boxes. This prompted me to investigate the various market offerings
and repair the antenna system at my folks' place. I think I've found
what some on here may be looking for. After some research I settled on
the Zenith (LG, actually) DTT901. This does not appear to be the
cheapest box on the market with a retail price of $80 US (a $40
converter box coupon defrays half the cost).
I received mine on Friday, installed a new TV antenna on Saturday and
probably have a couple of hours of "play" time with the unit. This
unit is well suited for those of us using rotors who have access to
stations in two or more directions.
After the initial setup that includes settings such as language and
screen size (4:3 or 16:9), the unit will perform a channel scan on all
channels from 2 through 69 (I'm not sure if this is configurable since
scanning above channel 50 will be a waste of time in several months).
But, unlike other units I've read about, the DTT901 has an "EZ Add"
menu option that adds new found DTV channels to those that are already
listed. The result is a list that continually expands rather than
being replaced with each scan.
A couple of features that may be of interest to DXers are the signal
meter and manual tuning. The signal meter shown on-screen is made up
of four colored blocks with a progress bar shown over them.
Unfortunately, the legend only goes from "Bad" on the left to "Good" on
the right. In my short bit of testing yesterday, even if the signal
meter shows as high as the leftmost block but not quite bumping into
the second block, the unit shows "No signal" and a black screen. It
would be nice if the signal meter could display in dBm and if the
decoding threshold could be manually set. But then, this is a consumer
device and that is probably too much to expect.
The second item of interest is manual tuning. The DTT901 does allow
tuning outside its scan list. Simply enter the channel number from its
remote and the unit will attempt to tune it. Pressing the "Signal"
button on the remote brings up the signal meter so one can see if a DTV
stream is present at all. I was able to test this with KLKN yeterday
which showed a weak stream, but with no (apparent) usable strength.
This being a price targeted consumer device, it does have a few
shortcomings besides the simple signal meter. First, there are only
three manual controls on the box itself, power switch and Channel
Up/Down. It doesn't appear as though the menu or other functions can
be accessed without the included remote. Second is the remote. As
other reviews have stated, it is small as are its buttons. Labels for
some functions such as menu, signal, and zoom are printed with a very
low contrast silk screen and hard to read unless one is in good light.
Assuming that senior citizens may be among the users of this converter
box, the remote may make it difficult to operate at best (I'm 45 and
had to look at the thing carefully to see the labels). Third, the
output is NTSC or Composite Video only. While it would seem to make
little sense to include HDTV capability, this may be an issue for
someone looking for a manual tuning box if their HDTV set lacks that
feature.
Sensitivity appears to be good considering that the nearby DTV stations
are on temporary facilities. I was able to get KOLN, 10.1 and 10.2,
from Lincoln, NE (65 miles) without issue. KLKN, 8.1 and 8.2, (also
from Lincoln at the same distance and beam heading) only after sundown.
However, KLKN's UHF pattern has its null in our direction per FCC data.
Both stations will revert to their VHF channels upon the DTV cutover so
I expect 100% service after that date.
Regarding cutover date information, I found a site that has been
keeping up with the applications as TV stations wrestle with the
pending changeover:
From that site I found that KSNB from Superior, NE has applied, as of
August, to remain on channel 4 rather than transition to 34 as earlier
planned. I hope they get the waiver since nearby KHAS, Hastings, NE
will remain on channel 5 for DTV.
Another interesting tidbit gleaned from that site is that KMBC in
Kansas City has applied to go to 29 rather than remain on 9 after the
cutover citing VHF coverage issues and being the only VHF station in
the KC metro area. So this looks like a good site to keep up with last
minute changes as we enter the home stretch of the DTV conversion.
As for the DTV picture itself, outstanding. It is comparable to the
output from any of our DirecTV receivers. Even with a good analog
signal from KOLN, their DTV stream is a better picture with higher
contrast and excellent color balance. I'm now looking forward to the
DTV conversion.
73, de Nate >>
--
"The optimist proclaims that we live in the best of all
possible worlds. The pessimist fears this is true."
Ham radio, Linux, bikes, and more: http://n0nb.us/index.html
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