Hauppauge HVR-2250 QAM question (1 Viewer)

[Todd Stout]

I just bought the Hauppauge HVR-2250 to try out in my desktop PC before I dive into building any sort of PVR or HTPC. I installed it in my desktop PC last night and connected it to our cable TV system (Charter in Rancho Cucamonga, CA) and ran a scan. It found about 75 analog channels (just like the WinTV PVR-150 I had in there did) but it found no digital channels at all. Our cable compnay offers digital and HD content which works with the set top boxes that are in the house so I know there is QAM in there somewhere.

I understand that most digital content is encrypted but I have read that at least the local HD channels should be in the clear. I have also read that this same company has clear QAM local channels in quite a few of their other local coverage areas but I haven't found mention of my system specifically.

I figure that I have the card configured improperly, the signal to the card is too weak, the card is defective, or Charter in my area doesn't offer anything in clear QAM like they are supposed to (the local channels anyway). I did ask the Charter customer service person I spoke with last weekend about whether or not they had any clear QAM channels but she was in FL and had no idea. She of course told me I could lease another cable box which I really don't need.

Do any of you have any experience with this tuner card? Is there something I need to do to set it up properly to receive clear QAM signals?

 

[Todd Stout]

I can now confirm that several local digital channels are available on our cable system. I used my dad's Sharp Aquos TV and ran a scan of all channels. It found several clear QAM channels including a few of the local HD channels.

I'm running another channel scan with the HVR-2250's software set for "all channels" instead of specifically US channels. If nothing is found this time I am guessing that I'm still doing something wrong during setup, the card is defective, the signal is too weak, or perhaps there is some sort of notch filter where I have this tuner card connected (I have a splitter just before the cable modem). Too bad this isn't a USB tuner that I can use with my laptop. It would be much easier to try different cable feeds around the house.