Interesting little problem...

[jup]

Ugh...I set up the VHS/DVD recorder for the last wednesday's airing of KR. Decided to go with the HD broadcast, since that comes through all sharp and clear. Alas, the recorder is now old school technology that doesn't have the ability to pick up these new HD channels. Solution is the converter box. In the solution, lay the problem. The darn thing has a stand by mode. Seems that it also likes to return to this stand by mode when the machine it's hooked into isn't on, or something weird like that. I can't leave the VCR turned on. The timer won't work, then. And, I can't manually operate the recorder. Work's at that point in time.

Guess I'll either have to rely on web cast or switch the wiring around to pick up original broadcasts...at least, until they stop at around march/april.

[Sue]

You need to get a converter box that looks like KITT
I had some trouble with it powering down at first, but found you can turn off the sleep setting.
My recording last Wednesday was going well until a fuse blew.
Good thing for us they are reairing the first and second episodes Saturday.

[KITTfan]

Perhaps the converterbox has timer too so it would start itself from the stand-by mode when programmed to do so, just like the VHS recorder?

[jup]

And, here I am, tuned into the HD NBC broadcast version of the weather channel.

Perhaps, there is a sleep timer on the thing. I've used it so little, since I haven't been recording any television and soon after picking the thing up, I decided to upgrade the ancient Commodore 1702 monitor with a Vizio 26 inch HDTV. However, I got to hand it to NBC to give the show two airings a week. This saturday rerun AND web cast might be my ticket.

Heh, that's a new one. Laser generated object creation. For that 21'st century Trek synthesizer/replicator. But, I don't know about driving down the road during a chase at 110 MPH while video conferencing, staring at the "Red eye" for thirty seconds at a time and checking out the MapQuest in pop up windows in front of the road. Pushes the plot AND the action, but I bet it'll push some buttons with some folks, too. After all, here in Caifornia, they put the thumb screws on driving while using cel-phones. This goes well beyond the lack of use of seat belts.

KITT's whole body is now a monitor? Well, another idea of mine, brought forth.

Does that Insignia box...move it's light like a cylon?

[seeker78]

you guys should know that those converter boxes do NOT output HDTV. They are fine for hooking up to an analog VCR, which can't record in HD, but they won't output HDTV.

You see, if you're using an analog TV , it is not capable of displaying HDTV. It displays normal TV resolution, 400 lines or roughly VGA resolution 640 x 480, aka "480p".

High Definition Television is either 720p or 1080p. 720p is 1280x720 pixels, or twice the resolution of a normal analog TV. Your computer monitor can display this, but your analog TV can't.

What the converter box does is take the digital signal, which is likely coming in at 720p or 1080p, and produces a normal TV signal that an analog TV can understand. This will result in the most crystal clear signal you have ever seen on that analog TV ,but it is still NOTHING compared to the greatness of HDTV!!!

Your local networks are broadcasting high definition for free, which you can get with an antenna, but you need a display device that can actually show HDTV.

If you want to see High Definition, you need one of two things:

(1) an actual HDTV like this

Sharp HDTV

This thing is actually capable of displaying 1080p.

(2) an HDTV tuner, which you can hook up to a computer monitor.

Samsung HDTV Tuner

Samsung makes the only monolithic HDTV tuner out there. This box takes the HDTV signal that is being broadcast by your local network stations and produces a high resolution output designed to be displayed on a computer monitor. Your monitor needs to have an HDMI connection. If it is an older monitor, it will probably have a VGA or DVI connector. If so, you need an adapter to use this tuner.

HDMI to DVI-D adapter

DVI-D to VGA adapter

(actually you might need a DVI-D gender changer to use these two lol)

--Brian

[Sky_Blue_Civic]

Does that Insignia box...move it's light like a cylon?

I don't think it does,but I wish I had that box!Instead,someone bought me one from GE. And the second reason I'm not a big fan of the insignia one is because it doesn't support smart antennas and doesn't support surround sound.But I'd still want one because it looks like KITT! *wishes she had the "KITT" converter box*

[Sue]

Does that Insignia box...move it's light like a cylon?

No it doesn't

you guys should know that those converter boxes do NOT output HDTV. They are fine for hooking up to an analog VCR, which can't record in HD, but they won't output HDTV.
--Brian

Thanks Brian, I knew, I'm too poor for Cable or an HDTV.
Its nice to see some many others with boxes too.
Here I thought I was the only one who had to take the government up on their nice offer to give you a box or lose your bunny eared reception forever.

[MikeLutton]

You need to get a converter box that looks like KITT
I had some trouble with it powering down at first, but found you can turn off the sleep setting.
My recording last Wednesday was going well until a fuse blew.
Good thing for us they are reairing the first and second episodes Saturday.

how did u do that to your converter did u paste kitt scanne on there where do i get one of those

[Sue]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 9166340855
Here's where I got mine, the light turns blue when you turn it on.
Be sure to get your 40 dollar off coupons from good old uncle sam first.
https://www.dtv2009.gov/

Here's a little public service announcement just in case anyone missed it.

At midnight on February 17, 2009, all full-power television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting in analog and switch to 100% digital broadcasting. Digital broadcasting promises to provide a clearer picture and more programming options and will free up airwaves for use by emergency responders.
What is the TV Converter Box Coupon Program?
Congress created the TV Converter Box Coupon Program for households wishing to keep using their analog TV sets after February 17, 2009. The Program allows U.S. households to obtain up to two coupons, each worth $40, that can be applied toward the cost of eligible converter boxes.
A TV connected to cable, satellite or other pay TV service does not require a TV converter box from this program.

Consumers have a variety of options. Options to explore include:
Keep your existing analog TV and purchase a TV converter box. A converter box plugs into your TV and will keep it working after Feb. 17, 2009, or
Connect to cable, satellite or other pay service, or
Purchase a television with a digital tuner.

[jup]

Those credit card....I mean coupons, are sweet. They cut almost all the price of a base converter model off and are the most secure looking "coupon" I have ever seen. Ashame the offer is limited to two cards per family.

As for the price of true HDTV's, I can understand. When I went looking, I was thinking 15" flat screen. Meh! I didn't want to spend close to three hundred for a monitor that small. I don't recall the official price, but it seems like finding the 26" model held such a small gap that I easily decided to go for it. Then again, it was pay day and the store credit was all paid up, which helped a lot.

Now, I got to see if they even make a combo DVD/VHS for High Definition. Keep forgetting to check.

[FuzzieDice]

My Zenith DTV converter box is totally KITT'ed out! It not only has red but BLUE! No the light doesn't do a cylon.

[jup]

Ahh...this converter box does have a menu selection for auto off 1/2/4/none.

Now, why it should even have this feature has me wondering if they are woried that these have some sort of quick burn out risk for being left on, constantly.

I also got around to seeing about upgrading the recorder to true HDTV. Seems that Blu-Ray won the so-called next generation war for movie players over HD-DVD. And, they may not yet make a commercial grade recorder. But, at least, I can make my own low grade DVD's of KR episodes. That is, presuming this Beta program run recorder doesn't screw up while writing one of the episodes, turning the entire disc into yet another table coaster.

[FuzzieDice]

jup - I wonder that too about leaving it on. I mean when mine is "off", it's red light is still on. And when I turn it on, the light goes blue. So it's really on "standby" the whole time the red light is on. I never had any trouble with that being on all the time.

And what if you're watching TV for like a few hours? Will it just suddenly just turn off? How does it know you're actually watching?

It does seem odd to me, too. Though I never tested mine for the same anomaly. All I know is hit the TV button to turn on TV. Hit the power button to turn on the converter box and watch. My converter box remote also has a programmable TV on/off button.

[Kitzira]

I wouldn't be to surprised if these DTV converter boxes are heat producers.. Seems like alot technology is going that way now. Heat Sink.. wha? If you've ever been around a PS3 or 360, you'll know you can make a grilled cheese sandwich with the thing.

And it never fails that someone puts a magazine ontop or stuffs one of these heatboxes into a tiny enclosed entertainment center and it overheats, creating a fire hazard.

[seeker78]

Now, I got to see if they even make a combo DVD/VHS for High Definition. Keep forgetting to check.

I'm waiting for that myself!

They don't have it in the USA market yet...they have them in Australia and Japan (panasonic et al.)

You can always set up your PC to get HD signals and record them on your hard drive, then write that to DVDs or blu ray discs. See MythTV (or you could do it with Windows XP Media Center Edition)

--Brian

[jup]

Left the tuner box in the "on" position for weeks. Had no problems at all.