OTA High Def Signal (1 Viewer)

[Steve Carlo]

We are switching to satellite again. (Cable is just crap). To get the local channels and to get some HD programming I need to hook up an external antenna.

If I bring the external signal in and route it through the sat box will I end up filtering out the HD signal and just end up with regular signal? This is with a Dish 301 receiver which has antenna in and co-ax out.

Finally to try and get the best picture from all my components I came across a phone/RCA jack to S-video converter. If I use this from my non-S-video VCR is it likely that I will experience any performance enhancement?

Thanks!

 

[PatrickMc]

If the sat box simply passes the VHF/UHF signals for convenience's sake, it shouldn't be a problem. But I assume you will feed the RF output into the OTA HD tuner. The HD signals are using UHF channels (above channel 50 for now) and only really needs something that can handle upper band UHF.

The composite to s-video adaptor may or may not be better than the TV. If the TV has a fancy Y/C seperater (3-line digital, i.e.), you're better off running composite all the way. If the TV has poor Y/C separation (2-line basic, i.e.), then this is the better route.

 

[Lew Crippen]

The HD signals are using UHF channels (above channel 50 for now) and only really needs something that can handle upper band UHF.

This depends on your location Patrick. Here in the DFW area, the ABC station is telecasting their digital signal on a VHF channel.

 

[Jeff O.]

What Lew said. In the Cleveland area there isn't a HD signal above 50, and one is in the very low VHF band (channel 2).

To answer your other question, the rf input on the sat box shouldn't filter any of your signal. I think it just acts as a pass through if you are using the rf output of the sat box to your TV. I would only suggest that if there are no video inputs on your TV. Since you want HD, I assume you have a better TV than that and I would just run your antenna directly to your HD tuner and the output from that to a different input on your TV than the sat box. That way you don't have to worry about possible degradation of the signal from the extra connection from the sat box to your HD tuner.

Hope this helps-Jeff

 

[Steve Carlo]

Thanks guys...the TV has a built in digital/HD tuner so that part isn't the problem. As most of the stuff I tape is from OTA broadcast I would like to be able to send the signal into the VCR and from there into the ant-dtv input and still be able to view HDTV or record in standard definition as I have always done.

 

[Lew Crippen]

I don’t know anything about the Dish boxes, but most of the older, DirecTV boxes won’t output a digital signal and an analog simultaneously. You can only get one or the other. Which means that you can’t record in SD and watch in HD at the same time, unless you have two different receivers.

Some of the newer HD receivers have this capability.

But I’m not at all sure about Dish.