That is what my 42HDT52 Hitachi can do with the help of the TV guide. I can select channels through the TV guide and the TV automatically selects/switches the input as needed. Unfortunately this years 42HDT79 eliminated the second RF input so you can no longer do this.

Even without the TV Guide, at least you could switch inputs with the remote. With only one RF input, you need a manual AB switch to change between them so only one signal goes to the TV at a time - I highly doubt you can program both into the TV Guide this way either...

I guess I was referring to using a splitter in reverse! Whether it would work or not -I don't know. The a/b switch seems to be the best- cheapest solution.

Cable and antenna signals are on the same frequencies from 2 - 13; Cable 65 is almost exactly UHF 14, and cable and UHF overlap from there on up. A splitter in reverse won't work in these ranges if there are stations there.


It does, although I haven't seen any TVs where you could program a tuner for a set of channels, switch to a different signal on the same input, and then ADD a bunch of channels. Programming for the "B" input would normally erase the channel list for the "A" input, so the A - B switch would be easy to switch but totally a pain to use.

"It does, although I haven't seen any TVs where you could program a tuner for a set of channels, switch to a different signal on the same input, and then ADD a bunch of channels. Programming for the "B" input would normally erase the channel list for the "A" input, so the A - B switch would be easy to switch but totally a pain to use."

Amazingly this is what my Samsung STB does model DTB-H260F, it is designed to memorize QAM and OTA-ATSC. You than hit a button to select between QAM and OTA - ATSC. It does not lose the memorized channels when you switch between the two.

Why Samsung just didn't use separate F connectors I will never know.

And yes I realise this is a STB and not a TV and yes I am talking QAM and not analog cable.

And BTW - you need a A/B switch to change between the two sources going to the one F connector.

-DonB2

Yeah, two F connectors would seem to be a lot simpler for them. Nice to know they are making this happen. Wish everybody would just give us discrete IR codes for everything....

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

What do you have to go through to change from tuning in antenna channels to tuning in cable channels?

For instance, cable systems use channels 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, etc; broadcast can't use adjacent channels so 3 and 8 are out. Do you flip the switch to antenna and just get snow on those? And cable uses channels between 6 and 7 (that's where 14 - 22 are); do you get snow with occasional aironautics audio when you're switched to antenna and you go there?

Don't forget that elegant can also mean simple and appropriate. Copper wire for phones is 1880s tech, but they haven't found anything more elegant...that is, simple and appropriate. Everything else is more complicated.

I could use a diagram of this connection. In lieu of that could you please confirm the connection path:
Cable TV from (in my case) directly from the cable outlet on the wall to the line in on the vhs/vcr.
vcr connects to hd tv via component cable or RCA jacks via line out
OTA antenna connects to the F connection on the HDTV or does it connect to the line in or out on the VCR.

Please confirm or correct the connection pathways.

Many thanks in advance for your help.

I think what he is saying is take the line out (ie audio video cables from the VHS machine into one of the line ins into the TV. This leaves the CATV or antenna F connector on the HDTV free. You simply hook up the antenna to this input and use it to get over the air HD signals.

When you want to watch analog cable, you must use the VCR as your tuner because your regular cable is plugged into the VCR. In other words, you must turn on the VCR and use it tune all of your analog cable signals. You need to change your TV from antenna input to the input that you plugged in the audio video from the VCR. I wish I could draw this out ... hopefully this makes sense.

You don't need it. Your understanding, as shown by this post, is close to perfect.

Yes. Gets you analog cable until they stop it.

Yes, except not VCR I've ever seen has component connections.

OTA antenna is an RF signal, while line in or out are baseband video. If you connect antenna to line in, or baseband video to antenna in, you'll get nothing or garbage.

In general, resurrecting old threads is frowned on here, so if you have a new question, please start a new thread. If you hang out here for a while, you'll see new people suggest answers to problems that people stopped caring about years ago. Really. Your post was unusual in that it did resurrect an old thread but your issue was completely on point and you weren't trying to help someone else who quit 18 months ago to sell municipal bonds, you were asking for help now for yourself. Thanks for being relevant and welcome to the site. Oh, and if you hadn't been relevant, you probably would have been flamed. But welcome to the madness!

I ran into the same problem with my vizio tv and I used a signal combiner or high end splitter in reverse and it worked fine. If you take the splitter input to the single rf in connector on the tv and then use one of the remaining ports on the splitter for the ota and the last port for the cable or rf, it should work fine because the splitter is by directional and the ota frequency is in the 5 to 900 hz range and the hdtv is in the 900 to 2500 hz range. It is working fine on my tv.

First , Welcome.

Second , Lets hope Ernie does not seem this thread resurrected like this otherwise he would have a heart attack, lol.

A couple of corrections , Mr Edd... , first the range is in the Mhz , like from 5 to 900 Mhz , but unfortunaelly both services free OTA and Analog or Digital Cable use the same range (although different channel numbers) therefore your solution with the reverse splitter does not work , on the contrary it makes it worst and could even bring problems for your neighborg cable TV system.

second, as far as TV services is concern , in the 900 to 2500 Mhz range, there is only the IF signals from an LNB from a Satellite TV system which was not the case on this thread and for that the typical splitter does not work. If by high end splitter you mean a satellite splitter then you have to make sure it is at least power pass on 1 port. Best solution is to use a couple of Diplexers to combine and separate.

Welcome again , and please , check first if the thread is too old when replying. You can start a new one with questions if you like.