WMC getting wrong channel from HDHomeRun

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jmontana

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WMC getting wrong channel from HDHomeRun

#1

Post by jmontana » Fri Feb 09, 2018 2:20 pm

I have a HDHomeRun Connect (one of the old HDHR-US models.) I'm connecting the cable (I have Verizon FiOS) directly into the HDHomeRun. I 100% understand this won't get me encrypted channels, and I'm fine with that. It's working great with WMC, except for one channel, which is a local NBC channel. It shows up twice in the HDHomeRun Setup app with the same channel number, 10.1, but with totally different frequencies. Only one appears in WMC, and it has terrible resolution in both WMC and the HDHomeRun viewer.

When I watch the second channel in the HDHomeRun viewer, the resolution is perfect, but it doesn't show up in WMC. Is there any way I can tell WMC to use the other frequency instead? I tried the whole "Add Channel" thing, but there seems to be no way to specify the frequency, just the channel number.

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#2

Post by dmagerl » Fri Feb 09, 2018 3:45 pm

If both channels share the same callsign, they could both be merged into one listing in WMC.

Just bring up the guide, position the mouse over the channel, right click it, and then edit channel, then edit sources. There should be one source listed per tuner. The old HDHomerun was two tuners so there should only be two sources listed. The channel number is shown as you highlight each source. Just disable the sources you dont want.

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#3

Post by jmontana » Fri Feb 09, 2018 3:52 pm

Thanks. The problem is only one of them is available in WMC. For example, when I look at them in HDHomeRun viewer, I see two channels for 10.1 / WJAR:

CH63 - 3336
CH71 - 3120

CH63 is the one that appears in WMC, and has the terrible resolution. When I do as you say and go to edit sources, I see two sources, one for each tuner. They both list channel 63.3336. I want to change them to 71.3120. 71.3120 is viewable using HDHomeRun viewer, and looks good.

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Cup

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#4

Post by Cup » Sun Feb 11, 2018 3:55 am

Simple - use the arrows (in Edit Sources) to move 71 to the top of the list. Click Save. That will cause WMC to try to tune 71 before it tries 63.
Done.

IIRC, you can also uncheck the 'bad' channel there (been a while since I've been thru TV setup.)
-Cup
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#5

Post by jmontana » Mon Feb 12, 2018 12:59 pm

The problem is that 71 isn't listed in Edit Sources. I have two sources, both are for 63.

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DavidinCT

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#6

Post by DavidinCT » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:41 pm

jmontana wrote:Thanks. The problem is only one of them is available in WMC. For example, when I look at them in HDHomeRun viewer, I see two channels for 10.1 / WJAR:

CH63 - 3336
CH71 - 3120

CH63 is the one that appears in WMC, and has the terrible resolution. When I do as you say and go to edit sources, I see two sources, one for each tuner. They both list channel 63.3336. I want to change them to 71.3120. 71.3120 is viewable using HDHomeRun viewer, and looks good.
If you can view the channel in Edit channel, we can resolve the problem. Ah Providence channel...I used to live in Cranston in fact my Mom still does.

Start by.... what channel number shows in good quality ? Can you go into edit channels and find it, click preview, and show a good image ?

Once you have this number, go into the channel (Edit channels) and then go to Edit Listings, now this will show every channel's meta data name or channel number, that you can assign guide data with. So if this is Channel 10 you speak of, but, it shows on 71.3120 (for example), you can assign 10.1's data (or cable might be 1010, etc) and NOW. you will have the channel you want and Guide data with it.... Are you with me so far ?

So now it's ugly, Channel 10 shows up as 71.3120...YUCK ! The easiest way, download the "guide tool", install and open it, find your 71.3120 (again EXAMPLE) and right click on it, and select "renumber" and name it to 10.1. Then uncheck the channel 63 (SD channel I bet) so it no longer shows in the guide.

This should take your wacky QAM numbered channel and make it a nice channel with guide data, then get rid of the bad channel.

I have a cablecard on mysetup but, always prefer the channels on the OTA channel number. SO I use guide tool and take all the 1008, 1030 (CT stations), and put them as 8.1 and 30.1 as they should be.

This is one of the best features of WMC, you can edit channels and guide data, you can take the SD's guide data and put it on the HD channel, or you can make a WACKY QAM channel 64.7947 to channel 6... You can take, cable, Sat, and OTA, combine them all in one guide, and even use different tuners are different sources for each channel.

It really is very powerful of you learn it's features.... with a bunch of sources.
jmontana wrote:The problem is that 71 isn't listed in Edit Sources. I have two sources, both are for 63.
If you go into your HD homerun program does it show the physical channel number (71.312 for example)? If so you can go to add QAM channel and manually add it...

Getting guide data working is fairly easy but, Have you re-run TV setup again and let it search for channels again ? Sometimes they don't always show up the first time and running a second time might get it.

Are you running a lot of splitters in your home ? Try to run a cable directly to the WMC and do a search again. WMC is more sensitive to signal strength. If a channel is weak, it will not find it (on the concept that a fairly weak signal will give poor performance). Running splitters all over the place could cause problems with it.
Last edited by DavidinCT on Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:51 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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jmontana

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#7

Post by jmontana » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:50 pm

DavidinCT wrote:
If you can view the channel in Edit channel, we can resolve the problem. Ah Providence channel...I used to live in Cranston in fact my Mom still does.
No that's the problem, although it shows up TWICE in HDHomeRun (both as 10.1, but one is 63 and the other is 71) only the 63 appears in WMC as 10.1. Greetings from RI! :)
DavidinCT wrote: Start by.... what channel number shows in good quality ? Can you go into edit channels and find it, click preview, and show a good image ?
71 is the one that shows in good quality in HDHomeRun.
DavidinCT wrote: Once you have this number, go into the channel (Edit channels) and then go to Edit Listings, now this will show every channel's meta data name or channel number, that you can assign guide data with. So if this is Channel 10 you speak of, but, it shows on 71.3120 (for example), you can assign 10.1's data (or cable might be 1010, etc) and NOW. you will have the channel you want and Guide data with it.... Are you with me so far ?

So now it's ugly, Channel 10 shows up as 71.3120...YUCK ! The easiest way, download the "guide tool", install and open it, find your 71.3120 (again EXAMPLE) and right click on it, and select "renumber" and name it to 10.1. Then uncheck the channel 63 (SD channel I bet) so it no longer shows in the guide.

This should take your wacky QAM numbered channel and make it a nice channel with guide data, then get rid of the bad channel.
I can't assign it because it refuses to show 71 as a valid source.
jmontana wrote:The problem is that 71 isn't listed in Edit Sources. I have two sources, both are for 63.
DavidinCT wrote: If you go into your HD homerun program does it show the physical channel number (71.312 for example)? If so you can go to add QAM channel and manually add it...
Right this is what I was hoping to do, but when I try to add channel, I can't add 71.312. It seems to want it in the 10.1 format.

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#8

Post by DavidinCT » Mon Feb 12, 2018 6:55 pm

jmontana wrote:
DavidinCT wrote: If you go into your HD homerun program does it show the physical channel number (71.312 for example)? If so you can go to add QAM channel and manually add it...
Right this is what I was hoping to do, but when I try to add channel, I can't add 71.312. It seems to want it in the 10.1 format.
I am 90% sure you can add a XX.XXX channel, I need to double check (I am at work right now, not in front of my WMC machine). I didn't see this post till today, I'll let you know what I find.

I've heard of this issue before but, off the top of my head don't know what resolved it. It might be a update or a patch that worked around it.

I would first of all, check the wiring, and re-run TV setup and search for channels AGAIN...
-Dave
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#9

Post by jmontana » Wed Feb 14, 2018 2:47 pm

Tried to add 71.312 directly, which created a channel with no signal.

I feel like maybe if I could remove the channel from HDHomeRun that would solve it, but I can't figure out how to do that either!

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#10

Post by sdschramm » Wed Apr 01, 2020 12:41 am

Sorry to bump an old thread but I am also having an issue very similar to this with Fios and WMC and wondering if anyone found the solution?

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#11

Post by jmontana » Wed Apr 01, 2020 3:35 pm

Sadly, I never did. My PC crashed and burned and I've since moved on to streaming services with my Roku.

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#12

Post by Space » Wed Apr 01, 2020 10:35 pm

Could it be related to the problem in this thread?

They seem to think that HD clearQAM channels have changed from MPEG2 to MPEG4 (h.264).

But still, WMC can handle h.264, so not sure if it doesn't expect ClearQAM to be this format so does not support it. I really don't know much about this or how clearQAM differs from what I have (FiOS with CableCard) which seems to work fine with both MPEG2 and h.264 channels on WMC.

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#13

Post by garyan2 » Thu Apr 02, 2020 12:52 am

Just skimming through this, when you did TV Setup, did you tell it to use Antenna or Cable? If antenna, then the maximum RF channel it will scan is 69. If cable, then the maximum RF channel it will scan for ClearQAM is 158.

There is also a limitation of the subchannel only going to 999. If the subchannel is greater than that, you can use the EPG123 client to manually add the channel which bypasses that limitation.
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Keeping WMC alive beyond January 2020. https://garyan2.github.io

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#14

Post by sdschramm » Sat Apr 04, 2020 3:09 am

I never ended up getting it to work, but had luck switching to a pair of cheap rabbit ears!
I've detailed my trials and tribulations here in case anyone comes across this and wants to know the specifics.

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