topic Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters in Electronics

Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:03:42 GMT

I have very basic tv service with a cable company. They are nickel and dime-ing me by charging a ridiculous monthly fee for a digital adapter (DTA).

Does anyone know if I can purchase a digital adapter on my own from a retail store such as Best Buy for a one-time charge, hook it up myself and get a good picture? Or is the cable company's digital adapter only compatible with its own service? I don't really understand these things.

Thanks.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

glb613 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:07:05 GMT

You have an old tube type TV?

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

10sluvr — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:21:48 GMT

back when they were making the switch, i got two vouchers and used them at best buy. i bet target would have them too. maybe one of you friends would have one, if they have bought a digital tv, that doesn't need converter box. craig's list, e-bay, amazon, too. a new, inexpensive tv would solve problem too. these converter boxes aren't for receiving cable feeds.

i have 2 tvs, that i use them on. just local channels,pbs and a couple of religious ones. i added bigger rabbit ears, too. we had a basic cable, on one tv and it wasn't too much, but then cable co. converted to all digital programming. they gave us new boxes,free for 1 yr. that will probably be too expensive, when the year is up.

as far as i know, cable co. offers what works best for there systems. i don't know too much either

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:29:14 GMT

On 2/20/2015 glb613 said:
You have an old tube type TV?

I have a flat screen HD tv.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:30:34 GMT

Oh, I'm not talking about the larger converter box. I'm talking about the small digital adapter. They're not the same thing.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

lovescats — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:51:04 GMT

I would ask your cable company. I don't think Comcast allows you to because they require the boxes now because people would just move into places and get free basic service by connecting the cable and not calling for service.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 00:55:30 GMT

On 2/20/2015 lovescats said: I would ask your cable company. I don't think Comcast allows you to because they require the boxes now because people would just move into places and get free basic service by connecting the cable and not calling for service.

I did ask my cable company just for the heck of it. Naturally they said it wouldn't work if I purchased the adapter on the outside.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

glb613 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:03:34 GMT

On 2/20/2015 Justina rae said:
On 2/20/2015 glb613 said:
You have an old tube type TV?

I have a flat screen HD tv.

If you have a flat screen HD TV, you don't need an adapter.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Bird mama — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:07:46 GMT

In my experience with WOW and Comcast - a receiver is required for premium channels such as HBO, etc. Each cable company has a proprietary receiver. I have ditched premium channels and all ability to DVR (but I kept a VCR) and connected the cable directly to my TV. I was able to get channels like TBS, USA, A&E, etc. I did all of this because at the time I didn't have digital TVS.

Now that I have new digital TVs, I kicked all of it to the curb and get my tv over an RCA antenna that I bought from Walmart.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:07:50 GMT

On 2/20/2015 glb613 said:
On 2/20/2015 Justina rae said:
On 2/20/2015 glb613 said:
You have an old tube type TV?

I have a flat screen HD tv.

If you have a flat screen HD TV, you don't need an adapter.

I asked my cable company what would happen if I just removed the adapter. They said I wouldn't get any reception at all. I've been reading a little bit on-line about digital adapters and they talk about encryption. Perhaps my cable company encrypts the signal somehow so that I need THEIR adapter in order to receive their signal?????

At some point I will unhook the adapter to see exactly what happens but for now I don't want to completely mess things up.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:10:29 GMT

On 2/20/2015 Bird mama said:
In my experience with WOW and Comcast - a receiver is required for premium channels such as HBO, etc. Each cable company has a proprietary receiver. I have ditched premium channels and all ability to DVR (but I kept a VCR) and connected the cable directly to my TV. I was able to get channels like TBS, USA, A&E, etc. I did all of this because at the time I didn't have digital TVS.

Now that I have new digital TVs, I kicked all of it to the curb and get my tv over an RCA antenna that I bought from Walmart.

I have very basic service, just network channels and a few cable channels. No premium service and I don't have a DVR. I don't watch a lot of tv and don't want to pay for things I don't need or watch so I'm just looking for other options to save on things like a monthly charge for a digital adapter. Seems so absurd.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Bird mama — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:15:33 GMT

Justina - are you confident enough with your tv to experiment? I am just assuming here that there is a cable that came through the wall from the outside of your house that must be connected to some adapter then connected to the back or side edge of your tv.

Try removing the adapter and connecting the cable directly. Make sure the TV is off when you do it - you will not damage your tv. See what happens when you just hook the cable without the adapter.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:18:59 GMT

Bird mama, I'd rather find someone a bit more knowledgeable than me to try disconnecting and reconnecting. The digital adapter has 3 cables coming out of it and the connections look a bit more complicated than I'm comfortable with.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Bird mama — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:20:52 GMT

Justina I get it

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

lovescats — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:25:04 GMT

If you try with Comcast it won't do anything. A screen will just show call Comcast xfinity for service with a phone number.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:28:44 GMT

On 2/20/2015 lovescats said: If you try with Comcast it won't do anything. A screen will just show call Comcast xfinity for service with a phone number.

I have twc.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

glb613 — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 01:37:45 GMT

On 2/20/2015 Justina rae said:
On 2/20/2015 glb613 said:
On 2/20/2015 Justina rae said:
On 2/20/2015 glb613 said:
You have an old tube type TV?

I have a flat screen HD tv.

If you have a flat screen HD TV, you don't need an adapter.

I asked my cable company what would happen if I just removed the adapter. They said I wouldn't get any reception at all. I've been reading a little bit on-line about digital adapters and they talk about encryption. Perhaps my cable company encrypts the signal somehow so that I need THEIR adapter in order to receive their signal?????

At some point I will unhook the adapter to see exactly what happens but for now I don't want to completely mess things up.

Are you talking about a cable box? That's not what I call an adapter.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 02:34:53 GMT

Glb, see my post #4. No it's not the cable converter box which is about a foot long and a couple inches high. It's the very small digital adapter which is about 3" x 3" x 1" high. When I downgraded my service from Standard to Basic they took away the converter box and replaced it with the digital adapter.

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

GSPgirl — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 02:37:38 GMT

My friend uses a digital antenna and receives 15 channels. Is that what you are referring to?

Re: Re: TV Digital Adapters

Justina rae — Sat, 21 Feb 2015 02:40:41 GMT

On 2/20/2015 Q2girl said: My friend uses a digital antenna and receives 15 channels. Is that what you are referring to?

I don't know Q2girl. I only know of rabbit ear antennas that sit on top of the tv - like in the olden days - and I know those won't work where I live.