HD Reception on ATI TV Wonder 650

[PLAT1NUM]

I recently purchased an ATI TV Wonder 650 HD Tuner Card and the requirements say that it needs an antenna to receive HD signals. But, I was wondering, is an antenna really necessary?

I have an HDTV at home with standard cable, and I can still receive the over the air HD channels (quite well in fact) by simply hooking the coax from the wall into the back of the TV - no antenna required.

Do I really need to get an antenna for my tuner card, or can it simply work like my TV does? On my TV, I tune in to channels 89.1, 88.2, etc to view these stations, but I wasn't sure how to do that on Vista Media Center.

I haven't had alot of time up until now to play with the tuner card, but any tips or set-up how to's would be appreciated since the documentation that came with it is pretty minimal.

Also, if an antenna is truly required, any recommendations? Amplified? Non-amplified?

 

[madmurph]

You need the antenna so you can program your tuner card to record programs. If you're not recording, just leave it connected to the TV. You can't run the cable company's coax directly into your tuner card -- you still have to use their channel changer. Normally, when you are setting your tuner up, Vista finds your local cable company and downloads their program info for your area, so you can schedule recordings. I don't know if it will pick up the HD channels over the air (OTA), you may have to do that part manually. Bump on the antenna.