Comments on: How can I receive cable television on my computer without the need for an antenna? http://www.watch-satellite-tv-pc.com/blog/television-on-computer/how-can-i-receive-cable-television-on-my-computer-without-the-need-for-an-antenna Tue, 22 May 2012 07:28:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 By: Stephen P http://www.watch-satellite-tv-pc.com/blog/television-on-computer/how-can-i-receive-cable-television-on-my-computer-without-the-need-for-an-antenna/comment-page-1#comment-6094 Stephen P Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:36:59 +0000 http://www.watch-satellite-tv-pc.com/blog/television-on-computer/how-can-i-receive-cable-television-on-my-computer-without-the-need-for-an-antenna#comment-6094 >I may be assuming that cable service does not require an antenna. Cable service does not require an antenna. All you need is an USB TV tuner & software; you just connect a coax cable from the cable outlet to the USB tuner. Usually when people say "basic cable" they mean analog cable. Check to see if this is the case. If that's what you have you could get by with just about any analog only tuner ever made; I've never heard of one that was "antenna only", but check the specs to see if it has a "NTSC" cable ready tuner. Used ones should be real cheap because broadcasts and many cable systems are switching to digital signals. If you buy a new USB tuner, make sure it has both an analog (NTSC) and digital cable (QAM) tuners. Some digital USB tuners have been made for digital (ATSC) antenna broadcasts only. Some don't have analog (NTSC) tuners either. ATSC tuners are used for digital over the air (antenna) broadcasts.<br><b>References : </b><br>Typical NTSC/ATSC/QAM USB tuner http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100048&cm_re=usb_tuner-_-15-100-048-_-Product >I may be assuming that cable service does not require an antenna.

Cable service does not require an antenna.

All you need is an USB TV tuner & software; you just connect a coax cable from the cable outlet to the USB tuner.

Usually when people say "basic cable" they mean analog cable. Check to see if this is the case.

If that’s what you have you could get by with just about any analog only tuner ever made; I’ve never heard of one that was "antenna only", but check the specs to see if it has a "NTSC" cable ready tuner. Used ones should be real cheap because broadcasts and many cable systems are switching to digital signals.

If you buy a new USB tuner, make sure it has both an analog (NTSC) and digital cable (QAM) tuners. Some digital USB tuners have been made for digital (ATSC) antenna broadcasts only. Some don’t have analog (NTSC) tuners either.

ATSC tuners are used for digital over the air (antenna) broadcasts.
References :
Typical NTSC/ATSC/QAM USB tuner
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100048&cm_re=usb_tuner-_-15-100-048-_-Product

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