| DCT2000 - EAS We have a Motorola DCT2000. It lives inside a cabinet with an IR blaster coming from a TiVo Series2, so our daily TV watching never involves looking at the DCT2000's display.
This evening, the DCT2000 went black, and changing channels did nothing. I opened the cabinet doors and saw "EAS" on the display. I used the power button on the DCT2000's front panel to turn it off, then back on, and it was working as normal.
So what happened? Did an EAS alert come in and the DCT2000 just got "stuck" and needed a power cycle? |
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 telcodad
join:2011-09-16
Lincroft, NJ
kudos:2 | The suggestion made in a thread on EAS testing from November (»[STB] Comcast Cable TV STBs are stuck in EAS) when an STB got stuck like that was to "simply unplug, wait 30 seconds, and replug in the box."
Sometimes the STBs just seem to get stuck in that mode. |
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| Nope...didn't even have to unplug; I was pleasantly surprised.
If it got to the point where we had to unplug and re-plug the DCT2000 on a regular basis, I'd just build a "reset" switch, where we could just push a button and have it power off for 30 seconds. |
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| or you can just get comcast to swap it for a newer box. |
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| Huh. We got ours in October 2010 because of Project Cavalry. Unless HD is a free upgrade, we want to stick with SD. So if our box starts doing this on a monthly basis, can we just call Comcast and ask for a different box? |
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andyrossPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL | In theory, you could even get an HD box, although HD channels would be locked out unless you paid the HD Tech Fee. Supposedly, Comcast no longer buys SD boxes, so any SD boxes would be older ones, although the DCT2000's are ancient. There are slightly newer DCT700's (very tiny) and some others.
It sounds like you only use it as a tuner for your Tivo? You could get away with a cheaper (free) DTA if you only need the Starter package and the Tivo supports the XMP protocol to control the DTA. |
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| As a part of Project Cavalry, we were entitled to, at no extra cost, one STB and two DTAs. We have two TVs, so we got one each. The DTA is, IIRC, a Pace DC50xu that outputs NTSC 3, and is so small it fit in our LCD TV wiring box: »mahohmei.com/dta.jpg
The DCT2000 is wired into the TiVo via composite video, and the TiVo uses IR (I assume this is what XMP is) to control the DCT2000. The DCT2000 has a serial port, and TiVos can serial control cable boxes, but Comcast chose not to enable that functionality.
Should our TiVo Series2 ever fail (hard drive head crash, motherboard or power supply fries, etc), we'll most likely get a TiVo Premiere, return the DCT2000 in favor of a CableCARD, and decide if we want to pay extra for HD. My wife got the TiVo in 2004 before we were married, and I'm actually pleasantly surprised that a piece of consumer electronics has lasted so long without even a hiccup. I've been a bit cynical about that topic after our Kenmore fridge died after 9 years.  |
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andyrossPremium,MVM
join:2003-05-04
Schaumburg, IL | XMP is an IR protocol (language) used by the DTA's and newer cable boxes. Some older remotes and devices do not support it, although I assume the Tivo may through updates. The older DCT's use a different protocol that has been around for years.
I think at least some of the HD boxes have S-Video outputs, which may slightly improve the picture if the Tivo has an S-Video input. They also have more memory, which allows them to hold up to 2 weeks of program guide data. The old DCT2000 series often can barely hold 12-14 hours. But then, you probably use the Tivo guide anyways. |
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| reply to telcodad
said by telcodad:The suggestion made in a thread on EAS testing from November (»[STB] Comcast Cable TV STBs are stuck in EAS) when an STB got stuck like that was to "simply unplug, wait 30 seconds, and replug in the box."
Sometimes the STBs just seem to get stuck in that mode.
This happened to me just the other day during an EAS which locked the box and I had to manually unplug it. But after that it worked fine.
5th
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"The relationship between what we see and what we know is never settled..." |
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Reviews:
 ·Comcast
| reply to mahohmei
Basically the box recieved a force tune signal commonly used for slate or full screen messages, and a "release" signal wasn't sent out (or it was and the box didn't recieve it) to release the box to normal operation. It happens sometimes and generally a simple power cycle solves the problem as you have discovered.
If the issue becomes a recurring theme let us know and we can recommend further action and investigate further
Sorry for the inconvienance. |
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Paul F
join:2009-05-15
Portland, OR | reply to mahohmei
Just out of curiosity why didn't you call support? They probably would like to know test results.The support lady I called said some boxes needed to be added to their database. She then did a reset over the cable and the problem never came back. EAS is for emergencies and I would think you would want it fixed just in case. |
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| Hmmm...I didn't think of calling Comcast. If a power off and on didn't fix it, I probably would have. I'll call 'em if it happens again, though.
Thanks |
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| reply to andyross
Regarding S-Video: our TiVo Series2 has an S-Video input and output, so yes, if I had a STV with S-Video out, I could get a better picture.
Here's the rub: our 2009 LG LCD TV doesn't have an S-Video input, which is the norm these days for consumer TVs. So not wanting to pony up the money for an upconverter, composite it is. |
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| reply to mahohmei
The DCT2000 is what recieved the EAS signal since the series2 TiVo doesn't have a cablecard thus ignores the signal. It's essentialy acting as a VCR. |
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