OT - TV digital converter box coupons

[Lee B]

Just bringing this up because the converters have been discussed here before. I'd ordered two coupons when they first came out. Not realizing that they would expire after 90 days, I held onto them figuring there would be a better selection closer to the cutoff time. When I tried to reapply; it wouldn't let me.

So for anyone interested, the coupon website is now accepting requests for coupons to replace *unused* coupons that have expired. You still just get a total of two.

I applied on 5/3, they were mailed on 5/9 and I got them about 2-3 days later.

[Nate Nagel]

Since you brought it up...

my suspicion is that converter boxes will die off and become unavailable in a couple years or so, since the pool of TV's out there requiring same is only going to grow smaller over time. I currently have one Zenith box and one Channel Master box and am reasonably happy with them both, although I do prefer the guide of the Channel Master, as well as the S-Video output.

Question is this, in the last six months or so, are there any new developments in converter boxes that would motivate one to replace either one of the ones that I have (while the "good ones" are still available,) or are they still about as good as they are going to get?

nate

[Bob]

Going back a generation, UHF converter boxes were available for about 15 years after the FCC mandated UHF tuners on all new TVs. The last inventory of converters was grabbed up by hackers building bootleg pay-TV converter boxes. Also, back then TVs were much more expensive and people were less likely to throw them out merely due to the need for an add-on box.

[trader4]

Yes, like all electronics, they will become obsolete and disappear. But I suspect the timeframe will be closer to your 15 years example above. I doubt the converters are going to just disappear in a year or two. There still will be a need for replacements for ones that go bad, people who change setups for some reason and now need one where they didn't before, people who move, etc. Surely enough volume to support at least one manufacturer for many years.

[Ed Pawlowski]

A few years ago I bought the largest 16:9 CRT available for the same reason. Today, I'd not hesitate to get the LCD screen. They've improved considerably and most action is fast and not choppy as in the past too.

[Jim Yanik]

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in news:c9_Pl.29421$ [e-mail]:

an LCD screen will not last as long as a CRT screen. the LCD backlighting is a common failure. also,there's always a few dead pixels,sometimes dark,sometimes full bright. if they're in the main viewing area,it's very annoying.

Then add the initial higher cost of a flat panel TV.

[Lee B]

Not sure how new this development is, but one of the converter boxes (Winegard)also takes an optional battery pack. Since my neighborhood had a lot of power outages last summer, I'm thinking of getting one of them so that I can continue to watch my old battery operated tv set. (The alternative is to buy a new battery op tv, but most of them don't seem to have a battery life as long as our average outage).

OTOH, speculation on one of the DTV forums is that after the cutoff of the coupon program, there may be more enhancements to the converter boxes. Apparently the coupon eligible boxes aren't allowed to have too many bells and whistles.

I haven't done a whole lot of reading on the boxes since I have cable and am buying a box as a backup. (Plus I have a coupon burning a hole in my pocket, LOL).

[evodawg]

That's why I bought a new Sony Trinatron 36" CRT with a true black screen. The color is amazing but it weighs a TON!!! Oh and its Digital Ready but now I have to put an antenna back up in order to get everything available in my area, right when I got use to CATV.

[Ed Pawlowski]

The largest CRT with a 16:9 ratio is a 34" screen. If that is the most you want, OK, but LCD can go to 60" or maybe more. As for initial cost, the LCD is now cheaper. Plasma is still higher. I'm not sure you can even get the

16:9 CRT any more either.

[Ralph Mowery]

I have cable and found it goes out more than the power and will stay out longer. Last time the power did not go out and the telephone worked,but the cable was out for almost 3 days. I have a digital ready TV for the main viewing, but no way to get an antenna wire to it without rerouting some things. In the basement I have an older TV that needs the converter and it will pick up about 30 channels on the antenna hooked to it. Also have a small generator (5000 watts) just incase the power goes out.

[mm]

Wow, where do you live that you can get 30 channels on the air?

[mm]

Good to have a backup.

I'm supposed to have an amplified attic antenna but it's broken and I don't fix it. So when DTV starts, I may have only 6 dot-1 stations and 3 dot-2 or higher, plus a lot of weather. I suppose that's when I'll start trying again to fix the attic antenna.

[Ralph Mowery]

Near Salsibury NC. About 30 miles up I85 from Charlotte. That is with an outside antenna. Those 30 channels are not that many differant stations as each one has several duplications. I picked the Zenith converter as it was suspose to be the most sensitive. The converter is hooked up to a ham radio antenna for 146 MHz up about 70 feet. This is just used for TV whenever the cable is down.

[Jim Yanik]

"Ralph Mowery" wrote in news:l8qdnSG9jM-_V43XnZ2dnUVZ [e-mail]:

I built a coathanger quad bowtie antenna from MAKE TV plans I found online. It works great,indoors,my apartment is stucco with metal mesh underneath. I already had everything except for the 300:75 ohm balun.

[Mark Lloyd]

It was like that here. That's why I don't have cable phone.