Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater Dish PVR v. TiVo v. Antenna

In reply to:

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Am I the only one to have watched all the special features on both Lord of the Rings EE sets?

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nope.

Good point. I actually use a powered indoor HDTV antenna w/ my HD DirecTV rcvr and works fine. Just have to reposition it for some channels. If you find a good HD receiver on ebay for cheap and you are in a region w/ a lot of OTA HD channels, that's also a good option. (I've considered this for my folks.) And, I'd guess that in the next few months you'll be able to find a number of HD DirecTV rcvrs on sale at ebay, because a lot of people will be getting rid of them as they receive their HD Tivos. For OTA, you don't need DirecTV or the card, you can just run it as an OTA receiver.

Excellent thoughts, friends. Thank you kindly.

Misfit, please DO update us with your findings! I will look forward to your report.

oldskool, do you mean that a HD DirecTV box has a OTA HD Tuner in it? Would such a device output video to a non-HD TV (like S-Video or component video)? Are HD signals easier to capture than regular VHF signals? I had trouble getting a "good enough" VHF signal without a rooftop installation.

oldskool, do you mean that a HD DirecTV box has a OTA HD Tuner in it?
ANSWER: Yes.
Would such a device output video to a non-HD TV (like S-Video or component video)?
ANSWER: Yes.
Are HD signals easier to capture than regular VHF signals?
ANSWER: Absolutely, provided you have DTV signals in your area. Because it's digital, you either get it or you don't. None of the old school ghosting, just maybe a little pixelation, but once you get the signal you're done. Bear in mind that this applies to the digital signal not analog. In my area (SF Bay Area), some of the local stations like KQED (PBS), have up to 5 digital versions of the channel, showing different content. Very nice.

I had trouble getting a "good enough" VHF signal without a rooftop installation.
ANSWER: I used 2 VERY good antennas. The Zenith Silver Sensor is a GREAT passive, UHF antenna, helps a little w/ VHF too. I have one available, if anyone's interested, PM me. Now I use this radio shack one w/ great results for both VHF and UHF.

Ratshack

Go here to see your local HDTV coverage
Antenna Web

oldskool,

Correct me if I am wrong, the HD DirecTiVo box has two OTA tuners AND two SAT tuners....right?

curtis
Correct. 2 SAT's like the existing DirecTivo boxes. There's 2 OTA tuners internally w/ 1 external coax connection. Unfortunately, the box can only record 2 shows at once (any combination I believe), it can't record off of all 4. That would be cool, but I can't imagine any nites, except thurs, that have more than 2 shows I want to tape.

BTW, seems that the latest DirecTV satellite was successfully launched, to carry mostly local channels. That should free up existing satellites for more HD channels. WOO HOO!!

HD DirecTivo FAQ

Hmmmm. Sooo, do you think the HD DirecTivo would continue to function as an OTA tuner if I discontinued the service?

Yes, I believe so. I don't think you'd be getting the guide data properly though...

Just looking at options. We'd love to save $60/mo by cancelling DirecTV after out 1-yr contract is up. Weaning ourselves from programming choices might be painful, but having a free digital OTA picture would be great.

I'm assuming these different antenna colors on the HD link don't matter much and that HD antennas receive all of those signals listed?

It sounds like if I had an HD TV with antenna I could get the channels that showed up in the link for free. That would be fine with me, except for the loss of Comcast Sportsnet, but that alone isn't worth the forty something a month for Cable tv.