Sorry if this one's already been answered, but...

[cwall99]

I couldn't find it.

So, I have digital cable (who doesn't these days?) provided by Wideopenwest (aka Wowway). Currently, I don't pay for any HDTV coverage. I'm pulling in my free, over-the-air HD through the use of an indoor antenna and a Samsung HDTV tuner (my Sony RPTV, while capable of a 1080i picture, doesn't have an HD tuner in it).

Usually, the OTA tuner works just fine, but I do get lots of drop outs just because w're on the edge of the Detroit reception area. So, I was looking at my cable box the other day, and noticed that it has cable out jack (it's a Scientific Atlanta DVR cable box, but I don't have the model number handy).

1. What are the odds that I can run a short cable from the Cable Out jack on the back of the DVR/cable box and into the Antenna/Cable In on my OTA HD tuner box and pull in the unscrambled local HDTV stations?
2. I've seen lots of articles by full-time or contract writers on Audioholics complaining about how many channels ComCast crams into one slot. Does anyone have a feel for how extensively Wowway (WideOpenWest) might do this?

If it's free and they're serving up the local channels OTA, I don't mind getting some free HDTV broadcasting.

Thanks.

 

[jwenthold99]

Good question

I would definitely give it a shot. I have read the same thing. You might get lucky!

Second question, I have no input on, I have ATT uverse now, and used to have Time Warner.... But it seems like everyone is compressing as much as possible these days

 

[lsiberian]

(who doesn't these days?)

I had over 200 channels and nothing was ever on. I cancelled it and got Netflix and have built my home theater off the savings.

 

[adwilk]

Here's my experience with this... I have a tv that has coax in for OTA and cable separately... I'm out of luck. My buddies tv, same brand just the next year's model has the OTA and Cable tuner together on the same input. Running a cable from the cable box to the tv, the OTA HD channels tune in perfectly, but nothing from the cable side of things... HOWEVER, instead of running the cable in to the cable box, we ran the main cable in to the tv and then splitted to the box. With the cable from the wall to the tv, his tuner picked up all kinds of channels, including all the HD content. He could still use his cable box because we used a splitter. Worth a shot...

 

[cwall99]

I would definitely give it a shot. I have read the same thing. You might get lucky!

Well, I'll keep my fingers crossed that I do. There's a Best Buy on my way home where I think I can drop in a grab a length of cable. Don't need much. Only about 4 feet.

From there, it's on to the beer store to stock up for the game tonight. If all goes well, I'll be watching it on drop-out free HDTV.

Thanks.

 

[cwall99]

Here's my experience with this... I have a tv that has coax in for OTA and cable separately... I'm out of luck. My buddies tv, same brand just the next year's model has the OTA and Cable tuner together on the same input. Running a cable from the cable box to the tv, the OTA HD channels tune in perfectly, but nothing from the cable side of things... HOWEVER, instead of running the cable in to the cable box, we ran the main cable in to the tv and then splitted to the box. With the cable from the wall to the tv, his tuner picked up all kinds of channels, including all the HD content. He could still use his cable box because we used a splitter. Worth a shot...

That sounds pretty cool.

I'm hoping that my current set up actually makes it easier to get the results I'm looking for.

A bit more about my setup. My cable box /DVR is for standard def tv. The back of the box has three outputs for video:

• Another cable out terminal
• An S-video output (which takes video from the cable box to my receiver, where it then gets sent out over an HDMI to DVI cable)
• A composite video output (currently not used)

So I'm hoping that since the video output I'm using is the s-video, that the cable box will output everything it's carrying over the cable out terminal. If it does, maybe I'll get lucky and have drop-out free HDTV.

 

[cwall99]

Looks like I try to use a splitter and two short lengths of cable. The cable out port on the box (which I now know is a standard Scientific Atlanta Explorer 8300) is strictly an analog signal (according to the manual I found for the box on Scientific Atlanta's web site).

So I think the earlier recommendation, of splitting the cable coming out of the wall (while the signal is still digital) and sending one side of the split to the cable box and the other to the HD tuner is probably going to be the likeliest path to success.

 

[adwilk]

So I think the earlier recommendation, of splitting the cable coming out of the wall (while the signal is still digital) and sending one side of the split to the cable box and the other to the HD tuner is probably going to be the likeliest path to success.

Yeah, this is your only real shot... I have a samsung tv, but I cant get the cable (from the wall) to tune through the digital OTA tuner in the tv... probably because the tv switches from ota to cable. My buddies Samsung has both features in one tuner and it works great. I might mention that the tuner is capable of tuning in every single channel, including the premium HD stuff. Havent found the PPV stuff though.

Good luck...

 

[adwilk]

Oh and Just FYI... it can be a pain to find the channels... you can do an auto scan and it'll it pick up hundreds that dont do a thing.. you then have to go through one by one, see which are active and save em... for example ESPNHD was on like 122-33. Had to go through 0-32 one by one to get to it.. ESPN2 was 123-14... you get the point.. its a pain, but worth it... Write em down.. lol..

 

[bigred7078]

Oh and Just FYI... it can be a pain to find the channels... you can do an auto scan and it'll it pick up hundreds that dont do a thing.. you then have to go through one by one, see which are active and save em... for example ESPNHD was on like 122-33. Had to go through 0-32 one by one to get to it.. ESPN2 was 123-14... you get the point.. its a pain, but worth it... Write em down.. lol..

really? thats pretty sweet. Is this dependent on location though?

Where in missouri are you?

 

[adwilk]

really? thats pretty sweet. Is this dependent on location though?

Where in missouri are you?

Springfield... I'm sure it all depends on how the cable company sends the signal out... I dont know how it works honestly...

 

[cwall99]

I know what the channel numbers are for the OTA HD channels, but I guess teh question I have is what the corresponding channels are on my cable system. Still, I can probably use the cable box's program guide as a, well, guide.

I presume, for instance, that if Channel 105 on my cable box is HDNBC, then, when I run the digital cable signal in to my HD tuner, I can just tell it to look at Channel 105 to get the HD NBC signal.... I'll have to experiment.

 

[1990Viper]

I couldn't find it.

So, I have digital cable (who doesn't these days?) provided by Wideopenwest (aka Wowway). Currently, I don't pay for any HDTV coverage. I'm pulling in my free, over-the-air HD through the use of an indoor antenna and a Samsung HDTV tuner (my Sony RPTV, while capable of a 1080i picture, doesn't have an HD tuner in it).

Usually, the OTA tuner works just fine, but I do get lots of drop outs just because w're on the edge of the Detroit reception area. So, I was looking at my cable box the other day, and noticed that it has cable out jack (it's a Scientific Atlanta DVR cable box, but I don't have the model number handy).

1. What are the odds that I can run a short cable from the Cable Out jack on the back of the DVR/cable box and into the Antenna/Cable In on my OTA HD tuner box and pull in the unscrambled local HDTV stations?
2. I've seen lots of articles by full-time or contract writers on Audioholics complaining about how many channels ComCast crams into one slot. Does anyone have a feel for how extensively Wowway (WideOpenWest) might do this?

If it's free and they're serving up the local channels OTA, I don't mind getting some free HDTV broadcasting.

Thanks.

Off topic... That SA DVR box should have a external eSATA port on it... Its active and you can add an external hard drive to that... and add more time to your recordings...

Just an FYI on the cable box....

 

[nick1000000]

Here's my experience with this... I have a tv that has coax in for OTA and cable separately... I'm out of luck. My buddies tv, same brand just the next year's model has the OTA and Cable tuner together on the same input. Running a cable from the cable box to the tv, the OTA HD channels tune in perfectly, but nothing from the cable side of things... HOWEVER, instead of running the cable in to the cable box, we ran the main cable in to the tv and then splitted to the box. With the cable from the wall to the tv, his tuner picked up all kinds of channels, including all the HD content. He could still use his cable box because we used a splitter. Worth a shot...

I will preface this by saying I have comcast and it may not work with your cable provider. We had cable with HD and all the bells and whistles and decided to downgrade to basic basic cable to save money. We were going to have the coax cable connected to the TV and use the indoor HD antenna we have for watching HD programming. But when they plugged the coax cable in HD channels came in clear. Granted they were only the basic FOX, NBC, CBS etc. So if you just want your local channels in HD you should do what adwilk was saying. Split the coax from your wall into your box and TV.

Hope that helps.