G400 TV - Not enough cable channels scanned

[Wyntha]

My cable company sends out over 60 channels but the Matrox TV Tuner only allows me to store 40 so channels. How can I increase this number and/or select the channels I want?

[Elie]

Is cable selected in the PC-VCR properties or Antena?

Elie

[Wyntha]

Yes, Cable is selected. The autoscan only goes up to Channel 44. See my other point regarding frequency range scanned. It also misses out scanning the frequencies where my favorite channels are!!

[Wyntha]

Yes, Cable is selected. The autoscan only goes up to Channel 44. See my other point regarding frequency range scanned. It also misses out scanning the frequencies where my favorite channels are!!

[mgu2]

You can use ATV. It can autoscan all available frequencies.
http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip...59/atv/atv.htm

[MarkD]

Apparently Matrox didn't do their homework right. In Europe there appear to be deviations in channel frequencies, compared to what Matrox had in mind.
If you happen to know the exact channel frequencies, you can alter your registry using the excel spreadsheet which can be downloaded at: http://www.desktopvideoworld.com/DTVW_downloads.htm
Hope this helps...

[Wyntha]

Thank you both for the tips but to tell you the truth I find this totally unacceptable of Matrox, especially as I'm in the UK using Telewest cable services which are just about the biggest in this country.

I and I guess most other PC users aren't in to registry hacks/updates etc. We have a law in this country about sale of goods and services that states that they have to be "fit for purpose". Matrox are in my view failing in this respect if they have not provided the right frequencies for their tuner.

Before I consider my options further does anyone know why it is that only issues around Dutch cable frquencies have been raised in this forum to date. Surely other Brits have gotten into same situation as me?

What do you think I should do next. Ideally I'd like Matrox to provide me with a patch.

[Wyntha]

Where did my reply go?

[This_Idiot]

Hi Wyntha,

I haven't seen any problems posted by Brits about cable tuning. As a matter of interest, how are you connecting the cable to the tuner ? I'm also on Telewest (well Birmingham cable to be precise), but I don't have a cable-box in close proximity to the PC. Do you plug the "raw" cable in to the tuner or the RF-out from the decoder ?

The reason that the Dutch frequencies are shot to pieces is that Matrox used the "white book" of published frequencies to pre-program the tuner software. As it turns out, the Dutch cable providers switch frequencies within extremely small cells (as close as 20km apart), providing a huge range of possible combinations.

Chris

[Wyntha]

Chris,

I plug the raw cable directly into the tuner for the time being. However that does not give a problem for the ATV program I tried and even on the lower number channels from telewest I can pick up OK. Funnily, if I switch the tuner to "Air" rather than "Cable" I can pick up the 5 terrestial channels OK.

[This_Idiot]

Hi Wyntha,

Intriguing me here, I've got (I think) about enough "raw" cable to unroll from the nearest cable point to the PC's here. What kind of adaptor are you using, or did you make one up yourself ? The cable terminates in a screw-fit and I don't think that I have anything that will convert it to a conventional bayonet aerial connector for the Marvel

[Michel Carleer]

And we have the same problem in Belgium too. Apparently, in Europe the cable companies use non-standard frequencies. Anyway, Matrox did not do its job properly because my Miro/Pinnacle PCTV card finds all channels without a problem and it even reads the VBI info to give me automatically the names of the different channels.
Michka

[MarkD]

Wynhta,

I understand your repulsion against changing your registry. Keep in mind however that almost all programs that you install, apply changes to your registry.
The only thing we are talking about here, is changing the lines with the channel frequencies (which were inserted upon installing your Video Tools) to the right values. It is really not that scary.

[This message has been edited by MarkD (edited 12 April 2000).]