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Tivo HD, no cable box, missing HD Guide data

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  • Tivo HD, no cable box, missing HD Guide data

    Just acquired new Tivo HD and connected to my local cable provider (Patriot Media in central NJ).
    I've never needed a cable box, and "network" channels (NBC, ABC, PBS, etc.) are already provided in HD as part of my basic package (eg - channel 2 is CBS, channel 2.1 is CBS HD).
    Problem is that Guide data for every HD channel is missing (the HD channels are viewable, though). Tivo support suggested splitting my coax input to both "antenna" and "cable" inputs on Tivo, as the HD Guide data would be picked up over the antenna connection (via cable). They also said to make sure the splitter was a newer "digital" type, so it wouldn't filter out the digital signal. Finally, they indicated that I didn't need a cablecard to make this work.
    Any thoughts or experience on this? I'd prefer to keep things simple, and not use a cablecard unless absolutely necessary. All suggestions and assistance welcome!

  • #2
    What they suggest is basically right, but you shouldn't need to do that, I don't think. More likely, you either need to give it more time to load the data, or you need to redo Guided Setup so that the TiVo knows you get those channels. Third option is to check your channels preferences.
    Been here a long time . . .

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    • #3
      Thanks for the response. I have redone the Guided Setup (two or three times!) with no success. Actually, if I use ONLY the Guided Setup, NO HD channels are found. I must access the Settings, and have it rescan them "manually" to see them listed. But then they still have no Guide Data.
      As for time, I set this up on Thursday, so I'd think plenty of time has passed for the HD Guide Data to show up.

      I decided to give the "splitter" idea a try, but since I only had a splitter that is at least 5 years old, I was skeptical that it would work (and that it would filter out any digital data). Well, that's what happened - no HD channels were found, and I had TWO listings show up for every other channel. Had to then redo everything to at least have the non-HD Guide data correct. I'll probably head out tomorrow and pick up a newer splitter and give it another try.

      As always, any suggestions/advice from all is appreciated.

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      • #4
        Badhat, any success?

        I'm considering getting a Tivo HD, and am in the same situation--I get HD versions of the broadcast channels over my cable with no cablebox or cablecard. (I have Cablevision in CT).

        Would sure like to avoid having another splitter, though, as I have a 7:1 splitter at the house entry and a long cable run in front of the room in question; every remaining dB helps...

        By the way, on my TV the HD channels show up as, for example, "Channel 3-1" or "3-2" (for the HD version of channel 3), which must be a translation, since I don't imagine the signals are actually adjacent. On Cablevision (with cable box/card) all the digital channels show up as being in the 700s, I think. Does the TiVO ever look there during channel setup? If not can it be forced to? That might solve your problem.

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        • #5
          Corners,

          Turns out the advice provided by Tivo support didn't work (after I bought a very nice digital splitter). When I called back, the next rep apologized for the bad info given to me, and indicated that the ONLY way to make this work was to install cablecards from my local carrier (Patriot Media - soon to be Comcast).

          The cards were installed just yesterday, and I now have all the Guide data for all channels, viewable or not (e.g. premium channels I don't subscribe to).

          And, the channel numbers changed from 4-1, 7-1, etc. to 160, 162, etc. I suspect yours would do the same.

          The cablecards cost $1 each per month, so its not breaking the bank. Install cost about $21, and given the back and forth between the installer and his support team, was probably worth it.

          Hope this info helps - good luck!

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          • #6
            Right - it turns out that you need CableCARDs to load QAM programming info from the cable company. So the CableCARDs tell the TiVo what channels correspond to what frequencies the cable companies send down. The TiVo would receive the signal without the CableCARD, but not know what it is.
            Been here a long time . . .

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