We got a digital converter box but have regular basic cable with comcast?

Question

My question is if we get an indoor/outdoor anteena would we be able to get more stations or should we just take the digital box back is it useful for anything if we have cable? Comcast took some of the stations we had off and we thought we would be able to get them using an antenna and digital converter box if so how?

Answer 1

Coupon type converter boxes were designed to only work with antennas and do not work with any major cable TV system.

In general, with a converter box you get whatever programing you got on analog over the air broadcasts plus a few others, usually PBS type stuff.

Too over simplify things somewhat*, you would need whatever kind of antenna you need for good analog reception.

You cannot get a refund for the amount of the $40 coupon (if you used one), so if you don't want to keep it you might want to sell it or give it away.

>Comcast took some of the stations we had off

Many cable companies are planing to do away with their analog cable service. But there is a federal requirement for them to supply over the air channels in an analog format for several years. (They do have the option of going all-digital and supplying you will a cable box). As long as your cable company keeps its analog cable service, broadcast channels are the ones they are going to keep on analog to meet this requirement.

*In North America, analog & digital broadcasts use the same antennas. But depending on a lot of local things, what's best for analog reception might not be the best for digital.

Answer 2

Take the box back. It is only useful if you use an antenna.

And cable carries a LOT of stations that are not broadcast over the air.  Food Network, Lifetime, Oxygen, Speed, ESPN, MSNBC, ...etc.

To get the details: type your address into www.antennaweb.org and it will show you what antennas and channels are around your home.  If a station is not listed for your address - you can only get it from cable.