Missing channel on HDHR Prime. Where is the channel map?

[barnabas1969]

A day or two ago, I discovered that we in Central Florida have some new channels to view the Olympics. In Central Florida on Brighthouse Networks (BHN), I should be able to get channels 1770, 1773, and 1774. After a channel scan, I got 1773 and 1774. However, 1770 doesn't show up in my guide.

Channel 1770 is in 3D, side-by-side.

I contacted BHN, and they told me that I must have a cable box in order to receive this channel. They went on to tell me that CableCARD is not a 3D-capable technology. Now, if you know anything about 3D... then you know that side-by-side and top/bottom 3D modes are the same as any other HDTV content... they are in 1080i or 720p resolution, and can be displayed on any HDTV... but if your TV is not a 3DTV, you will see two (almost identical) images on the left/right or top/bottom of your screen.

I think that BHN is just using this to force customers to use their rental equipment.

Are you able to receive the Olympics in 3D without renting a cable box from the cable company? If so, what cable provider?

[barnabas1969]

I've learned via the DSL Reports website (on the forum for BHN customers) that BHN customers can get this channel with a TiVo Premier. Supposedly, the channel is encoded as MPEG-4. If that's true, then the channel won't work on my Linksys and HP extenders, but as I understand it... it should work fine on the TV that is directly connected to the PC. I don't care about the extenders.

So, this leads me to believe that the problem is with Microsoft/Zap2It... in that they haven't added the channel to the lineup.

Does anyone know a way to add a CableCARD channel manually?

[adam1991]

The guide is separate from the channel. The whole point of cableCARD is that the cableco controls the channel map, and that's that. You can't add it manually, because they're in control.

So, I just checked. My cableco sent me an email a couple weeks ago--they turned on two HD and one 3D channel just for the games. I don't care about them, so I never bothered to look until now. But there they are. I didn't have to go into the 7MC guide and select them to be on or anything. They're simply there, available, turned on.

It looks like men's tennis is on right now.

And--now here's the kicker--I'm seeing the 3D channel being displayed, two images side by side, on my 1986 Panasonic TV via my XBox extender.

I'm on WOW Cable. Brighthouse is blowing smoke at you, big time.

You might want to head to DSL Reports and post there in the Brighthouse forum (I presume there is one; there's one for WOW).

[barnabas1969]

I've already started a thread on the DSL reports forum. That's where I got the info in my 2nd post. I agree that they are blowing smoke.

When I run the HD HomeRun setup program, it lists the 3D channel. I think this indicates that the 3D channel is in the channel map. I'll try posting in the SiliconDust forums.

[STC]

As long as the channel is on your cable card channel map lineup you can add it manually using Guide Tool I'm not sure how you see the channel map for a HDHRP, but you can through Cetons' web GUI. There would be no EPG data but the channel will be listed in the MC guide and can be viewed.

[barnabas1969]

I poked around in Guide Tool, but I didn't see a way to add the channel. The HDHR Prime apparently comes with a program to add a channel from the channel map. The instructions are in the thread linked below:
http://www.silicondust.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13100

I'll give it a try tonight.

[STC]

Guide Tool lists all available channels on the channel map in the left column. If it's not there, it's not on the map.

It may be listed as a different hidden channel number on the left column to the channel the STB would display.

[barnabas1969]

Hmmm... I wonder why the HD HomeRun setup program sees the channel then? I poked around in the web pages on the tuner, and I can't find anything called a "channel map", like what I used to see on the Ceton tuner. I did find one called "lineup" in the HDHRP web site, and it listed channel 1770.

So I'm wondering if maybe I just need Brighthouse to send a "hit" to my CableCARD?

[STC]

I doubt a hit would update the map. A cold boot may, or if you were to pull the card and reinsert it, but the card will most probably have the most up-to-date map already.

My map consists of lots of VOD re-mappings labeled 'SeaChange'.
Also loads of SD and HD channels up in the 1000s+ which map back to my regular three digit channels.

-Very messy to the eye TBH

[barnabas1969]

I can't find anywhere in the device's webpage that lists the channel map. However, I did find a log file that lists the channels when the map gets updated. Channel 1770 is not in the log. I picked up an STB today. I'll use it tonight to play around with, but I'd still like to get it working in Media Center. I think that the problem may be that 1770 is not subscribed... even though it should be.

[STC]

My card lists every channel (audio/VOD/SD/HD) that the MSO sends out. I believe that is how they work,- that the channel map is the complete available list of subscribed and unsubscribed channels.

[barnabas1969]

Yeah, I remember seeing that list in the Ceton diag pages. But I can't find the same list in the HDHRP diag pages. The closest I've found is a log file.

[barnabas1969]

The STB worked fine last night. It was pretty cool watching the Olympics in 3D. Our whole family was glued to the TV for the women's diving competition. We missed the ability to rewind though, so I'm working with BHNtechXpert on DSLReports.com to see if I can get the channel authorized on my CableCARDs.

[STC]

Out of curiosity, does your STB have a cablecard in the rear of it?

[barnabas1969]

Yes it does. I was thinking that if the CC in the STB can handle the channel, then the CC in my HDHRP tuners should be able to also. And since it's just a 1080i picture on that 3D channel, Media Center should be able to handle it too. I think their initial answers were complete BS.

I've opened a trouble ticket on the SiliconDust website to find out where I can find the channel map on the tuner's webpages. Once I have that information, I'll have more leverage with the cable company.

[richard1980]

I've opened a trouble ticket on the SiliconDust website to find out where I can find the channel map on the tuner's webpages. Once I have that information, I'll have more leverage with the cable company.

You already found it:

I did find one called "lineup" in the HDHRP web site, and it listed channel 1770.

All you need to do now is get them to send the authorization to the CableCARD (assuming it's not already authorized). The only problem is, it won't do you any good until you can add it to WMC...which requires either notifying Zap2it and waiting for them to change, and for that change to trickle down to your system, or use a tool to add the channel to WMC. I don't have any experience with doing that, but Guide Editor is an alternative to Guide Tool.

[barnabas1969]

Richard, I'm not so sure that the "lineup" is the same thing as the channel map. The lineup doesn't show subscribed or unsubscribed. Also, I looked on Zap2It's website, and it lists channel 1770 and even has correct program info. I just don't know where the breakdown is... Zap2It, Microsoft, Brighthouse Networks, Media Center, etc.

I've tried using the tool that comes from SiliconDust. It is supposed to add channels from the "lineup" that are not in the EPG database. That tool runs successfully, but it doesn't add the channel.

[richard1980]

The channel map doesn't show authorization status. All it does is map channel numbers to frequencies. It doesn't matter if you are subscribed to a channel or not, it's still in the channel map.

Remember, guide data changes take a bit to trickle down to WMC. So if Zap2it added the channel to their database a couple of days ago, it may still take a few more days before you see the data in WMC.

[STC]

Wow, how did I miss that? Richard is correct, just enable the channel 1770 in guide tool, and it will appear in MC's guide without listings but it will be tunable.
If it's not visible through guide tool, you will have to add the channel manually (just add it for one tuner and it will duplicate it for the others).

[barnabas1969]

It does not show up in Guide Tool. How do I manually add a CableCARD channel? Media Center doesn't seem to allow that.

I got a response from SiliconDust:

To see the subscription and copy protection status of any particular channel, tune that channel, then go to the HDHomeRun PRIME's web page and click on Status Menu, then the Tuner # for the tuner that is in use on that channel (see the list at the bottom of the Status Menu page).

I did as they said. But I had to tune the channel using their setup program since it is not listed in Media Center. Here's what the status page showed:

Untitled.jpg (38.51 KiB) Viewed 3729 times

So, this means that I am authorized to receive the channel! Yea! Now, how do I get that channel in my guide?