[mythtv-users] HDPVR for $169 at buy.com

[Brian Wood]

On Thursday, June 24, 2010 03:09:41 pm Ben Kamen wrote:

> > I asked about CableCard at my local cable office, and they had to go get
> > "the guy" who knew anything about them. Note the singular.
> 
> Oh yea. And having working in the cable industry (granted, 20yrs ago), I
> could absolutely confirm this.

I also worked in CATV, but more than 30 years ago. Can you say .412" feeder and pressure taps?

> 
> Typically, there's *maybe* 1 engineer in the office. (and a single office
> might cover multiple towns like the place I worked) They used to be RF
> engineers. This would sort of exclude them from knowing much about
> anything computer/digital based.

Though a lot of them are computer hobbyists. I find that the same people attracted to Amateur Radio years ago are playing 
with computers today.

You can't expect every installer to be a BScEE, but it would be nice if they were at least familiar with Ohm's Law.

> 
> With the bottom line being so low at most cable co's these days, it
> wouldn't surprise me if you were talking to trained monkeys.

I doubt it, trained animals probably cost a lot more than job-seeking High School dropouts.

New technology is always a challenge to cable operators. I remember when we first started getting reports from the field 
about TV sets where "channel 2" might be any channel. We thought at first the techs were drinking on the job, but it turned 
out to be true. Since we were a 12-channel system, the installer had to make sure each channel was tuned correctly, which 
could be a challenge with some of the early electronic tuners.