HD receivers. Can you still get free OTA even if the tuner is by dish network or diredtv?

Question

I want to know if you buy a HD receiver [say ebay or bestbuy] that is for dish network or directv can you just use it to get free over the air stations? Or will they be locked and you will have to pay for them to work?
I have a HDTV that was not made with a receiver or tuner built into it. I need to find a good receiver so i can watch free over the air stations in my area.
I DO NOT WANT TO PAY SOMEONE SO I CAN WATCH FREE PROGRAMS!
I can use the analog but I want to be able to get the digital also.
I would like to bid on one at ebay but want to know the facts first.
PLEASE HELP.

I can get over the air HD with a receiver. I have done this aleady with a samsung but it was a peice of crap so i took it back. My TV was made in 2003 I didn't buy it but won it in a drawing.
I get regular analog OTA right now but want to find a different tuner/receiver so I can get HD over-the-air local stations.
I just need to find the right one that I can use without having to pay someone to get what I can get for FREE.
I live very close to the towers and can pickup station with just rabit ears.
ALL I NEED TO BUY IS A RECEIVER/TUNER .

Answer 1

Most satellite receivers won't work unless activated. There are a few old ones that will do this. These trade on e-bay frequently.

Keep in mind that all of these tuners are of fairly dated designs. If you have good clean signals to feed them you shouldn't have a problem.

If you are getting not so good analog signals, you probably want to go with a latest 5th generation design such as a Samsung DTB-H260F

Answer 2

I was very surprised to see HDTV's in stores that didn't have tuners in them. I think the concept was that the buyer could purchase whichever tuner was suited for him, either the old standard one or the new digital one.

Basically, such TV's were just audio/video monitors. Which also helped to keep the cost down.

But without the tuner in the TV set, you can't get over-the-air anything. (If you DID have a tuner in the TV set, you could just switch to that from the video input that has your satellite TV, whenever you chose.)