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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.
 
#28 ·
Thanks for the update. After I posted I realized that OTA would be @ 19.4Mbps while the MPEG2 satellite signal would be about 1/2 that. I am assuming that a large portion of the 250GB drive is taken up by either a system partitions since the math does not work out for me. I.E 8 hours or 16 hours.
 
#29 ·
A portion of the hard drive is reserved for "on demand" programs which are transmitted in the background and stored on the hard drive for instant playback. I'm not sure how much space is reserved for this.

Here are the actual space requirements that I captured for OTA in Winnipeg using Windows Media Center. I think they are similar across the country.

Code:
   GB/hr Mbps
CTV    8 18 1080i 
CITY   8 18 1080i
Global 7 15 1080i (uses a sub-channel for Global-SD)
CBC    7 15 720P
 
#32 ·
As far as I know, only the 6000 had an expansion slot (Dish added a new decoder to allow for more channels before the 6000 went EOL). Mind you, my 600 actually said "Dish" under the "Bell" sticker. :)

I do not know of any other bell receivers with expansion slots. The HD ones already handle OTA, so the module isn't really of any use.
 
#33 ·
That module works with the Dish 722k and 922. Bell has no equivalent to either.

The 9242 (622) and the 6141 (211k) were the last to include OTA tuners. Those receivers are over four years old.

Bell purposely has Echostar remove the OTA tuner in any receiver they have ordered since then.
 
#39 ·
From what I find, you need the card to get it Finnish booting up, I put the card from a 3100, it will start to boot up, then give the error for a wrong card, at this point you can play around in the menus, scan in the ota channels, but won't let you watch them, dumps you out system info screen, I'm hoping there is a way around this
Thanks
 
#41 ·
The 9200's and 6100's were part of the "New Card Swap" meaning they should have a smart card starting with S06xxxxx, but as others have mentioned it has to be the card that is married to the receiver. I would be hesitant of messing up the card for the receiver you took it from.

The only way it would work with it's internal card or an older card is if it never was updated to the newest software, meaning it hadn't been hooked up for a number of years. The software for the 6100's and 9200's is no longer in the stream so it won't download new software now.

Bell should have sent software that made them OTA only when the swap/replacement receivers were sent out.
 
#43 ·
OK I finally got around to wiring the 9200 up for OTA ATSC reception. But I am getting no signal from the dish. I wired it directly from one of the 91 ports on the dual LNB (82/91) to the "Satellite 1" input on the back of the 9200. Silly question but do I need a switch if all I am interested in is 91 running to a single 9200?

I figured I pointed it pretty well since the mast was plumb and the elevation was already dialed in correctly from the previous owner. Ten degrees of azimuth swing did not even register anything on the Point Dish screen. There I set it to input 1, transponder 11 and satellite 91. Any tips will be appreciated.

Edit: Forgot an important part. At the end of the LNB arm is a Y. Only one side of the Y has an LNB attached. The other end is capped.

Oh and do I need to dial in the skew in this unconventional setup? I assume not.
 
#46 ·
Success. I just had to raise the elevation 2 degrees (to account for bracket droop I guess) and I hit 98 on my first try. After a 5 minute download I was greeted by Ozzy Osbourne on 271. :)

Now the OTA side of the 9200 comes next. That should be fun! I am hoping to get it done before Sunday in time for the Confederations Cup Final. The 9200 is connected to my LCOS projector via HDMI.
 
#47 ·
I find the Tuners on the 9200 not very powerful/efficient, I have used a pre-amp in the past to boost levels.

I am providing 4 x 9200's to a neighbor this weekend just for OTA reception (and the free Preview Music Channel, now it is on a Decent Rock Station), so I will be splitting the Antenna Feed and using a pre-amp.
 
#50 ·
Glad to hear it. My Installation went good too.

Used a DP Dual LNBF, split the single line using a 4 way all ports power passing splitter, rated at 3ghz, then behind each 9200 split again with a 2 way all ports power passing splitter, rated at 3ghz. Signal Strength was at 85% across the board on 91 (Only aimed at 91).

OTA levels were very acceptable, having used a Pre-Amp at the Antenna, then a 4 way all ports power passing splitter, rated at 3ghz, to feed all the 9200's.

I did it this way because there were only 2 lines into the house and he did not want more holes in the outside wall. Lucky for me there were already 2 x RG6 lines to each 9200 location, so no need for Diplexers etc.
 
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