EFF the Cable Company (HELP)

[binaryterror]

Ok well for about 9 months I've been only paying for Cable Internet...they never filtered the channels until this last week (being digital they can now filter them without giant filter arrays )

So needless to say I'm left with a few locals in HD (not all the Football ones ) and some of the weirdest channels ever...but about 304 I still enjoy.

I also have an HD OTA antenna I've been using for the last week, getting about 40 local channels of which maybe 10 are worth anything when it comes to content).

Question:
Can you take 2 Coax inputs and join them into 1?

Basically add the HD OTA locals and combine them with the remaining bits of the cable companies signals. I'm doing searches online, but many of those forums are well beyond my level of comprehension talking about VHF/UHF and frequencies.

Thought since I've seen many a post for members jumping off the cable lately, someone might have experience with an issue like this.

Thanks in advance guys

[microgoat]

You'd need a switchbox, so you can choose between the cable and the antenna. Just running the two cables into a splitter probably won't work.

[Rev]

When I had dish network they had a splitter that would take 2 sat signals both coax cables (at the time it was 110 & 119) and combine them into one coax cable. Google DP21 switch. I cant say that this would work, buts its worth a shot.

[binaryterror]

Originally Posted by microgoat

You'd need a switchbox, so you can choose between the cable and the antenna. Just running the two cables into a splitter probably won't work.

I know about the A/B splitter, but the work..blah though if that's my only option it may have to be done.

Originally Posted by Rev

When I had dish network they had a splitter that would take 2 sat signals both coax cables (at the time it was 110 & 119) and combine them into one coax cable. Google DP21 switch. I cant say that this would work, buts its worth a shot.

The DP21 is only for Satellite signals to "add" in service packages. The concept of them though is exactly what I want to do. Take 2 services and make them effectively controlled at the TV.

I'll do some searching on these types of devices.

[Duuuuuuuude]

You'll need a switch. You can't mix signals like that so easily.

[rik]

why pay for HD? my cable company scrambles the HD signal, thus requiring you to purchase/rent a box from them. i split the cable before my cable box. i run one end into my cable box. from the cable box i run RCA cables to the tv. the other end i run right into the tv. Then i did a channel search via the HD tuner on the tv and all the HD channels show up for free. SO input 1 is my tiered cable and input 2 is every HD channel my cable company has. The only cost two me was purchasing a 3' piece of that coaxial cable that you need for HD.

Funny thing is when the cable guy came to hook everything up (wife and i just bought our first home) he kept telling me i need to upgrade to HD. i was like, "yea, whatever, just hook it up to the box". He went to hook it up to the tv and i told him not to touch the tv and leave it be. he looked at me from behind the tv and said "you're gonna splice this cable when i leave, aren't you?" LOL..he knew what the deal was. I threw 20 bucks at him right there and all of a sudden he didnt see a thing.

[binaryterror]

I don't pay for Cable anymore...

I get 4/7 of the locals in HD still through their hook up and about 18 other channels they left unfiltered in SD but digital (missing SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!). And I never used a cable box, my TV isn't 30 years old needing one.

With the OTA antenna I get 40 channels, 10 of them locals (can watch all football, except the lately waste of time Monday night games).

[rik]

Originally Posted by binaryterror

I don't pay for Cable anymore...

I get 4/7 of the locals in HD still through their hook up and about 18 other channels they left unfiltered in SD but digital (missing SUNDAY NIGHT FOOTBALL!). And I never used a cable box, my TV isn't 30 years old needing one.

With the OTA antenna I get 40 channels, 10 of them locals (can watch all football, except the lately waste of time Monday night
games).

LOL..mine isnt 30 years old either... 55" less than a year old. one of those smart tv's..

i was talking to a guy at work and he was telling me that he doesnt have a cable box either. your the second person thats said that. whenever i have signed up for cable, they show up and give me a box. I guess it's mainly for the on-screen guide. Do you have the on-screen guide? the guy i work with doesnt. but he only get like 80 channels. I get a few hundred at least. albeit most of them are bullchit..

Hell, i see a lot of tv's coming out that dont have an HD tuner in them. i just bought a tv a couple of months ago for the kiddo's play-room. i had to settle on a 32" because it was the only one that had an HD tuner in it. The guy at the store kept trying to sell me bigger, but i told him i NEED the HD tuner. To which he replied, "oh, you're gonna steal HD huh?"

[binaryterror]

My TV is an old 37" Visio and has an HD tuner...

I could get much of the On-Screen display, but who needs that anyhow. They mainly force the cable boxes to people as a way to get ratings on shows and crap as well as get numbers for their local/regional/national numbers for selling commercial advertising. Don't see why I should let them know my usage when they use it to make more money...then pass me rate increases.

Just don't see the need to pay $30 a month for cable...until they figure out a way to let me buy the channels I want to watch. Tired of my bill going up because companies are charging them more. Let me pick the say 30 channels I might ever care to watch and only pay for those. Thatd make those pesky kids channels cost more to parents...the people who should be paying for them, not every cable subscriber.

[jokers_toys]

i have been cable free for about 4 mo now bill was around 160 a month


now i just run

netflix....(ps3).....$8 a month
hulu +....(ps3).....$8 a month
vudo......(ps3)......pay per movie

my kids and wife is more then happy

[cboggs]

If your tv has a digital tuner you will more than likely pick up alot of digital channels, but the tv will put them on weird channel numbers. If you do have the digital tuner in the tv and cant get the programing then there is probably a filter on at your hookup out at the street. What cable company is it there? You can thank the government regulations/FCC for not being able to easily steal from your cable company now. Heres the short version, consumer demand for more channels to watch, more HD channels, higher speed internet, and more choices for phone service (land line) all use up bandwidth that has to come from somewhere. By compressing channels into the digital frequencies the consumer gets more of it all, except the analog channels that were so easy to get.