# Problems with Cisco STA1520, possibly, 6 flashing lights



## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Sorry this is all a bit rambling.

I've seen a few threads with this issue already but no obvious solution. Here is the situation:

I have a single Roamio DVR with just one TV, a cable card and Tuning Adapter - probably the simplest setup possible. My provider is Time Warner/Spectrum and I'm in Rochester NY. 

I've had the Roamio for several years without any problems until a few months back. Then I started to get an issue where the TA would have a solid green light and then flash 6 times and then solid green again. This would repeat every 70-77 seconds or so, seemingly forever but see below for more information on this. When the light flashes the picture goes away and the Tivo stops recording everything in progress.

This would happen every 2 weeks or so. I contacted TW cable card support and they would have me just reboot the TA using the following sequence:

1. Unplug the USB cable.
2. Power cycle the TA.
3. Reconnect the cable.

Sometimes, after this happens, I only get the broadcast channels but if I wait long enough they eventually come back.

This has got progressively worse so that now it is happening once or twice a day. I must have called tech support about 10-20 times about this issue. They have sent 4! techs out to fix the problem. Most recently last Friday (5 days ago) and yesterday. This morning, when I got up, the light was solid green and working fine except that I was only getting broadcast channels. I used the remote to change channels to see what channels I was actually getting and suddenly saw the 6 flashes again. My theory is that trying to change channels while I wasn't getting the SDV channels caused the 6 flashes issue. Although that may just be coincidental. The TA was reporting the RDC out of range but rebooting seems to have fixed that. Which makes me think the issue is with the TA.

The topology is very simple. On the outside of the house there is a splitter. One output goes down into the basement and to the cable modem (never had any problems with Internet access). The other goes into the wall and directly into the back of the TA and then out from the TA into the Tivo player. I tried putting a splitter before the TA, so that the signal goes to the TA and Tivo and not through the TA but that did not help at all. So currently that's not there.

When the techs come out all they ever do is check the signal strength, tell me it's fine and then mess with the wiring outside the house, anyway. The first three replaced the splitter outside the house. The last one replaced the cable from the splitter to the TA completely.

I have requested that when they send a tech out that they send out someone familiar with tuning adapters but so far that hasn't happened.

I have had 4 different Tuning Adapters. The fifth one should arrive in a day or two. I think this is my second cable card - not sure on that but I have a replacement arriving soon.

At least one of the TA's that I have tried was practically DOA. After I plugged it in it flashed consistently for at least 6 hours and maybe as many as 12 before it finally started working. That isn't the one I currently have.

The previous TA's have all been picked up at my local TW Office, and I'm pretty sure they are just recycled. One time I returned the TA I witnessed the agent toss it into a large box behind him, not placed but tossed! I wonder if this is why I am getting so many problems.

When I called in on Monday before the latest tech visit, I got pretty annoyed at TW and asked for the call to be escalated. Instead of putting a manager on they put someone on who was just another tech pretending to be a manager. I know this because I recognized his voice as someone I had worked with in the past. I asked for a different manager and as far as I can tell he might really be a manager. He also claims to be the highest person I can talk to at TW.

I asked them to overnight a NEW TA and cable card, but was told that was impossible and that they could only send it three day delivery. I doubt that I'll get a new one. It's being shipped from an address that looks like a TW office about 200 miles away.

He also scheduled a tech who came yesterday. I asked that he send one conversant with TA's and he said he would certainly do that. However, the tech that arrived admitted he knows nothing about them. The night before the tech arrived the problem happened at around 9pm. I think it was exactly 9pm. I thought, "Great, I'll leave this in a broken state and he'll be able to troubleshoot it." Sadly, when I got up the following morning the flashing had stopped, but it was not fully working I was only getting broadcast channels, the V53 error. A short while later though the other channels appeared too. Now looking at the TA diagnostics - it looked like it stopped flashing at exactly 3am. Not sure if that's when TWC send out a signal or not.

As mentioned earlier, this morning I checked the signal levels from the diagnostics page. The RDC was 0 and then 5 and then 10. All of which are way out of range, but after rebooting the TA it was 37, which I think is good. I called TW and asked them what the next step to fix this would be if the replacement TA didn't work but didn't get any kind of satisfactory answer.

At the moment I'm waiting for my replacement adapter which I hope will resolve the issue, but if anyone has any other suggestions as to how to fix this I would be very grateful. Or indeed, if anyone has any suggestions on how to get TW/Spectrum to step up and make an effort to fix this.

Other information that may be relevant.

TA is at F.1901
I recently upgraded my Internet speed from 30 to 100 (not sure if this coincided with the start of the problems).
TW/Spectrum recently went all digital requiring everyone to start using a cable box.


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## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

GengisKhan said:


> Sorry this is all a bit rambling.
> 
> I've seen a few threads with this issue already but no obvious solution. Here is the situation:
> 
> ...


The T/A has been the bane of tivo users since they were first foisted upon us 6~7 years ago.
Normally disconnecting the power cord to the T/A Bi-monthly for 30 seconds then reconnecting the power takes care of 99% of T/A problems.
So not sure what's going on with your system. But, go outside and check that the incoming coax cable splitter has an earth ground connection.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Teeps said:


> The T/A has been the bane of tivo users since they were first foisted upon us 6~7 years ago.
> Normally disconnecting the power cord to the T/A Bi-monthly for 30 seconds then reconnecting the power takes care of 99% of T/A problems.
> So not sure what's going on with your system. But, go outside and check that the incoming coax cable splitter has an earth ground connection.


I went outside and had another look at what the last tech did. He moved everything inside a plastic box on the outside of the house and this is the first time I looked inside that. We have the following. Large orange cable coming from cable company that goes into something that I'm not sure what the technical term is - some kind of connector. That is grounded. The cable from that goes to a splitter, but the signal isn't being split. One of the outputs is terminated. The other output goes to another splitter. That splits to the cable modem and the TA. I'm pretty sure that the ground connection has always been there but don't remember offhand if it was previously connected to the splitter - probably not, probably connected to the connector.

One other update on all this. The replacement TA and cable card arrived today. The TA was DOA, wouldn't even power on! After another 30 minutes on the phone with Spectrum, they are sending out a new TA.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

I assume they are sending a new power brick each time you get a new TA.

Are you getting the cable cards properly paired each time you’ve changed them? Just a stab, but possibly could be a unpaired cable card causing TA problems?

Not a total solution, but have you tried disconnecting the usb from the TiVo and see what channels you get without the TA? Some people find they have no need for a TA since they don’t watch SDV channels.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

You should contact the Spectrum/TWC national CableCARD help desk at: 866-532-2598. They are the only part of the company likely to know anything about TiVo's, CableCARD's or TA's.

Six-blinks-pause indicates loss of communication between TA and TiVo via the USB cable. For this problem to be random, sporadic or intermittent is unusual I think. My TA is also on F.1901 and has never had this intermittent problem. I'm on a TWC-->Spectrum system also. The only time I've seen 6-blinks is if the USB is not connected or if the TiVo is restarting and not talking to the TA. It could be a bad USB cable or, if there are two USB ports on your TiVo, try switching ports -- on some models only one of the ports works correctly with a TA.

After power-cycling the TA it can take a while for the TiVo to "get the channel list". You can force this by restarting the TiVo after power-cycling the TA.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

UCLABB said:


> I assume they are sending a new power brick each time you get a new TA.
> 
> Are you getting the cable cards properly paired each time you've changed them? Just a stab, but possibly could be a unpaired cable card causing TA problems?
> 
> Not a total solution, but have you tried disconnecting the usb from the TiVo and see what channels you get without the TA? Some people find they have no need for a TA since they don't watch SDV channels.


Funny you should mention the power brick. When I received the dead TA on Wednesday, I did use the new power brick that came with it. When the replacement TA did not work I plugged the old TA back in again but left the new power brick in place. I had no problem at all on Thursday, then I saw your post and thought you might be on to something but alas last night around 10pm I got the 6 flashing lights again. 40 hours without an issue is the longest it has lasted for about two weeks now.

The new, new TA arrived yesterday evening and when the old one had a problem last night I decided to try it out. Well first time it wouldn't pair at all - continuous flashing lights. Tried again, and this time I got the 8 flashes. TWC couldn't get it to 'auth'. Tried a third time and I just got the constant flashing lights again. Left it like that and went to bed and the TA is in the same state this morning when I got up.

Not having the SDV channels is a non-starter. I watch too much sport and more importantly my wife watches some channels that she really 'needs'.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

dlfl said:


> You should contact the Spectrum/TWC national CableCARD help desk at: 866-532-2598. They are the only part of the company likely to know anything about TiVo's, CableCARD's or TA's.
> 
> Six-blinks-pause indicates loss of communication between TA and TiVo via the USB cable. For this problem to be random, sporadic or intermittent is unusual I think. My TA is also on F.1901 and has never had this intermittent problem. I'm on a TWC-->Spectrum system also. The only time I've seen 6-blinks is if the USB is not connected or if the TiVo is restarting and not talking to the TA. It could be a bad USB cable or, if there are two USB ports on your TiVo, try switching ports -- on some models only one of the ports works correctly with a TA.
> 
> After power-cycling the TA it can take a while for the TiVo to "get the channel list". You can force this by restarting the TiVo after power-cycling the TA.


The cable card number you give is the one I have been calling.

I have replaced the USB cable in the past but for want of anything better to do I might try that again. I also remember switching USB ports at one time, I can try that again too, but as I mentioned elsewhere, the new, new TA isn't even finishing its start up and that's before you even plug the USB cable in.

When I called TWC last night they suggested sending out a tech - that would be the fifth overall and third in a week - and/or sending a replacement TA - that also would be the fifth overall and third in a week.

I do have a spare cable card that arrived on Wednesday. I haven't tried that yet. I think that may be my next step.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Be sure to ask for a credit for loss of service. Typically a truck roll justifies this. On my Spectrum system SDV channels comprise at least half the channels we watch so doing without a TA is a non starter. This is clearly the fault of either the Spectrum system or the TA's they are furnishing (unlikely IMO). Unfortunately there is no big stick or carrot to motivate them to correct it.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Latest Update.

Tried replacing the cable card yesterday morning and the USB cable and plugged the cable into a different port (there are two on the back of the Roamio), plus I changed out the coax from the TA to the Tivo.

That all lasted less than 24 hours. I got the green flashing light again this morning and decided to do some of my own troubleshooting. I was not getting any of the HBO channels (amongst others). I checked the diagnostics and saw that one of the tuners was tuned to an HBO channel and had a '-' for the Signal Strength. I switched that tuner away to a different channel and the flashing stopped. Switched it back to HBO, waited 70+ seconds, and the problem started again. Tried that with different channels that I'm not currently receiving for some reason with the same result. It's strange but one of the HBO channels is not supposed to be an SDV channel and I wasn't receiving that either - so it may not just be an SDV thing.

So my best guess at the moment (and if anyone knows how it really works I would be all ears) as to how this works is that the cable card requests the 6 channels it wants. If it doesn't receive them after 70-77 seconds it does some kind of reset. The tuning adapter sees this reset and flashes 6 times. If you pull the USB cable out and leave it out then you get the 6 flashes and that pattern repeats without any 70 second delay.

Armed with this information I called TWC tech support this morning. We rebooted the adapter but still had the same issue. I also rebooted the Tivo player, after getting off the phone with TWC. This seemed to fix the issue until I noticed that after reboot all tuners were tuned to 1 channel that I do get. Switching to a channel that I'm not currently receiving caused the issue again. TWC support were not able to determine why I wasn't receiving those channels and think the adapter is bad. They are sending two new ones - just in case one of the ones I receive is bad. A few hours after hanging up with them all channels appear to be back again.

Incidentally, we also determined why the last adapter they sent didn't work. This was the one that would not sync up when first plugged in and had endless flashing lights. It turns out the adapter has two MAC addresses. Sometimes the wrong MAC address is entered into their system. When this happens the TA will never sync until the correct MAC address is entered. The support people were able to override that until a few months ago but now no longer have privileges to do that. Since it's Sunday the tech wasn't able to find anyone who can do that.

Oh well - I feel I've made progress today. And in a couple of days I'll have a total of 5 tuning adapters to play around with. If at least one of the two adapters they are sending can sync and I still get the flashing lights issue, I think my best tack would be to get them to troubleshoot why I'm not receiving the channels intermittently. So far I think they've been troubleshooting the symptom rather than the cause.


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## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

Just a thought, but has the cable co ever checked or replaced the coax cable from your house to their service connection?
The squirrels around here like to chew the coax cables up on the pole.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Teeps said:


> Just a thought, but has the cable co ever checked or replaced the coax cable from your house to their service connection?
> The squirrels around here like to chew the coax cables up on the pole.


I think it's underground. It seems to be the same issue as firedoctor is having. He is in Rochester, NY too.

Cable Signal Cuts Out Every Couple Minutes


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Reading through that thread - I may need an attenuator. My signal levels are at 100% - when they are there. I think that'll be my next step.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Another update:

On Wednesday, I added an 8dB attenuator to the coax cable feeding into the TA; haven't had any problems since then, which at more than 48 hours is the longest period without any problems for three weeks.

The signal strength has dropped to 93-95% for the regular channels and 87-88% for the SDV. These values were stuck at 100% all the time prior to adding the attenuator. SNR has dropped from 40-41 to 35-38. My expectation was that the SDV channels would have a higher signal strength than the regular channels as they were the ones I was having issues with.

This problem has been getting worse for 3-4 months and, in that time, 4 techs have visited the house. My suspicion is that each tech has been 'improving' the signal strength and making it worse each time.

Anyway, fingers crossed that this is resolved now. TWC scheduled a tech visit for yesterday, which I postponed to today and then postponed again to Monday. If there are no issues before Monday I'll just cancel altogether.


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## thehepcat (Jan 9, 2002)

GengisKhan said:


> Another update:
> 
> On Wednesday, I added an 8dB attenuator to the coax cable feeding into the TA; haven't had any problems since then, which at more than 48 hours is the longest period without any problems for three weeks.
> 
> ...


Hey Gengis - in ROC also. Where are you seeing signal strength? How did you know the 8db would do the trick?

Since the digital switchover (can't be a coincidence) I have had channels just drop out and come back on and then pretty much all SDV have gone to black with no error messages at all. Multiple tech visits which mostly just consist of the guy saying how much he hates cable cards.

UPDATE - I just checked up on my Bolt upstairs and it seems to be working just fine. Could it be my Roamio is breathing its last???

EMMs on Roamio are at 0, Bolt are at 11.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

thehepcat said:


> Hey Gengis - in ROC also. Where are you seeing signal strength? How did you know the 8db would do the trick?
> 
> Since the digital switchover (can't be a coincidence) I have had channels just drop out and come back on and then pretty much all SDV have gone to black with no error messages at all. Multiple tech visits which mostly just consist of the guy saying how much he hates cable cards.
> 
> ...


Sorry about the delay. The problem is still not fixed but I have more information.

The attenuator fix lasted about 3 days. and then I started to have the same issue again. I called the dedicated Spectrum cable card line (1-866-532-2598) and requested a supervisor. Then I asked the supervisor to schedule a tech that understands cable cards. I got a bit of pushback on this but eventually he agreed. The tech came out last Monday and lo and behold he really did understand cable cards and he did understand the problem. In fact he said that there was an existing work order about this issue and he added my name to the list. He also added an amp to my line and I got the SDV channels back again. Sadly they all went away again later that evening, plus perhaps some others - it's not clear to me which are the SDV channels and which not; Spectrum can't give me a list. They have been missing ever since no matter what I do.

I called the cable card number last Wednesday and asked if they could give me an update on the work order but unfortunately, since the changeover from TWC to Spectrum, the phone techs can no longer read those work orders, nor can anyone in their department. The only way to get an update would be to schedule another tech to come visit and then ask him to read the work order!!! Can't believe what a crappy system that is.

The tech was scheduled to arrive today. Instead I got a call from the dispatcher who wanted to know why I was having so many techs visit. I explained the situation to him and he personally walked over to Engineering and asked them what was happening. They're now claiming that the problem is on a pole in Gates. I'm in South Greece - really close to the Gates 'border'. If you are located in the same area you probably have the same issue.

Also, the problem was supposed to be fixed last Thursday but apparently wasn't. The dispatcher has scheduled another tech for next week - just as a reminder that he needs to call me to give me an update.

This whole situation is so messed up. The only people I can call for updates don't have permissions to access the work order. I'm not allowed to contact the people that CAN access the work order and no-one is allowed to send out emails.

For the other questions you asked, these are the screens I have found useful:

Settings+Messages -> Remote CableCard+Devices -> Tuning Adapter.

There are two useful options here:

1. Tuning Adapter Diagnostics -> Status Summary

That should say Ready. Sometimes it says B'cast Only for me but regardless of what it says I usually have no SDV channels. If you then click Next Page you'll see three sets of data

Tuner
FDC
RDC

The problem that I seem to be having is the RDC keeps drifting badly out of range. It's supposed to be around 25-55 (although I keep getting different claims as to what it should be). I've seen it as low as 0. At the moment it is 35 but still no channels.

2. Diagnostics

If you select this option, you'll see each Tuner with the channel that it's using, plus a bit lower down the Signal Strength and SNR. If one of these tuners is tuned to a 'missing' channel, I see a Signal Strength of - (dash) not a percentage and that's when I get the 6 flashing lights and endless resets. I can 'fix' that by pressing Live TV. If I then press Live TV again I can cycle through the tuners and then switch that Tuner to a working channel and get rid of the resets. Note, you have to choose a channel not being used by another tuner or it leaves the existing tuner on the bad channel and just switches to the tuner already using that channel.

I hope all this helps. TBH I'm not yet convinced their explanation is correct. I'll probably know for sure next week.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Here's how to tell whether a channel is switched (SDV) or not for a Cisco/Scientific Atlanta TA:
(Note: this procedure requires that the channel can be tuned.)
Go to:
Help ... Account & System Info ... Tuning Adapter ... Tuning Adapter Diagnostics ... SDV SESSION INFO A

In each SESSION # section there is a item labeled SamSvcId/Type
If the value ends with "/Broadcast", it is not an SDV channel.
If the value ends with "/Switched" it is an SDV channel
Note the item "SDV Freq:". To tell what channel it is you need to go to DVR Diagnostics and find the channel that is using that frequency. (Help .... Account & System Info ... Diagnostics)
And just to add a little more tedious-ness, the frequencies are given in MHz in one place and KHz in the other!

I've never heard of an instance where one could get a list of SDV channels from a cable co. either by phone or on a web page. Only their engineers or a customer using a TA (a small group) would ever care. Of course in an ideal world their service techs would care, and would know -- in an ideal world


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## thehepcat (Jan 9, 2002)

GengisKhan said:


> Sorry about the delay. The problem is still not fixed but I have more information.
> 
> The attenuator fix lasted about 3 days. and then I started to have the same issue again. I called the dedicated Spectrum cable card line (1-866-532-2598) and requested a supervisor. Then I asked the supervisor to schedule a tech that understands cable cards. I got a bit of pushback on this but eventually he agreed. The tech came out last Monday and lo and behold he really did understand cable cards and he did understand the problem. In fact he said that there was an existing work order about this issue and he added my name to the list. He also added an amp to my line and I got the SDV channels back again. Sadly they all went away again later that evening, plus perhaps some others - it's not clear to me which are the SDV channels and which not; Spectrum can't give me a list. They have been missing ever since no matter what I do.
> 
> ...


There was a fix going in that would cover Brighton/Henrietta, but no luck with the lost channels to this point.


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## thehepcat (Jan 9, 2002)

I just tried the attenuator, but didn't make any difference. 

Wasn't sure which set of these you were talking about so here's all three:

Tuner 705.000 MHz
FDC 105.000 MHz
RDC 10.00 MHz

Tuner -7 dBmV
FDC -11 dBmV
RDC 37 dBmV

Tuner 4/Sec (avg)
FDC 0/Sec (avg)
RDC 649 uSec


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## Sonya Noble (Jun 9, 2018)

Has there ever been a solution? I never had this problem with TiVo and Xfinity as I didn’t need a TA with Xfinity. Now with Cox it’s been nothing but problems. This TA cuts off every minute or two with the 6 blinking lights.


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## KimHedrick (Oct 12, 2014)

I'm having similar problems here in North Myrtle Beach, SC, a TWC/Spectrum area that recently went all digital. I called the TWC cablecard line and he said he didn't like the signal levels he was seeing with the tuning adapters and scheduled a tech visit. When he arrived he knew zip, zero, zilch about tuning adapters, cablecards or TiVo. He ended up replacing the cable from the pedestal to my house saying the signal wasn't "good". Didn't make any difference with these problems. I have multiple One Passes not recording because it says in History that there was no signal or couldn't get a tuner. Most of these problems are with HBO or Showtime. Tonight Billions, Westworld and Fear The Walking all failed to record. I was trying to tune to HBO and saw the tuning adapter flash 6 times. Pulled the power to the tuning adapter and before I plugged it back in the TiVo tuned in HBO, in 480i in a small picture with black bars on all four sides. Also FS1 and 2 are coming in in 480i as well in a box surrounded by bars. I've been really busy so I haven't had a chance to call back and see what the cablecard guy has to say. Will try tomorrow.


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## Sonya Noble (Jun 9, 2018)

I think I may have solved my problem. I switched out the power cord and so far no more black tv screen with 6 blinking lights on TA.


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## Sonya Noble (Jun 9, 2018)

Well I thought the new power cord fixed it, but no. Every few minutes I lose picture and get the 6 blinking lights. Then it comes back on after a minute. I hate cox cable! I didn’t have to use a TA with Xfinity!!!!


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## Sonya Noble (Jun 9, 2018)

Does TiVo ever respond on these boards? I guess I’m going to have to dump them if I do t get an answer soon.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

Sonya Noble said:


> Does TiVo ever respond on these boards? I guess I'm going to have to dump them if I do t get an answer soon.


FYI, This forum is not affiliated with TiVo. Also the kind of problem you're having is caused by your cable company and the equipment it supplies you, so can't be solved by TiVo. Tuning Adapters have been a problem for a lot of people. Although the best advice to be had is supplied by this forum, not all problems are solved.

Unfortunately cable operators have very little incentive to solve TiVo-related problems and it's rare to find a cable support person who knows how to solve them.

Be sure to read post #2 in this thread as to what causes 6-blinks-pause.


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## CopRock (Jul 13, 2014)

GengisKhan said:


> Sorry this is all a bit rambling.
> 
> I've seen a few threads with this issue already but no obvious solution. Here is the situation:
> 
> ...


Did you ever get any resolution from this??

I have been dealing with this similar issues with T/A and cable card since the transfer between Time Warner to Spectrum {NYC} was finalized around the first two weeks of February. Even with multiple tech visits and trips to one of their stores [in NYC] for new cable cards/or tuning adapters I still have missing channels & some come in SD instead of HD[different ones if I only use just a cable card vs. with T/A]

One of the techs verbally said that Spectrum doesn't like Tivos [and other type of devices] and I would gladly take a cable box if it was the same price per month as the setup I have now since my 6 tuner cable box in the living room has WAY better picture quality than the Roamio which relegated to the bedroom and a smaller 32" tv
//I do miss the commercial skip :[ //

edit: I've been a customer since 1989 when it was known as Manhattan Cable TV and reading thru other threads I wonder if the problem is my 'old' TWC package,


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Well the original problem was fixed back at the end of May. At the time I didn't find out what the issue was. It all just started working one day. However, I spoke to a Spectrum tech last week and he researched the issue and said that the line people had found three filters out in the field and removing them fixed the issue. I have absolutely no idea if that is true or not.

I no longer trust anything that Spectrum tells me.

To cut a long story short - the problem is back again, more or less. Instead of a reset and 6 blinks when I switch to an SDV channel - I just don't get any signal. They have "fixed" the problem 4-5 times now since it started happening on December 20th about a month ago.

This is the sequence of events.

1. I lose SDV channels
2. Rebooting the TA and Tivo does not help.
3. Call Spectrum support who point out that the RDC is out of range and they schedule a tech
4. Tech comes out tests the signal strength using a meter and says everything is OK. They completely ignore that the diagnostics page shows the RDC is out of range.
5. They schedule a line tech to do some tests in the field. (I have no idea what they do if anything - as they never contact me)
6. The day after the line tech comes out - after rebooting just the TA it all works.
7. Less than 36 hours later at 8pm at night (I am pretty sure of that time) it breaks again - Go back to 1 and repeat.

I have tried 4 different TAs in the last few weeks.

The very last tech who came out claimed that he was in quality control. He said that since his meter is showing everything is fine he is not going to schedule a line tech and implied it was the Tivo because "they have been having lots of problems with Tivos"! I asked for an escalation and was told he is the escalation.

I called tech support again and they are sending a replacement cable card even though the tech is 100% sure that is not issue.

No idea what to do next. At the moment I'm using the Spectrum app to watch the missing channels.

I get the impression that Spectrum are trying to get rid of their Tivo customers.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

GengisKhan said:


> Well the original problem was fixed back at the end of May. At the time I didn't find out what the issue was. It all just started working one day. However, I spoke to a Spectrum tech last week and he researched the issue and said that the line people had found three filters out in the field and removing them fixed the issue. I have absolutely no idea if that is true or not.
> 
> I no longer trust anything that Spectrum tells me.
> .....................
> I get the impression that Spectrum are trying to get rid of their Tivo customers.


Spectrum has no business incentive to encourage TiVo use. Hundreds if not thousands of similar war stories posted on this forum over the last 10+ years illustrate this. The RDC signal is generated in your TA and sent back into the cable system to request SDV channels. I suspect the techs don't even know how to check that and the problem is something in the cable system is blocking those signals.

Your experience is one of the worst I've heard of and at this point I would be considering cutting the cable and selling my TiVo. Get a Fire TV or Roku and subscribe to PS Vue or a similar streaming service to get your cable channels and DVR functionality. I have been nursing a Spectrum TA for ten years now. It has always been a PITA and it if gets worse I am prepared to do what I just suggested. On the other hand Spectrum internet has been excellent with no caps. Note that you don't save much by cutting the cord -- you just get away from TA and other frustrations.


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## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

GengisKhan said:


> a line tech and implied it was the Tivo because "they have been having lots of problems with Tivos"! I asked for an escalation and was told he is the escalation.


File a complaint with the FCC.
Believe me they (fcc and in my case time warner) do respond. 
FCC followed up with phone call as well as timewarner, they called twice, to make sure the problem was fixed and I was happy.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Teeps said:


> File a complaint with the FCC.
> Believe me they (fcc and in my case time warner) do respond.
> FCC followed up with phone call as well as timewarner, they called twice, to make sure the problem was fixed and I was happy.


That's a good idea - I guess I'll have to wait until the Government reopens first though


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Spectrum has no business incentive to encourage TiVo use. Hundreds if not thousands of similar war stories posted on this forum over the last 10+ years illustrate this. The RDC signal is generated in your TA and sent back into the cable system to request SDV channels. I suspect the techs don't even know how to check that and the problem is something in the cable system is blocking those signals.
> 
> Your experience is one of the worst I've heard of and at this point I would be considering cutting the cable and selling my TiVo. Get a Fire TV or Roku and subscribe to PS Vue or a similar streaming service to get your cable channels and DVR functionality. I have been nursing a Spectrum TA for ten years now. It has always been a PITA and it if gets worse I am prepared to do what I just suggested. On the other hand Spectrum internet has been excellent with no caps. Note that you don't save much by cutting the cord -- you just get away from TA and other frustrations.


Yes Spectrum Internet has been great. Otherwise they have been the worst company I have ever had the misfortune to do business with in my entire life. Every single tech I talk to tells a different story and each one insists that they are right and everyone else is wrong. I keep getting promises that a supervisor will call me back and that never happens. I don't understand why they don't seem to even want to try and fix it. It must be costing them a fortune sending out all these techs.

I'm seriously thinking of following your advice. The biggest obstacle at the moment is my wife who really doesn't like learning new interfaces.


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## gmacted (Sep 27, 2013)

When I have issues with my Spectrum provided tuning adapter(STA1520), the following is the process I go through to get the TiVo and the tuning adapter to function properly...

1) Disconnect the USB cable from the tuning adapter.
2) Unplug the power cord from the tuning adapter.
3) Unplug the power cord from the TiVo.
4) Plug the power cord into the TiVo and the tuning adapter. The TiVo will begin it's boot process. The tuning adapter will begin it's boot process and the front panel LED will slowly flash at a constant rate.
5) The TiVo will boot normally and I will be able to watch non-SDV (Switched Digital Video) channels.
6) After a period of time (this process can take up to an hour), the tuning adapter front panel will stop flashing and will be "on" (constant on with no flashing).
7) Plug the USB cable into the tuning adapter. The TiVo will display a message on the screen that a tuning adapter has been detected. Select "Continue".
8) The tuning adapter should now be connected. Go to "TiVo Central" --> "Remote, CableCARD, & Devices". The setting "Tuning Adapter" should be "[Tuning adapter in use]".

If this does not solve your problem I would not hesitate to file a complaint with the FCC. I had to file a complaint in 2018 and it really was amazing how quickly they responded.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

gmacted said:


> When I have issues with my Spectrum provided tuning adapter(STA1520), the following is the process I go through to get the TiVo and the tuning adapter to function properly...
> 
> 1) Disconnect the USB cable from the tuning adapter.
> 2) Unplug the power cord from the tuning adapter.
> ...


That's my process also, except I rarely have to power-cycle or restart the TiVo, and it never takes anything close to an hour for me. I would add that as a final check you should look near the bottom of DVR Diagnostics to see that "Channel List Received" is "Yes". If it isn't then you will soon have trouble tuning channels. Usually cycling the USB connector will correct this but you may have to repeat the entire process in some cases.


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## gmacted (Sep 27, 2013)

I have attached a document that I have had for many years that explains what the blink code mean for the Cisco STA1520 tuning adapter.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

gmacted said:


> I have attached a document that I have had for many years that explains what the blink code mean for the Cisco STA1520 tuning adapter.
> 
> View attachment 38840


The chart is misleading in regard to 6-blinks-pause. By far the most common cause of that pattern is simply that the USB cable is not connected.

Also the description for 8-blinks-pause is obscure. It simply means the TA has lost authorization. Authorization must be refreshed every month or so, or it expires. You can see the exact date/time when it expires, down to the very second, in the PowerKEY Information section of TA diagnostics, in the Sub Expires item. When you reach that time the TA stops functioning.

I have a feeling of deja vu about this. (I think we have been through this before.) It would be helpful if you could append the above two clarifications when you post this chart. They apply to the two most frequently encountered error codes.


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## gmacted (Sep 27, 2013)

dlfl said:


> The chart is misleading in regard to 6-blinks-pause. By far the most common cause of that pattern is simply that the USB cable is not connected.
> 
> Also the description for 8-blinks-pause is obscure. It simply means the TA has lost authorization. Authorization must be refreshed every month or so, or it expires. You can see the exact date/time when it expires, down to the very second, in the PowerKEY Information section of TA diagnostics, in the Sub Expires item. When you reach that time the TA stops functioning.
> 
> I have a feeling of deja vu about this. (I think we have been through this before.) It would be helpful if you could append the above two clarifications when you post this chart. They apply to the two most frequently encountered error codes.


I did not create this chart and to be honest I do not remember where I got it. I cannot also speak to its accuracy.

I have only needed to refer to it a couple of times over the past few years and it has proved useful for me. I am just attempting to share information.


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## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

GengisKhan said:


> The biggest obstacle at the moment is my wife who really doesn't like learning new interfaces.


You are not alone my friend...


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Further update.

I got the cable card in the mail but the sdv channels started working again before I received it, so I just left it uninstalled.

This morning they were out again with the TA in B'Cast Only mode. I called tech support for help activating the card. As expected the replacement cable card didn't help. Worked with the tech on the phone to try and get it working again. Multiple reboots and TA switch outs later he admitted defeat and decided to schedule a tech. I think this will be the 7th or 8th since December 20th.

However, while on the phone he suggested that the Tuner signal was too high - with the valid range being -7 to +7. It was actually right at the end of that range +7 and he was going to get the tech to lower it. All the previous techs visiting the house have said it was spot on.

After I hung up I checked the strengths again. This is what I saw:

Tuner +8
FDC +2
RDC +44

So I decided to play around with some attenuators on the coax in to the TA. At 3dB I got this:

Tuner +5
FDC 0
RDC +44

At 6dB:

Tuner +2
RDC -3
FDC +46

and suddenly it is all working again! I'm really hoping that has fixed the issue and it's not just some coincidence.

So, it makes me wonder if the problem all along has been the Tuner strength has been set too high. I'm going to monitor it over the next few days and weeks to be sure.

I looked back at all the screen shots I have taken of that screen and the lowest I see the tuner previously is +5.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Well the plot thickens. About an hour ago I lost all SDV channels - getting the V53 error on every one. all the normal broadcast channels had a signal strength of 95-97%, the SDV were all at 100%. I rebooted the TA and it's all working again.


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## SrLANGuy (Dec 26, 2001)

I'm in the St. Louis area with Charter Spectrum and a TiVo Roamio Pro which I've had for almost 5 years now. In the summer of 2018, I noticed that I was unable to tune into some of the channels I was paying for. It didn't take long to determine it was the SDV channels, but it wasn't consistently a problem. Then in late 2018, it got to where I lost all SDV channels. I went to the Charter Spectrum office and got a replacement Tuning Adapter (since I was pretty sure that was the problem). The old and new Tuning Adapters were both the Motorola MTR700. It took a little bit, but I got everything working and thought the issue was resolved. But then a few days ago, I noticed I was having problems again with SDV channels. I tried disconnecting the USB cable for a bit and plugging it back in, but it still wasn't working. When I finally got it working, I sat down to watch TV and after a few minutes, the TiVo suddenly went dead and then started booting up again.

I'm wondering if all these Tuning Adapter and SDV channel issues aren't being caused by some of the recent TiVo software updates. For a while, it seemed that every time there was test of the Emergency Broadcasting System, my TiVo would reboot.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

Final update - I hope.

After adding the 6dB attenuator to the TA line and getting the SDV channels back - I started to get occasional v53 errors from the Tivo. My guess is the v53 errors where previously masked by losing the SDV channels altogether.

So later that evening I tried adding an attenuator to the line from the splitter to the Tivo. The setup is really simple - coax from cable company goes to a splitter, one end goes to TA, the other goes to the Tivo. I experimented with various sizes and found that a 15dB brought the signal strength down from 99-100 to 87-92 and the SNR down from 43 to about 34-35.

It's been almost a week now like this without any problems. So either adding the attenuators worked or Spectrum coincidentally fixed it.

I suspect that Spectrum did something to the signal strength around the 20th December that caused all this. I think I'll take screenshots of all the relevant screens and archive them. That way, if this happens again in 6 months or so - I'll have a reference and may just be able to bring everything back in range without bothering them.


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## dlfl (Jul 6, 2006)

GengisKhan said:


> ..... and found that a 15dB brought the signal strength down from 99-100 to 87-92 and the SNR down from 43 to about 34-35.
> ........


Searching your posts here I couldn't determine that you had ever said you had 99-100 strength and 43 SNR. These are clear signs of too "hot" a signal. And too hot a signal can cause problems. See this TiVo support page:
https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...oamio-Series-Premiere-Series-and-Series3-DVRs
and in particular:


> *Note:* If your signal strength is at 100 and the video looks fine, this is not an error. The signal strength meter sets 100 as a safe threshold. If the signal is at this threshold or a bit beyond, your picture quality should be excellent. If the signal strength is well beyond the threshold, it will still register as 100, but you might experience poor picture quality, as some DVR components cycle in and out of "protect" mode to prevent damage.


And the 43 dB SNR indicates your strength was "well beyond" 100. (Note the max SNR limit given in that same TiVo support page is 35 dB. Although all four currently tuned channels on my Roamio base model are at SNR=37 with no apparent problems.)


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## DeltaOne (Sep 29, 2013)

GengisKhan said:


> After adding the 6dB attenuator to the TA line and getting the SDV channels back - I started to get occasional v53 errors from the Tivo. My guess is the v53 errors where previously masked by losing the SDV channels altogether.
> I suspect that Spectrum did something to the signal strength around the 20th December that caused all this. I think I'll take screenshots of all the relevant screens and archive them. That way, if this happens again in 6 months or so - I'll have a reference and may just be able to bring everything back in range without bothering them.


We're on Comcast here. Had a similar situation. About 9 months ago I began seeing short, random pixelation on some channels. Found my signal strength was reading 100% (which may mean 105, 110, 115...more?) SNR was all in the mid 40's. Added a 6dB attenuator, found signal strength to be generally from the mid 80's to mid 90's...and no pixelation.

About two months ago, in the middle of the afternoon, we lost our Comcast feed for about 15 minutes. Shortly after that, leaving to run an errand, I found two Comcast trucks at the entrance to our development. I stopped to chat, was told the short outage was to replace a short section of cabling they suspected of causing a problem. Later that evening, I found our signal strength had shot back up. I added more attenuation and again find that picture quality is great when the signal strength runs from the low 80's to mid 90's.

When the first problem happened I bought a package of attenuators that run from 3dB to 12dB. This makes it easy to play around and get the signal strength right where I want it.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

dlfl said:


> Searching your posts here I couldn't determine that you had ever said you had 99-100 strength and 43 SNR. These are clear signs of too "hot" a signal. And too hot a signal can cause problems. See this TiVo support page:
> https://support.tivo.com/articles/T...oamio-Series-Premiere-Series-and-Series3-DVRs
> and in particular:
> 
> And the 43 dB SNR indicates your strength was "well beyond" 100. (Note the max SNR limit given in that same TiVo support page is 35 dB. Although all four currently tuned channels on my Roamio base model are at SNR=37 with no apparent problems.)


See posts #12 and #13 from back in May. Adding attenuators at that time seemed to fix the problem. But it only lasted for 3 days or so. So I assumed they hadn't helped and took them out. It wasn't long after that that Spectrum fixed the issue permanently (well for about 6 months or so) and I stopped posting about it.


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

DeltaOne said:


> <snip>
> 
> When the first problem happened I bought a package of attenuators that run from 3dB to 12dB. This makes it easy to play around and get the signal strength right where I want it.


Yes I did something similar. I have a 3, 6, 8 and 12 but I'm seriously considering getting a couple of variable ones. That should save a bunch of time if this happens again - but they look a tad expensive to me.


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## rwillman483 (Mar 15, 2019)

GengisKhan said:


> Final update - I hope.
> 
> After adding the 6dB attenuator to the TA line and getting the SDV channels back - I started to get occasional v53 errors from the Tivo. My guess is the v53 errors where previously masked by losing the SDV channels altogether.
> 
> ...


Genghis, did this attenuator permanently resolve your issue? I'm having the same issue as you and have the same signal strength and SNR as you.

P.S. Thanks for posting all your issues. I'm a Tivo newbie so having this out on the world wide web for google to find definitely helps!


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## GengisKhan (Jul 14, 2002)

rwillman483 said:


> Genghis, did this attenuator permanently resolve your issue? I'm having the same issue as you and have the same signal strength and SNR as you.
> 
> P.S. Thanks for posting all your issues. I'm a Tivo newbie so having this out on the world wide web for google to find definitely helps!


Well it's been over 6 weeks now without a problem. It's probably fixed until Spectrum screw around with the signal strength again.


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## Scott9mm (Apr 5, 2015)

Four days ago my Roamio Plus started cutting in and out during live TV and any recording stopped when it cut out. The typical pattern was normal play for a minute or two followed by a blank screen (but with the TiVo channel bar at the bottom) for about 10 sec and that pattern repeated indefinitely. I have Time Warner/Spectrum cable service with the dreaded STA 1520 Tuning Adapter. The lights on the TA were not visible to me so I don't know if they blinked or not.
A TiVo cold restart solved the problem but only for about 12 hours. A TA restart seems to have fixed things, at least so far. I also reconnected the TiVo input to the output of the TA (vs direct from an upstream splitter) and maybe that helped.
I looked at the diagnostics and the signal strength was 100% on all tuners with 41db SNR. I connected a Premiere to that cable fed and it reads 91-94% signal strength and 37 db SNR. After reading this thread I will install a 6db attenuater on the input of the Roamio, at least as a precaution.
I don't know if the problem was excessive cable signal, a wonky TA, or something in the TiVo. I will let this configuration run and report back if the problem comes back.
Thanks to all here for their insights because, frankly, my initial approach was all wrong. I had already ordered a new TiVo power supply; previously a failing power supply caused skipping (on playback only) so I guess I'll have a spare now.


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## Scott9mm (Apr 5, 2015)

Update: I previously added 12db of attenuation to the tivo coax input which brought the signal levels and SNR into the desired range. But the problem came back tonight.

Tonight, I was able to confirm six flashes on the STA1520 tuning adapter when the problem was present. I power cycled the TA and the problem stopped. It is possible that moving the TA (to get to the power plug) "fixed" a bad USB connection but I blame the TA. Also, The TiVo occasionally says the TA isn't connected, which is also fixed by power cycling the TA.



Scott9mm said:


> Four days ago my Roamio Plus started cutting in and out during live TV and any recording stopped when it cut out. The typical pattern was normal play for a minute or two followed by a blank screen (but with the TiVo channel bar at the bottom) for about 10 sec and that pattern repeated indefinitely. I have Time Warner/Spectrum cable service with the dreaded STA 1520 Tuning Adapter. The lights on the TA were not visible to me so I don't know if they blinked or not.
> A TiVo cold restart solved the problem but only for about 12 hours. A TA restart seems to have fixed things, at least so far. I also reconnected the TiVo input to the output of the TA (vs direct from an upstream splitter) and maybe that helped.
> I looked at the diagnostics and the signal strength was 100% on all tuners with 41db SNR. I connected a Premiere to that cable fed and it reads 91-94% signal strength and 37 db SNR. After reading this thread I will install a 6db attenuater on the input of the Roamio, at least as a precaution.
> I don't know if the problem was excessive cable signal, a wonky TA, or something in the TiVo. I will let this configuration run and report back if the problem comes back.
> Thanks to all here for their insights because, frankly, my initial approach was all wrong. I had already ordered a new TiVo power supply; previously a failing power supply caused skipping (on playback only) so I guess I'll have a spare now.


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## hasservision (Jul 16, 2007)

I'm sure this has been said before in these lengthy threads, but started having this problem this week after getting spectrum cable with my TiVo Roamio just a few weeks ago.
I noticed that my TiVo gets service without the TA on, so I just turned it off the other day and haven't bothered with it sense. I guess if I encounter a SDV channel that I can't tune it, I will just turn it back on... but honestly, I haven't had that need yet.


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## lprimak (Jun 30, 2019)

*Success*

See Spectrum could not get my tuning adapters to work


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## lprimak (Jun 30, 2019)

*SUCCESS* After 6+ years of battle, my Tivo / tuning adapter setup finally works!
TA: STA-1520 (Cisco)

Background: I am a long-time Spectrum (TWC) customer. I moved to Lincoln NE just over 6 years ago. I have multiple TiVos,
currently the ones hooked up to Cable are Premier XL and Bolt.
I never had much success with the tuning adapter. Over the past 6+ years, I have filed multiple FCC complaints,
literally had over 100 techs at my house.
They have rewired my whole house again and again in multiple combinations, but my TA performance was getting worse and worse.
At this time, I was at a point where I was rebooting TA every day and it wouldn't help (I had it hooked up on an internet-based power timer)

As a last-ditch effort before giving up on my Tivo / TA setup, I emailed the CEO of CableLabs so see if he could summon up any wizardry to help me.
His contacts at Spectrum found such a wizard, and he fixed it!

What it turned out to be is a misconfigured QPSK box at the cable plant. Currently I don't know much more details than that.
After they configured the QPSK box properly, TA started magically working!

Spectrum usually blames the issue on Tivo, here's how to avoid this:
I had them install their "older" cable box that uses QPSK instead of DOCSIS to communicate back to the plant.
That cable box failed in *exactly* the same manner as the TA, so Spectrum was no longer able to say that this is a "tivo problem"

Here is what I (and techs) tried and didn't work:
- Getting new TAs (went through about 30 of them)
- Amplifiers (both one-way and two-way)
- Attenuators (both one-way and two-way)
- All sorts of combinations of amplifiers and attenuators
- Plugging Tivo directly to the cable outlet vs. going through the TA
- Playing where the cable modem was plugged in

What the "wizard" told me matters (and doesn't)
FDC (forward data channel) dbmV can be around 5-10db below what QAM (content feed) is,
for example: the QAM dbmV is 1 and FDC dbmV is -8 (that's normal)
FDC S/N (signal-noise ratio) is important. It should be on the low-to-mid 30s - mine is 32-36 (normal)

The issue was the RDC (return data signal) that was not configured strong enough.
The cable plant continuously tells the TA through the FDC how "loud" the RDC should be.
When not working, my RDC dbmV was fluctuating between 20s and 30s.
After the QPSK fix, my RDC was steadily in the high 40s, same as cable modem RDC.
The key is that the RDC level should be similar to what your cable modem's RDC is.
My cable modem RDC is 48, and (after the fix) the TA RDC was around 48 as well.


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## Teeps (Aug 16, 2001)

lprimak said:


> *SUCCESS*
> snip>
> What it turned out to be is a misconfigured QPSK box at the cable plant. Currently I don't know much more details than that.
> After they configured the QPSK box properly, TA started magically working!
> ...


Cool. I'm bookmarking this one... just in case.

Having them install the "older" cable box was brilliant!

The bigger problem with cable service troubleshooting is that, you or I cannot access "the one guy" at the Head End or as you say cable plant. That knows what's what and how to fix it.

Good job on persistence as it has paid off for you.


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## Tivo0418 (12 d ago)

Low RDC from Tuning Adapter is the main problem. Added 6db Attenuator to Tuning Adapter (The third one from Spectrum) and I have finally been on for almost a day. Started with Tuning Adapter FDC -5 and RDC 42, over time RDC would fall into the 30s (and sometimes lower). After 10 min to 12 hours RDC would fall low enough for Tuning Adapter to go into 6 flash loop about every 90 seconds. Seems like anything below RDC of 35 caused the 6 flash loop. As a comparison my modem had a Downstream (FDC) of -5 and an Upstream (RDC) of 47.5 that never dropped. After adding the 6db Attenuator to the Tuning Adapter I am now getting FDC -11 but the RDC has stayed in the 40s and I have not lost Switched Digital Channels. I also added a 8db Attenuator to the Tivo to get the signals into the 90s from all having 100%. Thanks to all who have contributed here.


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## Tivo0418 (12 d ago)

Well it lasted from Monday to Friday then RDC fell to 35 and 6 flashing lights every 90 seconds again. After TA reboot RDC back up to 42. I just checked again and RDC is down to 36, but still not 6 flashing loop yet. Guess I get to call Spectrum again.


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