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Silver Member Username: TpizzlePost Number: 504 Registered: Apr-05 | Right now i am subscribed to a 'Digital Basic' package through my local cable company, which comes with too many channels + about 10 HD channels which i prefer to watch through my 50" Pannasonic. Due to my college budget I cannot afford the $90/month charge and need to figure a way to cut costs. My cable company has a 'basic cable' setup for much cheaper, but it is not "digital." How much difference would this make in the resolution? Noticable? Is it worth saving $50/month to downgrade to basic cable? ALso, my last question is that since I enjoy the HD channels so much i was wondering if it is possible to pick up certain local HD channels without subscribing to them, possibly using bunny ears. Please let me know if this is possible, and if it is ill downgrade to basic cable and invest in an antennae. Which antennaes should i look at, and does anyone know the website that tells what local HD channels are available? thanks everyone |
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Bronze Member Username: MvanmeterKY USA Post Number: 84 Registered: Jan-06 | first: does your TV have a built-in ATSC digital tuner ? second: what is your ZIP code so we can check www.antennaweb.org and make recomendations. If you watch the networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX and PBS) you can receive their digital broadcasts free over-the-air. But, depending on your location and distance from the broadcast towers, you may need a outdoor TV antenna or a very good indoor model. So, more info from on your situation and you will get some reasonable answers |
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Silver Member Username: TapemanPost Number: 454 Registered: Oct-06 | db-bass Many cable companies offer HD box for only $5 more per month Did you call them? |
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New member Username: Sf_hdtv_newbiePost Number: 2 Registered: Jan-07 | Ok so here's my question - I live in San Francisco. I subscribe to Comcast basic cable(analog). I just purchased the Sharp Aquos LC-42D62U LCD flat panel. It has NTSC/ATSC/QAMI built in tuners. I want to watch the Super Bowl in HD this Sunday. Will I be able to receive this with just basic cable plugged into the LCD "Antenna/Cable in"? Will the picture quality be ok? |
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Silver Member Username: TapemanPost Number: 464 Registered: Oct-06 | 1- Analog Cable will let you see it in SD 2- If you call cable company and/or pickup box in person you can see it in HD, HD decoder box by most cable companies $5-7 per month 3- Or Get an amplified TERK antenna you can see all Local HD for free I think there is FRYS electronics in San francisco or Circuit City but don't wait until Sunday |
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New member Username: Simru12Chicago, IL Post Number: 1 Registered: Feb-07 | Been looking through, but haven't seen this question yet. I currently have Comcast with the digital box. I'm getting an HDTV and would like to receive the HD channels but don't want to pay Comcast $7/month for the 6 or 7 they offer. I want to get an Indoor HD Antenna (Philips? Terk?) but am confused on how I would be able to get the HD channels over air, and use the cable box too. Is this possible? The cable box is plugged into the "Antenna in". Do i have to swap that out with the HD antenna every time I want to change? |
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Silver Member Username: TapemanPost Number: 492 Registered: Oct-06 | - First they will charge $5 to $7 if you don't have the digital box this means they should upgrade you without extra charge - Secondly either receiver should have an extra input for extrnal antenna by turning receiver off will let you use TV tuner or there is a TV toggle switch on some remote - your best bet to upgrade at no extra charge or get an external amplified TERK antenna for basic local. CBS, NBC, FOX, WB, UPN, PBX ch 2-69 |
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New member Username: Alex_from_lansingPost Number: 1 Registered: Feb-07 | I haven't found any concrete answers on these questions: 1. I just bought an Olevia 42" 542i with built in NTSC/ATSC tuners. I get basic cable from Comcast, and do not want to upgrade and pay for digital, nor do I have a digital box, so I am planning on using an antenna to get local HD stations OTA. The problem is that the TV only has one RF input. How could I set it up so that I can easily switch between the cable and the OTA stations? 2. I know that having the antenna on the roof would get me the best reception, but then how am I supposed to get the signal from the roof to the TV? 3. This question doesn't really relate to my situation, but I'm just curious. I always thought that coaxial cables with RF connectors were for low quality video. If so, how can they carry HD signals from an antenna to an HDTV? |
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Bronze Member Username: MvanmeterKY USA Post Number: 98 Registered: Jan-06 | Alex, best I can tell from the Olevia spec's, your TV tuner does not have a QAM tuner to directly tune cable channels, so to get HD off your cable will require a set top box. To get cable and OTA signals will require an A-B switch (some are remote controlled). You can not combine OTA with cable because they share the same frequencies and will interfer with each other. You use an RG6 coaxial cable to get the antenna signal from the roof to the TV. The RG6 coax is just a "pipe line" for radio frequency signals. The low quality video you refer to is usually generated by an NTSC analog tuner and is only as good as the tuner which generates it. When the digital TV signals are received by the antenna, they are piped down to the ATSC tuner which decodes the signal. The high quality SD and HD TV is the result of the decoded digital coded signal. That is why there is no such animal as an HDTV antenna, there are only TV antennas, any one of which will work as long as it receives the VHF or UHF frequencies broadcast by your local stations ( www.antennaweb.org ) |
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New member Username: Alex_from_lansingPost Number: 2 Registered: Feb-07 | Thanks for the quick response. Actually, according to the Newegg product description here- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16889022030, the TV does have a "clear QAM" tuner, and if some of the other research that I've done is correct, this means that I could get the local HD stations from my basic cable service. This is what you were talking about, right? And if could I get the local HD stations over cable, then I wouldn't have any need for an antenna, would I? If I'm understanding this right, some confirmation would be nice, because I'm still very new to this stuff. |
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Silver Member Username: MvanmeterKY USA Post Number: 101 Registered: Jan-06 | it's time to experiment.... feed the cable to the TV, go into the setup menu and see if their is a selection for antenna/cable and set it to cable and scan for channels. |