HD OTA through SD box.

[agrolingua]

I have the basic SD 322 Dish Network box. At this moment I have no HD TV's. But, that might soon change. I am wondering if I attach an antenna, or even a HD tuner (rather than just a digital converter) to the antenna connection on this box for the additional local HD channels would the output sent to my TV be SD or HD? In other words it is just passing through the OTA, but will it convert it to SD or HD? The Dish CSR I talked to thought the output would be SD even though the input is HD.

Any ideas or experience?

 

[boba]

The 322 will do nothing for you it does not have an OTA tuner built in. If you buy a new HDTV it will have an ATSC tuner built in so all you need to do is connect the TV antenna directly to the back of the TV set.

 

[TheKrell]

I am wondering if I attach an antenna, or even a HD tuner (rather than just a digital converter) to the antenna connection on this box for the additional local HD channels would the output sent to my TV be SD or HD?

The 322 has no OTA tuner, so attaching the output of anything (including standalone tuners) won't really do anything one way or another to the signals coming out of the 322. The input coax port is a passthrough port for convenience only. When you turn on the 322, then it is broadcasting on NTSC channel 3 or 4 or (forget what the options are) UHF channels for the TV2 output.

A coupon-eligible converter box will of necessity convert all ATSC signals to SD A/V or RF (coax) output, including HD broadcasts. Most if not all HD ATSC standalone tuners will have A/V and RF outputs as well. Those are SD and so it is converting HD to SD in that case. I think the CECB makes the most sense for you at this point. When you upgrade to an HDTV, then it will have it's own HD ATSC tuner and you can go HD with OTA broadcasts right away. Most if not all HDTVs will accept NTSC or A/V inputs, such as what your 322 has. But obviously to get HD via dish network, you would need to upgrade that receiver as well. This can be done at a later date.

 

[ripnbigc]

Do the converter boxes change the aspect ratio?

 

[TheKrell]

I've only played with two of them, and they both could do that. The DTVpal has various zoom modes, including one that trims the sides off a widescreen presentation. I ran it that way and it worked pretty well, doing nothing for SD broadcasts and trimming the sides off the HD broadcasts.

 

[staywalt]

It all depends what you want to do. If you are receivein the HD OTA from a stand alone antenna on your house Most HD tv's have a separate off air input and tuner. My lcd tv has this. It is completely separate from the Dish receiver. I select source on my TV remote and go from HDMI inpu to off air and can watch HD from my OTA antenna. I have a 722 receiver which also picks up these channels and integrates them into the Dish box menue.

 

[agrolingua]

Clarification

Forgive me for not spelling this out better. Let me try to me more clear. I have a Dish 322 receiver. There is a antenna input on the back. I attach an antenna (in this case I might attach a Winegard ss3000). On my remote control I can chose between 2 outputs. One being from the dish and the other the signal that is coming from the antenna. Would the output from the antenna be HD (from the local OTA HD channels)? Or, would the receiver put out only a SD signal from the antenna?

I called Dish Network and the CSR felt that the antenna output through the receiver would only be SD. I an not confident he was sure of what he was saying.

I guess the question is whether the receiver is simply passing the antenna signal as is and the output could be HD? Or, is there some sort of conversion to SD regardless of what it is getting from the antenna?

I hope this is clear. Perhaps you are saying "why do I even care?"

 

[garys]

The receiver would need to be shut off or you need to use the button to allow pass through. It is just easier to connect OTA direct to the tuner or tv and use another input for the receiver except in the case of the tv not having more than one input, in which case you do not have a digital tuner for the OTA and need a different converter box. Having a Dish receiver connected to a converter box does not give you anything either, it comes off as doing a lot of extra wiring for nothing, so why would you want to bother with it.

 

[wetz73]

I agree, lots of wiring for no reason and probably to degrade your picture. Run your antenna straight into the HDTV, which will have a tuner (as long as you don't get a "monitor", which doesn't). If you want, stick a splitter in there and run an antenna cable to the 322, but I don't know why you would want to do this. Hook the 322 to the HDTV with the S-Video output as well as the audio cables. 3 wires and you are done. Or upgrade to a 722, 722k, or wait on the 922. Then you can run your antenna into the receiver and get everything through an HDMI or component cables.

 

[agrolingua]

Explanation

OK. Let me explain what is behind all this. Perhaps they are just delusions of a cheapskate!

Starting at the end. I have a Winegard ss 3000 antenna. I was thinking of feeding that into the Dish 322 receiver. I was going to take that output via coax and run it into a Motorola Voom. With the remote control I can control whether the satellite or the OTA antenna (and HD) is output to the Voom. I realize that does not take full advantage of the HD tuner on the Voom.

While I have the local channels on Dish it does not include the new local HD channels that have come online.

The reason I am putting the Motorola Voom into the system is that I would like to feed a 22-24" LCD monitor (no tuner). This would be for a bedroom and not long-term. I could do that using the DVI output from the Voom.

At some point in the not too distant future I would get a true HDTV with tuner. At that point I could use the monitor with a computer, and the Voom could be used as a tuner on another monitor or TV.

I had thought about doing this the other way around, with the antenna and 322 feeding into the Voom and then to a monitor, but do not believe there is a way to do that and get both OTA and satellite through the Voom.

So there is the whole story. If anyone can see the fatal flaw in all this I would be eager to learn what it is.

I have been really excited to find this site. I have really been intrigued with the FTA info and would not be surprised if down the road I end up getting a small system for that. Looks really fun.

 

[oljim]

OK. Let me explain what is behind all this. Perhaps they are just delusions of a cheapskate!

Starting at the end. I have a Winegard ss 3000 antenna. I was thinking of feeding that into the Dish 322 receiver. I was going to take that output via coax and run it into a Motorola Voom. With the remote control I can control whether the satellite or the OTA antenna (and HD) is output to the Voom. I realize that does not take full advantage of the HD tuner on the Voom.

While I have the local channels on Dish it does not include the new local HD channels that have come online.

The reason I am putting the Motorola Voom into the system is that I would like to feed a 22-24" LCD monitor (no tuner). This would be for a bedroom and not long-term. I could do that using the DVI output from the Voom.

At some point in the not too distant future I would get a true HDTV with tuner. At that point I could use the monitor with a computer, and the Voom could be used as a tuner on another monitor or TV.

I had thought about doing this the other way around, with the antenna and 322 feeding into the Voom and then to a monitor, but do not believe there is a way to do that and get both OTA and satellite through the Voom.

So there is the whole story. If anyone can see the fatal flaw in all this I would be eager to learn what it is.

I have been really excited to find this site. I have really been intrigued with the FTA info and would not be surprised if down the road I end up getting a small system for that. Looks really fun.

Not a good idea, the voom tuner has 18v out to power the amp in the 3000 antenna. This could damage the 332 or the 332 could block the voltage to the antenna. Keep the voom and antenna on its own cable