17973.1
I am considering adding MPEG-2 & DVB capability to my existing 4DTV, HDD-200, 73” Mitsubishi HDTV. Because my 73” HDTV was HD ready

I will also have to add a OTA box to receive the local TV stations presently broadcasting in HD.

I have a 10 ½’ mesh dish the is “C” band and “Ku” capable. I am located in Northern California.

Now to the question, have any of the readers in this forum employed such a concept and are there any recommendations or thoughts on reveivers?

My extended thanks

Also I like the way it throws the channel up on the tv to view while building the guide. Other models do this also but typically it is the last thing that gets displayed.

-DonB2

But that's just the thing -- when I scroll down a line, not only does it take 3-4 seconds to display the program list for that station, but the channel currently displaying in the corner goes dead while doing so.

I figured I could use the program guide to scan through channels/programs quickly to see what's on, but it just seems too slow to be of use in this way. Faster to just flip through channels... besides, not like I have hundreds to choose from w/ broadcast.

17973.1
I am considering adding MPEG-2 & DVB capability to my existing 4DTV, HDD-200, 73” Mitsubishi HDTV. Because my 73” HDTV was HD ready

I will also have to add a OTA box to receive the local TV stations presently broadcasting in HD.

I have a 10 ½’ mesh dish the is “C” band and “Ku” capable. I am located in Northern California.

Now to the question, have any of the readers in this forum employed such a concept and are there any recommendations or thoughts on reveivers?

My extended thanks

You're probably better off going to the mpeg and 4dtv forums at satforums.com , but to answer your question, the Integra 912 would fill both of those needs. Unfortunately, they are exceedingly hard to find now. I would suggest any OTA tuner that works in your area and a relatively fast computer with an mpeg2 card or a slow computer with an mpeg2 card and a hardware decoder, such as the MyHD card. If you have a MyHD card, you wouldn't need a separate OTA receiver, since the card itself receives OTA programming.

DjohnsonCB,

My Pioneer Pro-530HDi is supposed to accept HDCP information, which is why I was thinking my issue with color problems was with the Samsung unit itself. I'll find out when I get my new unit. I've returned the one I had. Does anyone know if there is a new standard for HDCP that my display might not be able to accept? I assumed HDCP was standardized.

James

I can say that the tuner in the Samsung is very good. I need a few more days to make sure that atmospheric conditions didn't influence yesterdays result. In about 12 hours total of ota viewing I of yet had one breakup. In watching ota on my dish211 yesterday I had about 7 breakups in an hour. Most of my ota stations are 50 plus miles away. More to come.

I am about 45 - 50 miles North of Seattle with my antenna up 40 feet on a tower. I notice that every time it rains my signal strength goes down several bars on the Samsung STB. I can tell how hard it is raining by watching the TV.

One thing that bothers me is that the Samsung DTB-H260F has the zoom on the wrong aspect when set to 4:3. You get tall, skinny people. When using a 4:3 TV set the zoom should be on 4:3 aspect, not 16:9. The only way to get the correct aspect ratio from network stations on a 4:3 TV is to view "Full" with bars on the top and bottom (from the box) and sides (from the 16:9 station). When using a 16:9 TV, there is no problem.

Does anyone have a QAM Channel list for the (North) Seattle Comcast area? I am wondering what channels will come through if I purchase a DTB-H260F tuner for my Samsung TX-R2678WH. Thanks.

I don't know about Comcast or QAM, but here is my OTA answer. I don't know how far North of Seattle you are, but I am several miles NE of Marysville. I put up a Radio Shack 17 element UHF only antenna on a tower at 40 ft. It is aimed about 183 degrees. I get 4, 5.1, 5.2, 7.1, 7.2, 9.1, 9.3, 9.5, 11.1, 13.1, 16.1, 16.2, and about 20 other higher channels. About 1/2 of the higher channels are either religious or shopping or Spanish. Channels 4, 7 and 16 are the weakest. The biggest concern is the antenna, not the STB.

The STB seems to be about 1-2 bars stronger than just using an HD TV internal receiver. It also has a very nice station program "Guide".

I am about 45 - 50 miles North of Seattle with my antenna up 40 feet on a tower. I notice that every time it rains my signal strength goes down several bars on the Samsung STB. I can tell how hard it is raining by watching the TV.

Sounds like you may have a connector that is taking on water. You should check your outside connections to be sure they are water tight.

One thing that bothers me is that the Samsung DTB-H260F has the zoom on the wrong aspect when set to 4:3. You get tall, skinny people. When using a 4:3 TV set the zoom should be on 4:3 aspect, not 16:9. The only way to get the correct aspect ratio from network stations on a 4:3 TV is to view "Full" with bars on the top and bottom (from the box) and sides (from the 16:9 station). When using a 16:9 TV, there is no problem.

With the STB in 4:3 mode, you can select what format you want. Be sure you have it set for letterbox. This way when the signal is 4:3 it will fill the screen and when there is a 16:9 signal, it will give you bars across the top and bottom of the screen. This will allow you to view the full wide screen picture and people will be of correct aspect. The very nature of 16:9 dictates the bars across the top and bottom on a 4:3 display for full 16:9 picture fro proper aspect ratio.

"But that's just the thing -- when I scroll down a line, not only does it take 3-4 seconds to display the program list for that station, but the channel currently displaying in the corner goes dead while doing so."

I will say no more as I don't want Quad User to run over my toes. :)

-DonB2

DjonsonCB,

I'm using a Philips 34 inch tube HD monitor I bought 1.5 years ago with HDMI and can't get a signal through that port. I'm wondering if the problem is related to HDCP (High Definition Copyright Protection) software and firmware. If you use the box with a TV, usually an older one, that does not accept HDCP, you'll end up with the color-to-BW fading and occasional interference using a pure HDMI connection and you'll need to go with a component cable connection instead (this way, it looks and works fantastic for me).

My component looks great though but what I see when connecting via HDMI is a black screen that for 1 second out of 10 flickers to the program and then back to black again. I've tested the HDMI cable and HDMI TV port through my Toshiba upconverting DVD player and have had great success so I know they work. But I don't know if the Sammy HDMI is failing. I suspect that signal strength isn't the problem because when I test for signal using component and the Sammy menu I get a full signal.

I am running an unpowered 8 year old radio shack internal antenna and thought maybe its time to upgrade to an external antenna but I don't think that's the problem. Oh and I did make sure to toggle to HDMI on the back of the unit when I was testing all this.

But not only was I hoping to use a pure HDMI connection with no problems, the Samsung guy figured that since my Sony was bought only a few months ago, that set would accept it. So I called Sony, but after a lot of waiting, all I got was someone who claimed my model didn't, but she also assumed it had no HDMI outlet...until I told her that it was hidden behind a removable panel in the back ("Really?", she replied). Then, after about 45 minutes more of dead air punctuated by an occasional "I dunno...let me connect you with someone who might know", I got nowhere on this and still don't know if I got a bad TV, or if this TV isn't one that accepts HDCP. What concerns me further is that I'm on the clock here--I need to return the original within a certain time frame to avoid being charged for two of the same set (Sony sent me a refurbished version of the set I initially had trouble with and wants me to return the first one in the box they sent the refurb in).

Me too, I wanted to use the HDMI on the Philips so maybe I should call Philips and ask if this model is HDCP compatable. Samsung support wasn't too helpful.

Also, this aspect ratio business is driving me nuts. 4:3 comes in full screen but 720 and 1080 have the black bars on the right and left. Seems it should be the other way around. Am I not doing something right? This wasn't the case for the Tonight Show and Monday Night Football (go Bears). I'm just a beginner with this stuff so maybe its something I'm not aware of.

My settings are for 1080 on the back of the Samsung.

IMHO the industry needs to settle on one standard for HDCP on HDMI soon. I have read too many issues with HDMI on many different boards.

SAMSUNG seems to be one of the first on the list to incorporate any new HDCP standards.

-DonB2

How come everyone does not have this HDTV tuner in stock? I cannot find it anywhere locally. Bestbuy, Circuit City, etc. And they don't even know when they're coming in. Is Samsung having a problem producing these things or is there another reason why nobody seems to have it in stock?

montyburnz,

The Open Box $20.00 coupon one was still available as of yesterday locally at my Best Buy that I reported about on this forum a few days ago. The brandnew one was gone. Maybe they could ship it to a local Best Buy for you.

It was not too many months ago when I walked in Best Buy and Circus City and they had no ATSC tuners on their shelves and did not even know anything about the new Samsung.

I read somewhere recently that the new 5th gen chip had been called back because although it handled multipath well it had some long range issues. I don't know if this is true.

Good Luck finding one,

DonB2

montyburnz,

And then there is this option EBAY if you are desparate and want to act within the next hour:

http://*******.com/yb45v4


The missing text in the URL is: *******

I give up just look on EBAY for it.

For some reason this site does not like the URL I entered.


Well the winning bid on this DTB -H260F "was Winning bid: US $213.50"
-DonB2

I just purchased and hooked up a RS A/B switch (remote) to easily switch between ota and QAM. You almost need a programable remote like a pronto to make things easier. Just program a macro and it works great. I still have not seen one dropout on my ota stations. After using a Dish211 that would dropout very frequently. The difference between the two ota tuners is amazing.

DjonsonCB,

I'm using a Philips 34 inch tube HD monitor I bought 1.5 years ago with HDMI and can't get a signal through that port. I'm wondering if the problem is related to HDCP (High Definition Copyright Protection) software and firmware. If you use the box with a TV, usually an older one, that does not accept HDCP, you'll end up with the color-to-BW fading and occasional interference using a pure HDMI connection and you'll need to go with a component cable connection instead (this way, it looks and works fantastic for me).

My component looks great though but what I see when connecting via HDMI is a black screen that for 1 second out of 10 flickers to the program and then back to black again. I've tested the HDMI cable and HDMI TV port through my Toshiba upconverting DVD player and have had great success so I know they work. But I don't know if the Sammy HDMI is failing. I suspect that signal strength isn't the problem because when I test for signal using component and the Sammy menu I get a full signal.

I am running an unpowered 8 year old radio shack internal antenna and thought maybe its time to upgrade to an external antenna but I don't think that's the problem. Oh and I did make sure to toggle to HDMI on the back of the unit when I was testing all this.

But not only was I hoping to use a pure HDMI connection with no problems, the Samsung guy figured that since my Sony was bought only a few months ago, that set would accept it. So I called Sony, but after a lot of waiting, all I got was someone who claimed my model didn't, but she also assumed it had no HDMI outlet...until I told her that it was hidden behind a removable panel in the back ("Really?", she replied). Then, after about 45 minutes more of dead air punctuated by an occasional "I dunno...let me connect you with someone who might know", I got nowhere on this and still don't know if I got a bad TV, or if this TV isn't one that accepts HDCP. What concerns me further is that I'm on the clock here--I need to return the original within a certain time frame to avoid being charged for two of the same set (Sony sent me a refurbished version of the set I initially had trouble with and wants me to return the first one in the box they sent the refurb in).

Me too, I wanted to use the HDMI on the Philips so maybe I should call Philips and ask if this model is HDCP compatable. Samsung support wasn't too helpful.

Also, this aspect ratio business is driving me nuts. 4:3 comes in full screen but 720 and 1080 have the black bars on the right and left. Seems it should be the other way around. Am I not doing something right? This wasn't the case for the Tonight Show and Monday Night Football (go Bears). I'm just a beginner with this stuff so maybe its something I'm not aware of.

My settings are for 1080 on the back of the Samsung.

An update on my own problem: I just talked to someone at Sony Tech Support, and he says that with the Sony TV I use, I need to have the Sammy box set at 720, not 1080i. This solves the intermittent flickering interference problem, but NOT the color-to-BW fade. Everything now--without a doubt--points to either a bad box I have, or a software/firmware issue. I have nothing else to go on now; if I contact Samsung, they may try to tell me it's my TV's fault, but the fault CLEARLY lies with something in that box.

Now I have to figure out whether to contact J & R (from whom I bought), Samsung, or perhaps try to buy one from a store here to see if it works...but I'd probably run into a new set of problems with the store management upon trying to return it. I keep hoping to hear something from Samsung about a download that coud correct the problem if I connect a USB cable between the back of the Sammy and my PC.

DjohnsonCB,

Let me know if Samsung informs you of an update. Since the unit is so hard to find at the stores I'm not convinced its best to return it just yet. I got mine at ABT and so I'll call them and get an incident # in case I need to return in in Jan or Feb.

In the meantime, I'll set it for 720 HDMI and hope for the best.

It appears that HDMI is a problematic interface. A TV can work with 3 STB then not work with another STB that works fine with other TVs. It appears that getting a HDMI interface to work with all other possible units is difficult. Charlie Ergan of Dish Network claimed that of 5 HDMI interface issues with their 622 1 was their fault and 4 were the TVs fault.

Rick R

Rick,

If it isn't one thing its another. I suppose I'll just keep the HDMI port open for my PS3.

That's what I thought, but wanted to confirm.

Thanks for replying!

Also, this aspect ratio business is driving me nuts. 4:3 comes in full screen but 720 and 1080 have the black bars on the right and left. Seems it should be the other way around.
While an offending program is on, press the very bottom left button on the remote until the bars go away. 4:3 content will now be stretched, but 16:9 content will look right. To go back to full-screen 4:3 on that kind of channel, press the same bottom left button until that aspect looks right.

i just hooked up my samsung dtb h260 f and love it, bu have a few questions. i have it hooked up through the comcast cable provided with my on campus apartment near atlanta. i am abl to get all the local channels and a few random channels will be unscrambled but they last aapproximately and hour or so max, or if i am watchin a movie on these channels i'll notie it go out and say it is on 87-9 i'll flip through the channels an d find it on another channel say 88-7.
Also these channels will randomly rewind, is all this normal? i'm not complaining about gettin this for free. Also the aspect ratio is never quite right, if i zoom it cuts off heads, is there anyway to fix this? the full screen still leaves the side bars on some content that is suppose to be 1080i. btw my tv is a crt sony. 51inch model number is kp51 ws somethin.

a few random channels will be unscrambled but they last aapproximately and hour or so max, or if i am watchin a movie on these channels i'll notie it go out and say it is on 87-9 i'll flip through the channels an d find it on another channel say 88-7.
Also these channels will randomly rewind, is all this normal?

You're "snooping" on other people's video-on-demand sessions. Keep watching and you might come across something really "interesting." :D

Three questions about this box:
1) I'm getting signal stuttering/dropouts on OTA signal with a Silver Sensor. Signal strength generally seems good (two bars from the top), and I'm just under 10 miles from all the major stations in the Phoenix area. Any way to fix this?

2) Are remote codes standardized products and, if so, anyone know the code for this box? My Onkyo receiver remote might be able to control the box with a Samsung TV code, but there are a bunch to choose from.

3) Any way to set aspect ratio on a per-channel basis, to avoid the need to switch depending on whether station is 16:9 or 4:3?

Also the aspect ratio is never quite right, if i zoom it cuts off heads, is there anyway to fix this?
Make sure that the Samsung is set to output 16:9 aspect video. This is done like this:

Short Version: Go to the main menu, select "Settings", then "Screen Format", then "Screen Ratio". Highlight "16 x 9", and press "Return". Exit the menu and press the bottom left button until 16:9 programs look correct.

Long version: Go to the main menu. Scroll to the right, using the button directly to the right of the "Return" key, until the word "Settings" is highlighted. Press "Return". Now scroll down the resulting menu, using the curved button directly below the "Return" key to highlight "Screen Format". Hit "Return", then again use the button below "Return" to highlight "Screen Ratio". Press "Return", and then highlight "16 x 9" like you did "Screen Ratio", and press the "Return" key. Now press the "Exit" key, which is directly to the right of the "Menu" key.

The same set of instructions apply to kgibbs51 if the method in my above post doesn't work. It will work if the tuner is set to output in 16:9.

mikemikeb,
i tried that and it made no difference. zoom still cuts off the screen full still has several inches of bars left, and i am watching local news in 1080i and the title bar says its 16:9. Also is there a way to program in the station id's since the guide doesnt work with the qam.

akavalie:

1. The best thing to do is to keep moving the antenna around. Multipath isn't as much of an issue with the Samsung, but it's still not immune to multipath-based dropouts. To make things worse for you, the Silver Sensor has gain that is very similar in all directions out to as far as 110 degrees in each direction of the "apex" that I suppose is pointing at the towers. This increases the chances of the antenna collecting multipath and therefore dropouts.

But you shouldn't have this antenna much longer in any case, as it is designed to only receive UHF signals. What's the big deal about that? Well, KAET/PBS, KPNX/NBC, and KSAZ/FOX, may currently broadcast their digital channels on UHF frequencies, but after analog shut-off in 2009, they will all move their digital broadcasts to their current analog frequencies, which are on VHF (in the channel 2-13 range). It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to receive those three channels at that time with that Silver Sensor.

I suggest you replace the Silver Sensor with the RadioShack 15-1868, available at RadioShack stores for $21. Not only is it the most stylish set of rabbit ears I've ever seen, it will also allow you to pick up digital signals sent via VHF in addition to UHF.

2. Remote codes are pretty standardized, but I don't know if the tuner will work with the Onkyo. It's a matter of trial and error.

3. Unfortunately, that's not possible with this Samsung unit.

boggs01234:

Perhaps the QAM is malfunctioning at the cable TV end and the bars are the result.

May the Samsung could be defective with QAM, or it was simply designed to calibrate its signal, however rightly or wrongly, for tube widescreen TVs, which generally and notoriously crop out the edges of most broadcasts. With the picture reduced like that, the full "widescreen" effect of HD programs can be viewed on those TVs. Or maybe the bars are so big that that doesn't make sense.

Maybe the wideness control on the TV isn't set wide enough, and no matter what widescreen stuff you try to view, those bars will be there. Hopefully there's an adjustment for wideness in the menu of the TV. I know that there was a menu adjustment for CRT monitors at my high school, so there might be one with your TV, as you say that it's also CRT-based.

Or maybe it's a mix of these. I hope the matter's dealt with properly no matter what.

boggs01234: I was thinking a bit, and here are some more ideas of how to fix the issue.

Maybe the problem can be resolved by checking the resolution switch on the back of the unit and seeing what it's selected to. If it's not set to 1080i, then turn the unit off, and then switch it to that. See if that works when you turn it back on. (kgibbs51 should try this as well if what I've suggested thus far hasn't worked for him.) The Samsung can make sure that the title bar says that something's broadcasting in 1080i and then have it sent to the TV in, say, 480p. If the resolution is set to 1080i already, try 720p, though I doubt that it'll do anything good.

If that doesn't work, and your TV has an HDMI port or DVI port, use either an HDMI or HDMI-to-DVI cable to see if that works on 1080i forst, and then 720p. Good cables of that type are available for very little $$$ from monoprice.com. Monster Cables are a ripoff. You'll also need to switch one of the back knobs from Y, Pb, Pr to HDMI (with the unit turned off, of course).

I am looking at this box in order to record DT broadcasts in analog form on my DVD Recorder, but being hearing impaired I want the closed caption data to be passed thru in the video stream to the recorder. I know this box can put the closed caption text on the video output it displays on an old TV but I would appreciate if someone would check their old tv to see if it will display closed captions from a Digital station if the closed captions are turned on in the TV and not the 260 Tuner.

Thank you

akavalie:

1. The best thing to do is to keep moving the antenna around. Multipath isn't as much of an issue with the Samsung, but it's still not immune to multipath-based dropouts. To make things worse for you, the Silver Sensor has gain that is very similar in all directions out to as far as 110 degrees in each direction of the "apex" that I suppose is pointing at the towers. This increases the chances of the antenna collecting multipath and therefore dropouts.

But you shouldn't have this antenna much longer in any case, as it is designed to only receive UHF signals. What's the big deal about that? Well, KAET/PBS, KPNX/NBC, and KSAZ/FOX, may currently broadcast their digital channels on UHF frequencies, but after analog shut-off in 2009, they will all move their digital broadcasts to their current analog frequencies, which are on VHF (in the channel 2-13 range). It will be very difficult, if not impossible, to receive those three channels at that time with that Silver Sensor.

I suggest you replace the Silver Sensor with the RadioShack 15-1868, available at RadioShack stores for $21. Not only is it the most stylish set of rabbit ears I've ever seen, it will also allow you to pick up digital signals sent via VHF in addition to UHF.

2. Remote codes are pretty standardized, but I don't know if the tuner will work with the Onkyo. It's a matter of trial and error.

3. Unfortunately, that's not possible with this Samsung unit.

Wow Mike, thanks for all the feedback!
Not sure what multipath even is, but I got the idea -- just experiment with locations/directions to point the antenna. It was dropping out quite a lot a few minutes ago so I moved it, no dropouts now.

Are you really in the DC area? You seem to know a lot about AZ channels, and their future plans... in any case thanks for the antenna recommendation; I tried to look for suggestions on this forum and the Silver Sensor seemed to be favored stangely enough. But it's still within the return period :-)

For those of you in the Sacramento area, I was in the Circuit City near Sunrise Mall (on Arcadia) and they had three units on the shelf. One box looked like it had been opened, but the other two looked undisturbed.

I tried to look for suggestions on this forum and the Silver Sensor seemed to be favored stangely enough.
Actually, it's not strange at all. It's a fine antenna for UHF channels, just not VHF ones. Since most markets (including mine) don't have any VHF channels right now, most are thinking in the present too much about antenna choices. Not all markets will have VHF channels after shut-off (Orlando, anyone?), so that adds to the antenna's recommendation in the forums.

To add to the plate, it's hard to find a good VHF/UHF indoor antenna on a par with the Sensor. The UHF unit in the 15-1868 isn't as sensitive as the Sensor's, but from your distance, if you have it by a window pointed in the general direction of the towers, then you'll be fine. Be sure to reduce ghosting on analog channels 8, 10, and 12 as much as possible for when the FCC orders analog shutoff (the exact date is somewhere around mid-February of that year). If you can't do that and avoid digital multipath on your desired digital channels at first, remember, with the 15-1868, there's a knob on the bottom right of the antenna, and it's your friend.

As for Phoenix area stations that would move to the VHF band, I learned about them all from the FCC website (pdf) (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf). The results are sorted by state, and then city of license, so it was easy to find Phoenix area stations. When I got call letters of "offending" stations, I plugged them into a search engine to find network affiliation. You could do it for any major (or less-than-major) city in America, including DC. For example, WVEC/ABC in the Norfolk, VA area will move to 13, and WDSE/PBS in Duluth, MN will move to 8. You'd be surprised at what other stations have done when it comes to channel transitions, which you'll find in that link.

I would appreciate if someone would check their old tv to see if it will display closed captions from a Digital station if the closed captions are turned on in the TV and not the 260 Tuner.

I have the S-video output from my Samsung connected to one of the inputs on my DVD recorder, which in turn feeds into my TV, which has captions turned on. I also have a Sony HD DVR connected the same way, through another S-video input on the DVD recorder. By tuning both the Sony and the Samsung to the same program, and switching between inputs on the DVD recorder, I've found that the Samsung unfortunately does not pass CC data through to the TV. All I can get are the captions that the Samsung displays as part of its video output.

The Sony, on the other hand, passes the CC data through even when it's displaying its own captions, so that if both the Sony and the TV have captions turned on, I see two sets of captions.

Actually, it's not strange at all. It's a fine antenna for UHF channels, just not VHF ones. Since most markets (including mine) don't have any VHF channels right now, most are thinking in the present too much about antenna choices. Not all markets will have VHF channels after shut-off (Orlando, anyone?), so that adds to the antenna's recommendation in the forums.

To add to the plate, it's hard to find a good VHF/UHF indoor antenna on a par with the Sensor. The UHF unit in the 15-1868 isn't as sensitive as the Sensor's, but from your distance, if you have it by a window pointed in the general direction of the towers, then you'll be fine. Be sure to reduce ghosting on analog channels 8, 10, and 12 as much as possible for when the FCC orders analog shutoff (the exact date is somewhere around mid-February of that year). If you can't do that and avoid digital multipath on your desired digital channels at first, remember, with the 15-1868, there's a knob on the bottom right of the antenna, and it's your friend.

As for Phoenix area stations that would move to the VHF band, I learned about them all from the FCC website (pdf) (http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf). The results are sorted by state, and then city of license, so it was easy to find Phoenix area stations. When I got call letters of "offending" stations, I plugged them into a search engine to find network affiliation. You could do it for any major (or less-than-major) city in America, including DC. For example, WVEC/ABC in the Norfolk, VA area will move to 13, and WDSE/PBS in Duluth, MN will move to 8. You'd be surprised at what other stations have done when it comes to channel transitions, which you'll find in that link.

I don't exactly know what you mean about ghosting, "for when the FCC orders analog shutoff," for two reasons: 1) Why would there be ghosting? 2) Why would I want to do this ahead of time? Furthermore, would there even be any sort of signal on those channels at this time?

btw, I assume w/ DTV stations can pretend to be something other than their real channel... KAET/PBS, for example, which is channel 8 on NTSC, is listed as 29 on DTV currently. But I had no idea... it still shows up as channel 8.

Thanks jt.
So the Samsung does not build line 21 closed captions in the analog output from their HD MPEG-2 tuner, but the SONY does. As I suspected.

I don't exactly know what you mean about ghosting,

"Ghosting" is when you see on an analog channel a second, duplicate image, slightly offset from the "real" image. This is caused by multipath interference in which the signal reflects off some large nearby object (a building, or mountain, or maybe even a large tree) and arrives at your antenna slightly after the main signal. Multipath is merely annoying on an analog signal, but it can wreck reception of a digital signal.

Most stations have their analog and digital transmitters on the same tower, so if you have multipath interference on the analog signal, you probably have it on the digital signal also. Therefore you should check the analog signal for ghosting (multipath), and adjust the antenna so as to minimize it if necessary. This should improve reception of the digital signal.

I assume w/ DTV stations can pretend to be something other than their real channel... KAET/PBS, for example, which is channel 8 on NTSC, is listed as 29 on DTV currently. But I had no idea... it still shows up as channel 8.

Digital TV signals include an auxiliary data stream which contains a "virtual" channel number that the broadcaster wants you to know the channel as. When your TV or receiver sees the signal for the first time, it puts this virtual channel number in a table so thereafter you can tune to the station using the virtual channel number instead of the real one. Broadcasters wanted this because (a) many of them have spent a lot of money "branding" themselves using their analog channel number, and (b) they thought it would be confusing for viewers to have to tune to separate channel numbers for analog and digital. But as we see all too often around here, the virtual channel setup confuses people anyway. :( Especially when it comes to VHF versus UHF antennas.

I'll add to jtbell's post.

Once analog shut-off occurs in Feb. 2009, you won't have the analog signals as a reference to reduce ghosting and increase the chances of eliminating dropouts. In other words, you'll be flying blind. This applies to VHF and UHF signals.

Today, if you tune with an analog TV tuner, like one on a VCR, you will get analog channels on 8, 10, and 12 that you can fine-tune with the dipoles until ghosting levels are low.

I originally had a Samsung SIR-351 tuner but would only get a good signal lock about 20% of the time. I do not have line of sight (hills ) to the broadcast towers and only would get a lock when atmospheric conditions were perfect. I am about 22 miles from the Louisville broadcast towers which are all at 270-280 degrees. I tried switching my SR15 antenna to a 43XG (both mounted 10 ft above roof line). Signal strength was about the same and dropouts continued. (The 43XG antenna was flimsy and not nearly as robust as the SR-15 so I returned the 43XG.)

Since the buzz on the Samsung 260F signal dropout was good, I ordered it from “One Call” Friday night and got it the next Wednesday. For the past 4 days it has had 100% signal lock. I am delighted with its performance. The only negatives are: Low audio output, some remote buttons too close together and time to populate the guide. The real positive is my wife is no longer insisting that we get cable for a decent picture. If anyone else has dropout issues under similar conditions as I did, this tuner may resolve them.
.

Finally got mine from Circuit City for $22 cheaper then it's retail (matched best buy online order price). Originally ordered one from Best Buy.com but it's on backorder.
Overall impressions: very impressed with response time comparing to previously owned Samsung SIR-451. The menu is a lot better.
Biggest plus is being able to overcome multipath problem. Once we moved in to a new place, I learned about multipath. We live about 12 miles away from the towers. I've tried 3 different indoor antennas and none of them helped to solve the problem (though rotating one from Radio Shack came close, but I had to readjust presets on a daily basis). I'm not sure if the scale of signal meter on 260 is the same as on 451, but 451 seemed to have a bit stronger signal. Though I haven't seen any dropouts with 260 and 451 in new location was a nightmare.
A bit of a frastration was the fact that the receiver doesn't recognize proper aspect ratio. It displays 480i stations in full, I have to add pillar bars manually. Hopefully this is something that can be fixedin fw. On the plus site is ability to see format of broadcast (480i, 720p or 1080i), something that 451 was lacking.

I'd like to add to my previous post,
260 was able to pick up all of the local OTA stations (16 of them) and 300 digital cable QAM channels (most scrabled using STD when search for channels). Local channels on Comcast QAM were properly mapped.

... Local channels on Comcast QAM were properly mapped.
I have been waiting for someone to report on this feature for weeks.

Are you saying that the digital channels received via QAM from Comcast can be dialed in using the same channel numbers as a Comcast STB would?

So, here in the Seattle area, HD channel 7.1 would be on Comcast (STB) channel 107 even though the actual QAM channel is someting like 89.2.

This is good news if I understand you correctly.

Are you saying that the digital channels received via QAM from Comcast can be dialed in using the same channel numbers as a Comcast STB would?


Budget_HT,

I was trying to say that while receiving locals with QAM tuner they had the same channel numbers as if I was receiveing them from the air (OTA), 2, 6, 8... My SIR451 either didn't tune to those channels or picked them up in 80 something range (or perhaps Comcast changed something, I no longer have SIR451 so I can verify that). I believe 260 found some local channel duplicates in 80s range, but I have to do more investagation to figure that out.
At this point I'm not even interested in QAM since I can receive OTA without any dropouts.

Its good to read reports that are close to mine as far as the ota tuner goes. I still can't believe I have not had one dropout yet. For anyone that is frustrated with their ota reception I highly recommend trying the Samsung. It is far superior to any of my previous 5 hd tuners.

I hope I'm not breaking any rules here but I just wanted to let people know that if you get the Samsung tuner at Circuit City and buy a silver sensor antenna, you can use the $40 off $199 coupon that's floating around and get both items for around $170 out the door.

I just did so and am hoping to get the kind of reception I hear about here on the forum with this baby!

Any ideas where to look for the coupon? I haven't been able to spot it on the circuit city website.
Thanks

Budget_HT,

I was trying to say that while receiving locals with QAM tuner they had the same channel numbers as if I was receiveing them from the air (OTA), 2, 6, 8... My SIR451 either didn't tune to those channels or picked them up in 80 something range (or perhaps Comcast changed something, I no longer have SIR451 so I can verify that). I believe 260 found some local channel duplicates in 80s range, but I have to do more investagation to figure that out.
At this point I'm not even interested in QAM since I can receive OTA without any dropouts.
That is exactly what I was hoping to hear! I have heard of HDTVs with built-in ATSC/8VSB/QAM tuners mapping the cable channels but I had not heard of a stand-alone HD STB that did so.

Thanks for the info.

Will this thing work with a projector ?? I'm planning on installing a nice antenna but my D* HDDVR won't be able to receive the OTA HD signal until a software update is available. I want to get OTA HD but my PJ will need something to "tune" in the stations.

This unit can deliver HD via component-video or HDMI connection. You choose which output is active via a switch on the back of the box. It can deliver HD signals (via either connection) in either 1080i or 720p resolution. You choose which resolution using another switch on the back. If your projector can accept any combination of these input types and resolutions, this unit should work with it OK.

Does anyone know what the "service" connector can be used for and how to use the "service" connector? Thanks.

Does anyone know what the "service" connector can be used for and how to use the "service" connector? Thanks.

If your referring to the USB Port in the rear, it could be used for Firmware Updates,etc ?

Or perhaps if some ingenious soul came up with a way to outmaneuver the HDCP ;)

I puchased a 260F from Circuit City about 2 weeks ago and am very happy with it. It's my 1st HD rcvr so i cannot comment on it's performance compared to anyother, but I think it is definitely worth the investment. My only problem is I cannot receive the local PBS boadcast - which is transmitted from the same location as the CBS signal and that comes in fine. Hope to get somme advice on that on a different thread.

Any ideas where to look for the coupon? I haven't been able to spot it on the circuit city website.
Thanks

Go to your favorite online deal forum and search for "40 off 199" That should do the trick. If not, then PM, I think I have a copy of the pdf somewhere ...

That is exactly what I was hoping to hear! I have heard of HDTVs with built-in ATSC/8VSB/QAM tuners mapping the cable channels but I had not heard of a stand-alone HD STB that did so.

Thanks for the info.

Don't rush out and buy one just yet. If you're hoping that all the clear QAM channels will map to the same virtual channels that they do on a cable company box, you're liable to be dissapointed. The cable company uses a completely differnt system from broadcasters do to tell their boxes which physical channels have which logical channels. Because of this, the cable companies don't pay a lot of attention to whether the signals they provide contains the PSIP information provided by the broadcasters to tell ATSC broadcast receivers how to map the channels.

A reciever which pays attention to the PSIP information in QAM signals creates more problems than it solves as far as I'm concerned. Since the subchannels created by the cable companies are totally independant from the subchannels created by the broadcasters, situations arise where the two conflict.

In my area, Comcast often combines two HD streams and/or multiple SD streams
from different digital broadcast stations on the same physical channel. For instance PBS channel 22 and ABC channel 13 are combined on QAM channel 125.
However only the PSIP information for channel 13 is included. This caused no problem for my old SIR-t451. It just left the stations where they were and all stations were accessable. However, the 260F sees the PSIP info, maps the channel to 13 and ignores channel 22 completely. There's no way I can point it to
physical channel 125 without it immediately going to 13.

Skeptic Tank,

Thanks for the info. I am somewhat familiar with PSIP in the OTA environment, but I have no knowledge of how PSIP plays in the cable environment.

I would have guessed that the channel mapping from cable would have come from the cable company-inserted data stream (somehow--I don't know how) and would have been specific to their channel assignments from a given head end.

Even without cable company intervention, PSIP data transmitted with a DTV signal essentially tells the receiver which logical channel they have chosen, which typically matches their OTA channel number as a base and then adds a subchannel number with it.

I will have to dig around some more to see if I can't come up with some technical description of how cable company channel mapping works, with or without a cable card or cabel company STB.

Hows the longevity on this unit? Some of you reported problems of the unit just dying... others had problems with the unit resetting at Ch.34 (fixed by unplugging... still lame though).

Follow-ups are appreciated! :)

In case anyone is looking in the Seattle area, Circuit City just received a few at their Everett and Bellevue stores. Just order mine after months of hit or miss. Good luck!

I've had mine on order at Best Buy for 3 week's, should be here today or tomorrow. Will this output from HDMI and component simultaniously. I would like to feed a hdtv signal to a 57" crt tv on HDMI, and a projector on component.

Sorry, I have a newbie question regarding QAM tuning.

Does it mean that I won't have to subscribe to cable if I have this tuner ? Or just that once subscribed, I won't have to pay for their digital box rental fees?

Will this output from HDMI and component simultaniously. I would like to feed a hdtv signal to a 57" crt tv on HDMI, and a projector on component.

it won't. There is a switch on the back of this unit to select HDMI or Component Video. So far I preffer Component Video to HDMI on my Pioneer Pro-730HDi. Previously with 451 I was using DVI-HDMI.

Concerning QAM, with most cable systems, you first have to have a cable feed -
then, if your television set has a tuner that will work with QAM signals,
you will not need a digital box.

dbong1021,
QAM let you watch unscrambled digital channels (typically local and some telemarketing channels) assuming you have active cable subscription. Some people got lucky and are able to watch premium channels but it all depends on your cable provider. It won't replace digital cable box, but may let you watch local HD channels without having antenna connected (may save you money if you have poor reception).
I had a bad luck talking to Comcast regarding unscramled broadcast (spoke to 3 people) for QAM. None of them had any clue of what is being offered.

dbong1021 -
having an ATSC tuner like the Samsung unit means you can tune the digital TV signals broadcast free "over the air" (OTA) by your local TV stations. Since the Samsung also has a separate QAM tuner, you can also tune the non-encrypted digital channels on your local cable TV if you get the basic cable service. You don't have to have cable to tune the free local broadcasters. check www.antennaweb.org and see what digital TV is broadcast in your area.

One thing I wish the Samsung had which my Pioneer has is a number associated with signal strength in addition to the bars.

I had a situation this morning where I was not sure if I was seeing zero bars or 100 percent filled bars.

The station I was selecting popped up with a text message saying "No Signal or weak signal" but than a fraction of a second later up pops the stations with no break ups.

I than checked signal strength and thought I was seeing zero signal strength when in fact I was actually seeing full strength on the bars.

-DonB2

Awesome, thanks guys! Hope to try this out soon

This stb has better attributes, but they did short change it (or us) in a number of areas. I consider it "almost" basic. But still,!!!! It's more stable than my previous 4 tuners.

I have a question.

Let's concentrate on OTA programs.

Is there any benefits of getting this receiver and outputting digital programs to a standard TV that uses NTSC tuner? Is digital signal stronger? Will picture quality improve over analog signal?

TIA.

I don't know about this particular tuner, but before I got my first HDTV, I connected my
Sony DirecTV digital tuner to my Standard Definition television set. I used it not only for my satellite reception, but also for its ability to deliver over-the-air digital reception.

The quality difference was clearly seen. I had never gotten such a sharp picture on my Standard Definition TV as I did when feeding it with a digital tuner.

I would imagine the same would hold true with the Samsung ATSC tuner.

Well worth it!

It looks better over video or s video connection. Your regular tuner doesn't matter, you'll connect by video or s vid or component or hdmi. The reception is more stable than analog.
This Samsung IS or will be your tuner. If you're sure reception is not a problem, a tuner with more features is the way to go. Read previous posts.

Anyone have this problem ?

When I delete a channel from the All Channel List, after a few minutes of surfing about, the channel comes back (I surf right into it) and it is not longer listed as Deleted anymore.

I can only 'guess' at this is it's a weak channel and it disappears on it's own and then reappears, thus resetting it into the List. I have about ten channels that are on for a while then disappear for a while. It's ironic that the channel in question is Sprout !

* I'm connected to Comcast, getting in the Clear channels.

Update: The STB has also added channels to the All Channels List on it's own that were not previously there from the original scan - I had made a list.

This stb has better attributes, but they did short change it (or us) in a number of areas. I consider it "almost" basic. But still,!!!! It's more stable than my previous 4 tuners.

Agreed. It has some limitations in connectivity and function that are frustrating. But in pure performance it's definitely better than the other tuners that I've used. Just now I was watching a station that has its digital signal at the very bottom of the UHF range, on channel 14. Tonight I've got some some impulse noise coming in from somewhere (maybe somebody's blinking Christmas lights?). It shows up as bands of white flecks on all my analog VHF channels, including channel 13 which usually doesn't show this. On digital 14, the picture on my Sony HD DVR frequently breaks up briefly into a mixture of picture and grey squares. The Samsung just sails right along with a steady picture.

Is there any benefits of getting this receiver and outputting digital programs to a standard TV that uses NTSC tuner? Is digital signal stronger? Will picture quality improve over analog signal?

If you have some noise ("snow") or other interference on your analog stations, an ATSC tuner will give a much cleaner picture, provided that you can get steady reception with a signal strength that stays above the threshold for proper decoding. I used various ATSC tuners with a 17-year-old standard TV before buying an HDTV.

However, the Samsung box discussed in this thread has serious limitations that IMO keep it from being usable with a standard TV via S-video or composite-video connection. First, you cannot see the on-screen menus and displays via those connections. Second, at least on my unit, the aspect-ratio control doesn't seem to affect the output via those connections, so you get a distorted ("squeezed") picture when you watch a 16:9 signal on a 4:3 screen. You can't letterbox it or crop it.

These limitations affect only the S-video and composite-video outputs. If you can use a component-video connection, this unit should work OK.

(Actually, I haven't tried composite video, just S-video. I'm assuming they behave the same way.)

Thanks for the help finding the HDTV tuner. I got the last one at Circuit City this morning and used the $40 of $199 coupon. Worked like a charm! Can't wait to try it out tonight.

I replaced my older SIR-T451 with the newer H260F.

In my view, the 260 is great for using HDMI out to go to a 16:9 display. I use it strictly for OTA as I have no interest in cable.

The tuning is quite good. A solid performer.

I agree with other posters that it is somewhat basic. The only big limitation for me is the fact that it doesn't pass through the native resolution. I have a av processor/scaler hooked up after the tuner and I'd rather have it scale certain networks to 1080i than the Samsung.

Other than that, basic is good. I haven't seen anything that does pass through without adding a boatload of features I don't need or suffering in the performance department.

"However, the Samsung box discussed in this thread has serious limitations that IMO keep it from being usable with a standard TV via S-video or composite-video connection. First, you cannot see the on-screen menus and displays via those connections."

Have you tried using one leg of the COmponent cable inputed into the video in on your tv as mentioned previously on this thread?

-DonB2

An hour ago I took delivery of the DTB-260F from Circuit City and replaced my SIR-T451. The 260F has cleared up the OTA reception problems I was having with the SIR-T451 on WJLA (7) and WDCA (My20) as well as WNVT (30). All OTA channels from Washington, Baltimore, Annapolis, and Northern Virginia are coming in rock solid. I can't wait for a windy day to see if it will lock onto reception during inclement weather (the SIR-T451 had lots of dropouts on windy days). WooHoo!

"(the SIR-T451 had lots of dropouts on windy days). "

I bet you won't miss the limited remote range either!

-DonB2

After reading the reviews in the forum yesterday, I picked up a DTB-H260F from Circuit City in Berwyn, IL last night. I have to say that I'm rather dissappointed, and may wind up returning the unit.

The new unit replaces a Samsung SIR-TS360. I live in a highrise in the South Loop in Chicago. The antennas on Sears Tower are 1 mile away. The signal strength on the old unit was always in the 50 - 85% range, which led me to believe that my problems were the result of multipath interference.

The old unit had difficulty with channels 2.1 (CBS-VHF), and 32.1 (FOX-UHF). I've tried several antennas, including the Radio Shack’s 15-1880 and Terk HDTVLP, with poor results.

The first problem I encountered was in performing the autoscan. The DTB-H260F did not pick up channels 7.1 (ABC-UHF), and 11.1 (PBS-UHF), with which the old unit had no problems. It did manage to lock on to 2.1, and the signal strength and reception were fantastic. However, the picture on 32.1 was very choppy, even though the signal strength showed 4 bars. (Minor annoyance: It would be nice if one could change channels and leave the signal strength bar showing. As it is, each time you change the channel, the strength meter disappears, and you have to navigate through the 3 or 4 menu layers to get it back).

A bigger issue, and possible showstopper, was that the unit will not manually tune into channels 7.1 and 11.1. The user guide clearly states that channels that aren't in memory can be manually tuned using the keypad, and then entered permanently into the channel listing. However, when I enter the channels manually, the tuner does not switch to the channels, but rather stays on the current channel. Can anyone verify that non-listed channels can be entered? I tried several things, including hitting the enter key after entering the numeric values, but no luck.

Overall, the unit feels cheap, but it works. The small size is a minor issue, as I prefer to have all my components the same size so they can be stacked easily. It's quite amazing that this latest generation of chips is so energy efficient. The old SIR-TS360 put off a ton of heat, and required a vented chassis. This unit doesn't appear to have any air vents.

The menu system works very fast, although my unit won't display the channel guide. Do you think it's defective, or am I missing something in the setup?

Mark

A bigger issue, and possible showstopper, was that the unit will not manually tune into channels 7.1 and 11.1. The user guide clearly states that channels that aren't in memory can be manually tuned using the keypad, and then entered permanently into the channel listing. However, when I enter the channels manually, the tuner does not switch to the channels, but rather stays on the current channel. Can anyone verify that non-listed channels can be entered? I tried several things, including hitting the enter key after entering the numeric values, but no luck.

Mark
To manually tune you have to enter the actual broadcast frequency for the channels. WTTW DT 11.1 is broadcast on channel 47, and ABC-DT 7.1 is broadcast on 52. You will have to punch in 47 and 52 to manually tune these channels.

Right, I had to do this in order to get all my channels into memory because they're in different directions and I have to rotate my antenna to various positions to get them all. But you need the actual broadcast frequency only the first time you tune to them. Afterwards you can use the virtual channel numbers.

Thanks! I'll give it a shot when I get home.

Any idea about the guide? Hitting the Guide button has no effect.

Also, I tried to perform an autoscan on 'Air and Cable', but it appears that it stop after a few cable channels. The TV displays "No Signal", which would seem to indicate that the box is rebooting itself. Funny behavior.

Mark

Just got mine yesterday. connect it with Phillips indoor PHDTV1 antenna and my SONY HDTV. After I turn it on, it showed "weak or no signal" on TV screen all the time.

According to antennaweb, there is 43.1 PBS about 12.4 miles away, and other DTV stations around 30~40 miles. I cannot pick any of them. Is it normal? Do I need to try another unit?

Looks like I have to install an antenna in attic. I am newbie here. Can anyone pose a n instruction or link about wiring from attic to family room. Thanks.

Just in case, the guide button is in the second row. I kept using the first. Buttons too close together. Also, don't give up until you play around with antenna placement and direction. I've learned each is specific unto itself: The antenna and type, direction and placement, and stb itself. With my antenna on a rotor, I manually input most stations cause if I did a rescan each time it would eliminate the stations out of range. The two gems of this stb is its reception stability and timer function.

Just got mine yesterday. connect it with Phillips indoor PHDTV1 antenna and my SONY HDTV. After I turn it on, it showed "weak or no signal" on TV screen all the time.

According to antennaweb, there is 43.1 PBS about 12.4 miles away, and other DTV stations around 30~40 miles. I cannot pick any of them. Is it normal? Do I need to try another unit?

Looks like I have to install an antenna in attic. I am newbie here. Can anyone pose a n instruction or link about wiring from attic to family room. Thanks.
If you are 30 to 40 miles away from the broadcast towers, unless you live on a high hill, you will need to look into an attic or rooftop mounted antenna. For starters, check with the OTA reception FAQ sticky in this very forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=611957. A useful website is http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.html. For info on what antennas you should look at, start your own thread or go to AVS antenna thread in the locals forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9242346) and post your zip code.

Just got my DTB-H260F on Wednesday night and still trying to get everything figured out on it. Seems to pull in OTA MUCH better than the default tuner on my Samsung TX-R2678WH. Interesting though, I have my Comcast cable hooked up to it (used an A/B switch to split the antenna feed between cable and OTA) and in that mode I can only receive the open QAM channels, not the default 2 through 99 of basic cable here in the Seattle area. Nice to have my HD coming in through cable though, have serious issues with a couple of OTA channels in my basement apartment on the backside of a hill.

Thanks! I'll give it a shot when I get home.

Any idea about the guide? Hitting the Guide button has no effect.

Also, I tried to perform an autoscan on 'Air and Cable', but it appears that it stop after a few cable channels. The TV displays "No Signal", which would seem to indicate that the box is rebooting itself. Funny behavior.

Mark

Let me know how this works for you. I live in Greektown so I live fairly close and I'm assuming my experience would be similar to yours. I'm thinking about getting one of these but I don't know now after reading this.

The first problem I encountered was in performing the autoscan. The DTB-H260F did not pick up channels 7.1 (ABC-UHF), and 11.1 (PBS-UHF), with which the old unit had no problems.
Mark
Mark, this may explain the problems with ABC.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9250800&&#post9250800


Their equipment was damaged by the fire in the transmiiter room at the sears tower. It appears they are not back to full power yet and have other problems. The Chicago OTA thread is up to date on this.

Does anyone here know if the DTB-H260F has discrete on off IR codes?

The small size is a minor issue, as I prefer to have all my components the same size so they can be stacked easily.

Stacking components is a no-no! This easily cuts their service life in half. Units on bottom get cold air but can't vent properly and units above get stifled flow of heated air instead of cool. There are plenty of cheap shelves available out there.

I see someone already chimed in on the manual input using the actual UHF ch numbers.

I'm surprised to see folks at relatively close ranges comment their reception is only fair with this unit. At 30+ miles to the towers with no direct line of sight using an attic mounted antenna and surrounded by trees and houses (e.g. multipath!), I've found the tuning of this unit to be top notch and can maintain perfect picture sound down to two bars on the strength meter.

It replaced a samsung SIR-t451...

All I can say is holy crap! The channel pickup is amazing, and Im using an indoor antenna a Radio shack 15-880.

Anyone who cant see the difference either has a broken unit or would not get good reception with any box

For those who may have missed this or forgotten:

If you register your Tuner at

http://www.samsung.com/support/productregistration/index.htm

they still give you an extra extended 3 months on the warranty.

Merry Xmas everyone. Santa brought this HD newb a DTB-H260F this year. I have it connected via component cables to a Syntax Olevia LT26HVX that supports up to 1080i.

First, I tested the QAM feature. No dice for me. I only subscribe to analog cable from TWC. I'm guessing I need to be a digital cable subscriber to access those channels.

Second, I connected a Phillips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor indoor antenna. After a couple of channel scans, I pulled in 22 channels and was blown away with the picture quality. And this is only at about 50% signal strength!! I was able to pull in all the major networks except for NBC. Maybe it's due to the rain here in NYC. I'm in the 11691 zip code.

Edit: The rain has cleared & I still can't pick up NBC. Guess I'll have to probe around the NYC OTA thread for answers.

I just wanted to report my findings on my new soon to be returned samsung dtb-h260f receiver.

First of all it has a great picture the menu looks very good compared to a db2010

I live 50 miles between huntsville al and nashville tn. I bought the dtb-h260f to see if it would improve my reception of a couple of channels that seemed to have a co channel and multipath problem. I own a usdigital db2010 that is being feed by a radioshack uhf/vhf and a radioshack uhf only antenna coupled to a channel master 7777 preamp and a channel master rotator. Almost all the station's signal strength reads between 86 and 97 percent on the db-2010 signal meter. I am receiving the following digital channels out of nashville channel 27(abc),10(nbc),56(cbs),46(pbs),15(fox),36(ion),21(mynetwork/tube),51(tbn) and 23(cw).
From huntsville I am receiving channel 14(cw),59(cbs),24(apt),32(abc),49(nbc/tube) and 41(fox/mynetwork)

Channels 15 and 21 on the db-2010 were flaky sometimes during the day and worse at night it can be improved by turning the antenna around 360 degrees. The reason I am trying out the samsung unit

With the dtb-h260f installed in my antenna setup the huntsville stations are steady and most of the nashville stations are steady except channel 15 is only steady if you turn the antenna 360 degrees but now channel 23 does not come in at all no matter what direction the antenna is turned. Channel 21 is basically steady as a rock now.

Makes me wonder if the samsung unit even has the 5th generation chip in it. Is there a way to find out without going inside the unit? It has a datecode of 2006.11.

I am going to try one or two more experiments tonight. I am going to remove the splitter that is between the preamp and the feed to my tv and distribution amp. If I can't get an improvement in some of my signals I am going to take the dtb-h260f back to circuitcity. I wish now I had bought and upgraded a couple more of the db2010s to have. Who knew that the company would go bankrupt. The db2010 is actually a good receiver

Well I tried my experiment and the dbt-h260f will not lock on to channel 23 even when directly tied into the antenna preamp and antenna turned in all directions. I am getting from 0 bars to 7 bars(constantly up and down on signal strength still no lockin. Ocassionally I see a frame or two of what is playing on channel 23 but that's all. I let it stay on for an hour and a half then gave up.

I wonder if it is a bug in the software in this particular unit I have? To me what is odd is that channel 15 is locking perfect with just 5 bars. Has anyone heard of one of these not locking into any channels that previously were being received with another brand tuner?

Has any one tried the humax hfa100 that doesn't have a tower in their back yard(20 or 30miles)? My bigest problem with trying another brand unit is the ease of returning it to the store. It's too bad wallyworld doesn't sell all brands of hdtv receivers.

I am finished now I probably will not have any other type of information to add to this forum

thanks for reading it

now channel 23 does not come in at all no matter what direction the antenna is turned.

Some stations send out a signal whose PSIP data (which carries the virtual channel number info, the program guide, etc.) is out of spec in such a way that some receiver models can pick it up and some can't. I'd call or e-mail the station and get word through to their engineers that the Samsung can't receive their signal but the US Digital can. It's probably hard for them to find and debug things like this without field reports.

I'm considering this unit for both OTA and QAM on my HDTV monitor. I plan to use it in 1080i/component output mode exclusively. A couple of questions for those here that use this unit.

Am I correct in my understanding that the ATSC tuner and QAM tuner share the same input jack?

Is this going to make it cumbersome to use both tuners?

If I use an A/B switch to select between my antenna and cable feed, does the stb have the ability to save both sets of channel scan results, in other words, will I need to rescan every time I select the opposite rf source?

Let me know how this works for you. I live in Greektown so I live fairly close and I'm assuming my experience would be similar to yours. I'm thinking about getting one of these but I don't know now after reading this.

OK, everything is more-or-less working.

First, I was able to tune in channels 7 and 11 with no problems using the actual channel numbers. The signal strength is 6-7 bars, and the picture is crystal clear. I'm still curious why the autoscan didn't pick them up, but everything fine now.

As for the Guide, I made the *stupid* mistake of hitting the colored buttons on the first row, rather than the 2nd row. Duh. The first row of colored buttons only works when the guide is displayed, and is used to navigate the guide, e.g. forward 1.5 hours.

I'm still having a hard time keeping Fox (32.1) locked-in. The signal strength is 5-6 bars, but I get the occasional drop-out. I'll keep experimenting with antenna position.

Overall, the unit is worlds ahead of my old Samsung tuner. The picture is great, and the menus are fast. There are a few minor usability quirks (e.g. strength meter disappears when changing channels), but I can certainly live with them.

Mark

Some stations send out a signal whose PSIP data (which carries the virtual channel number info, the program guide, etc.) is out of spec in such a way that some receiver models can pick it up and some can't. I'd call or e-mail the station and get word through to their engineers that the Samsung can't receive their signal but the US Digital can. It's probably hard for them to find and debug things like this without field reports. I have sent an email to the broadcast engineering department of the channel in question. Maybe working with them I can resolve my problem. I'll let you know if it gets resolved---Thanks for the input--- I hadn't thought of the PSIP data being a problem It would make sense since the other two channels I originally had problems with straightened out plus I was receiving such a strong signal on the channel that disappeared

For a while, I used an Accurian receiver (the one that Radio Shack used to sell), which actually locked up completely on the FOX station in Columbia SC. I had to power it off and then tune to a different station immediately when turning the power back on. Several other people with Accurians reported the same problem with other specific stations, some of which were resolved by working with the station engineers. I never went that route with my problem station because it's not one I normally watch (there's another FOX station closer to me) and I switched to the US Digital receiver shortly afterward anyway. (and now I use the Samsung)

Got one from Royal Business, and so far I've been pleased. I've got it hooked up to a Syntax Olevia LT32HV by component and the picture seems pretty good. However, I wanted to hook it up by the LT32HV's DVI input, and got an HDMI-to-DVI adapter so I could use the DVI cables I have laying around. Unfortunately, when you plug that into the H260F's HDMI output, it blocks the 'antenna in' jack! So, component for now. Ah, well.

I have it hooked up to Brighthouse cable here in Farmington, MI and have gotten the local broadcast channels (properly mapped to their 'logical' channels) plus the music channels via QAM just fine. I then have the pass-through hooked up to the LT32HV's SD cable tuner. One issue I've noticed is that, if the H260F is switched off, the standard cable reception takes a nosedive.

That is to say, when the unit is powered up, and I've switched to the coaxial input, reception of basic cable stations is fine. But if I turn the H260F off, the 'pass-through' signal quality drops substantially. Has anyone else noticed this 'feature'?

Just got the 260 for X-mas. Now this is my first ATSC receiver, so I don't really have a lot to compare it too, but I have been very pleased with it so far. I was pleased to find out that I was able to pick all 13 stations listed at antenna web plus a few more that were not listed. In addition, only 3 of the stations are listed for my antenna type yet I am able to pick up several stations that claim I need a large directional antenna while I have a Radio Shack omnidirectional antenna mounted in my attic. Basically I picked up the digital equivalent to every analog signal that I was able to get at least strong enough to give me sound and a color picture (even if it was half filled with noise).

I am connected to my PT-AE900U 720p projector through the HDMI cable. The picture quality is outstanding (but I guess the receiver doesn't get a lot of credit for that, but never-the-less I had to mention it). I found it to be very easy to use and have not had any major problems. A couple of minor complaints (may of which have already been mentioned on this forum):

My standard def programs are streched to fill my 16.9 screen instead of adding the black bars unless I go into the settings and change it. Would have been nice if it could detect the aspect ratio and change it automatically.

The channel guide does take a few seconds to fill in the first time you access it after turning on the unit, but after that is very responsive.

You cannot goto a station that does not have channel information through the channel guide, you have to go to it manually.

At one point while using it, I went to a station that gave me no signal and suddenly I lost the signal to every other station. I even tried to auto-scan again and it found no stations. I finally had to restart the unit and everything started working again. It has only done this once and has worked flawlessly ever since.

I have been very pleased with how sensative it is. When I first go it I was concerned I would only be able to pickup 3-4 stations, and was pleasantly surprised to see my channel guide full of stations. In general I think it is a great little unit and would highly recommend it to anyone. The issues I mentioned above at least in my opinion are pretty minor and don't affect my day to day usage of it in any great fashion.

That is to say, when the unit is powered up, and I've switched to the coaxial input, reception of basic cable stations is fine. But if I turn the H260F off, the 'pass-through' signal quality drops substantially. Has anyone else noticed this 'feature'?

Yup. And it messed up my recording. So now I leave it on. Also in letters to HDTV Expert, Putman replies that the output is amplified by 2.5 db, so I guess that's why it's power affected.

Dobs: Mine has bars for sd then lets say at 8pm when HD starts up on abc/cbs/whatever, it fills the screen. But on 480i stations (not yet transmitting HD) it really stretches and those stations look pastey.

took delivery of the unit today. hooked it up and am happy with it. it picked up about 30 channels with a couple duplicates (more than the usual 12-13 channels).

i only have two issues with it.
1. slow response to command
2. no on-screen menu through composite (need to do the yellow in green trick to get b/w menu)

btw, people who are looking for this unit can check circuit city online. with $15 off coupon, it's quite a bargain.

I'm considering this unit for both OTA and QAM on my HDTV monitor. I plan to use it in 1080i/component output mode exclusively. A couple of questions for those here that use this unit.

Am I correct in my understanding that the ATSC tuner and QAM tuner share the same input jack?

Is this going to make it cumbersome to use both tuners?

If I use an A/B switch to select between my antenna and cable feed, does the stb have the ability to save both sets of channel scan results, in other words, will I need to rescan every time I select the opposite rf source?

Not at all, once you have scanned everything in with your cable and OTA channels, its as simple as hitting the A/B switch and hitting the antenna switch on the remote and its all done. I'm using the same style switch and it works great! No rescanning at all.

Not at all, once you have scanned everything in with your cable and OTA channels, its as simple as hitting the A/B switch and hitting the antenna switch on the remote and its all done. I'm using the same style switch and it works great! No rescanning at all.Thanks for the response. Just to confirm the implied answers to my questions:Am I correct in my understanding that the ATSC tuner and QAM tuner share the same input jack?Yes?

Is this going to make it cumbersome to use both tuners?No? An A/B switch makes it relatively simple?

If I use an A/B switch to select between my antenna and cable feed, does the stb have the ability to save both sets of channel scan results, in other words, will I need to rescan every time I select the opposite rf source?No? All channels from ATSC and QAM tuner scans will remain in the channel list?

Thanks Again

took delivery of the unit today. hooked it up and am happy with it. it picked up about 30 channels with a couple duplicates (more than the usual 12-13 channels).

i only have two issues with it.
1. slow response to command
2. no on-screen menu through composite (need to do the yellow in green trick to get b/w menu)

btw, people who are looking for this unit can check circuit city online. with $15 off coupon, it's quite a bargain.

Looking forward to getting my hands on one!

Unfortunately, it looks like everyone is sold out on this item right now including Circuit City. I hadn't heard about the $15 coupon. Is that through the manufacturer or Circuit City?

Why isn't there a single unit on ebay?

one call, pc connection, j&r music, btfphoto? Places to check.

I found it here: hotbuyselectronics.com
Looks kinda shady though. We'll see.

Here is a first look at the new Samsung HD tuner by a Seattle-area fellow who professionally installs home theater equipment and OTA and satellite antennas and more. He says some very nice things here.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9291009&&#post9291009

Here is a first look at the new Samsung HD tuner by a Seattle-area fellow who professionally installs home theater equipment and OTA and satellite antennas and more. He says some very nice things here.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9291009&&#post9291009


This has been my experience also. I have had over 4 hd tuners and still have three to compare to. Now, I don't think the Samsung will work miracles. If a station is too week or bad multipath nothing will work. For people who have minor issues with other stbs then the Samsung can help. The ota tuner simply blows away my hdtivo and dish211.

Question - I have a Sony Wega TV (KV-27FV17, analog, standard def) with component video inputs (Y,PB,PR).
Can I view the on screen menus from the H260 Samsung using this TV?

Jay

I bought this tuner for my mother for Christmas to replace her failed Panasonic TU-DST51. The only input on her legacy TV is composite. Needless to say the H260F is useless for her. Any suggestions on what to replace it with? The older Samsung model?

Do Mom another favor--replace the TV.

Do Mom another favor--replace the TV.

I can't afford it, and I'd have to replace the furniture too.

Looking forward to getting my hands on one!

Unfortunately, it looks like everyone is sold out on this item right now including Circuit City. I hadn't heard about the $15 coupon. Is that through the manufacturer or Circuit City?

Available at circuitcity.com (http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/OID/164855/QUANTITY/1/rpem/ccd/addToCart.do) One time used code online -> KKAQLCKATF

$15 off $100 coupon is from snail mail.

I saw one at Circuit City B&M tonight, and there was a little sign on top of it that said "$149.99". I was unfortunately in a big hurry and did not get to investigate... The price was for a Samsung something or other, but I'm kind of skeptical that that was a sale price for the H260F as it doesn't show up online and I didn't see it in the CC ad.

I'll go back tomorrow and look again. If it's really on sale I guess I'll have to buy it.

I got my 260 the other day from Circuit City. I was able to find the $40 off $199 purchase in one of the Coupon sites - thanks for the tip. I am south of Boston about 30 miles.

When I got it home and hooked it up to Phillips powered antenna and turned on the scan. NO CHANNELS. I move the antenna a bit and got only one channel that kept skipping out. I checked the Signal Strength and it was one bar - cutting in and out. I then tried the Comcast cable signal and got a bunch of channels, but after going thru them one at a time, not a single one was valid.

Then I brought back the antenna, and tried to find the Radio Shack unit everyone is talking about, and found that it has been discontinued. They now have a powered unit with a built in rotator. I tried it out and got two channels, but once again only one bar or less.

I guess, I am not happy with my situation, since it appears that I will need to install an exterior antenna (most likely powered) and a rotator as well. I hate to subscribe to Comcast, but it looks like my only choice for HD. By the way, DirectTV works fine for SD, but they will not upgrade to HD because there are too many trees across the street from my house in a direct line of sight.

My one complaint is that it takes too many steps to select a channel. You have to go to the Selection, then Channel Manager, then select the channel. This is three steps to check out a channel to see if it is working. With a long list of channels, such as when you scan the cable signal, it takes forever to find anything. It would be much better, if there was a button on the remote called Channel Manager so that you could jump directly to the available channels to see what is valid and what is scrambled.

Bottom line. No satellite, No Over the Air, No Cable signal - my only recourse is HD cable box unless I can find a way to get a better signal OTA.

BTW my monitor is the Pioneer Elite PRO that costs $7k, and I get a great picture even with SD 480i. The upconversion to 1080p is truly awesome.

I've noticed that the video and audio, for me, are not in sync with this tuner. It seems to affect all channels. I think the audio is a bit ahead of the video.

I'm using component for the video, and optical output to a separate received for audio.

My one complaint is that it takes too many steps to select a channel. You have to go to the Selection, then Channel Manager, then select the channel.

You can simply enter the channel number on the numeric keys. If the unit has already "found" a channel with that virtual channel number, it goes to that. Otherwise it tries to go to that physical channel number, and if there's a signal, it adds the corresponding virtual channel number to the list (if it isn't there already) so you can tune to that channel later using the virtual channel number.

There's a brief pause of a few seconds before the picture actually comes up, if there's a signal.

As for not finding any (or enough) OTA channels:

1. Go to http://www.antennaweb.org/
2. Enter your zip code and address. You don't have to enter your name. Make sure the boxes for sending you mail are unchecked. Actually, you don't have to enter the address, just the zip code, but then the next step becomes much more important, because zip-level location is very crude.
3. On the street-level map that comes up, check your location and if it's not quite correct, click on the map to zoom in and select the correct location.
4. Select the option for showing only digital stations. These have a '*' at the beginning
of the line.
5. Copy and paste your results here and someone can probably give some advice about antennas. In general, I would not expect an indoor antenna to work well at 30 miles.

Also check the Boston OTA thread in the Local HDTV Info and Reception forum here,

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=28454

to see what kind of antennas other people in your area are using. They'll also know about special situations involving local stations.

Can anyone please tell me if this DTB-H260F will improve OTA reception. The reason I ask is a few days ago I tried a amplified Phillips indoor HDTV antenna and was unable to pick up the desired stations. (I pretty much got what AntennaWeb said I would get)

My question is "Will the Samsung improve my reception to a point where I'll be able to get the desired stations even if AntennaWeb does not show these stations available?"

*The stations that I want are available about 10-20 miles away according to AntennaWeb.

Can anyone please tell me if this DTB-H260F will improve OTA reception. The reason I ask is a few days ago I tried a amplified Phillips indoor HDTV antenna and was unable to pick up the desired stations. (I pretty much got what AntennaWeb said I would get)

My question is "Will the Samsung improve my reception to a point where I'll be able to get the desired stations even if AntennaWeb does not show these stations available?"

*The stations that I want are available about 10-20 miles away according to AntennaWeb.

Indoor antennas always DO NOT give the best performance and depending on station power, antenna pattern and any obstacles in the way, no receiver will improve that. If you are receiving what antennaweb says you should be for an indoor antenna, and there are stations you can't get but are in your area, you will need to put up an outside or at least in your attic, but that is a compromise at best depending on what type of siding you have and other issues. Even an outside antenna sitting on a patio deck can do better than an indoor antenna ever will.

My question is "Will the Samsung improve my reception to a point where I'll be able to get the desired stations even if AntennaWeb does not show these stations available?".

Can't turn poo into ice cream no matter how hard you try.... :)

I can't afford it, and I'd have to replace the furniture too.At least hers has composite inputs. My mom's only has RF. It's one of those old, console models :rolleyes: .

I've offered to replace it for her many times over, but no dice. I guess it's because it's "furniture", like you say :) .

You might still be able to find the Samsung SIR-T451 at BB or CC - my BB has got one, I know. But it's got those darned gray sidebars (unless there's a way to turn them off).

At least hers has composite inputs. My mom's only has RF. It's one of those old, console models :rolleyes:

I left that part out - she actually has an RF modulator attached to a 4-in, 1-out A/V switch. :eek:

I found her old Panasonic TU-DST51 on eBay for $100 a few years ago. I spent another $70 for a replacement remote .. that unit was buggy and cumbersome, but it worked great until the ATSC demodulator died. She loved the picture quality and extra channels.

Now it appears that there isn't a good unit on the market (suitable for use on older TVs). Very frustrating! I'd have thought that by now there would be plenty of good, inexpensive tuners to choose from. There are lots of lousy and/or expensive models.

I'm also surprised that TiVo doesn't have a cheap HD DVR without CableCard capability. I guess we may not see one until 2008 or 2009.

Can anyone please tell me if this DTB-H260F will improve OTA reception.

A real antenna is a lot cheaper than this new Samsung. Is there any way you can stick one into a crawl space? I've got a cheapie CM 3016 stuck in the space above my garage and get superior reception from about 22 miles out. IIRC Home Despot wants $32 for the 3016.

I went to the BB and CC b&m stores here locally and neither had this unit in stock and neither could tell me if they were getting any in the future. I looked online and most of the reputable sites are sold out also. Anyone have some inside info on when and where I can get one?

I'd prefer to buy one locally that way if it doesn't work out I can easily return it but I guess any place will work.


Thanks.

I bought a Sony HDTV w/o tuner KV-34XBR800 to replace an old TV 3 1/2 years ago, but because I time-shift almost all of my viewing and the delay in getting high-power digital broadcasting here in Denver, have only been watching analog cable since then.

I'm looking at getting the new Tivo 3 with this STB. Does the single coax input mean I can't use this to watch an ATSC program while recording a different QAM program simultaneously? I suppose I could buy 2 STBs to do the record and watch another program thing (and that would give me capability to watch and record 2 ATSC programs, 2 QAM programs, or 1 of each). Does anyone with Tivo 3 or any of their older DVRs know if the DVRs are still usable or crippled after you discontinue their required 1 year subscription? I don't care to pay monthly fees for idiot-proof recording feature as I've successfully programmed my VCR for the last 13 years without paying for the idiot-proof Starsight.

Is there an expiration date for that Circuit City coupon?

Are you Denver area people able to get ATSC reception without problem from the low-power downtown broadcasts as well as whatever stations are broadcasting high-power digital from Lookout and Squaw mountains? (Location and what antennas you used - indoor or outdoor). I'm about 8 miles SE of downtown and would try an indoor Silver Sensor first. I can extend the antenna to the 2nd floor in my living room's vaulted ceiling area or even up to the attic if necessary.

Does anyone know what the QAM channel range is on the H260. When I do a scan for QAM, the lowest channel is 116, from the looks of it on another forum, all of my QAM channels are below the 116, in the range from 80-115 channels.
Thanks in advance.
DB

this tuner is great for the price, but no on screen menu through composite (or s-video) normally is really a big turn off. i wish they correct it in a later version or some later receiver.

Does anyone know what the QAM channel range is on the H260. When I do a scan for QAM, the lowest channel is 116, from the looks of it on another forum, all of my QAM channels are below the 116, in the range from 80-115 channels.
Thanks in advance.
DB
The QAM channels go thru 135.

Does anyone know what the QAM channel range is on the H260. When I do a scan for QAM, the lowest channel is 116, from the looks of it on another forum, all of my QAM channels are below the 116, in the range from 80-115 channels.
Thanks in advance.
DB
The manual sez it goes up thru Cable CH135, which is about 860 MHz. However, many cable systems are
constrained to 750 MHz, which would max out at CH116....which explains most QAM channel reports...

PS: A few cable systems are upgrading to 1000 MHz...which would be an unreceivable CH158....
Let's hope they don't put unencrypted channels up that high...

My question is "Will the Samsung improve my reception to a point where I'll be able to get the desired stations even if AntennaWeb does not show these stations available?"

*The stations that I want are available about 10-20 miles away according to AntennaWeb.
I am in a basement apartment, on the backside of a hill and channels that were previously only getting 2 to 3 bars are now getting 5 to 6 thanks to the DTB-H260F. Of course, YMMV!

Ok, I have found the QAM channels now, must have stopped it early or did something wrong the first time I scanned for them. I don't understand why I would want to use this receiver to get the QAM channels.

I currently subscribe to the digital package my cable company provides. Now if I would just subscribe to the basic package would I loose some of my QAM channels then?

The H260 is kind of annoying to use as a QAM tuner because I have no idea what channels are what, they don't map them to the same channel number that is displayed on the TVguide channel. Also the H260 guide does not display any info about what is being aired on that channel either. So I don't see a benefit for using this as a QAM tuner other than picking up a few Video on Demand channels. My cable company provides a free digital receiver that I can use the guide to find out what is currently on each channel. So I don't see why I would want to use this receiver to get QAM channels. If I am missing something here, please fill me in. I don't really understand QAM all that much.

Also the QAM tuner does not seem to display as clear of a picture as the Motorola digital receiver that my cable company provided for me.
I bought the H260 to pick of free OTA channels and to cancel me cable anyways, which I am very have with the OTA tuner. Works great. Depending on weather conditions I can pick up 30+ OTA channels for free with a multi-directional antenna with some channels being 55 miles away.

I'll add a quick thumbs up on this one. I decided to upgrade my old SIRT-165 after I began losing stations (I live in a very remote location).

It took 5 BB/CC stops to find one (after a computer search showed ONE at a CC about 50 miles away). I was hoping to get it hooked up to watch last nights bowl game on Fox (the channel I lost on my old tuner), but got a long delay when I stopped by work (I thought I was on vacation, but stuff happens).

I managed to hook it up just before turning in for the night, and did a quick search for channels. Much better than the old tuner. Fox is back, so I can watch the Sugar Bowl tonight! :cool:

Still have to make the connections better/permanent, but very happy at this point.

This is very much par for the course when it comes to QAM. There's no mapping of frequency to logical channel like with a real cable box, so the everything is in semi-random locations.

As for who would want to use things this way. Not all cable companies give out digital boxes for free (mine doesn't). So if you can put up the quirks, it's one way to get the basic channels without giving any more money to the cable company.

The H260 is kind of annoying to use as a QAM tuner because I have no idea what channels are what, they don't map them to the same channel number that is displayed on the TVguide channel. .

Sorry for the repost - but I think my question may have been missed due to the time it was originally posted.

Question - I have a Sony Wega TV (KV-27FV17, analog, standard def) with component video inputs (Y,PB,PR). The TV can only display 480i, and cannot display 480p.
Can the H260 Samsung output in 480i through the component video outputs? This would be especially helpful to me as it would be the only way I could view the menus .

Jay

How do i get my hands on one of these units i have looked everywhere and nobody has them in stock. I have put my name on the list at B&H but they don;t know how long it will take.

Sorry for the repost - but I think my question may have been missed due to the time it was originally posted.

Question - I have a Sony Wega TV (KV-27FV17, analog, standard def) with component video inputs (Y,PB,PR). The TV can only display 480i, and cannot display 480p.
Can the H260 Samsung output in 480i through the component video outputs? This would be especially helpful to me as it would be the only way I could view the menus .

Jay

Thru Component inputs is the only way the menus can be seen and the Samsung has 480i output as well as 480p,720p and 1080i.

Sorry for the repost - but I think my question may have been missed due to the time it was originally posted.

Question - I have a Sony Wega TV (KV-27FV17, analog, standard def) with component video inputs (Y,PB,PR). The TV can only display 480i, and cannot display 480p.
Can the H260 Samsung output in 480i through the component video outputs? This would be especially helpful to me as it would be the only way I could view the menus .

Jay

The component outputs are selectable via a switch for 480p/720p/1080i only. 480i is available only on the S-video and composite outputs according to the manual. The manual is available as a PDF on the Samsung site under Support.

http://www.samsung.com/support/productsupport/download/FileView.aspx?cttfileid=1176264&type=&typecode=200400&subtype=&subtypecode=200401&cmssubtypecode=&model=DTB-H260F&filetype=UM&language=

And 480i, page 11. Item 10. Resolution select.

What is the purpose of the air+cable button in scanning and how do you use it? I understand the single air button and the single cable button...

TIA

And 480i, page 11. Item 10. Resolution select.

To quote the manual: under resolution select: 480i " Use this setting for a conventional TV with regular video, S-Video or component video inputs"

Sorry for the repost - but I think my question may have been missed due to the time it was originally posted.

Question - I have a Sony Wega TV (KV-27FV17, analog, standard def) with component video inputs (Y,PB,PR). The TV can only display 480i, and cannot display 480p.
Can the H260 Samsung output in 480i through the component video outputs? This would be especially helpful to me as it would be the only way I could view the menus .

Jay


I have this same model and it works fine with the menus using the component video inputs.

http://downloadcenter.samsung.com/content/UM/200610/20061012132223296_1012_DTB-H260F_MF68-00414A_book.pdf
and you can see the gui.

Granted, if your tv doesn't have component, you're menus less. There might be some work arounds?

I've read the manual, and it's not perfectly clear.
Quote from the manual on page 11: "You can connect Y, PB, and PR to a TV or another video
component input. As with DTV OUT, 1080i (interlaced
scanning), 720p (progressive scanning), and 480p are
available by setting the RESOLUTION SELECT switch. This
output port supports SD and high definition (HD)."

Then further on the same page at says "SD=Standard Definition (480i)"

So it would seem like the component outputs do output in 480i when that is selected as your resolution.

I currently subscribe to the digital package my cable company provides. Now if I would just subscribe to the basic package would I loose some of my QAM channels then?

No, they would still be there, although the DTB-H260F will tune the QAM unencrypted channels and you'd probably have to use the tuner on your set to get the regular (analog?) cable channels.

My cable company provides a free digital receiver that I can use the guide to find out what is currently on each channel. So I don't see why I would want to use this receiver to get QAM channels. If I am missing something here, please fill me in. I don't really understand QAM all that much.

If you already have a receiver from your cable company then you probably do not need this set top box. My older Samsung 26" TX doesn't receive QAM channels.

Also the QAM tuner does not seem to display as clear of a picture as the Motorola digital receiver that my cable company provided for me.
I bought the H260 to pick of free OTA channels and to cancel me cable anyways, which I am very have with the OTA tuner. Works great. Depending on weather conditions I can pick up 30+ OTA channels for free with a multi-directional antenna with some channels being 55 miles away.

My OTA channels display better through the DTB-H260F than through my Samsung...again YMMV!

I've read the manual, and it's not perfectly clear.
Quote from the manual on page 11: "You can connect Y, PB, and PR to a TV or another video
component input. As with DTV OUT, 1080i (interlaced
scanning), 720p (progressive scanning), and 480p are
available by setting the RESOLUTION SELECT switch. This
output port supports SD and high definition (HD)."

Then further on the same page at says "SD=Standard Definition (480i)"

So it would seem like the component outputs do output in 480i when that is selected as your resolution.

That's item 6 on page 11, Read Item 10 last "dot". "480i" It's clear you can select from 1080i,720p, 480p, AND 480i. And then there's the actual rear of the unit. Four positions.

I have a Sammy 260F, and it certainly can output 480i thru component video. Just make sure the rear switches are set to 480i and Y/Pb/Pr (or whatever it is, just not the "HDMI" setting).

Thanks to all those who responded to my question. I had read several online reviews of this product, and several said a weakness of the unit was that it could only display menus in HD. Now I know that's not really the case, the real issue is that many SD TVs don't have component inputs. Lucky for me, mine does.
Now the search begins for where to find one at the best price...

Jay

I had this unit for four days, so far so good, last evening, when I was watching HDTV, I am trying to change channels in hurry and, suddenly, the unit went to some kind of unit reset I think, :rolleyes: it just lost all the channels and nothing on the TV, I have to power it off then power back on to get everything back. have any one seen this?

BellStone , With QAM I have but can't remember if it happened with OTA.

-DonB2

Is there any way to get ESPN in HD with this tuner?!?!

Correct me if I am wrong, but considering I already receive Comcast standard cable and it only costs $5 a month more to add HDTV service, did I just waste almost $200 on the Samsung 260?

In my area, Comcast charges $6.75/month for their HD with local channels only. I guess they give you a set top box with that. I don't see any need to pay for that package when the DTB-H260F will do the same thing by getting less compressed ATSC OTA, or decoding the QAM off the analog feed. I figure the $180 Samsung will have paid for itself and start saving money after a year and 3 months.

The Digital Classic package at $55.64/month gives you the HD channels ESPN, ESPN2, TNT, Discovery, MTV, and NHD1 in addition to the local HD channels. I don't watch any of those other than my occasional nationally broadcasted Hokie game on ESPN or ESPN2 in the fall. It's not worth paying almost $700 a year when the majority of my viewing is primetime shows that are OTA.

Is there any way to get ESPN in HD with this tuner?!?!

Correct me if I am wrong, but considering I already receive Comcast standard cable and it only costs $5 a month more to add HDTV service, did I just waste almost $200 on the Samsung 260?

If you cableco puts ESPN HD in the clear, it can tune it. In my county, Comcast is now putting ESPNHD and TNTHD in the clear along with the HD locals. This is a recent development and I'm expecting them to disappear any day now.

There's really no point in calling and asking your cableco what you can get in the clear. The rep probably won't even know what QAM is, and has been trained to tell customers they need to get HD service for any HD at all.

I noticed one issue this morning when attempting to watch Girls Morning America. The signal dropped out because of rain when it came back up the Samsung info on the station reappears on the screen. It is bad enough having a station drop out and than come back on but I don't need to see the channel and other info reappear on the screen also.

-DonB2

Question on the cable pass through. If you are not using the pass through should it be terminated? Typically it is best practice to terminate any unused Coax connections but I don't know if this applies to pass thru connectors.

-DonB2

When I connect my 260 tuner to comcast in CABLE mode, I receive the local channels in HD as well as a handful of other channels. However, if I try using the GUIDE to browse the programs on the channels, it doesn't work. No information shows for any channels. On the other hand, the GUIDE does work when I connect to an antenna. Does anyone else experience the same thing? or if anyone knows of a solution to this?

-T

I just found that the DTB-H260F's are in stock at CC so I finally ordered one that will actually get to me quickly. That's after waiting 2 weeks for another place that wouldn't give me any updates other than "we recommend you cancel your order".

Woo! I can hardly wait till next Wednesday when it arrives. I think I should get my new TV about then also. :)

Did you order online? I can't find one of these things anywhere locally (Atlanta Georgia area).

Yeah you have to order online. 3day shipping is only $5 so it's cool with me.

hey guys, i just got my 260 in the mail today and plugged it into my 9uk. i'm getting HD channels, but when i try to set the aspect ratio to 16:9, it will only give me the option of going with "pillar, zoom or full". when the aspect ratio is set at 4:3 it will let me choose "letter box" as an option, but it still does not take up the whole screen. there are black bars going vertically and horizontally around the picture making it much smaller than the actual screen. am i doing something wrong here? i want to be able to view HD channels with the whole screen being filled up (without using the zoom option).

I leave it on full and when HD programing starts, usually at 8pm, It fills the screen. The top screen info indicates 1080 or 720 but non prime time is 480 so it has pillars unless you're zooming your tv. Also PBS might have an HD channel or sub channel and they offer HD at varois times of the day. Not knowing your set, aspect 16:9 option full. Try it out on a HD broadcast. Use Titan TV to see your area listing.

well its wierd because on some channels when i first tune into them at the top it says "720p" or "1080i" and it also says what aspect ratio it is. but it will still give me black bars no matter what aspect (besides zoom) i choose. i just messed around on the cbs channel just now with wheel of fortune showing in HD and chose "full" and now there are no black bars. i guess it depends on the channel? sorry but i'm quite new to this whole thing.

Play around with it. Like right now CBS, ABC have HD, NBC at 9. You should be able to easily tell when it's right.

Also, don't forget that alot of commercials will have pillars. Transition is handled by the local station and sometimes it's done manually.

A channel that broadcasts in HD (indicated by "1080i" or "720p" at the top of the screen for a few seconds after you tune to the channel) can carry three kinds of picture. Here's what they look like on a widescreen HDTV:

1. True HD content. This is almost always widescreen and fills the entire screen. Most "theatrical" prime-time material is like this (sitcoms, Law & Order, etc.)

2. Content that was originally 4:3 SD. For broadcast on a HD signal, it's upscaled to 1080 or 720 lines and has bars added on the sides so as to fill out the signal. This has the content in a 4:3 window in the middle of the screen, with bars on the left and right only. Most reality shows, news shows and game shows are like this. Also reruns of old shows that weren't originally produced in HD.

3. Content that was originally filmed/taped in widescreen (might have been either SD or HD). It was first reduced to 4:3 letterbox SD, then upscaled and had bars added on the sides for broadcast on a HD signal, as above. Lots of commercials are like this, because the producers think the widescreen look is "cool" but don't want to deliver a true HD version to the network for some reason.

I've seen the same commercial show up in true HD on major sports broadcasts like the Super Bowl, then show up later on a prime-time series as in #3 above. The networks must charge more to run a commercial as true HD.

I've had my tuner for a little over two months and haven't had any problems, until i got my Harmony 550. Now the tuner erases my saved and favorite channels. Sometime when i go to the channel manager the same station is duplicated. Anyone else experience this with their universal remote?

Hello just got the samsung stb set up today and it works great. I'm just wondering if anyone is using the cheap looking component cables that it came with or did you upgrade to better quality component or HDMI? How does the quality differ?

CC has it in stock online now. Just picked one up. BB is a lost cause.

CC has it in stock online now. Just picked one up. BB is a lost cause.
man that really sucks...i should've waited a little longer for them to be in stock again. at the time i was looking it was sold out EVERYWHERE, so i resorted to buying it on ebay for a little more than retail because from what i could tell no one was going to be getting any more units in the near future. oh well...

I had one on backorder for 2 weeks. I just canceled and reorderd from cc online. I should receive it by the end of next week.

Joe

Does this model have a qam tuner and if not, it there a model that does?

can anyone say how long it usually takes for the H260F to scan for all channels on cable (QAM)?

CC has it in stock online now. Just picked one up. BB is a lost cause.
CC rocks because after you plug in your zip code, you can tell when the boxes are in stock at your local stores, order it online like I did the second one shows up and go to the store to pick it up if you just can't wait. I agree, BB is a total lost cause.

Does this model have a qam tuner and if not, it there a model that does?
Yes it does, using one with a basic Comcast hookup right now and getting all the open local HD channels here in the Seattle are on my Samsung TXR2678WH.

can anyone say how long it usually takes for the H260F to scan for all channels on cable (QAM)?
Mine took something like 4 to 5 minutes or so. As I remember, it was recording ALL the open QAM channel slots too which may or may not have programming associated with them as well as all the radio channels that are available as well as the local OTA channels too.

CC rocks because after you plug in your zip code, you can tell when the boxes are in stock at your local stores, order it online like I did the second one shows up and go to the store to pick it up if you just can't wait. I agree, BB is a total lost cause.

CC also lets you give them your e-mail so that they can notify you when it comes in at a local store.

CC doesn't have them anywhere on the west coast afaik. Went and talked to the guy and they said the had 2 once but sold out and never got any more.

Also, the email notify thing never happened even though I signed up. I just opened the page one day and it was in stock. Can't use the big coupon for online orderss either :(

When I connect my 260 tuner to comcast in CABLE mode, I receive the local channels in HD as well as a handful of other channels. However, if I try using the GUIDE to browse the programs on the channels, it doesn't work. No information shows for any channels. On the other hand, the GUIDE does work when I connect to an antenna. Does anyone else experience the same thing?

Yes, that was my experience with Brighthouse cable in 48336. Local HD channels came in but without Guide information. Switching to OTA the same channels came in with Guide information as well.

Apparently the cable companies don't pass on the program PSIP data. Or at least, not in a way the 260 recognizes.

I've seen the same commercial show up in true HD on major sports broadcasts like the Super Bowl, then show up later on a prime-time series as in #3 above. The networks must charge more to run a commercial as true HD.

Aha! That makes a lot of sense. I've been seeing all these letterboxed ads for a while now, and I supposed that (at least when an HD show was on) the ads would be HD too. But in the two weeks I've had my 260 I've seen exactly one HD ad.

I couldn't figure out why they'd bother to shoot an HD ad, and then run it in SD. Clearly I don't have what it takes to be in the television biz. :)

I agree the Networks must charge more money to place HD commercials.

I think they also charge more money to ramp the audio level on commercials into the Pain Threshold range.

I keep wanting to buy a nice remote with Macros so I can program a Macro that cuts audio level to half at the press of a button when a commercial comes on.

-DonB2

I have a question about QAM. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to QAM. I currently have cable TV and cable internet. If I cancle my cable tv service and keep my cable internet connection, will I still be able to receive the QAM channels? Do they filter QAM channels at all?
Then I could cut my cable bill in half and still receive the same service. Thanks in advance.
DB

Hello just got the samsung stb set up today and it works great. I'm just wondering if anyone is using the cheap looking component cables that it came with or did you upgrade to better quality component or HDMI? How does the quality differ?

If you do not want to use the cheap component cables, you can buy an HDMI cable pretty cheap at www.monoprice.com

I bought an HDMI to DVI (28AGW) cable from there for my TV for like $6. I'm very happy with the picuter quality from that cable. Can't go wrong for $6. :D
DB

"I have a question about QAM. I'm pretty clueless when it comes to QAM. I currently have cable TV and cable internet. If I cancle my cable tv service and keep my cable internet connection, will I still be able to receive the QAM channels? Do they filter QAM channels at all?
Then I could cut my cable bill in half and still receive the same service. Thanks in advance.
DB "

I think the cable company will put a block on your incoming cable line that will stop video cable from coming in. They may allow the basic budget cable which would be equivalent to what you can get via OTA but it would probably be analog NTSC only since ATSC is typically mapped to higher cable channel numbers.

Of course none of this is cast in concrete as cable companies do things differerently.

-DonB2

Help! I just purchased an HDMI cable for my 260, which is supposed to be a VIDEO and AUDIO cable, but I'm not getting any AUDIO. Is something wrong with the cable or does the 260 not support audio out through HDMI???

I couldn't figure out why they'd bother to shoot an HD ad, and then run it in SD.
My guess is that some of their switching equipment hasn't yet been upgraded to deal with HD. Promos for HD shows are also often in SD.

I bought an HDMI to DVI (28AGW) cable from there for my TV for like $6. I'm very happy with the picuter quality from that cable. Can't go wrong for $6.

I'm using the included component cables for now. I had plenty of DVI cables laying about, and I got an HDMI-to-DVI adapter, but when it's plugged into the 260 it blocks the 'Antenna In' connector. :( I've got an HDMI-to-DVI cable on order, when it arrives I'll do some comparing.

I am using a wireless Radio Shack radio repeater to transmit the Samsung remote infrared signal codes to the Samsung hidden behind cabinet receiver.

I noticed this morning that the remote would not turn the unit on.

I turned the Samsung on manually and channel up down and volume worked perfectly on the remote.

I than tried the antenna/cable switch and also the power switch and they would not work.

It appeard that the buttons at the top of the remote were not working.

I than pointed the Samsung remote down about another 2 inches and suddenly the signal was getting thru to the receiver.

I find it odd that the upper buttons required a different pointing position than the other buttons on the remote.

-DonB2

I want to buy one of these but cannot find it anywhere.

Bestbuy and Circuit City .com's both are out of stock online and every store that showed up on my store locator. I called Best Buy and they said they had none in stock in the state of Florida. On Samsung's website for the product description, i clicked on the Buy From Online Retailer (javascript:manu_CDRuleGroupLink('samsung','DTB-H260F/XAA','23',null,null,null,'')) and all those sites (BB, ABT Electronics, Buy, One Call, B&H, J&R, and CC) are all out of stock. There are none on Ebay either

Anyone have any ideas who else to go to or if anyone is planning on having them in stock anytime at all?

i am confused about what will happen with analog cable channels on these OTA receivers.

i just use basic analog cable right now (no box) to get local stations. can i still get analog channels over cable with an OTA receiver?

i am trying to figure out if it is better to get an accurian (radio shack) receiver vs. this samsung.

is there a comparison advantages/disadvantages between them or can somebody give me a quick rundown?

i don't know much about receivers.

i want to use this with a panny ae900u projector (hdmi).

thanks!

I don't know anything about the accurian (radio shack) receiver, but I can tell you that the Samsung does not do analog NTSC.

-DonB2

If connect my 260 to my TV via HDMI, shouldn't there be audio?

I'm using the included component cables for now. I had plenty of DVI cables laying about, and I got an HDMI-to-DVI adapter, but when it's plugged into the 260 it blocks the 'Antenna In' connector. :( I've got an HDMI-to-DVI cable on order, when it arrives I'll do some comparing.

I got the exact same problem when I used the HDMI-DVI adapter. It blocked the Antenna In connector and there was no way to connect the coaxial cable to the Antenna In.

I came up with two solutions, one is far more elegant than the other:

1. Cut off the F connector on the antenna cable and just plug the copper wire from the cable to the Antenna-In.

2. Do you know you can keep the same F connector and screw in at the "Antenna Out" connector (which is not blocked by the adapter) next door? It works just fine.

You owe me a beer :) :) :) :D :D :D

I want to buy one of these but cannot find it anywhere.

Bestbuy and Circuit City .com's both are out of stock online and every store that showed up on my store locator. I called Best Buy and they said they had none in stock in the state of Florida. On Samsung's website for the product description, i clicked on the Buy From Online Retailer (javascript:manu_CDRuleGroupLink('samsung','DTB-H260F/XAA','23',null,null,null,'')) and all those sites (BB, ABT Electronics, Buy, One Call, B&H, J&R, and CC) are all out of stock. There are none on Ebay either

Anyone have any ideas who else to go to or if anyone is planning on having them in stock anytime at all?

I have one on backorder from ABT since December 11th. I can't imagine why there is so much difficulty in getting this unit back in stock, although I think I read a rumor somewhere that there was some kind of recall in the works. I've got one already and it works flawlessly. I also have a Zenith silver sensor on backorder since December 11th with another company. Geesh... basic supply and demand fubar.....

there's a guy in the for sale section of this forum that sells the silver sensors pretty cheap . . .

I don't know anything about the accurian (radio shack) receiver, but I can tell you that the Samsung does not do analog NTSC.

The Accurian does only digital OTA (ATSC). It doesn't do analog OTA or cable (NTSC), nor does it do digital cable (QAM).

Hi Y'all.

I posted some time ago in this thread about my DTB-H260F unit. In a nutshell, I use it for receiving QAM programming from my cable TV provider. Here is my original post:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9018334#post9018334

I wanted to comment that whoever suggested that I get a variable attenuator, thank you for that suggestion! That is EXACTLY what I did. I went out and bought a variable attenuator and it solved my picture breakup problem! It appears that this Samsung unit is optimized for ATSC reception which probably means an extremely sensitive receiver. So sensitive that when QAM is pumped into the unit, it is saturating the input and is being clipped and producing errors (too much signal is a bad thing as too little signal).

Here is the link to where I bought the variable attenuator. It was only 12 bucks.

http://www.pcalchemy.com/product_info.php/pName/terrestrial-digital-variable-attenuator

Also, you can buy fixed inline attenuators from Smarthome:

http://www.smarthome.com/7800.html

Knowing what I know now, I would probably have gone with the inline attenuator but I didn't because I didn't know what value I would have needed. It turns out I had to max out the variable attenuator to get the best results - I actually think I might need even more attenuation! The variable attenuator is supposed to provide a 20 dB attenuation. That's some serious signal attenuation that the Samsung DTB-H260F can deal with!!

If connect my 260 to my TV via HDMI, shouldn't there be audio?
See page 36 of your manual for how to set your audio output for PCM instead of Dolby Digital. Your HDTV likely does not have a Dolby Digital decoder (most do not).

I'm in the same boat as others - there is no Samsung DTB to be found. Anywhere. So, I guess the next logical step is to pursue the alternatives…..Are there any? I’ve read that the DTB is better than the Samsung SIR-T451 but is there anything wrong with the SIR? I see that the SIR is available on eBay. I’ve also read that there are ATSC tuners that go in a computer but a quick search of Newegg was unsuccessful. Recommendations? Advise?

I have one on backorder from ABT since December 11th. I can't imagine why there is so much difficulty in getting this unit back in stock, although I think I read a rumor somewhere that there was some kind of recall in the works..

I checked all the Merchant sites from samsung.com again and JR.com has it in stock. I called on the phone to make sure and the guy said yes, and it would ship out in 1 day. $186.94 shipped.
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4144839

I did a major search before the forgettable BCS championship game and found three possibilities...

1. Purchase older Samsung 451 model from ebay. Purchased a brand new one from seller merchandiseliquidations for $185 buy-it-now and it came factory sealed in all it's glory.

2. Buy new DTB online, I recommend entering your email on Circuit City's site for when it's back in stock. They had them in stock as of 1/7 evening. I've got one in transit, have tracking on it as well, delivery on 1/12.

3. mydtv45 (search web) has units they are manufacturing and have a shipment due in the 16th of January. Their units don't have HDMI or DVI but they are a good price and I think are discounted right now. zat600-HD is the unit

"So sensitive that when QAM is pumped into the unit, it is saturating the input and is being clipped and producing errors (too much signal is a bad thing as too little signal)."

Yet another good reason why Samsung should have had two input connectors, One for OTA and one for QAM with the QAM one slightly attenuated.

-DonB2

"2. Do you know you can keep the same F connector and screw in at the "Antenna Out" connector (which is not blocked by the adapter) next door? It works just fine."


Am I reading this correctly? You are using the F Output connector on the Samsung as a input connector?

I guess this would not surprise so if I had not read recently that the output f connector is amplified.

-DonB2

"
Am I reading this correctly? You are using the F Output connector on the Samsung as a input connector?

-DonB2

Yes, you are reading it correctly. antenna plugs in the "Antenna Out" connector works just fine on my unit for quite some time now.

At first, I was frustrated for not being able to plug in the "Antenna In" as I suppose to (because of the HMDI/DVI adapter blocking access). I was an Mechanical Engineer and didn't remember anything from electrical engineering classes I took, but after some reasoning I came to the conclusion both the Antenna In and the Antenna Out should be the same as far as getting the signal to the unit. I tried it out and it worked just as I thought and I kept it there ever since. Nothing has blown up yet. Rock solid picture every time.

Now, would someone with real knowledge in this field explain this for the rest of us... :) :D

I got lucky and found one at CC in Atlanta -- the only one in stock. Got home and opened the box only to find that it looked like someone had opened it and checked it out. I'll see how it does. OTA seems to work fine but I couldn't get QAM from my Bellsouth cable.

It was not easy to find this thing. What gives? There are lots of older HDTV sets out there that don't have built-in HD tuners.

Well if the output is not amplified I could see it as than it is just a splitter but if indeed it is amplifed than I am surprised. But what the heck as long as it works.

_DonB2

I got lucky and found one at CC in Atlanta -- the only one in stock. Got home and opened the box only to find that it looked like someone had opened it and checked it out. I'll see how it does. OTA seems to work fine but I couldn't get QAM from my Bellsouth cable.

It was not easy to find this thing. What gives? There are lots of older HDTV sets out there that don't have built-in HD tuners.

No BB in Phoenix had these in stock. They said the sales was very very low and they wouldn't stock them anymore. I checked with CC and they had plenty with a new shipment. They said it was a hot item flying off the shelves. Go figure!

I got lucky and found one at CC in Atlanta -- the only one in stock. Got home and opened the box only to find that it looked like someone had opened it and checked it out. I'll see how it does. OTA seems to work fine but I couldn't get QAM from my Bellsouth cable.

It was not easy to find this thing. What gives? There are lots of older HDTV sets out there that don't have built-in HD tuners.
BB and CC want you to buy a new tv. They make more money on you. :eek:

It was not easy to find this thing. What gives? There are lots of older HDTV sets out there that don't have built-in HD tuners.
Not only older HD TV sets, but there are a lot of new HD monitors out there. I have a 2 year old Panasonic commercial plasma, so I have a Samsung T451 and a Sony DHG-HDD250 hooked up to it. A number of people still buy the commercial plasma displays and the BB & CC stores sell some LCD monitors. There is a market for the Samsung H260F; I think BB does not push them because so many of the blue shirts don't understand what it is for. Their HD training is focused on telling people that they need buy DirecTV or hook up to the local cable system for HD.

"Their HD training is focused on telling people that they need buy DirecTV or hook up to the local cable system for HD. "

I read on this forum that BB and CC make more money selling Sat contracts than they do selling OTA tuners.

Just before this Samsung came out in the fall last year I was beginning to think that companies like Samsung had given up on OTA STB ATSC receivers.

-DonB2

I just ordered one from JR,com...$179.00 + $15.00 for 2nd day UPS. I'll probably be back with some questions about it after it gets here Friday.

Ken

"Their HD training is focused on telling people that they need buy DirecTV or hook up to the local cable system for HD. "

Even at Costco there are signs by all the TVs saying that you need to subscribe to either cable or satellite in order to view HD content. No mention of OTA.

Jay

HD Radio is not supported well at the Brick and mortars either. Just try an find a car radio that has FM HD. It is easier to find a car radio that supports a MP3 or USB and XM or Sirus.

Actually at least the FM radio stations advertise the existance of HD FM and a web site to learn about.

TV likes to say in HD where available but I sure don't see them mentioning how you can get it.

At least one of our local Raleigh TV stations offers a free antenna to receive ATSC if you already own a ATSC receiver.

-DonB2

And the ATSC coupon will be for those who dont have a tuner or hdtv. Who's keeping track? Is that part of that Sinclair crap?

I think BB does not push them because so many of the blue shirts don't understand what it is for. Their HD training is focused on telling people that they need buy DirecTV or hook up to the local cable system for HD.
Maybe that's for good reason. If they sold me or anyone in my town equipment for OTA HDTV, when I got it home, I'd find it didn't work. I can get HD by cable or satellite, but not OTA -- mountains between me and the transmitting towers. And even if it weren't for the mountains, there are only three local stations broadcasting any HD.

And the ATSC coupon will be for those who dont have a tuner or hdtv. Who's keeping track?

Sinclair has nothing to do with it. It's the government so expect BIG mishandling and misappropriations of it. :rolleyes:

That's what I meant by not keeping track. i've been here all along and Big mishandling is SOP for our US side. I'm with you foxeng. Things are different.

So sad. I just got my CC order in today, plugged it in and the little blue light just sits there blinking. When I push power, it just blinks brighter.

AKA this box is DOA! I've never had new equipment be DOA. Called Samsung and the lady tells me some people think this box doesn't exist. Great, thanks.

Can somebody help me? I want to have both my uhf/vhf (air) and my cable tv going into the same input on this box so I can use the QAM for the cable and the HD for over the air. The box has a Air + Cable searching mode so I would think you can have both hooked up. I just am confused due to the one input.
Thanks in advanced

So sad. I just got my CC order in today, plugged it in and the little blue light just sits there blinking. When I push power, it just blinks brighter.

AKA this box is DOA! I've never had new equipment be DOA. Called Samsung and the lady tells me some people think this box doesn't exist. Great, thanks.
Same here, almost. Got mine yesterday. Tried several power outlets. Sometimes the power light doesn't go on at all -- sometimes there's a feeble irregular winking. No signal coming out the RGB connectors. Aside from the power light, no sign of life at all.

I called Circuit City. Since I can't exchange it (as we know they're out of stock), the CSR told me she'd have to submit an "incident report" and someone would phone me about getting an address label to return the tuner. She gave me a "case number".

Can somebody help me? I want to have both my uhf/vhf (air) and my cable tv going into the same input on this box so I can use the QAM for the cable and the HD for over the air. The box has a Air + Cable searching mode so I would think you can have both hooked up. I just am confused due to the one input.
Thanks in advanced
Should feed your cable and your OTA signal feeds to the DTB-H269F. Actually the way I did it was to feed one cable and one OTA signal to the box and then all that gets fed to one of my inputs on the set. I split off a second cable feed to send to the 2nd input on my set and I'm all good. In other words, OTA and QAM go through the box and to input 1 and standard (analog?) cable goes to input 2.

Yes, you are reading it correctly. antenna plugs in the "Antenna Out" connector works just fine on my unit for quite some time now...
Now, would someone with real knowledge in this field explain this for the rest of us...

I can't explain that; when I used it as a pass-through for the cable, it was clearly amplifying the signal. Well, more precisely, it seemed to be "de-attenuating" it. When the unit was turned on, analog cable came in fine, when the 260 was off, analog signal quality dropped severely.

I haven't tried attaching to the "antenna out" yet - busy painting the laundry room last night. But I'll give it a try for grins. Plus, that does give me an idea or two. What if I use the HDMI-to-DVI cable (which should come any day now) for the output to the TV... and stick the cable on one coax socket, and an antenna on the other one? Would the "Air+Cable" scan mode work then?

I'd need a splitter for that so the analog cable made it to the TV, but it would be interesting to see if it worked...

J&R took my online order and stated that it should ship today or tomorrow. We shall see.

How come Samsung can stock one dealer and none of the others? I've been watching won-call now for a month, and they can't even estimate a delivery date. Same with the suggested etailers listed at Samsung's web site.

"Well, more precisely, it seemed to be "de-attenuating" it. When the unit was turned on, analog cable came in fine, when the 260 was off, analog signal quality dropped severely"

I forgot that is what you told us.

I finally decided to run my antenna directly to the Samsung first. So as to cut out all issues that could cut down signal strength.

This appears to have allowed me to get all the stations that before I needed two antennas with an A/B switch to get with my Pioneer PDP - 4340HD.

I have been toying with using the antenna out of the Samsung as the input to my Pioneer.

But number one I am concerned this may pull my antenna signal level down too much and number two it looks like I will need the Samsung powered on all the time to watch analog or digital OTA via the Pioneer.

Of course this will solve the issue I mentioned in an earlier post about the Samsung remote not getting the power on/off signal to my Samsung through my Radio Shack wireless Infrared repeater.

-DonB2

J&R took my online order and stated that it should ship today or tomorrow. We shall see.

How come Samsung can stock one dealer and none of the others? I've been watching won-call now for a month, and they can't even estimate a delivery date. Same with the suggested etailers listed at Samsung's web site.

I got one successfully some time ago, but every time I go into an electronics store now, I check to see if they have any on the shelf so I can post it here.

Finding one is a lot like Whack-a-Mole. One store will have a couple in stock, then they disappear, then another store will have them. It doesn't seem to correlate well with what shows on the company's web site with respect to it being at the local store, so I suggest that if it is convenient to get to a CC (they tend to have them more than others) to just stop in from time to time and I think you would be surprised at how often they have one or two on the shelf.

I ordered from J&R yesterday and received it today ! Paid extra for quick delivery . The unit is great but I'm having trouble getting a solid signal on the networks .

ANYONE USING THIS IN NYC? I'd like to know what antenna you're using .

AJF,

At least you have a functioning unit. I feel bad for these other posters with DOA units.

-DonB2

:)

See page 36 of your manual for how to set your audio output for PCM instead of Dolby Digital. Your HDTV likely does not have a Dolby Digital decoder (most do not).

Is there any drawback to PCM v. Dolby Digital?

Is there any alternative hookup to separate audio from video via HDMI/DVI? My Sony TV has DVI input (don't know about Dolby Digital decoder - have to look that up), and my audio receiver has Dolby Digital decoder and digital optical and coax inputs.

I’ve also read that there are ATSC tuners that go in a computer but a quick search of Newegg was unsuccessful.

Check the HDPC forum, Linux area. Since I timeshift almost all of my viewing, I was considering a Tivo S3 with 1 or 2 of these STBs, but I think I'll go the way of an HDPC instead for flexibility, storage, and cost reasons. I posted a question and someone replied that ATSC tuner cards are as cheap as $20 and ATSC/QAM cards go for $75. I also saw a thread where a 486 processor is all you need for a basic HDPC! (Not sure if that was for ATSC or NTSC, but I just started looking into it and have a lot more research to do.)

Does anyone use universal remote to program H260F? I am using Harmony and there is no discrete power on/off in the database.

I bought this from J&R. The reception is great in LA area with indoor antenna. I connect to Dell 2407FPW with hdmi-dvi cable and the picture quality is perfect with 720p. Previously I used Fusion 3 Gold HDTV card in my computer and this one give the same quality video but with more solid signal reception. Plus I finally can use the remote!

Is there any drawback to PCM v. Dolby Digital?

Is there any alternative hookup to separate audio from video via HDMI/DVI? My Sony TV has DVI input (don't know about Dolby Digital decoder - have to look that up), and my audio receiver has Dolby Digital decoder and digital optical and coax inputs.
DVI protocol doesn't support sound. So if your sony tv doesn't have HDMI input and you'd like to use digital connection for picture then you'll have to run analog cables along with your HDMI/DVI cable. If you plan on using your receiver with external speakers for sound then simply use Toslink (digital optical) on samsung box.

I preferred DVI/HDMI connection on my old samsung box 451, and with 260 component video looks much better then HDMI/HDMI. Colors looked wash out with HDMI. I tried changing saturation and tint on my TV but it doesn't seem to help.

Is there any drawback to PCM v. Dolby Digital?

Is there any alternative hookup to separate audio from video via HDMI/DVI? My Sony TV has DVI input (don't know about Dolby Digital decoder - have to look that up), and my audio receiver has Dolby Digital decoder and digital optical and coax inputs.
Yes, there is a drawback to PCM. Two channel PCM will not generally sound as good as 6 channel Dolby Digital 5.1. So you probably want to hook up the optical digital sound output of the Samsung HDTV tuner to the optical digital input of your audio receiver.

Should feed your cable and your OTA signal feeds to the DTB-H269F. Actually the way I did it was to feed one cable and one OTA signal to the box and then all that gets fed to one of my inputs on the set. I split off a second cable feed to send to the 2nd input on my set and I'm all good. In other words, OTA and QAM go through the box and to input 1 and standard (analog?) cable goes to input 2.

There is only one input on my Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC tuner, which is a coaxial input.

Does anyone use universal remote to program H260F? I am using Harmony and there is no discrete power on/off in the database.

I bought this from J&R. The reception is great in LA area with indoor antenna. I connect to Dell 2407FPW with hdmi-dvi cable and the picture quality is perfect with 720p. Previously I used Fusion 3 Gold HDTV card in my computer and this one give the same quality video but with more solid signal reception. Plus I finally can use the remote!
Give Harmony tech support a call....they probably have a fix already...

Users can input new codes into the database via the code "learning" process,
whereby your Harmony can receive the ON/OFF code from the Samsung R/C.
The Harmony tech can walk you through this if you need help...

I recently bought a DTB-H260F at my local CC. It has a strange problem of going from solid 7-8bars of signal on the OSD to zero and right back to 7-8bars. This occurs at various intervals from every 30seconds to once an hour. Of course when this happens the video freezes or drops all together. I am getting around 20+ channels and this seems to occur on all of them. The analog UHF seems to be coming through rock solid. I was suspecting outside interfer as this seems to happen more often in the day then at night, but it happens on all channels. Any guesses as to what the problem is or should I do an exchange at CC. I live in the Orange County California area. Thanks in advance.

There is only one input on my Samsung DTB-H260F ATSC tuner, which is a coaxial input. Oops, knew I forgot something. I took the cable feed and my OTA feed cables and ran them through an A/B switch and THEN to the DTB-H260F and then out of the STB to my Samsung set. Fortunately my set has 2 inputs on it so I could have QAM and OTA through the set top box and the 2nd input is used for analog cable. This (or a variation of it) might work for you.

I recently bought a DTB-H260F at my local CC. It has a strange problem of going from solid 7-8bars of signal on the OSD to zero and right back to 7-8bars. This occurs at various intervals from every 30seconds to once an hour. Of course when this happens the video freezes or drops all together. I am getting around 20+ channels and this seems to occur on all of them. The analog UHF seems to be coming through rock solid. I was suspecting outside interfer as this seems to happen more often in the day then at night, but it happens on all channels. Any guesses as to what the problem is or should I do an exchange at CC. I live in the Orange County California area. Thanks in advance.
I'm inclined to think its not the box. Are you using cable or is everything OTA?

Does anyone use universal remote to program H260F? I am using Harmony and there is no discrete power on/off in the database.

I bought this from J&R. The reception is great in LA area with indoor antenna. I connect to Dell 2407FPW with hdmi-dvi cable and the picture quality is perfect with 720p. Previously I used Fusion 3 Gold HDTV card in my computer and this one give the same quality video but with more solid signal reception. Plus I finally can use the remote!
I'm using the Sony RM-VL600 with learning capabilities which works great once you get everything programmed into it. Time-consuming but worth it.

I'm inclined to think its not the box. Are you using cable or is everything OTA?

I don't really think it is the box. This is the 2nd antenna I've tried (both the same model though). All my signals are OTA, I'm using a Phillips MANT510 with 50db Amplification. Any ideas? Thanks

I don't really think it is the box. This is the 2nd antenna I've tried (both the same model though). All my signals are OTA, I'm using a Phillips MANT510 with 50db Amplification. Any ideas? Thanks

50db!! Unless you live 150 miles from the towers and your nearest neighbor is 10 miles away, you have WAY too much amplification and I would bet you are overloading the crap out of your receiver and that is probably why your receiver is barfing. In digital TV too much amplification means little to no decodable signal due to overload of the tuner. In most urban areas, 15 db is really all you need or your system can handle. If you really have a 50db amp, I would change it out to something more reasonable in gain and start there.

I preferred DVI/HDMI connection on my old samsung box 451, and with 260 component video looks much better then HDMI/HDMI. Colors looked wash out with HDMI. I tried changing saturation and tint on my TV but it doesn't seem to help.

Huh. The HDMI-to-DVI cable I ordered arrived yesterday and I installed it when I got home. However, I didn't have the chance to do detailed comparisons between component and DVI. I should this weekend, and I'll pay some attention to the colors.

I'm hooking it to a Syntax Olevia LT32HV, and I did notice a few differences. The LT32HV is a 1366x768 LCD panel, and when connected via component the 720p signal from the H260F had small black bars at the top and bottom. So far as I can tell it was probably (slightly) letterboxing the component signal. When connected via HDMI/DVI, the signal filled the screen.

This is both good and bad. HD programs look good, of course. Whatever scaling the LT32HV is using works well. However, SD content seems to have a line of 'noise' at the top of the screen. (I suspect it's the normally-concealed closed-captioning data.) Second, while watching "ER" last night, it seemed that the very far left column of pixels were solid yellow. I didn't have a chance to do any detailed tweaking... one doesn't disturb my wife when she's watching ER. :)

Another thing I will have to experiment with: what should I set the 'resolution' switch on the back of the H260F to? Considering my TV, the obvious choice is of course 720p. Still, I wonder if maybe the scaler in the TV can do some special tricks to show a little extra data on that 1366x768 screen from the 1080i signal? But then, for the shows that are 720p, does the H260F switch to displaying the progressive output? Or does it effectively put out '720i'?

I did try (for less than two minutes) setting the resolution switch to 1080i. I didn't have enough time to really see a difference, but I was a little disturbed to see the TV flash the resolution as "1920x540"... not "1920x1080". What the heck?

I scanned through half this thread and saw someone else ask this, but no answer.

1. Does this receiver have two sets of memories for OTA and cable (without doing a rescan) using a external A/B switch to watch OTA and cable?
2. There is no NTSC tuner, either OTA or cable, correct?
3. Anyone use this on a analog 4x3 set? How is 16x9 and 4x3 materail displayed?

4. Most important; anyone that has a mix of very strong (as in 6-8 miles away) and very weak (as in 40 or 50 miles) signals in the same direction have good results with this??

Does anyone use universal remote to program H260F? I am using Harmony and there is no discrete power on/off in the database.
You mean two separate controls, not a toggle, right? I looked in the upgrade file in the files area at the JP1 forum (http://www.hifi-remote.com/forums/index.php/) and found only the power toggle (which is EFC 209).

1. Does this receiver have two sets of memories for OTA and cable (without doing a rescan) using a external A/B switch to watch OTA and cable?
2. There is no NTSC tuner, either OTA or cable, correct?

I recall reading somewhere that it does have two memories, but I can't find that in the manual. There's no NTSC tuner.

Originally I connect this Samsung tuner directly to my projector. The picture looked OK but was kind of washed out. I tried the best to calibrate the projector but the picture wasn't that impressive.

Then I bought a simple HDMI switch selector with an assortment of HDMI, DVI cables, adapter, etc, to connect both this Samsung and the DVD player to the projector.

Upon turing on the Samsung, I was blown away by the picture quality. That was what HD should be: detailed, deep contrast, etc.

Note that it was the same tuner, same antenna, same projector, same settings on the projector. The only thing changed was the HDMI switch in between the source and the projector with a bunch of added cables, which technically should degrade the quality, not make it looks better. But it did. Significantly better.

I thought it is a digital signal. Either you have it or not. If you have it, it is the same quality. Can someone help me explaining this?

"
Originally Posted by videobruce
1. Does this receiver have two sets of memories for OTA and cable (without doing a rescan) using a external A/B switch to watch OTA and cable?
2. There is no NTSC tuner, either OTA or cable, correct?"

It appears to have two memories. One for OTA channels and the other for QAM channels. You toggle between the two with the button on the top of the remote.

To take advantage of both you need to use a A/B switch with Cable on A and OTA on B and that switch between the two when you also press the button on the top of the remote.

I guess than the Samsung says I am in QAM expect the cable connected to the INPUT to B from Cable.

I am in OTA expect the cable to be from an antenna.

It is clumbsy Samsung should have provided separate F connectors one for CABLE/QAM input and the other for OTA ATSC in.

The manual is confusing. In the very beginning when they talk about HD they say that this unit will not work with cable but in deed it does.

-DonB2

If someone in Raleigh NC is looking for a unit , I saw one at the Circuit City off of 15 501.


The salesperson basically said to me when I asked if he had anymore. "what is that doing out?" It is suppose to be in our warehouse.

This could explain why we don't see too many on shelves.

In fact this unit was piled on top of the Direct TV receivers.

-DonB2

I ordered from J&R yesterday and received it today ! Paid extra for quick delivery . The unit is great but I'm having trouble getting a solid signal on the networks .

ANYONE USING THIS IN NYC? I'd like to know what antenna you're using .

I'm using a Phillips PHDTV1 Silver Sensor indoor antenna in southeast Queens. I get everything except NBC. Check out the New York OTA Local HDTV Info and Reception thread.