Help Me with my Cable TV
July 7, 2010 12:31 PM Subscribe
Help me with my basic cable TV service from Comcast
My wife and I own a 2nd home and recently had Comcast install basic cable television to operate on this TV. We didn't feel we needed a cable package with HD and all the other bells and whistles. The basic cable we got doesn't even require a cable box. So, the problem is that the digital channels come in 5-digit formations like "102-02" and so on. I can't seem to type in these 5 digit numbers, so the only way to navigate from channel to channel is to use the channel up and down buttons. In fact, the "Last" or "Return" buttons won't even take you to the previous channel. I would like to know if I am doing something wrong, or if there is a way to program my TV to convert these 5-digit signals into the standard 1, 2, or 3 digit forms.
My wife and I own a 2nd home and recently had Comcast install basic cable television to operate on this TV. We didn't feel we needed a cable package with HD and all the other bells and whistles. The basic cable we got doesn't even require a cable box. So, the problem is that the digital channels come in 5-digit formations like "102-02" and so on. I can't seem to type in these 5 digit numbers, so the only way to navigate from channel to channel is to use the channel up and down buttons. In fact, the "Last" or "Return" buttons won't even take you to the previous channel. I would like to know if I am doing something wrong, or if there is a way to program my TV to convert these 5-digit signals into the standard 1, 2, or 3 digit forms.
What you are seeing are "clear QAM" channel numbers. QAM is the way the cable companies encode digital channels to be transmitted over the cable. You're not doing anything wrong, and the only thing you can do to fix it is to get a cable box.
Users of the HDHomeRun tuners do a pretty good job of keeping track of the QAM channel assignments used by cable companies.
posted by Gridlock Joe at 12:36 PM on July 7, 2010
Users of the HDHomeRun tuners do a pretty good job of keeping track of the QAM channel assignments used by cable companies.
posted by Gridlock Joe at 12:36 PM on July 7, 2010
The description of your tv from the link you provided says its capable of "QAM Digital Tuning". On our qam capable tv there is a "-" button among the numbers on the number pad on the remote. You press the first three numbers of the channel, then the dash button, then the last two.
posted by Arbitrage1 at 12:41 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by Arbitrage1 at 12:41 PM on July 7, 2010
...further to my post, if you look at this picture for example, the button to the left of the 0 button is the dash, or decimal point button. That's the one you're looking for.
posted by Arbitrage1 at 12:44 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by Arbitrage1 at 12:44 PM on July 7, 2010
Response by poster: Yes, I have pulled a picture up of our Toshiba remote and have noticed a dash to the right of the 0 button. That should be helpful. Also, the HDHomeRun site seems to pull the channel lineup quite easily. I am anxious to get out there and try this.
posted by tdalton at 12:55 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by tdalton at 12:55 PM on July 7, 2010
I agree with Arbitrage, there's a button (generally a dash or a dot) on your remote you're not seeing.
Contessa: basic cable includes the local broadcast affiliates. Most of those affiliates provide HD versions of their broadcast, and Comcast in turn supplies these to their basic 1 customers as digital channels in addition to the analogue, standard definition versions of the channels.
That said, it is strange that the last button isn't working. When you go through the TV's setup menus, make sure your antenna is set to something like "digital cable" - it should still pick up the analogue channels.
It's tough troubleshooting stuff like this from outside of the room where the TV is, though, the best answer would be if you've got a TV or electronics-savvy friend or kid to help out.
posted by kavasa at 12:59 PM on July 7, 2010
Contessa: basic cable includes the local broadcast affiliates. Most of those affiliates provide HD versions of their broadcast, and Comcast in turn supplies these to their basic 1 customers as digital channels in addition to the analogue, standard definition versions of the channels.
That said, it is strange that the last button isn't working. When you go through the TV's setup menus, make sure your antenna is set to something like "digital cable" - it should still pick up the analogue channels.
It's tough troubleshooting stuff like this from outside of the room where the TV is, though, the best answer would be if you've got a TV or electronics-savvy friend or kid to help out.
posted by kavasa at 12:59 PM on July 7, 2010
On my (Samsung) TV, there is a dash button, but if you just enter the numbers before the dash and hit enter, it will jump to the first digital channel that it has under that main number. E.g. if you have QAM channels 125-4, 125-5, 125-19, 127-9, 128-802, and 128-806, you can just push 125 and it will jump to 125-4, or you can press 128 and it will jump to 128-802. Then the up-downs will get you to the other ones.
I usually find this quicker than typing in all six digits and the dash (except for the digital music channels, of which there are something like 30, all 128-XXX).
posted by Partial Law at 2:04 PM on July 7, 2010
I usually find this quicker than typing in all six digits and the dash (except for the digital music channels, of which there are something like 30, all 128-XXX).
posted by Partial Law at 2:04 PM on July 7, 2010
Don't get too attached to this method of tuning. Comcast is eliminating the unencrypted basic service (they ended it here in Seattle last year) and you will eventually be required to get a box. Mainly so they can compress the signal more and put more channels on their cable.
posted by kindall at 2:51 PM on July 7, 2010
posted by kindall at 2:51 PM on July 7, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by contessa at 12:34 PM on July 7, 2010