Tuning QAM Channels via Time Warner?

[Kelemvor]

Hey all,

Not sure where to post this or if there's a website just for tuner type stuff but anyway...

I have a Mygica A680b tuner (http://www.mygica.com/pa/a680b.asp)
It says it can tune Clear (unencrypted) QAM channels over a standard cable signal.

I've got it connected to my TIme Warner feed and am using WIndows 7 Media Center. When it scans for channels, it only finds channels 10 and over.

Here in Milwaukee, 10 is PBS, 12 is ABC, 36 is more PBS, 58 is CBS, etc
Problem is NBC is 4 and Fox is 6 and those are two of the channels I need.

Anyone know anything about tuning in the free HD channels like this and what I might be doing wrong? Or if there's a different program to use to test things or anything like that?

Thanks.

 

[zinfamous]

try and search for your local broadcast over at AVSForums. I knwo they have threads dedicated to QAM tuning, and there are many cities and towns listed.

I was able to get mine for RCN in Chicago way back when I was experimenting with a tuner (very briefly, b/c what was available absolutely sucked)

 

[zinfamous]

not sure if this is the proper thread or not, having trouble finding milwaukee.

some of these are also quite old. :hmm:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=45

 

[sjwaste]

The QAM or ATSC channel won't always match up to the traditional broadcast channel that you have listed from the SD days. Here in DC, Fox 5 is actually on ATSC 36. On Fios, its QAM 72. Are you sure that the channels you aren't seeing are in the upper channels and that whatever channel search parameters you can specify are cutting off lower? Out here, you want to search up to 135.

 

[Kelemvor]

The QAM or ATSC channel won't always match up to the traditional broadcast channel that you have listed from the SD days. Here in DC, Fox 5 is actually on ATSC 36. On Fios, its QAM 72. Are you sure that the channels you aren't seeing are in the upper channels and that whatever channel search parameters you can specify are cutting off lower? Out here, you want to search up to 135.

I just clicked GO and let Windows do it's thing. I didn't specify any settings other than telling it to use the cable line. Afterwards I brought up the guide in MCE and looked at what it showed me which corresponded to the normal numbers. It converted the numbers.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I just clicked GO and let Windows do it's thing. I didn't specify any settings other than telling it to use the cable line. Afterwards I brought up the guide in MCE and looked at what it showed me which corresponded to the normal numbers. It converted the numbers.

Bring up the MC guide and right-click on one of the channels you think may be a Clear QAM channel. From the pop-up select Edit Channel, then select Edit Sources. Does it say Analog Cable or Digital Cable (Clear QAM)?

I'm asking because even though many tuners claim they do Clear QAM, not all can do so in MCE. I have a tuner that claims it does Clear QAM but you have to use their supplied software in order to have that functionality. In Media Center it can only tune analog cable channels and digital OTA channels.

 

[sjwaste]

Bring up the MC guide and right-click on one of the channels you think may be a Clear QAM channel. From the pop-up select Edit Channel, then select Edit Sources. Does it say Analog Cable or Digital Cable (Clear QAM)?

I'm asking because even though many tuners claim they do Clear QAM, not all can do so in MCE. I have a tuner that claims it does Clear QAM but you have to use their supplied software in order to have that functionality. In Media Center it can only tune analog cable channels and digital OTA channels.

This is a really good suggestion. It's been a while since I gave up on my HTPC, but I do recall that earlier versions of MCE could not tune QAM even if they could tune NTSC and ATSC. Had to do with there being no standard interface to the QAM tuner like there was for ATSC. Forget what the framework was called, but at the time, it didn't exist for QAM tuners. It was all proprietary, so you had to use their software.

Also, the PSIP mapping might be correcting the channel numbers to those you're familiar with.

I'd suggest doing what TastesLikeChicken said, and then also trying the proprietary software that shipped with your tuner. Let that scan and see what you get.

 

[Kelemvor]

I'll definitely try that when I get home.

Thanks.

 

[SunnyD]

Clear QAM will only net you a handful of channels on pretty much ANY cable system. When I was on TW in NY, I actually didn't HAVE cable TV service (just internet), and got about 10 channels total off the wire with clear QAM (none of the SD channels worked though because they were filtered).

Basically, the only thing that TW will broadcast with clear QAM is going to be the local broadcast network channels, and maybe a couple more channels out of the basic tier and that's it.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

This is a really good suggestion. It's been a while since I gave up on my HTPC, but I do recall that earlier versions of MCE could not tune QAM even if they could tune NTSC and ATSC. Had to do with there being no standard interface to the QAM tuner like there was for ATSC. Forget what the framework was called, but at the time, it didn't exist for QAM tuners. It was all proprietary, so you had to use their software.

Vista MC and 7MC both have a standard framework for Clear QAM. Not sure about MCE in XP. The problem with not getting Clear QAM is now with the drivers for each individual tuner card. I have a Happauge 2250 that brings in Clear QAM in 7MC without any problems but I have another card, a KWorld (had to use it because it was one of the few low-profile PCI interface tuner cards available, both PCIe slots were already in use) that claims it can do Clear QAM but fails to do so in 7MC. In fact, I had to disable it from tuning Clear QAM in 7MC or else it prevents the Hauppauge card from doing so as well. Figuring that out burned a couple hours of time.

I wish Silicon Dust would get on the ball with their SD Prime box. I've been waiting to order a couple of those instead of going with the InifintyTV because I like the idea of network tuners. If they don't start selling soon though I may give up and go with the Ceton tuner.

 

[Brainonska511]

http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/
Use that to find where your channels are. You might have to add them manually in WMC. I had to do it that way with my Hauppauge tuner and RCN basic cable service.

 

[Squisher]

I just picked up two free Digital Transport Adapters from Comcast. They're tiny cable boxes that allow me to pick channels 1-99, but they output in analog so no HD (yet some channels are 16:9). I'll probably hook up a splitter and a switch so I can still get the 8 or so HD channels that my QAM tuner card can get off the raw cable feed.

 

[sjwaste]

Vista MC and 7MC both have a standard framework for Clear QAM. Not sure about MCE in XP. The problem with not getting Clear QAM is now with the drivers for each individual tuner card. I have a Happauge 2250 that brings in Clear QAM in 7MC without any problems but I have another card, a KWorld (had to use it because it was one of the few low-profile PCI interface tuner cards available, both PCIe slots were already in use) that claims it can do Clear QAM but fails to do so in 7MC. In fact, I had to disable it from tuning Clear QAM in 7MC or else it prevents the Hauppauge card from doing so as well. Figuring that out burned a couple hours of time.

I wish Silicon Dust would get on the ball with their SD Prime box. I've been waiting to order a couple of those instead of going with the InifintyTV because I like the idea of network tuners. If they don't start selling soon though I may give up and go with the Ceton tuner.

My last "fun" with this was pre-Vista. MCE XP/2005 were the ones lacking a standard architecture for QAM tuning, so basically nothing out there would do it except for the HDHomeRun (which had a relatively simple TCP/IP interface, thanks to the fact that it was designed to sit on a network and be available to any head unit on the network).

BDA is what I was thinking of - Broadcast Driver Architecture

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/archive/broadcast.mspx

Back in my day (heh) it hadn't been extended to QAM tuning, so basically nothing except the HDHomeRun worked in MCE. Shit, BeyondTV, GBPVR, etc. had very minimal support for QAM tuning because of this. Good to hear that's changed. When my DVico Fusion 5 shit the bed, I just gave up. I wasn't going to buy another card at that point.

I do have a Mac Mini sitting here now. I wonder what I could do with that.

 

[sjwaste]

I just picked up two free Digital Transport Adapters from Comcast. They're tiny cable boxes that allow me to pick channels 1-99, but they output in analog so no HD (yet some channels are 16:9). I'll probably hook up a splitter and a switch so I can still get the 8 or so HD channels that my QAM tuner card can get off the raw cable feed.

If you have an HD box or are willing to spring for one, you could just get the Hauppauge HD-PVR. It takes a component input, so you can tune digital cable (with a box) and without the clear QAM limitation.

There might be a better product out now, though.

 

[bobdole369]

The QAM or ATSC channel won't always match up to the traditional broadcast channel that you have listed from the SD days. Here in DC, Fox 5 is actually on ATSC 36. On Fios, its QAM 72. Are you sure that the channels you aren't seeing are in the upper channels and that whatever channel search parameters you can specify are cutting off lower? Out here, you want to search up to 135.

This, plus not all cable systems transmit QAM in the clear, or all channels, or anything at all. Try another tuner. My TV finds an absolute ton of stuff, including several different SD and HD feeds of some cable stuff in clear, + all locals in glorious retarded 2/3 bitrate compressed 1080i/720p.

A thumb tuner finds perhaps a dozen total. Not sure the difference but its there.

I find a set of wabbit ears is the way to go for full quality incredible HD. YAY TiVOHD for supporting this.

 

[CZroe]

Look at AAAAALL the QAM channels my brother gets in the clear:
http://www.youtube.com/jevansturner#p/u/18/jRZeBaJwmJs

Edit - Actually, I think this is the vid that shows it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDBVlD9__P8

 

[Raincity]

When I setup my ATI HD tuner. The MC digital scan only picked up a couple of the clear QAM channels and the PSID was all wrong. I used this site http://www.silicondust.com/support/channels/ to obtain the clear QAM cable info and then manually added and edit every open QAM channel in MCE.

 

[Jadow]

I'm on Charter and my QAMS used to drift around a lot, it used to be a pain, but they've been stable for a few months now.

 

[Ichinisan]

SiliconDust HD HomeRun tuners don't report any channels lower than 79:
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:53201#lineup_4148139
http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/lineup_web/US:53201#lineup_4148322

You're probably looking at virtual channel numbers.

Bring up the MC guide and right-click on one of the channels you think may be a Clear QAM channel. From the pop-up select Edit Channel, then select Edit Sources. Does it say Analog Cable or Digital Cable (Clear QAM)?

I'm asking because even though many tuners claim they do Clear QAM, not all can do so in MCE. I have a tuner that claims it does Clear QAM but you have to use their supplied software in order to have that functionality. In Media Center it can only tune analog cable channels and digital OTA channels.

I tried a myGica USB QAM tuner on my mother's Win7 PC and it worked. It was a bit clunky with the channel-changing...but it definitely worked with Win7MC. I don't know the exact model.

Look at AAAAALL the QAM channels my brother gets in the clear:
http://www.youtube.com/jevansturner#p/u/18/jRZeBaJwmJs

Edit - Actually, I think this is the vid that shows it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDBVlD9__P8

Those are all HD. Not just QAM.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I tried a myGica USB QAM tuner on my mother's Win7 PC and it worked. It was a bit clunky with the channel-changing...but it definitely worked with Win7MC. I don't know the exact model.

Did it grab Clear QAM channels or only analog?

 

[Ichinisan]

Did it grab Clear QAM channels or only analog?

I think it was a digital-only USB tuner. I only used it with ClearQAM. It was glitchy when changing channels and I don't know if that had something to do with signal quality, so my mother's system is still using 4x analog tuners (two external Adaptec dual tuners).

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

I think it was a digital-only USB tuner. I only used it with ClearQAM. It was glitchy when changing channels and I don't know if that had something to do with signal quality, so my mother's system is still using 4x analog tuners (two external Adaptec dual tuners).

I guess what I'm a bit leary about is that the OP's link doesn't specifically mention compatibility with MCE and only cites versions of XP for a compatible OS. With XP Clear QAM support was just starting to come out and didn't work all that reliably.