DigitalCableTunerDiagnosticsTool
Latest
CableCARD diagnostic tool gets previewed at Media Center University
Say hello to some of the first screens from the Digital Cable Tuner Diagnostics (DCTD) tool, courtesy of CE Pro, who got a peek as it was shown off during the Media Center University currently underway at EHX Spring. It can check individual channel strength, whether you're properly paired and provisioned with the cable company and that you've been set up with all the channels you're paying for. The bad news is you probably won't be doing any of this, unless the software leaks or something changes, since it's only going to be available for the ($500 membership fee required) Media Center Integrator Alliance. For those who've dropped coin on a high end custom media center installation, it should cut the time and heartache installed significantly, but detailed help for the rest of us is in another castle.
New CableCARD diagnostic tool for Windows Media Center makes installation slightly less frustrating
Let's be honest, getting a CableCARD to work with Windows Media Center is far, far, far from a smooth process. Thankfully, the Media Center Integrator Alliance -- this sort of the things is its bag, naturally -- are set to show off a Digital Cable Tuner Diagnostics tool at next week's Electronic House Expo. It'll provide all kinds of information on your tuner and CableCARD, including modulation type, format, frequency, carrier, PCR Lock, encoding level, and authorization -- and if all that goes way over your head, there's an option to export the data to XML and send it to someone who can help. No word on when we'll see an official release, but no matter what, it won't be soon enough.
