One TV stations will not record in WMC

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gwj

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One TV stations will not record in WMC

#1

Post by gwj » Sun Jun 23, 2013 8:56 pm

I have been using WMC for over three years. I have an outside antenna so I only get about 40 local stations. I bought a HP computer just to use for watching TV - I have two tuners. All the stations come in that should and I am able to record all but two. I can watch the local FOX station but not record it. They service two channels. When I have tried to record, I get a message saying there is no TV signal, but yet I can bring up the menu and click on the station and view it. When I first noticed this, I contacted the folks who are responsible for the program notes and they could not give me any help. I contacted the local FOX station to be sure I had the right information and they could not help. Since there is not that much I want to record on FOX, it has not been a problem, just a nuisance knowing I can't record.
When the FOX station changed from analog to digital just over three years ago, we had to use a different channel number in some situations. From channel 8 to channel 35. When I watch it just on my TV, not using the computer tuner, I have to go to channel 35.1, when I look at it using the computer TV tuner, I have to enter channel 8.1. I know this is a lot of information, hopefully someone will have a solution.

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holidayboy

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#2

Post by holidayboy » Mon Jun 24, 2013 12:24 pm

I probably can't help much as I think the (ATSC?) tuner setup process is slightly different to how the UK stuff works.

Have you checked in the edit channel menu for the stations to make sure everything looks OK there?

Right click the channel number/name>click edit channel>click edit sources and look down the list for anything out of the ordinary. You should just have two sources checked (one for each tuner).

Hopefully somebody else can jump in with ideas...

I have read about some folks entering a different zip code during tuner setup maybe?
Rob.

TGB.tv - the one stop shop for the more discerning Media Center user.

gwj

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#3

Post by gwj » Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:34 pm

I thought you might have given me something to work with. I went to Edit Source for Channel 8.1 and it had four choices and all were checked. The same for 8.2. I looked at Edit Source for all of my other channels and they only had two items to check. So I went back to 8.1 and unchecked the last two. Tried to view the channel and got the message that there was no signal. I went back and unchecked the top two - still same message. I checked item 1 and 3 - still same message. So I checked them all again to see if I was getting a signal and got the same no signal message. I rebooted my computer and am still getting the no signal message. I know there is a signal because I can switch over to my TV and get the channels there. So, I am no better off than I was, in fact I am worse off at this point. I will keep fooling around with it and see if I can at least get it back like it was. I don't understand why there are four items in the Edit Source area for these two channels when there are only two for the others. I thought we were on to something for a minute. Thanks for your interest in trying to help.

gwj

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#4

Post by gwj » Mon Jun 24, 2013 7:54 pm

Well, I got it worked out. I went back and changed the channel from 8.1 to 35.1 (What makes it confusing is that the local FOX channel call number is 8.1 and that is what it was before they went to digital. I have had to put in 35.1 on the TV to get 8.1) Anyway, there are four items that had a check mark. When I changed the channel number to 35.1, item 1 and 3 indicated 8.1 and item 2 and four indicated 35.1 (since I made the change). So, I unchecked items 1 and 3 and left items 2 and four checked. Now I can view the FOX channel and RECORD also. Thanks for making the suggestion to go to this setup feature. I wish I had pursued this three years ago.

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holidayboy

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#5

Post by holidayboy » Mon Jun 24, 2013 8:18 pm

Great stuff :thumbup:
Rob.

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dmagerl

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#6

Post by dmagerl » Mon Jun 24, 2013 10:19 pm

If the guide contains multiple entries for a station, WMC lumps them all together under the same callsign. Its my guess that the affected station was originally analog ch8 and decided to keep that frequency when they changed to digital. But they then found that ch8 is a pretty poor channel for digital TV so they kept their ch35 pre-cutover digital channel and had two stations on the air at the same time.

For whatever reason, MCE can only receive one of them. Recordings use different source priorities so whenever a recording was made, it picked the 8.1 source and whenever you watched live TV it picked a 35.1 source. Hence, you could watch live TV but not record.

Chicago had the same problem with ABC. It had a signal on ch7 and ch45. MCE had problems if only one could be received. They recently shut off the ch7 transmitter and things are working fine now.

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