ATSC Tuner question: Will I need an antennae to view over the air digital channels or will this work straight out of the box?
1773475
At the very least, you'll need a $40 set of rabbit ears. You need to take into account how far you are from the transmitting towers of your local TV stations, and if there are any tall mountains or buildings between you and the towers. Many people swear by www.antennaweb.org . When you enter your home address at that website, it will give you a list of the TV stations in your area and how far you are from their towers, and what kind of outdoor (roof) antenna you might need to pick up those stations. At my house, I'm only 5-10 miles from our towers. I've got a set of rabbit ears sitting on a shelf, facing out a second-floor window toward the towers and all my local digital over-the-air channels come in perfectly. (Which is fortunate because I'm with Dish Network, and my market's HD local channels aren't available via satellite yet.)
1351199
Yes..ATSC tuner is built-in, USA ( north America) digital broadcasting standard A great TV!!
337174
I am not sure either about the tuner type but I use my set with a Terk HDTV indoor antenna and I receive all of my surrounding channels (both HDTV and digital) just fine. I do not subscribe to cable or satellite. Hope that helps!
1920045
The previous answer is not quite 100% correct. This unit does have an ANALOG tuner, which will no longer work with today's over-the-air digital high definition broadcasts. The tuner will work with basic, unencrypted, analog cable, but that's it.
1542327
No - it's just an antenna with a signal amplifier. You'll still have to buy/obtain a separate unit for converting the new digital signals to analog.
684756
I don't have cable in my kitchen and am thinking of buying a HDTV to replace my analog TV. The one I'm considering has built-in ATSC/QAM tuners. I was told I would not need a rooftop antenna but could just plug-in and receive local channels. Would I need coax cables/adapters too?? Thanks for your help. This changeover is all so confusing.
1500593
If your TV does not have ATSC (High Definition Tuner) over the air tuner build in then you will need a converter box. All over air broadcast are now in High Definition. High Definition uses the same frequencies as the UHF TV channels but with a different form of encoding.
1685220
Your analog TV has to have a digital converter to receive the digital signals on an analog TV. Once you have a converter the Monoprice 104730 will receive the digital signals over the air and you will be able to view local stations without the use of satellite or cable. Distance will affect whether you receive signals or not. Aswith the old analog TVs and the rabbit ears of the old days, if you were too far from a signal provider the pictures came in fuzzy or not at all. I live in the Dallas Fort Worth area and I work about 20 to 30 miles away and I am able to receive most channels at work. I use it to watch NFL games on Sundays and Mondays when I work.
200247
The broadcast signals are digital so you will need a converter box (digital to analog) no matter the antenna you use. Antenna&gt;Converter Box &gt; TV
2273154
Technically speaking your TV should have a built-in ATSC tuner in order to receive OTA (over the air) broadcast. Most recent model TV's do. You'd have to check the TV specs. As a last resort you can buy a separate tuner if need be.
133899
My TV is analog and I pulled signal with no converter box. But the antenna wasn't great for my area, which could have been a geographical issue, but a cheap $10 pair of rabbit ears worked best for me.
2071599
If you have new digital TV's, you only need a good digital antenna to watch digital channels with decent reception. You don't need a converter box. Analog to digital converter boxes are only necessary on older TV's (non-digital).
1741251
You cannot access digital cable stations with these homemade solutions. You will only access standard non encrypted cable and over the air broadcasts. You could possibly receive over the air HD broadcasts provided you purchased the right cards. However, by the time you buy the 3 video processing cards that would equal the dual tuners (and one for play back), you are looking at several hundred dollards already. The you have to factor in the rest of the computer, the harddrive space, etc.
809033
I used a plain old fashioned cheapie kind and it works fine. (I got it here at Amazon - an RCA that cost about 10 bucks.) No such thing as a "digital" antenna.This one: RCA Indoor FM and HDTV Antenna
78330
How were you able to determine that it was a faulty tuner and not user error? I am going through the same situation, although it is over the air and not cable. I was told that I could plug in a standard antenna and receive digital as well as HD channels due to the HD tuner. Please educate me in this matter as I am not versed in this matter.
1746522
Can I use this as a regular TV with the analog to digital convertor I bought in order to get my local antenna TV stations? Do I need special cables or a cable or satellite input? If this is widescreen (?) do I have to adapt (including wife's possible comments!!) to a different picture configuration that we are used to? Thanks a lot for any help and comments.
2103219
Yes it will work fine. IF you have a signal. The problem with digital signals is that it is all or nothing. You get a perfect picture or none at all so you need a good antenna to get enough of a signal to work with.