Re: Tivo HD and Comcast analog channels going GREY?
jAk
> I am on Comcast using a Tivo HD. I can get the local stations in HD
> just fine, however lately the analog channels will only show up as a
> grey screen with no audio, but my TV will still shows the analog local
> channels just fine.
>
> This just started happening the last couple of weeks. Most of the time
> I only record the HD channels but once in a while to save space I will
> record the analog channel, but now it is unreliable.
>
> Has anyone else run into this issue? Is it a signal strength issue
> from Comcast that only affects the Tivo HD.
>
> I am using firmware 11d the last I checked.
>
> I also have a Fusion HDTV USB device and it can pickup the local
> analog channels just fine even when the Tivo HD shows a grey screen.
Did you contact your cable provider about this problem?
You should define what you meant by "analog channels".
Analog channels do not provide High Definition programming.
Every OTA broadcast channel has been digital for some time.
The only exceptions are for low power stations.
Tony D.
> I am on Comcast using a Tivo HD. I can get the local stations in HD
> just fine, however lately the analog channels will only show up as a
> grey screen with no audio, but my TV will still shows the analog local
> channels just fine.
>
> This just started happening the last couple of weeks. Most of the time
> I only record the HD channels but once in a while to save space I will
> record the analog channel, but now it is unreliable.
>
> Has anyone else run into this issue? Is it a signal strength issue
> from Comcast that only affects the Tivo HD.
>
> I am using firmware 11d the last I checked.
>
> I also have a Fusion HDTV USB device and it can pickup the local
> analog channels just fine even when the Tivo HD shows a grey screen.
By "TV shows analog just fine" did you mean WITH the cable box???
Comcast has been actively eliminating analog. It doesn't matter with the
box, they just remap the digital channels.
Did you do a new channel scan on the Tivo? Does the Tivo have a cablecard?
Spider Dawg
> I am on Comcast using a Tivo HD. I can get the local stations in HD
> just fine, however lately the analog channels will only show up as a
> grey screen with no audio, but my TV will still shows the analog local
> channels just fine.
>
> This just started happening the last couple of weeks. Most of the time
> I only record the HD channels but once in a while to save space I will
> record the analog channel, but now it is unreliable.
>
> Has anyone else run into this issue? Is it a signal strength issue
> from Comcast that only affects the Tivo HD.
>
> I am using firmware 11d the last I checked.
>
> I also have a Fusion HDTV USB device and it can pickup the local
> analog channels just fine even when the Tivo HD shows a grey screen.
If you do indeed mean "analog" channels (as opposed to the fairly common
mistake of confusing "standard-def digital" with "analog") then I doubt
that it's a signal strength issue, since a weak analog signal will
typically result in a picture, albeit crappy, as opposed to a grey
screen. OTOH I've experienced situations where a weak signal, due to a
splitter, resulted in a (non-TiVo) tuner failing to tune some QAM channels
while tuning others just fine. It seemed to have nothing to do with
standard or high def, but rather was a frequency range (mid-60's thru
mid-70's), and once I removed the splitter the tuner tuned those
channels fine. So based on my non-expert experince I'd first try
rebooting the TiVo, and if that doesn't fix it check signal strength. If
you are using any splitters try going straight to the TiVo without
splitting first.
Good luck
Spider Dawg
Comcast, at least in my area, has eliminated analog for everything
except the "limited basic" channels, which are the local channels plus a
few others. Everything else is QAM-only, and they juggle those
frequencies around regularly. If the TiVo wasn't mapping them properly,
for whatever reason, that could explain why some QAM channels appear to
be "missing".
Silicondust's website maintains a page:
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels
where you can enter your country and postal/zip code to see what digital
channels are available in your area and the actual frequencies they're
broadcast on. It can be helpful to see if the cable company has juggled
the channels around. I use a tuner without cable box, to tune clear QAM,
and find channels "missing" about every 6-8 weeks that have been moved.
With a cable box mapping those frequencies to a constant logical channel
most folks wouldn't have any idea that the QAM frequencies have been
juggled.
I doubt that any of this would affect (truly) analog channels, though.
chr...@balder.sabir.com
> I am on Comcast using a Tivo HD. I can get the local stations in HD
> just fine, however lately the analog channels will only show up as a
> grey screen with no audio, but my TV will still shows the analog local
> channels just fine.
>
> This just started happening the last couple of weeks. Most of the time
> I only record the HD channels but once in a while to save space I will
> record the analog channel, but now it is unreliable.
>
> Has anyone else run into this issue? Is it a signal strength issue
> from Comcast that only affects the Tivo HD.
>
> I am using firmware 11d the last I checked.
>
> I also have a Fusion HDTV USB device and it can pickup the local
> analog channels just fine even when the Tivo HD shows a grey screen.
There's a good chance that your local Comcast franchise is starting to
implement Digital Simulcasting in your area, and hasn't done it right
yet. With Digital Simulcast, Comcast is sending out both a digital
and an analog version of the normally analog channels. Your TV and
Fusion device will pick up the analog version, but your TiVo cablecard
will pick up the digital version of those channels (in standard def,
but still digital). You should call your cable company; it sounds
like their problem.
Pretty much all Comcast franchises either already have or will shortly
go through the Digital Simulcast stage as they reduce the number of
analog stations they send out.
Chris
Peter Pan
news:hdp5sv$afb$1...@news.eternal-september.org...
Where Are you located at? Here in the baltimore area, channels under 100 are
still analog/work on older tv's (cept for when i added comcast hd and ionsat
channel 72 now only works with a box, but shows as hd)
you sure it's grey and not black? (or maybe grey bars around the screen)
reason i ask, is that with the plethora of new (and hd, and digital phone)
users, and water (it's been humid/raining here) corroding the connection on
the pole... the signal level in my house dropped *just enuf* to cause a
black screen (with grey bars around it), temporarily fixed with a radio
shack pre amp, and later by comcast testing the sig strength coming into the
house and putting new connectors on the pole distribution cables...
ps the radio shack fix was cheap, and now i have 9 tuners/voice/internet all
off one incoming cable
something like this...
Winegard� AP-8275 VHF/UHF Pre-Amplifier
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?filterValue=%2450.00+-+%2499.99&filterName=Price&productId=3364948&tab=summary
(supposed to be mast mounted, but doesn't have to be, i have the previous
model that was bidirectional, so it was boosted both ways, handy for
internet and voip)
Peter Pan
news:rm33g5lcmp68f1hss...@4ax.com...
>
> Thanks for all the replies. After posting my question, I found the
> following on the Tivo support site where it appears to be a known
> problem without a fix.
>
> By the way, I do not use Cable cards since Comcast wants to charge me
> far too much for what it is worth. I pay $16.50 a month for "basic
> cable". I get all the local stations OTA just fine. I also can get the
> local stations in HD in Clear QAM but Tivo will not provide a program
> guide for those without a cable card. When I checked about getting
> Cable Cards, Comcast claimed I had to upgrade from the $16.50 package
> plus I had to pay a monthly fee for the cards. Since I also have
> Directv with 2 DVRs, I really don't need to pay anything extra to
> Comcast than necessary.
just out of curiosity, i got a bit annoyed with the tivo guide (slow
updates/a few days when a program changes) now i use two online ones (one
from comcast - have the sports pak, handy when teams/games change or the
channels i get but tivo doesn't show) and the zap2it online guide (lets you
look at a program grid and right click "record to tivo" sort of handy)
have you tried setting it up with no boxes/cards? (i use a few s2dt's and do
that, but no clue if the 3 does that), i can only see channels under 100
that way on my tivos (cable co dvr does the above 100 and hd) (ps, why a
dual tuner hd dvr? wanted an hd box, they were out of em, gave me a dual
tuner hd dvr instead of just an hd box for free... cool.. free stuff! :)