don't you just LOVE that (&^*& black box !!!
LF.. when you say 'dead', then you do NOT get the clock in the lower right of the TV screen ?
if there's NO clock, yeah odds are it is dead but.one last test..
disconnect BOTH power AND coax cable feed
have a coffee
plug in power cable,count a few steamboats
reconnect coax cable,wait a bit....
does the clock come on the TV screen ?
if NOT, then box is dead BUT the harddrive with your taped shows is 99.44% probably fine. Can easily be recovered (put in another box..5 minutes...)
If you do have the clock, go through ALL of the channels and see if ANY have something,even just audio.
question.... do others nearby (same 'tap' ) on the road HAVE TV ? While TV, Internet, phone are onthe same cable, they are transmitted on different frequencies ,channels, muxes so it is possible to not have one of them due to an equipment failure up on a pole.