On Dec 10, 8:44*am, klem kedidelhopper
wrote:
Lately I have had quite a few requests, mostly from elderly customers,
who couldn't care less about HD TV for a way to keep watching their
old reliable tube sets on either cable or antenna. Is there an
inexpensive no frills "set top box" that can be purchased, then
depending upon which system you're using, connect either an antenna or
a cable into, receive your channel, convert it to NTSC and output in a
conventional way on channel three to a standard TV? Most of these
people are on fixed incomes and even those that do have cable have the
basic at best and just can't afford the packages offered by the cable
providers. I was hoping to find a unit that could do both so that if
someone had cable and then went to an antenna, they would be covered.
This would make a lot of retired folks very happy. Thanks, Lenny

Here's a list of atsc/qam tuners. But, they were originally designed
for HD displays. And, they run between $100 and $200. You will
probably also need a ch. 3/4 modulator.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

Your guys should have gotten the "free" OTA decoder boxes at the time
of the DTV transition, and bought an antenna instead of cable. The
cable companies left the old folks high and dry when they switched
from analog to digital, pricing formerly "basic cable" channels way
out of reach.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1183648 (Two year old
thread)

Further, while I seldom read anything on the avs forum, I get the
impression that n future, all cable channels will be digitally
encrypted, making set top boxes mandatory. Gramps will just have to
decide between watching tv and buying his water pills.