# OTA + Cable - how?



## menx (Sep 5, 2007)

Hopefully this isnt OT or already covered...

I'm very new to this whole HD thing...but in my new condo, the place comes with basic DirecTv....20 some odd channels....non HD. So, I want to also pick up the OTA channels via my antennae set up. But my tv only has one coax....so what should I do? Will a coax split work? 

The directv feed is analog, while the OTA would be digital...so with the coax splitter both going into one coax on the TV, would I be able to just switch between analog and digital to switch feeds?

thanks in advance!


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## oljim (Aug 6, 2002)

Look on the back of your TV, if it has A/V inputs (yellow ,red and white) hook your directv up with A/V cable and ant to RF in on TV.


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## menx (Sep 5, 2007)

oljim, sorry if i was unclear - the directv is from the coax in the wall, not component cables or anything else.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

menx said:


> oljim, sorry if i was unclear - the directv is from the coax in the wall, not component cables or anything else.


Buy yourself a coax A-B switch at Wal=Mart, Target or Radio Shack. Being that you are in Chicago, you need to determine whether an indoor antenna will meet your needs for OTA. Check www.antennaweb.org for more info on transmitter locations, direction, etc. Being that you are living in a condo, there are bound to be restrictions regarding antennas that will probably limit you do an indoor antenna. If you can use an indoor antenna, you might try the Radio Shack model 15-1892 antenna. It is amplified, and the UHF antenna rotates via remote control. It also has a builtin coax A-B switch that you would connect to your DirecTV feed.


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## menx (Sep 5, 2007)

Cholly said:


> Buy yourself a coax A-B switch at Wal=Mart, Target or Radio Shack. Being that you are in Chicago, you need to determine whether an indoor antenna will meet your needs for OTA. Check www.antennaweb.org for more info on transmitter locations, direction, etc. Being that you are living in a condo, there are bound to be restrictions regarding antennas that will probably limit you do an indoor antenna. If you can use an indoor antenna, you might try the Radio Shack model 15-1892 antenna. It is amplified, and the UHF antenna rotates via remote control. It also has a builtin coax A-B switch that you would connect to your DirecTV feed.


thanks Cholly  I'll get that switch then. Just wanted to test my theory before buying anything -

and yea, I have an indoor antenna already and it works just fine


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

If your "20 some odd" channels are just DirecTV channels that are modulated on to analog TV channels, chances are they are on a CATV style of channelization....2-13 are the same frequencies on OTA and Cable, 14 and above are different between the two.

So, you might have to switch your set between "Air" and "CATV" mode whenever you go back and forth. You could use an old VCR for an analog (CATV mode) tuner, and the TV's digital tuner for OTA.


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## menx (Sep 5, 2007)

hrm. i get more and more confused, nothing to do but try it i suppose  will be a few days...ordered the switch on amazon...too busy to go to a B&M to pick it up this week.

my antenna....the OTA stuff I'm picking up, are showing up as 'digital' channels. the D* channels are showing up as 'analog' channels. So I think you're right about how the D* channels are set up.

To clarify, i'm *hoping* to be able to just switch back and forth between 'analog' and 'digital' mode to switch between the different sources. Looking like i should be able to, long as I flick the switch on the coax switch. was hoping I wouldn't have to do that bit, but oh well.


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