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

Of course. There used to be adapters that allowed digital broadcasts to be
viewed on analog sets. Aren't they still available?

These were for OTA. I don't think they'd work for cable, because cable
systems (at least Comcast) have switched to digital transport, even for
local signals.

I have an unused Zenith I'd be willing to sell.

On Dec 10, 10:44*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

There were OTA convertors available for a nominal fee just before the
forced conversion to digital. I have two units sitting in my garage
that I use to power an old conventional tv, for OTA signals.

My cable company (COMCAST) provides convertors at no cost for the
first three convertors to use the cable with old tv sets set to
channel 3 or 4.

wrote:

There were OTA convertors available for a nominal fee just before the
forced conversion to digital. I have two units sitting in my garage
that I use to power an old conventional tv, for OTA signals.

I'm not in the US, so I have to web search them, but WalMart has them for
$30, and some in stores supposedly (you have to go to the store to get
the exact price) for less.

They will work for OTA signals and may work for cable too, if the cable
company is sending the signals using uencrypted ATSC.

As I see it there is a lot of financial incentive to send them encrypted, not
only do you have to rent a box from them, but it reduces, if not eliminates
piracy.

Geoff.


--
Geoffrey S. Mendelson, N3OWJ/4X1GM
My high blood pressure medicine reduces my midichlorian count. :-(

Well I've been looking for that too. With no luck. Actually, if
you want to watch TV on your computer, there are a variety of PCI
slot cards, and even usb devices, that include clear QAM tuners.
for as little as $20. But a stand-alone QAM tuner? Nothing that
I've found.

In theory, a DVR should include such a tuner. But you'd have to
find one that still has analog outputs for the old tube TVs. And
then you might still have the monthly subscription fee for the DVR.

Please post here if you find an inexpensive solution to this
problem.

In article 1bb73af3-0ae9-4787-be11-57bc497f01d6
@u32g2000yqe.googlegroups.com, says...

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

As mentioned, you should hvae no problems finding a "Digital TV
Adapter", as there were tons sold during the OTA changover. You can
probably find many used ones at garage sales and elsewhere for real
cheap. I like the Zenith DTT series (Best Buy also sold a rebadged
version under their Insigia label), as they work well. Even though I
have a digital TV (and cable), I use a DTT to play around and see what
is going on OTA, even do some DX'ing. Unlike many built-in TV tuners, it
will keep trying to tune a signal, even if it can't initially pick it
up. Many TV's drop to analog on a signal after a second or so of trying
digital, unless it's already mapped in it's memory.

As for cable, check with their cable company. Many should offer very-
low-cost or even free 'DTA' adapters. For Comcast, you can typically get
two DTA's for free. They are typically programmed to get the Digital
Starter tier (bsaically the old expanded basic plus a few extras.) I
guess they may also be available to be programmed with just basic cable
in areas where all analogs have been deleted.

--
If there is a no_junk in my address, please REMOVE it before replying!
All junk mail senders will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the
law!!
http://home.comcast.net/~andyross

Andrew Rossmann says...

As for cable, check with their cable company. Many
should offer very- low-cost or even free 'DTA' adapters.
For Comcast, you can typically get two DTA's for free.
They are typically programmed to get the Digital Starter
tier (bsaically the old expanded basic plus a few
extras.) I guess they may also be available to be
programmed with just basic cable in areas where all
analogs have been deleted.

I checked with Cox Cable, my cable company, and the cheapest
alternative they quoted me was $10 a month for QAM
reception. I have an adapter from the change-over time, but
it's only OTA. What I need is a clear QAM tuner that
produces analog output. Haven't found one yet.

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.