What does this DTA thing do? Please help!

[mamakat]

Am I going crazy? Is Comcast trying to drive me insane? -- Last week my TVGuide channel (#2) magically switched to Home Shopping Network. Just what I wanted - another shopping channel..arggggg
I have 6 TVs in my home, and can only afford 1 cable box, so the other 5 are on just basic analog cable which is fine by me - EXCEPT FOR now we don't know what's on TV! - Mind you, I switched from DishNetwork to Comcast to save $$$ over the next year (My husband is in construction - need I say more?).
Anyways, my household is upset about this, so I emailed Comcast, and they sent back a nice email right away telling me that now I need Digital Transport Adapters on my analog TVs. 2 are free , the rest are 1.99/month. Even $6 a month is a lot to me right now.
I have no idea what these things are and I am wondering how they will help my situation if Comcast totally deleted this channel (I called 800COMCAST and they said they totally did away with the TVG Network).. Any thoughts? -- Here is my frustrating chat with the CSR - IS IT JUST ME???
[FONT=&quot]chat id : 6521b6a3-bcd6-4d55-ab25-d9550d8d137f[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Problem : digital transport adapter - what is this?[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > digital transport adapter - what is this?[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Hello Kathryn_, Thank you for contacting Comcast Live Chat Support. My name is Sunshine. Please give me one moment to review your information.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > How are you today? I will be glad to assist you on your concern.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > hi- I sent an email complaint this morning and they said to contact live chat. I ammmm upset that they took away the tv guide channle because I have 5 TVs on analog with no way of knowing whats on TV now.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > so they siad to get the digital transport adapter- what is that and what does it do?[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Thank you for the information.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > A DTA lets the analog TV display the digital signals. It is very small and plugs directly into any cable ready TV. It also comes with a new, simple remote. Having a DTA simply allows our customers to continue viewing all of their favorite cable channels, using the digital signals.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > I don't understand how that will get me the TV Guide channel because I called comcast yesterday and he told me the channel has been deleted.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Kathryn, let me check the channel for tv guide in your area. I will also check the availability of that channel.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > May I have the service address, please.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > 1*** **** Street ********, CA *****[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Thank you.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > FYI- The comcast rep told me that the channel (#2) was completely deleted. But when I turn on channel 2 it is now the Home Shopping Network, arggg![/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Do not worry I will look into this matter.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > I see here that channel 2 is tv guide channel.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > thanks I will try and be patient, lol

[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > You are most welcome.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > I am glad I was able to assist you on this one effectively.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Do you have other concerns for today? I will be glad to assist you further.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Wait![/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Okay[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > I know it SAYS thay it's the TV Guide channel but it is really now the HSN channel and I have searched every channel there is no TVGuide anymore and the phone guy said they deleted it..thats what I am saying[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > It has been like that for almost a week[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > May I ask your cable package please.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > when I say phone guy I mean 1-800COMCAST guy[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > digital starter[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Yes, I get you.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Thank you.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > As what I can see here from our link, channel 2 is tv guide channel.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > I will give you the link as well.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > https://www.comcast.com/Customers/Clu/ChannelLineup.ashx[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > what is the digital transport adapter, and would that help me at all if there no longer is the tv guide channel?[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > DTA is a digital transport adapter.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > It may retrieve the channels that you used to have.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > ? -- The think is - (Please believe me,I am not imagining this) - on the 1 TV that does have digital cable box when I put on channel 2 and click info it does tell me HSN and gives me info about what they are selling, so this has got to be the new line up or something. And the email says that these DTA will solve my problem , I just don't get how if the channel is not there at all. Can you explain? Do you know what I am trying to say?[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > *The thing is-[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Yes, I understand you, Kathryn.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > HSN is in channel 70.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > According to our website.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > I suggest that you will get the dta box then let us see if it is still showing HSN in channel 2.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > no- I am checking.. 70 is QVC , 2 is HSN[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > Oh, we have a different listings.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Kathryn_[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > ok, nevermind I willjust call again[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]Sunshine[/FONT][FONT=&quot] > You are a very important customer and it appears you have left the chat. To ensure we provide the best support possible, I will close this window now and ask that you initiate a new chat so that we can provide you with support of your Comcast Services. Thank you.[/FONT][FONT=&quot][/FONT]

 

[hwkn]

My advice is go to Titantv.com and you can get a listing of what's on Comcast in your area if you have a printer hooked up to your computer print the listings and you're good to go.[the DTA does what the CSR says it does btw]

 

[bicker]

I'm sorry for your financial situation. You can blame those of us who have been pressuring Comcast to increase the amount of digital service that they offer to us. We've pushed them to reclaim a lot of the bandwidth that they've previously devoted to providing you the analog service that you prefer, and redeploy it to serving our needs instead. Actually, Comcast has been lagging behind in this regard -- all their competitors had done so earlier. So essentially, with Comcast now finally heeding our demands for more digital service, that will typically bring an end to the availability of analog cable service in a specific area. It is unfortunate that folks like you end up holding the short stick.

Since money seems to be a big concern with your family, you should look into the service level we have recently switched to in order to save money: Digital Economy. Digital Economy is about $30 per month for a small set of cable channels: A&E, AMC, Animal Planet, BET, Cartoon Network, CNN, Comedy Central, Discovery, Disney, E!, Food Network, Fox News, Nickelodeon, Lifetime, Spike TV, USA, Weather Channel. Digital Economy comes with one cable box (or CableCARD) so that provides us all those channels on one outlet. With Digital Economy service, though, I'm not even entitled to any DTAs. (They're only good for the service level one level higher than mine, Digital Starter, and above. The old service level called Expanded Basic is also "higher" than Digital Economy, so you would get DTAs with that service level -- essentially Expanded Basic is just Digital Starter without a digital cable box.) On the other outlets, without cable box, CableCARD or DTAs, we just get the local over-the-air broadcast channels.

I know you have more televisions than that, but the way we figured it, to save money, we can just rely on the one outlet for all the cable programming we care to watch, and just watch local channels (or DVDs, MRV, etc.) on the other televisions.

 

[LonghornXP]

To answer your question with more specific information so you can better understand your options I'll start with why they made this change.

Your seeing one of the many analog channels that are being removed completely and offered in digital format only. At some point in the near or long term future (depending on your market) Comcast and most cable companies for that matter will switch everything to digital thus requiring every TV set to have a cable box or a TV with a cablecard based tuner/tru2way tuner. For homes that have many analog sets without cable boxes they plan to rollout a digital to analog converter that will be installed outside of your home which can convert everything at your home instead of the headend thus allowing things to work like they always have. This however is very expensive and is a long ways away.

I'm giving you this information above so you can be prepared for anything that may be coming to your market in the future. I'm giving you information about what Comcast "HAS" done and not what options they "COULD" use.

The reason this is being done is for one reason and one simple word. This word is "bandwidth" and its something cable companies are lacking with the massive surge of HDTV channels along with those higher speed internet options they must offer to compete with other upcoming and available options.

Simply put a lineup of 70 analog channels takes takes up just under "HALF" of the total available bandwidth for all services on an 850Mhz cable network. Simply put you breakdown a network into 6Mhz chunks which are used to hold data/video etc.

1 analog channel uses 6Mhz of space.
5-15 digital channels can fit using 6Mhz of space using MPEG2 compression. The more channels per 6Mhz space the lower the quality per channel.

1-4 HD channels can fit using 6Mhz of space. Most companies have two MPEG2 HD channels per 6Mhz of space. However some cable companies can put 4 720p HD channels using MPEG4 into one 6Mhz space with little quality loss.

Just imagine what Comcast can do in the future for the high profit higher end customers with all of that additional bandwidth for ultrafast internet along with high bitrate 1080p HD channels in the hundreds. This is the only way to future proof their network without running fiber to the home at a very high cost per home. Keep in mind that in five to ten years those high profit higher end customers will be the norm and not the exception.

Also with tru2way once they fully make this switch in say five years from now you most likely will be ready to replace those TV sets for new ones that will feature tru2way ability which allows you to plug in the cable into the back of the TV set and call the cable company to authorize your TV set. This will download the cable companies program guide onto your TV set and allow you to view "ALL" the channels available on your cable company including HD and VOD programs. No cablecard or tech will be required to boot.

I know this is far more information than you needed or even wanted but I felt it would benefit you and others reading this to know what the overall plan is for the cable companies to transition themselves to all digital networks.

 

[ChrisK114]

Basiccally what a DTA does is convert your analog signals to a digital signal on your analog TV without you having to get full digital service. It gives you the ability to get the basic level of service with a digital signal. It is a small box that you run your cable thru. You will need a remote but it won't give you guide info and such like full digital cable service will. The DTA is free and doesn't have a rental charge. You can go to comcast.com and hit the digital transition option at the top left hand corner to see a video of the DTA in action.