TiVo Community Forums Archives - Channels w/ 3 digits ??

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Channels w/ 3 digits ??
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Posted by: Kai3000

Can i get channels like 240 on Tivo????

Posted by: pauly666

Yep - you sure can (and I do). I seem to remember part of the setup process asks if you want to use 3 digits plus Enter for channel changes.

Posted by: Kai3000

I just went all through set up again and didnt see anything like that .... i have a phillips one .... am i missing something??

Posted by: stevel

My understanding is that you can do this only if you have configured for a cable (or satellite) box. The internal RF tuner will not, on its own, tune above channel 99.

Posted by: Kai3000

ok i dont have a cable box but without tivo i get 240 channels, the only way to get triple digit channels is to say i have a cable box .... when i do that then Tivo stays on 3/4 could someone help ...... im totally lost

Posted by: stevel

You can't possibly get 240 channels without a cable box. 125 is the highest channel number that an RF tuner can access.

Posted by: rasheed

stevel is right. The biggest cable systems are at 850 mhz with much of the higher channel space reserved for broadband, digital cable, and other uses (phone service, etc.).

Most systems in cable-ready/RF/coax mode have about 80 channels on the analog. Theoretically, numbers greater than 99 can be used, but are not typically so.

Rasheed

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by stevel
You can't possibly get 240 channels without a cable box. 125 is the highest channel number that an RF tuner can access.

Well that still doesn't make sense...if you can get 125 channels why does it only tune 2 digit channels with the built in tuner? Do you just get screwed in the 26 extra channels?

Posted by: rasheed

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200
Well that still doesn't make sense...if you can get 125 channels why does it only tune 2 digit channels with the built in tuner? Do you just get screwed in the 26 extra channels?

If your cable system offers any analog channels that are 3 digits, yes, you lose out on those 26 channels. The 99 thing is hardcoded into the TiVo (not sure why).

I have not yet seen a cable system that offers analog channels over 99.

You can sometimes find a mysterious 3-digit analog channel with a signal on your cable system if you use the auto-search on your television.

Rasheed

Posted by: edrock200

Goto www.cox.com and look at the fairfax channel lineup...there is a channel 100 and 101.

Posted by: trainman

I used to have relatives who lived in Fairfax County and remember that cable system actually used to go up to Channel 120...but back then, it was an A/B dual cable system with half the channels on each side, combined into one lineup by the converter box.

Posted by: Breacagan

This may still be the case. According to zap2it.com, the cable ready lineup goes up to channel 56. Other lineups have about twice as many channels, with the range ending at either 101 or 120.

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by byronshock
This may still be the case. According to zap2it.com, the cable ready lineup goes up to channel 56. Other lineups have about twice as many channels, with the range ending at either 101 or 120.

No it's not...they are upgrading their 2 tier system to a single tier system, which carries 101 channels over one cable...go here:
http://www.cox.com/fairfax/cabletv/Channel%20Lineup.asp

You will see that they have a upgraded and non-upgraded area...zap2it is probably just not up to date...try TV guide and punch 22031 as your zip code, choose upgraded area. Trust me, I have this service as a backup if my Sat goes out.

Posted by: pauly666

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200
Goto www.cox.com and look at the fairfax channel lineup...there is a channel 100 and 101.

I had a look at their channel lineup, and you need a cable box to receive channels over 56, what they call Limited Service.

The channel lineup that cable companies list is something called a Virtual Channel Map. What this map does is map what stations (e.g. WB) are on what channel number (e.g. 5), but you don't have to do this in order. For example, channnel 5 according to TVs and VCRs is a special frequency, you always tune to that frequency to get channel 5. Once there is a set top box there though, you can put channel 5 on any frequency you want, and just tell the box to tune it, so the channel 5 you watch does not necessarily match the channel the box tunes to.

Did I explain that ok?

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by pauly666

I had a look at their channel lineup, and you need a cable box to receive channels over 56, what they call Limited Service.

The channel lineup that cable companies list is something called a Virtual Channel Map. What this map does is map what stations (e.g. WB) are on what channel number (e.g. 5), but you don't have to do this in order. For example, channnel 5 according to TVs and VCRs is a special frequency, you always tune to that frequency to get channel 5. Once there is a set top box there though, you can put channel 5 on any frequency you want, and just tell the box to tune it, so the channel 5 you watch does not necessarily match the channel the box tunes to.

Did I explain that ok?

Once again, you didn't read my post...they have two systems right now, upgraded and not upgraded. Did you click on the "Upgraded lineup?" I have this system at home, RIGHT NOW, wired straight into my TV's tuner, no cable box, and it gets channel 100 and 101. Go to TVGuide.com, plug in 22031 for the zip, then choose upgraded area.
-Ed

Posted by: zaknafein

What an incredible waste of bandwidth....

I'm sure it's nice for people who watch analog cable having all those channels, but they could use that higher-frequency bandwidth for digital and fit in about 8x as much content.

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by zaknafein
What an incredible waste of bandwidth....

I'm sure it's nice for people who watch analog cable having all those channels, but they could use that higher-frequency bandwidth for digital and fit in about 8x as much content.

It has digital too...

Posted by: pauly666

quote:
Originally posted by edrock200

Once again, you didn't read my post...they have two systems right now, upgraded and not upgraded. Did you click on the "Upgraded lineup?" I have this system at home, RIGHT NOW, wired straight into my TV's tuner, no cable box, and it gets channel 100 and 101. Go to TVGuide.com, plug in 22031 for the zip, then choose upgraded area.
-Ed

I guess you're right - I didn't read your post! I just had a look at their upgraded lineup... I'm amazed they're doing this, but not surprised if they are a company that has a cable A/B system. This expanded analog lineup could be entirely on one system...

I've seen tuners that will tune up to channel 128...

Posted by: rasheed

Okay, that's nice that your cable system offers a few analog channels over 99. Will you take on the issue to get TiVo to 'unlock' the RF tuner and allow it to go to 3-digit channels? Only users who even have these channels could have a legitimate reason to complain to TiVo.

Rasheed

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by rasheed
Okay, that's nice that your cable system offers a few analog channels over 99. Will you take on the issue to get TiVo to 'unlock' the RF tuner and allow it to go to 3-digit channels? Only users who even have these channels could have a legitimate reason to complain to TiVo.

Rasheed

I won't...I no longer have a SA Tivo...I upgraded to Sat and got a DTivo...I do still have basic cable as a backup and for some local public channels that show some shows that are not avail on sat.

Posted by: controlio

It's completely possible that the internal tuner can't tune past channel 99. This wouldn't be horribly surprising, since the internal tuner is also monural as far as audio goes... because of the extra cost that a stereo decoder adds (which is pretty substantial). They went cheap on the tuner because it made the unit costs lower, and they hoped that most people wouldn't notice the difference, and it's true, most people don't... but I would also venture a guess that most people use a cable or sat box.

Do I know for a fact that the internal tuner can't tune past ch99? No. But it's certainly not unreasonable, since it's a relatively cheap RF tuner.

Posted by: edrock200

quote:
Originally posted by controlio
It's completely possible that the internal tuner can't tune past channel 99. This wouldn't be horribly surprising, since the internal tuner is also monural as far as audio goes... because of the extra cost that a stereo decoder adds (which is pretty substantial). They went cheap on the tuner because it made the unit costs lower, and they hoped that most people wouldn't notice the difference, and it's true, most people don't... but I would also venture a guess that most people use a cable or sat box.

Do I know for a fact that the internal tuner can't tune past ch99? No. But it's certainly not unreasonable, since it's a relatively cheap RF tuner.

I thought only the RF output was mono...if you use the RF input for cable and use the A/V connections for output, is it still mono since the RF cannot decode the stereo?

Posted by: rasheed

Yeah, RF in is stereo if it came in with stereo (if you went coax out from your cable box, you probably lost the stereo). Only the RF out is without stereo (when used without any other audio support).

I think the tuner can physically tune above 99, it isn't know why it wouldn't because the standard that covers analog channel 99 covers through 125. So, if the tuner was built to handle through 99, it should handle through 125.

Rasheed