Time Warner Digital Cable Box question

[GigEm]

Hello,
I have recently scheduled an installation for Time Warner Cable TV. I am getting just the digital cable box (not HD), no DVR, because I have the Magnavox DVR already.

This is my current setup for OTA, and I'd like to do the same thing when I get my cable. The Magnavox DVR is a single, not dual, tuner and does not support watching one live program while recording. So, this is how I make it work: I run the RF from my converter box to my TV, and the A/V cables from the converter box to my DVR, which I can view on Line 2. That way, while I'm recording a show on the DVR source, all I need to do to watch a show on a different channel is change the TV to the TV source.

Do you guys think I'll be able to do this with the Time Warner box? Does it have two different outputs?

Thanks,
Mike

 

[jayn_j]

Do you guys think I'll be able to do this with the Time Warner box? Does it have two different outputs?

Thanks,
Mike

Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to work. The TW box will likely only have one output and one tuner. I haven't seen a dual tuner non-dvr box from TWC. I guess I would keep that antenna handy and do my second program watching OTA.

 

[GigEm]

Unfortunately, I don't think this is going to work. The TW box will likely only have one output and one tuner. I haven't seen a dual tuner non-dvr box from TWC. I guess I would keep that antenna handy and do my second program watching OTA.

Hi, thanks for the quick reply! I may indeed have to use my antenna to watch the second program (or get a second box for another TV). Last night, I got to thinking: I have a coax input into my DVR, so maybe I could use a splitter coming from the wall, routing one to my cable box, and the other to the DVR. You think that will work, or would my DVR not be able to process the cable signal without the cable box?

 

[jayn_j]

Hi, thanks for the quick reply! I may indeed have to use my antenna to watch the second program (or get a second box for another TV). Last night, I got to thinking: I have a coax input into my DVR, so maybe I could use a splitter coming from the wall, routing one to my cable box, and the other to the DVR. You think that will work, or would my DVR not be able to process the cable signal without the cable box?

It is worth a shot. It seems to depend on your cable provider and the local system. The systems are in the process of converting over to all-digital, but many still have a limited analog tier for now. Those could be received. In addition, the cable operators are supposed to feed the local channels out in something called clear-QAM which can be received by modern TV tuners. This varies widely among localities. Some simply ignore the law and encode everything. This requires a box. Others follow the letter of the law and provide the clear signals, but change the channel mapping every few weeks so you have to keep searching it out. Some play nice and leave stuff alone. The only way to tell is to try it and see what is there.