WOW, The OTA tuner works great!

[bdraw]

I have been watching OTA HD for 3 years since I bought my first HDTV which had an integrated ATSC tuner. I have used about 4 different ATSC tuners and the Series3 is the best yet.

I have the Series3 and my HR10-250 connect to the same antenna via a splitter.
The Series 3 picks up every channel in my area perfectly even channels my HR10-250 refuses to show at all (38-1) before I installed the spliter. I really like how you don't have to know the real channel number and you can see the channel while you are testing the signal.

I am very impressed and have one more reason to sell my HR10-250 and buy a second Series3.

If you are interested in my OTA antenna setup, check out this HowTo I wrote for OTA HD which includes pictures and model numbers of my setup.

http://www.hdbeat.com/2006/01/30/ota-hd-demystified/

[g808]

Hmmm...that's good to know. I'm getting OTA HD with my HTPC and an indoor antenna. It's been working pretty well, but my main reason for getting the S3 is to use it with digital cable to record HD, especially the ability to record premium HD. I like the idea of a hardwired connection although I'll still use OTA HD with my HTPC since that give me a couple more HD tuners.

[bdraw]

I agree, but my cable company compresses, so the OTA signal should be better quality.

Plus my cable company doesn't carry all the HD locals in my area and one of those channels is the one I had problems recieving with my HR10-250.

[Bierboy]

I concur...the OTA tuner is top notch. I had been moving my outside antenna to pick up our CBS HD station, but, now with the S3, I don't have to move it at all. The signal strength meter shows it at around 88%.

[TiVoToo]

Are you able to tune to all of the OTA DT stations? Guided Setup for Orlando area does not assign a frequency to the local Fox DT channel (35-1). As a result, if I try to tune 35-1, I get "Channel Unavailable". Working with TivoJerry to figure out the problem. He loaded a service update to my S3 that will allow him to dump logs to assist in debugging the cause.

[bkdtv]

The ATSC tuners in the Series3 are two generations newer than those in the HR10, so it should be a lot better.

The Series3 appears to be using these (http://www.samsung.com/products/semiconductor/SystemLSI/DigitalMedia/D_n_VASSP/D_TV_DigitalTV/S5H1410/S5H1410.htm), but we can't know for sure unless someone rips one apart.

[jfh3]

Working with TivoJerry to figure out the problem. He loaded a service update to my S3 that will allow him to dump logs to assist in debugging the cause.

That's good to hear.

Please don't forget to let us know what Tivo finds ...

[ah30k]

I haven't used OTA in so long that I nearly forget what the OTA channel numbers are. Back when I was a kid we had 3, 6 & 10 for nbc, abc and cbs then 17, 29 and 48 for some smaller ones that eventually became fox, upn and some other.

Since, like forever now, I've been using cable which re-mapped the channels. Now I have the cable channels intermingled with the OTA ones and I really need to get my bearings straight.

On one up-side, I am picking up another metro's HD channels so I can pick up more football games.

[megazone]

The Series3 appears to be using these (http://www.samsung.com/products/semiconductor/SystemLSI/DigitalMedia/D_n_VASSP/D_TV_DigitalTV/S5H1410/S5H1410.htm), but we can't know for sure unless someone rips one apart.Yeah, I wasn't willing to rip open one of my tuner blocks. Especially since the box I had was a loner for the review. :-)