this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2024
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Assuming your tuner was manufactured later than around 2005 and supports ATSC digital broadcasts. Also makes me wonder when you got your TiVo. I thought they were dead long before everything went digital.
The antenna type doesn't matter. If you don't have a 1940s antenna, technically you can use a paperclip. It may not be strong enough to recieve the channel depending on local interference, but it might pick up the station with a strong enough signal. And anyone still using a tv with a tuner made before 2005 already has a tunerbox. Back in 2010 my dad even got one for free from the government.
Tivo never died. They're still alive. I got mine in 2012. I estimated it takes 3 1/3rd years for it to become worth it to do lifetime service.
That was 12 years ago. Although I did have to spend $100 on a new hard drive.
Huh. Didn’t know TiVo was still around.
We use a Tabo at home. Like TiVo, but primarily for network access from phones/media streamers. Has a similar lifetime subscription too.
Everyone switched to digital. You need a digital antenna. One from the 40s does not work today. A paperclip would absolutely not receive and decode a digital signal either.
You're conflating the tuner with the antenna. The person you replied to, however, is correct including the comment about the digital tuner boxes (which convert to an analog signal for old TV's) being available for free during the analog to digital changeover back when.
Any piece of metal will work as an antenna, even for receiving digital broadcasts. It might not work well, but there is no magical difference between a "digital" antenna and an "analog" one, and since digital television is transmitted over pretty much the same original frequencies as analog was, old analog antennae are already quite well tuned in size and shape to pick up modern digital signals.
You just have to plug your 1940's antenna into a 2009+ or so television. The antenna itself doesn't "decode" anything. It just catches radio waves and passes the waveform along to the TV or tuner box. I still use the old 60's era rooftop antenna that cane with my house, but plugged into my modern TV and it receives digital channels just fine.
Interesting. Well, I'll defer to your experience then since you seem to know more than me. Thank you.