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What's the Scoop on Those New Digital TV Converter Boxes?
High
Tech Handyman has tested the Digital Stream model DTX9950 analog to
digital converter box. Below is the results of that testing as well as the
performance of the old analog TV system for comparison. Long story short,
you can indeed have FREE TV with crystal clear reception! ---pete---
DIGITAL CONVERTER BOX TV RECEPTION
- DIGITAL STREAM DXT9950
Using a large outdoor VHF/UHF antenna with a mast mounted antenna booster of 20
db gain.
Antenna is located in Fieldsboro, NJ and pointed at NY where the Twin Towers
used to be.
Antenna is 25 miles from Philadelphia, PA and 60 miles from New York City, NY
(transmitters).
|
♥ |
TV CHANNEL COUNT |
FREQUENCY COUNT |
TV CHANNEL |
ANTENNA BAND |
TRANSMITTER LOCATION |
CALL SIGN |
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION |
|
x |
1 |
1 |
3-1 |
VHF |
PA |
KYW-DT |
Network CBS |
|
x |
2 |
2 |
6-1 |
VHF |
PA |
WPVI-HD |
Network ABC |
|
x |
3 |
2 |
6-2 |
VHF |
PA |
WPVI-SD |
Network ABC + OTHER |
|
|
4 |
2 |
6-3 |
VHF |
PA |
WPVI-WX |
ABC Weather |
|
x |
5 |
3 |
10-1 |
VHF |
PA |
WCAU-DT |
Network NBC |
|
|
6 |
3 |
10-2 |
VHF |
PA |
NBC-WX |
NBC Weather |
|
x |
7 |
4 |
17-1 |
UHF |
PA |
WPHL-DT |
Phili 17 |
|
|
8 |
4 |
17-2 |
UHF |
PA |
WPHL-DT2 |
Phili 17 (blank) |
|
x |
9 |
5 |
29-1 |
UHF |
PA |
WTXF-DT |
Network FOX 29 |
|
x |
10 |
6 |
35-1 |
UHF |
PA |
WYBE-DT |
BBC/EURO |
|
|
11 |
7 |
47-1 |
UHF |
NJ |
WNJU-DT |
CH47 (spanish) |
|
|
12 |
7 |
48-1 |
UHF |
NJ |
WGTW-D1 |
CH48 (religous) |
|
|
13 |
7 |
48-2 |
UHF |
NJ |
WGTW-D2 |
CH48 (religous) |
|
|
14 |
7 |
48-3 |
UHF |
NJ |
WGTW-D3 |
CH48 (religous music) |
|
|
15 |
7 |
48-4 |
UHF |
NJ |
WGTW-D4 |
CH48 (spanish) |
|
|
16 |
7 |
48-5 |
UHF |
NJ |
WGTW-D5 |
CH48 (religous-kids) |
|
x |
17 |
8 |
52-1 |
UHF |
NJ |
WNJT-DT |
NJ 52 |
|
x |
18 |
8 |
52-3 |
UHF |
NJ |
NJN-3 |
NJ 52 |
|
x |
19 |
8 |
52-4 |
UHF |
NJ |
NJN-4 |
NJ 52 |
|
x |
20 |
9 |
57-1 |
UHF |
NJ |
WPSG-DT |
CW CH57 |
|
x |
21 |
10 |
58-1 |
UHF |
NJ |
WNJB-DT |
NJN CH58 |
|
x |
22 |
10 |
58-3 |
UHF |
NJ |
NJN-3 |
NJN CH58 |
|
x |
23 |
10 |
58-4 |
UHF |
NJ |
NJN-4 |
NJN CH58 |
|
|
24 |
11 |
65-1 |
UHF |
NJ |
WUVP-DT |
CH65 (spanish) |
|
|
25 |
11 |
65-2 |
UHF |
NJ |
WFPA |
CH65 (spanish) |
x's above indicate favorite programs I'll watch often.
Summary of the new Digital Reception
I'm getting 25 TV Channels on 11 different frequencies in both the VHF and UHF bands. 15 TV Channels are ones I'll actually watch which require both VHF and UHF Antennas All channels are coming in with a crystal clear picture and good sound.
The DIGITAL STREAM DXT9950 converter box was simple to setup. After initially hooking up the cables and turning the unit on, a setup wizard took me through the setup procedure and in about 3 minutes it was done scanning and detecting all the channels.
Operation of the converter box is all done via the remote. There are no front panel controls or displays other than the power LED. Everything is displayed on the TV screen. The most useful features on the remote are the METER (shows current CH signal strength), EPG (shows current CH TV schedule), Vol+/Vol- (adjusts volume level), MUTE (toggle sound ON/OFF), and A/D (toggle between Digital TV and the old Analog TV)
The remote also had a FAV button. In the MENU system it allows you to EDIT the channels to select any channels to be on the Favorites list. The FAV button will then cycle through all your favoite channels. Very nice feature.
Overall, the DIGITAL STREAM DTX9950 is a very good product and works well.
Old Analog TV Versus New Digital TV
The difference between the old analog system and then new digital system is dramatic. I'm now getting 8 more channels than before and all are crystal clear instead of most being snowy with other interference and ghosting.. Of my favorite channels that I watch frequently, I now have 14 Channels which is 4 more than I had before.
For details on the old Analog system, see the section below.
---pete---
ANALOG SIGNAL TV RECEPTION (Old technology using Antenna only) Using a large outdoor VHF/UHF antenna with a mast mounted antenna booster of 20 db gain. Antenna is located in Fieldsboro, NJ and pointed at NY where the Twin Towers used to be. Antenna is 25 miles from Philadelphia, PA and 60 miles from New York City, NY (transmitters).
|
♥ |
CHANNEL COUNT |
TV CHANNEL |
PICTURE QUALITY |
OTHER QUALITY ISSUES |
ANTENNA BAND |
TRANSMITTER LOCATION |
CALL SIGN |
PROGRAM DESCRIPTION |
|
|
1 |
3 |
x |
Interference |
VHF |
PA |
KYW |
Network CBS PA |
|
x |
2 |
4 |
xxxx |
Interference |
VHF |
NY |
WNBC |
Network NBC NY |
|
x |
3 |
5 |
xxx |
Interference |
VHF |
NY |
WNYW |
Network FOX NY |
|
x |
4 |
6 |
xxx |
Interference |
VHF |
PA |
WPVI |
Network ABC PA |
|
|
5 |
7 |
xx |
|
VHF |
NY |
WABC |
Network ABC NY |
|
x |
6 |
9 |
xxx |
|
VHF |
NJ |
WWOR |
Network WOR NJ |
|
|
7 |
10 |
xxx |
|
VHF |
PA |
WCAU |
Network NBC PA |
|
x |
8 |
12 |
xxxxx |
|
VHF |
DE |
WHYY |
Network PBS |
|
x |
9 |
17 |
xxxx |
Ghosting |
UHF |
PA |
WPHL |
Phili17 |
|
x |
10 |
25 |
xxxx |
|
UHF |
NJ |
WZBN |
NJ Mercer Co. |
|
|
11 |
35 |
xxx |
Ghosting |
UHF |
PA |
WYBE |
PA CH35 |
|
|
12 |
48 |
xxx |
Ghosting |
UHF |
NJ |
WGTW |
NJ CH48 |
|
x |
13 |
52 |
xxxxx |
|
UHF |
NJ |
WNJT |
NJ CH52 |
|
x |
14 |
57 |
xxxx |
Ghosting |
UHF |
PA |
WPSG |
PA CH57 |
|
x |
15 |
58 |
xxxx |
|
UHF |
NJ |
WNJB |
NJ CH58 |
|
|
16 |
61 |
xx |
|
UHF |
DE |
WPPX |
DE CH61 (spanish) |
|
|
17 |
65 |
xxx |
|
UHF |
NJ |
WUVP |
NJ CH65 (spanish) |
x's above indicate favorite programs I'll watch often.
|
PICTURE QUALITY LEGEND |
|
|
xxxxx |
Clear |
|
xxxx |
Slightly snowy |
|
xxx |
Snowy |
|
xx |
Very snowy - watchable |
|
x |
Very Snowy- unwatchable |
Summary of Old Analog TV Reception
With the old analog TV and Antenna setup I was getting 17 TV Channels from both the VHF and UHF bands. Only a couple of TV Channels were coming in clear with no other quality issues. The majority of TV channels were snowy and had other quality issues such as lines running through the picture or ghosting.
Happy & Safe Computing!
Any questions?
---pete---
HIGH TECH HANDYMAN
609-291-1119
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