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General discussion

Help! LN32A450 Lost HDTV Channels - Cablevision, no box

Feb 9, 2009 9:52PM PST

I have a 2-month old LN32A450C1DXZA which late last week stopped displaying any of the HD and digital feeds for the local broadcast channels (those channels still show up in their SD analog versions). Connected to Cablevision cable, no box.
Re-auto programming changed nothing (actually, now those channels don't even appear any more in the channel list). Other digital cable channels show up (no HD channels). Cablevision say's it's not their problem.
Could this be a HD tuner or decoder gone bad?
Any help appreciated!

Discussion is locked

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Free HD
Feb 10, 2009 7:21AM PST

lightingguy31,

If you're not paying for HD channels, then receiving any of those channels is usually because the content provider decided that they weren't going to add a digital scramble on them. If they do add a scramble on them, your television will not be able to decode them.

When they say "it's not their problem", do you mean that not receiving those channels isn't their problem, or that it's not part of your particular service to "guarantee" HD channels without purchasing or renting an additional box?

--HDTech

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HD Channels of OTA Broadcasts
Feb 10, 2009 9:11AM PST

Thanks for the reply. In other forums I found that most, if not all providers are supplying the digital feeds for the broadcast networks where I originally had them - for example, in this area NBC (analog channel 4 in SD) has digital sub-channels 4-1, 4-2, 4-3, etc. which contain added content (like weather) or the HD version of the main channel. Cablevision is set up this way for us non-STB cable subscribers.
Anyway, I was able to isolate the problem, and it's low signal strength from Cablevision. I was set up with 2 splitters in line before the TV, and until Sunday I had enough signal to get the digital (and HD) OTA channels (the free ones). Something happened Sunday PM to drop my signal strength below what I need for this setup.
Now, a direct coax from the building cable in (no splits) gives me roughly the signal strength I had before (with 2 splitters it was 6-7 bars on the Samsung's signal strength gauge in the TV/Channel menu), and one splitter (needed for the cable modem and a second, SD set) drops the signal to 1-2 bars but allows the digital and HD signals to work. A second splitter drops the signal so much that the digital and HD channels disappear.
I replaced both splitters with new ones but the problem is the same, so I have to believe that Cablevision can repair my connection to improve the signal strength enough so I can use 2 splitters again.
I have a service appointment for tomorrow and will post again when I get (hopefully) this fixed.

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HD and Digital Channels Back - Low Signal was cause
Feb 11, 2009 4:47AM PST

Cablevision tech came and found damage outside due to weather and aging (and squirrels, probably). He replaced the pole-to-house cable, replaced connectors and splitters inside (and rearranged them) and the digital and free/OTA HD channels are perfect again.
I suspect many forum posters who have had digital/HD station loss are suffering from the same problem. The tech said that older CATV wiring and connectors and the demand for bandwidth has become an ongoing problem in the field, and that they have to pretty routinely replace wiring and connectors that seem to work fine with analog/SD.
I noticed that after he finished, the signal strength at the very end of the run was >15 db better than before he worked on it (as measured by his tester) on all of the digital frequency bands that the tester showed.