Comcast Chattanooga QAM Channels

The FCC requires cable companies to offer, as a part of even their most basic service plan, any local network channels that customers could get over the air (CBS, FOX, NBC, etc). They usually send this in an unencrypted QAM signal. What does this mean and what is QAM? For those not in the know, Quadrature Amplitude Modulation is just a fancy term meaning the type of digital signal coming over most cable TV networks. What it means is if you have a QAM tuner, such as one built into an HDTV, then you should be able to receive, at no additional cost, all of the network channels in HD. Most of their premium channels will be in an encrypted QAM format and unwatchable without a cable box (yeah yeah, or CableCard). However, what they don't have to do is make those channels easy for you to find and watch. This is why most people don't bother with or have never even heard of QAM channels.

A couple months ago, I changed the QAM tuner in my home theater computer (HTPC) running Vista Media Center. I was previously using an HD HomeRun, which worked great with its hybrid driver that tricked Media Center into recording QAM, but it was network based. When streaming two HD channels from it at the same time, it was upwards of 50mbit/s on my home network. This was causing some issues when I was trying to use any type of media extender, such as the XBOX 360, to stream from the HTPC at the same time. After Microsoft released the TV Pack for Media Center, which supported native QAM tuning, I decided it was time to swap the tuner out with a Hauppauge WinTV-HVR-2250. Sure the TV Pack is meant for OEMs only, but what they hey. As a side note, the TV Pack worked fine without even reinstalling the OS, but that's not where I'm going with this. What happened after the install was an expected and required rescan of all of my channels, both analog and digital, and the included aggravation of deciphering over 400 channels found.

That's right, 414 to be precise. As I already said, cable companies don't have to make it easy for you to know that channel 62.16 through 62.70 are music channels, or channel 90.1 is Fox HD. Some digital channels come with embedded data that will give you a hint as to what it is, but most do not. Also, there's plenty of channels that show up and are encrypted, so you have no idea what it is. Not that you could watch it anyway. What's worse is that no region is set up the same. Atlanta channels are different than Chattanooga channels. Since it was impossible to find Comcast QAM channel information for the Chattanooga area, and most any other region, I took it upon myself to compile a list of all the channels I found at the time of the scan, and updated the list with whatever information I could glean from putting a pair of eyes on it. It helped me keep everything straight and update my HTPC with the guide information it would need to do scheduled recording. It also helped me to ignore the channels that were useless to me. This list was mostly for personal use, which is why I included some of my channel remappings, but if it could help at least one other person, why not share?

Linked below is the list I made in what is probably an indecipherable format. The "Channel Number" column is obvious. "Channel Name" is either the embedded data, or just me looking at the channel to figure out what it is. "Encrypted" lets you know whether it's actually viewable or not without a cable box. "Enabled" and "Remapped To" are my personal settings letting me know if enabled the channel, and what channel number I used to remap it to. The purpose for channel remapping is just so, for instance, Fox HD (90.1) can be next to the analog Fox channel (11) for easier guide viewing. "Embedded Data" is if the channel has identification data built into the digital stream, or if it was already recognized by the Media Center guide listings. "Analog" lets you know if the channel is digital or analog, and "HD" indicates if it's hi-def. A common misconception is that all digital channels are hi-def. This isn't the case. Columns are in list form and are sortable. I'll try to keep it updated as often as I rescan channels (not very often), but let me know of any corrections or additions. I hope it's helpful, and I hope it encourages interested parties in other regions to do the same.

Comcast Chattanooga QAM Channels

Update: Got a tip from James in the comments about Comcast ending analog support. As of 7/27/09, some areas in Chattanooga still have analog channels, and some do not. Eventually all analog above channel 13 will be gone. After that, the analog channels in the guide will no longer be of use to anyone.

Update 2: I've updated the channels since the analog axe. There have been many changes. View them here.