TV setup

[mclatch]

I've done some searching and haven't quite found the answers I'm looking for so I thought I'd ask here. I know there are some high tech folks around that might be able to help me out. Feel free to make fun of me for asking dumb questions...

I'm getting rid of Directv. I would, however, like to still get something to watch from time to time on the magic box and I'd like to set something up that would take advantage of what is currently available for free/cheap. What do I need to do to get the most out of OTA television?

I did pick up a couple of those converter boxes last winter and got one to work with rabbit ears on a TV in our attic. I'd like to get a signal to all the tv's in my house. Is there a way to use the coax that is currently in place and being used by directv?

I also had a 2 ton tv quit on me last winter so I replaced it with one of those new, light weight HDTV things. Although I haven't used the HD part of the HDTV I've been told I can get a couple HD channels free OTA. The other day I carried this 37" TV to the attic by myself , hooked up the rabbit ear/converter box to it but couldn't really see any difference. I played around with the menus on the converter box and the TV but nothing changed. Is it possible it's HD and I just can't tell the difference? or is there some other doohickey or special cable I need to get to see the stuff everyone oohs and ahhs about?

I'm also hoping my wife lets me get a PS3 with the savings. I have seen some things in Blue Ray and it seems pretty cool. I've also read about using the PS3 to stream HD video. Has anyone set this up? Does it work? Most importantly can I get sports?

 

[d4nim4l]

I've done some searching and haven't quite found the answers I'm looking for so I thought I'd ask here. I know there are some high tech folks around that might be able to help me out. Feel free to make fun of me for asking dumb questions...

I'm getting rid of Directv. I would, however, like to still get something to watch from time to time on the magic box and I'd like to set something up that would take advantage of what is currently available for free/cheap. What do I need to do to get the most out of OTA television?

I did pick up a couple of those converter boxes last winter and got one to work with rabbit ears on a TV in our attic. I'd like to get a signal to all the tv's in my house. Is there a way to use the coax that is currently in place and being used by directv?

I also had a 2 ton tv quit on me last winter so I replaced it with one of those new, light weight HDTV things. Although I haven't used the HD part of the HDTV I've been told I can get a couple HD channels free OTA. The other day I carried this 37" TV to the attic by myself , hooked up the rabbit ear/converter box to it but couldn't really see any difference. I played around with the menus on the converter box and the TV but nothing changed. Is it possible it's HD and I just can't tell the difference? or is there some other doohickey or special cable I need to get to see the stuff everyone oohs and ahhs about?

I'm also hoping my wife lets me get a PS3 with the savings. I have seen some things in Blue Ray and it seems pretty cool. I've also read about using the PS3 to stream HD video. Has anyone set this up? Does it work? Most importantly can I get sports?

First, what you are seeing on a standard TV with the converter box is a digital signal. It will be cleaner than normal OTA analog but it is most definitely not HD on a standard TV.

Second, every OTA channel is available in HD with an HD capable antenna. I used to watch all of my football OTA until I got DirecTV two months ago.

Third, it is rather easy to stream video to your PS3 from your computer. They have to be on the same network and you use Windows Media Player to set up the streaming and what folders to share on your computer.

If you Google something along the lines of "PS3 media center streaming" you should find a whole host of web sites on how to do it.

 

[AirWalke]

Make sure you turn the TV to the digital channel too... for ABC HD, it'd be 5.1, CBS 8.1, etc. There is a huge difference in clarity, especially on HDTVs.

You can stream video from your computer to your PS3, like danimal said, but it's limited to what streaming you can recieve with your computer. If you have access to ESPN360, for instance.

 

[mclatch]

Thanks! So I should be good for watching OTA HD if I buy a HD antenna to replace my VHF/UHF rabbit ears and route the coax from the new antenna to my converter box and then the coax from there to the HDTV. Sounds simple and cheap enough. I'll see if Walmart has one tonight!

It doesn't look like I can get ESPN360 since my ISP is Iowatelecom. I wasn't aware that certain web content was limited to ISP - what do you know? Not surprising I guess. It's not like I'll be losing anything anyway. I'll be able to watch just as few ISU games OTA as I couldn't with Directv.

 

[1100011CS]

Thanks! So I should be good for watching OTA HD if I buy a HD antenna to replace my VHF/UHF rabbit ears and route the coax from the new antenna to my converter box and then the coax from there to the HDTV. Sounds simple and cheap enough. I'll see if Walmart has one tonight!

It doesn't look like I can get ESPN360 since my ISP is Iowatelecom. I wasn't aware that certain web content was limited to ISP - what do you know? Not surprising I guess. It's not like I'll be losing anything anyway. I'll be able to watch just as few ISU games OTA as I couldn't with Directv.

You probably don't need the converter box to hook it up to your new TV.

 

[jumbopackage]

A lot of questions here.

First off, you don't need an "HD" antenna to pick up HD channels. Depending on where you live, though, you might need a different antenna because the frequencies did change a bit in the transition to ATSC. My suggestion is to wire up the one you have and see if it works. If it does, don't worry about it. If it doesn't, you needed to do the wiring anyway and now you know. If you do need to replace your old one, check out here: AntennaWeb before you buy one so you know what you need.

Secondly, the converter boxes simply change the digital signal to an analog one for your analog TVs. This just means that your older TVs can still get the same content they used to get before the move to digial. You will need a tuner for every analog TV you want to use.

Digital TVs (with a built-in digital tuner) can hook directly to the antenna and should be able to pick up all the OTA channels without any other interface.

Yes, you can re-use the DirecTV RG6 cable. You will need to replace the multiswitch with a splitter. Beware that splitters introduce signal loss, so you might need an amplified splitter depending on how long the cable runs are and how weak the signal is. Run a cable from the antenna to the splitter, disconnect the outgoing lines from the multiswitch (there are probably 4 or 5 incoming lines and at least one going out for every DirecTV receiver you had, and likely 2 for every DirecTV DVR you had) and plug them into the splitter. Plug the antenna into the input side of the splitter, and there you go.