Adding OTA-HD channels on your own

[nyvram]

The installer has come & gone..can I just string up an antenna (either indoor or out) and plug in coax to the back of the 622 to see how many I get?

Which option to I click to 'search for local OTA HD' without messing anything they've already done up?

I noticed my locals are 08, 010, 012, etc. and also 7008, 7010, 7012 as well. Are those 7000 channels "placeholders" in anticipation of OTA or eventual HD-versions of these channels?

Is it literally as easy as plugging in a coax cable & antenna & scanning to add tehse on your own & have them show up in the channel guide for HD recording?

TIA

 

[reedacus25]

That's what i was under the impression of. And hopefully it is. Even if they say they cant install here tomorrow we will definitly be throwin an antenna up to get some free HD!

 

[boba]

Try reading the book that came with the receiver, you know owners manual. No the 7000 are not place holders for future HD. Some of the old DISH receivers can't tune to the local channels so those are for the old receivers.

 

[reedacus25]

Try reading the book that came with the receiver, you know owners manual.

I dont exactly have a 622 yet if I will at all tomorrow, and the last time I checked the 622 PDF manual was 10+ PDF's separate from each other. I have the time nor patience and I dont see why they cant make 1 and only 1 PDF with everything alot easier to get to and without filtering through multiple files to find the one thing you were looking for

 

[garys]

The installer has come & gone..can I just string up an antenna (either indoor or out) and plug in coax to the back of the 622 to see how many I get?

Which option to I click to 'search for local OTA HD' without messing anything they've already done up?

Menu - 6 - 9 - scan locals, to see what you get. If you need transit numbers to add them manually, check AntennaWeb.

 

[nyvram]

Menu - 6 - 9 - scan locals, to see what you get. If you need transit numbers to add them manually, check AntennaWeb.

Ok, I googled all over the web for 'antenna' 'transit numbers' and I looked all over the antennaweb site. I couldn't find any reference to 'transit numbers'. Is there another term this goes by? Is this some kind of serial # or ID that refers to the local HDTV signal?

 

[levibluewa]

211 Reveiver...

Plugging an outdoor antenna in the back of the unit and "scan for locals" did nothing. I had to enter the digital number manually, before I was able to add the locals. Scanning didn't pick up a thing. And it won't pick up any digital signals via "cable" tv.

 

[garys]

Ok, I googled all over the web for 'antenna' 'transit numbers' and I looked all over the antennaweb site. I couldn't find any reference to 'transit numbers'. Is there another term this goes by? Is this some kind of serial # or ID that refers to the local HDTV signal?

The transit number is the actual channel number for your digital ota channels, they are remapped to where you would see them in the guide. Antennaweb.org lists them as your digital numbers while the 622 lists them as transit number if you manually add them.

 

[tonyp56]

Plugging an outdoor antenna in the back of the unit and "scan for locals" did nothing. I had to enter the digital number manually, before I was able to add the locals. Scanning didn't pick up a thing. And it won't pick up any digital signals via "cable" tv.

You won't pick up any digital OTA (over the air) channels via cable tv (analog for that matter), nor would it work if you set receiver to cable instead of OTA.

Where are you from the local channels broadcast towers? Can you receive your analog channels OTA (via an antenna hooked into your VCR or TV).

In your case, I would first hook up antenna and see if analog channels come in. You might be too far away, might have bad connection, bad antenna, etc... Note just because you get analog doesn't mean you'll get digital (and vice versa) But would be an indication if you can receive any signal at your location.

Finally, what TV do you have? Of course, HDTV, but is it a new one? With a digital tuner built in? If so, I'd highly recommend hooking antenna into your TV, instead of satellite receiver.

 

[tonyp56]

Ok, I googled all over the web for 'antenna' 'transit numbers' and I looked all over the antennaweb site. I couldn't find any reference to 'transit numbers'. Is there another term this goes by? Is this some kind of serial # or ID that refers to the local HDTV signal?

In my location, analog channel 23 is digital 22, however, once I go to 22 I am able to lock in, and it remaps it to 23. Once analog goes bye-bye, most likely, channels will return to their analog predecessors. DTV 23 will again be located at 23 instead of 22.

When you go to antennaweb.org, and enter your zip, it gives you the stations that are around you, and what it thinks you should be able to receive (along with how good of an antenna you need). For me, antennaweb list NO digital stations at all(analog only), however, if it list them for you, it will give you the digital transmission station. (in oklahoma, if you looked at Fox 23 (out of Tulsa), it would list the digital station as channel 22).

For me, I receive ALL stations from OKC, 3 stations from Tulsa, two that I can work with out of Tulsa (have to move antena) all with a set-top antenna from Wal-Mart that was $39. I'm about the same distance from both cities broadcast towers, around 50+ miles.

 

[AngryStamen]

Finally, what TV do you have? Of course, HDTV, but is it a new one? With a digital tuner built in? If so, I'd highly recommend hooking antenna into your TV, instead of satellite receiver.

Quick question, why hook directly to the TV vs. thru the receiver? I have not yet ordered dish, but I was wondering if there is a quality hit by going thru the receiver vs. directly into your HDTV w/ built-in tuner...

 

[cparker]

Quick question, why hook directly to the TV vs. thru the receiver? I have not yet ordered dish, but I was wondering if there is a quality hit by going thru the receiver vs. directly into your HDTV w/ built-in tuner...

I think I can answer this as I just did it on Friday when I was upgraded and got a new 622. Prior to friday I was receiving my locals both on Dish (non-HD) and OTA (to get HD locals) with antenna connected directly to my TV which apparently has a pretty nice ATSC tuner (Panasonic 42" plasma).

I now have antenna directly to the 622 and I have noticed no degradation of OTA locals AND the 622 picked up the OTA locals on scan with no problem and at signal strengths that appear equal to what I was seeing when antenna was connected directly to the TV.

What did I GAIN by moving the antenna connection to the 622?
I gained having my locals appear in the guide (I subscribe to Dish's locals) which means my wife can simply select from the guide and no need to switch inputs on TV and ..... just easier... trust me...AND I gained the ability to manipulate the OTA stuff the same as if it were a satellite program. In other words we can select local OTA programs from the guide and pause, skip, record them just as though they were coming over satellite. This is for all of the MAJOR locals OTA for which program scheduling information shows up in the guide. I have some local stations such as a PBS station that simply show up as "Digital Content" and those would require a manual timer to record, but even those can still be paused and skipped etc.

So apparently I lose nothing in terms of quality, but I gain the DVR functions for my OTA locals by connecting antenna to 622 instead of directly to TV.

The HD stuff is brand new to me (as of this past Friday) so take that into consideration, but I'm pretty happy with the way things are working right now.

 

[garys]

Quick question, why hook directly to the TV vs. thru the receiver? I have not yet ordered dish, but I was wondering if there is a quality hit by going thru the receiver vs. directly into your HDTV w/ built-in tuner...

Or you can split your OTA and feed both the 622 and your HD TV. You can then record via the receiver while watching another OTA HD program live.

 

[Cold Irons]

Or you can split your OTA and feed both the 622 and your HD TV. You can then record via the receiver while watching another OTA HD program live.

Exactly what I do - gives you one more viewing option when you're already using the 622 OTA tuner to record something.

 

[reedacus25]

Im sure im posting in the wrong part but today the installer came and said no, too many trees, no dish for you. so after getting over that traumatic experience i have come to the conclusion of getting an OTA antenna. How would i go about feeding that in to my cable that i have now? My LCD only has 1 coax input and it would be nice if we didnt have to unscrew the cable everytime we wanted to watch OTA and vice versa. Thanks

 

[SKrueger]

Im sure im posting in the wrong part but today the installer came and said no, too many trees, no dish for you. so after getting over that traumatic experience i have come to the conclusion of getting an OTA antenna. How would i go about feeding that in to my cable that i have now? My LCD only has 1 coax input and it would be nice if we didnt have to unscrew the cable everytime we wanted to watch OTA and vice versa. Thanks

What are you using for cable input? Direct feed or a cable box? If using a cable box, it probably has alternate outputs (component, composite, etc) that you could feed to your set and then use the coax for the antenna. Otherwise you can get a coax switch to switch between the two sources without disconnecting the cables.

 

[reedacus25]

What are you using for cable input? Direct feed or a cable box? If using a cable box, it probably has alternate outputs (component, composite, etc) that you could feed to your set and then use the coax for the antenna. Otherwise you can get a coax switch to switch between the two sources without disconnecting the cables.

its straight coax. our cable blows so we dont want to encourage them by getting their digital cable or their HD package. to the coax switch I go!

does this look like a good simple coax switch without much signal loss on both the cable and OTA side?
Amazon.com: Coaxial A/B Switch: Electronics

 

[SKrueger]

does this look like a good simple coax switch without much signal loss on both the cable and OTA side?
Amazon.com: Coaxial A/B Switch: Electronics

Should be fine. Unless you want to spend more and get a remote control one.

 

[jegrant]

Bear in mind - you might also try (if you haven't already) plugging your local analog cable directly into your HD tuner and scanning to see if any HD or digital stations are in clear QAM format. This may allow you to get some channels without even using an antenna, and it *will not* require you to buy any digital cable or HD cable package.

 

[reedacus25]

Bear in mind - you might also try (if you haven't already) plugging your local analog cable directly into your HD tuner and scanning to see if any HD or digital stations are in clear QAM format. This may allow you to get some channels without even using an antenna, and it *will not* require you to buy any digital cable or HD cable package.

We currently get CBS (64.1) and PBS (64.2) on the QAM as it is. thats 2 out of the possible 7 that are available OTA (PBS1,PBS2,CBS,ABC,FOX,MyNet,CW, and we dont know when NBC is going live with their HD) The cable people called to tell me there were plans for 12 new HD's on the cable Sept. 1 so we might hold off. Thanks for the help so far