Subject: Re: [Shop-talk] TV converter box

From: Benjamin Zwissler <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 17:11:55 -0500

I had the same issue several years ago when our area switched.  I
initially went to satellite (Dish) their boxes had  HD out and, on a
separate tuner, a analog RF signal that could be sen out over the
existing coax.  I plugged that into the houses old coax network and
could tune the box from any room with their RF remotes.  It worked
pretty good, but non-HD only.

I've since switched back to cable, only because I wanted faster
internet than DSL (AT&T) could provide.  I do a similar thing with
Comcast's "cheap" tuner.  They're $2.99 a month and have a HD and a RF
output from the same tuner.  The HD goes to the TV by the box and the
RF goes to the old cable wiring.  I can feed multiple TVs this way as
long as I don't care about HD.

Ben.......

On Mon, Dec 29, 2014 at 4:55 PM, Jim Juhas <[email-masked]> wrote:
> The shop content for this is that I presently have TVs in my work space.
>
> My cable provider has announced the move to "all digital" requiring one
> of their boxes at each TV, regardless of the TV's digital cable
> readiness.  I have coax to multiple locations in my house and shop and
> don't want to rent ANY boxes from them, let alone the seven I would need
> for this, plus in at least one location with a 7" screen, a corner in
> our kitchen, the box will be bigger than the digital TV.  Are there any
> alternatives?  Is there a digital equivalent to the old analog block
> converters?  Or will my digital TVs actually still see the digital
> signals, just not at the same place on the "dial."
> --
> Low Tech Jim
>
> [demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type text/x-vcard which had a name of james_f_juhas.vcf]
> _______________________________________________
>
> [email-masked]
> Donate: http://www.team.net/donate.html
> Suggested annual donation  $12.96
> Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
> Forums: http://www.team.net/forums
> Unsubscribe/Manage: http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

---

From: "Pat Horne" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 16:22:04 -0600

Jim,

Several issues here.

If you want to be able to watch different cable shows on each set then you
will need one box per set. 

If you are close enough to broadcast TV stations, and you only want to watch
shows from your local stations, then you don't need a box for those sets,
but you may need an outside antenna.

If you want to experiment, and one of your friends/neighbors already have
the new all digital service, take one of your sets over and try it, it can't
hurt anything.

I haven't heard of anything like a block converter for digital.

Who is your provider and where are you located?

Peace,
Pat

-----Original Message-----
From: Shop-talk [mailto:[email-masked]] On Behalf Of Jim
Juhas
Sent: Monday, December 29, 2014 3:56 PM
To: Shop Talk
Subject: [Shop-talk] TV converter box

My cable provider has announced the move to "all digital" requiring one of
their boxes at each TV, regardless of the TV's digital cable readiness.  I
have coax to multiple locations in my house and shop and don't want to rent
ANY boxes from them, let alone the seven I would need for this, plus in at
least one location with a 7" screen, a corner in our kitchen, the box will
be bigger than the digital TV.  Are there any alternatives?  Is there a
digital equivalent to the old analog block converters?  Or will my digital
TVs actually still see the digital signals, just not at the same place on
the "dial."
--
Low Tech Jim

[demime 1.01d removed an attachment of type text/x-vcard which had a name of
james_f_juhas.vcf] _______________________________________________

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive
http://autox.team.net/mailman/options/shop-talk/[email-masked]
_______________________________________________

[email-masked]

---

From: Brian Kemp <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 2014 20:11:21 -0800

I second the vote for over the air if that is an option where you are.  
I had basic rabbit ears, but upgraded because I was tired of loosing ABC 
and Fox during recordings.  I now have an outdoor antenna and amplified 
splitter that serves 3 TVs and my computer.  I have a separate amplified 
indoor antenna that serves our living room TV.  Two of the TVs are old 
analog with a converter (the kind that was "free" with the coupon when 
analog broadcasts were going away). If you have ok reception of enough 
channels, this may be good enough for some of your locations.  I would 
expect you could pick up one of the digital converters pretty cheap from 
someone that has since upgraded to a newer TV or get a new one for under 
$30.  I'm fortunate to be in the Los Angeles area and while I'm 36 miles 
from the major transmitters, get over 100 channels (includes 
sub-channels).  I mostly get another channel at 60 miles in San 
Bernardino and surprisingly pick up some San Diego TV in on a side-lobe 
(90 degrees off of where the antenna is aiming).

If you are not aware, you can go to http://www.antennaweb.org/ and put 
in your zipcode to see what is available over the air.  The better your 
antenna and location, the better your results.

Another option is to get a box like a Roku (mentioned as a widely known 
model, but I have no specific experience with it).  I have a 4 year old 
Sony Media Player.  It plugs into the home network or can connect 
wireless and pulls content from my PC or the internet and outputs to the 
TV either as RF or A/V.  The newer ones have HDMI and may drop the older 
connections, so just make sure it can output in a format you have 
available on the TV.  My Sony box is about the size of a paperback, but 
I think the newer devices are like a deck of playing cards.  These 
devices can also stream over the internet from free sources or connect 
to Netflix and pay services for more content.

My Windows 7 PC has a dual tuner card and records my TV for me - think 
Tivo without file protections or restrictions.  With kids, I seldom get 
to actually watch live TV, so this works out great.  I use Windows Media 
Center, so it is all free and I can watch on any computer or on the 
living room TV with the box.

I also have a plug-in for Firefox called Download Helper that can save 
video from places like YouTube.  I have DSL, so can't always stream good 
content, so I just download it and watch the file on my computer or the 
living room TV with the media player.  There are some great 
documentaries and programs that you can grab then watch when you want.

With all this, you should be able to have things to watch on at least 
some of the TVs without a cable box.

Good luck,

Brian

[email-masked]