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SDV Fail (Sorta)

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My recently installed SDV tuning adapter failed me tonight during UH’s win over Fresno State in men’s hoops. The cable signal just stopped, and I wasn’t receiving all the stations. Weirdly enough, the freebie HD channels were there (1003, 1006, 1007, etc) but nothing else. After being on hold with Oceanic for a long time, the rep told me to disconnect and reconnect the USB cable.

That did the trick. Didn’t have to power cycle the actual unit. Pretty random and strange “outage” that only affected some stations. At least the Rainbows won though I missed most of the game.

SDV Tuning Adapter Installed!

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Bright and early this morning, an installer from Oceanic Time Warner showed up for the installation of my SDV tuning adapter. The overall install took a long time since the thorough tech checked signal strength throughout the household. Once that was done, the installation of the SDV tuning adapter was quick.

The boot up of the tuning adapter took longer than the unboxing and connecting of the device itself. The adapter I got? It’s a Cisco STA1520 which Engadget showed some time back.

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Cisco STA1520 SDV tuning adapter

The installation and cost of the tuning adapter is free, and what do I get from this box? Not much. I now get a few additional digital channels that Oceanic converted to SDV, but I’m not paying for additional premium stations or packages. I might get the HD pack for $7 a month which I could not receive without the SDV tuning adapter. So now I got options of paying Oceanic more money each month!

SDV Tuning Adapters Come to Oceanic Cable

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Looks like the Switched Digital Video (SDV) tuning adapters are now rolling out in Hawaii. After an expected availability of December 2008, Oceanic Cable (Time Warner) is sending out letters to interested SDV customers to schedule installation of tuning adapters. Here’s the letter I got in the mail.

oceanic-sdv-letter

I scheduled my appointment with some confusion since this is a new offering from Oceanic. First, there was a installation charge of $32, but that was waived after lengthy discussion with the customer service representative. With the SDV tuning adapter, additional Oceanic channels are now available for ordering. However, there are still some issues with the free digital SDV (but non-HD) channels. They’re not yet available even with the tuning adapter. Supposedly though, once these channels are available, the tuning adapter can be remotely updated to receive these channels.

You can order your free SDV tuning adapter from Oceanic here. More to come after my installation in early February (the first available install date).

Go Digital, Save the Petrels!

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“What’s gonna work? Teamwork!” is the motto of the Wonder Pets, Linny, Tuck, and Ming-Ming, and they need our help! To save the Hawaiian petrel bird, the Wonder Pets need you to go digital. As in digital television.


The Hawaiian petrel nesting season starts in February, but the plan is to destroy analog television towers in the same timeframe, making it tough for the endangered petrels to get it on. Instead the Wonder Pets have convinced the State of Hawaii (wonder if they personally know Mufi?) to switch to digital television on January 15, one month before the mandatory national conversion. After the early switch, the analog towers will be destroyed, well before the petrels start nesting, giving them a chance at survival.

So all you analog television viewers, you need to go digital before January 15 to save the petrels. This is serious!

“We’re not too big, and we’re not too tough, but together, we got the right stuff! Go Wonder Pets!”

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My Digital Plan: SDV Tuning Adapter Pre-Order

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After a successful CableCard install from Oceanic Cable, I just got a letter explaining Oceanic’s upcoming shift to SDV (Switched Digital Video). The letter is actually pretty good, clearly explaining the benefits of SDV and why the current CableCards will not work once the SDV change is made.

To compensate for the SDV change, Oceanic (and Time Warner Cable) is expected to offer Tuning Adapters later this year (which is coming up quick). “It is currently contemplated that the Tuning Adapter will be provided at no additional charge.”

To be eligible for a Tuning Adapter, the letter ways to visit www.timewarnercable.com/tuningadapter or call 643-2337. The web link doesn’t do much and is the same one I used previously. I called the phone number which took me to Oceanic’s Customer Support. The night crew didn’t know a thing about this offer, but I got a call back today asking me to fax or send in my letter to reserve my spot for a Tuning Adapter.

I scanned a copy of my letter and sent it to csrsupport@twcable.com. Let’s see what happens next (and when it happens)…

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My Digital Plan: Where’d the Channels Go?

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Last week, an Oceanic Cable installer came by to install a CableCard into my Tivo. Took about 30 minutes since he said they don’t do this very often and wasn’t completely familiar with all the steps. Funny, but both he and I had the same CableCard install instructions provided by Tivo.

Once the single M-card was activated, the Tivo Channel Guide started pulling in new info. The cable guy showed me the new HD channels I had, namely 1003-1010 for channels 3 (KHON)-10 (KHET). But what he didn’t tell me or what I failed to understand is what happened to the rest of the channels. I went looking for the kids channels, 32 and 33, but they weren’t there anymore. What happened?

After calling Oceanic tech support, I was told that I had to use their digital television lineup/channels, not the analog lineup. The Disney channel is now on 444 for example. Now this is a complete surprise since I now have digital channels that I did not request (and hopefully should not be paying for). From what I know, I’m only paying $3.10 per month for the CableCard, maybe $6.20 since the CableCard is a dual M-card type, but I didn’t sign up for Oceanic’s digital services. I’ll have to check out my next bill to see what’s up.

Going Ahead with CableCards

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Called Oceanic Cable, Hawaii’s Time Warner cable company, and started the process to get CableCards for my Tivo. This is supposed to provide HDTV channels of local stations for $3.10 a month to rent the CableCard. Not much, but I wanted to try it out.

Even though Oceanic is migrating to Switched Digital Video (SDV), they don’t yet have the tuning adapters needed to view these HD-migrated channels. This Time Warner SDV page only leads me to the generic Oceanic web site without details of SDV. The customer rep I talked to didn’t have any other details either.

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CableCards, Tivo, and SDV

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Been reading up on CableCards and Tivo with Oceanic Time Warner service here in Hawaii. Sounds dicey. In order to get any type of HD content using a Tivo with Oceanic, you need at least one CableCard (two if you want to use dual tuners). Oceanic does rent CableCards for about $3 per month.

But paying for digital service and HD service is of question. The rep I talked to over the phone said I needed to get the cards along with the extra service but after reading this Tivo Community thread, there are options to get basic HD channels without paying for them.

Now it seems that Oceanic is moving channels to SDV (Switched Digital Video) in order to save bandwidth but also to keep customers using their rented hardware. Worse it the CableCards are worthless for SDV channels. You’d need a forthcoming Tuning Adapter in order to get SDV stations. These new Tuning Adapters are only hitting the market now.

Supposedly, by the end of this year, Oceanic will support Tuning Adapters (and current Tivos already having Tuning Adapter support). I guess I’ll wait until later to attempt getting basic HD channels. In any case, most things I’ve been reading portray Oceanic in a very bad light, not wanting to provide anything outside of their own packaged deals.

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Digital Setback: No VGA Cable?!

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My digital plan has moved ahead after a small delay. The Samsung LCD is now here and set up. But to connect a computer, you need a DVI-to-HDMI cable or a VGA cable of which I have neither! I can understand not having a DVI-to-HDMI cable, but looking through a drawerful of cables, I can’t find a run of the mill “blue” VGA cable. I can’t believe it. I have DVI cables, but not one stinkin’ VGA cable.

Just a minor setback.

Problems with My Digital Plan

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My digital plan has hit some snags already. Several people I talk to say go bigger. Go for the 50+ inch screen. Main hangup with this is the obvious cost. Most of the decent 52-in LCD screens start right at $2000, $400 more than the 46-in variety.

After measuring out the dimensions of the set, it’ll be somewhat similar to the space of my current picture tube TV. Good enough I say and besides, soon something better, bigger, and cheaper will be out there so why spend top dollar now?

After deciding to stick with the Samsung LN46A530, I went to pick one up from Costco. Even though the set is a moderate size, the packing box is huge! Too huge for my SUV. Got to go back with the minivan.

Don’t get me started about the TV stand…

TV Is Okay

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Whew, looks like our TV is okay after all. After a week’s worth of taped shows, we had to start watching so we turned on the tele. After 10 minutes of listening to snap, crackle, and pop, the noises went away and things seem to be back to normal.

Although I did learn a few things about new HDTV sets in the meantime. Probably would go for a 40-50″ plasma or LCD. Wanted something thinner than a rear projection. 1080p is the highest res, but not much content seems available at that res (not HDTV broadcasts, only Blue-ray or HD DVD stuff that I don’t have). So 720p seems good enough. Two HDMI ports sounds better just in case. Still trying to understand the pixel count of 720i, 720p, 1080i, and 1080p…Amazon has the Panasonic TH-42PX60U plasma as a best seller and it sounds good for the price though the price in Hawaii is about $500 more. Samsungs seem okay but reviews complain about the colors. Sony makes good stuff but very expensive.

But oh well, no HDTV for now. But better start saving when we’re legally forced to go to HDTV in early 2009 (less than 3 years away)!

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