Digital Converter Box

**pajeff02** · 10-18-2011, 06:19 PM

We signed up for cable at our other house and installed just a single television. Since my daughter goes down with us, she of course wants to watch crap that we just do not care for so another TV has become a necessity. I wired one up last weekend and found that we only get the first 21 channels or so. Apparently, another "box" is needed to receive the upper channels and I can rent one from the company for $3.95/month. I also see that you can buy "digital converter" boxes at Walmart and electronics stores for not a whole lot of money, but have no clue if this is what I need or if it will work with our company's service.

Our main TV at home has a box for the premium features, but all the other TV's work fine and receive all the channels we subscribe to. That's what has me confused and I do not care enough about TV to know anything about it. Will a generic box work or do I need to rent one from the company?

**Zapper2003** · 10-18-2011, 06:26 PM

Leave her home

**pajeff02** · 10-18-2011, 06:28 PM

^^ Win! I wish I could. Nothing worse than a whiney teenager!

**Smittro** · 10-18-2011, 06:31 PM

Comcast gave us 2 "mini" boxes for free for our other TV's.. Seems they are needed for other channels..

**Knight** · 10-18-2011, 07:45 PM

The digital convertor boxes are for converting the digital antenna signals to analog, for older tv's that don't have a built in digital tuner. They are only used if you use an antenna to pick up stations. I use one for one of my older big screens, but the newer flat screens don't need one. They are of no use if you have cable.

**Knight** · 10-18-2011, 07:47 PM

And I refuse to pay for tv, so I use an antenna to pick up the local stations. Last count, I get around 40 channels or so.

**02ragtop t/a** · 10-18-2011, 08:26 PM

My parents had to get the "basic" digital conversion box from Comcast. Each household is entitled to 2 free boxes. The boxes do NOT supply any of the premium channels, but you will get an "expanded" basic. More than enough for a Hormonal teenager hanging with her parents! (ICK) LOL You will need them even if you have new flat panel TV's.

**Knight** · 10-18-2011, 08:42 PM

To clarify, I was refering the digital convertor boxes that the stores carry, not the ones supplied by the cable company.

**pajeff02** · 10-19-2011, 03:17 AM

Hmmm. So looks like the cable company may be getting a few more bucks a month from me. Thanks for the clarification!

**tatertot91** · 10-19-2011, 03:42 AM

Get the one from walmart, they work great

**02ragtop t/a** · 10-19-2011, 10:47 AM

Like I said, the ones from the cable co. are FREE. Your cable bill should NOT go up at all.

**Smittro** · 10-19-2011, 11:05 AM

Originally Posted by 02ragtop t/a

Like I said, the ones from the cable co. are FREE. Your cable bill should NOT go up at all.

This... Our bill stayed the same...

**Knight** · 10-19-2011, 11:26 AM

It will all depend in the cable company you deal with. Some will provide the boxes free of charge. Others will charge rental when you tie in more than two tv's. Same with the dish companies. That's why I use an antenna. I don't have to pay anyone, and can tie in as many tv's as I want. If they don't have a digital tuner, I make the one-time purchase for the convertor at the store, and I'm done.

**pajeff02** · 10-19-2011, 11:30 AM

Pretty sure that I have to rent the second box from them. I'll read up on their site some more to be sure.

**02ragtop t/a** · 10-19-2011, 05:18 PM

Jeff, if you are dealing with comcast, then you are entotled to two free boxes. If you are dealing with Verizon Fios, you might have to ante up for the second box. Speaking of which, you should look into Fios for your other place, TV, phone and computer for 69.99 a month plus taxes, etc. It's a great deal, plus you get a LOT of HD channels with the install. My g/f has Fios in her apt. and it is frikkin awesome. She has a Samsung 46" LED Smart tv in the l/r and her old Sony 40" in her b/r. The l/r tv has all the HD channels while the b/r tv has a regular box (no hd) at NO EXTRA CHARGE. It's worth looking into dude, believe me.

**pajeff02** · 10-19-2011, 05:36 PM

It took me forever to figure out who the cable providor was in that area. Turns out it is Service Electric Cablevision -- based over by Scranton I believe. I am going to call them tomorrow and see what the story is.

**cpop98ws6** · 10-19-2011, 05:49 PM

We have service electric at our house, and only have one box on the main tv in the living room and the rest of the tvs are just hooked right up to the cable. Im pretty sure my dad has a splitter off the main cable coming in the house that feeds the other tvs.

**pajeff02** · 10-19-2011, 05:56 PM

Originally Posted by cpop98ws6

We have service electric at our house, and only have one box on the main tv in the living room and the rest of the tvs are just hooked right up to the cable. Im pretty sure my dad has a splitter off the main cable coming in the house that feeds the other tvs.

Well... sheet. I know I tried the different input settings on the TV and couldn't get anything higher than channel 21 to tune in. I thought it was odd as our cable at home works the same as yours. No boxes on all the other TV's and they work just fine.

**JonB** · 10-20-2011, 03:24 PM

And this is how they are ripping everyone off on top of everything they were doing before digital. I know comcast gives two free after that its $3.95 a month. Crap pisses me off with this forced digital tv if the cable companies and the government are going to force us to go to digital I should not be charged a monthly fee to watch digital that I did not previously have to pay. I could get all the cable channels(that I subscribed to) on all the tvs in my house(5 tv's total) now I have to pay an extra $12 more a month to get the same channels on all my tv's WTF!

**pajeff02** · 10-20-2011, 04:37 PM

Ok, talked to a rep today and they say that I might need a Digital Transport Adapter (DTA). This converts the digital signal so that older TV's can tune in the upper stations. Strange that the TV worked fine on our digital cable at home, but not with SECV. Good news is that the boxes are free, you just don't get all the on screen features of the other boxes which is no big deal to us.