Retaining channels across 'power loss' cycles

I have tested 4 different brands. Each one retains all the channel info & settings, and powers up on the last channel viewed. Just turn it on & start watching.

I don't know of any box that loses saved channels/settings after a power failure.

My Zenith DTT901 retains all the channel info after power down but it comes back in 'standby' not 'on'. This could be a problem when trying to coordinate with recording timers.

All home electonics like this should be on UPS power sources to protect from momentary outages and surges.

UPS = Waste of money for televisions or vcrs or set-top boxes. A power strip with a circuit breaker is good enough, and when the power goes out, you just reset everything.

(Note: My JVC VCR includes non-volatile memory; it forgets the time but remembers all the channels, even if months have passed without power. The Zenith, Channel Master, and Dish boxes appear to have similar capability.)

Get the Zenith/Insignia. No channel scan needed after a power failure.

If ANY CECB loses its channels after a power hit - it's not satisfactory.

The problem wasn't that the box would lose its channel information nor forget which channel it was tuned to.  As far as I've seen or read, none of them have those faults.

It's that most CECBs will go to standby mode when power is restored, even if they were on when the power went out.  The T9, though, if it was on when the power went out, will turn on when the power comes back.

The advantage to that is this: suppose you're feeding the CECB to a VCR, and the VCR's timer is set to record a program while you're out.  You got out, the power fails, and the power comes back on before the program starts (or at least before the program ends).  Your VCR retained its clock time and its timer memory, so it records, but if the CECB came back from the power outage in standby mode, it wasn't feeding the VCR, and the VCR recorded black silence (or it recognized the absence of a signal and did not record).

I disagree with not having a UPS on the A/V system!

Whenever we get a storm that causes a switch to be thrown at the local power-generation/switching sub-station, our power is lost momentarily. This happens regularly, since we live about a ¼ to ½ mile from it.

Even when we had a transformer blow and again when a bird caused the breakers on our feedline to blow, I could watch TV in the dark while all my neighbors were using candles and trying to figure out what to do with themselves.

How big of a UPS do you have?

Now - most(all ?) of the CECBs I've seen only comeback to standby mode if the power is interupted, as such - the best way to "keep them powered on" during power flickers is to use an UPS. Won't take much of one (think 300-500VA) - since all the CECBs use only about 8 watts powered on....

The Zenith DTT901 will retain all previously scanned channels and settings (volume level, zoom setting, etc.), but will only return to "standby" once power is restored. For those who would like for the converter to return to"fully on" after a power disruption, the converter can easily be modified to allow it to do that.

I found that if the unit is unplugged while "holding in" the power button and either one of the channel selection buttons on the front of the unit, once the power is restored, the converter automatically comes back to the original full operational state.

If you are just a bit handy with a soldering iron, simply remove the top and front cover from the converter and this will allow access to the underside of the circuit board holding the switches. I just soldered a jumper across the two switches to leave them in a "constant on" position. Note that the switches are double pole and only one pole of the switch is being used.

Of course, this leaves the front buttons on the box inoperable, but the remote is still fully usable for all functions and the converter will always come back on to the last setup that was in use before the power disruption.

I use this converter as a tuner in a small MATV headend and it works great. In my opinion, Zenith has done a great job designing and building this converter. It performs as well as other equipment costing hundreds of dollars more.

I have the RCA DTA800B for over 5 months. Haven't had any power outage yet. I have however unplugged it and move it to another room for connecting to another TV.

When reconnected, all channels were retained and no rescan was required. Downtime was at least 5-10 minutes.

I have an APC Back-UPS 200VA.

I checked all the CECB's (DT250, DT502, Insignia -APT, & DigitalStream 9950) I have in the house at the moment and all return to the OFF state.