HELLO Am wondering if anybody has an opinion on the subject of digital converter boxes , I have one Coupon and several people that I know are interested in getting a Converter Box , saw one post that some guy was having a problem with his Magnavox , I have DTV and won't need to use the thing unless my Sat. goes out , any thoughts would be appreciated. Phil L.
On May 21, 5:26=A0pm, "Phil" wrote: > HELLO
erter
nIf you have DTV, why do you need a converter box? Just connect an antenna and scan for channels.
Have completed a web search of all of the proffered sellers. Less than hal of the supposed brands were available, with the only analog/digital Magnvox TB-100MG9 and the Philco TB1x0HH9 (x=0 or 5) being available. Forget Echostar; it will not be availble until *after* all of the coupons die. That being said, which is best: Coship or Artec, or Philco?
It's a mess. After some research I found that the RCA DTA800 should fit us pretty well. Looks like it comes (came?) in three slightly different versions but nobody had a clue, the RCA site was useless, Thomson had no info. And now this:
Not sold online Not sold in stores
Ain't that coupon program great?
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
I'm eagerly anticipating the riots when they cut off the free TV to the ghettos.
Cheers! Rich
We live in a middle-class neighborhood, lots of folks with a technical background. Yet a large number of people seems blissfully unaware of what'll happen early next year. Plus the fact that you can't buy any converter boxes in our town whether you have a coupon or not.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
ATSC (American DTV) has poor performance in a multipath environment. Even relative to analog TV, at the same channel frequency, where analog at least provides "some" signal, the DTV cuts on and off repeatedly. I've heard the argument that most DTV users will be connected to cable, and therefore the robustness of the terrestrial transmission is not at issue. I have a converter box (LG) connected to an antenna designed for DTV. It's useless here in Austin, unless I add an outdoor antenna on a 35-foot mast. I'm within 4 miles of the DTV stations, and get plenty, but not too much of the signal. Problem is it comes from the opposite direction ... off the hills behind me.
I suppose a path compensation circuit would work, or using dynamic null steering on the antenna pattern to reduce the unwanted interferer.
I think the terrestrial DTV viewers (like me) in most cities will find it's inconvenient to keep repositioning the antenna every time the wind blows or someone walks into the room.
Frank
That's what I was predicting years ago. And now that we have DTV it turns out those predictions are true. Multipath gets worse when clouds roll in and then we must switch back to the analog channel because the same programming on DTV remains a frozen blocky Picasso with no audio. Analog is then still quite clear, the minor ghosting doesn't bother us. In 2009 it'll be gone :-(
Same here, just a lot more hilly than Austin.
I think the local politicians will be in for some pummeling in February
2009. For multipath plus, if converter availability doesn't get better and coupons expire, for cost. I don't think viewers will simply swallow the fact that life will become $30-$40 more expensive per month because they must subscribe to some kind of service. Plus cable isn't an option in many places out here.-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
The RCA DTA800A/800B was available online from dtv.bsat.net . Is it better than those i mentioned?
Have you noticed that the majority of "approved" units are made by "off the wall" makers (ie: un-heard of "brands")?
...or if you want to change the channel (TV stations having different transmitter locations near a given city).
Server can not be found :-(
I have no idea. I guess it'll be that people have to grabe whatever little is on the shelves.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
Have you noticed that those "off the wall" brands are like VCRs were, and only made by a couple companies, all with a couple different chipsets? Or do you really believe that Harley Davidson built VCRs?
-- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I\'ve got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida
-- Service to my country? Been there, Done that, and I\'ve got my DD214 to prove it. Member of DAV #85. Michael A. Terrell Central Florida
Ok, tried that vendor, clicked on DTA800, enter qty of one. Reply: "Your entered quantity exceeds stock on hand".
Oh yeah. Great. Hooray!
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
But it is a bit weird that a box is (supposedly, if you can get it anywhere ...) sold by RCA and then absolutely no info can be found on the RCA site.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
So why tell us? Tell your congress critters.
Oh I will.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
I haven't been paying much attention to this DTV converter business, since I have cable.
Am I correct that these only do over-the-air-signal conversions?
Or can it be used as a cheap block converter?
...Jim Thompson
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Does Shrillary fathom herself to be the next Manchurian Candidate?
No idea what you mean by block converter. They take DTV signals in regardless of where they are coming from and then convert the selected channel to NTSC. There is a video/audio output and sometimes a simple RF modulator. Probably the frequency range will be limited to over-the-air bands.
-- Regards, Joerg http://www.analogconsultants.com/ "gmail" domain blocked because of excessive spam. Use another domain or send PM.
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