Somewhat OT: MythTV / DVB in Israel

[Antony Gelberg]

Hi all,

I'm about to cancel my incredibly expensive HOT Triple and get
Internet-only instead.

I'm not that bothered about TV but I do have a MythTV box lying around
from the old country, and I'd be happy to see if I could get it
working here.  It would just need a PCI tuner card or two.  As I see
it in Israel there are terrestrial, cable, and satellite options.  I
don't have any terrestrial aerial or satellite dish connection in my
flat, so I'd be much happier to use the cable connection if I can (see
below).

Questions to start with:
1) If I was to cancel my HOT subscription for television, are any
channels at all provided over the cable for free?  As a reference
point, in the UK, if you cancel your Sky satellite subscription, a
limited number of channels are still available, unencrypted, over the
satellite link and set-top-box.
2) If not, if I went for terrestrial, does anybody know of a DVB-T PCI
card that works with Linux and the broadcast standard in Israel?  (I
understand it's MPEG-4 / H.264.)  If I needed to get a terrestrial
aerial fitted to the building, is that government-subsidized (don't
laugh, it is in some countries IIRC)?


Antony