OT: TV converter boxes

It's been many years since I was involved in consumer goods, when I was, Magnavox or Philco were often the the same product with a different cover. Mike

"amdx" wrote in news:d320c$48513d9d$450139f0$ snipped-for-privacy@KNOLOGY.NET:

notice how similar the 2 converter's product numbers are?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Out here all this doesn't matter. Called a few stores: Zilch. The topper was Walmart where the guy said "Whenever a truck arrives and has converter boxes people swoop in and within hours they are all gone."

So I made it a habit to call the stores on a regular basis. Finally I got lucky and this Tuesday BestBuy had about 75 Insignia boxes. Immediately dropped everything and hopped into the car. Got to be fast. By the time I arrived it looked like the stash had dwindled to about half. Whew. Coupons would expire June 26.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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Cox has finally started running an ad, "Your TV set WILL NOT stop working... if you are a Cox subscriber", to counter the incessant ads on the over-the-air channels that are also connected to cable.

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

IMHO that whole transition is at least partially botched. The converter program started way too late, I already wondered about that last year. Now you have situations like this: RCA DTA800 (the box I really wanted) is on the Walmart web site. Says "not sold online" _and_ "not sold in stores". Great. The reality of the matter is that this and many other boxes seem to be permanently unobtanium.

This is a joke:

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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You know, I don't know a single person (other than you, Joerg) that receives over-the-air ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Jim Thompson wrote: snip

Pleased to meet you. Now, you know two people.

[raises hand]

I spend enough time sucking on the glass teat [*] as it is. Why pay close to $100/mo for more junk that I'd not watch if they paid *me*?

[*] Thank you, Harlan Ellison

--
Rich Webb     Norfolk, VA

By choice, or cable not available?

...Jim Thompson

-- | James E.Thompson, P.E. | mens | | Analog Innovations, Inc. | et | | Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus | | Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | | | Voice:(480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat | | E-mail Icon at

| 1962 | America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

I know dozens and dozens. Some by choice, like us, others because cable doesn't reach there and satellite would require them to chop down half a forest which the bureaucrats often don't allow. Until the next devastating fire, that is, after which the bureaucrats get their armchairs sued from underneath them.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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I used to donate $500 a year to PBS, but they've declined into pure junk, with nothing worthy of watching except at "gimmeee" time :-( So I now don't watch it at all... except an occasional Lawrence Welk ;-) (Elect the Democrats and they'll add PBS and the "Fairness Doctrine" to your tax bill.)

I buy extended basic cable plus HBO and Showtime, so I can watch CSI, Monk, all the variants of This Old House, John Adams, The Tudors, etc, etc, etc...

My total tab, including a souped-up Internet connection, runs me just over $100/month.

Ad just passed on the TeeVee... "Only cockroaches will survive the end of the world". Wrong! Politicians will also survive ;-)

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

Wrong! Politicians and bureaucrats have written their own self-protection laws... indemnification :-(

...Jim Thompson

--
| James E.Thompson, P.E.                           |    mens     |
| Analog Innovations, Inc.                         |     et      |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC\'s and Discrete Systems  |    manus    |
| Phoenix, Arizona  85048    Skype: Contacts Only  |             |
| Voice:(480)460-2350  Fax: Available upon request |  Brass Rat  |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com |    1962     |
             
         America: Land of the Free, Because of the Brave

... plus fat pensions and probably cradle-to-grave medical.

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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On a sunny day (Thu, 12 Jun 2008 11:11:18 -0700) it happened Jim Thompson wrote in :

Here in Europe we have several hundred (yes >100) free channels on satellite. That includes, from where I am, BBC, China, Russia, Iraq, local stations, Germany, Belgium, France (but not all free), etc. Plus maybe a thousand (hard to tell) radio channels. I have no idea why I should get cable :-)

Then what I cannot get from sat (because of the horizon), like NASA TV, I get (in less quality) over the Internet.

The terrestrial stations you can get by buying a USB stick receiver (with build in antenna), the density of the terrestrial network is such that normally you do not need an external antenna.

I guess, after a few years, you guys will also appreciate the digital recording and time shift possibility it creates.

That makes zero here, with more stations. Some countries require you to pay something every month for having a TV or radio. The Netherlands, where I am, no longer requires this.

The latest here is cellphones with digital terrestial....

I have been thinking about putting cockroaches in the mars lander, chances are they survive :-) But politicians would be too heavy.

Interesting. I bought an external CD drive from Freecom about 15 years ago. Old style "cast iron" quality, none of this plastic stuff. If it's the same company then that must have been in their first year.

[...]

--
Regards, Joerg

http://www.analogconsultants.com/

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is a table of the various boxen, with real manufacturer and what chip-sets they use. Which says that both the Magnavox and Philco units are made by Funai. Probably the same thing.

I have the Digital Stream DTX9900 and it's pretty good with weak snowy signals. Not good with ghosts. I gather that most of them have that problem.

Mark Zenier snipped-for-privacy@eskimo.com Googleproofaddress(account:mzenier provider:eskimo domain:com)

Three, but he doesn't really "know" me, if you know what I mean. (wink, wink, nudge, nudge). >:->

Cheers! Rich

I have the Zenith with a attic antenna and mast mounted preamp, at 25 miles I don't have signal issues. I have a feeling since most boxes have the same chipset, you do just as well with either brand.

Cheers

Jim Thomps>I used to donate $500 a year to PBS,

Network neutrality; media consolidation; FCC's lastest whoring.

*Only* on PBS will you see significant coverage of those topics. At best, commercial outlets underplay those. Their norm is to AVOID reporting on them.

Jim & the gang at the NewsHour give you the national news without treating you like an imbecile.

Nothing via commercial broadcast holds a candle to Frontline.

You sound like you get more intelligent pledge programming than we do in SoCal. That's mostly New Age nonsense here.

A PBS production.