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The converter that I have works fairly well on the strongest local HDTV station in good weather. It is connected to amplfied rabbit ears at present and could also be connected to an external antenna. The signal falls out on the weaker stationsI(pixelization, sound stops). Luckly, the strongest station is the one that I watch the most over the air.
I have connected it to several TVs, all older than 30 years. I have connected it to both B&W and color sets. When reception is good, I see no artifacts on the B&W sets. On the color sets(a 1973 Zenith table top and a 1970 Sylvania-both hybrid sets), I do see artifacts in the color picture when certain patterns (on an actors tie, etc) are present on the screen. The artifacts are not very noticable, but are from the converter, not the TVs.
I have used my converter quite extensivly, with no failures. However, it does run quite warm for such a small solid state box. The manufacturer emphsizes that nothing should be placed over the holes in the top. I have also been careful not to place it on the top of a tube type TV that runs warm.
I have a comment concerning the statements by ChrisW6ATV about HDTV vs analog. It is true that when the signal strenth is the same, HDTV is as good, probably better than analog. However, during severe weather, it is far better to be able to receive a snowy analog picture WITH SOUND than nothing at all!!!. This "loosing everything" is also a problem with Satellite TV as it is also a digital system. I have witnessed Satellite problem in person at my mothers house rural in Oklahoma. It is a nature of digital communications systems. If the digital receiver looses lock, it must re-lock and then re-align itself to the incoming digital frames This takes time, during which no signal is decoded. Analog receivers do not have this issue.
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