DVR Channel says it times out when I turn TV on in the moring

Hello,

If the cable box is left on the same channel for 6 hours, the cable box will change to the inactivity message. 

Thanks,

Allan - Cox Support Forums Moderator 

Not true Allen. I have 4 boxes and the ONLY channel to switch to channel 1998 is FOX News. It does NOT time out and switch for MSNBC or CNN, I have tested it numerous times. I figured it had something to do with Cox controlling the ratings or something similar to that. Mike

ianmugs, I do understand your frustrations and we want you to be able to enjoy your service. Having parental controls set up on the box can make it cut off if a rating block is present. Please check to ensure all connections to your box and to the wall are tight. Power cycle your equipment and let us know if the issue reoccurs. Thank you.

 

 

Thanks for responding Lindsey, but I don't buy it. This has nothing to do with connections or parental controls. We have tested numerous channels, most recently ABC & HGTV, and neither one of them timed out after 6 hours and went to channel 1998 like Fox News does. Something else is going on here.

Fox News is actually on channel 64/1064 in HRD. Channel 1998 is what we call a “virtual” channel that merely displays a slate message. In this case, this is related to SDV (switched digital video) technology. Instead of the traditional method of broadcasting the signals for all TV channels all the time, Switched Digital Video technology only sends signals for programs customers are watching or recording. This frees up bandwidth and allows us to offer more channels and more Guide features.

If a TV/cable box is left on an SDV channel for longer than 6 hours and has not received any commands from the remote control during that time, you may get a message on screen that says to press Select to continue watching the channel. If no commands are received, the message on screen will display "The channel you are watching has timed out due to inactivity. Enter the channel number to resume viewing." Many TV providers utilize SDV technology in this manner, as it maximizes bandwidth for continued channel lineup expansion.

To keep the DVR from going idle when watching one channel for long periods of time, press a button on the remote every few hours. Also, if you power off your DVR at night, setting the DVR’s “Power-On” channel to a specific channel number instead of “last channel viewed” may help to avoid the channel timeout message.

This is one of the "new" issues that I have been complaining about. The last paragraph with the explanation and solution is what I needed to know, 

"if you power off your DVR at night, setting the DVR’s “Power-On” channel to a specific channel number instead of “last channel viewed” may help to avoid the channel timeout message".

And about this SDV I did not know about either.

There is still the issue as to the  replay function for channel(s) that you have set to for replay that I have been having problems with since late last year.