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Typical Comcast

post #1 of 3
9/7/12 at 4:44am
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I've been a basic cable subscriber for the last 6 years or so, getting great HD feeds of local affiliates ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC. My shiny new DTA coverter "box" (if you can call it a box, it's about 3"x2"x1/2") comes along and away goes the HD. Comcast says if I want to get the HD back, I need to subscribe for an additional $9.99 and rent an HD box, I didn't even ask how much the box costs.
Have I been hiding in a cave too long or is this the way it is now?
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post #2 of 3
9/7/12 at 5:11am
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Originally Posted by jwciv View Post

I've been a basic cable subscriber for the last 6 years or so, getting great HD feeds of local affiliates ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC. My shiny new DTA coverter "box" (if you can call it a box, it's about 3"x2"x1/2") comes along and away goes the HD. Comcast says if I want to get the HD back, I need to subscribe for an additional $9.99 and rent an HD box, I didn't even ask how much the box costs.
Have I been hiding in a cave too long or is this the way it is now?
The DTA is used to decode the channel you want, downconvert it to 4x3 analog stereo, and transmit on VHF ch.3 or ch.4 into your TV set, but unfortunately it interrupts the QAM HD local feeds. It is rather easy to use a 2-way splitter and A/B switch to bypass around the DTA to continue watching those local QAM HD feeds.
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post #3 of 3
9/7/12 at 10:37am
Quote:
unfortunately it interrupts the QAM HD local feeds. It is rather easy to use a 2-way splitter and A/B switch to bypass around the DTA to continue watching those local QAM HD feeds.

Correct. If you want to only watch SD cable and HD QAM local channels, you will have to get an A/B coax switch and a regular 2-way coax splitter. Connect the wall outlet to the 2-way. One end goes to input A on the switch, the other goes to the input of the DTA. Output of the DTA goes to the B side of the switch. Output of the switch goes to tv. So when you want to watch QAM, switch goes on the A side.

The only other way, and it's easier, is to get an HD cable box, but it does cost extra obviously.
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