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[DocLotus]

After doing a channel scan I receive 119 local OTA channels in Houston, TX.

I have noticed that I'm also now receiving 18 scrambled channels such as... HBO, Starz, ShowTime, Flix, Encore etc.  They all have sound but the picture is blanked out (totally black).

I have done numinous web searches on this subject but there is so much misinformation about OTA scrambled channels that I'm totally confused as to just why they are showing up at all on my OTA antenna.

I don't understand why they can't be made view-able (via some paid subscription method that I have yet to find).

Anyone know exactly what is going on with these channels...
1: Why they are coming OTA?
2: How to make them view-able?
3: Can they be made view-able without adding some set-top box?




 

[kstuart]

A google search for  scrambled OTA channels Houston    revealed this thread:

http://www.videokarma.org/showthread.php?t=261113

[DocLotus]

Thanks for the link.  It looks a lot like the others that I have been looking at.

I'm suspecting that the scrambled channels are Airbox channels that you connect your antenna into. Airbox unscrambles the scrambled channels & sends them on to the the TV for viewing like a normal OTA channel.

We do have Airbox service in Houston but it is expensive ($99 - $179 for the converter box, $35 a month for 10 movie channels). At those prices I would just as well go with ATT U-Verse at $19 a month for basic cable (free DVR).