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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.
 
#107 ·
Tune your receiver to the free preview channel, or a OTA channel, then hit menu, install, signal strength. Then hit cancel once and that channel will probably appear. If you lose the channel when you completely leave the menu or change channels your receiver is working, but has a corrupt file.
 
#113 ·
I was thinking about free TV channels through the dish that Bell does not charge for.

My main question is: when I stop my Bell TV subscription, will the dish + the 9241 box be of any use at all (typically to watch free channels), or should I just throw everything away?

Of course, if the free channels are just preview channels, then it is of no real use... I'm just coming from Europe where I am used to national information channels being free, but I guess it's different here in Canada.

I understand another solution would be to install and OTA antenna on the roof and plug the signal into a box. Could that be the 9241? In this case, which types of channels would I receive?
 
#115 ·
Here the free channels are only broadcast over Antenna which most people refer to as OTA but ya its still traditional antenna broadcast. You would need a digital box that picks up ATSC antenna signals theyre fairly affordible by the way.
 
#118 ·
9200 for OTA

Hi all,

I have a 9200 sitting around, and I would like to use it as an OTA HD receiver for a spare TV.

When I hook it up, It seems to be stuck searching for satellite signal. So I temporarily connected it to 91 and 82. It wont get past 4 out of 5 steps. I am assuming it is because Bell is no longer supporting this box.

Does the 9200 need to set itself up with sat signal before it will allow me to use it as OTA?

Not sure what I am doing wrong.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.
 
#119 ·
I have a 9200 I use in my spare bedroom for OTA and it has been working fine but has been unplugged for months to save power, I will power up tomorrow and report back, as I am not home right now. You do have to have it connected to at least one Bell Satellite, and make sure you have done a checkswitch to properly configure everything. Then reboot by holding the power button down after you save your checkswitch results.
 
#120 ·
After months of not being operated, I plugged my 9200 in and everything working fine. This unit has V224 software, but the software should not matter, and updates are no longer available anyway. My unit is only connected to 91W.
Check all your settings, and also try letting the receiver boot up while in the off position (standy).
While loading the #4 of 5 takes the longest.
Keep us updated on this.
 
#121 ·
I own my 9242.....I was wandering....... if I cancel my subscription with BEV will my 9242 still be able to record my OTA channels? or has BEV disabled this function.

Thanks

Paul
 
#123 ·
Yes, but keep your 9242 hooked up to the satellite, it needs to be connected to the satellite to keep from constantly rebooting.
You can only record using manual timers as the guide only says "DIGITAL SERVICE" , and then you can edit the recording name so you know what you have. A little more work, but works fine.
 
#126 ·
Thanks everyone....I was never planning on changing anything in my set up......I am leaving all cables and connections intact. All I want to do is perhaps cancel BEV and still be able to use the 9242 as a PVR like I mentioned before.
Glad to see it will work. I already set up manual timers anyway for all of my OTA recordings, so no biggie on the extra steps.

Anything else I need to know.

Thanks again.

Paul
 
#128 ·
Lately I noticed that if the 9242 or 6141 has stopped being connected to the Satellite feed for some time,it won't even get the OTA Channels.It will give you a ''Smartcard not authorized'' even for OTA channels.This will happen when you do not receive the free preview channels because it has been out of the system too long.
Bell does not want us to use them for OTA as much as possible.
 
#130 ·
yeah the 9200 have old software which won't affect OTA.In the 6141 and 9242 ,i think its because of newer software that they have in-stored that causes a loss of OTA when receiver is disconnected for some time.
As for you saying that your 9200 gets free preview channels at times,Mine has never gotten any other then the one with Music.Perhaps a 9200 that has always been connected to Satellite might.
 
#131 ·
9200 here still going strong. I watched the Golden Globes last week on it. And I plan to be hosting a Super Bowl Party on the 7th. So far so good. I expect a few blown minds on the 7th when I mention I am only using rabbit ears, currently buried under a snowdrift and getting 1080i and 5.1 sound.
 
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