Comcast Going all Digital 2-31

[nyplayer]

Just received a letter from Comcast effective March 12, 2013 they will remove all analog Channels 2-31... It also states that QAM tuners will continue to receive limited Basic Channels 2-31... without need of a STB or digital converter.


At least this means I can continue using my Hd Homeruns. for QAM.

[darcilicious]

Haven't most Comcast markets made this move? Or are they just now really kicking it off?

[nyplayer]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

Haven't most Comcast markets made this move? Or are they just now really kicking it off?

No You can still get the analog channels 2-31 using a cable ready TV. Or Hauppauge PVR 150 etc...

I was more worried that they were going to completely encrypt 2-31 but that is not the case in my area at least for now just the analogs.

[Tiki]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

Haven't most Comcast markets made this move? Or are they just now really kicking it off?

I don't know what percent of Comcast markets have gone this way, but many have. I know they did this where I live more than a year ago. I'm sure it will be in all of their markets before too much longer.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by Tiki

I don't know what percent of Comcast markets have gone this way, but many have. I know they did this where I live more than a year ago. I'm sure it will be in all of their markets before too much longer.

Yeah, here in central CT my Comcast killed the analogs a long time ago. I finally had to retire my old ReplayTV's. I had kept them recording the networks as a backup if/when I got a bad HD recording in SageTV.
In the early days it seemed that once or twice a month whole evenings of CBS and/or NBC would record great video on SageTV with either no audio or only the laugh track on sitcoms.
I haven't seen that in quite some time now.

[farscapesg1]

Dropped analog here early last year. Of course, even if they keep QAM they still seem to like juggling the channels around all the time. Missed several shows last week due to changing stuff again....

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by farscapesg1

Dropped analog here early last year. Of course, even if they keep QAM they still seem to like juggling the channels around all the time. Missed several shows last week due to changing stuff again....

The QAM's have been relatively stable on my Comcast system. Movement/addition/deletion/movement maybe 2-3 times a year. Sadly those changes are rarely "advertised" and you don't know about them until they screw up a recording.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

The QAM's have been relatively stable on my Comcast system. Movement/addition/deletion/movement maybe 2-3 times a year. Sadly those changes are rarely "advertised" and you don't know about them until they screw up a recording.

+1

I don't think any of the broadcast channels have moved in the 18 months or so I've been on Comcast. In my old house with Time Warner, they would move things around every few weeks/months.

Drew

[LWM4P]

In Denver, they got rid of any analog... I had to go to stb and a usbuirt.

[Spot]

When Comcast made the transition here (Arlington, VA) they only carried the locals in SD. I connected my HDHRs to an antenna to get the locals in HD.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by Spot

When Comcast made the transition here (Arlington, VA) they only carried the locals in SD.

That seems odd. Have you gone here http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/ and plugged in your zip code to verify there are no HD channels in clear QAM?

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by darcilicious

That seems odd. Have you gone here http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/ and plugged in your zip code to verify there are no HD channels in clear QAM?

yeah, it seems odd to me also. Comcast here in CT has all the locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, TBS) in clear QAM.(both SD and HD clear QAMs)
Oddly enough even though they still show up in the guide, you can't watch the SD locals on the STB. It gives you a blank screen except for a popup box saying it is available in HD. If you hit the OK button on the remote it switches you to the HD version of the channel.(with an HD STB and HD package)

[tvmaster2]

about six months ago, I plugged my TiVo Series 2 into my Comcast wall jack....no channels available in analog....needed a $1.99 Comcast adapter box. zip 95247 Calaveras County, ca.

[darcilicious]

Originally Posted by tvmaster2

about six months ago, I plugged my TiVo Series 2 into my Comcast wall jack....no channels available in analog....needed a $1.99 Comcast adapter box. zip 95247 Calaveras County, ca.

That makes sense -- they've dropped analog in your area and you would need a device with a QAM tuner to pick up the HD/SD channels that are available in clear QAM.

[matt91]

Originally Posted by Spot

When Comcast made the transition here (Arlington, VA) they only carried the locals in SD. I connected my HDHRs to an antenna to get the locals in HD.

Comcast in DC carries them in HD. I grab them via both OTA and QAM via HDHR's.

[reggie14]

I'm in Montgomery County. When I had Comcast ~6 months ago I had HD locals in clearQAM, as well as TNT-HD and Universal HD.

For a while during the the full digital cable transition I had the full SD expanded basic lineup in clearQAM. That stopped pretty much at the same time that they finalized the transition to all-digital.

By the way, as darcilicious mentioned, SiliconDust has a page where you can see what channels people in a given zip code have been able to receive. In general, it looks like people have been able to get the HD locals. It's missing from a small number of the reports, but I suspect that's a signal strength issue.

[drewg]

Originally Posted by reggie14

I'm in Montgomery County. When I had Comcast ~6 months ago I had HD locals in clearQAM, as well as TNT-HD and Universal HD.

We must be in the same market. I had those myself, but they finally went away a few months ago.

Drew

[Spot]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

yeah, it seems odd to me also. Comcast here in CT has all the locals (ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, TBS) in clear QAM.(both SD and HD clear QAMs)
Oddly enough even though they still show up in the guide, you can't watch the SD locals on the STB. It gives you a blank screen except for a popup box saying it is available in HD. If you hit the OK button on the remote it switches you to the HD version of the channel.(with an HD STB and HD package)

They may have been dropped during the transition for a while. I had the very basic tier of cable & rescanned multiple times, but only got the SD Locals with three separate HDHRs. I was able to get an outstanding signal using OTA & promptly cancelled Comcast.....until I got a Prime.

Since I have such a good signal over the air, I haven't retried to see if it was my error...When I called them..they acknowledged that only SD was in the basic package.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by Spot

Since I have such a good signal over the air, I haven't retried to see if it was my error...When I called them..they acknowledged that only SD was in the basic package.

Comcast always told me that too, but it wasn't true. It wasn't a lie- I truly believe the Comcast tech support agents had no idea why I was able to pick up HD channels without an HD package (or even an HD box)- but that doesn't mean it was true.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by reggie14

Comcast always told me that too, but it wasn't true. It wasn't a lie- I truly believe the Comcast tech support agents had no idea why I was able to pick up HD channels without an HD package (or even an HD box)- but that doesn't mean it was true.

I hear you! Several years ago when Comcast here started first threatening an all digital system and first decreased the analog channels. (there used to be over 70 and they cut it back to about 35) they were telling me I would need a digital converter box on all my TVs to get any of the analog channels. Obviously it was some uninformed "drone on the phone" but it is what they were spouting at the time.
Trusting a "tech support" person's ramblings is like believing a campaign promise.