OTA Adapter
- Thread starter mpinales
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If that's the USB adapter then it's the one you need. AFAIK DishDepot is the only dealer that has them in stock.
The guide will populate for any channels that have data in the stream. It depends on your local market how many that is.
I know need an antenna! I want to switch to Dish from Directv (long story) but only if I can drag in all my locals. Dish said they will not do the install with one, but if I have the adapter there from another source they will hook it up at the time of the install. Thanks.
You had asked what else is needed. i was simply trying to answer your question---especially in light of the ideas some others had. . As for installation you plug the adapter into a USB port and screw the antenna coax into the other end of the adapter. It should initiate a scan on its own. If it does not go the menu and look for the symbol that looks like aan antenna.
OP - just so we're totally clear on your definition of this, while the adapter WILL put all the OTA channels your tuner finds into the guide, you may NOT actually get programming info for ALL those said channels. DISH, like DirecTV, does NOT always carry program info for EVERY one of local subchannels...you may be lucky & actually get them all in your market, but most markets do NOT. (my market alone is now missing at least 1/2 dozen local subchannels) AND, as the OTA TV repack transition kicks off, it may very well get worse, as channels migrate to other local OTA stations, which has already happened in a few local markets as we speak.
The repack is a year or so away. The auction isn't officially closed yet, so locals can't move to their new channel. Are you talking about subchannel affiliation (MeTV, MyTV, etc) changing what local they're on? Has nothing to do with the repack.
If done correctly, channel sharing and frequency changes shouldn't matter. On Dish, OTA EPG data is matched based on the TSID of the subchannel. TSIDs are unique per licensed station and are assigned/maintained by the FCC, and most importantly have zero link to the actual frequency being used.
Even with channel sharing, individual licensees will maintain their own license, and theoretically should maintain their own PSIP and TSID data, such that other than a frequency change, the repack would be transparent to end users.
DirecTV I believe simply uses channel numbers/subchannel numbers to match so they might be out of luck.
I can tell you in at least 2 markets, major nets (NOT subchannels) have, in fact, moved to subchannels:
In Peoria IL, the ABC affiliation moved to a sub of the local NBC station; the CW affiliation moved as sub from the ABC station, also to the NBC station as (another HD) sub. (yes, ALL 3 of these major nets are packed on 1 OTA station in HD...I see them myself, NOT a pretty site!)
In South Bend IN, the FOX affiliation moved to a sub on the local NBC station
And yes, while these moves didn't directly have to do with the repak, if you look at the bigger picture, I believe they do/will. The former stations in these markets are now running (only) 2nd tier subchannels (H&I, Comet, etc.) on their main channels. I HIGHLY doubt the owners of these stations can make enough $$$ of these stations w/subchannel programming, to keep these stations running - they will end up selling these freqs off to the FCC, taking the $$$ & running....which is part of the repack process.
Uh huh...I bolded those couple items...my point in all this being, nobody really, really knows at this point what IS/WILL going to happen. The point to the OP I was making is, there is NO guarantee how that adapter IS going to work in the relative near future, as when the repack DOES start. 1 year is NOT that long away & who knows how everything will shake out.
Also, does the new OTA adapter support ATSC 3.0...uh, my guess is since those said standards have NOT been all nailed down, probably not. Again, the OP should NOT have expectations it's going to have a long lifespan.
It's the same for DirecTV, at least that's what several posters have said in those forums, that DO seem to know what they're talking about. And because of that, they say that DirecTV's system simply does not have that capacity for the latter ID's that are being added on...hence why they don't even bother messing with updating it anymore.
This is exactly why I quit jackin' around with either of these half-assed OTA tuners & went with (2) lifetime OTA Tivo's over a year ago...while Tivo IS having their own issues with the Rovi guide data conversion, at the time they did offer the OTA EPG info for ALL our local channels & nobody back then knew about them selling out to Rovi & the whole Gracenote to Rovi EPG fiasco!
They have managed to get things fixed back for the most part; although they have a few issues, it still beats the "NO INFO" crap on the sat OTA tuners by a longshot!
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I don't doubt networks have moved between channels. I highly doubt it had anything to do with the repack because stations weren't allowed to talk to each other about what their plans are for the repack. The other thing you need to look at is whether the stations running 2nd tier networks as their .1 are currently broadcasting on what frequency? I think the government is only going to purchase frequencies above channel 36.
As far as whether the OTA adaptor supports ATSC 3.0, I'm guessing it does. Just like an antenna built in 1950 currently supports ATSC 1.0, anything simply passing RF should pass 3.0. It's the actual TUNER (in this case the Hopper) that would need to be replaced to bring in 3.0.
This is purely and categorically incorrect. The USB dongle is the tuner, not the Hopper. To support ATSC 3.0 will require a new dongle for sure. Theoretically it is possible that the Hopper (or at least the Hopper 3 since it has USB 3) could support ATSC 3.0, with the required dongle, with just a software update. There is no OTA tuning hardware within the Hopper itself.
To further what JosephB said, if there were a OTA tuner in the H3 it would have a coax connector to attach the antenna lead. Obviously it doesn't so the adapter is the tuner....
I think I need to order a Hopper 3 and a Joey. I have 2 tv's -one 4k and the other HD. Do I need 2 ota turner adapters or just one. \I am with Directv now and the mini is just a slave to the main reciever and I only need one ota turner. thanks
My older OTA Adapter works just fine on my new H3. It provides OTA to my connected 4k Joey also. Hope that helps.
