# Cablecard Issues with Armstrong Cable Company



## Ryan Burg (Jan 14, 2017)

Hello! 

I am new to the Tivo Cablecard world and have been using Tivo with OTA over the last year. I just moved and on Friday an Armstrong Cable (Pittsburgh, PA suburb) tech came out to install the new cable card and it worked like a charm, until wednesday. On wednesday we needed to do some painting so we moved the cable box and TV, unplugging everything. On Thursday we replugged everything back in and have not been getting a signal ever since. 

I have been getting an error "seraching for signal on this channel (V52) error. I contacted my cable company last night and they tried sending signals to the box without success. They sent another tech out today, and I wasn't home but they told my mother in law that it was a TIVO issue. They even tried swapping out another cable card and still no go. 

Since I was told it was a cable card issue, I contacted TIVO and they ended up having me do some troubleshooting (removing cable card, reinserting, going thru cable card screens) and we eventually ended up having to 3 way call armstrong cable company again. They walked me thru the same troubleshooting steps that I went thru last night and told me that another tech has to come out again, but no one is available until Monday. I am really frustrated and don't understand what unplugging this device could have done to disrupt the cable card or cause all of these issues. 

Can anyone give me any insight on how to fix this? 

Thanks!

Ryan


----------



## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Searching for signal indicates (to me), that you didn't get something hooked back up properly...

V58 is usually the error for a CableCard issue...

-KP


----------



## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

I would check your line from the box back to the main splitter Also check your connectors. I agree with the other poster. Sounds like a signal issue on the line. Not the CC or TiVo


----------



## Ryan Burg (Jan 14, 2017)

The cable company has been out to my house 4 times now and cannot get this figured out. I have physically watch them plug in another cable box of Their Own and I'm able to get all the channels and Full HD and there is no pixelation or problems with the signal.

One thing that we didn't realize since the last time that I posted was that I was actually getting some channels, but for the vast majority I was not getting anything. For instance I got channels 142 through 147, but almost no other channels. One of the channels I was getting is Comedy Central in HD however I was not getting Comedy Central in standard definition. There was no Rhyme or Reason to the way I was getting channels and when I check the signal through the TiVo box on the other channels I was not getting any signal at all. Furthermore some of the channels I was getting or pixelated even though my signal strength was up in the 70%.

I am really discouraged and bummed out at this point. Whenever I've contacted TiVo in the past they are telling me that it appears that the CableCARD is not registered or authorized however Armstrong is telling me that it is. Armstrong keeps trying to bounce signals to the box but says that they're not getting through. They are now telling me that it is likely an issue with the TiVo box.

When I contacted TiVo they told me that I was out of the 90 day warranty and was going to have to pay $50 to get a replacement. I don't want to pay for this and then it not solve the issue. I am tempted to just get rid of TiVo and go back to my old cable box.

Please let me know if you have any further suggestions for me


----------



## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Ryan Burg said:


> The cable company has been out to my house 4 times now and cannot get this figured out. I have physically watch them plug in another cable box of Their Own and I'm able to get all the channels and Full HD and there is no pixelation or problems with the signal.
> 
> One thing that we didn't realize since the last time that I posted was that I was actually getting some channels, but for the vast majority I was not getting anything. For instance I got channels 142 through 147, but almost no other channels. One of the channels I was getting is Comedy Central in HD however I was not getting Comedy Central in standard definition. There was no Rhyme or Reason to the way I was getting channels and when I check the signal through the TiVo box on the other channels I was not getting any signal at all. Furthermore some of the channels I was getting or pixelated even though my signal strength was up in the 70%.
> 
> ...


Go buy a box from Best Buy and see if it works. If it does return it then pay tivo for the new one. If it doesn't work also then it is probably not a TiVo issue


----------



## Ryan Burg (Jan 14, 2017)

compnurd said:


> Go buy a box from Best Buy and see if it works. If it does return it then pay tivo for the new one. If it doesn't work also then it is probably not a TiVo issue


Are there any restocking fees at best buy for a returned item?


----------



## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Not on the TiVo. But you only have 15 days I hate to screw Best Buy like this but may be the only way to test this. When you return it just tell them it sucked with your antenna or something. I can tell you Armstrong cable card pairing is pretty lax. I changed out my drive and never had to repair. So you either got a bad box or a bad card. And I assume they would have tried multiple cards


----------



## Fant (Sep 1, 2016)

Any chance something got loose for n your TiVo or some power spike screwed up the coax input on your TiVo? Pay the $50, swap the unit, and hopefully it works and you can move on.


----------



## Ryan Burg (Jan 14, 2017)

SOLVED. I spoke to the Tivo support for the 5th time and was able to talk to a manager. They sent me out a new Tivo Bolt box and it worked like a charm. My Armstrong cable company figured it was a bad tuner in the Tivo that was causing the issue.


----------

