HVR-1800 & digital cable

[cbutera]

Been banging my head against the wall here on this one. I'm trying to make the transition from analog-only to HD digital pvr.
I bought a whole new box of parts and got everything setup for the most part.

For starters - I wanted to just pass my signal from my HD STB to my HVR-1800 to record in HD. I will later setup the IR blaster to control the STB.

So my wiring is like this:
coax digital cable->HD STB->coax to ATSC Digital TV Antenna slot.

I'm sorry if I'm an idiot - but am I completely wrong that this would work?
When I connected it to the analog Cable TV connector it obviously wasn't being passed through in HD.

When I try to add it this way and click on Map Digital Channels it gives me an error that it isn't setup correctly - which I'm sure it isn't .

Can anyone shine a light on the new digital world for me? Thanks in advance!

[sub]

For starters - I wanted to just pass my signal from my HD STB to my HVR-1800 to record in HD. I will later setup the IR blaster to control the STB.

So my wiring is like this:
coax digital cable->HD STB->coax to ATSC Digital TV Antenna slot.

I'm sorry if I'm an idiot - but am I completely wrong that this would work?

Sorry, but things dont work like that. The HD STB will only ever be putting a standard defintion signal on the coax.

To get digital stuff, via OTA ATSC or QAM, you have to take the STB out of the picture, and plug the cable or antenna directly into the HVR1800. When going this way for receiving digital cable channels, you'll only get the channels that are transmitted in the clear (ie, unencrypted). This is usually only the local channels. If you want to record the other channels, you'll need to record the standard def signal from the coax, or record a highdef (analog) component video signal with a future product like the Hauppauge HD-PVR.

[cbutera]

Thanks as usual for the amazingly fast response!
I thought that might be the case. So I'm probably best off getting an indoor HD antenna and using that for the digital feed and keeping the STB for the analog feed.

Couple more questions then...
1. Best Indoor HD antennas (less than $40-$50)
2. How far in the future is that analog HD device?
3. Is there any website that tracks the clear QAM channels? I have RCN Digital Rebuild - Chicago. I tried scanning myself but it kept crashing. I'm not wanting to bother figuring out why unless I know it is worthwhile.

I might not get back to this post until Monday because of Easter but thanks in advance for all replies.

[fb67]

Have you tried splitting the output of the cable box and sending one feed to the STB and the other to the HVR? Decent splitters usually have fairly low loss.

[whurlston]

3. Is there any website that tracks the clear QAM channels? I have RCN Digital Rebuild - Chicago. I tried scanning myself but it kept crashing. I'm not wanting to bother figuring out why unless I know it is worthwhile.

http://www.silicondust.com/wiki/hdhomerun/channels

You can also try your city reception thread at avsforum.com

Try a splitter like fb67 suggested.

[cbutera]

Thanks for the replies. I got an antenna from a friend and I also have a splitter - so I'll try both and I'll open a new thread to post results/requests for help. Hopefully I'll get to it this weekend.

[pcostanza]

My 2 cents on QAM with Cox Cable in my area is that I'm not getting any channels. Calls to Cox yield no intelligence so I gave up and am going OTA which I've had some decent luck with.
I've read in other places that the Radio Shack's Biodirectional cable tv amplifier has helped some get extra mileage but as of yet, I've not tried it.

[mikeh49]

I'll also second the over-the-air (OTA) approach. I have no clear QAM channels (other than a PPV teaser) on my Charter cable system. You can build an antenna to see what will come in using aluminum foil, cardboard and coat hangers, and it will be better (but uglier) than any "powered indoor" antenna you can buy. It seems that most people have had to go outdoor or attic to get a good signal.

You can also go to antennaweb.org to get info on your local stations and their antenna locations. This will give you an idea of what kind of antenna would be required.

Here are the links to the homebrew antennas:

http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com

Or, just google on homemade uhf antenna or something like that.

Good luck!

[sgilani]

For a good antenna to be used either outdoors or in the attic, check out the U-75R at Radio Shack. I got mine a few years back for $25, and it reliably pulls in a high quality signal from my broadcast towers that are about 35 miles away.

I put it up before I had a HDTV, and an indoor antenna gave me very bad analog reception, so I got this on the roof and had crisp clean analog reception.. and digital works just as great, no dropouts and a good antenna.