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Radio Shack STB Clearance Sale - Page 2

post #31 of 752
9/7/05 at 7:38am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MAX HD View Post

Rack,
Can you check and see if this box will scan for new channels/updated PSIP when turned off? The Humax has this feature,which would be great for unattended Dx.

Thanks

http://community-2.webtv.net/GregBarker/DXPHOTOS/

The manual didn't seem to mention anything like that. I guess I could clear off the channels and let it sit for a while. Or see if it picked up any Milwaukee stations from last night.
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post #32 of 752
9/7/05 at 8:18am
Thread Starter 
Well I had to tweak my antenna to get all my local HD channels but managed to find them and get locks, except for our low VHF CBS station at 3 VHF. I can get this one if if move the antenna to the second floor but that task goes on the list. I also get Fox out of Milwaukee. My indoor antenna is the Radio Shack 15-1880 and I too get the 49% on empty channels with the amp on and gain turned all the way up. With the amp off I get 49% on assigned locals that seem to be off air, WCIU and WGBO and around 5% on empty channels. What fooled me was the local Fox station at 31 UHF was giving me a hard time. Turns out I had to turn the amp off and it is rock solid. What I found handy with the signal strength meter was the S/N ratio. I had a signal as low as 50% but the SNR was in the low 20's and the reception was rock solid. It seems that a SNR of 18 or 19 is where the reception is lost.

Fast channel changing won't be an issue since I have to tweak the antenna for a few stations. However, channel changing does seem quicker than it was when it was first set up.

I also find the remote a little weak. For normal viewing I use a Harmony with no problem but while I was tweaking and playing I used the Radio Shack remote and found it a pain. My next step is to hook into my AV receiver and see what it does with Dolby Digital.

I'm happy that you all were able to benefit from this sale. Like I said when I first saw the price on the web site, I thought it was a misprint. It seems like a great value so far.
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post #33 of 752
9/7/05 at 9:23am
I've seen a couple of references to the onscreen S/N display, yet I only see signal strength on mine. Different firmware, or am I looking in the wrong place? I'm looking at the menu/channel/signal strength screen.

Jerry
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post #34 of 752
9/7/05 at 9:38am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by jfath View Post

I've seen a couple of references to the onscreen S/N display, yet I only see signal strength on mine. Different firmware, or am I looking in the wrong place? I'm looking at the menu/channel/signal strength screen.

Jerry

Only visible when you use the 'METER" button on the remote.
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post #35 of 752
9/7/05 at 10:07am
Now does this support QAM or not.
From the Ratshack page
HDTV tuner enables HD-ready TVs to receive HDTV signals from cable or outside antenna.

It says CABLE?

under spec's
HDTV (ATSC) tuner

I do not think it does QAM

I did find one note at http://www.16nine.com/
RadioShack Launches Accurian HDTV STB
RadioShack has joined the HDMI set-top box fray with the RadioShack Accurian HTS 6000 (US$250) tuner that receives both cable and OTA HDTV signals.

The devices features an IPG, most likely from Gemstar-TV Guide, and an aspect ratio control that allows one to zoom in on screen while viewing. While the first question most will have is whether this is a fifth-generation chip, the only info we have is that the NIM module is a Thomson Multimedia DTF8600.
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post #36 of 752
9/7/05 at 12:12pm
I think what they meant is that it can receive regular cable channels. Their spec sheet says ATSC but makes no mention of QAM. It would help if someone who has one of these could test out QAM reception.
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post #37 of 752
9/7/05 at 12:21pm
I'll try it this afternoon, picking one up in a hour or so. I would expect that it only receives analog in-the-clear cable channels.
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post #38 of 752
9/7/05 at 12:33pm
The unit indeed has the Thomson DTF8600 tuner.
In addition, if you open the hood, you may find surface jumper leads (two green wires) from the sgi chip going to resistors.
The main board has www.dstreamtech.com
Can we say very naked inside this unit, not much to it.
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post #39 of 752
9/7/05 at 3:05pm
It does not support QAM -- only cable stations broadcasting in 8VSB.
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post #40 of 752
9/7/05 at 3:28pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by moxie1617 View Post

My next step is to hook into my AV receiver and see what it does with Dolby Digital.

Hooked it up to my receiver via coax. Rock solid output. No pops, sputters, dropouts. Very satisfied so far.
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post #41 of 752
9/7/05 at 3:41pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by moxie1617 View Post



Hooked it up to my receiver via coax. Rock solid output. No pops, sputters, dropouts. Very satisfied so far.

I too have had no troubles via the optical connection to my AV receiver.
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post #42 of 752
9/7/05 at 4:00pm
Can anyone tell me if I would find noticeable improvement over a RCA DTC 100 DTV receiver?

Thinking about jumping on this but don't want to was $90.

Thanks
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post #43 of 752
9/7/05 at 4:01pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Diode1 View Post

The unit indeed has the Thomson DTF8600 tuner.
In addition, if you open the hood, you may find surface jumper leads (two green wires) from the sgi chip going to resistors.
The main board has www.dstreamtech.com
Can we say very naked inside this unit, not much to it.

Just tried it also, no QAM.

Did you see a IEEE1394 connector on the board when you opened it up?

The block diagram on this page indicates IEEE1394...?
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post #44 of 752
9/7/05 at 4:44pm
No, I did not; I will have to open it up again,
The tuner on this is vertical, not like that diagram.
I have two Samsung SIR-T165 units with the 1394 hence the reason I did not look very closely.

Quote:
Originally Posted by keenan View Post

Just tried it also, no QAM.

Did you see a IEEE1394 connector on the board when you opened it up?

The block diagram on this page indicates IEEE1394...?
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post #45 of 752
9/7/05 at 5:13pm
I"m the new owner of a panasonic 30wc15 and accurion box. Picked up both today.
Apparantly i do not understand the instructions in setting up the products.
I have cable from the wall and i also bought an indoor antenna. I am not sure where the antenna gets connected to or the cable from the wall. I have tried both connecting the cable from the wall into the accurion and the antenna to the cable connection of the hdtv. and I reversed it. Both times the accurion and tv do not recognize each other. I have used both types of cable that comes with the accurion into the tv. Your help in receiving ota with the accurion and panasonic 30 inch achieving the desired results of getting hd channels in las vegas is appreciated. Thanks in advance
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post #46 of 752
9/7/05 at 5:24pm
What's under the hood.
I did not find any unpopulated RGB output & 1394 headers.
I did not remove the heat sink yet to identify the video cpu.
Those with dial up may not want to check these out. they are rather large.

http://home.comcast.net/~cyber16/1.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~cyber16/2.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~cyber16/3.JPG
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post #47 of 752
9/7/05 at 5:27pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by mlrtime View Post

Can anyone tell me if I would find noticeable improvement over a RCA DTC 100 DTV receiver?

Thinking about jumping on this but don't want to was $90.

Thanks

As a DTV DXer (receiving distant DTV stations), I was curious to compare this unit to some of my other STBs. I just picked up the RS unit today. During the past hour I compared its tuner sensitivity and decoding/holding abilities next to the RCA DTC100, LG LST-3100A and Humax HFA100. I have each unit connected to the same outdoor antenna setup and a separate monitor for each STB so as I changed stations and/or rotated the antenna I could try to evaluate which unit found and decoded the station first and then as the signal got weaker, by rotating the antenna, which unit lost the signal/lock first and which one held the signal/lock the longest.

My personal results so far are very much like past comparison tests I've conducted here and at other locations with various STBs. They're all over the place! For one station, the DTC100 actually fared the best with the RS being the worst. For two different stations, the Humax fared the best with the RS coming in second among the four. The RF-air channels tested were 11, 14, 48 and 54. I've noticed in other similar comparison tests that some STB units seem to work better at particular channels than others (ie....VHF channels; low UHF channels; high UHF channels). The RS unit appeared to receive channels 11 and 14 better than the high UHF channels of 48 and 54.

For DXing purposes, aiming the antenna is very critical so I do really like the signal meter/SNR screen. It seems to be quite sensitive and gives a wide range of readings.

I don't know if this helps anyone or not at this point. I need more time to conduct more tests with other stations.......Of course, your reception and mileage may vary.

Steve
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post #48 of 752
9/7/05 at 5:45pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by goldrich View Post

As a DTV DXer (receiving distant DTV stations), I was curious to compare this unit to some of my other STBs. I just picked up the RS unit today. During the past hour I compared its tuner sensitivity and decoding/holding abilities next to the RCA DTC100, LG LST-3100A and Humax HFA100. I have each unit connected to the same outdoor antenna setup and a separate monitor for each STB so as I changed stations and/or rotated the antenna I could try to evaluate which unit found and decoded the station first and then as the signal got weaker, by rotating the antenna, which unit lost the signal/lock first and which one held the signal/lock the longest.

My personal results so far are very much like past comparison tests I've conducted here and at other locations with various STBs. They're all over the place! For one station, the DTC100 actually fared the best with the RS being the worst. For two different stations, the Humax fared the best with the RS coming in second among the four. The RF-air channels tested were 11, 14, 48 and 54. I've noticed in other similar comparison tests that some STB units seem to work better at particular channels than others (ie....VHF channels; low UHF channels; high UHF channels). The RS unit appeared to receive channels 11 and 14 better than the high UHF channels of 48 and 54.

For DXing purposes, aiming the antenna is very critical so I do really like the signal meter/SNR screen. It seems to be quite sensitive and gives a wide range of readings.

I don't know if this helps anyone or not at this point. I need more time to conduct more tests with other stations.......Of course, your reception and mileage may vary.

Steve

My experience with the RS unit pretty much reflects yours. I'm fringe as well(60 mi and hilly terrain). I compared it with the Dish 942 receiver and a Mits display ATSC tuner and the Dish unit came out on top. It would lock and hold the signal quicker and for longer than the Mits, with the RS unit last. The RS unit actually scanned more channels than the Dish unit but wouldn't hold them as well as the Dish tuner.

I do like that signal meter though, it is very handy when rotating the antenna.
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post #49 of 752
9/7/05 at 6:12pm
Getting ready to get my first STB and since my box of choice, the LG LST 4200A, can not be found wondering if folks had an opinion on whether the RS tuner would work well experience given the following:
-26 miles to signal towers per antennaweb
-Clear line of site with no obstructions
-I live on a small hill

$90 is not a lot of money but having never used a STB, I don't want a huge hassle factor trying to get HD OTA with the RS box. I don't mind spending $300 on another type of tuner if that gets me significant extra performance (I understand the RS model does not have DVI to match my DVI ready tv but I can live with that for now).
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post #50 of 752
9/7/05 at 6:20pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sullly11 View Post

Getting ready to get my first STB and since my box of choice, the LG LST 4200A, can not be found wondering if folks had an opinion on whether the RS tuner would work well experience given the following:
-26 miles to signal towers per antennaweb
-Clear line of site with no obstructions
-I live on a small hill

$90 is not a lot of money but having never used a STB, I don't want a huge hassle factor trying to get HD OTA with the RS box. I don't mind spending $300 on another type of tuner if that gets me significant extra performance (I understand the RS model does not have DVI to match my DVI ready tv but I can live with that for now).

The RS unit should work great with those conditions. You can get a HDMI>DVI converter for about $25.
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post #51 of 752
9/7/05 at 7:26pm
I was playing with my HTS 6000 today, and I noticed that inside, there's a little red LED next to the tuner itself. It would turn on whenever the signal wasn't decodable. Sometimes just a blip that wouldn't even register in the sound or video, and with longer and more frequent blips, the audio would drop out and the video would start to break up, and if the light was on for more than like 50% of the time, there wouldn't be enough good bits to even pretend to play anything. But you can only see it if you look through the vents of the STB, odd that they kept that kind of functionality hidden (it also blinks twice on channel changes, if you're looking for it and are cursed with great signals. ). . It's just about the quickest way to determine if the stream itself or the signal strength is the cause for a random glitch.
I think the Sasem USB box has a similar LED on the front. PhilJSmith67 likes to call it "the idiot light".
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post #52 of 752
9/7/05 at 9:11pm
Having not seen the unit yet, by any chance are the SNR and signal strength meters viewable on the box itself or is it just an on screen display? It would be nice to something slighly smaller than lugging a whole TV around when fine tuning antenna placement ;-)
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post #53 of 752
9/7/05 at 9:23pm
I bought one of these tonight. They are going fast! There's a radio shack near me that still has one... Castleton are outside of Indianapolis. I took the second to last one. I actually called them because I thought I got a unit with no remote. Then they told me to look in the styrofoam on the side of the unit. Duh! Haha. Well, I spent all evening trying to figure out how the jack-a$$ that lived in my house before I did hooked up all this coax. There's a spaghetti of it in the garage. I got no where and eventually just attached bunny ears in the basement. I was getting signal strength of like 20 and seeing a decent signal although it would drop out from time to time. Another channel had signal strength in the 50 or so region and I had a solid image there. I need to figure out which coax in my garage connects to the basement and I think I will be very happy. The channel switching is quick enough, the menus seem to be reasonable, I was getting dolby digital, etc. Everything looked good to me.

Thanks for posting this information! I haven't made a good whim purchase in a while So, this was fun.
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post #54 of 752
9/8/05 at 6:00am
Quote:
Originally Posted by bmcent1 View Post

Having not seen the unit yet, by any chance are the SNR and signal strength meters viewable on the box itself or is it just an on screen display? It would be nice to something slighly smaller than lugging a whole TV around when fine tuning antenna placement ;-)

Sorry, but the signal strength meter and SNR screen is viewable only on screen with your monitor. The only readout on the front of the unit itself is the channel number, along with the subchannel, and there is a green light to indicate the unit is turned on.

BTW, I couldn't find this in the manual, but after playing around with it last evening I did discover a manual way of converting the actual RF channel number into the PSIP remapped information. There are two ways to allow the unit to automatically scan for stations, either with "Rescan" which scans all channels and deletes any previously listed channels or with "Update" which simply adds new channels found WITHOUT deleting previously found/listed channels. If you manually add a channel by simply punching in the true RF channel number, like ch. 48, then when the receiver finds the station and decodes it, the on screen display will indicate "48-1" but will not give any additional information, like call letters of the station. But I found on mine that if you then punch the "CH-ADD" button, the receiver will then convert that RF channel number into the remapped channel number (analog) and become, for example "4-1" and then will display the station's call letters and store them in memory just like the stations it finds when performing an auto scan.

Steve
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post #55 of 752
9/8/05 at 7:50am
All this fun was brought to you by......MOXIE!

Again, great find.
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post #56 of 752
9/8/05 at 9:12am
I bought one too and am glad I did. I actually bought my first HDTV over 4 years ago, and now have 2 of them and an HD projector, but I have not had an HD tuner. I bought a tuner 4 years ago and used it for two weeks or so and it seemed to be a complete waste. I've been working out of town and had not had time to sort it out. I came to this forum this week to see what was being recommended these days so I could try again. Thanks to this thread, I got a great tuner for $90 and rat shack sold me a decent UHF antenna for $25.

After 6 hours of crawling through the fiberglass insulation in my attic to install the antenna in the only space without a brick wall in the way of the signal, I have 80-95 signal strength on all channels and am enjoying a sharp picture. I do hjave some dropouts that annoy me but I will continue to fine tune. The drop ou ts are very frequent on program changes. Not channel changes, but when the program changes from tv show to commercial, or from one TV show to the next. I'm not sure what that is about, but I will go nosing around the forum for info.

Anyway, thanks for this tip. I may even go buy a second one if I can find one in stock.
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post #57 of 752
9/8/05 at 11:24am
I am thinking about getting this but I am not sure if my Adelphia cable uses QAM or 8VSB for the unscrambled HD channels.

I just got a Zenith Z42PX2D plasma with built-in HD tuner (ASTC and QAM) and it found all the non-scrambled HD channels. Are these channels QAM or 8VSB? Any help would be greatly appreciated?
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post #58 of 752
9/8/05 at 12:42pm
For those that just purchased this and and are new to HDTV. If you have an audio setup with 5.1 speakers. Use one of the two DIGITAL AUDIO OUTPUTS.
Be sure to tune in your local ABC station tonight.
The NFL Kickoff 1-HOUR Pregame SHOW STARTS AT 8pm EASTERN
Pregame music performances by the Rolling Stones (from Detroit); Maroon 5 and Kanye West (from Los Angeles); and Green Day and Santana (from Foxborough, Mass.). Trisha Yearwood performs the national anthem. Host: Freddie Prinze Jr.
It should look fine and sound great!!!
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post #59 of 752
9/8/05 at 1:21pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by The4thDoctor View Post

I am thinking about getting this but I am not sure if my Adelphia cable uses QAM or 8VSB for the unscrambled HD channels.

I just got a Zenith Z42PX2D plasma with built-in HD tuner (ASTC and QAM) and it found all the non-scrambled HD channels. Are these channels QAM or 8VSB? Any help would be greatly appreciated?

The vast majority of cable systems use QAM not 8VSB. Very very very few are (were) passing through 8VSB for the locals. So ... I'd be willing to bet your cable system is using QAM.

The Zenith plasma would pick up 8VSB and QAM so ... you can't really tell from that.

Most TVs have a diagnostic screen that you can get into to tell if you're getting a channel via QAM or 8VSB. Not sure about the Zenith ... but I'd check that out.

You could also ask in your local forum:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=45
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post #60 of 752
9/8/05 at 2:02pm
is their away using the accurion set top box to determine the image resolution of the ota display,that is 480 720 or 1080.
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