Radio Shack STB Clearance Sale - Page 7

I had planned on getting it from B&H Photo Video, but I just checked their website and it's now listed as discontinued. Cousin's Video is still listing them on their website as available.

I haven't had any trouble with Fox. In fact, my local Fox is the strongest signal of all.

moxie1617 problem sounded like a reception issue. I have tried attenuators, different antenna positions, etc. with no help on either channel. This happens on HD or SD content, local or national program origination. Sure wish I knew what these 2 channels are using in common. I believe that they are owned by separate companies.

Belive me, I tried that with no success. Was wondering if there is a master clear button sequence.

There IS a momentary button under the hood of the unit.
I did not press this while it was on, it maybe just be a remote onboard power button or it also could be a reset; you could give that a try.
The RCA DTC-100 also had one.
http://home.comcast.net/~cyber16/1.JPG
It is right to the rear of the tuner, look for SW301

After not finding any local stores with the on-line search, I checked again yesterday afternoon on a whim, and found one nearby. I called and was told it had just been returned, but was otherwise new. I also heard back from Radio Shack corporate, and they confirmed it is indeed discontinued. I don't know why the stores think otherwise, but that's for them to figure out.

Anyway, it works well. I have the same RC issue that others have, and I haven't gotten my All For One RC to work with this either. If anybody knows the code, please post it.

One simple thing I can't figure out is how to change channels. If I key in a channel number, it goes there before I get a chance to specify a subchannel. So the only way I can think of getting to a specific subchannel is to key in the channel number and use the channel up button if that subchannel is in the scan. (i.e. change the channel twice.) If the subchannel is not in the scan, the only way I can figure is to go to the closest channel, work my way through the setup menus to the channel setup, arrow down to the channel I want, and press exit. But it doesn't seem sensible that I have to press a cryptic sequence of 10 or more buttons just to get to a specific channel. Is there an easier way of doing it?

As far as I can tell, that is correct.


Then you need to get the subchannel into the scan! Go into the menu and look for the section where you add channels. (I'm not at home right now so I can't look to see the exact path.) You have a choice between an "update" which adds to the channel list any new channels or subchannels that the box finds, and a "rescan" which clears your channel list and then scans in a new list from scratch. Do an "update" and the box should pick up any subchannels that are currently missing from your list.

I had to do this last week when one of my local stations added a new subchannel. I found about the new subchannel on my local OTA reception thread here; otherwise I would not have known about it unless I had stumbled on an announcement for it on the station's primary subchannel.

By the way, I've used three different STBs so far (the Radio Shack Accurian, the Samsung SIR-T451, and the Walmart US Digital), and none of them provide a way to go directly to a channel-subchannel combination from the numeric keypad. It sure seems like this would be an obvious feature to include, though. It beats me why they haven't.

Another lockup here in South Florida!

I was helping a friend set his box up (in Ft. Lauderdale) and channel 7 (FOX) kept making the unit lock up. We figured it was a faulty box, so I told him to exchange it. I guess it's either a software bug, or FOX is screwed up.

But it locked onto the other channels GREAT. All were at 80+% (green).

Diode, you're right. I assumed the T-151 was metal because it is so heavy, probably three times the weight of the RS model. But on looking at it again, it is plastic on at least the top (and I guess the sides, too). They fooled me.

And on the controls on the Accurian, I hadn't removed the clear plastic strip because I thought I might return it, so I wasn't aware that the controls were under there.

I've used the unit a few more times and am pretty happy with it. I took it to my parents' house because on their cable system they get CBS but not ABC in hi-def, and the cable company told them our ABC wasn't broadcasting hi-def. I had to prove to them that the cable company was wrong. So I hooked it up to their Samsung DLP 46" for Monday Night Football, and the Accurian got the 50+ mile channel with just some rabbit ears propped up on a chair inside the house. Despite the signal being only around 30 on the meter, the RS locked onto the signal and only dropped out for a few seconds for the entire duration of the game. I don't think my Samsung would have been able to do that.

Probably is a software bug since I have not heard of complaints from other vendor's units ( LG, Walmart, etc. ). But, also something these 2 TV stations are doing to the data stream.

Did you not purchase your RS in the box?
If you did, take a look at the box, it has a HUGE picture of the unit with the front access panel down

Since you can get a cheap VCR for about the price of an RF modulator, I'm assuming that would work too.

I was curious though if there are many or any HD STBs with coax out. In theory, everybody with an analog TV who watches OTA broadcasts will need one in a few years. That segment of the market can benefit from STBs right now far more than most people realize. Even though it won't rival an HD monitor, if you've seen how DVD improves analog TV, an HD box can improve things as much as the set can handle.

I still have analog sets, and I have one in my guest room with only a coax input. At this point, I'll probably drop cable soon, so I'll need something for it. It's a moot point given the price of the Accurian HTS 6000, but is the marketplace going to continue to ignore this issue?

I expect HDTVs to continue to drop, and once even 25" sets have built in tuners and are affordable, then it will be pointless for most people to consider a $250 box, which is all mainstream stores want to sell. There are already digital monitors in the low $200 range, and once they have built in tuners, I don't expect the prices to go up.

So why have STB prices remained artificially high, and not dropped in mainstream stores the way monitors have? I'm sure the point will come when people want to get an STB because they have no choice, and it would seem that a manufacturer could make more money selling STBs than new sets, even at a fraction of current prices.

$89 may seem like a good price compared to what's out there in most stores, but compared to other electronic devices of similar complexity, it's still in the rip off range.

I know how to get subchannels into the scan. Getting them out of the scan was the real issue. I don't really want all the shopping channels and prayer channels and Spanish channels because I don't happen to watch them. And some of the sub channels are just a repeat of the main channel, at least most of the time. And in a lower resolution at that. So I don't want to scan through the same channels over and over, but I might want to watch some of them on occasion when they do show something different.

So I guess the bottom line is that I can't go there directly. On the other hand, if the OPG were not so clunky, I'd probably be able to use that as an option. I hadn't tried it, but I assume it will show what's there even if it's not in my scan. And if I don't know that something is on, I probably would not look for it anyway.

I'm glad to hear that some people in the world are still considerate. I wouldn't have removed it either under the circumstances. But the one that I bought had no clue that there was ever such a strip, and the manual and inserts look like they were taken out of the trash can, uncrumpled, and repacked. It didn't stop RS from taking it back and reselling it. In fairness, they let me know that it was a customer return, but was otherwise new, and I knew that the store would not get more in, but they were not too picky about accepting returns as long as the unit itself worked and was not damaged.

I just read the outside of the box, and apparently I was supposed to get audio cables too, so that didn't stop RS from accepting a return either. I'm assuming that those cables are not worth the trip back to complain, but it would have been nice of them to at least check that everything was there.

Come to think of it, you can also use the favorites to mark your non-favorites, and then just keep your favorites in the scan. That way, you can scan through the channels you normally watch if you are just going so to see what's on, and then use the button to go through the rest on those occasions when you want to get to a non-favorite.

Back in the 1970s when I got my first set with an electronic tuner, the cool thing was that I was able to go directly to a channel without passing every channel in between by turning a knob on the set. Scanning up and down was analogous to turning the knob, but back then, scanning through all the channels took a few seconds, not half an hour. But more recently, the idea of using the scan as the only way to change channels seems to have become the default for most people, even if they are 50 channels away, and keeping all the channels in the scan became the norm once setup programs started doing automatic setup. When I told this box to look for channels, I ended up with 43 of them. Going up or down as a way to navigate is not very efficient if I keep them all there.

Another thing that's missing from this unit is the ability to map channels or move them. On my PC (HDTV Wonder card) I can move channels up or down and relabel them, so I can at least group channels by relevance. Like it or not, that's the way the cable company does it. The best of all worlds is to leave it up to the user. When my NBC affiliate changed, the cable company put the new one right near where the old one was. But with this box, it's out of place compared to where I expect it. So flipping from the Tonight Show to Letterman is not a simple up or down arrow.

I'm going to try this. Good idea!

I just purchased one of these radio shack HD receivers and am testing it out. The box, receiver, and manual says Accurrian premier 16-3499 and no where on the box or receiver does it indicate the HST6000 mentioned in some of the messages. Nor have I been able to find the S/N meter that several people have mentioned. Have I missed something? Did I get the correct item??
Thanks

Trying this out. I'm getting very good reception but I lose sync with my HDTV. First the picture "bends" then the screen goes blue. I am using component cables and have the switch set to 1080i (my mits tv won't take 720p). The 480p output does not have this problem. Aspect set to 16:9 wide.
Any ideas before I take it back?
Brian

Are you kidding? I was in such a frenzy when I read this thread and the clerk at my RS pointed out that one remaining purple box, I just picked it up and ran to the counter. There could have been a Chihuahua on the box (or for that matter inside) and I wouldn't have noticed.

And mzf, unless I missed something, you got the right model. The signal meter isn't actually on the unit itself; a button on the remote brings it up on the screen. There is a bar with signal strength and below that a s/n number.

hagrinas,

OFA support says that the code is 1653, but it isn't in most remotes. You can send your remote in to have it upgraded, upgrade over the phone if your remote supports it, or load the upgrade yourself if you have a JP1 model and cable.

Jerry

I've been playing with the Radio Shack (RS) receiver and found some difficulties. I have the unit attached to a Westinghouse 37" HDTV monitor and I've discovered that the two remotes sometimes interfere. Sometimes when I change channels on the RS remote the monitor responds by changing its input source. Sometimes the receiver remote causes the Westy to adjust volume or affect some arbitrary parameter. Using the Westy remote has caused the scene to freeze. So, there is a lot of unexpected and (almost) random interaction between the two components.

The RS may not pick up a station, but I have not had a scene break up.

By the way, I did find the METER button which initiates the SNR values and the signal strength; very cute if you believe it. Interestingly, I have gottten very nice reception on the local PBS station even with a signal level of 25-27.

Incidently, and I hope this isn't off topic, but does anyone have any familiarity with the Toshiba DST-3100 receiver? This component seems to do it all, including analog reception, which I would really like to have in order to avoid a maze of wires.

Thanks

Hell, they don't even make DVD players with RF out.

I have a Toshiba 3000 if that's what you meant. It's got the DTV and HD tuner. STAY AWAY! It's a rebadged H86 (sold as two other things also). Bad design, runs HOT HOT HOT, burned and blistered my finger on connection on the back once. I've got to keep an old CPU fan on top running 24x7 to keep it from baking itself. It also melted the access card one time!

I know that, but it's not the same thing. The assumption is that RF only sets are old technology and it's not cost effective for DVD players to support something that will merely downgrade their signal, and do so for people who tend not to upgrade technology anyway.

On the other hand, the plan is to tell all people with analog sets that their only option will be to get an STB if they want their set to work once analog is turned off.

If no such boxes exist that work with RF only sets, then there will be an outcry from people who can no longer watch TV. Chances are that Congress would put off dropping analog, which will give stations less incentive to concentrate on digital.

If companies can make VCRs with all the moving parts and spinning heads, RF output, and a tuner card (which few use since most people can't even figure out how to set the clock, let alone record with it) and keep it in the $35 range then making an HDTV box with RF out and everything else should be doable and affordable as long as the market is there.

There are people who already had cable and dishes at one end of the spectrum, and people who had only analog broadcast at the other end. The ones at that end are the most likely candidates to continue wanting OTA broadcasts and are the biggest untapped potential market for STBs. On the other hand, people who already have a dish or digital cable who found that most sets had no tuner, the stores didn't even want to sell them a tuner, there were few HD stations when they bought their HD monitor and an HD tuner is becoming a larger and larger cost in proportion to the price of an HD monitor, may not be jumping into the market for an HD box anyway.

So, while there may not be a big enough market for DVD players with RF output to justify the cost of adding that feature to the line, the same will not be true for owners of analog sets who will need to migrate or lose everything.

And those who have an alternate feed will find in a year or two that they can buy a new 25 inch set for their bedroom for under $250 anyway, and it will have a built in tuner. So the idea of buying a current technology STB at today's prices will not be an option. Those who spent $20,000 on an HD monitor in the beginning either don't care about the cost of an HD box, or use an alternate feed anyway and don't care, but are less likely to run out after the fact to buy an STB now. So unlike a DVD player, the analog TV owners could be the biggest market for STBs by far.

I also noticed that many stores have a crappy feed into their HD monitors, and an STB would blow it away. So getting STBs into the hands of people years ago would have been a good strategy to get them to upgrade their monitors once they saw what they were missing.

Thanks for that. My remotes are upgradable over the phone, at least in theory. The problem is that there's only a finite amount of info that they can download. I've been through it before and my remote already can't hold everything I'd like it to, but I guess it's time to shuffle.

Has anybody tried using this STB with an HDMI to DVI cable? I have a JVC AV-32DF74 tv and cannot get it to work through the TV's DVI input. I also tried using it with my neighbor's Samsung DLP unit and it wouldn't work either. It could possibly be the cable (brand new) but wanted to see if anyone had gotten this type of setup to work.

Also, does anyone in the Portland OR area own this? Can you get Fox (12.1)? I get really good signal strength on all channels (85+) and but Fox gives me 49% and wildly varying SNRs. Essentially, the unit does not recognize that Fox broadcasts. I'm 18 miles north and all broadcast antennas are within 2 degrees of one another so I cannot figure out what is going on (of course, all of my neighbors get Fox easily).

Jay

Been following this thread and finally picked up one from RS they other day.
After hooking it up all my HD stations come in with a signal of 83 to 89%
Everything looks good but I cannot receive any Dolby Digital 5.1 only Prologic.
I understand that not all shows are broadcast in 5.1, but a show that stated in HDTV and DD 5.1 only came in in Prologic not DD.

I have my RS receiver hooked up with an optical cable to my receiver so I guess my question is can you actually receive 5.1 over the air or is Prologic the best you can get OTA?

Thanks for the deal on this as it looks great on my projector!!


Gman