Why can't I receive my local FOX over clear QAM??

[Proprioceptive]

By the way, Mods, move this if it is in the wrong forum...

Okay, so I have this tuner installed in my computer and we don't receive cable service, but do receive internet (we used to pay for cable, but we would rather spend the money on more important things now...). I went ahead and hooked up a splitter and ran the cable to the cable modem and our computer. I set up Media Center (windows 7) to the clear QAM signal, but for some reason I cannot receive the FOX affiliate. When I go to edit channels and add the clear QAM channels, I can find CBS, NBC, ABC, and one PBS state all in HD.

According to information I found online, this is what is available in my area:

90-9 KRCG-HD
90-8 KOUM-HD
89-7 KMIZ-HD
89-6 KMOS-HDa

21-2 FOX-HD

However, when I see the list of clear QAM channels to select from in the edit channels menu, I can't see anything below 71-1. Sooo... I can't receive FOX. Is there some kind of limitation I am aware of with clear QAM? Why can't I see anything below 71-1?

 

[Fallen Kell]

Because with cable, it is now entirely up to the local cable provider as to what they encrypt or don't. There are no rules anymore which is one of the reasons why people have been saying for years that this would happen, and now it has. This is one of the reasons why so many people have been fighting for DRM-free cablecard systems, and systems which let the consumer do what he/she wants and not what the broadcast industry says they are allowed to do. It is also why the only HD capture device I have been recommending has been the Hauppauge HD PVR.... Sorry to hear that your area has this issue, but more and more are running into this problem.

 

[regpfj]

My QAM has the identical shortcoming. I bought an attic antenna to fix it. QAM is more convenient, but what can you do?

 

[sivart]

Call your cable company and ask them why you aren't getting a channel which you don't pay for. I'm sure they'll help you right away. If you don't pay for TV service, why do you have an expectation of TV service. If you paid for basic cable and couldn't tune the channel, that would be a different issue.

 

[Modelworks]

Cable has to provide locals under the must carry laws and they cannot encrypt them in doing so. If a station decides to charge the cable company for the right to have their station on the cable system , the cable company becomes exempt and is not required to carry the station. I would call the local fox station and find out why it is not on the local cable. If you are only paying for cable internet they could have a filter installed to block some channels and there is nothing you can do about that. People assume that they cannot block channels if you have internet because it interferes, that isn't true. Notch filters exist that allow very narrow frequency ranges to pass while blocking all others. Most cable operators don't bother installing them but many have started to use them to increase revenue.

Cable system operators shall not
scramble or otherwise encrypt signals
carried on the basic service tier. Re-
quests for waivers of this prohibition
must demonstrate either a substantial
problem with theft of basic tier service
or a strong need to scramble basic sig-
nals for other reasons. As part of this
showing, cable operators are required
to notify subscribers by mail of waiver
requests.

There have only ever been 3 waivers issued in the history of this law and not from any of the big cable companies.

 

[zerocool84]

Call your cable company and ask them why you aren't getting a channel which you don't pay for. I'm sure they'll help you right away. If you don't pay for TV service, why do you have an expectation of TV service. If you paid for basic cable and couldn't tune the channel, that would be a different issue.

lol this x100000000000

 

[Proprioceptive]

lol this x100000000000

Yeah, because I'm clearly doing something illegal...🙄

Like mentioned above, local broadcast channels are FREE. I'm just trying to figure out why I can't pick up FOX..

 

[neit]

90-9 KRCG-HD
90-8 KOUM-HD
89-7 KMIZ-HD
89-6 KMOS-HDa

21-2 FOX-HD

I am in the same area as you and have a tv setup w/o STB plugged directly into the cable. What's interesting is that the channels are different for you and me (and my next door neighbor, might be tuner differences?)

My channels are as follows:
90.2 KOMU
90.1 Either ABC or CBS, I forget
89.2 The other one from above
89.1 KMOS HD
21.1 FOX
24.3 KMOS 3 (create/MHz)

Those are the digital channels I watch, there are a bunch of mostly religious digital channels in the 20s, with some CSPAN and sports thrown in. Try and do a scan, unfortunately my tv doesn't skip blank digital channels so i had to go through each channel one by one until i found the ones i wanted to watch.

 

[Fardringle]

Yeah, because I'm clearly doing something illegal...🙄

Like mentioned above, local broadcast channels are FREE. I'm just trying to figure out why I can't pick up FOX..

BROADCAST (over air) channels are free. Signals on your cable line are provided by the cable company and are not free even if it is the same content. You have to pay them for access to those signals. Using the cable the way you described is illegal unless you are paying for a cable TV subscription along with the Internet.