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CH116 on Charter-What is it?

B

BlueWanderer

I came across this odd channel some time ago. It's in black and white and looks to be some sort of a security camera. When I first saw it, it was facing a screen that shown various waves for a while. Now it appears to be pointing down on the cement tile floor with looks to be a bolted down table. Various objects like boxes and cable parts appear in frame every once in a while. Very strange.

I'm wondering what exactly is this channel 116 and why is it being broadcast on Charter cable?
 
Some cable systems have an auxiliary camera set up in the lobby of a building, usually the subscriber's residence. Do you live in an apartment building or co-op?
 
On Charter in Jackson, TN there is a screen that continually shows a chart like an oscilloscope on channel 117 in basic service. At the bottom there is print that says HP Cable TV Analyzer. I just wonder what the purpose is of showing that. This isn't on through the digital tuner though, as channel 117 there is Noggin/The N. I know that 117 on digital is probably a different channel though.
 
DToTheJ said:
Some cable systems have an auxiliary camera set up in the lobby of a building, usually the subscriber's residence. Do you live in an apartment building or co-op?
Click to expand...

No, I don't.


anotherguy said:
On Charter in Jackson, TN there is a screen that continually shows a chart like an oscilloscope on channel 117 in basic service. At the bottom there is print that says HP Cable TV Analyzer. I just wonder what the purpose is of showing that. This isn't on through the digital tuner though, as channel 117 there is Noggin/The N. I know that 117 on digital is probably a different channel though.
Click to expand...

Well, that's odd since Ch117 is dead air on basic service here in the northern Alabama market. The chart deal was going on for a while but there was no print at the bottom of the screen.
 
I've seen something similar (an HP Cable TV Analyzer) on our Insight (soon to be Comcast) system here several years ago.
I think it may have been used as part of the upgrade to 750mhz? In any case, my guess is that cable operators use this sort of channel for remote testing/troubleshooting of some sort.
 
anotherguy said:
On Charter in Jackson, TN there is a screen that continually shows a chart like an oscilloscope on channel 117 in basic service. At the bottom there is print that says HP Cable TV Analyzer. I just wonder what the purpose is of showing that. This isn't on through the digital tuner though, as channel 117 there is Noggin/The N. I know that 117 on digital is probably a different channel though.
Click to expand...

I was thinking maybe you had a TV set with STD-HRC-IRC options that make it possible to get channels up to 125, but with this hint, maybe this is the way the channels are allotted on your cable system.
 
BlueWanderer said:
I came across this odd channel some time ago. It's in black and white and looks to be some sort of a security camera. When I first saw it, it was facing a screen that shown various waves for a while. Now it appears to be pointing down on the cement tile floor with looks to be a bolted down table. Various objects like boxes and cable parts appear in frame every once in a while. Very strange.

I'm wondering what exactly is this channel 116 and why is it being broadcast on Charter cable?
Click to expand...

That is probably a security camera at that headend monitoring for theft. Where is this system located? Why would they put a security camera on the air?

For the Cable TV analyzer, they probably did put that on there so the technicians could monitor it from their homes. I know that certain Time Warner systems use Channel 125 as their EAS Channel for digital cable force-tunes during EAS alerts (The text EAS Channel appears on this channel).

I wonder if the headend security camera channel will have better ratings than My Network TV and Ion combined?
 
DToTheJ said:
anotherguy said:
On Charter in Jackson, TN there is a screen that continually shows a chart like an oscilloscope on channel 117 in basic service. At the bottom there is print that says HP Cable TV Analyzer. I just wonder what the purpose is of showing that. This isn't on through the digital tuner though, as channel 117 there is Noggin/The N. I know that 117 on digital is probably a different channel though.
Click to expand...

I was thinking maybe you had a TV set with STD-HRC-IRC options that make it possible to get channels up to 125, but with this hint, maybe this is the way the channels are allotted on your cable system.
Click to expand...

This comes in on any of the sets I own that aren't connected to a digital tuner and they are all capable of picking up to channel 125. The highest basic channel they actually use for TV though is 78.

I also found out something interesting a few days ago concerning cable Internet. In the office where I work we had some problems with the cable Internet service we use as a backup to the regular network. The cable technician told me that the upload stream was on channel 2 and the download stream was on channel 105. (I assume basic, not digital) Am I right in assuming that the streams would be on subcarriers of the channels? Channel 2 is a TV channel (CW 100+) but 105 is otherwise unoccupied. Also, would these be the channels that are used in most areas?
 
anotherguy said:
On Charter in Jackson, TN there is a screen that continually shows a chart like an oscilloscope on channel 117 in basic service. At the bottom there is print that says HP Cable TV Analyzer. I just wonder what the purpose is of showing that.
Click to expand...

That must've been the weird thing that was on Channel 81 on AT&T when I lived in Bristol, CT several years back. (The cable operator is now COMACAST). It was a pain in the neck. When I used to have to auto program the TV after a power failure it would program the damn thing in and I'd have to remove it.
 
MarcB said:
That must've been the weird thing that was on Channel 81 on AT&T when I lived in Bristol, CT several years back. (The cable operator is now COMACAST). It was a pain in the neck. When I used to have to auto program the TV after a power failure it would program the damn thing in and I'd have to remove it.
Click to expand...

If it wasn't for the auto channel program on my tv, I would never have found this channel in the first place. I am not sure if it's really a security camera. What security camera just shows a close-up of the floors for months now and no one notices it or the way the camera is position? Perhaps it just a testing device/channel like some has suggested and they just abandon it or forgot about it.

Btw, ch 78 is the highest listed channel on the basic service cable in my area.
 
anotherguy said:
On Charter in Jackson, TN there is a screen that continually shows a chart like an oscilloscope on channel 117 in basic service. At the bottom there is print that says HP Cable TV Analyzer. I just wonder what the purpose is of showing that. This isn't on through the digital tuner though, as channel 117 there is Noggin/The N. I know that 117 on digital is probably a different channel though.
Click to expand...

I remember seeing this "oscilloscope" screen on my system as well! And I am quite certain that it also used to be on Channel 117 - because when I tune to that channel now, all I get is a black screen (as opposed to the static that is found on Channels 118, 119, etc.)
 
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