Dish network is looking really bad now that I got a HDTV with a tuner. I just hooked up my cable and let it program all the channels. I subscribe to analog basic, but when the programming finished, I was flipping channels and to my surprise, I got many HD channels that my cable company was offering. Food HD, TNT HD, History HD, A&E HD, ESPN/2 HD, MHD, HGTV HD, Golf HD, Universal HD and TBS HD. It also had 2 of my locals in HD. I've read about this in other forums, but I guess the cable company is too lazy to block them out? Its crazy, I get a few more HD channels for free (well the basic analog pack which is $50/mo) than I get with dish paying $20 for. Not like I could drop dish though, just got a new 510, so I got another 18 months.
free hd through my cable co
- Thread starter capman
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It takes a day or two for cable to register an HD box then subs will only get what they pay for. Looks to me this is unique to your cableco if it stays that way. It is also possible the cable tech forgot to block out the digital band you do not pay for, in that case don't tell anyone
It takes a day or two for cable to register an HD box then subs will only get what they pay for. Looks to me this is unique to your cableco if it stays that way. It is also possible the cable tech forgot to block out the digital band you do not pay for, in that case don't tell anyone
He probably hooked it up straight from the wall without a box. The hdtv he got has a built in hd tunner. You can pick up unscrambled hd channels for free. Enjoy!!!!
You are *very* lucky. Most cable companies provide nothing digital in the "clear". Some cable companies have the local channels, as I *think* there's some FCC mandate that they're supposed to push the locals in the clear. However, I've subscribed to cable services who haven't offered a lick of digital in the clear.
If I got the digitals and HD channels without the digital/HD tier, I would have probably stuck with cable.
If I got the digitals and HD channels without the digital/HD tier, I would have probably stuck with cable.
Our cable company provided all the local channels in HD in the digital channels (assuming you have a QAM compatible tuner). Originally, you could get the music channels too, but they took those away.
It is very inconsistent from place to place what you get straight from the wall.
It is very inconsistent from place to place what you get straight from the wall.
I was getting just about everything for a few months. Even all the movie channels. Then my cable company finally got wise and scrambled all but the locals.Doing a QAM scan is always an adventure. Last I did one I received SD digital nets, ABC HD & CW HD from my local DMA and then SD digital CBS,ABC,NBC,FOX from Chicago which are not available with a cable box or analog scan in my area.
If you have an HDTV, you should have gone for an HD receiver. You will never be very happy with SD channels on an HDTV. Obviously, it will cost you more per month, but you'll find that being able to record content from many of those HD channels is pretty cool.
