# Hooking up a Series 2 DT with Rabbit Ears????



## Chewi863 (Nov 9, 2009)

I recently purchased a 2nd Tivo Series 2 DT, and I am trying to hook it up. Everything is fine EXCEPT I don't have cable and there is no option to tune it to a digital converter. My cousin hooked up our first one, and he said it took half a day to do it, spending quite a bit of time on the phone with customer support. Once they figured out how to get the settings correct, it works perfectly, and it's been 3 years since he hooked it up and he doesn't remember what he had to do to get it to work.

What do I do if I don't have cable or satellite? There is no online option for those of who choose not to have cable. HELP!!! I need to be able to configure my digital channels to my DVR.


----------



## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

You're screwed.

During the digital transition, there came a time when it was mandated that all NTSC tuners sold in the U.S. be accompanied by an ATSC tuner, so that no new TVs would go dark when analog shut off. The 2DT came out during this time. However, TiVo didn't want to include an ATSC tuner in it; so, to get around the requirement, they pretended that it didn't have an NTSC tuner, either, and disabled OTA capability in software, selling it as a cable/satellite-only device.

Then, to add insult to injury, when coupon-eligible converter boxes became available, TiVo developed support for them -- but kept it off the 2DT (as well as the 542, the other post-mandate S2), on the grounds that since it had never supported OTA, it shouldn't start now. I will never understand that decision.

You might as well return the 2DT, if possible, and try to pick up an older single-tuner S2 (anything but the 542, as noted), or a TiVo HD. The 2DT is essentially useless for OTA. There may be some workarounds to control CECBs and get partial functionality, but IMHO it's not worth screwing around with, unless you can't return the 2DT.


----------



## Chewi863 (Nov 9, 2009)

Well, I only paid $35 for the Tivo at Radio Shack. Should have known it was too cheap to be of any value. :/


----------



## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

Chewi863 said:


> Well, I only paid $35 for the Tivo at Radio Shack. Should have known it was too cheap to be of any value. :/


If you can't take it back, send me a PM (private message) and I'll take it off your hands. I'm looking for a Series 2 DT to experiment with, and I don't want to risk my existing units. I'm trying to figure out a hardware mod to replace the second tuner with something that's OTA compatible.


----------



## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

The tuner is probably OTA capable, at least for analog. 
It is just a matter of re-working software.

If you mean digital OTA, just replace the second tuner with an A/V input, and make a microcontroller emulate the tuner I2C lines, and control a converter box somehow.


----------



## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

classicsat said:


> If you mean digital OTA, just replace the second tuner with an A/V input, and make a microcontroller emulate the tuner I2C lines, and control a converter box somehow.


That was pretty much the plan. I figure that it will also need some flash memory and a USB or serial port so that I can program it on my computer to convert the local Comcast cable lineup to the actual OTA channels. I was thinking about using an Arduino board but any suggestions are welcome.


----------



## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Arduino or similar would be perfect. Lots of storage. The lookup table could be in the on-chip eeprom. or a separate eeprom.

Maybe I should start with Arduino this winter. My micro of choice (At90S2313) is getting small.


----------

