So, I inherited a really big tv from a dead lady. I think it's probably upwards of ten years old but I really have no idea. The manufacturer is MGA with a little Mitsubishi symbol next to it, and there are no AV inputs. Maybe this will date it.
Anyway, the TV has never gone past channel 63. I didn't used to care because I didn't want to watch anything past 63, but last night Comcast mixed up all their channel numbers and now MTV and VH1 are BOTH in the seventies. OH THE HORROR!! As you can see, this is truly a life or death situation. ;-)
I cannot manually input anything past 63, nor can I scroll higher than that using the buttons on the actual TV or the remote. There is no autoprogram feature. I am unable to reach those channels even by using the add/remove channel function.
Is it possible that the TV is just so old that it doesn't receive higher channels? Even my mother's TV which is older than I am was able to go up to 99.
How MTV and VH1 could possibly be a life or death situation, or any kind of situation at all is beyond me. Is it on screen display? If it has electronic tuning, it can get the channels. Somewhere there is an antenna/cable select that needs to be set to cable.
Anonymous
Posted on
Thank you for your reply! I thought I made it clear that I was kidding about the life or death thing, but that's ok. : )
There is no on-screen display. We have been operating with it set to cable. When I switch the button to antenna, we can GET the high channels but the actual comcast cable doesn't come through - just snow.
Anonymous
Posted on
New information! The tv is a Mitsubishi CS-2642R, if this helps at all.
It doesn't matter what channel it says, if it has manual tuning, you can put any channel anywhere. Channel 2 can be channel 80 on your cable. The TV probably only holds 63 channels total. If it has manual tuning, you just have to select the band and hold the tuning up/down till you get to what you're looking for. It's a pain and pretty slow, but it can be done.
Ashley, That CS2642 is more like 15+ years old. That means the (quartz) tuner in your set only extends through (cable) chan 64. Back in those days, that was adequate to cover the cable channels available then. Sorry, you cannot tune any number above that (with the possible exception of channels 95 through 99).
My CS2667, now 16 years old, works this way, and I'm sure yours is the same.
Ashley in NM
Unregistered guest
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JOHN S!
What a bummer. That's exactly it - stops at 64 and then I can get 95 and 96, just as you said. I suspected that this might be the problem and that it might be time to just buy a new TV. LAME!
Is there any hope to do what David said above? I think that I was mistaken in my understanding about what "tuning" was, I assumed it was the process or adding/removing channels so that when you scroll up you can avoid numbers with no channels. If it's something different then can someone explain the process?
Also, if I hook up a VCR, put the TV on channel 3 and hit TV/VCR, will I be able to scroll through the channels using the VCR? Or will absolutely nothing higher than 64 come through no matter what?
Thank you so much for your help, John and David. At least if I know it can't be fixed, I will know that I wasn't missing something stupid and can therefore justify getting a new one.
You can use a VCR. To tune the channels on the TV, you need to go into tuning mode and use the up/down buttons till you get to the channel you want. There should be a switch or something to get into tuning mode. Unless it's really old it should have a 100+ channel tuner and be capable of receiving the channels. The channels aren't in all in order, they will drop back to lower channels, then go through them and start where they left off again. It's a long slow process. Just get into tuning mode and hold the up or down button till you get to what you want. There are 2 different bands too, it may automatically switch from one to the other when it gets to the end of one and you may have to do it manually. Don't worry about what channel the TV says, any channel number on the TV can be any cable channel you want. A VCR with autoprogramming would be far easier.
Ashley, I doubt very much whether you can tune or preset your TV channels to anywhere on the cable, as I'm 95% sure you have a quartz electronic tuner and not the older varactor tuner (usually with 14 presets or so). You are limited to the channel numbers already discussed. This being the case, you cannot manually tune across the cable frequency band as David suggests. True, you may have a "Manual/Auto" fine tuning mode with the accompanying "plus" and "minus" buttons. These are strictly for fine tuning individual channels should the need arise. As my owner's guide states "Manual fine tuning is occasionally necessary when the television signal frequency from cable, VCR or video games is slightly off. For normal use, the tuning mode switch should be set to the "Auto" position." The problem you're having is caused simply by the fact that the tuner in your TV is outdated and will not tune above the cable hyperband frequencies, which end with channel 64.
David is right, however about the use of a VCR. Any recent model VCR will have a more up to date tuner that will tune in cable channels up to 125. So that is your only practical alternative, other than paying for the cable company's set top converter box, if they offer it.
If it has an electronic tuner, any channel it's capable of receiving can be tuned on any channel number on the TV. This is true of the old manual tuners also.
David, what I'm trying to say is Ashley's tuner is not manual, and the point still remains that Ashley cannot tune in any cable channel above 64, manually or otherwise. Her TV's tuner, though considered "cable ready" in its day, simply doesn't have the frequency range to go higher. Period.
(The cable channels displayed of channels 95 thru 99 are actually in the mid-band [between VHF chan 6 and 7], along with cable channels 14 thru 22.)
Ashley in NM
Unregistered guest
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David and John:
Thank you so so so much for your invaluable assistance! Unfortunately, I have not been able to test the VCR method as my VCR is older than I am (at least 21, maybe older). But it makes good sense to me and I am sure it'll work.
Probably time to invest in some modern technology, eh?
Anyway, you guys have been really great. Knowing that I can't fix it is so much better than just being lost and confused with no help. Thanks again!!!
Ashley, You are welcome. You don't have to leave us as not all divisions of this forum are technical in nature. Feel free to start your own thread on the "Music" or "Movies" divisions for example, or respond to any other parts of this forum. There are benefits to regestering.
Best.
Really, a 21 year-old VCR? A $50 close-out VCR will solve your problem with channel reception.
