Digital TV Converter

[Rustic Eagle]

Well, my Apex digital TV converter box finally died this week (my home TV), and from what I have learned I guess I got more run time out of it than most.

Went on-line looking for a different brand and based on the reviews the majority of them are JUNK, including my Apex.

Those of you using a digital TV box.., how's your unit working, and would you recommend it? Also, does it run hot?

Purchasing a new home "digital" TV would compromise my 2012 camping budget, so we all know the outcome of that thought!

Bob

[David472]

Rustic Eagle;
Would you consider having your converter box repaired?
Although I don't have direct experience with Digital Converter Box repairs, I have lots of experience with component level repair of electronic equipment. You may be able to find a TV repair shop (there are still a few around) who would make an effort to repair it. Many times, the failure is within the power supply circuits. Quite commonly, electrolytic capacitors will leak and fail. They are an integral part of the power circuits. They are nutorious for this type of failure from low quality suppliers. You don't say what the failure symptoms are, but these things I mention would be the first place I would look. If the box is repairable, it can be made better than new with good quality components. The component cost will be only a couple bucks. It's the labor cost which will be a deciding factor.

[Rustic Eagle]

David,

You made a direct hit....., I actually have started looking at the repair route and have found out the following:

There is a cheap capacitor on the power board that has been the root cause of these Apex units failing, and other brands as well. The Apex has a faulty 470uf 25v capacitor ($1.49 at Radio Shack) which is identified as the C-8 component on the Apex power board.

Sooooo I don't have any soldering tools, but I know my brother in-law does. Going to give it a go and see what happens.

Buying a new box is my backup plan.

Bob

[David472]

Glad to hear that Bob. Let us know if you have success!

[norty1]

You could ask around with your friends. There are so many of those a few years ago with all the free coupons floating around, I'll bet someone you know has one stuffed in an attic box. I personally have 2 that are no longer needed. One a cheapie from walmart, the second from Radio Shack which was great before We did away with the old tv.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by norty1

snip........There are so many of those a few years ago with all the free coupons floating around, I'll bet someone you know has one stuffed in an attic box......snip

Norty1,

Good point, I'll ask around.

Bob

[Lady Fitzgerald]

If you are ever in the Tempe area, I have a couple from Wally World I'll give you.

[Rustic Eagle]

Lady Fitzgerald,

Wish I was in the Tempe area right now, it would also be a little warmer than the 25 degrees outside my window!

Bob

[RoyBraddy]

The Digital Box was a quick fix to get everyone on the new digital TV networks. I never used mine... I just threw away all my heavy old analog type TVs and got a good HDTV VIZIO brand for under $200.

The digital box converts the digital tv signal back to the analog mode. Since all the TV Stations stopped transmitting in analog mode then none of the TV's will pick up the new digital signal.

The new digital TV signals all now include High Def tv signals that give you HDTV full screen viewing and all the good stuf. Using the digital TV converter you still dont get the full Hig Def viewing on your old analog TV viewing the HDTV signals...

We get anywhere from 6-36 digital high def TV signals just about anywhere we go using our OTA BATWING crank-up antenna using our 22-inch HDTV VIZIO TV we picked up from Walmart. After watching TV in full High Def mode it is hard to go back to the old analog mode TV.

If it was me I would throw away all of the old analog TV SETS which use alot of power to operate and are very heavy. The LCD flat screen HDTV of today are nice and light weight units. My 22-inch VIZIO only draws 56WATTS...

Kinda neat watching NCIS on CBS in full screen high def mode way back in the woods picking it up on my crank-up OTA BATWING antenna. These are the local stations broadcast for the NATL TV Broadcast (CBS-NBC-ABC-FOX-PBS) stations...

[Rustic Eagle]

Roy,

I couldn't agree with more. I have a nice Samsung 22" digital HDTV in my TT....., I just haven't upgraded my old analog home TV's yet. Now you know where my technology priorities are placed

Bob

[maromeo]

We also are using a convertor box on 2 televisions in our home. We got tired of cable with their price increases every other month. So we canceled 2 yrs ago and never looked back.

Yes our box does run hot. We haven't had any issues with ours except just the other day we get lines on the tv for about 2 minutes once warmed up then it goes away.

We also love our Vizio 23" we purchased for the TT. We got it because we could also run the tv on 12V. There are stations today that are still running on Analog. When we were on the road for 3 weeks this summer we had 22 analog and 19 digital station at a time here in the west. We thought they had all gone to digital but we picked up analog stations with just our crank up antenna as well.

My DD and MIL got new televisions this year (for birthdays) so it will be our turn next year for the family room.

Mary Anne

[Albertaguy]

When I bought my 07 Jayco Eagle in fall 07 I never thought about the TV in the unit and in Canada it did not make a difference as we did not convert over to digital until last summer. I did buy a digital box when I was in Yuma 2 years ago but this Radio Shack one is a hit and miss unit and I have been looking for a bracket that I could mount on the wooden picture frame bracket that surrounds my analog 32 inch analog TV and replace it with a LCD or LED unit. I checked with Jayco to find out where they bought their brackets for the 08 model year but that was a waste of my time. I would like to come up with an easy but cosmetically good looking fix for my problem. Has anyone with a 07 or older Jayco Eagle come up with a solution and if so could you post pics on what you did? I would love to get rid of my old analog TV just for the weight of it alone.

[Lady Fitzgerald]

I never used the convertor boxes I got. I took one look at the instructions and decided to wait until the last minute and buy an LCD.

[norty1]

My converter box would get hot and go erratic. The fix was to move it out of the cabinet and out into the open air. No more problems after that.

We ended up with a LCD digital ready set and now they all collect dust.

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

snip......There is a cheap capacitor on the power board that has been the root cause of these Apex units failing, and other brands as well. The Apex has a faulty 470uf 25v capacitor ($1.49 at Radio Shack) which is identified as the C-8 component on the Apex power board......snip

Update: New capacitor fix worked, I'm back in business.

I replaced the cheap existing C-8 marked capacitor with a Radio Shack #2721030, 470uf 35V capacitor.

Bob

[Terry]

Nice! Very few things you can board level repair anymore....I am working on some old CRTs right now....fun when you can repair yourself.....

[Crabman]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

Update: New capacitor fix worked, I'm back in business.

I replaced the cheap existing C-8 marked capacitor with a Radio Shack #2721030, 470uf 35V capacitor.

Bob

Ahhh, you needed a new Flux capacitor, eh?

[David472]

Originally Posted by Rustic Eagle

Update: New capacitor fix worked, I'm back in business.

I replaced the cheap existing C-8 marked capacitor with a Radio Shack #2721030, 470uf 35V capacitor.

Bob

Glad to hear this news Bob!

[Rustic Eagle]

Originally Posted by Crabman

Ahhh, you needed a new Flux capacitor, eh? ....snip

Ahhh, I guess so

[Crabman]

OK Bob, you must not have young kids so I`ll explain.

In the hit movies "Back to the Future" The time traveling car which was a Delorean, was powered by the " Flux Capacitor"