[MrGumby59]

With the change to digital broadcasting rapidly approaching, there has been plenty of information put out on what to look for in high-def tv's. I need to know about the converter boxes to keep my analog tv working. I'm one of the lucky few who got the federal coupon and I now have to go buy the box. What I am looking for is what do I need to know about converter boxes and what features do I need and what optional features should consider?

[mphenterprises]

Hi MrGumby and welcome to the PCWorld Communities. :D




First, congratulations on getting your coupon. They are in very short supply.

Now, the actual conversion is very easy and can be done within a matter of about 10 minutes once you get the converter box. I normally do not recommend any hardware devices but in this case I think an exception can be made.

My wife and I ordered the two coupons about two months ago since the television in the kitchen is not hooked up to cable. Once the coupons arrived, we went to Radio Shack and looked at the various converter boxes. There are so many different boxes to choose from but, luckily, I was able to research the specific brands from my phone.

The one that stood out the most is the Digital Stream DTX9900 (pictured below):







This particular converter box had the best consumer reviews. I personally do not use any of the advanced features of the converter box. I simply connected it to the television and set the digital channels, that's it. The one feature that appears to be available on within this options that some other boxes do not have is the ability to switch from digital to analog signal at the touch of a button. On the remote control, there is a button marked A/D. This will toggle the signal between digital and analog. You can also change the angle of the signal. You can switch between Wide 14:9, Wide 16:9, Zoom, and Anamorphic.

Connecting the converter box to the television is very easy. If you can connect a VCR, you can connect this device:

- Disconnect the "rabbit-ears" antenna or other external antenna device from the television

- Connect the antenna to the converter box's Antenna IN connection

- Plug in the included cable between the converter box's TV OUT connection and the television's Antenna IN connection

- Plug in the power cord of the converter box to an electrical outlet

- Switch the television's channel to 4

- Switch the converter box to channel 4

- Once you turn on the converter box, you will see the main Digital Stream flash screen

- After that, you can set up the channels just like you would with a regular television






Please remember that the better the antenna, the more stations you will be able to pick up. For example, we can get the following:

- One CBS station

- Three ABC stations

- Three NBC stations

- Two WB stations

- One Fox station

- One WYBE station

- One WTVE station

- One CW station

- Four Ion stations

- Two spanish stations



That is about the extent of information I can provide at this time. I am sure other members will provide some additional information.

[Tech4me]

Hi MPH. Thats a good info that I need too....Try to get at least one converter for my Grandpa's Tv.....



Well..In case some one needs a coupon...: [https://www.dtv2009.gov/]





Thanks

[MrGumby59]

Thanks for the info. As it turns out Radio Shack has a similar model (DTX9950) on sale this week. I'll go take a look at both models.

[mphenterprises]

With pleasure. If you have any other questions, please respond back and ask.

[mphenterprises]

Hi Tech4Me. Yeah, those coupons are going fast. We have one left and don't want to just waste it. We are trying to decide what to do with it.

[mjd420nova]

MrGumby: The easiest thing about the converter boxes is that you can treat it just as if it was a VCR. You take the antenna connection off the back of the TV set and connect it to the input of the converter. Now you need a short coax cable to connect the output of the converter to the input of the TV. If you also have a VCR hooked up, then you need to connect the converter ahead of the VCR and tune the VCR to channel three to receive the signal from the converter. If you are able to receive all the stations you desire with your present antenna, then the same antenna should work just as well for the converter too. no special antenna is needed as the TV broadcasters are still using the same frequencies as before. Good luck

[MrGumby59]

Thanks, that's helpful to know. Unfortunately, we are in a mountainous area and I can only receive one channel in any really viewable condition. I understand that whereas analog signals are somewhat 'forgiving" (that is, you can at least see a picture with varying amounts of static if you are on the outskirts of the broadcast range or are in areas with less than perfect reception), digital tarnsmissions, on the other hand, are an "all or nothing" proposition: if you are not in the broadcast reception area or are in areas with obstacles in the way, you are going to see nothing. It may turn out that all of my efforts will be for naught in the end and I may end up having to spend a small fortune on cable TV.

[earthbru]

Just a reminder, the converter box replaces the tuner so if you want to be able to tape one show and watch another you will need two converters, one for the VCR and one for the TV (unless of course you have a TV with a digital tuner). Of course if you only get one channel that is not a problem.

[xaxo]

One other DTV box is by DishNetwork, it also is easy to connect and has the advantage of a free TV guide which it automatically

downloads to itself everyday when you turn it on. It also has an analog pass-through button, although I don't see much use for

that after Feb 17, 2009. You can buy them at Sears and probably other retail outlets. It also has a nice remote.

[earthbru]

I bought the Insignia from Best Buy and I think it is great. It passes through to analog when turned off so it can be used for both until 2/17, or until June if congress delays the change over as they are discussing.

I liked it enough that I bought a second one (I had two coupons) so I can tape one show and watch another.

My wife insists that she must be able to program a recording (i.e. record one channel at 7:00 and a different one at 8:00) I purchased a Panasonic DVD recorder with a digital tuner (EZ48v). Even though this unit has a VDR, you cannot tape a digital broadcast so you can only record programs to DVD. There will be some learning time but I think this will work. One down side to this is that it is slow changing channels which I might find annoying if it was my only solution to the conversion.