I am giving some more thought to pairing a CECB with a radio to have a DTV audio only solution. Has anybody here tried this yet? Would any of the CECB work equally well for this application or would some work better than others for this? I just want to be able to get audio from the ATSC stations for listening in the garage or basement. It looks like I need power to the CECB, signal from an antenna, and a connection for audio out. I will stay away from batteries and just use AC power, so that it not an issue. For antenna I will try something tuned to UHF, although we have quite a wide swath of frequencies for our DTV channels locally. As far as audio out, I think I only have a couple of radios that have an audio input jack. One of them is a Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 730. Has anybody here tried doing something like this yet? I assume I would have to connect to a TV first to do the set up, but after that would this work?

I am giving some more thought to pairing a CECB with a radio to have a DTV audio only solution. Has anybody here tried this yet? Would any of the CECB work equally well for this application or would some work better than others for this? I just want to be able to get audio from the ATSC stations for listening in the garage or basement. It looks like I need power to the CECB, signal from an antenna, and a connection for audio out. I will stay away from batteries and just use AC power, so that it not an issue. For antenna I will try something tuned to UHF, although we have quite a wide swath of frequencies for our DTV channels locally. As far as audio out, I think I only have a couple of radios that have an audio input jack. One of them is a Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 730. Has anybody here tried doing something like this yet? I assume I would have to connect to a TV first to do the set up, but after that would this work?

This would certainly work, as the audio being sent to your radio from the converter would be standard analog. It would be no different than hooking a cassette deck up to the radio.

The only issue I can think of is that you'll have no way of easily determining the channel that you're tuning to, since none of the converters that I've seen offer any sort of channel display, outside of what you see onscreen.

If you have an old unused TV hook up the converter box RF output to that and the converter box RCA audio outputs to your radio. That way you may see what channel you're tuning in on the TV and use the stereo audio for your radio.

I personally would pay a little more ($10-20 more) to get a display on my CECB, but I have not read anything about any being available or proposed. I don't think their prohibited and can't think they'd add much to the cost. Heck I can buy a digital alarm clock with display for less than 10 bucks but for whatever reason it's not done. Digidos idea is good. After '09 I'll bet we'll see tons of small(5" or less) B&W TV's almost being given away at garage sales. After all they'll be basically worthless. No ones going to carry around a converter box with their 5" TV.

Thank you for the replies. I had to take my wife's van into the car wash this morning and I decided to pick up an RCA DTA800 box and try this to see how it worked out. When I got home I connected it to an old Samsung NTSC TV to get it set up for local channels. I then found an MP3 adapter and ran the audio to a Radio Shack 12-204 Hi-Fidelity Table Top AM/FM Radio since it has an auxiliary input jack. It sounded very good, in fact it probably sounded better than the audio through the TV. And exactly like others have posted, there is no means to tell what channel is being received. This has caused be to reconsider how I will use these boxes once I get a second one. I have always thought I would use the first one on a set in our master bedroom, but I was never certain how I would use the second CECB. I actually have several sets that I could connect it to, but now I think I will connect it to a set that my two sons watch. It looks like both of the outputs are "ON" all of the time. That will allow me to connect to their set via RF RG-6 coaxial feedline, but then still tap the audio from the RCA composite connection. I can then feed that audio to either my Panaxis ACC100 low power FM transmitter and/or my NuTone intercom system to I can hear television audio throughout the house on either intercom speakers or FM radio.

I am giving some more thought to pairing a CECB with a radio to have a DTV audio only solution. Has anybody here tried this yet? Would any of the CECB work equally well for this application or would some work better than others for this? I just want to be able to get audio from the ATSC stations for listening in the garage or basement. It looks like I need power to the CECB, signal from an antenna, and a connection for audio out. I will stay away from batteries and just use AC power, so that it not an issue. For antenna I will try something tuned to UHF, although we have quite a wide swath of frequencies for our DTV channels locally. As far as audio out, I think I only have a couple of radios that have an audio input jack. One of them is a Cambridge SoundWorks Radio 730. Has anybody here tried doing something like this yet? I assume I would have to connect to a TV first to do the set up, but after that would this work?

The Tivoli Model One has a mono audio in jack. I really like mine.
You would need an RCA to 1/8" mono cable.

TV reception in basements is a problem. You may have to put an antenna above ground level and run coax to the basement.

All CECBs have RCA audio outputs. I would think of something small with an external DC power supply (in case you want to have battery capability someday) like the http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/MicroGEM_MG2000.html

...I wouldn't be so surprised to see early LCD and Plasma sets that DO NOT have ATSC digital tuners, in the trash piles too!

You may ask why some people would throw away perfectly good sets? Because they are stupid idiots! Their trash is our treasure!

Spoken like a true fellow ham radio operator! I really haven't snooped at garage sales in the past, but I am thinking that I might try a couple this year to see what is available at a bargain.

Jim NØJS

I am predicting that there will be A LOT of perfectly good CRT sets sitting outside people's homes in their trash piles for large trash pick up day as well as at the dumps. I'll be keeping my eyes out for any CRT (preferably a Sony) set that has video component inputs (RGB), or at the very least, S-Video inputs.

I wouldn't be so surprised to see early LCD and Plasma sets that DO NOT have ATSC digital tuners, in the trash piles too!

You may ask why some people would throw away perfectly good sets? Because they are stupid idiots! Their trash is our treasure! Couldn't agree with you more. Americans are complaining loudly about $4/gallon gasoline, rising prices of basic foods, rising cost of health insurance, and their inability to save for their own retirement...yet will be relegating to the trash heap tens of millions of very good quality, dependable CRT TVs. A great many of them have bought into the mindset that "LCD flat panel" automatically equals "high definition". They have no idea of the tweaking and calibration needed to achieve true high-def performance, and are clueless that for standard-def viewing, their "old" CRTs ("old" being as recent as two years old) are superior than the low-end mass-market LCD sets being peddled at major retail stores.

"New" and "Improved" don't necessarily mean the same thing!

Couldn't agree with you more. Americans are complaining loudly about $4/gallon gasoline, rising prices of basic foods, rising cost of health insurance, and their inability to save for their own retirement...yet will be relegating to the trash heap tens of millions of very good quality, dependable CRT TVs. A great many of them have bought into the mindset that "LCD flat panel" automatically equals "high definition". They have no idea of the tweaking and calibration needed to achieve true high-def performance, and are clueless that for standard-def viewing, their "old" CRTs ("old" being as recent as two years old) are superior than the low-end mass-market LCD sets being peddled at major retail stores.

"New" and "Improved" don't necessarily mean the same thing!

I can promise you--this is one American who won't be sending his CRT sets to the trash heap, nor am I in any mad rush to purchased an LCD model of any sort--I even still use a CRT for my computer.

Know all to well about how some of the Great LCD TV where the turner has died in them. I know for a fact of a Polaroid Model where the NTSC tuner died in it. Yet everything else was fine. Great Quality products.

I got a 14 inch Insignia CRT TV that the NTSC tuner died after my cats knocked it to the floor. The ATSC tuner and the composite A/V still work, though...

Looking at the PDF for the TACB-2009 unit thats not out yet looks like you might be able to use the box without a TV device once it setup? http://www.trtinfo.com/Portals/27/PDF/TACB-2009_Data_Sheet_Screen.pdf