TV Antenna Question

  • suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    October 16, 2013 at 3:38 pm #1283833

    I have an old tv in the garage that hasn’t worked since the conversion. I just bought a digital TV antenna at Target and connected via the one and only coax type input on the old tv. Nothing. Do I need a converter box? Where can I get one of those? I did check at Target and the Woodbury Radio Shack is now gone. Thanks.

    Cp3
    Hammond, WI
    Posts: 314
    October 16, 2013 at 3:51 pm #1200755

    Wal-Mart, Best Buy, or Amazon would be the places to look. Otherwise I’m pretty sure you need the box.

    Steve Root
    South St. Paul, MN
    Posts: 5625
    October 16, 2013 at 3:53 pm #1200756

    Mike,

    You’ll need a converter box to see the new digital channels on an old analog TV, regardless of what antenna you use. They’re still available at Best Buy, KMart, Walmart, etc.

    The antenna doesn’t know if it’s an analog or digital signal…an antenna is an antenna, period. The difference is that the new digital channels are now up on the UHF range. This gets confusing because the TV stations are still calling themselves by the old channel names. For example, “Channel 2” is no longer on 56Mhz but way up in the UHF range. If you already have an antenna that covers UHF, you should be good to go. But you will need the converter box.

    Rootski

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    October 16, 2013 at 3:55 pm #1200758

    Excellent. I’m on the way. Hey, Best Buy is right next to 5 Guys burgers….

    shoot_n_release
    Mora, MN
    Posts: 756
    October 16, 2013 at 3:55 pm #1200759

    You will need a digital converter box. The antenna only boosts your reception. It does not convert it.

    It looks like Walmart and Amazon are a couple of options.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    October 16, 2013 at 5:38 pm #1200789

    Ended up buying a small new TV instead of converter box since I already had the antenna. Works great! Free HDTV. Excellent garage upgrade. Thanks for the help guys.

    Brian Hoffies
    Land of 10,000 taxes, potholes & the politically correct.
    Posts: 6843
    October 16, 2013 at 5:44 pm #1200792

    Glad you got it handled. Now if you burn the house down repairing the fireplace you have somewhere to go.

    suzuki
    Woodbury, Mn
    Posts: 18631
    October 16, 2013 at 6:08 pm #1200798

    Denny D.
    Posts: 1
    October 17, 2013 at 1:45 pm #1200935

    Quote:

    Mike,

    You’ll need a converter box to see the new digital channels on an old analog TV, regardless of what antenna you use. They’re still available at Best Buy, KMart, Walmart, etc.

    The antenna doesn’t know if it’s an analog or digital signal…an antenna is an antenna, period. The difference is that the new digital channels are now up on the UHF range. This gets confusing because the TV stations are still calling themselves by the old channel names. For example, “Channel 2” is no longer on 56Mhz but way up in the UHF range. If you already have an antenna that covers UHF, you should be good to go. But you will need the converter box.

    Rootski

    Hey everyone. Just happened to run across your discussion on TV antennas. I wanted to clear up a misconception that all digital signals are now UHF. This is not true. In the Minneapolis area channels KARE NBC and KMSP FOX are both VHF signal stations.

    Denny
    Denny’s TV Antenna Source home page

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