HDTV Channels and basic cable

[rasta_pasta]

I bought my first HDTV at Christmas and went through the channel set up with the basic cable service that I currently. To my surprise I noticed that I was picking up HD channels - ABCHD, CBSHD, PBSHD, FOXHD, etc. These channels were located in the 700 channel range. Not long after that the channels moved into the regular channel numbering system - sort of. The HD channel for the local cbs station sdtv channel 8 was located at 8.1, channel 6 (abc) was was at 6.1 and so on. I recently made the mistake of re-running the channel set up and the channels are now gone. Any suggestions on why I am no longer able to receive the HD channels? I have a Philips 42 in. plasma. I have searched and searched and they are not there.

Thanks

[57U]

They should be there. I assume you're looking in the evening when the most HD programmes are on.

http://www.hdtvoice.com/voice/showthread.php?t=16662

Maybe they got remapped again.

The weird thing is, it sounds like you were picking up the ATSC (OTA) channels and not necessarily the QAM signal from the cable?

What's the model number of the TV? Does it have a QAM tuner?

[rasta_pasta]

It is a Philips 42PF5321D/37. And yes it a QAM tuner and specifically states that it is for unscrambled HD signals. Is it possible that I accidentially turned off the QAM part of the tuner?

Here's a spec sheet:

http://www.hdtvsolutions.com/pdf/42pf5321dSPEC.pdf

Your thoughts?

Thanks

[Ratman]

My suggestion....

Unplug the TV from power for a few minutes.
disconnect the coax (cable) from the TV.
Plug power back to TV.
Verify that the TV is set to "Cable" (or Digital cable) not "Air/antenna" and run a complete channel scan/search. (obviously it won't detect anything).
Re-connect the coax and re-perform a channel search/scan and keep your fingers crossed. :)

[rasta_pasta]

I tried your suggestion and gained ESPN2HD of all things - at least I have one HD channel. Kinda odd that it is this one. LEt me know if you think of anything else.

Thanks

[Ratman]

Are you using a Cablecard? If so... have your cable provider "hit" the card.

[rasta_pasta]

No Cablecard, I am just using the tv as it came out of the box. And as I read up on Cablecards, it seems even stranger that I am receiving ESPN2HD since it would be a "premium" channel. I am not even sure that my TV has a slot for a cable card. I assume it would be mentioned in the specs and I do not remember seeing a slot, but I was not looking for one either when I installed it. Does it seem kinda strange to you that I am receiving the ESPN2 channel, with basic cable? Is my lack of "basic" HD channel reception something that the cable company can help with as well?

Thanks again.

[57U]

Sometimes, some (premium) HD channels are on free preview, or they simply forget to encrypt them

[Ratman]

I think a call to your provider is in order. They may have migrated to SDV (switched digital video) or decided to encrypt some/all of their digital channels.