Radio Shack STB Clearance Sale

[moxie1617]

I don't know how long this clearance sale will last but the Radio Shack 16-3499, the Accurain HST 6000, is on sale for less than $90. Picked one up about one hour ago and so far much better than the Sammy SIR-T351.

[vitod]

Hi Moxie,

Other than HDMI, can you please tell me all the outputs and in? The Ratshack website doesn't say or show.

Thanks

[moxie1617]

Originally Posted by vitod

Hi Moxie,

Other than HDMI, can you please tell me all the outputs and in? The Ratshack website doesn't say or show.

Thanks

Inputs: One RF (OTA and 8VSB cable)

Video Outputs: Composite, S-video, Component, HDMI

Audio Outputs: Digital; Optical and Coaxial, and Standard Analog

[vitod]

Great! Looks like a good deal!

Thanks

[bdfox18doe]

That's the Humax box..

[dmadn]

Thank you very much for posting this alert. I've been on the prowl for a OTA receiver and I drove straight to RS after reading your post (I called first to make sure they had them in stock). I bought one of the last two units in Austin, TX.

The box looks to be a clone of the Humax HFA100 with one noteworthy difference: they deleted the RBG output (bummer).

So far it works like a champ - and I'm using a $6.99 RCA antenna!

[vitod]

Well, I just got it and the total price was $97.00! Didn't hook it up yet but I'll let you all know the results.

dmand: Your right, no RBG. Too bad. But for the price, I think we can be forgiving.

Note: Beefy component and audio cables!

[Dmon4u]

Does it do QAM ?

There were some questions about this months ago.

[moxie1617]

I don't think so. I can't find the exact thread but 8VSB isn't QAM.

[kgj67]

How sensitive is this tuner and how fast does it changes channels?

Also, can you delete sub-channels?

[moxie1617]

You can delete subchannels w/o any problem.

It is is receiving channels better than my old SIR-T351. With the 351, after I upgraded the firmware to handle the DD dropouts, I was unable to watch any HD station without video dropouts every 15-20 seconds.

It takes about 2-3 seconds for the channel to change.

I am using the Radio Shack 15-1880 antenna and am 14 miles from the antennas. Right now my antenna is on the 1st floor of the house opposite the downtown antennas. I am not receiving all of my HD channels but I haven't had an opportunity to play with antenna placement yet.

[sullly11]

How are Radio Shack's return policies on sale items? Thinking of purchasing one of the STBs to see if it can pull HD content coming from towers 26 miles away. If the STB doesn't work well then a return would be in order.

For those who have purchased the STB, please post your review/feedback. Thanks.

[vitod]

I'll be testing it out this weekend at my vacation home. (Many trees in the way and using an indoor antenna. Wish me luck. )

I asked the rep at the Shack and told me there's a 30 day money back. Plenty of time to tweek a bit.

[vitod]

Originally Posted by Dmon4u

Does it do QAM ?

There were some questions about this months ago.

I also checked the manual and it doesn't say anything about QAM. Just 8VSB.

I'm only interested in OTA. So, if you want QAM, this may be not good for you.

[kgj67]

I just picked it up. Bought the 1 yr warranty for $10. A lot of trees in my area. Locks in all. PBS drops out sometimes, otherwise it is at 80% signal strength. Need to tweak my antenna direction. (a 25 yr old roof top) All channels are about 12 miles away.

Way better than the Motorola and Samsung 351 I tried in spring.

[Munkeung]

Thanks, Moxie!

I too have a 351 with firmware update. I could not pick up WBBM-DT w/o lock up every 10 minutes. I just picked one up in downtown Chicago. I'm gonna put the 351 up on Ebay.

[sullly11]

New to this whole OTA thing so forgive me if this is a dumb question. Is 80% signal strength good or bad? Would a more expensive model such as the LG lst 4200a lock signal strength at a higher % or is the signal strength % simply a function of one's location and the strength at which signals are transmitted from towers?

[Rack]

I just finished playing with the HST 6000 I got from Radio Shack today. Seems pretty sensitive, as I was able to get WBBM-DT in my living room with just some rabbit ears (didn't even bring out the CM7777 ). My living room isn't the best place for TV reception; my bedroom in the west corner of the house is much better. My FusionII never ever locked WBBM-DT in my living room, no matter how hard I tried. I had to use a metal shelf/reflector in the west bedroom and the CM7777 to get anything off channel 3 on the FusionII.
Adding channels missed by the scan seems easy enough. Just punch in the RF number, lock the channel with some antenna fiddling, and then hit the add channel button. It'll pull the PSIP info and you should have all the subchannels in your lineup.
Thanks Moxie for the heads-up!

[vitod]

Originally Posted by sullly11

New to this whole OTA thing so forgive me if this is a dumb question. Is 80% signal strength good or bad? Would a more expensive model such as the LG lst 4200a lock signal strength at a higher % or is the signal strength % simply a function of one's location and the strength at which signals are transmitted from towers?

I think I read somewhere that even at 50% strength is very good. And yes, signal strength depends on location.

[Jimbo Moran]

FYI, there are three left in Tulsa in case anyone nearby is interested. I'm going to pick one of them up right after work though so make that two.

[MAX HD]

Originally Posted by Rack

I just finished playing with the HST 6000 I got from Radio Shack today. Seems pretty sensitive, as I was able to get WBBM-DT in my living room with just some rabbit ears (didn't even bring out the CM7777 ). My living room isn't the best place for TV reception; my bedroom in the west corner of the house is much better. My FusionII never ever locked WBBM-DT in my living room, no matter how hard I tried. I had to use a metal shelf/reflector in the west bedroom and the CM7777 to get anything off channel 3 on the FusionII.
Adding channels missed by the scan seems easy enough. Just punch in the RF number, lock the channel with some antenna fiddling, and then hit the add channel button. It'll pull the PSIP info and you should have all the subchannels in your lineup.
Thanks Moxie for the heads-up!

Rack,
Can you check and see if this box will scan for new channels/updated PSIP when turned off? The Humax has this feature,which would be great for unattended Dx.

Thanks

http://community-2.webtv.net/GregBarker/DXPHOTOS/

[srw1000]

Thanks for the tip, Moxie1617. I was able to pick one up locally tonight.

One thing that I haven't seen on any of the other receivers I've tried is that the meter shows both signal strength and S/N ratio.

I'm pleased with the tuner, and it seems to switch channels faster in only about one second, which is faster than any of the other boxes I've had or tried.

I don't like the guide all that much. It seems to have a very limited memory, so any scrolling causes the picture and audio to freeze while it tries to pull down the data.

All in all, it's not bad, especially for the price.

Scott

[raddiux]

I just picked up one of these thanks to this thread. I too was looking to get a Humax but I couldn't find it in stock *anywhere*. But seeing that this was half the price and is supposed to be just as good, I couldn't really pass it up.

This is my first taste of anything HDTV so i'm a bit new at this. Just 3 days ago we picked up an HDTV but since we don't have cable/sattelite we had nothing to get an HDTV signal with, until now.

The unit seems to work pretty good. However, I am missing several channels, namely NBC, WPIX, and PBS here in NYC. Everything else comes in fine. The strange part is that the tuner reports that i'm getting 49% signal on these missing channels though nothing shows up on them, even though I get perfect reception on other channels with even lower signal strength. Even more puzzling, the unit reads *exactly* 49% for these missing channels and never fluxuates up or down, like the other channels do.

Is the unit defective, or could it be my antenna? I am planning on replacing the antenna soon anyway, but I'd like to know if I should take it back. I've rescanned several times with no effect.

[sfhub]

Originally Posted by raddiux

Even more puzzling, the unit reads *exactly* 49% for these missing channels and never fluxuates up or down, like the other channels do.

Is the unit defective, or could it be my antenna? I am planning on replacing the antenna soon anyway, but I'd like to know if I should take it back. I've rescanned several times with no effect.

It's possible there is some multipath problem, but just as likely it could be those stations are actually down for maintenance. You might want to try verifying using another source whether those channels are currently running. PBS in my area switches from 4x480i SD channels to 1080i+480i at 8pm in my area. Some HDTV tuners have problems with the switchoff. NBC in my area broadcasts on VHF range, so many UHF antennae have problems pulling it in if they aren't adjusted properly. Those are other things you could check on.

[RADMan2000]

Thanks, Moxie. Bought mine last night. I was ready to pay $215 for the Humax Monday morning, but couldn't find it in stock. Good thing. This unit seems to do exactly what I need, was easy to set up, and I'm getting the full set of stations here in Albuquerque with rock-solid reception.

[Cyrano]

Thanks for the post, Moxie! I bought two of them. One was the Demo (they never turned it on though) so they gave me an extra 1 year warranty on it.

They work great. I live about thirty miles (as the crow flies) from Seattle. I have tall trees between the stations and my antenna but I still get all the stations. My neighbor with an lst4200 has problems with a couple of them. My signal strengths are in the high 60's to mid 70's. I plan to shorten and clean up a couple of my antenna runs. I am using two passive splitters (good quality, low loss) and I don't know what signal amp would be good. I had a cheap RS one but it made the signal worse. Any suggestions would be appreciated. And would an HDMI to DVI adapter result in a better picture than component? (My TV had DVI but not HDMI - The component looks pretty good!)

BTW, there are no units left on the Kitsap peninsula (across the Sound from Seattle.) I was told that there were 6 left in the greater Seattle area at noon today.
For $190 My little (analog tuner-equipped) LCD TVs are finally showing me what they are capable of. I am very happy with the ease of setup and use. And finding all though little hidden sub channels was a nice surprise. Good deal, thanks again Moxie!

[CustM]

I had to buy one of these given the price. I was not expecting much out of this STB but I am impressed.

The 49% signal seems to be a default on the meter even if there is no carrier present.
I found I needed 59-60% to get a lock with this unit.

The meter with the S/N ratio that was mentioned above is also the first I have seen and
is great for tweeking.

What really blew me away was my Dish 6000 box on my CM 4228 with a rotor would have to have a perfect day to lock my NBC local "UHF 15" it never picked it up with a scan.

I pointed with a close guess and the first scan on this RS unit picked it up and locked it
and it is still holding great.

Changing channels seems pretty fast to me. The only real fault I could find was the IR remote has to be pretty well aimed.

TNX for the heads up, I think it's a great box for the $$$$$

CustM

[jfath]

Raddiux,

Picked one up in Bloomington IN this afternoon.

Seeing the same thing here. If I tune to a channel with nothing on it, the signal level stays at 49% with no movement. If I tune to a channel with a weak signal, the level will fluctuate between 0% and 49%, but I don't get a lock until 50%+.

Jerry

[queequeg22]

There still seem to be a few of these in the Portland, OR area (I got mine at the N. Lombard store and they still had a few). It was a bit absurd having the sales guy try to sell me a $130 HDMI cable for a unit that cost less than $90 (that was the cheapest HDMI cable they stock).

I'm running into the same 49% issue, which is a bit odd since all I am 18 miles away from every digital station and they are all within about 3 degrees of one another at that distance (all located in roughly the same place in W. PDX). I would think that if I could get one station I would be able to get them all. Guess I'll have to get on the roof and verify the direction my antenna is pointing (I haven't been up there for years).

[raddiux]

Originally Posted by jfath

Raddiux,

Picked one up in Bloomington IN this afternoon.

Seeing the same thing here. If I tune to a channel with nothing on it, the signal level stays at 49% with no movement. If I tune to a channel with a weak signal, the level will fluctuate between 0% and 49%, but I don't get a lock until 50%+.

Jerry

Its odd, but i'm actually able to get a stable HDTV stream at around 20-30% signal. Below 20% and it starts to stutter and break up. If I manually punch in some channel that I know doesn't exist, then I will get a low 5% signal or so, so I know that means there is nothing there. I'm still not really sure what the 49% means. According to AntenaWeb, my channel 11(WPIX) is in the same location as my channel 5(FOX) and 9(UPN), and while I get 5 and 9 perfectly, all I get is that empty 49% for 11. Strange.

Actually, I just moved into this house, so the antenna and the lines that are run are still a bit of a mystery to me. From what I can tell, there is also a dish on top of the house that is run into a "3 in - 4 out" type box. There are currently 2 dish inputs filled, and the 3rd one is for the regular antenna. Is it possible that somehow dish signals are mixing in with the antenna signal and corrupting something, even though I have no dish receiver hooked up?