Zinwell ZAT-970A? - Page 33

As long as you don't lose the CBS time lock with the later firmware versions, that would be true. My F103 Pal lost its CBS lock, and locked onto a station with a broken clock. It can mess up the guide if it's locked onto a bad time. I was interested in recording, so I left it in standby on CBS. By the time I thought up all kinds of fun experiments to do with a bad time lock, the station had fixed the clock.

I received my ZAT-970A (0920) today. I ordered it from Amazon on 7/7. Shipment was sent on 7/8 from Lexington, KY to Chambersburg, PA (eight days in transit via USPS).

Amount spent $0.00

Snail-mail slow but that sounds about right per their super-saver shipping note. Timing is everything, I ordered several for me and a friend (to his address) and they came in less than a week. Some of the orders looked to leapfrog each other too. Silly they made me order them one at a time, could have saved themselves some money on packaging and shipping. Nicely packed.

I hooked one of the 970As up next to my CM for VCRing (non-timer). I've had a couple of instances of it 'losing lock' on RF CH 11 (D/FW CBS); if I channel forth&back it clears up. Unfortunately I haven't tried recording other stations because there's nothing much else for me to record in the summer (I catch the CSIs during reruns). Possibilities I can fathom: 1) upper VHF issue (potential issue on some CECBs per these threads), 2) RF CH 11 may be flaky here, folks have such a hard time receiving them with rabbit ears here that the affiliate sub-channels on their sister UHF station, and 3) CM interference (it's not the CM remote doing it, I blocked the ZW sensor).

Don't forget to burn in your new boxes.

I have a 970A hooked up with AV cables and when I hit the pass thru I don't loose the picture. It passes the analog out thru the RF to the second TV but keeps the channel on the one hooked up with the AV cables.

Can daisy chain them with no splitter.

First box hooked up with AV and pass thru on. Got pic on AV TV.

Second box hooked up to passed RF and wired to TV with AV. Turn on pass thru.

Third box, etc.

Kind of cool.

Still want that EPG.

It is a 0920.

I don't remember if it's been posted before, but the remote on the newer ZAT-970A has a "Digital/Analog" button that shifts the "CCS" and "FAVORITE" buttons right.

They are labeled "ZRC-4501" (old) and "ZRC-4502" (new). The "Digital/Analog" button does not work on my "0827" unit.

NOTE: It was posted before. http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...8#post15428578

I don't know what you mean "shifts". You mean like shift on a PC?

Mine is a 0920 and a ZRC-4502 remote

Your "Digital/Analog" button does not work....hum...

Have you tried a 4502?

Or is it the firmware?

Ok, so I'm a little slow today....hahaha

Yes, my buttons are all moved to the right and all work.

The "Digital/Analog" button doesn't work on the "0827" unit I have. In other words, the "0827" unit doesn't have the capability in it's firmware.

The catch is the box has to be on to pass-thru - inefficient.
My 950A passes-thru ONLY when the power is off.
In your setup, power wasting sounds like a small price to pay for flexibility.
I discussed this here or on the 950A thread before, ideal would be for the box to function like a VCR (TV/VCR switch, active composite lines, AND pass-thru when powered off).

My 950A came with the 4501 remote; that D/A button on a 4502 remote turns the box off. LOL

Hey, does anyone have a clue why these Zinwells have the Audio function to change between RF and Line Out? All it seems to do is change the nominal volume for both lines with the RF setting being louder. I don't know if the audio type (Dolby, stereo, mono, etc) is being changed. Maybe it's presumed Line Out should be less powerful since hook-up is too an external audio amplifier. I recall 'line out' on stereo systems being a fixed-level signal for recording, but not the case here.

Darn, all gone now from SS. Was licking my chops for one at that price but the gov't is stalling on the coupons. Same interest for the Apex 502 if my local Target carries them, and now that Target sale price went up another five bucks.

I believe RF audio is mono.

Also the zinwell isn't wasting power. Watch in the living room and with the second box watch in the bed room. You can turn off the living room one and still watch in the bed room.

Most boxes from what I read have to be off to pass thru so you can't watch two boxes without a splitter to split the antenna.

Zinwells can be dasiy chained.

One quick question.

I have 2 coupons and am going to get 2 more boxes. Since the only zinwells now cost $10 with coupon what do you guys think of the Tivax STB T8, also $10 unless you buy 2 then they are $7.50 each.

Do you have another box to recommend?

If you have a fixed antenna, checkout the APEX DT502.

If you do a search with Tivax and Lazza you will see a number of postings where I describe my experience with the Tivax and comparisons to the Zenith. I like the Tivax quite a bit; it's certainly worthy of consideration. It doesn't do the fancy stuff (S-video, event timers) but it does most everything else rather well. It also seems to be of solid construction. I consider the Tivax to be a somewhat clumsier version of the Zenith but with a better remote and picture quality (, probably only appreciated on larger screens).


_Lazza

[quote=Yankee495;16852578]I believe RF audio is mono.

Also the zinwell isn't wasting power. Watch in the living room and with the second box watch in the bed room. You can turn off the living room one and still watch in the bed room.

Most boxes from what I read have to be off to pass thru so you can't watch two boxes without a splitter to split the antenna.

Zinwells can be dasiy chained.QUOTE]

RF audio being mono is what I fear although they don't mention it in the manual. Also seems like they should just pass the Dolby D onto the RF device to decode. I guess I'll have to experiment with a more discrete stereo program than what I've been recording via composite connections. My hearing ain't what it used to be either. LOL

I don't see how the daisy chain will work very well with the 970A powered off; the RF signal does leak through but it's very weak. The splitter function is a plus though.

I'd have to agree with everything you say there. Unless you specifically need the event timers or the daisy-chaining ability, I can't see any good reason at all to choose the ZAT over the Zenith or the Tivax.

I've tried the Zenith, and I now own The Pal, the CM7000 and the ZAT-970A, and the ZAT would be the least recommended of them all (the PQ isn't any better than the Pal's, IMO - which is just so-so. I did try an event timer last night, though - using manual clock setting - and it worked perfectly). If I'm able to scrounge up another 2 coupons, I plan on getting both of the two boxes you mentioned.

Nice answers guys. I'm pretty much set on a Tivax and go from there. I can't find a Zenith. Just wanted to know if I should buy two (Tivax).

I also have a 6 foot C/Ku band dish and a 39" Ku with an FTA receiver to take up the slack (Galaxy 18). Wiring it all up is going to be fun.

I have a 80GB DVR too. No digitial tuner built in but it has all the video/audio hook ups.

Going to wire all these digital tuners and FTA to it.

And I want a Tivax to play with.

If the DVR has an s-video input, you might want to consider the CM7000 instead - that is, if you want the absolute best PQ of any of these CECB's.

Otherwise, for composite, you probably aren't going to find much better than the Tivax (but the CM does have a much better guide).

If you have 2 gov't coupons and the Tivax is the only unit readily available at a reasonable price then by all means get two of them. Put it this way, if had to get an additional CECB I would first look to get a CM-7000 if I could get it for about $10-$15 (including shipping and gov't coupon). Rather than paying more the CM-7000 I would then either get another Zenith or another Tivax, again for about $10 out of pocket. My personal reason for looking for a CM-7000 is mostly because I simply want variety. But otherwise the Zenith/Tivax are capable and seemingly durable CECBs.


_Lazza


PS - I noticed a Zenith available in my area on craigslist. I think in the coming weeks you'll see more of them for about $20. However finding a used CM-7000 would be much harder (..they were available mostly through on-line retailers, and even then they were often unavailable).

Are there several iterations or revisions, versions of the 970A? I see that there is a 970 no A and a 970A. What are the differences between those 2? Also were their improvements to later production runs of the 970A?

I'd say the Zinwell ZAT-970A's have gone through more changes than the DTVPal's.

The first units were the 970, then the 970A (which has several flavors of modifications), and, for a short time, there was the 950A (silicon tuner).

The A stands for analog pass through. I thought the tuner changed in the later 970A. And of course the later version has 12 hour clock, and loses the ability to get the hidden EPG/program detail. Not sure about other mods.

What is the 12 hour clock? What are the hidden EPG program details? Sorry for not reading through the thread. Ive got a slew of new antennas Im testing.

How can you tell the earlier version from the later version?

Given the choice would you prefere the 12 hour clock or the hidden EPG program details?

Id prefer the Sanyo UBD00AL tuner as listed on the Wikipedia info page.

.

You've got it. There has been at least three versions for the 970A (0827, 0830, 0920). The last ZAT-970A I acquired was a 0920 unit.

I've observed a noticeable time-delay audio 'echo' when I walk between rooms with the TVs on the same station. Living room TV is on a CM while the other room's TV's are on Zinwells. So I tried the Living room TV's VCR that is on a Zinwell and observed the same thing (i.e. common TV). It's not a huge time-delay like I observed in the past between analog and digital, but still annoying.

Ah, the world of digital.

What's the difference between versions 0830 and 0920 ?

The 0920 doesn't have the hidden EPG, it has a different remote, and it uses a 12-hour clock instead of a 24-hour clock. I haven't compared them line-by-line yet. I don't know about other versions.

Thanks for that systems2000! Where are these numbers located for identification?

Thanks again!

ProfQuill put up some screenshots of hidden screens on Post #539, here:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...2#post15255082


I use 5 hidden features:

-Extended EPG (16 day capability, I've seen 7+), which also lets you access the Program Detail screen (my stations give me a lot more text);
-Frequency, PID and 'sticky' signal meters screen;
-Program Timer Menu (one click to event timers);
-One button toggle for sleep timer;
-Freeze Frame

The EPG is not a thing of beauty, but I will put up with military time to have it. The full program detail font is vastly easier on the eyes than the CM7000's. Zat doesn't have detailed program descriptions except inside the hidden EPG screen.

Look for the long number below the bar code -- the underlined 4 digit code, has to be 0830 or lower for the hidden EPG. If you have a 12 hour clock instead of military time, you have the version without the hidden EPG. Retailers stopped selling the early version months ago, though, so you're probably looking in the used markets for one.

You have that backwards, TR.