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Motorola DCX3400-M - 500gb dual TV tuner question.

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  • Apr 1st, 2014 8:36 pm
Newbie
Nov 5, 2010
74 posts
15 upvotes
Hamilton

Motorola DCX3400-M - 500gb dual TV tuner question.

Good day !

I have a dual tuner that i am not using anymore. Cutting cable and going with a antenna since I do not watch tv, ends up saving me 100$ a month. My question is if I purchased this tuner through my provider is it locked to my cable company ?

I see the same tuner being sold at futureshop so ther is an unlocked variant for sure. I would not want it to be locked to a provider and end up selling it to someone who can not use it.

If anyone has details on this, please let me know. Provider is was montaincable now shaw, and soon to be rogers.

Thanks,
Sharp.
2 replies
Deal Addict
User avatar
Nov 18, 2007
3531 posts
642 upvotes
Corktown
That is a cable box and, locked or not locked, it will not be useful for OTA signals.

Choice 1: Attach antenna directly to TV.
Choice 2: Attach antenna to PC with ATSC tuner card and use Windows Media Center or similar to use PC as PVR.
Choice 3: Attach antenna to Silicondust HDHomeRun dual-tuner to stream content to any PC.
Newbie
Nov 5, 2010
74 posts
15 upvotes
Hamilton
I realize the tuner is not useful for an antenna. I am thinking about selling it, which is why I was asking if it is locked to a provider since i would not want to sell it to someone who could not use it. Not sure if cable companies lock these down or not. And if they do, can they be unlocked ? If anyone can clarify i would appreciate it.

I am planning on an antenna, slingbox, and PC media center. I have always had a media pc, but when the cable companies started to convert from analogue to digital and started scrambling channels the tech was still new, expensive and unreliable for HD tuners. I ended up with a cable box. and use the pc for dvd/bluray and netflicks. Now it is time to move for live tv as well since i need to cut my monthly costs.

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