XDoubleX

I have the basic cable pack. from Comcast. Bought a TV w/ 1080p and can't get any HD. I think I'm supposed to get ABC,CBS, NBC, and Fox atleast in HD aren't I? Help??????

1inxs

XDoubleXWelcome to the DTVUSA Forum. You need to subscribe to the HD pack to get HD.

Piggie

Some cable companies you can get locals in HD on clear QAM. My cable system here has it set up that way. SD revisions are analog but the HD version of locals are clear QAM. I don't use their cable but know the local cable installer.

bicker

The policy is actually even more localized than that: It depends on the pricing that is in effect within a specific town. That's a reflection of how cable television is regulated on a town-by-town basis, in most areas.

For example, Comcast has both areas that charge extra for HD and areas that do not.

Eureka

If you can get HD broadcast channels, they are not always numbered logically,

Do a complete rescan for all channels. look at every "found" channel to see if they are hiding somewhere. Our nearest town's cableco puts the local DTV channels up in the 100s range.

bicker

And they move around every so often.

staticMHZ

Try scanning the QAM band.

XDoubleX

Sounds confusing as usual with trying to figure this crap out. How do I scan the QAM band? Whenever I do a scan for channels, it checks analog first, then digital so I'm guessing it's searching for QAM?

bicker

Yes: If your television has a QAM tuner, then "digital" would probably refer to it. If your television only has NTSC and ATSC tuners (becoming pretty rare), then "digital" would just refer to ATSC, and you wouldn't be able to tune in QAM. If you post the model number of your television, we can check the specs for you.

Eureka

If it's checking analog & then digital, it's likely checking both ATSC (Over The Air TV received w/ antenna) and QAM (cableco supplied digital channels). If it finds any QAM channels, they are often (but not always) in the higher numbers, like 112-n. They are rarely logically numbered, and they occasionally change channel numbers, requiring a periodic rescan/rehunt for channels. This is probably as a ploy to make you rent their boxes, which unlike the tuner in your TV, will keep the same channel numbers all the time.

If a complete channel scan turns up no digital channel numbers, either your TV doesn't have a QAM cable tuner or your cableco is scrambling all digital channels.