Below is the text of an email I just sent to Comcast. Actually it's a
little longer because I had to trim the Comcast one to 1500 characters.
Apparently nobody has a complaint that should take longer than that!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
We have three pre-digital TVs. When the analog to digital conversion
took place, we got 3 converter boxes from Comcast. One full capability
one and two smaller less capable ones.
Yesterday we purchased a new TV to replace one of the ones with a small
converter box. Since it has a digital tuner, I assumed I wouldn't need
the converter, but I called Comcast to be sure.
I was told I still needed it to get any channels other than the
networks. I said thank you, hung up, and thought about that.
Surely the signal coming through my cable was digital? So I called back
again.
Different rep. This time I was told that all TVs made since 1975 were
digital and that I would get a digital signal out of the cable. Oh,
really.
So I hung up again, connected the new TV to the converter box, and told
the TV to do a channel scan. As I suspected, it found one analog channel
(the box) and no digital channels. Sigh.
One more try - yet another different rep. This young lady informed me
that yes, it was an analog signal but I needed that because some of the
stations were still broadcasting in analog. Oh, really? They're
contravening federal regulations that required digital since sometime in
2009? I needed converter boxes back then because the stations were NOT
changing? Bye.
So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
based on how much misleading information they can give?
When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 14:03:32 -0800 (PST), SonomaProducts.com wrote:
>>
>> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>>
>> --
>> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
>
> I have a Comcast customer service nightmare story that I will leave
> for a different day. Needless to say I will not EVER do business with
> that piece of shit company ever again, ever. I am a real free market
> type of guy but that rancid organization is a monumental stinking pile
> of crap to the worst that corporate America can possibly foist on the
> nation that makes me wonder if someone should pass a fricking law to
> run them out of business. I wish they would choke on their own vomit,
> figuratively speaking, I don't wish any harm to any individual, just
> the evil corporation, ok maybe a few board members.
>
> I realize that may be a bit ambiguous so just to be clear I really
> don't hold them in very high regard.
Hey, that makes them almost as bad as Directv,
I've had Directv since they launched their first
satellite, there is no end to their BS.
They once tried to charge me $5.00 for talking to
customer service. When I explained that they could remove the charge
or turn the service off, whichever they wanted and at any rate
I would never pay the $5.00. They removed the charge, but I
have to wonder how many customers paid the $5.00 without being
aware of it.
basilisk
>
> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>
> --
> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
I have a Comcast customer service nightmare story that I will leave
for a different day. Needless to say I will not EVER do business with
that piece of shit company ever again, ever. I am a real free market
type of guy but that rancid organization is a monumental stinking pile
of crap to the worst that corporate America can possibly foist on the
nation that makes me wonder if someone should pass a fricking law to
run them out of business. I wish they would choke on their own vomit,
figuratively speaking, I don't wish any harm to any individual, just
the evil corporation, ok maybe a few board members.
I realize that may be a bit ambiguous so just to be clear I really
don't hold them in very high regard.
On 2/18/11 5:34 AM, in article [email protected],
"Lobby Dosser" <[email protected]> wrote:
> "Larry Blanchard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>>
>> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>
> Not from Comcast!
>
Not likely but possible. I have encountered some very knowledgable and
helpful Comcast techs. But the ones who first answer the phone are often
useless. And, as the OP found, inconsistent.
In article <[email protected]>,
Larry Blanchard <[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:44:54 -0800, lektric dan wrote:
>
>> You now have a digital TV capable of receiving digital over-the-air
>> broadcast (ATSC). This is *not* the same as digital cable. Digital
>> cable is a lot like the digital internet signals going to your computer.
>> If you have a digital TV with a cable card slot, you *may* be able to
>> get a card from the cable company (probably not, I'm guessing).
>
>Agreed. The question is why the Comcast service reps couldn't provide a
>nice coherent answer like yours :-).
Because, it _is_ "complicated".
There are, these days, at least *four* kinds of TV signals floating around
1) NTSC -- the old 'analog' standard, and which some TV stations _still_
broadcast with. What's known as 'low power' TV stations were *not*
required to shift to 'digital'. Many did -not-.
2) ATSC -- the new digital HDTV standard. You find this almost exclusively
on over-the-air HTDV broadcast signals.
3) QAM -- the standard 'digital cable' signal, as it rides _on_the_cable_
itself. It comes in two varieties:
3a) _unencrypted_ QAM -- "any" QAM tuner will decode a usable signal
from the QAM signal -- maybe NTSC, maybe ATSC/HDTV, depending on
what the input signal is.
3b) _encrypted_ QAM -- only a QAM tuner with the right 'decryption key'
will be able to decode a usable signal.
Early 'digital' TVs had the ATSC (and _usually_ NTSC) capabilities only.
The newer models have QAM tuning as well -- but they only handle unencrypted
QAM signals.
The latest models are required, by law, to have a place to plug in a
standardized 'decryption' module that can be purchased, or sometimes rented,
from your cable company.
The cable companies _usually_ carry one 'pure analog' channel on the
'digital cable'. This allows one to establish -- with a non-QAM capable
tuner -- that there _is_ a signal from the head-end to the premises. It
usually is strictly a running 'ad' from the cable company announcing that
you have to have a 'box' to see the cable signals on that set.
Lastly, your _set_, *assuming* it =is= QAM capable, will have to be 'told'
explicitly (on one of the set-up menus) to search for QAM channels. The
menu item will be something like "tuning band', and should have settings
for 'broadcast' and 'cable' (at least).
I don't know how much of the content Comcast is encrypting -- it is a
'sure thing' that everything not in the bottom-level services tier -is-
scrambled, and the bottom-level channels *may* be. the QAM 'decryption'
module (TV add-in, or dedicated 'cable box') is capable of receiving
instructions from the cable 'head-end', with regard to -which- channels
to decrypt, with _which_ decryption key. The actual keys are changed
regularly, too. Downloaded from the cable head-end, based on the unique
'address' coded into the decryption module.
Depending on _exactly_ how one asks the question about whether or not
one needs a 'box' to recieve/view the cable channels, the customer service
reps can easily draw the wrong conclusion about 'what you need' to make
things work with your particular TV.
You need to 'read the manual' for your TV sets, to make sure they are "QAM"
capable.
NEXT you need to check how to switch the TV to that mode of operation.
_Then_ you can hook the set up to the cable, and tell it 'siccem' to find
channels. You may get a surprise. <grin>
*IF* you have the TV configured for QAM, and it still doesn't find any
displayable channels, the cable company is apparently scrambling 'everything',
and you'll have to see about a decryption module for the set, _if_ the set
supports it, *or* use an external converter box from the cable company. For
some reason, they want to charge extra, per month, for boxes that output an
ATSC signal, vs those that output only NTSC. Then you usually get to pay
extra for the 'bundle' of HDTV channels, over and above what you pay to
get those same channels in 'standard definition'.
Now, aren't you sorry you asked? <wry grin>
On 2/18/2011 4:03 PM, SonomaProducts.com wrote:
>>
>> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>>
>> --
>> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
>
> I have a Comcast customer service nightmare story that I will leave
> for a different day. Needless to say I will not EVER do business with
> that piece of shit company ever again, ever. I am a real free market
> type of guy but that rancid organization is a monumental stinking pile
> of crap to the worst that corporate America can possibly foist on the
> nation that makes me wonder if someone should pass a fricking law to
> run them out of business. I wish they would choke on their own vomit,
> figuratively speaking, I don't wish any harm to any individual, just
> the evil corporation, ok maybe a few board members.
>
> I realize that may be a bit ambiguous so just to be clear I really
> don't hold them in very high regard.
I've never been so glad to pull the plug on company as I was with
Comcast ... well, except maybe WorldCom, as a T1 provider.
--
www.e-woodshop.net
Last update: 4/15/2010
KarlC@ (the obvious)
You now have a digital TV capable of receiving digital over-the-air
broadcast (ATSC). This is *not* the same as digital cable. Digital
cable is a lot like the digital internet signals going to your
computer. If you have a digital TV with a cable card slot, you *may*
be able to get a card from the cable company (probably not, I'm
guessing). Another downside to over-cable digital TV is that it might
not be in the highest definition your TV can use. (480 vs 720 vs
1080). If you're lucky enought to live in a cty where the broadcast
station's antennas are in the same general direction*, you might be
able to build a Gray Hoverman anyenna out of scrap you have laying
around. Careful attention to detail can yield an antenna of
surprising performance.
*check out http://www.tvfool.com/ for coverage in your area...
"Larry Blanchard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Below is the text of an email I just sent to Comcast. Actually it's a
> little longer because I had to trim the Comcast one to 1500 characters.
> Apparently nobody has a complaint that should take longer than that!
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> We have three pre-digital TVs. When the analog to digital conversion
> took place, we got 3 converter boxes from Comcast. One full capability
> one and two smaller less capable ones.
>
> Yesterday we purchased a new TV to replace one of the ones with a small
> converter box. Since it has a digital tuner, I assumed I wouldn't need
> the converter, but I called Comcast to be sure.
>
> I was told I still needed it to get any channels other than the
> networks. I said thank you, hung up, and thought about that.
>
> Surely the signal coming through my cable was digital? So I called back
> again.
>
> Different rep. This time I was told that all TVs made since 1975 were
> digital and that I would get a digital signal out of the cable. Oh,
> really.
>
> So I hung up again, connected the new TV to the converter box, and told
> the TV to do a channel scan. As I suspected, it found one analog channel
> (the box) and no digital channels. Sigh.
>
> One more try - yet another different rep. This young lady informed me
> that yes, it was an analog signal but I needed that because some of the
> stations were still broadcasting in analog. Oh, really? They're
> contravening federal regulations that required digital since sometime in
> 2009? I needed converter boxes back then because the stations were NOT
> changing? Bye.
>
> So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
> disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
> say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
> based on how much misleading information they can give?
>
> When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
> who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
> receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>
>
> --
> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
I was told that the digital signals for all but the broadcast stations
are scrambled and the boxes unscramble them. The boxes are
addressable by comcast and can be set to unscramble whatever
channels you are paying for. Don't pay your bill and they can cut
you off without having to send a tech to your house.
Art
On 2/17/2011 10:11 PM, Artemus wrote:
> "Larry Blanchard"<[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:[email protected]...
>> Below is the text of an email I just sent to Comcast. Actually it's a
>> little longer because I had to trim the Comcast one to 1500 characters.
>> Apparently nobody has a complaint that should take longer than that!
>>
>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> We have three pre-digital TVs. When the analog to digital conversion
>> took place, we got 3 converter boxes from Comcast. One full capability
>> one and two smaller less capable ones.
>>
>> Yesterday we purchased a new TV to replace one of the ones with a small
>> converter box. Since it has a digital tuner, I assumed I wouldn't need
>> the converter, but I called Comcast to be sure.
>>
>> I was told I still needed it to get any channels other than the
>> networks. I said thank you, hung up, and thought about that.
>>
>> Surely the signal coming through my cable was digital? So I called back
>> again.
>>
>> Different rep. This time I was told that all TVs made since 1975 were
>> digital and that I would get a digital signal out of the cable. Oh,
>> really.
>>
>> So I hung up again, connected the new TV to the converter box, and told
>> the TV to do a channel scan. As I suspected, it found one analog channel
>> (the box) and no digital channels. Sigh.
>>
>> One more try - yet another different rep. This young lady informed me
>> that yes, it was an analog signal but I needed that because some of the
>> stations were still broadcasting in analog. Oh, really? They're
>> contravening federal regulations that required digital since sometime in
>> 2009? I needed converter boxes back then because the stations were NOT
>> changing? Bye.
>>
>> So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
>> disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
>> say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
>> based on how much misleading information they can give?
>>
>> When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
>> who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
>> receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>>
>>
>> --
>> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
>
> I was told that the digital signals for all but the broadcast stations
> are scrambled and the boxes unscramble them. The boxes are
> addressable by comcast and can be set to unscramble whatever
> channels you are paying for. Don't pay your bill and they can cut
> you off without having to send a tech to your house.
> Art
>
>
If you have a digital TV and you plug the TV directly into the cable you
will get some digital stations. However to get all of the digital
station on the cable you will need a new box to decode the digital
channels and feed them to your set.
If you subscribe to the cable the appropriate box should be provided by
the cable company.
"Larry Blanchard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
Not from Comcast!
In article <[email protected]>
Larry Blanchard <[email protected]> writes:
>When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
>who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
>receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
First, the obvious -- call center people aren't domain experts.
The people who know all about cable can get better pay in other
positions. So to a randomly selected call center person, all cable
boxes may well be the same.
[BTW, I'm no expert either.]
There are two devices still perhaps needed, depending on the system.
One is a digital decryptor. Some cable signals are encrypted, and
you need either a cable box or a Cablecard to decrypt them. My
provider (TimeWarner, Dayton) appears to scramble all the digital
content. I recently upgraded my TiVo to start the crawl into the
modern age. A channel scan finds all the digital channels (at least
the standard, non-premium ones). However, tuning in any of them
tells me that I have signal but it needs to be decoded.
The second device is a Tuning Adaptor. Digital cable is a big pipe,
but no pipe is ever big enough for everyone. So some cable companies
multiplex only the channels they know are being watched. So something
(cable box or Tuning Adaptor) needs to send a signal saying "need
Foo-HD."
Casual hanging around in TV related discussions says that, especially
in times of system transition, getting clear answers about which
devices you need is difficult. IMO, it isn't helped by the fact
that the cable companies love to keep renting you some box or other
for $5/month.
An extra layer is that the national cable companies (Comcast,
TimeWarner) don't operate as national systems. The systems are
regional at best. Any information you get online about Comcast in
NY will be meaningless in Atlanta.
--
Drew Lawson | Radioactive cats have
| 18 half-lives
|
On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:44:54 -0800, lektric dan wrote:
> You now have a digital TV capable of receiving digital over-the-air
> broadcast (ATSC). This is *not* the same as digital cable. Digital
> cable is a lot like the digital internet signals going to your computer.
> If you have a digital TV with a cable card slot, you *may* be able to
> get a card from the cable company (probably not, I'm guessing).
Agreed. The question is why the Comcast service reps couldn't provide a
nice coherent answer like yours :-).
--
Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
"Larry Blanchard" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Below is the text of an email I just sent to Comcast. Actually it's a
> little longer because I had to trim the Comcast one to 1500 characters.
> Apparently nobody has a complaint that should take longer than that!
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> We have three pre-digital TVs. When the analog to digital conversion
> took place, we got 3 converter boxes from Comcast. One full capability
> one and two smaller less capable ones.
>
> Yesterday we purchased a new TV to replace one of the ones with a small
> converter box. Since it has a digital tuner, I assumed I wouldn't need
> the converter, but I called Comcast to be sure.
>
> I was told I still needed it to get any channels other than the
> networks. I said thank you, hung up, and thought about that.
>
> Surely the signal coming through my cable was digital? So I called back
> again.
>
> Different rep. This time I was told that all TVs made since 1975 were
> digital and that I would get a digital signal out of the cable. Oh,
> really.
>
> So I hung up again, connected the new TV to the converter box, and told
> the TV to do a channel scan. As I suspected, it found one analog channel
> (the box) and no digital channels. Sigh.
>
> One more try - yet another different rep. This young lady informed me
> that yes, it was an analog signal but I needed that because some of the
> stations were still broadcasting in analog. Oh, really? They're
> contravening federal regulations that required digital since sometime in
> 2009? I needed converter boxes back then because the stations were NOT
> changing? Bye.
>
> So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
> disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
> say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
> based on how much misleading information they can give?
>
> When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
> who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
> receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
And if think you are having problems now, Comcast recently aquired NBC from
GE.
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 18:04:21 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
<[email protected]> wrote:
>On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:44:54 -0800, lektric dan wrote:
>
>> You now have a digital TV capable of receiving digital over-the-air
>> broadcast (ATSC). This is *not* the same as digital cable. Digital
>> cable is a lot like the digital internet signals going to your computer.
>> If you have a digital TV with a cable card slot, you *may* be able to
>> get a card from the cable company (probably not, I'm guessing).
>
>Agreed. The question is why the Comcast service reps couldn't provide a
>nice coherent answer like yours :-).
Hey, whaddya want from computer-unsavvy folks who are paid minimum
wage and given 1 hour of instruction on the HelpDesk software prior to
their starting to "help" customers?
Remember folks, if in doubt, immediately say
"I'd like to speak to your supervisor, please."
or
"Please have your supervisor upgrade me to advanced technical support.
Thank you."
It _sometimes_ helps.
--
Happiness comes of the capacity to feel deeply, to enjoy
simply, to think freely, to risk life, to be needed.
-- Storm Jameson
On Thu, 17 Feb 2011 21:44:54 -0800 (PST), lektric dan
<[email protected]> wrote:
>You now have a digital TV capable of receiving digital over-the-air
>broadcast (ATSC). This is *not* the same as digital cable. Digital
>cable is a lot like the digital internet signals going to your
>computer. If you have a digital TV with a cable card slot, you *may*
>be able to get a card from the cable company (probably not, I'm
>guessing). Another downside to over-cable digital TV is that it might
>not be in the highest definition your TV can use. (480 vs 720 vs
>1080). If you're lucky enought to live in a cty where the broadcast
>station's antennas are in the same general direction*, you might be
>able to build a Gray Hoverman anyenna out of scrap you have laying
>around. Careful attention to detail can yield an antenna of
>surprising performance.
>
>*check out http://www.tvfool.com/ for coverage in your area...
For Comcast I believe you can buy a Tivo DVR and get the cable card
also.
Mark

"Larry Blanchard" <[email protected]> wrote
> So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
> disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
> say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
> based on how much misleading information they can give?
>
> When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
> who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
> receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
When the change to broadcast digital went in effect, my cable company gave
us an analog signal and nothing had to be done. Then they upgraded their
system and every set had to have a box of one type or another and they
provided them. Unfortunately, even after a big upgrade, they still did not
offer my favorite stations in HD, like History and Travel channels. Now I
have DirecTV and very happy and saving money to boot.
To answer your question, "it all depends" I guess. Good luck.
"knuttle" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On 2/17/2011 10:11 PM, Artemus wrote:
>> "Larry Blanchard"<[email protected]> wrote in message
>> news:[email protected]...
>>> Below is the text of an email I just sent to Comcast. Actually it's a
>>> little longer because I had to trim the Comcast one to 1500 characters.
>>> Apparently nobody has a complaint that should take longer than that!
>>>
>>> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> We have three pre-digital TVs. When the analog to digital conversion
>>> took place, we got 3 converter boxes from Comcast. One full capability
>>> one and two smaller less capable ones.
>>>
>>> Yesterday we purchased a new TV to replace one of the ones with a small
>>> converter box. Since it has a digital tuner, I assumed I wouldn't need
>>> the converter, but I called Comcast to be sure.
>>>
>>> I was told I still needed it to get any channels other than the
>>> networks. I said thank you, hung up, and thought about that.
>>>
>>> Surely the signal coming through my cable was digital? So I called back
>>> again.
>>>
>>> Different rep. This time I was told that all TVs made since 1975 were
>>> digital and that I would get a digital signal out of the cable. Oh,
>>> really.
>>>
>>> So I hung up again, connected the new TV to the converter box, and told
>>> the TV to do a channel scan. As I suspected, it found one analog
>>> channel
>>> (the box) and no digital channels. Sigh.
>>>
>>> One more try - yet another different rep. This young lady informed me
>>> that yes, it was an analog signal but I needed that because some of the
>>> stations were still broadcasting in analog. Oh, really? They're
>>> contravening federal regulations that required digital since sometime in
>>> 2009? I needed converter boxes back then because the stations were NOT
>>> changing? Bye.
>>>
>>> So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
>>> disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
>>> say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
>>> based on how much misleading information they can give?
>>>
>>> When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
>>> who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box
>>> to
>>> receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
>>>
>>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>>>
>>> I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Intelligence is an experiment that failed - G. B. Shaw
>>
>> I was told that the digital signals for all but the broadcast stations
>> are scrambled and the boxes unscramble them. The boxes are
>> addressable by comcast and can be set to unscramble whatever
>> channels you are paying for. Don't pay your bill and they can cut
>> you off without having to send a tech to your house.
>> Art
>>
>>
>
> If you have a digital TV and you plug the TV directly into the cable you
> will get some digital stations. However to get all of the digital station
> on the cable you will need a new box to decode the digital channels and
> feed them to your set.
>
> If you subscribe to the cable the appropriate box should be provided by
> the cable company.
Charter Cable broadcasts all signal on ch 2 through 77 as analog signals.
No box needed. To get any digital signals, you gotta get a box and pay
extra for the digital stations.
I think it sucks, my self. Problem is, that we are too far away to even get
broadcast digital with any reliability.
--
Jim in NC
On Fri, 18 Feb 2011 02:59:02 +0000 (UTC), Larry Blanchard
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Below is the text of an email I just sent to Comcast. Actually it's a
>little longer because I had to trim the Comcast one to 1500 characters.
>Apparently nobody has a complaint that should take longer than that!
>
>--------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>We have three pre-digital TVs. When the analog to digital conversion
>took place, we got 3 converter boxes from Comcast. One full capability
>one and two smaller less capable ones.
>
>Yesterday we purchased a new TV to replace one of the ones with a small
>converter box. Since it has a digital tuner, I assumed I wouldn't need
>the converter, but I called Comcast to be sure.
>
>I was told I still needed it to get any channels other than the
>networks. I said thank you, hung up, and thought about that.
>
>Surely the signal coming through my cable was digital? So I called back
>again.
>
>Different rep. This time I was told that all TVs made since 1975 were
>digital and that I would get a digital signal out of the cable. Oh,
>really.
>
>So I hung up again, connected the new TV to the converter box, and told
>the TV to do a channel scan. As I suspected, it found one analog channel
>(the box) and no digital channels. Sigh.
>
>One more try - yet another different rep. This young lady informed me
>that yes, it was an analog signal but I needed that because some of the
>stations were still broadcasting in analog. Oh, really? They're
>contravening federal regulations that required digital since sometime in
>2009? I needed converter boxes back then because the stations were NOT
>changing? Bye.
>
>So now, as well as being quite irritated, I'm shaking my head in
>disbelief. Where do you get these people? Is their primary mission to
>say whatever they think will make the customer happy? Are they paid
>based on how much misleading information they can give?
>
>When you get through answering those questions, please find a technician
>who can logically explain why I need a digital to analog converter box to
>receive digital signals on my digital TV. Thank you.
>
>-----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>I wonder if I'll get an intelligent answer this time?
went thru something similiar and they wanted me to take an entire day
of work to be available for tech to maybe show up. Just said good by
to cable. I can get what I need from DSL.
MikeM