Winegard Rc-dt09 Cecb

I called Winegard and spoke to their technical dept. last week right before I ordered two Channel Master CM-7000's. I really like Winegard products and specifically asked if their unit had s-video....the answer was no.

They did tell me that info. would be available "beginning of April" on their website.....I haven't seen anything yet though.

This is a great news. Winegard is unlikely to imitate Channel Master's inaccurate claim,"Get Free HDTV Without Monthly Fees"

All of us, except Channel Master's marketing people, understand that NTIA eligibility prohibits CECBs from displaying video in High Definition format.

Camping World's online ad for the RC-DT09

Winegard press release
http://www.winegard.com/mobile/pdf/p...transition.pdf

Camping World said that they did not have any additional pictures that they could send me.
It does have a dedicated AC power cord so for a DC application you would need to use an inverter.
I asked if it had Analog PassThru and they said "It will work only on a digital"

Why would Camping World be selling a AC only converter?
Don't most campers use DC power.
That is unless they have a generator or alternate power source like those from paid camping areas.

In my eyes the Winegard is not a Mobile converter box, and sounds no different they the many others available.

"Camping" World is a bit of a misnomer. If you visit their stores they are heavily into Recreational Vehicles of the motorized or generator powered type. Most RVs have AC only TV's installed, for them the Winegard is just like a home converter box.

That said, I can't find anything much on the RC DT09 except the camping world ad and the press release. The only picture seems to be slightly off head-on. This appears to show channel up and channel down buttons with a power switch on the far right and a blue LED light (for on?). The other Winegard unit for HD reception has been out for nearly a year. It originally came out at I think $179 and is now down to $139 at Camping World.

SolidSignal.com also carries the Winegard RC-DT109. They have a little info for it in their product information, i have only found it there and camperworld, but at least theres a little bit of comparison for yah.

You can purchase online from Winegard here, and use your coupon:

http://www.winegard.com/dtv/index.php

or here

http://www.winegarddirect.com/dtv/

Front, rear, and remote images...

Has a DC jack therefore DC should work nicely with this unit.. Hmm wonder what voltage it runs?.

The back says "DC IN 9V"

Make sure the negative lead is chassis ground, not the positive.
If not it will short right through the cables shield to the TV.

I do see the collar of the DC plug is negative, I mean the connection to the chassis.

When you get a chance to measure that could you post? I am trying to collect that data for a 12v CECB thread.

Thanks

Any user reviews yet on the Winegard?

According to the picture the outer part of the power connector looks to be the - while the inner pin looks positive. I'd say that meant it was negative ground.

Yes the jack itself is negative collar (as noted above), but it must be tested to the chassis before using in an automotive/marine enviroment. Any equipment like portable VCR or TV must be metered out too.

Sadly, while we are used to Negative ground here in the US, a lot of the world produces Positive ground electronics.

I was surprised when I saw these in boxes on the shelf at Camping World today. I did not realize that Winegard was producing a CECB-compliant box. I guess I should have opened one of the boxes and taken a close look. I did see the instruction booklet, which showed RF in, RF out, composite video and L+R analog audio out, and the 9 volt DC input jack on the back. No S-video.

Be advised that the HD converter box from Winegard only supports OTA 8VSB ATSC broadcasts, NOT QAM cable ATSC broadcasts.

I'm new to the AVS forum, I do indeed have the Rc-dt09 (just got it today). I ordered this unit from Solid, as none of my local retailers had any boxes in stock. I wanted to get the Zenith unit.

So far so good. I live 30 - 40 miles away from most of the transmitters in my area, which is a bit hilly.

My Antenna is the smallest Radio Shack roof/attic yagi antenna, mounted in the attic. My analog stations came in strong except for channel 52, which had some noise in the picture. The Winegard box was able to tune all local stations, but with 62.1 - .3 the picture occasionally breaks up.

The remote is tiny, about 1.5" wide and 3.5" long. It has a "signal" button that will display a signal strength meter on screen.
Menu layout is simple and fairly easy to understand (for me). I have no other boxes to compare this to (have a channel master cm7000 on the way).

The video quality seems on par with the best analog reception I've recieved with this set. My feeling is that I've lost nothing in the conversion from analog to digital. I'm using my tv's composite video / audio inputs.

So far the unit has no issues. The audio is clean, no hissing or strange anomalies, other than variable volume level on different channels, and in general I have to turn the tv volume up a few more notches compared to analog stations.

The wall-wart power supply is a drag, but the unit overall is compact. The construction is adequate without looking cheap, the box looks thinner in real life than in photos. There is a power button and a channel up/down button on the front panel. As stated earlier, no s-video out.

It comes with two AAA batteries for the remote, the wall-wart power supply, the manual and a coax RF cable. No A/V cables.

What else can I add? Let me know if anyone needs more info, or even screen shots.
I plan to compare it head-to-head whenever the cm7000 arrives.

Thanks for the review Popeetheus

I think we got the screen shots covered from atrac's review of the Venture STB7766G at least for me.

I have already added them to my EPG thread.

I use to have a link in my signature but after what the NTIA did to MicroProse I changed it.

You can let me know if the Winegard shares the same color scheme as the Venture though.
- I am thinking that it does as there are from the same manufacture -

Hi Malouff,

The menu of the Winegard looks identical to the Venturer except for the colors.
The lettering (Channel, Option, Lock) are white instead of yellow. When "Channel" or "Option" is selected, the lettering remains white, the graphic is green.
When "Lock is selected, its graphic appears yellow (lettering is still white). The graphic is blue for all not selected.

The Channel information/Program information is identical including colors.


Today I had trouble with channel 52, the same station that came in slightly noisy on analog 52. I looked the station up (KSBI). The analog station is using some 3000 kW, while the digital is using 1000 kW.

I have also discovered that the "wall-wart" a.k.a. power supply for the rc-dt09 caused interference with a nearby FM radio.

I was able to greatly reduce the interference by wrapping the d.c. cord coming out of the power supply around two sides of a snap-together RFI toroid choke. (as pictured in the diagram)

I put the choke as close to the power supply as possible, meaning the cord comes right out from the p.s. and into the choke.

Another reason for reducing the RFI produced by the wall-wart, is that it may interfere with the DTV signal. I noticed a slight improvement on the signal strength of the weaker stations I mentioned earlier. (signal strenth was at bad, now inbetween bad and good)

This resulted in less pixellation/break up.

Power supply RFI might be an issue for other converter boxes as well.

Did anyone ever conclude that this is a negative ground unit (@9V)?

Did Winegard stop making this unit?

I can't find it available anywhere.