This is driving me just nuts.  I can't figure out why I can't get an HD signal from my set-top box.  Right now, my setup up is as follows:

1. Motorola / Comcast HD Box

2. HDMI Output to TV [HMDI 1]

3. Coax Output to PCTV card

4. DVI output from PC to HD input on TV, single cable  [HMDI 2]

 I can watch HDTV from the box to the TV if I switch the input on the TV from HDMI 1 to HDMI 2.

I cannot watch HDTV on the computer, and when I watch those channels, they are certainly not in HD.

I know that the issue lies in the coax from the box being connected to the analog connection on the PVR card.

When I connect the coax from the box to the QAM input, Media Center sees no TV input.

Slowly driving me nuts and making me want to spend more money when I know that I should not have to.

I tried to download the QAM enabler I found while tearing through this site for help, and came to the one hosted on http://shspvr.com/  but the FTP site asked for a username and password, and thus failed to allow me to download the file. 

 What Gives?!?!?

 Please help . . .

David, if you get this figured out clue me in please.

A few things.

1. There's no such thing as an analog HD channel. HD channels are all digital. I took a quick look at your tuner card and I see that it has two inputs. One for analog and one for ATSC/QAM. First of all you need to hook the coax up to the ATSC/QAM input to receive the clearQAM HD channels.

2. I don't think this tuner supports clearQAM in Vista Media Center. The only way to get clearQAM in VMC is if the driver tricks VMC into thinking the tuner is an ATSC tuner and maps the clearQAM channels. There are a few tuners on the market that have drivers that implement this hack. The HDHomeRun Network Tuner is one of the most popular. For full native clearQAM support you need Vista w/ TV Pack or Windows 7.

BTW, clearQAM will only get you the local channels in HD. All other HD channels are normally encrypted by the cable providers and you need a CableCARD tuner to watch them. With Vista that means you need an OEM PC that is CableCARD certified. With Windows 7, once it ships and Microsoft releases the Digital Cable Adviser tool, a CableCARD tuner can be connected to any PC that meets certain requirements.

Okay, thanks for your help.  Now, I have windows 7.  It refuses to recognize the QAM coax-connection tuner.  I have tried both straightline from the box to the QAM and also with a splitter from the box to both the QAM and the analog.  The thing refuses to recognize anything but the analog, whichever way I try.  I uninstalled the card, used the HCWclear application, restarted, stopped Win7 from automatically finding drivers, and used the most recent drivers on the Hauppage site.  It still did not work, so I followed the same uninstall process and tried both connection configurations with the coax I mentioned above, then installed the other pack on the Hauppage site, which also installs WinTV 7.

Neither WinTV 7 nor WMC will recognize the QAM tuner.

I have GOT to be doing something wrong, but drin on an hull plate if I can figure out what the frak it is.

Anyone using Windows 7 and a Hauppage device.  Ah, and another thing, which might be vitally important:

I don't recall whether I purchased an 1800 or a 1600.  Both Vista and Win7 say (in Device Manager) that it's a 1600, but the Hauppage website clearly shows the 1600 with only two coax connection -- mine has FM radio, ergo a third coax connection.  The Hauppage site shows that the 1800 has three coax connections.  Could this be related to the answer? 

 I just want to get what I'm paying for out of cable.  I'm such a technosnob that I refuse to use my TV remote.  I want only to use my computer remote to watch TV and control the media experience.  Although I'm paying for an HD box and an HD lineup, I'm not watching anything HD (and it's been about four months now) unless I download it.  I got a PCTV card for a reason.  Do I need to buy a different PCTV card to watch and record HDTV that's broadcast and not downloaded?

FYI, I do have a firewire connection to the Motorola DCT, and it works fine with that firewire capture program DVHS, is it?  I can record whatever's playing on the box, but I can't change the channel, use the remote, et cetera. 

 Sorry for rambling;  I just want to make sure I'm setting up the situations properly.  Thanks!

 Okay, here's an update:

Connection Setup

1. Coax from wall splits; one to to QAM tuner, one to Cable box

2. Coax from Cable box to other (NTSC?) tuner

Both tuners are recognized, and WMC now recognizes the HD channels.

The HD Channels are viewable, but are still not in HD (which I can check by switching inputs on the TV from HMDI 1 [computer DVI/HDMI cable] to HDMI 2 [cable box HDMI/HDMI cable]

Any suggestions?

I'm really not familiar with your tuner, so I don't know what you need to do in order to enable the QAM part.

If you want to watch all the HD channels you get via your HD box, you gonna need one of the ATI Digital Cable Tuners and a CableCARD from your cable provider. The ATI DCT is the only CableCARD tuner on the market currently. But, since Microsoft hasn't released the Digital Cable Advisor tool yet, you either need to hack your system (search for OSFRLoader) or wait until Microsoft releases the tool or the ATI DCT won't work on your system. Until Microsoft releases the tool, these tuners only work on a computer with a special BIOS. The OSFRLoader will hack a computer w/o this special BIOS to be recognized as one that has it.

Yes I had the same problem with the HVR-1800 when I upgraded to TVpack 2008 (adds QAM  support to Windows Media Center); no QAM tuner detected.

The key was that two coax feeds are required to the HVR-1800. One feed is for analog TV and connects to the "TV In" connector and the other coax connects to the "Ant In" connector (supports off-air ATSC digital channels or CATV QAM [digital] channels).  The signals carried on the two coax cables are identical.

The HVR-1800's QAM tuner is only connected to the "Ant In" connector of the card, hence the need to split the Coax and have two feeds to the HVR-1800. Once I split the signal and provided an input to the "Ant In" connector, Media Center (with TVPack 2008) detected the QAM tuner (by virtual of seeing QAM inputs to the card)