# SDV Tuning Adapter-Time Warner



## jsshattuck

I filled out a SDV Tuning Adapter order form on the Time Warner Website, and received the following reply:

October 16, 2008

Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction upon release; which we will begin deployments later this year. We do not have a specific release date for your area, but once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.

Thank you,

D. Jacobs
Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
Time Warner Cable


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## milo99

at least they know what the heck it is and even have a department apparently, dealing with it. Cox doesn't even seem to understand what in the F it is.


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## Jimbo713

I got the same letter. Patience (fingers tapping)


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## jsshattuck

milo99 said:


> at least they know what the heck it is and even have a department apparently, dealing with it. Cox doesn't even seem to understand what in the F it is.


Time Warner Charlotte even has techs that actually know what an HD TiVo is. Everytime they add SDV channels the CableCards in a TiVo go nuts. It happened to several Charlotte people with TiVo's lst wek and although it took 2 days, they solved the problem even though a part of the problem was a TiVo software issue.

I just hope when the Tuning Adapter is available, they will let me dod the install. I've trained too many installers about CableCards and their issues.

Waiting .....................


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## ncbagwell

Can you post a link to the TWC website where I can fill out a request for the Tuning Adapter? I now it was on another thread for a different market but I can't find it. Thanks.


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## socrplyr

ncbagwell said:


> Can you post a link to the TWC website where I can fill out a request for the Tuning Adapter? I now it was on another thread for a different market but I can't find it. Thanks.


http://www.timewarnercable.com/Corporate/Products/DigitalCable/sdv/default.html

Edit: Note that if they don't have the page set up for your area yet, it just flips you to your local division's webpage. So sometimes it isn't so useful. The divisions that have the page up seem to mostly have it in the same place. For example www.timewarnercable.com/"division name"/products/cable/sdv/default.html.
Josh


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## ncbagwell

Thanks. It looks like they don't have it set up yet for the Raleigh, NC market. I'll try back in a week or so.


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## rv65

jsshattuck said:


> Time Warner Charlotte even has techs that actually know what an HD TiVo is. Everytime they add SDV channels the CableCards in a TiVo go nuts. It happened to several Charlotte people with TiVo's lst wek and although it took 2 days, they solved the problem even though a part of the problem was a TiVo software issue.
> 
> I just hope when the Tuning Adapter is available, they will let me dod the install. I've trained too many installers about CableCards and their issues.
> 
> Waiting .....................


Actually TWC will require a truck roll but Comcast in their SDV areas aren't requiring one. It's probably for verification purposes for some reason. It's to prevent people who don't have cable card equipped tivo's get them. It's very easy to install. Just unplug your coax from the tivo and plug it into the cable in on the resolver, then plug in a coax cable from Cable out to the cable input. Finally just plug in a USB port and reboot the tivo. Then it should be ready. May have to complete guided setup again.


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## Teeps

socrplyr said:


> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Corporate/Products/DigitalCable/sdv/default.html
> 
> Edit: Note that if they don't have the page set up for your area yet, it just flips you to your local division's webpage. So sometimes it isn't so useful. The divisions that have the page up seem to mostly have it in the same place. For example www.timewarnercable.com/"division name"/products/cable/sdv/default.html.
> Josh


Thanks for the link. 
Time Warner in Torrance, CA has the form.


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## Roderigo

jsshattuck said:


> Time Warner Charlotte even has techs that actually know what an HD TiVo is. Everytime they add SDV channels the CableCards in a TiVo go nuts. It happened to several Charlotte people with TiVo's lst wek and although it took 2 days, they solved the problem even though a part of the problem was a TiVo software issue.


What was the tivo software issue? Don't think I saw anything about that.


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## jacksonian

I'm just up the road in Greensboro, NC. We had SDV long before Charlotte, but there's no mention of SDV on our local TWC website and no mention of a tuning adapter. I'm in contact with a higher-up at our local office, and he told me 8/26 that tests of the tuning adapter were set to begin "shortly" and pending successful results they would roll them out in the next few months. 

I've emailed him again to ask for an update and also to ask them to add the SDV/Tuning Adapter info to our local page.


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## alyssa

The page isn't up for new england.

I did get a letter last month from time warner. They did say they were looking at offering the box/dongle for free.


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## 188

Try this link for New England:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/NewEngland/Products/Cable/sdv/default.htm

For some reason the whole link did not fully display. Make sure the end is:

Products/Cable/sdv/default.html


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## um1990

This seemed to work better for me:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/NewEngland/Products/Cable/sdv/

or

http://www.timewarnercable.com/newengland/Products/Cable/sdv/order_sdv.html

FWIW

I hope we get these in Portland Soon!


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## rockonword

Like jacksonian I am in the Greensboro area. I contacted tech support to get an ETA for the tuning adapters and they told me they didn't know and to contact sales. I did, and they had no clue and told me to contact tech support. I'm glad someone over there knows what the adapters are.


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## allietx

Update for TWC Austin/Central Texas folks:

We had a technician here on Thursday who reported that the tuning adapter beta testing is starting in Austin... he thought it would be 20 people. He reported that he got an email about it "last week". We later called the Retention Team regarding a problem with our price lock following the tech visit, and that person also was familiar with the beta testing email, said we were the 2nd people he had spoken with that day about it, and took our name and contact info and promised to call us back if he finds out how to get into the beta testing...

Anyone else in Austin have any rumors to share? This would be exciting if true! I would love for some TCFers to be among the beta testers!

-NewAllie


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## Hawkeye22

I have TW-NorthEast Ohio, although I live in Sharpsville, PA. TWC bought out Adelphia in our area a few years ago. They don't have a link or info for the adapter on their web site, but I did write them and got this reply.

_Dear Tony,

Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable support. We always appreciate
the opportunity to respond to our customers.

I understand you want updates on tuning having tuning resolvers 
available.

At this time these devices are not available. While there is testing of 
similar devices in some areas of Time Warner Cable, we do not have a 
time table for this to be released. We will be happy to let all of our 
customers know once this is ready for our customers.

We value you as a customer. If you have any further questions or 
concerns, please feel free to E-mail us again or contact our Live Chat 
at the following link: 
http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/chat/chat.ashx

Customer service is available 24x7.

If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to 
E-mail us again or contact our Live Chat at the following link: 
http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/chat/chat.ashx

Sincerely,
James

Time Warner Cable Online Customer Service
_


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## ZeoTiVo

Hawkeye22 said:


> We value you as a customer. If you have any further questions or
> concerns, please feel free to E-mail us again or contact our Live Chat
> at the following link:
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/chat/chat.ashx


hey, thanks for the online chat link.
I have a mischievious thought to contact them and ask for help because my roadrunner broadband is down


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## Blahman

milo99 said:


> at least they know what the heck it is and even have a department apparently, dealing with it. Cox doesn't even seem to understand what in the F it is.


Cablevision/Optimum is no better. I called asking about it and they thought I wanted a digital tuner for the transition from analog broadcasting to digital.


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## jmfirestone

rockonword said:


> Like jacksonian I am in the Greensboro area. I contacted tech support to get an ETA for the tuning adapters and they told me they didn't know and to contact sales. I did, and they had no clue and told me to contact tech support. I'm glad someone over there knows what the adapters are.


Same area. I called a couple of weeks ago to ask and the phone rep didn't even have a clue what SDV was. After trying to explain it to her and her putting me on hold to ask someone else what I was talking about 3 times, I finally gave up and said "Thank you anyway."

I sent an email to them today as Greensboro doesn't have that SDV page set up yet.


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## jmfirestone

Well.. here is my response email... I am on the phone with them now...



> Dear Jed,
> 
> Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Support.
> 
> As per your e-mail, what I understand is that you want to know the
> availability of tuning adapter for Cable Cards in TiVo unit in your
> area.
> 
> I certainly guide you to the right support team.
> 
> Jed, the tuning adapters are available in your area. I request you to
> contact our Sales Department on 1-866-874-2389. They would be glad to
> assist you.
> 
> If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to
> E-mail us again or contact our Live Chat at the following link:
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/CustomerService/chat/chat.ashx
> 
> Sincerely,
> Adrian
> 
> Time Warner Cable Online Customer Service
> Customer Support is available 24x7


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## Revolutionary

jmfirestone said:


> Well.. here is my response email... I am on the phone with them now...


I call BS. He probably thinks you need an M-card.


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## jmfirestone

Well, I am still on the phone. I was transferred from the Sales Dept to the Tech Support Dept. The Sales Dept lady, after 2 holds, said she talked to her lead, and they told her it was an external device so Tech support had to handle it.

Got transferred to tech support and they said I was talking to sales in Raleigh. ugggh... Anyway, she is checking into it right now...


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## jmfirestone

Not surprisingly, they have no idea what I am talking about and said "nothing of the sort even exists" followed by "now could you explain to me again exactly what you are trying to do with this adapter?" 

Obviously she had no idea what i was talking about and talking to her lead tech she must have been giving him all the wrong info. 

BUT, she asked me to forward the email to her supervisor to look at, along with my description of the issue... We will see where that goes.


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## alyssa

um1990 said:


> This seemed to work better for me:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/NewEngland/Products/Cable/sdv/
> 
> or
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/newengland/Products/Cable/sdv/order_sdv.html
> 
> FWIW
> 
> I hope we get these in Portland Soon!


Thanks for the link!


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## spolebitski

jmfirestone said:


> Well.. here is my response email... I am on the phone with them now...


Did you get your tuning adapter yet or confirmation that they are available in your area?


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## skaggs

jmfirestone said:


> Well.. here is my response email... I am on the phone with them now...
> Jed, the tuning adapters are available in your area. I request you to
> contact our Sales Department on 1-866-874-2389. They would be glad to
> assist you.


I'd like to know if you ever received the tuning adapter or if they were just confused about what you were asking for.


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## cableguy763

I'm pretty sure they are just confused.


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## jmfirestone

After forwarding the email I received per their request, I got a letter from my local office of Greensboro's Senior Technical Trainer.



> Your letter was forwarded to me for review and I wanted to respond to the best of my abilities. I am the Sr. Technical instructor for the Greensboro division and only heard of this adapter very recently. First of all, you sure have done your research on this adapter along with understanding SDV and digital transmission. I give you an A+ for your in-depth knowledge. I have attached some articles I found on the internet regarding tuning adapters. As stated in the articles, there are currently 2 manufactures of tuning adapters (Motorola and Cisco) that are still in lab testing. I will have to do more research myself into this adapter due to my understanding of cable cards. There currently are 3 types of cable cards being produced. One is the S-card, which is being phased out as it only supports single stream devices. For example, you would require 2 for your TiVo to access both tuners and hard drives. That has been replaced with the M-card (multi stream) which supports 2 tuners and hard drives via 1 card but is still not 2 way. Then, there is what currently is installed in our set top converters, which is the 2 way M-card. These are only currently produced for set top boxes and have proprietary software for production. I have heard little or no information when these 2 way M-cards will be available to the general public. I will be checking with my partners in the Charlotte and area Divisions to see if they can shed any more light on the situation. I apologize if you were already aware of this information. Please feel free to e-mail me if you find any more information that will help. I am sure there are more people with a TiVo that would benefit from our research.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Steve


So, as scary as it is, apparently I know more from reading this website than my local division Senior Tech guy does about his own technology and the equipment coming out to deal with it.

I asked him to keep me in the loop with what he hears from Charlotte (they are supposedly beta testing there) and offered myself to help beta test here if that comes up. I can't imagine they need to beta test in every market.


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## moyekj

LOL, even a "senior technical instructor" can't get it right when it comes to cablecards and UDCPs:


> There currently are 3 types of cable cards being produced. One is the S-card, which is being phased out as it only supports single stream devices. For example, you would require 2 for your TiVo to access both tuners and hard drives. That has been replaced with the M-card (multi stream) which supports 2 tuners and hard drives via 1 card but is still not 2 way. *Then, there is what currently is installed in our set top converters, which is the 2 way M-card. These are only currently produced for set top boxes and have proprietary software for production. I have heard little or no information when these 2 way M-cards will be available to the general public*.


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## derekcbart

I have TW Los Angeles and they have not started using SDV yet, but I happened to go to the TW website the other day to check on the rollout schedule for new HD channels and saw the sign up page for the Tuning Adapter. I filled it out and got the same form letter response. I'm glad that they are at least getting ready for the adapter rollout and hopefully they will have it before TW Los Angeles starts using SDV.


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## theSTEREO.

Northeast Ohio has a pre-order form now. Cleveland / Akron area. You can sign up for it here:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/northeastohio/Products/Cable/sdv/


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## awyeah

theSTEREO. said:


> Northeast Ohio has a pre-order form now. Cleveland / Akron area. You can sign up for it here:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/northeastohio/Products/Cable/sdv/


theSTEREO: Have they actually started using SDV in NEO yet? I haven't noticed anything, but then again I haven't watched a lot of TV in the past several days... Should I be checking the SARA screens in my SA boxes?


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## theSTEREO.

awyeah said:


> theSTEREO: Have they actually started using SDV in NEO yet? I haven't noticed anything, but then again I haven't watched a lot of TV in the past several days... Should I be checking the SARA screens in my SA boxes?


They sent me a letter at the beginning of Sept saying that SDV would begin here on Oct 20, and sent a list of channels.

So far I haven't seen any get knocked out yet, but I'm not _too_ worried because they're only moving a lot of the rarely used channels first. The one I'm super bummed about though is FSN HD. That's supposed to be SDV any day now, and the Cavs start playing in 5 days, so I might not be able to watch them in HD. Pretty upset about that one.


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## awyeah

theSTEREO. said:


> They sent me a letter at the beginning of Sept saying that SDV would begin here on Oct 20, and sent a list of channels.
> 
> So far I haven't seen any get knocked out yet, but I'm not _too_ worried because they're only moving a lot of the rarely used channels first. The one I'm super bummed about though is FSN HD. That's supposed to be SDV any day now, and the Cavs start playing in 5 days, so I might not be able to watch them in HD. Pretty upset about that one.


Yeah. That's why I am keeping one of the regular HD set-top boxes alongside the TiVo.... plus, I occasionally use the VOD stuff.


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## pcbrew

San Antonio Tuning Adapter pre-order available:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/SanAntonio/Products/Cable/sdv/order_sdv.html

(saw this on engadget)


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## ronfl

Just filled in the request form for TWC in San Antonio...can't wait! No thinking about getting a new HD TiVo XL if this thing works. I have a series 3 and series 2. Although I may wait until CES in January to see if TiVo is putting out any thing new.


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## tbonnie

The Pre-order page is up for Time Warner - Kansas City\Leavenworth\Overland Park


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## George Cifranci

Time Warner Mid-Ohio's (Columbus area) pre-order page is here...

http://www.timewarnercable.com/MidOhio/products/cable/sdv/default.html


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## theSTEREO.

After seeking out some answers about the Tuning Adapter, I finally got a call from the Time Warner Cable Card Escalation office. 

The woman I talked to was very nice, and informative (surprisingly for TWC).

She said although the Adapter is in Beta Testing right now, they have not yet given her an official availability date yet, but in her words in response to my question, it will 'definitely, definitely be available this year.' That was good to hear.

She also said be sure to sign up for the adapter preorder in those links that everyone has been sharing. She said they are serious about collecting those, and that if you submit your name, you'll be contacted immediately once the adapters are available and given instructions on how to be amongst the first to get your Adapter.


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## awyeah

theSTEREO. said:


> After seeking out some answers about the Tuning Adapter, I finally got a call from the Time Warner Cable Card Escalation office.
> 
> The woman I talked to was very nice, and informative (surprisingly for TWC).
> 
> She said although the Adapter is in Beta Testing right now, they have not yet given her an official availability date yet, but in her words in response to my question, it will 'definitely, definitely be available this year.' That was good to hear.
> 
> She also said be sure to sign up for the adapter preorder in those links that everyone has been sharing. She said they are serious about collecting those, and that if you submit your name, you'll be contacted immediately once the adapters are available and given instructions on how to be amongst the first to get your Adapter.


That's really good to know. To be honest, that doesn't surprise me all that much - it seems that all the bad luck and stupidity you have to deal with at TW is when you're dealing with the non-specialists - the first-line-of-defense calltakers, dispatch people, etc. But when you talk to the specialists, you'll have good luck. The example I'll use is with the national CableCARD support desk.

Hopefully they'll take care of this ASAP?

BTW, have you noticed any channels not showing up anymore? I haven't looked recently....


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## theSTEREO.

awyeah said:


> That's really good to know. To be honest, that doesn't surprise me all that much - it seems that all the bad luck and stupidity you have to deal with at TW is when you're dealing with the non-specialists - the first-line-of-defense calltakers, dispatch people, etc. But when you talk to the specialists, you'll have good luck. The example I'll use is with the national CableCARD support desk.
> 
> Hopefully they'll take care of this ASAP?
> 
> BTW, have you noticed any channels not showing up anymore? I haven't looked recently....


So far they all seem to be there still.


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## seggers

Cheers for this. Although I have TW in WNY, I used one of the links above and signed up for one of these. I have the response, so now I have to just sit and wait. And wait. And wait....

No FIOS in my area and there appears to be no known plans for them to come back east a little bit more and pick up my area. Grrrrr.

Seggers


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## alyssa

theSTEREO. said:


> She also said be sure to sign up for the adapter preorder in those links that everyone has been sharing. She said they are serious about collecting those, and that if you submit your name, you'll be contacted immediately once the adapters are available and given instructions on how to be amongst the first to get your Adapter.


Thanks for passing this along. I tend to discredit anything TW officaly says because it's proven in the past to be false.
I certainly hope this information is true!


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## lafos

I filled out one of the links and got the response. Noticed there was no place to indicate how many were needed. Hopefully, I won't have to join another waiting list for the second one.


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## Scopeman

theSTEREO. said:


> After seeking out some answers about the Tuning Adapter, I finally got a call from the Time Warner Cable Card Escalation office.
> 
> The woman I talked to was very nice, and informative (surprisingly for TWC).
> 
> She said although the Adapter is in Beta Testing right now, they have not yet given her an official availability date yet, but in her words in response to my question, it will 'definitely, definitely be available this year.' That was good to hear.
> 
> She also said be sure to sign up for the adapter preorder in those links that everyone has been sharing. She said they are serious about collecting those, and that if you submit your name, you'll be contacted immediately once the adapters are available and given instructions on how to be amongst the first to get your Adapter.


That is the same office at TWC that enrolled people for the tuning adapter beta testing program back in April/May. They are VERY competent and nice - a wonderful change from the normal TWC experience.


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## Stick 2005

Thank you all for posting this information. I was able to register here in Austin. Can't wait to get my HD channels back.

Without this forum I would have not known about the ability to register for a resolver...


:up:


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## MrX88

Some more classic shenanigans from TW....

Cloud Clayton: Thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable's Online Chat, my name is Cloud. Kindly give me a few moments while I retrieve your account information.
MrX88: Can do
Cloud : Thank you for your patience.
Cloud : I understand that you have few questions regarding the HD TiVo.
Cloud : Am I correct?
MrX88: Correct
MrX88: What I am after is info about TW switching channels to SDV and when the SDV tuning adapters are going to be aviable to the general public. I know that in the Charlotte, NC area the are currently under going a beta test
Cloud : You are correct. Could you please tell me your exact concern so that I can provide you with the complete information?
MrX88: I am wanting to switch to a HD Tivo but do not want to lose my HD channels due to the SDV switch over
MrX88: I know that a MCard will work but not sure how long it will
Cloud : Allright. Please allow me to address your concern.
Cloud : Analyst has closed chat and left the room


So started another one and she might as well closed the Chat as well.....

Anthea : Hello! Thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable's Online Chat, My name is Anthea F. Please give me a moment while I retrieve your account details.
Anthea : As mentioned, you have HD TiVo questions
MrX88: Can you please give me back to Cloud my connect dropped
Anthea : I apologize as I cannot transfer.
Anthea : Would you explain to me exactly what is the issue?
MrX88: I am wondering about how TW switching to SDV is going to effect a TiVo I am considering purchasing until a SVD adapter is tested and avilable
Anthea Fernandes: Please be assured I will try my best to resolve the issue.
MrX88: Ok
MrX88: I know that the SDV adapters are being beta tested in my local market of Charlotte, NC as of right now
Anthea : A Tuning Adapter is not required to watch currently viewable channels. If, in the future, Time Warner Cable begins to switch channels you enjoy today, we will notify you in advance. Once a channel is switched, a Tuning Adapter will be needed to view them on HD TiVo devices. Other CableCARD retail devices that are not compatible with the Tuning Adapter require a Time Warner Cable digital converter in order to view switched channels.
MrX88: Ok
Anthea : Is there anything else I can assist you with?
Anthea : Are we facing any technical difficulties with the chat?

MrX88: Is there any stauts as to when SDV is going to roll out or is it just a market to market decision?
Anthea : You will get the information on the website very soon.
MrX88: Ok thanks
Anthea : As of now it is not get updated.
Anthea : You are welcome!



SOOO long story short. I am really REALLY sick of the crappy HD DVR from TW and I want to switch to TiVO, I just dont want to lose my ESPN HD if they pull the rug out and switch it to SDV if they have not already. So any one in Charlotte area confrim it will still work at least as of today at 11:57 est so I can finally pull the trigger on my HD TiVo and crub stomp the SA forever?


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## supernova

We upgraded to TWC HD (Raleigh/Durham area) service and after trying their DVR for a few months we were so disappointed with it we switched to an HD TiVo. We investigated getting satellite also but opted to stay with cable.
If we could do it all over again we would just switch to satellite and be done with TWC, they are the worst company I have ever dealt with by far. They have sent at least 9 installers to the house before getting the cable card to work and just recently completely deleted all our services from our account "by accident" and can't fix it due to a software upgrade on their billing system.
All we can get now are the 4 main network channels.
Most installers have never heard of a cable card and even fewer have put one in a TiVo.
There is no doubt that TiVo is far superior to the Scientific Atlantic DVR even for the price but the suffering and inconvenience has long since ruined my image of TW forever. Even after buying the HD TiVo and a DVR Expander I am considering cutting my losses and going with one of the satellite providers and getting their DVR.
That's just my experience, if you decide to stay with TWC I hope it goes better for you.


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## ncbagwell

supernova said:


> We upgraded to TWC HD (Raleigh/Durham area) service and after trying their DVR for a few months we were so disappointed with it we switched to an HD TiVo. We investigated getting satellite also but opted to stay with cable.
> If we could do it all over again we would just switch to satellite and be done with TWC, they are the worst company I have ever dealt with by far. They have sent at least 9 installers to the house before getting the cable card to work and just recently completely deleted all our services from our account "by accident" and can't fix it due to a software upgrade on their billing system.
> All we can get now are the 4 main network channels.
> Most installers have never heard of a cable card and even fewer have put one in a TiVo.
> There is no doubt that TiVo is far superior to the Scientific Atlantic DVR even for the price but the suffering and inconvenience has long since ruined my image of TW forever. Even after buying the HD TiVo and a DVR Expander I am considering cutting my losses and going with one of the satellite providers and getting their DVR.
> That's just my experience, if you decide to stay with TWC I hope it goes better for you.


supernova - there used to be a guy named Anthony in TWC technical support in the Raleigh area that knew what he was doing. He helped with my cablecard set up last year and was good. I don't know if he's still around but it might be worth asking about him.


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## TexasGrillChef

Time Warner Austin should now be deploying the tuning adapter to everyone.

I am not in Austin. I am in the DFW area. My "contact" at TWC told me that they should be deploying the Tuning adapter now, or within the next 10 days.

Anyone got theirs yet? (Not refering to those beta testing the Tuning adapter)

TGC


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## Enforcer

TexasGrillChef said:


> Time Warner Austin should now be deploying the tuning adapter to everyone.
> 
> I am not in Austin. I am in the DFW area. My "contact" at TWC told me that they should be deploying the Tuning adapter now, or within the next 10 days.
> 
> Anyone got theirs yet? (Not refering to those beta testing the Tuning adapter)
> 
> TGC


Havent heard anything in San Antonio.


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## Enrique

Enforcer said:


> Havent heard anything in San Antonio.


I contacted TWC-SA and here is the transcript.

David Jones: Hello! Thank you for choosing Time Warner Cable's Online Chat. My name is David. Please give me a moment while I access your account information.
Enrique : Ok
David Jones: I understand that you want to know when are the tuning adapters going to be deployed in SanAntonio, am I correct?
Enrique : That is correct.
David Jones: Please do not worry I will guide you to the right department.
Enrique : Thanks.
David Jones: Enrique, as of now we do not have any update on it.
David Jones: You can contact the local office on the following number: 210-352-4600.
David Jones: They will be able to answer this query.
David Jones: Is there anything else, I may assist you with?
Enrique : No, Thank you.

I'm going to call that number when they open, If any else wants to do it before I do please do.


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## LostInAustin

TexasGrillChef said:


> Time Warner Austin should now be deploying the tuning adapter to everyone.
> 
> I am not in Austin. I am in the DFW area. My "contact" at TWC told me that they should be deploying the Tuning adapter now, or within the next 10 days.
> 
> Anyone got theirs yet? (Not refering to those beta testing the Tuning adapter)
> 
> TGC


Not yet. Signed up but haven't been contacted yet.


----------



## cableguy763

TexasGrillChef said:


> Time Warner Austin should now be deploying the tuning adapter to everyone.
> 
> I am not in Austin. I am in the DFW area. My "contact" at TWC told me that they should be deploying the Tuning adapter now, or within the next 10 days.
> 
> Anyone got theirs yet? (Not refering to those beta testing the Tuning adapter)
> 
> TGC


NO they are not.


----------



## Combat Medic

Here is what I just got back from the CEO in San Antonio:

Thanks for your email Mike. This adapter is in fact currently being tested and we look to have it available as soon as possible. If we do some customer beta testing in SA I will contact you. Regardless, I will keep your information and let you know as soon as it is available. Thank you.


----------



## dcwhitney

Also in DFW here. We don't even have an order page up yet.  

Does anyone have a contact at TWC with info or how to get on a list somewhere? I've called in but no one seems to even know what Switched Digital is, let alone the adapter.


----------



## um1990

Just called the local TW office in Portland, ME in hopes that the TA was available... The Rep thought I was asking for a DTV Converter Box. When I explained it was to be able to get the channels I pay for which they have moved to Switched Digital, he first said he had no idea what I was talking about, then said they are not available yet. I mentioned the pre-order form on the website, but he said they have no information yet in customer service.


----------



## TexasGrillChef

dcwhitney said:


> Also in DFW here. We don't even have an order page up yet.
> 
> Does anyone have a contact at TWC with info or how to get on a list somewhere? I've called in but no one seems to even know what Switched Digital is, let alone the adapter.


DFW isn't using SDV, & won't be anytime in the forseeable future.

TGC


----------



## allietx

cableguy763 said:


> NO they are not.


Thanks for the clarification, cableguy763. :up:

Hopefully it won't be too much longer!! Are any of the Austin beta testers on TCF? I would love to hear how it is going.


----------



## SugarBowl

Enjoy the circular logic of ordering an adapter from the Raleigh/Durham market.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/site.faqs/Cable/SwitchedDi/How-do-I-get-a-Tuning-Adapter


----------



## awyeah

theSTEREO: What do you think? I have one channel that I can no longer get... it's that "Versus" channel. Fortunately, I only record one show on there... "Sports Soup." Are you able to get that on your TiVo? It's 323 here. I haven't found anything else that I don't get, and the SA boxes don't say anything in the SDV diagnostic screens, so I'm wondering if my CableCARD lost it. I can still see that channel on all of my SA boxes.


----------



## mvnuenen

SugarBowl said:


> Enjoy the circular logic of ordering an adapter from the Raleigh/Durham market.
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/site.faqs/Cable/SwitchedDi/How-do-I-get-a-Tuning-Adapter


I noticed that as well yesterday (that you were being sent to the same screens over and over). Today you can actually submit your request!


----------



## SugarBowl

mvnuenen said:


> I noticed that as well yesterday (that you were being sent to the same screens over and over). Today you can actually submit your request!


Correct! it's here, http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/products/cable/sdv/default.html


----------



## jmfirestone

I just did mine also for Greensboro! I also emailed the local technical trainer that emailed me last week and let him know. I would be willing to bet they didn't even tell him.


----------



## a17z

Signed up too. South Bay (Los Angeles), CA.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/SoCal/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html


----------



## JC Fedorczyk

So it's a free tuning adapter but they have to dispatch someone to install the thing? I hope they don't think they are going to be able to get away with charging an install fee for this.


----------



## mbarcus

I was searching on "tuning adapter" on the Cincinnati TW website and found a way to order the tuning adapter. Go to this link: http://www.timewarnercable.com/Cincinnati/Products/Cable/sdv/default.html

Then on the right side of the page you will see a link for "Order Free Tuning Adapter" under the "Related Topics". It will pop open a new window to enter in your info (for pre-ordering)....and it will require a truck roll.


----------



## awyeah

Still doesn't look like I'm seeing any SDV in the northeast Ohio region.


----------



## theSTEREO.

awyeah said:


> Still doesn't look like I'm seeing any SDV in the northeast Ohio region.


Shhhhhhh......


----------



## TroyB

awyeah said:


> Still doesn't look like I'm seeing any SDV in the northeast Ohio region.


Come to Columbus, I don't know if they have moved any stations to SDV, if they did I haven't noticed because I don't watch that channel, But every new HD channel they have come out with I tune my S3 to and it is a blank screen. I was told by TWC that every new channel will be SDV in my area. (That's if you can find a customer care rep who even knows what SDV is.)


----------



## skaggs

I received notice from a top-notch reliable source at the local TWC Division that they have the Tuning Adapters in-hand at the office and are waiting for notice from TWC Corporate before distributing them to customers.


----------



## zablock

skaggs said:


> I received notice from a top-notch reliable source at the local TWC Division that they have the Tuning Adapters in-hand at the office and are waiting for notice from TWC Corporate before distributing them to customers.


ooo.. I have a tech already scheduled to come out Wed at 6:30-8 for a cablecard issue, you think there is any chance of me calling up and asking them to bring the tuning adapter as well?


----------



## skaggs

zablock said:


> ooo.. I have a tech already scheduled to come out Wed at 6:30-8 for a cablecard issue, you think there is any chance of me calling up and asking them to bring the tuning adapter as well?


Not unless Corporate TWC gives the OK between now & Wednesday.


----------



## dunn28

Will the tuning adapter enable one to receive services such as NBA League Pass?


----------



## classicsat

dunn28 said:


> Will the tuning adapter enable one to receive services such as NBA League Pass?


Only if you can externally subscribe to it, and the games are on channels you can tune. If you have to order it on the box, or select games from a VOD menu, no.


----------



## spolebitski

skaggs said:


> I received notice from a top-notch reliable source at the local TWC Division that they have the Tuning Adapters in-hand at the office and are waiting for notice from TWC Corporate before distributing them to customers.


I called for my monthly call to TWC regarding the Tuning adapter and was told by the 1st level CSR that the tuning adapters are available, you just fill out a form for them. Then I asked why I hadn't received one yet (or a call) she went to talk to her supervisor. The CSR came back and said thousands have them already according to her supervisor. I asked if thousands have them why don't I, I also asked to speak to her supervisor if so many people have them. Her supervisor informed me that it would be February before they would be released as it is tied in with the DTV transition (what the heck does this have to do with DTV transition?). The supervisor will be calling me back with better information.

Just get me a time table. In July I was told November. Now in November I'm told February, in February what will i be told?

Can the CSR's, supervisors, and technicians get on the same page?

By the way they still ask me to pay my bill in full every month for channels I'm not even getting. I made sure to point that out during the conversation.


----------



## zablock

I just called to see if the tech tomorrow can bring one out and the rep actually knew what I was talking about this time, but said they didn't have them and there was no ETA.. meh


----------



## shaun-ohio

here is the email that i received today, after i signed up from twc in zanesville, ohio
Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released to the public sometime in December in many areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.



Thank you,



D. Jacobs

Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk

Time Warner Cable


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

On a whim, I call Time Warner (Austin) to check on the status of the tuning adapter this morning.

Me: "I'm calling about the Tuning Adapters"
Tech: "Oh, you mean for the TiVos?"
M: "um, yeah."
T: "how can I help you?"
M: "Are they available?"
T: "Let me check... yes. We recently got them in."
M: "So what do I need to do to pick one up?"
T: "Just come into any TWC office and pick one up."
M: "So, you have plenty of them?"
T: "oh, yeah. We just got them in."
M: "do I need to reserve one?"
T: "no need. We've got plenty in stock"

So here I am giggling like a little schoolgirl driving to the TWC office. On the way, I decide to make another call just in case. Very similar call -- no problem, we've got them, plenty of stock, etc.

You probably know where this story is going.

Get to the TWC cable office.

Me: "I'd like a tuning adapter please."
Them: "do what?"
Me: "I'd like a tuning adapter please."
Them: "you mean a cable box?"
M: "No, a tuning adapter for a Tivo"
T: "oh, we don't have any"
M: "well, your call center assured me...."
T: <shrug>

To his credit, not only did he check the other facilities, he was checking with the warehouse and would pull one for me and claimed he was going to call me back this afternoon. We'll see.


----------



## cableguy763

The TA's are not available in Austin yet. For that matter, they are not available in any TWC market yet.


----------



## skaggs

jim_newtivoguy said:


> On a whim, I call Time Warner (Austin) to check on the status of the tuning adapter this morning.
> 
> Me: "I'm calling about the Tuning Adapters"
> Tech: "Oh, you mean for the TiVos?"
> M: "um, yeah."
> T: "how can I help you?"
> M: "Are they available?"
> T: "Let me check... yes. We recently got them in."
> M: "So what do I need to do to pick one up?"
> T: "Just come into any TWC office and pick one up."
> M: "So, you have plenty of them?"
> T: "oh, yeah. We just got them in."
> M: "do I need to reserve one?"
> T: "no need. We've got plenty in stock"


I got a similar story when I first got my TiVo's and wanted the cablecards. The CSR said I could come on down and pick one up, but when I got to the local TWC office, they told me they needed to roll a truck.


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

> The TA's are not available in Austin yet. For that matter, they are not available in any TWC market yet.


Yeah, that is what I thought unfortunately.


----------



## Thistledown

I just talked to Time Warner Austin technical support, and he didn't even look anything up. He just immediately said they are in beta and not available yet. And then, of course, he proceeded to tell me how to sign up for one on their website.


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

My guy from TWC Austin just called me. Says he had some delivered from the warehouse for me. Went to the office, and sure enough, he had about four. Brought it home, hooked it up, and now: I get the SDV stations! Haven't tried all of them, but on spot check it looks like it works perfectly.

No setup required -- just plugged it all in and it worked.

Whoo-hoo!


----------



## allietx

jim_newtivoguy said:


> My guy from TWC Austin just called me. Says he had some delivered from the warehouse for me. Went to the office, and sure enough, he had about four. Brought it home, hooked it up, and now: I get the SDV stations! Haven't tried all of them, but on spot check it looks like it works perfectly.
> 
> No setup required -- just plugged it all in and it worked.
> 
> Whoo-hoo!


YAY!!!! SO very happy to hear this update!! I will patiently wait in my queue now that I know it WILL happen SOON and (woot!) WILL WORK!


----------



## skaggs

jim_newtivoguy said:


> My guy from TWC Austin just called me. Says he had some delivered from the warehouse for me. Went to the office, and sure enough, he had about four. Brought it home, hooked it up, and now: I get the SDV stations! Haven't tried all of them, but on spot check it looks like it works perfectly.
> 
> No setup required -- just plugged it all in and it worked.
> 
> Whoo-hoo!


Please post a photo.


----------



## gamo62

skaggs said:


> Please post a photo.


Sounds a little like Fantasy Island to me.


----------



## Agro

skaggs said:


> Please post a photo.


My thoughts exactly.

*Photo.*


----------



## rv65

http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2008-05/sdv-tuning-adapters-in-the-flesh/cicso-sta1520/

Here is what one looks like. There is some pictures on this forum.


----------



## rv65

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/10/06/the-first-tuning-adapter-is-unleashed-by-comcast/

A couple of pics of this device in person. No IR emitter which is nice. Just a small little box with a USB modem and coax.

This guy has Comcast but it should be identical with TWC. TWC Austin uses Cisco like this Comcast area.


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

> Sounds a little like Fantasy Island to me.


Why would I lie?


----------



## spolebitski

rv65 said:


> http://www.zatznotfunny.com/2008-05/sdv-tuning-adapters-in-the-flesh/cicso-sta1520/
> 
> Here is what one looks like. There is some pictures on this forum.


I think were not wondering what they look like, but as to see a consumer actually have one hooked up on their system at home.

Please post of picture of tuning adapter in use on your system.


----------



## spolebitski

jim_newtivoguy said:


> Why would I lie?


Awesome picture ... thanks so much


----------



## spolebitski

jim_newtivoguy said:


> Why would I lie?


Funny-thing that you did not have to wait for a call from CSR after you filled out the "web form". I wonder how long customers in your area will wait for a call as to when they can pick it up (or have a truck roll).


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

Yeah, I thought about that (the web form). Then I thought "if TWC has internal process issues just like *my* company, perhaps there is a dropped ball somewhere." Most likely there are silos within the company that have every intention of making things run smoothly and efficiently, but due to it being a pretty big place, things don't always work out as planned.

So, if you're in Austin, you can wait for the call, or just go to the office and pick one up.


----------



## allietx

I will head over there now and let you all know what happens.


----------



## Thistledown

The techs still don't know anything about them being in stock. The guy said I'm more than welcome to try the office, but he made no guarantees. I eagerly await info on allietx's attempt.


----------



## skaggs

cableguy763 said:


> The TA's are not available in Austin yet. For that matter, they are not available in any TWC market yet.


It looks like you were incorrect.


----------



## skaggs

jim_newtivoguy said:


> No setup required -- just plugged it all in and it worked.
> 
> Whoo-hoo!


Does the TiVo behave differently at all?

Any more-than-normal lag in switching channels?


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

> Does the TiVo behave differently at all?
> 
> Any more-than-normal lag in switching channels?


I don't see that the Tivo behaves any differently at all, and no apparent lag in switching channels. It's just like I get a whole gob of new HD channels.


----------



## skaggs

skaggs said:


> I received notice from a top-notch reliable source at the local TWC Division that they have the Tuning Adapters in-hand at the office and are waiting for notice from TWC Corporate before distributing them to customers.


When I contacted this same source and told him the Tuning Adapters were being distributed in Austin, TX, he told me they were one of the topics at the most recent Tech Meeting. They will not distribute any until they receive the OK from the Corporate HQ.


----------



## Thistledown

I just dropped by the Austin office. Jim_newtivoguy got lucky. They said the one that went out was a mistake, and that they aren't authorized to give them out yet because the tuning adapters are still in beta. They didn't have any ETA.


----------



## jmaditto

I approve the TA! Let the revolution begin. :up:

Still no word in South Carolina other than the generic "this year."


----------



## jim_newtivoguy

Well, the excitement was a bit short lived. As it turns out, there are a couple of software issues still to be worked out (not sure if it is just with a new release of the TiVo software or what -- I'm not that technical), so I'll be returning this TA here shortly. Good news is that it really won't be for long -- I suspect that I'll be back up and running prior to the end of the year. Guys at TWC Austin, as always, have been great, and really just want to make sure that the customer experience is the best it can be.

So, to the rest of the folks in Austin -- sit tight. Almost there!


----------



## skaggs

jim_newtivoguy said:


> Well, the excitement was a bit short lived.


Why?



jim_newtivoguy said:


> As it turns out, there are a couple of software issues still to be worked out


What?



jim_newtivoguy said:


> I'll be returning this TA here shortly.


Why would you do that? Did they call and tell you to return it?


----------



## allietx

Thistledown said:


> I just dropped by the Austin office. Jim_newtivoguy got lucky. They said the one that went out was a mistake, and that they aren't authorized to give them out yet because the tuning adapters are still in beta. They didn't have any ETA.


My experience as well. When I arrived at 9 AM they told me that yes, even though it was just yesterday afternoon that someone received one they were NOT allowed to pass out anymore. I asked when we would be able to get them and he told me "that is unknown, they are still in testing".

-Allie


----------



## cableguy763

skaggs said:


> It looks like you were incorrect.


----------



## dpratt

Is there any sort of letter or disclaimer I can sign? Something to the effect of

"I promise not to hold time warner cable responsible for anything bad happening to me due to my use of a TA, up to and including mudslides, house fires, loss of hair, divorce, or any other conceivable bad condition. Additionally, I absolve Time Warner Cable of any obligation to even take a tech support call from me, and any interruption in service or quality is entirely my fault"?

It really pains me that the adapters are there and waiting for me, and I cannot have one. It seems like I've been waiting forever.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Thistledown said:


> I just dropped by the Austin office. Jim_newtivoguy got lucky. They said the one that went out was a mistake, and that they aren't authorized to give them out yet because the tuning adapters are still in beta. They didn't have any ETA.


I sure hope they guy that gave out the TA didnt get fired.


----------



## cableguy763

SCSIRAID said:


> I sure hope they guy that gave out the TA didnt get fired.


He didn't.


----------



## echoout

I swear, it's looking more and more like they're going to be ready as soon as college football is over with. Ugh.



dpratt said:


> It really pains me that the adapters are there and waiting for me, and I cannot have one. It seems like I've been waiting forever.


----------



## allietx

SCSIRAID said:


> I sure hope they guy that gave out the TA didnt get fired.


He was the guy that was there this morning and told me that they couldn't pass out more. I was glad to know he was still there too!


----------



## Lovetroll

This thread has taken me to the tops of Mount Olympus and down into the depths of Hades all in the span of 3 minutes.


----------



## AJRitz

Well, at least the pre-order form is finally up for Time-Warner Cable Kansas City. I filled out the form and will continue to wait (impatiently). There wasn't anywhere on the form to indicate the NUMBER of tuning adapters I would need. I certainly hope that I don't run into additional trouble because I need two TAs, one for each TiVoHD.


----------



## alyssa

Lovetroll said:


> This thread has taken me to the tops of Mount Olympus and down into the depths of Hades all in the span of 3 minutes.


This is worth repeating.
:up:


----------



## skaggs

Monday is December 1st. Where is my tuning adapter?


----------



## cableguy763

skaggs said:


> Monday is December 1st. Where is my tuning adapter?


I would think a "guru" would know all. Why the questions? Gurus would have answers.


----------



## 84325e

Crossing fingers that they are released to the Austin TW public soon. Can you elaborate on what the software issues are?


----------



## skaggs

cableguy763 said:


> I would think a "guru" would know all. Why the questions? Gurus would have answers.


I know you have the answers and won't tell us!


----------



## s3victim

I talked to a tech in Austin who was immediately familiar with the tuning adapters. He said the testing had some hiccups and it would probably be another 3 months before they are released.  I hope he was just being pessimistic, or dead wrong.


----------



## cableguy763

It will not be another 3 months.


----------



## Enforcer

Im about ready to call the TA vaporware. How in the hell can it be this hard to make them work. Off w/ someone's head I say.


----------



## dwgsp

A couple posts have mentioned that there were TA related bugs that needed to be fixed before the TAs would be deployed. I will guess that these were Tivo firmware bugs (I have no evidence for this, it's just a guess) which are fixed in firmware version 11. Therefore, we'll see the TAs released once firmware version 11 is fully deployed.

Anyone else care to speculate?

/Don


----------



## zablock

dwgsp said:


> A couple posts have mentioned that there were TA related bugs that needed to be fixed before the TAs would be deployed. I will guess that these were Tivo firmware bugs (I have no evidence for this, it's just a guess) which are fixed in firmware version 11. Therefore, we'll see the TAs released once firmware version 11 is fully deployed.
> 
> Anyone else care to speculate?
> 
> /Don


I think this has nothing to do with tivo.. I think this has to do with TWC taking forever to release.


----------



## Enrique

zablock said:


> I think this has nothing to do with tivo.. I think this has to do with TWC taking forever to release.


+1 There are people out there who do have a TA(And are a part of this forum) and we have heard nothing from them.


----------



## skaggs

Enrique said:


> +1 There are people out there who do have a TA(And are a part of this forum) and we have heard nothing from them.


Non-disclosure agreement, probably.


----------



## Dartchen

Any words on San Antonio?


----------



## jmfirestone

TWC Greensboro is getting worse with the SDV stuff by the day. Even some of the older HD channels that I never had a problem with last Xmas have been moved now to SDV now. I am getting less and less by the week.

C'mon TA! I need you!


----------



## seggers

cableguy763 said:


> It will not be another 3 months.


Would you care to elaborate on how you know this, and when we are likely to see T/As out in the wilds then?

Seggers


----------



## Combat Medic

Dartchen said:


> Any words on San Antonio?


TWC-SA CEO says that they are still in testing.


----------



## routerman

seggers said:


> Would you care to elaborate on how you know this, and when we are likely to see T/As out in the wilds then?
> 
> Seggers


Since Austin has been announced as a beta testing site and Cableguy is the de facto CableCard support "Rock star" in that system, I believe he knows what he is talking about.

I, for one, have a TiVo HD in the shoping cart and am waiting for the official word on the TA before I pull the trigger on the purchase. It can't come fast enough for me. I think Cableguy is probably just as anxious to get them out in the wild so he can quit hearing all the whining....


----------



## Austin Bike

I have been an austin time warner customer for 12+ years.

While I would never say that I have been in love with them (see my posts on cable cards), you have to take into consideration the following pieces of the chain:

Cable broadcasting
Cable (the actual long stuff)
Cable infrastructure in the house
Tuning adapter
Tivo

There are a lot of pieces in the equation, so we shouldn't think that this is going to be a turnkey solution that just plugs in with no issues.

And while tivo may be only one piece of the chain, it is a "black box" and they control the firmware themselves.

Having been in enterprise technology for 15 years I can say that things are rarely as simple as people make them out to be.

Let's hold off on pointing the finger and let tw work this out.


----------



## Combat Medic

Austin Bike said:


> I have been an austin time warner customer for 12+ years.
> 
> While I would never say that I have been in love with them (see my posts on cable cards), you have to take into consideration the following pieces of the chain:
> 
> Cable broadcasting
> Cable (the actual long stuff)
> Cable infrastructure in the house
> Tuning adapter
> Tivo
> 
> There are a lot of pieces in the equation, so we shouldn't think that this is going to be a turnkey solution that just plugs in with no issues.
> 
> And while tivo may be only one piece of the chain, it is a "black box" and they control the firmware themselves.
> 
> Having been in enterprise technology for 15 years I can say that things are rarely as simple as people make them out to be.
> 
> Let's hold off on pointing the finger and let tw work this out.


The other side of that is that it was a company that was started by the cable companies and is funded by the cable companies invented the cable card and the tuning adapter. The people that invented it should be able to implement it.


----------



## Enforcer

Vaporware. Off w/ their heads!


----------



## spolebitski

Austin Bike said:


> I have been an austin time warner customer for 12+ years.
> 
> While I would never say that I have been in love with them (see my posts on cable cards), you have to take into consideration the following pieces of the chain:
> 
> Cable broadcasting
> Cable (the actual long stuff)
> Cable infrastructure in the house
> Tuning adapter
> Tivo
> 
> There are a lot of pieces in the equation, so we shouldn't think that this is going to be a turnkey solution that just plugs in with no issues.
> 
> And while tivo may be only one piece of the chain, it is a "black box" and they control the firmware themselves.
> 
> Having been in enterprise technology for 15 years I can say that things are rarely as simple as people make them out to be.
> 
> Let's hold off on pointing the finger and let tw work this out.


It was a bad decision on TWC's part to go to SDV without the tuning adapter being ready. TWC should have out off SDV knowing that some customers would suffer.


----------



## brewman

spolebitski said:


> It was a bad decision on TWC's part to go to SDV without the tuning adapter being ready. TWC should have out off SDV knowing that some customers would suffer.


The odds are that so few people in TWC's domain (or any cable provider for that mattter) are waiting for tuning adapaters that they really don't care all that much. In fact, in all likelihood the only reason they're offereing tuning adapters is because the FCC is forcing them to.

Virtually every advertisement I hear from either satellite or cable companies touts the number of HD and VOD channels they offer. Weigh the ability to offer additional HD channels versus a handful of pissed-off consumers and SDV wins every time from a business perspective.


----------



## SCSIRAID

brewman said:


> The odds are that so few people in TWC's domain (or any cable provider for that mattter) are waiting for tuning adapaters that they really don't care all that much. In fact, in all likelihood the only reason they're offereing tuning adapters is because the FCC is forcing them to.
> 
> Virtually every advertisement I hear from either satellite or cable companies touts the number of HD and VOD channels they offer. Weigh the ability to offer additional HD channels versus a handful of pissed-off consumers and SDV wins every time from a business perspective.


Exactly. The TiVo user community is small compared to the rest of their customers. Doing the 'right thing' for the TiVo community and not deploying SDV and not adding HD content puts them in jeopardy with the bulk of their customers who can defect to Sat due to limitede HD content. So their choices were:

1) Roll out SDV and tick off CC and TiVo communities but move towards competitiveness with Sat

2) Dont roll out SDV and have EVERYONE mad due to lack of HD content and be non competitive to SAT

3) Eliminate analog so they can add HD content without SDV and tick off a large portion of their users who use TV's without cableboxes (a lot more mad customers than are in the TiVo community) and not enable new technology that SAT cannot do.

Option 1 sure seems like the right choice from a business perspective.

As much as 'we' are the ones getting the short end of the stick... we cant forget that cable is in business to make money. They are not competitive to SAt right now and need to fix that. Besides allowing for lots of HD content, SDV also allows for unique functions such as 'Start Over' and a lot more VOD offerings which SAT cannot do.


----------



## seggers

routerman said:


> Since Austin has been announced as a beta testing site and Cableguy is the de facto CableCard support "Rock star" in that system, I believe he knows what he is talking about.
> 
> I, for one, have a TiVo HD in the shoping cart and am waiting for the official word on the TA before I pull the trigger on the purchase. It can't come fast enough for me. I think Cableguy is probably just as anxious to get them out in the wild so he can quit hearing all the whining....


Well, that's good to know.

BTW, I wasn't whining, I was inquiring. I was genuiely interested to know how he knew that, and if he was going to impart more tidbits of useful info - like when they were likely to come out.

Seggers


----------



## Joeg180

I'm being told that they are in testing now for my area and should be available next month, fingers crossed....


----------



## tach32000

I was told today, that testing has gone well. They are confirming the billing system is working properly with them, and they could start rolling them out before Christmas.

FYI...All in all very good news !!


----------



## bdaoust

I just got a refurb TIVO HD for a decent price. Did not know about SDV until I got it home - ofcourse! 

So a few questions: 

1) Is it only HD content going to SDV? I can still record non-HD right? Or will everything go to SDV. What channels are impacted? 
2) Should I return my Tivo HD and wait till this is worked out? I don't want a $200 device that becomes an anchor. 

I kept my HD cablebox so I can toggle to watch VOD. So, if it means that I only cant record a few HD channels - I can live with that - for now. Especially if I can still record, rewind, etc the non-HD versions. 

-Brian


----------



## socrplyr

bdaoust said:


> I just got a refurb TIVO HD for a decent price. Did not know about SDV until I got it home - ofcourse!
> 
> So a few questions:
> 
> 1) Is it only HD content going to SDV? I can still record non-HD right? Or will everything go to SDV. What channels are impacted?
> 2) Should I return my Tivo HD and wait till this is worked out? I don't want a $200 device that becomes an anchor.
> 
> I kept my HD cablebox so I can toggle to watch VOD. So, if it means that I only cant record a few HD channels - I can live with that - for now. Especially if I can still record, rewind, etc the non-HD versions.
> 
> -Brian


1) It is not just HD that is being changed to SDV, but it is highly dependent on your particular region. In general, most HDs that have an SD equivalent are not switched, but some SDs are only available on switched. Right now there aren't a lot like that for me, but they said starting 11/09/08 they would, but then never made the switch. I could comment on possible reasons, but that isn't important for your concerns.
2) Most of us have been waiting for quite a while for the Tuning Adapter. While there is no concrete announced timeline, it is imminent compared to the "idea" of a tuning adapter 18 months ago. The device has been approved by CableLabs and only needs to be supplied, tested, and distributed by the cable companies. They choice is yours on whether or not you wish to return your box. However, this is little that could derail its arrival more that a couple of months. They have stopped short of promising an arrival date, but they intend to provide them before year's end if they are able to according to the letters I and others received.

Josh


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## skaggs

bdaoust said:


> I just got a refurb TIVO HD for a decent price. Did not know about SDV until I got it home - ofcourse!
> 
> So a few questions:
> 
> 1) Is it only HD content going to SDV? I can still record non-HD right? Or will everything go to SDV. What channels are impacted?
> 2) Should I return my Tivo HD and wait till this is worked out? I don't want a $200 device that becomes an anchor.
> 
> I kept my HD cablebox so I can toggle to watch VOD. So, if it means that I only cant record a few HD channels - I can live with that - for now. Especially if I can still record, rewind, etc the non-HD versions.
> 
> -Brian


Brian:

I sent you a PM with some information.

Please put your location in your profile so everyone here knows what area of the country you are from.


----------



## cramer

spolebitski said:


> It was a bad decision on TWC's part to go to SDV without the tuning adapter being ready.


Not exactly. Many people agree the reason for SDV was yet another ploy to push back the integration ban -- read: the never ending snowball of changing "standards" and specs. When the FCC refused to push it back any further, TWC quietly planned to move the entire system to SDV -- _every_ channel, not just HD or "new" channels. That "memo" was leaked, people freaked, the FCC threatened fines, etc., etc. Of course, the FCC cannot do anything about it. SDV is a perfectly _legal_ loophole in the standards. While the cable companies have to use cableCARDs themselves, they can setup their network (SDV) in such a way that 3rd party CC certified devices get no content, thus forcing you back to renting their PoS STB.



brewman said:


> In fact, in all likelihood the only reason they're offereing tuning adapters is because the FCC is forcing them to.


That's pretty much exactly it. But there was a great deal of pressure from the CE industry who didn't want to go back to the drawing board to redesign OCAP(tm) TVs and STBs -- esp. when hundreds of thousands of TVs would have to be replaced to support the new BS from the cable companies.



SCSIRAID said:


> ...
> So their choices were:
> 
> 1) Roll out SDV and tick off CC and TiVo communities but move towards competitiveness with Sat
> 
> 2) Dont roll out SDV and have EVERYONE mad due to lack of HD content and be non competitive to SAT
> 
> 3) Eliminate analog so they can add HD content without SDV and tick off a large portion of their users who use TV's without cableboxes (a lot more mad customers than are in the TiVo community) and not enable new technology that SAT cannot do.


Actually, it's a lot more than just the Tivo market. There are a large number of "digital cable ready" TV's on the market and in people's homes that are not capable of OCAP or SDV. Sadly, many are 100% incapable of SDV without additional hardware -- if they do have a USB port, it was never intended to talk to a tuning resolver and may not be linked to the "tv" logic.

The standard party line of "more HD" has proven to be a lie in many (most?) markets. TWC/Raleigh, where the idiots wanted to move everything to SDV, still only has a dozen HD channels. Add to this the number of cable systems that have added HD channels without rolling out SDV (or increasing what SDV they already had.)

Yes, sadly, as far as I've seen, no cable company wants to drop analog completely. There are still analog subscribers. A lot of them. As I was told, unofficially, by people at TWC, there are enough basic and standard only (100% analog) customers to make turning off analog a nervous option -- even 'tho it frees enough space for nearly 1000 digital channels. (78 analog channels only need ~6 channels to broadcast digitally which instantly gives them space to add ~300 HD channels _without_ SDV.) Cable companies do not speculate or take risks with their profits. Turning off analog will cost them customers; some will switch to digital cable service and they will gain some new customers, but the bottom line is they know for certain they will lose customers (very bad!) and they aren't so certain they will be able to convert or replace them. So they don't do it. (They're more concerned with keeping existing customers than finding ways to bringing in new ones. Killing analog will bring in new customers at the cost of existing ones.)


----------



## lrhorer

cramer said:


> Not exactly. Many people agree the reason for SDV was yet another ploy to push back the integration ban


That's total nonsense. The number of subs impacted by the deployment of SDV is minuscule - less than half a millions subs. That we S3 TiVo owners make up the bulk of that minority is unfortunate for us, but far less than monumental for the CATV industry.



cramer said:


> such a way that 3rd party CC certified devices get no content, thus forcing you back to renting their PoS STB.


Yet more nonsense. The revenues from STB and DVR leases barely pay the cost of the equipment, and in some systems don't manage to pay for it. The revenue from STB rentals is small, and the profit virtually zilch.



cramer said:


> Actually, it's a lot more than just the Tivo market. There are a large number of "digital cable ready" TV's on the market and in people's homes that are not capable of OCAP or SDV.


Well, first of all, classical "cable-ready" TVs aren't capable of digital reception, so they are a moot statistic. There are not a large number of CableCard TVs in peoples' homes. There are a small number. My home happen to be one, but even ion my home only 1 set out of 5 is a CableCard set.



cramer said:


> The standard party line of "more HD" has proven to be a lie in many (most?) markets. TWC/Raleigh, where the idiots wanted to move everything to SDV, still only has a dozen HD channels. Add to this the number of cable systems that have added HD channels without rolling out SDV (or increasing what SDV they already had.)


The simple fact is SDV allows for a virtually unlimited number of channel streams - tens of thousands of them - versus a few hundred.


----------



## skaggs

Joeg180 said:


> I'm being told that they are in testing now for my area and should be available next month, fingers crossed....


Who told you that?

Albany TWC?


----------



## acvthree

>>>The revenues from STB and DVR leases barely pay the cost of the equipment

Reference?


----------



## Combat Medic

acvthree said:


> >>>The revenues from STB and DVR leases barely pay the cost of the equipment
> 
> Reference?


Even if we take that as gospel there is another point. The cable companies keep working on adding more functions onto their cable boxes. I have read statements that they want the cable box to be the one stop shop for anything that you need. With the expectation that they would get a piece of the payment for everything that they facilitate.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Combat Medic said:


> Even if we take that as gospel there is another point. The cable companies keep working on adding more functions onto their cable boxes. I have read statements that they want the cable box to be the one stop shop for anything that you need. With the expectation that they would get a piece of the payment for everything that they facilitate.


And with OCAP on a customer purchased box they would still get that 'piece'. The OCAP CES device would be hosting the cableco application on a CES supplied box. OCAP and CES sourced boxes would rid (or at least reduce) the cableco of all the capital investment and support costs that their current boxes costs them but without depriving them of the revenue genaration capabilities of cableco applications (today PPV, tomorrow Shopping or whatever). Today the cable boxes are a necessary evil... Tomorrow they could just send a customer to Best Buy.... or even better... take the order and charge the customers bill and drop the order on a supplier of boxes and take a piece.


----------



## mattack

cramer said:


> Yes, sadly, as far as I've seen, no cable company wants to drop analog completely. There are still analog subscribers.


I definitely don't consider that sadly. Heck, I'm using my digital-capable Tivos for analog only now -- mostly because I haven't gotten a good antenna to get OTA. I don't want to pay for 2 cablecards for my S3 + a cablecard for my TivoHD plus at least one additional 'digital outlet fee' for stuff that's already on the cable. (It'd actually be two digital outlet fees, since downstairs does have a cable box & a HD package..)


----------



## cramer

lrhorer said:


> That's total nonsense. The number of subs impacted by the deployment of SDV is minuscule - less than half a millions subs. That we S3 TiVo owners make up the bulk of that minority is unfortunate for us, but far less than monumental for the CATV industry.


First off, the S3 is not the only cablecard device on earth. CC receivers existed for some time before the S3. However, most people didn't know jack about cablecards until Tivo built the S3 because cable companies never marketed them -- and still don't. (many _still_ don't know about them.)



> Yet more nonsense. The revenues from STB and DVR leases barely pay the cost of the equipment, and in some systems don't manage to pay for it. The revenue from STB rentals is small, and the profit virtually zilch.


WRONG. If it were even remotely true, cable operators would be jumping at the chance to get rid of that dead elephant. In fact, they've done the exact opposite and whined about hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue if subscribers started buying their own receivers. (you're rental fees will pay for that stb in one to two years. and if you cancel, they come get the box and give it to the next chump.)



> Well, first of all, classical "cable-ready" TVs aren't capable of digital reception


I said *DIGITAL CABLE READY* dumb***. Learn to read. A lot of people have bought TV's with the "DCR" label -- a lot of them, in fact; enough to get the FCC to take action against cable networks rendering them not "ready". (SDV breaks them just like Tivos. In some cases even worse since they cannot talk to a tuning adapter or have their firmware updated without a trip to the shop.)



> The simple fact is SDV allows for a virtually unlimited number of channel streams...


No it doesn't. The network only has physical room for so many channels -- about 130 QAMs which, depending on compression, etc., is somewhere around 1k channels (and people's cable modems take several of those QAMs.) Multiplexing doesn't magically make the network any bigger. It allows for a more efficient use of capacity, but that capacity is still finite. Give it a few years and see how much it sucks to have "10,000 channels" with 50k people off each node where only 1k channels can be broadcast at a time.

SDV is a handwaving jedi mind trick to spend the least amount of money. They pushed VOD and "iControl" crap to the point the network has negative capacity. And now they need huge capacity to add HD to keep their subscribers. They're well and truly stuck... they cannot take away the ondemand crap because too many people use them (WAY. TOO. MANY.), they cannot kill analog cable because there's too many subscriber paying for it (plus, the instant they don't have an analog tier, they cannot charge extra for a digital tier), and they cannot upgrade the network to add more space (without rebuilding the entire network.)


----------



## cramer

acvthree said:


> >>>The revenues from STB and DVR leases barely pay the cost of the equipment
> 
> Reference?


Non-existant to "3rd hand" as cable companies do not publish their books. However, there were some rumbings some time ago about how much cable operators stand to lose when consumers can buy their own receivers and not rent them from the cable company -- figures ranged from 600k to 1.5mil. Those numbers may be inflated bull, but it's pretty clear they make a profit renting receivers and remotes. (sub-200$ box rented for ~15$/month...)


----------



## lrhorer

cramer said:


> First off, the S3 is not the only cablecard device on earth.


It would be remarkable indeed for me not to realize the fact, since I happen to own one of the non-S3 CableCard devices, and have for 3 years. I had a CableCard in my Mitsubishi DLP nearly a year before the S3 was released. The half million sub number I mentioned includes non-TiVo CableCard devices.



cramer said:


> CC receivers existed for some time before the S3.


Since I am one of the engineers who was involved with the development of digital cable services, one might expect I would know this.



cramer said:


> However, most people didn't know jack about cablecards until Tivo built the S3 because cable companies never marketed them -- and still don't. (many _still_ don't know about them.)


Many people - even on this forum - don't know what HD is, either. What's the point?



cramer said:


> WRONG. If it were even remotely true, cable operators would be jumping at the chance to get rid of that dead elephant. In fact, they've done the exact opposite and whined about hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost revenue if subscribers started buying their own receivers.


1. Hundreds of thousands of dollars is chump change to companies who haul in as much as $5 million a day.

2. Please provide references, links if possible, to such statements by any MSO.

3. Many people spend large amount of money on IPPV and other value added services. As it happens, I do not. With no movie rentals or other pay events on my bill and with no STBs or DVRs, my monthly CATV bill is $165. Replacing one of my S-Cards with a leased STB would increase my bill by $3 a month, or 1.8%, well offset by the cost of ownership of the STB. Renting a single sports event and a couple of movies via IPPV can easily garner more than ten times that amount, with no cost of ownership, no trick rolls, and comparatively little overhead.

Although most do make a small amount of money from STB and DVR rentals, that amount is insignificant compared to the revenues from services gained off those devices, most notably pay-per-view.



cramer said:


> (you're rental fees will pay for that stb in one to two years. and if you cancel, they come get the box and give it to the next chump.)


And since the average life expectancy of the box is between 18 and 24 months, the company doesn't make any money off the rental. What's more, retrieving that box when it breaks costs roughly $75.



cramer said:


> I said *DIGITAL CABLE READY* dumb***. Learn to read.


I know how to read. Few individuals could obtain a degree in physics from a major university or make a 30 year carreer in engineering who had not yet learned to read. Go look at any wireless remote controlled Television manufactured in the 1980s or 1990s. It will almost surely say, "Digital Cable Ready" somewhere on the chassis. None of these sets are capable of receiving QAM digital RF streams.



cramer said:


> ...enough to get the FCC to take action against cable networks rendering them not "ready". (SDV breaks them just like Tivos.


Before you continue to try to educate me in CATV technologies, you should consider the fact I was a CATV engineer for nearly ten years, and have been a telecommunications engineer in the 20 years since.



cramer said:


> No it doesn't. The network only has physical room for so many channels -- about 130 QAMs which, depending on compression, etc., is somewhere around 1k channels (and people's cable modems take several of those QAMs.)


No, it's somewhere around 1K streams *per node*. Multiply the number of streams per node by the number of nodes, and one has the maximum number of streams (although in practical terms, the actual maximum number of streams will be somewhat less, but not a factor of two less). Increase the number of nodes, and the number of possible streams increases. Of course this also requires incremental upgrades to the transmission infrastructure, but such upgrades are comparatively economical.

Here in San Antonio, they are bypassing about 750 homes per node, the last I checked, meaning they have roughly 400 nodes. Multiplying 1K streams by 400 nodes yields 400,000 digital streams. In fact, their infrastructure cannot yet handle anywhere nearly that number of streams, but the bottleneck is neither SDV nor the maximum number of streams which could be transported. They could, of course, reclaim an additional 28,000 or so streams by converting to all digital, but what would be the point? They can't make use of all the transport bandwidth they have right now, thanks to SDV.



cramer said:


> Multiplexing doesn't magically make the network any bigger.


No magic involved, unless you consider arithmetic to be "magic". Given the gratuitous abuse you heaped on me, I might be inclined to insult you in like manner, but I will refrain. Instead, I simply suggest you go look up the word "multiplex". We are not talking about multiplexing. All RF broadcast media employ Frequency Division Multiplexing, and QAM employs Time Division Multiplexing, as well. We are talking about deploying switching, in particular SDV, which has nothing to do with multiplexing, per se.



cramer said:


> It allows for a more efficient use of capacity, but that capacity is still finite.


The capacity is always finite because there are a finite number of receivers at any given time. There is no upper limit to the number of streams which can be deployed in an SDV system. I'm not going to try to teach a class in transfinite mathematics here, but there is a difference between "infinite" and "without upper bounds".



cramer said:


> Give it a few years and see how much it sucks to have "10,000 channels" with 50k people off each node where only 1k channels can be broadcast at a time.


No system ever has or ever will service 50,000 subs off a node, not even back in the days when CATV was delivered strictly over long aluminum cascades. Today, most MSOs service between 400 and 1000 homes per node at about 60% - 70% penetration.



cramer said:


> SDV is a handwaving jedi mind trick to spend the least amount of money.


Spending money unnecessarily is just stupid. Perhaps you consider unnecessary expenditures to be wise, but no competent businessman does. Increasing the bandwidth of a CATV system from 750MHz to 1200 MHz will just about triple the number of channels, assuming the MSO retains its analog selections. For less than 1/10 the capital outlay of increasing the CATV plant bandwidth from 750 MHz to 1200MHz, the same company can increase its number of streams more than 1000 fold, with no ultimate limit.



cramer said:


> They pushed VOD and "iControl" crap to the point the network has negative capacity. And now they need huge capacity to add HD to keep their subscribers. They're well and truly stuck... they cannot take away the ondemand crap because too many people use them (WAY. TOO. MANY.)


So you consider it wise to fail to deliver popular features to their customers?



cramer said:


> they cannot kill analog cable because there's too many subscriber paying for it (plus, the instant they don't have an analog tier, they cannot charge extra for a digital tier), and they cannot upgrade the network to add more space (without rebuilding the entire network.)


More importantly, rebuilding the network only buys them a small incremental increase in the number of streams at a hideous cost. Implementing switched protocols increases the potential number of streams exponentially, opens up vast possible realms of value added services, and costs relatively little.


----------



## lrhorer

cramer said:


> Non-existant to "3rd hand" as cable companies do not publish their books.


No, they don't, but since I used to be a CATV engineeer working for what is now the largest MSO in the nation, and since procurement and converter repair costs were within my realm of concern, I have a good idea of what it costs to own the STBs. Since I no longer work for the MSO, I can talk about it.



cramer said:


> However, there were some rumbings some time ago about how much cable operators stand to lose when consumers can buy their own receivers and not rent them from the cable company -- figures ranged from 600k to 1.5mil.


Large MSOs spend that much money on paper clips. San Antonio alone hauls in more than a million dollars a *DAY* in revenue, less than 2% of which is STB and DVR rentals. Subtract the cost of ownership of the STBs and DVRs, and it amounts to a very tiny fraction of a percent of total net revenue, asuming it's a positive net revenue stream at all.



cramer said:


> Those numbers may be inflated bull, but it's pretty clear they make a profit renting receivers and remotes. (sub-200$ box rented for ~15$/month...)


Most do not charge $15 a month. The charge in San Antonio is $7.95 a month for an STB and $9.95 a month for the DVR, as I recall. Since CableCards rent for $3 a month, and since my S3s require two of them, the incremental revenue is only $4 a month, meaning it takes more like 4 years to pay off the cost of purchasing the box. One trouble call on a faulty box adds another 18 months.


----------



## jmaditto

Confirmation received from a TWC engineer that testing is underway with the TA's in South Carolina. He could not provide additional info at this time via email  More to come later I hope.


----------



## CaptainTiVO

Hi there,
I am a bit new to the cable game (been doing DSS for years) but I want to switch to cable and I am struggling with the SDV thing.

I do have a question though: it seems to me that the SDV scheme is a type of statistical multiplexing in which the bandwidth requirement varies with the number and type (SD vs HD, compression, etc) of channels that are demanded at any given time. If this is true and there is not enough raw bandwidth to service the maximum requirement (say 750 homes all tuned to a different channel), (and if there was enough, why would they do SDV at all?), then what happens when the demand exceeds the available bandwidth? Does the last guy to switch channels just get a black screen?

BTW, is this stuff documented anywhere or is it a secret (proprietary info)?

Hunter


----------



## mikeyts

CaptainTiVO said:


> Hi there,
> I am a bit new to the cable game (been doing DSS for years) but I want to switch to cable and I am struggling with the SDV thing.
> 
> I do have a question though: it seems to me that the SDV scheme is a type of statistical multiplexing in which the bandwidth requirement varies with the number and type (SD vs HD, compression, etc) of channels that are demanded at any given time. If this is true and there is not enough raw bandwidth to service the maximum requirement (say 750 homes all tuned to a different channel), (and if there was enough, why would they do SDV at all?), then what happens when the demand exceeds the available bandwidth? Does the last guy to switch channels just get a black screen?
> 
> BTW, is this stuff documented anywhere or is it a secret (proprietary info)?
> 
> Hunter


There is no "maximum requirement". Right now, they can only support so many channels along with the other stuff that they want to sell (residential and business telephone and Internet access), and they need to offer many more; SDV is a relatively inexpensive way to do it.

If you request a switched service and there's no bandwidth available for it, you'll get a message "Channel temporarily unavailable, try again later". Such service denials should be extremely rare, if your provider has arranged SDV in an optimum fashion.

There's no public documentation as such, though you look at CableLabs' Tuning Adapter FAQ (not so technical) and Tuning Resolver Interface Specification (quite technical, though you'll find the "UDCP Status Messages" chapter interesting). Just google "switched-digital-video" and you'll get a ton of useful hits. Enjoy .


----------



## lrhorer

CaptainTiVO said:


> I do have a question though: it seems to me that the SDV scheme is a type of statistical multiplexing in which the bandwidth requirement varies with the number and type (SD vs HD, compression, etc) of channels that are demanded at any given time.


Well, first of all, it's not going to be variable by the type of channel, at least not with any current deployment of which I am aware. It is technically possible, but would be more of a management headache and a greater cost than I believe the CATV companies would wish to take on at this juncture, I think. Thus, the CATV provider decides beforehand whether a QAM is going to carry any HD streams, or not, and what rate shape to apply. I could be mistaken on this point, at least for some systems of which I am unaware. This would be quite possible, as I am no longer in the industry.

It's not stat muxing. It's not muxing of any sort. It is the inverse of muxing. SDV is a switched protocol, similar in concept to layer 2 Ethernet switching. The short story is that once a stream is originated via whatever means, it is available to every switch boundary in the system. At the switch boundary a decision is made to either forward each packet on each outbound port, or not. The packet is forwarded only on ports whereupon a client has requested the stream of which the packet is a member. Every port not selected to receive the stream can potentially receive some other packet from a different stream. Potentially, the total number of streams that can be carried by the system is equal to the total number of ports, although in practice many streams will appear on more than one port. The total number of ports is equal to the number of nodes multiplied by the number of ports per node

To put it another way, each node is it's own unique CATV system, carrying a unique mix of channels potentially different from any other node in the city. Thus, while each node's bandwidth is strictly limited to, say, 300 channels, its subscriber base is also limited to only perhaps 500 - 1000 subscribers, each of whom can watch whatever they like from a pool of tens of thousands of channels. The next node over is similarly limited to only 300 or so channels, but it is a different mix of channels selected by its subscribers from the pool of many thousands of channels. City-wide, people can be watching potentially hundreds of thousands of different things.



CaptainTiVO said:


> If this is true and there is not enough raw bandwidth to service the maximum requirement (say 750 homes all tuned to a different channel), (and if there was enough, why would they do SDV at all?), then what happens when the demand exceeds the available bandwidth? Does the last guy to switch channels just get a black screen?


The last part of your question was already answered. In the rare event of bandwidth over-committment, the user will be presented with an error screen. The CATV company could make the node coverage small enough to absolutely guarantee every receiver on the node could receive a different channel. SDV still makes grreat sense in that scenario, because each node is still limited to only 300 or so channels (more if /when they move to all digital), and without SDV the entire city is limited to those 300 channels. By fully implementing SDV, the number of simultaneous channels city-wide jumps from 300 to N x 300, where N is the number of nodes. N is typically between 50 for a small franchise and 1000 for a large franchise. What's more, in a linear system, the total number of available channels is just 300, period, since every channel is always active. Since SDV selects a particular stream, however, the pool of available channels can be much, much larger than the mix of channels actually being watched. Each receiver can only receive one channel, of course, but in a linear system there are only 300 channels from which to choose. With SDV, the number of selections is potentially unlimited. The CATV provider can suddenly offer hundreds of thousands of channels. The users cannot watch that many different channels, but that is how big the selection pool can become.

Back to your other question, however. Suppose each node services 500 active subs and each sub has on average 4 receivers, for a potential viewing target of 2000 receivers and an absolute limit of 2000 stream requests. The odds each and every receiver on the node will be watching a different channel are infinitesimal. Indeed, more than half the receivers will be idle, even during peak viewing hours, or "prime time". That in and of itself means the CATV company is wasting half its investment if each node can carry 2000 streams. They can still deliver 100% either by only carrying bandwidth for 1000 streams, or by increaseing the number of subs per node to 1000. That's not all, however. The fact is, 99.5% of all viewers will be watching one of perhaps 20 channels. Statistically, the CATV company can service almost every request of its customers, with only 1 service denial per customer per year or less, by making somewhere in the vacinity of 300 channels available to each group of 2000 or so receivers. Note the user will never see a denial of service for any channel whose market share is greater than 0.03%, which is to say any channel in the top 300 of viewer popularity, unless it is VOD.


----------



## Gene S

jmaditto said:


> Confirmation received from a TWC engineer that testing is underway with the TA's in South Carolina. He could not provide additional info at this time via email  More to come later I hope.


Great to hear!! Hopefully when I get back in the country early next year they will be available.


----------



## realityboy

mikeyts said:


> There is no "maximum requirement". Right now, they can only support so many channels along with the other stuff that they want to sell (residential and business telephone and Internet access), and they need to offer many more; SDV is a relatively inexpensive way to do it.
> 
> If you request a switched service and there's no bandwidth available for it, you'll get a message "Channel temporarily unavailable, try again later". Such service denials should be extremely rare, if your provider has arranged SDV in an optimum fashion.
> 
> There's no public documentation as such, though you look at CableLabs' Tuning Adapter FAQ (not so technical) and Tuning Resolver Interface Specification (quite technical, though you'll find the "UDCP Status Messages" chapter interesting). Just google "switched-digital-video" and you'll get a ton of useful hits. Enjoy .


I got the "Channel temporarily unavailable, try again later." message on a set top box a few times already and our cable company doesn't seem to have moved very many channels to SDV at all since I can still get most of the channels with cablecards.


----------



## nowakezone

I got this when i signed up for the Tuning Adapter on Time Warners website for Kansas City.

______________________________________________________________________________

December 4, 2008



Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released to the public sometime in December in many areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.

Thank you,

D. Jacobs
Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
Time Warner Cable


----------



## langsbr

We'll see what happens on the 20th. I just received my TivoHD and TWCSC said they would deliver the cards and tuning adapter on the 20th. I swear that company doesn't talk to itself. The sales dept. knows about the tuning adapter, but the tech dept. doesn't. It's CRAZY.

Anyone on TWCSC have an M card? They told me all they had were single streams, and they want 30 PER CARD to install!


----------



## jmaditto

langsbr said:


> We'll see what happens on the 20th. I just received my TivoHD and TWCSC said they would deliver the cards and tuning adapter on the 20th. I swear that company doesn't talk to itself. The sales dept. knows about the tuning adapter, but the tech dept. doesn't. It's CRAZY.
> 
> Anyone on TWCSC have an M card? They told me all they had were single streams, and they want 30 PER CARD to install!


I went through this not too long ago and I'm in Columbia. It was $24.95 and they installed 1 SA M card. Please, print out all the instructions and watch them like a hawk. They probably will have no clue. Please search my posts and find the Cable Card Hotline # I posted. They need to call them immediately upon having any issues. I spent 4 hours with them at my house and approx 3 days later finally someone at the headend fixed the problem. Good luck!


----------



## lrhorer

realityboy said:


> I got the "Channel temporarily unavailable, try again later." message on a set top box a few times already and our cable company doesn't seem to have moved very many channels to SDV at all since I can still get most of the channels with cablecards.


Your CATV provider may have over-stretched their bandwidth, or you may live in a neighborhood where - inadvertently or otherwise - there are more active subs than is the norm per node. (Perhaps they are fiber starved in your area, for example.) If it happens more than 2 or 3 times a year, I would report it. As far as the number of "SDV" channels is concerned, remember, the SDV mechanism is often used for more than just SDV channels. VOD, trick-play features, and so forth all use the same SDV mechanism.


----------



## GBK33

anyone heard an update on TA's for Columbus, OH. I filled out my request form weeks ago, and have heard nothing. Time Warner is retarded.


----------



## tgrad

Well, I just got a letter in the mail from Time Warner Western New York. It was directed toward cable card users with Tivos. It basically said all the mumbo jumbo about how channels are going to SDV and how great it is that they can add new content. It mentions the tuning adapter and how they will be available free of charge sometime next year. Next year!!! I can't believe my area is so far behind some of the other Time Warner areas.


----------



## CaptainTiVO

So, if I understand it correctly, the SDV-capable settop boxes send a message to the fiber node to tune the box to the channel that the stream is currently assigned to. If that is the case, then the stream is then coming in on *some* channel. Why can't a Tivo (without a turning resolver) get this channel? I know that it does not know which channel it is, but couldn't we just search around and find it? Or is it more complicated than that?

So, we just use the cable settop to select the channel, then use the Tivo to watch it.

Hunter


----------



## SCSIRAID

CaptainTiVO said:


> So, if I understand it correctly, the SDV-capable settop boxes send a message to the fiber node to tune the box to the channel that the stream is currently assigned to. If that is the case, then the stream is then coming in on *some* channel. Why can't a Tivo (without a turning resolver) get this channel? I know that it does not know which channel it is, but couldn't we just search around and find it? Or is it more complicated than that?
> 
> So, we just use the cable settop to select the channel, then use the Tivo to watch it.
> 
> Hunter


Even if you found it, it could be encrypted. You would also have no guide data. The physical channel and PID it is assigned to could change many times per day depending on peoples viewing habits. Remember that the channel may not be 'assigned' to ANY channel until someone requests it. It would then get assigned to any open channel and PID and remain there as long as someone is watching it and no other program replaces it on that channel and PID.


----------



## mikeyts

CaptainTiVO said:


> So, if I understand it correctly, the SDV-capable settop boxes send a message to the fiber node to tune the box to the channel that the stream is currently assigned to.


Not quite. They send a message asking to tune a specific channel. If the channel is not currently in any stream on the wire, the node will allocate some bandwidth and place it on the wire. In any case, the node will send a message back to the STB telling it in the frequency of the stream carrying the channel and the program number of the channel within that stream.


> If that is the case, then the stream is then coming in on *some* channel. Why can't a Tivo (without a turning resolver) get this channel? I know that it does not know which channel it is, but couldn't we just search around and find it? Or is it more complicated than that?
> 
> So, we just use the cable settop to select the channel, then use the Tivo to watch it.


Your CableCARDs are authorized to decrypt the channels that you subscribe to--I'm not sure how this works in conjunction with SDV, but it seems unlikely that they'd be authorized to decrypt an arbitrary program located in an arbitrary stream in the bandwidth reserved for SDV. Even if it were possible, it would be incredibly tedious.


----------



## Enforcer

Talked to an installer yesterday and he was clueless about the TA. Doesnt give me warm feelings knowing that the guys who are supposed to "install" the TA have no idea about them. Makes me think they are 1. Vaporware or 2. VERY far off.


----------



## cableguy763

Enforcer said:


> Talked to an installer yesterday and he was clueless about the TA. Doesnt give me warm feelings knowing that the guys who are supposed to "install" the TA have no idea about them. Makes me think they are 1. Vaporware or 2. VERY far off.


They are not "vaporware". The sa techs will get trained on them. And they are not very far off.


----------



## PumiceT

tgrad said:


> Well, I just got a letter in the mail from Time Warner Western New York. It was directed toward cable card users with Tivos. It basically said all the mumbo jumbo about how channels are going to SDV and how great it is that they can add new content. It mentions the tuning adapter and how they will be available free of charge sometime next year. Next year!!! I can't believe my area is so far behind some of the other Time Warner areas.


Got that same letter. I've heard (from a tech support guy who was pretty unhelpful, so take this with a grain of salt) that Western NY has only about 170 CableCARDs in use. In other words, we're such a small piece of their customer base that we really don't matter to them. If we get half of the channels we're supposed to, they probably consider that good enough.

*tgrad:* Speaking of channels... which HD channels DO and DON'T you get? I get only broadcast HD + maybe a couple ESPNHD and Discovery Theater HD. I think that's about all the HD I get now.


----------



## tgrad

Yes, that sounds about right for the HD's that I can tune with the Tivo. I kept my set top box until the tuning adapter is available so I still watch some of the new channels when I see something good is on. The guide still shows all of the new channels even though I can't get them on the Tivo.


----------



## lrhorer

mikeyts said:


> Not quite. They send a message asking to tune a specific channel. If the channel is not currently in any stream on the wire, the node will allocate some bandwidth and place it on the wire. In any case, the node will send a message back to the STB telling it in the frequency of the stream carrying the channel and the program number of the channel within that stream.


One nit, here. It isn't the node which does any allocation or messaging. The node is a passive device in terms of the digital communications. It's just a LASER modulator (upstream) and a detector (downstream) with a built in RF amplifier and AGC. The communications are with the video servers back at the Technical Operations Center and / or Master Control. In small systems, these are collocated with the headend.


----------



## lrhorer

CaptainTiVO said:


> So, if I understand it correctly, the SDV-capable settop boxes send a message to the fiber node to tune the box to the channel that the stream is currently assigned to.


As I mentioned above, the fiber node is passive. The request is sent to the video server farm for a program stream. The server farm responds back with a channel map, which the device then uses to tune to the appropriate frequency for the carrier and select the appropriate stream in the carrier. Without that channel map, there is no way for the TiVo to know where to tune.



CaptainTiVO said:


> If that is the case, then the stream is then coming in on *some* channel. It's coming in on some arbitrary carrier, yes. Without any knowlege of *which* carrier, there is no way for the Tivo to tune it.
> 
> 
> 
> CaptainTiVO said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why can't a Tivo (without a turning resolver) get this channel?
> 
> 
> 
> Because unless you don't have CableCards and the stream is unencrypted, the CableCards can't tell the host where to tune.
Click to expand...


----------



## f0gax

TWC-San Antonio tech support told me this week that the Tuning Adapter will be available "in 2009". He was unable to more specific.

FWIW


----------



## skaggs

f0gax said:


> TWC-San Antonio tech support told me this week that the Tuning Adapter will be available "in 2009". He was unable to more specific.
> 
> FWIW


Hey cableguy763:

Is the above statement true or false? Will we be getting the Tuning Adapters in 2008?


----------



## Saturn

skaggs said:


> Hey cableguy763:
> 
> Is the above statement true or false? Will we be getting the Tuning Adapters in 2008?


Ug. I somehow doubt TW SE WI will provide before the end of the year.



Time Warner Cable Wisconsin Division said:


> June 27, 2008
> 
> (name/address)
> 
> Dear Valued Customer,
> 
> (snip)
> 
> We expect to be able to offer Tuning Adapters to customers with compatible UDCPs later this year.


----------



## skaggs

D. Jacobs at the Time Warner Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk says "...this year":



Time Warner Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk said:


> October 13, 2008
> 
> At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction upon release; which we will begin deployments later _this year_. We do not have a specific release date for your area, but once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> D. Jacobs
> Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
> Time Warner Cable


----------



## cableguy763

My personal opinion is that it will be this year, 2008. I wish I could give an exact date.


----------



## Combat Medic

cableguy763 said:


> My personal opinion is that it will be this year, 2008. I wish I could give an exact date.


I hope so too. We are just starting to run out of this year very quickly.


----------



## mikeyts

Yep--just three weeks worth of 2008 left. There are only two TWC offices in the San Diego area at the moment (and dozens of Cox Cable stores )--neither is particularly close to me. They're opening one up very close, supposedly also by year's end. Perhaps I'll be able to pick my TA up there .


----------



## lrhorer

cableguy763 said:


> They are not "vaporware". The sa techs will get trained on them. And they are not very far off.


'No offense intended to anyone, and most certainly not to you, but until a product is actually sitting on the shelf waiting for customers to saunter in and pick one up or have it shipped to them, it's vaporware. This goes for any product, any manufacturer, software or hardware. Beta testing and even limited deployment do not count.


----------



## lrhorer

cableguy763 said:


> My personal opinion is that it will be this year, 2008. I wish I could give an exact date.


I think not. Even with only a few hundred TiVos per major market, I don't see any way they can have TAs in the hands of the bulk of TiVo subscribers in only 13 business days. Especially since they require a truck roll as they do with CableCard installations, I would say it's nigh impossible. If you mean some small number of subscribers will have them in their hands by Dec 31, then I can buy that, but such is hardly what one could call G.A.

I just called the TWC San Antonio support line. The front line tech was unaware of their existence, but he put me on hold and was able to speak with someone who did know what they were. He did confirm they are to be free, but they will require a truck roll to install. He said they are already beginning to schedule truck rolls, but could not schedule one such himself or tell me when I might be contacted with a call to schedule the install. I believe him on the first two counts, but I'm not sure he was accurate in stating that truck rolls were already being scheduled.

Still, the fact someone at the office actually knew what they were and how they are being delivered is encouraging, and I have no doubt I will have at least one in my hands before winter is over. By the 31st, though....?


----------



## skaggs

lrhorer said:


> Especially since they require a truck roll as they do with CableCard installations, I would say it's nigh impossible.


I have been told by a TWC employee in Albany NY that TA's will not require a truck roll. Customers will be able to pick them up at the local office and self-install.


----------



## SCSIRAID

skaggs said:


> I have been told by a TWC employee in Albany NY that TA's will not require a truck roll. Customers will be able to pick them up at the local office and self-install.


A previous poster also picked one up from TWC Austin and was able to plug and play with no truck roll or 'configuration' required. Sounds like Austin has 'em in the warehouse.... whether they have enough is another question though.


----------



## zablock

skaggs said:


> I have been told by a TWC employee in Albany NY that TA's will not require a truck roll. Customers will be able to pick them up at the local office and self-install.


they still talking about releasing them this year?


----------



## lrhorer

skaggs said:


> I have been told by a TWC employee in Albany NY that TA's will not require a truck roll. Customers will be able to pick them up at the local office and self-install.


It could well be that Albany has a different policy than San Antonio. It could also be that either the person with whom I spoke or the one with whom you spoke hasn't a clue. The guy with whom I spoke was very clear on the point, however. I work only a few miles from the TWC main office here in San Antonio. If they do announce we can self-install, I can hot-foot it over to their office in a flash.


----------



## Enforcer

FYI: In san antonio you dont need a truck roll to get a cable card. I picked mine up at the 410/Blanco store and installed them myself. That was about 8 months ago. I talked to a tech 4 days ago and he had no idea what they were. No encouraging.


----------



## Combat Medic

Good word from the CEO of TWC-SA


> I will contact you in the next 7-10 days. Austin rolled out this week. We are next. Thanks.


----------



## skaggs

> Austin rolled out this week.


Let's hear from the TiVo users in Austin...have you gotten a Tuning Adapter?


----------



## cableguy763

It has not launched in Austin yet.


----------



## skaggs

Cox Cable in Northern Virginia announces the Tuning Adapters are now available.

Complete text of a post by CoxTech1 can be read in this thread.



> *Attention Cox Customers in the Northern Virginia area (Fairfax and Fredericksburg, VA):*
> 
> TiVo Inc. along with Cox Communications is pleased to announce the availability of a new device - the Tuning Adapter -- which enables TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD and TiVo HD XL devices equipped with a CableCARD to tune to channels that are delivered via Switched Digital Video (SDV), a new interactive technology.
> 
> The Tuning Adapters are currently only available in limited quantities in our Fairfax and Fredericksburg, VA service areas.


----------



## jcaudle

skaggs said:


> Cox Cable in Northern Virginia announces the Tuning Adapters are now available.
> 
> Complete text of a post by CoxTech1 can be read in this thread.


Adapters became available this morning, Dec 11 for Cox Northern Virginia Customers. I picked up 2 of them and they work fine.


----------



## dpratt

cableguy763 said:


> It has not launched in Austin yet.


What do I need to do to get notified when they do? I've already signed up on the website, but I want to make sure that I don't miss out.

My office is about 1/4 mile away from the duval TWC building, so theoretically I can be there within minutes of any announcement. Plan on seeing a smoking track of tire rubber on the access road for mopac. :>


----------



## cableguy763

dpratt said:


> What do I need to do to get notified when they do? I've already signed up on the website, but I want to make sure that I don't miss out.
> 
> My office is about 1/4 mile away from the duval TWC building, so theoretically I can be there within minutes of any announcement. Plan on seeing a smoking track of tire rubber on the access road for mopac. :>


Since you have signed up on the website, you will receive a phone call when they are available. Also pay attention to the forums. You know the first person that gets a ta/phone call will post.


----------



## Timber

Based on my Cox user experience this should NOT require a truck roll. VERY straightforward.

-=Tim=-


----------



## Combat Medic

cableguy763 said:


> It has not launched in Austin yet.


Interesting. I wonder what is going on here. I would think that the CEO would know what is going on, but at the same time you have always been reliable.

Goofy.


----------



## echoout

I'm sitting in my car refreshing my iPhone at the Duval TWC office until someone gives me the word.


----------



## cableguy763

echoout said:


> I'm sitting in my car refreshing my iPhone at the Duval TWC office until someone gives me the word.


I am sitting in the Duval office telling you they are not available yet.


----------



## Lovetroll

cableguy763 said:


> I am sitting in the Duval office telling you they are not available yet.


Oh snap!

If I address a Christmas card/fruit basket/fruitcake of Doom to cableguy763 and drop it off at the Duval office, will it make it to you?

More importantly, what kind of nefarious ability do you have that allows you to suck the collective brain power from everyone else in that building and then use it to help us lowly TiVo/TW users in Austin?

I'm glad you've chosen to use your powers for good and not evil...


----------



## echoout

I have a LOT of time and a gas station nearby with everything I need. *crunches on Funyun*



cableguy763 said:


> yet.


----------



## cableguy763

echoout said:


> I have a LOT of time and a gas station nearby with everything I need. *crunches on Funyun*


I was not trying to come across as being mean to you in any way. I just don't want you to waste any of your time. I'm sorry if I came across that way.


----------



## echoout

No, you weren't mean. It's all good. Just camping out in the parking lot amongst all the TWC vans. It's pretty cozy really. Mountain Dew and Jack Links beef jerky will get me through the night. 



cableguy763 said:


> I was not trying to come across as being mean to you in any way. I just don't want you to waste any of your time. I'm sorry if I came across that way.


----------



## skaggs

No news from those of you in Texas?

FYI: Cox Communications has a CSR posting help responses over in the Tuning Adapter - Cox No. VA thread.

Wouldn't it be awfully nice to have an "authorized" TWC employee helping us in this forum?


----------



## allietx

JUST GOT OUR CALL FROM TWC CENTRAL TEXAS!!!! They told me to come and get 'em!!!

WOOT! My husband will put them in as soon as he gets home, we will have photos and update!!!

YAY!!!

-Allie


----------



## s3victim

skaggs said:


> No news from those of you in Texas?


I called late yesterday and they said they were ready to go. When I got down there they said there was some glitch and it would probably be Friday. I called today and was told they will call me before the end of the year.


----------



## cableguy763

The TA's are ready for you tivo lovers in Austin,Tx. Finally.:up:


----------



## SCSIRAID

cableguy763 said:


> The TA's are ready for you tivo lovers in Austin,Tx. Finally.:up:


And to think that they didnt believe you....... 

PS... can you ship one to Raleigh?


----------



## deancruse

...to pick one up!


----------



## skaggs

Congrats to those who will soon be getting the TA's.

This seems to be an individual TWC Division decision to release the TA's, because we have heard nothing here in Albany.


----------



## echoout

Damn it. Now that it's up and running, I feel like I've lost my purpose in life. What am I going to do with myself?


----------



## Rez

I just now received the call telling me that the adapters are available for pickup. I asked to make sure I could get two and was told that wouldn't be a problem.


----------



## f0gax

So... if the message from the TWC-SA CEO is to be believed... then the should be ready by Christmas for those of us in San Antonio.
One can only hope....


----------



## dlcrow

Rez said:


> I just now received the call telling me that the adapters are available for pickup. I asked to make sure I could get two and was told that wouldn't be a problem.


I showed up about 3:50p and the guy in front of me got the last one (he wanted two, but they only had one). They got a new shipment from the warehouse later, so I went back just near closing and they would only give me one. They said I should come back on Monday for a second one. Not sure what the difference between today and Monday is, but at least I got one!


----------



## allietx

echoout said:


> Damn it. Now that it's up and running, I feel like I've lost my purpose in life. What am I going to do with myself?


+1

I was just joking to my husband that we were going to have to branch out and read more of the site now that this quest is over.

We didn't get ours up yet, but sounds like many Austinites have already sent reports in the other thread. I was there ~2:30, had no problem getting two and having them scanned in. Plan to use CableGuy's advice in the other thread to hopefully get them up and running tonight... but might wait until tomorrow based on the reports of people needing tech support. (Which is ironic, we were so happy not to have to have a truck roll!)


----------



## dewab

Got my TA this morning. Wouldn't let me pick up two -- told me to come back on Monday.

Trick is that I can't get the darned thing to work... in the Tuning Adapter diagnostics page is says the status is "Ready - B'Cast Only". Anyone have any suggestions? Have reset everything more than once.


----------



## WSP

Look at some of the messages in the "Austin tuning adapter" thread. Lots of activity there during the last day or so.


----------



## chapmangeo

They are available for pickup from TWC/Duval in Austin, but are in *very* short supply. Austin is often referred to as Silicon Valley Southwest due to all the high-tech folks out here, many of whom jump on things like TivoHD and SDV. Patience - the supply will catch up with the demand.

For the rest of Time Warner space, the reason they may not be rolled out elsewhere is that Austin was the Beta site location so all the infrastructure is already in place.


----------



## mikeyts

I feel certain that individual TWC divisions have enough autonomy that they will individually decide when to roll them out. I can't believe there wouldn't be some variation in the various components used to build their respective networks--they'll all want to qualify the tuning adapter in their own systems and release them when they feel ready.

Everyone whom I've heard about who's receive a letter from them about the SDV and the TAs (like those of us in San Diego) was told that they'd be deployed in their system before the end of the year. They might not make that deadline it in all locations, but I'd expect them to get them out before the end of January.

It's fitting that people in Austin (and hopefully San Antonio) should be among the first to get them, since you've suffered with SDV much longer than most of the rest of us and had many more services taken away from you. As I recall, San Antonio had some 20-some-odd HD channels in SDV and has had SDV for well over a year; here, we started with five HD channels (all in an extra cost tier) at the end of July and had six or seven new HD channels added as SDV (with four added since then as linear services).


----------



## lrhorer

Yes, there are quite a few HD channels here in San Antonio we TiVo users cannot receive, but they have been very good about not moving any extant HD programs to SDV. Since the deployment of SDV, however, they have added a large number of channels, both SD and HD, and all of them are SDV. I'm definitely champing at the bit to get Animal Planet, Discovery, MGMHD, A&EHD, and National Geographic HD. I'll look into how much more TBS HD costs, as well.


----------



## skaggs

mikeyts said:


> It's fitting that people in Austin (and hopefully San Antonio) should be among the first to get them, since you've suffered with SDV much longer than most of the rest of us and had many more services taken away from you. As I recall, San Antonio had some 20-some-odd HD channels in SDV and has had SDV for well over a year; here, we started with five HD channels (all in an extra cost tier) at the end of July and had six or seven new HD channels added as SDV (with four added since then as linear services).


Albany, NY TWC started using SDV in September 2006. At last count, there were 129 channels using SDV, 47 of which are HD channels.


----------



## zablock

skaggs said:


> Congrats to those who will soon be getting the TA's.
> 
> This seems to be an individual TWC Division decision to release the TA's, because we have heard nothing here in Albany.


I called them tonight and asked and the rep responded with "they haven't gotten any yet", which kind of came off to me like they were waiting on a shipment. I asked if they still planned on giving them out before the end of the year and she said yes.. so they have 17 days.. who wants to take bets on whether this happens?


----------



## SCSIRAID

zablock said:


> I called them tonight and asked and the rep responded with "they haven't gotten any yet", which kind of came off to me like they were waiting on a shipment. I asked if they still planned on giving them out before the end of the year and she said yes.. so they have 17 days.. who wants to take bets on whether this happens?


The key question to ask is whether they have the right level of SW on their head end to support them...... That is the holdup here.


----------



## cron

SCSIRAID said:


> The key question to ask is whether they have the right level of SW on their head end to support them...... That is the holdup here.


How are you getting through to someone at the head end? I can't get past customer service who tell me "we have no new information."


----------



## szurlo

Bought a Tivo HD this weekend. The TWC website for my area, Columbia, SC has the whole tuning adapter section and a form to fill out to "pre-order" it. No ETA anywhere on the site. I just called them to come out and install 2 cable cards (requires a truck roll here  ) and asked about the tuning adapter ETA. The CSR knew what it was but said there was no ETA and seemed very surprised that the pre-order from was available. So, either she was clueless or we still have a while to wait here.


----------



## rvanderwerf

szurlo - they don't know. The tech I talked to trying to get mine working said she had a couple days off and just came back and they had this new equipment and claimed they didn't tell any of the support staff about it. I've got the same 8 blinking lights problem as many other here too, send a pm to cableguy, I'm sure his inbox has exploded, caught on fire, then blew up again with all the requests.

Maybe TW should open their own support message forum and have their techs use that, since it seems to be more effective than calling people who have no idea what is going on  (Or just set up a forum here, and get some help for cableguy763).


----------



## szurlo

Just got an e-mail from TWC. Same one others are getting.

_December 15, 2008

Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released to the public sometime in December in many areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.

Thank you,

D. Jacobs
Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
Time Warner Cable
_


----------



## szurlo

For anyone interested, I just used the diagnostics mode on my 8300 HD to make a list of the channels I get in my lineup in Columbia, SC that are already SDV. You can see the list here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6926772#post6926772


----------



## k2ue

Distribution of Tuning Adapters to those on the waiting list in the Rochester, NY area has begun. I saw the first report several days ago on a local forum, and got the call today myself. They are shipping them -- no truck roll.


----------



## ckazacos

Whoo hoo! Got the call from Time Warner Rochester today. They are shipping the tuning adapter. I should receive it in 3-5 days.


----------



## cableguy763

FYI- tivo folks in El Paso, the ta's are available there now.


----------



## awyeah

Anyone know the current status in the NEO market? I'm getting a little worried here... I had originally been told that SDV will become enabled on November 20th... and that TAs would be available by the end of the year... neither one has happened... I'm just afraid that they're going to enable SDV now without the TAs. I guess I shouldn't really complain though, I feel bad for all the folks out there that have had SDV in place for a while now. Still, I'm curious to know what's going on.


----------



## mulveyr

ckazacos said:


> Whoo hoo! Got the call from Time Warner Rochester today. They are shipping the tuning adapter. I should receive it in 3-5 days.


I'm in Rochester, and got mine on Thursday. It worked... for about 5 minutes. Then I got the ever-popular 8 blinks.

After finally getting their "Tivo technician" on the phone, he told me that there are problems with BOTH the TA configurations and the Tivo software itself. ( I have version 11 ). He finished up by telling me it would be at least several days before patches would be issued to get things working.

So, hurry up and wait, basically. Not to be a cynic, but "a couple of days" in Time-Warner-Speak usually means "A few weeks, if you're lucky."


----------



## bubagump

Anybody know if TWC has the tuning adapter available in San Diego? thanks


----------



## nathos

ckazacos said:


> Whoo hoo! Got the call from Time Warner Rochester today. They are shipping the tuning adapter. I should receive it in 3-5 days.


Don't get your hopes up. It doesn't sound like any of us who have the tuning adapters in Rochester can actually watch SDV channels.


----------



## JPALMETTO

Anybody heard anything?


----------



## mikeyts

bubagump said:


> Anybody know if TWC has the tuning adapter available in San Diego? thanks


Not so far as I've heard. Around the end of June they sent out a letter to CableCARD-using subs explaining SDV and stating that the Tuning Adapter would be available to TiVo users before the end of the year (see this), but that window is rapidly closing. They could still make it, but I'm not all that hopeful. As long as they don't drag it out past January, I'll be happy.


----------



## ChileHead

nathos said:


> Don't get your hopes up. It doesn't sound like any of us who have the tuning adapters in Rochester can actually watch SDV channels.


Seems to be working now. I called TW again tonight and they did something on their end and it's now receiving most of the SDV channels. Not sure why a few don't come in.


----------



## alex_kac

cableguy763 said:


> The TA's are ready for you tivo lovers in Austin,Tx. Finally.:up:


Are we supposed to get a phone call or something? I signed up for the beta, and on the website and have never gotten a phone call or anything.


----------



## cableguy763

alex_kac said:


> Are we supposed to get a phone call or something? I signed up for the beta, and on the website and have never gotten a phone call or anything.


You should get a letter in the mail soon.


----------



## dwgsp

ChileHead said:


> Seems to be working now. I called TW again tonight and they did something on their end and it's now receiving most of the SDV channels. Not sure why a few don't come in.


Could you give a couple examples of SDV channels that you are now getting? The TW rep that I spoke with on Friday afternoon told me that 1018 and 1049 ought to work, but as of this morning they don't work (for me).

Thanks!
/Don


----------



## jconnor315

ckazacos said:


> Whoo hoo! Got the call from Time Warner Rochester today. They are shipping the tuning adapter. I should receive it in 3-5 days.


Congrats to you folks in Rochester! Can't get any news on availability here in Syracuse beyond standard message "it will be available by end of year". Hmmm 12/20 now, not much year left!


----------



## Regulator

Series3 Tivo here in Rochester with a tuning adapter. TW just left and after two cablecard swaps I am now in business---all SDV channels are working on BOTH tuners. Holding my breath it lasts ....


----------



## berkshires

skaggs said:


> Albany, NY TWC started using SDV in September 2006. At last count, there were 129 channels using SDV, 47 of which are HD channels.


I am in a former Adelphia system that is based in Lee, MA. I think Lee gets it feed from Albany. What should I do to get a TA or find out how/when one will be available here?

Is there a thread specific to Cablevision (Bronx?)


----------



## berkshires

This thread http://albanyhdtv.proboards18.com/index.cgi?board=boxes&action=display&thread=2876&page=2 is keeping good track of the Albany area. I filled out the TWC form and the message was they will contact me when it is available - which is different from earlier reports that said "latter this year"


----------



## gary325

Regulator said:


> Series3 Tivo here in Rochester with a tuning adapter. TW just left and after two cablecard swaps I am now in business---all SDV channels are working on BOTH tuners. Holding my breath it lasts ....


I have a truck roll ($20) to I install the cc and hopefully the TA will arrive in time so I can have them check them both. They are only sending 2 cards. I tried to get them to send more. But they were not too sure about 2 cards for my Series 3!


----------



## jmaditto

I was getting excited about the TA but I ping'ed my TWC engineer and he said not for Columbia SC just yet. I guess next year for us. Stinks!


----------



## szurlo

jmaditto said:


> I was getting excited about the TA but I ping'ed my TWC engineer and he said not for Columbia SC just yet. I guess next year for us. Stinks!


Huge bummer


----------



## Xab

My new TiVo HD gets here today, and TW is coming with a CableCard, but I was really bummed to see that they just added USA HD, but it said at the bottom of the press release that this channel would not be available to unidirectional CableCard users  I'm assuming that is due to the channel using SDV (I'm in Columbus Ohio). I signed up to 'pre-order' the tuning adapter, but no clue when they will actually roll this out here. I was looking forward to SVU marathons in HD.


----------



## f0gax

Any news for San Antonio? Now that the Austin folks have had their TAs for a week or so... (referencing the "7-10 days" remark from up-thread)


----------



## ukochany

As usual TWC Customer service has no idea what I am talking about, I went down there to the local office and all the employee's know nothing. the email I received in November said you will have them by the end of the year....well they have 9 days left.... Any one know anything more?


----------



## tgrad

Anybody here anything on TWC Western New York. We are right next to Rochester, hopefully it will be soon.


----------



## patroldawg

f0gax said:


> Any news for San Antonio? Now that the Austin folks have had their TAs for a week or so... (referencing the "7-10 days" remark from up-thread)


No word for this TWC/tivo customer. stuck in the dark--standard. clueless CSR's as always--standard.


----------



## Combat Medic

f0gax said:


> Any news for San Antonio? Now that the Austin folks have had their TAs for a week or so... (referencing the "7-10 days" remark from up-thread)


I just set the CEO another eMail.


----------



## joeknapp

I received the same message from Time-Warner in Milwaukee. Last April, I received a letter from Time-Warner letting me know that Switched Video was coming. I spoke with someone at Time-Warner who told me that I would be invited to 'beta test' the Tuning Adapters later in the year. I waited patiently but never heard anything more about that. Switching started and I began to lose channels. I called Time-Warner again and again. At one point, they told me that they would send someone over to fix the problem and set up an appointment. When the service rep arrived, he began to disconnect my TiVo Series 3 and replace it with an ordinary cable box. He told me he had been ordered to replace all my TiVo's (I have three Series 3's) with the new 'tuning boxes' and bring my TiVo's back with him. I told him to get out of my house, leave my equipment alone, and that I'd call the cops if he didn't comply. After a little more argument, he left me with my TiVo's and took his boxes. I waited again. I heard that the FCC fined Time-Warner for not providing tuning adapters. I called Time-Warner again and they told me the adapters were being tested and would be available 'before the end of the year.' I waited again. Just last week, with the end of the year only a week or so away, I called them again. This time, after going through several people who had no clue what I was talking about, they sent me to a supervisor who told me that they had no intention of providing the tuning adapters. She said that the ONLY way I could continue getting all the channels was to replace my TiVo's with Time-Warner HD DVR boxes -- and she insisted that those were 'better' than the TiVo anyway. I asked her if I could watch YouTube, Netflicks, Amazon, etc... on their box, and of course she said I couldn't. Then I asked her how she could say the Time-Warner boxes were 'better' and she told me they were better because they were the only way I could get all the channels. I'm totally fed up with this crap and I am prepared to launch and finance a lawsuit against Time-Warner. I will also name TiVo, Cisco, Motorola, and Scientific Atlanta. I don't really know who's at fault here, but I'm tired of getting the run-around. Somebody took away my cable channels and did not reduce my monthly billing accordingly. I want some money back for the time I was without full service, and I want all the channels back, and whatever punitive damages the court deems proper. If anyone is interested in joining this lawsuit, post a message here. If enough people wish to join, I will post contact information and attempt to turn this into a class-action. At the very least, I hope to learn through the discovery process what's really going on and I plan to share that information with you here.


----------



## alyssa

I stopped by my local tw office to inquire about the TA box. After a blank stare & heading briefly into the DTV tangent, another CS reps spoke up & said they didn't have any and further the head office in Portland ME didn't have any. 

She did "know" one thing tho, the install would require a truck roll.


----------



## Xab

joeknapp said:


> I received the same message from Time-Warner in Milwaukee. Last April, I received a letter from Time-Warner letting me know that Switched Video was coming. I spoke with someone at Time-Warner who told me that I would be invited to 'beta test' the Tuning Adapters later in the year. I waited patiently but never heard anything more about that. Switching started and I began to lose channels. I called Time-Warner again and again. At one point, they told me that they would send someone over to fix the problem and set up an appointment. When the service rep arrived, he began to disconnect my TiVo Series 3 and replace it with an ordinary cable box. He told me he had been ordered to replace all my TiVo's (I have three Series 3's) with the new 'tuning boxes' and bring my TiVo's back with him. I told him to get out of my house, leave my equipment alone, and that I'd call the cops if he didn't comply. After a little more argument, he left me with my TiVo's and took his boxes. I waited again. I heard that the FCC fined Time-Warner for not providing tuning adapters. I called Time-Warner again and they told me the adapters were being tested and would be available 'before the end of the year.' I waited again. Just last week, with the end of the year only a week or so away, I called them again. This time, after going through several people who had no clue what I was talking about, they sent me to a supervisor who told me that they had no intention of providing the tuning adapters. She said that the ONLY way I could continue getting all the channels was to replace my TiVo's with Time-Warner HD DVR boxes -- and she insisted that those were 'better' than the TiVo anyway. I asked her if I could watch YouTube, Netflicks, Amazon, etc... on their box, and of course she said I couldn't. Then I asked her how she could say the Time-Warner boxes were 'better' and she told me they were better because they were the only way I could get all the channels. I'm totally fed up with this crap and I am prepared to launch and finance a lawsuit against Time-Warner. I will also name TiVo, Cisco, Motorola, and Scientific Atlanta. I don't really know who's at fault here, but I'm tired of getting the run-around. Somebody took away my cable channels and did not reduce my monthly billing accordingly. I want some money back for the time I was without full service, and I want all the channels back, and whatever punitive damages the court deems proper. If anyone is interested in joining this lawsuit, post a message here. If enough people wish to join, I will post contact information and attempt to turn this into a class-action. At the very least, I hope to learn through the discovery process what's really going on and I plan to share that information with you here.


I don't think it would be proper to name TiVo in this, as this is completely Time Warner's doing, but on that end I would most definitely be interested and I don't think you'd find a shortage of frustrated people on this forum to join. Time Warner is simply a terrible company that purposely gives you the run-around on anything that isn't their crappy $17 a month DVR box, it's obviously monopolistic behavior.


----------



## routerman

joeknapp said:


> Last April, I received a letter from Time-Warner letting me know that Switched Video was coming. I spoke with someone at Time-Warner who told me that I would be invited to 'beta test' the Tuning Adapters later in the year.


If I were you, I would talk to the original person again. Sounds like the more recent people you have talked to have not had any clue about what is going on. The TA adapter is mentioned on the Wisconsin web page.

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Wisconsin/site.faqs/Cable/SwitchedDi/How-do-I-get-a-Tuning-Adapter

I am not sure if you have already pre-ordered the TA but that seems to be the best way to get one. Looks like they are selectively rolling out the TA's in several markets as a way to ensure they work properly. From what I have been reading, Austin had some hiccups with initial installations and Rochester had some issues with certain TiVos and compatibility. I have not seen any posts reporting problems in Waco or El Paso so maybe progress is being made.

I am not sure of their ultimate roll out schedule but it does look like they are making some progress and adding systems on a regular basis. Granted, it could have been rolled out better but since they seem to only have a few CableCARD and TA knowledgeable engineers (Cableguy for one)I can see their hesitation to launch everywhere and have support problems. This would surely bring more scrutiny from the FCC.


----------



## benegesserit

Just got a message today from customer service via e-mail (NEVER call them -- the CSRs on the phones are idiots for the most part) from TWC Wisconsin that the Tuning Adapters will start "shipping" direct to customers the second week in January. The end is in SIGHT. By the way, we in northeast wisconsin have had SDV for months and months. I think there are at least 20 channels I cannot get so far and more are being added every day. So the guy from the Milwaukee market who posted above, yes it really sucks, but it will be OK soon. Just get on the list for one on the web site and E-MAIL customer service if you have questions. Don't bother calling them.

My e-mail:

Hello there, 
If you do not understand what I am talking about in this message, please forward it on to someone who does. I am anxiously awaiting a tuning adapter for my cable cards so I can get my Tivo up and running. Every day you guys are adding more switched digital channels and I can&#8217;t get them. I have filled out the online &#8220;order&#8221; form for a tuning adapter weeks ago, but I have heard nothing. I was told months ago that these would be available this year &#8211; meaning 2008. But so far, nothing. Several time Warner markets including Texas and Rochester NY already have their adapters &#8211; and they are working just fine. Could you please give me a timeline on this? Please ask a supervisor or engineer or someone with real answers. THANKS!!!!!! 

Their reply:

Thank-you for writing Time Warner Cable. 
The tuning adapters should be getting shipped out to customers the 2nd week in January, we apologize for the inconvenience. 
Again, Thank-you for writing Time Warner Cable. 
Consumer Contact Team-Time Warner Cable


----------



## szurlo

benegesserit said:


> Just got a message today from customer service via e-mail (NEVER call them -- the CSRs on the phones are idiots for the most part)


Well, I just tried that:

Here is my e-mail:

I would like to know what the estimated time frame is for the roll-out of the Tuning Adapters in the Columbia, SC area. The TWC website for my area says they will start going out in December, of which there are 8 days remaining. I notice that TWC has already started providing these adapters to their customers in many other areas of the country. I have a Tivo HD with a CableCard which I cannot currently use because the vast majority of the channels I watch were switched to SDV in my area some time ago in spite of the lack of a solution for CableCard users.

Thanks,
Steve Zurlo

And here is the response:

Dear Mr. Zurlo,

Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Support.

I understand you would like to receive the Tuning Adapters for your cable cards.

I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I would be glad to assist you.

Time Warner Cable continues to out a new technology called Switched Digital Video (SDV) which allows us to better manage our bandwidth and provide more services such as additional HD channels.
SDV does not work on devices that use one-way communication such as TIVO and CableCards. This means that customers with these devices will not be able to watch SDV channels. FREE TUNING ADAPTERS will be made available for customers to convert these SDV channels into ones that work with certain one-way communication devices.

These Tuning Adapters will only be compatible with TiVo HD, HD XL, and Series 3 HD DVRs. They do not operate directly with CableCARD TVs. TiVo is currently the only manufacturer of one-way CableCARD retail devices that successfully interact with the Tuning Adapter.

Customers can pre-order a FREE Tuning Adapter by visiting:

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Corporate/Products/DigitalCable/sdv/default.html .

We hope to have them available later this year.

For more information and to pre-order a Tuning Adapter, visit: 
http://www.timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter


----------



## zablock

szurlo said:


> Well, I just tried that:
> 
> Here is my e-mail:
> 
> I would like to know what the estimated time frame is for the roll-out of the Tuning Adapters in the Columbia, SC area. The TWC website for my area says they will start going out in December, of which there are 8 days remaining. I notice that TWC has already started providing these adapters to their customers in many other areas of the country. I have a Tivo HD with a CableCard which I cannot currently use because the vast majority of the channels I watch were switched to SDV in my area some time ago in spite of the lack of a solution for CableCard users.
> 
> Thanks,
> Steve Zurlo
> 
> And here is the response:
> 
> Dear Mr. Zurlo,
> 
> Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Support.
> 
> I understand you would like to receive the Tuning Adapters for your cable cards.
> 
> I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I would be glad to assist you.
> 
> Time Warner Cable continues to out a new technology called Switched Digital Video (SDV) which allows us to better manage our bandwidth and provide more services such as additional HD channels.
> SDV does not work on devices that use one-way communication such as TIVO and CableCards. This means that customers with these devices will not be able to watch SDV channels. FREE TUNING ADAPTERS will be made available for customers to convert these SDV channels into ones that work with certain one-way communication devices.
> 
> These Tuning Adapters will only be compatible with TiVo HD, HD XL, and Series 3 HD DVRs. They do not operate directly with CableCARD TVs. TiVo is currently the only manufacturer of one-way CableCARD retail devices that successfully interact with the Tuning Adapter.
> 
> Customers can pre-order a FREE Tuning Adapter by visiting:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Corporate/Products/DigitalCable/sdv/default.html .
> 
> We hope to have them available later this year.
> 
> For more information and to pre-order a Tuning Adapter, visit:
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter


Good idea, I just submitted a question with a somewhat irritated tone to TWC Albany so we'll see what they say.. I can't believe how hard this is to get any info out of these people..


----------



## tgrad

Just sent an e-mail to Time Warner WNY. I bet I get some canned response without a specific timeframe. I am actually disappointed they are letting them go without a truck roll. I have been waiting for a while to get a bad cablecard replaced because I wanted to do it with one trip.


----------



## seggers

tgrad said:


> Anybody here anything on TWC Western New York. We are right next to Rochester, hopefully it will be soon.


Here in Williamsville, I am eagerly awaiting the day when I can put 2 CC into my S3 Tivo, add in a TA and kick that clunky old TW DVR to the kerb.

That stupid thing is still messing up my wife's fashion recordings (no wait, maybe that isn't such a bad thing... ) and she's giving me no end of ear ache about it.

Hurry up already.

Seggers


----------



## jmaditto

szurlo said:


> Well, I just tried that:
> 
> Here is my e-mail:
> 
> I would like to know what the estimated time frame is for the roll-out of the Tuning Adapters in the Columbia, SC area. The TWC website for my area says they will start going out in December, of which there are 8 days remaining. I notice that TWC has already started providing these adapters to their customers in many other areas of the country. I have a Tivo HD with a CableCard which I cannot currently use because the vast majority of the channels I watch were switched to SDV in my area some time ago in spite of the lack of a solution for CableCard users.
> 
> Thanks,
> Steve Zurlo
> 
> And here is the response:
> 
> Dear Mr. Zurlo,
> 
> Thank you for contacting Time Warner Cable Support.
> 
> I understand you would like to receive the Tuning Adapters for your cable cards.
> 
> I apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. I would be glad to assist you.
> 
> Time Warner Cable continues to out a new technology called Switched Digital Video (SDV) which allows us to better manage our bandwidth and provide more services such as additional HD channels.
> SDV does not work on devices that use one-way communication such as TIVO and CableCards. This means that customers with these devices will not be able to watch SDV channels. FREE TUNING ADAPTERS will be made available for customers to convert these SDV channels into ones that work with certain one-way communication devices.
> 
> These Tuning Adapters will only be compatible with TiVo HD, HD XL, and Series 3 HD DVRs. They do not operate directly with CableCARD TVs. TiVo is currently the only manufacturer of one-way CableCARD retail devices that successfully interact with the Tuning Adapter.
> 
> Customers can pre-order a FREE Tuning Adapter by visiting:
> 
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/Corporate/Products/DigitalCable/sdv/default.html .
> 
> We hope to have them available later this year.
> 
> For more information and to pre-order a Tuning Adapter, visit:
> http://www.timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter


That is good. At least they state it works with TiVo. I preordered several weeks back and have yet to be contacted. I also but in for a "beta" tester but haven't heard anything.


----------



## jgoerke

Well, a positive experience to share...

As this string has indicated, tuning adapters are availible in Austin. They are now being distributed directly from the service lobby at the main Duval/MoPac office. I went by Friday and picked mine up. I installed it over the weekend, fearing a similar experience to several of those shared on this string. However, that was not the case. Following bootup, my adapter went immediately steady green, with all diagnostics in the "ready" mode. And, with that, I had all my switched channels. I either lucked out, or software in either the Tivo or adapter (or both) have been updated to facilitate the process.


----------



## seggers

I just got off the phone with Buffalo TW and they are following up on calls for TAs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

He did mention something about Jan/Feb  for an install, but at least the email system worked! 

He asked if I had a TiVo, what model it was and what sw level it had (interestingly, he wanted at least 11).

So they are coming for those of us in WNY! We can finally get rid of that crappy TW DVR! 

Seggers


----------



## k2ue

Regulator said:


> Series3 Tivo here in Rochester with a tuning adapter. TW just left and after two cablecard swaps I am now in business---all SDV channels are working on BOTH tuners. Holding my breath it lasts ....


Where did your TA ship from? I was notified Thursday, but it hasn't arrived as of Tuesday's UPS.


----------



## Enforcer

Picked up another M card for a new tivo today. People in TWC San Antonio, at least at the retail center at Blanco/410 are clueless about Tuning Adaptors. Seeing as this is the only center that gives out M cards, I doubt we'll see the TA this year.


----------



## Midwest User1

joeknapp said:


> I received the same message from Time-Warner in Milwaukee. Last April, I received a letter from Time-Warner letting me know that Switched Video was coming. I spoke with someone at Time-Warner who told me that I would be invited to 'beta test' the Tuning Adapters later in the year. I waited patiently but never heard anything more about that. Switching started and I began to lose channels. I called Time-Warner again and again. At one point, they told me that they would send someone over to fix the problem and set up an appointment. When the service rep arrived, he began to disconnect my TiVo Series 3 and replace it with an ordinary cable box. He told me he had been ordered to replace all my TiVo's (I have three Series 3's) with the new 'tuning boxes' and bring my TiVo's back with him. I told him to get out of my house, leave my equipment alone, and that I'd call the cops if he didn't comply. After a little more argument, he left me with my TiVo's and took his boxes. I waited again. I heard that the FCC fined Time-Warner for not providing tuning adapters. I called Time-Warner again and they told me the adapters were being tested and would be available 'before the end of the year.' I waited again. Just last week, with the end of the year only a week or so away, I called them again. This time, after going through several people who had no clue what I was talking about, they sent me to a supervisor who told me that they had no intention of providing the tuning adapters. She said that the ONLY way I could continue getting all the channels was to replace my TiVo's with Time-Warner HD DVR boxes -- and she insisted that those were 'better' than the TiVo anyway. I asked her if I could watch YouTube, Netflicks, Amazon, etc... on their box, and of course she said I couldn't. Then I asked her how she could say the Time-Warner boxes were 'better' and she told me they were better because they were the only way I could get all the channels. I'm totally fed up with this crap and I am prepared to launch and finance a lawsuit against Time-Warner. I will also name TiVo, Cisco, Motorola, and Scientific Atlanta. I don't really know who's at fault here, but I'm tired of getting the run-around. Somebody took away my cable channels and did not reduce my monthly billing accordingly. I want some money back for the time I was without full service, and I want all the channels back, and whatever punitive damages the court deems proper. If anyone is interested in joining this lawsuit, post a message here. If enough people wish to join, I will post contact information and attempt to turn this into a class-action. At the very least, I hope to learn through the discovery process what's really going on and I plan to share that information with you here.


I'm in Waukesha, WI. and I'd be game as well as this is redicilous with how long they've been substracting channels without adjusting our bills. The FCC should be giving the "fine money" to the customer's that are being left out in the cold instead of keeping it for themselves. It's a sad site that company's have to be threatened with litigation and fines before they'll actually comply with what is required of them. If their cable boxes weren't such junk compared to the TIVO's they wouldn't have this situation as customers might actually prefer their boxes then. They have a typical monoply mentality in that "you'll take what we give you and like it" attitude. Wake Up TW if you want to keep renting your boxes then supply the best product out there period. It's called "Supply and Demand" and you may have heard of this concept in a simple class called Economics. You create a product that users will Demand.


----------



## spolebitski

joeknapp, Midwest User1

We should go to the TWC Mayfiar Mall Location and ask for answers as a group.


----------



## mikeyts

Midwest User1 said:


> The FCC should be giving the "fine money" to the customer's that are being left out in the cold instead of keeping it for themselves.


In the two areas where the FCC chastised the cable providers for rolling out SDV without okaying it with them first and sufficiently notifying their customers (TWC Oceanic in Hawaii and Cox Northern Virginia), they've ordered a rebate of some fees to UDCP-using customers who been deprived of channels and a reduction in fees for them going forward. That was in addition to punitive fines to be paid to the FCC. What they didn't do was order them to stop using SDV or to restore any services to UDCP-using subs.


----------



## Mindflux

Does anyone have a sure fire fix for the grey screen issue? Every time my TiVo HD reboots itself (ether voluntarily or otherwise) I can't get any channels to tune in for some time. Even if I call TW and have them hit the T.A box. 

If I bypass the T.A and just run the Coax to my TiVo I get all my cable minus the SDV channels as far as I know. The light on my T.A is solid, so I'm not sure what's going on. This isn't the first time it's occurred.


----------



## zablock

I got this back from submitting my email to TWC Albany:



> I apologize the any inconvenience this may have caused you. I have forwarded your email over to one of our technical supervisors for review on your behalf. I have requested to have a supervisor contact you with in the next 24 hours to address your concerns. Please feel free to let me know if there is anything else I can assist you with. For your information, High Definition channels are provided at no extra charge with our cable service. The only additional programming charges associated for HD channels would be those for our Premium channels (HBO, Showtime, etc.) or our HD Premium Tier.
> 
> Please let us know if we can be of any additional assistance.
> Thank you for being a Time Warner Cable customer.


So hopefully I'll hear from one of their technical supervisors soon, and hopefully that technical supervisor knows what a tuning adapter is.. I'll post back when he calls/emails me.


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## mikeyts

They just added a bunch of new HD channels here in San Diego, including Sci Fi HD (also USA HD, FX HD, Bravo HD, ABC Family HD, Biography HD and CNBC HD, with others due to be added before 2/29). All as SDV, as expected .

I'm starting to get a little steamed--Sci Fi HD was the only HD channel that I didn't have that I was particularly anxious to get and now it's here with no TA with which to tune it on TiVo. There's an 8300HDC in the house where I can record and watch things, but I'd prefer to use the TiVo and panel in my personal space. If the TA isn't in evidence when _Battlestar Galactica_ returns on the 16th, I'm going to be very unhappy .


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## thehepcat

I received my TA here in Rochester last Thursday. Works like a charm. (Sorry - I am experiencing SDV guilt). Now it's really time for that DVR Expander.

When it does roll around to you, be sure to ask to speak to the HD specialists and then ask them to transfer you to the Tier III techs. I couldn't even find someone below that desk that knew what a TA was.

A friend of mine had a TW guy to the house on Sunday because his TA didn't work. They guy thought it was something he had bought himself - never even heard of them.


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## shaun-ohio

yeah i am ticked off as well today, really helps the christmas spirit, here in zanesville, ohio the tivo added all the new channels, digital, hd new ones, and of course i cant get them without the tuning adapter, and then i even found out that pbs hd was on channel 734 now it switched to channel 707 and of course i cant get it, foxhd and cwhd is going to be changing over soon, i was advised, this is the main reason i went with timewarner, because of the local hd channels that i had been getting until now, because directv wouldnt give them to me because of my location, yep foxhd is going to channel 708 and cwhd is going to channel 713. i still like the tivo hd series 3 which i have, this month they gave me a 20 credit off my bill, because i was paying for the channels and not getting them, wonder what they will give me in january? i had the hd dvr from timewarner twice and took it back, it is a piece of crap, does not compare to the tivo at all.


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## KeithB

shaun-ohio said:


> yeah i am ticked off as well today, really helps the Christmas spirit


No kidding, TWC in Charlotte NC greatly p*ssed me off today. They charge $10 extra for digital HD channels, but they're on SDV? I thought SDV was for less-frequently-accessed programming, not what more people want to see, and certainly not for which you charge them extra monthly fees.


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## berkshires

shaun-ohio said:


> i still like the tivo hd series 3 which i have, this month they gave me a 20 credit off my bill, because i was paying for the channels and not getting them, wonder what they will give me in january? i had the hd dvr from timewarner twice and took it back, it is a piece of crap, does not compare to the tivo at all.


Good for you getting some credit for not getting all the channels on a particular device. We should all be doing that. $20 is quite a big number too!!

I am surprised to hear an OTA channel went SDV. I hadn't heard of that before. Has that been happening much around the US?


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## mikeyts

shaun-ohio said:


> ...here in zanesville, ohio the tivo added all the new channels, digital, hd new ones, and of course i cant get them without the tuning adapter, and then i even found out that pbs hd was on channel 734 now it switched to channel 707 and of course i cant get it, foxhd and cwhd is going to be changing over soon, i was advised.


The legality of this is questionable--it seems contrary to the intent of Code of Federal Regulations, Title 47 §76.630 (entitled "Compatibility with consumer electronics equipment"), which disallows them to encrypt or otherwise scramble channels in the core basic tier (all rebroadcast of local OTA channels must be presented in the core basic services tier, which everyone must buy to get any cable service). Even if they present these channels as switched clear QAM, just switching them makes them incompatible with all current retail equipment (other than Series3 and HD TiVo w/Tuning Adapters).

I'd call and confirm this, taking careful note of the name of who told you. Then I'd pen a letter to the local cable franchising authority, with a carbon sent to cable system management in protest of them moving basic cable channels to switched service.


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## shaun-ohio

thanks for the info, u guys are great


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## lrhorer

KeithB said:


> No kidding, TWC in Charlotte NC greatly p*ssed me off today. They charge $10 extra for digital HD channels, but they're on SDV? I thought SDV was for less-frequently-accessed programming, not what more people want to see, and certainly not for which you charge them extra monthly fees.


SDV is not "for" anything in particular in terms of content. If a stream is not present on every node in the CATV system in question, then there is a gain in available bandwidth associated with that stream being SDV. Speaking loosely, if a system has 100 nodes, and a particular channel enjoys less than a 5% market share - which is to say is not among the 20 most popular channels on the CATV system - then there is a good chance the channel will be unwatched on several nodes, meaning the CATV company can make better use of its bandwidth by moving that channel to an SDV QAM. Note that a simulcast HD version of a popular SD channel constitutes a diffferent channel, and probably less than 1/2 of all viewers of any given SD / HD pair are watching the HD version. This means that very few HD channels at this time are not good candidates for being broadcast as SDV. With the possible exception of HBOHD and ShowtimeHD, very few if any premium HD channels will have market shares above 5%, meaning the CATV company is best served by making those channels SDV. After all, there is nothing technically inferior in any way about SDV channels. It si just that subsribers with UDCP devices cannot receive them.


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## patroldawg

lrhorer said:


> SDV is not "for" anything in particular in terms of content. If a stream is not present on every node in the CATV system in question, then there is a gain in available bandwidth associated with that stream being SDV. Speaking loosely, if a system has 100 nodes, and a particular channel enjoys less than a 5% market share - which is to say is not among the 20 most popular channels on the CATV system - then there is a good chance the channel will be unwatched on several nodes, meaning the CATV company can make better use of its bandwidth by moving that channel to an SDV QAM. Note that a simulcast HD version of a popular SD channel constitutes a diffferent channel, and probably less than 1/2 of all viewers of any given SD / HD pair are watching the HD version. This means that very few HD channels at this time are not good candidates for being broadcast as SDV. With the possible exception of HBOHD and ShowtimeHD, very few if any premium HD channels will have market shares above 5%, meaning the CATV company is best served by making those channels SDV. After all, there is nothing technically inferior in any way about SDV channels. It si just that subsribers with UDCP devices cannot receive them.


Irhorer, you seem to know a whole lot about the cable scene. When the hell are we getting these tuning adapters in San Antonio?


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## lrhorer

That's Lrhorer, if you please. Unfortunately, TWC corporate has tape all over the mouths of its employees on this issue, and I would never induce any of my friends in the industry to breach their ethics. Even if I were privy to the inner workings through my official contacts with the company, I would never divulge the facts surrounding any privileged information. In this case, however, I'm pretty much as in the dark as any other customer, outside my knowledge of the inner technical workings of the operation, much of which I am at liberty to divulge, being they are not corporate secrets covered by contracts with me and the fact I am not a TWC employee or contractor.


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## lrhorer

Midwest User1 said:


> I'm in Waukesha, WI. and I'd be game as well as this is redicilous with how long they've been substracting channels without adjusting our bills.


That's bad. There may be any number of technical reasons why they had to deploy in such a fashion, but it is unfortunate for the TiVo owner there where you live. Where I live, we are still missing out on new HD channels, but we still have all our old ones, except for two which are gone completely.



Midwest User1 said:


> If their cable boxes weren't such junk compared to the TIVO's they wouldn't have this situation as customers might actually prefer their boxes then.


I'll allow the CATV company DVRs (at least the SA 8300HD running the SARA software) are junk, and admittedly this is a good thing for TiVo, but unless the CATV company is willing to allow its users to hack their boxes (that will never happen!), no matter how good they are I would insist on owning my DVR.



Midwest User1 said:


> They have a typical monoply mentality in that "you'll take what we give you and like it" attitude.


Sometimes. Not often, however. With U-Verse, D*, and FIOS (not to mention in neighborhoods like mine, a second CATV company), they have a lot of competition.



Midwest User1 said:


> It's called "Supply and Demand" and you may have heard of this concept in a simple class called Economics. You create a product that users will Demand.


You definitely want to speak more softly when you say that. With TiVos representing less than 0.5% of their subscriber base, and with more than 20% of their subscriber base in jeopardy of moving to D* due to lack of large numbers of HD channels, completely writing off all TiVo subs would not be a terribly difficult decision to make. Fortunately, they want and believe they can get bites from both sides of the pie, and so they are accommodating TiVo users. Otherwise "supply and demand" would demand they completely ignore us. (Of course, they are also no doubt trying to fend off a summary decision in favor of DCR+ by the FCC.)


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## KeithB

lrhorer said:


> . . . there is nothing technically inferior in any way about SDV channels. It is just that subscribers with UDCP devices cannot receive them.


You just contradicted yourself. 

Until TWC delivers and supports a tuning adapter along with cable card installs, they should not move channels to SDV while they're charging UDCP customers a monthly fee for those channels.


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## SCSIRAID

KeithB said:


> You just contradicted yourself.
> 
> Until TWC delivers and supports a tuning adapter along with cable card installs, they should not move channels to SDV while they're charging UDCP customers a monthly fee for those channels.


Using that logic... there would be no new HD channels. Tuning adapters only work on TiVo and NOT any of the rest of the UDCP devices such as TV's.

UDCP's represent far less than 1% of TWC's customers... probably less than 0.5%. It would be a very poor business decision to allow <1% of your customers wants/needs to put your business in a non-competitive position and lose subs to satellite. With their pre SDV HD portfolio, they stood to lose far more customers to satellite then they even have as UDCP customers. Im as unhappy as everybody else is and want my TA now... but I understand the pickle MSO's are in. They have taken the path that serves the interests of the bulk of their customers which is the 'right' thing to do for their business.


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## Mindflux

Does anyone in Austin know why I can tune to 1661, BIOHD.. I can't get any guide data for it at all? I can force connections and never get anything. Yahoo's listings, zap2it's listings and tivo's listings dont show 1661 as a channel at all.

Furthermore, I'll make sure it shows up in my channel lineup and later it'll magically disappear. Not sure what that's about?


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## lrhorer

KeithB said:


> You just contradicted yourself.


(Taking note of the smiley) No, it can certainly be argued the fact certain subscribers cannot get those channels represents a marketing inferiority, a PR issue, or just plain being unfair, but this in no way represents a technological inferiority.



KeithB said:


> Until TWC delivers and supports a tuning adapter along with cable card installs, they should not move channels to SDV while they're charging UDCP customers a monthly fee for those channels.


There's a lot of wiggle-room, here. In San Antonio, they've been careful not to move any channels to SDV, so excepting the channels no one can get any longer, those of us with UDCPs are still paying the same amount for the same channels we did a year ago. Everyone else - which is most everyone - is getting a bunch of bonus channels we cannot, but we're not paying more for significantly less. There's also a lot of argument about exactly for what the sub is paying. Excepting premium channels like HBO and Showtime, subs don't pay on an a la carte basis for the programs. They pay for tiers and groups of channels. Admittedly, those who have CATV company owned boxes are getting a somewhat better deal in this respect, and it can certainly be argued this is not quite fair, but given a choice I would much rather have the TiVo than the extra channels. Life is never going to be perfectly fair, and in the overall picture this rates as definitely one of the inequities of lower magnitude and importance. I am satisfied they are working to resolve the issue. I certainly would like to have had a resolution in my hands six weeks ago, but c'est la vie.


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## cramer

mikeyts said:


> The legality of this is questionable...


SDV is a huge loophole. And cable companies will milk it for everything it's worth (and have been for years.)


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## Midwest User1

lrhorer said:


> That's bad. There may be any number of technical reasons why they had to deploy in such a fashion, but it is unfortunate for the TiVo owner there where you live. Where I live, we are still missing out on new HD channels, but we still have all our old ones, except for two which are gone completely.
> 
> I'll allow the CATV company DVRs (at least the SA 8300HD running the SARA software) are junk, and admittedly this is a good thing for TiVo, but unless the CATV company is willing to allow its users to hack their boxes (that will never happen!), no matter how good they are I would insist on owning my DVR.
> 
> Sometimes. Not often, however. With U-Verse, D*, and FIOS (not to mention in neighborhoods like mine, a second CATV company), they have a lot of competition.
> 
> You definitely want to speak more softly when you say that. With TiVos representing less than 0.5% of their subscriber base, and with more than 20% of their subscriber base in jeopardy of moving to D* due to lack of large numbers of HD channels, completely writing off all TiVo subs would not be a terribly difficult decision to make. Fortunately, they want and believe they can get bites from both sides of the pie, and so they are accommodating TiVo users. Otherwise "supply and demand" would demand they completely ignore us. (Of course, they are also no doubt trying to fend off a summary decision in favor of DCR+ by the FCC.)


Great points! My point regarding the Supply and demand was pointed more towards the TW employees that have told various users to get their box versus the TIVO because it's better (since it can offer more channels due to SDV compatibility). I understand that us TIVO users are a small group but all company's should follow a business model of "Let's strive to make products that consumers demand" as that concept will keep them the most competitive. Also that is the correct way to eliminate a competitor (by making a superior/better product). Again if their DVR was better than/equal to the TIVO then TIVO would end up out of business eventually.

Of course you are correct that there are competitors however their approach still more closely mimics that of a monopolistic style and I'm certain that has cost them a number of customers already.

I agree 100% with there reasoning for adopting SDV and it makes perfect business sense as to why however since they are not supplying cable card users with the same channel offerings they should not be allowed to charge the same. If they had taken it upon themselves to lower the cable bills of the cable card subscribers that had lost channels due to SDV then us TIVO users really wouldn't have anyone to be mad at other than ourselves or maybe TIVO (for not making a two way device in the first place). Ourselves because we still chose to keep the TIVO box with a reduced bill versus swithcing out to a SDV capable box.

Keep your input coming though as you have added some great insight to this thread


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## berkshires

Requesting a monthly discount for channels not received on certain devices is definitely the way to go for a fair solution until TAs are available. The cable company isn't offering it automatically, so we have to make the effort individually.

I have one channel those cable boxes don't get, and its called Netflix.  Its my new favorite channel.


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## mikeyts

Midwest User1 said:


> Keep your input coming though as you have added some great insight to this thread


While it's nice of you to be cheerful and encouraging, you should know that lrhorer has long been a fixture in these forums, whose input we couldn't stop coming if we wanted to .


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## Dartchen

Wish lrhorer would input more to be honest. He's the first person I've heard from in SA that has any idea what is going on here. If there is a way I can help nudge TWC SA into releasing TAs I'd be more than happy to help out. The tech that was out today to set up my cable cards (3rd try was a charm) said that they had a round table on the TAs recently. He claimed they decided they weren't economically feasible so they weren't going to pursue them for SA (backpeddled a bit when I brought up Section 629). Then again he said ch180 was the only HD Premium channel I would get because of SDV and he was off on that so I'm hoping he was just clueless and trying to sound intelligent.


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## JimWall

Update on SDV for TW southwest Ohio.
I called for the 2nd time about "channel not available message" for some of the new HD channels. CNNHD, HMHD, ESPNUHD. I was amazed that the customer service person actually seemed to be trained properly. CSR said these channels won't be availabe for CCs until tuning adapter is ready and the end the year date will not be met. CSR also said some additional HD channells will be available 12/30 (SCIFI HD, GOLF HD) and they may work with cable cards without tuning adapter.


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## cdeckert219

mikeyts said:


> They just added a bunch of new HD channels here in San Diego, including Sci Fi HD (also USA HD, FX HD, Bravo HD, ABC Family HD, Biography HD and CNBC HD, with others due to be added before 2/29). All as SDV, as expected .


I called TWC San Diego today to inquire of their progress with Tuning Adapters. Support person said, "You should have been called. We can mail the box out to you or you can come by and pick it up. I'll transfer you to Sales and they can arrange for it." Sales rep said, "Yes, you get 6 months free use of a digital converter. I can have it mailed out to you." I explained that I didn't want the digital converter... I want the Tuning Adapters." Long pause... "What's a tuning adapter."

She took the time to look it up on her computer, read the letter they sent me last fall, and then inquired of a supervisor. The supervisor said they should hear more at CES in January. I explained that other TWC regions have TAs available. She apologized, said she didn't know anything more, but could give me 6 months free cablecard rental since the adapters weren't yet available. I accepted the offer and said I'd check back in a month. She was very pleasant and tried to be helpful... but didn't really have any update. Sigh...


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## zablock

Just got this from TWC Albany:



> Thank you for email. We apologize for the inconvenience. Currently, we have no expected date that has been given for when the adapters will be available. Time Warner Cable is working to release the adapters as soon as possible. I can assure you that the technology is available and will be made available to customers. We will alert every customer who placed an online order as soon as the device is available to them. This notification will come via mail and/or email. Thank you for your patience in this matter.
> 
> Please let us know if we can be of any additional assistance.
> Thank you for being a Time Warner Cable customer.


Does not look good for us Albany folks.. I responded with the following, we'll see what happens



> OK then my next question would be whether I am entitled to a discount on my bill since I am not able to receive all of my channels due to Time Warner Cable Albany not providing the tuning adapters in a prompt way. I also received an unrelated pamphlet in the mail a couple days ago from TWC talking about how the cost of services will be going up as well. So I\'m not only going to be paying more for my cable tv service (plus the cable card that I\'m paying for that doesn\'t do me a whole lot of good without the tuning adapter), but I will not be receiving all of my channels that I am paying for. I would just like to mention again that TWC is REQUIRED by the FCC to provide these adapters, and has been fined by the FCC for not doing so, please see the following link: http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/pos...r-anticompetitive-switched-digital-video.html I\'m starting to get very annoyed by the whole thing (as are other TWC Albany TiVo Users) as I do not see the light at the end of the tunnel, and from what I\'ve seen thus far, time tables don\'t seem to mean much. Do you guys need a beta tester? A guinea pig? I\'d be more than happy to help out. Please let me know what can be done about my bill until this tuning adapter thing gets resolved. Thank you.


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## zablock

well that was a quick (and worthless) response:



> We do not have a specific release date for when the tuners will roll out. Testing has been completed, so it should be shortly. Unfortunately, there are some steps that have to be taken before the adapters are rolled out. They must be kept in compliance with legal system requirements and standards. Please be patient as we work to finish up this process.


I love how all my questions about getting money taken off my bill were answered, and I am just basically told to keep waiting.. love TWC.. if verizon has fios tv in albany I would be on it in a heartbeat.. so frustrating


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## lrhorer

mikeyts said:


> While it's nice of you to be cheerful and encouraging, you should know that lrhorer has long been a fixture in these forums, whose input we couldn't stop coming if we wanted to .


<loud Bronx cheer>


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## lrhorer

cramer said:


> SDV is a huge loophole. And cable companies will milk it for everything it's worth (and have been for years.)


While true it is a loophole for UDCPs, it is decidedly a different matter for basic service channels and even moreso for local broadcast channels. UDCPs are a bit of a gray area, but local must-carry channels are absolutely not. This is pretty much black-letter law. Any franchise who puts local channels exclusively on any digital channel - let alone an SDV channel, had better be prepared either to deliver free STBs for every outlet for each and every subscriber in an ungodly hurry, or they had better be prepared to get hit with huge fines. SDV on locals is definitely a no-no. Mike Scott was just being diplomatic.

Oh, and it hasn't been "years". Very few CATV systems have had a widespread deployment of SDV for more than a year.


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## KeithB

lrhorer said:


> (Taking note of the smiley) No, it can certainly be argued the fact certain subscribers cannot get those channels represents a marketing inferiority, a PR issue, or just plain being unfair, but this in no way represents a technological inferiority.


Glad you interpreted the smiley as intended.


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## Mindflux

Anyone having problems today? I can't tune in any HD channels at all.


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## shaun-ohio

yeah i cant believe that they took my cw channel on the standard lineup, and they changed the pbs hd to channel 707 and still cant get it without a tuning adapter, every new channel including the digital ones and the hd channels they add now, i cant get, i am ready to go back to dtv, i was so mad the other day before i took there wonderful dvr back, that i was going to take there cable cards out of there dvr, and put them in the tivo to see if they worked, because if you cant get them to come in on there dvr all they do is reset the box and put in the codes on the comp. and they are now talking about changing foxhd and cwhd to channel 708 and 713, if i lose these 2 i will really be p.......


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## drumdude

It's obvious that TWC has decided to make life as difficult as possible for Tivo HD customers. That's why they're so slow deploying the TA's. I blame Tivo for not working all this out with the cable companies before selling the product. Instead Tivo relied on the FCC to force cable companies to comply and now TWC is taking it out on Tivo users by making our lives difficult. I invested $1000 (3 Tivo HDs) in useless equipment. I should have stayed with my Series 2 DirecTV Tivos. Either way I STILL have no HD channels. I've lost a lot of respect for both companies (Tivo and TWC).


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## Mindflux

drumdude said:


> It's obvious that TWC has decided to make life as difficult as possible for Tivo HD customers. That's why they're so slow deploying the TA's. I blame Tivo for not working all this out with the cable companies before selling the product. Instead Tivo relied on the FCC to force cable companies to comply and now TWC is taking it out on Tivo users by making our lives difficult. I invested $1000 (3 Tivo HDs) in useless equipment. I should have stayed with my Series 2 DirecTV Tivos. Either way I STILL have no HD channels. I've lost a lot of respect for both companies (Tivo and TWC).


So sell your Series 3's at a loss and go back to DirecTV. Buying the TiVo's you KNEW that SDV wasn't an option without an adapter yet you bought them anyway. Do you really expect a cable company to be fast in giving away adapters so the 1% of the users on their system can get SDV? Nope, no rush by them. We're a small fraction of their business.


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## drumdude

Mindflux said:


> So sell your Series 3's at a loss and go back to DirecTV. Buying the TiVo's you KNEW that SDV wasn't an option without an adapter yet you bought them anyway. Do you really expect a cable company to be fast in giving away adapters so the 1% of the users on their system can get SDV? Nope, no rush by them. We're a small fraction of their business.


I bought these Tivo HDs over a year ago so I didn't know SDV would be depoyed. Why does there always have to be a smart alec who doesn't know as much as he thinks?


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## Mindflux

drumdude said:


> I bought these Tivo HDs over a year ago so I didn't know SDV would be depoyed. Why does there always have to be a smart alec who doesn't know as much as he thinks?


Don't know as much as I think I know? Maybe so, but I'm not the one whining about a lack of a tuning adapter. Do I think they should be necessary? No. I think that TiVo should have a Series 3.5 with a built in T.A until True2Way gets here.

SDV isn't *MUCH* different from On Demand, and you knew you couldn't get that. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see where the Cable Companies are headed from there.

I wish TiVo could get some more companies under their belt to just offer the TiVo software/programming to other providers so their market share could grow but I guess most folks are perfectly happy with the SARA Software that comes on Sci Atl boxes.


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## mikeyts

Mindflux said:


> No. I think that TiVo should have a Series 3.5 with a built in T.A until True2Way gets here.


Not possible. The TAs have to match the proprietary technology of the network they're operating on--Cisco TAs on Cisco networks and Moto TAs on Moto networks. It also requires bidirectional comm (one of the biggest things the TAs can do is talk back to the network) and that comes part and parcel with tru2way. CableLabs will not certify a box with bidirectional comm that doesn't also implement OCAP.

Sit back, get comforable and wait. It shouldn't be too long before tru2way stuff hits and market and any interrim tech would require a wasted effort from the "standards" organization that would take _much_ longer.


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## rgura

cableguy763 said:


> The TA's are ready for you tivo lovers in Austin,Tx. Finally.:up:


Picked up mine today from the South Austin location (Stassney Ln.), un-boxing and installation slide show here:
http://robgtx.blogspot.com/2008/12/tivo-s3-sdv-tuning-adapter-installation.html

Overall I am very pleased!


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## Mindflux

rgura said:


> Picked up mine today from the South Austin location (Stassney Ln.), un-boxing and installation slide show here:
> http://robgtx.blogspot.com/2008/12/tivo-s3-sdv-tuning-adapter-installation.html
> 
> Overall I am very pleased!


Wait until you restart your TiVo and your T.A doesn't come back up. You'll be pleased as peas in a pod after that.  It's a twice or more a week fight for me lately.


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## lrhorer

Mindflux said:


> Do you really expect a cable company to be fast in giving away adapters so the 1% of the users on their system can get SDV? Nope, no rush by them. We're a small fraction of their business.


'Far less than 1%. It's more like 0.05%. There are something like 60 million CATV subscribers, and something like 300,000 have Series III class TiVos.


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## lrhorer

drumdude said:


> I bought these Tivo HDs over a year ago so I didn't know SDV would be depoyed. Why does there always have to be a smart alec who doesn't know as much as he thinks?


It was no secret. A little research would have informed you of the fact.


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## lrhorer

Mindflux said:


> SDV isn't *MUCH* different from On Demand


Technologically, it isn't different at all. The only differences are with VOD, the CATV system allows the user to initiate the stream, and usually only the user who initiated the stream is authorized to receive it. With standard scheduled SDV, the stream is initiated by someone further up the line - either the broadcaster or the CATV company themselves.


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## lrhorer

mikeyts said:


> CableLabs will not certify a box with bidirectional comm that doesn't also implement OCAP.


The problem is, OCAP - and consequently tru2way - is unacceptable.


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## Raygun

Hey, I wonder if TW would let me pick up a SDV tuner in Austin even though I live in San Antonio?


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## mikeyts

lrhorer said:


> The problem is, OCAP - and consequently tru2way - is unacceptable.


"Unacceptable" to who? It sucks in that it's mainly an attempt by the cable providers to coopt the user interface through which we deal with cable television, but it's pretty much a fait accompli. Most of the major CE OEMs have bought in and the "DCR Plus" initiative is dead.


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## cramer

lrhorer said:


> While true it is a loophole for UDCPs, it is decidedly a different matter for basic service channels and even moreso for local broadcast channels.


The letter of the law only says they have to be unencrypted and available to the basic tier. It says nothing about SDV or what may be required to actually receive them. They are perfectly free to make every channel SDV -- however, no one has as yet because they don't want to give the FCC a reason make new regulations.



> Oh, and it hasn't been "years". Very few CATV systems have had a widespread deployment of SDV for more than a year.


Remove the word "widespread"... TWC in Raleigh NC has had SDV equipment for 3+ years. If the FCC hadn't (allegedly) threatened to fine them and customers complained, every channel would have been SDV two years ago.



drumdude said:


> I blame Tivo for not working all this out with the cable companies before selling the product.


How exactly can this be Tivo's fault? When they designed the systems, SDV didn't exist. Furthermore, there were no standards or certification path for bidirectional cable systems; a "UDCP" was all there was. They built systems to the documented and certified standards. It's not their fault the cable companies want to change the standards _AGAIN_, or that they have made and deployed technology incompatible with the published standards. In fact, it's the FCC's integration ban forcing cable companies to use CC's themselves and allow 3rd party, non-cable company receivers that has them steaming, and scheming to find ways to make 3rd party equipment useless, and make the CC experience so bad everyone turns on the FCC for mandating this "crap" -- except it's the cable industry that designed it in the first place, and the receivers from your cable company that use a cablecard work perfectly and never have any of the "issues" 3rd party devices have, and don't require a $50 truck roll to have it installed.


----------



## f0gax

Just received this in today:



> December 30, 2008
> 
> Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available in all TWC areas and we continue testing to ensure that this equipment meets the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released sometime in January in many remaining areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> D. Jacobs
> Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
> Time Warner Cable


Fellow San Antonions (?)... enjoy further lack of channels.


----------



## CharlesH

mikeyts said:


> It sucks in that it's mainly an attempt by the cable providers to coopt the user interface through which we deal with cable television, but it's pretty much a fait accompli.


What is the status of the "dual mode" proposal from TiVo (run MSO's UI for VOD, PPV, and other interactive features, but use TiVo UI for current non-interactive features), a.k.a Series 4?


----------



## mikeyts

CharlesH said:


> What is the status of the "dual mode" proposal from TiVo (run MSO's UI for VOD, PPV, and other interactive features, but use TiVo UI for current non-interactive features), a.k.a Series 4?


I don't think that anything definitive on the subject has been released since the discovery of this filing with the FCC describing it:


> ...TiVo had expressed concerns about the cable industry's OpenCable Application Platform ("OCAP") specifications and license terms. In response to TiVo's concerns, the cable industry has agreed to work with TiVo to make clarifications or adjustments to OCAP that may be necessary to enable TiVo to build what TiVo believes can be a viable retail DVR with OCAP. We explained that a TiVo DVR with OCAP would have a "TiVo mode" displaying all linear channels (including switched digital video enabled by OCAP) with the TiVo user interface and full DVR functionality as well as a "cable mode" running OCAP and displaying all cable programming services with the cable user interface without DVR functionality.
> 
> We also expressed our belief that this refined version of OCAP was a preferable solution to DCR+ for a variety of reasons, including time-to-market and the ability to receive all of cable's two-way services. Manufacturers, cable companies, and consumers will benefit most from an OCAP-based solution that enables the creation of differentiated retail devices such as TiVo DVRs and allows all of cable's two-way services to reach the consumer within a reasonable time.


TiVo helped the cable providers define and test the Tuning Adapter and have argued against the CE OEM's "Digital Cable Ready Plus" proposal--arguably, cable owes them . They'd probably rather not have tru2way devices on the market with alternative UIs allowing access to downloadable and streaming video like TiVo, but if they tried to block it, people would just buy little standalone products like Roku's (which is apparently due to be updated to give access to other streaming video sources like Hulu).

Hopefully, we'll hear something about this from TiVo at CES--it's been a little over a year since that filing.


----------



## lrhorer

mikeyts said:


> "Unacceptable" to who?


To me and others. To me, certainly. It is unacceptable that the CATV company can tell me which features I must have on a device I own. Under OCAP, the CATV company selects what software and what features will run on my device - including spyware if they so choose, and I cannot prevent them from doing so. The requirement that I approve any software and / or features and can block them if I so choose is essential. Under OCAP, the consumer also cannot choose to implement 3rd party software to enable any features. The requirement I be able to select whatever software maker I choose is also essential. I have no problem with the requirement a developer must meet certain specifications when developing for the platform, but any developer who wishes should be able to develop OCAP software.



mikeyts said:


> It sucks in that it's mainly an attempt by the cable providers to coopt the user interface through which we deal with cable television


They are really not concerned overly much with the UI, per se. They just don't want to deal with the hassles (including security issues) of dealing with a myriad of different softwares, and they do not wish to place control of the attached system in the hands of the subscriber. Note their fears have a very substantial basis, but that's just tough. If they don't want to have to deal with the costs and problems of doing business, they should not be in business.



mikeyts said:


> but it's pretty much a fait accompli. Most of the major CE OEMs have bought in and the "DCR Plus" initiative is dead.


I don't have a problem with the majority of what OCAP is or represents, but I draw the line when some company gets to tell me what I can and cannot do with my own equipment. It's bad enough they are nearly a monopoly. That they be Big Brother is too much.


----------



## lrhorer

cramer said:


> The letter of the law only says they have to be unencrypted and available to the basic tier.


Which in turn means if they move any of these channels to SDV, then they must provide an STB for every user outlet. That's a very tall order.



cramer said:


> It says nothing about SDV or what may be required to actually receive them. They are perfectly free to make every channel SDV -- however, no one has as yet because they don't want to give the FCC a reason make new regulations.


At this time there is also no reason to do so. Local broadcast channels are very popular, and there is no economic advantage to moving any popular channel to SDV. At this point in time, SDV does cost somewhat more to deploy than a linear channel. In time the differential in cost will become insignificant, but at this point in time it is not.

First you say:



cramer said:


> Remove the word "widespread"... TWC in Raleigh NC has had SDV equipment for 3+ years. If the FCC hadn't (allegedly) threatened to fine them and customers complained, every channel would have been SDV two years ago.


Then you say:



cramer said:


> How exactly can this be Tivo's fault? When they designed the systems, SDV didn't exist.


The two statements are mutually incompatible, given that 3 years ago was when the S3 was developed. SDV certainly did exist when the S3 was developed. The point, however, is that there was nothing TiVo could do about the fact.


----------



## rgura

Raygun said:


> Hey, I wonder if TW would let me pick up a SDV tuner in Austin even though I live in San Antonio?


Probably not, I think its a different network. I recall that they merged operations Waco, Austin and SA a year or so ago to consolidate and save cash.

I would go here and request the box through their website.


----------



## rgura

Mindflux said:


> Wait until you restart your TiVo and your T.A doesn't come back up. You'll be pleased as peas in a pod after that.  It's a twice or more a week fight for me lately.


Ugh, I hope not. So far so goo after a day...I will post back in a few weeks to let you know how things are going. Any other commentary from Austin TWC SDV users?


----------



## skaggs

Here's the email I received from TWC on October 13, 2008:


> Thank you for your recent request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available to the public but is currently undergoing testing to ensure the highest level of customer satisfaction upon release; which *we will begin deployments later this year*. We do not have a specific release date for your area, but once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.


"*...later THIS YEAR.*"

Received from: [email protected]

Today is the last day of 2008. Still no Tuning Adapter for Albany TWC customers 

But, they were kind enough to add another SDV channel today...TV One-HD added at 1845. Also, a placeholder in the program guide for MLB Network on channel 621.


----------



## Mindflux

rgura said:


> Ugh, I hope not. So far so goo after a day...I will post back in a few weeks to let you know how things are going. Any other commentary from Austin TWC SDV users?


Last night I was watching a SDV channel and poof, my video feed disappeared. I had to unplug the T.A power, plug it back in, unplug the usb, re-plug it back in. Got my standard video channels back while the T.A blinked stupidly for 15 minutes, once it went steady again the TiVo interrupted my show to let me know a tuning adapter had been plugged in (though I did it 15 minutes prior) and had my switched channels back.

This is going to REALLY irritate me if I start programming my season passes for SDV channels and I don't get any of it because of this thing.

I'm attempting to exchange the unit today because I've had so much trouble with it I don't see how it CANT be faulty.


----------



## berkshires

skaggs said:


> Here's the email I received from TWC on October 13, 2008:
> 
> "*...later THIS YEAR.*"
> 
> Received from: [email protected]
> 
> Today is the last day of 2008. Still no Tuning Adapter for Albany TWC customers
> 
> But, they were kind enough to add another SDV channel today...TV One-HD added at 1845. Also, a placeholder in the program guide for MLB Network on channel 621.


The email I got about 2 days ago (I'm in the Lee, MA area which is basically fed from Albany) said January.

That is an interesting thought about reliability and trusting your recordings to the TA. I am getting to the point where I am dropping S2s and not making duplicate analog recordings with them to backup the CC based hi-def TiVos.

Edit *it said January for many areas, but not specifically mine.


----------



## k2ue

My Tuning Adapter finally arrived on the 30th (I was notified on the 17th it would be shipped, apparently slowly).

It was up and running very quickly -- once I got a "ready" state but no SDV channels I called TW Rochester, they tickled it, and in moments all the channels were working.

It is remarkably seamless -- I used fixed 1080i output, which is fast for channel changes, and there is almost no perceptible additional delay on SDV channels.

It's so nice to have both TiVo and all available channels.


----------



## dotBob

Just an FYI, I also received an email from TWC stating the TAs should be shipped in January. I'm in Greensboro, NC.


----------



## gbronzer

dotBob said:


> Just an FYI, I also received an email from TWC stating the TAs should be shipped in January. I'm in Greensboro, NC.


Let us know when you actually recieve it. I'm in Charlotte and haven't heard anything since I signed up for an adaptor.


----------



## Xab

dotBob said:


> Just an FYI, I also received an email from TWC stating the TAs should be shipped in January. I'm in Greensboro, NC.


Ditto, I'm in Columbus, OH and I signed up for the Tuning Adapter pre-order form, got an email on the 30th that said they should be deployed in remaining areas in January. Really hope that works out, I would love to actually get FX HD and USA HD.


----------



## berkshires

k2ue said:


> It was up and running very quickly -- once I got a "ready" state but no SDV channels I called TW Rochester, they *tickled *it, and in moments all the channels were working.


CableCARDs get *hit*, so cable is really trying to change its image these days.


----------



## c615586

Xab said:


> Ditto, I'm in Columbus, OH and I signed up for the Tuning Adapter pre-order form, got an email on the 30th that said they should be deployed in remaining areas in January. Really hope that works out, I would love to actually get FX HD and USA HD.


I'm here in the Columbus, OH area and have signed up at least three different times, and have not received any word on the SDV adapter. Customer Service gets a call tomorrow....


----------



## cramer

lrhorer said:


> Which in turn means if they move any of these channels to SDV, then they must provide an STB for every user outlet. That's a very tall order.


Not at all. I suspect many cable companies would love the idea since it means more STB rentals.



> The two statements are mutually incompatible, given that 3 years ago was when the S3 was developed. SDV certainly did exist when the S3 was developed. The point, however, is that there was nothing TiVo could do about the fact.


You are confusing "developed" and "on the market". The series 3 tivo was _designed_ long before it was available at Best Buy. It had to pass Cable Labs first, which took a Very. Long. Time. Even if SDV was in the field when Tivo sat down to design a cable card tivo, there were no standards or possible certifications for anything but a unidirectional device; so they could not support SDV at all. (which is why no tivo has an RF transmitter in it at all.)

(There was a prototype on display at CES in 2005 -- in a S2 case. So it was designed over 4 years ago. The final version of the S3 was shown in 2006 but was still waiting for CL certification to actually go on sale.)


----------



## c615586

I just talked to a CSR (who is Wisconsin) who had absolutely no idea what I was talking about. Her supervisor (whom I did not speak to) also had no information beyond the usual online form application.

Looks like I'm going to be talking to WOW about their service today....


----------



## y2kse

c615586 said:


> I'm here in the Columbus, OH area and have signed up at least three different times, and have not received any word on the SDV adapter. Customer Service gets a call tomorrow....


I'm in Marysville and haven't heard a thing, either.


----------



## FrancesTheMute

Anyone in San Diego heard from TWC yet about the TA deployment?


----------



## shaun-ohio

well here is the deal i got today, when i called timewarner, the csr knew what i meant when i said tuning adapter for the tivo, he even said he is waiting on one too, so i told him that i wanted to file a complaint, about paying for the channels every month especially the new hd channels and digital channels they add, that i cant get without a tuning adapter, so he said they are giving customers 2 options until the tuning adapters become available, 1st choice was free hd cable box for a year, but i said yeah i got one but it does me no good, because you cant record on it, then the second option was, exchange the hd cable box, for there hd dvr and no cost for the dvr or dvr fees for 6 months, so i took the dvr until the tuning adapters come available, at least i get the new hd and digital channels they have added until the tuning adapter becomes available, and can record them now, so others should try calling time warner each month and see what they offer them.


----------



## billdav

FrancesTheMute said:


> Anyone in San Diego heard from TWC yet about the TA deployment?


Supposedly we should be seeing them in late January. Of course, given their track record, I have no doubt that it will require waiting 4 hours for a tech to come out just to to plug in the cables and call it in to be enabled. :down:


----------



## c615586

shaun-ohio said:


> well here is the deal i got today, when i called timewarner, the csr knew what i meant when i said tuning adapter for the tivo, he even said he is waiting on one too, so i told him that i wanted to file a complaint, about paying for the channels every month especially the new hd channels and digital channels they add, that i cant get without a tuning adapter, so he said they are giving customers 2 options until the tuning adapters become available, 1st choice was free hd cable box for a year, but i said yeah i got one but it does me no good, because you cant record on it, then the second option was, exchange the hd cable box, for there hd dvr and no cost for the dvr or dvr fees for 6 months, so i took the dvr until the tuning adapters come available, at least i get the new hd and digital channels they have added until the tuning adapter becomes available, and can record them now, so others should try calling time warner each month and see what they offer them.


Wow--who did you talk to to get this deal? The CSR I spoke with literally had no idea what I was talking about.


----------



## lrhorer

cramer said:


> Not at all. I suspect many cable companies would love the idea since it means more STB rentals.


Forcing Basic Cable subs to lease STBs would probably bring the FCC (not to mention money hungry lawyers looking for a good, solid class action suit) down on an MSO like a ton of bricks. Few, if any local franchise authorities would approve such a cost hike, and sans their approval, litigation an fines are not far behind. No, if they want to keep their shirts, any such campaign would have to deliver the STBs free of charge. Even if they could get away with upping the costs of basic cable, they would be compelled to deliver something on the order of 1.5 - 2 STBs to each and every subscriber essentially overnight - a more than herculean task. Finally, far from "loving" it, most MSOs make little or nothing on STB rentals. It's a near break-even proposition, even sometimes a loss-leader, for an MSO to provide an STB to a subscriber. The real money is revenues generated by the STB: Premium Channels, VOD, and IPPV. Basic subscribers transitioned to some number of STBs are not the most likely candidates for purchasing premium services.



cramer said:


> You are confusing "developed" and "on the market".


No, I'm not. SDV has been around - albeit not widely deployed - since the days of the S1.



cramer said:


> The series 3 tivo was _designed_ long before it was available at Best Buy.


Not so much. Early design on the S3 began in late 2004 and early 2005. We developed the elements of SDV starting in the 1990s.



cramer said:


> It had to pass Cable Labs first, which took a Very. Long. Time.


Not so much. 'Not compared with the length of time SDV protocols have been around.



cramer said:


> Even if SDV was in the field when Tivo sat down to design a cable card tivo, there were no standards or possible certifications for anything but a unidirectional device; so they could not support SDV at all. (which is why no tivo has an RF transmitter in it at all.)


True. I never said otherwise. Indeed, if you will look through my posts, you'll see I've made that point many, many times over the last 3 or 4 years. It's not what you said in your previous post, however. The statements, "No published standard for bidirectional hosts existed at the time", and, "SDV did not exist at the time", are two very different things indeed. The difference is the very reason we are in the mess in which we find ourselves at this time.


----------



## lrhorer

shaun-ohio said:


> then the second option was, exchange the hd cable box, for there hd dvr and no cost for the dvr or dvr fees for 6 months, so i took the dvr until the tuning adapters come available, at least i get the new hd and digital channels they have added until the tuning adapter becomes available, and can record them now, so others should try calling time warner each month and see what they offer them.


That's no deal. Unless other markets are using something different (possible, as some hardware and software decisions are discretionary at the local franchise level), the DVR provided by TWC is the Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC with SARA software. It's a piece of [email protected]%! The worst 9 months of my TV viewing experience were hands-down having to fight with that electronic offal. It was a painful and aggravating experience. I'd rather hit myself in the head with a hammer than deal with that hunk of junk another six months.

I'll live with the missing stations until the TA comes along.


----------



## berkshires

berkshires said:


> The email I got about 2 days ago (I'm in the Lee, MA area which is basically fed from Albany) said January.
> 
> That is an interesting thought about reliability and trusting your recordings to the TA. I am getting to the point where I am dropping S2s and not making duplicate analog recordings with them to backup the CC based hi-def TiVos.
> 
> Edit *it said January for many areas, but not specifically mine.


Just reposting because I realized upon more careful reading the email was not specific to my area.


----------



## shaun-ohio

well there hd dvr is better than nothing, at least i get all the channels and able to record them, with np here with there dvr, and its free for 6 months, and to answer others questions, it is for timewarner mid ohio location, so different locations, may have different offers, by the way the number is 1-800-617-4311.


----------



## szurlo

lrhorer said:


> the DVR provided by TWC is the Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC with SARA software. It's a piece of [email protected]%!


Noooooo kidding. I went from DirecTV with a DirecTivo to TWC and an 8300HD. I was absolutely flabbergasted. The 8300HD is remarkably horrible. I don't know how else to describe it. Comparing that POS to a Tivo would be like comparing a Sopwith Camel to an FA/18. I like to refer to it as the "Playskool My First DVR". I made the mistake of airing my grievances with that device over at another forum and was thoroughly flamed by the fan-boys there. The fact that there can even BE 8300 fan-boys is in and of itself a sad commentary on the modern consumer. The trend of "rush it to market incomplete and (maybe) fix it later" has been going on for so long now that I think we are cultivating whole new generations of consumers that have very low expectations. In that environment even the 8300HD can have a fan base. Obviously the Tivo has issues as well, but I'm referring more to feature sets and design quality here. In the other forum one fan-boys response to 8300HD dearth of features was in effect "they said it will record shows, and it does. That's all you can ask for". Wow. Of course most of these people have never seen a Tivo in action, which IMHO is partly because Tivo does a poor job of marketing it's products, but that's a topic for a whole other thread.
Anyway, sorry for the off-topic rant. Now back to your normal programming


----------



## c615586

shaun-ohio said:


> well there hd dvr is better than nothing, at least i get all the channels and able to record them, with np here with there dvr, and its free for 6 months, and to answer others questions, it is for timewarner mid ohio location, so different locations, may have different offers, by the way the number is 1-800-617-4311.


Thanks for the info.


----------



## Mindflux

Anyone having problems today in Austin? I can't tune anything switched. Says the channel is unavailable and to try later. T.A diagnostics show everything is fine.


----------



## Mindflux

Mindflux said:


> Anyone having problems today in Austin? I can't tune anything switched. Says the channel is unavailable and to try later. T.A diagnostics show everything is fine.


Still getting this today even after restarting the T.A.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Question... If you have a tuning adapter attached to your TiVo and the TA isnt properly authorized or otherwise not working properly.... can you access non switched channels OK? 

Im wondering if the TA is only used if the cablecard channel map doesnt have the requested channel info or if the TA map supercedes the cable card map.

Hopefully, we will be seeing TA's this month here in Raleigh.


----------



## wtherrell

lrhorer said:


> That's no deal. Unless other markets are using something different (possible, as some hardware and software decisions are discretionary at the local franchise level), the DVR provided by TWC is the Scientific Atlanta 8300HDC with SARA software. It's a piece of [email protected]%! The worst 9 months of my TV viewing experience were hands-down having to fight with that electronic offal. It was a painful and aggravating experience. I'd rather hit myself in the head with a hammer than deal with that hunk of junk another six months.
> 
> I'll live with the missing stations until the TA comes along.


Amen to that! The SA TWC DVR is really a POS and the software is nowhere near what Tivo has. That's what got me into Tivo to start with. Now I have 3. Heck I would get more but my eyes are bloodshot from trying to watch it all!


----------



## GBK33

for those of you that have a tuning adapter...did you have to have a Time Warner Tech come to your house to set it up or could you pick it up and plug it in yourself? I'm in Columbus, Oh and need 2 Tuning adapters - and am getting tired of waiting.


----------



## Mindflux

GBK33 said:


> for those of you that have a tuning adapter...did you have to have a Time Warner Tech come to your house to set it up or could you pick it up and plug it in yourself? I'm in Columbus, Oh and need 2 Tuning adapters - and am getting tired of waiting.


Local pickup.


----------



## cableguy763

SCSIRAID said:


> Question... If you have a tuning adapter attached to your TiVo and the TA isnt properly authorized or otherwise not working properly.... can you access non switched channels OK?
> 
> Im wondering if the TA is only used if the cablecard channel map doesnt have the requested channel info or if the TA map supercedes the cable card map.
> 
> Hopefully, we will be seeing TA's this month here in Raleigh.


The cablecard handles all the channel maps and authorizations.


----------



## SCSIRAID

cableguy763 said:


> The cablecard handles all the channel maps and authorizations.


OK... So if the TA is 'acting up' I will still be able to tune non-SDV channels... right?

Thanks,


----------



## Mindflux

SCSIRAID said:


> OK... So if the TA is 'acting up' I will still be able to tune non-SDV channels... right?
> 
> Thanks,


In theory, yes. But I've had my T.A 'act up' and been able to tune precisely *nothing*. The pass through quits working when it's having a fit.


----------



## gamo62

Anyone in Cincinnati had any luck getting the T.A.? If so, what was/is your secret?


----------



## berkshires

SCSIRAID said:


> Question... If you have a tuning adapter attached to your TiVo and the TA isnt properly authorized or otherwise not working properly.... can you access non switched channels OK?
> 
> Im wondering if the TA is only used if the cablecard channel map doesnt have the requested channel info or if the TA map supercedes the cable card map.
> 
> Hopefully, we will be seeing TA's this month here in Raleigh.


Does the TA have anything to do with Authorization at all? Isn't it just a two-way communication device for the unit/cableCARDs to use?


----------



## Austin_Martin

> Anyone having problems today in Austin? I can't tune anything switched. Says the channel is unavailable and to try later. T.A diagnostics show everything is fine


In the past two weeks I've lost many recordings with "channel not available" greyscreens, on one of my tivos. It seems as if the cable companies don't have any consideration for quality of service.

The other one had a cablecard go bad, which I think might need a truckroll to fix.

I'm considering cancelling all cable after all the truck rolls/calls/etc. It starts to wear on you after a while.


----------



## jmfirestone

dotBob said:


> Just an FYI, I also received an email from TWC stating the TAs should be shipped in January. I'm in Greensboro, NC.


Seriously!? That's great news. I am in Greensboro too, though I didn't get that email.


----------



## Xab

jmfirestone said:


> Seriously!? That's great news. I am in Greensboro too, though I didn't get that email.


It seems like these emails are rather sporadic. The one I received last month was from the "Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk", and mentioned that all the remaining areas should be getting the adapters in January. Hopefully they stand by that and it should be a good month for all of us Time Warner customers that have been screwed over by their SDV garbage.


----------



## obsidian

From Time Warner in Milwaukee area:



> Thank-you for writing Time Warner Cable.
> The tuning adapters should be available the second week of January. We apologize for the inconvenience, there was a delay with getting them out.


Here's hoping it's true.


----------



## mikeyts

berkshires said:


> Does the TA have anything to do with Authorization at all? Isn't it just a two-way communication device for the unit/cableCARDs to use?


The Tuning Adapter itself has to be authorized in order to operate, just like CableCARDs. As I understand it, once it's running, TiVo only uses the TA's channel map. (I'm not sure whether there's some optimization for tuning fixed channels or whether it asks the TA for tuning information every time).

I know that some people using lifeline basic to tune the clear QAM rebroadcasts of local channels want to try getting a CableCARD installation in order to get a TA, then return the CableCARD(s) (using the TA with no CableCARDs has been verified to work vis-a-vis getting guide data from TiVo for the clear QAM channels). If the cable provider has been sloppy in setting up accounting of the TA, this ploy might work. If it was me, I'd associate each deployed TA with one or more leased CableCARDs and if the CableCARD(s) gets return and deauthorized, the system would automatically deauthorize the associated TA.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Mindflux said:


> In theory, yes. But I've had my T.A 'act up' and been able to tune precisely *nothing*. The pass through quits working when it's having a fit.


I did some digging in the TA spec and it appears that the UDCP gets the TA's channel map to use instead of the Cablecard channel map. That would tend to validate what you are seeing in that when the TA acts up... you cant tune anything.

5.3 Channel Tuning Operation
After the USB initialization and enumeration, the UDCP initiates the initialization and discovery process, during which the UDCP and TR discover each other's capabilities. The TR then sends the channel table to the UDCP in place of the [SCTE 65] SI data. The UDCP then utilizes this channel table to know which channels are defined. Whenever the UDCP tunes any channel, it sends the channel number to the TR, upon which the TR will, if necessary, handle all SDV interface operations for SDV channels, and return the tuning parameters required for the UDCP to tune the channel.


----------



## Combat Medic

I just got a phone call to have my TA installed. They are coming out Weds morning to do the install. They want to do it themselves since I will be the first customer in San Antonio with one.


----------



## Combat Medic

Update. They are now coming between 2 and 3.


----------



## convergent

Xab said:


> It seems like these emails are rather sporadic. The one I received last month was from the "Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk", and mentioned that all the remaining areas should be getting the adapters in January. Hopefully they stand by that and it should be a good month for all of us Time Warner customers that have been screwed over by their SDV garbage.


Care to share the email address to the Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk? I'd like to get on a list to get one of these things.


----------



## skaggs

convergent said:


> Care to share the email address to the Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk?


[email protected]


----------



## usnret

I just received a letter from TW indicating that SDV here (Bowling Green, Ohio) will start on or after January 26, 2009. It also gave a long list of channels that will be SDV'd. It directed me to go to www.timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter or call 1-866-681-9272 if I desired to learn about the offer or have other questions. It also indicated that the TA would be free for the first year and that charges may apply after the first year if I desired to use the TA after that first year.


----------



## patroldawg

Combat Medic said:


> Update. They are now coming between 2 and 3.


B*astard!!! I just got the call 5 minutes ago. can't get mine until monday the 12th. i'm glad as hell its finally here, though.


----------



## frozenbubbleboy

patroldawg said:


> B*astard!!! I just got the call 5 minutes ago. can't get mine until monday the 12th. i'm glad as hell its finally here, though.


Yeah, also in San Antonio, I got a call around the same time. Monday can't come soon enough!!!

Coincidentally, when I got the call, I had a couple of Time Warner techs in my house troubleshooting why my cable cards couldn't get channels 124, 127 & 150 (which turns out to have been an issue in my area, which got resolved right before the techs arrived). And somehow, cable card 2 stopped working while they were here. Turns out, somehow, the the card got de-paired, and Time Warner no longer had the host ID for that card (good thing they were here to get it paired up again).


----------



## Combat Medic

patroldawg said:


> B*astard!!! I just got the call 5 minutes ago. can't get mine until monday the 12th. i'm glad as hell its finally here, though.


They told me that I'm a guinea pig. But, it worked perfectly so you guys should be good to go.


----------



## CharlesH

SCSIRAID said:


> I did some digging in the TA spec and it appears that the UDCP gets the TA's channel map to use instead of the Cablecard channel map. That would tend to validate what you are seeing in that when the TA acts up... you cant tune anything.
> 
> 5.3 Channel Tuning Operation
> After the USB initialization and enumeration, the UDCP initiates the initialization and discovery process, during which the UDCP and TR discover each other's capabilities. The TR then sends the channel table to the UDCP in place of the [SCTE 65] SI data. The UDCP then utilizes this channel table to know which channels are defined. Whenever the UDCP tunes any channel, it sends the channel number to the TR, upon which the TR will, if necessary, handle all SDV interface operations for SDV channels, and return the tuning parameters required for the UDCP to tune the channel.


I think the idea is that the cable company can send a channel map to the cablecards which omits SDV channels, but the one the TA gets, of course does include the SDV channels. This can also deal with things like whether you get the analog version of a channel or the digital version (which happens to use SDV).


----------



## Enforcer

frozenbubbleboy said:


> Yeah, also in San Antonio, I got a call around the same time. Monday can't come soon enough!!!
> 
> Coincidentally, when I got the call, I had a couple of Time Warner techs in my house troubleshooting why my cable cards couldn't get channels 124, 127 & 150 (which turns out to have been an issue in my area, which got resolved right before the techs arrived). And somehow, cable card 2 stopped working while they were here. Turns out, somehow, the the card got de-paired, and Time Warner no longer had the host ID for that card (good thing they were here to get it paired up again).


I thought i was going crazy! I had this issue too. THey tried to fix it on the phone and then decided to send a tech. I told them its not something a tech can fix but they insisted. Then 30 mins after talking to them, bam, it works. Cancelled the tech. Interesting that I havent received a call from TWC about the TA. Screw it, im going bright and early monday morning. Also ordered another TIVO.


----------



## f0gax

frozenbubbleboy said:


> Yeah, also in San Antonio, I got a call around the same time. Monday can't come soon enough!!!
> 
> Coincidentally, when I got the call, I had a couple of Time Warner techs in my house troubleshooting why my cable cards couldn't get channels 124, 127 & 150 (which turns out to have been an issue in my area, which got resolved right before the techs arrived). And somehow, cable card 2 stopped working while they were here. Turns out, somehow, the the card got de-paired, and Time Warner no longer had the host ID for that card (good thing they were here to get it paired up again).


I also received the call. I figured the ESPNHD loss (124) was due to it being moved to SDV. I didn't even think to see if was another problem. I'll have to check when I get home to see if it's back.

I can't wait for lunch time on Monday when I can run over to the Callaghan office to get my TA. Then spend the evening on the phone with TW, while my wife complains that the TV is broken


----------



## convergent

Has anyone in the Raleigh area gotten a Tuning Adapter?


----------



## SCSIRAID

convergent said:


> Has anyone in the Raleigh area gotten a Tuning Adapter?


Nope... They havent installed the head end code required to support TA's yet.


----------



## xiandeath

I just got a call from TW-Greensboro. They're installing a tuning adapter tomorrow at 2pm. The tech says I'll be his second installation... ever. The first is evidently earlier in the day.


----------



## wcohoe

SCSIRAID said:


> Nope... They havent installed the head end code required to support TA's yet.


Wow, how did you find out that kind of detail? I've been bugging them, "end of year" letter in hand, and can't get past:

"I understand that you did not receive a Tuning Adapter as you were about to get it by the end of the year and you were about to get a response in 24 to 48 hours which did not happen.
"

Where the heck are these guys, India? I am in Raleigh, and really want Fox Sports Carolinas to watch the Hurricanes play hockey in HD. It's SDV here. :-(

Do you know any sort of time line for Raleigh?


----------



## SugarBowl

wcohoe said:


> Wow, how did you find out that kind of detail? I've been bugging them, "end of year" letter in hand, and can't get past:
> 
> "I understand that you did not receive a Tuning Adapter as you were about to get it by the end of the year and you were about to get a response in 24 to 48 hours which did not happen.
> "
> 
> Where the heck are these guys, India? I am in Raleigh, and really want Fox Sports Carolinas to watch the Hurricanes play hockey in HD. It's SDV here. :-(
> 
> Do you know any sort of time line for Raleigh?


I haven't heard anything..


----------



## boswic

Anyone in Wisconsin heard anything recently (I saw upthread that someone mentioned something about mid-January)? I just received an email from Time Warner WI saying that the TAs are still "in testing & not yet available. All customers will be notified when they become available."


----------



## spolebitski

boswic said:


> Anyone in Wisconsin heard anything recently (I saw upthread that someone mentioned something about mid-January)? I just received an email from Time Warner WI saying that the TAs are still "in testing & not yet available. All customers will be notified when they become available."


I have been working with TWC-WI about this. I have had to call each time and speak with the CSR about, once they are off the phone do expect them to call you back.

I have been into the Mayfair location several times. Finally I got a call from a CSR who seemed to care about getting me the tuning adapter. She called me twice in the first three days then I did not hear from her for about two weeks. When I finally called her back she mentioned that we had just spoke the other day, I had to correct her that it had been over 2 weeks. After yesterdays conversation she said she would call daily. Today no phone call.

Of course she was having trouble finding out what exactly the tuning adapter was.


----------



## drumdude

Time Warner Cable Charlotte never gave me the 3 tuning adapters I ordered. They never fully supported Tivo HD. Yesterday I canceled my service and had DirecTV install a HD dish with 3 HD DVR's. I just couldn't stand another minute of lame service from TWC. With DirecTV I got every movie channel for the same price as the basic tier at TWC and it worked right the first time. I'll never go back to cable. Maybe someday I can have DirecTV and Tivo together. Until that time I'd rather have DirecTV with no Tivo. I've got $1000 of worthless Tivo HDs, wireless adapters, and expansion drives in boxes in my basement. I'm so fed up I don't even care.


----------



## convergent

drumdude said:


> Time Warner Cable Charlotte never gave me the 3 tuning adapters I ordered. They never fully supported Tivo HD. Yesterday I canceled my service and had DirecTV install a HD dish with 3 HD DVR's. I just couldn't stand another minute of lame service from TWC. With DirecTV I got every movie channel for the same price as the basic tier at TWC and it worked right the first time. I'll never go back to cable. Maybe someday I can have DirecTV and Tivo together. Until that time I'd rather have DirecTV with no Tivo. I've got $1000 of worthless Tivo HDs, wireless adapters, and expansion drives in boxes in my basement. I'm so fed up I don't even care.


Well you definitely wonder if TW is doing this on purpose to discourage Tivos. I recently moved from NY to NC, and first off their prices are way higher here. I just went to a Tivo HD, and the experience has been less than good. Installing the cable card was quite a nightmare, including just getting them scheduled to come do it. Then the wait for a mystical TA begins, and who knows when it will end. Now I just discover that the idiots at TW have disabled most of my opportunity to do multi-room viewing because all the movies are x'd out. Unfortunately, TW where I live is a monopoly of grand proportions. Even though I just dumped a bunch of cash into a Tivo HD and Lifetime, if DirectTV comes out with a really good Tivo solution I will definitely give them a look.


----------



## jacksonian

I'm not in Charlotte, I'm in Greensboro, but I can tell you that TWC rolled out the TA's today, I was first on the list. Two technicians came and spent from 10am to 5pm getting it working correctly and we finally did. The techs could not have been more apologetic about the time it took and promised to get it working before the day was done. I had the same experience with my cable cards--there were obviously problems with the technology and training of some people--but TWC was dedicated to making it right and spent many hours doing so. 

I'm not a TWC fanboy, I'm a TiVo fanboy. But I give credit where it's due. And it's due at TWC Greensboro.


----------



## shaun-ohio

yep i went back to directv also, i was tired of the bs games timewarner is playing, .


----------



## KeithB

jacksonian said:


> I'm not in Charlotte, I'm in Greensboro, but I can tell you that TWC rolled out the TA's today, I was first on the list.
> [. . . snip . . .]
> I'm not a TWC fanboy, I'm a TiVo fanboy. But I give credit where it's due. And it's due at TWC Greensboro.


I wish I could say that for TWC Charlotte.


----------



## zablock

TWC Albany subscribers can rejoice.. I just got off the phone with TWC Albany and actually got a very helpful rep that said she had just saw SDV Tuning Adapter information before I called. She said letters are going out the middle of next week to all cable card subscribers and people that have pre-ordered the adapters online. She said there are limited numbers of the adapters, so you can't get one without the letter. This is very exciting news to here these adapters might finally be in our hands within the next week or two


----------



## jacksonian

KeithB said:


> I wish I could say that for TWC Charlotte.


That bites. My buddy lives in Charlotte and I used to be jealous of his Passport software on his DVR when we had SARA.


----------



## mrlogic

I called TWC to threaten cancellation today. The rep told me to go buy a tuning adapter. Awesome.

I'm in DUrham, NC, and they seem clueless.

In the past week or so, i'm missing a ton of HD channels (espn, aetv, etc.). Do you think this has something to do with a missing tuning adapter, or problems with the cable cards?

in any event, i'm close to greesboro, so my fingers are crossed.


----------



## PumiceT

mrlogic said:


> I called TWC to threaten cancellation today. The rep told me to go buy a tuning adapter. Awesome.
> 
> I'm in DUrham, NC, and they seem clueless.
> 
> In the past week or so, i'm missing a ton of HD channels (espn, aetv, etc.). Do you think this has something to do with a missing tuning adapter, or problems with the cable cards?
> 
> in any event, i'm close to greesboro, so my fingers are crossed.


Buy one?! Where?!?! Clueless, indeed.

I can't be sure about your problem, but I've got a service call this Sunday because my cards aren't tuning anything other than basic (and the basic-HD) channels.


----------



## lrhorer

jacksonian said:


> That bites. My buddy lives in Charlotte and I used to be jealous of his Passport software on his DVR when we had SARA.


It would be difficult not to be jealous of anything - even a VCR - if one is stuck with the SARA software. It's the most brain-dead software I have ever seen running on an embedded platform.


----------



## jacksonian

Sorry to cross-post, but I asked this in the SDV FAQ and probably should have tried here first. 

I just had my TA installed here in Greensboro, NC. I'm using a S3 with S-cards. I can tune the SDV channels with CC#1, but not with CC#2. The installation tech says the TA is only paired to CC#1. Does that sound right? I thought I should be able to tune the SD channels with both CC's. I was their first install, so they're just learning, and he says his unit at the office has an M-card, so he may not know how my setup should work. Anyone?


----------



## jmfirestone

jacksonian said:


> I'm not in Charlotte, I'm in Greensboro, but I can tell you that TWC rolled out the TA's today, I was first on the list. Two technicians came and spent from 10am to 5pm getting it working correctly and we finally did. The techs could not have been more apologetic about the time it took and promised to get it working before the day was done. I had the same experience with my cable cards--there were obviously problems with the technology and training of some people--but TWC was dedicated to making it right and spent many hours doing so.
> 
> I'm not a TWC fanboy, I'm a TiVo fanboy. But I give credit where it's due. And it's due at TWC Greensboro.


Wow, I am excited to hear the news. Hopefully I will hear from them soon about mine  I just emailed the head technical guy that emailed me a couple of months ago to see if I could get any info on when I can expect mine.


----------



## rockonword

I just called the Greensboro office to ask about availability. I signed up within a day of the signup form coming online back in October and still haven't heard anything. The CSR I talked to didn't know anything about them, but was very helpful and tried to do anything she could to get some info. She ended up transferring me to her supervisor who said that she asked the front desk and they don't have any and don't know when they're getting them in, or when they'd be available to customers. She said they have a meeting this afternoon and she'd try to get more info and call me back. She also said she hopes it won't require a truck roll. We'll see...

I'm glad jacksonian got his. I hope you get the CC issue worked out. I have 2 S-cards too, so once (if) I get an adapter I'll let you know how it works.


----------



## Johnwashere

I just talked to a rep threw the chat system in Columbus, Ohio and at first they told me they dont have the adapters, then I asked when they were getting them and they said:

Alfred(Mon Jan 12 2009 11:08:03 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>

Actually, We our starting to receive them and getting them out to customers. You can sign up on-line at timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter. Once we get them available we will have someone call you to get the adapter out to you

So hopefully we will have them within a couple weeks here in Columbus!


----------



## PumiceT

Johnwashere said:


> I just talked to a rep threw the chat system in Columbus, Ohio and at first they told me they dont have the adapters, then I asked when they were getting them and they said:
> 
> Alfred(Mon Jan 12 2009 11:08:03 GMT-0500 (Eastern Standard Time))>
> 
> Actually, We our starting to receive them and getting them out to customers. You can sign up on-line at timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter. Once we get them available we will have someone call you to get the adapter out to you
> 
> So hopefully we will have them within a couple weeks here in Columbus!


From what part of his reply do you gain hope for delivery within a couple of weeks? Not trying to be a jerk, but his reply is less specific than the letter I got from TW back in October that said "by the end of the year" (2008). We still can't get them in this area, so I'd take his "starting to receive them" with some skepticism.


----------



## socrplyr

PumiceT said:


> From what part of his reply do you gain hope for delivery within a couple of weeks? Not trying to be a jerk, but his reply is less specific than the letter I got from TW back in October that said "by the end of the year" (2008). We still can't get them in this area, so I'd take his "starting to receive them" with some skepticism.


I agree, however, he might have been chatting to a national rep. And in some areas they have been sent out. Now here's to hoping, but I wouldn't get upset if they aren't out in the next couple of weeks.


----------



## jmfirestone

rockonword said:


> I just called the Greensboro office to ask about availability. I signed up within a day of the signup form coming online back in October and still haven't heard anything. The CSR I talked to didn't know anything about them, but was very helpful and tried to do anything she could to get some info. She ended up transferring me to her supervisor who said that she asked the front desk and they don't have any and don't know when they're getting them in, or when they'd be available to customers. She said they have a meeting this afternoon and she'd try to get more info and call me back. She also said she hopes it won't require a truck roll. We'll see...
> 
> I'm glad jacksonian got his. I hope you get the CC issue worked out. I have 2 S-cards too, so once (if) I get an adapter I'll let you know how it works.


I am on the phone with the Greensboro office and getting the same info. "We don't have them yet, we are just told to send people to the site to register. Even if you have registered before, you should register again."

She also said she didn't know where "my friend" could have possibly gotten one since she checked with two people and they don't have them in yet.

uggghhh....


----------



## JC Fedorczyk

I contacted TWC here in Charlotte today and was given the following answer via their online chat.

"At this time we have not delivered any of these adaptors to customers. We hope to be able to start installing these adaptors in customers homes this quarter."


----------



## slyone

Here in Rochester,NY they sent me out a couple Scientific Atlanta tuning adapters. One was fine..I think I had to restart the TivoHD. One wouldn't boot..they sent me out another...same thing? I called and got someone knowledgable who said my acct was messed and not setup correctly...we ended up getting both to work fine now! Yea!! I just hate having to "power on" yet another box..or 2!!


----------



## jacksonian

jmfirestone said:


> I am on the phone with the Greensboro office and getting the same info. "We don't have them yet, we are just told to send people to the site to register. Even if you have registered before, you should register again."
> 
> She also said she didn't know where "my friend" could have possibly gotten one since she checked with two people and they don't have them in yet.
> 
> uggghhh....


Well, I'm actually not surprised by the lack of knowledge by the CSR's. I was at dinner with a friend's husband who is a TWC installer here in GSO and he didn't even know what SDV was, much less a tuning adapter.

Charlie (the chief install tech) said he wouldn't be back in the office until tomorrow, and he was going to test my CC issue then. When he gets back to me, I'll ask him what the protocol should be for you guys.

Remember that he told me he had about 140 requests already (through the web form I would assume) and that they were only allowing 1 TA per customer for now and that they wanted to do the install on the first 5-10 before they went to customer install, and also that they were changing some codes over this first week.

So my guess is that this first week or so is going to be REALLY slow as they get their feet wet with it. Then it should speed up pretty quickly and probably even go to customer installs as there truly is nothing for the tech to do besides plugging the thing into the TiVo and reading the numbers off the screen.


----------



## jacksonian

And I still haven't gotten any response back from anyone on this issue about only tuning SDV channels with one of the 2 CCs.

Does anyone out there have a Tuning Adapter connected to an S3 with 2 S-cards? Can anyone verify that they can tune SDV channels with BOTH tuners? (you have to get one tuner paused or recording an SDV channel and then tune another one to force both)

EDIT: I have received confirmation from another forum member that they don't have mine set up correctly, one TA should allow the S3 to tune SDV channels on both tuners.


----------



## cron

I just called customer service here in Charlotte and they say that TA's are currently being tested and they expect customer rollout in February.


----------



## xiandeath

Jacksonian, I talked to Charlie on Friday and we're set for an install tomorrow morning. I've got an HD rather than an S3 but I'm also running two S-cards. Assuming the install doesn't move, I'll let you know how it works out on my end.


----------



## jacksonian

xiandeath said:


> Jacksonian, I talked to Charlie on Friday and we're set for an install tomorrow morning. I've got an HD rather than an S3 but I'm also running two S-cards. Assuming the install doesn't move, I'll let you know how it works out on my end.


Thanks. I emailed Charlie with the info I found out here about both CC's tuning. I know Charlie said he set up my account identical to his test account, and he has one M-card, so I'm wondering if that's the issue. Let me know how it goes. Yours should definitely go smoother than mine!


----------



## xiandeath

Couple quick notes from this morning. Charlie hooked up the tuning adapter but hasn't activated it yet pending some new codes he wants to try this afternoon. He did mention that they're pretty much exclusively deploying M-cards at this point (at least in Greensboro) though he really wants to see an S-card solution work on both cards since there's obviously no reason they shouldn't. Also, San Antonio's roll-out has gone rather smoothly and they're going to try and model config and deployment here like they did there. Finally, they plan on doing twenty or more so installations (I'm the second install), before (and if) they start shipping them directly to customers without a truck roll.

The physical install itself was as quick as you'd think. The longest wait was the Tivo reboot. The device itself is about 1/2 as deep as the Tivo HD and about 2/3 the width. From a design standpoint, it doesn't look all that bad, certainly blends in with the Tivo.

I know I've certainly been waiting for this for a long time and I know from some of the postings that folks are awfully impatient. All I have to say (and seconding Jacksonian) is that where Greensboro is concerned, they've got a very dedicated team on this and they're highly committed to getting this out and functioning seamlessly. 

Never thought I'd say it, but kudos to Time Warner, and especially Charlie.


----------



## berkshires

Albany area people - what are the chances I could ride into the Lee, MA office today and get a TA (or 2) to self install?


----------



## SCSIRAID

jacksonian said:


> Thanks. I emailed Charlie with the info I found out here about both CC's tuning. I know Charlie said he set up my account identical to his test account, and he has one M-card, so I'm wondering if that's the issue. Let me know how it goes. Yours should definitely go smoother than mine!


I posed a similar question to cableguy over in the SDV FAQ thread about whether the TA is 'paired' in any way to a cablecard or even to a particular TiVo. Cableguy (TWC Engineer) indicated that the TA is simply 'authorized' by attachment to your account and doesnt care anything about the cablecards or even if it is hooked to a TiVo.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6990238#post6990238


----------



## skaggs

berkshires said:


> Albany area people - what are the chances I could ride into the Lee, MA office today and get a TA (or 2) to self install?


"zero point zero"


----------



## berkshires

skaggs said:


> "zero point zero"


I am sure my chances are at least twice that.

What is the address of that thread you have going on Albany?


----------



## skaggs

berkshires said:


> I am sure my chances are at least twice that.
> 
> What is the address of that thread you have going on Albany?


I'll send you a PM.


----------



## Reward

mrlogic said:


> I called TWC to threaten cancellation today. The rep told me to go buy a tuning adapter. Awesome.
> 
> I'm in DUrham, NC, and they seem clueless.
> 
> In the past week or so, i'm missing a ton of HD channels (espn, aetv, etc.). Do you think this has something to do with a missing tuning adapter, or problems with the cable cards?
> 
> in any event, i'm close to greesboro, so my fingers are crossed.


You need to be sure you have the digital tier assigned to your cable card(s).

A month or so ago, someone at TWC removed this from mine and this happened. It took three phone calls and I finally got somebody that knew what I was talking about to add the digital tier back to my cable card(s).


----------



## grendl

Just fyi for anyone in Raleigh, NC: I've just gotten an HD -- installers had some problems with the one M card (not their fault, I think -- it took a while, and someone at the "Cable Card Help Desk", to get the programming correct). Channels 260-270 aren't available (I was told those are SDV, but haven't been able to find an actual list of SDV channels anywhere). Was told the tuning adapters should be available in Raleigh "around the end of the month".


----------



## SCSIRAID

grendl said:


> Just fyi for anyone in Raleigh, NC: I've just gotten an HD -- installers had some problems with the one M card (not their fault, I think -- it took a while, and someone at the "Cable Card Help Desk", to get the programming correct). Channels 260-270 aren't available (I was told those are SDV, but haven't been able to find an actual list of SDV channels anywhere). Was told the tuning adapters should be available in Raleigh "around the end of the month".


Check here.....

http://www.timewarnercable.com/Carolinas/programming/channelChangeUpdate.html

The new services listed below cannot be accessed on CableCARD-equipped Unidirectional Digital Cable Products purchased at retail without additional, two-way capable equipment:

MLB Channel 139; Disney Channel HD channel 264; History HD Channel 297; Animal Planet HD Channel 261; ABC Family HD Channel 263; Lifetime Movie Network HD Channel 276; ESPN News HD Channel 274; TLC HD Channel 275; Fox Sports Carolina HD Channel 272 Cinemax East HD Channel 433; Cinemax West HD Channel 434; Starz HD Channel 475; The Movie Channel HD Channel 463.


----------



## velorapide

I am in Greensboro, NC and have read the previous posts concerning some of you here who already have the SDV Adapter so I placed a call to TWC yesterday. 

They knew what I was asking about and indicated that they "just received information about the SDV Tuning Adapter this week but don't know when they will be available in Greensboro." 

I replied that I know of people who have had them installed in Greensboro and they simply directed me to the typical TWC SDV information page where you can complete a form to "order" a free adapter, which I have already done several times. 

Patiently waiting but growing weary of the whole situation.


----------



## jacksonian

I understand getting impatient, but you also need to understand that we're pretty fortunate to actually have this starting ahead of a lot of other markets. Charlie is working diligently to get the bugs worked out so that they can go to a much quicker customer install situation. So if you can hold on for maybe 2-3 weeks, hopefully everything should be rolling along. 

And so far, I believe only TWO of us here in Greensboro have the TA installed, and he's still working to get mine working correctly as I still can't tune SDV channels with both tuners while Xiandeath can.


----------



## velorapide

jacksonian said:


> I understand getting impatient, but you also need to understand that we're pretty fortunate to actually have this starting ahead of a lot of other markets. Charlie is working diligently to get the bugs worked out so that they can go to a much quicker customer install situation. So if you can hold on for maybe 2-3 weeks, hopefully everything should be rolling along.
> 
> And so far, I believe only TWO of us here in Greensboro have the TA installed, and he's still working to get mine working correctly as I still can't tune SDV channels with both tuners while Xiandeath can.


I actually said "Patiently waiting" and I am very appreciative that our market (even though that means two people apparently) has this "option" now.

I am also glad there is someone working to get things going, but is one person really enough?

Respectfully,

Velo


----------



## xiandeath

Time Warner turned on the tuning adapter last night and everything worked right as rain right out of the gate. It's nice to see all the channels we've been missing come in even if there's still nothing I want to watch until SciFi HD comes out.

I have to second Jacksonian (yet again). I think I can say that the really long wait is finally over to get past the SDV hurdle. I was phenomenally impressed with Charlie's follow through and technical knowledge. This is certainly a priority with Time Warner right now and I trust that the solution will be fully deployed before February is out.


----------



## rockonword

Thanks for the updates. I'm anxiously awaiting the call to get mine installed. I wouldn't mind if they switched my 2 s-cards for 1 m-card if it works (although it sounds like 2 s-cards worked fine for xiandeath)... it would save a couple of bucks per month if they'd switch them out. Nevertheless, I'm glad to hear they're on top of it in Greensboro and W-S. Did they charge you guys for the truck roll?


----------



## cartouchbea

gamo62 said:


> Anyone in Cincinnati had any luck getting the T.A.? If so, what was/is your secret?


Had an installer (that actually new what he was doing) come out today to help with a bad cablecard. He made a call to a technician back at the office to check when TA's would be available and he was told 3 to 4 weeks. He also confirmed that M-Cards are currently available in Cincinnati.

He also said that TW is getting tired of all the complaining from Tivo users so they're going to try to start working harder to make them happier.

Now, ..., if they could just quit turning that damn CCI byte on on everything, ...


----------



## socrplyr

TWC Central NY sent them out yesterday and I got mine today. I plugged it in and it worked without any issues. Just a note, I have one M-Card and the equipment is Cisco.
Josh


----------



## FUBAR

cartouchbea said:


> Had an installer (that actually new what he was doing) come out today to help with a bad cablecard. He made a call to a technician back at the office to check when TA's would be available and he was told 3 to 4 weeks. He also confirmed that M-Cards are currently available in Cincinnati.
> 
> He also said that TW is getting tired of all the complaining from Tivo users so they're going to try to start working harder to make them happier.
> 
> Now, ..., if they could just quit turning that damn CCI byte on on everything, ...


Yeah, i'm pissed about the stupid CCI byte.


----------



## spolebitski

I have been going to the TWC office about every other week and holding their CSR and Supervisors accountable when they promise to call me back (saying they will work on the issue) - and don't. Each time I would talk to a new person they would always lead off with the sales pitch of if you would only use our TWC Cable Box this would eliminate your problem and your TiVo box is an unauthorized device to be used with our cable system.

Currently a supervisor working on this issue in wisconsin. She says she is doing everything she can, and i trust that she is - but this was a blunder to roll out SDV without tuning adapters ready. I hope TWC realizes this and I hope everyone with a TiVo is demanding a tuning adapter and not just letting them say "they are coming". 

I personally waited until January 1st 2009 to push the issue to the point of asking for credit for service until the tuning adapter was available. My issue was that i receive 10 of 45 HD channels the supervisor response was that they offer "free hd" and you are only paying for the SD / Digital package. They can call it "free hd" but we still pay for it in our bill.


----------



## mikeyts

spolebitski said:


> I personally waited until January 1st 2009 to push the issue to the point of asking for credit for service until the tuning adapter was available. My issue was that i receive 10 of 45 HD channels the supervisor response was that they offer "free hd" and you are only paying for the SD / Digital package. They can call it "free hd" but we still pay for it in our bill.


It's "free" in the sense that they don't charge anything more for it than they charge the people who don't have HDTVs but have all the same digital packages and only use the SD version. They have been steadily adding HD versions of the channels in their various digital packages while not raising the price of those packages. (Some providers in the past have instituted an "HDTV service" charge that you had to pay to get access to any of their HD channels--I've seen these charges be as high as $10/month. I don't know if anyone is still doing it).

It was a smart-aleck crack by the CSR to use that excuse for the fact that you don't have access to them. You're paying as much for them as anyone who leases their equipment does and deserve to either get them or a reduction in fees. The FCC has taken that tact in their decisions on Cox NoVA and TWC Oceanic's use of SDV.


----------



## spolebitski

mikeyts said:


> It's "free" in the sense that they don't charge anything more for it than they charge the people who don't have HDTVs but have all the same digital packages and only use the SD version. They have been steadily adding HD versions of the channels in their various digital packages while not raising the price of those packages. (Some providers in the past have instituted an "HDTV service" charge that you had to pay to get access to any of their HD channels--I've seen these charges be as high as $10/month. I don't know if anyone is still doing it).
> 
> It was a smart-aleck crack by the CSR to use that excuse for the fact that you don't have access to them. You're paying as much for them as anyone who leases their equipment does and deserve to either get them or a reduction in fees. The FCC has taken that tact in their decisions on Cox NoVA and TWC Oceanic's use of SDV.


TWC SE WI did have a price increase a couple of months back, slight but still an increase and yes at the end of the day your are right - we pay for the "free stuff" too!

It is too bad that during my adventures to TWC I hear the "sell up" to its consumers about HD. So a new consumer comes in and says they want to upgrade to hd - they start by hitting them for the HD Package, which consists of HD Net, HD Net Movies, Universal HD and another channel making them thing they need to pay for HD.

Back in sept 08 when they went to SDV I went in to ask about "Free HD" as I had been paying 6.95 for HD, they said it is free but to get these 4 premium hd channels you needed to pay the 6.95. I said no thank you (and the 4 channels were no longer available to me due to sdv). Funny thing the four channels in the "premium hd package" played shows that were 1 or 2 year shows in HD and would show the shows so sporadic and no rhyme or reason as to the season. HD Net Movies was nice to see older movies (not really in hd) in crystal clear digital. Had the channels not gone sdv i would probably let them, and paid the 6.95 extra.


----------



## jmaditto

Deployment in SC is targeted for later this month to a "select few TiVo" customers and then to approx 1,000 after that. I'm trying to get into the "select" few now.....fingers crossed.


----------



## szurlo

jmaditto said:


> Deployment in SC is targeted for later this month to a "select few TiVo" customers and then to approx 1,000 after that. I'm trying to get into the "select" few now.....fingers crossed.


Good luck. Let them know you know another user in the area that would love to be part of the "select few" as well.


----------



## jmfirestone

xiandeath said:


> I know I've certainly been waiting for this for a long time and I know from some of the postings that folks are awfully impatient. All I have to say (and seconding Jacksonian) is that where Greensboro is concerned, they've got a very dedicated team on this and they're highly committed to getting this out and functioning seamlessly.
> 
> Never thought I'd say it, but kudos to Time Warner, and especially Charlie.


That's encouraging to here. I filled out that form on the TWC website back in October right after it came online, and I filled out another one the other day per instructions from the CSR I talked to.

I wish, rather than saying they have no idea what the status is, the CSR could have had the info available that they are installing in a very small amount of households to get the system kinks worked out, but would have more info soon.

Oh well, I'll keep waiting


----------



## GBK33

Time Warner Sucks...I'm so fed up with their lies and bullsh*t.


----------



## skaggs

Albany TWC began issuing TA's yesterday.

TiVo 'ers bombarding the customer service line made TWC relent and issue the TA's last night. TiVo owners were receiving a story from Albany TWC earlier in the week that letters would be going out "mid-week" to people who signed up using the online form. We were also told at that time that you would need to bring in your letter in order to receive your TA. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had received their TA letters from Albany TWC, but a few loyal TiVo owners went to the local TWC office last night and walked out with TA's. No reported problems with the setup.

I'll be stopping by the local Albany TWC office later this morning to pick up my 2 TA's to go with my 2 TiVo HD's.


----------



## berkshires

skaggs said:


> Albany TWC began issuing TA's yesterday.


Great, maybe I'll go over to the Lee, MA office all by myself next week and hope they don't laugh because there's only one other person in the county with HD TiVos and they can handle that with existing security measures. 

Thanks for the PM re Albany.


----------



## zablock

skaggs said:


> Albany TWC began issuing TA's yesterday.
> 
> TiVo 'ers bombarding the customer service line made TWC relent and issue the TA's last night. TiVo owners were receiving a story from Albany TWC earlier in the week that letters would be going out "mid-week" to people who signed up using the online form. We were also told at that time that you would need to bring in your letter in order to receive your TA. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had received their TA letters from Albany TWC, but a few loyal TiVo owners went to the local TWC office last night and walked out with TA's. No reported problems with the setup.
> 
> I'll be stopping by the local Albany TWC office later this morning to pick up my 2 TA's to go with my 2 TiVo HD's.


skaggs pm me your results and which office you went to.. if I have to go to schnectady I will, but the office near crossgates is much closer for me.


----------



## jacksonian

jmfirestone said:


> That's encouraging to here. I filled out that form on the TWC website back in October right after it came online, and I filled out another one the other day per instructions from the CSR I talked to.
> 
> I wish, rather than saying they have no idea what the status is, the CSR could have had the info available that they are installing in a very small amount of households to get the system kinks worked out, but would have more info soon.
> 
> Oh well, I'll keep waiting


Do you like February? I think it's a good month.


----------



## shaun-ohio

i signed up again last nite for the 3rd time, i received the same email that i received last november, they are currently not available, sometime in january they will be available, just for a few select areas in ohio, they are still testing them, lol there dvr sucks, will stick with the tivo until the ta becomes available, sometime.


----------



## derspiess

cartouchbea said:


> Had an installer (that actually new what he was doing) come out today to help with a bad cablecard. He made a call to a technician back at the office to check when TA's would be available and he was told 3 to 4 weeks. He also confirmed that M-Cards are currently available in Cincinnati.
> 
> He also said that TW is getting tired of all the complaining from Tivo users so they're going to try to start working harder to make them happier.
> 
> Now, ..., if they could just quit turning that damn CCI byte on on everything, ...


If the TA becomes available next month, I'll be happy. They installed an M-card in my TivoHD last February, FWIW


----------



## slyone

TW Rochester,NY charges toooo much! I was instructed to replace M-cards, I set up a call repeatedly asking for "new M cards"...guy shows up, no cards, no knowledge of Tivo's and never heard of an adapter tuning device before I politely told him the service call was over and to take care of it. Next visit/call, guy has "new M cards" all goes well..though he comments how I'm the only one with a Tivo using TW...OK, that sounds right..NOT! I do however love cables' versatility to feed so many devices versus Satellite's inane design


----------



## cartouchbea

derspiess said:


> If the TA becomes available next month, I'll be happy. They installed an M-card in my TivoHD last February, FWIW


Lying^H^H^H^H Ignorant Bastards!

If they charge me for another install visit to get my M-Cards installed, I'm gonna be P.O.'ed!


----------



## skaggs

skaggs said:


> Albany TWC began issuing TA's yesterday.
> 
> TiVo 'ers bombarding the customer service line made TWC relent and issue the TA's last night. TiVo owners were receiving a story from Albany TWC earlier in the week that letters would be going out "mid-week" to people who signed up using the online form. We were also told at that time that you would need to bring in your letter in order to receive your TA. As of Thursday afternoon, no one had received their TA letters from Albany TWC, but a few loyal TiVo owners went to the local TWC office last night and walked out with TA's. No reported problems with the setup.
> 
> I'll be stopping by the local Albany TWC office later this morning to pick up my 2 TA's to go with my 2 TiVo HD's.


Got the letter today. Here's a copy:


----------



## BruceShultes

I received my letter in Albany NY today as well.

Of course they are available at only 2 of the 3 offices in the area. Since I cannot drive for medical reasons and it would cost me over $50 in cab fare to go to either of the ones where it is available, I had to ask for one to be delivered via UPS.

At least they are finally available. Also some of the other users in our area have gotten theirs and said that they were fairly easy to install.

The only problem they seemed to encounter was if they did not wait long enough after installation before trying to use their Tivo to access any of the SDV channels.

It seems to take close to 30 minutes before the TA is correctly initialized and ready to use on our local TW.


----------



## kgclark75

If I have two S-Cards installed in my S3, do I need two tuning adapters?


----------



## Combat Medic

kgclark75 said:


> If I have two S-Cards installed in my S3, do I need two tuning adapters?


Nope, one TA per TiVo is all that's needed.


----------



## alex_kac

Got our TA a couple days ago here in Austin (still mad that nobody called me even though I signed up) and _so far_ working great.


----------



## jmaditto

Lucky Bastards! Can't wait to get my TA and then purchase another TiVo HD and dump the TWC DVR.


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## kevinivey

As poor of a job TWC did with my CC install, the tuner install ought to be interesting


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## jacksonian

kevinivey said:


> As poor of a job TWC did with my CC install, the tuner install ought to be interesting


Not sure you can blame the problems of cable cards completely on TWC. My experience (with CC's and now with the TA) has been that TWC has bent over backwards and lost a lot of money getting these things right for a very small niche customer population based on their entire subscriber base. YMMV.


----------



## kevinivey

jacksonian said:


> Not sure you can blame the problems of cable cards completely on TWC. My experience (with CC's and now with the TA) has been that TWC has bent over backwards and lost a lot of money getting these things right for a very small niche customer population based on their entire subscriber base. YMMV.


you have no idea of what I have been through. The only reason I got the CC to work is that I called TWC cable card national support. they are completely clueless here in Columbia.:down:


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## jacksonian

kevinivey said:


> you have no idea of what I have been through. The only reason I got the CC to work is that I called TWC cable card national support. they are completely clueless here in Columbia.:down:


I thought you were digging the TWC DVR last time I remember over on AVS?


----------



## PumiceT

The installer that I had here today (to re-install and re-pair my CCs) said that Time Warner WNY does have M-Cards, but they only use them in their own HD DVRs. Figures they give priority to their own devices, and give CC customers two for the price of five. Seriously. We pay $4.95 for the first S-Card, and $6.95 for each additional S-Card.

So, it sounds to me like Time Warner's CableCARD issues aren't with the cards themselves, it's their lack of TiVo knowledge.

I happened to have a good service guy. He determined that I had a weak signal, so he went out to the pole and fixed something up there to give me a stronger signal, and added an amp in the basement. Keep in mind, it was under 10&#186;F today, below 0&#186;F with the wind-chill. He got the first replacement card installed, but his second card was bent or something. Luckily one of the cards we were replacing ended up working.

Too bad Time Warner's HD feed of the Buffalo Sabres game on MSG is having some MAJOR audio problems tonight. I'm sure there are a LOT of Sabres fans calling to complain.


----------



## mikeyts

jacksonian said:


> Not sure you can blame the problems of cable cards completely on TWC. My experience (with CC's and now with the TA) has been that TWC has bent over backwards and lost a lot of money getting these things right for a very small niche customer population based on their entire subscriber base. YMMV.


The fact that they were working on it for a "very small niche customer population" was the cable industry's own fault. They agreed in discussions with the FCC and CE OEMs to start using CableCARDs in the boxes that they lease in mid-2005, but asked for and got a 2 year extension to complete the M-Card spec and OCAP. From nearly the start, they should have been making CableCARDs work for _themselves_ as well as for their customers who bought Unidirectional CableCARD products (UDCPs), instead of kicking and screaming and cursing CableCARDs and doing everything they could to discourage people from using them. Had they started using them on time, perhaps many more the millions of UDCPs which were sold would be using CableCARDs.


----------



## arkham

socrplyr said:


> TWC Central NY sent them out yesterday and I got mine today. I plugged it in and it worked without any issues. Just a note, I have one M-Card and the equipment is Cisco.
> Josh


Glad to hear that. I am awaiting my tuning adapter in Binghamton, a TWC Central NY region. My Tivo cable card install went without a hitch even though I was one of the first customers to receive an M-Card locally.


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## kgclark75

Got home today to find the Tuning Adapter waiting for me on my door. Installed in about 5 minutes and works flawlessly! I never, ever thought I would say this, but....Well Done Time Warner!


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## cody_dingo

I live in Kansas City, north of the river and got a call tonight informing me I could pick up my tuning adapter tomorrow. Rock and roll.


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## c615586

Spent 45 minutes on the phone with various CSR's (went through the whole DTV discussion, explanation of SDV/Cable Cards/Tivos, discussed the sign up page) and finally got to speak to a manager. At this point, there are no SDV adapters in any TWC warehouse or office in all of Ohio and they have no data as to when they will actually show up.

The manager did not offer me any deal or discount for being charged for channels I cannot watch, either. She did say she expected the wait would be "days rather than months." Hrmph.

Anyone in Ohio have any better news from their local TWC?


----------



## Johnwashere

c615586 said:


> Spent 45 minutes on the phone with various CSR's (went through the whole DTV discussion, explanation of SDV/Cable Cards/Tivos, discussed the sign up page) and finally got to speak to a manager. At this point, there are no SDV adapters in any TWC warehouse or office in all of Ohio and they have no data as to when they will actually show up.
> 
> The manager did not offer me any deal or discount for being charged for channels I cannot watch, either. She did say she expected the wait would be "days rather than months." Hrmph.
> 
> Anyone in Ohio have any better news from their local TWC?


Where do you live? I live in Columbus and last week a couple reps told me that Columbus has them and a few customers allready have them. I dont believe them tho since I havent heard any reports on these boards. They said I should be getting mine soon if I preordered on the website.


----------



## mtehonica

I also had my tuning adapter waiting for me when I got home from work today. I thought for sure they would make a tech come out to install it but I guess not! I will be installing it shortly! Can't wait to get most of my HD channel back!


----------



## c615586

Johnwashere said:


> Where do you live? I live in Columbus and last week a couple reps told me that Columbus has them and a few customers allready have them. I dont believe them tho since I havent heard any reports on these boards. They said I should be getting mine soon if I preordered on the website.


I'm in Columbus (Upper Arlington, technically.) The manager I spoke to made a point of putting me on hold and calling a warehouse to check their stock. It could have all been for show, though. I may go to the TWC office on 315 to see if they know anything.


----------



## c615586

mtehonica said:


> I also had my tuning adapter waiting for me when I got home from work today. I thought for sure they would make a tech come out to install it but I guess not! I will be installing it shortly! Can't wait to get most of my HD channel back!


Where are you located?


----------



## mtehonica

c615586 said:


> Where are you located?


Syracuse, NY


----------



## convergent

Dang... i just moved from Albany, NY to Raleigh, NC.... I could be enjoying a TA now if I had stayed up north!!! Any one have any idea when Raleigh will be on board?


----------



## mtehonica

convergent said:


> Dang... i just moved from Albany, NY to Raleigh, NC.... I could be enjoying a TA now if I had stayed up north!!! Any one have any idea when Raleigh will be on board?


If it makes you feel any better, I would take NC and no TA over NY with TA anyday.  At least you know EVENTUALLY you will get your TA while I know I'll NEVER get my freedom back from this overbearing Democratic government. :down:


----------



## alyssa

c615586 said:


> Spent 45 minutes on the phone with various CSR's (went through the whole DTV discussion, explanation of SDV/Cable Cards/Tivos, discussed the sign up page)


I don't know what TW's problem is... I got of the phone with them yesterday asking abt the TA boxes. "oh yeah I know *everything there is to know* about the TA boxes" was the first thing out of the CS mouth. 
Course they were talking about the bloody digital thing. 
*&^% idiots

eta; yes, just venting, thanks for reading...


----------



## shaun-ohio

i found out here last week, that timewarner needs to train there techs, i had 2 here already about the cable cards, they have no idea what a tivo is, they dont even know where to put them, they thought they went in my tv, tomorrow will make the 3rd time they will be here i can get the one cable card to work with programming, but the other one will not show any programming, and they are authorized, i even called the cable card hotline after the tech left yesterday, he said how did you get this number? are you a tech? duh i said i know more about the tivo then he does and twice they have no knowledge about them with cable cards, he said this is a private number, and only for techs, then he did finally get them both authorized, and even set up another appt. for tomorrow for them to return on the second cable card, heck yesterday when they came by, they didnt even have any cable cards on the truck, just there wonderful dvr, and i said no thanks, they didnt even know what a tivo remote looks like, i did notice that one cable card says install before july 2008 and the second one says install before october 2008 dont know if this has anything to do with the performance or not?


----------



## cableguy763

shaun-ohio said:


> i did notice that one cable card says install before july 2008 and the second one says install before october 2008 dont know if this has anything to do with the performance or not?


Cablecards dont have an expiration date. Are you sure this wasn't the manufacture date, which sa cards do show.


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## c615586

So does anyone in Ohio have a tuning adapter yet?


----------



## shaun-ohio

nope they both said install by a certain date, that i had stated, but anyhow the video froze up on me today, so i unplugged the tivo and plugged it back in and lo and behold the second cable card is now working, so i go in and check the emms and they both say 0 cant explain this one, but yet they are authorized, so far i have lost 64 channels that i cannot get without a tuning adapter, so i call timewarner again, and they tell me they are going to become available, and they go down the waiting list to call you.


----------



## Johnwashere

shaun-ohio said:


> nope they both said install by a certain date, that i had stated, but anyhow the video froze up on me today, so i unplugged the tivo and plugged it back in and lo and behold the second cable card is now working, so i go in and check the emms and they both say 0 cant explain this one, but yet they are authorized, so far i have lost 64 channels that i cannot get without a tuning adapter, so i call timewarner again, and they tell me they are going to become available, and they go down the waiting list to call you.


man o man. That sucks. I have had my 1 mcard for over a year and have had no problems. The tech had some problems installing it at first (he actully installed 2 mcards, and since there m I only needed one), but havent had any issues other then that.


----------



## shaun-ohio

yep since timewarner went to the switched digital, i have lost most of my digital channels in the 100-169 block plus all of the new hd channels that they add now, it sucks bigtime if i dont get the tuning adapter in 60 days i am going back to dtv. and i dont want to because i hate the hr20 like timewarners dvr


----------



## szurlo

Yeah, I just found out that ATT U-Verse is now available at my address. If the TA doesn't materialize soon, I may dump TWC all together and eBay the Tivo. U-Verse is offering 18/1.5 Internet service here. That blows the doors off RoadRunner, and the U-Verse DVR looks pretty good too.


----------



## shaun-ohio

well today i called the fcc to file a complaint against timewarner, and she told me they have several complaints against them now because of the switched digital video they are using, you can file the complaint on the fcc homepage, look for form 2000b, then you can file your complaint electronically. i have lost 64 channels now in my lineup due to the switched digital video, without a tuning adapter.


----------



## ZeoTiVo

szurlo said:


> Yeah, I just found out that ATT U-Verse is now available at my address. If the TA doesn't materialize soon, I may dump TWC all together and eBay the Tivo. U-Verse is offering 18/1.5 Internet service here. That blows the doors off RoadRunner, and the U-Verse DVR looks pretty good too.


Google U-verse - they have some restrictions due to bandwidth issues for the broadcast part.

18/1.5 Internet service is great though.


----------



## mikeyts

shaun-ohio said:


> well today i called the fcc to file a complaint against timewarner, and she told me they have several complaints against them now because of the switched digital video they are using, you can file the complaint on the fcc homepage, look for form 2000b, then you can file your complaint electronically. i have lost 64 channels now in my lineup due to the switched digital video, without a tuning adapter.


There have been FCC judgements against TWC Oceanic in Hawaii and Cox Northern Virginia for their use of SDV (you can see the text of those decisions here and here). What the judgements amounted to were a relatively small fine to be paid to the FCC ($20,000 each), a rebate to customers who lost services and an ongoing reduction in fees for them. They were not ordered to stop using SDV (which would just have meant taking away all of the new services from everyone).

Unfortunately, the FCC seems to have to do this division by division--I think that they can't attack corporations because it's individual cable systems which are licensed by them, not their corporate parents. Given the proliferation of SDV and the speed at which the FCC moves, it could be quite a long time before they get around to slapping all of the hands.


----------



## derspiess

c615586 said:


> Anyone in Ohio have any better news from their local TWC?


I keep meaning to call, but I'm not sure when I'll be in the mood. Last time I called with a question about SDV, not a single person had the slightest clue what I was talking about. The only thing the phone reps were good at was keeping me from speaking to management/higher level support


----------



## ward_ja

Just got off the phone with David at TW San Diego (Tech Support Escalation). He says that San Diego has had the Cisco TA boxes for about a week now but they have encountered "software compatability" issues during local testing and cannot give an ETA for customer release until these software problems are resolved with Cisco. Cisco is allegedly working with them to resolve these local software issues. The "problems" are apparently not related to TiVo boxes but to some other box (I forgot which). David ventured 30 to 60 days ETA when presssed.

This is interesting but does little to assure me that the lack of availability in San Diego does not actually arise from a management decision to blow off the TiVo owners as too small a problem to spend resources on. So I filed an online Form2000E complaint anyway; I now have dozens of blackout digital channels instead of the handfull noted last summer. And still no proposal for compensation from TW other than the usual rental of their non-TiVo boxes.


----------



## NetOgre

Received a call last night from the local TWC. Customer Rep was very with it. Though a little taken aback when I started finishing his sentences...

CSR: As you might be aware, some HD channels have not been available for users with Tivos because of...

Me: The SDV process.

CSR: Er. Right and so we are going to provide you with a device that...

ME: The Tuning Adapter.

CSR: Ah so you know about that.

Didn't go through the whole Tivo Community explanation. The long and short of it is, they are sending it out to me via UPS, with instructions to install and a number to call if I have any problems.

Hurray.

Craig


----------



## cmbath

jacksonian said:


> I'm just up the road in Greensboro, NC. We had SDV long before Charlotte, but there's no mention of SDV on our local TWC website and no mention of a tuning adapter. I'm in contact with a higher-up at our local office, and he told me 8/26 that tests of the tuning adapter were set to begin "shortly" and pending successful results they would roll them out in the next few months.


I'm from Greensboro and they now have the request page available. I received a similar reply about when they roll out the tuner they eill call me.


----------



## mikeyts

ward_ja said:


> This is interesting but does little to assure me that the lack of availability in San Diego does not actually arise from a management decision to blow off the TiVo owners as too small a problem to spend resources on.


I have it on absolutely reliable authority that they're actively working on it and have run into problems (I heard that they've had them in their labs for two weeks and have had them in a few user's hands for field testing for about a week). Hopefully it'll be more like 2 or 3 weeks, but the guy you talked to obviously needed to cover his ass (I'm actually a bit surprised that he'd quote an ETA at all ).

One big problem testing these things in San Diego is that Tribune Media doesn't know about the following recent SDV channels:651 - Showtime East HD
663 - TMC East HD
719 - Biography HD
734 - USA HD
735 - ABC Family HD
740 - Bravo HD
749 - CNBC HD
752 - FX HD
757 - Sci Fi HD
781 - Hallmark Movie Channel HD
789 - MLB HD
793 - Speed HD​TiVo will probably get these channels from the map in the TA, but there won't be any guide data for them. Of the total list of SDV channels in packages to which I subscribe a couple of those are the most likely channels for me to record.


----------



## lrhorer

NetOgre said:


> CSR: As you might be aware, some HD channels have not been available for users with Tivos because of...
> 
> Me: The SDV process.
> 
> CSR: Er. Right and so we are going to provide you with a device that...
> 
> ME: The Tuning Adapter.
> 
> CSR: Ah so you know about that.


Oh, that's too funny.

I can tell you here in San Antonio our experience once we received the TA has been very smooth, with only a couple of little bumps in the road. We were allowed to pick up our TA(s) from one of two TWC offices locally, and they published a phone number direct to IT support personnel specifically and onlyto handle TA issues. There was one city-wide issue involving two channels that was resolved quite quickly, and one or users had specific issues that were handled with little fuss or muss.

I have a lot of criticisms for TWC support and business policies, but in this instance I have to give them high marks for responsiveness, effectiveness, and efficiency.

It is perhaps worthy to note we started a thread in this forum specifically to cover San Antonio TA adapters a few weeks prior to delivery of the TA, and pointing the tech reps to the website really helped considerably. I might recommend that someone in each affected market do the same, and coordinate your efforts and findings with each other and when the time comes with TWC. At the very least it won't hurt.


----------



## Timber

THe only question I have is why it was so easy for Cox to implement this in Northern Virginia but TWC are struggling in other markets.

-=Tim=-


----------



## cdeckert219

ward_ja said:


> This is interesting but does little to assure me that the lack of availability in San Diego does not actually arise from a management decision to blow off the TiVo owners as too small a problem to spend resources on. So I filed an online Form2000E complaint anyway; I now have dozens of blackout digital channels instead of the handfull noted last summer. And still no proposal for compensation from TW other than the usual rental of their non-TiVo boxes.


I'm surprised you weren't offered a credit for your cable card fee. When I called (San Diego) a couple weeks ago, the CSR said they realized the inconvenience and were offering two options: a) free use of a set top box for 6 months, or b) waive the cable card fees for 6 months. I (of course) chose option b so that I can continue to use my TiVo HDs. I haven't checked my bill yet to make sure it has been deducted, but I'll post here if I have any updates.


----------



## um1990

NetOgre said:


> Received a call last night from the local TWC. Customer Rep was very with it. Though a little taken aback when I started finishing his sentences...
> 
> CSR: As you might be aware, some HD channels have not been available for users with Tivos because of...
> 
> Me: The SDV process.
> 
> CSR: Er. Right and so we are going to provide you with a device that...
> 
> ME: The Tuning Adapter.
> 
> CSR: Ah so you know about that.
> 
> Didn't go through the whole Tivo Community explanation. The long and short of it is, they are sending it out to me via UPS, with instructions to install and a number to call if I have any problems.
> 
> Hurray.
> 
> Craig


Craig -
Great to hear they are starting to roll them out! I've been beta testing for them for a couple weeks & it's been pretty much perfect for what I've tested and the local guys have been very good.

This thread has a little more detail:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=413467


----------



## mbruns

Johnwashere said:


> Where do you live? I live in Columbus and last week a couple reps told me that Columbus has them and a few customers allready have them. I dont believe them tho since I havent heard any reports on these boards. They said I should be getting mine soon if I preordered on the website.


If anyone wants information in Columbus/Central Ohio, please PM me. I've been talking with the TW project manager in charge of the rollout.

Bottom line: They're still making changes in the network to make it compatible with the Tuning Adapters. They are not in the field yet. He has a Tivo on his bench for testing purposes, and as soon as the changes are in the network are complete, he'll test and start the rollout. He thinks we're talking weeks, not months.

I'll see if he can post a message on the board.


----------



## kiko

I got the letter in the mail yesterday, the the Tuning Adapters were available and to call within 60 days to schedule a installation date.

So I called today, and the CSR said they don't have the Tuning Adpaters yet, and the letter was mistakenly sent as they still have no ETA for roll out.

Yet another delay, and yet another truck roll. I guess the service reps aren't busy enough here.


----------



## bueller555

You should call again. I'm scheduled this Friday, Jan. 30 for both cablecard and TA installation. The CSR was interested in which letter I received, so I had to read parts of it to her. Don't know why that matters, but it seemed to be important.


----------



## lrhorer

At a guess I would say it is perhaps a staged rollout with one set of customers receiving the initial rollout letter and others receiving a different, less specific letter.


----------



## BruceShultes

I received the TA via UPS last Wednesday. After letting it warm up Thursday morning, I installed it following the instructions to the letter and could receive all but two of the SDV channels in my area.

The TA is a Cisco one. When I returned home late Friday night the green light on the from of the TA was blinking and I could no longer receive any of the SDV channels.

I tried the following steps to try to correct the problem on my own:

1. Rebooting the S3 from the menu
2. Removing and re-attaching the power adaptor from the TA
3. Pulling the HDMI cable from the TA and re-attaching it with both the S3 not re-booted and re-booted 
4. Pulling and re-attaching the power cable from the S3

None of these options corrected the problem.

As a last resort, I called my local TW and reported the problem. They said they checked my account to make sure everything was configured properly on their end and that the TA should correct itself on it's own.

I suspect they sent some signal to the TA, since the light returned to solid green within a minute.

Then I tried to tune SDV channels again and could still not receive them.

After re-booting the S3 again from the menu, I could receive the SDV channels again.


----------



## nbuskirk

Hey everyone, 
I am new to this thread but not new to tivo. I have had two series 2 DT for over one year now and love them. I recently bought my first HDTV and along with it bought Series 3 TivoHD. Not until I started researching it did I realize the problems with cablecards and SDV. I live in the Lancaster/Columbus, ohio area and was wondering if anyone knew any details about it here. I did not want to have cable cards installed and pay for more channels if I can't get them. I talked to the nearest TWC service center about the TA and they had never heard of one. Didn't know if I should return the TivoHD while I still could and get TWC's Box. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.


----------



## derspiess

Just called TW Cincinnati to ask when the TA's are available. The CSR sort of hesitantly said "no" without elaborating. I asked if he knew of an ETA & he put me on hold & came back to say "No ETA, sorry."

Not totally convinced he had a clue what I was talking about. Might call tonight to see if I get the same answer.


----------



## dmband

woohoo
got one today in the mail
ordered it months ago and got the email saying its not available in your area
well today one showed up and works so far
i had to reboot the tivo but otherwise it was plug in 2 cords and away we go


----------



## SCSIRAID

dmband said:


> woohoo
> got one today in the mail
> ordered it months ago and got the email saying its not available in your area
> well today one showed up and works so far
> i had to reboot the tivo but otherwise it was plug in 2 cords and away we go


Where?


----------



## wolskinj

derspiess said:


> Just called TW Cincinnati to ask when the TA's are available. The CSR sort of hesitantly said "no" without elaborating. I asked if he knew of an ETA & he put me on hold & came back to say "No ETA, sorry."
> 
> Not totally convinced he had a clue what I was talking about. Might call tonight to see if I get the same answer.


I noticed that the SDV page on TW Cincinnati's website now gives an ETA of Feburary or March. (Which of course probably means early April.)


----------



## dmband

SCSIRAID said:


> Where?


central ny

as stated i got it today without any advanced notice
i did call on new yrs eve and asked about it though - i was told there is no plan to have TA in the cny region and they had no further info for me

i did not try ppv/demand channels

i just hope it is still working when i go to really watch tv


----------



## kiko

Called again, got transferred to Sales and I'm now scheduled for Monday the 2nd. Seems, at least for now, they are sending out a Supervisor to do the install, I'm on first name basis with the Supervisor, the tech and the Senior tech guys. Lots of digital and audio breakup, but that's for another topic.


----------



## rmryan

Just received mine yesterday with no advance notice (Time Warner, Central New York region). Installation was easy, I did have to reboot the TiVo, the instructions seemed to assume it would be recognized instantly and start working.

I now have ESPN2HD, TBSHD, AEHD, FOODHD, SCIHD, TRAVHD and a bunch of others I didn't even know I was missing. Seems to work pretty well. Occasionally there's a delay which the TiVo seems to interpret as no signal and bombs out. If I retune it's fine. The message is different than a station you just don't get, though. Something like "This channel temporarily unavailable, try later" type of thing. Will have to see if it causes an issue when the TiVo changes to the channel to record.

If this all works as well as it appears to, it seems like an anticlimactic end to the whole SDV issue. Not that that's a bad thing! 

Rich


----------



## derspiess

wolskinj said:


> I noticed that the SDV page on TW Cincinnati's website now gives an ETA of Feburary or March. (Which of course probably means early April.)


April, if we're lucky


----------



## jcderr

I finally got my TA yesterday and got it all hooked up. I'm a little aggrevated that Time Warner lost my original request for a Tuning Adapter from when they first posted the online form, so I was never notified when they were finally available. I came back to tivocommunity for something else, saw a ton of activity in this thread, and then found out that everyone has had them for a month or more. DOH!

Anyway, I didn't have the 8-blink problem, but I did have perma-blink. I tried a variety of things, but the ultimate solution was to use the automated CSR hit, then reboot the Tivo.

I have noticed, however, that there are a handful of channels that I still cannot tune to. Boomerang (111), TLCHD (1615), and Versus HD (1646) are the only ones I've made specific note of, but there's a few more channels I didn't care about that wouldn't tune either. Anyone know what the deal with that is?


----------



## cableguy763

jcderr said:


> I finally got my TA yesterday and got it all hooked up. I'm a little aggrevated that Time Warner lost my original request for a Tuning Adapter from when they first posted the online form, so I was never notified when they were finally available. I came back to tivocommunity for something else, saw a ton of activity in this thread, and then found out that everyone has had them for a month or more. DOH!
> 
> Anyway, I didn't have the 8-blink problem, but I did have perma-blink. I tried a variety of things, but the ultimate solution was to use the automated CSR hit, then reboot the Tivo.
> 
> I have noticed, however, that there are a handful of channels that I still cannot tune to. Boomerang (111), TLCHD (1615), and Versus HD (1646) are the only ones I've made specific note of, but there's a few more channels I didn't care about that wouldn't tune either. Anyone know what the deal with that is?


You should be getting those channels. Send me a pm with the rf mac address of your ta and I can see why they aren't working.


----------



## NoVa Matt

I am in Kansas City and I just picked up my Tuning Adapter last yesterday. Time Warner didn't notify me. I had heard that they should be in this area by now so I stopped in at the Overland Park store and sure enough, they had a couple. Installation was straight forward and it seems to work okay. So, if you are in KC, start bugging TW for your adapter.


----------



## Reward

The most recent date I've gotten from TWC in Raleigh is Feb 3.

Anybody else hear anything?


----------



## KeithB

My new TivoHD died almost two weeks ago and the replacement arrived Wednesday evening  with software v8.x  It refused to recognize the previous Scientific Atlanta M-card, and continued to refuse two other M-cards the tech brought out this morning. So I'll have to wait for the Tivo v11.x update to arrive before I can call them back. DOH!!

While working with online chat support last night (they tried to hit my old M-card, but it didn't work) they asked if there was anything else  they could help with. So I asked about availability of tuning adapters. They directed me to the 877-566-4892 line, which I called Thursday afternoon. The 'tech support' CSR didn't know what a TA was, but asked someone else who's supposed to know, and the response was neither positive nor constructive. I'm awaiting a callback (the previous TA callback a month ago was pathetic) but I'm not expecting anything useful. TWC's Jan 2 e-mail from [email protected] said:


TWC said:


> Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available in all TWC areas and we continue testing to ensure that this equipment meets the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released sometime in January in many remaining areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.


and seeing as how today is Jan 29, I don't believe Charlotte is one of _the many remaining areas of the country._


----------



## nowakezone

I too picked up my tuning adapter yesterday at the Winchester store. I live in Lees Summit. It is working great for me except USAHD and FXHD is still black. The tech support rep said it is a known issue for those 2 channels and they are working to solve the problem. Other than that it works great.


----------



## Dadorama

I have TWC service, a Series 3, two S cards, and have just recently received a TA. The TA appears to be paired with only one of the S cards, however. On the other hand, there are a couple of channels that I thought were SDV channels that I can get with both cards. So I really don't know if we have a bad install, a bad S card, or a bad TA, or some combination. In addition, I can no longer get on the second S card a channel (ESPN) that I could get before we added the TA. 

I have seen that one TA should handle both S cards in a Series 3. Is there a secret to making this work properly that we didn't do? The installation was done with a Tech and a Tech supervisor at my house about 2 weeks ago. They took about 2.5 hours and everything seemed to go pretty well - I was there and they seemed to follow the instructions to the letter. 

Any suggestion for making the the TA handle both S cards would be great - and it can be as technical as can be - because I will just turn it over to the local head tech guy who is really committed to getting this install working right - for which I am most grateful.


----------



## SCSIRAID

Dadorama said:


> I have TWC service, a Series 3, two S cards, and have just recently received a TA. The TA appears to be paired with only one of the S cards, however. On the other hand, there are a couple of channels that I thought were SDV channels that I can get with both cards. So I really don't know if we have a bad install, a bad S card, or a bad TA, or some combination. In addition, I can no longer get on the second S card a channel (ESPN) that I could get before we added the TA.
> 
> I have seen that one TA should handle both S cards in a Series 3. Is there a secret to making this work properly that we didn't do? The installation was done with a Tech and a Tech supervisor at my house about 2 weeks ago. They took about 2.5 hours and everything seemed to go pretty well - I was there and they seemed to follow the instructions to the letter.
> 
> Any suggestion for making the the TA handle both S cards would be great - and it can be as technical as can be - because I will just turn it over to the local head tech guy who is really committed to getting this install working right - for which I am most grateful.


A TA is not 'paired' to a cablecard at all. They are simply 'authorized' by the head end to provide services to a UDCP. They even work with a TiVo that has no cablecards (if you can get one from your cableco).

You probably have a cablecard that has lost its authorization. Perhaps you should check the cablecard menu and see that both are authorized. You might also check in the Greensboro TA thread where I seem to recall a similar situation.


----------



## Dadorama

Sounds like a plan. I will check in my cablecard menu. I know that lists a couple of pages of information - any idea exactly what line or lines I should be on the lookout for? And possibly what a bad authorization would look like (or *not* look like?).


----------



## SCSIRAID

Dadorama said:


> Sounds like a plan. I will check in my cablecard menu. I know that lists a couple of pages of information - any idea exactly what line or lines I should be on the lookout for? And possibly what a bad authorization would look like (or *not* look like?).


Go to settings/ remote,cablecard&devices/ cablecard decoder / configure cablecard # / cablecard menu / SA Cablecard CP Screen....

Look for 'Auth Status:' The value after it should be 'CP Auth Received'.

If it says 'Waiting for CP Auth' then you have found the problem.

Check both cablecards (the # value from above)


----------



## Carfan

I got my Cisco box today, hooked it up per the instructions, but seems to be taking forever to load channels.

I spoke with a CSR, who was very polite and professional (out of Portland, ME), and did say he found some errors in my account data that he corrected, but still after about an hour, it is still on the Acquiring Channels screen. 

Any thoughts?


----------



## AJRitz

NoVa Matt said:


> I am in Kansas City and I just picked up my Tuning Adapter last yesterday. Time Warner didn't notify me. I had heard that they should be in this area by now so I stopped in at the Overland Park store and sure enough, they had a couple. Installation was straight forward and it seems to work okay. So, if you are in KC, start bugging TW for your adapter.





nowakezone said:


> I too picked up my tuning adapter yesterday at the Winchester store. I live in Lees Summit. It is working great for me except USAHD and FXHD is still black. The tech support rep said it is a known issue for those 2 channels and they are working to solve the problem. Other than that it works great.


Sounds like I need to make time to hit the Overland Park store on Saturday.


----------



## Dadorama

SCSIRAID said:


> Go to settings/ remote,cablecard&devices/ cablecard decoder / configure cablecard # / cablecard menu / SA Cablecard CP Screen....
> 
> Look for 'Auth Status:' The value after it should be 'CP Auth Received'.
> 
> If it says 'Waiting for CP Auth' then you have found the problem.
> 
> Check both cablecards (the # value from above)


OK I did this and both show that the value to be CP Auth Received. But... I still don't get all my channels on Cable Card 2. Any and all ideas welcomed! Again, Series 3 Tivo, Scientific Atlanta Cable Cards (they were made in 2006 from the info on the screen - possibly need newer ones?)


----------



## SCSIRAID

Dadorama said:


> OK I did this and both show that the value to be CP Auth Received. But... I still don't get all my channels on Cable Card 2. Any and all ideas welcomed! Again, Series 3 Tivo, Scientific Atlanta Cable Cards (they were made in 2006 from the info on the screen - possibly need newer ones?)


Id reboot the TiVo.....

What channels are missing? It could be that your account is not 'balanced' in the cableco billing system resulting in the cablecards having different entitlements.


----------



## ncbagwell

Reward said:


> The most recent date I've gotten from TWC in Raleigh is Feb 3.
> 
> Anybody else hear anything?


I have emailed TWC in Raleigh a few times but haven't gotten a response. Did they tell you that over the phone?


----------



## fleece1975

Milwaukee WI update ... latest email:



> January 29, 2009
> 
> Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available in all TWC areas and we continue testing to ensure that this equipment meets the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released sometime in February in many remaining areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.


----------



## karl81883

After 3 hrs on the phone and a tech coming to my house to work on my cable cards without any cable cards... I have been told that TAs will start shipping Feb. 4th in the RTP area. If you have not already 'pre-ordered' one please signup at www . timewarnercable.com / tuningadapter (sorry about the format, can't post links cuz I'm new).
The Tech Support rep indicated that they would be shipped and not require a truck roll. Also they should be sent out on a first come first served order based on the pre-order list.


----------



## SCSIRAID

karl81883 said:


> After 3 hrs on the phone and a tech coming to my house to work on my cable cards without any cable cards... I have been told that TAs will start shipping Feb. 4th in the RTP area. If you have not already 'pre-ordered' one please signup at www . timewarnercable.com / tuningadapter (sorry about the format, can't post links cuz I'm new).
> The Tech Support rep indicated that they would be shipped and not require a truck roll. Also they should be sent out on a first come first served order based on the pre-order list.


The TA 'Program' is supposed to start on the 4th... that doesnt mean they will ship TA's on the 4th......

It would be nice, however, if your info was more accurate than mine.


----------



## brentj

I have mine in KC x 2. Both are missing several of the 1000+ range channels. "Temporarily unavailable. Press select to try again". Some are there, some not. 

Cable CO and Tivo haven't figured it out yet. Those channels appear on my cable box. Any other KC users missing channels?


----------



## tomkc

I'm in Kansas City and got a tuning adapter from the Overland Park store last week. So far, I haven't been able to get any of the 1014 through 1070 HD channels. Last week, a rep (John) tried to help me on the phone; he tried hard, but no luck. This morning, I went to the Overland Park store and they sent an email to a tech who is supposed to be the expert.

I should hear from the tech sometime, but I get the idea he is busy. (They tried to call his cell phone first, but had to send him an email.) All the people I talked to last week and this have been courteous and helpful. I'm thinking there are growing pains with getting everything to work with the tuning adapters.


----------



## ncbagwell

karl and scsiraid - sounds like they are at least doing *something*. I'm slightly encouraged.


----------



## m_jonis

I see I'm not alone with the issues with the TA all of a sudden losing a block of channels.

I'm in TW Albany and I had my TA working a few days ago with my TivoHD. Now I can no longer get about 70&#37; of the SDV channels anymore. Just get a gray screen. I've rebooted everything and nothing works.

Not sure I'll bother to call our local office because they know nothing. Last time I called they said they couldn't do anything because I didn't have a cable box and the Tivo wasn't "2-way" capable. So I had to wait a week for a truck roll that didn't accomplish anything.


----------



## convergent

karl81883 said:


> After 3 hrs on the phone and a tech coming to my house to work on my cable cards without any cable cards... I have been told that TAs will start shipping Feb. 4th in the RTP area. If you have not already 'pre-ordered' one please signup at www . timewarnercable.com / tuningadapter (sorry about the format, can't post links cuz I'm new).
> The Tech Support rep indicated that they would be shipped and not require a truck roll. Also they should be sent out on a first come first served order based on the pre-order list.


Yahoo, Yahoo... I signed up a month or so ago, so hopefully I'll get one soon.


----------



## SCSIRAID

ncbagwell said:


> karl and scsiraid - sounds like they are at least doing *something*. I'm slightly encouraged.


Be VERY encouraged. They are absolutely doing something. The head end code is installed and operational. If you had a TA that was authorized... it would work.


----------



## tomkc

tomkc said:


> I'm in Kansas City and got a tuning adapter from the Overland Park store last week. So far, I haven't been able to get any of the 1014 through 1070 HD channels. Last week, a rep (John) tried to help me on the phone; he tried hard, but no luck. This morning, I went to the Overland Park store and they sent an email to a tech who is supposed to be the expert.
> 
> I should hear from the tech sometime, but I get the idea he is busy. (They tried to call his cell phone first, but had to send him an email.) All the people I talked to last week and this have been courteous and helpful. I'm thinking there are growing pains with getting everything to work with the tuning adapters.


It's 3 hours later and the Time Warner called back. The serial number of my cable card wasn't associated with my name; I gave it to them over the phone and now I get a few of the HD channels (e.g., HGTV HD - which will make my wife happy). The TWC woman was more disappointed than I was; she was hoping the serial number would get things working. Time Warner is sending out a tech tomorrow - I asked that the send someone experienced with TIVOs.

To me, "Switched digital" means computers are involved - I just hope the problem is not some obscure computer code gone awry.


----------



## spolebitski

Are the networks of individual divisions that different that each division needs to customize the tuning adapter for each division. This is what I am being told in Wisconsin. It has been adjusted in the past 4 weeks 8 times while undergoing testing - I get the need to test but how much different can they be.

Could it be that each division needs to have their top guy figure it out as they work with it - not that each division is that different and each tuning adapter needs to be adjusted to the divisions network?


----------



## kiko

The installer showed up this afternoon, with a box and roll of cable.

All he did was unbox the tuning adapter, power brick, and usb cable, handed it to me to do the actual install. All he did was make a short coax with connectors and call in to say "He" was done with the order.

After a guided setup and reboot, it seems to work quite well. Let's hope it continues to work.


----------



## mikeyts

tomkc said:


> To me, "Switched digital" means computers are involved - I just hope the problem is not some obscure computer code gone awry.


Computers are involved with every last bit of your cable system. Any "digital cable" involves computers, switched or linear. (Computers are likely involved in toasting bread for your breakfast ).


----------



## boswic

An update from Milwaukee-

Back in Nov., I filed a complaint with the FCC about TW deploying SDV in my area without a solution for TiVo customers. I received a copy of the complaint from the FCC on Friday and they must have sent a copy to the local TW HQ also. 

I received two calls on Monday from TW, wanting to know what they could do for me. They're going to retroactively credit me about $10/month for each month since I've had the TiVo. Unfortunately, they don't know any more than we do on when the TA will be available in my area, though the person I spoke with said that it should be in place this quarter (by the end of March). I'm not holding my breath.

If you have yet to get a TA, I highly recommend filing a complaint with the FCC (can be done through the FCC website). TW will listen to you if you do that. I had been trying for months to get some straight answers from anyone at TW, even speaking with several customer care supervisors, but it wasn't until they received a copy of the FCC compliant that I actually got any. If you are in Milwaukee or SE Wisconsin, I highly recommend calling TW and asking to be transferred to the "Solutions" department and voicing your concerns there. At the very least, you should get some kind of a credit to your bill.


----------



## Johnwashere

boswic said:


> An update from Milwaukee-
> 
> Back in Nov., I filed a complaint with the FCC about TW deploying SDV in my area without a solution for TiVo customers. I received a copy of the complaint from the FCC on Friday and they must have sent a copy to the local TW HQ also.
> 
> I received two calls on Monday from TW, wanting to know what they could do for me. They're going to retroactively credit me about $10/month for each month since I've had the TiVo. Unfortunately, they don't know any more than we do on when the TA will be available in my area, though the person I spoke with said that it should be in place this quarter (by the end of March). I'm not holding my breath.
> 
> If you have yet to get a TA, I highly recommend filing a complaint with the FCC (can be done through the FCC website). TW will listen to you if you do that. I had been trying for months to get some straight answers from anyone at TW, even speaking with several customer care supervisors, but it wasn't until they received a copy of the FCC compliant that I actually got any. If you are in Milwaukee or SE Wisconsin, I highly recommend calling TW and asking to be transferred to the "Solutions" department and voicing your concerns there. At the very least, you should get some kind of a credit to your bill.


I remember you posting about how you filled out the form on the FCC web page before. What was the form number again?
Thanks
John from Columbus, Ohio


----------



## boswic

Johnwashere said:


> I remember you posting about how you filled out the form on the FCC web page before. What was the form number again?
> Thanks
> John from Columbus, Ohio


I just went here and filled out the required information:

http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm


----------



## spolebitski

boswic said:


> An update from Milwaukee-
> 
> Back in Nov., I filed a complaint with the FCC about TW deploying SDV in my area without a solution for TiVo customers. I received a copy of the complaint from the FCC on Friday and they must have sent a copy to the local TW HQ also.
> 
> I received two calls on Monday from TW, wanting to know what they could do for me. They're going to retroactively credit me about $10/month for each month since I've had the TiVo. Unfortunately, they don't know any more than we do on when the TA will be available in my area, though the person I spoke with said that it should be in place this quarter (by the end of March). I'm not holding my breath.
> 
> If you have yet to get a TA, I highly recommend filing a complaint with the FCC (can be done through the FCC website). TW will listen to you if you do that. I had been trying for months to get some straight answers from anyone at TW, even speaking with several customer care supervisors, but it wasn't until they received a copy of the FCC compliant that I actually got any. If you are in Milwaukee or SE Wisconsin, I highly recommend calling TW and asking to be transferred to the "Solutions" department and voicing your concerns there. At the very least, you should get some kind of a credit to your bill.


I am interested in to what they will offer me when my complaint goes through (i submitted back in january - i waited till the end of 2008 as a letter they sent us said they HOPE to offer it by the end of the year). I currently have someone at the ADMIN office calling me weekly after she has her meeting with the supervisor tasked with the tuning adapter. I am a little upset that each time I talk to someone new i need to educate them as to what a Tuning Adapter is and how SDV was rolled out without the tuning adapter being ready for deployment -- often times they have no clue that this is even a issue and are under the assumption everything is fine with cable card customers.


----------



## c615586

spolebitski said:


> I am interested in to what they will offer me when my complaint goes through (i submitted back in january - i waited till the end of 2008 as a letter they sent us said they HOPE to offer it by the end of the year). I currently have someone at the ADMIN office calling me weekly after she has her meeting with the supervisor tasked with the tuning adapter. I am a little upset that each time I talk to someone new i need to educate them as to what a Tuning Adapter is and how SDV was rolled out without the tuning adapter being ready for deployment -- often times they have no clue that this is even a issue and are under the assumption everything is fine with cable card customers.


Thanks for the tip... I just submitted a complaint. No one has ever offered me any sort of compensation when I call to ask about SDV. I actually went to the local office here in Columbus a few weeks ago and the CSR at the front desk was extraordinarily rude and told me not to expect SDV any time soon. Nice.

Has anyone in Ohio had any luck with getting an SDV out of Time Warner?


----------



## mikeyts

spolebitski said:


> ...how SDV was rolled out without the tuning adapter being ready for deployment...


SDV was rolled out in some markets before the Tuning Adapter was ever proposed (in response to the CE industry's complaint that the growing use of SDV was diminishing the usefulness of unidirectional CableCARD products, which the cable industry had pledged to support).


----------



## JC Fedorczyk

I opened a complaint with the FCC as well. A little "prodding" never hurts. I'm in Charlotte, NC.


----------



## szurlo

Is is just me, or has the TWC website stopped sending e-mail confirmations when you fill out the "pre-order" form? I've been filling it out once a month just to see how the stated estimated availability changes each time. However, since the recent TWC website makeover, I have not been able to get the system to send me that automated response. Anyone else?


----------



## jmaditto

They haven't stopped but the letter doesn't mean much...they did change the date from Jan to Feb.


Blah Blah Blah!


Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available in all TWC areas and we continue testing to ensure that this equipment meets the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released sometime in February in many remaining areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.

Thank you, 

D. Jacobs
Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
Time Warner Cable


----------



## szurlo

jmaditto said:


> They haven't stopped but the letter doesn't mean much...they did change the date from Jan to Feb.
> 
> Blah Blah Blah!
> 
> Thank you for your request for the SDV Tuning Adapter. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded. At this time the Tuning Adapter is not available in all TWC areas and we continue testing to ensure that this equipment meets the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We expect the Tuning Adapters to be released sometime in February in many remaining areas of the country. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the Tuning Adapter becomes available a service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> D. Jacobs
> Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
> Time Warner Cable


Lovely. So I guess it's pretty safe to assume at this point that this letter means absolutely nothing and that it's entirely possible that in 6 months we'll be getting "released in August in many remaining areas of the country".


----------



## jmaditto

I hope not....my engineer contact has gone "dark"....not sure what that means.

Maybe TWC thinks since the switch to digital was pushed out 6 months they can delay our TA's too


----------



## szurlo

I went ahead and filed a complaint with the FCC. Probably wont accomplish squat, but I have nothing to lose.


----------



## NetOgre

I've had the Tuning Adapter for a couple of weeks now. A couple of strange issues have begun to crop up, but until this week I was not able to point directly at the TA as the cause.

Last week, many of the shows on my Season Pass were still in repeats or on hiatus. But a couple of shows came back with short recordings. The first was only a few minutes short (cut off with 2 minutes left). But the second show only had the first 10 minutes. Fortunately, I have most of my SPs recording on a second Tivo so was able to transfer them to watch.

This week, many of the network shows have started coming back, and I have been on the Tivo more allowing me to be present when problems occurred...

Somewhat randomly the TA seems to reboot. While watching pre-recorded shows, the light on the TA begins to blink for a few minutes. When it goes solid it kicks me out of what I am watching, and the message that a Tuning Adapter has been connected comes up. Any recording in progress ends. If I go to live TV, the screen shows that it is synchronizing channels, and you cannot access live TV until it is done.

I've checked that all of the cables are firmly connected, and even tried to swap USB ports for TA. Restarted both the TA and Tivo. But the problem persists. I am planning on calling the local Time Warner tonight to see what I can do.

Craig


----------



## karl81883

SCSIRAID said:


> The TA 'Program' is supposed to start on the 4th... that doesnt mean they will ship TA's on the 4th......
> 
> It would be nice, however, if your info was more accurate than mine.


SCSI Raid: You are in fact, and unfortunately, correct. The 'program' started on the 4th. I have some clarification as to what that means in the Triangle Area (NC). I was told that the 'pre-order' list has been split into two groups. No information as to how that was done, could be by registration date, account number, last name, geographic area... Letters have been / will be send to the two groups on feb 4th and "sometime in mid-feb" respectively. The letter, according to the CS rep, goes something like:

"It has been so long from when we asked you to pre-order to when we can now offer you a TA, we want to make sure you are still interested (haven't given up and: gotten a cable box from us, gotten U-verse from ATT gone with satalite or stopped watching TV all together). If you are still interested please visit 'this website' to RE-REGISTER."

I have not gotten my letter yet, and the CS rep didn't know or would not share the new web address for re-registration. I will post the address if I'm in the first group, and someone doesn't beat me to it.


----------



## SCSIRAID

karl81883 said:


> SCSI Raid: You are in fact, and unfortunately, correct. The 'program' started on the 4th. I have some clarification as to what that means in the Triangle Area (NC). I was told that the 'pre-order' list has been split into two groups. No information as to how that was done, could be by registration date, account number, last name, geographic area... Letters have been / will be send to the two groups on feb 4th and "sometime in mid-feb" respectively. The letter, according to the CS rep, goes something like:
> 
> "It has been so long from when we asked you to pre-order to when we can now offer you a TA, we want to make sure you are still interested (haven't given up and: gotten a cable box from us, gotten U-verse from ATT gone with satalite or stopped watching TV all together). If you are still interested please visit 'this website' to RE-REGISTER."
> 
> I have not gotten my letter yet, and the CS rep didn't know or would not share the new web address for re-registration. I will post the address if I'm in the first group, and someone doesn't beat me to it.


Yup... Matches the info I have. Id bet they did two groups to see just how 'cleanly' the first rollout went. You might want to check out this thread... It TWC Carolinas focused.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=418262


----------



## SCSIRAID

karl81883 said:


> SCSI Raid: You are in fact, and unfortunately, correct. The 'program' started on the 4th. I have some clarification as to what that means in the Triangle Area (NC). I was told that the 'pre-order' list has been split into two groups. No information as to how that was done, could be by registration date, account number, last name, geographic area... Letters have been / will be send to the two groups on feb 4th and "sometime in mid-feb" respectively. The letter, according to the CS rep, goes something like:
> 
> "It has been so long from when we asked you to pre-order to when we can now offer you a TA, we want to make sure you are still interested (haven't given up and: gotten a cable box from us, gotten U-verse from ATT gone with satalite or stopped watching TV all together). If you are still interested please visit 'this website' to RE-REGISTER."
> 
> I have not gotten my letter yet, and the CS rep didn't know or would not share the new web address for re-registration. I will post the address if I'm in the first group, and someone doesn't beat me to it.


Even though the 'want' to do it in two groups.... if the website address hits the fourms... the first group may be a lot bigger than they expect.


----------



## akakii

I just got set up today. I signed up for my tuning adapter with Time Warner about 5-6 weeks ago. They shipped it last week, at which point I ordered the HD TiVo that I'd been putting off getting.

The installer showed up and the first thing he told me was that he's "a bit rusty" with CableCard installations and that he'd never done an HD TiVo install. I told him not to worry, that I'd be reading about it in great detail and that we'd get through it. I ended up doing the installation with the exception of him calling in with the CC numbers. He'd also never installed a tuning adapter, so I was able to bring him up to speed on that, too.

He was a nice guy with a good sense of humor and he didn't mind one bit that I was doing his job for him. But why, I wonder, I am going to have to pay for him to come to my house to watch me? Oh well, I can't complain too much. I've got my TiVo back after suffering with a SA DVR for months.


----------



## Johnwashere

akakii said:


> I just got set up today. I signed up for my tuning adapter with Time Warner about 5-6 weeks ago. They shipped it last week, at which point I ordered the HD TiVo that I'd been putting off getting.
> 
> The installer showed up and the first thing he told me was that he's "a bit rusty" with CableCard installations and that he'd never done an HD TiVo install. I told him not to worry, that I'd be reading about it in great detail and that we'd get through it. I ended up doing the installation with the exception of him calling in with the CC numbers. He'd also never installed a tuning adapter, so I was able to bring him up to speed on that, too.
> 
> He was a nice guy with a good sense of humor and he didn't mind one bit that I was doing his job for him. But why, I wonder, I am going to have to pay for him to come to my house to watch me? Oh well, I can't complain too much. I've got my TiVo back after suffering with a SA DVR for months.


WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED?!?!?!? I want my TA now!!!!


----------



## szurlo

akakii said:


> I just got set up today. I signed up for my tuning adapter with Time Warner about 5-6 weeks ago. They shipped it last week, at which point I ordered the HD TiVo that I'd been putting off getting.
> 
> The installer showed up and the first thing he told me was that he's "a bit rusty" with CableCard installations and that he'd never done an HD TiVo install. I told him not to worry, that I'd be reading about it in great detail and that we'd get through it. I ended up doing the installation with the exception of him calling in with the CC numbers. He'd also never installed a tuning adapter, so I was able to bring him up to speed on that, too.
> 
> He was a nice guy with a good sense of humor and he didn't mind one bit that I was doing his job for him. But why, I wonder, I am going to have to pay for him to come to my house to watch me? Oh well, I can't complain too much. I've got my TiVo back after suffering with a SA DVR for months.


Where are you located?


----------



## BruceShultes

I don't know whether this will help anyone else, but this has been my experience with the TA.

Two times within the last week when I tried to play a program from the Now Playing List, I received an error message something like "This program could not be recorded because there is no signal on this channel".

The first time I just deleted the programs that had the problem and figured I would investigate it later.

This time I knew that there had to have been a signal, since the recorded programs were OTA, so I re-booted my S3.

After the boot was complete all of the programs that had shown the error were completely viewable.

I am located in the Albany area of NY state.


----------



## akakii

Johnwashere said:


> WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED?!?!?!? I want my TA now!!!!


Portland, Maine.

I decided to forego the frustration that y'all have had by waiting to buy my HD TiVo until I had a tuning adapter in hand. I figured that suffering through a few months of a crappy SA DVR would be better than the alternative.

Now that I've been hooked up for about 20 hours I'm wrangling with a reduction in picture quality and am trying to figure that out. From what I've read here it's possibly a weak signal that needs to be boosted. We'll see.


----------



## SCSIRAID

akakii said:


> Portland, Maine.
> 
> I decided to forego the frustration that y'all have had by waiting to buy my HD TiVo until I had a tuning adapter in hand. I figured that suffering through a few months of a crappy SA DVR would be better than the alternative.
> 
> Now that I've been hooked up for about 20 hours I'm wrangling with a reduction in picture quality and am trying to figure that out. From what I've read here it's possibly a weak signal that needs to be boosted. We'll see.


You shouldnt be seeing any 'PQ reduction' between POS8300 and TiVo....

How are you conntected? HDMI? On what sources do you see this? SD? HD?

Check Messages & Settings / Settings/ Video/ Video Output Format and make sure you are configured properly for your display. I use Native as I have a video processor. Many use 1080i.


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## dave13077

akakii said:


> Portland, Maine.
> 
> I decided to forego the frustration that y'all have had by waiting to buy my HD TiVo until I had a tuning adapter in hand. I figured that suffering through a few months of a crappy SA DVR would be better than the alternative.
> 
> Now that I've been hooked up for about 20 hours I'm wrangling with a reduction in picture quality and am trying to figure that out. From what I've read here it's possibly a weak signal that needs to be boosted. We'll see.


Are you hooked up to a SD or HDTV set? Are you using the composite or componet cables?

I have found that on a SD tv the picture is much better with the composite (yes I mean composite) cables.

YMMV


----------



## szurlo

akakii said:


> Portland, Maine.
> 
> I decided to forego the frustration that y'all have had by waiting to buy my HD TiVo until I had a tuning adapter in hand. I figured that suffering through a few months of a crappy SA DVR would be better than the alternative.
> 
> Now that I've been hooked up for about 20 hours I'm wrangling with a reduction in picture quality and am trying to figure that out. From what I've read here it's possibly a weak signal that needs to be boosted. We'll see.


I currently have an SA8300HD and a TivoHD hooked to the same tv via an HDMI switch. I have compared the two by switching back and forth while viewing a program on each that has static screen elements (like the graphics on ESPNHD) and I can see ZERO PQ quality difference. However, there is a VERY noticeable difference if I use component cables on the TivoHD and HDMI on the 8300HD. (Which is why I don't want to move to component cables to fix the Netflix audio issue)


----------



## Avatar26

spolebitski said:


> I am interested in to what they will offer me when my complaint goes through (i submitted back in january - i waited till the end of 2008 as a letter they sent us said they HOPE to offer it by the end of the year). I currently have someone at the ADMIN office calling me weekly after she has her meeting with the supervisor tasked with the tuning adapter. I am a little upset that each time I talk to someone new i need to educate them as to what a Tuning Adapter is and how SDV was rolled out without the tuning adapter being ready for deployment -- often times they have no clue that this is even a issue and are under the assumption everything is fine with cable card customers.


I am in the Northeast Wisconsin market and have been fighting TWC on the TA issue for months. In early January, I threatened to switch over to satelite due to their lack of responsiveness. They offered $20/month off my overall bill (which includes all basic/digital/HD channels and Roadrunner). I called again yesterday to follow up on ETA for the TA. I was told there is none. I have the pleasure of being able to compare the TWC DVR vs. Tivo HD live in my house. Software on the TCW box is awful and misses recordings consistently. I suggested they ship a TA in from another market and was told that wasn't possible. How can the technonolgy be so different in each market that this won't work? Anyone else as fed up with the whole situation as I am?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Avatar26 said:


> I am in the Northeast Wisconsin market and have been fighting TWC on the TA issue for months. In early January, I threatened to switch over to satelite due to their lack of responsiveness. They offered $20/month off my overall bill (which includes all basic/digital/HD channels and Roadrunner). I called again yesterday to follow up on ETA for the TA. I was told there is none. I have the pleasure of being able to compare the TWC DVR vs. Tivo HD live in my house. Software on the TCW box is awful and misses recordings consistently. I suggested they ship a TA in from another market and was told that wasn't possible. How can the technonolgy be so different in each market that this won't work? Anyone else as fed up with the whole situation as I am?


The TA needs 'cooperative' software to be installed in the Head End that is servicing you. Until that software is installed and configured.... your possesion of a TA will do you no good.


----------



## lrhorer

akakii said:


> Now that I've been hooked up for about 20 hours I'm wrangling with a reduction in picture quality and am trying to figure that out. From what I've read here it's possibly a weak signal that needs to be boosted. We'll see.


Uh-uh. Digital PQ is not affected by signal levels nor any other transmission artifact (S/N, IM distrotion, etc.). This is one the biggest advantages of digital encoding.


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## Bing3000

Stopped in to the TW office off of Olentangy in Columbus yesterday (2/7/09) and enquired about the ETA on Tuning Adapters. Semi-blank stares, and then a lame "waiting on them to be delivered" with no ETA. I doubt the delivery story. I think they're just not ready to implement...


----------



## [email protected]

I got my TA delivered. Everything went fine with the hookup except I only get SD channels on cablecard 2. Thw TW guy just left and he said he thinks I need one of the cablecards to be multi-stream. He had the backend guys send out info to cablecard 1 and said if it doesn't work in 24 hours to call back. Does anyone know anything about single-stream vs, multi-stream cablecards? I have a Tivo series 3 HD.


----------



## skaggs

[email protected] said:


> I got my TA delivered. Everything went fine with the hookup except I only get SD channels on cablecard 2. Thw TW guy just left and he said he thinks I need one of the cablecards to be multi-stream. He had the backend guys send out info to cablecard 1 and said if it doesn't work in 24 hours to call back. Does anyone know anything about single-stream vs, multi-stream cablecards? I have a Tivo series 3 HD.


Bill:

With a Series3 you have to use two single stream cable cards.


----------



## SCSIRAID

[email protected] said:


> I got my TA delivered. Everything went fine with the hookup except I only get SD channels on cablecard 2. Thw TW guy just left and he said he thinks I need one of the cablecards to be multi-stream. He had the backend guys send out info to cablecard 1 and said if it doesn't work in 24 hours to call back. Does anyone know anything about single-stream vs, multi-stream cablecards? I have a Tivo series 3 HD.


Its unclear what TiVo you have... The S3 is the early one that is THX and has the intro that shows TiVo dude doing a bow and comes with the 'Glo Remote'. The THD is the current one where the intro is more flashy and has clips from TV shows and movies.

The S3 requires two cablecards... they can be S-cards or M-cards. The THD needs 1 M-Card or 2 S-Cards. I believe the M-Card needs to be in a specific slot to work properly in THD...


----------



## [email protected]

skaggs said:


> Bill:
> 
> With a Series3 you have to use two single stream cable cards.


That's what I thought. Any reason why I only get sd channels on cablecard 2 and not cablecard 1?


----------



## spolebitski

Avatar26 said:


> I am in the Northeast Wisconsin market and have been fighting TWC on the TA issue for months. In early January, I threatened to switch over to satelite due to their lack of responsiveness. They offered $20/month off my overall bill (which includes all basic/digital/HD channels and Roadrunner). I called again yesterday to follow up on ETA for the TA. I was told there is none. I have the pleasure of being able to compare the TWC DVR vs. Tivo HD live in my house. Software on the TCW box is awful and misses recordings consistently. I suggested they ship a TA in from another market and was told that wasn't possible. How can the technonolgy be so different in each market that this won't work? Anyone else as fed up with the whole situation as I am?


I am really fed up with TWC about this. I have every confidence that they are working on it however what is the priority, probably low and will get pushed back when something else comes up. This needs to be a high priority in my opinion. Did you file a complaint with the FCC i am asking everyone with tivo to do this. The more complaints possibly could get results.


----------



## Johnwashere

spolebitski said:


> I am really fed up with TWC about this. I have every confidence that they are working on it however what is the priority, probably low and will get pushed back when something else comes up. This needs to be a high priority in my opinion. Did you file a complaint with the FCC i am asking everyone with tivo to do this. The more complaints possibly could get results.


Yea Im sure its a low priority for them. Whenever I call in to my TW 9/10 reps have NO idea what I talk about, then some go to a supervisor and the supervisor says I need a new cable card, or some other dumb answer. They really just dont care about it, becuase they want people to use there set top boxes. I tried using a TW box many times and they suck, and TW keeps promising there fixing them and they will be better, but they never do... I filled an FCC complaint last week, and like you said the more the better!


----------



## mbarcus

I am in Cincinnati Ohio. I signed up for the SDV adapter a few months back. I just got a call from TW and they are going to mail me two SDV adapters free of charge for me to install. They said I could also pick them up from either their Eastgate store or their Dayton store. Since I am out of town, I had them ship them. They are supposed to ship in 3-5 days. Finally.......


----------



## Johnwashere

wow, your luck Cincinnati. Our TW here dosent even know what tuning adapters are anymore  Im tempted to just go to the Columbus TW office and demand a TA or a free dvr-box !


----------



## schuylar

Johnwashere said:


> wow, your luck Cincinnati. Our TW here dosent even know what tuning adapters are anymore  Im tempted to just go to the Columbus TW office and demand a TA or a free dvr-box !


Hopefully this means Columbus is soon to follow. I won't get my hopes up though. I finally got my TiVo HD and cablecards setup last week. I haven't been waiting for a TA as long as others but i sure do want one soon.


----------



## derspiess

mbarcus said:


> I am in Cincinnati Ohio. I signed up for the SDV adapter a few months back. I just got a call from TW and they are going to mail me two SDV adapters free of charge for me to install. They said I could also pick them up from either their Eastgate store or their Dayton store. Since I am out of town, I had them ship them. They are supposed to ship in 3-5 days. Finally.......


Hmm, might have to give them a call. Wonder if I could also just swing by Eastgate & pound on the counter, demanding my TA


----------



## dutchboy22

I'm in NE Wisconsin and every time I call TWC its like I am speaking French. I just can't believe that they the training classes are not addressing this or at least informing their people of the situation, it makes them sound clueless. I am at the point of canceling service - way too many channels missing from the group plus I get all local in HD for free.


----------



## Kaelin

mbarcus said:


> I am in Cincinnati Ohio. I signed up for the SDV adapter a few months back. I just got a call from TW and they are going to mail me two SDV adapters free of charge for me to install. They said I could also pick them up from either their Eastgate store or their Dayton store. Since I am out of town, I had them ship them. They are supposed to ship in 3-5 days. Finally.......


I'm in Dayton and haven't heard this yet. I was at the Dayton store on Sunday and asked about the adapters. All I got was a blank stare though. Pretty much the same look I got when I asked a few weeks ago.


----------



## garrubal

I placed my pre-order yesterday and got this email today:



> February 11, 2009
> 
> Thank you for requesting the Switched Digital Video (SDV) Tuning Adapter for your TiVo Series 3, TiVo HD or TiVo HD XL DVRs unit. Your Pre-Order has been received and your information recorded.
> 
> While TWC has launched SDV in many neighborhoods around the country, not all TWC locations are delivering channels using the new SDV technology at this time. In the TWC areas where SDV has launched, we continue testing the Tuning Adapter to ensure this new equipment meets the highest levels of customer satisfaction. We expect the release of the Tuning Adapter in February in many remaining areas. Although we do not have a specific release date for your area, once the testing has completed a local service representative will contact you to schedule the installation.
> 
> For those customers requesting the SDV Tuning Adapter in areas not yet affected by SDV, your information will be retained for future reference.
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> D. Jacobs
> 
> Corporate Tuning Adapter Desk
> 
> Time Warner Cable


I live in the San Diego area, so hopefully we'll get those tuning adaptors soon. :up:


----------



## Kaelin

Yes that is the same email I received. Haven't seen the adapters yet though.


----------



## unit101

We recently lost another 20 channels due to SDV rollout. I've got the same letters as everyone else and get the same dead phone line when ask someone at the office about SDV and TA's... when I mention SDV they think i'm talking about a STD or something. I would lodge complaints with FCC ... this will push them. Here is a FCC case now ongoing with TWC in Hawaii.
http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2009/DA-09-120A1.html

here is where to lodge official FCC complaint:

http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm

I have demanded that they NOT move channels to SDV until all customers can get them and a 50% reduction on my bill until they do... yea right... I won't hold my breath. 
I will let you all know when TWC Raleigh rolls out...


----------



## SCSIRAID

unit101 said:


> We recently lost another 20 channels due to SDV rollout. I've got the same letters as everyone else and get the same dead phone line when ask someone at the office about SDV and TA's... when I mention SDV they think i'm talking about a STD or something. I would lodge complaints with FCC ... this will push them. Here is a FCC case now ongoing with TWC in Hawaii.
> http://www.fcc.gov/eb/Orders/2009/DA-09-120A1.html
> 
> here is where to lodge official FCC complaint:
> 
> http://esupport.fcc.gov/complaints.htm
> 
> I have demanded that they NOT move channels to SDV until all customers can get them and a 50% reduction on my bill until they do... yea right... I won't hold my breath.
> I will let you all know when TWC Raleigh rolls out...


You might want to check out the TWC Carolinas TA thread....

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7061364#post7061364

TA's are up and running in the triangle and ready to be deployed


----------



## derspiess

derspiess said:


> Hmm, might have to give them a call. Wonder if I could also just swing by Eastgate & pound on the counter, demanding my TA


Forgot to also mention that as I was getting ready to go to bed late Tuesday night, I caught where TWC was pushing out a firmware upgrade to my cable card. Maybe that has something to do with the TA rollout.

Also called TWC yesterday & got someone in their technical area who was somewhat helpful (i.e., he didn't just blow off my questions). He initially directed me to the sign-up form I had already completed, then put me on hold to ask around. I didn't get a definite answer from him what the TA status was, but he took my number & said he or someone else will not get back to me.

Not holding my breath, but it was nice to speak to someone who had some clue.


----------



## stephen007

derspiess said:


> I caught where TWC was pushing out a firmware upgrade to my cable card. Maybe that has something to do with the TA rollout.


How can you tell that they were upgrading the firmware on the cable card(s)?


----------



## realityboy

mbarcus said:


> I am in Cincinnati Ohio. I signed up for the SDV adapter a few months back. I just got a call from TW and they are going to mail me two SDV adapters free of charge for me to install. They said I could also pick them up from either their Eastgate store or their Dayton store. Since I am out of town, I had them ship them. They are supposed to ship in 3-5 days. Finally.......


Be sure to let us know when you get them. I haven't heard anything at all since signing up, and most of the channels that were to be switched to SDV in August per their letter are still coming in fine. The only ones I'm missing are a few of the newly added HD channels.


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## mikeyts

stephen007 said:


> How can you tell that they were upgrading the firmware on the cable card(s)?


He could be periodically checking the version in his CableCARDs' diagnostics. It'd be strange, but he could be doing that .

It's also possible that he tried to watch live TV on his TiVo while an upgrading was occurring (I'd expect that to only happen in the wee hours of the morning) and TiVo displayed a message.


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## arkham

arkham said:


> Glad to hear that. I am awaiting my tuning adapter in Binghamton, a TWC Central NY region. My Tivo cable card install went without a hitch even though I was one of the first customers to receive an M-Card locally.


Update: After requesting a tuning adapter through the TW website a second time, (the first time I was put on the "list" for when they release them) the website indicated that my tuning adapter request was granted and that I would be receiving it with 7-10 business days. (I don't think my original request would have been acted upon for a while).

Two days later, my doorbell rings and there it was in a box. It was a Cisco model. The instructions were clear, but after hooking things up, I still did not receive any of the SDV channels. I tried the troubleshooting reboot sequences suggested in the instructions included, but to no avail. Before calling the special phone number included with the instructions (looks like they send you right to a specialist), I read through this site and found the instructions which WORKED!

Someone here (sorry - I forgot where I read it) said that after install, you must call the TW support number and request to "resend" or "renew your programming" option in the automated response, then do a soft reboot of the Tivo.

This worked, and I am re-posting this suggestion for those who have the same problems as me.


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## realityboy

I believe I got the call about the tuning adapters also. My roommate said that someone had called from Time Warner wanting to talk about the cable cards, but he didn't have time to talk and told them to call back. Hopefully, I can get someone on the phone tomorrow that knows something about them.


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## derspiess

mikeyts said:


> He could be periodically checking the version in his CableCARDs' diagnostics. It'd be strange, but he could be doing that .


Nope.



> It's also possible that he tried to watch live TV on his TiVo while an upgrading was occurring (I'd expect that to only happen in the wee hours of the morning) and TiVo displayed a message.


Yep  
It was somewhere around 1:30am and there was a message covering the entire screen that said something like "CableCard firmware update in progress - XX% complete".


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## realityboy

I got one today. I stopped by the Dayton Mall store, and they had them in stock.


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## cartouchbea

realityboy said:


> I got one today. I stopped by the Dayton Mall store, and they had them in stock.


I just picked one up in Cincinnati at Eastgate Mall. Time Warner told me today that the Eastgate and Dayton Malls are currently the only Time Warner locations that carry Tuning Adapters. You can get them mailed or delivered with a service call too.

I got a letter today from them saying they have delayed moving existing "less popular" channels to SDV until February 25. They already have some new HD offerings available using SDV (CNN, SciFi, Animal Planet, etc), but the _big_ move happens in a couple of weeks so those of you in the Cincinnati area might want to try and get yours soon.


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## Bing3000

Columbus, Ohio

Just got off the phone with customer service. I explained the Switched Digital problem, how I got a letter in Oct/Nov 2008 promising free Tuning Adapters by the end of the year, and here we are in mid-February and I'm paying for channels I don't receive. He had no ETA on the Tuning Adapters. I asked if any adjustment could be made to my bill, and he gave me three months of free Showtime (which I do presently get on the TiVo). If there's no Tuning Adapter after three months, I'll make another phone call...


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## gkrodg00

Got my TA today from Dayton Mall TW store. Here is my experience. 

I was called Thursday from TW and told they had them in stock at the Dayton Mall and the CSR's would know about them. I went there and of course the desk reps thought I was crazy and had no idea. I insisted a manager be asked and then they find a memo about the TA's but they were coming from a warehouse and would not have them until Friday or Saturday. I was also told that I needed 1 TA for each CARD not each TIVO. 

I come home with them today (Sat. 2/14) and realize that my Tivo USB Wireless is using 1 of the 2 USB slots and thought this was going to be a cluster. Remember, I was told each cable card needed a TA. So I hook 1 up and try it out. All HD channels that I had not been receiving started coming in. I called Tivo and they confirmed only 1 TA needed per RECEIVER not per CARD.

I am not sure if SDV is active or not in Dayton. I have heard both off and on from different TW reps. No one has a clue.

There were 2 rollouts of new HD channels in November and December. Each time I was able to receive about half the new channels. For example, MGMHD would not come in, CNNHD nope, Fox News HD, yes, ESPNUHD actually showed Big 10 Network in SD, SciFiHD I received, it was about 60&#37; yes, 40% no for the new channels etc. After the TA installed, I receive 29/30 HD channels (exluding the broadcast networks that I receive OTA).

Today after hooking up the Cisco TA, all the new HD rollouts tune in except Palladin but maybe not enough time has passed. 

The box looks like a small cable converter box. The back has a DC power input, USB out, coax in, coax out. Hook the USB (USB cable included) up to the Tivo, disconnect the cable in coax from the Tivo and connect to the TA. Connect the coax out of the TA to the cable in on the Tivo (coax not included), plug the power in and press the power button on the front. A solid green light stays on if working properly. No reboot seems to be necessary. After a few minutes, the TA setup screen shows up but I found the channels work nearly immediately. You can go into the Setup, TA setup and test each CableCard. Both seem to work using only 1 TA. All the HD channels I used to not receive not come in with the 1 exception listed. I have both a Series3 and a Tivo HD and both work flawlessly now. I have 2 extra TA boxes that are not being used. TW is clueless about these so you are on your own but they seem to just work and most Tivo users are more savvy than the average consumer.


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## eliminator

Can someone make a sticky or a thread with a list of markets where the TA has been rolled out and a list where we're still waiting?


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## mikeyts

gkrodg00 said:


> I was also told that I needed 1 TA for each CARD not each TIVO.


Un-freakin'-believable. Most of the time the TA's not doing anything. It only acts when TiVo needs to change the channel (and might not become involved if the change is to a non-switched channel). The operation takes milliseconds, after which it's idle until the next change to a switched channel. One of them is plenty for both tuners.

Hopefully you'll take your extra TAs back post haste. It'd really be a shame if other TiVo users can't get one because CSRs told some of you to pick up twice as many of them as actually needed.


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## rric31

I have my tuning adapter on the way this week and have noticed people talking about the tuning adapter reboot issue. Are you still having the reboot issue, or have things calmed down?

rich


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## SCSIRAID

rric31 said:


> I have my tuning adapter on the way this week and have noticed people talking about the tuning adapter reboot issue. Are you still having the reboot issue, or have things calmed down?
> 
> rich


The problem still exists. Mine rebooted again early this morning. Seems to reboot every 3 days. In progress recordings get terminated when it reboots.


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## m_jonis

Here in TW Albany area, a few of us are having issues where the TA won't let us get the SDV channels anymore (grey screen of death). Only solvable right now by unplugging the TA and "rebooting" it.

Others are getting the blinking light issue with the TA and either a reboot or calling TW and having them "hit" the TA/cable card fixes that.

Either scenario is fairly crappy because if nobody's around to notice, your Tivo won't record the programs on the SDV channels if the TA is having a cow.

Supposedly a firmware upgrade will be sent out tonight to the TA, but it's not guaranteed it'll happen, let alone if it'll fix the issues.


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## rric31

My next question would be, is this widespread for all tuning adapters? Reason I ask is that I have noticed that some folks have had major issues with Netflix, but I have had no issues what so ever---knock on wood. I did notice that a couple of folks in my neck of the woods (Time Warner Maine) were having the reboot problem with the adapter so I am preparing myself for a not so perfect adapter.

rich


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## rockonword

I just got a call from TWC Greensboro saying they are beginning deployments in our area (I'm in Winston-Salem, but it's part of the Greensboro region). They do require a truck roll, and they're coming to do the install Wednesday morning. I signed up on their website the day the form came available, so I imagine I am one of the first to get the call. I know a couple of guys on this forum already have them and have been testing them, so it looks like the rest of us will join them soon. Finally!


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## Johnwashere

I called my TW in Columbus and they have no updates on TA but I said that people were getting stuff for free because of this so they deviced to upgrade one of my TW HD set top boxes to a HD-DVR for free for 2 whole years! So thats pretty good considering it usually cost 8 a month. Also I called TW today and asked about hbo or showtime promos and they have showtime free for 3 months so I got that too!


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## jsshattuck

Johnwashere said:


> I called my TW in Columbus and they have no updates on TA but I said that people were getting stuff for free because of this so they deviced to upgrade one of my TW HD set top boxes to a HD-DVR for free for 2 whole years! So thats pretty good considering it usually cost 8 a month. Also I called TW today and asked about hbo or showtime promos and they have showtime free for 3 months so I got that too!


_ visited the office of Time Warner Charlotte today, and the people there knew about the SDV/TiVo problem and were waiting on an update soon about a rollout date.

As for getting the TA free for 2 years, given that the FCC had ruled that it be free and that we get refunds for the months with reduced service, TW is only doing waht they were ordered to do._


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## mikeyts

jsshattuck said:


> As for getting the TA free for 2 years, given that the FCC had ruled that it be free and that we get refunds for the months with reduced service, TW is only doing waht they were ordered to do.[/I]


Exactly when did the FCC make a ruling about the TA? Neither the ruling on Cox NoVa's or TWC Oceanic's use of SDV make any mention of it.


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## berkshires

mikeyts said:


> Exactly when did the FCC make a ruling about the TA? Neither the ruling on Cox NoVa's or TWC Oceanic's use of SDV make any mention of it.


When an agreement was reached to develop TAs, it was announced that they would be free of charge. TiVo was one party, the FCC was probably a party or somehow involved, and cablelabs (and/or the cable cos), and probably the SA/MOT duopoly... There was no actual ruling by the FCC.

I am curious to know if there were any orders or rulings subsequent to that which related to TA pricing or credits for cable customers for reduced service due to SDV.


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## MurrayJimW

I got a call Friday evening about tuning adapter availability in Winston Salem, NC. I tried to return the call that night, but the offices were closed. I did get someone Saturday and scheduled the install for this morning at 7:30am (they do require a truck roll here). At 9:45 am they showed up and installed two adapters. They're working great and added approximately 18 channels in HD to my lineup. This was a long wait, but very satisfying install.........


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## dizneykev

I am here in Cincinnati and had signed up on the early adoption page as soon as it was available. Luckily, I rely on the folks on this forum much more than Time Warner to let me know when things are going to happen in my area. So, last night I ran over to the Eastgate Mall and picked up my tuning adapter. Install was fairly painless, however, I did have lots of issues with my local HD channels being very pixelated and kept getting a searching for signal error message when trying to tune them. After several reboots (of both the tuning adapter and Tivo) and a cable change, I did finally see my issues go away. At least now, I get all the channels I had hoped to.

I am still having TONS of issues trying to get someone to come out and install an M card in my Tivo to replace the two S cards I currently have. As it stands now, I have to call, Warner and have them run diagnostics on my cards about every 2-3 days to get them working again. I am going on 6 weeks of no satisfaction on this front. I still get arguments with them saying that they don;t even carry M cards even though I can give them names of people who have them installed. So far, their missed attempts to fix my problems have cost them about $60 this month. I will keep holding their feet to the fire until they fix my problems. It is very frustrating to have such terrible reliability with a simple thing like TV.


Dizneykev


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## wolskinj

I too got a letter in the mail over the weekend from TW Cincinnati saying that the original SDV rollout didn't happen, but will this month. They also said that tuning adaptors would be available on February 11 and that if you signed up on the pre-order form that they would be calling you "on or around" February 11th (I haven't gotten any calls yet).

Hopefully...Finally...


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## kmurchison

Received my TA via FedEx Ground this morning from the Buffalo warehouse (I live in Wheatfield). Install went flawless and everything seems to work fine except I can't tune VersusHD. I talked to one of the TA support folks and he couldn't tune it on their test setup either. He's going to talk to engineering and call me back.

Followup: I now can tune VsHD (771). There was a problem on the head-end related to the split of VsHD and GolfHD into separate SDV channels, which the engineers fixed.


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## SASouth

wolskinj said:


> I too got a letter in the mail over the weekend from TW Cincinnati saying that the original SDV rollout didn't happen, but will this month. They also said that tuning adaptors would be available on February 11 and that if you signed up on the pre-order form that they would be calling you "on or around" February 11th (I haven't gotten any calls yet).
> 
> Hopefully...Finally...


I picked up two tuning adapters at the Dayton Mall store yesterday afternoon. The install was easy enough and one of the TAs worked straight away. I had a small problem with the other one not showing WTDNDT and WHIODT. All of the other channels were fine but those two.

After a couple of reboots of the Tivo and the tuning adapter that accomplished nothing but waste my time, I swapped out the coax cable supplied with the tuning adapter for the cable out on the tuning adapter with one that I had laying around. That fixed the issue right away.

They've both have been working great since with no issues what so ever. 

(Keeping my fingers crossed...)


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## BlueOtto

TW customers in Milwaukee/Southeast WI are still waiting with no word and currently no promises from the company about the tuning adapter (and many missed promises). We're discussing it a bit and our options over on this forum. Others in Milwaukee-- there are some sample letters to write to board of directors and to the FCC on that thread.


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## jmfirestone

Just to give a heads up to those that don't check the individual area threads.

I am i the Greenboro, NC area and I got my adapter installed last night. Everything looked good after my 2 hour appointment with my tech who was doing his "first install." The CSR he called to activate was also doing her first one. She screwed things up on her end a little which delayed the TA working correctly.

So far, so good, but then again I have not been home all day to watch TV. So, if you are in the Greensboro Area, expect something soon!


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## seggers

Bleeding hell, I got a box this morning from someone that I didn't know. Opened it up (without looking too closely at the label) and thought someone had sent me a Cisco rack mounted power supply.

It wasn't until the cable fell out did realise that TWC in the Buffalo NY area has started shipping out TA unannounced!    

So now I have to make a phone call and schedule our install. Man will I be glad to fianlly get shot of that POS HD DVR that they have.

Please let my TiVo be all that it should have bleedenly well be from the start!

Seggers


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## Xab

I live in Columbus, but what would the chances be of me being able to drive down to the Cincinnati office to get a TA?


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## m_jonis

seggers said:


> Bleeding hell, I got a box this morning from someone that I didn't know. Opened it up (without looking too closely at the label) and thought someone had sent me a Cisco rack mounted power supply.
> 
> It wasn't until the cable fell out did realise that TWC in the Buffalo NY area has started shipping out TA unannounced!
> 
> So now I have to make a phone call and schedule our install. Man will I be glad to fianlly get shot of that POS HD DVR that they have.
> 
> Please let my TiVo be all that it should have bleedenly well be from the start!
> 
> Seggers


Hopefully your TW doesn't have the crappy issue that we do in Albany where we get pixelation ONLY on the SDV channels with the TA.

Comcast apparently also has this and there's supposedly a Cisco firmware update that Comcast got.

We were supposed to get it Monday night in TW Albany but it was apparently delayed.

Although FIOS should be ready soon for Buffalo, from what I gather.


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## GBK33

Xab said:


> I live in Columbus, but what would the chances be of me being able to drive down to the Cincinnati office to get a TA?


I believe it would not work. I've been told that the Columbus Cable system is in the process of changing it's setup. Until that happens, the TA has no effect. I could be wrong though....if you decide to make the drive, wanna pick up 2


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## mikeyts

Xab said:


> I live in Columbus, but what would the chances be of me being able to drive down to the Cincinnati office to get a TA?


I'd be extremely surprised if one TWC system would give a customer on another system a TA or any other piece of equipment. In any case, as GBK33 says, if they don't have the equipment and software set up for the TA in your system, it won't work.


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## seggers

m_jonis said:


> Hopefully your TW doesn't have the crappy issue that we do in Albany where we get pixelation ONLY on the SDV channels with the TA.
> 
> Comcast apparently also has this and there's supposedly a Cisco firmware update that Comcast got.
> 
> We were supposed to get it Monday night in TW Albany but it was apparently delayed.
> 
> Although FIOS should be ready soon for Buffalo, from what I gather.


As much as I'd love to get FIOS in Williamsville, those planning muppets over in Verizon have decided *AGAIN!*  to bypass my sodding area and go somewhere else!   :down:

Whatever they're smoking over there, I'd wish they'd stop smoking and start laying fibre outside my door....

Seggers


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## derspiess

m_jonis said:


> Others are getting the blinking light issue with the TA and either a reboot or calling TW and having them "hit" the TA/cable card fixes that.


Stupid question: what's the best way to ask for this when you call in? The day after they first installed my cable card & I was having problems, they re-sent the activation signal. Is that what I should ask for?


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## unit101

Today (Wed 2/18) my Tuning adapter arrived. In fact they sent 2 I guess since I have 2 cable cards.
I have Tivo3 HD w/ 2 cable cards in it... been working fine for over a year other than the mess with service updates... but all is fine now.

Installed it... Tivo sees it now in the Adapter menu...

Now I have lost many more channels... i have nothing from 74 - 200...

I wonder if they need to send it a signal from TWC ?

I will call and get them on it and post a reply... 

I'm in Wake Forest NC.


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## SCSIRAID

unit101 said:


> Today (Wed 2/18) my Tuning adapter arrived. In fact they sent 2 I guess since I have 2 cable cards.
> I have Tivo3 HD w/ 2 cable cards in it... been working fine for over a year other than the mess with service updates... but all is fine now.
> 
> Installed it... Tivo sees it now in the Adapter menu...
> 
> Now I have lost many more channels... i have nothing from 74 - 200...
> 
> I wonder if they need to send it a signal from TWC ?
> 
> I will call and get them on it and post a reply...
> 
> I'm in Wake Forest NC.


Sounds like your cablecard entitlements got messed up. Id recommend pulling the AC plug on the TiVo.. wait a min and plug it back in. The TA should show 6 blinks till the TiVO boots and then go solid.


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## Kaelin

I still haven't received notice that the TAs are available but I was down at the Dayton, OH store on Saturday and thought I would check. I have 2 TivoHDs both with a single M-Card in them. The TAs were in but they told me I could only have 1 since they didn't get that many. Luckily I don't live to far from the store and they said I could pick another one up on Monday. 
I installed it on my main Tivo and despite following all the directions that had me rebooting the Tivo, TA, and USB cord, I still do not get my channels. The TA shows that it is installed and when I do the tests, it even shows that the TA has tuned to the channels but all I get is a black screen. I get most (but not all) of my analog channels. I get all of my local HD channels. But I don't get any of the digital or other HD channels. I called support and they said they "pushed" something out to the Tivo but it didn't help. So he scheduled someone to come out tomorrow morning.
In the meantime, I went back to the Dayton store last night and picked up my other TA. Hooked it up to my other Tivo and I get the same problems. The same channels are missing.


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## dmband

m_jonis said:


> Here in TW Albany area, a few of us are having issues where the TA won't let us get the SDV channels anymore (grey screen of death). Only solvable right now by unplugging the TA and "rebooting" it.
> 
> Others are getting the blinking light issue with the TA and either a reboot or calling TW and having them "hit" the TA/cable card fixes that.
> 
> Either scenario is fairly crappy because if nobody's around to notice, your Tivo won't record the programs on the SDV channels if the TA is having a cow.
> 
> Supposedly a firmware upgrade will be sent out tonight to the TA, but it's not guaranteed it'll happen, let alone if it'll fix the issues.


syracuse here

i got mine a month ago
hooked it up, rebotted and it worked fairly well for 3 weeks (every now and then i had a blicking green light and a reboot fixed it
now nothing happens
i called tw and they couldn't fix it so they sent me a new box
hooked ip up today and nothing happens
called tw back and got a recording to leave a message

basically overall these things suck imo
for a few days i thought maybe i wouldn't switch to fios once it arrives in the summer now i am back to switching 100%


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## ikey78

I also picked up a TA from the Dayton Mall store and installed it yesterday.

After rebooting the TA and Tivo I was still missing some channels eg Fox News HD.

I replaced the included Coax cable between the TA and the Tivo with my own Coax cable and everything is now working fine and I am receiving all the channels I got before with the M Card plus some additional (eg CNNHD, HallmarkHD)

Others on these boards have also reported improvement when replacing the Coax between the TA and the Tivo so I would definitely try that. May have been a faulty batch of cables in this market.



Kaelin said:


> I still haven't received notice that the TAs are available but I was down at the Dayton, OH store on Saturday and thought I would check. I have 2 TivoHDs both with a single M-Card in them. The TAs were in but they told me I could only have 1 since they didn't get that many. Luckily I don't live to far from the store and they said I could pick another one up on Monday.
> I installed it on my main Tivo and despite following all the directions that had me rebooting the Tivo, TA, and USB cord, I still do not get my channels. The TA shows that it is installed and when I do the tests, it even shows that the TA has tuned to the channels but all I get is a black screen. I get most (but not all) of my analog channels. I get all of my local HD channels. But I don't get any of the digital or other HD channels. I called support and they said they "pushed" something out to the Tivo but it didn't help. So he scheduled someone to come out tomorrow morning.
> In the meantime, I went back to the Dayton store last night and picked up my other TA. Hooked it up to my other Tivo and I get the same problems. The same channels are missing.


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## Kaelin

ikey78 said:


> Others on these boards have also reported improvement when replacing the Coax between the TA and the Tivo so I would definitely try that. May have been a faulty batch of cables in this market.


I'll give it a try. One TA is hooked up with a TW Homemade cable they gave me and the other is hooked up with a pre-made cable that came with the TA.
I think there is another issue though. I've only had the Mcards a little over a week now and I don't think the installer had done many if any. I have never been able to get any channel other than than most of the analog and local HDs. They are coming out in the morning so hopefully they can figure it out then if swapping the cables doesn't help.


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## PumiceT

I had a FedEx hang tag on my mailbox yesterday. I hadn't ordered anything, and had no idea what to expect when I got home today (I signed the tag and left it on the mailbox).

To my surprise... a TUNING ADAPTER arrived today!!

I am in Western New York (WNY) - in Tonawanda.

I'll post my results when I have it connected (later tonight?).


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## JimWall

In Mason, Oh just north of Cincinnati, I received my CISCO tuning adapters yesterday.
I installed one on my Tivo HD. It came with detailed instructions for TIVOs.
Here are paraphrased instuctions.
Once TA setup call TWC to received a hit to the adapter. (This took a couple hours because the TAs were not on my account and Customer service and level 3 support did not know how to add them)
After hit green light should not be blinking. If it is then TWC support needs to do something.
Once green light is not blinking unplug AC power for TA and plug it back in the reboot it and TA will then go out and get it's IP address. This took several minutes to do this and for TIVO to recognize it.
Go to your TIVO channel list and select the SDV channels you want to use
Go to tuning adapter test channels to verify you can receive channels.
If No channels Available message appears or a block of channels are missing or you received an error acquiring channels then:
Unplug USB cable, after TIVO TA missing message, plug USB back in and wait for TIVO message that it found TA. This can take several minutes
If that doesn't work reboot TA by unplugging power
If that doesn't work reboot TIVO by unplugging power
If channels are still missing call TWC


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## crazywater

SCSIRAID said:


> Sounds like your cablecard entitlements got messed up. Id recommend pulling the AC plug on the TiVo.. wait a min and plug it back in. The TA should show 6 blinks till the TiVO boots and then go solid.


Got mine...hooked it up. Booted...blinking green until TiVo comes up and no channels tune in. The Tuning Adapter screens show some suspicious stuff like on the status screen it shows STATUS:In Progress, on the TUNING ADAPTER screen it shows Authorized: Pending and OpStatus: Initializing.

I have power cycled the TiVo several times so far with no luck.

So a little frustrating so far...


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## Avatar26

As a TWC Northeast Wisconsin customer, I have been fighting this battle for months now. Tonight, I finally broke down and submitted a complaint to the FCC. If you are waiting for a TA and have not submitted a complaint, I suggest you do so. Time Warner has been given an awfully long grace period IMHO... If my business was behind on deadlines or unable to provide ETAs on promised goods/services, my clients would fire me.

I understand that some folks have been dropping EECBs on the TWC Midwest senior leadership team, if you google you can find the forum posts for the Milwaukee WI area. For those in SE WI, definitely worth a read. Anyone in NE WI who is currently in the same situation, would like to connect and see if a coordinated effort gets us anywhere. Please PM if you are a NE WI TWC customer and in need of the same assistance.

This has gone on WAY too long... :down:


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## PumiceT

So far, so good! I had a little brain-fart, and overlooked hooking up the coax-input into the TA, but since I plugged it in, all is working well!!


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## GBK33

PumiceT said:


> So far, so good! I had a little brain-fart, and overlooked hooking up the coax-input into the TA, but since I plugged it in, all is working well!!


lucky bastard


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## Kaelin

Just an update. TWC came out this morning. The tech had never seen a Tivo let alone installed a cable card before. I explained how it all works and he called a few people trying to get help. One guy he called told him they only have one kind of cable card so I explained the difference between the cards and that I have multi stream cards. He kept telling the various people he called that the TA was a converter box that was plugged into the Tivo. I eventually was able to explain that the TA allowed SV to work with Tivo. Anyway, the tech was very nice and professional, he had just never had any experience with cable cards. He eventually called his supervisor who put in a call to restage my cards and now all of my channels including the SV channels all come in great.
I'll keep you posted if I run into other issues but it looks good now.


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## m_jonis

Anyone know if Tivo has a # to call about TA issues? I know they have the cable card hotline, but it's obvious to me that Tivo and the cable co's haven't tested this thing very thoroughly.

The 8-blink of death (for the Cisco TA) and random losing of SDV channels is making my Tivo function like a TW DVR (ie: unreliable).

TW Albany has no clue what a Tuning Adapter is (even though they sent them out), the CSR's are useless and the technicians don't even know what a Tuning Adapter is (seriously, they thought it was something I went out and bought).


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## seggers

The tech left an hour ago, after installing 2 S cards in my HD TiVo, and hooking up the TA.

After a guided setup, it would appear that all is good with the S cards (2nd and 3rd ones anyway, the first one was DOA), as I can get into the 1xx and 7xx channels.

However, my brand new Cisco TA is giving me 8 blinking lights. I'm on hold with TWC right now. I'we pulled the power on the TA a couple of times now and that seems to have made no difference.

Now I've pulled the power on the TiVo itself, along with the TA. TA still seems to be flashing, TiVO is rebooting.

One interesting thing I remember is that I may need to give it time? Mind you, they seem to ahve an idea after agreeing the MAC addresses.

It's all good fun....

Seggers


----------



## seggers

Success!

One of the things that they asked was to un plug the USB cable. So I did, and at the same time I put in their lead and not mine.

It worked. I don't know if they did actually do something, or it was the use of their lead, but the moral of the story is try with their stuff first before using your own.....

Seggers


----------



## garrubal

I live in the San Diego area. I called yesterday to check on the status of the tuning adaptors. The rep told me that they had been testing them, but they had issues. Therefore, they returned them and will get another batch to test. That means we have to wait a few more weeks.


----------



## FrancesTheMute

garrubal said:


> I live in the San Diego area. I called yesterday to check on the status of the tuning adaptors. The rep told me that they had been testing them, but they had issues. Therefore, they returned them and will get another batch to test. That means we have to wait a few more weeks.


thanks for the update. I'm in San Diego, too and was wondering what was up with the TAs


----------



## c615586

JimWall said:


> In Mason, Oh just north of Cincinnati, I received my CISCO tuning adapters yesterday.
> I installed one on my Tivo HD. It came with detailed instructions for TIVOs.
> Here are paraphrased instuctions.
> Once TA setup call TWC to received a hit to the adapter. (This took a couple hours because the TAs were not on my account and Customer service and level 3 support did not know how to add them)
> After hit green light should not be blinking. If it is then TWC support needs to do something.
> Once green light is not blinking unplug AC power for TA and plug it back in the reboot it and TA will then go out and get it's IP address. This took several minutes to do this and for TIVO to recognize it.
> Go to your TIVO channel list and select the SDV channels you want to use
> Go to tuning adapter test channels to verify you can receive channels.
> If No channels Available message appears or a block of channels are missing or you received an error acquiring channels then:
> Unplug USB cable, after TIVO TA missing message, plug USB back in and wait for TIVO message that it found TA. This can take several minutes
> If that doesn't work reboot TA by unplugging power
> If that doesn't work reboot TIVO by unplugging power
> If channels are still missing call TWC


They're getting closer... anyone in the metro Columbus area receive an adapter, yet?


----------



## GBK33

nope


----------



## dvr_guru

I'm in Columbus and filled out the online form for the TA ages ago (September or October?...when it stated they would be available by the end of the year). I've called a couple times since and haven't been able to get jack squat in the way of info on them. Ugh!


----------



## GBK33

For Columbus, OH people - OK, here's what I got. They are waiting for the equipment to arrive any day now. Should be soon. When that happens, they will put a dispersement plan in place to get them to the needing customers. I was told it won't be any longer than a few weeks tops. We should have them in March. I know this still seems like a long time, but at least we know what's going on....hopefully.


----------



## rric31

I just received my Tuning Adapter in Southern Maine. Thing is really cold so I will let it warm up so I probably won't get around to it until tomorrow.

Any advise on what to do or not do?

rich in maine


----------



## SCSIRAID

rric31 said:


> I just received my Tuning Adapter in Southern Maine. Thing is really cold so I will let it warm up so I probably won't get around to it until tomorrow.
> 
> Any advise on what to do or not do?
> 
> rich in maine


my advice is to hook it all up except one end of the usb cable. power TA up (and TiVo if it isnt already)... wait for TiVo to be booted and TA light to go solid on (not blinking) and plug in the USB cable...

Also suggest you get a UPS Battery Backup for TiVo and TA so power company glitches wont cause problems.


----------



## tgrad

Anybody else in Time Warner WNY get a TA yet? I sent an e-mail to them and got the same canned response about tuning adapters. It sounds like they have shipped to some people already a couple weeks ago.


----------



## seggers

tgrad said:


> Anybody else in Time Warner WNY get a TA yet? I sent an e-mail to them and got the same canned response about tuning adapters. It sounds like they have shipped to some people already a couple weeks ago.


Had mine for a couple of weeks now. PumiceT (or something like that) has one too IIRC.

Mind you, I signed up for mine long berfore the form was up in WNY and I did it twice.

They are out there.

Seggers


----------



## PumiceT

seggers said:


> Had mine for a couple of weeks now. PumiceT (or something like that) has one too IIRC.
> 
> Mind you, I signed up for mine long berfore the form was up in WNY and I did it twice.
> 
> They are out there.
> 
> Seggers


Yeah, I've had mine for a couple weeks now. But like seggers said, I too signed up for it a few times way back when they put up the form.

Pretty much problem-free so far. A couple random reboots, but ultimately working well.


----------



## Midwest User1

Avatar26 said:


> As a TWC Northeast Wisconsin customer, I have been fighting this battle for months now. Tonight, I finally broke down and submitted a complaint to the FCC. If you are waiting for a TA and have not submitted a complaint, I suggest you do so. Time Warner has been given an awfully long grace period IMHO... If my business was behind on deadlines or unable to provide ETAs on promised goods/services, my clients would fire me.
> 
> I understand that some folks have been dropping EECBs on the TWC Midwest senior leadership team, if you google you can find the forum posts for the Milwaukee WI area. For those in SE WI, definitely worth a read. Anyone in NE WI who is currently in the same situation, would like to connect and see if a coordinated effort gets us anywhere. Please PM if you are a NE WI TWC customer and in need of the same assistance.
> 
> This has gone on WAY too long... :down:


FYI that I'm in Southeastern Wisconsin (Waukesha) and have a Tuner Adapter installation scheduled for tomorrow (3/4/09). They called me yesterday and stated that it requires a Tech. to do the install so they scheduled it for tomorrow. Now hopefully the TA doesn't sabatoge my recordings if it's having issues maintaining a connection. Although all of my current "season passes" are for NON SDV channels of course since I can't tune any of those channels now.


----------



## Johnwashere

GBK33 said:


> For Columbus, OH people - OK, here's what I got. They are waiting for the equipment to arrive any day now. Should be soon. When that happens, they will put a dispersement plan in place to get them to the needing customers. I was told it won't be any longer than a few weeks tops. We should have them in March. I know this still seems like a long time, but at least we know what's going on....hopefully.


wow... They havent even received the equipment yet? I figured they have and began setting it up. Im guesing it will take them awhile to set it up. They obvoulsy dont really care bout their cable card customers. Im guessing it will be at least a month before they began sending out the TA.


----------



## TroyB

Johnwashere said:


> wow... They havent even received the equipment yet? I figured they have and began setting it up. Im guesing it will take them awhile to set it up. They obvoulsy dont really care bout their cable card customers. Im guessing it will be at least a month before they began sending out the TA.


They don't care about cable card customers, to them we are nothing but a pain by not paying for their DVR service. What is bad is they say they are going to roll out the tuning adapters to areas affected by SDV first then to other areas when in Cincinatti they were issuing them when SDV hadn't even ben activated yet.
The last time I counted their was 65 channels I am paying for I can not receive, and they are not all HD channels which time warner will tell you that you aren't paying for because they are free.
Even if they want to say that is the case there are a bunch of stations just in the digital package that I can't get including two days ago ALL Cinemax west stations went off, and I do infact pay for all these.


----------



## nystromd

TW installed a TA in my original Series 3 on Monday and so far everything is working as advertised:up:. 

According to the TW representative I was the first of several installations scheduled for the Palm Springs, CA area.


----------



## PumiceT

TroyB said:


> ALL Cinemax west stations went off, and I do infact pay for all these.


Not that this is the case at all, but I wouldn't put it past them to say you pay for ONE premium channel (name one that isn't SDV) and the rest are FREE with that channel. Follow my logic there? They could probably get away with that as a loophole.


----------



## boswic

Midwest User1 said:


> FYI that I'm in Southeastern Wisconsin (Waukesha) and have a Tuner Adapter installation scheduled for tomorrow (3/4/09). They called me yesterday and stated that it requires a Tech. to do the install so they scheduled it for tomorrow. Now hopefully the TA doesn't sabatoge my recordings if it's having issues maintaining a connection. Although all of my current "season passes" are for NON SDV channels of course since I can't tune any of those channels now.


Please let us know how it goes. I am in Milwaukee and haven't heard anything from TW yet. I'll place a call this afternoon.


----------



## Midwest User1

boswic said:


> Please let us know how it goes. I am in Milwaukee and haven't heard anything from TW yet. I'll place a call this afternoon.


They actually just called at 11:30 to tell me the tech. would be here around Noon. I was surprised that I got an update call as TW in the past didn't operate that way. I'll post back after they leave to let you know if all is working and how much pain it took (if any pain).

I'm wondering if my "polite inquiry" email to this gentelmen helped me get in the early release phase. I had sent him an email last week and he did respond within a day.

"Herbert, Jack [[email protected]]"

UPDATE: Well the tech. brought (2) Tuner Adapters and we connected the first one to my TIVO HD. It fired up and within a few minutes we were able to tune the SDV channels and I checked every single one of them. We then connected the second TA to my TIVO Series 3 downstairs and had some issues. Well through trouble shooting we determined it was a bad TA because the first TA we connected worked perfectly fine when we moved it to my TIVO Series 3 down stairs. Therefore they are going to get me another TA within the next few days.

In summary the way the first one fired up was a piece of cake and we never had to re-boot the TIVO unit.


----------



## stephen007

Midwest User1 said:


> They actually just called at 11:30 to tell me the tech. would be here around Noon.


I wonder why they dispatched a tech to your house to install it. I wonder if it's just because these TAs are brand new to the area and they want to make sure everything works properly. It sounds like most people just picked them up at the cable company or had them shipped to their house and installed them themselves.

I too am in the Milwaukee area and can't wait to get my hands on one!


----------



## Midwest User1

stephen007 said:


> I wonder why they dispatched a tech to your house to install it. I wonder if it's just because these TAs are brand new to the area and they want to make sure everything works properly. It sounds like most people just picked them up at the cable company or had them shipped to their house and installed them themselves.
> 
> I too am in the Milwaukee area and can't wait to get my hands on one!


It was a Manager that came out to install it also and she was calling back into the guy who had called me to set up the appointment in the first place. That guy had a TIVO with a TA set up in the office he was in. My guess is they just wanted to ensure if there were any issues that the issues weren't being caused by something on my end (i.e. cabling, connectors etc.).


----------



## alyssa

PumiceT said:


> So far, so good! I had a little brain-fart, and overlooked hooking up the coax-input into the TA, but since I plugged it in, all is working well!!


My BF was hooking the coax input in to the 'Antenna in' instead of 'Cable in' on the tivo box.


----------



## dolfer

alyssa said:


> My BF was hooking the coax input in to the 'Antenna in' instead of 'Cable in' on the tivo box.


I did the same thing!  Luckily a couple hours later I realized my mistake...


----------



## GBK33

Johnwashere said:


> wow... They havent even received the equipment yet? I figured they have and began setting it up. Im guesing it will take them awhile to set it up. They obvoulsy dont really care bout their cable card customers. Im guessing it will be at least a month before they began sending out the TA.


They have had their testing equipment for a while - they are waiting on the customer equipment.


----------



## mikeyts

alyssa said:


> My BF was hooking the coax input in to the 'Antenna in' instead of 'Cable in' on the tivo box.


On my first CableCARD install, I spent most of a day (about 5 hours) with a CSR who made this mistake. I had the cable running through my UPS and he insisted on undoing that before attempting the installation; he unplugged the coax from the wall to the UPS and plugged it into TiVo on the open coax connection (leaving the cable from the UPS to TiVo plugged in ). He'd thrown up his hands, sure that the installation failure was the TiVo's fault and was outside packing up his truck and about to leave when I spotted the problem and called him back.


----------



## Midwest User1

Midwest User1 said:


> They actually just called at 11:30 to tell me the tech. would be here around Noon. I was surprised that I got an update call as TW in the past didn't operate that way. I'll post back after they leave to let you know if all is working and how much pain it took (if any pain).
> 
> I'm wondering if my "polite inquiry" email to this gentelmen helped me get in the early release phase. I had sent him an email last week and he did respond within a day.
> 
> "Herbert, Jack [[email protected]]"
> 
> UPDATE: Well the tech. brought (2) Tuner Adapters and we connected the first one to my TIVO HD. It fired up and within a few minutes we were able to tune the SDV channels and I checked every single one of them. We then connected the second TA to my TIVO Series 3 downstairs and had some issues. Well through trouble shooting we determined it was a bad TA because the first TA we connected worked perfectly fine when we moved it to my TIVO Series 3 down stairs. Therefore they are going to get me another TA within the next few days.
> 
> In summary the way the first one fired up was a piece of cake and we never had to re-boot the TIVO unit.
> 
> .


UPDATE: They brought out the replacement TA for the defective one and it also works perfectly fine. I had all of my gear turned on: First we disconnected the existing defective TA and then reconnected the new TA. We let it go through it's green light blinking for about 10 minutes. I could not tune in any of the SDV channels so I pulled the power cord from the TA to initiate a reboot. Once it came back up it worked as it was supposed to.

FYI that you should get an on screen message from your TIVO that a Tuner adapter has been connected and then it ask you if you'd like to test the channels. This is when the TA should be fully working once you get this message


----------



## tgrad

PumiceT said:


> Yeah, I've had mine for a couple weeks now. But like seggers said, I too signed up for it a few times way back when they put up the form.
> 
> Pretty much problem-free so far. A couple random reboots, but ultimately working well.


Yeah, I have signed up three times I believe. First time was before the form was put up in the WNY Time Warner site. I will give them a call today.


----------



## eliminator

I'm in WNY/Amherst. I got a tuning adapter a couple days ago. Got it all hooked up. I'm having issues tuning SDV channels randomly. CNNHD, for example, works fine on minute but I can't tune to it the next. All SDV channels seem to be working at some time or another. I don't think its a signal strength problem. TWC says some other people have reported this issue and it is a problem with the Cisco firmware. Is anyone here having this problem?


----------



## Midwest User1

eliminator said:


> I'm in WNY/Amherst. I got a tuning adapter a couple days ago. Got it all hooked up. I'm having issues tuning SDV channels randomly. CNNHD, for example, works fine on minute but I can't tune to it the next. All SDV channels seem to be working at some time or another. I don't think its a signal strength problem. TWC says some other people have reported this issue and it is a problem with the Cisco firmware. Is anyone here having this problem?


I have noticed this occasionally as well where I try to tune a channel and I'll either get the "Channel not available, try again" or it just won't tune with NO message. If I switch to another channel and back I almost always get it to tune in then. I know it's inconvenient to have to do this but at least we can get the channels now with the TA. My guess is it also has something to do with their SDV technology and it being glitchy at times.


----------



## slyone

eliminator said:


> I'm in WNY/Amherst. I got a tuning adapter a couple days ago. Got it all hooked up. I'm having issues tuning SDV channels randomly. CNNHD, for example, works fine on minute but I can't tune to it the next. All SDV channels seem to be working at some time or another. I don't think its a signal strength problem. TWC says some other people have reported this issue and it is a problem with the Cisco firmware. Is anyone here having this problem?


Yes I have gone thru this as well at TW/Rochester. I just unhooked the adapter since it became unusable..


----------



## szurlo

slyone said:


> Yes I have gone thru this as well at TW/Rochester. I just unhooked the adapter since it became unusable..


I'm not so sure that is a TA issue. Do you also have a TWC set top box?
I frequently cannot tune SDV channels on my TWC DVR. The TWC box will say "Channel not currently available, try again later". My understanding is that this can mean that they have placed more channels on SDV then they have available frequencies to support. So when you request that channel, they have no open freq to place it on.


----------



## obsidian

Midwest User1 said:


> UPDATE: They brought out the replacement TA for the defective one and it also works perfectly fine. I had all of my gear turned on: First we disconnected the existing defective TA and then reconnected the new TA. We let it go through it's green light blinking for about 10 minutes. I could not tune in any of the SDV channels so I pulled the power cord from the TA to initiate a reboot. Once it came back up it worked as it was supposed to.
> 
> FYI that you should get an on screen message from your TIVO that a Tuner adapter has been connected and then it ask you if you'd like to test the channels. This is when the TA should be fully working once you get this message


Good to hear they are finally going out. I'm also in Waukesha and am getting sick of not getting all my HD channels. I'll have to give them a call bugging them tonight.


----------



## mikeyts

szurlo said:


> I'm not so sure that is a TA issue. Do you also have a TWC set top box?
> I frequently cannot tune SDV channels on my TWC DVR. The TWC box will say "Channel not currently available, try again later". My understanding is that this can mean that they have placed more channels on SDV then they have available frequencies to support. So when you request that channel, they have no open freq to place it on.


Correct. Setting up SDV requires acheiving a balance between the channels choosen for conversion to switched broadcast and the amount of bandwidth to dedicate to the SDV pool. If they choose the channels poorly, such as switching many channels that are likely to be in use by one or more people at all times in every network segment, they waste the space in the pool and there's none left to allocate to less frequently used services. Alternately, they might have choosen to use an amount of bandwidth for switch broadcasts that is unrealistically small for the number of switched broadcasts.

It may take some providers a while to get this right.


----------



## zaucha

I have TWC in Rochester, NY. I've had the tuning adapter for a couple of months. I have the same issue where I can't tune to many of the channels and either get the message or nothing. I have also had a number of other problems. I've had to reboot the device plenty. One time, no channels whatsoever were available on the Tivo and I had to reoboot it. A couple of other times the Tivo locked up and required a reboot. I have also had many problems where the video drops out, skips, etc. Reboots have always solved the problem. For a while I was considering abandoning it altogether. It has gotten better of late, so I'm hoping it stays that way.


----------



## SCSIRAID

zaucha said:


> I have TWC in Rochester, NY. I've had the tuning adapter for a couple of months. I have the same issue where I can't tune to many of the channels and either get the message or nothing. I have also had a number of other problems. I've had to reboot the device plenty. One time, no channels whatsoever were available on the Tivo and I had to reoboot it. A couple of other times the Tivo locked up and required a reboot. I have also had many problems where the video drops out, skips, etc. Reboots have always solved the problem. For a while I was considering abandoning it altogether. It has gotten better of late, so I'm hoping it stays that way.


If you go into TA Diags... hit select twice... about half way down the page you will see

RDC: xx dBmV

What is the xx on your box?


----------



## eliminator

I'm having problems tuning SVD channels randomly. Still on the old firmware in Buffalo, NY.

Tivo TA firmware number	STA1.0.0_1520_LR_F.0701
SARA v1.61.32.1

RDC: 41


----------



## zaucha

RDC: 44dBmV.

Why, what does this mean?

Thanks,
Z.


----------



## SCSIRAID

zaucha said:


> RDC: 44dBmV.
> 
> Why, what does this mean?
> 
> Thanks,
> Z.


That is the signal level the TA is using to be able to talk back to the node (Reverse Data Carrier). If you cannot talk back to the node... then SDV wont work. 44 is OK.


----------



## samsauce29

Got an email today. Tuning adapters will be available beginning April 1st in NEO/WPA. Until now, I hadn't been able to get anyone to admit that they were using SDV although I've been missing channels.


----------



## woodr1

...and of course still don't have one as I live in central Ohio. 

I probably don't get about 60 channels including MSNBC which I used to Tivo all the time, not to mention all the newer HD channels. I've made multiple phone calls and eMails to TW and their response is always the same, "We're testing them". Really??? These things were rolled out in NY and Texas months ago by those TW affiliates, so just how much 'testing' has to happen locally? Interesting to hear from others on this forum that Ohio might actually be getting them soon. 

When I complained (the last time I called) that this was going on 3 months past the publicized initial rollout date, they gave me $15 off this months bill. Whoopee. I'd rather get all my channels now -- not just the new ones, but the ones I used to get.

When the revolution comes, the cable operators need to be the first up against the wall.

Bitter -- table for one!


----------



## Johnwashere

COLUMBUS OHIO UPDATE:
I talked to the person in charge of the tuning adapters LAST night. He said there shipment arrived in on Tuesday. Columbus TW recieved about 600 in. They may start rolling them out as early as next week (seems like if you signed up early then you will get yours next week). Im trying to get mine this week, but most likely will be next week. They have been testing them in Columbus and have not had any major problems. Il update you guys asap. If you have any questions let me know.


----------



## schuylar

Johnwashere said:


> COLUMBUS OHIO UPDATE:
> I talked to the person in charge of the tuning adapters LAST night. He said there shipment arrived in on Tuesday. Columbus TW recieved about 600 in. They may start rolling them out as early as next week (seems like if you signed up early then you will get yours next week). Im trying to get mine this week, but most likely will be next week. They have been testing them in Columbus and have not had any major problems. Il update you guys asap. If you have any questions let me know.


This is the best news I've heard in a while. I hope what you heard is true. Keep us posted!


----------



## gbrown

HI,
I have been a beta test site for the TWC San Diego SDV trial for over a month. I have to tell you that it is AWSOME. They have all the original issues ironed out. It did turn out to be a software glitch. I got the new SDV download about three weeks ago and it is very stable.

There are several minor glitches. Rarely some channels get unchecked and the TiVo guide feed for 752-FXHD is pointing at the eastern lineup while the content is the west coast feed same as channel 52. I called TiVo and they gave me the 5 to 7 working day to update confirmation.

Hold Tight San Diego. It's worth the wait.


----------



## mikeyts

gbrown said:


> HI,
> I have been a beta test site for the TWC San Diego SDV trial for over a month. I have to tell you that it is AWSOME. They have all the original issues ironed out. It did turn out to be a software glitch. I got the new SDV download about three weeks ago and it is very stable.
> 
> There are several minor glitches. Rarely some channels get unchecked and the TiVo guide feed for 752-FXHD is pointing at the eastern lineup while the content is the west coast feed same as channel 52. I called TiVo and they gave me the 5 to 7 working day to update confirmation.
> 
> Hold Tight San Diego. It's worth the wait.


As I reported here on hdtv.forsandiego.com, I too have been a beta tester for the TA on TWC San Diego, since January 16th. You can read that post to hear about my experience in some detail. Everything's smooth sailing for the past month, but it didn't start out that way (not that I'm not grateful to have it working now ).

As I said in the aftermentioned post, I had to bang on TiVo Support by phone _5 times_ to get 12 HD channels added as switched broadcasts in late December included in my guide lineup. One of them was FX HD, which they finally added, along with MLB HD, last Thursday. I was so happy to see that they'd added it, I didn't notice that it was the guide for the wrong feed .

Gerry, are there any other "minor glitches" that you've seen? I haven't noticed any since the firmware update a month ago.


----------



## awyeah

gbrown - you mentioned you got your software updated for SDV - are you talking about your Time Warner-provided boxes?

If so, what kind of boxes are you running? And how did you know you got your software updated? I'm running SA boxes here, and we've currently got SARA on them.


----------



## mikeyts

awyeah said:


> gbrown - you mentioned you got your software updated for SDV - are you talking about your Time Warner-provided boxes?





gbrown said:


> They have all the original issues ironed out. It did turn out to be a software glitch. I got the *new SDV download* about three weeks ago and it is very stable.


He got an update to the firmware in his TA, a Cisco STA1520 (I believe that he mean to say "I got the new TA download" ). I got the same firmware update on my TA a month ago. He got his TA from Time Warner--you can only get a Tuning Adapter from your cable provider, so yes, it was a "Time Warner-provided box".

TiVo added features to support the TA back in firmware version 9, though I'm not sure that they worked, since I had version 11 before I got the TA, which has since been updated to 11b, which did not perceptibly inprove the working of the TA.


----------



## awyeah

Ah, okay. I'm trying to find out ways I can tell when channels start to go SDV, other than having them "not work" on my TiVo.


----------



## mikeyts

awyeah said:


> Ah, okay. I'm trying to find out ways I can tell when channels start to go SDV, other than having them "not work" on my TiVo.


That can be tricky. Some TWC divisions' web sites' lineup pages have handy "Channels not available through CableCARDs" genres, so you can filter out everything else and get the list. (Where are you located, by the way)?

Barring that, you can go to TiVo Central->Messages & Settings->Account & System Information->DVR Diagnostics. There will be sections with the headings "Tuner: 0" and "Tuner: 1". If a channel is SDV and you don't have a TA, most of the parameters listed beneath each heading for the tuner with which you tried to tune it will contain "-" instead of a value (Channel, Frequency, Modulation, Connector Type, Signal Source, etc, etc); the field "CableCARD Association" will say "None". This is TiVo's way of saying that the channel map in your CableCARD doesn't have any information on how to tune the channel that you selected from the guide. To see what this looks like, try tuning a VOD channel from the guide and checking what you get in the diags; compare it to a channel that you can tune on the other tuner.

If you have a TA attached and you tune a VOD channel, it says "Channel not provided by the Tuning Adapter. Contact your cable provider for more information". It really ought to have a similar message when you try to tune a channel that's in the guide for which there's no corresponding tuning information in the CableCARD maps.


----------



## Avatar26

Avatar26 said:


> As a TWC Northeast Wisconsin customer, I have been fighting this battle for months now. Tonight, I finally broke down and submitted a complaint to the FCC. If you are waiting for a TA and have not submitted a complaint, I suggest you do so. Time Warner has been given an awfully long grace period IMHO... If my business was behind on deadlines or unable to provide ETAs on promised goods/services, my clients would fire me.
> 
> I understand that some folks have been dropping EECBs on the TWC Midwest senior leadership team, if you google you can find the forum posts for the Milwaukee WI area. For those in SE WI, definitely worth a read. Anyone in NE WI who is currently in the same situation, would like to connect and see if a coordinated effort gets us anywhere. Please PM if you are a NE WI TWC customer and in need of the same assistance.
> 
> This has gone on WAY too long... :down:


UPDATE:
Last Saturday I sent an email to Jack Herbert after spending 30 minutes getting bounced around the TWC call center. No response... Starting to think Northeast WI will be one of the last decent-sized TW markets to get the TAs. If anyone has info on what is happening in WI, would love to hear about it.


----------



## Johnwashere

Got my TA in Columbus Ohio now. Set it up,. Light is blinking on TA. Do I have to call to get this going?


----------



## SCSIRAID

Johnwashere said:


> Got my TA in Columbus Ohio now. Set it up,. Light is blinking on TA. Do I have to call to get this going?


What is the blink rate? continuous? If so... you may have to call to get it activated.


----------



## keefer37

I keep getting the run around from Time Warner Cable here in Raleigh/Durham, NC. They just keep pushing and pushing the release date for the SDV adapters here.


----------



## Johnwashere

got mine going. called to have them send an activation to it. Got some SDV channels to come in. Im going out soon and dont have time to mess with it much. Il check it later tonight or def. tomorrow


----------



## Avatar26

Amazingly enough, I got the call today that my TA is being shipped on Monday. Will be out of town, but looking forward to hooking it up late next week!


----------



## SCSIRAID

Avatar26 said:


> Amazingly enough, I got the call today that my TA is being shipped on Monday. Will be out of town, but looking forward to hooking it up late next week!


You might consider putting your location in your profile.... Nobody knows were you are...


----------



## garrubal

mikeyts said:


> As I reported here on hdtv.forsandiego.com, I too have been a beta tester for the TA on TWC San Diego, since January 16th. You can read that post to hear about my experience in some detail. Everything's smooth sailing for the past month, but it didn't start out that way (not that I'm not grateful to have it working now ).
> 
> As I said in the aftermentioned post, I had to bang on TiVo Support by phone _5 times_ to get 12 HD channels added as switched broadcasts in late December included in my guide lineup. One of them was FX HD, which they finally added, along with MLB HD, last Thursday. I was so happy to see that they'd added it, I didn't notice that it was the guide for the wrong feed .
> 
> Gerry, are there any other "minor glitches" that you've seen? I haven't noticed any since the firmware update a month ago.


This is great news. I called recently and they said TAs would be available (hopefully) around April. And the guy said "you are missing a lot of channels right now". I'm guessing I'm missing about half the HD channels.


----------



## mikeyts

garrubal said:


> This is great news. I called recently and they said TAs would be available (hopefully) around April. And the guy said "you are missing a lot of channels right now". I'm guessing I'm missing about half the HD channels.


The HD channels that I can get without the TA are (we subscribe to Showtime and the digital Variety, Choice and Sports Packs):702 - Showtime HD
704 Padres HD
705 FOX 5 HD (KSWB) 
706 CW HD (XETV)
707 NBC HD (KNSD)
708 CBS HD (KFMB) 
710 ABC HD (KGTV)
711 PBS HD (KPBS) 
712 TBS HD
726 CNN HD
727 TNT HD
729 ESPN HD
730 ESPN2 HD
736 Palladium
744 HD Theater
745 A&E HD
749 CNN HD
751 Food HD
753 HGTV HD
756 History HD​I assume that, if I subscribed to them, I could get the following without the TA (based on Showtime HD not being switched):700 HBO HD
701 Cinemax HD
702 Showtime HD
703 Starz HD​With the TA, I also get:642 Showtime HD East
663 TMC HD East
718 NatGeo HD
719 Bio HD
731 Fox Sports Net HD 
734 USA HD 
735 ABC Family HD 
740 Bravo HD 
741 Versus HD 
743 Discovery Channel HD 
749 CNBC HD 
752 FX HD 
755 TLC HD
757 Sci-Fi HD 
761 Lifetime Movie Network HD 
763 The Disney Channel HD 
764 Animal Planet HD 
767 Golf Channel HD 
780 Science Channel HD 
781 Hallmark Movie Channel HD 
783 Big 10 Network HD 
789 MLB Network HD 
793 SPEED HD​I also assume that I'd need the TA to get 610 HBO HD East, if I were subscribed to the HBO tier, since all other east coast feeds where we also have the west coast feed were moved to switched broadcast. (I'm not sure whether I need the TA to get Fox Sports Net HD or not. Doesn't matter much since there's almost never anything on it ). A Tuning Adapter is also needed to get the extra-cost HD VIP Pack:721 HDNet 
722 HDNet Movies
723 MGM HD
724 Universal HD​So, there are 24 HD channels that you can get without the TA, 4 of them in subscription premium packages, and 22 additional HD channels that you can get when you have the TA, 3 of them in premium subscription packages and another 4 in the extra-cost HD VIP Pack. So you're right--it's just about half.


----------



## Digerati ee

Check out this thread:
TiVo Community > Main TiVo Forums > TiVo Series3 HDTV DVRs 
Time Warner Cable Tuning Adapter - The Carolinas


----------



## c615586

Johnwashere said:


> Got my TA in Columbus Ohio now. Set it up,. Light is blinking on TA. Do I have to call to get this going?


Did they contact you or did you have to go to the TWC office to pick it up?

Update-- just called TWC and set up appointment for installation on Friday. Slightly annoyed that _I_ had to call _them_.


----------



## aine

mikeyts said:


> The HD channels that I can get ...


TW San Diego used to have this PDF on their website, but I can't find it anymore... seems like it is still current, however. See attachment.


----------



## Johnwashere

c615586 said:


> Did they contact you or did you have to go to the TWC office to pick it up?
> 
> Update-- just called TWC and set up appointment for installation on Friday. Slightly annoyed that _I_ had to call _them_.


I talked to someone high up at TW who is handeling the TAs. If anyone needs his name and number PM me. These do NOT require a truck roll, so I dont know why you had to setup an appointment.
I picked mine up at the olentangy river office.


----------



## GBK33

I got a call saying that mine are being mailed out to me.


----------



## mikeyts

aine said:


> TW San Diego used to have this PDF on their website, but I can't find it anymore... seems like it is still current, however. See attachment.


That's from October and it's not up to date. I just checked and 718 NatGeo HD and 731 Fox Sport Net HD are definitely SDV--I can see both with the TA plugged in; TA unplugged, I get an On Demand Preview stream displayed for either. Also, they've added 751 Food HD and 753 HGTV HD to the "Free HD" channels that you can get with a CableCARD since then. No doubt, other things have changed as well.


----------



## garrubal

mikeyts said:


> I assume that, if I subscribed to them, I could get the following without the TA (based on Showtime HD not being switched):700 HBO HD
> 701 Cinemax HD
> 702 Showtime HD
> 703 Starz HD​


I don't get Cinemax HD. However, from my conversation with one of the reps, they told me I wouldn't get it unless I had the TA.

Not that many people care, but I can't get TV Japan (680) without the tuning adaptor.



mikeyts said:


> With the TA, I also get:
> 743 Discovery Channel HD ​I


If I remember correctly, I get the discover channel HD without the tuning adaptor. My kids watch Myth Busters all the time.

In any case, I'm really hoping I can get that TA soon. It does look like I'm missing out on more than half of the available HD channels.


----------



## mikeyts

garrubal said:


> I don't get Cinemax HD. However, from my conversation with one of the reps, they told me I wouldn't get it unless I had the TA.
> 
> Not that many people care, but I can't get TV Japan (680) without the tuning adaptor.
> 
> If I remember correctly, I get the discover channel HD without the tuning adaptor. My kids watch Myth Busters all the time.
> 
> In any case, I'm really hoping I can get that TA soon. It does look like I'm missing out on more than half of the available HD channels.


Hmmm. The channel chart they gave me when they installed the TA mid-January has double entries for both Starz HD West and Cinemax HD West, one indicating a linear channel and the other indicating SDV. There is only one entry for either HBO HD or Showtime HD, indicating that both are linear channels. Maybe you can't get Starz HD without a TA; maybe they're not SDV on all segments of the network.

You're right--the list says that Discovery HD is a linear channel.

As for 680 (not HD, is it?), the first thing that they did back at the end of July when SDV went "live" was to move all of the subscription foreign language channels to switched broadcast. At the time it was The Filipino Channel, Saigon Broadcast Net and the entire Nuestra Tele Pack; I'd assume that any that they added after that are SDV as well (woah--TV Japan is $25/month ).


----------



## c615586

Johnwashere said:


> I talked to someone high up at TW who is handeling the TAs. If anyone needs his name and number PM me. These do NOT require a truck roll, so I dont know why you had to setup an appointment.
> I picked mine up at the olentangy river office.


So I could just stop by the office and pick one up? Do I need to call ahead or anything?


----------



## JimWall

TWC included instructions with TAs they sent me.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7080808&highlight=usb#post7080808


----------



## billdav

mikeyts said:


> The HD channels that I can get without the TA are (we subscribe to Showtime and the digital Variety, Choice and Sports Packs):


I don't have the TA yet. I get 700 (HBO HD) and 702 (Showtime HD). I haven't gotten 701 (Cinemax HD) or 703 (Starz HD) since November, when they switched them to SDV.

I do get Discovery HD, oddly enough.


----------



## garrubal

mikeyts said:


> As for 680 (not HD, is it?), the first thing that they did back at the end of July when SDV went "live" was to move all of the subscription foreign language channels to switched broadcast. At the time it was The Filipino Channel, Saigon Broadcast Net and the entire Nuestra Tele Pack; I'd assume that any that they added after that are SDV as well (woah--TV Japan is $25/month ).


No, 680 is not HD.

TV Japan was added to TWC around Nov 2008, IIRC. So it was always SDV from the beginning.

The wife is Japanese. What can I do?


----------



## c615586

My wife went down to the TWC office on Olentangy here in Columbus. After getting the go around and having to talk to two or three people, she was given a box with a brand new tuning adapter! The CSR told her that our account was technically #20 on the waiting list, but since she came to the office in person they would give her the adapter.

I haven't had a chance to install it just yet (my wife is watching American Idol right now.) 

Quick question, though... assuming I follow the instructions properly, do I need to call TWC for anything after the TA is installed or should it just work out of the box?

Thanks in advance.


----------



## mikeyts

c615586 said:


> Quick question, though... assuming I follow the instructions properly, do I need to call TWC for anything after the TA is installed or should it just work out of the box?


Some people just brought it home (or received it in the mail), hooked it up and it worked right out of the box. Others have had to give TWC a call to "hit" the box with some messages to get it to start working. Unless it came with some instructions telling you to call them, just hook it up and try it.

Just don't do it while TiVo is in the middle of a recording--it will stop doing everything while it downloads information from the TA, which can take a few minutes.


----------



## Johnwashere

c615586, let me know how your install goes. Im having problems tuning into many SDV channels (like VH1 classic, palladeia HD, all the disney hds, and many other SDV channels). All the non sdv-channels work fine. You should not have to activate it. The LED on tuning adapter may blink up to an hour while it sets it self up.


----------



## ref_karl

Thanks to posters on this board, I got in touch with TWC via email, and received my TA yesterday. Would have had it sooner, but was out of town most of last week.

I unpacked everything, and setup went fine... until I tried to locate the USB cable. Nothing in the box. Fortunately, I happened to have an A-B cable in the house, and used that. Will contact TWC about getting a cable when I get around to it.

Plugged in the TA, then the Tivo, and... yuk. Massive pixelation on most of the SD channels. Locals were mostly fine, but the cable networks were crap. I checked the diagnostics, and SNR was at 26db. 

Realizing that there was a splitter in line that was no longer needed, I pulled that and got one step closer to the actual feed. Restarted the TA, and forced a restart on the TiVo. Got the "TA found" message for the first time. SNR now at 32db. Reception great, and it appears that I'm getting all the channels... will do a full scan tonight.

First impressions: the TiVo banner disappears in a hurry when changing channels. I know there's a setting for that, but it appears that the SDV handling is wiping out the banner, and I don't know that changing the setting will help. I had my first instance of "Channel not available" this morning... a quick channel change and back fixed it. I'm really not looking forward to the first time something doesn't record. 

Thanks to everyone for their input and assistance!

Karl


----------



## dutchboy22

I just received my Tuning Adapter today - I will hook it up tonight. Looks like Green Bay, WI has finally joined the crowd.


----------



## Avatar26

dutchboy22 said:


> I just received my Tuning Adapter today - I will hook it up tonight. Looks like Green Bay, WI has finally joined the crowd.


Indeed, mine arrived yesterday in the mail. Will be hooking it up tonight. Nice to see some action is finally being taken. Would like to see which channels are on SDV in the Northeast WI market. I know which HD channels are on SDV, but no idea which digital SD channels are.


----------



## sjmadsen

Picked up my TA at the Olentangy River Rd. office yesterday evening. Hooked it up and got a blinking light. Once I restarted the Tivo, all was well.

I'm happy the install went smoothly, though it doesn't quite make up for the 2.5 month delay and constant cluelessness of the level 1 support people.


----------



## c615586

No luck so far. I've been on the phone with twc for about one hour and 15 minutes (and have been disconnected twice and sent to level 3 reps in Cleveland twice.)

I've restarted the Tivo twice, connected and reconnected the TA. One of the TWC reps told me to remove the cable card and reinsert it (which I think is a mistake)--that didn't work.

I've now disconnected the TA and reconnected the cable input directly to the Tivo and am in the middle of repeating the guided setup.

At this point, I am getting NO channels through the Tivo (on one of the best tv weekends of the year) and TWC says they can't send out a rep until Tuesday.

Great.


Anyone on the forums have any advice?


----------



## JC Fedorczyk

Here are the steps that my installers did today.

tivo is on
unplug cable connection from Tivo. LEAVE TIVO ON
plug usb cable into TOP tivo USB
plug cable into TA but do not connect to tivo
plug power into TA
plug cable from TA into Tivo
wait for green light to go solid.
if after 5 minutes the light is still blinking unplug power from TA and plug back in. Wait 5 minutes more
Check channels


----------



## c615586

JC Fedorczyk said:


> Here are the steps that my installers did today.
> 
> tivo is on
> unplug cable connection from Tivo. LEAVE TIVO ON
> plug usb cable into TOP tivo USB
> plug cable into TA but do not connect to tivo
> plug power into TA
> plug cable from TA into Tivo
> wait for green light to go solid.
> if after 5 minutes the light is still blinking unplug power from TA and plug back in. Wait 5 minutes more
> Check channels


Thanks. After repeating the guided set up three times, my Tivo finally started working again (without the TA.)

I'll give your instructions a try tomorrow.


----------



## sjmadsen

I may have posted too soon. I'm getting many SDV channels now, but there are quite a few that give me a black screen, followed soon by a message that the channel could not be tuned. Pressing select or going to another channel and coming back does not change anything.

Unfortunately, FS Ohio is one of them that does this, so I probably won't be able to catch the Blue Jackets game in HD tomorrow night. I'm going to try to find time to call TWC sometime today.

I wasn't very patient with the blinking light on the TA. I think this is what I did: power cable to TA (but did not press power button), cable from wall to TA, USB between TA and Tivo, then coax from TA to Tivo. Turned TA on, blinking light for a few minutes while I nosed around in the TA diagnostic screens, then I rebooted the Tivo, the blinking light went solid and some SDV channels were then tunable.


----------



## Johnwashere

sjmadsen said:


> I may have posted too soon. I'm getting many SDV channels now, but there are quite a few that give me a black screen, followed soon by a message that the channel could not be tuned. Pressing select or going to another channel and coming back does not change anything.
> 
> Unfortunately, FS Ohio is one of them that does this, so I probably won't be able to catch the Blue Jackets game in HD tomorrow night. I'm going to try to find time to call TWC sometime today.
> 
> I wasn't very patient with the blinking light on the TA. I think this is what I did: power cable to TA (but did not press power button), cable from wall to TA, USB between TA and Tivo, then coax from TA to Tivo. Turned TA on, blinking light for a few minutes while I nosed around in the TA diagnostic screens, then I rebooted the Tivo, the blinking light went solid and some SDV channels were then tunable.


Ive had a couple new channels come in and out. Animal planet, Disney HD, palladia came in last night for the first time (since Ive had it for a week) and little bit this morning. I just checked and palledia is out again... I did have FS ohio HD a few days ago (watched some of the cavs game), but mines FS ohio has been in and out. Hopefully it will be back for the blue jackets game. The tuning adapter support team is only there till 5, and even when they are in its kind of hard to get ahold of them. No matter how many times I press select (due to temporaily unavailable), I cant tune to many SDV channels. VH1 classic is one I still have never been able to tune to.


----------



## c615586

I've tried a couple of alternative methods of hooking up the TA and still no luck. The tivo recognizes there is a TA attached but still cannot tune in any channels (SDV or regular). I just get a black screen with the tivo logo asking me to check my connections.

For what it's worth, I spoke to a TWC rep this morning who told me that the Cisco TA's received a firmware upgrade between beta testing and customer delivery and that none of the problems we seem to be having occurred during the beta test.

Any advice out there?

Thanks.


----------



## SASouth

c615586 said:


> I've tried a couple of alternative methods of hooking up the TA and still no luck. The tivo recognizes there is a TA attached but still cannot tune in any channels (SDV or regular). I just get a black screen with the tivo logo asking me to check my connections.
> 
> For what it's worth, I spoke to a TWC rep this morning who told me that the Cisco TA's received a firmware upgrade between beta testing and customer delivery and that none of the problems we seem to be having occurred during the beta test.
> 
> Any advice out there?
> 
> Thanks.


Have you tried swapping out your USB cable for a different one? I had all kinds of trouble receiving all of my channels with the cable supplied with the TA.

If that doesn't work, try swapping the coax cable that goes from the TA to the Tivo.


----------



## sjmadsen

I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a level 1 tech support guy this afternoon and he led me through the usual troubleshooting. Surprisingly, though, it actually worked.

He had me first disconnect and reconnect the USB cable. Tivo lost, then found, the TA. This didn't make any difference.

Then he had me power cycle the TA, leaving it off for 10 seconds. When it came back up, I got the blinking light (slow, I think), then eventually it went solid and I had no SDV channels at all, and Tivo didn't think I had a TA connected.

Did the USB disconnect/reconnect again, Tivo found the TA, and this time, all of my SDV channels are in. I made a list of which ones consistently gave me the unavailable message, and every single one tuned in fine.

The rep claims he had someone last night with the exact same problem, but a different set of channels. Who knows, maybe it was dumb luck, but if you're having problems and haven't tried this, may as well.


----------



## TroyB

sjmadsen said:


> I spent about 20 minutes on the phone with a level 1 tech support guy this afternoon and he led me through the usual troubleshooting. Surprisingly, though, it actually worked.
> 
> He had me first disconnect and reconnect the USB cable. Tivo lost, then found, the TA. This didn't make any difference.
> 
> Then he had me power cycle the TA, leaving it off for 10 seconds. When it came back up, I got the blinking light (slow, I think), then eventually it went solid and I had no SDV channels at all, and Tivo didn't think I had a TA connected.
> 
> Did the USB disconnect/reconnect again, Tivo found the TA, and this time, all of my SDV channels are in. I made a list of which ones consistently gave me the unavailable message, and every single one tuned in fine.
> 
> The rep claims he had someone last night with the exact same problem, but a different set of channels. Who knows, maybe it was dumb luck, but if you're having problems and haven't tried this, may as well.


Just tried it, still didn't work. There are some channels that have never tuned in, then there are some that will be working sometimes when I check then other times they won't work.

Here's something new for my problems, I changed channels to Animal Planet HD which has never been working and it was working. I watched about 5 minutes of it and the picture froze up, I changed channels and came back to it and it was gone and I got the channel unavailable message. I give up.


----------



## Johnwashere

TroyB said:


> Just tried it, still didn't work. There are some channels that have never tuned in, then there are some that will be working sometimes when I check then other times they won't work.
> 
> Here's something new for my problems, I changed channels to Animal Planet HD which has never been working and it was working. I watched about 5 minutes of it and the picture froze up, I changed channels and came back to it and it was gone and I got the channel unavailable message. I give up.


Yup , I had that problem too. I finally got VH1 classic, and Animal Planet HD for the first time the other day for a little bit. I wached for a minute or 2, then tuned back to it a hour later or so and they were "temporaily unavialble". I have 2 techs. (trained on TA's) coming to my house Monday night to look into the problem. Im guessing its something on TW's end, but who knows. Il keep you updated.


----------



## TroyB

Johnwashere said:


> I have 2 techs. (trained on TA's) coming to my house Monday night to look into the problem. Im guessing its something on TW's end, but who knows. Il keep you updated.


Thanks, I have been following your progress through the different threads.

What kind of connections do you have that you are having 2 techs trained on TA's coming to your house. All I have been able to get is one rude installer to show up saying Tivo and cable cards are a waste of his time and that he had never seen or heard of a Tuning Adapter. He left saying he was escalating the issue up to someone else and gave me their name and said they would be calling me, that was Thursday and I still haven't heard from anybody.

When the install tech left he said it was affecting everyone in Columbus that has a TA, which apperantly he wasn't mistaken about, because everyone I see complaining about not recieving channels from this website and others are all from Columbus Area.

I hope everything works out for you, or you atleast get a good explanation of the problem and what is being done about it. Please be sure to post what happens.


----------



## drumdude

TWC in Charlotte NC called me to set up an appointment to install TA's on my three Tivo HD's I told them it's too little too late. Already switched to DirecTV two months ago. Tons of HD channels and it worked right the first time. The DirecTV DVR has a 500gb hard drive built in which was as much as my expander drive with Tivo. It's just as good as Tivo for $5.99 a month (3 DVR's) instead of the $35 I was paying for Tivo service. I'll never go back to TWC. Sold my Tivo HD's on eBay. They're worthless when the cable company won't support them. My 52" LCD needs to be fed HD signal and DirecTV has the most.


----------



## dmband

well my 2nd TA bit the dust last night (funny it was the same day i got a letter saying another 20 channels or so are being dropped from cable cards)
BOTH worked for 3-4 weeks then totally stopped with the 8 blinking green light
reboots, nothing, pull power nothing, pull usb nothing

this is really getting to bug me


----------



## m_jonis

dmband said:


> well my 2nd TA bit the dust last night (funny it was the same day i got a letter saying another 20 channels or so are being dropped from cable cards)
> BOTH worked for 3-4 weeks then totally stopped with the 8 blinking green light
> reboots, nothing, pull power nothing, pull usb nothing
> 
> this is really getting to bug me


Usually the 8 blinking light thing has to do with authorizing the box to your cable card.

In TW Albany, we've had two issues:

1) The initial setup (getting it to work the first time). Usually involved a call to a CSR (try finding one that even knows what a cable card is, let alone a tuning adapter) and they send a "hit" out to the Tuning Adapter

and

2) The TA has an authorization date (good until X). WHY, I have no idea (it's not like you can use the TA all by itself to get channels or something). So TW Albany wasn't auto-sending out renewal dates, so the TA would "expire" and cease to function and you'd get the 8 blinking lights. So you'd have to call a CSR and get it working again.

IMO, TW really needs to get their act together. There is no way (IMO) that TW and Tivo worked these things out in advance, or they wouldn't be missing obvious things like a renewal signal to be sent to the TA so it can function all the time.

I've had my TA cease to work right in the middle of watching or recording a show. Only a reboot and a call to TW fixed the issue, but at best, it takes about 10 minutes for the TA to "boot up" and start working.


----------



## Johnwashere

TroyB said:


> Thanks, I have been following your progress through the different threads.
> 
> What kind of connections do you have that you are having 2 techs trained on TA's coming to your house.


-Troy- Call 827-8581 and say you would like to talk to someone on the Tuning Adapter support team (only about 4 people I believe). I got this number from the person who was in charge of TA distribution in Columbus (it was difficult to get his info). They have people only in on weekdays for the TA support. The 2 techs are coming at 6 pm Monday. I will post an update immeditaly after they leave (I know a lot of people are anxious to get there TA fixed too). If you have any more questions or problems then PM me and I can give you some names of who to talk.


----------



## loralyn

I tried to get a tuning adapter from Time Warner in Hawaii (known as Oceanic Cablevision) and received every kind of run-around for months on end. Finally I realized that with Netflix rentals and Watch Instantly, I have access to every mainstream movie in the world (Netflix Rentals) PLUS Indies, Documentaries, Foreign Films and Cult Classics using Netflix's Watch Instantly. Admittedly you need to invest in Roku, but it is a nifty little device for a one-time cost of $99. By subscribing to Digital Standard only, I cut my cable bill in half and now I have real choice in what I would like to watch. The less I need Time Warner the better.


----------



## mikeyts

loralyn said:


> Admittedly you need to invest in Rokus...


That's certainly not true. TiVo has a Netflix viewer app (see TiVo Central->Video On Demand). Engadget's Netflix Streaming Shootout had the following to say about the Roku:


> ...our only complaint is that the video hardware in the unit is slightly but noticeably inferior to all the other boxes we looked at. It's not bad, mind you -- it's just not as great as on the Samsung or the TiVo.


----------



## c615586

SASouth said:


> Have you tried swapping out your USB cable for a different one? I had all kinds of trouble receiving all of my channels with the cable supplied with the TA.
> 
> If that doesn't work, try swapping the coax cable that goes from the TA to the Tivo.





SASouth said:


> Have you tried swapping out your USB cable for a different one? I had all kinds of trouble receiving all of my channels with the cable supplied with the TA.
> 
> If that doesn't work, try swapping the coax cable that goes from the TA to the Tivo.


As it turns out, the TWC supplied cable was bad. A quick switch with an old spare coaxial cable and (another) Tivo reboot and... the TA was up and running!

I'm definitely getting at least some of the SDV channels (ESPN News and ESPNU, for example), but I think there are some SDV channels still missing from my lineup. I couldn't tune golf channel HD (no great loss) and a few other channels. Is there a definitive list of SDV channels out there?


----------



## SCSIRAID

c615586 said:


> As it turns out, the TWC supplied cable was bad. A quick switch with an old spare coaxial cable and (another) Tivo reboot and... the TA was up and running!
> 
> I'm definitely getting at least some of the SDV channels (ESPN News and ESPNU, for example), but I think there are some SDV channels still missing from my lineup. I couldn't tune golf channel HD (no great loss) and a few other channels. Is there a definitive list of SDV channels out there?


Without your location in your profile... no idea where you are.


----------



## c615586

SCSIRAID said:


> Without your location in your profile... no idea where you are.


Sorry about that, Columbus, Ohio.


----------



## SCSIRAID

c615586 said:


> Sorry about that, Columbus, Ohio.


Thanks. Its probably a reasonabally safe bet that any HD added in the past couple months is SDV. You could unplug the USB cable which causes the TiVo to revert to the Cablecard channel map and then step thru the HD channels and see what you cannot tune... those will be SDV. When you plug the USB back in... those channels should reappear.


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## Johnwashere

c615586 said:


> Is there a definitive list of SDV channels out there?


TW has sent out a list to me everytime they plan on moving channels to switched digital video. Im pretty sure all the new hd channels (After HGTV, AE TV , and some others) are all SDV. MTV2, MSNBC, many of the digital channels (VH1 classic...) are SDV too. Not sure if there is a list on the website, since most people dont need that info.


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## rric31

I have had my tuning adapter for about a month now. Worked with no problems what so ever for the first 2 weeks or so and now about every 2 or 3 days it decides to "fall off line". The only way I can get it back is to reboot the TIVO. If I were not around to see this problem it would not record anything that is scheduled. I reboot the TIVO and then it is back to normal.

Anyone have any suggestions?

rich in maine


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## SDKind

I received a call from TWC in San Diego yesterday that the TA's were available. I went down to the main office after lunch and picked mine up. I have two Series 3's and was told that I could only get one TA until they received more units. I mentioned to them that I was receiving a credit for my cable cards because they were not providing me all the channels I was paying for because of the SDV issue with the Tivo. Once they assign a TA to your account the credit comes off your bill automatically. I informed her that I should still receive a credit for the cable card's that I do not have a TA for yet and she swent to speak with her supervisor and gave me the second TA. So far I have hooked up one and had zero issues. I noticed a little more pixelation/tiling but hopefully it will either go away or was a fluke.


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## stephen007

I'm in the Milwaukee Time Warner area and just got the call on Monday that they are shipping out a tuning adapter. I was caught so off guard by the call but very, very pleased. They said I should have it in a day or two.


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## dutchboy22

Finally got mine hooked up and it works like a champ. Had to reboot a few times. ESPN 2 hooray!


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## obsidian

stephen007 said:


> I'm in the Milwaukee Time Warner area and just got the call on Monday that they are shipping out a tuning adapter. I was caught so off guard by the call but very, very pleased. They said I should have it in a day or two.


Dammit, I'm still waiting


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## mikeyts

SDKind said:


> I received a call from TWC in San Diego yesterday that the TA's were available.


Huh. The first report of someone picking one up at one of their offices was a week back, here. I relayed that information on hdtv.forsandiego.com and someone reported picking up 2 the next day. I guess that they're taking their time with the phone calls.


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## garrubal

mikeyts said:


> Huh. The first report of someone picking one up at one of their offices was a week back, here. I relayed that information on hdtv.forsandiego.com and someone reported picking up 2 the next day. I guess that they're taking their time with the phone calls.


Well, I got a recorded call on Monday (I think) that the tuning adaptors were available in San Diego (TWC). I couldn't get to their offices until yesterday (Wed).

I went to the office and got the TA w/o a problem.

I got home, hooked up the TA according to the instructions, and now I get more channels 

And today I got a letter from TWC telling me that the TAs are available. So anybody in the San Diego area should be able to get a TA (as long as you have are a Cable Card customer).


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## billdav

I picked mine up on Saturday. Worked fine the first time. I can't believe they let me pick it up instead of having to wait in a 4 hour window for a tech to show up and do something a retarded chimp could do.

I did an audit on the channels I get. Some channels take a while to tune. I even had a couple fail with a message "Press Select to try again" or something like that. Trying again worked. I'll be rather irritated if I miss some recordings because it does that.

I was glad to get Speed back in time for the start of the Formula 1 season.

I still haven't gotten a message about the adapters being available. Lucky for me, I check here every so often. Thanks to the people who posted about it being available.


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## 82givenchy

I reported TWC because they were charging for channels I couldnt get. They also werent offering the SDV box in my area. The FCC contact me, then TWC contacted me and the FCC sent me a copy of the letter they sent to TWC and within two weeks TWC now has the boxes and I have mine. The FCC was not happy with what I wrote. I was getting more channels in Los Angeles without the SDV and when I moved to Palm Springs they were charging me more money and I was getting less service. The FCC fixed their wagon. Now I have a cheaper bill and the SDV and more channels. Sometimes you have to make some noise. SDV has been around several months everyone should have a free box if they have TIVO and it should be available to everyone at this point if not write the FCC. It works. I even got a call from the exective branch of TWC not just customer service and an appology letter to boot.


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## mikeyts

I'm actually surprised that some TWC divisions are still dragging their feet on this. TWC Oceanic in Hawaii and Cox NoVA very publicly had their hands slapped for rolling out the TA without preannouncement to CableCARD customers and without discussing it with the FCC, since it essentially violates their agreement to support unidirectional CableCARD products. They ordered a rebate of some subscription fees to CableCARD using subs and a lowering of fees going forward (not everyone using CableCARDs are using them in TiVos and the TA is useless to those who don't have TiVos). I can't remember whether they ordered them to quickly step up their roll-out of TAs or not.


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## cal888

Picked up my Tuning Adapter in Chatsworth today (West Valley system). I was the first person to get one according to the tech. No HD channels are moving to SDV, but some of the SD premium channels are. No problems with the set up and my TiVo is now tuning all the digital channels more quickly.


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## jlburnet

I am in Dallas, TX and have been paying for channels that I can't receive for sometime now. Anyone heard anything about availability for the Dallas Market?


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## Redhaze737

82givenchy said:


> I reported TWC because they were charging for channels I couldnt get. They also werent offering the SDV box in my area. The FCC contact me, then TWC contacted me and the FCC sent me a copy of the letter they sent to TWC and within two weeks TWC now has the boxes and I have mine. The FCC was not happy with what I wrote. I was getting more channels in Los Angeles without the SDV and when I moved to Palm Springs they were charging me more money and I was getting less service. The FCC fixed their wagon. Now I have a cheaper bill and the SDV and more channels. Sometimes you have to make some noise. SDV has been around several months everyone should have a free box if they have TIVO and it should be available to everyone at this point if not write the FCC. It works. I even got a call from the exective branch of TWC not just customer service and an appology letter to boot.


Do you mind sharing exactly how you contacted the FCC regarding the SDV? And what you told them that caused them to take action against TWC?

Aloha


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## jkudlacz

I just filled mine complaint and others should do the same.

Dear FCC,

In January I purchased TIVO box and ordered two Cable Cards from TWC. Once I received my Cable Cards I returned my old Cable Box. TWC informed me in November that I will need a SDV Tunning Adapter to view certain channels if I choose to use TIVO. I have been waiting almost 4 months for my SDV Tunning Adapter, so far I made 3 requests for them and no adapters are in sight. I have been paying for full lineup of channels and some channels I still don't receive even that I pay from them. I would like FCC to sort this issue with Time Warner Cable. Los Angeles area has thousands of customers that are suffering same as me, paying for channels they can't receive because SDV Tunning Adapters promised in November have not materialized yet.

Here is info how to do it:
Past it into your web browser and supersede it with http

esupport.fcc.gov/sform2000/new_complaints.action?request_locale=en

Go here then select form Form 2000E - Media (General) Complaint

Click next, fill out all information then click submit, you are done.


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## mzaiderman

If there is someone out there with a TA in the Los Angeles area, 
Can you check if you're receiving SPEED in HD. It should be channel 468.

I've been long promised and waiting for this channel and I don't know if I need a TA to see it. I'd be quite annoyed if I did and wasn't informed when I call them every month. I'm in the Redondo beach area.

Thanks!


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## KeithB

jkudlacz said:


> I just filled mine complaint and others should do the same. (...snip...) Here is info how to do it:
> Past it into your web browser and supersede it with http
> 
> esupport.fcc.gov/sform2000/new_complaints.action?request_locale=en
> 
> Go here then select form Form 2000E - Media (General) Complaint
> 
> Click next, fill out all information then click submit, you are done.


I strongly recommend everyone who has STILL not received a tuning adapter should file two separate complaints:

FCC (Federal Communications Commission) as shown by jkudlacz above. In my case, TWC responded quickly and positively after the FCC forwarded my complaint, and I received a Cisco Tuning Adapter in February.
BBB (Better Business Bureau) - Tell them the same thing: TWC is billing you for services you cannot receive, but you should be able to receive according to FCC mandates.
BBB complaints worked well for TiVo users in the TWC Carolinas region. Hopefully they will help in other TWC regions as well. I thought three or four months dragging their feet was bad, but now customers have been waiting almost seven months, which is completely ridiculous.


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## kevin120

jlburnet said:


> I am in Dallas, TX and have been paying for channels that I can't receive for sometime now. Anyone heard anything about availability for the Dallas Market?


dallas has no sdv so your cable card is paired wrong if you are missing channels besides the sports packages and ppv.

besides what channels are you missing?

the PPV wont work because of the two-way ordering system so this means no sports packages or ppv.

besides they just finished a bandwidth upgrade to 870MHz. That is how we got 30 new hd channels last year.

the cable box software is not even compatible with SDV. motorola areas from twc do not have SDV yet(soon to arrive in Central KY,and WV/VA/KY regions if all goes well.)

time warner dallas does not even have a link to the SDV tuner webpage so our division is not getting SDV.


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## JimWall

TWC in Southwest Ohio just finished solving my problem with missing channels. Adding the tuning adapter caused a lot of signal loss and some digital channels were too weak to lock onto. They added an amplifier/splitter and replaced the underground cable coming into my condo. The cable was water damaged and had a lot of signal loss. This explains why TNT HD would come and go and TWC sending hits did not fix the problem right away. Also technition said the coax cable supplied with the TA needed more shielding. He said if there is a TV station within 100 miles near the same frequency as some digital channels it can same signal degradation and a good coax with shielding is needed to prevent degradation.


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## JeffRapp

Got mine a month ago in Lincoln, NE. Haven't missed any recordings yet - but that's because I've been very proactive with the adapter. It seems that after about 24 hours of not using any of the SDV channels, the TiVo forgets about it (not sure, just a theory). Tried rebooting the adapter, but it just sit and blinks - until I pull and reset the USB cable. The TiVo pops up the adapter attached message and all is good. This also works without rebooting the adapter, just re-plug the USB and all is good again. Tried switching the usb ports on the TiVo, still having this problem. 

Is anybody else seeing this? I'm just really tired of babysitting this thing, and we're getting some "ALL NEW FREE HD CHANNELS!!1!1! WOWZ!" tomorrow, all of which are SDV.


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## pdm

Has anyone been charged for the tuning adapter yet? I noticed today, i am begin charged $7.99/month for the tuning adapter. this seems insane since it doesn't even work all of the time. I'm not sure how the tuning adapter is worth $7.99 a month when the cable card is only $2.99/month. I called to find out what 'digital converter' was on my bill and that is when she told me it was for the tuning adapter. I'm feeling pretty livid. 

Much of the time when I tune to an SDV channel it doesn't work, I have to channel up and then channel back down to make it work.


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## pdm

Well I called again and got a different rep, I didn't mention having a tuning adapter and they removed the $7.99 digital converter charge. We'll see if my TV still works and what my next bill looks like I guess. What a mess.


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## trailmix

Has anyone in Los Angeles received their tuning adapter? I've spoken to the TWC reps on the phone, in person, as well as a service technician at my home, and they are all pretty clueless about whether these even exist, aside from telling me to fill out the pre-order form on their website (and only 2 out of 3 knew that much). I filled it out last week. How long did it take for you to receive it after filling out the pre-order? Do they mail it to you or does a technician get scheduled to bring it? Any tips on expediting the process? One person on the phone said they would schedule a special appointment to install it and call me back, but no call back yet. Thanks


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## trailmix

EDIT:
Ok looks like the only reason I wasn't getting certain channels was due to problems with my cablecard. they replaced it and I seem to be getting all the channels, including those on the one list of SDV channels I've found online:
www dot tivoblog dot com slash wp-content slash uploads slash 2008/10/tivo_time_warner_sdv_announcement_1 dot jpg
That would explain why no one at TWC LA knows about the Tuning Adapter, because no one in LA needs it yet! Not sure why the other Los Angelinos in this thread were waiting anxiously for theirs? The question is now when are they going to START the SDV in LA?


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## HowBoutNowLA

Just spent a bunch of time on the phone with TWC Los Angeles - we are getting the roll out early morning 6/4. For the last few months I've been asking them repeatedly and they've been telling me "you don't need anything, you're good to go." Now, after explaining numerous times what I need and why I need it to these techs that haven't been trained yet and don't know what I was talking about, I had someone tell me the TAs aren't available yet and I had to go on a waiting list.

SO (being in NO mood to play games with them after getting my HDNET yanked the other day!) I started rambling off about "it's the law" and about the FCC ruling and fines and how I can't believe they are continuing to roll these out unprepared and without TA's available yet after being schooled by the FCC numerous times all over the country! He then put me on hold and talked to a supervisor and came back and said they ARE available and would I like to pick one up and DIY or get a tech to come out for $20. I'm on hold now for the last 20 minutes while he locates what office I need to go to and to make sure they have them there ready for me to pick up.

OK - finally off the phone - NO TUNING ADAPTERS READY IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA.

FCC gets a call on Thursday.

In the meantime - can anyone tell me if I'm going to lose my 3 premium HD channels (HBO, SHO, MAX) until I get the adapter?


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## HowBoutNowLA

Here's something helpful:

http://consumerist.com/192240/exclusive-every-phone-number-for-twc-level-3-tech-support

Well, the guy here said they got an email recently that said "the tuning adapters are now available at the cable stores, do not direct customers to the websites anymore, just tell them to go to the stores to pick them up." That's what he told me anyway...so I guess I'll just go there. He also said btw that once in the store, that store has the ability to contact other cable stores directly to ask about inventory. People in the call centers however appear to be cut off from civilization.


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## trailmix

HowBoutNowLA said:


> Here's something helpful:
> 
> consumerist dot com/192240/exclusive-every-phone-number-for-twc-level-3-tech-support
> 
> Well, the guy here said they got an email recently that said "the tuning adapters are now available at the cable stores, do not direct customers to the websites anymore, just tell them to go to the stores to pick them up." That's what he told me anyway...so I guess I'll just go there. He also said btw that once in the store, that store has the ability to contact other cable stores directly to ask about inventory. People in the call centers however appear to be cut off from civilization.


Thanks for the reply, I thought I had killed this thread. Anyway, please let me know how things go in the store. As I said, at the store I went to they were completely clueless about 1.5 weeks ago (whether the girl at the front desk or the technicians from the back room)


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## HowBoutNowLA

I'll probably go on Monday -- I was VERY forceful on the point that I needed this BEFORE the roll out and that the FCC has fined them for not having the proper stuff available in advance.

What I wanted to find out was (if you read a few posts above), someone got a TA in Chatsworth, which is up in the west valley, not that far, and if I go there can I get one? Or will they tell me no because I'm not in their area? Or will they be out of them?

Biggest question is, since NO ONE at TWC seems qualified to work there - bunch of monkeys - maybe I'll go to the store down the street, they'll tell me they don't know what I'm talking about, go in the back to "talk to a tech" but instead just kill time and not even look, and then send me home empty handed - ALL THE WHILE there are boxes and boxes of tuning adapters sitting back there but since they don't know what they are or what they're for, they'll tell me they don't have them in stock yet!


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## trailmix

HowBoutNowLA said:


> I'll probably go on Monday -- I was VERY forceful on the point that I needed this BEFORE the roll out and that the FCC has fined them for not having the proper stuff available in advance.
> 
> What I wanted to find out was (if you read a few posts above), someone got a TA in Chatsworth, which is up in the west valley, not that far, and if I go there can I get one? Or will they tell me no because I'm not in their area? Or will they be out of them?
> 
> Biggest question is, since NO ONE at TWC seems qualified to work there - bunch of monkeys - maybe I'll go to the store down the street, they'll tell me they don't know what I'm talking about, go in the back to "talk to a tech" but instead just kill time and not even look, and then send me home empty handed - ALL THE WHILE there are boxes and boxes of tuning adapters sitting back there but since they don't know what they are or what they're for, they'll tell me they don't have them in stock yet!


I feel your pain. Regarding Chatsworth, I don't think they will give you one since you are not in their area, but that may be a good question for the Level 3 Phone Support before you go over there. It's annoying how that Chatsworth user appears to have vanished from the message board. I think I sent them a private message but no reply. Also, another idea is if you go to your local office and they are clueless (likely), just call the Level 3 Phone Support (or have the desk clerk do it) and hand the phone to the desk clerk, and let Level 3 explain what's going on. Hopefully between the two of them you'll at least get a straight answer. Looking forward to hearing how it goes, please don't vanish.


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## HowBoutNowLA

FYI - when I called level 3 support yesterday from the direct number, he answered and he told me he was in Colorado, so he wasn't even local. He also said, "hmm, I think I read something about that...they sent us an email, give me a second I'll see if I can find it" so....level 3 hasn't even been fully trained and informed on all of this stuff yet. That's a really bad sign too. He eventually followed what was going on, but what this comes down to, FCC fines or not, is that this is NOT any concern to anyone at TWC. To them it's only a minor little issue affecting a handful of people.


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## dlfl

I was surprised to see from earlier posts that:

1) There is actually a TWC store in the Dayton Mall -- is that actually true? (I live about 40 minutes away and don't get to that Mall very often.)

2) They had TA's in stock, at least earlier this year, and people just walked in and picked them up.

Does anyone know if they still have them in stock?

Do they have a telephone number?

What proof do you have to show them to get the TA? I just got a TiVo HD and will be adding Digital Cable service and getting cable card(s). However at this very moment I don't show on TWC's records as having digital cable or card(s). Can I get the TA beforehand?


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## JimWall

My TAs were mailed to me by TWC. They would not work until the TAs were added to my account. So you need to add digital service and then get your TAs.


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## mikeyts

It seems that many TWC divisions are allowing people to walk in a pick up TAs, but you do have to have leased CableCARDs on your account (some have posted here that they were given two, because they had two CableCARDs in their Series3 ).


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## HTH

JeffRapp said:


> Got mine a month ago in Lincoln, NE. Haven't missed any recordings yet - but that's because I've been very proactive with the adapter. It seems that after about 24 hours of not using any of the SDV channels, the TiVo forgets about it (not sure, just a theory). Tried rebooting the adapter, but it just sit and blinks - until I pull and reset the USB cable. The TiVo pops up the adapter attached message and all is good. This also works without rebooting the adapter, just re-plug the USB and all is good again. Tried switching the usb ports on the TiVo, still having this problem.
> 
> Is anybody else seeing this?


I'm also in Lincoln. I got mine awhile ago too, but never saw any sign it was working, always blinking, never any channels available. Last weekend after stopping by the TWC office on Friday, I tried dis- and re-connecting it one more time and it started working without getting a tech on the phone! (Missed a week of G4 programming though.)

Today I babysat the unit for half and hour as it recorded the wrong show from DXD and last night I couldn't access either DXD or DXDS (no amount of pressing Select would bring them up). Turned out the guide data was wrong yesterday and today. I had set it to record from both DXD and DXDS, but only the DXD copy recorded. Then while I was reviewing the recording in Now Playing I got yanked into the screen telling me the box was connected. It had apparently rebooted. But the LED is solid on and not blinking anymore.

I'd stopped using TWC's SA boxes when they would crash or drop digits if the TiVo tried to change channels on time (mystro), only good for Firewire recording on my Mac. They were completely unusable with the Series1 and barely usable with the Series2 (as long as padding worked to change channels before the channel you left updated its information bar with new programming information). After problems with insufficient signal strength (an unbalanced splitter fixed that), I'd finally gotten good results with CableCARDs in the Series3.

Now it seems I'm open to more problems as I'm again dependent upon an SDV box TWC controls in order to reliably use my TiVo. And since they have their own DVR service, they have a motive to continue to sabotage TiVo's devices.


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## HowBoutNowLA

Update for people in Los Angeles:

We are getting the system "enhancement" tonight after midnight. I went into the cable store in my area and the guy at the desk knew what I was talking about and knew the whole story, but he went into the back to check with a tech and they told him that our particular upgrade in this area will NOT be using any SDV channels (I guess for now?) so we won't be needing any tuning adapters! Now that's interesting. Therefore they don't have any tuning adapters in their store becasue we won't be needing them. This is in the Hollywood/West Hollywood area. He said the only thing that's required for cablecard users is to do what the mailer told me to do, which is rescan the channels, etc.

He said the people that are affected do have the adapters ready - this would be the nearest places Eagle Rock and Chatsworth. He said if for some reason they are misinformed and something does screw up and I find that I need to get a TA, then I can try to go to one of those other stores and explain it and get one - but they might not give me one since I'm not in their area. but I guess one thing at a time. I'll see if any channels go missing tomorrow.


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## JWC6

Beginning June 2, all my choice tier and standard cable channels are not operationable. Only local channels and HD channels appear to be functioning. My Tuning adapter has not arrived despite email requests thru their website beginning in November 2008. I am running a HD Tivo with a multicard provided by Time Warner. I am located in Fullerton, CA. 6 different supervisors have been of no help. FCC complaint has been filed.


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## supernova

I would file a Better Business Bureau complaint, that's what worked for most folks including me to speed things up.


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## mikeyts

Why would TWC care about a BBB complaint? They have no power over them--it's just bad press, and not particularly effective bad press at that. Who checks with the BBB before buying cable service? I suppose that some local news organization might pick up on a BBB complaint, but the fact that a handful of people in your area using TiVos can't get a their hands on a device to help them tune subscription cable channels isn't likely to generate much public outrage.

The local cable service franchising agency is probably a better place to start, as they do have some actual sway (enough complaints and a provider might find their franchise revoked, or not renewed). Send them a complaint, with a carbon to your cable system's upper level management.


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## jkudlacz

A little update about Tuning Adapters, I spoke to VP of TWC for Los Angeles area who called me yesterday morning because I filled a complain with FCC. He said that they will send out VIP technician to look at my problem. Truth is I said that I need tuning adapter not a technician, but because I am moving in 2 months there is no need for VIP technician.

Bottom line is he said that they will not be introducing Switched Digital in North Hollywood area where I live until 1Q 2010, that is right another 6 months he said. He said they are still testing their equipment in Los Angeles area and that its going very slowly, I know that this is not something we wanted to hear, but based on this information I hope TIVO introduces a new box which uses 'tru2way' so that I actually won't need tuning adapter at all.


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## cal888

trailmix said:


> I feel your pain. Regarding Chatsworth, I don't think they will give you one since you are not in their area, but that may be a good question for the Level 3 Phone Support before you go over there. It's annoying how that Chatsworth user appears to have vanished from the message board. I think I sent them a private message but no reply. Also, another idea is if you go to your local office and they are clueless (likely), just call the Level 3 Phone Support (or have the desk clerk do it) and hand the phone to the desk clerk, and let Level 3 explain what's going on. Hopefully between the two of them you'll at least get a straight answer. Looking forward to hearing how it goes, please don't vanish.


Sorry, never received your PM. Glad to try and answer people's questions about the tuning adapter.

I signed up early for mine and just picked it up in the office and installed it myself. Much easier process than pairing a cablecard.

I have never had a problem with it, and I am not charged anything a month for it. Right now the channels I have noticed on SDV are ESPN Classic, BBC America, some foreign language channels, and some of the SD premium side channels. All of the analog cable channels still map to an analog version over a digital version. And FX-HD is the only none broadcast channel not locked out with an 0x02 byte.

An easy way to tell if a channel is on SDV or not is to go to the DVR Diagnostics screen on the TiVo. Any SDV channel has a capital letter after the stream information.

West Valley uses Cisco/SA headend. Time Warner East Valley, Santa Monica, Ventura County all use Motorola headends. Maybe that's the delay? I don't think anyone has spotted the Motorola TA in the wild.


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## ferjy Fangle

Can people tell me what type of Cable Boxes their Cable provider uses (what standard for two-way communication their Cable Provider uses). Cablevision of Woodbury Long Island, NY uses a Scientific Atlanta Explorer SA4250HD. I want to try and determine if there are different Firmware Versions for the Cisco TA for different Cable Systems. I was told this by a Cable Rep, but I have my doubts. I find it hard to believe that a Scientific Atlanta / Cisco system would need different firmware in their TAs.


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## mikeyts

ferjy Fangle said:


> Can people tell me what type of Cable Boxes their Cable provider uses (what standard for two-way communication their Cable Provider uses). Cablevision of Woodbury Long Island, NY uses a Scientific Atlanta Explorer SA4250HD. I want to try and determine if there are different Firmware Versions for the Cisco TA for different Cable Systems. I was told this by a Cable Rep, but I have my doubts. I find it hard to believe that a Scientific Atlanta / Cisco system would need different firmware in their TAs.


This is probably due to the fact that not all providers are using the same SDV system. I think that there are 3 or 4 vendors selling SDV solutions, possibly more by this time: Big Band Networks, Tandberg, Cisco itself and others. I'd expect requests and notifications to the network by the TA would vary with each of them. There is no standard.


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## kathcom

I just had a dissatisfying online chat with a Time Warner Cable rep. The online form to preorder tuning adaptors has been take down. Since SDV will help TWC with its bandwidth issues, you'd think the least it could do for its customers who are paying for the "lesser-viewed channels" like HBO, Showtime etc. that will no longer be watchable without the adaptor...would be to pay the postage to ship them to us.

I went online to see if there might be another place to order them to save standing on line at a TWC store. I filled out a form at

timewarnercable.com/Northeast/learn/cable/sdv/default.html

(I can't show the full link since I'm new to the forum.)Hopefully that will work but I won't be surprised if I get a message back saying it can't be shipped. Aargh!


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## trailmix

kathcom said:


> I just had a dissatisfying online chat with a Time Warner Cable rep. The online form to preorder tuning adaptors has been take down. Since SDV will help TWC with its bandwidth issues, you'd think the least it could do for its customers who are paying for the "lesser-viewed channels" like HBO, Showtime etc. that will no longer be watchable without the adaptor...would be to pay the postage to ship them to us.
> 
> I went online to see if there might be another place to order them to save standing on line at a TWC store. I filled out a form at
> 
> timewarnercable.com/Northeast/learn/cable/sdv/default.html
> 
> (I can't show the full link since I'm new to the forum.)Hopefully that will work but I won't be surprised if I get a message back saying it can't be shipped. Aargh!


Where did you find the June 7, 2010 date? Are you located in the Northeast? I wouldn't waste your time. I got a tuning adapter months ago (SoCal) because I received a letter in the mail saying it was going to be needed, but they never made the switch.


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