Choices,Choices what converter box to buy

[gpat]

I found the real frequency(why is this all over the map on what is what?)
Once I had this by going here AntennaWeb I found all the locals.

OTOH I picked up a DS 9950 from Rat Shack today,they have a special going for next 2 wks that gives you another $10 off coupon.
I think I might take it back and get another Zenith,not sure yet.

 

[Crash&Burn]

Do any of these boxes have a remote that will operate from another room?

 

[Anole]

I don't think any have an RF remote.
The IR remotes need to be near the box and line of sight.

One thing that would seem to be an ongoing convenience for any box, is if its remote would turn on and off your TV set.
Looking at the window-poster at Radio Shack an hour ago, I believe the Zenith will, but their other box won't.
Well, regardless of which will, I recommend a feature like that for not only your friends, kids, and parents, but your own mental health. -

And regardless, I'm waiting to see if Echostar fixes up their DTVpal box, and upgrades their remote.
The likelihood of both is quite remote (yes pun), but I'm in no hurry.

edit: apparently, I was wrong.
The Digital Stream DTX 9900 seems to have a TV power control function.
. . . and so does the Zenith DTT 900 . . .
There are manuals listed for quite a number of common boxes on this site, if that helps.
I'm reviewing them now. -

 

[Crash&Burn]

The RCA DTA800 remote will operate TV's, although it doe's not control the video 1-2-3, properly on my Toshiba.........

 

[Scroll]

Let's face it. Channel scan is not that critical as long as it takes under 2 minutes. If you have to keep moving the antenna then you need a better antenna or else an A/ B switch to toggle between two of them. That said, I actually used a good but cheap TV signal splitter (like $3) from CC to combine 2 antennas and it balances fairly well for me.

I can recommend the DTX9950. No S-video though but even the coax connection is superior to analog! I use that on my Tivo and the PQ never looked better. But the DTX9950 has RCA too, of course. My only complaint is the remote is a tad small for my hands but before long you will probably have no problem finding a cheap universal remote with the codes for from FAR to under $10.

Coupon expired? My local Radio Shack guy said he always has a few donated cards. You can ask!

 

[ronniejay]

Let's face it. Channel scan is not that critical as long as it takes under 2 minutes. If you have to keep moving the antenna then you need a better antenna or else an A/ B switch to toggle between two of them. That said, I actually used a good but cheap TV signal splitter (like $3) from CC to combine 2 antennas and it balances fairly well for me.

I can recommend the DTX9950. No S-video though but even the coax connection is superior to analog! I use that on my Tivo and the PQ never looked better. But the DTX9950 has RCA too, of course. My only complaint is the remote is a tad small for my hands but before long you will probably have no problem finding a cheap universal remote with the codes for from FAR to under $10.

Coupon expired? My local Radio Shack guy said he always has a few donated cards. You can ask!

does tivo programmed recording work thru the box? I have series 2 toshiba tivo and am looking for a solution. I do not have cable. heard that tivo will provide some sort of software support for dtv2009. do you know about that?which tivo do you have?

 

[Mike500]

does tivo programmed recording work thru the box? I have series 2 toshiba tivo and am looking for a solution. I do not have cable. heard that tivo will provide some sort of software support for dtv2009. do you know about that?which tivo do you have?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=375578&page=16

 

[oljim]

Let's face it. Channel scan is not that critical as long as it takes under 2 minutes. If you have to keep moving the antenna then you need a better antenna or else an A/ B switch to toggle between two of them. That said, I actually used a good but cheap TV signal splitter (like $3) from CC to combine 2 antennas and it balances fairly well for me.

I can recommend the DTX9950. No S-video though but even the coax connection is superior to analog! I use that on my Tivo and the PQ never looked better. But the DTX9950 has RCA too, of course. My only complaint is the remote is a tad small for my hands but before long you will probably have no problem finding a cheap universal remote with the codes for from FAR to under $10.

Coupon expired? My local Radio Shack guy said he always has a few donated cards. You can ask!

This does not work if one city is 40 miles in one direction and the other is 71 miles in diff direction. One good antenna with amp and rotor, who wants to rescan every time you change direction.

 

[navychop]

Yep. And lot's of people reaim antennas, even ones on top of the TV.

 

[jgantert]

I'm in-between two DMAs (Baltimore and Washington). Usually I point towards Washington and do the scan. Then I can point towards Baltimore and type in the RF values by hand, and my converter boxes seem to pick up the actual channels. No need to re-scan. I'm always afraid re-scanning will wipe out my previous scans. Either way, all of my boxes now can tune to all the stations. If they can get a signal or not is dependent on where the rotor is turned.

 

[gpat]

I don't think any have an RF remote.
The IR remotes need to be near the box and line of sight.

One thing that would seem to be an ongoing convenience for any box, is if its remote would turn on and off your TV set.
Looking at the window-poster at Radio Shack an hour ago, I believe the Zenith will, but their other box won't.
Well, regardless of which will, I recommend a feature like that for not only your friends, kids, and parents, but your own mental health. -

And regardless, I'm waiting to see if Echostar fixes up their DTVpal box, and upgrades their remote.
The likelihood of both is quite remote (yes pun), but I'm in no hurry.

edit: apparently, I was wrong.
The Digital Stream DTX 9900 seems to have a TV power control function.
. . . and so does the Zenith DTT 900 . . .
There are manuals listed for quite a number of common boxes on this site, if that helps.
I'm reviewing them now. -

I have both the Z 901 and the DS from Rat Shack.
I think the 901 tuner is a little better but both have good features.
Im going to get another 901 and give my son the DS. that way he cant "borrow " the remote when his is misplaced.
Anole,I cant always get the 901 to work on the master TV off button,I think Ill call Zenith and ask whats up,it seems hit and miss.
I wish it was programmed from the TVs remote instead of the way it is.

 

[Scroll]

This does not work if one city is 40 miles in one direction and the other is 71 miles in diff direction. One good antenna with amp and rotor, who wants to rescan every time you change direction.

I guess I just don't care much for rotors since I channel surf and because I am not in that position. My preference if combining 2 antennas doesn't work is to either do without one direction or else get cable or DBS as a supplement in such an instance. OR maybe just have 2 TVs using different antennas!

Well ok that last option works better with 2 Tivos but I guess it could work with an Ir repeater and an after market remote. LOL

 

[Anole]

outrageous?

. . . OR maybe just have 2 TVs using different antennas!

OR, maybe two converter boxes, on a single TV set?
One hooked to the South antenna, and one hooked to the North antenna?
You'd want two different brands, so their IR remotes didn't interfere with each other.

While I'm against using the RF connections, if you daisy chained them, then whichever box was on, would supply the signal, and the off-unit would just pass through the signal.
Yes, both boxes would need pass-through... hrmmmm....

. . . and if one box was hotter than the other, put it on the antenna with the weaker signals . . .

 

[Anole]

buddy needed to choose a CECB

Tonight, I had dinner with a buddy, and the subject of CECBs came up.
He had two coupons, which expire in about 10 days.

He seemed to think whatever they had at WalMart would be just fine.
I'd done a lot of research, and he hadn't, so he asked for some direction.
I started out talking about my Channel Master, and also mentioned that Dish had one.
His ears perked up, and even more so when I described the small size of all the units.

He asked what Radio Shack carried, so I filled him in.
All in all, we covered maybe six common boxes, probably taken from the top dozen or so...

I gave him the shortcomings of the DTVpal, and he dismissed them all.
- he's using it in his garage with a 13" TV, so picture softness doesn't matter
- he has no Dish Network equipment, so the remote doesn't matter
- he'll be doing no recording, so timers don't matter

When I told him about Sears just coming on board with DTVpals, his mind was pretty much made up.
At that point, the deciding factors (for him) were the potentially great guide, local pick-up, and maybe the tiny size.
I really think he made a pretty well-informed decision, and look forward to him getting a Pal this week.


On the other hand, I'd like to see the picture quality tweaked (or see it for myself), and get the remote situation sorted out.
I could live without the timer, but won't touch a Pal as long as it ships with that remote.
Everybody has their priorities.

 

[DallasGuy]

If you plan on using the DTVPal for the timers that are built in to it, do NOT buy the DTVPal until Dish Network has admitted that the timers do not work correctly and they have fixed the problems with them.

The problem I have is that if you set up a timer for a specific channel, the DTVPal will load guide data when you power it up with the remote control (or when it turns itself on with a timer) and the loading of the guide data causes the channel on the timer that was previously set up to be modified. And you end up on the wrong channel....if you are using it with a VCR like I am, you end up recording the wrong show on the wrong channel.

And, if you don't need the timer, I'd go with a different converter box because there are many out there with superior picture qualify.

 

[Scroll]

OR, maybe two converter boxes, on a single TV set?
One hooked to the South antenna, and one hooked to the North antenna?
You'd want two different brands, so their IR remotes didn't interfere with each other.

While I'm against using the RF connections, if you daisy chained them, then whichever box was on, would supply the signal, and the off-unit would just pass through the signal.
Yes, both boxes would need pass-through... hrmmmm....

. . . and if one box was hotter than the other, put it on the antenna with the weaker signals . . .

I got a $10 4 selection RCA switch for an unrelated reason but doing that you could avoid the Rf output issue.

BTW I just picked up a Zenith 901 today. It's fine but I still like the Digital Stream DTX9950 menu options better. But the Zenith will allow you to update channels pretty easily. I'm not sure if it automatically deletes channels that failed to get a signal though.

 

[Anole]

Scan 'n Add; Signal Fluctuation

I guess some folks are afraid to rescan and lose existing channels.
Look for a Scan 'n Add feature.
The Channel Master has it, so see if other units you are considering do, also.

I found it worked as advertised.
I've now got a number of channel locked in... which under some circumstances get no signal.
For Granny, that would be a bad thing.
For me testing antenna, it's a good thing. - :up


Another thing I've noticed, is..
I get serious signal fluctuation from night to night.
My view of the mountain with all the TV transmitters is pretty clear, and there are no intervening hills.
Some times the signals are strong, and other times they're fluctuating so much the channels break up.

Guess I need to tidy up my outdoor antenna.
At times, even the rabbit ear test antenna will get 100% signal.

 

[mastermesh]

I was afraid of loosing channels with my tv a while back... but then I read on another forum somewhere that you can manually add new channels to most atsc receivers simply by pressing the numbers, i.e. one, one, dash button, one, if you want 11-1, etc. That seems to work, but you have to fiddle around with your receiver to get it to actually store that new channel if you didn't get it in a scan. I think some suggest getting by turning off the tv right after you are on that channel... others suggest doing a scan will start scan on the channel you are on so going to 10 and scanning, you might get 11-1 and need to power off tv before it realizes that 11-1 is there but not strong signal, etc. I'd personally love it if all atsc tuners had add channel. I've seen some of the converter boxes that do have that, others have something called "update" which rescans everything, but keeps the old channels. Others are destructive to channel list if you rescan..... I wish there was a list of all the features in all the scanners so we could compare and contrast to find which does what, but I haven't found anything like that, and even if I did, I've already burned my two dtv coupons.

 

[ziggy29]

My coupons expire on September 1. I'd like the DTVPal but I want to see if bugs are worked out in the next month. Right now it sounds too buggy for me to choose it over a fresh-dated DTT901. If the DTVPal is still as buggy as it apparently is now, I'll get a DTT901 just before the coupons expire. The main feature I prefer in the DTVPal is the extended program guides.

 

[Anole]

Ziggy -
If you are between a rock 'n a hard spot, you might do a little research on the Channel Master CM-7000
It'll show 12 hours of guide, if it's being sent by the stations.
In my area, some do, some don't.

And while I can't personally compare the picture to others, from what I've read, it's in the "A" category of picture quality.
That's on the RCA composite connector.
But, having the S-video output connector doesn't hurt , either.

Sensitivity seems admirable.

I've just burned a single CECB card, but plan on ordering the 2nd once I hear better news on the PAL.
If that takes 'till Xmas, I'm fine with that.