Comcast digital adapter and hauppage 2250

[J.K.B.]

I've found a couple of old threads talking about the adapters, but not if they will work with the 2250.

Here is the e-mail from comcast:
"With this enhancement, your Expanded Basic channels 21-52 & 56-80 will be broadcast exclusively in digital format. To continue receiving all your channels, you will need to order digital equipment for each TV in your home that isn't connected to a digital set-top box.

Depending on your current level of service, you can receive one digital set-top box and up to two digital adapters at no additional monthly service charge."

I'm hoping to just plug them in inline in front of the 2250 and it work, but I'm kinda having my doubts b/c that would just be too simple and I have a feeling like more PVRs might be the only way to take care of this (I really hope not since the PVR is the only piece of equipment I have struggled with to get to work reliably)...

I've also got a hdhr if I can make it work with this.

[blade]

The short answer is yes, if you're tuner card can tune analog then you should be able to make it work. The free DTAs only have a coax output so basically you'd connect the output from the DTA to the input of your tuner card. The tuner card would then need to be set to channel 3 or 4 and you'd need something like the USB-UIRT to change the channels on the DTA.

The HDHomeRun should work to get your local networks, but if your Comcast local office has done things the way they're supposed to almost all of the other digital channels will be encrypted. The HDHomeRun will not work with a DTA or STB.

[hemicuda]

Comcast got a waiver from .GOV to enable the encryption on the 'extended basic' channels. You'll need a DTA or STB to get anything above 2-13 (local HD should still be clearQAM). I get about 2 dozen channels. The DTA decrypts the QAM and outputs analog. I have one hooked to my 350 just so I can record Holmes on Homes from HGTV.

This all changes in 2wks. I'll be on EPB fiber after that. 2-78 on my analog cards and ATSC on my digitals. Wondering if Comcast will try to cut any 'special' (time limited of course) deals to keep me. It won't work. I'm still that they locked down the extended basic on my clearQAM equipment.

[J.K.B.]

Originally Posted by blade

The short answer is yes, if you're tuner card can tune analog then you should be able to make it work. The free DTAs only have a coax output so basically you'd connect the output from the DTA to the input of your tuner card. The tuner card would then need to be set to channel 3 or 4 and you'd need something like the USB-UIRT to change the channels on the DTA.

The HDHomeRun should work to get your local networks, but if your Comcast local office has done things the way they're supposed to almost all of the other digital channels will be encrypted. The HDHomeRun will not work with a DTA or STB.

Ok, I couldn't tell if it was a tunable device or some kind of inline decoder or something. They show just a standard digital STB or the digital adapter as your equipment choices and you can't tell a lot from the pics.

I do have a usbuirt so I could tune them if need be.

I'm going to have to look at the sage settings when I get home and see if it will be difficult to make the hvr-2250 stay on channel 3 permanently and let sage tune the adapter with the usbuirt. The only thing I set the usbuirt up with was for the pvr and it was pretty straight forward.

If both adapters are the same and would use the same remote, how would the usbuirt know which was which? Would I need a separate usbuirt somwhere else pointing at the other adapter?

[J.K.B.]

Well, just got the adapters ordered. They are like a mini STB with coax outputs on them and do have a remote control.

Any ideas on how to make sage keep the hvr-2250 on channel 3 and still tune the adapters with the usbuirt?

Will I need a second usbuirt if the 2 adapters have the same code to control them?

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by J.K.B.

Well, just got the adapters ordered. They are like a mini STB with coax outputs on them and do have a remote control.

Any ideas on how to make sage keep the hvr-2250 on channel 3 and still tune the adapters with the usbuirt?

Will I need a second usbuirt if the 2 adapters have the same code to control them?

You just go to the Sage Tuner Setup screen and add a tuner - there should be an option for the coax input on the hvr-2250. It will walk you through the setup process (you tell it to use channel 3 and an external tuner to tune the channels).

The USBUIRT supports up to 3 "zones". The main emitter on the device is Zone 1. Then there is a jack on the back where you can plug in a pair of external IR emitters for Zone 2 and Zone 3. You tape the emitters to the front of your cable boxes (that way each cable box only sees the signal from its emitter).

This way, you can control up to 3 devices with the same IR codes. There are many write-ups on this forum on how to set-up zone control with the USBUIRT.

If you have trouble locating them with the forum's built in search feature, try using Google. You can tell Google to search just the Sage forums by adding " site:forums.sagetv.com" to the end of whatever you are searching for (e.g. type "usbuirt zone control site:forums.sagetv.com" into the search box at google.com).

[J.K.B.]

Originally Posted by Tiki

You just go to the Sage Tuner Setup screen and add a tuner - there should be an option for the coax input on the hvr-2250. It will walk you through the setup process (you tell it to use channel 3 and an external tuner to tune the channels).

The USBUIRT supports up to 3 "zones". The main emitter on the device is Zone 1. Then there is a jack on the back where you can plug in a pair of external IR emitters for Zone 2 and Zone 3. You tape the emitters to the front of your cable boxes (that way each cable box only sees the signal from its emitter).

This way, you can control up to 3 devices with the same IR codes. There are many write-ups on this forum on how to set-up zone control with the USBUIRT.

If you have trouble locating them with the forum's built in search feature, try using Google. You can tell Google to search just the Sage forums by adding " site:forums.sagetv.com" to the end of whatever you are searching for (e.g. type "usbuirt zone control site:forums.sagetv.com" into the search box at google.com).

Great, I was sure sage had some way of dealing with that.

And I read your post on the radioshack splitter for the usbuirt additional blasters as well. It was very informative so it looks like I should be able to get this working before they dump my analog cable.

[Codell]

My cable company (Insight) is also implementing switched digital video (SDV) and requiring cable cards, cable boxes, or mini cable boxes (i.e. a digital tuning adapter or DTA) for all cable connections. The only output from the DTAs Insight uses is coax, but since the HVR-2250 has two coax inputs, I thought I would be covered. Unfortunately, the Sage video source configuration seems to allow the fixed channel selection (e.g. channel 3 or 4) for only the first one of the HVR-2250's tuners. For the second tuner, I found I needed to hook my second DTA to an old VCR, tune the VCR to the DTAs output channel (e.g. channel 3), and run the composite output of the VCR to the composite input of the HVR-2250. There are dedicated coax-to-composite converters available, but they are surprisingly expensive (certainly more expensive than the old VCR I had in my basement).

Regarding the USB-UIRT, I believe the main emitter is Zone 3, and Zones 1 and 2 are available via the output jack on the back, but the forum post Tiki recommends searching for will give the definitive answer on that. The DTAs from Insight came with IR receivers that plugged into the back of the DTA; I used those IR receivers and taped the receiver head to the main emitter on my USB-UIRTs. This arrangement gives me a more reliable use for the main emitter (previously, I had to align the USB-UIRT to a cable box and tape it to the table and not move the cable box) and allows me to save the other emitters for devices that don't have a separate IR receiver. (I really wanted to run cables from the output on the back of my USB-UIRT directly to the inputs on the back of my cable boxes or DTAs and skip the emitters and receivers, but I couldn't get that to work.)

Insight's implementation of SDV has been a pain for me: I needed three more power outlets by my server (two for the DTAs and one for the old VCR), an additional cable outlet (since I couldn't use the splitter built into the HVR-2250), and a second USB-UIRT (my first was used for three cable boxes, although if the remote codes were different for the DTAs and cable boxes I might have been able to share the zones on the first USB-UIRT, but, frankly, I didn't want to mess with this). But I suspect it is Insight's implementation of SDV that is allowing them to improve their broadband service offerings (including download speeds of up to 50 Mbps), so it is not all bad.

[davephan]

You can connect two of the Comcast DTA boxes to one HVR-2250 if you use a cheap signal combiner. A splitter will not work, since the signals will cancel each other out. One DTA is set for channel 3 output, the other for channel 4 output. The HVR-2250 tuners are set for channels 3 and 4. The result will be marginal quality since the DTA boxes output only RF. Your picture and sound quality will be better if you use higher end set top boxes, but then you'll be stuck with more set top box monthly rental fees.

Here are more details how to hook up two DTA set top boxes to one HVR-2250 (post # 13):

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=dta+2250+dave

Dave

[jptheripper]

My comcast has not done this. The only channels that have been moved to digital for me were Comedy Central (last year) and E! (two nights ago). Other than that 2-78 are all analog and in the clear. I get about 40 ClearQAM channels, 34 of which are State/EDU/SPANISH/SD version of HD Channel/Weather and the other 6 are HD locals.

I am sorry yours got ruined, but please dont proclaim this is across the board for Comcast.

Originally Posted by hemicuda

Comcast got a waiver from .GOV to enable the encryption on the 'extended basic' channels. You'll need a DTA or STB to get anything above 2-13 (local HD should still be clearQAM). I get about 2 dozen channels. The DTA decrypts the QAM and outputs analog. I have one hooked to my 350 just so I can record Holmes on Homes from HGTV.

This all changes in 2wks. I'll be on EPB fiber after that. 2-78 on my analog cards and ATSC on my digitals. Wondering if Comcast will try to cut any 'special' (time limited of course) deals to keep me. It won't work. I'm still that they locked down the extended basic on my clearQAM equipment.

[davephan]

Originally Posted by jptheripper

My comcast has not done this. I am sorry yours got ruined, but please dont proclaim this is across the board for Comcast.

Your Comcast has not done this yet. Don't be surprised if the changes are coming to your system soon.

Dave

[hemicuda]

@Davephan: I was going to say the same thing. It's been a slow progression across their coverage area. We were just the next ones to get hit.

We got about 6mon out of VOD clearQAM then it was locked out. About 3yrs out of digital music clearQAM then it was gone. Finally they took 14-78 when they got the waiver on the DTA's. I'm moving equally for the principle of the thing and for reduced $$$ at EPB. Not to mention my 4 analog tuners will be back in business. I've heard the ATSC HD broadcasts have less pixelation than their QAM counterparts. We shall see in about a week.

[src666]

Originally Posted by davephan

You can connect two of the Comcast DTA boxes to one HVR-2250 if you use a cheap signal combiner. A splitter will not work, since the signals will cancel each other out. One DTA is set for channel 3 output, the other for channel 4 output. The HVR-2250 tuners are set for channels 3 and 4. The result will be marginal quality since the DTA boxes output only RF. Your picture and sound quality will be better if you use higher end set top boxes, but then you'll be stuck with more set top box monthly rental fees.

It will be even worse quality because the modulators they use are noisy, cause interference in the surrounding channels, and really should have at least 2 channels separating them (i.e. channel 3 and 6) to avoid the noise.

[src666]

Originally Posted by davephan

Your Comcast has not done this yet. Don't be surprised if the changes are coming to your system soon.

Dave

True, they are phasing this in nationwide. I just got my announcement last week, and as of Jan 11 will no longer have Clear-QAM channels.

[J.K.B.]

Originally Posted by davephan

You can connect two of the Comcast DTA boxes to one HVR-2250 if you use a cheap signal combiner. A splitter will not work, since the signals will cancel each other out. One DTA is set for channel 3 output, the other for channel 4 output. The HVR-2250 tuners are set for channels 3 and 4. The result will be marginal quality since the DTA boxes output only RF. Your picture and sound quality will be better if you use higher end set top boxes, but then you'll be stuck with more set top box monthly rental fees.

Here are more details how to hook up two DTA set top boxes to one HVR-2250 (post # 13):

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=dta+2250+dave

Dave

Thanks, I checked out the other thread and it seems pretty straight forward. When you say marginal quality, does that mean same as analog or worse?

[davephan]

Your only choice is to have one DTA on channel 3 and the other DTA on channel 4, a signal combiner and a HVR-2250. To separate them more you will need separate tuner cards. The video and audio quality from the DTA set top boxes is pretty low-end, so you are probably better off using better quality rental set top boxes. My setup works, but the lousy DTA video and audio quality makes the end result pretty poor. I almost never watch content recorded from the DTA boxes and am thinking about unconfiguring the DTA set top box setup.

Dave

[jptheripper]

well i am an a**. got the letter today. mea culpa.

Originally Posted by davephan

Your Comcast has not done this yet. Don't be surprised if the changes are coming to your system soon.

Dave

[jptheripper]

Is there any chance clearQAM passes thru the Comcast DTAs? so a coax hooked to the input of a 2250 could still do QAM?

Originally Posted by davephan

You can connect two of the Comcast DTA boxes to one HVR-2250 if you use a cheap signal combiner. A splitter will not work, since the signals will cancel each other out. One DTA is set for channel 3 output, the other for channel 4 output. The HVR-2250 tuners are set for channels 3 and 4. The result will be marginal quality since the DTA boxes output only RF. Your picture and sound quality will be better if you use higher end set top boxes, but then you'll be stuck with more set top box monthly rental fees.

Here are more details how to hook up two DTA set top boxes to one HVR-2250 (post # 13):

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/show...=dta+2250+dave

Dave

[davephan]

The change did not make me feel "Comcastic". It made me think more about switching back to satellite service. It's just another way Comcast is trying to charge more money for the same products.

Dave

[hemicuda]

I have a DTA set up just for HGTV (Holmes on Homes) and the quality it puts out is better than the recording quality I set. I was going to go with a UIRT to get the rest but with the fiber install to be completed end of next week, why bother. I'll have most of the channels I care to watch (albeit in SD only) from the 4 analog taps and the local HD from OTA in Sage. In the future I may look into an HD PVR, but Netflix just might keep that one at bay for quite a while.

The biggest dread I have at this point is remapping 80+ channels since Zap2It doesn't yet carry the local EPB lineup on their servers.

Since I brought up OTA... if anyone would care to drop me a PM on a good way to 'tune' in the antenna it would be appreciated. Don't want to hijack the thread. I'm hoping to grab an extra PBS tower, but it's quite a few degrees away from the locals.