Tivo HD OTA only with NO Cable Card: Questions

60614 · 12-07-2007, 03:48 PM

I live in Chicago, with excellent HD OTA reception. I've decided to jettison my expensive cable service for a year or so, to see if I miss it. I will use the savings to pay for a Tivo HD unit. Obviously I will have only an OTA antenna and no cablecards. I called the Tivo sales line, and the rep seemed confused by my question so I thought I'd post here:

1. Can I watch one live OTA program while recording another OTA program through the TIVO? Right now on my old single-tuner Series 2 I cannot do this without bypassing the TIVO.

2. Can I record two OTA shows at once?

Thanks,

jrm01 · 12-07-2007, 03:58 PM

It is a fully functional dual tuner TiVo without cablecards. The answer to both of your questions is yes.

I'm surprised you couldn't get a definitive Yes from Tivo support. This is a basic function of TiVo.

60614 · 12-07-2007, 04:09 PM

Thanks. I thought so, but the rep insisted at first that I had to have two cablecards. Then he said I didn't, so I wasn't very confident in his answer.

aus1ander · 12-07-2007, 04:24 PM

I have OTA only and yes, you can record from two OTA stations at once with only one antenna. The TiVo internally splits the signal to the two tuners.

jrod9707 · 12-07-2007, 04:43 PM

I just did what you were talking about, I HAD(I just turned in the digital boxes today). Here's my 2 cents OTA on tivo never pixeled out once in the 2 weeks I was watching programs. where as HD cable would lixelate out a few times during a 1 hr show. So you should be very happy!

turbovr6 · 12-07-2007, 04:44 PM

I have OTA only as well. My cable shows such as Dexter or Avatar I purchase through iTunes or Amazon Unbox. Lot cheaper than cable and no commercials as well

jrod9707 · 12-07-2007, 05:19 PM

I need amazon to add Ultimate fighter and then I'd be a happy camper!

TheGreenHornet · 12-07-2007, 07:19 PM

That is exactly what I did a year ago. After 2 price increases by Comcast in 2006, I called Comcast one year ago and cut the cable back to basic (which the signal sucks by the way). With my savings of $50 a month on cable I applied the savings to a shinny new Series 3 and a Terk 55 antenna as my Christmas present. I get a beautiful pic on my hdtv with the free OTA signal from the Philly towers 10 miles away. Whatever I miss from cable such as Dexter, I wait until it appears on DVD and get it from Netflix.

In the past year, I have survived quite well with out cable. It was a smart business decision to cut back cable. Yes, you can record two shows and watch one off the air. I do it quite often since I have a lot to watch with OTA and Tivo's top notch dual tuners.

fred22 · 12-07-2007, 08:58 PM

And while it may be implied in some of the answers.

You can RECORD TWO shows at ONCE and at the same time WATCH a show that you have ALREADY RECORDED (in the Now Playing List)

OTA only, here, too.

And to throw in even more - you can record two shows and actually watch a third show LIVE if you watch directly through your TV by switching its inputs (you may have to fiddle with sound)

cokyq · 12-08-2007, 01:53 AM

After loosing my job last January, I dropped Time-Warner cable & internet at a savings of over $90/mo. I now have DSL from AT&T for less than $30/mo, and that includes basic phone line.

Though I miss Discover HD, I am very happy with OTA signals. I live about 30 miles from the transmission antennas in the DFW metroplex and get pixelation free images all the time!

Series 3 records 2 HD shows while I watch a recorded show.

My one recommendation, try to get the lifetime service! It's worth it!

ceege111 · 09-24-2008, 07:53 PM

I have the $11/mo cable from Comcast. Am thinking about the HD tivo and skipping the whole cablecard thing but using the basic cable.

I just got a new hdtv with an ATSC tuner and it scanned my cable and found a lot of channels that are unencrypted - the major networks, pbs, etc. Both HD and not. Will the tivo service know what these channels are?

RonDawg · 09-24-2008, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ceege111

I have the $11/mo cable from Comcast. Am thinking about the HD tivo and skipping the whole cablecard thing but using the basic cable.

I just got a new hdtv with an ATSC tuner and it scanned my cable and found a lot of channels that are unencrypted - the major networks, pbs, etc. Both HD and not. Will the tivo service know what these channels are?

Not without CableCards. You will only get guide data for the analog channels, and if you have an antenna also hooked up, the OTA locals.

You can tune the clear QAM (unencrypted digital cable) stations manually, but you will not get guide data, so for these channels your TiVo is little more than a digital VCR.

If you get a good signal at your home, you may consider doing both OTA and analog cable (the Series 3/TiVoHD/XL models are capable of both), that way you will at least get guide data for the HD OTA stations.

Jeffner76 · 11-11-2008, 11:12 PM

Hi! I have a series 3 hd tivo (love it!) and have fired Time Warner Cable. I set up the antenna this afternoon, it was purchased at radio shack and is an indoor/outdoor antenna. The antenna is outside and supplies the whole house (3 digital tvs). Then I repeated guided set up and it only found 2 very fuzzy digital channels. I connected the coax directly to the tv and scanned, the tv found all the digital channels with great pictures. Any idea why they aren't showing up through the Tivo??

Thanks for your help!

rainwater · 11-12-2008, 12:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffner76

Any idea why they aren't showing up through the Tivo??

Thanks for your help!

Stupid question: Did you plug the coax into the correct antenna port and not the cable port on the TiVo?

Bierboy · 11-12-2008, 08:13 AM

Either that or, for some reason, the split to the TiVo severely degraded the signal strength. But, if it's fine to the other TVs, that wouldn't seem to be the problem....

Jerry_K · 11-12-2008, 10:37 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jeffner76

Hi! I have a series 3 hd tivo (love it!) and have fired Time Warner Cable. I set up the antenna this afternoon, it was purchased at radio shack and is an indoor/outdoor antenna. The antenna is outside and supplies the whole house (3 digital tvs). Then I repeated guided set up and it only found 2 very fuzzy digital channels. I connected the coax directly to the tv and scanned, the tv found all the digital channels with great pictures. Any idea why they aren't showing up through the Tivo??

Thanks for your help!

I have three Series 3 Tivo units on OTA. When I split the signal to include the third coax one for TV one for a Series 3 and another for a Series 3 I got dropped channels. I purchased a splitter amplifier from Radio Shack which provides me four outputs and all is well even after adding the third Series 3. I am going to be adding two more Series 3 units and will have to find a solution for that which I believe will be another Radio Shack unit. I have a weird system with two Yagi antennae on the roof, combined with a simple splitter in reverse, and then put into that Radio Shack splitter amplifier.

Jeffner76 · 11-20-2008, 11:20 PM

Rainwater:
Oh, sometimes stupid questions are the best questions to ask!! Thanks so much for the suggestion. I had, in fact, hooked the coax back to the cable in instead of the antenna in! Score one for being an idiot. The signal is great, and it's broadcasting throughout the house on all 3 hdtvs. Have a good one!