I'm officially there.

Recently purchased a CC ready PC with two ATI digital cable cards. Spent 10 hours working with our local cable provider, Comcast, and the manufacture of the HTPC attempting to get them up and running.

The manufacture seems to think it's a signal issue but it's happening on both cable cards at two different locations.

These are the numbers we are getting:
Cable card installed and cable connected:
SNR (dB) = 28
Signal Level = 39

Cable disconnected:
SNR (dB) = 25
Signal Level = 25

When Comcast reads the signal, it's coming in around -4.

These numbers are consistent in both VMC and DCTD.

Both ATI cards have the latest firmware and the cable cards are dual stream Motorola Media Cipher's.

Cable Card State = Waiting to Start

We are getting no signal (black screen). If I pull the cable card standard cable works fine. Comcast tried everything on their end without success and the manufacture is out of suggestions.

I was hoping the Cloud might have a better answer or some trouble shooting suggestions.

I can't answer your entire question, but from listening to the Custom Integrator show, you should not look at the signal level that the tuner gives you.. it is wrong. I would trust the comcast instruments. He/She needs to make sure the signal level is consistent throughout the spectrum and it seems that the SNR is a bit low. Here's my source.

http://thedigitallifestyle.com/cs/blogs/custom/archive/2009/03/20/the-custom-integrator-show-installment-007.aspx

I'm sure you've already done this but make sure it's good quality RG6 cabling all the way to the street, the terminations need to be done professionally or else you'll lose signal and limit or remove all splitters. Check out the podcast.. he spends a good 6 hours on the infrastructure to prepare for CCs and also on how to troubleshoot using the tuners' personal website.

I hope this helps!!

-Jonathan

There is another thread I responded to where the problem was a black screen. The problem, not the cable card or the tuner, it was network set-up in Vista.

Check your network set-up, your firewall, if you wifi that could be the problem depending on the your firewall and what you're running. Turn off all firewalls (you can unplug the internet for the test) and make sure you only have the ATI Tuners in Network Devices and see what happens.

You should see both tuners, you should be able to click on them and it should open a browser window and there should be several tabs. If you tuners have not been paired with the cable cards, that will have to be done before you can see anything.

Other things to check is your videocard set-up and desktop set-up. How are your display devices connected and are they HDCP. You cannot run a cloned desktop with cablecard, it will have to be extended.

You should go to the Media Center Integrators Podcast and listen to Dr. Flick's three programs on cablecards: set-up diagnosis and fixes.

John

if your SNR value is lower than 30, it means your signal level is very weak. If I have to guess what comcast had measured @ -4dBmV, I'll say, that was an analog channel. The optimal SNR value should be 30 and above. you may want to amplify your signal before your splitter.

Hengdo:

if your SNR value is lower than 30, it means your signal level is very weak. If I have to guess what comcast had measured @ -4dBmV, I'll say, that was an analog channel. The optimal SNR value should be 30 and above. you may want to amplify your signal before your splitter.

If the problem is signal level, make the cable company do a full spectrum scan (those little devices cost several thousand dollars and the reading off of Media Center are way off) and they will supply an amp if necessary for your signal and well as adjusting tilt if the problem is between low and high end channels. Why waste your own money and time when they provide the service?

Thanks guys, this is all very helpful information. Keep it coming.

Wow, I will be buying a similar setup soon. Two ATI Cable Card Tuners with a HP box. I have no idea what half of the stuff in here means. Kind of scary, giving me doubts as to whether I should bother. I figured I'd just plug everything in, and run through the MC setup, this post makes it sound like rocket science.

I had a similar issue.  The installer came back the next day, and we reran the setup, this time when he called the home office he asked for a particular guy - he said he was the cablecard guru.  5 minutes later everything worked - was even using the same cablecards.

He said that they don't handle many cablecards, and many of the operators don't know how to properly set them up.  So I think that a lot of the problems that people are having, might actually be configuration errors at the cable company.

I'm with insight, and they don't use SDV, so life is sweet with around 40-50 HD channels.

yea im running two cable card and two ATSC tuners and it took me about 10 hours with comcast and then they finally got it.  you have to tell them to enter all the numbers that media center gives you.

because when they register the cable card tuner (not the Computer) there is an extra step they they don't normally fill out when registering cable card tvs.

Existentialism0:

Wow, I will be buying a similar setup soon. Two ATI Cable Card Tuners with a HP box. I have no idea what half of the stuff in here means. Kind of scary, giving me doubts as to whether I should bother. I figured I'd just plug everything in, and run through the MC setup, this post makes it sound like rocket science.

It's not rocket science, but it is RF science. The lucky thing is that's something that the cable company is supposed to know everything about. Signal level and how the signal gets to your tuner is very important and it should all be done by the cable company and use their parts so that all the signals work with their system. They have the tools to properly measure the full spectrum and the right splitters (two way) and amps (with back feed channel) so they should do it and you shouldn't pay any money buying stuff from Radio Shack or Amazon.

Then the next issue is setting up the computer properly. The biggest problem is usually firewalls and scanning software (virsus and system fixes). The tuners work like network devices but show up on USB connectors and they have to have clear access so the Windows firewall needs to be turned off for connections 2 & 3 for the tuners. If you use other programs (Norton or McAfee) you'll need to configure them with trusted networks and trusted full access programs (all the MS ehome programs).

Then because of the DRM you have to have a full HDCP signal path from the tuner to the display. If you have multiple displays, they have to be an extended desktop because DRM won't let you play on a cloned desktop (you've made an extra copy in that mode).

Those are the most common problems, the biggest one is the cable company and the problem there is many systems just don't have people that have installed cablecards and don't know the proper set-up.

John

Nexus,

Did you try these tuners without the cable cards first?

Yes, and both cards worked fine without the cable cards installed.

I have another identical machine and it shows two ATI cards in device manager but only one is listed in the Upnp Network Neighborhood. This machine doesn't see the cards in VMC with or without the cable cards installed... frustrating.

There have been several people that have had the cards in upside down. They aren't keyed so if the card doesn't show as inserted, try turning it over and re-inserting it.

If the second tuner doesn't show make sure you have the latest firmware (1.17) installed since there was an issue with 1.16 where close mac addresses wouldn't assign an ip address. If each will show individually, it's usually a firmware issue or firewall issue.

John

I want to thank everyone for their help.

Out of four cablecards, I finally got one to work!

I have three Motorola MediaCipher cards... none of which worked. I believe these are dual stream cards. Part number: 469140-003-00.

The card that worked doesn't have a name, it just says CableCARD and Comcast on the front with a red/black sticker. The part# is different as well, it's: 507832-001-00. Once the 507832-001-00 card was inserted, all of my levels specked out perfectly. 33db and -4dBmv.

So it looks like a trip to Comcast tomorrow for three new cards.

Quick question to those who have done this. Should I always get the basic digital channels when the card is inserted? Even before pairing it with the cable company? That's how the single stream card worked when I inserted it.

They gave me some more multi stream cards, even though I requested single stream. When I insert them, I don't get a Carrier Lock and I can't view even the basic channels. Does it have to be paired first before in will lock onto the Carrier?