom, but AT+T customer service is almost non-existent.
>> Sounds like a reasonable assumption. Curious: Does the modem go out
>> for the same 3 hr period everyday? It sounds like a high frequency
>> problem. The modem uses frequencies that are fairly close to the
>> highest digital channels, so it is reasonable to think that the two
>> problems are related.
>>
>
>It pretty much goes out at around 2:00pm everyday. I should give them
>a call again and have them come out here and do a line test. I just
>hope they don't come out here and find nothing wrong and charge me for
>a service call.
Where you are, is the weather quite hot? Is the hottest part of the
day from about 2pm to 5pm? If so, this _could_ be the source of your
trouble. Heat causes signal loss, the more heat, the more loss, which
would probably affect the higher frequencies first.
>Thanks for the information Scott.
No prob. Hope it helps.
>This is off subject, but does anyone know if Mediacom subscribe to
>HTS? IF they don't I was thinking that they probably don't care as my
>system is being switched over in a couple of weeks.
This I don't know, but most likely someone on this ng will! :-)
Rob Seemuth
outside for you.
send it via e-mail.
Thanks
Rob
Iowa City Mediacom Service Tech.
"Mark Tiedemann" <subb...@home.com> wrote in message
news:777050f3.01081...@posting.google.com...
Rob Seemuth
Rob
"Scott" <survivor7...@excite.com> wrote in message
news:v88nntsrp56g4rhe6...@4ax.com...
Mark Tiedemann
> And yes. We do use HTS. Same as ATT.
>
homepage the other day and noticed that they didn't offer it to it's
other markets.
> | >It pretty much goes out at around 2:00pm everyday. I should give them
> | >a call again and have them come out here and do a line test. I just
> | >hope they don't come out here and find nothing wrong and charge me for
> | >a service call.
> | Where you are, is the weather quite hot? Is the hottest part of the
> | day from about 2pm to 5pm? If so, this _could_ be the source of your
> | trouble. Heat causes signal loss, the more heat, the more loss, which
> | would probably affect the higher frequencies first.
> |
I had a tech come out to my apartment today and found out of all
things, my coxial cord leading from the box to the surge protector was
bad. It's interesting that it only affected 10 channels, and the
other ones came in clear.
The only thing now is trying to figure out my Cable modem and why it
goes off everyday. Allthough, the tech said that the lines in my
building are cheap and they might be able to put a amplifer (sp?) on
it.
Thanks for the info guys.
Mark
Scott
wrote:
>"Rob Seemuth" <seemuth@-NO_SPAM-yahoo.com> wrote in message news:<A9_e7.10144$sr4.3...@news1.elmhst1.il.home.com>...
>> And yes. We do use HTS. Same as ATT.
>>
>That's cool, I was afraid of losing Tech Tv. (I was on Mediacom's
>homepage the other day and noticed that they didn't offer it to it's
>other markets.
>
>> | >It pretty much goes out at around 2:00pm everyday. I should give them
>> | >a call again and have them come out here and do a line test. I just
>> | >hope they don't come out here and find nothing wrong and charge me for
>> | >a service call.
>> | Where you are, is the weather quite hot? Is the hottest part of the
>> | day from about 2pm to 5pm? If so, this _could_ be the source of your
>> | trouble. Heat causes signal loss, the more heat, the more loss, which
>> | would probably affect the higher frequencies first.
>> |
>
>I had a tech come out to my apartment today and found out of all
>things, my coxial cord leading from the box to the surge protector was
>bad. It's interesting that it only affected 10 channels, and the
>other ones came in clear.
Ok, seems reasonable; a single cable can easily cause problems, and
depending on what's wrong, may affect only certain frequencies. Good.
>The only thing now is trying to figure out my Cable modem and why it
>goes off everyday. Allthough, the tech said that the lines in my
>building are cheap and they might be able to put a amplifer (sp?) on
>it.
When the modem goes "off", do you lose block-sync? (FYI, when all the
lights on the front of the modem are on.) Again, does it happen the
same time every day for the same amount of time? Be advised, if the
problem is a noise trouble, an amplifier will probably _not_ fix the
problem, it could, in fact, make it worse by amplifying the _noise_
along with the signal.
>Thanks for the info guys.
>
>Mark
Scott
DeanSB
I'm in Storm Lake, Iowa (another town which recently got switched over from
AT&T to Mediacom (and which will be complete in the next few weeks).
I have a question regarding the Digital Channel Line-ups here in Iowa (and
Storm Lake).
Here in Storm Lake, we get virtually all the same channels as Iowa City does,
but only have 6 pay-per-view iN-Demand channels, and 6 Sports Pay-Per-View
channels as well.
We only get west feeds of the main premium channels (HBO, Cinemax,
Showtime/TMC, Starz! and Encore). All the rest of the channels are one feed
only.
Will us former AT&T (now Mediacom) digital cable subscribers be getting
additional multiplex feeds of HBO, Cinemax, Showtime, TMC, Starz!, and Encore?
And will we also be getting additional pay-per-view and digital music channels?
Also, I've looked at the listings in Yahoo! and Zap2It.com for other areas that
are already run by Mediacom (in the Spencer, Emmetsburg, Estherville, and
Spirit Lake areas of Iowa), and Mediacom in those areas also offers KMSP-UPN 9
out of Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN. Will us viewers here in Storm Lake, Iowa be
getting this channel in the not-too-distant future?
Thanks for your time!
DeanSB2000
DeanS...@yahoo.com
Rob Seemuth
The Other PPV and East coast feeds, That depends on the Mhz of your Cable
system. We are a 550 here in Iowa City and have one tear up on Chan 79 We
could use 80 but.. Also our high analog chan is 63. there is a 64 and 65
but they short lived. That will allow more Digital Chans.
When mediacom is done here in Iowa, there will only be 9 headends. And a
ton of fiber. Also they want to upgrade, upgrade. The North Liberty
upgrade is rolling along right now. 330Mhz to 860Mhz WOW.
Rob
"DeanSB" <dea...@rconnect.com> wrote in message
news:3B809C02...@rconnect.com...
DeanSB
> As far as UPN No Idea,
>
> The Other PPV and East coast feeds, That depends on the Mhz of your Cable
> system. We are a 550 here in Iowa City and have one tear up on Chan 79 We
> could use 80 but.. Also our high analog chan is 63. there is a 64 and 65
> but they short lived. That will allow more Digital Chans.
All I know is that all the analog channels are being used on our cable system
from Ch. 2 (HBO) to Ch. 62 (Travel Channel). The odd thing is, though, that
they don't have a channel on 61. They've skipped over that one.
Here is the digital channel lineup for Storm Lake:
Ch. Channel name
--- --------------
120 Noggin
121 Discovery Kids
122 Toon Disney
123 Goodlife TV
125 Newsworld International
128 Bloomberg Television
135 MTV 2
137 Trio
160 Sci-Fi Channel
161 Game Show Network
162 BBC America
180 Bravo!
182 Ovation
183 Style
201 Discovery Home & Leisure
202 HGTV
215 Nick GAS (Games & Sports)
220 Discovery Health
222 The Health Network
230 TBN (Trinity Broadcasting) - Digital Feed
231 Inspirational Life
240 International Channel
271 Discovery Civilization
272 Discovery Science
273 National Geographic Channel
274 Discovery Wings
275 Biography Channel
276 History International
294 Tech TV
401 Fox Sports World
402 ESPN News
403 ESPN Classic
404 Outdoor Life Network
405 The Golf Channel
406 Outdoor Channel
408 Speedvision
411 ESPN Alternate
413 CNN-SI
420 ESPN Now (Sports Previews)
421 - 426 Sports Pay-Per-View
427 ESPN Extra (Pay-Per-View)
471 VH1 Country
472 MTV X
473 VH1 Classic
474 VH1 Soul
476 MuchMusic USA
481 BET On Jazz
501 Turner Classic Movies
502 WE: Women's Entertainment
503 IFC (Independent Film Channel)
504 Lifetime Movie Network
505 Sundance Channel
506 Fox Movie Channel
518 Encore West
519 Love Stories East
521 Mystery East
523 Westerns East
528 True Stories West
530 Action West
534 Starz! West
535 Starz! Theater East
537 Black Starz!
551 HBO West
552 HBO Plus East
554 HBO Signature East
557 HBO Family West
561 Cinemax West
565 MoreMAX West
576 Showtime West
577 Showtime Too East
580 Showtime Showcase West
582 Showtime Extreme West
590 The Movie Channel East
593 TMC Extra West
801 - 806 iN-DEMAND Pay-Per-View
845 Action Pay-Per-View
851 Spice Adult Pay-Per-View
852 Spice 2 Adult Pay-Per-View
853 Playboy Adult Pay-Per-View
854 Hot Choice Adult Pay-Per-View
900 - 936 DMX CD Audio Channels
And like I said, every channel from Chs. 2 to 62 (with the exception of Ch. 61)
is being used. The folks at Mediacom here in Storm Lake say that, for now,
they're at their maximum channel capacity...including digital channels. They
stated to me that Storm Lake has the most comprehensive line-up in all of
Northwest Iowa right now.
I wonder then, how many MHz would you say our cable system is then?
They also told me that they have no plans to add on any new channels to the
line-up here until all the other systems in northwest Iowa (Cherokee,
Pocahontas, Laurens, LeMars-Remsen, Denison, Sac City-Rockwell City-Lake
City-Manson, Fort Dodge-Coalville-Moorland, Humboldt-Dakota City, Algona,
Carroll, Barnum, Clarion, Webster City, etc.) are upgraded and have more
bandwidth/channels.
They stated that the next upgrade here in Storm Lake (within the next year) will
be so that high-speed cable modem Internet Access can be offered through
Mediacom (since we're also served by a competitor who is already offering this
service.)
>
>
> When mediacom is done here in Iowa, there will only be 9 headends. And a
> ton of fiber. Also they want to upgrade, upgrade. The North Liberty
> upgrade is rolling along right now. 330Mhz to 860Mhz WOW.
>
> Rob
Will all these new upgrades, and the 9 headends, mean that we'll get even MORE
channels than we do now (in Storm Lake, Iowa City, or elsewhere)?
I've also been hearing about VOD (Video-On-Demand) being offered on many digital
systems now. Will us Iowa Mediacom customers be getting this new service in the
near future?
Which cities will be the headends? I heard that Storm Lake now has a local
office. Does this mean that Storm Lake will be a "headend town", or will Fort
Dodge be the headend town for our area?
Here's another idea I'd love to see floated by Mediacom for Iowa...
How about offering us the ability to get BOTH Digital Cable AND High-Speed cable
modem Internet Access on our TV with one set-top box? That way, we could surf
the 'net while watching TV, or vice-versa. Also, will we be getting new digital
boxes which come with Tivo Personal Video Recorder functionality?
And I have yet another question...
Will Mediacom's Iowa systems (Storm Lake included) be able to receive the
digital / HDTV feeds of the new digital local TV stations when they come online
in the next couple years, and will us analog TV set users be able to receive the
digital local TV stations via the same digital converter that we now receive the
other digital cable channels?
And once the local TV stations (KTIV, KCAU, KMEG, KPTH, and Iowa Public TV in my
area, and KGAN, KWWL, KCRG, KFXA, KWKB, and Iowa Public TV in your area)
eventually cease broadcasting of their analog channels, will our Mediacom Iowa
systems go completely digital at that point (no more analog service)?
Whew! I know that's a LOT of questions!
But I'd love to get a "sneak peak" at what's to come, cuz I'm sure we've all got
a LOT to look forward to when all these new upgrades take place!! :-)
DeanSB2000
DeanS...@yahoo.com
