Hooked up my digital tv convertor box yesterday....

maddythebeagle

maddythebeagle

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Jun 15, 2005
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Ended up 8 bucks after the Feds rebate...works great since I am in the sticks and no plans for direct tv....around 100 miles from a major tv market and now get channels crystal clear without having to mess with antennae…between the MN and WI, I now get 7-8 different public tv stations that I am kinda surprised with…only problem is with the Fox channel that is coming in a bit scrambled from the twin cities......
 
lol...if I promise not to watch Fox News, maybe it will come in...I was wondering about all of the PBS stations, too, but alas only cooking shows and New Yankee Workshop the last time I checked...then again Norm is from a blue state...;)
 
You are getting MORE channels now? Cool! I just ordered my cupon a couple days ago...
 
maddythebeagle said:
lol...if I promise not to watch Fox News, maybe it will come in...I was wondering about all of the PBS stations, too, but alas only cooking shows and New Yankee Workshop the last time I checked...then again Norm is from a blue state...;)
Click to expand...

Heh, I think its just because you cannot see the subliminal leftist propaganda embedded in all that PBS programmng. Its not a convertor box, its a mind-control device.
 
Ordered mine the first chance I had when they announced the on-line service (Late Jan?). Got both of them the day before yesterday (3/11). Mine expire 5/31/08.
 
Could you guys expound on this converter box? What the heck is it? Thanks.
 
Yeah....I applied for the "coupon" shortly after it was available in Jan. and got a week or so ago...It is actually a card with a magnetic strip that you take to your local retailer...Walmart had a big stack of RCA converter boxes...

what are they? they convert the older tv set's signal to digital for the cheap bastards that havent bought a new tv recently...right now most stations are broadcasting in both but in early 2009 they will only broadcast in digital....

I still have the feeling that they will extend it...setting up this gizmo by most is going to be a challenge....but then again, I suspect a lot of people already get direct tv or cable and wont have to do anything...
 
The box converts new over-the-air digital signals to your old analog TV set. If you are already getting digital signals via sat, cable, or through a set with a built-in digital tuner, you don't need one of these converter boxes. Won't do you any good.
 
REWahoo said:
The box converts new over-the-air digital signals to your old analog TV set. If you are already getting digital signals via sat, cable, or through a set with a built-in digital tuner, you don't need one of these converter boxes. Won't do you any good.
Click to expand...

Then I need a better antenna........;)
 
REWahoo said:
The box converts new over-the-air digital signals to your old analog TV set. If you are already getting digital signals via sat, cable, or through a set with a built-in digital tuner, you don't need one of these converter boxes. Won't do you any good.
Click to expand...

Interesting. I have DirecTV but we are in one of those areas where the local channels won't allow DirecTV to use their stations and we can't get out of town affiliates either. Long story. Thus, we have to use an antenna for locals. Really annoying.
 
FinanceDude said:
Then I need a better antenna........;)
Click to expand...

I have a feeling that some of the digital stations are not sending out the strongest signal maybe until the switchover is final and more people are watching....I can get my fox station in analog quite well while the digital one wont come in....all the other digital stations are clear being over 100 miles away...I also didnt need a digital antenna...My current outdoor one seems to be fine...
 
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If one has Cable AND multiple TV's - i.e., some HD and some older analog don't/won't you still need the converter box for the older analog tv's?
 
R Wood said:
If one has Cable AND multiple TV's - i.e., some HD and some older analog don't/won't you still need the converter box for the older analog tv's?
Click to expand...

I'm in your situation, only with sat instead of cable. As I understand it, any analog TV hooked up to cable or sat will not need a converter box provided all stations are received via the cable or sat. Analog TVs getting analog signals directly from an antenna will need a box since the analog signals are going away next Feb.

In the case of GatorBuzz above who is getting both types of signals, I'm not sure how it will work. I'd suggest checking your cable or sat provider's website. For example, here is what DirecTV says about the digital transition: DIRECTV: Digital Transition. Looks like if you are one of their customers getting local channels over the air you may need to buy either a new DIRECTV receiver or a converter box...
 
REWahoo said:
I'm in your situation, only with sat instead of cable. As I understand it, any analog TV hooked up to cable or sat will not need a converter box provided all stations are received via the cable or sat. Analog TVs getting analog signals directly from an antenna will need a box since the analog signals are going away next Feb.

In the case of GatorBuzz above who is getting both types of signals, I'm not sure how it will work. I'd suggest checking your cable or sat provider's website. For example, here is what DirecTV says about the digital transition: DIRECTV: Digital Transition. Looks like if you are one of their customers getting local channels over the air you may need to buy either a new DIRECTV receiver or a converter box...
Click to expand...

Thanks, all my TV's are on cable and the HD ones can now pick up some HD digital channels (although I do not pay for digital at this time). Strangely of the three TV's that do pick up digital channels they each pickup different ones off of the same wire. Strange.
 
Where did you get it for $48:confused:

I have not seen them that cheap anywhere....
 
maddythebeagle said:
I also didnt need a digital antenna...My current outdoor one seems to be fine...
Click to expand...

An antenna is an antenna........ No difference between an "analog antenna" and a "digital antenna." It just needs to be designed for the frequency band of interest which I understand to be the UHF television channels. If your current antenna works for UHF analog sigs, it will work for DTV.
 
I received my coupons yesterday and bought a Zenith converter at Radio Shack today for $59.99 ($19.99 after coupon usage). The Zenith converter had a few more options than the two $49 converters that I saw at Walmart....specifically it can control the volume on your tv with the converter box remote instead of the tv remote....also it can power up and power down the tv from the coverter box remote...and a few other options...that's why I bought a little more expensive model. I live in Dallas and after running the channel scan with the new converter box, I can now pick up 30 channels perfectly. It's definately a big improvement over the old analog signals/picture. Also, I'm using the same indoor antenna that I used to pick up my analog signal and it works great...if I remember right, it was about a very basic $20 anntenna...it's a rabbit ear type antenna. I'm very very happy with the new converter box. About the only thing that slightly annoyed me about the Zenith converter box is that the audio has a slight feedback in the TV (humming noise) but after playing around with the settings I was able to minimize this somewhat.
 
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