Since we are post-DTV Transition:

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-HAMLIN-CATV-CABLE-CONVERTER-BOX-CRX-5000-2-/220652159161?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item335fe4c0b9#ht_1019wt_913

http://chicago.craigslist.org/nwi/ele/1974350941.html

Not at all if your system has gone digital. These are old, probably 42 channel boxes.

These will work only if your cable provider still offers analog delivery. Also, like what has already been said, these probably don't go higher than the 40's. For years, many "cable ready" TV's didn't go higher than 36. Then, cable companies started adding more channels, which made it necessary to produce TV's, VCR's, and cable boxes that would go higher.

If your CATV provider offers digital only delivery, the only thing these will be good for will be a paperweight.

I have an old Jerrold 36 channel click style pushbotton box and a few of the digital readout boxes that only go up into the 40's and 50's. They still can be used, since we still have analog cable service; but, they will not receive all channels (our service goes up into the upper 60's).

Question: I just connected a cable cord into my 2005 LCD digital set and plugged it directly into the cable outlet on the wall (no box). I got channels 2-31 (minus a few channels in-between). For any old analog TV, specifically one with 300-ohm screw terminals and not cable-ready, can I attach the cable cord to the TV Balun (300-ohm transformer) and then plug it into the cable outlet and get channels 2-13, or VHF?

Yes, you should be able to receive channels 2-13 if you connect the cable feed directly to a non-cable ready set. I use the rotary tuner in my '79 Zenith for channels 2-13 on the cable. If I want to watch anything above 13, I select channel 4 on the TV and use the VCR's cable ready tuner for the higher channels.

I have Comcast basic analog cable and am able to just use a 75-300 balun for all of my vintage TVs to get channels 2-13 :)

I have Comcast basic analog cable and am able to just use a 75-300 balun for all of my vintage TVs to get channels 2-13 :)

So does this imply that the VHF rotary tuner can still be used to change channels? If so, can I also attach the 75-300 Balun to the UHF to get channels 14-83 (or 51 for some sets)?

we still get channels 2 through 76 on basic analog cable.

time warner cincinatti.

you gotta be careful with those analog cable boxes though.

I have found that the channel-to-frequency mapping changes as you start getting higher in the channels on those boxes. compared to modern cable-ready sets.

we still get channels 2 through 76 on basic analog cable.

time warner cincinatti.

You'd think that Chicago, the vintage electronics capital of the country, would offer me more channels on basic analog cable.

you gotta be careful with those analog cable boxes though.

I have found that the channel-to-frequency mapping changes as you start getting higher in the channels on those boxes. compared to modern cable-ready sets.

But if I plug my 1974 RCA directly into the cable outlet on my wall (no box) using a 300-ohm transformer/balun, can I use the VHF rotary tuner to change channels 2-13 or do I have to use some other type of remote control?

as long as you have analog, yes...

as long as you have analog, yes...

That's good to hear (I do have analog). I love using those rotary tuners.

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Not exactly. Cable channels 14+ are on different frequencies than UHF. Cable channels 14-64 fill the gaps between VHF channel 6 and 7, and VHF 13 and UHF 14. UHF channel 14 roughly corresponds to cable channel 65. If your cable system has analog channels that high, they will come in on a UHF dial.

But should I be able to at least get a few channels if I connect the TV Balun to the UHF screws (whether they correspond to the correct cable channel or not)?

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Only if your system has analog cable channels in the 65-125 range. Even then, it doesn't work well because older UHF tuners aren't as selective as VHF tuners.

I get 2-31 (minus a few channels in-between), 70, 96, and 98. So could I possibly get a few channels?

The one caveat about cable hookups these days is that a few of the systems out there are entirely digital. If that is the case, you won't see anything but "hypersnow" on an analog set, and no converter (other than one rented from the cable company) can fix it.
More common is what one very large CATV corporation is doing - offering only some of the programs available over-the-air (the ".1" channels) in analog.
If your cable system offers many channels in analog (you can test this by plugging the cable into a "BPC" set made from the late '80s to 2005).
For analog cable systems using the midband and superband channels, there is one really cheap solution for using an old "knob" set - a used VCR. Nearly all VCRs newer than about 1989 have a cable-ready tuner, simply leave the TV on channel 3 (or 4) and use the VCR tuner for changing channels. Now that so many people are using DVDs for movies and TiVos for timeshifting, VCR are abundant and selling for about $7 at thrift stores.

The one caveat about cable hookups these days is that a few of the systems out there are entirely digital. If that is the case, you won't see anything but "hypersnow" on an analog set, and no converter (other than one rented from the cable company) can fix it.
More common is what one very large CATV corporation is doing - offering only some of the programs available over-the-air (the ".1" channels) in analog.
If your cable system offers many channels in analog (you can test this by plugging the cable into a "BPC" set made from the late '80s to 2005).
For analog cable systems using the midband and superband channels, there is one really cheap solution for using an old "knob" set - a used VCR. Nearly all VCRs newer than about 1989 have a cable-ready tuner, simply leave the TV on channel 3 (or 4) and use the VCR tuner for changing channels. Now that so many people are using DVDs for movies and TiVos for timeshifting, VCR are abundant and selling for about $7 at thrift stores.

I have a VCR from around 1998 that we haven't used since we replaced the 27" CRT in our basement with a Samsung LCD in late 2007. I'm going to hook that up to another unused set in our basement and see if it still works. If so, I could probably just it hook up to my old TV with the knobs.

Ok. So I hooked up the VCR to a newer (5-year-old) set with a digital tuner just to test it. Surprisingly enough, the VCR didn't need to be plugged in for the TV to get a signal.

One very strange thing I noticed was that I get less channels with the VCR. When I use the VCR to change channels, I only get channels 2-19, while when I use the TV to change channels, I get channels 2-31, 70, 96, and 98.

Does anyone know why that might be?

If you have the remote for the VCR, bring up the on screen menu. There should be an option to scan for channels. Once you perform a channel scan, the VCR should receive the same channels as the TV that you used as a test.

MW,

Your VCR probably only has an ATSC tuner for over-the-air and a NTSC tuner for the now-gone cable world giving you the 2-19 world. Cable clear channels are QAM which is probably in your set tuner along with the NTSC/ATSC tuner when you bypass the VCR giving you the upper channels. VCR tuner fair, set tuner better. And the added few analog channels still sent by cable will appear.

My Phila Comcast system is mostly digital but the locals are still analog and QAM HD, including sub-channels, (very good compared to what a digi box does to the signal in pure digital) and a bunch of useless other channels in NTSC. I do get a bunch of music channels though. All this on a Sony XBR960 HD glass set with the NTSC/ATSC and clear-QAM tuner via the basic Comcast delivery to that set.

All that said, I have the Comcast mini-box on my other two relics. They do look ok but the audio is low on both.

MW,

Your VCR probably only has an ATSC tuner for over-the-air and a NTSC tuner for the now-gone cable world giving you the 2-19 world. Cable clear channels are QAM which is probably in your set tuner along with the NTSC/ATSC tuner when you bypass the VCR giving you the upper channels. VCR tuner fair, set tuner better. And the added few analog channels still sent by cable will appear.

My Phila Comcast system is mostly digital but the locals are still analog and QAM HD, including sub-channels, (very good compared to what a digi box does to the signal in pure digital) and a bunch of useless other channels in NTSC. I do get a bunch of music channels though. All this on a Sony XBR960 HD glass set with the NTSC/ATSC and clear-QAM tuner via the basic Comcast delivery to that set.

All that said, I have the Comcast mini-box on my other two relics. They do look ok but the audio is low on both.

Actually, I scanned for channels on the VCR when it was set to "CATV" and got channels 2-31, 70, 96, and 98.

My neighbors recently talked about how they no longer receive channels 2-99 with basic cable (They only got about 15 channels or so). They had to buy a separate box in order to get the additional channels.

Could this be why I'm only getting a certain amount of channels? Do I need that digital cable converter box to get all channels 2-99 now?


Either way, I'm pretty glad this VCR of mine still works. Even though we've had it for about 12 years, I can't remember that many times using it. Therefore, for a while, I thought it was broken and useless. I'm happy that I was wrong.

Actually, I scanned for channels on the VCR when it was set to "CATV" and got channels 2-31, 70, 96, and 98.

My neighbors recently talked about how they no longer receive channels 2-99 with basic cable (They only got about 15 channels or so). They had to buy a separate box in order to get the additional channels.

Could this be why I'm only getting a certain amount of channels? Do I need that digital cable converter box to get all channels 2-99 now?


Either way, I'm pretty glad this VCR of mine still works. Even though we've had it for about 12 years, I can't remember that many times using it. Therefore, for a while, I thought it was broken and useless. I'm happy that I was wrong.



Your neighbor (and thus, in all likelyhood, You) probably use that really big cable company I was referring to. They are gradually "moderinzing" their cable systems with the same plan. Instead of running a whole new network of cables to every subscriber in their system, they are dropping (drastically) the number of NTSC (analog) channels they provide, and having subscribers attach a digital converter box (much smaller than those used for over-the-air DTV) to every TV and VCR in their homes.

On the one hand, freeing up all that bandwidth used for 70ish NTSC cable channels so it can be used for PPV, on demand, Internet and telephone service without drilling more holes and mining more copper seems commendable.

It also stops basic cable subscribers from running illegal cable splits to their non-paying neighbors (who can blame the CATV company for wanting to stop that?).

On the other hand, it could introduce hidden price increases (not being on one of their systems, I don't know if they are charging customers for the boxes or not), and it does invariably take some working sets out of service (even if the cable company were providing a limitless number of boxes, few people would actually hook up, say, seven TV sets).

Your neighbor (and thus, in all likelyhood, You) probably use that really big cable company I was referring to. They are gradually "moderinzing" their cable systems with the same plan. Instead of running a whole new network of cables to every subscriber in their system, they are dropping (drastically) the number of NTSC (analog) channels they provide, and having subscribers attach a digital converter box (much smaller than those used for over-the-air DTV) to every TV and VCR in their homes.

On the one hand, freeing up all that bandwidth used for 70ish NTSC cable channels so it can be used for PPV, on demand, Internet and telephone service without drilling more holes and mining more copper seems commendable.

It also stops basic cable subscribers from running illegal cable splits to their non-paying neighbors (who can blame the CATV company for wanting to stop that?).

On the other hand, it could introduce hidden price increases (not being on one of their systems, I don't know if they are charging customers for the boxes or not), and it does invariably take some working sets out of service (even if the cable company were providing a limitless number of boxes, few people would actually hook up, say, seven TV sets).

I'm all for that, but being a pretty nostalgic person myself, I believe that eliminating all analog cable (and full-powered local analog channels) and requiring new digital cable or converter boxes takes away from some of the TV set's originality and style. As I mentioned before, turning the VHF/UHF rotary tuning knobs to change channels, in my opinion, makes the set what it is today and gives us that connection to what TV once was (for many years).

Believe me, how many of your young(er) friends or family members are intrigued by turning that knob to change the channels? I sure as hell was when I used to go to my grandma's house and use her 13" RCA from late-1979 while playing pool in the basement. (Now my family is talking about getting her a flatscreen LCD TV, since the RCA XL-100 hasn't worked since the DTV transition. I'm trying to convince them otherwise).

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The most annoying thing about digital cable is that even if you have a QAM (digital cable) capable TV, the basic digital channels are usually encrypted. This means that you need a cable card capable TV. The problem is that my cable company charges $45 for a service call to install cable cards, and $3 a month per card. It also took about three hours, and three visits for the cable guy to get my Tivo's cable cards working.

Speaking of Tivo, I remember quite well trying to hook up Tivo to our circa 1992 Sony Projection TV a few years back. I thought that being able to record TV shows without a VHS was a luxury I longed for (our VHS player was really crappy when it came to recording programs). When cable was still broadcasting in all analog (in other words, the good old days), I tried to hook it up to the VCR, which would've required about several additional adapters plus a modular phone line (something we did not have in that area of the house). I eventually just gave up, and within a year, we got Comcast Digital with DVR. Nowadays, being so busy, I can't imagine not having some sort of video recorder. I rarely have time to watch live TV anymore.