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View Full Version : HR10 - If QAM Tuner Pulls HD Off Cable, Does This Count As "OTA"?

boltjames
03-03-2007, 10:02 PM
I'm a Comcast cable customer (basic only for other rooms in the house) and on my new Sony 46XBR2 QAM tuner I can pull down 5 HD channels, the most noteworthy being PBS and WB (or whatever it's called now) which are not on D* as we know. No box required; just screwed the coax straight into the back of the panel and they magically show up.

Question: If I stick the coax in the back of the HR10 where the OTA should go, will I be able to view/record these channels, see them in the guide, etc?

Just figuring that if my Sony can pull them straight off the wire without a set-top box, so might my HR10.

BJ
Da Goon
03-03-2007, 10:10 PM
Basically, your entire statement should answer your own question. Do you have an OTA antenna connected anywhere? No...then no, you can't record on your HR10 thru an OTA input.
TyroneShoes
03-04-2007, 12:12 AM
Your HR10 technically IS a STB. But a DTV STB, not a cable STB. In case you were home with mono on that day, the rest of the class learned that OTA stands for "over the air". OTA signals are modulated as 8VSB, while cable typically (nearly universally) modulates as QAM.

Any tuner, in a STB or in a HDTV, needs to be QAM to demod cable channels, and needs to be 8VSB to demod OTA channels. So the answer is your HR10 will not record cable channels as it has 8VSB and DVB tuners, but no NTSC or QAM tuners.
Joe Smith
03-04-2007, 02:13 AM
Question: If I stick the coax in the back of the HR10 where the OTA should go, will I be able to view/record these channels, see them in the guide, etc?

No, you will not be able to get those channels.

The HR10 can only tune in OTA VHF and UHF channels using 8VSB modulation. It cannot tune in the frequencies used for digital cable. It cannot handle QAM modulation.

You'll need a device with CableCARD capability to get HD from Comcast.
litzdog911
03-04-2007, 04:25 AM
...
You'll need a device with CableCARD capability to get HD from Comcast.

A Series 3 Tivo, for example.
boltjames
03-04-2007, 07:25 PM
No, you will not be able to get those channels.

The HR10 can only tune in OTA VHF and UHF channels using 8VSB modulation. It cannot tune in the frequencies used for digital cable. It cannot handle QAM modulation.

You'll need a device with CableCARD capability to get HD from Comcast.

Thank you for the straight-forward and unsnide response.

I have an HD Comcast box in the bedroom for the 26" LCD HDTV, and I can of course watch PBS HD up there.

BJ
drew2k
03-04-2007, 07:29 PM
Basically, your entire statement should answer your own question. Do you have an OTA antenna connected anywhere? No...then no, you can't record on your HR10 thru an OTA input.Not completely correct. If the cable company signal is 8VSB (not QAM), then the HR10 would record from the cable connection as if it was an OTA signal.
drew2k
03-04-2007, 07:30 PM
In case you were home with mono on that day, the rest of the class learned that OTA stands for "over the air". Someone forgot their happy pill today! ;)
litzdog911
03-04-2007, 08:23 PM
Not completely correct. If the cable company signal is 8VSB (not QAM), then the HR10 would record from the cable connection as if it was an OTA signal.

True. Unfortunately very few Cable TV systems provide local HD channels this way.
barracuda3443
03-05-2007, 10:49 AM
Well, despite what others are saying, it works for me. I have a local cable company in which I get my cable internet. They require me to pay the $10.50 for their lowest basic cable to get the broadband. Turns out the HD signals are sent by QAM. I have the signal split to both the QAM tuner on my plasma & the OTA on the HR10. After running the OTA channel set up on the HR10, not only do I get all the channels, I get guide data as well (except for the HD feeds, which is sort of a pain, but I can live with it).

HTH
Les_D
03-05-2007, 03:17 PM
After running the OTA channel set up on the HR10, not only do I get all the channels, I get guide data as well (except for the HD feeds, which is sort of a pain, but I can live with it).

HTH

Then they are sending the local signal in it's original 8VSB form. The HR10 does not have a QAM decoder and therefore can't decode a QAM signal.

Comcast in Jacksonville, FL was doing this for a while, I don't know if they still do, but it was nice to get a clean HD signal.

<rant>
8VSB was the single biggest blunder made in the digital transition. There is nothing between me and the local transmission cluster other than some trees and 8 miles of open sky. I can get a beautiful analog signal with rabbit-ears, but my digital signal bounces when the wind blows.
</rant>