HdHomeRun - Our Answer to QAM?!

[garyellis]

I am glad you said that. I had not thought about the transcoding to MVP level. I have a AMD 3200 +...I guess I'll see what happens.

All the more reason for an HD extender...

Thanks...I think I'll place an order for the HDHR....something new to tinker with...

Gary Ellis

[tmiranda]

I just ordered my HDHR today. How quickly do the units ship?

[White94Cobra]

Good news... I finally got my HDHR.
Bad news... the only QAM channels that I can receive are 10 of the music channels!!!

Every single other channel that gets a signal is encrypted. Not even the locals are available unencrypted. SUCKS!

It looks like I'll just be using it for ATSC - of which I can only get 3 of my locals.

[Polypro]

I'd call the provider and ask what, if any, QAM channels they provide (also check AVS Forum). If the answer in the positive, you may have some old era traps installed somewhere.

P

[Goodspike]

I'd second checking the local forum thread for your area. It took a bit of searching the thread to find the QAM channel assignments, but that was certainly easier than trying to find them myself!

[mikesm]

Originally Posted by Polypro

I'd call the provider and ask what, if any, QAM channels they provide (also check AVS Forum). If the answer in the positive, you may have some old era traps installed somewhere.

P

This is good advice. What programming are you recieving on your STB box now?

Thanks,
Mike

[Keenan]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

Good news... I finally got my HDHR.
Bad news... the only QAM channels that I can receive are 10 of the music channels!!!

Every single other channel that gets a signal is encrypted. Not even the locals are available unencrypted. SUCKS!

It looks like I'll just be using it for ATSC - of which I can only get 3 of my locals.

Where are you located and who's your cable provider? Some of the smaller cablecos encrypt the local digital channels. There's seems to be a difference in opinion on exactly how the FCC regs are interpreted. Most of the larger cablecos do not encrypt locals.

Checking a local thread at AVS is good advice, I'll bet you have the answer in a few hours.

[White94Cobra]

Originally Posted by Keenan

Where are you located and who's your cable provider? Some of the smaller cablecos encrypt the local digital channels. There's seems to be a difference in opinion on exactly how the FCC regs are interpreted. Most of the larger cablecos do not encrypt locals.

Checking a local thread at AVS is good advice, I'll bet you have the answer in a few hours.

I'm in Medford, Oregon. I currently just have the basic cable package through Charter (plus their 10MB Internet).

When I first got my TV this summer I hooked the cable up and found two HD locals, and about 10 other unencrypted channels (including Discovery HD). I just hooked the cable up to my TV again, and now only finds the 10 music channels and one InDemand preview channel.

[bcjenkins]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

I'm in Medford, Oregon. I currently just have the basic cable package through Charter (plus their 10MB Internet).

When I first got my TV this summer I hooked the cable up and found two HD locals, and about 10 other unencrypted channels (including Discovery HD). I just hooked the cable up to my TV again, and now only finds the 10 music channels and one InDemand preview channel.

You're not paying for a HD package now? Seems like you ought to start there.

[src666]

You know what? If your local cable provider is scrambling the OTA channels, lodge a complaint on the FCC website - there's a form there to fill out. The amazing thing is that the FCC _does_ follow up on these things, and they _can_ get results.

Verizon Wireless tried to screw me on cancellation - I cancelled within a time period where I could do so without paying the $200 extortion fee, but they delayed the "technical" cancellation and billed me. After filling out that form, the FCC lodged it as a formal complaint against Verizon , which can affect their licensing. Within several week it was cleared up.

The small cable companies get away with scrambling their OTA signals because no one complains. Complain to the FCC, the local utility athority (who holds the franchise) your State Corporation Commission (or whatever you have in your state). Until people raise a stink over this, nothing will get done.

[Goodspike]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

You're not paying for a HD package now? Seems like you ought to start there.

With Comcast I get the HD locals with their $12.95 Limited Basic plan, that only has the locals and the shopping channels. It's below basic cable.

[valnar]

I just ordered one to supplement the MyHD MDP-130 card I own. Until I read this thread, none of the other HDTV cards impressed me enough.

Thank you for incorprating support Sage gurus. I look forward to this.

Robert

[Polypro]

Sage and Jafa

Back to the local HD being encrypted...the reason I suggested calling the Cable provider or checking AVS, is because if there are any "Traps" (filters) left over from the old days, they will block QAM. I had this happen at my old house in CT...

House is older, couldn't get QAM. Traced the line from the pole and found a trap...remove trap and get QAM. Call cable company to notify (wanna be legal...no surprise bill for $10K)..told "Oh, that's an old HBO filter...don't worry about it".

Don't rely on a scan, call the cable provider or check AVS.

P

[White94Cobra]

Originally Posted by bcjenkins

You're not paying for a HD package now? Seems like you ought to start there.

If they're encrypting the locals, how will subscribing to the HD package help? I already have the HD package through DirecTV (but no HD locals). No way is the wife going to let me pay another $60/mo for digital cable plus HD.

As for filter traps being in place, wouldn't that prevent me from getting the music channels and the InDemand preview channel that I am currently able to receive?

I'll check AVS to see if I can find anything.

[BobPhoenix]

Originally Posted by White94Cobra

As for filter traps being in place, wouldn't that prevent me from getting the music channels and the InDemand preview channel that I am currently able to receive?

Not necessarily. Here is what happened when I got cable installed a few years ago.

I got both Internet access and Cable TV. The Internet guys arrived first and installed the cable line from the pole to the house (didn't have one before - boy was that an argument with the cable company). They also installed a filter that allowed only every other channel through. I know this because when the regular Cable TV guys came they installed the box and authorized it saw a picture and left. When I went to use it I could only get every other channel so I called the cable company back and they sent someone out that was able to find out what was wrong. I guess the filter that the internet guys installed is standard for those people that only have Internet installed and don't get cable or so the second Cable TV guy said anyway. So since the internet guys arrived first they installed the filter. The morons that installed the Cable TV service saw a picture on one channel and said "OK it works" and left. So from this experience I think they might have filters for almost any channel or combination.

BobP.

[MTuckman]

Not sure if anyone say the latest firmware upgrade for the HDHR, but it solved the problem I had been having with viewing live programs with the HDHR.

With the latest version of Sage, SageMC, and the HDHR, I am as happy as I can get! Now I can only hope that Comcast adds a few more QAM channels with the new year!

[blade]

My experience with the HDHomeRun has not been as positive. I have a total of 8 unencrypted digital channels, which is actually more than I expected. The problem is it can't tune 3 of them. They are all unencrypted and the signal is very strong but it sees them as having no data. ABC was fine yesterday, but after upgrading to the latest firmware it is now shown as having no data. I don't know if it's a coincidence or if something in the firmware caused it.

The product seems well built and support is active, but at this point I'm a little disappointed. I was expecting it to just work without a lot of hassle because of all the positive posts.

Support is working with me so I'm going to stick with it awhile longer, but if I can't get it to work reliably for all my locals I'll just sell it and pick up another analog tuner.

[blade]

Originally Posted by jds23

It's very easy, and extremely FAST to roll back a firmware version, probably all of about 2 mins total. Why not roll it back to the version they were all working and verify if the latest version made them stop working. If the channels don't work on the other fw version, then you know it is something else.

If something as simple as rolling back the firmware would fix all my problems I wouldn't have bothered posting my troubles. Fox and PBS have never worked so there is no doubt there is a problem. The only channel not working that worked before the firmware update is ABC.

Earlier today I borrowed a HD STB and looked up Fox and PBS in the service menu to get the frequencies they're broadcast on and verified that they are unencrypted. I used that info to determine what physical channels they each used. I then ran the channel scan and found they were showing up as no data. I saw there was a new firmware version and thought I'd give it a try and then lost ABC. Needless to say after spending the day thinking I was getting closer to gaining a couple more channels only to end up losing another one I wasn't much in the mood to troubleshoot any longer. Support has asked me to provide them with a segment of the unfiltered stream. Not a big deal for most, but something I'll probably have to fiddle with awhile before figuring out. The instructions provided appear straight forward, but I'm obviously doing something wrong. I figured it best to call it a day rather than reaching the point where I want to throw it against the wall.

I don't doubt it works for most people, but apparently having unencrypted QAM doesn't guarantee success. I wouldn't be surprised if the cable company is out of spec or doing something odd, but I just wasn't expecting to run into a problem such as this. I verified ahead of time that my locals were in the clear and from what I had read thought I was good to go.

[rfutscher]

Originally Posted by MTuckman

Not sure if anyone say the latest firmware upgrade for the HDHR, but it solved the problem I had been having with viewing live programs with the HDHR.

With the latest version of Sage, SageMC, and the HDHR, I am as happy as I can get! Now I can only hope that Comcast adds a few more QAM channels with the new year!

The new firmware did not help with the problem I was/am having. A large portion of the OTA channels did not have any guide data. I discovered that the sub channel number needed for the guide was different that the sub channel number from the HDHR scan.

After several hours I finally got it to work.

I followed the directions up to the point where I was asked to scan for channels. I did not do the scan. The only channels that were listed were channels from the program guide.

I then edited all the program guide channels where the first HDHR sub channel was not listed as xx.1. The instructions to get the list of HDHR channels and the needed command line switches are on the HDHR site. I edited the physical channel number to match HDHR. I edited the virtual number to match what Sage wanted.

For example channel 4 was changed to physical 48-4-3 and logical 4-1.

I then did a scan. After the scan I stopped and restarted the Sage client that I was using. Sage was then able to match the HDHR scan with the program guide. I had all the local channels with program guide data, and they also were tunable.

The channels out of my area still did not work correctly. I changed the logical number in the listing from the scan. I then added the channel back manually. For example I edited channel logical 2.1 to 2.1A. I then added channel 2 back into the list. I edited the physical to 52-2-3 and the logical to 2-1. I then stopped and restarted the Sage client. I then had all the distant channels with program guide and they were also tunable.

I still had problem with channel 22. They change the number of sub channels twice daily. Both Sage and HDHR do not deal with dynamic changes correctly. I had to disable channels 22.3, 22.4 and 22.5 to prevent Sage from recording those channels. Because 22.2 is not transmitted when in four channel mode, Sage tunes 22.3 when 22.2 is selected. Likewise 22.4 is tuned when 22.3 is selected.

[Spratley]

Does the HDHomeRun rely on windows software to interact with sage? I know it will work with MythTV, but will it work with SageTV for Linux?

Thanks

Paul