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OTA on BELL Receivers Without BTV Subscription?

73K views 143 replies 34 participants last post by  heans 
#1 ·
I have three 6141 Bell receivers that I own. They have OTA tuners, in addition to the satellite tuner. At my location in Toronto I can receive a total of 25 OTA digital channels. I am planning to cancel my Bell TV basic subscription.

My question is: would my 6141 receivers still be able to receive OTA signals if I cancel my Bell TV subscription? (I will leave the LNBs connected to avoid getting the acquiring satellite signal message.)

Thanks.
 
#3 ·
I cannot answer for certain but I will offer a couple of things to try or think about.

If you have HDTV's, do you have ATSC Tuners in them.? If you do, then you will not need the 6141's, just connect the OTA directly to each TV.

As you have 3 Receivers, call into Bell, have one Receiver taken off your account for a couple of weeks. See if it receives OTA when not subscribed.
 
#5 ·
Like Pinza says take one out of service. I can't imagine that they would disable the OTA portion of the receiver, but what I wonder about is if the PVR feature would still work on the 6141. Do you use that feature?

What you may find if you keep your unit hooked up to the satellite signal is you will continue to receive the free previews, but if it looses the satellite signal for a couple of weeks it will lose the free previews. I found this out as I have 9 receivers that I regularly swap in and out of the maximum of 6 to keep them current, and make sure I keep receiving free smartcards.

One of my 9242's was able to record the info channels even when it was not activated, I don't know whether it could continue to receive the free preview though, but it did work with a 3750 on of the original units out with Dish Network Canada, worth about 25 cents on the open market!

Keep us upto date to what your findings are!
 
#7 ·
dirtroad: While I was waiting for my replacement 9241 to activate on Monday, the two free preview channels were blocked (showed up in guide but gave a smart card not authorized error). The 805 and 198 channels worked at that time.

No ATSC in my area so I couldn't test that for the OP.
 
#9 ·
Pinza, Yes a 3750 I believe, in the same box (case) as a 6100, only black. I'm up north of home right now, I'll check when I return.. (PS my previous message was sent from a McD's that's why I wasn't able to respond! Now visiting a friend, yes I do have one!)

msgohan, the newer units may be more controlable by Bell, but when ever I have set up units in the past the info/barker channels have always come in without any authorization as I beleive they are/or were FTA, but the free previews will continue to come through when a receiver is de-activated, as long as it remains connected to signal and power, as the free previews are encrypted, but open to active units (as Pinza said). I don't know for how long, as I have always unpluged my units after a week or so.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Pinza is right!

Pinza your right it is a 3500 not a 3750, but same case as 6100 only black.
The 3750 is in my other life in a parallel dimension!:rolleyes: which I occasionally drift in and out of!

Michael9009, A new unregistered 9242 was able to record OTA, I will report back if I come across any other 6131/41 units.
 
#11 ·
Setup OTA + Satellite on the 6141 / 9241?

Hi guys, question for you: how do you hook up the OTA signal on the 6141 and 9241 PVR + keep the satellite signal?

Unlike the XX42 versions I only see one F-connector input on the back of my receivers and when I check in the menu the "Local Channels" option in the setup menu is greyed out.

Is there a special procedure to activate this functionality and combine the OTA signal with the satellite feed on the same F connector?
 
#12 ·
The 9241 does NOT have an OTA Tuner, the 6141 DOES.

Are you sure you have a 6141 and not a 6131 because the 6131 does NOT have the OTA Tuner.
 
#13 ·
OTA on BELL 6141 Receivers Without BTV Subscription?

Bell receivers with OTA tuners are reported to work for OTA as long as there is a dish signal. No subscription is required but a properly aimed dish and connection is.

I see no reason to use an unsubscribed 6141 for OTA. Unlike a real ATSC converter, it does not provide any guide data and the dish must be maintained. It would be better to sell the 6141 and buy a real ATSC tuner/converter or TV with ATSC tuner. An even better option is to use an OTA or FTA (with ATSC tuner) PVR or HTPC with TV tuner card(s) and PVR software. That will cost more though.
 
#15 ·
Like Pinza says take one out of service. I can't imagine that they would disable the OTA portion of the receiver, but what I wonder about is if the PVR feature would still work on the 6141. Do you use that feature?
I took the satellite signal feed out from one of the receivers until it lost the programming (rather than having Bell deactivate the receiver). The OTA appears to work but not the PVR. :( Normally, when I turn on/off the HDD, the receiver would display a message asking for permission to reboot. Now, it simply does not do anything and, if I go to the PVR option in the menu, it asks me to call Bell to activate the feature.

Would it be different if I officially deactivated the receiver?
 
#17 ·
Lots of people have OTA on their Bell Receivers. The 6141 & 9242 support it. The old 6100 & 9200 still work as OTA Receivers but no longer work on Bell. The 9200 has the advantage of being a PVR as well.
 
#18 ·
Using OTA capabilities of deactivated 9200

Is this possible? Reason I ask is an OTA tuner with HDMI goes for more than a used 9200.

So if the receiver is deactivated can you still access the OTA capabilities and will it output via HDMI or component?

This is for a projector which obviously does not have it's own ATSC tuner.
 
#20 ·
Thanks dirtroad. Actually it never occurred to me that recording would be an option. Manual is fine since this is just for a few special events. But that is a bonus. I see lots for sale for $50. I guess I might put my dish back up if the reboot is necessary.

So just to confirm the receiver will remain inactivated and it will be able to tune OTA stations and output HD. Worst case I need to connect the old dish.
 
#21 ·
Bell has made both the 6100's and 9200's inactive, no more software updates. But both have OTA capabilities, and can still receive the free preview channel 271, (FTA) with a music background. I think Pinza was going to try pointing to 110, 119 to see if it would be satisfied with that signal to keep them from rebooting. The 9200 still gets updates daily, eventhough it doesn't need them anymore.
It would have been nice if Bell would send software so the guide would work, but they haven't even done that for the 9242 and 6141's, so not much chance of that!
 
#23 ·
Pinza was going to try pointing to 110, 119
I did try, thought I had reported back, anyway, no, it needs 91. If you just have 1 line, make sure it goes to Tuner 1, this should stop a lot of 'nags' as you tune to the OTA Channels.

I locked out every channel except 198.

That list of receivers is correct, they are the only 4 that had/have the OTA Tuner. The 6141 & 9242 are still in circulation, while the 6100 & 9200 are as you know removed from Bell TV's inventory.
 
#26 ·
I think you will find that it is more like a 8 hour PVR, not 25. When I recorded OTA on my 9200 the recording time would drop by just over 3 hours for every hour show. OTA is not compressed, and it appears that the calculation for time remaining on the 9200 expects the Bell compressed signal to be recorded.
 
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