I have cable, Cablevision. I have analog tv. This is what I know so far. I won't have to do anything because the cable company will continue to send analog signal after the change, but only for 2 more years. after 2 years, I assume the cable company will offer a converter box for a fee. I've applied for 2 coupons that the government is offering. I figured these converter boxes can be used not only for antenna conversion but also cable conversion as well, if they come with cable jacks. Does anybody know about if this will be possible, or will I be wasting money? Thank you in advance.
The converters are for OTA, not cable. Local channels are under FCC mandate to stay on analog cable until 2012. National channels have no mandate and can go digital whenever they want.
Thank you for your reply. I figured that signal is signal. Are you saying the OTA converter box and cable converter box will have incompatible eletronics for the conversion? Thank you.
Thank you and one last question. When the cable company stops sending the signal that my analog tv can use (maybe in 2012?), and the cable company starts charging a fee for their own version of converter box, will I have any choice? I bought my analog tv in 2003 and was hoping to die with it, lol. Anyway, thank you.
Do you have a dvd recorder or something with a digital tuner? I think you'd be able to receive digital signals using the dvd rec if the cable companies ever decide to completely switch over in 2012.
I haven't seen a DVD recorder with a QAM tuner, they may exist though. When the cable company decides to stop sending analog channels, only locals are mandated to stay until 2012, you will need some type of digital box or tuner. There's always satellite dishes too.
Thank you both for your reply. I may be in the market for dvr soon. By the way, my cheap Toshiba dvr shows "Disk may be dirty or damaged" message. I clean it with disk cleaner that has 2 small brushes on the bottom, and the dvr plays for 1 or 2 movies and then shows the same message. Do I need better cleaner or a new dvr? I will start looking for dvr with the tuner. Thank you again.
You need a recorder with a QAM tuner to get unscrambled digital cable channels. For scrambled channels you need a box from your provider. I did see a Toshiba recorder with QAM tuner yesterday.
You can open the recorder and clean the lens with a q-tip wet with alcohol. They don't usually get dirty unless you smoke or get a lot of dust. You'll have to pull the burner out and open it up.
Thank you. I will try cleaning the lense. I have some cleaning paper and liquid that I got for vcr cleaning. It is good to know that I won't have to be tied to the cable company for the converter box as well when all the changes are made. Again, thank you for the advices.