tv tuner woes

[Muffin Man]

*i kinda realize that this might be in the wrong section now, multimedia seemed appropriate at first, maybe in hardware troubleshooting now though, sry bout that.

i have this tv tuner,
AVerMedia - AVerTVHD MCE A180 (White Box), High Definition Internal PCI TV Tuner Product, High Definition, High-Definition, Hi Def, Hi-Def, Hi-Definition, Hi Definition, PCI TV Tuners, PCI TV Tuner, TV Tuner, TV Tuners, Media Center, Media Center Edi
have it installed with latest drivers (according to windows)

i am trying to set it up to watch free cable tv offered by my college, and from my understanding i need a tuner which supports clear qam reception, and this one does support it.

i've gone through the setup in both wmc and beyond tv, both recognize that the tuner is there and i think that atleast in wmc it is indeed getting some sort of tv signal since it conducts a test for that (if i disconnect the cable it says it can't detect a signal, so that's why i figure that).

in both programs, everything seems to go fine up until it gets to the actual part of scanning for channels, and every time, for every cable provider that's listed, after about 15mins of scanning it never picks up anything.

google hasn't helped much, partly because i'm not even sure of what to search for. just wondering if you guys have any ideas.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

So, free cable provided by school... Interesting... They probably have something similar to the hotel I worked at, some how it would block anything but a TV from picking up a signal, when they went to LCD tv's in all the rooms, they couldn't decode the channels, they saw a signal, just couldn't decode it...

 

[Slaymate]

My basic cable use to go straight to the TV. Now it goes to a little box and then the TV and the TV has to be on a specific channel to receive a signal. Can you set the tv tuner card to a specific channel? It's usually 3 or 4 in my area?

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

That's because your provider went to a true digital, or encrypted signal, that little box is the decrypter slay.

Have you tried a regular tv to make sure you don't need to rent a box or obtain a box that lets you see them channels? If you get no signal on the TV, call whomever handles the cable there and ask them why you aren't getting your channels.

 

[Muffin Man]

well the service is free to us, is what i meant.

i'll see if i can borrow a tv from someone to test it out.

 

[95BlackGA]

Do you happen to know what provider your college goes through?

On a Newegg review (I know, I know...) A user said that it was able to receive Clear QAM signals, just not through WMP, it had to be used with their (AverMedia's) software.

Pros: Capable of receiving over-the-air (OTA) high definition or clear QAM (cable TV HD) however NOT with Windows Media Center and NOT in conjunction with cable TV and ONLY with their pitiful software.

Cons: I can receive several clear OAM channels using AVerMedia's MediaCenter software but then I cant receive my regular cable channels with that program, the channel numbers are sparatic don't line up with any known TV guides. I can receive my regular cable channels using AVermedia's AVer TV 6 program but then not the clear QAM channels. The software and hardware are simply not ready for general public use. It's way too complicated to get it too function correctly. This card doesn't even have its own built-in MPEG encoder chip which also limits its abilities. I bought two of these cards with high hopes of making a PVR instead all I did is add to the local landfill.

Other Thoughts: Might be better if it came bundled with better software like SnapStream or SageTV, but only if the hardware is vastly improved.

 

[C0RR0SIVE]

It may be a free service, BUT, they may be encrypting the signal and giving actual students boxes, to help preventing theft of the service, we actually had someone find an external line at the hotel, and they tapped into that line and got free cable TV till the grass was cut, needless to say, I had to replace a LONG cable, and then they had the channels encrypted.....