Are all tv tuners the same? Please recommend a good capture card to capture

[yellow360f]

Thanks Johnson.
I got one of these antennas from amazon. and plugged it into my 20" lcd tv, and picked cable or antenna and was not able to get anything.
I figured since I am close to the beach and surrounded by hills , i don't get the clear view of signal. Or maybe i needed another piece of hardware.
http://www.amazon.com/Terk-HD-TVS-Profil...89&sr=8-11

Do i need a decoder to work with these antennas?

[johnsonx42]

my antenna is similar. You'll want to face the flat side northwest towards LA, and get it up as high as you can. if your lcd TV doesn't have a digital tuner (aka an ATSC tuner), then you'd need a converter box (the same ones they've been advertising ad nauseum, with the $40 government coupon). The converter would only be for watching directly on your TV though, you wouldn't need it for GB-PVR with a digital tuner. That said, if you got nothing at with the analog antenna setting on the TV, then digital may not come in any better.

you may wish to visit http://www.antennaweb.org and tell it EXACTLY where you are and see what channels you should be able to receive and what sort of antenna you will need. that site actually takes into account where you are, and what obstructions there are between you and the broadcast towers.

[Wakalaka]

I am zip 97124, and Comcast says Type is qam256. Is this unencrypted? Because I'm tempted to yank my 2 Hauppauge cards (PVR-150 MCE and HVR-1250) and use an HD Homerun. I currently have the cheapest cable package, and an antenna for OTA digital. How can I determine if the signal over the coax cable is analog or digital? The coax cable is plugged into my PVR-150. It must be an analog signal since the tuner is analog. This means I'd have to upgrade my Comcast package to digital in order to use both tuners in the HD Homerun. Go from $7.28/mo to $30 for 6 months and then $58 after that, for channels that I wouldn't care about. Doesn't sound like the right thing to do.

[sub]

I am zip 97124, and Comcast says Type is qam256. Is this unencrypted? Because I'm tempted to yank my 2 Hauppauge cards (PVR-150 MCE and HVR-1250) and use an HD Homerun. I currently have the cheapest cable package, and an antenna for OTA digital. How can I determine if the signal over the coax cable is analog or digital? The coax cable is plugged into my PVR-150.

Your HVR-1250 is able to do digital cable, so you'd be able to plug the cable and try scanning to find what unencrypted digital cable channel you'll get.

[Wakalaka]

Your HVR-1250 is able to do digital cable, so you'd be able to plug the cable and try scanning to find what unencrypted digital cable channel you'll get.

But I believe the signal is analog, which is why it works when plugged into my PVR-150. Why would there also be digital signal on the same coax cable?

[sub]

Why would there also be digital signal on the same coax cable?

Thats the way it works. The cable companies have one coax cable carrying both their analog and digital channels.

The wouldnt typically be blocking the digital signals from making it into your house. To this they need to install notch ilters outside your house etc, but I doubt they'd be doing that.

[Wakalaka]

Thats the way it works. The cable companies have one coax cable carrying both their analog and digital channels.

The wouldnt typically be blocking the digital signals from making it into your house. To this they need to install notch ilters outside your house etc, but I doubt they'd be doing that.

So it may be possible that the same channels on my basic cable are being broadcast in digital on the same cable? If so, then I could get the HD Homerun and have one use antenna, and the other use the coax.

[whurlston]

It's possible. Try entering your zip code into http://www.silicondust.com/hdhomerun/channels_us and then select your cable provider to see what channels you should receive digitally.

[Wakalaka]

I am zip 97124, and Comcast says Type is qam256. Is this unencrypted?

[whurlston]

QAM256 (or QAM64) can be encrypted or unencryted but only the unencrypted channels show up on that website. The On Demand channels would only be available when someone in your neigborhood orders something and you will see when they FF/REW/Pause the program. But all the other channels you get look good. I would definitely get a digital tuner if I were you. Note that Comcast can decide to encrypt everything but the locals at any time though.