Garbled recordings caused by TV signal? SageTV? Something else?

[TV Phreak]

I have a Windows 7 PC with Hauppauge HD-PVR 1212 and SageTV (latest version), and for many years had had no problem recording TV shows from my Time Warner cable box, until several months ago. Some TV stations, like TCM and CBS, cause my HD-PVR to go on and off intermittently during recordings, resulting in recordings that have missing bits of video. If I tune to a different TV channel, the problem goes away instantly -- my HD-PVR stays on constantly, as indicated by its solid blue light during recording. As soon as I switch back to the "problem channel," the problem comes back -- the blue light on my HD-PVR goes off and on intermittently. Sometimes the blue light doesn't go off for several minutes, and sometimes it goes off more frequently. Every time it goes off, it comes back on after 3 seconds or so. Hence, the recording will be missing those 3 seconds or so of video at that point, and will continue to do so every time the glitch occurs, resulting in a completely unwatchable recording.

Has anyone experienced anything like this? Is my HD-PVR failing? If it is, then why does the problem occur for some channels and not others? If my Time Warner (now Spectrum) cable box is at fault, then why do some channels have the problem and not others? Do some channels have some anti-recording signal? Or is SageTV at fault here?

I have read that some people indeed had trouble recording TV stations, but those don't seem to apply to me, and none seem to have the same symptoms as mine.

[Tiki]

Have you tried watching those channels with that same cable box connected directly to a TV? Maybe there's a problem with the transmission of those channels from TWC?

[Intense]

Whenever I've had pixelated or odd behavior from my HD-PVR 1212's its always been from a failing power supply.

[waynedunham]

I don't have TWC, but on Comcast they are forcing upgrades on some of the older STBs which can't handle some of the newer signal formats. I had to exchange one of my old boxes a few months ago. Is it possible that something similar is going on at TWC?
On Comcast, at least so far, it isn't all channels, nor all shows on 'x' channel that utilize the new formats. When I was still running V7 on certain channels on my HDHR Primes I would get a recording that SageTV could not play, but not on all recordings. I had to use SageTV's built in conversion to convert the recording to a format that SageTV V7 could play. Since V9 I haven't seen an unplayable recording.

A couple good suggestions were offered to track down where the problem is. Check the box on a "real" TV on those channels to see if there is a problem there. When you do that, make sure you're using the same cable signal outlet/cable so you know if it might be a signal issue at that outlet, or a cable problem.
Also, the HD-PVR (I have two) dropping out for a few seconds and then coming back in hints at a bad signal to me. I run into seasonal signal issues with Comcast here. They have to come out several times a year and adjust the amp on the main line on the poles. Certain signal bands will go out of whack and I'll get errors on certain channels. Once they adjust the amp it will be fine until the next seasonal weather change, i.e. summer, and winter, etc. When the amp needed adjustment and I was getting iffy signals on certain channels I would see that horrible blue ring on the HD-PVR going on and off a few seconds at a time as the HD-PVR would see and then lose a strong enough signal to record.

It could also be a bad HD-PVR PS as was suggested. I had that issue as well. One of my HD-PVRs would suddenly disappear off the system and then re-appear a minute later. Recordings were horrible when it did try to record. All due to a bad PS on that HD-PVR. On mine when I did finally figure out what it was I noticed that the blue power light (not that horrible blue recording ring, can you tell I'm not a big fan of "bling" lights?) was much dimmer than my other HD-PVR that had a good PS.

[wayner]

Try another Power Supply. Even when I have bought new ones from Hauppauge they rarely last more than a couple of years.

[TV Phreak]

Originally Posted by waynedunham

I don't have TWC, but on Comcast they are forcing upgrades on some of the older STBs which can't handle some of the newer signal formats. I had to exchange one of my old boxes a few months ago. Is it possible that something similar is going on at TWC?
On Comcast, at least so far, it isn't all channels, nor all shows on 'x' channel that utilize the new formats. When I was still running V7 on certain channels on my HDHR Primes I would get a recording that SageTV could not play, but not on all recordings. I had to use SageTV's built in conversion to convert the recording to a format that SageTV V7 could play. Since V9 I haven't seen an unplayable recording.

A couple good suggestions were offered to track down where the problem is. Check the box on a "real" TV on those channels to see if there is a problem there. When you do that, make sure you're using the same cable signal outlet/cable so you know if it might be a signal issue at that outlet, or a cable problem.
Also, the HD-PVR (I have two) dropping out for a few seconds and then coming back in hints at a bad signal to me. I run into seasonal signal issues with Comcast here. They have to come out several times a year and adjust the amp on the main line on the poles. Certain signal bands will go out of whack and I'll get errors on certain channels. Once they adjust the amp it will be fine until the next seasonal weather change, i.e. summer, and winter, etc. When the amp needed adjustment and I was getting iffy signals on certain channels I would see that horrible blue ring on the HD-PVR going on and off a few seconds at a time as the HD-PVR would see and then lose a strong enough signal to record.

It could also be a bad HD-PVR PS as was suggested. I had that issue as well. One of my HD-PVRs would suddenly disappear off the system and then re-appear a minute later. Recordings were horrible when it did try to record. All due to a bad PS on that HD-PVR. On mine when I did finally figure out what it was I noticed that the blue power light (not that horrible blue recording ring, can you tell I'm not a big fan of "bling" lights?) was much dimmer than my other HD-PVR that had a good PS.

When my cable box is connected directly to a TV, the TCM channel plays perfectly. As soon as my cable box is plugged back to my PC, the problem starts again. So it seems the cable box is able to send correct signal from TCM, but I don't know why it doesn't do the same for my PC.

I have had broken power adapter before, and when that happened, I couldn't make ANY recordings, since the HD-PVR would always have trouble powering up. That was nothing like the problem I have now, being able to record all channels except TCM (or maybe some other ones I don't yet know about).

Regarding getting a new cable box, do cable providers still offer ones with component video outputs? I have to have those in order to use my HD-PVR. I checked the ones offered by Spectrum and they don't seem to have component video. Maybe that is their way to prevent you from making recordings.

If we have to think about cable lines' amp values, seasonal weather changes, etc., then the hassles just make it not worth it to continue doing this. Just another way by the industry to stop you from recording.

[NetworkGuy]

Originally Posted by TV Phreak

When my cable box is connected directly to a TV, the TCM channel plays perfectly. As soon as my cable box is plugged back to my PC, the problem starts again. So it seems the cable box is able to send correct signal from TCM, but I don't know why it doesn't do the same for my PC.

I have had broken power adapter before, and when that happened, I couldn't make ANY recordings, since the HD-PVR would always have trouble powering up. That was nothing like the problem I have now, being able to record all channels except TCM (or maybe some other ones I don't yet know about).

Regarding getting a new cable box, do cable providers still offer ones with component video outputs? I have to have those in order to use my HD-PVR. I checked the ones offered by Spectrum and they don't seem to have component video. Maybe that is their way to prevent you from making recordings.

If we have to think about cable lines' amp values, seasonal weather changes, etc., then the hassles just make it not worth it to continue doing this. Just another way by the industry to stop you from recording.

Have you checked all of the cables?

I was getting intermittent problems last year after we moved. It turned out one the the cables was causing the problem.

[TV Phreak]

Originally Posted by NetworkGuy

Have you checked all of the cables?

I was getting intermittent problems last year after we moved. It turned out one the the cables was causing the problem.

It indeed seems to be cable-related. Instead of recording in optical audio which I had always been doing, I tried recording in component audio, and the HD-PVR was finally able to capture without a hitch. I tried it twice already and it worked both times. I was able to capture several minutes of uninterrupted video for the first time in a long time. The downside is that without optical audio, I can't capture 6-channel audio. But since TCM shows mostly old movies, 2-channel audio is good enough. So either I have a defective optical cable, or the HD-PVR somehow can't accept optical input anymore. I hope this is a permanent solution.

[waynedunham]

Originally Posted by TV Phreak

It indeed seems to be cable-related. Instead of recording in optical audio which I had always been doing, I tried recording in component audio, and the HD-PVR was finally able to capture without a hitch. I tried it twice already and it worked both times. I was able to capture several minutes of uninterrupted video for the first time in a long time. The downside is that without optical audio, I can't capture 6-channel audio. But since TCM shows mostly old movies, 2-channel audio is good enough. So either I have a defective optical cable, or the HD-PVR somehow can't accept optical input anymore. I hope this is a permanent solution.

Do you have another optical cable to test it with? If not, head over to monoprice.com and get one. They are cheap but I've had great luck with all of their cables from Optical to HDMI to component cables, etc.