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Need help on what i need as atuner for my tv.

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jaysea

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I have a Toshiba projection monitor it doesn't have a coax cable hookup on the back for a regular cable, it also doesn't have a tuner so i must have the cable companys cable box to watch tv.Question is i want to get rid of the cable companys box so i don't have to pay the fee for the box every month, but keep their basic tv service, can i purchase a analog digital tuner that i can hook to the cable?
 
DVD players or VCR's work! They are cheap and have tuners built in and several different output signal sources to choose from. Dirt cheap too!
 
DVD players or VCR's work! They are cheap and have tuners built in and several different output signal sources to choose from. Dirt cheap too!
If jaysea only needs the Std. Def. signal, then that would work since I believe those (except perhaps the newest DVD recorders) have only analog tuners. Most cable companies will continue to provide the analog SD channels for some time after the broadcast shutoff of analog.

He needs a digital tuner however, to pick up the HD channels.
 
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Don't the SD channels (ie: 41-2) still require a digital ATSC tuner, they're a waste of bandwidth IMO. Analog TV broadcasts will be gone in the US in 3 days.
 
My understanding is that the cable networks will continue to convert the digital OTA HD channels to analog SD for their customers that still have analog TVs, at least for several more years. But it could be that those customers will have to rent a box to do the conversion, I'm not sure.
 
Yes if you have a cable box the change doesn't affect you. The OP states he want's to get rid of the cable provider. So he'll need a digital OTA tuner if he's in the US.
 
Yes if you have a cable box the change doesn't affect you. The OP states he want's to get rid of the cable provider. So he'll need a digital OTA tuner if he's in the US.
He stated he wanted to ditch renting the box but still connect to the cable. So he'll need a digital cable box.
 
Ah he want's to keep the cable service, well he has to buy the box from his cable company then. It's pretty much that simple.
 
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get a satellite receiver. Basic package is less than cable and has better stuff.

Or do what I did just have high speed Internet. Every show I could ever want to watch is on the Internet some place!
 
I believe you can buy just about any cable box to watch non-premium cable channels. A friend of mine did that with a box from Ebay. He gets all the non-premium cable channels plus the local HD network channels. It's the same as using a TV that has a digital tuner which will tune the QAM cable channels ( most new TVs can).
 
My big TV uses a "digital box" rented from the cable TV company and my little TV uses the analog channels (some of the digital-only channels are converted to analog) without using a digital box.
My VCR records the analog channels from the cable TV.
 
Rogers here in Toronto has shut off QAM. So you're at the mercy of the cable company, so you might as well just buy it from them.
The box rental itself is only a few dollars a month anyway. If it's only the basics you want then depending on your location **broken link removed** a ATSC tuner is worth the cost. Besides in the US you can apply for a discount coupon.
 
I believe the cable companies in the US are required to send their non-premium and OTA channels using standard QAM so that any new TV with a digital tuner can view them without a box. Apparently that's not true in Canada.
 
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