Sunkey SK-801ATSC - Page 2

ok.....well, then what about this? >

lets say u want to go to channel 7 ....can u just simply enter '7' on the remote and wait a couple of seconds for it to go to ch 7 automatically?...

or does the Sunkey SK-801ATSC force u to enter something like '000700' or some other long string of numbers/dashes/whatever plus maybe even an ENTER button/function?

I received my two units today and did a couple of quick installs to get a feel for the bo. The box seems to have the same reception capabilities as my APEX DT502. I'll run them through the paces, when I get a chance.

Between last night and this morning, I've put the SK-801ATSC through a workout and this is what my results are for my location:

1) Scan time was 2:20 and found 10 channels (2, 7, 9, 11, 13, 24, 31, 54, 60, 68). That is two better than my DT502, which was my best box. There is a difference, in that the SK-801ATSC has one less splitter to go through. The major advantage of the SK-801ATSC over the DT502 is that the DT502 freezes when stations are marginal and requires a reboot, while the SK-801ATSC continues to rebuild the image.

2) The SK-801ATSC will allow single channel manual scan (DT502 only does corrupt scan).

3) PSIP gives you the program quality (480i, 720p, etc.). The EPG covers only the channel you're on and only for the next 4-6 shows. It doesn't have the reminder ability the DT502 has or the Full (list) EPG. Since I've not seen a software version, I don't know where it stands in relation to the DT502 software version.

4) No recall button, although a manual channel entry (02, 11, 54, etc.) will change in two or three seconds.

5) Remote operation requires the most direct line-of-site angle I've seen. It also requires heavy pressure and the buttons stick. I'm thinking that this may become less of a problem after lots of usage. I'm thinking of trying to dust the remote with some baby powder.

6) Since the power supply is a brick, this unit is 1/2 the size (sideways) of the Zenith/Insignia.

7) Very good PQ and audio. You can change the audio characteristics under the setup so that you have "Normal, Right, Left, or Mixed."

After playing with SK-801ATSC, I went ahead and ordered two more. It could use some improvements/enhancements, but I can live with the unit for the time being and several older folks I've been helping seem to like the visibility of the remote.

thanks for the info, systems2000....

those 2 remote issues sound potentially bad tho....especially the 'heavy pressure' problem...do both of your remotes behave the same way?

is anyone else having similar problems with the Sunkey SK-801ATSC remote?

Did a head-to-head comparison on the DT502 & SK-801ATSC this evening with the Baltimore CW station, which is ~70 miles away and double-edge reception. There is a low pressure coastal storm drifting up the Eastern Seaboard with a cloud deck reaching into the Western side of the Appalachians.

While watching two different televisions from the hallway (where I can see both at the same time), both the DT502 and the SK-801ATSC were pixalating at the same time and rate.

Looks like I'm going to have to do a complete re-evaluation on all my CECB's when I get the antenna relocated to the 40' tower, that was just installed yesterday.

Okay, just got my Sunkey delivered earlier today.
I currently own 2 TR-40's F105, and the Sunkey is going to be used on a bedroom tv.
Compared to the TR-40, the Sunkey did not receive as many stations. I live 6 miles from the Cleveland,OH antenna farm, and 25 miles northwest of Akron,OH.
The TR-40 is able to receive the PBS stations and a DT shopping channel from Akron while the Sunkey cannot.
The TR-40 displays the lower bitrate subchannels far better. On the TR-40, the subs look like Dish/DTV SD locals. On the Sunkey, they look like video streamed on your computer.
My conclusion-for free after coupon the Sunkey is great. For a couple bucks more the TR-40 is much better.
The only reason the Sunkey is 100% free is because if you order two from freedtv.com shipping is free. The 2 TR-40's will cost you around $13 shipped from SolidSignal.

Oh yeah, the Sunkey includes both a good quality screw-on F coax cable and yellow/red/white RCA cable!
The remote seems to work fine, but the box does react slowly to remote commands sometimes, but not all the time.

Just installed the SK-801ATSC here in Queens, NY, and the signal reception with just a pair of rabbit ears is amazing! 21 stations clear and strong.

The only problem seems to be with the connection from the box to the set. I'm using the RF adapter and there's a lot of snow. This is not from the reception, since the snow appeared on the setup screen before any signals were found. It's consistent on menu screens and on TV channels.

Any idea on what could be causing this? I've tried channels 3 and 4 with no change.

Thanks for any suggestions!

Mark

Try replacing the RF cable from the CECB to the TV. Are you feeding to a recorder of some type before the television? I just did an install for a neighbor and found that there was a bad RF modulator in their VCR.

I'm going directly into the TV. I thought the RF cable that came with the box seemed pretty thin. I'll replace it tomorrow and tell you what happens.

Other than that problem, the result is better than I hoped for: 21 channels with just rabbit ears!

marknyc5:
I'm in Queens also. Curious.....what specific area in Queens are you located?
Consider yourself lucky if you're getting that many channels with rabbit ears!
Although the box may be a factor, the bigger concern is the exact location (especially when using an indoor antenna).
Assuming that your TV is functioning normally, if replacing the cable doesn't clear the snow......you may have a defective converter box.
Additionally......if your TV has A/V inputs, use them instead of the RF input. There will be an improvement in the video and audio quality (your audio will be in stereo...... vs. mono through the RF connection).

Good luck!...... and please report back about your opinion of the Sunkey box. I (and others) are concerned with the sensitivity (how well it maintains the signal on the various channels you're receiving) and picture quality.

I'm in Astoria, and reception is great on all 21 channels. No PBS (channel 13), though - are they broadcasting in DTV yet? Occasionally I get no signal, and here and there some breakup, but only minimal.

I definitely would have used RCA inputs if they were there, but they're not.

The reason I think this does not have to do with reception or the position of the antenna is that the interference occurred before any stations were scanned for, on the setup menu. Even if I unplug the antenna, the interference remains the same on the menu screens.

So I think that the coaxial cable is acting like an antenna and picking up analog broadcast channel 3, and that's causing the interference. My friend thinks that once analog broadcasting stops in February, this problem will disappear - do others agree?

Would buying a better shielded coax cable make that much of a difference?

Mark

Yes, WNET is digital.

A better cable should make a definite difference. You don't need it to have gold, copper will do. Stay away from steel.

First......try another coax cable. It doesn't have to be anything costly but try to avoid using an especially thin cable, as the shielding will be inferior. Also, avoid using anything longer than 6 feet.
If this doesn't do the trick, you either have a problem with the TV itself -or-
a defective converter box.
Second......The way to troubleshoot this problem (if changing the cable doesn't do the trick) properly (no guesses or innaccurate theories) is to: A) Try a different converter box (perhaps you can borrow one) on the same TV using the same cable you've been using with the Sunkey box -and- B) Take your box and (if necessary) antenna to another location and connect it to another TV, using the RF input.
You'll need to rule out the TV and the converter box to determine whether it's an (unlikely) interference problem.

Another option: Connect another device that has a channel 3 output (such as a VCR) to the RF input on your TV (using the same cable you've been using with the Sunkey box). If this "interference" dissapears, it's a defective converter box.

BTW - WNET-NY is broadcasting on 13.1 (main), 13.2 and 13.3 (subchannels). Your inability to get a signal may be due to a reception issue (it's one of the weaker signals in the area). You can switch to analog to watch WNET or try moving the antenna closer to a window (you may need to extend the coax cable in order to do this). A western facing window would be ideal but you're only within 5 miles of the transmitters (lucky you!).

I'm noticing that the SK-801ATSC has this slow action also. It appears to happen when the box is busy doing other chores.

I do miss the "Favorites" or channel/sub-channel "ON/OFF" capabilities of other CECB's.

I received my second shippment of "FREE" SK-801ATSC's yesterday. This time it took two days longer to receive. If you order from http://www.freeTVsignal.com/ count on it taking at least a week to receive. This hasn't been a problem for me, because they charge the coupons, when you order.

A slip of the fingers, since "T" & "Y" are next to each other on the keyboard.

got sunkeys with expiring coupons. comparing them to zenith 901 only. as already reported, the sunkeys are slower to respond, remote sensor is directional and weak. it works better with the front semi-transparent plastic panel removed. i may drill a hole in it in front of the IR sensor to make it more tolerable. receives same watchable stations as 901 but one strong station sometimes drops out with 0 in both quality and strengths display for no reason (zenith doesn't do that). haven't found a way to delete channels. on screen text is tiny. i was really hoping i could use a universal remote but it seems they made up their own set of commands as my 2 universals couldn't find a code that would work out of their cable/sat box codes. that's really annoying and even worse than the zenith with its "rare" codes. i thought all these douchebags were supposed to use common code sets in CECBs. i may need to try tv and vcr codes next. did anyone find any brand's codes that work for this junk?

I've been able to confirm a slight problem with the SK-801ATSC. It has been reproducable on two units, in two different locations within the house.

If you have a local channel 7, the unit degrades the signal quality, whether it is "ON" or "OFF." The only way to get the signal back to normal is to pull the power plug.

Re: Universal Remotes for Zenith DTT901 & Insigna

I have a Harmony 628, paired with a Zenith DDT901

Works fine... easy to set up /change asigned buttons

Hitting 'TV" (when system is powered off) turns ON TV set, set, automatically sets AV inputs, Turns ON the DTT901.


Another thought may be to find a JP1, 1.2 /1.3 compatible remote,(Made by UEI /One-for-All) AKA A Learning remote to learn the org codes off the org remote that shipped with the converter box, then use JP1 Tools to read the codes off the remote, mod as needed so far as how you want the keys ,functions laid out- Then flash back to the UEI unit . ...
.

so would you guys recommend the sunkeys over a zinwell or tr-40?

I have ordered six of these units due to the reception sensitivity they have.

The dislikes are that the remote doesn't have a recall key, channel 7 analog is interefered with on the Pass-Through, and the EPG doesn't give detailed information. The Sunkey also doesn't have a "Timer" function like the Zinwell or TR-40, or a reminder feature like the APEX DT502.

If the APEX DT502 (I have three) had the manual channel entry that this box has, I prefer the APEX.

Overall though, this is a nice box for FREE! COMPLETELY FREE, when ordered from http://www.freetvsignal.com/

I am new to the decoders, and this is my first box.

I have a 42" Sony HDTV with digital tuner. So for now I can only compare with that.
I also ordered a Zenith DTT901 converter box which should arrive soon.

I use a cheap Philips PHDTV1 indoor antenna. I found a spot on the floor of my living-room where I get many channels with my HDTV.
I tested the Sunkey with the antenna at the same location, through the video output (not the RF output) of the converter box.

I chose the Sunkey with the $40 coupon mostly because it was entirely free from freetvsignal.com. No shipping, no tax. Actually, if you are afraid of giving your credit card number over the Internet, this is a good option because they don't even ask you for it.

Summary: the Sunkey did a better job than the Sony TV tuner at picking up and staying on stations. Quality of the picture is pretty good, but only up to 21".

Channels: with the antenna in the optimal position for my TV and without moving the antenna, the Sunkey picks channels 11.x, 26.x and 45.x that my TV does not pick.
With the manual channel scan option, and moving the antenna, I got 9 extra channels. Once you find the additional channels, the Sunkey remembers them so you don't have to do a complete rescan all the time. It's like a "channel add" feature.
I got a total of 44 digital channels with the Sunkey and my indoor OTA antenna (San Francisco Bay Area, Palo Alto).

Picture quality: well, this is not a digital picture, so it is a bit grainy, fuzzy and milky at full screen (42"). But at 21" and under, it was very acceptable, and comparable to analog cable. Much better than analog OTA (no snow effect whatsoever). Of course, my HDTV has phenomenal picture in digital. But for someone having never been exposed to digital HD (1080) and even digital SD (480), the picture from the Sunkey will look very good.

Design: the Sunkey is small and has an external multivoltage - 110V-240V - portable (very light) power adapter. I like the fact that the decoder itself is very small and light. The software user interface is satisfactory, it does the job.
The remote is a bit awkward in shape, not too user-friendly. I am used to the channels up and down buttons to be big. Here there are tiny. On the other hand, the power button is on its own at the top left, is red and with both the international logo for power, and the word "power" above it. Even my Sony remote did not do that right! Actually my Sony TV remote is a case of bad design, so the Sunkey remote is actually better!

Conclusion: At zero dollars, the Sunkey SK-801ATSC is an excellent choice. It does the job and does it very well. With the analog pass-through feature, the "manual add channel" feature, its small size, good reception and good picture, I am so impressed by it that I can only say "go for it"!

I assume you tried the usual search procedure of repeated pressing POWER to turn ON the CECB ?

There should be a code that at least turns it ON/OFF and changes the channel.

Trying the TV or VCR codes is almost certain to be unproductive. A quick (and incidently low cost) way to try and find a code is to get a "6 In 1 Remote Control" from the Dollar Tree stores ($ 1.00). Since it's brand new, it has the latest codes and has even produced an undocumented EPG on the Zinwell CECB. I suggest you turn the Sunkey ON and see if the Dollar Tree remote turns it OFF while you perform the search proceedure.

Does this unit have a "standby" light that glows after you turn it off?

Yes!

It's red. The dimmest I've seen.

of course i did. one of the remotes is a new huge ratshack remote with a ton of codes.

As a suggestion post the model number of the remote you're trying to use., (info helps other help you better, and helps other looking for info)

PS: I'm using both a Harmony 628 and RadioShack 15-100 with the Zenith DTT901.

With the Harmony the set-up was very painless (although slow as the interface requires you to interact with the Harmony site)

With the RadioShack 15-100 (since it is older than the ZenithDTT901) I used the "Learning" feature to get the CODES off the OEM remote and everything works FINE.

I'm assuming with the Sunkey SK-801 hardly anyone is going to have a listing for it, or support it unless it emulates something else so a learning remote may be your only option.

.

i have the 15-100 too (recent buy, don't know if they update the codes or not). i don't care enough to teach it the sunkey codes as i probably won't be using the sunkey much.