I have an HDTV (Westinghouse 42f450s.) My roommates and I only have regular digital cable, not HD (Comcast). It’s not worth the cost, really. We’d only get maybe four cable HD channels that we’d ever watch…but we do like to watch the HD broadcast channels.
If I don’t use the cable box (yet still have the cable plugged into the TV), I can get these channels. For instance, my local Fox is cable channel 9, OTA channel 44, and to get HD, I tune my TV to 44.1 (again, this is without the cable box, but with the cable still plugged into the TV, not an antenna.) My local NBC is 5 on the cable, 31 OTA, and 31.5 for the HD.
Is there any way to both have the cable box installed, yet get my OTA HD channels? I can’t do the “partial channels” (ie, 44.1) with the cable box, only my TV itself does that. And since the output of the cable box is coax, I can’t just switch inputs on the TV.
It really depends on the type of cable box you have. If you have the small, free ‘DTA’ (Digital To Analog) with only RF connections, no. You have to use a splitter and A/B switch (possibly free at your Comcast office).
If you have a larger SD box with ‘RF Passthru’, you might be able to connect it via Coax for HD (tuning with the TV) and composite/component for SD (tuning with the STB).
On the slim chance your TV has 2 RF inputs, you can use a splitter for HD and connect SD STD normally - still tuning with one or the other.
If you have an actual cable box and not just the digital adapter/DTA, easiest thing to do would be connect the SD cable box via composite cables (yellow, red, white RCA jacks) and then just hook the antenna directly to the TV’s RF jack.
Comcast boxes don’t enable RF passthru even though the option is there in the menus, at least none of them I’ve had have ever had the feature working. Maybe it depends on your region, but I wouldn’t count on it working.
Yeah, I found out how there is a pass through/bypass button, and an option in the menu to have it turn on when the cable box is off, but it doesn’t actually do that.
And I don’t have an antenna, I was just using the cable plugged right into the TV…so I think I’ll get a splitter, and have the cable to go the box and TV, and then use s-video and RCA audio out from the box. Needlessly complicated all because Comcast sucks and does everything it can legally get away with to make you so frustrated getting that you break down and order their HD.