I have a velocity micro media center with 2 ATI digital wonder cards installed and i live on long island hence I am a cablevision customer.  The tech installed my 2 cards today. I am very new to this but i love what vista media center has to offer over the cablevisions DVR boxes.  I get reception on all the premium movie channels in the 300 range but all the HD channels (700-800) are spotty seems like i can get about 1/3 of the HD premium movie channels the major networks all come in but i cant get FXHD among  other HD channels.  Is this a media center or ATI issue or is this a cablevision rip off where i cant get a lot of my HD channels without a set top box.

Thank you all in advance

Ed

Check with comcast and see if those channels might be SDV (switch digital video). That problem has been solved and will become available with a firmware update for the ATI tuners and Win7 along with a Tuning Adapter (free) from Comcast.

If they aren't SDV, then there is a problem with the authorization level on your cable cards.

John

Cablevision does use SDV but you should be able to get a majority of the channels.  I simply have a poor signal problem in that range and am wondering if that is what you mean.  Is it missing channels or channels that will ocasionally freeze and stutter? 

I do get some stutter but a bunch of channels just wont come in for for example when im on  a channel i get 766 the food channel i hit the channel up to 767 fxhd the video stays on 766 but the guide says im on 767 and the video will stay on 766 until i change to a channel i get if that all makes sense

Ed

You may have this resolved by now but figured I would add what I know as of mid-October.I am also a CV customer in NY and have used media center for years, but am only just considering trying CableCARD. Based on the FAQ posted here:

http://thegreenbutton.com/blogs/windows_media_center_team_blog/archive/2009/10/05/393171.aspx

I decided to call into CV support and check it out and this is what I found:

I gave the exact setup described in the above FAQ (an external ATI digital tuner) as my desired configuration

Cablevision here in NY confirmed that by going to CableCARD today I would loose "several" HD channels. (they mentioned that some HBO channels would be gone for example). Although I did not get a precise explanation the tech told simply that "some HD channels just do not work on a CableCARD"... hmmm.

In addition, I would loose PPV via remote and the channel guide (which I already knew about). They also mentioned lack of SDV support but it was clear the person was reading from a script. The person did not mention a tuning adapter until I specifically asked about it but then said "yes, a tuning adapter is available free of charge for our CableCARD customers". The tech specifically told me that I needed a CableCARD-ready television for this all to work as they assume that this is how you are going to do it... The tech also then mentioned a "single stream" and "multiple stream" version of the product (I assume they were speaking of the TA?) but I realize now that this part is not clear - at least for me at the moment. I googled Cisco tuning adapters and do not see anything in the specification so perhaps it is the CableCARD itself...

I then got higher level support on the phone for more / better information. They confirmed that CV customers were using currently using CableCARD AND the tuning adapter for Tivo setups. No surprise, he was not sure if this would work on a Windows 7 PC and could not commit that it WOULD work but he said there should not be an issue with getting a field tech to come out and attempt installation and activation of a CableCARD and TA for a Media Center setup.However, he was also sketchy about confirming that I would then receive all channels in my currently subscribed line-up - even with the TA. ... double hmmmm....

Reading other forum notes on missing content I've seen at least a few others needing to have the cable operator re-check authorized channels - apparently, they sometimes overlook a few authorized channels on the initial CableCARD setup. (No idea WHY this would happen... but apparently it does) After authorization you may get the missing channels.

So you are probably looking at getting a tuning adapter from CV (they supply for free) and hooking that up and you may also then be looking at re-authorizing your CableCARD with CV to get any currently missed programming.

Overall this still seems way too goofy for the average user but I think most would agree with that. The nonsense that cable providers are dishing out to customers is stupid and I do not trust them. After all this time getting into CableCARD still means navigating a lot of nonsense to get LESS than what you pay for with ADDITIONAL expense and complexity of the extra equipment.And what's up with the planet-of-the-ape-sized tuning adapter??? Jeesh... My concept was to use a low-power small form factor HTPC case running WMC 7 and I specifically did not want a STB hanging off of it. Now I need an external CableCARD tuner AND a Tuning Adapter to get less functionality and arguably a more complicated setup.

I'd also be curious as to what happens on a service call when the setup stops working... what if you only have CableCARD on your Media Center and it's broken? The only thing you can probably confirm is if other set-top boxes in the house (if any) are still working... if they are, then how will CV or others support you? My guess is that they will shrug and say this your configuration is not supported and leave you hanging. 

This stuff is a LONG way off from consumer level.

Here is the list of channels I do not receive on CV in Piscataway: 719 VS, 720 BIG10, 726 NG, 730 HG, 755 CMTV, 759 SCI, 766 FOOD, 781 BIO, 782 HM, 783 IFC, 784 CIN, 785 PLD, 786 G4, 787 GOLF, 788 OUTDR.

 SNR 34 and 33.

Signal -8 and -8.

Scientific Atlanta PKM600s

Kind of late answer but I just happened over your message. I have the same setup as you even the same computer. I also live in LI and am a CV customer. This is what I learned during a lot of calls and visits from CV technicians. CV recently (last 3-4 months) switched to SDV for HD channels over 800 range and hence they became unavailable to cablecard customers. Depending on your service package you would have partial access to 700 channels (HD). I have Family + io Navigation which gives me HD access to all networks, 702-713 , 716-718 ,723-771 w/o NGCHD and SciHD.

I looked up the listing and all of those channels, except foodHD, are on the $11/month iO nav package, which I do not have.  FoodHD started working after a reboot.  When I called CV, the CS rep wanted to schedule a service visit to find out why I was not receiving those channels.  I asked about SDV, and he said that none of those channels were on the list.  I could tune to channel 730 HGHD, then it would go black with VMC, now with 7MC, it says 'subscribtion required'.

Well, my iO nav package is only $5.99 and I can confirm I would not have access to HGHD, CNNH, SciFiHD, others I don't remember now without it. Sometimes CV do mess up things, for example for 2 years I had access to NGHD and ScienceHD w/o paying for iO Nav, HBOHD and StarzHD used to work for more than a year but they switched them to SDV and I unsubscribed. They are not worth it anyway and a NetFlix subscription gives you near HD quality Starz programming on demand.

My Cablecards are showing SNR of 29 and Singla level of 44-ish.  Is my signal too strong or too weak?