Alright, I am a pretty savvy computer user, and a software engineer by trade... but just a couple of days ago I bought the new TV Wonder 650 card, and I can only get it to tune analog cable channels through Windows Media Center - it doesn't discover any clear QAM channels ( I know Comcast has unencrypted clear QAM channels, because I can tune them directly on my flat panel TV ).

Here is my setup:

Dell XPS 410
2.13Ghz Core 2 Duo
4GB RAM
Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit
ATI Radeon x1300 graphics card
ATI TV Wonder 650 PCIe
Comcast Cable ( no STB )

Does anyone have any ideas on how to get WMC to tune the clear QAM channels ?

Media Center doesn't support QAM with anything but an ATI Digital Cable Tuner (comes with new CableCARD PCs only) or unoffically with a HDHomeRun.

Alright, well that's very misleading product marketing then, but I undertsand what you're saying.  Do you know if Vista is going to support this in the future, or is this just the way it will be ?

pimpinonline:

Do you know if Vista is going to support this in the future, or is this just the way it will be ?

No one outside of MS knows for sure.  I assume that they will, but that is totally just a guess on my part.

pimpinonline:

Alright, well that's very misleading product marketing then, but I undertsand what you're saying. 

Oh,  it'll tune QAM...  You just have to use the ATi software to do it...  It, even says that - right in the "fine print"...

cgsheen:

Oh,  it'll tune QAM...  You just have to use the ATi software to do it...  It, even says that - right in the "fine print"...

Yeah, it's on the fine print of their web site product description, but on the product itself that fine print is nowhere to be seen... but I guess that is still my fault in the end, I should have done a better job of researching this.  I just hope that in the near future MS releases an update for this, because I don't care to use the ATI software.

Yep I've gotta admit that it's pretty lame.

On another note you have to give kudo's to SiliconDust for actually taking the time to make the HDR work inside MCE.  It was pretty slick what they did and showed that innovation still has a place.

Any thoughts on adding card /cards to a system already configured with DCT's to allow additional tuners  for QAM and lower stations for the little ones on a 360 extender?

I Have the USB "Black Box" version of this card HD650 and Vista ultimate 32 Bit, The ATI software doesn't find the QAM signals either. I call Visiontek and they had me email support with the issue. So far no Response, not even an email saying they got the email!

 

pimpin,

This functionality should be released by Microsoft in the coming months via a TVPack update.  Check out this article and associated thread:

http://www.engadgethd.com/2008/08/06/hands-on-with-the-vista-media-center-tv-pack

Contractual obligations may preclude your tuner vendor ATI from releasing a proper driver to allow access to unencrypted digital cable channels via MediaCenter.

sodo

Alright, I got the TV Pack update, installed it last week, but it didn't allow me to tune clear QAM channels... I don't know if I am doing something wrong or what... I have been reading TONS of articles about this update, but haven't found anyone that has gotten the ATI 650 to tune clear QAM.  If I am wrong about this, I would love for someone to outline the steps to get my tuner working with this update.

I've got two ati 650 PCIe cards installed wtih the TVPack and it's working perfectly.  With the PCIe model you can use both tuners on the card so for right now, I've got both QAM tuners and one of the analog going. 

Make sure that you don't install last months driver update for those cards.  It broke my setup. 

Go into device manager and remove the cards being sure to delete the drivers.  Once the system reboots make sure you don't load the driver updates from windows update.

Rerun tv setup (after connecting a coax cable to the digital side of the card, of course) and go to town. 

I'm told that these cards (both the PCI and the PCIe) were used during the Fiji beta so they should be pretty solid, that's why I bought them.

Phillyjaq

pimpinonline, did you do a clean install when you upgraded?  The TV pack was never intended as an upgrade so a clean install of Vista SP1 is the only supported method...

The other common mistake people make with this card is plugging the cable into the wrong port.  On  the back of the card, there is a port marked Cable (which is used for analog cable) and a second port marked Antenna (which is used for ATSC and QAM signals....I know its misleading).  Make sure you have your cable plugged into both ports to get both analog and digital signals.

Phillyjaq:

I've got two ati 650 PCIe cards installed wtih the TVPack and it's working perfectly.  With the PCIe model you can use both tuners on the card so for right now, I've got both QAM tuners and one of the analog going. 

Make sure that you don't install last months driver update for those cards.  It broke my setup. 

Go into device manager and remove the cards being sure to delete the drivers.  Once the system reboots make sure you don't load the driver updates from windows update.

Rerun tv setup (after connecting a coax cable to the digital side of the card, of course) and go to town. 

I'm told that these cards (both the PCI and the PCIe) were used during the Fiji beta so they should be pretty solid, that's why I bought them.

Phillyjaq

 

good to know, thanks for the advice.

cory_MSFT:

pimpinonline, did you do a clean install when you upgraded?  The TV pack was never intended as an upgrade so a clean install of Vista SP1 is the only supported method...

The other common mistake people make with this card is plugging the cable into the wrong port.  On  the back of the card, there is a port marked Cable (which is used for analog cable) and a second port marked Antenna (which is used for ATSC and QAM signals....I know its misleading).  Make sure you have your cable plugged into both ports to get both analog and digital signals.

 

I did not do a clean install, just ran the executable, everything seemed to have happened A-OK, it asked me to restart, and then when I restarted, and opened VMC it asked me to re-run setup... which i did successfully.  All cable channels except for addressable and clear QAM channels work fine still...

So you're saying I should have a second digital cable plugged into the ATSC input on the tv tuner card?  Alright, I hadn't thought of that... but I can sure as heck do it... I'll report back.

Thanks for the help.