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How to setup Digital Cable in Windows 7 Media Center    
One of the new features of Windows 7 Media Center is support for clearQAM (digital cable), something not found in the XP or standard Vista versions. The following is the step by step process for setting up clearQAM. If course you first must install a QAM capable PC tuner and connect a cable (from your friendly cable company) into the digital RF port of the tuner. For a list of QAM tuners currently supported by Media Center, go
here,
The first time you enter Media Center, you'll see the above screen. Click on "Live TV Setup".
The first thing Media Center TV setup wants to know is where you are.
If you are in the U.S., it'll ask for your zip code.
Now you get into the terms of service. If you want to read 57 pages of it, good luck. Just click on "I Agree".
Now it's going to download Playready, the new type of video format. It's supposed to be faster than the format used by XP and Vista Media Center, but it's really more about copy protection. This will download only once, the first time you do a setup.
Now it's going to check the tuner(s). This feature is much improved over Vista and XP. It actually finds the right types. It also will see a hybrid tuner as both a digital and analog tuner. Again not so in the XP and Vista versions.
Then it reports the result. In this case I am using a AverTV HD Duet which is a dual QAM tuner. Hence the two tuners found.
Now it want to know the cable provider to get the correct TV schedule.
And then it confirms your selection and tuners.
It then download the correct TV schedule.
Then scans for digital stations. This step can take awhile, as in 15 minutes or so.
For some reason, Media Center says it doesn't find any stations, at least not for me. However, it actually does find them, as you'll see. If it does report finding channels, you'll want to follow the rest of this anyway.
It really wants to scan again since it thinks you have no channels, but politely just select continue. Of course you won't see this screen if it found channels.
Once again it verifies the tuners and cable company. Now it's time to find all the unencrypted channels. At this point click on the green Media Center logo in the upper left hand corner of the screen. This takes you to the main screen. Then go down to "Tasks" and under it select "settings". Now select "TV". Then select "Guide".
You should now be at this screen. Select "Edit Channels".
You should see something similar to the above picture. Select all the channels (by clicking in the square to the left of the channel number) that don't have a picture of a lock to the right. The ones with a lock are the encrypted channels which can't be accessed (go ahead and check one if you don't believe me) and odds are there are many more of those than the clearQAM channels. Once you have the clearQAM channels selected, click save. OK, now it's time to see what stations are available. Click on the Media Center logo at the top of the page and then go to "live TV". Channel through all the digital stations, making note of the number and the station affiliation (C75-103 is CBS, local name is KTVT for example) Once you've gone through them all, go back to "Tasks" then "settings", then "TV", then "Guide", then "Edit Channels".
Now click on the first clearQAM channel and you'll get this screen. Click on "Edit Listings".
You should now have a listing of all the channels on your cable network. Looking at your station listings, find the appropriate channel and double click on it. Note: You can type the first letter of the station "K" for example and it will take you to the first "K" station in the listings.
After you double click, you'll be taken back to this screen. Select "save". Now select the next station and repeat until all the clearQAM stations are mapped to the appropriate station listings.
Now click on the Media Center logo and go to "TV" then "guide". You should now see the clearQAM stations listed with appropriate schedules. That's it. Now you can view and record all your clearQAM stations using Media Center. Have fun! |
