StephenX

Im using a brand new Sharp Aquos and a Comcast digital cable box....

I receive a 'unable to receive broadcast [e202]' message on the local hd channels suddenly. What is up with this? All of a sudden, none of my HD stuff is coming in, and it's bowl season! My digital cable box works fine, as does normal ota channels. But all the HD channels are not. Thing is, I never had any sort of external antenna before, and I was picking up HD local stuff perfectly fine with just the TV's ATSC tuner. What gives? We don't have any antennas, and the cable works...just no HD.

Also, for example, ABC HD used to be 2.1, and regular ABC was 2. Now, regular ABC is 3, but 3.1 does not come in, nor does 2.1. Initially I had coaxial cables running from the TV and cable box into a splitter, running to the wall. I was getting digital cable (w/out paying for HD) and local HD stuff for free.

Now, its gone. I know I am in the Atlanta market, I'm 25 miles from downtown. So am I to assume that Comcast changed something to where I can't get HD OTA now? Is the Sharp's ATSC tuner messed up, or is it possible I'm going to need an external antenna because of comcast?

Chew

Try making use of this site and see what it tells you for an antenna requirement:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

Also, how about going into the TV menu and clearing all the channels it has in memory and then rescanning? It's possible they're just on a different frequency.

dleedlee

I'm curious about this too. Same thing happened when my dad switched over from regular cable to digital cable service. I thought that maybe the digital cable box (he has the cheapest most basic one, can't remember the model) either didn't pass them or scrambled the channels. Rescanning didn't help, at least I couldn't refind the local HD channels anymore. I can't remember but I think I tried as a test temporarily bypassing the cable box and the n-1, n-2 channels came back. I know on the other TV w/o the cable box (via splitter), the digital channels still come through, so it's definitely something with the box itself.

If you have a spare input for an antenna then that could be your solution to get it over the air but my dad's model only has the one input and it's being used for the cable.

DVD Josh

Are you using OTA antenna or QAM? If your TV supports QAM, I'd try that instead of OTA.

StephenX

How do I know it it supports QAM? All I know is that I was using the TV's built-in antenna to pick up local HD a month or so ago.

DVD Josh

Check Sharp's site for your display's specs under tuners.

StephenX

Maybe I'm an idiot, but I can't even find the TV on Sharp's site. What the hell. Anyone know where/how to find out what kind of tuner this thing uses?

Regardless of what kind, there is nowhere on the TV (I've looked) to change anything about the tuner it uses. Am I better off just buying a cheap UHF antenna?

Patman

Do you still have the manual for the TV set?

Chew

Or know the model number? Or a link to the TV on the website of the store it was bought from?

DVD Josh

Dear lord man. You would FAIL the Uncle Salty test by a wide margin.

StephenX

Its a Sharp Aquos LC-42d43u. By all means, if you know where I can find it there, I'd love you for it.

Spiky

Wait a second. What exactly changed? Did you change your Comcast setup? Or your cables/wires? Pretty sure there is no "internal antenna" on your TV.

The answer to dleedlee is that the digital box stops the QAM signal from coming through. You have to run a cable line direct to the antenna input to get the free HD channels.

StephenX

Essentially, I am. There is splitter, but there is still a line going from the TV to the wall.

But I didn't change anything.

Spiky

That suggests that Comcast changed something. The thought above about deleting and rescanning should be your first step. I wouldn't bother calling Comcast, they are likely to have no idea what QAM is or how you could get "free" channels from them.

I suppose the TV tuner could have died, too. That would hopefully not be the case.

CoolKidd

check Comcast for channel changes.... I am using TimeWarner and local channel (eg. 2 , 4, and 5) in HD for me starts in channel 702, 704, and 705 respectively.

StephenX

If the tuner died, wouldn't it be unable to get ANY OTA channels? It picks up EVERYTHING fine, just no HD signals.

Also, Coolkidd, they did change them, but the HD channels aren't the same as the cable. I need to recheck that, I guess.

shelland

Maybe I'm just confused because I stayed up too late playing PS3 and am not functioning clearly. But if it does get OTA and cable successfully, then what HD channels are not working?

Spiky

Well, it probably has 2 separate tuners. One NTSC and one ATSC. I'd say the likelihood of it breaking is pretty small.

A rescan shouldn't take long.

Another possibility is the wiring. Sounds like you have many connections with the splitter and everything. One could be loose or damaged.

You could also go to the local forums area at AVS and see if there is discussion for your area. If they shut off the QAM stuff, others will be complaining, too.

StephenX

Yeah, I did that. Checked the wiring, and it all appeared to be working fine. All of the channels are fine, but for example, when 3 is ABC, 3.1 used to be ABC HD....now 3.1 just doesn't come in, as does every other local HD channel.

Mr. Salty

That's MISTER Salty to you, son.

Kurt D

I think it's a Comcast thing. My inlaws are planning on getting a Sharp w/ internal HD tuner. They live in an area with virtually no regular reception, so they get Comcast's basic cable. I called Comcast to ask if they would be able to get OTA network HD programming with their current package, and they said they would need to upgrade to a higher cost package with HD channels in order to get broadcast network HD such as ABC.

In other words Comcast is jackin' you, my friend.

The simple answer is always the best: follow the money!

dleedlee

Thanks, for confirming. That's what I thought was happening.