The begining of the end.

[Techfizzle]

I think the reason why the JUNK DTV boxes have been funded by the gov is that they have there hands in the cable and satellite companys pocket. Everyone I know that has a box, reports it has quit, dead, died etc. Mine personaly resets itself when the signal is low. Getting back to the story, the gov wants us to switch to cable or satellite. Why else would they shell out over 50 million dollars to give us somewhat free boxes, they would do that to gas, oil, etc too.

 

[Radioguy41]

The only real piece of junk on the market is the one Wal-Mart sells (Magnavox). Don't even take one for free. I'm running two Zenith boxes for a couple of months now with no problems. As soon as I hooked up the Zenith it scanned in more than twice as many channels as my 4 year old HDTV STB tuner. Newer generation tuner chips are quite improved. My best friend is also running a Zenith as is my son and their boxes are working just fine. There are currently 63 different boxes approved for the coupon program. I think it's unfair to group all boxes as being faulty based on the failures of a select few.

If you want to really get an understanding of what's good and what isn't, read all the threads in this forum:

Coupon Eligible Converter Box (CECB) - AVS Forum

 

[Scroll]

I've got a Zenith and 2 Radio Shack Digital Stream boxes. All do just what they're supposed to, as does the HDTV tuner in my widescreen TV.

I actually thought this thread was going to be about the fact that despite all the new channels there is still not much new programming outside of PBS. At 4:30 this morning there was just about nothin' on except for infomercials. The one channel that actually had a movie, and a really bad one at that, had about 7 - 10 minute commercial breaks, or so it seemed to me.

If I didn't have a Tivo to time shift I'd go bonkers!

Now I do have Direct TV in the living room. Not that it is a bunch better early morning on a Saturday. Well let's face it. Weekend programming usually sucks anyway. What's the point of having days off when there's nothing to watch, especially when it's a rainy weekend.

Oh well this thread was about getting stuck with a lemon. See if you can get a replacement under warranty.

 

[dodge]

I have a few boxes all work fine, Zenith Magnavox and DTv pal work no problems, the govt made money on this deal they sold off spectrum for billions of dollars and reinvested only a couple hundred million in the convertor box program. As I see it the consumer is gettting screwed and the gov't is making money on the deal.

 

[TRG]

Two Zenith DTT900's running strong at my house.

Techfizzle, you didn't mention which box you have. Do you have the coax line grounded? I understand that helps drain off dangerous static electricity. Also, are you in an area that experiences a lot of lightening?

 

[ciwsguy]

As I see it the consumer is gettting screwed and the gov't is making money on the deal.

Dodge,
How in the world did you come to that conclusion? So what if the Gov't makes money. They ALWAYS spend more than they take in, right? At least this way they don't need quite as much, plus they need it to help pay the $700 Billion bank bailout.

Digital TV is much better than Analog, somewhat akin to DVD's to VHS in SLP mode. How can that be screwing the consumers?

 

[dodge]

This is what the gov't got for auctioning off part of the spectrum

$19.592 billion

Auction
The auction divided UHF spectrum into 5 blocks:

Block A: 12 MHz bandwidth (698–704 and 728–734 MHz)
Block B: 12 MHz bandwidth (704–710 and 734–740 MHz)
Block C: 22 MHz bandwidth (746–757 and 776–787 MHz)
Block D: 10 MHz bandwidth (758–763 and 788–793 MHz)
Block E: 6 MHz bandwidth (722–728 MHz)
The FCC placed very detailed rules about the process of this auction of the 698–806 MHz part of the wireless spectrum. Bids were anonymous and designed to promote competition. The aggregate reserve price for all Block C licenses was approximately $4.6 billion.[8] The aggregate reserve price for all 5 blocks being auctioned in Auction 73 was just over $10 billion.[8] Block D of the spectrum, which did not meet its reserve bidding price among some controversy,[9] will be used for a national public safety network.[10]

Auction 73 ended with the highly publicized open access C-Block going for $4.74 billion to Verizon.[11] The entire auction raised $19.592 billion.[12]

I dont think the govt spent 19 billion on the convertor box program, like I said before a way for the gov't to make money, why else would they do it???? The fcc wants to sell off the Ham bands as well because there is $$$ behind it.