:confused:

Okay, so this is what's happening, and I want to know if it will work.

I ordered the sony KDL-26S3000 and it is on the way. I will receive it Tuesday. My dorm room has ONE output, that I assume is from the master antenna, as my roommate recently upgraded to cable TV and received some sort of motorola STB; the STB connects to the outlet in the wall and then to the TV. So I don't know what's going on there, but before he got the STB, there were no cable channels.

Now, I checked my school's TV program station and the standard channels available are not HD. Only 2 are. To overcome this sad state, I want to use an OTA HDTV Antenna. I ordered the Silver Sensor and the Terk HDTVa antennas. I will test them both out and send back the lesser of the two.

I have been notified that I should still check my room's outlet and scan that first before scanning with the antenna. Sounds logical to me. My roommate watches TV through his personal TV AND his laptop, so he purchased some metal contraption that connects to the room's TV outlet, and has two coaxial cables running out that connect to his laptop and his TV's cable STB. I assume that the contraption I'm describing is an RF-Splitter? So here is where my questions arise:

1) Now, if I want to take advantage of my room's outlet, I would need to purchase a 3-way RF splitter, correct? I have searched amazon.com and found several types of RF-Splitters. Most say they are for CATV, but would that matter for me? Personally, I don't want to share the cable with him (just a personal choice, no arguments here, please), and just want to use the outlet directly. So is it okay to simply purchase an RF-Splitter, even if it specifies CATV? Actually, to make this simpler, could someone just recommend me a high-quality 3-Way RF splitter that reduces dB loss as much as possible, and WORKS for my situation (Emphasis: I'm not trying to split the cable with my roommate. I only want to use the room's TV outlet)? I honestly am not worried about price TOO much, but then again, please don't recommend something that costs over $50.

2) Now, if we have the RF-Splitter situation out of the way, I'd need to purchase an A/B switch, right? I checked my TV's manual from sony.com and it shows that I only have one coaxial input, so I'd have to alternate between the antenna and the room's, correct?

3) So theoretically, if 1 and 2 are possible, my situation would look like this, right? Wall outlet --> 3 way RF splitter --> (1 to my roommate's laptop, 1 to his TV's cable STB) 1 to my A/B switch + the HDTV Antenna to the A/B Switch --> my HDTV. Then I just need to flick the switch between TV and Antenna to watch their respective channels. Correct?

I'm sorry this turned out to be such a long post, but I would be so grateful to anyone who helps me out here.

Thank you for your time!

:confused:...I ordered the sony KDL-26S3000 and it is on the way. I will receive it Tuesday. My dorm room has ONE output, that I assume is from the master antenna, as my roommate recently upgraded to cable TV and received some sort of motorola STB; the STB connects to the outlet in the wall and then to the TV. So I don't know what's going on there, but before he got the STB, there were no cable channels......It sounds to me like your talking about a cable outlet. Prior to your roommate ordering cable, the outlet may have been disconnnected. I wouldn't use the term master antenna to describe the situation. Is your roommates stb an HD stb?

:confused:....Now, I checked my school's TV program station and the standard channels available are not HD. Only 2 are. To overcome this sad state, I want to use an OTA HDTV Antenna. I ordered the Silver Sensor and the Terk HDTVa antennas. I will test them both out and send back the lesser of the two. ......Have you determined how far and what direction you are from the transmitters? This will have a fundamental impact on your choice of antennas.

:confused:......I have been notified that I should still check my room's outlet and scan that first before scanning with the antenna. Sounds logical to me. My roommate watches TV through his personal TV AND his laptop, so he purchased some metal contraption that connects to the room's TV outlet, and has two coaxial cables running out that connect to his laptop and his TV's cable STB. I assume that the contraption I'm describing is an RF-Splitter? .......Sounds correct.

:confused:...... So here is where my questions arise:

1) Now, if I want to take advantage of my room's outlet, I would need to purchase a 3-way RF splitter, correct? I have searched amazon.com and found several types of RF-Splitters. Most say they are for CATV, but would that matter for me? Personally, I don't want to share the cable with him (just a personal choice, no arguments here, please), and just want to use the outlet directly. So is it okay to simply purchase an RF-Splitter, even if it specifies CATV? Actually, to make this simpler, could someone just recommend me a high-quality 3-Way RF splitter that reduces dB loss as much as possible, and WORKS for my situation (Emphasis: I'm not trying to split the cable with my roommate. I only want to use the room's TV outlet)? I honestly am not worried about price TOO much, but then again, please don't recommend something that costs over $50. .....The statements that I bolded need a little more explanation from you. If you are swapping a 2-way splitter with a 3-way splitter and attaching your tv to the 3rd output, then you are sharing the cable feed, which exists at the wall. If your roommate is paying for the service, which didn't exist prior to him subscribing, then you should probably share in the cost.;)

:confused:.....2) Now, if we have the RF-Splitter situation out of the way, I'd need to purchase an A/B switch, right? I checked my TV's manual from sony.com and it shows that I only have one coaxial input, so I'd have to alternate between the antenna and the room's, correct?.......That sounds good. One gotcha would be if your set doesn't save both of the cable (QAM) and antenna (ATSC) scans. Some sets only save one or the other, so a rescan is needed every time you flip the switch.

:confused:.....3) So theoretically, if 1 and 2 are possible, my situation would look like this, right? Wall outlet --> 3 way RF splitter --> (1 to my roommate's laptop, 1 to his TV's cable STB) 1 to my A/B switch + the HDTV Antenna to the A/B Switch --> my HDTV. Then I just need to flick the switch between TV and Antenna to watch their respective channels. Correct?.....Theoretically.

If your roommate is paying for the service, which didn't exist prior to him subscribing, then you should probably share in the cost.;)
Theoretically.

I totally agree! But, he is not getting a full 1/3 of the signal so he should tell his roommate that he is only going to pay for a 1/4 of the cost. :D

Thank you for the response! :)

As for the part where you said I need clearing up, this is what I mean. My room's TV outlet has a coaxial cable connected to it, which also connects to the IN port of the RF splitter. From there, 1 of the OUT ports goes directly to my roommate's laptop tuner card, and the other 1 goes into the cable STB. The STB then connects to my roommate's tv with another coaxial cable, I assume. In essence, he isn't watching cable on both the TV AND his laptop. He only watches cable on the TV. His TV is not HDTV, nor is hid laptop tuner card or STB.

As for the room's outlet, it has been fully functional; we have been watching our standard package channels, and just a few weeks ago, he upgraded to cable and received a separate STB with its own remote. So from this, I don't know whether this means the room's outlet is cable or not. I'm assuming it contains cable signals that can only be watched if they are decoded by the provided STB, that is, if that's possible lol. Without the STB, only the standard channels come out.

I hope I cleared that part enough :) Do you think you could recommend me a high-quality 3-way RF splitter with this new information?

Also, if this all does work out, will my channels from the room's outlet be significantly lower in visual quality than my OTA antenna's channels, due to the usage of a splitter (and an A/B switch, if that reduces quality as well)?

Is this cable provided by the school or by an outside cable company? The "standard package" you mention, is likely just (free?) analog cable and your roommate upgraded to digital cable and receives additional digital channels with the stb.

Your new set, if it has a QAM tuner and is attached to the cable, may be able to receive some, all, or none, of the digital channels. It all depends on which channels are unencrypted.

Your new set, if it has an ATSC tuner and is attached to an antenna, may be able to receive some, all, or none, of the over the air (OTA) channels in your area. This depends on what distance and direction the transmitters are, from your location, and how well your antenna selection matches that requirement.

Installing a 3 port splitter instead of a 2 port splitter will add some loss to the signal path. If the signal at the wall is already marginal, you may see some loss in quality.

Install TV ---> connect to cable ---> do a scan for cable chs ---> if satisfied leave it alone ---> if you want OTA install either of the anetnnae you ordered and scan for OTA chs ---> if satisfied leave it alone ---> if not go back to cable.

The A/B swith will prove to be too much of a hassle, forget about it - just stick with either OTA or cable.

Your roomate is most certainly watching TV on via his laptop - otherwise he wouldn't have it hooked to cable. He most likely is using his laptop as a PVR. You had basic analog and he upgraded to some digital package (hence the STB). You should get some clear QAM chs. Find out who the cable provider is and look in your local HDTV thread to see what clear QAM chs you can expect. Any 3 way TV splitter will work (less than $10 at local store) - just know that the signal level may degrade to a level that may require a booster.

Okay, so I just visited my school's website about their TV policy:

"Help for Cable TV
Cable is free and will work on any cable ready TV. Addition charges apply if you wish to subscribe to the premium channels (you will need a cable box). The cable service is managed by FallsEarth. If you need support with your cable service, please visit their website."

And these are the channels we get WITHOUT the extra subscription:

The campus residence halls are serviced by a CATV system (Community Antenna TeleVision). The Basic Universal Service channels listed below are provided as a convenience of occupancy for residents.

Channel Service
2 Current TV
3 PBS-WGBH(2)
4 Bravo
5 Independent Film
6 CBS-WBZ(4)
7 TV5
8 ABC-WCVB(5)
9 TV Japan
10 NBC-WHDH(7)
11 RAI
12 ABC-WMUR(9)
13 PBS-WENH(11)
14 FOX-WFXT(25)
15 UNI-WUNI(27)
16 Ind-WSBK(38)
17 PBS-WGBH(44)
18 Ind-WWDP(46)
19 MNT-WZMY(50)
20 CW-WLVI(56)
21 TFT-WUTF(66)
22 ION-WBPX(68)
23 TUTV TuftsChannel
24 Home & Garden
25 Food Channel
26 CNN
27 Headline News
28 Fox News
29 C-SPAN
30 C-SPAN2
31 Bloomberg
32 CBC-English
33 Discovery Channel
34 Learning Channel
35 History Channel
36 A&E
37 Fox Sports NE
38 NESN
39 CSTV
40 MTV
41 MTV2
42 VH-1
Channel Service
43 Weather Channel
44 Cartoon Network
45 Family Channel
46 AMC
47 Animal Planet
48 BET
49 E! Entertainment
50 Sci-Fi
51 Court TV
52 Game Show
53 Travel Channel
54 TBS
55 TNT
56 USA
57 Comedy Central
58 Lifetime
59 Nickelodeon
60 PBS-WGBH(2)
62 Russian TV (RTVI)
63 Fit TV
64 NASA TV
65 CNBC
66 Discovery Health
67 Discovery Scence
68 Military Channel
69 F/X
70 G4 VideoGame TV
71 MSNBC
72 NFL Network
73 Soad Net
74 Spike TV
75 TV Land
76 TV one
77 VH-1 Classic
78 WE
79 Jade East
80 Jade West
81 Jadeworld TVBS
82 Chinese Movie Chan
83 CCTV-4
85 MTVU

So I guess that pretty much means that biker19 was correct. The standard package is just regular analog cable. Sorry for not checking upon that earlier :/

As for needing a booster due to the signal loss caused by the 3way splitter, how does one go upon doing that? AFAIK, you have to set it up at the building's main signal device contraption thingamajig lol. And that's not a possibility for me, seeing as how I live in a dorm. Or am I just misinformed and can I set up the booster in my room?

Gosh, this is getting overly complicated! :( Not to mention expensive, with all these extra devices!

Again, help is much appreciated! :)

The FallsEarth website doesn't list any HD channels in their premium lineup.

You may be dependent on ota reception for your HD programming. I am guessing your dorm is at Tufts based upon a previous post. All of the Boston local network OTA transmitters are about 9 miles to the south-southwest. If your dorm window faces that direction, you should be fine with the antenna(s) you mentioned, especially if you are above the first floor. If your room is on the opposite side of the building, you MAY have some trouble due to building construction, etc.

The FallsEarth website doesn't list any HD channels in their premium lineup.

You may be dependent on ota reception for your HD programming. I am guessing your dorm is at Tufts based upon a previous post. All of the Boston local network OTA transmitters are about 9 miles to the south-southwest. If your dorm window faces that direction, you should be fine with the antenna(s) you mentioned, especially if you are above the first floor. If your room is on the opposite side of the building, you MAY have some trouble due to building construction, etc.

Correct. That is why I was adamant about using the OTA HDTV antennas, because I knew I wouldn't get many HD channels from our school's standard package, or any, for that matter. But we still get a decent # of channels that I'd like to watch regardless of them being HD or not. Thus, I really want to use an A/B switch and take advantage of both situations. I know for a fact that my TV model has an ATSC and QAM tuner, so no problem there. What I'm worried about is whether my TV will have to re-scan every time I flip the A/B switch. Is there any way I can find out whether that's the case? Because if it is, it'd be too much of a hassle and I'll probably just stick to one input :)

What I'm worried about is whether my TV will have to re-scan every time I flip the A/B switch. Is there any way I can find out whether that's the case? Because if it is, it'd be too much of a hassle and I'll probably just stick to one input :)
I think you'll get better luck asking this question in the LCD forum. Some owners there might be able to help.

If all you want to do is watch analog cable and OTA-HD without having to rescan, you might want to look into an old VCR.

Plug the VCR into a composite input and watch the analog cable channels that way.

Switch over to the TV tuner to watch the OTA-HD channels. No need to plug/unplug any cables. No need to switch the input from Antenna to Cable.

You might even be able to program the Sony's remote to control the VCR so that you only need one remote.

ft

I think you'll get better luck asking this question in the LCD forum. Some owners there might be able to help.

If all you want to do is watch analog cable and OTA-HD without having to rescan, you might want to look into an old VCR.

Plug the VCR into a composite input and watch the analog cable channels that way.

Switch over to the TV tuner to watch the OTA-HD channels. No need to plug/unplug any cables. No need to switch the input from Antenna to Cable.

You might even be able to program the Sony's remote to control the VCR so that you only need one remote.

ft

Instead of a VCR, would I be able to do this with a regular DVD player? Or would it have to be a DVD Recorder?

gosh, this is ending up costing way much more than I expected :(

Actually, what about using a TiVo?

This is why I make friends with the cable guy..
A local cable guy should be able to help with this setup.
Good luck & report back :)

It has to be something with an analog cable tuner, so a DVD player won't do it.

so I should be able to use anything as long as it has an NTSC tuner in it right?

Instead of a VCR, would I be able to do this with a regular DVD player? Not unless that DVD player had a tuner. I've never heard of a DVD player with an NTSC tuner, unless it was a VCR/DVD combo.

Or would it have to be a DVD Recorder?Again, the recorder would need an NTSC tuner, not all of them do.

gosh, this is ending up costing way much more than I expected :(A VCR can be had pretty much for free these days. Someone's throwing one out as we speak. ;) Seriously, you can pick one up for chump change. Look around, I'm sure someone will donate one for the cause. Heck, you'd be doing them a favor by taking their trash for them.

Even then, if you bought new, you could get one for probably $25.

Actually, what about using a TiVo?A Tivo would definately work, but then you're looking at a monthly fee. Not worth it in my book.

If you want a recorder, you might want to look into a Sony DHG-HDD250 or 500. For the most part, they're great. You get the TV Guide software that gets you an 8-day guide and you get to record in HD. There's 2 RF inputs, so you can leave your antenna and cable inputs hooked up permanently.

But then again, you're beginning to spend some money. I haven't checked, but these Sony's go for about $400 on eBay. You might be able to find a closeout at a Tweeter's near you. I've seen one in Circuit City, but it's used for demo'ing their Bravia TVs.

ft

So I've just called Sony Customer Service, and they told me that I can watch OTA HD channels with an antenna through the TV's single VHF/UHF port.

Then, to watch the regular analog cable channels, I could use a VCR, or w/e. So just as you guys said! :)

thanks so much guys! that basically solves all my problems!

Now, anyone willing to give to donate a free VCR? lol

Craigslist for the VCR