VCR

wa8yxm wrote:
But with encryptd cable as Cox is doing no matter if you get a DVR or not (So long as it is not a special over priced one from COX) it won't work without a set top box.. Thankfully most better DVR's can control a set top box via an I/R Blaster but still...

Where I am I get around 100 cable channels.. I actually only watch one for 2 hours a day.. (TV-Land, Dukes of Hazzard) My favorite channel is 3-2 ME TV.

Don't bet on even the most recent and up to date DVRs controlling the new DTA units. The DTA my Dad got from Cable co is a real pain, can't find any large 6 button remotes that have the codes for it.. He can't see the tiny little buttons on the supplied remote!

Basically you would have to teach a remote one button at a time (IF the DVR has this capability). Pretty much a common complaint when it comes to these new DTA units (which by the way are about the size of a computer mouse).

joebedford wrote:
"Dukes of Hazzard": the ONLY show I wouldn't let my kids watch.

Heck that's the only show I wouldn't let ME watch! :)

"Dukes of Hazzard": the ONLY show I wouldn't let my kids watch.

But with encryptd cable as Cox is doing no matter if you get a DVR or not (So long as it is not a special over priced one from COX) it won't work without a set top box.. Thankfully most better DVR's can control a set top box via an I/R Blaster but still...

Where I am I get around 100 cable channels.. I actually only watch one for 2 hours a day.. (TV-Land, Dukes of Hazzard) My favorite channel is 3-2 ME TV.

Can the primitive VCR and get a DVR. Far easier to use, set recording with a button push, no tapes to mess with, what's not to like? You got your money's worth out of that old VCR long ago. Do yourself a favor, you'll be glad you did it.

1775 wrote:
... Optimum - also known as Cablevision. They are in at least three states - NY, NJ, CT. I don't know if they are in RI. ...

Thanks 1775. No, they are not in RI. We have a choice of Cox Cable and in some parts of the state, Verizon FIOS.

Here is the note in my bill today. The date changes every time they mail something.

NEWS FROM COX wrote:
On August 18, 2015, Cox Communications will start encrypting broadcast signals on Cox TV Starter. If you have a set-top box, digital transport adapter (the Cox mini box), or a retail CableCARD device connected to each of your TVs, you will be unaffected by this change. However, if you are currently receiving Cox TV Starter channels on any TV without equipment supplied by Cox Communications, you will lose the ability to view any channels on that TV. ....

Gene&Ginny wrote:

1775 wrote:
... I have a VCR with a digital tuner. I connect the cable coming into the house directly to the coax connector on the VCR and its digital tuner gets all of the basic channels - no problem. It is not connected through the cable box. Our cable went digital about years ago. We use this when the cable box decides its time to update itself for a hour. This update (which is a regular occurrence) only effects the cable box and not the cable signal on the line. Works just fine.

Can you tell us who your cable provider is?

Optimum - also known as Cablevision. They are in at least three states - NY, NJ, CT. I don't know if they are in RI. As I said,it works through the digital tuner built into a Panasonic VCR/DVD recorder - it does not work any other way and what I get is CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, WPIX, and two local PBS stations. Not a lot, but the main broadcast channels are there. I can set the VCR/DVD and record these channels to time shift - plus when the box reboots (frequently) there is something to watch until it is back up - if it goes back up.

I should add that the CEO of this cable company (who has bought up the main newspaper in this area) has stated that his goal is for every one of his cable subscribers pay $500 a month for his services. It is not quite there yet but it goes up regularly without any gain. I recently put up a quality antenna outside and pull in a lot of broadcast channels including some that I am paying for on the Cable and some not on the cable that are pretty good. But if I drop the cable television service my internet will go up to just about what I am paying for both...

bcsdguy wrote:
Most of the******on tv isn't worth watching, much less paying for it. I, for one, am dumping the whole mess and using my computer to find what I want to watch. It doesn't have to be real time. Who cares?

I heartily agree.

I have maybe 10 channels I usually scan, and I DVR absolutely everything. I cannot sit through commercials anymore. If I hear 'ask your doctor' one more time..:M

DTV must change the way it charges people, however, it may be very expensive for them to provide ala carte service. My dealings with them don't exhibit much in the way of up-to-date technology, or well-trained personnel.

Come on, it's all about the money. Most of the******on tv isn't worth watching, much less paying for it. I, for one, am dumping the whole mess and using my computer to find what I want to watch. It doesn't have to be real time. Who cares? i am sick of paying for channels i don't want or watch plus all the frickin Mexican channels I can't understand and don't want to. Sorry, momentary lapse of sanity. :)

SCVJeff wrote:
I am NOT backing up the cable companies on this, BUT, ONE of the reasons they needed to dump the analog service is because they needed the bandwidth for all the extra channels the ESPN, Fox Sports (to name a very few), present to the cable companies as a take it or leave it package. Add a hundred movie channels or so, add who knows how many On-Demand slots in the system, plus ultra wide full duplex internet (if you pay for it), and its easy to see where all the bandwidth went.

(edit: iphone spellin)

Oh they can do that.. Darien Telephone ships hybrid (Both Digital and Analog) I have 2 DVR's (Analog only) that can record all the analog I can watch Tier 1 digital is translated to an analog channel so the Replay's can replay them. Tires 2 and 3 are not but the TV is a modern wide screen analog/digital model and can decode them easily.. They are not Encrypted.

What the Big Name Cable Companies are doing (Cox,Comcast. Et-al) is encrypting.. in the old ATSC analog days if you lived in say Redford, MI you could subribe to "Basic" cable.. This could be watched on most of the TV's of that era even if it was QAM digital.

But Premium channels had to be decoded.. That took a box from Brighthouse.. Could not watch Premimum channels on a standard TV without the box.

Same now.. They just encrypted the signal so you have to get their box.. That way they they can charge you per TV instead of per house.

it's not a bandwidth thing.. It's a money thing.