man I have been reading for like 2 days now i have few simple questions that some one has the answer to already.

1 which cecb has the most features
2 any one find a cecb that will do qam or maybe do qam
3 what cecb is every one seem to be buying?
tia

man I have been reading for like 2 days now i have few simple questions that some one has the answer to already.

1 which cecb has the most features
2 any one find a cecb that will do qam or maybe do qam
3 what cecb is every one seem to be buying?
tia

read this chart
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_CECB_units

This will get you started in the right direction

2 any one find a cecb that will do qam or maybe do qam

You will not find a CECB that receives QAM "out of the box," at least. See

Technical Appendix 2 (http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/DTVFinalRule_technical.htm#Appendix2) of the rules for the CECB program. Among the "Disqualifying Features" is

Any device or capability which provides for more than simply converting a digital over-the-air television signal (ATSC) for display on an analog television receiver (NTSC)

There's been some speculation that the tuner chips may actually contain provision for QAM so that they can be used in non-CECBs, and that if so, some CECBs may be "hackable" to enable QAM, but I haven't seen any reports of this actually happening.

Understand that the CECB boxes for users that only watch SD analog TV channels using an antenna and are therfore being subsidized by the government/US tax payer so that the can continue to receive their network programs using an antenna and a digital tuner.
The CECB boxes are not intended or permitted AFAIK to support QAM since cable customers have no need to switch since cable companies will continue to transmit analog channels until at least 2012.

thanks for the responses I totally get why qam is not "needed" i was thinking for future use down the road. and from the spread sheet comparison it looks like the maxmedia MMDTVB03 is the best option but what luck you can not purchase it at this time........

man I have been reading for like 2 days now i have few simple questions that some one has the answer to already.

1 which cecb has the most features
2 any one find a cecb that will do qam or maybe do qam
3 what cecb is every one seem to be buying?
tia
Here is a link to a poll done on here for an idea on the box most people are looking at/or buying.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1004577

Thanks for the responses I totally get why qam is not "needed". I was thinking for future use down the road.If you really think you'll be using or needing it someday, just spend more and get a Samsung DTB-H260F instead.

If you really think you'll be using or needing it someday, just spend more and get a Samsung DTB-H260F instead.
some DVD recorders have QAM/ATSC tuners, for about the same price as the DTB-H260F. if you only have a SD display, the DTB is overkill.

The maxmedia is on sale now
http://www.convertmy.tv/buy/
free shipping too

Yeah, but a lot of the cheap DVD recorders have Funai tuners, and Funai QAM tuners have a tendency to "drop" channels - if they can even pick all of them up in the first place..

Understand that the CECB boxes for users that only watch SD analog TV channels using an antenna and are therfore being subsidized by the government/US tax payer.

Understand that Funding for the CECB coupon program is from revenue from spectrum auctions of portion of our current TV broadcast spectrum being reallocated for other uses after analog shut off.

Specifically, 88MHZ of Ch 52~69(698~806MHZ) which has been or will be auctioned off to highest bidders , the other 24MHZ of ch 52~69 is going to public safety .... So, it's really companies like AT&T and verizon who are paying for the coupons ....

here's one of the most recent stories on the auctions involved :

http://www.tvtechnology.com/pages/s.0157/t.12136.html