Pinnacle USB Pro Stick Tuner and FIOS

[Serpo]

I have a pinnacle pro stick usb. It supports clearqam and when I scan, it only give me local hd channels as well as music channel. It doesn't pick up discovery hd etc.. What am i doing wrong here?

I scanned analog/digital and digital clearqam.

Any help much appreciated.

[KenAF]

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@Serpo wrote:

I have a pinnacle pro stick usb. It supports clearqam and when I scan, it only give me local hd channels as well as music channel. It doesn't pick up discovery hd etc.. What am i doing wrong here?

I scanned analog/digital and digital clearqam.

Any help much appreciated.

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You aren't doing anything wrong.  Like most providers, Verizon encrypts everything but the local channels and music channels.  Encrypted channels can't be received with Clear QAM.

[Serpo]

Now that stinks !! With COmcast, I was getting the digital and HD channel withhe same tv tuner but with Verizon now I can't.

[KenAF]

If you were getting those HD channels on Comcast, it was undoubtedly temporary and/or a mistake.  Comcast corporate policy dictates that all non-local HD channels be encrypted.

[G-Pon]

I agree, if ComCast let that through either they wish they could block it, or will be doing so when their infrastructure is modernized.

[Serpo]

So those TV tuners work either for 'Antenna based HD channels' or via a FIOS set top box. What a shame cable company forces you to get a box.

[KenAF]

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@Serpo wrote:

So those TV tuners work either for 'Antenna based HD channels' or via a FIOS set top box. What a shame cable company forces you to get a box.

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Yes, those "Clear QAM" tuners can only record local HD channels.  But the cable company does not force you get their own box.

With FiOS and other cable providers, you are permitted to buy your own TivoHD or Moxi CableCard DVR.  You can also buy or build a PC that supports CableCards.   When equipped with a $3.99/mo CableCard, all of these solutions allow you to tune and record all FiOS SD and HD channels.  They do cost more than your typical $100 "Clear QAM" tuner card that does not have the necessary technology to support encrypted channels.

It costs about $800 to build a new computer with two CableCard tuners.  Each ATI CableCard tuner costs about $200 and special motherboard with CableCard support is required.  Each ATI CableCard tuner requires a separate $3.99/mo CableCard from Verizon.  PCs aren't able to support multiple tuners with a single card like TiVo and Moxi.

[Serpo]

Force as in ,required to have the box to do anyting.

I guess my cheapest option would be to get a box and connect my TV tuner directly to the TV Box.

[JMoreTea]

Got any further information on building a dedicated PC/DVR? What motherboards support the ATI CableCard? And why would such a box require two CableCard tuners?

I too am disappointed at not being able to hook my USB tuner-enabled laptop up to a STB and receive the entire menu of FIOS TV offerings. Not sure if it's worth it to me to have to build a dedicated box though.

[KenAF]

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@JMoreTea wrote:

Got any further information on building a dedicated PC/DVR? What motherboards support the ATI CableCard? And why would such a box require two CableCard tuners?

I too am disappointed at not being able to hook my USB tuner-enabled laptop up to a STB and receive the entire menu of FIOS TV offerings. Not sure if it's worth it to me to have to build a dedicated box though.

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Most retail Asus P5 motherboards (such as the P5Q) support the ATI CableCard.  There is also a relatively simple "hack" to make any existing motherboard CableCard compliant, although Microsoft could disable it with a future update.  More information on the hack right here.

You don't need two CableCard tuners if you are satisfied with with the ability to watch or record only one program at a time.  If you want to record two cable channels at a time, or record one cable channel while you watch another -- like the FiOS DVR -- then you'd need two CableCard tuners.