possible to get digital channels without a box?

[harminoff]

So I went to my friends house yesterday to check out his new hd tv that has a built in tuner. He was only getting one hd channel, so I had him scan for more. Turns out that now he is getting about 40 more channels past 78, and also the digital music channels. All the channels are numbered weird like 95-1,95-2,95-3....

My question is, is it possible to do this with my htpc without connecting it to a digital box? I already subscribe to all the premium channels, so can I pick them up?


My tuner card does have two tuners, one standard and one ota hd I beleive.

If so, how do I scan for these extra channels?

Thanks

[sub]

You can receive the same digital cable channels as his tv with QAM capable capture device like the Hauppauge HVR1600, HDHomeRun etc. You wont get premium channels though. You will only be able to receive the unencrypted channels. The number of unencrypted channels broadcast varies from provider to provider, but most providers only carry the local channels unencrypted.

[harminoff]

Ok I am pretty sure that I have that card. I know that it is a hauppauge hvr something.

is there a qam channel lineup anywhere, or do I just search and see?

Also, do I just need a spliter and spilt the cable line to both inputs on the card?

Lastly, what setting do I set it to in gb-pvr to search for these channels?

thank you.

[sub]

If you have an HVR1600, then only model 74021 or 74041 support QAM.

To set it up in GB-PVR just create an extra capture source, setting the card type to "Hauppauge HVR1600 (QAM)", then hit the 'map digital channels to epg channels' button to begin the channel scan.

[dgeezer]

Is there a qam channel lineup anywhere, or do I just search and see?

Also, do I just need a spliter and spilt the cable line to both inputs on the card?

Just do the search.

Yes, you will need to split the cable and feed both inputs with cable.

Start your research here: wiki

It will take a little effort to get set up but it is well worth it and most of the info is already posted here.

[harminoff]

If you have an HVR1600, then only model 74021 or 74041 support QAM.

To set it up in GB-PVR just create an extra capture source, setting the card type to "Hauppauge HVR1600 (QAM)", then hit the 'map digital channels to epg channels' button to begin the channel scan.

ok I did this and it did come back with a bunch of channels. Most are encrypted though (black screen) but I did find a couple that worked

I didn't try to many though, sense it was a list of like 200 channels, and the ones that worked took 10 sec. to turn on

is there an easier way to go about this? This seems like a pretty painful method to get these channels.

[sub]

is there an easier way to go about this? This seems like a pretty painful method to get these channels.

No not really. The scheme is designed for DVB, and works better for that purpose. Its a bit ugly for QAM digital cable (where I cant tell at scan time if channels are encrypted), but good enough that users can do it if they want those channels.

I dont receive QAM channels here. If I did I'd probably spend some time making the process easier.