Com

The Com is DirecTV’s Headend solution offering 48-138 channels all from one location and delivered to the guest rooms via RF or IPTV. The Com started as the Com1000 then became the Com2000 and the latest being the Com3000.

Com1000/2000/3000

Com3000 units are password protected. The password is: com3k The Technicolor Master Password is: TechnicolorOK or TechnicolorOk

If you need to gain access to the GUI interface for the built-in internal switch, connect to 192.168.10.3 (old software) If the Com3000 has the new software you will need to connect to 192.168.10.2. You will be prompted for a username and password: Username: admin Password: (leave this field blank)

Com3000 Internal managed Switch Numbering

Inside the managed switch you will be able to set a router port and enable fast leave on each port in the IGMP section. The numbering of the ports goes from *-11

The following is an explanation of what each port is.

  • * – This port is used to indicate that all ports should have the change made
  • 1-6 – These are the Com51 slots and are in reverse order. 1 is slot 6 and 2 is slot 5 and so forth
  • 7-8 These are the QAM slots and are also in reverse. With 7 Being slot 1 and 8 being slot 0
  • 9 – This is the 1Gbe ports and control both of them as the 1Gbe ports are shared with each other
  • 10  – This is for the 10Gbe1 / 2.5Gbe1 port
  • 11 – This is for the 10Gbe2 /2.5Gbe2 port

How to connect to a Com system:

In order to connect to the Com Systems, you will need to connect it to the Com via ethernet to one of the ethernet ports on the Com as well as change your laptop’s IPv4 settings from “Obtain an IP Address Automatically” to “Use the Following IP Address.” Set the following values:

  • IP address: 192.168.3.254
  • Subnet mask: 255.255.0.0

After you have set these, select OK to save the settings and open a web browser. You now should be able to connect to the Com System using the IP address 192.168.3.18. This is the default address for the card in Slot One. Slot Two would be 192.168.3.19. With this in mind, the slots continue as follows:

  1. 192.168.3.18
  2. 192.168.3.19
  3. 192.168.3.20 and so forth

This is important to know in the event that you need to log into a specific card on the Com chassis.

Setting up an EPG for regular QAM output:

If you need to load an EPG onto a Com System, first decide what channel to load it onto and set it via the DestPort: field on the EPG tab. To discover what port number to use, click on the QAM tab. You will see a list of QAM’s listed as Qam1,Qam2,Qam3, etc. To the right of these is the Qam’s port base and starting channel. Example: if you look at Qam1, to the right the port base should be 16 and the start channel to the right of that.

To the right of the Chan box you will see a -1,-2,-3, etc. box. These are the Qam subchannels. Example: if Qam1 is on port 16 and it’s starting channel is 23, then -1 would be 23.1, -2 would be 23.2, -3 would be 23.3, etc. IMPORTANT: when moving along with the sub channels fields, the port number also increases. This means if you want the EPG to be located on 23.4, you need to increase the starting port by 4. 16+4 = 20. Therefore, port 20 will be the desired channel.

When choosing where to place the EPG, look for an open subchannel that has nothing streaming on it. This will be represented by a 0.0 in the field on the Qam -1,-2, -3, etc. Anything that has a bit rate means something is already streaming on that subchannel.

Once you have chosen your channel,  click on the EPG tab of the Com then click on the Guide.xml button. This will load all of the channels into the blank field. BEFORE YOU CLICK SUBMIT, CHANGE THE FOLLOWING FIELDS:

  • DestIP: 192.168.6.2. Use this address because it is the address of the Qam modulator. It will be 1.2.3.4 after you click Guide.xml, which is the configuration for DCI401 boxes.
  • DestPort: 20 port 20 as per the example above. This will be whatever port you decide.
  • TimezoneOffset: Using the numbers to the right, set to whichever timezone the system is located in (Pacific: 8 Mountain: 7 Central: 6 Eastern: 5).
  • TimezonePsip: 1
  • Mode: Use 0 if you are setting up a normal Com delivered guide. Set it to 1 if you are located somewhere that ignores daylight savings. After you click Guide.xml, it will be set to a 3. This is the setting for a property using DCI401 boxes.
  • LogoTftpServerIP: Leave this blank.
  • LogoFilename: Leave this blank.

After you have set all of your values. click submit. After a few minutes, you should be able to go back to the QAM tab on the Com and your chosen port should now have a value greater than 0.0, indicating that the subchannel is now streaming. Scan a test TV to verify that everything is working properly.

How to Ignore Daylight Savings with DCI401 and AEP:

When installing DCI 401’s or the new AEP system, it may be necessary to ignore daylight savings depending on the installation location. When creating the EPG, the Mode field is used to both configure the EPG for DCI401’s (.XML) and the new AEP (Android). This field is also where the EPG can be set to ignore DST.

In order to set the mode for both .XML and ignore DST, take the value for each and add them together. Example: .XML = mode 3 and IgnoreDST = mode 1. To combine them, add their mode numbers together: 3 + 1 = 4. By setting the Mode field to 4, you will have both .XML with ignoreDST on. The same can be applied to Android. Android = mode 13 IgnoreDST = mode 1. 13 + 1 = 14. Mode 14 will set the EPG for Android with IgnoreDST on.

Updating the Com46/51 Blade

Like other electronic systems, the Com blades will need to be kept up to date to make sure that they are running without issues. When a new update is available, you can follow the steps below in order to upload the new firmware:

  1. Download and load the newest firmware for the Com blade you are updating onto the laptop that will be connected to the Com
  2. Log into the Com46/51 blade using the desired address. EX:192.168.3.18
  3. Navigate to the PairingInfo tab
  4. Below the “Browser Upload” text, click on the “Choose File” button and use the populated window to navigate to and select the update file you previously loaded onto the computer. Then click “Open”
  5. Click the “Upload” button on the right and the file name will appear in the “Filename” field above
  6. Check the box in the “Upgrade” column next to each blade that you would like to upgrade using the loaded firmware.
  7. Make sure that the “Usage” field is set to 2 = SW_Upgrade
  8. Click the “Submit” button
  9. The selected blades will now download and install the new firmware. Be aware that each blade will stop broadcasting for about five minutes while upgrading and the property should be notified of this.

How to Configure a Com3000 for QAM and IP Output

The Com3000 is capable of sending out channels as both QAM and IP. In order to allow for this, you must first configure the Alternate IP of the QAM20:

  1. Navigate to the QAM page of the Com3000 and scroll to the bottom where the Control section is.
  2. In the “alternateIP:” field you should see the address 192.168.6.99 as the default. Delete this address and change it to 239.0.0.0. If you have 2 QAMs, set the QAM20 in Slot 1 as 239.1.0.0. Click submit.
    1. Note that the QAM20 on the bottom slot in the chassis is in Slot 0, and a QAM20 in the top slot is in Slot 1. When setting the alternate IP for QAM and IP output, set the Slot 0 QAM’s alternate IP to 239.0.0.0 and the Slot 1 QAM20’s alternate IP to 239.1.0.0

Now that the alternate IP for the QAM20 has been set, begin sending channels out as both QAM and IP:

  1. Navigate to the Overview page. Under QAM summary, verify that the Alt IP field now shows the modified IP address.
  2. Once the alternate IP address has been changed, begin programming channels for both QAM and IP output. To do this, set all of your channels to IP.
  3. You may only use the IP address range of 239.0.0.x where X is the portbase of the QAM channel you wish the channel to broadcast on. For the port, it is recommended that you use port 5001, as some TVs have issues using ports below 5000.
    • Once you have gone past the usable .255 in port bases you will need to change
  4. Once you have set your IP addresses and clicked submit, you can test your QAM channels by using a test TV with pro:idiom, or with a DCI401 box.
  5. To test your IP channel stream, use a laptop connected directly to the Com. Once connected, make sure your IPv4 settings are set to DHCP.
  6. Open VLC player and click Media>Open Network Stream. Enter the stream information as follows: udp://@239.0.0.x:5001, then click play. You will need to change the channel to SD to properly test, as VLC does not have pro:idiom capabilities. You can test the HD IP stream if you have a hospitality TV available with IP tuning capabilities.