Calvin Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Basicially,with my local Cox Cable not offering either Fox or CBS in HD,I need to do something so I can get my local networks OTA.(It wasn't a problem because the issue was supposed to have been resolved months ago,but it looks like nothing will be done anytime soon) I really don't want to spend over $100 total because we will most likely be upgrading next year around tax time to a HDTV with a built-in tuner. I've done some searching & some people have suggested the old Voom boxes,but I've also been reading about some problems with those... Anyways,any ideas,tips,whatever will be appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeyN Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 We have a plain old regular Antenna on our roof which i use for the tv in my room , and i pick up all the local HD stations, along with a few that are not even on our cable or satellite. Was a surprise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlbertA Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 Check out http://www.antennaweb.org/ They have a comprehensive list of TV station locations and how far you are from them, if you are in the 15-20 mile radius (like me) you can use a regular $2-5 bow tie antenna. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Josh Posted September 5, 2006 Report Share Posted September 5, 2006 I think he meant in terms of cheap tuner recommendations. I bought one of the Voom receivers off of Ebay for about $75 with a Silver Sensor included. Works great. Just make sure you get one with an access card and one that wasn't canceled before being disconnected. You should be able to ask the seller if it's working for OTA. Mine works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMonkey Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 You can keep an eye out for compgeeks to get this back in stock. It's been a while. I've got one. LST-3510A http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=LST-3510A-R&sourceid=qIqiRP52vERHAknDZHga&cm_ven=CJ&cm_pla=0038388580&cm_ite=LST-3510A-R Someone was mass selling them on ebay a while back for $140+$10 shipping a few months ago. QAM OTA upscaling DVD (sucky IMO, I'm a Faroudja snob) Don't see any deals on them right now, though. An unactivated VOOM box is a good choice if you can snag one on ebay cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Daisy Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I remember reading at AVSforum a while back about some inexpensive HDTV tuners that were being sold by Walmart a year or so ago. I'll see if I can find anything about them. I was lucky, I picked up a Samsung OTA tuner a few years ago on clearance at Best Buy for $79 bucks and have it hooked up via Firewire to my PC for .ts HDTV recording. Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baiter Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 I use 2 of these on my mce pc. They work as described, and if you have an mce machine you can view tv over the 360. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Daisy Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 How well does the HDTV content stream over your network? Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baiter Posted September 6, 2006 Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 How well does the HDTV content stream over your network? Glen No problems at all on a 100Mb wired network. I only have the pc and the 360, and occasionally a wireless laptop, so I'm hardly pushing the limits. I should have a 2nd 360 running late next month, bump this thread or send me a pm and I'll let you know if it causes any problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted September 6, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 6, 2006 . An unactivated VOOM box is a good choice if you can snag one on ebay cheap. I thought that you needed an activated Voom box - I can use an unactivated one? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary P Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Baiter, You have me intrigued, gimme more info Mainly, I take it you can use the record feature of MCE as well as live TV and have it work nicely over the 360? EDIT:I noticed one of the user reviews mentioned having to use a powered USB hub to connect this to his PC as the built-in port didn't seem to supply enough power to the tuner. Did you run into this issue as well? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenMonkey Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 I thought that you needed an activated Voom box - I can use an unactivated one? Oops, meant un-deactivated, sorry. The ones that were still in use when VOOM went off the air were deactivated by VOOM. You need one that was activated, but not killed when VOOM died. Sorry for the confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baiter Posted September 7, 2006 Report Share Posted September 7, 2006 Baiter, You have me intrigued, gimme more info Mainly, I take it you can use the record feature of MCE as well as live TV and have it work nicely over the 360? EDIT:I noticed one of the user reviews mentioned having to use a powered USB hub to connect this to his PC as the built-in port didn't seem to supply enough power to the tuner. Did you run into this issue as well? I haven't had any problems w/ the devices other then reception issues, which I don't know if they're related to the devices or my antenna being in the attic. I don't have any other OTA tuners to make a comparison. The extender functionality on the 360 gives you a nearly identical interface as your mce pc. http://www.thegreenbutton.com has by far the most information on mce and it's functions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 I ended up getting a Voom box based on what I read here.Thanks,guys! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Daisy Posted September 12, 2006 Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 How much did that set you back? Eventually I might need a 3rd HD tuner in the house. Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calvin Posted September 12, 2006 Author Report Share Posted September 12, 2006 How much did that set you back? Eventually I might need a 3rd HD tuner in the house. Glen Bought off of ebay for $65. $80 with shipping. As soon as Cox cable offers CBS & Fox in HD though - then I'm going to turn around & get my money back Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.