TV antenna users: Sign up for free digital converter

[six string]

Has anyone heard any pros or cons regarding the different brands of converter boxes?

[GA Russell]

Has anyone heard any pros or cons regarding the different brands of converter boxes?

I read in the paper:

a) The Best Buy unit will tell you what will be shown the next hour on the channel you are watching. The Radio Shack unit will do the same for the next 24 hours.

b) Both cost $60.00.

[six string]

Has anyone heard any pros or cons regarding the different brands of converter boxes?

I read in the paper:

a) The Best Buy unit will tell you what will be shown the next hour on the channel you are watching. The Radio Shack unit will do the same for the next 24 hours.

b) Both cost $60.00.

Being a person that doesn't watch a lot of tv, this feature will have no impact on my choice. Thanks for the info. My main concern is getting a well made device with a decent life span.

[GA Russell]

My reception of the Indy 500 today was unacceptable. The race was constantly interrupted with "no signal". It was a Durham station maybe 45 miles away. Maybe there was a storm between here and there, I don't know. But with reception like that, television would have never caught on.

[BERIGAN]

As usual the glorious future of new technology brings new problems. No more analogue ghosting, say hello to digital dropouts.

Not sure what I'm going to do antenna wise, but here are a couple of build-your-own options, along with some information about antennas in the 3rd link.

Video how-to link

Building a UHF HDTV antenna with pictures

Also the Crutchfield advisor - all about antennas

Or....you could join the 20th century, call DISH network and get to watch baseball games from around the country!!! But hey, you get to watch the Mariners, don't ya??? That's good enough!

Sorry, someone has to be a smartass about this, it just fell to me this time....I can't wait to see the next thread from you guys....how to put LP's on blank 8-track tapes that they still sell at Radio shack!

[GA Russell]

Go ahead and laugh, Conrad. You're the one who's paying money to watch television!

[GA Russell]

Here's a Christmas Day article from the LA Times discussing the growing popularity of rabbit ears. In the LA area, many stations are broadcasting in foreign languages, which has stirred immigrants to go the over-the-air route.

http://www.latimes.c...ars25-2009dec25,0,5668446,full.story

I can't get the link to paste properly. I'll ask Jim what the problem is.

Edited December 29, 2009 by GA Russell

[Claude]

My 75 year old neighbour was just scammed by the guy who installed our satellite antenna (for 20 households). He installed her a DVB-T receiver for 200€. That's the thing referred to here as the "free digital converter".

In January, the national TV station RTL will move to a new satellite, which requires a small modification of the satellite dish, not possible on large multi-user installations as ours. So the only other possibility is DVB-T reception.

Every new TV sold in the last 3 years (at least) includes a DVB-T receiver, so no problem here. But people who have an older TV set either need to buy a new one (small LCD sets cost 300€ or more) or get an external DVB-T receiver box.

So my neighbour calls me to announce that the satellite guy just installed this "piece". I was surprised,because the modification of the satallite dish was not an option here. Then she showed me the DVB-T receiver.

In order to watch TV, she now has to handle 3 remote controls: 1 for the TV, 1 for the satellite receiver (for french, german and other stations), 1 for the terrestrial receiver (for the luxembourg and belgian stations).

The cost was:

- 80€ for the receiver

- 30€ for travelling (same city!)

- 50€ for one hour installion work

- 20€ for a Scart adapter (which can be found for 3€ in any store)

-----

180€

She handed him 200€, and he bluntly said "I guess it's ok to keep the change" and went off.

Of course these 200€ would have been much better invested in a new TV set.

But I'm not only mad at this ruthless w@nker, but also at the TV industry, because they are not offering what the market badly needs: TV sets which removable receiver modules.

DVB-T reception is now included in every TV (for the terrestrial stations), but many people have to buy either an DVB-S (satellite) or a DVB-C (cable) receiver, so they end up with two devices and remotes for watching TV. More knowledgeable users get a programmable remote to replace device-specific remotes, but others are stuck with several remotes. It would be so much easier if there were standardized receiver modules for DVB-C and DVB-S that could simply be inserted or connected to the TV, so that the TV remote can handle both.

Afer we had decided to install a satellite dish to be free from the cable company (a monopolist who increases price by 10€ every year (now 400€/year)), we had several people moving back to cable after a few months because using an external receiver box was too complicated for them.

Edited December 29, 2009 by Claude