craze1cars
Lieutenant Commander
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2004
- Messages
- 1,822
Re: Digital TV Converter box - need advice
Pierutrus, I'm not sure what gstanton said that was so incorrect to as made him an "idiot". He's absolutely correct about low power stations not being forced to go digital by any deadline. And therefore you'll still need analog capabilities if you want to continue watching those channels. Read all about it:
https://www.dtv2009.gov/lowpower/
You also said, "by the way, I do this for a living." What is "this?" I have no idea what you do for a living outside of maybe posting on iboats and rudely calling fellow boaters idiots. Quite frankly I think you were way out of line in what you wrote in your last post.
Back on track to see if I can further clarify (or confuse) others about the analog pass thru thing and these low power stations. I found the following on another site to further explain the whole A/B switch and other options:
"If you've already purchased a DTV converter that doesn't have analog pass-through (or has poor analog pass-thru), you're not completely out of luck. You still may be able to get analog signals to your TV by using an antenna switch or 2-way splitter. Use a splitter if your TV has separate audio/video inputs. Just connect the antenna feed to the splitter, and run one cable from the splitter to the RF input on the TV and another from the splitter to the digital converter's RF input. Connect the converter's A/V output to the TV's A/V input.* You can watch the analog programs by changing channels using the TV's tuner. When you want to watch a digital channel, just switch to the video input.
For TVs that only have an antenna input connector (no separate video inputs), you'll need both an RF antenna splitter and an antenna A/B switch. The splitter should be connected between the antenna and converter box, with one cable connected to the DTV converter box's RF antenna input, and the other going to one of the inputs on the 2-way A/B switch (effectively bypassing the converter). Then run a cable from the converter box's RF output to the second input on the A/B switch. The A/B box's single output is then connected directly to the TV's RF (cable) antenna input. When the A/B switch is on the "digital" (A) side so it's receiving the converter box's signal, tune your TV to channel 3 or 4 to watch digital programs. When you click the switch to the "analog" (B) setting, you'll be able to view any available analog programs by changing channels on the TV. The downside is that you'll have to manually switch between the two inputs on the A/B switch every time you want to switch from an analog channel to a digital one."
FWIW, the Digital Stream model I picked up at Radio Shack DOES claim to have analog pass-thru...the older ones do not, but all the new ones they're selling now do have it. I have no idea if it's of any good quality or not becaus I don't need or use the feature. But if you choose the Radio Shack route, just read the box to make sure you're not getting an old stock box if that feature makes any difference to you.
Pierutrus, I'm not sure what gstanton said that was so incorrect to as made him an "idiot". He's absolutely correct about low power stations not being forced to go digital by any deadline. And therefore you'll still need analog capabilities if you want to continue watching those channels. Read all about it:
https://www.dtv2009.gov/lowpower/
You also said, "by the way, I do this for a living." What is "this?" I have no idea what you do for a living outside of maybe posting on iboats and rudely calling fellow boaters idiots. Quite frankly I think you were way out of line in what you wrote in your last post.
Back on track to see if I can further clarify (or confuse) others about the analog pass thru thing and these low power stations. I found the following on another site to further explain the whole A/B switch and other options:
"If you've already purchased a DTV converter that doesn't have analog pass-through (or has poor analog pass-thru), you're not completely out of luck. You still may be able to get analog signals to your TV by using an antenna switch or 2-way splitter. Use a splitter if your TV has separate audio/video inputs. Just connect the antenna feed to the splitter, and run one cable from the splitter to the RF input on the TV and another from the splitter to the digital converter's RF input. Connect the converter's A/V output to the TV's A/V input.* You can watch the analog programs by changing channels using the TV's tuner. When you want to watch a digital channel, just switch to the video input.
For TVs that only have an antenna input connector (no separate video inputs), you'll need both an RF antenna splitter and an antenna A/B switch. The splitter should be connected between the antenna and converter box, with one cable connected to the DTV converter box's RF antenna input, and the other going to one of the inputs on the 2-way A/B switch (effectively bypassing the converter). Then run a cable from the converter box's RF output to the second input on the A/B switch. The A/B box's single output is then connected directly to the TV's RF (cable) antenna input. When the A/B switch is on the "digital" (A) side so it's receiving the converter box's signal, tune your TV to channel 3 or 4 to watch digital programs. When you click the switch to the "analog" (B) setting, you'll be able to view any available analog programs by changing channels on the TV. The downside is that you'll have to manually switch between the two inputs on the A/B switch every time you want to switch from an analog channel to a digital one."
FWIW, the Digital Stream model I picked up at Radio Shack DOES claim to have analog pass-thru...the older ones do not, but all the new ones they're selling now do have it. I have no idea if it's of any good quality or not becaus I don't need or use the feature. But if you choose the Radio Shack route, just read the box to make sure you're not getting an old stock box if that feature makes any difference to you.
