This "Smart Digital Converter Box" 22729 from Target gets my top vote compared to the Venturer STB7766G (also from Target) and the Insignia NS-DXA1 (from BestBuy). I swaped these three units in and out of the same setup. I'm at a considerable distance, with hills in between, from the PBS station I wanted to receive. That station puts out three signals (channels 30-1, 30-2 and 30-3). The Venturer only got 30-1. The Insignia 30-1 and 30-2. The GE got all three channels. Also, the Insignia required that I increase the TV volume way beyond normal to get the same volume I normally listen at. There is one down side to the GE unit -- when stations are added via use of the auto scan feature it is not possible to remove any of them from the setup after the auto scan is done. In my situation the GE found two radio stations and added them to my setup (channels 30-4 and 30-5). It is possible to manually add stations to the setup, but only the primary station (in this instance 30-1). Sub-channels, e.g. 30-2 etc can not be added manually. (I am not using a GE "Smart Antenna" with this converter box.)
Additional Notes: Each of the three above units have different standards for signal strength -- which means you can not compare signal strength as displayed by one unit to the indicated strength from another unit. For example, at about 60% signal strength per the display of the Insignia unit I got not only picture pixelization but also audio drop out. When I swapped in the GE, picture and sound were just fine even though the GE said I only a signal strength of 40%. For best results avoid extra connectors. Even using the GE, when I added just 3 feet of coax on the input line to the box, via use of a coupling, the signal strength was cut in half. I've experienced this before -- it's the extra coupler, not the additional 3 feet of wire (in my situation I have 100 feet of wire between my antenna and the box -- going from 100 to 103 feet of wire would not cut the signal strength in half).
Additional Notes: Each of the three above units have different standards for signal strength -- which means you can not compare signal strength as displayed by one unit to the indicated strength from another unit. For example, at about 60% signal strength per the display of the Insignia unit I got not only picture pixelization but also audio drop out. When I swapped in the GE, picture and sound were just fine even though the GE said I only a signal strength of 40%. For best results avoid extra connectors. Even using the GE, when I added just 3 feet of coax on the input line to the box, via use of a coupling, the signal strength was cut in half. I've experienced this before -- it's the extra coupler, not the additional 3 feet of wire (in my situation I have 100 feet of wire between my antenna and the box -- going from 100 to 103 feet of wire would not cut the signal strength in half).
