[VillagesFlorida]

Originally Posted by getdul981

If you can still get channels above 22, then consider yourself fortunate. We have 2 HD boxes and had to get 2 converters for other sets even though they are LCD sets.

Hmmmm, this is very weird! We didn't have to get any converter boxes for the two bigger LCD sets. We are using the same HD boxes we have had for several years. I have NO box at all on the kitchen TV......just plugged it into the power outlet and ran a piece of coax from the cable outlet above the back splash to the back of the TV. There are gaps in the channels that I get on the TV that has NO box....but, some of them are numbered over 100. Most are above 22. Many come in, in HD. I wonder if our location in The Villages has anything to do with this issue?

[Mikeod]

Originally Posted by VillagesFlorida

Hmmmm, this is very weird! We didn't have to get any converter boxes for the two bigger LCD sets. We are using the same HD boxes we have had for several years. I have NO box at all on the kitchen TV......just plugged it into the power outlet and ran a piece of coax from the cable outlet above the back splash to the back of the TV. There are gaps in the channels that I get on the TV that has NO box....but, some of them are numbered over 100. Most are above 22. Many come in, in HD. I wonder if our location in The Villages has anything to do with this issue?

You may be in an area that hasn't converted yet. Previously, we were able to get reception like you describe just by connecting to the wall outlet, but that ended with the conversion to all digital. With the new adapters, I don't get all the same HD channels, but the other channels are better than they were without.

[Skip]

Originally Posted by VillagesFlorida

Hmmmm, this is very weird! We didn't have to get any converter boxes for the two bigger LCD sets. We are using the same HD boxes we have had for several years. I have NO box at all on the kitchen TV......just plugged it into the power outlet and ran a piece of coax from the cable outlet above the back splash to the back of the TV. There are gaps in the channels that I get on the TV that has NO box....but, some of them are numbered over 100. Most are above 22. Many come in, in HD. I wonder if our location in The Villages has anything to do with this issue?

No, network HD stations have always been carried "in the clear" on the subcarriers (9.1 etc.). It's the higher channels (14+) that were reassigned recently. If you want to see those higher numbers you'll need a STB (Set Top Box) or DTA (Digital TV Adapter). They (up to 1 STB & 2 DTAs) are free. However, with a STB you no longer get HD. If you want to keep HD, you'll need an HD-STB and they will want to charge you $8.50/month extra for the HD package. You'll get other HD stations too.

Think of it this way, TV sets look for stations in fixed increments (like "broadcast over the air" is set up). All the channels are predefined. Cable companies have total control over how they put stations on the "cable". They don't have to be that fixed frequency width especially if it's not all analog stations. For digital, they can cram in many more and even compress them. They can use any frequencies and widths they want. (Has nothing to do with scrambling either.) To figure out where these channels are and how to decode and decompress them, you need a unique tuner that has the cable company's "method" built in. (Or you can use a "CableCard" - but that's another story.) Thus a Set Top Box is required. It's just a special tuner. These units can receive and understand the info from the "head end" and in fact they are each addressable. Each has a unique IP address, so to speak. The STB is a two way communicator too (DTAs are not). The STB can send a signal back to the "head end" and the cable company can stream you the program you just requested. Thus you have "on-demand" and "pay-per-view". The STB has a "universal remote" that can be programmed to work the STB and your TV with one remote. Also the cable company can shut you down, change your "plan" or do lots of things by sending the box a code. Cable modems for internet access are the same. They are addressable too. Don't pay your bill on time? Comcast sends codes to your devices and bamm!, you no longer have internet or TV reception. No one has to visit your property to do that. What has happened recently is that they want to offer faster internet through-put and even more TV stations (many of them premium stations). The "pipe" is only so big, so change the analog (fat) signals to digital (skinny) signals and they can get 20-40 times as many stations through that "pipe". It's called "band-width". If we had "fiber-optic to the curb", we'd have 1000 times more band-width. Some day that may happen, but that's a lot of digging.

So far today, channels 2-13 and a few others are still there in analog, so you can still get the major networks stations without a special box. If that suits you, you can get a big reduction in your cable bill by going to just the "basic" plan. You'll get about 15 analog stations and still 5 or 6 HD stations at no extra fee. (Comcast won't tell you that some HD is free, however.)

Want to save money on your ISP bill? Buy your own Cable Modem, call in your MAC address number, return their modem and they take about $7/month plus tax off your internet bill. Make sure it's a DOCSIS 3.0 and you don't have phone service from Comcast. Zoom brand Series 1079 is a good one (Best Buy) and it'll pay for itself in less than a year.

Hope this helps. Class dismissed.

Skip

[Skybo]

Very interesting. Thanks Skip!

[getdul981]

I'm glad someone understands this better than I do. I just know what they told me at the store in Leesburg and the tech told me when we had our service moved to the new house.

[2BNTV]

Originally Posted by Skip

No, network HD stations have always been carried "in the clear" on the subcarriers (9.1 etc.). It's the higher channels (14+) that were reassigned recently. If you want to see those higher numbers you'll need a STB (Set Top Box) or DTA (Digital TV Adapter). They (up to 1 STB & 2 DTAs) are free. However, with a STB you no longer get HD. If you want to keep HD, you'll need an HD-STB and they will want to charge you $8.50/month extra for the HD package. You'll get other HD stations too.

Think of it this way, TV sets look for stations in fixed increments (like "broadcast over the air" is set up). All the channels are predefined. Cable companies have total control over how they put stations on the "cable". They don't have to be that fixed frequency width especially if it's not all analog stations. For digital, they can cram in many more and even compress them. They can use any frequencies and widths they want. (Has nothing to do with scrambling either.) To figure out where these channels are and how to decode and decompress them, you need a unique tuner that has the cable company's "method" built in. (Or you can use a "CableCard" - but that's another story.) Thus a Set Top Box is required. It's just a special tuner. These units can receive and understand the info from the "head end" and in fact they are each addressable. Each has a unique IP address, so to speak. The STB is a two way communicator too (DTAs are not). The STB can send a signal back to the "head end" and the cable company can stream you the program you just requested. Thus you have "on-demand" and "pay-per-view". The STB has a "universal remote" that can be programmed to work the STB and your TV with one remote. Also the cable company can shut you down, change your "plan" or do lots of things by sending the box a code. Cable modems for internet access are the same. They are addressable too. Don't pay your bill on time? Comcast sends codes to your devices and bamm!, you no longer have internet or TV reception. No one has to visit your property to do that. What has happened recently is that they want to offer faster internet through-put and even more TV stations (many of them premium stations). The "pipe" is only so big, so change the analog (fat) signals to digital (skinny) signals and they can get 20-40 times as many stations through that "pipe". It's called "band-width". If we had "fiber-optic to the curb", we'd have 1000 times more band-width. Some day that may happen, but that's a lot of digging.

So far today, channels 2-13 and a few others are still there in analog, so you can still get the major networks stations without a special box. If that suits you, you can get a big reduction in your cable bill by going to just the "basic" plan. You'll get about 15 analog stations and still 5 or 6 HD stations at no extra fee. (Comcast won't tell you that some HD is free, however.)

Want to save money on your ISP bill? Buy your own Cable Modem, call in your MAC address number, return their modem and they take about $7/month plus tax off your internet bill. Make sure it's a DOCSIS 3.0 and you don't have phone service from Comcast. Zoom brand Series 1079 is a good one (Best Buy) and it'll pay for itself in less than a year.

Hope this helps. Class dismissed.

Skip

Skip:

You Da Man!!!!!

[Skip]

Originally Posted by 2BNTV

Skip:

You Da Man!!!!!

Not hardly.

I do know this, ask anyone in Comcast if you can receive HD with just basic or basic-extended service and they will tell you "NO, you need an HD box and pay our HD fee".

That is a lie!

Thanks,
Skip

[vabeachers]

On November 1, Comcast in The Villages went to all digital. Comcast claims that they notified customers via bill inserts as well as making announcements via advertisements on various channels. However, I spoke with several Comcast customers, and none were aware of the switch-over and necessary customer actions until they lost the higher numbered channels.

The Comcast office on Hwy 441 in the shopping center across from Walmart was distributing the required Digital Transport Adapter (DTA) boxes in a self-installation kit. A DTA is required to receive the higher-numbered channels for all TVs that do not have a set-top box. (At least one TV in your home will have a set-top box - mine is Motorola - provided by Comcast. You can obtain as many boxes as you have activated connections in your home. It is my understanding that the first two are provided at no charge, but additional ones incur a charge - I don't know how much.

When you go to the aforementioned service location, signs will direct you to the other end of the shopping center, where a couple of Comcast trucks/vans are parked, with a table set up outside a vacant shore where two representatives are issuing the DTA boxes. At least that's how it was set up on Friday, 11/4. You'll need only some form of ID - driver's license, Comcast bill, etc. and will sign for receipt of the boxes. Instructions inside the boxes show you how to connect the DTA to you cable input and TV, and provide a toll-free number to activate them. However, it's not quite that simple.

If you have only two TVs - one with the set-top box plus one other to which the DTA will be connected, the process is pretty straightforward. You connect the DTA per the instructions, program the provided remote to control your TV (on/off, volume. channel; instructions also included), and call the toll-free number to activate.

But if you have more than one additional TV, OR IF YOU ARE USING TIVO OR ANOTHER DIGITAL VIDEO RECEIVER/RECORDER, you are going to have problems. The automated toll-free number to activate the DTAs does not have a provision (at least that I could discern) for multiple DTA activations, and nowhere does Comcast mention what to do for TIVO.

After much discussion with technicians in various departments at various locations around the world and on line, here's what I learned.
1. If you have TIVO or another Digital Receiver, do not connect a DTA to that outlet. You need to install a cable card into your receiver and activate it with a different telephone number than that used for the DTAs. Or you can schedule a service call to have Comcast do it for you at a charge of either $29.95 or $42.95 - I got both quotes from different Comcast support technicians. But do not schedule a service call for that until you have installed and activated all DTAs on your other connections.
2. The automated line for DTA activation is not "user-friendly" if you have more than one DTA to activate. I had a problem because of that and had to go online to the support page "chat" to get my DTAs activated. My suggestion for the telephone activation is to do one at a time.

3. For online activation, go to the Comcast web site, click on My Account and log in. In the Search box, type "chat now" (no quotes) and click on Search. Then click on the Live Chat link. That will open a chat window, and a technician will come on. Tell him or her that you want to activate one or more DTAs. In addition to your account info (name, customer #, service address and telephone number), you'll need the serial numbers of the DTAs.

4. Getting back to TIVO, because I couldn't get a consistent answer about the charge, I elected to go with self-installation. That means I need to contact the local support office to verify they have a cable card compatible with TIVO, then go pick it up and install it. I'll do that Monday (11/7/11). Wish me luck.

Good luck with your DTA installation.

[zcaveman]

Originally Posted by vabeachers

On November 1, Comcast in The Villages went to all digital. Comcast claims that they notified customers via bill inserts as well as making announcements via advertisements on various channels. However, I spoke with several Comcast customers, and none were aware of the switch-over and necessary customer actions until they lost the higher numbered channels.

The Comcast office on Hwy 441 in the shopping center across from Walmart was distributing the required Digital Transport Adapter (DTA) boxes in a self-installation kit. A DTA is required to receive the higher-numbered channels for all TVs that do not have a set-top box. (At least one TV in your home will have a set-top box - mine is Motorola - provided by Comcast. You can obtain as many boxes as you have activated connections in your home. It is my understanding that the first two are provided at no charge, but additional ones incur a charge - I don't know how much.

When you go to the aforementioned service location, signs will direct you to the other end of the shopping center, where a couple of Comcast trucks/vans are parked, with a table set up outside a vacant shore where two representatives are issuing the DTA boxes. At least that's how it was set up on Friday, 11/4. You'll need only some form of ID - driver's license, Comcast bill, etc. and will sign for receipt of the boxes. Instructions inside the boxes show you how to connect the DTA to you cable input and TV, and provide a toll-free number to activate them. However, it's not quite that simple.

If you have only two TVs - one with the set-top box plus one other to which the DTA will be connected, the process is pretty straightforward. You connect the DTA per the instructions, program the provided remote to control your TV (on/off, volume. channel; instructions also included), and call the toll-free number to activate.

But if you have more than one additional TV, OR IF YOU ARE USING TIVO OR ANOTHER DIGITAL VIDEO RECEIVER/RECORDER, you are going to have problems. The automated toll-free number to activate the DTAs does not have a provision (at least that I could discern) for multiple DTA activations, and nowhere does Comcast mention what to do for TIVO.

After much discussion with technicians in various departments at various locations around the world and on line, here's what I learned.
1. If you have TIVO or another Digital Receiver, do not connect a DTA to that outlet. You need to install a cable card into your receiver and activate it with a different telephone number than that used for the DTAs. Or you can schedule a service call to have Comcast do it for you at a charge of either $29.95 or $42.95 - I got both quotes from different Comcast support technicians. But do not schedule a service call for that until you have installed and activated all DTAs on your other connections.
2. The automated line for DTA activation is not "user-friendly" if you have more than one DTA to activate. I had a problem because of that and had to go online to the support page "chat" to get my DTAs activated. My suggestion for the telephone activation is to do one at a time.

3. For online activation, go to the Comcast web site, click on My Account and log in. In the Search box, type "chat now" (no quotes) and click on Search. Then click on the Live Chat link. That will open a chat window, and a technician will come on. Tell him or her that you want to activate one or more DTAs. In addition to your account info (name, customer #, service address and telephone number), you'll need the serial numbers of the DTAs.

4. Getting back to TIVO, because I couldn't get a consistent answer about the charge, I elected to go with self-installation. That means I need to contact the local support office to verify they have a cable card compatible with TIVO, then go pick it up and install it. I'll do that Monday (11/7/11). Wish me luck.

Good luck with your DTA installation.

Or you can go to https://digitalnow.comcast.com/ and activate the DTA boxes without calling Comcast.

If fact, I have activated DTA boxes for neighbors that do not have a computer by hooking them up and then coming home and activating them from my PC. All I needed was the DTA box serial numbers and a copy of their Comcast bill to get the necessary information. It only takes a few minutes.

Z

[Snowbirdtobe]

I am new to Comcast but not new to TIVO. There are different types of TIVO receivers. The older TIVO boxes used a cable box and a infra-red (IR) transmitter to control the cable box. These do not accept a CableCard.
The newer TIVO boxes have CableCard slots and I self installed one last week.
The card that I got from Comcast allows me to record 2 channels at the same time in my TIVO HD with only one card. The install required only one phone call to the CableCard setup number.

[Blackie]

I picked up 2 DTA's on Friday from Comcast near Walmart.

I activated both at the same time thru the toll free line, I was only on the phone for a few minutes. All the channels came thru after a few minutes.

The first DTA was simply connected to the wall cable outlet and the other to the TV, then I set the supplied remote per the instructions.

Everything works as expected.

The second TV has a Series 2 TIVO Box. I connected the DTA between the TIVO and the cable wall outlet. Then I reset the TIVO box per the instructions on the TIVO website for the Comcast DTA.

The TiVo works fine using its own remote - I do not need to use the remote supplied with the DTA at all. Below is the link for the Series 2 TiVo - there are probably similar documents for newer TIvo's.

http://support.tivo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1277

[EdV]

Great post Skip. That explains why you would need an A/B switch box as shown in this diagram if you wanted to receive basic channels (2-13), expanded basic (above 13) and the broadcast HD channels without having a rented Comcast digital set top box.

But those of you with older Tivos won't be happy with this change.

However, a poster in this thread indicates that he lost access to most of the clear QUAM HD stations after his area was upgraded.

[faithfulfrank]

We will finally be full time Floridians in less then a month. At our Florida home we currently have Comcast expanded basic....which was fine for me as we were only there a few months a year. I have not been down there since May, so I do not have any of these boxes. I suspect when we do get down there in a few weeks my cable will not work, or not work well I'm sure.

Perhaps this will be a very good time to just get internet from Comcast....THANK YOU Skip for the modem info...!! I think I'll switch to Direct TV, as that is what many of my neighbors have done. I'll finally be rid of a landline and just have our Verizon cellphones.

Comcast has been sending my bill up to my NY home. I have not gotten any mailings from them about this, but of course have followed this news here on TOTV. Thank you all for keeping me informed....!

My other option is to just keep the expanded basic from Comcast and use the internet to get netflix and Hulu......all quite complicated....we'll see.

Call me crazy, but I seem to remember a time when we had an antenna in the attic and we turned on the TV and got about 12 channels....and amazingly we never ever got a bill for that......another time for sure...

Frank

[quirky3]

Ah, yes, the good old television days - 3 channels, and aluminum foil on the inside antenna

[l2ridehd]

Skip, great information. Comcast has a significant business problem. They are losing subscribers and trying to maintain their revenue stream. Remember when AOL was charging $19.95 for e-mail? Comcast is at that point in the business cycle. AOL almost failed and they never did recover from going to free e-mail. Comcast has to make a tough business decision. They can continue current course and speed and will be out of business in less then 10 years, or they can do the necessary market research, provide a product and service that will be perceived as value that will prevent folks moving to alternatives, and perhaps survive long term. It would take giving all HD, plus most sports and movies plus internet at a price point people would believe it was not worth changing. Probably under $50 a month. My guess is based on their model, they will go out of business. They have the worst customer service in the world (validated by multiple surveys) and the only change they make is to run ads stating how good their service really is. That is a company that senior management just doesn't get it. The current leadership will lead them to complete failure. Wish I was on their board of directors.