Just got a fancy Sony 32" Flatscreen XBR HD TV for Xmas and don't want to double my cable bill when I can get free HD channels using an HD antenna. Currently getting about 30 hidef channels using a WINEGARD HDTVlp indoor antenna.

Problem is when I want to watch cable TV channels that are not available on the HD TV antenna. Both The Comcast Cable and HD antenna provide a signal using only a coax cable. The Sony TV only has one coax connector/tuner along with the standard HDMI and HD/DVD inputs.

Sony said that I can use an RF modulator with the HD antenna although this would significantly degrade the HD signal. I'm guessing that I can use an RF modulator with the Comcast coax cable as well. The main problem is that the TV only has one coax connector/tuner.

Is there a simple solution to this problem or am I simlpy wasting my time trying to find a solution?

Thanks,

Stefan

No! How can you modulate a signal that is already RF? If they mean demodulate, then you need an external tuner.

First, you could just get a simple A/B switch, however, a few conditions must be present to do this. Dopes your TV allow antenna and cable channels (digital and analog) to be programmed at the same time or do you constantly have to go into the menus if you want to change? If they can all be tuned at the same time, then an A/B switch will work fine.

If not, I reccomend using an external tuner for your cable and letting the TV decode the antenna signal itself. Much cheaper as you could use a VCR as the cable tuner and output it via composite to the TV.

Can't you just split the feed from your antenna and get Atsc/Ntsc from one cable? Does the set have both atsc/ntsc tuners or just atsc? My sanyo from walmart has two rf inputs -one for cable- one for digital.

Well, he says his TV only has one input... so without some sort of external coaxial switching device (and a macro to change the TV from cable to antenna) or an actual external tuner there's little that can be done.

I ended up using an A/B switch box to switch from the digital antenna to the analog cable. 1960s tech but I could find anything more elegant.

Remember that you'll have to tell the TV you've switched from antenna to cable on that input and vice cersa to get higher channels properly.

The posts say there is only one F connector, so more than one tuner is sorta unlikely.

Also, he says he wants cable and OTA HD, not two types of channels from his antenna. You ask a good couple of questions but you should read the original post again.

As I understand it Stefan wants to be able to switch between OTA HD and analog CATV. One easy solution, if you have a VHS machine, is to hook the CATV to the VHS and take the line out into an alternate input on the new TV. Use the VHS remote to change channels on the VCR.

I made that reccomendation in the second post!

And a damn fine recommendation it was! (sorry I missed it, my bad)

My dad now had this same problem. I bought him this years' 42 Hitachi Plasma for xmas - I have last years model. I was greatly disappointed to find Hitachi eliminated the second RF connection on the set, dispite the fact the set has ATSC/NTSC and QAM tuners. This is fine if you want to mix satellite in, but you are screwed if you want to use Cable and Antenna without a switch (which is extremely inconvenient IMO) or a VCR (also very inconvenient). Other than that the set has a few more features and menu adjustments that are nice additions though.

I am sure the answer is no but is there an RF to HDMI or RF to component/optical adapter - I highly doubt there is such a thing. (Would this even work? I am thinking not since it still needs to go through a tuner right?).

It's a darn shame that they had to cheap out on something that costs peanuts in the big picture. There is three HDMI inputs on this TV, but none are needed at this point - the one extra over last year is probably the reason behind deleting the second RF input...

Since he wants to use cable and OTA signals, the question is what type of cable box does he have.

Some of them now accept both cable and antenna feeds into the cable box.

If a cable box with both inputs is not available from his cable company, he can always get a Tivo S3.

The S3 definitely has both inputs and works fine for this purpose, but it is an expensive solution.

He seems to have been pretty informative in his initial post (not that we have all paid attention to what he wrote...), and he didn't mention a cable box. He implies that he would connect the cable directly to the TV if it had a second F connector. So, no, that isn't the question.

stefanfl:
Will your cable cost more if you get a cable box for the channels you now subscribe to?

I guess what's really needed is a separate cable box that does both cable and OTA seamlessly. Not many of those out there; I think the last was the now discontinued Sony DHG-HDD*** series. Many OTA HDTV receivers can do both antenna and cable, but generally not at the same time - I even have a Samsung with separate cable and OTA RF inputs but the option to switch between the two is buried deep in a menu!

I have the XBR 1 32 inch Sony sitting next to me.

The thing has a ATSC and an NTSC tuner built in..... no need to fool with it.

The A-B switch from the source will work fine.... no foolin' and no fuss... just need to add one bit of cable.

No need to fool with AV cables or HDMI cables... it de-mods HD off the RF just fine and the cable signal works with his other TVs so we can assume the HD will like it fine...