Community Forums

Tom N · 05-01-2008, 04:54 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by C&H from NorCal:
Hey Tom, I had to look up Sarver, PA. I grew up in Pleasantville which looks like it's about 50-60 miles NNE of you. I have been in most, if not all, of the 50 states but I have never seen The United States from the perspective of your map. Is that as viewed from China? Harold </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

I know Pleasantville. Spent many summers back in the '70s at Kennerdale south of Oil City.

Yes, from China, every things from China today.

-Tom

Jim A · 05-01-2008, 07:15 PM

To answer Wagonmaster2's question from many posts ago, many DVD recorders do not have a tuner built in because they are designed to record off of some other A/V component, such as a cable box, satellite receiver, etc. You don't need a tuner for that. But these don't do what we need them to do.

Also, be careful of those with tuners. Older ones have an analog tuner. Newer ones have the digital tuner, and sometimes both.

jd_hoffman · 05-02-2008, 05:03 AM

Tom is right in some respects about the change over date. With the government things rarely work on the date intended. The difference with the DTV transition is that it was originally suppose to occur on December 31, 2006. So they are going to be a little more than 2 years behind schedule, however I do think it is going to occur on Feb 17.

The main difference here is that 95% of the stations are already broadcasting a digital AND an analog signal (which I'm sure they don't want to HAVE to do). So now the government is finally ready, the TV stations are ready, and if you see the ads on every TV channel right now, the consumers will be ready by February.

hamguy · 05-02-2008, 07:19 AM

I have a Panasonic VHS/DVD Receiver-recorder. I am sure it has its own tuner as it asks what channel you want to record from. Can hardly wait to see if it works. I wonder if and Phoenix channels are on digital now? Anyone know?

Jim A · 05-02-2008, 09:40 AM

Yes, there are digital channels in Phoenix. We were there a few weeks ago for the NASCAR race, and I found them using the batwing antenna.

Go to http://www.antennaweb.org and fill in the address and city. It will show all the broadcast channels in the area, both digital and analog. Be sure to put in a street address. If you just put in a zip code it will not find nearly as many stations.

As for the Panasonic VHS/DVD recorder, you will need to know the model number to know if it has a digital or analog tuner. If I had to guess, assuming it is at least a couple of years old, I would assume it is analog, and will not work after the switchover in 2009.

Jim & Steph · 05-02-2008, 05:03 PM

Thanks Jim for your input. We always count on you for what we need to know about our coach.

Jim A · 05-04-2008, 06:39 PM

I am not a couch potato. I am conducting research!

GaryKD · 05-05-2008, 05:56 AM

After reading the different threads on this subject, I thought I had this all figured out when in today's newspaper it was mentioned:

"More than 2900 low power stations and about 4400 signal-relay stations known as translators that extend broadcasts to rural areas will not be required to go digital by the deadline and may lack the resources to do so."

This brings up the question do converter boxes have a pass through capability so analog signals can still be viewed?

Route 66 · 05-05-2008, 06:07 AM

I believe they do based on THIS info.

It doesn't come right out and say it, but the way it's described, analog will pass.

Jim A · 05-05-2008, 12:02 PM

Not all of them will pass the analog signals. The Winegard converter will not, since it doesn't even have a coax out connection. It does not tune the analog signals either.

In my coach I have the antenna connection going to my older analog DVD-R, and it will bypass to my digital tuner, which I feed back into the A/V inputs on the DVD-R.

My HD Tivo at home will tune both digital and analog stations. So will the Toshiba DVD recorder that I installed in a friend's coach last week.

Bill Adams · 05-05-2008, 01:22 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">The Winegard converter will not, since it doesn't even have a coax out connection. </div></BLOCKQUOTE>
The Winegard RC-DT09 DOES have a coax output and is designed to work properly with the standard analog TV's.
The tuner is digital only so should not pick up an analog signal at all. If you want/need to use the converter you could also add an A/B switch that would allow you to select the standard analog input or the digital signal.

Frankie · 05-05-2008, 01:28 PM

On what side of the video selector should I mount the converter?I cant get it to pull in a signal and the 12 volt booster led goes out when the converter is connected.The feed is showing 12 volts so no problem there.I thought this was going to be plug and play

Bill Adams · 05-05-2008, 03:12 PM

If you have a video control center that also provides the power to the antenna then you must install the converter after the VCC. You will have a coax coming out of the VCC to TV1 and another to TV2. If you want the converter to work with either (one at a time) you would need to......Dang, I am going to have to go draw a diagram as I can't seem to make that work in my head.

DancinCampers · 05-05-2008, 04:47 PM

Bill, don't feel bad. I went thru 6 pages of diagrams before I settled on my install, which I just completed over the weekend. And my install would be considered easy since I have only 1 DISH receiver, no HD or TIVO.

My VCC has 5 inputs (cable,sat,VCR,ANT,AUX) and 3 outputs (TV1, TV2, VCR). The ANT connection has the 12VDC for the Batwing Amp.

My TV1 is overhead in the front, SAT receiver LEFT side, VCC & VCR on RIGHT side.

I pulled out the VCR and replaced with DVD recorder (which has no RF output capability, only pass thru).

I bought the RCA DTA 800B at WalMart. This is just a basic unit.

I made the following connections:

VCC:
VCR output to DTA input.
AUX input to DTA output.
SAT input is split off to DVD recorder RF input.
VCR input to RF converter which is connected to DVD recorder RCA output.

DTA
RCA output to DVD recorder input.

I keep the VCC VCR switch set on ANT.

With this setup, I can watch SAT, Analog and/or digital off-the-air, cable and DVD on either set. I can record Sat or Digital off the air on the DVD recorder.

I cannot record cable or analog off the air. To do this I would need to get out some more paper, but in my experience over the past 3 1/2 yrs, not likely to be needed.

My goal was to be able to watch any of the diffeent inputs on either TV at the same time, as our tastes are different. Our recordings are mainly off SAT.

Anyway, we will be leaving home soon for the summer and hopefully I will not have to rewire the entertainment center anymore.

I was impressed with the digital off the air reception. We are about 80 miles north of Las Vegas and 40 miles south of St George Utah. I am only able to get 1 not so great analog channel on the batwing, a PBS station out of Las Vegas. Using the DTA I get 5 channels out of St George, signal strength about 16. Really clear pic & sound. I have a feeling this digital will provide a real boost to folks who don't do SAT.