Digital TV's - Page 2

bevedfelker · 11-08-2015, 02:35 AM

Did not get my Seikis to scan at Fort Wilderness on cable last week either. Tried both recommended procedures. Nothing. My Sakyo in the bedroom scanned fine. Disconnected cable, raised antenna, turned on booster then the Seikis picked up 45 channels and all of them were dash channels indicating digital. The Seikis have no QAM. Only problem was most of the channels were Hispanic or religious channels.

And I agree -- Thor needs to do something about selling optional TVs that won't scan cable channels.

**EA37TS** · 11-08-2015, 03:22 AM

You may want to check out the posts on the forum at this link.

New Seiki LED TV can't find channels - AVS Forum | Home Theater Discussions And Reviews

ArrrV · 11-08-2015, 01:35 PM

Their was a brief reference to the AVS thread earlier in the post, but if you have no receiver, you have no options. These codes will not work if the TV does not have the correct receiver to pick up the higher frequency digital signals now being put out by campgrounds who provide digital and HD cable at the sites. The Seiko's pick up over the air (antenna) HD digital signals just fine, though they are more picky about antenna direction then other brands. But they cannot pick-up non basic digital cable signal.
In Orlando you can pick up over the air the major stations, plus more if you will rotate the antenna to see them. Not so much in other parts of the country where hills can get in the way of signal.
I do hope Thor is paying attention, as other lower priced TV's do have the full range of receivers and work well--such as GPX, Sankyo, Sanyo, Vizio.
A hint I learned the hard way--if you are looking to replace the units, take note of the viewing angle and height and try to watch the TV's at the store in the same configuration you would be watching in your coach--I bought some high end LG's which looked great in the store but when mounted up high we could not view a decent picture from the mounting height and angle.

**EA37TS** · 11-08-2015, 02:54 PM

When I looked at the AVS thread I went through a number of pages and on one that is buried within the second or third page listed a gmail account to obtain a Seiki code to enable QAM on the television and the code had nothing to do with a cable company tuner, Yes the ones that listed the 3 digit codes apply to cable tuners but the one in the post was code 31415 and is entered at the beginning of doing a channel search. One individual stated that after following those procedures they picked up over 80 channels.

I will say I have 2 Seiki televisions in my coach and have not yet had an issue with connecting to any campgrounds' cable system.

bevedfelker · 11-08-2015, 03:29 PM

I used that code on the unlock tab and still got Butkus. Used the 0-0-0-0 as well and also got nothing. Did the factory reset still got nothing. Never got any reference to QAM. Scanned in every scan choice possible. NOTHING. The only time the Seikis scanned and actually memorized channels was on the antenna or when connected to cable at two places in PA where their cable system is apparently not transmitting a signal like in the Orlando area.

Dbeskan · 05-21-2016, 03:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leshunter

Does anyone know what brand of TV's are coming in new on Axis 24.1's?

Seiki TVs on the 2017 Thor Axis--and am having problems getting cable at this camp ground. Here's the details:
Two days ago I was at a park with cable. With the Seiki TVs (have brand new 2017 Thor Axis) I pushed button, turned off green light for OTA, turned on TV, went to menu, changed from Air to Cable and scanned for cable channels. *All went perfect. *

The next day I was at a new park that had only OTA, not cable, so I turned on the green light for over the air TV, did the scan for air and found some channels to watch.

Third night at a different park once again. *(tonight), I turned on TV, switched to cable in menu on TV, scanned, and found 0 channels. *I then realized I forgot to manually push button to turn off green light (OTA signal), so pushed button after the fact. *I then turned off TV and tried all over again. Nothing! *Could not find any cable channels. *I tried several different times and also waited in between. *

I finally got the park maintenance person to check all cables, which he did. Cable at outside box received signal, as did my cable to box & Axis. He also checked there cable working going into one of the Seiki TVs and that was also receiving a signal.

There are no other buttons that I can find to push, no fuses blown that I can find, and am usually pretty tech savvy, but this is a dilemma. I've never had Seiki TVs before and also this rv park just switched over to all digital cable. *My neighbors have older RVs and their cable with their TVs are working.

I want mine to work for my first weekend with friends coming over to watch sports.

Any and all help is appreciated. *Thanks very much. *Please remember that it did work for me two nights ago.

ArrrV · 05-21-2016, 02:16 PM

If you are in a park with digital cable, you can't watch cable with your Seiki's. You will need to replace your sets (or borrow a converter box from the campground, if they even have them to lend that will convert the signal back to analog). The el cheapo Seiki's do not have a QAM receiver--which means that they cannot receive digital CABLE. They do have a digital Over The Air receiver, so if you are in range raise your antenna and rotate rotate rotate!!!! I replaced all my Seiki's during Black Friday sales. I also replaced the original splitters with splitters rated for HD, and added a cable amplifier to compensate for the two splitters in my coach. As you can guess, my DH gets grumpy if he misses the games!!!!
This issue has been on the forums for a while now, Thor is very much aware of it, though some responders will say they never have any trouble. They just have not run into parks who have updated service...yet.
Sorry for the bad news, and shame on Thor for charging for TV upgrades and providing the low price leader TV in the coach. QAM receivers have been around for a while and are standard on pretty much all but the lowest price brands--that is why your campsite neighbors in 5 year old rigs had cable and you didn't. You might go back to the dealer and request a change out of your Seiki's. Good Luck!!!

Jedsmom · 05-21-2016, 02:34 PM

We have a Seiki in our bedroom and a Jensen in the living area. Before we took delivery of the rig we asked the dealer to add a second coax input so we could run our DirecTV receivers separately. I don't know what they did internally, but on the outside we have 2 inputs. Works just fine with our dish.

On the rare occasion when we use a park's cable, we use a splitter from the cable box, change the input on both TVs, do a channel scan, and both are good to go.

I'm absolutely no expert on this stuff, but I wonder if all these problems have to do with how they're wired, and somehow are competing with each other. Because we insisted that they be wired separately we've never had issues.

ArrrV · 05-21-2016, 02:49 PM

I think DirectTV is a satellite provider, not cable, so you would need some additional cabling to connect with it, as your dealer provided for you. Using DirectTV you are bypassing park cable, so on the rare occasion you used park cable you just have not run into a campground providing only digital signal. If you did your Seiki would not work. No receiver, no workee.
You are correct that length of run matters, as does continuity of the cable--which can be impacted by wayward staples and twists and turns in the path. But if over the air works, and non-digital cable signal are received fine, than it is the TV receiver and not the cabling.
Me, I don't much watch TV while camping, but my DH would miss his games-- so short of converting to satellite I try to keep his TV a signal available!!!!!

bevedfelker · 05-21-2016, 02:57 PM

Jedsmom -- what has been described here in most of this thread is an internal problem with most of the Seiki TVs that Thor installed. They do not possess a QAM tuner that can take a encoded cable signal (like Comcast or Verizon) and decode it. It would be like you plugging in your cable to your TV without using the Comcast or Verizon box. Your TV probably would not decode the cable signal.

There is no simple fix to this except replacing the TVs with ones that have a QAM tuner. In my 2015 Vegas I have two Seikis (LR and outside) that will not decode a coded cable signal. The Saiyko in the bedroom decodes the signal fine. In some small RV parks that have their own dish system the Seikis will scan channels because those particular dish systems are not encoded. But in places like Disney World Ft Wilderness -- no way.

There were also comments in this thread about digital networks. The Seikis are digital systems -- so when they have an un-encoded cable signal or you use the antenna their channel scans will show stations that look like 24-1. Theie problem is not one of being digital. Their problem is having a tuner installed that is incapable of decoding an encoded cable signal.

The solution to my problem with the two Seikis will be my replacing them with LG TVs that have a QAM tuner.

**EA37TS** · 05-21-2016, 03:52 PM

Here is a short yet good article which explains the difference between QAM and ATSC.

Difference Between QAM and ATSC | Difference Between | QAM vs ATSC

**fhenn** · 05-21-2016, 05:26 PM

I have all ways had them remove the TV from the factory and give me credit. Than I go to Best Buy and buy their house brand Just mebut I hav all ways question the Quality of the entertainment equipment

Chance · 05-21-2016, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bevedfelker

.....cut....

The solution to my problem with the two Seikis will be my replacing them with LG TVs that have a QAM tuner.

That reminds me that I just purchased a 32-inch Samsung 1080P LED TV for my parents house, and was amazed that it only weighs about 8 pounds, and typical power consumption is listed at 27 or 28 watts. Maximum power is only around 55 watts. My own 32-inch Samsungs at home are much heavier and use a lot more power by comparison. They have changed a lot in a few years.

I've had such good luck with Samsung TVs that that's all I've been buying for years, so I don't know what others are like. In any case the light weight and low power consumption of this TV would make it great for motorhome use (assuming it would hold up in a bouncy RV -- would need testing). If running off batteries/inverter it should run a lot longer at under 30 watts.

coachk · 07-26-2016, 04:06 PM

I also have Seiki's throughout my 2015 ACE. When the warranty was still in effect I had it at the Camping World I bought it at for warranty work & had them check this problem out. Not one word was said about the TV's not having QAM. They just tightened the cables & said everything was fine.

How the hell can Thor install tv's that don't pickup digital cable? All of my tv's are useless in most of the RV parks. I was wondering if anyone has received any compensation from Thor? My warranty is over now but Thor has known of this problem. To me this should be a recall item. Who the hell wants tv's that can't pickup cable in rv's. Do we have any recourse whatsoever?

sky_blue · 07-26-2016, 04:26 PM

I have found a SEIKI TV that does have the QAM tuner.

But I have found other brands that are 32" Smart TVs with QAM for about $170.00

**EA37TS** · 07-26-2016, 04:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachk

I also have Seiki's throughout my 2015 ACE. When the warranty was still in effect I had it at the Camping World I bought it at for warranty work & had them check this problem out. Not one word was said about the TV's not having QAM. They just tightened the cables & said everything was fine.

How the hell can Thor install tv's that don't pickup digital cable? All of my tv's are useless in most of the RV parks. I was wondering if anyone has received any compensation from Thor? My warranty is over now but Thor has known of this problem. To me this should be a recall item. Who the hell wants tv's that can't pickup cable in rv's. Do we have any recourse whatsoever?

Thor will not compensate because the TVs do pick up digital channels but not in regions where the cable companies have switched over to QAM encoding, which is a small but slowly expanding market. Also, the TVs work just fine when they are connected to a set top box provided by the cable company.

This is from a Comcast FAQ page:

NOTE: Comcast does not guarantee channel availability through a QAM tuner. Comcast has been slowly encrypting all channels in many markets, if this is the case you will not be able to receive any channels without a set-top box. »customer.comcast.com/hel ··· ryption/

So, even if the TV has a QAM tuner you may be SOL without a set top box.

coachk · 07-26-2016, 04:52 PM

Thank you gbrown. I talked to Thor support & they swear it is the cable company that is the problem. They said all Seiki's have the QAM. They emphatically denied it was a tv problem. Their solution was to get a cable box at the campground which means you have to direct wire it to only 1 tv & that's all you can use. When I questioned why every other camper without a Seiki was getting cable yet I had to use a box I was told eventually they would have to use a box. Thor refuses to recognize this problem swearing the Seiki's they put in the 2015's have the QAM. I'm definitely frustrated.

sky_blue · 07-26-2016, 05:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coachk

Thank you gbrown. I talked to Thor support & they swear it is the cable company that is the problem. They said all Seiki's have the QAM. They emphatically denied it was a tv problem. Their solution was to get a cable box at the campground which means you have to direct wire it to only 1 tv & that's all you can use. When I questioned why every other camper without a Seiki was getting cable yet I had to use a box I was told eventually they would have to use a box. Thor refuses to recognize this problem swearing the Seiki's they put in the 2015's have the QAM. I'm definitely frustrated.

coachk - The issue is the cable companies. Some broadcast with QAM, some with ATSC. And to add to that, where I live, Comcast encrypts the signal. So even my QAM/ATSC TV in the house cannot get channels without Comcast's box.

I simply carry a QAM/ATSC box with HDMI out.

Chance · 07-26-2016, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbrown

coachk - The issue is the cable companies. Some broadcast with QAM, some with ATSC. And to add to that, where I live, Comcast encrypts the signal. So even my QAM/ATSC TV in the house cannot get channels without Comcast's box.

I simply carry a QAM/ATSC box with HDMI out.

Do you carry a "Comcast" TV box? If so, does it work with other cable companies? It would seem that if encrypted it would only work with Comcast, or whoever supplied the box with their encryption.

And if the QUAM/ATSC box is a generic tuner, then wouldn't a TV with that capability not also work?

sky_blue · 07-26-2016, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chance

Do you carry a "Comcast" TV box? If so, does it work with other cable companies? It would seem that if encrypted it would only work with Comcast, or whoever supplied the box with their encryption.

And if the QUAM/ATSC box is a generic tuner, then wouldn't a TV with that capability not also work?

Chance - I carry the generic one with HDMI out. It cost me about $45. To buy 3 new TVs would be 3 * 170 (plus tax). IMHO the RV parks would not have the Comcast issue unless they give you a free box to use. Besides, my account in Silicon Valley would probably not work for Comcast in another area.

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