Cox in So. Calif. / Motorola DCT 6412 SERIES III STB

[Jim Lev]

Hi,

We have a problem here in sunny So. CA. I've sent two letters to Cox, one to my local office and one to Jim Robbins, Cox's CEO in Atlanta about it. I've not yet rcv'd any response, but, its just been 10 days, maybe I should wait another week or two to be entirely fair? I hope they will respond.

The basic Cox HD service here works FINE, (I can't speak to cost because I do not know rates elsewhere in the country); we have about 10 HD channels here. But, if you up-grade one more level ABOVE basic HD, (which comes with a bare bones Mot. HD STB), and pay the extra bucks to spring for a Dual-Tuner HD DVR, which I mention in the "Title line," this is where the problem, actually a BIG problem, comes in.

I kept a 30-day log of what this box, (actually my 4th replacement box), DOES in daily use. According to what I see, the box only works 100% fine just 44% of the time. This means it either fails to record, only partially records, or does several other bad things it shouldn't do 56% of the time!

I honestly do not know if the problems are the result of the box electronics, which, (I would think), is Motorola's responsibility, or the software, which Cox may buy from a 3rd party, OR, create themselves. I suspect the problems are all software related but I have no way to verify this.

Cox has always been a GREAT company in our area, and I've never had reason to rag on them before, but this problem has gone on for several months, and must be corrected. Cox has 1000's of customers here and I would expect that many 100's have the same box I have and their boxes have the same problems. When I call Tech Support I draw a blank. About all they suggest is that "maybe your box needs to be reset?"

If anyone would like to see my 30-day "log" of problems with the Motorola DCT 6412, with its Cox software, you can view it at the following URL: http://www.antivirusyellowpages.com/Motorola_STB_Log.html

Note that there are two "underscore" characters in the link, one on either side of the word STB.

Jim

New LG 37 in. LCD with dual NTSC / ATSC tuners + component + DVI

[dadras]

It has been more than a year that I have recording problems with my Cox DVR box in Orange County California. I have gone through 3 boxes & Cox has rewired my connection to get a perfect signal, but I still have the same problems. I could say that 30% of the times the DVR does not record the scheduled programs.

1) The scheduled show gets highlighted in red in the guide, and I see the red button on the box, but later when I go to the list, it is not there & has not been recorded.

2) Same as above except it also appears on the list with the channel, program info, but instead of recording time to be for example from 10 to 11, it is from 10 to 10. That means it has not recrded anything.

3) The Tonight show is on series recording on the list of the scheduled event, but it is not hilighted in the guide & it won't get recorded.

4) At Random, the channels like NBC, ABC, CBS,... cannot be highlighted in the guide for recording & a message shows up that you need to subscribe to this channel.

5) Series recording get deselected for no reason & I have to select them again.

To make it short the DVR recording is not reliable.

[57U]

dadras, many people have these DVRs and they work fine the vast majority of the time. Your situation is definitely an anomaly.

Do you have your STB in a well ventillated area? Heat is a killer.

Signal strength is also often an issue, but you say that has already been addressed, perhaps one of your cable connections has occasional issues...

[dadras]

My STB is on top of a Sony DVD Recorder, which is off 90% of the time. There is a 6" clearance on top, 12" on back, 24" on left & 1/2" on right. I think it is well ventillated.

I didn't quite understand what could be a "cable connection issue". The input cable from cox is attached to the DVR & is secure. DVR is connected to my Samsung TV by component connection.

[57U]

Sometimes the RF-coax is not properly connected at either end, or the inside wire is bent, broken, too short for proper contact, etc. Sometimes a splitter is poor or not the appropriate 5-1000MHz rating, etc.

The connection problem could be intermittent and it could be inside or outside the house. Very difficult to track down sometimes without perseverence.