Sony KDF-42WE655 and Cablecard
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New member Username: HamidnwlinkcomPost Number: 1 Registered: Dec-04 | I bought a Grand WEGA 42" KDF-42WE655 rear projection LCD HDTV. After installing a cablecard by Comcast, I could not see any station information such as TV and movie ratings for HD channels and digital channels. I can however see the these information for the analog channels. Comcast claims that this is a problem with the TV and I should contact Sony. Sony however is claiming this is a problem with the cable company. Has anyone seen this problem with their HDTV and a CableCard. If so how did it get resolved. I am trying to use the Parental Control from the TV set to Control what my kids can watch. I do not want to use a settop box since a cable card can replace a set top box. |
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Peas Unregistered guest | Have you tried the auto-channel detect feature in your Sony? Peas |
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New member Username: HamidnwlinkcomPost Number: 2 Registered: Dec-04 | I did try that but after installing the cable card the auto-channel feature is disabled. All of the channels are dictated by Comcast. |
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ARY Unregistered guest | I have the exact same problem with the Sony KDF-55WF655 and a Scientific Atlanta Cablecard from Time Warner. The TV and movie ratings that should be encoded with each program are not recognized by the TV's Vchip, therefore not allowing me to set parental control for screening premium movie channels, etc. I really don't want TW playing around with the Cablecard if at all possible as it took them over 2 hours to get the new device working. Has anyone solved this problem of parental control with Sony? Does Sony recommend a firmware fix and if so, how do you get the patch. |
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Anonymous | I just had a conversation with Sony's escalation manager and this is what I found out. TV's V-Chip is working correctly and there is no need for a firmware fix. All TV stations do broadcast the ratings ( they have to do it by law ) on both analog and digital. Cable Companies ( in my case Comcast ) disable this feature when using a cablecard for digital channels. Comcast claims this is a functionality of the cablecard and they have nothing to do with it and the only way to get the parental control is to get their Set Top Box for a fee, however cablecard is free. How interesting!!!!!! |
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New member Username: GbumagaPost Number: 1 Registered: Dec-04 | Same problem with my Sony TV and Comcast. I was wandering if there is some legal case (some requirement to provide the ratings). I hate to pull the card out of TV every time I leave the house at night. |
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New member Username: GbumagaPost Number: 2 Registered: Dec-04 | Called Comcast again. This time thsy told me that they do not alter the signal and that HBO and other providers do not carry the signal. Comcast adds it on for the box, but not the cablecard. Very strange. |
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user 20000000 Unregistered guest | We just bought a Sony KDF-55WF655 and Time Warner cable sent someone out who never installed a cablecard. The guy could not figure it out. We got the same message" firmware setup this could take an hour" all day long with no luck!! they are sening another tech out Monday but this is really a big dissapointment! |
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New member Username: Sanman202Post Number: 2 Registered: Jan-05 | It's with the cablecards. At this time it has limited features avaiable. You cannot us most of the features that you have with the set top cable box. I went with the box instead of the card. They are working out the regulations and technology to eventually off all of the same features on the cable card. I'm surprised that the cable guy didn't know this. |
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Unregistered guest | I have just recently tried to have a cablecard activated on my new Toshiba 46HM94 by Comcast. They have come out twice now and installed two different cablecards. Both times my system has recognized the cablecard but the ability to change channels was not functioning and a message comes back telling me it is acquiring the signal. I left it overnight and still locked up. When the cablecard is removed the channel change capability reactivates. I had them install a cablebox for now which works fine but I am having them out again Wednesday. I hope it works as I hate the cablebox!! |
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Unregistered guest | Jimbo24 I have the same TV and have had the exact same issue, 5 cards, new cable throughout. Comcast gave up. I'm currently engaged with Toshiba tech support. Todays communication with Toshiba " we are working with Motorola on a software issue, we will be back with you shortly." They also stated that there are some diagnostics that could be performed if I still had possession of a card. Do not. Trying to get Comcast to come back and attempt to gain more info. You should contact Toshiba Customer Relations (800-631-3811) and log your problem. The more experience they have the better. |
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Anonymous | I had to give up on using the cablecard, becuase I did not want my kids see the adult programming shown late night on HBO without my control. I will go back to it once they have all the problems solved. At this time it is more worth my time to use a settop box and be done with it. Actually I am very happy with the settop box I have. It is a dual tuner DVR and can record HD programing for up to 15 hrs. The cost is about $10 a month. |
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Anonymous | The new boxes like the Motorola DCT 6400 duel tuner combo hi def tuner/dvr are in fact quite amazing. They have to be worth a 1000 dollars yet Comcast charges very little per month for them. I swear I cannot tell the original broadcast from the playback, and that is using the 92 inch mega screen via an AE700U LCD PROJECTOR. The picture is flawless |
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Bronze Member Username: LamprightSyracuse, Utah USA Post Number: 21 Registered: Jan-05 | Cablecard still has way too many bugs in it. I highly recommend people either stay away from them or also have a cable box until all the bugs are worked out between the cable companies, TV manufacturers, and cablecard makers. I wish the FCC would have lengthened the mandated timetable for their release...because they were not ready for the public yet. I tried it for a week and it's almost usesless. I did find out there was a firware update for my TV to fix many problems, but I won't be using cablecard except for the rare cases of PIP. If you're lucky enough to have a cable company like Comcast that has the awesome new Motorola HD DVR's, GET ONE!!! You'll love it! It's almost as good as Tivo and it won't cost you $1000 like a DirecTV HD Tivo. |
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Anonymous | I have a Toshiba 62HMX94 DLP TV, and I've tried to get the Comcast CableCard going for the past two days. The TV acquires the card but the card never gets the feed from the cable. Tried separate card to no avail. Called my vendor Crutchfield who stated that there are some known problems with the Comcast Motorolla cards, exactly what I have. He recommended that I call Tosh directly and log a call. Called Tosh and tech wants to diagnose the card tomorrow. He then says that he will provide me with the software fix which apparently does exist. I may bail altogether on the CC and go to the HD box but I really want the integrated solution. Seems as though I'm burned by premature technology release. Texas Dallas area Comcast network. |
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rolyas Unregistered guest | I have the same problem with the cable card and the program info. From what I was told and a bit of reading between the lines it looks like the technology is just too new. We are all just test subjects at this point. I'm sticking with the card because I don't want to pay for the box when I have a tuner built in. Also, the "two" techs that set up my Sony Plasma said that my analog channels come in MUCH better than they do with the box. For me the only draw back is not having the program info or the guide. I feel like I am back in 1990 again. Hopefully, Comcast will figure out how to make it work soon. One more thing. I called DirectTV a couple of times. They had no idea what was going on. They just kept trying to sell me a box. I even have a dish already but didn't go with them. I had to educate the sales person on Cablecards as he had no idea what I was talking about. I think we all will just have to wait for a while. PS. Discover HD is now my favorite channel. It's almost as good as actually going on a vacation. |
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Bronze Member Username: LamprightSyracuse, Utah USA Post Number: 41 Registered: Jan-05 | Rolyas, The $10/month is well worth it for the Comcast HD DVR. I don't know how you can stand to go without a DVR....I'd rather not have any TV at all than watch it without a DVR, it's that dramatic of a difference! I take it you've never had Tivo/DVR before? Try it for a month or two, I guarantee you'll love it. That's the nice thing about comcast, you can try it without any commitment or up front hardware purchase. Plus you'll have your precious guide back again! |
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DaveO Unregistered guest | Thanks for all of the good posts. I have a KDF-42WE655 and had Time Warner use a set top box and I hate it. I lost PIP. So I am having a card installed tomorrow. Hope things go well. |
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Bronze Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 51 Registered: Mar-05 | DaveO, Just in case you see the 161-6 error message on your Sony, when you go through the TV menu to the CableCard section, you should see two options show and reset. Usually the reset corrects the problem without you having to physically remove and re-insert the CC. You need to call Sony at their 1-800 support number and report the error message, they will set up an appt. to come out and fix what needs fixin'. Hopefully you will never see the error message, but just in case you do I've laid out what you need to do. Out of all the CC installations, Sony is usually one of the easier experiences and minimal problems. Keep us posted on how it goes. |
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Bronze Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 52 Registered: Mar-05 | P.S. to DaveO To have your PIP functioning with the STB, all you need to do is spilt the analog RF cable at the wallplate, take one feed back to the STB and the other feed directly to the TV antenna ( this is not necessary with the CC as the PIP will work without the splitter when using the CC, keep in mind though that you can not view two digital channels when using the CC. This is also true with the STB and splitting the RF feed, unless you have two STB's) regards |
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daveo Unregistered guest | Thanks for the info on the sony and cablecard, I will let you now how it goes. BTW, Here is a very good article on why you would want a cablecard. http://abcnews.com.com/5208-6449-0-10.html?forumID=104&threadID=47405&messageID= 628027&start=-1 Any info from the group on picture quality using cablecard vs. stb? |
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Bronze Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 54 Registered: Mar-05 | PQ with CC is far superior then STB will ever be in MHO. The debate on why CC is preferred is "jury still out". One technology is a limitation being addressed and hopefully will be corrected soon, even though everybody that has the one way version is gonna be outdated and p'd off when two way comes out. Access to PPV and MOD is a common complaint about current CC technology, so when two way hits the market, I don't know about you, but If I just spent 3 to 4 thousand dollars on a CC TV in June, and by Nov. it's out dated, I'd want some corrective action. Lack of being able to record out from the TV to a recording device was another oversight by the powers that make the TV's, but hey...stick around it's sure to change lol. best of luck |
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daveo Unregistered guest | CableCard Update: Two guys from TWC came out and popped the card in and it would not receive channels. They went to the cable card menu and did a reset (I think) which the guy told me downloaded firmware into the card and the TV. The screen said that the process could take up to an hour ss they left and told me not to touch the TV until they came back. After about 10 minutes, the TV tuned itself to a channel and all appeared to be fine. Being a good citizen, I did not touch the TV until they returned. The scrambled channels were not coming in. So the guys called the TWC Raleigh offices and waded through about 5 or so people and over 45 minutes until they finally found someone who could bind the numbers from the card to that of the services at the head. Once this was done, everything was fine. Lesson learned is that there are not too many people from TWC Raleigh who understand CC and Sony Wega. Bottom line is that the PQ is excellent on all channels, I have a single remote, and no more STB. I am quite happy. |
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Bronze Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 64 Registered: Mar-05 | daveo, Actually the reset feature on your Sony has nothing to do with downloading firmware, I believe this feature defaults the TV settings back to factory specs. The only reason you would need to do the reset is if you see any error messages "161-XX" as previously mentioned. Usually speaking a reset only takes about 10-15 minutes. If you ever see a firmware update in progress, this would be due to software that drives the CC is being updated by the cable company, it usually says will take an hour and on the Sony TV's it takes about 11 to 20 minutes to complete. (I've seen other brands take 45 minutes to an hour) Until the installers call in the Host ID and CC ID, you won't receive any digitally encrypted/CP channels. Once the CC "exist" in the cable system, the services you pay for are authorized to be view through encryption/decryption (ECM's). Hope everything remains to your liking, feel free to post here if you have problems and aren't getting answers on end, I'll try to help. |
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ccisgoodtoo Unregistered guest | I have a dual tuner Panasonic with CC. I kept my conversion box to have program guide access only, all my viewing is done in CC connect. The CC mode blows away the cable company box mode in both picture quality and sound quality. There is definitely a reason to use your CC connection. |
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Bronze Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 69 Registered: Mar-05 | When they ultimately come out with the two version of CC TV's, life will get even better. Nice to see another happy camper with a CC! |
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Engineear Unregistered guest | Had the card loaded last Thursday. All is great 'till that night. The screen goes blue for a few seconds, comes back on and hd is gone and all cable channels are numbered differently?! It was late so I go to bed. I call COX Cable(live in Mesa AZ)Friday morning and they will send a repairman Saturday. Friday after work...ALL channels are back...for a few hours. The screen goes blue, but when the picture comes back a few seconds later...it's like it was...all channels are as normal! This happens a few times that night. Cox calls Saturday about 6pm. He tells me there's no use in coming out, seen this before and a new card doesn't help. He suggests to call Sony for a firmware update that can be downloaded thru COX Cable via the "ethernet connection on the back of my tv"! I don't see "another" connection like he says. I've yet to call Sony but am about to. He also said Mitsu, RCA and Sony have the most problems with the card at this point and suggests going to a box 'till the card becomes stable. The picture is superb. If I need to go to the box for a time I will. Anyone have this kind of situation? Any input is welcome. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 102 Registered: Mar-05 | Engineer, The CAT5 connection he is referring too I believe is only found on the back of RCA's, not your Sony. His statement that Mitsu,RCA and Sony have the most problems with the CC at this point would raise a big question mark. I can't speak on behalf of COX because I don't work for them, but we're not seeing any issues with Mitsu, as long as they have the current version of firmware, RCA no problems what so ever, Sony's the only problems we've had is some earlier models that have the 161-6 error codes, which Sony will come out and fix. The fact that your TV channel plan changed a simple reset through your cablecard menu should temporarily fix the situation, but you should call Sony right away and report that problem if it keeps coming back. Keep us posted as to what they tell you and if they come out to fix anything let us know that too. |
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Engineear Unregistered guest | Talked with "Cat" and "Danielle" at Sony. They made the 1/2 hour wait tolerable. Cat said there are NO downloadable firmware updates at this point for this model but Sony is aware of some issues and will release fixes when ready. She confirmed the no ethernet connection. She gave me the number of a repairman to come out to see if something internal is wrong, though it's probably the card. While I was talking with her the screen went to gray with the message.." call your cable co. to have cablecard activated...", I clicked the channel changer, the picture returned to normal and since then it's been fine. I'll call the repair guy today to set up a time and let you know...the continuing saga... |
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Engineear Unregistered guest | Talked with the Sony repair guy..thinks/knows it's the card Cox uses but will come out Saturday to probe around. I have not had a problem since I talked with Sony on Sunday..all is quiet..knock on wood. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 104 Registered: Mar-05 | Thanks for the updates |
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engineear Unregistered guest | Well..the Sony "guys" were out yesterday. They wanted to unplug the card and reset but decided against it when I said it's been fine for a week..no problems. So they took the remote and brought up a diagnostic display that showed the tv as running normal. They wouldn't tell me how they got that screen.."not allowed to tell you"..whatever. So, looks like the card was the culprit...but if the card is bad why isn't it bad all the time? Nothing wrong has happened in over a week. Picture is wonderful and all who see it marvel at how clear it is. |
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engineear Unregistered guest | Lost the HD channels today. Have tried turning the set off for a minute or so and turn back on but still no HD. If it continues I'll get the box. My question to Cox will be.."Since you provide the CC service and it's not stable, why should I pay extra for the box?" Technology bytes! |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 116 Registered: Mar-05 | are the channels black? any error messages? Can't speak for COX but I would raise that argument to them and see if they're willing to waive the fee for the STB until they figure out what is going on. It would make sense that they do such, based on a foundation of your argument, I know our company does that, but I don't work for COX. |
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engineear Unregistered guest | When hd goes out..the channels are black, in the upper left corner it says "no signal". Hd was back all day today. Cox is sending a guy out thursday to check/replace card. There are no error messages. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 118 Registered: Mar-05 | Have you tried the option to reset through your TV's CC menu? Instead of taking the CC physically out to reset it that is... I wish I had a good answer for you as to why you're having so much trouble, we plug 'em in, get 'em hit, and walk away with no problems. Take a look at your CP info screen and see how many EMM's you have ( EMM Count  and what does the Decryption Status and PowerKey Status say? You should have no less then 39 EMM's, Decryption Status should say OK and the PowerKey Status should say Ready. This is best checked on a digital or HD channel, preferred if it's on a channel you're having problems with, this provides the best information as to what the CC is seeing in the form of data. |
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engineear Unregistered guest | Hey Cableguy..thanks for the info. I have not yet tried the CC reset. Cox guy was out today..put in a new card...will see what happens. My son showed him this website and your responses...was informative..he didn't know of other CC manufacturers. I'll let you know what happens. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 121 Registered: Mar-05 | Cool, I'm always lurking about seeing what's going on. Hang in there |
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engineear Unregistered guest | So far, so good. |
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Unregistered guest | Hi Cable Guy; I think all of your comments are great and very helpful. I have a Sony KD30xs955 purchased 1-29-05 from Sears and would like to hear what you have to say. I am experiencing the same symptoms CC as many others. TWC has been here numerous times, including their Technical Operations Mgr. TWC has replaced the CC twice and only the 2nd card works. There were 2 unsuccessful card swaps after that. All cables and connections are clean and there are separate dedicated cables to both the TV and a HD STB (no splitters). Sears (they own the warranty) was here yesterday (5-23) but didn't know what to do even after talking with Sony. Specifically, the HD STB is fine, no problems there. But, when using the CC, I have one HD channel that is tiling (signal breaking up)intermittently while all other analog, digital & HD channels work fine. About once a week, I get the infamous 161-6 error message. All of the digital channels then disappear and over time, some HD channels do also. At the same time, the tiling on the one HD channel goes away. When this first started, TWC researched 161-6 and said it had to do with the buffer on the CC or the TV being exceeded. So, I think the tiling on the HD channel is some how related to this buffer problem. After I perform the Reset function on the TV for the CC, all of the lost channels reappear as well as the tiling on the one HD channel. Before I go any farther with Sony, Sears or TWC, I would like to hear what you have to say about this. Also, related to your May 18 response to "engineear", please comment on what my CP screen shows screen shows for both a good and the tiling HD channel: Program Num: 15 CCI Byte: 0x00 ECM: 0 EMM: 0 Decryption Status: OK Power Key: Ready EID: 0xffffff MKS Period: 100sec KSE Ct: 0 |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 125 Registered: Mar-05 | Yankee- The infamous 161-6 error code can only be corrected by calling Sony and reporting the issue. They should give you a number for a local Sony Factory Authorized repair shop and swap out the CC slot in your TV. The CP information screen shows no ECM's or EMM's, this indicates two things: 1. You weren't on a digital or HD channel when you went to the CP diagnostic screen 2. You went to the screen before the CC recognized CP authorization Anytime you are on a digital or HD channel you should see ECM's ( the number will keep climbing the longer you're watching that channel, then reset to 0 when you change channels. The EMM's need to be at least 39 in order for the CC to function properly. I have seen some cases where CP authorization was received but no EMM's or ECM's were detected, usually, given time, this corrects itself if the CC had been working prior to the 161-6 error. The tiling HD channel you have could be seeing a high BER(Bit Error Rate) which could indicate some form of ingress (broadcast digital or analog signals finding entry into your cable wiring.) If you have called your TWC and reported this tiling problem, which is seperate from your 161-6 error, what have they done to try and correct this? Anyway...call Sony and report that 161-6 they can fix that, the tiling part ( if you can wait) address after they swap out your CC slot. If it still remains call TWC and have them come out, leave no stone unturned...replace cables, splitters, have them run a test lead directly from the tap to your TV and see if the problem still exist. regards, |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 1 Registered: May-05 | Cableguy, This is Yankee. Thanks, will call Sony. Just wanted to be sure. The CP screen info was from 2 HD channels Fox and the one that is tiling, ABC. But, I was flipping back and forth. So, will try letting it sit on one channel for a bit before taking a CP reading. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 126 Registered: Mar-05 | David aka yankee: No need to flip back and forth...just let it sit on the channel, then go in and out of the CP information screen...you should see the ECM count climbing. The bad thing is this particular info screen really doesn't tell you anything about the QAM, it's a hidden diagnostic and I don't do hidden diagnostic screens. However, if you have a regular HD converter that you can use...see if the same HD channel tiles on the converter. If it does the issue is easier to diagnose. |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 2 Registered: May-05 | cableguy, How long should it take to see the numbers change? I did let it sit on one channel for about 15 to 20 min. but there was no change..still zero. Also, I have a HD STB. The HD channel does not tile on the STB, only the CC. TWC here says that the tiling is happening on all CCs regardless of TV make. They think it's their's to fix....we'll see. Everything on the STB works fine. RE; the 161-6 error fix. Really do not understand why the Sony front line CSR's don't know about 161-6. After navigating thru Sony, they ended up telling me that because I purchased the TV at Sears, I had to go to Sears for the fix because Sears owns the Warrenty. Sears has already been here once and didn't know what to do. I told them today to dig deeper and send a qualified Tech that has intimate knowledge of the 161-6 error. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 127 Registered: Mar-05 | You should see ECM's climbing higher every time you exit the CP info screen and go back in the number should have changed. If you simply sit on the CP info screen and see if the numbers change they won't. I have a question, When did you buy your TV? Regardless of where you bought it, the TV has a manufacturer warrenty usually for 1 year from date of purchase, being that the DCR TV's are so new I hardly think they are out of warrenty coverage yet. Anyway.... according to your warrenty Sony covers it for 1 year from date of purchase, if you bought an extended warrenty and your TV is out of warrenty from the manufacturer, then Sears would be responsible for the repair work. If that's the case I would call and ask to speak with a manager and tell them they need to contact Sony and find out what they need to do to fix this problem. |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 3 Registered: May-05 | The ECM's stay at zip no matter what I do. The TV was purchased 1-29-05. So, the warranty isn't the issue. Sears says they own the warranty and they said they will fix it. The hard part for them is to get educated on 161-6 and find a qualified tech. that knows what to do. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 129 Registered: Mar-05 | OK, get the Q-box replaced that will take care of the 161-6 error code. If you have to have Sears do the warrenty work (which is beyond me why the manufacturer isn't covering the warrenty)tell Sears to call Sony and find out what they need to do to replace the Q-box, that's what needs to be done. As for the ECM's never moving on a digital channel, something is wrong, hopefully the Q-box will correct that, but I'm not 100% certain that's gonna. |
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engineear Unregistered guest | Hey cablemon! Got around to trying the ECM test..the numbers climb as you said. I've not had an issue since COX changed the card. Thanks for all your input. Good luck Dave...patience. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 132 Registered: Mar-05 | Engineear, glad to hear everything is finally working ok....sweeeeeeeeeeeet!Of course they climb..lol, they're supposed to. Silly wabbit, Trix are for kids |
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Scooter T Unregistered guest | I have Sony tv KDE42xs955. I am using the cable card option. MediaCom is my provider. I think that they are using the Motorola CC. The tv works great. I get all the channels that I should. The problem that I'm having is on the pay HD channels. It's like having the small dish in a heavy rain storm. The picture goes to a bunch of tiny squares and the sound studers. I think you call this tiling. I have not seen anything in the menue about error code 161. I would like to know if it is the CC or the tv. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 134 Registered: Mar-05 | It all depends on your cable wire that feeds your house it sounds like. Two scenarios exist, it's either your cable or the actual signal coming from source via sat. to the cable co...either way I'd recommend you have somebody come out and check on it. If it's not doing it when it's not raining, and does when it is, there's more then likely a crack somewhere that is allowing digital interference to break up the QAM signal. |
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engineear Unregistered guest | Well..everything is still working normally. HD is the way to go. Stunning picture! Makes me wonder if some of the cards are of poor quality. Since the card swap all is stable. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 154 Registered: Mar-05 | there's always a possibility of a bad card, just like any other electronic item, I've not seen any that made the pictures look bad. Usually they either work or don't work. Thanks for the update engineear |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 4 Registered: May-05 | Hey Cableguy, Since our last conversation May 29, some very strange but good things have happened. The Q-box has not been replaced yet. BUT, the 161-6 Error code has stopped. None since 5-29 or earlier. The tiling (digitizing) on the 1 HD channel has stopped within the last 2 days. Is there something a tech. can use to analze this and determine what is going on? Or, should they just go ahead and replace the Q-Box?? They plan to do that in about a week. Actually, they are going to replace the entire circuit board. So, I hate to have the whole TV taken apart if this has some how mysteriously fixed itself. Also, the ECMs do climb but only on digital channels. They do not climb on HD channels. I guess you can call this WES...Wierd Electrical Stuff. |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 5 Registered: May-05 | Cableguy, I jinxd it. The 161-6 error is alive. It just happened. Lost all the digital channels and had to perform Reset to get them back. The tiling on the 1 HD channel is not happening though so, that's good. This may be a TWC fix. I have a call into Tech. Ops at TWC they did day the tiling was happening on all CC TVs and not just Sonys. Guess, I answered the question. Replace the Q-box. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 163 Registered: Mar-05 | David, yes the Q-box has to go, unless you actually like having to reset your TV everytime you see it. Remember this important step: once the Q-box is replaced your cable company will need to "remarry" your CC and your TV, as replacing the Q-box will change your Host ID. As far as the tiling, I don't hear any complaints from my peoples with CC's, guess it's something "special" where you live (lol-NOT!) |
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New member Username: Matrix1221Post Number: 1 Registered: Jun-05 | Is the trouble worth it?? OK so I have a brand new 42" LG DU-42PY10X Builtin Tuner thats accepts the CableCARD and i have had 4 techs and counting from Adelphia that have no clue what the card is and how it works. The last tech came and installed the card(Scientifc Atlantic PowerKEY) and after much prompting from some techie at corp he got it up and running. I saw my premium channels, HD channels all great...or so I thought. Overnight TV GUIDE listing previews no longer works with cableCard and signal started to come and go. Changing chanels is a lottery, it skips from Chanel 16 to 467 nothing in between and sometimes we get a signal sometimes we dont. The techs though it was a damaged card but after 4 I am not sure. The minute I pull the card out the TV goes back to normal. The card even "locks up" my TV. I literally have to power down the TV in order to get the remote working or even the power button to go on and off. I have a new tech coming next week, howfver anyone have any other suggestions - should I be looking at a differernt cableCARD? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 170 Registered: Mar-05 | as posted in your other thread, call LG and tell them you need a firmware update for your TV, there is an update available that should correct this problem. |
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Unregistered guest | Having cable card issues with 42" Sony Rear Projection LCD (KDF-E42A10) with Comcast servie. I get all channels (all digital + HD channels), however, on occasion (~3-4 times a week) I lose all channels (get "No signal" message on screen). I can reset the cable card and get all the channels back. Not sre what is going on, can anyone help? Comcast has been out with no resolution (they're stumped). |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 448 Registered: Mar-05 | Posted a reply in the other thread you posted in DB |
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New member Username: CablecardedMacon, GA USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Nov-05 | Bought a Sony KDF-E42A10 and love it. Had Cox Communications put in Moto cablecard. Digital channels drop out every 2-3 days. TV gets stupid. It reads the channel designation (ie 200 HBO East etc.) but message says "not authorized". Using menu, going to cablecard, hitting reset, restores everything but the TV has forgotten the channels I want hidden. Changed out the TV once, Cablecard twice to no avail. Per Sony help, the TV needs repair, ie. a patch to firmware. Anyone found such a patch? Sony has yet to respond. 911 help here please? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 490 Registered: Mar-05 | Gary, Two things here that will help you, anytime you hit the reset option in your menu, that will reset the TV to factory default. Although you correct the missing channels, you lose your presets. Any patch to firmware you need will be provided by Sony. Sony should be fully aware of what they need to do to fix your problem based on your model number as there is a known problem with channels being lost on that model. |
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Unregistered guest | I have a Sony KDF-E50A10 and I have a Motorola CC provided by BendBroadband here in Bend, Oregon. I have tried in vain to obtain help from my cable supplier. They say it is a Sony problem, not a problem with the cable. The HD channels will work for a few minutes and then start tiling and breaking up. Resetting the card sometimes helps for a short time, but the same problem occurs minutes later. Any help out there? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 494 Registered: Mar-05 | John, Cable pictures that are breaking up and tiling is usually a sign of a problem in your QAM. In your menu, just above the CableCARD option, there is a TV diagnostic screen. Go to a digital channel that is breaking up before going into the diagnostic, then when the picture starts breaking up, go into that dignostic. PAY ATTENTION, this is not the CableCARD diagnostic, it's the TV's diagnostic screen. Get me the data off that screen. |
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Unregistered guest | There are two rows. On the left, under IN BAND-(FAT)....Frequency-531000, Physical Channel-0, Modulation-QAM 256, Status-Lock, Errors-0, SNR-38, AGG%-37, Interleaving-I=128, J=4,HO 5-01.19 00047 Ont the right, under OUT OF BAND (FDC)....Frequency-75250, Symbol Rate-1024, Bit Rate-2048, Status-lock, SNR-26 |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 499 Registered: Mar-05 | Ok, The lack of errors indicates it didn't see any digital problems incoming. Your SNR at 38 is strong, usually you will see pixilation or break up when the SNR is below 29. Was the channel breaking up when you went to the diagnostic screen? Everything else in the data shows no problems. |
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Unregistered guest | Thanks for your interest Cableguy! Yes, I waited until the channels messed up until I looked for the info you requested. Would it be your guess that I am being ignored by my cable provider or do you think they just don't know what to do? I am willing to continue to work with them but Directv is starting to look better as time goes on. |
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New member Username: CablecardedMacon, GA USA Post Number: 2 Registered: Nov-05 | News. I contacted Sony again on my KDF-E42A10, I understand everything electronically is the same as KDF-E50A10. They posted a "Loss of digital channels" problem on their website. They told me to 1. Reset the cablecard using the menu. 2. Autoload the available channels (automatic) and 3. Go to the troubleshooting area in the manual and "reset the TV to factory settings". This did stop the loss of digital channels. Note: Do not "Hide" digital channels. TV and card try to reconcile channels and setting too many (number unknown) to "hidden" will cause card to drop out digital channels again. Two way card coming will cure that. The battle continues. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 501 Registered: Mar-05 | My guess wouldn't be so much that you're being ignored, as much as this product is so new, and we have no valid test equipment to compare too, other then a STB. It would be in your best interest to at least have somebody connect a STB in your house, to another TV as close as possible to this one. Have both TV's on the same channel if one breaks up and the other doesn't the problem is on the one that is. Odd little quirk that's been noticed, wireless routers and cordless phones too close in proximity have been proven to cause digital break up. That being said, if you have a wireless router or cordless phone in the house, unplug them both from power and see if the problem still exist. You would also get a great deal of help from Sony on this matter, as long as the call is esculated to an engineer or an actual tech. I still think based on the lack of errors, the TV wasn't seeing anything coming in bad so I'm stumped as to what would be causing it to break up. I've actually seen one with errors in it, and it made the problem real easy to solve. One that is not detecting errors, but is still breaking up is going to be a fun ride. Stick with it, make sure Sony is involved and collectively your cable provider and Sony will figure out what is going on. Keep us posted please. regards, |
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New member Username: DaraidasPost Number: 1 Registered: Nov-05 | I, too had an ongoing problem with a cc and KDF-E42A10 as it relates to turning on the set sometimes with the screen indicating "No Signal" or "Unable to decode signal." This was always resolved by going to cc menu and resetting. If anything, it was more irritating to wait 50 sec. every time. I contacted the greedy folks at Comcast and they replaced my Moto cc. While that worked for awhile, the symptoms started happening again. Finally made a call to Sony through 3 levels of support, where they authorized a service repair under warranty. The repairer told me that he was going to replace the bulb (even though I had no problems with that) and subsequently install a thin layer of covering with some sort of metallic-thermo covering on one side between the lamp housing and the cc peripheral. I guess this was supposed to prevent the Moto cc from overheating. Thus far and two days into it, it's been working fine. Will update and FYI, the service guy took about an hour to perform the aforementioned. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 512 Registered: Mar-05 | Thanks for the details AL, the model you have is part of a known problem for losing digital channels, correctable by doing the reset feature (as you indicated). I too was confused as to why they had to change the lamp out, but then again they made the TV, they do know what they are doing lol. regards, |
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Unregistered guest | What numbers did you use to contact Sony? I have to reset my CC about every 10 minutes! |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 514 Registered: Mar-05 | you can call the 1-800 number located in your owners manual. If not look them up on the web |
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DB1373 Unregistered guest | I have same exact issue with my KDF-E42A10. I called Sony and the first level of support gave me the song and dance about "new technology". He said there are specific repairs for specific error messages, but if no error messages, no repair. How do you get to the next level of support? It seems Sony does not want to recognize this as their issue. I also have a repair contract with CC and their repair guy gave me same song and dance. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 534 Registered: Mar-05 | DB, There is a known problem with you specific model of TV. All you should have to do is contact Sony and report your are "missing digital channels" and that should be all there is to this problem. The fact that there is no error message could indicate other problem, but the lack of an error message wasn't indicated as being significant to the problem. All I can offer is keep on them, have them esculate the problem to a supervisor if need be. Keep us posted |
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Bronze Member Username: TaxmanPost Number: 51 Registered: Dec-03 | I am having a similar problem with my new Sony KDF-E50A10. Cox has tried 2 different cablecards (Scientific Atlanta), but the A10 will not pick up any digital or HD channels (only basic cable stations shown). All digital channels show up as "Not Autorized". The Cox installer has tried 2 days in a row and believes there is a software conflict that will require the assistance of a Sony tech. Is this anyone else's understanding or had this issue resolved? Thanks. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 543 Registered: Mar-05 | Taxman, I replied to your other two posting in the HDTV reception threads. go over there, and pick one to stay in, thanks |
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Bronze Member Username: TaxmanPost Number: 55 Registered: Dec-03 | Thanks. Ignore duplicate posts. Sorry. |
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Anonymous | I too had the same problem with a new Sony 42" LCD High Def TV. Cox was able to provide me with an internal memo detailing the problem exactly, so this is a know issue, although Sony will deny it. After calling the 800 number and speaking with the first layer of support (which is basically useless) I was able to get them to give me the names of local authorized repair firms who would come out and look at the situation. Upon calling one firm, who was very helpful, they called Sony Technical who advised them to order a special kit specifically made for the problem. Seems the lamp installed in certain units made in October 2005 is sending a "spike" in the system, thus hitting the card and losing signal. The repair firm advised he would be changing the lamp, and adding a heat shield, same as the previous post mentioned. Repair has not been done yet, but per the previous post, I hope this works on mine as it did on his!! |
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Bronze Member Username: TaxmanPost Number: 57 Registered: Dec-03 | My unit was made in November 2005 so I wonder if I will have that same problem. Unfortunately, I won't know until Cox can get the card working in the first place. Nothing like having 8 service calls on a 2-week old TV (not that it is the TV's fault at this point though). |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 547 Registered: Mar-05 | Taxman, You have the model that was reported as having these types of symptoms. You would need to contact Sony as anonymous posted on Dec 17th to resolve the issues. |
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Bronze Member Username: TaxmanPost Number: 58 Registered: Dec-03 | Cableguy, Thanks. I will have both the Cox tech and the local Sony repair tech at my house at the same time in a couple of days and will bring this up to both of them. However, I expect the tech will wait until I experience the Cablecard dropout before he does anything further. The Sony tech said they did not know anything about this kit. I will keep you posted. Thanks again. |
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Bronze Member Username: TaxmanPost Number: 59 Registered: Dec-03 | Follow-up: a different Cox tech came and installed my CableCard in about 10 minutes and it is working flawlously. The Sony tech did an inspection and left as no work was needed and he did not have the heat shield kit from Sony (Sony won't authorize it until it is needed). If I get the signal dropout others have described, I will have the Sony tech order and install the kit. Thanks for the help. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 553 Registered: Mar-05 | Taxman, If you do have any problems, do the reset option through your menu in the cable card section. This usually restores the system until Sony can have somebody come out and do the necessary repair work. Glad to hear it's working properly. |
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JB Chicago Unregistered guest | Cablebuy, right now I have the HD cable box from Comcast ($5.00 a month). I have the Sony KD-34XBR960, which I'm really happy with. Right now I'm either going to go with Comcast's HD DVR box (10.00/month) or have a CableCARD installed. My questions is - will my PQ with the CableCard be better than with the HD DVR? Will the PQ with the HD DVR be the same or better than with my HD cable box? Also, do you know of any issues with the CableCARD specifically relating to my Sony TV? Thanks for all the help!! |
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Anonymous | I have a 61" Panasonic hdtv. I am using the Comcast SA cable Card. I am experiencing Plixalation and sound dropping out. Comcast has tested the signal, replaced the cable, added and taken away signal boosters and yet the problem is still there. Today they brought out a HDTV and used the cable connection in my house and my cable card and did not have a failure. They think that there is a problem between the encryted code and the tuner. I have called panosanic and I am waiting a call back. My neighbor down the street has a Sony 55" and has experienced the same problems that I have had. His signal comes from a different direct than mine. Sony has replaced the Qbox and he is still having problems. What direction do I turn to now? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 588 Registered: Mar-05 | JB~ from my own experience, since I don't work for Comcast, the cablecard gives better PQ then any STB's. As far as the PQ between the HD and HD-DVR, I can't say what you'll see differently as I haven't seen what your providers STB's do with the picture. In our system a regular digital STB looks better then an HD STB, and the SA83000HD DVR looks better then the standard HD. Overall the CC looks better then all of them. As far as Sony's the only problems we've had were with the Q-box (the CC interface). If you have any problems losing digital or pay HD channels, you can reset the CC through the TV menu and missing channels are restored. Once Sony replaces the defective part, life will be good. Anonymous~ Have they checked the main line with a QAM analyzer? Since your neighbor down the street is having the same problem, it would indicate to me that there is a problem in the main lines and not anything in your house. Since he has a Sony and you have a Panasonic, it can't be blamed on the TV's because they are different manufacturers. Good luck with that one, sounds like they are scratching their heads, which I've done too, but ultimately they need to find the solution and it can be found. Keep us posted |
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JB Chicago Unregistered guest | Update - after asking for a CableCARD and being hung up on twice at Comcast (not in the middle of a sentence, but during transfers, both times right after I asked for a CC and told them I was sure about 3 times because they kept talking about On Demand, etc.), I am finally fed up with Comcast. I have decided to get the CableCARD - my question is, will I be able to utilize my tv's Picture-in-Picture feature? I thought I had heard somewhere that PIP can't do two digital channels. I can't do PIP now because of Comcast's HD STB (video 7), but if I'm just using the tv, I should be able to, right? If I can do PIP with two digital channels, can I do one standard definition digital channel and one high definition digital channel on the PIP feature? Or two HD channels? Thanks for the help!! |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 593 Registered: Mar-05 | JB~ you will not be able to pull in two digital channels, or one HD channel with one digital channel while using the CC. That would require having a second CC in your TV. It's not any different then using a STB, which if was connected properly, you would be able to view PIP with your STB. While using PIP with a STB or the CC, you will be able to view any digital channel or any HD channel in one window, while only having access to an analog channel in the other window. Now...if you keep your STB along with the CC, you would be able to view two HD, or two digital channels at the same time. It's all about the options and how you want to utilize your TV. If you want to keep your current STB and add a CC, all they would need to do is split the incoming RF signal, take one to the RF input on your STB and send the other line directly to your TV's RF input. If the installer has any clue as to how PIP connections go, it's not that complicated. If they don't, ask for somebody that does. I'll be here if you need advice. *side note* Something you could try real quick for me to verify if your TV will let you watch PIP when watching HD is on your HD input (vid7?)press your PIP button on your TV remote and see if the second window or split screen appears. If it does, in like flint |
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Pete9999 Unregistered guest | Im having problems with my Sony KDF-E50A10. The cable card does not work. After having it activated by TWC, nothing happens. There are no channels detected, and it says no signal. When I take out the card, basic cable returns. When I put in the card, everything goes away. I've tried 2 different cards, and neither seem to work. Sony has no clue either. Help anyone? Thanks. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 608 Registered: Mar-05 | Pete contact Sony and report you are missing digital channels with a CC. If they haven't come out and replaced your CC interface, installed a heat shield between your CC and your lamp, and replacing the lamp itself you are going nowhere fast. The KDF-E42A10 and the KDF-E50A10 have both been indicated by Sony as needing this repair. Now with that being said, it is an SA CC or is it Motorola? |
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JB Chicago Unregistered guest | Cableguy - I'm getting awfully frustrated with Comcast. I had Monday off for MLK day, and I had an appointment to get the CC installed in the morning. The tech came, said he couldn't install because "the system is down." He would try to come back later. And then he tried to convince me to stick with the box or upgrade to the HD DVR. Couple hours later I call Comcast to check if he's coming back. The lady promised to call back in an hour. Waited two hours, so I called again and was told no one could come until Saturday . I asked to speak to a supervisor to voice my complaint with getting the runaround, but was told no one was available. They told me a supervisor was going to call me back in an hour. No call ever came. Couple hours later my cable isn't working. Turns out the tech turned in the work order as completed, so their system thought I was using the cablecard, and also using the box but not paying for it. Anyway, after spending about 4 hours of my day on the phone, they are going to credit me for one day and waive the installation fee ($15.99) for the CC when he comes out on Saturday. Also, I found out that the HDMI cable I use to watch HD tv isn't enabled on the Comcast HD box. I have to upgrade to their HDDVR in order to make use of my expensive HDMI cable. Ok, enough venting about Comcast. The PIP function does work on my tv, it's just that there's no picture in the second window. I asked the tech on Monday morning about using both CC and the STB and he said it couldnt be done. I'm assuming he is just ignorant. Here's my question Cableguy. If I use both the CableCard and the comcast stb, I would have to view one of them run through a different input such as vid 1, correct? For instance, watch cable through tv via Cablecard, swith to vid. 1 to watch Cable through stb. If stb is on an input, does this mean I wouldn't be able to use the DVR funtion of a HD DVR (assuming I upgrade?) And just to clarify, to use both I would just split the incoming cable to the box and the tv? Thanks for all the help!! |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 613 Registered: Mar-05 | JB~ there is no reason they can not connect both a CC and a HD-DVR. I've done it in multiple case scenarios and as long as the signal strength is within specifications, they should be able to as well. I keep hearing a repetitive pattern coming from Comcast customers about people not calling them back after being told they would. I'm sure a letter to the president of Comcast would put a stop to that immediately. As for your PIP functions, you are correct in your connections layout: Split the coaxial cable feed, one directly to the TV for the CC side of things, and the other to the RF input on the STB. Connect the DVR to composite inputs (and the component inputs or HDMI if it's the HD-DVR) and simply have your PIP set to the composite input for one source and the CC (tuner) for the others. As for your CC woes, I can't vouche for whether or not the system was down or not since I don't work for Comcast, but I would caution that if the technician falsified official company information that he actually connected the device (he lied to them) I'd take what he said with a grain of salt. I'm sure any supervisor that cares about what their employees are doing would have a good talk with this tech, if it was my boss, I could ensure you he wouldn't be working here anymore. We don't treat our customers that way. I'm not saying it doesn't happen here as well, but I can say that when a customer calls in to speak with a supervisor and they don't call them back within a few hours, management better get a good explanation from the supervisor or they'll have to face the reaper as well. I would demand nothing less then some major apologies and waiving of some service charges to make up for this lack of customer support. But then again, I'm just a lowly cableguy that doesn't work for Comcast, who am I to say what they should or shouldn't do? ~sigh~ what a world |
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ADVtech Unregistered guest | I got one for a fellow cable guy. I am new to the whole CC thing and as a service tech for a company I unfortunatley am trying to learn on the job becuase I wsn't given any real training even though I've asked serveral times for it. My company would rather us learn as we go..anyways. i was on a call on Friday for tiling with a cable card. Upon getting to the house I took levels at the back of the set and found they were well within our systems paramters on the digital block which were tiling, I believe they were +2 dBmv. BER was at 37 with pre and post error at 1E-09. QAM constellation was completely centered. The customer has a Sony KDF-42WE655 and stated that the card was replaced once before to no avail, all cables have been replaced. I am going back on monday to try another card and I am posting here to hopefully pick up something else to look for. I think I will try a box while I'm there if the new card tiles too. I've asked a couple people in the office but they think its the TV, could it be? Any advice will be greatly appreciated. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 627 Registered: Mar-05 | ADVtech~ only 3 things come to mind; Something wrong with the card, something wrong with the TV, and something wrong in the cable. Sorry this seems like a weak answer, but I have seen situations where the SNR was dropping below spec and the levels you described aren't indicating what the SNR is for your "undisclosed" frequency. There could be a TCU or AGC that is flipping out causing the problem, you could have another digital channel that is broadcasting in your area, causing break up of the QAM due to ingress, you could have a wireless phone, with a frequency too close to the TV, there could be an issue if there is a wireless router in the house for HSD...the list could go on and on. One of the nice things about the Sony menu is you can go into the TV diagnostics (right above the CC section in applications) and it will show you the SNR for the QAM channel you are tuned to. Don't fall into the "it's working on the STB, so it must be the TV" frame of mind, because I've seen things in our system that caused digital/HD breakup on the CC that wasn't doing it on the STB. It would be nice to tell you a more exact answer, but ultimately there is none. You have to remove known factors before you can find the cause. The problem is you need a Sony TV that you can haul around in your truck and see where it is, and where it isn't having pixilation problems, but they don't come cheap and they definitely aren't portable. Check the SNR on the TV menu, it also shows you errors detected which are similar to uncorrected errors in the QAM which would cause the BER to be lower then it should...If you have any AGC's or TCU's in auto, try switching them to manual and see if the problem goes away. |
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ADVtech Unregistered guest | Thanks 1 thing I can add is that the tiling was occuring on all the digital channels provided, I believe from freqs around 500 MHZ to 640 MHz, granted I didn't look at the BER or AM consteallation at every one, just the channel I was looking at at the time. The hardest part and I am sure you can attest to this is that I am not the first tech to this job and don' tknow ALL that was done before. Previous work orders only say so much LOL. I am going to check to diagnostic screen and I will also bust out the leak meter and sweep, maybe there is ingress someone in the line previously miss. As far as AGCS and such our company only allows us as service tech to go to the tap, after that I will get with our mainline crew and see what they know. I hope I find it, I hate leaving customers without the problem fixed. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 630 Registered: Mar-05 | good luck tracking it if it's a TCU unit, and keep us posted please. |
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SC Guy Unregistered guest | Hey Cableguy. Need some help, I have a Sony KD-30XS955 purchased in Jan. 2004. This is the Sony CableCard version that had the 161-6 error message. To fix, the Q-box was finally replaced in Sept. '05. After the Q-box replacement, all worked well until it began occasionally dropping Analog channels. I was able to fix by performing the Reset function but, that gets to be painful after a while. TWC has been out to fix the signal strength (too high) and all was mostly ok. One thing I began to notice is that occasionally hidden channels would reappear. These are channels I do not subscribe to but are displayed with a "no signal" message so, I would hide them to avoid scrolling to avoid scrolling through them. The reappearing hidden channels would always seem to happen during TWC's nightly maintenance. And, whenever these hidden channels would reappear, some thing else seems to drop off. Most of the time it is just temporary. TWC had said that a"firmware upgrade is needed" but that statement was made several months ago. And, after that, everything began working fine. Until today, when I discovered that about 55 analog and 3 digital channels were dropped. Doing Reset does not recover the dropped channels any more. Please let me know if this is something I need to have fixed (firmware upgrade) or if this is something TWC needs to address. Your comments about this would be very helpful. Thanks, Dave Robson, Yankee in SC. |
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SeaCaptain Unregistered guest | The Q-box on the Sony XD-30XS955 is a total piece of crap with very poor quality control. They should be forced into having a defective product recall. I looked inside of the Q-box to find connector pins going through active circuit card pads without a drop of solder on them. Other joints were cold or cracked. Ribbon cables were not seated. These modules are suffering from very poor build quality. Just lightly tap or breathe on one while the set is playing & it will lose signal. Now what's criminal is that Sony is charging $483.84 for the replacement part that will likely last no longer than the junk that's in the set now. I feel sorry for all of the people that are going to be stuck once the warranty runs out because the Q-box is going to fail. Give em credit for naming the box correctly. |
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SC Guy Unregistered guest | Caleguy; The dropped channel problems looks like something at TWC. I would like your input about what TWC should do to prevent the problems I've been experiencing. At 11:00 PM Tues, I did anther Reset and still no change. But, Wednesday morning, TWC's Technical Ops manager called me back and told me that TWC had been doing maintenance to their head end late Monday evening into early Tuesday morning. I did another Reset at about 9:00 AM and all of the dropped channels came back. So, sometime between 11:30 PM Tuesday and 9:00 AM Wed, TWC did something that fixed this but, the Tech Ops guy couldn't tell me what it was. I would like our insight about this and the reappearing hidden channels mentioned earlier. Thanks, |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 646 Registered: Mar-05 | SC~ Have you contacted Sony and reported the 161-6 error message? By proxy they should schedule to have your Q-box replaced. If they haven't done that you are going to keep experiencing the problems you are. Keep in mind when they replace the Q-box it will assign a new host ID, which will need to be changed on your account in order for the device to be authorized. |
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SC Guy Unregistered guest | Cableguy. The Q-box was replaced in Sept. '05. Please see my posting on Jan 24. Covered there.. After the Q-box replacement, the 161-6 error message went away. All worked well until it began occasionally dropping Analog channels. I was able to fix by performing the Reset function but, that gets to be painful after a while. TWC has been out to fix the signal strength (too high) and all was mostly ok. One thing I began to notice is that occasionally hidden channels would reappear. These are channels I do not subscribe to but are displayed with a "no signal" message so, I would hide them to avoid scrolling through them. The reappearing hidden channels would always seem to happen during TWC's nightly maintenance. Whenever these hidden channels would reappear, some thing else seemed to drop off. There were also times it would be "wide pen" and I would get programming on every channel I was not supposed to get as well as those that I subsribed to. Most of the time it was just temporary. TWC did say that a"firmware upgrade might be neeeded" but after about 12-13-05, everything began working fine without my doing anything. Then on Tuesday 1-24, I discovered that about 55 analog and 3 digital channels were dropped. The last reset done at 11:30 PM sill did not recover the dropped channels. I think this is a TWC problem because on Wednesday morning, TWC's Technical Ops manager called me back and told me that TWC had been doing maintenance to their head end late Monday evening into early Tuesday morning. I did another Reset at about 9:00 AM Wed with the Technical Ops guy on the phone and all of the dropped channels came back. I told him all of the above and said that sometime between 11:30 PM Tuesday and 9:00 AM Wed, TWC did something that fixed this but, the Tech Ops guy couldn't tell me what it was. This all makes me think that this is a TWC problem. It is understood that CableCard is still pretty new technology that all are still learning. And, I'm on a first name basis with TWCs Tech Ops Managers as a result. But, your input about what TWC should do to prevent the problems I've been experiencing would be helpful. BTW; the Sony KD-30XS955 was purchased in Jan. 2005, not '04, sorry for the mix up. This is the Sony CableCard version that had the 161-6 error message. To fix, |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 650 Registered: Mar-05 | SC~ Sorry for the mistake, my mind was stuck on SeaCaptain talking about the Q-box. The only thing I could think would be related to this issue would be if they were changing the channel map data, and your TV was updated. Usually they can simply rebroadcast the channel map data and the TV will understand what channels exist where. I could be wrong, but that's the only thing I could think of. I don't really think there is anything they can do to prevent this, as they have to do maintenance when necessary, but I would think at minimum if they were able to rebroadcast the channel map data after doing maintenance as a self-check process, it would help your CC TV understand what channels exist where. Other then that I'm glad your channels are working again, and it sounds like you have a good contact at their office. Keep us posted, it helps somebody. |
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SC Guy Unregistered guest | Cableguy; Thanks for the comments. The hidden channels mysteriously reappearing is now the only problem since Wednesday. Channels 200 to 300, 400 to 799 and 846 to 999 are the CC channel ranges that I am not suposed to get. As mentioned earlier, after doing a Reset, channels within these ranes are displayed but have the "no signal message". So, to avoid having to scroll through them, I would go through and hide any of the "shown" channels within these ranges. However, since Wednesday, and any time of the day or night, all or part of these hidden channels reappear. It's like swatting flies. I keep hiding them and they keep comeing back as shown and there is no pattern. It is all random. Any thoughts on this wierd behavior?? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 652 Registered: Mar-05 | The only thing I could recommend is to see if the CC diagnostic screen shows a reboot between having hidden channels and not having them hidden. If that's the case, I would see if Sony knows how to stop it from changing your preferences. |
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New member Username: ChefjbbGreenacres, Florida Post Number: 1 Registered: Sep-05 | I am still confused over the error message 161-6 I had this problem when the cable card was first installed 6 months ago I have a sony 51 rear projection HD TV adelphia came and said call sony I called they made me an appointment then called back and said it was an issue for cable company well they came back and said it was the card so he switched it out and it has been working since all of a sudden the message has popped back on the screen it has been six months at least since the first problem I hear that the box makes the problem go away is that true but first of all it is twice the money for the box and the picture quality is not as good correct and never mind I have another box any advice thanks |
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SC Guy Unregistered guest | Jennifer: Please scroll back up to the postings in May and look for the postings from David Robson (aka Yankee in SC). That's me. The 161-6 error message is a known Sony problem. In fact, if you go to their Web site under Help & Support and do a search on 161-6, you'll get a response something like "service call required". As Cableuy told me back in May, the only way to fix 161-6 error message is to have Sony replace the QAM Tuner (aka Q-box). I had mine replaced in Sept. The 161-6 message is gone. The weird behavior problems I've been describing here I think are TWC related because TWC's Tech Ops guy they are also doing ongoing maintenance that could cause some negative impacts. My issue with that I believe they should find other ways to make their changes without impacting their customers. As Cableguy has said, Don't let Sony con you into thinking that this is a cable company problem. It is not. Ask to speak to a manager at Sony. The whole purpose of the CableCard (CC) is to avoid having to use the Converter Box. While it is one-way, it does do that. I wish representatives from Sony and the Cable companies were reading these postings. Granted, CableCard (CC) technology is new and all are still learning. But, that's the root of the problem. Manufactures like Sony did not have their act together and rolled out a substandard quality product. At the same time, I don't think the Cable Companies were ready for CC either. I wish both would just stop pointing fingers at each other and just fix their respective problems. You and I as consumers have had to learn way more about CC technology than we ever should have had to. CableCard technology will eventually get its problems resolved. I and likely many others just wish we had been warned about this from the beginning. The picture quality is great but, the jury is jury is still out on if it is worth the headaches in the meantime. I could have waited. |
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RoyShaw Unregistered guest | I have a question for the cableguy. I am considering getting a cablecard through Comcast for my Sony 55WF655 LCD TV. Currently I get network HD channels through my built-in tuner, not through comcast's set top box. These are channels like PBS, NBC, ABC, CBS etc. in high def for free and are usually on channels like 82.3, 83.5 ... I even get some channels channels I have not subscribed to on channels like 80.* and 91.*! Now here is my question. If I have Comcast come and install a cable CARD, will I lose those channels (network HD and unsubscribed channels)? Browsing through some of the posts here, I am inclined to not get the cable CARD. Thanks. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 654 Registered: Mar-05 | No, those channels are in the clear, the only reason you would need the card is for digital or pay HD channels. |
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New member Username: Bigchief42Post Number: 1 Registered: Jan-06 | Okay, having read all of the problems with the cablecard on Sony KDF-E50A10, and finding that the box worked fine but the card was a disaster, should I just swallow my pride and switch back to the box and not bother Cablevision any more. I used a box for 2 weeks after purchasing the TV and was happy, except for using another remote and all the wires and the extra 4 bucks a month. They came out and installed a card and the screen pixelated like crazy. The tech who installed it said it is not unusual to have a little of this particularly on the weekend when the company does maintenance on the system and that if it kept up or worsened I should cal back. I called back 2 hrs later to say it had worsened, they gave me the run around stating that the problem was in their engineering office. Now they are coming back tomorrow and I told them to bring a box and if the card won't work take it away and leave the box. Funny that each time I reset the card it worked for 4-5 minutes then stopped working. Almost as if it heated up. Could that be the heat shield problem you spoke about? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 658 Registered: Mar-05 | steven~ Have you contacted Sony about the problem? The KDF-E50A10 and the -42A10 models have a factory known problem with CC's. It wouldn't hurt to call Sony and report the problem. What they have been doing for these models is replacing the CC interface, installing a heat shield between the interface and the lamp, and also replacing the lamp. |
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Roy Shaw Unregistered guest | Thanks Cable Guy! Do you know which cable cards are compatible with Sony 55WF655? Also do you know how I could use TiVo or another PVR if I have a CableCard installed? With the STB, I can take the output and put it into the TiVo. But with CableCard there don't seem to be any outputs. So, will I also be compromising my ability to record any of the digital channels? Thanks. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 661 Registered: Mar-05 | Roy~ All CC's should be compatible with every model of any TV. There is no option, it shouldn't matter if it is Motorola or SA, if it's not working process of elimination: Verify signals, swap the card, verify service codes are correct, contact the manufacturer. There is no current way to record out from your TV to any device. I do know that Sony does have a CC PVR that is out there for around $1000.00, and I hear TiVo is making a dual CC tuner device, but don't know the status on that piece of equipment. |
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Unregistered guest | Cableguy: Help! I've had my Sony KDF-E42A10 for about 2 months. It was working fine 'til last night. Right now I have perfect sound, but no picture at all. I'm using DishTV cable. When I change channels, I get the cable info but still a blak screen. I'm electronically challenged. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 662 Registered: Mar-05 | Fannie~ Sorry but I'm not a satellite guy  I would suggest you check your wires to the TV, since you have sound but no picture. Make sure the video wires are connected to the proper input that your TV is on when you normally watch satellite. If that doesn't help take this question to the satellite forum, they might be able to help you better. |
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Fannie Unregistered guest | Cableguy: Thanks. I called the cable company. They sent a tech to check my system. They replaced some cables coming into the house and some other stuff. Everything is working fine now. Once again, thanks for your advice. |
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Unregistered guest | Cableguy, Apologize in advance if this is the wrong forum for this question. The discussion thread here sounds like it may be relevent. I just replaced a 20yr old Sylvania with a Sony KV32FS120. I don't have cable service but when I insert the cable in my home in the cable input on the TV I previously had very clear signals to 6 local stations. With the new Sony set, I am only getting 4 stations. The other two, my favorites, indicate no signal. Can you help? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 676 Registered: Mar-05 | If you're talking about analog stations, it's possible you have some form of ingress that would need to be looked at by a tech. Ingress is caused when stations that are broadcast OTA are interferring with cable channels that share the same frequency. |
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New member Username: ChefjbbGreenacres, Florida Post Number: 3 Registered: Sep-05 | Cableguy I have a question about the replacement of the qbox on my sony tv with the 161-6 error message I have a extended warranty package with my tv and have set up an appointment for tomorrow circiut city is sending someone to replace this defective part it is not being done by sony I am concerned that they will not replace the part with the proper "sony" part and instead use some generic thing should I be worried about this. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 691 Registered: Mar-05 | Jennifer~ rest easy, Circuit City more then likely had to purchase that particular item from Sony, I don't believe anybody is allowed to reproduce that item other then the respective manufacturers. Keep in mind that once they replace that item, it is going to assign a new host id which will need to be called into your cable provider. Some systems require they come out to swap the cc out, but I can assure you this process can be done over the phone (it is in our system)so don't argue with them if they want to send somebody out to swap the card. Let us know how things go please. |
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SeaCaptain Unregistered guest | To all those being misled by Sony. This reset procedure is a load of crap. Rule number one in television repair is that pushing the reset button never fixes anything. If a set constantly needs to be reset it's because there's a problem with the set. I wonder how many people have been conned until the warranty expired only to find themselves stuck with a set that was defective all along. Another issue with the KD-30XS955 & similar sets is a very poor "BY" board. High failure item along with the Q-block. I don't know what happened to Sony but today I would say avoid like the monkey plague. It's ludicrous that they would have their customers constantly unplugging & resetting a set that obviously needs repair. What ever happened to customer service & standing behind the product? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 713 Registered: Mar-05 | SeaCaptain~ The reset option when a cablecard has lost it's encrypted channels, or has displayed the 161-6 error message does in fact temporarily correct the problem until Sony can get out and replace the cc interface. The nice thing about the Sony set it that you are not required to "unplug" anything, it's an option through the cc menu. There are plenty of people that have the Sony product that can attest this does in fact correct problems encountered with the cablecard, and although you may think this is a con, it does work and the customers are always advised to contact Sony who will send somebody out to replace the defective interface. |
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SeaCaptain Unregistered guest | IMHO the reset proceedure has been all to often offered as a cure-all for a variety of problems not the least of which involve the cable card. I would like to see Sony at least make it more clear that resetting is not a fix. Something to the effect that sets should not require constant resetting. A number of reviews that I have read online have complained about being told only to reset by customer service. If the warranty lapses after a reset the consumer may find themselves out of luck. |
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New member Username: MikepagePort saint lucie, FL United States Post Number: 1 Registered: Apr-06 | cableguy , you have the all knowing info ..can you help me...have a tosh 32hlx95...adelphia cc...tosh sent out rep 4/16 and installed 1.3.1 firmware..b4 firmware froze up cc..after installing ccand numerous hits ..no digital pics...removed card did a full reset, and full program to see what i got.. all analog , 40 music channels {400-436}, hd local and discovery...installed cc back in and called dispatch to hit.only thing changed was digital numbers showed up on screen and channel markings{ hbo-201, 222-shoce, 752 stzhd} example...but no vid or sound...i contract with adelphia and have a lot of contacts...dispatch triple checked to verify cc was coded correct {ok}..sent hits 1/2 for 24hrs straight, been witing for tosh to call me back for 2 days..all snr are excellent as well as db signal..ran temp rg6 from tap to tv just to eliminate all poosibilities...i think it is cc, but hoping to get some input..thanks..after ist 12hrs emm on cc diag went to {2} from zero..Program Num: 102 CCI Byte: 0x00 ECM: 0 EMM: 2 Decryption Status: OK Power Key: not Ready ,waiting for emms EID: 0xffffff MKS Period: 2000sec KSE Ct: 0 |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 751 Registered: Mar-05 | paul~ I think you posted this same information under the HDTV reception page, and it has been answered over there. |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 1 Registered: May-06 | I've been fighting the CC issue with my sony kd-34xbr960 for over a year now. Today, after a two month wait for the sony athorized repair center to get a new Q box, the second, I called sony and got a live person. She tried contacting the local repair center and after 20 rings on the phone, they were reluctant to work with either sony or me. Sony is going to send out a "real sony tech" one that works for sony. Not sure when, but I hope he has a good Q box to bring with him. My warranty is up in Dec, two years without being able to use a CC. By the way, the problem now is no analog chanels and only two digital. Fails the same way with three different CCs. Intermentent error code, I think it was teh 161-1 or something like that. Don |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 786 Registered: Mar-05 | Don~ Any update on your problems? |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 2 Registered: May-06 | Still waiting. Sony wasn't able to find a "Sony Tech" to work on my set,so their plan is to replace it with a "B set, an out of the box set". I guess this means that they are going to give me someone else's returned set. The last conversation was a couple weeks back when Sony gave me the name of the delivery company that was going to deliver the "replacement". I was told it would be two to three weeks. At this point, I would love to just get my money back and go buy another brand. All this is on top of problems with a Sony DVD Recorder/VCR recorder that I bought at the same time. It has been back to TX for repair three times now and still fails. About one of five DVD's will play start to stop without a lockup requiring a power off and then a search to the freez point. The VCR will not track most of my home VCR's that I wanted to put on DVD. Sony's poor quality is topped off with poor service and lousy customer support. Quite a combination. What a kick, I just noticed the Ad on the right of this screen. "Wish it Win it" with a Sony Credit Card. Yeh right. Don |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 787 Registered: Mar-05 | That's a bummer man, keep us updated if you don' mind. It's always nice to see somebody having problems not beating up on the cable company for a change ~grin~ Personally I haven't had many complaints about Sony, in fact I find it one of the more reliable sets out there. I'm not going to discount your problems though because I've read of issues similar from other people, so maybe I've just been fortunate to have people in the area I work in that know how to fix them when a problem occurs. |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 1 Registered: Jun-06 | Cableguy, How long does it take to install a Q-box? |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 3 Registered: May-06 | Update on my Sony. First, Rodney, it is a replace on the Q-box. The Q-box is the internal tuner/cable interface for the most part. The replacement time was about 30 minutes. The parts pocurment time the first time was about four weeks. Which brings up my update on the problem. The replacement set came yesterday. I rejected it without even powering it on. The set was in poor cosmetic condition. Scrapes, worn spots, and scratches. The packaging was awful. This is a heavy set, around 200 lbs. The packing material in the box was four 8x20x1.5 sheets of styrofoam with a thin sheet of closed cell material on top. This was in the bottom of the box, and the set sat on top of them. That was the entire internal packaging. No braces, padding, etc. To top it off, the moving company tipped in on it's head at least twice. I set it back. If I'm going to have a dead set, it might as well look good. I'm still waiting for a return call from Sony, and from Circuit City. At this point, I would like to get my money back and go shopping again. Don |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 2 Registered: Jun-06 | Don, Thanx for the info. I take it they couldn't replace ti at your home. That it was a installation at their place. right? |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 4 Registered: May-06 | Rodney, it wasn't that they couldn't replace the Q-box in my house, it has been replaced before. The problem is that Sony basicly fired their one and only Authorized Service Center in this area and couldn't find someone to do the replacement. I got a call from Sony today and they were all appoligitic over the problem and were going to expidite a new replacement and after it was installed, then they were going to give me a new set warranty, two years. Now, I've got to go back to Circuit City to try to get my money back on the extended warranty I purchased through them. I had some hope that I could get a refund after talking to the local store yesterday. Don |
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New member Username: MediatvguyCape Coral, FL USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-06 | Greetings, First poster here. I just got a new SONY 42 LCD projection and worked fine for one day. Now it keeps coming with the 161-1 error message every 30 seconds. And the funny this is I don't have cable card nor will get one. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 803 Registered: Mar-05 | Jose~ If you don't have a CC, you shouldn't be seeing the error. Since you say you don't have one the only solution would be to contact Sony customer support and report the problem. It sounds like you have a problem that they need to fix. |
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New member Username: MediatvguyCape Coral, FL USA Post Number: 2 Registered: Jul-06 | Thanks cableguy. I did that. Sony is sending a technician. While I have you here, what's your opinion on the Sony KDF-E42A10. Should I keep it or have replace for a different brand/model? Thank you |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 804 Registered: Mar-05 | My opinion is that you'd be better off asking somebody that owns the KDF-E42A10 what they think about it more then me. I don't have any problems with Sony's, although I do know there was a reported problem with the shielding on those particular models in regards to the cable cards, and I believe they had to replace the lamps as well. If you like what you've got stick with it, if you don't you'd better hurry and talk to the people you bought it from before it gets out of warranty. |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 5 Registered: May-06 | Yahoo, they dilivered the second replacement set today. It went straight back like the first one did. The two they have sent me looked like they had been removed from a day care center that had no supervision. Scratches and gouges. This one was worse than the first. Don't know if either worked, they just looked like hell. I contacted Sony again and told them I had sent it back, again. They are to get back to me in a "few days". I ask if they couldn't fly in a Tech with parts less expensive than ping ponging TV's back and forth. They were "going to try". I ask if it it wasn't time for a refund and let me buy another set, and the comment was "not at this time". I ask him when it would be time and got no response. Question. Does anyone have a phone number at Sony to esclate this problem to???? Don |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 1 Registered: Jul-06 | Hi All, Wanted to say thanks to Cableguy regarding his info about Sony and 161-6 cablecard error. I have the kdf55wf655 projection set. Since Nov 2004. But did not try cablecard until May 2006. What a mess. Channels locking up, no signal, 161-6 error. Cablecard was literally useless. I worked with TWC, who finally quit trying to get me to go to a box, and they did find signal problems in lines coming to neighborhood, a problem also in the ground a couple hundred yards up the street, etc. But now they could confirm a very strong signal to my set. Tried another cablecard, still problems. I started an event ID with Sony second level support during the troubleshooting with TWC. The set is out of warranty, however, they hinted that there could be some degree of customer accommodation for the 161-6 problem. Here's the bottom line. A local TV technician agreed with what Cableguy said about the Q-box. He prepared an estimate of the costs (not cheap) to install a new Q-box. I gave Sony that info, and even though the set is now 8 months beyond warranty, they offered to pick up the parts plus 1/2 of labor, if I would pay the other half labor plus trip charge. We had a deal and 10 days later I have a new Q-box installed in my set. The cablecard now works fine. (Had to give TWC the new host ID.) The old Q-box was version 8. The new Q-box is version 16. Just wanted to share my experience. By the way, I found Sony support to be very reasonable to deal with. I guess the reason they have not done a recall for the Q-box is not that many people use cablecard. Again, thanks to all in this thread who gave me much information. |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 6 Registered: May-06 | David, are you sure your set didn't have a two year warranty. Most of the big Sony sets did. It sure sounds like you have had much better luck than I have in getting your set repaired. I'm still waiting. Don |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 814 Registered: Mar-05 | David~ that is a great story and thanks for sharing the info. It does go to show that if you get in touch with the right people, both at your cable company and at the TV manufacturer, you can get the problem resolved. Don~ Hang in there man it will all be worth the trouble when you have a working product. |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 2 Registered: Jul-06 | Hi Don, Thanks for the reply. The warranty is indeed 1 year parts and labor on these sets. I never dreamed that if and when I got a cablecard, these problems would surface. It all started after TWC here had the nerve to take away Discovery HD which I was getting for free. What a bummer. It was time to get more than the basic cable and local HD channels. Along the way, I kept Sony informed of every step the cable company was doing to ensure best signal possible to the set. I must say however, that other than Sony telling me initially that the problem often is with the cable company, they never brought that up again. On the other hand, TWC really wanted me to go to a box. I simply refused. TWC got multiple technicians and line technicians involved, and I got different stories from all of them. Then I made it clear that when they could all agree with each other, I would accept their consensus. A few days later the techs agreed that I had weak/noisy signal problems and they got serious about boosting the line levels from a main line. Only then did I feel it was time to tell Sony I was ready to have a tech come to the house. The TV technician saw the set lock up, but did not see a 161-6 error, but agreed the q-box was the culprit. I think that is the formula for getting Sony to agree to customer accommodation. In dealing with Sony, I always referenced my event ID# that Sony gave me in my initial call. And I always asked to speak to level 2. The people at level 2 kept very good notes in their system, and I never had to start over explaining previous history. Bottom line is I don't feel that the new q-box should have cost me anything out of pocket, but on the other hand Sony could have been stubborn about my being out of warranty. Instead, they were helpful and picked up the bulk of the cost. That is good customer service. I am keeping all of my records and going to keep tabs on if Sony does indeed issue a recall on the q-boxes and if so, I'll be asking for a reimbursement from Sony for the expense I incurred. I am convinced that cablecard technology is understood by very few techs out there. (At least here in Charlotte, NC) Hope this info helps. DG |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 7 Registered: May-06 | DG, your last statment is true. Last year when I first started all this, at one time I had three trucks and 6 guys at the house at the same time. My main problem now is that the "Local Authorized Sony Service Center" has some problem with Sony and can't get parts. He diagnosed the problem back in Febuary and I've yet to get resolution. Im writing this while on hold with Sony. 45 minuts so far this time. Ya hoo I finally got an upper managment name, Stan Glasco who is the CEO. Now to get to the registered letter phase and see what happens. Don |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 815 Registered: Mar-05 | Don~ please keep us updated with your progress. |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 3 Registered: Jul-06 | Don, Who knows? You might be the one who gets Sony to issue that recall that some of us are hoping for. Good Luck! |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 8 Registered: May-06 | Final update. I sent a long letter to Stan Glasgow detailing the problem and dates. I finished by saying that it was apparent the Sony was not going to be able to resolve my problem, so I would like a full refund. To my susprise, I got a call from his office about 30 minutes ago and they said a truck would be sent to pick up the set and as soon as the trucking company confirmed the pickup, a check for the full amount of my purchase, stand included, would be sent. Time to go TV shopping again. Anyone have any recomendations for a flat pannel?? Something that will last more than a few years. And not Sony, there is no service here in case there is a problem. Don |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 5 Registered: Jul-06 | Don, Seems like in your case you are doing the best thing. Would you mind sharing Stan's address information with me? I really want to recoup the $200 it cost me (not to mention two months time) to get my set fixed. You could send it to my e-mail address: dag9632@mindspring.com Thanks and good luck. DG |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 3 Registered: Jun-06 | Here we go again. I have the same problem with my Grand WEGA 42" KDF-42WE655. The cable card keeps resetting itself. I contacted Sony and they had a vendor come by and pick the ty up. Can you believe that. I thought the warranty was onsite. After they held my tv for a week and refuse to release it due to bogus delivery charges, I finally got the tv back and got the same 161-6 error. Unbelieveable!!! I contacted sony and they called the same service center to try and get them to work with their local techs to come up with a resolution. They really need to do a recall. At this point, I would like my money back as well. This Saturday my year warranty ends and I'm not sure what will happen after then. I'll keep you posted. I would like that CEO address as well. |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 9 Registered: May-06 | I found this doing a Google on Stan Glasgow http://www.sony.com/SCA/outline/electronics.shtml This site said he was headquartered in San Diego, so I just looked up Sony in the yellow pages. Stan Glasgow CEO Sony Electronics Inc 16450 W. Bernando Dr San Diego, Ca 92129 Please don't quote me yet, I don't have my refund in hand. :>) Send hard facts, and the incident #, they will research it. I also sent the letter registered, they can't "loose" it that way. Good luck. Don |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 6 Registered: Jul-06 | Don, Thanks for the info. Don't worry, I won't be quoting you. ~~~~~~~~ Rodney, If your cable signal is good, I'm willing to bet you also have the defective q-box like some of us. It must be replaced in order to resolve your problem. See my posts above. I assume you found Knowledge Article C358989 on the Sony website saying service is required for 161-6. Well that service is to replace the Q-box. Suggest you call Sony (then speak to second level support), don't bother to explain problems to first level. Tell them you know that the 161-6 error is fixed by replacing the q-box and that is what you want do IN HOME. Our service was in home. First trip out, tech went into service menu to confirm good signal to set. That's all he needed to see to agree that the lockup was the fault of the q-box. He returned a week or so later. Took about 30 minutes total to swap it out. Again, old version was 8, new version is 16. No problems with lockup and no 161-6 error. And what a great picture! I can't imagine why a TV service took your TV to their shop. My guess is they had no idea how to fix your set. Good luck with that. DG |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 6 Registered: May-05 | Hey Cableguy. Need some help, I've posted here before and would like your input. There appears to be a pattern to when CableCard hidden digital channels are added and other digital channels are dropped. I have been tracking this since June and I think this might be a TWC CC problem. Every thing is fine from about the 15th of the month to the first few days into the next month. Beginning on the 3rd to the 7th of the month, it's as if the Channel Line Up goes nuts. Using the reset function or re-hiding the unauthorized channels does not work. The only thing to do is wait and let the crazyness run its course until about the 15th of the month when all is fine again. This has happened in June, July and just started again,Aug 3. This is a Sony KD-30XS955 purchased in Jan. 2004. This is the Sony CableCard version that had the 161-6 error message. The Q-box WAS replaced in Sept. '05. Your comments about this would be very helpful. Thanks, Dave Robson, Yankee in SC. |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 4 Registered: Jun-06 | I contacted Sony again today and after a 20 minute aurgument with second level tech support over issues like in home repair and the last bad service company. They contacted another vendor who again wasn't able to repair my tv in home. I got another service call scheduled. I'm really disappointed with the entire deal. Sony could do a little better with their customer service. I guess I'm very disappointed and letting off steam. rw |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 7 Registered: Jul-06 | Rodney, Thats amazing. The tech I had only used a screwdriver bit and a flashlight to the Q-box. I watched (and held the flashlight) every move. It was so simple, I could do it myself now that I have seen it done. DG |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 5 Registered: Jun-06 | David, They claim they have to make sure that's its the Q-box before they order the part. Now I'm told that since I had another vendor work on the tv, Sony needs to send an authorization form before they pick up the tv. |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 8 Registered: Jul-06 | Rodney, Sounds like these guys make up the rules as they go. Like I had mentioned in a post above, all our tech had to see was the lock up on a channel to confirm the qbox was bad, and he left. Next day he sent me a written estimate of the cost of the Qbox, tax, labor, trip charge, etc. (I was out of warranty) I called Sony back and gave them the numbers over the phone. They said they would pay for parts and 1/2 labor. They did not even require a copy of the estimate. Amazing considering this was a customer accommodation for me since my warranty was expired. Sony then contacted the TV Service company and gave them an authorization to do the repair. Other than having to pay $$ out of my own pocket, it really was painless to get the qbox replaced. Hard to understand why you are running into so many difficulties. DG |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 6 Registered: Jun-06 | Well the new vendor picked up my TV today. I showed them the how the box kept resseting and they are suppose to have a direct line to Sony's tech support. Hopefully they will get it right this time. |
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New member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 10 Registered: May-06 | ARGGGGGG. The new Mitsubishi was delivered today. BIG set, and a great picture. HOWEVER, I pluged the cable card in and I now have the same exact problem that lead to the replacement of the Sony. Exact same problem. I was on the phone to Charter 20 minutes after the set was delivered. They have me a maybe Thursday for a tech and I unloaded. I've paid for premimum HD coverage since Jan and today was going to be the day I got to see it. Thursday wasn't acceptable. I now have a maybe Tue morning. Lets see them try to weezle out of this now. If Sony would have only sent out the repairman. Like the wife said though, I basicly got a free upgrade from the 34" Sony to a 57" Mitsubishi. Don |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 9 Registered: Jul-06 | Don, I have waited until I was sure Sony had taken care of you. I'll proceed now with my letter to Sony. DG |
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Bronze Member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 11 Registered: May-06 | Thanks David. This has been an experience. Each error compounding the next. If they just had movies on 8mm film again. :>) Don |
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Bronze Member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 12 Registered: May-06 | The cable guy came out yesterday and put in a new cable card. It worked OK for about 30 minutes after he left then became unauthorized. I played with it for a few minutes, unpluging and repluging and the chanels came back but died again as soon as I tuned 680 which is LOGO on the listing. I couldn't get it back after that. I drove to the local cable office and threw a temper tanturm and they finally connected me to the service manager. He brought out a couple new cable cards on his way home from the office and got things going again. I was able to watch the finish of a movie and a full movie after that on ShoHD without a glitch. After the movies, I decided to set up the chanel skips, with the mitsibuisi you have to turn off every digital chanel that is brodcast that you don't want. I was progressing through the list without any problem until I hit 680 again and bamb, there went the cable card. I quickly changed chanels to a known good one and reset the activation message and things were back to normal. I went back to 680 again and Bam, down it went again. I repeated this three times and each time I tuned 680, it went in the tank. One time requiring me to power off, unplug the card, power on, power off, insert the card, and power on again. The reboot of the card cleared things up and awaay we went. This is a really strange one. It is repeatable, I've never seen over about 20 seconds of that channel without getting hit. I don't know what it is, but I finally got it blocked from the list and every thing seems to be OK now. Cable Guy, if you are there, is it normal for the CP to send out all the chanels on the low digital chanels and remap them to the higher chanels. Some of the low chanels have 30 or more sub chanels on them. Could this squashing of the chanels into a narrow band be part of the cable card issue?? Don |
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New member Username: PcecamsPost Number: 7 Registered: Jun-06 | Well, After going through several fights with Sony's cus service reps, I finally gave up and wrote a letter to the CEO. Well I got a call back stating they would buy the TV back at a prorated price. What the heck do they mean? Are they going to pay me for that stand and circuit city warranty? I would like to have all my money back. Don can you shed some light on this process? Anyone know a good TV that has success with cable cards? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 837 Registered: Mar-05 | Rodney~ I'm not really sure I understand you question "Could this squashing of the chanels into a narrow band be part of the cable card issue??" There is nothing I can think of that would be causing this issue as explained by answering your first question, the card remaps the channels according to the headend channel plan. In our system the channel map is different without equipment for certain channels, but identical between a stb or cable card. The probability of "squashing" is not likely as there is allocated band-width for each QAM and the number of digital or HD channels is pre-established and does work. It almost sounds to me like there is either A: something wrong with what your provider is doing, or B: Something very wrong with your QAM signals. I've seen a problem similar to the one you are having where the TV locks up when tuning to 1 specific channel and if I recall correctly it was cross channel interference that wound up being the culprit. The fact that you've had problems with both a Sony and a Mitsubishi (which btw we don't have any abnormal issues like the ones you are having with either of those brands) it would indicate what I mentioned above. As for a good TV that has had success #1 where I work is Sony, #2 Pioneer, #3 Hitachi, #4 Mitsubishi, and #5 Samsung. Since you've had problems with my 1 and 4 I don't think it's the TV's, we just don't see that many problems here, and I'm sure others with similar makes can attest once up and operational they are pretty reliable. Losing authorization would be a provider issue, not the TV. You really need to push your cable provider to check everything out with a fine toothed comb IMHO. |
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Bronze Member Username: CampgemsArroyo Grande, CA Post Number: 13 Registered: May-06 | Cableguy, the squashing channels was my question, it got it orgin at the TV store where I bought the TV. The issues with the Sony were signal breakup, tiling of the screen. The main issue was not being able to get a serviceman on site. The Mitsibshi now gives a clear picture and sound for as long as you wish to watch it. The issue with channel 680 remains as well as a new one, losing the card if the set is turned off when on an analog channel. In both cases, what happens is that the cable card is knocked off line. I have to power off the set, remove the card, cycle power on and then off, then install the card again and power on. The card goes though a boot cycle and then everyting is back, including the channels that I pruned from the list, like the PPV chanels and optional digital chanels that I'm not paying for as well as some I don't want, and some that are really not there. I just went through the pruning process again and then brought up ShoHD and then turned the set off. I'll check tonight to make sure the set off is really related to powering off with an analog channel selected. By the way, I hear Cable Card 2 has been anounced. Any insite on it??? Don |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 838 Registered: Mar-05 | Don~ I still strongly believe you have a signal related problem that may be causing some interference in the QAM, Sony's are very sensitive about that sort of thing. As for the cable card 2, it's rumored to be released within the next 6-9 months. It is really more geared for 2-way activity and being able to handle multi-streams to allow PIP, TiVo and PVR functionality to be able to record one while watching another and is backward compatible with 1-way systems. Can you do me a favor and verify what version of software is installed on your Mitsu? |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 7 Registered: May-05 | Cableguy; Need some help, Please let me know if you think this is a problem with the TV or TWC. There appears to be a pattern to when CableCard hidden digital channels that I do not subscribe to reappear and other digital channels that I do subscribe to disappear and reappear. I have been tracking this since June Every thing is fine from about the 15th of the month to the first few days into the next month. Beginning on the 3rd to the 7th of the month, it's as if the Channel Line Up goes nuts. Using the reset function or re-hiding the unauthorized channels does not work they just reappear the next day. During this time, there is also intermittent tiling on digital channels 190 to 198. The HD channels are rock can also disappear and reappear occasionally. Other wias they work fine. I also run a STB at the same location and the tiling is there too but less noticable. There are dedicated cables to the TV with the CC and to the STB. The only thing that seems to work is to wait and let the craziness run its course until about the 15th of the month when all is fine again. This has happened in June, July ,Aug and it just started again in Sept. This is a Sony KD-30XS955 purchased in Jan. 2004. This is the Sony CableCard version that had the 161-6 error message. The Q-box WAS replaced in Sept. '05. Your comments about this would be very helpful. Thanks, Dave Robson, Yankee in SC. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 840 Registered: Mar-05 | If your STB is tiling then you would already assume that it's not just the CC or your TV. You need to have somebody come out and check your QAM for BER (bit error rate). They should also check the SNR or CNR, any errors seen on a STB would be worse on a CC. |
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New member Username: Yankee_in_scPawleys Island, SC Georgetwon Post Number: 8 Registered: May-05 | Cableguy: Thanks. What would be acceptable numbers for BER, SNR and CNR ?? Also, any comments about the apparent pattern of these problems (hidden channels reappearing and authorized channels disappearing and reappearing happening between the 6th and the 15th of the month and then going away after that? What is your opinion? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguyDeep in the ... U.S. Post Number: 841 Registered: Mar-05 | David~ Keep in mind things in your system may be a little different from the one I'm in. That being said in our system ideally BER of 0 (zero) is what you want. Minimum acceptable would be 10-6 (ten to the negative six). SNR shouldn't be below 30 and CNR shouldn't be below 40. If you still had your Sony, you could have checked the TV diagnostic page and it would have told you your SNR and BER as the TV see's it. Your cable provider should have somebody with a QAM analyzer that can connect in at your house and determine how clean the QAM signal is there. As for the channel map changing on you, I would ask your provider if they are hiding and un-hiding channels around those dates. It's not uncommon for systems to do that, but as to the regularity of it, it seems kind of odd. My opinion is either they are changing the line-up or there is a problem with the DCM (defined channel map) in your system and can only be answered by their master control. |
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Bronze Member Username: Indianbill007Bhilai, Chattisgarh India Post Number: 11 Registered: Dec-06 | Well I got really something good and cool in a single give away package . Online IP TV , that is satellite TV and online radio channels in a single software. Online TV Player lets you watch 2500+ free Internet TV and listen 1500+ free online radio stations on your PC. It allows watcher to watch directly into TV without having to experience the annoyances of a Web site (like slow-loading pages and pop-up ads). No additional equipment required, No Monthly Fees, No Extra Costs. Online TV Player support both Windows Media and Real Video. You can play most of stream formats in one program. It can set the screen window to any size that you want. It supports full-screen mode too. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguySomewhere on... U.S. Post Number: 887 Registered: Mar-05 | Sumit Ghosh~ Quit spamming in our rooms you moron |
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New member Username: JaniegizPost Number: 1 Registered: Dec-06 | I just wanted to thank all of you, special thanks to cableguy, for sharing your experiences regarding CableCard error code 161-6. Because of information obtained here and from the June 26, 2006 report of The National Cable and Telecommunications Associations to the Secretary of the FCC, http://www.ncta.com/DocumentBinary.aspx?id=457, I was able to speak knowledgably and persuade Sony Tech Support that this is a Sony problem. I then spoke with Customer Relations who agreed to cover 75% of the cost of the repair although my 1 year warranty expired 6 months ago. This agreement just transpired today so I am hoping that after the TV technician "evaluates" the situation, I can convince Sony to extend the warranty and fix this problem at no charge. |
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Silver Member Username: CableguySomewhere on... U.S. Post Number: 893 Registered: Mar-05 | Glad somebody is using this information to assist in resolving their problems, good luck with remaining |
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New member Username: ChicagogirlPost Number: 1 Registered: Dec-06 | Hello I have a samsung dlp tv. I live in a high rise building which does not pick up a good antenna hd signal therefore I called comcast to install a cable card for me. They arrive and put the card in but nothing happened. I believe that a message should come up on the TV saying that the card was inserted however, nothing happened. Do you know what the problem could be? Should I call samsung? |
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Silver Member Username: CableguySomewhere on... U.S. Post Number: 895 Registered: Mar-05 | Anu~ I would recommend that you make sure the card was inserted correctly, and if possible have them try another card. If you get the same result I would definitely contact Samsung. |
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New member Username: DgrrrPost Number: 10 Registered: Jul-06 | Here's an update to my earlier posts regarding my frustrations with Cablecard and eventual replacement of the q-box in my Sony 55" LCD projection TV. It has been several month now since the q-box was replaced, and Cablecard still works fine. Proof that the problem was indeed with the q-box. In one of my last posts I mentioned that I was going to go back to Sony to request a refund of $200 that I paid out in my agreement with Sony. If you recall from my previous posts, I was 6 mos beyond warranty when I first tried cable card. I am happy to report that after sending a certified letter to Stan Glasgow (see info in a previous post from another poster regarding mailing address) that I received a call from Sony. They said normally Sony does not go beyond the negotiated agreement with a customer, but that in this instance, Sony would be refunding the amount that I had paid out of pocket. The basis of my argument was that Sony knew there was a problem with the q-box in some models of TV's, but that they were still putting the burden of proof on the consumer rather than issuing a recall of the sets at Sony's expense. I concluded by saying the Sony should have been willing to pick up the expense of the q-box replacement since the q-box was defective out the door. I might add that I told Sony that we loved the set when we got it, and that we are still very pleased with it. All that said, I received a check last week from Sony for the full amount of my out of pocket expense on the set. Now that is customer service! My hats off to Sony for making a very satisfied customer. And I hope this information is helpful to anyone who feels that Sony could or should have gone the extra mile for you. Regards |
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Silver Member Username: CableguySomewhere on... U.S. Post Number: 913 Registered: Mar-05 | David~ great follow-up posting! In the end a happy camper? Life is good |
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New member Username: BlairhdtvSudbury, Ontario Canada Post Number: 4 Registered: Feb-07 | Well that's the thing... HDTV needs HDMI in order to produce a great picture... regular coaxial cable isn't an option. Blair |
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New member Username: RobertmchenryConcord, NH USA Post Number: 1 Registered: Jul-07 | 50" Sony Wega (Sorry no model number with me)purchased last November. This last week I had the Comcast HD-DVR removed and the Cablecard installed. All went well till the next day! Turn on the TV and get a message that channel cannot be decoded. Have to go into the config menu and reset the cablecard. Ended up having to do the same thing Monday morning. Not good! Every time the CC is reset I have to go into the config menu's add/remove and re-scan. I also loose all info on the channels I want hidden. Basically, all goes back to default. Ideas suggestions? I do see a post above about a bad Q-Card but not sure if that's the problem or not. Where is the config stored? In the TV? Robert McHenry Concord, NH |
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