Zenith (LG) DTT900 CECB - Page 76

I have a Zenith DTT900 in my home office.

The antenna seen in the first photo is a Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna. (There are larger sized Staples models but the conductor is too large for the center hole in the Zenith's "in from antenna" fitting.) The Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna is priced at $2.99 for a box of 1,000 antennas. (Office Depot offers an indoor antenna of similar design priced at $3.99 for a box of 1,000 antennas.) To save space and maintain the low cost of packaging, the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna comes folded and packed loose in a small paperboard box.

Here are the set-up instructions for the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna:

1-Select and remove the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna from its box.

2-Unfold and straighten the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna, except for the last end-fold. That end-fold should be adjusted to a 90 degree angle, see the first photo for a correctly adjusted Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna.

3-Insert the shortest end of the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna into the "in from antenna" fitting on the Zenith.

During operation keep the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna from contacting other metal objects. Do not ground the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna. Do not use the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna (or an antenna of similar design) in circumstances where local or national codes require antenna grounding.

I am located line of sight less than five miles from the antenna farms in Portland Oregon. In my home-office, with windows facing the broadcast towers, the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna provides nearly the same signal strength as with other Zenith CECBs connected to a RCA ANT111 and a Philips SDV2270/17 elsewhere in the house.

The Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna may also be used as a paperclip when left in the folded position, see the second photo.

Ah, good picture, to see the exact positioning of the SSSIA. I guess it's assumed we will not use outdoors or near water, right? :-)

You are correct. I knew there was something I forgot to mention. Thank you! :-)

Addendum: I've just added a second photo to the original post for those interested in seeing the Staples #1 Standard-Sized Indoor Antenna in its original folded configuration.

What is that coming off near the top of your S1SSIA in the photo. Looks like string or another arm.

That is the "D" from the name "Dell" on the side of my computer.

Golly, the SSSIA photo does look confusing. Here is another photo that shows how simple it is to connect a DVD recorder. In this photo the Zenith DTT900 and the SSSIA are seen at the bottom of the photo to the left of center.

Eek!

DigaDo,

Have you considered having that SSSIA antenna gold plated? That should be good for at least another 10dB.

These antennas are amazing! I connected an off-brand SSSIA (you're just paying for the brand name anyway...) to my TR-40 and was able to receive almost every station I could with my $250 160" roof-top antenna setup.

I'm thinking about taking my huge roof-top antenna down now. Maybe I'll stop receiving death threats from the neighbors. Maybe.

I had purchased two DTT900s with my coupons before they expired at the end of May. I am actively using one of them and the other is still in the box. I got two coupons for my mother-in-law that expired 9/1/08. Before I used them, her second TV (first one is on cable) bit the dust. So I shredded one of the coupons and used the second to purchase a July build DTT901.

When I get around to it, I'll try the 900 and 901 on the coax input to my JVC DVDR and keep the one that works best. The other will go to my mother-in-law after XMas (the wife wants to buy her an "inexpensive" 32" LCD HDTV for XMas) for her "second" TV.

I couldn't find enough reason to purchase any other CECB than the DTT901, so I just went with what I know is a good CECB a couple of days before the coupons expired. BTW, the stack of DTT901s at my local CC store was huge. I get the feeling that most of the folks who understand the issue and need a STB for DTV have purchased a STB or bought a new TV. I think that future sales of the CECBs will be very slow until next February, when the procrastinators and unknowing discover that analog OTA TV no longer works. Just my 2 cents.

Yesterday at a Circuit City store in Bellevue, WA, a very large stack of DTT900 and DTT900 units. I wonder if CC will have a "close out" discount on the remaining stacks of the DTT900, or simply wait until the last-minute rush in February 2009?

I bought two of these at circuit city. They're great boxes.

My search skills are failing me tonight...

Can some kind soul please remind me how to program the DTT900 remote to turn my TV on/off?

I know you have to hold a button and press another button to search, but I forgot the combo! And I can't find the manual!

1-While pressing and holding down the TV POWER button, press the CH+ or CH- repeatedly until your TV is turned on or off.

2-Release TV POWER button when your TV is turned on or off.

Oh thank you! Now my GF won't kill me!

I'm going to attach a sticky note to the side of the TV *grin*

Press the TV Power button on the upper left of the remote and at same time press the CH button either up or down as you would change channels. If the TV is off, keep clicking the CH button until the TV turns On. Don't go too fast. If the TV is On then keep clicking until the TV goes Off. Then check again, click the TV Power and see if it works.

It's good to see a thread on the DTT900/901. Last week I received three of the DTT901 units and hooked two of them up (the third is a spare). Out where we are there are no "local" stations so not much to choose from, but the one station I receive reliably is very good on DTV.

While I've had good luck with Zenith TVs over the years, this is the first Zenith branded LG product I've gotten. Besides the oft mentioned small remote, the box itself is attractive and very easy to use. While I think I'll be satisfied with the DTT901, I'm curious if there are any other models that might be considered "better" especially in a weak signal environment such as I'm in.

The Zenith DTT901 is as good or better than others for use in your location. Looking at the map I see that you are some distance from population centers.

In your situation a good outdoor antenna is important. Have you visited tvfool.com or antennaweb.org and entered your zip code for information about what you might expect to receive?

That switch box next to the Zenith DTT900 and the SSSIA, to the bottom right of the picture, is that an A-B-C-D switch ? If so, what is the make and model ?

thanks.

The pictured switch is a Pelican HD System Selector PL970 purchased at Circuit City for less than $20 in June 2007. I have four DVD recorder composite outputs connected to it, with a single composite output to a Dynex LCD HD TV. (The Dynex also had a direct component feed from the Philips 3575 and a direct coax feed from Comcast.) The Pelican also has four S-Video inputs and a single S-Video output, three sets of component inputs and a single component output, and three network inputs and a single network output. Along the top are four buttons that switch the signals. Also included were one set of composite A/V and S-Video cables, one set of component cables and ten plastic snap-on nameplates for the front panel.

I found this item on the Circuit City website where it was listed in stock at my nearby CC store. I printed out the description and took it with me to the store. I couldn't find the product after searching the TV accessories section. Two sales associates, after looking in all the same places I looked, couldn't find it. Then, one of the associates found it in the Gaming accessories department.

Around here a town of 25,000 (Beatrice, NE) is the population center.


Yes. TVFool is fairly accurate, but not completely. For example it shows almost no chance to receive KAAS 18, but I receive it reasonably well.

Antennaweb is useless as it simply tells me there is no TV in my area. No duh! Rabbit ears don't even get taken out of the packing around here. Each of those sites are guesstimates at best and the only thing a person can do is try. TVFool would be a bit more accurate if antenna gain figures could be included.

I have a Winegard 7084P at about 50 feet with a new run of RG-6 (I wish I could find a combo antenna that is more rugged as a bird bent an element within 48 hours of installation ). At this point I'm holding off on a preamp until after the cutover to see how things turn out and once the siding project on the house is done I'll shorten the RG-6 some.

My clock setting is off by 1 hour on both my Zenith tuners on every station but one (where it is correct).

The listings of the shows in the guide are correct though. For instance, last night at 8:30 the guide for NBC from Richmond said SNL, and on NBC Charlottesville it said 9:30 SNL.

The time zone setting is correct.

My Samsung DVD recorder with tuner shows all the channels with the correct hour.

Set the Daylight Savings to On from Auto. That should fix the one hour time difference.

I thought that someone said the 900 doesn't have that feature. I'd be curious to know if it does or not. I know that it is available on the 901.

Please inform of the sixth gen.

I'll check when I return home tonight...although I'm wondering why all but 1 station would be an hour behind?

Does the Staples antenna receive VHF channels 6 through 13? Or is it strictly for UHF? It looks kinda small for VHF.
This is why I only connect two devices at a time (DVD on rear panel and VCR on front panel). It makes life simpler. Also my television only has two connections.

The 900 does not have the DST setting.

Thanks for confirming that.

I also noticed about a week ago that the time on my DTT900 was off by -1 hour (on all channels). I guess once we go off DST in a few weeks, it will be correct. Interesting.