Vip 211 and cable changing to digital in 09

gmitchell

SatelliteGuys Family
Jun 12, 2007
62
1
Southeast Ohio
My question is, I have Vip 211 with no locals so I use AAD. Currently I have a cable modem for my computer and I am required to have the basic cable with that service. It has the local network channels on them but the service is analog (currently have cable going directly to TV but PQ is bad) and my 211 will not pick them up. I It is my understanding that next year all stations will have to go digital. Can the 211 then be able to pickup and read the locals on cable? If so, I will be able to reduce my bill by removing the AAD feeds. Is that correct?:confused:
 

mdonnelly

Supporting Founder
Supporting Founder
Aug 26, 2004
8,161
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Mustang, OK
The 211 does not have an NTSC (analog) or QAM (digital) tuner, so you won't get cable channels using the 211. If you use an antenna to pickup the ATSC (OTA digital) signals, and you're in range, then you can get them with the 211.
 

vegassatellite

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Pub Member / Supporter
Nov 5, 2007
3,319
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Phoenix, AZ
211 will not pick up cable, analog or digital. However, the FCC is requiring that cable companies continue to carry locals in analog for an additional two years after the transition.
 

garys

SatelliteGuys Master
I never said it wouldn't. I said it wouldn't pick up cable, whether its analog cable or digital. There was no second comma, so that wasn't a list. Didn't I have a debate over context with you before?
Guess we now expected to be English majors too. Not everyone remembers sentence structure (I certainly don't). Just adding a fact for anyone else here who may read that sentence as "any digital" and not as it relates to cable.
 

vegassatellite

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Nov 5, 2007
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Guess we now expected to be English majors too. Not everyone remembers sentence structure (I certainly don't). Just adding a fact for anyone else here who may read that sentence as "any digital" and not as it relates to cable.

English Major???!!! C'mon man, I was a high-school dropout who went back and got his diploma a few years later. This is like 6th grade stuff. When you have a list, you separate items with a comma. Such as "This device doesn't support cable, analog, or digital." Here's an example of my original sentence, only written differently but with same meaning:

Analog or digital, the 211 will not pick up cable.


English hasn't become more complex over the years, people have simply become more stupid. I will not cater to the dumbing down of our society by taking my writing down to a 3rd grade academic level. I write to the best of my ability and I still often end up butchering the English language. If a reformed dropout can get this stuff, I see no excuse for anyone else. Sheesh, the prose in some Dr. Seuss books have more complex sentence structures.
 

tnsprin

SatelliteGuys Pro
Sep 27, 2003
1,601
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I never said it wouldn't. I said it wouldn't pick up cable, whether its analog cable or digital. There was no second comma, so that wasn't a list. Didn't I have a debate over context with you before?

Rare and getting rarer, but some analog cable networks carry the ATSC signals and so will work with the ViP 211. And there still are some Community antenna systems (sometimes also called cable) which will work.
 

vegassatellite

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Nov 5, 2007
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Phoenix, AZ
Rare and getting rarer, but some analog cable networks carry the ATSC signals and so will work with the ViP 211. And there still are some Community antenna systems (sometimes also called cable) which will work.

An ATSC signal is digital, not analog. I'm not aware of any community antenna systems that have ATSC modulation other than just OTA pass-through. I haven't heard of any cable systems in the US that don't use QAM modulation for their digital channels.
 

reallyniceguy

SatelliteGuys Pro
Jan 11, 2008
254
0
thorton, co
I thought that analog cable would have to go digital meaning people would need to switch to digital cable.. they are planning on using that part of the spectrum for more hd chans.. correct me if i am wrong please.
 

garys

SatelliteGuys Master
I thought that analog cable would have to go digital meaning people would need to switch to digital cable.. they are planning on using that part of the spectrum for more hd chans.. correct me if i am wrong please.

No, the analog that has to go away is the over the air (OTA) signals local markets use to broadcast to their immediate area. Cable is using this to confuse customers into thinking they have to change their cable service, allowing them to charge their customers more money. Check here: DIGITAL TELEVISION (DTV) Tomorrow's TV Today!
 

Bradtothebone

SatelliteGuys Pro
Pub Member / Supporter
Sep 12, 2003
785
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KC Area
I thought that analog cable would have to go digital meaning people would need to switch to digital cable.. they are planning on using that part of the spectrum for more hd chans.. correct me if i am wrong please.

The cable companies are certainly free to go all-digital (to gain bandwidth) if they so desire. But, there is no MANDATE from the FCC that they do so, and it would be a pretty expensive proposition for them to do it, since they would probably have to provide free or very cheap converter boxes for all their basic cable customers, or risk losing them. In addition, many cable homes have one or two TV's with digital cable boxes, and the rest of their sets are on basic (analog). I guess they'd have to take care of them, too? :eek:

Brad
 

Bradtothebone

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Sep 12, 2003
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KC Area
........Currently I have a cable modem for my computer and I am required to have the basic cable with that service. It has the local network channels on them but the service is analog (currently have cable going directly to TV but PQ is bad) and my 211 will not pick them up.

Does your TV have a QAM tuner? If so, you should be able to pick up any HD locals on your cable system "in the clear," even with basic cable.

Brad
 

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