Q: I have satellite television service and wonder whether I will get the extra channels TV stations will have when digital comes around. — Charles Berster, Loveland
A: Not through your satellite carrier, for now, but there’s still a way to get them.
The switch to all-digital broadcasting — set to occur nationwide on June 12, though a few stations have already done so, including Channels 7, 9, 12 and 20 locally — affords many new exciting options to television stations.
The larger transmission band offers them the chance to provide additional channels — known as “subchannels” — at the same time. Each station can provide up to six channels in all.
That means Channel 9 will have a primary broadcast at 9.1 and subchannels down to 9.6. Currently it has 9.1, 9.2 (weather) and 9.3 (NBC Universal Sports).
Cool, huh?
Though you can’t get 9.2 and 9.3 via satellite — you can via your cable service, so check the channel listings — you can still get those free channels by hooking up an antenna to your television.
The easiest setup is a signal splitter, just before your television connection, that shuts off the satellite and allows the antenna feed to come into the TV. A local Radio Shack or similar store can help show you what you’ll need and it’s inexpensive, too.
Dish Network has a really nifty thing, called an “over-the-air module,” that fits into the back of the satellite receiver. True, you’ll have to pay $30 for it, but it’s a direct bypass that will allow you to watch your favorite subchannels. Connect the antenna and you’re good to go.
Here’s the best part: have an HDTV but not HD service on satellite or cable? No sweat. You’ll get the HD programming via antenna as long as it’s broadcast that way.
So whenever Channels 9.1, 9.2 or 9.3 (or the commensurate numbers for the other stations) broadcast in HD, you can see in HD — for free.
