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+--- Thread: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels (/showthread.php?tid=96773)
bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - space-time - 05-05-2010
all digital channels (QAM) show up as scrambled now. I should probably hook up an antenna and see what channels I can get over the air
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - M A V I C - 05-05-2010
So you're saying all channels are now encrypted?
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - space-time - 05-05-2010
no, I just rescanned, and found some unencrypted channels, most of which are also analog (1-31) and they seem to repeat several times, some as much as 4 times I think. There were some channels like CNN and AMC and Discovery that were clear QAM before, all gone now.
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - GGD - 05-05-2010
space-time wrote:
all digital channels (QAM) show up as scrambled now. I should probably hook up an antenna and see what channels I can get over the air
Comcast messed with mine on April 21st, forced me to hook up the cable boxes which convert this digital cable to Analog for the final 18 inches.
I still get quite a few channels in Clear QAM and many local HD channels after doing a re-scan, but most of what had been Extended Basic is now gone.
In addition to all of the local broadcast channels (SD and HD versions), I still get the public access channels, lots of shopping channels (including one in HD), CSPAN/2/3, Discovery, History, WGN, HGTV, Versus, Bloomberg.
They also seemed to supply virtual channel numbers to their SD version of some local channels by adding 200 to the broadcast channel number, so an SD version of local channel 5 is at channel 205, while the HD version is at 5-1. Only some of my QAM tuners picked up those virtual channel numbers.
And I still get 23 analog channels.
The full cable box that I got (Motorola DCH-70) has both Composite and RF outputs, so I've got a splitter before the cable box, and run the Comcast cable to both the TV and the converter, and then run the Composite output from the box to the TV, so I can watch either the Clear QAM for higher quality, or the cable box output.
On the other TVs with the Pace DC50X DTAs, I can't do that since those boxes only have RF output.
And that DCH-70 draws 11 watts 24/7, it seems that turning it off using the remote control just turns off the power LED, the actual power consumption doesn't change at all.
The DC50X is always on too, drawing 3-4 watts.
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - evilrobot - 05-05-2010
It was good while it lasted.
I can't be too upset for technically getting something that I wasn't paying for, although I will miss "Breaking Bad" on AMC.
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - GGD - 05-05-2010
evilrobot wrote:
It was good while it lasted.
I can't be too upset for technically getting something that I wasn't paying for, although I will miss "Breaking Bad" on AMC.
I pay them for Cable TV, and I was getting what I was paying for in a much more convenient way, but now I have to pay an additional $2/month for electricity to power their cable boxes, and find space in my TV area to put their box.
This is the first time I've ever had to use a cable box to get watch the cable TV that I pay for (I don't subscribe to any premium channels), and I've had Cable TV for a few decades.
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - NewtonMP2100 - 05-05-2010
....Time-Warner got rid of the good FREE stuff some time ago....used to get many FREE HD channels like Universal HD, Disc HD, etc....but they are all encrypted now....just get the local stuff FREE....
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - silvarios - 05-05-2010
GGD wrote:
I pay them for Cable TV, and I was getting what I was paying for in a much more convenient way, but now I have to pay an additional $2/month for electricity to power their cable boxes, and find space in my TV area to put their box.
This is the first time I've ever had to use a cable box to get watch the cable TV that I pay for (I don't subscribe to any premium channels), and I've had Cable TV for a few decades.
If you have limited basic, you were not paying for the content. I think that's what evilrobot and other's are referring to specifically. If you had another tier, you were warned months ago (year+ perhaps) that analog was going away and that you needed to switch to a digital box. Stupid? Probably. I think Comcast should keep the old standard basic (or a decent subset) as clear QAM and only have the boxes for "premium" content.
I have limited basic and still enjoy many clear QAM channels. Well, enjoy is a strong word. We barely watch regular TV. I pay for limited basic solely to get a break on my Internet costs. Otherwise, I would pay the same amount per month for just the internet.
Nathan
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - M A V I C - 05-05-2010
silvarios wrote:
[quote=GGD]
I pay them for Cable TV, and I was getting what I was paying for in a much more convenient way, but now I have to pay an additional $2/month for electricity to power their cable boxes, and find space in my TV area to put their box.
This is the first time I've ever had to use a cable box to get watch the cable TV that I pay for (I don't subscribe to any premium channels), and I've had Cable TV for a few decades.
If you have limited basic, you were not paying for the content. I think that's what evilrobot and other's are referring to specifically. If you had another tier, you were warned months ago (year+ perhaps) that analog was going away and that you needed to switch to a digital box. Stupid? Probably. I think Comcast should keep the old standard basic (or a decent subset) as clear QAM and only have the boxes for "premium" content.
I have limited basic and still enjoy many clear QAM channels. Well, enjoy is a strong word. We barely watch regular TV. I pay for limited basic solely to get a break on my Internet costs. Otherwise, I would pay the same amount per month for just the internet.
Nathan
Yep, same here. It costs me an extra $3/mo to get limited cable. The city here mandates Comcast provide limited cable, and the price of it. Of course, the city forgot to tell Comcast they couldn't cut out all the channels and provide it in another service called "Basic" which isn't regulated. So that's what Cocmast has done.
Re: bye bye COMCAST Clear QAM channels - maco - 05-05-2010
Happened here in Denver a week or so ago. I'm still getting Discovery though. At least I was two days ago when I was home.
My wife misses HGTV & Lifetime.
My son misses Comedy Central.