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#1
01-04-2009, 07:55 PM
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TV for house with no cable = $55
Project: put a nice TV in a guest bedroom with no cable hook-up.
Here is what I did: 15" Sony Trinitron TV (KV-1515) from thrift store (built in 1981) = $15. (works great - excellent color and focus)  Digital Stream digital convert box and remote from Radio Shack ($20 after $40 fed coupon)  The color and focus on this TV are excellent.  DIY UHF antenna built with coat-hangers and some screws, washers and coax cable = about $20. (antenna sits upright in bedroom closet with 8 feet of coax running to digital convert box on top of TV)  Total investment = $55 I receive all the major networks, plus Fox and Public TV for free here in the Chicago area. Cheers, Snade 
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#2
01-04-2009, 09:25 PM
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And, you have a better quality setup for your $55 than you would have gotten if you went and bought, oh say, one of those $149.99 20" RCA turflat DTV's or one of those $99.99 13" Durabrand DTV's.
I was given two of those little Sony's and a tube Magnavox console by the same man (from a green carpet house, BTW). All they needed was adjustment and cleaning. I let a friend have one and my flea market friend sold the other one. Both were great performers.
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#3
01-04-2009, 09:49 PM
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Dude, you better sign up for an art class with me and the old ladies...you've got too much time on your hands!
__________________
Ed
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#4
01-04-2009, 10:12 PM
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Quote:
But you also nailed it.
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#8
01-05-2009, 12:12 AM
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Mark, the Digital Stream converter sitting directly on top of the TV may cause some eventual magnetic color distortion in the picture - it happened to me and I had to degauss the tube several times to clear the effect. It now sits (taped to) on a sheet of steel on top of the TV that seems to mitigate the effects.
__________________
 Nothing is ever completely fool proof, because fools are so ingenious.
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#9
01-05-2009, 12:57 AM
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Well done, sir!
 If you do have too much time on your hands, well, one could think of worse ways of spending it than setting up this system. Invest the time once, and you have cheap-but-good viewing for a long time after!They've introduced a range of digital/hdtv TV channels here in Hong Kong, and I've been wondering if I can get reception of those channels using this kind of set-up, and using a basic (semi-vintage) television. Looks like you're getting that kind of set-up to work there; I'll have to check and see if I can set up something similar here and have it work as well. Thanks for this thread - it gives me hope that this can be done here, too! The thing I need to check is what kind of set-top box will work with the local broadcasting system/technology/standard, and where I can get one. I'm not sure if we have the same system as that introduced in the U.S. [Pal vs. NTSC issues aside]. If I can get this sort of set-up to work, I'll be able to add multiple free television channels to our viewing, without having to upgrade to a fully "modern" HDTV system.
__________________
Be yourself. Everyone else is taken.
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#10
01-05-2009, 11:51 AM
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Try this variant:
Find a non-coupon eligible ATSC receiver with a VGA output (RCA made a few of these, many with a DirecTV system built in, in some models, the ATSC tuner continues to operate without any subscription nor access card). Add a 21" CRT computer monitor (very cheap, overloading thrift store space). And a "boom box" with audio inputs (also very cheap at thrift stores). Add the antenna, and you have an HDTV system with digital stereo sound! (note, however, that the older ATSC boxes are more prone to problems from multipath, many may need to have the antenna in the attic or on the roof). Rob Last edited by Robert Grant; 01-05-2009 at 11:51 AM. Reason: fixed missing end parent ")"
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#11
01-05-2009, 12:40 PM
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Quote:
Good thinking, Rob. Snade
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