Re: DTV converter box

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Hi Butch:

I wrote about setting up Media Center with a DTV converter box back in June.
I wish I had gotten the link to you earlier, because after going through the
process myself, I strongly recommended that folks upgrade their tuners to
save themselves a lot of headaches.

http://peteatmicrosoft.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!158948AE42EC57AE!658.entry

From my time on thegreenbutton.com, it seems like most folks in your
position have opted to upgrade their tuner rather than integrate the DTV
converter box. Many opt for a USB tuner that supports ATSC. Set-up is fast
and direct and you don't have to edit the guide. These tend to run between
$50 and $100.

I don't know of any way to add guide listings for subchannels if the
provider who's guide listing you are working with doesn't carry the
subchannel. However, as Barb mentioned, you will likely have better luck
posting your questions at www.thegreenbutton.com. Someone there may have a
workaround.






"Butch" wrote:

The problem with the DTV converter box is that media center asks if it is a
cable box or a satelite box. Media center then asks you what company you are
using. You have to pick a cable or satellite company in order to download the
guide listings. If you are not using a cable or satellite company it is
difficult to know which to select. In NYC there are dozens of cable and
satellite companies. It can take days or even weeks to download and search
through all of their guides in order to pick the one that best corresponds
to the stations which the DTV converter box receives. Each company has a
different selection of stations. They do not all carry the same listings. You
can be missing several stations if you select the wrong company.
--
B


"Curious" wrote:

The HDHomeRun website has listings of OTA digital channels by Zip Code:

http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us.

A Digital Converter Box is a SetTopBox so it does not need to have it it's
own separate configuration category.

"Butch" <Butch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:026C25D9-8730-4D4A-8C91-D90957EE71BF@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Dear Ms Bowman:
I've tried to reach you but I could not connect to the web site. "The web
site was unavailable"? You were correct. As you suggested, I picked a
satellite company in my area. I told media center I was using that
company.
Media center downloaded the guide for all of the TV programs that company
carried.--- almost 2,000 TV stations. I then went through all of the
stations
to find the ones that my DTV converter box receives. Then I had to change
the station numbers to match up with the station numbers of the converter
box. I also had to remove all the stations that the converter box does not
receive. This was a long and tedious task.

To date: I have been able to match up all of the major network stations.
WCBS, WNBC, WNYW, WWOR, WABC, PIX11,WNET, WLIW, WNYE, WXTV, WFUT. I
cannot,
however, find the substations. For example WNBC has two substations WNBC
4.2
and WNBC 4.4. WABC has two substations 7-2 LivWell and 7-3 WEATHER, etc.
Either the substations are not carried by the satellite company, or I
don't
recognise them. In any event, I am able to use the guide and program
recordings at least for the major Networks.

Another problem I seem to have is that some stations that I have
eliminated from the program guide turn up in the guide when media center
updates the guide. I don't know why. I did eliminate them in the guide
settings but some of them come back. I keep eliminating them , but some
continue to come back when the guide is updated.

What I don't understand is why there isn't a media center update or patch
that would add the DTV converter box option to the list of set-top boxes
that
media center recognizes. If there was, you could simply download the
guide
that the converter box receives the same way we downloaded the guide for
the
analog TV stations. Am I the only one with this problem? I am sure there
are
several more computers with analog TV tuner cards out there. Am I the only
one that had trouble figuring this out? Did everyone else know what to do?

Anyway, I want to thank you very much for your input. It was that little
bit of encouragement that I needed to try to figure this out. Thank you.
You
were a big help.

--
B


"Butch" wrote:

Dear Ms. Bowman:
I really appreciate your feedback. I will be out of town until the end of
the month.
I don't want to lose you. Please look for me after the 25th of June.
I will certainly try your suggestion. I do not want to do it now, because
analog is working fine and I have several programs scheduled. I don't
want to
have to reset the analog before I leave.

Let me recap: Media center wizard will pick up all the digital stations
put
out by the converter box. Media center wizard knows that there is a set
top
box. It thinks it is either a cable or a satellite box. I find (for some
reason) that when I tell the wizard that it is a satellite box I get a
better
picture than if I tell it it is a cable box. After all the stations are
set,
media center wizard asks if I want to use the Guide. If I say "yes" it
puts
out a list of all the satellite (or cable) companies in my area and asks
me
to select the one I am using. I did not try all of the companies on the
list;
but, I did try one. I don't remember what the feedback message was, but,
it
did not work. I think it may connect with the company to verify
subscription.
As per your suggestion I will try them all when I get back. However I
suspect
it might not work. The wizard "knows".

I really think a software update is required for media center wizard to
recognize a converter box. I don't think that is so hard to do. I don't
understand why microsoft has not done it; or if they have, why no one
will
tell me.

As for the remote: The converter box remote works fine, but, it does not
have all the features of the media center remote (really needed). The
media
center remote does not have a dash (-) button. All the digital stations
have
a dash (-) -----7-1. 2-1. 4-2, 4-3, 4-4, etc. Media center remote will
tune
to these stations as 71,21,42,43,44, etc when these numbers are entered
directly. It does not seem to tune to these stations when using the
channel
up/down button(I think) ---- I really only tried it once. I don't know if
it
will tune to these channels automatically when programed; but then, I
can't
program without the guide any way.

When I get back there will be no analog TV so I will fiddle with it some
more ----I will have no choice. I am willing to buy a digital tuner if
someone will tell me that it will work with media center. I have seen
them
for laptops. They have a USB connection and an antenna ---- or I could
just
get a digitalTV tuner card.

Anyway, thank you very much for your time. Hope to hear from you when I
get
back.
--
B


"Barb Bowman" wrote:

OK, compare the Local Broadcast listing to say Time Warner and RCN.
You should only look at the channels you receive today via antenna.
There will be lots of channels you don't receive.

If you can find a close match, use it.
Then re-run TV Setup and "lie". Specify the cable provider you
determine is closest (if there is one) and STB. You will have to
most likely use the learning mode for the remote that comes with the
DTA.

In essence, you will be attempting to trick Media Center into
believing you have another provider.

I have not tried this myself, so this is a theory.

On Tue, 2 Jun 2009 03:54:01 -0700, Butch
<Butch@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

When I go to zap2it.com and enter my zip code -----which took me an
hour to
figure out --- I get a load of providers. I get several Cablevision
( cable
and Digital); I get several RCN; I get several Time Warner. For
Satellite I
get :
4DTV
AFN
C-Band
Direct TV
Dish Network
GlobeCast
Sky Angel
and under Local I get :
Local Broadcast (Antenna)
I do not sbscribe to either cable ot satellite.
Thank you very much for your response; but, I don't knowwhat to do
with this
info.
Thanks
Barb Bowman
MS-MVP
http://www.digitalmediaphile.com
http://digitalmediaphile.wordpress.com
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/bowman.mspx


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