CableCARDs and antenna

[t325]

To make a long story short, Charter does not carry the digital broadcast of our local CBS affiliate. Can I still use an OTA antenna with the CableCARDs so I can get that channel? Thanks

[DrWho453]

To make a long story short, Charter does not carry the digital broadcast of our local CBS affiliate. Can I still use an OTA antenna with the CableCARDs so I can get that channel? Thanks

Yes. When you connect the antenna, you will have to re-run the setup and tell tivo you are using both antenna and cable. You will then be able to receive the local HD over the air through the antenna and still have access to the digital cable channels through the cable cards. My series 3 is using signals from both the antenna and the cable with cable cards though I mostly use the cable side.

[brettatk]

I hooked mine up also to use an antenna and cable. The benefit of this is if my cable ever goes out I will still be able to pick up my local channels via OTA.

[EpcotEric]

I did this also. However, for whatever reason, I lost a few digital channels. The screen was black or returned the "lost signal" message. As soon as I removed the analog antenna coax, the channels came back just fine. If I put the antenna back on, I lost the cable channels again. I tried re-running setup after both changes, no help. I checked to make sure the CABLE connection was still tight and the CableCARDs seated. Anyone else ever experience this?

[moyekj]

I did this also. However, for whatever reason, I lost a few digital channels. The screen was black or returned the "lost signal" message. As soon as I removed the analog antenna coax, the channels came back just fine. If I put the antenna back on, I lost the cable channels again. I tried re-running setup after both changes, no help. I checked to make sure the CABLE connection was still tight and the CableCARDs seated. Anyone else ever experience this? There are some older threads about this and I think the problem was that the antenna signal was too "hot" and interfering with the cable signal. If you have an amplified antenna then try reducing the amplification a little (or use an attenuator if you don't have amp control). I have an indoor amplified antenna + cable setup without issues.