| Frequently Asked Questions Relating to Cable Service |
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Do you offer paperless billing? |
Yes. Click here for all the deatils.
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Can I pay my cable bill online ? |
Yes. There are many ways to pay your cable bill:
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| How do I use my Remote Control? |
| Click on this link to view our Remote Control Technical Support. |
Guide Plus+ (EPG System)
TV Guide On Screen and Guide Plus+ Gold is an interactive electronic programme guide (EPG) system that is used in consumer electronics products, such as television sets, DVD recorders, personal video recorders, and other digital television devices. It offers interactive on-screen programme listings that enable viewers to navigate, sort, select, and schedule television programming for viewing and recording. Older systems will no longer be able to download listings once analog shutdown is done in 2009. |
| The updated programme listings are provided to users free-of-charge, regardless of whether they receive their television signal from an over-the-air (OTA) broadcast or via cable TV or Satellite TV. The service is supported by advertising. |
| The original analog TV service uses the vertical blanking interval (VBI) of host television stations that datacast the service, similar to the way closed captioning and teletext are broadcast. This takes 24 hours to download on initial setup because the required data is sent at a low bitrate. |
| The new service, launched in the United States in 2006, is entirely digital, using the ATSC digital television standard. While this will significantly improve the service, older systems will no longer be able to download listings once analog shutdown is done in early 2009. |
| It should be noted that the Program and System Information Protocol (PSIP) within the ATSC standard already allows for each station to send out its own EPG information, and in the U.S. the FCC in fact requires stations to do so for OTA (but not cable, unless they are rebroadcasting an OTA station that provides the PSIP data). However, actual implementation is rather spotty, and usually very minimal -- stations often don't have full descriptions (or even correct information) on the current show, much less the next 3 hours required of them, or the 16 days worth of guide information that can be transmitted. Additionally, ATSC tuners are not required to even show the EPG, only the very limited information for the current show on the current channel. |
| The following brands have compatible products: |
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JVC |
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Matsushita (Panasonic) |
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Mitsubishi |
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Philips |
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Thomson (RCA, GE, and ProScan) |
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Samsung |
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Sharp |
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Sony |
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Pioneer |
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Daewoo |
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LG Group |
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| How do I read or delete a message from my Cable Box? |
To Delete a Message on your Cable Box
(this will show as a red light indicator, an envelope icon, or the word Messages will display on the front of your box): |
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Using your remote, click twice on the Menu or Settings button. |
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Scroll down in the menu until Messages is highlighted and hit OK/Select. |
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Click OK/Select again to open the actual message to read it. |
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When you are ready to delete the message, hit your right arrow on your remote so that the X icon is highlighted and hit OK/Select. |
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Click the Exit button to close the Menu. |
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| What are sun outages and how do they affect my cable service? |
| Each Spring and Fall, cable companies experience a technical phenomenon called "sun outages." For a period of about 2 weeks, the sun causes "solar interference" to all geostationary satellite signals. As the sun's path across the sky gets lower each day, there are times when it is in a direct line behind a communication satellite that is sending signals to a receiving satellite dish here on earth. When the dish antenna is looking into the sun, the interference from the sun overrides the signals from the satellite. This is when a sun outage occurs. |
Sun outages occur during the months of February/March and September/October and can last as long as 15 minutes a day and take place over a period of 15 days. The effects of a sun outage vary in degree from minimal to total outage throughout the 15-day period. Once it reaches its peak, the interference will gradually decrease
becoming less noticeable each day after. |
| Unfortunately, there is technically nothing we can do to prevent sun outages from occurring. Each satellite service that we receive signals from will experience this interference at predictable times. During these times, we will provide a schedule for you to confirm the possibility that the channel you may be viewing is experiencing a sun outage. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause you. |
Click here to read more details and to see examples of
what sun outages look like. |
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| What is Co-Channel Interference? |
Co-channel interference is when a TV broadcast signal skips hundreds of miles from its point of origin, then interferes with another channel on the same frequency. This affects off-air channels received from an antenna. |
This interference happens during hot weather and is most severe when the temperature is above 90 degrees F. or when there is thunderstorm activity in the area. These conditions cause the atmosphere to become heavily ionized. |
During this time, you may see glimpses of a channel from another area while watching a local channel. The only cure is to wait for weather conditions to improve. |
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| How do I connect my audio & video cables to my DVR? |
| Click on this link to view our A/V Connect Guide. |
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If I am renting, do I need my landlords permission to get
Thames Valley Communications installed? |
| Yes. Click here to view our Landlord Permission Form. |
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| What if I have no picture? |
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Make sure the TV/VCR and converter box (if applicable)
are plugged in and the wall switch is on. |
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Check house circuit breaker/test the outlet with a lamp. |
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Check/replace batteries for the remote control. |
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| What if I have no sound or low sound? |
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Turn the volume up on the TV. |
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Check the remote control mute function. |
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Make sure you have the volume on your TV set high enough;
then adjust the volume on the cable remote. |
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| What if I have a herringbone pattern, faint lines or a “hum” bar? |
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First adjust fine tuning on the TV. |
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Check and tighten cable fittings to the TV, VCR and wallplate. |
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Your TV may require service. |
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| What if the picture rolls, jumps or flashes on/off? |
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Adjust TV set vertical hold until picture is clear. |
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Adjust the fine tuning on the TV. |
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Check and tighten cable fittings to the TV, VCR and wallplate. |
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| What if the picture shows double/multiple images or faint ghosts? |
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Check and tighten cable fittings to the TV, VCR and wallplate. |
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Remove the antenna from the VHF terminals when cable is used. |
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| What if a black border frames the top or bottom of the screen? |
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Adjust TV set’s vertical hold. |
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| What if the audio has a distinct buzz or hum? |
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Turn the volume control on the TV set to low or mid range. |
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Adjust volume to desired level with the converter remote control. |
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Adjust the fine tuning on the TV. |
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| What if the TV set remote control won’t turn TV off? |
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Plug TV set’s power into wall, not converter box. |
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| What if the images on all channels are fuzzy/snowy? |
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Tune the TV to channel 3, if using a converter box. |
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Bypass the converter box/VCR. Connect the cable directly to the TV. |
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I can’t enter 2 digits on my remote to make the channel change,
I have to enter 3 digits |
| You must set your auto-tune options to auto tune. Here's how: |
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Using your remote, click twice on the Menu or Settings button. |
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Scroll down in the menu until Setup is highlighted and hit OK/Select. |
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Make sure Guide Setup is highlighted and click OK/Select. |
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Scroll down to the third entry in the list, which says Channel entry behavior: No Auto Tune, press your left arrow on the remote and it will change to Auto Tune. Now press OK/Select. |
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Click the Exit button to close the Menu. |
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| I have a picture, but no sound |
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Verify that the mute button is not in use. |
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Make sure your Audio settings on TV is on Stereo NOT SAP or mono. |
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| I have a TVC converter box and my picture is blurry |
Unplug your converter box from the wall; let it stay off for 30-45 seconds, then plug it back in. This will refresh/reset the settings on your converter box and fixes most issues. |
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| I can’t get above channel 24 |
In the menu set-up of the TV make sure that you have CATV or Cable selected and not antenna as your source. You may need to do an auto-program on your TV. |
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| Are there any other changes that are coming in the near future? |
Yes. We are going to be adding several new neighborhoods and towns to our developing company. We will also be introducing new products and refining our offerings on a regular basis. |
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| If our FAQ's do not answer your question please feel free to e-mail HelpDesk@tvcconnect.net for further assistance or call us at 860-446-4009. |
