said by bardot861 
: The question then was why was I able to pick up WSBE a local Rhode Island PBS station 36.1 and 36.2 with the Samsung box but not with the Sony tuner. When scanning for receivable stations using the Sony (recorder) tuner - which has both a standard as well as digital tuner, only show 36 analog. Guess this is really a tuner issue.
Yep, sounds like the Samsung has a better tuner in it. A booster or simple antenna adjustment may fix it. Also check your splitter and coax cables, make sure they are all in good shape.said by bardot861 :More important question is - what am I going to do with the high definition dvr - after complete switch over to digital takes place? This Sony Recorder must receive VBI analog information for time setting and programming guide (tv guide/gemstar electronic program guide) for unit to function. The time on this recorder cannot be set manually.
Unit essentially will not work if there is no provision for this data download. So far no clarification from Sony or TV Guide if there will be some kind of software / firmware
upgrade for recorder. Cannot get a straight answer if digital transmissions will provide data so that these units may continue to be used.
I would guess, that this data will still be sent one way or another since many devices use it.
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