Thread: DTV Box
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Old 10-14-2016, 01:40 PM
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DavGoodlin DavGoodlin is offline
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I agree the Magnavox-Funai box is only so-so for sniffing out weak signals and some new HD sets are awful, Dynex comes to mind. My experiences with the Channel Master CM-7000 were great for DXing as for the Zenith DTT901, Tivax and Insignia boxes. Also the Digitalstream locks onto weak signals too because it also uses the LG chips, so it is similar. Good as these LG-chipped boxes are, some will crap out on you and flash red LEDs, etc- I have had to repair 2 Digitalstreams and it was just failed electrolytics (bulging tops - 470 mf@ 10v) on the secondary side of the switch-mode power supply. DT boxes will show up dead and minus remotes, as $1 bargains in the bins next to DVD players, etc at thrift stores.

Now the CM operates very differently but it is possibly even more sensitive. One thing you cannot do with the CM is pre-tune it for an RF frequency before moving your antenna around to "find" the channel. But it can be "update" re-scanned and just keeps adding channels onto what you have already received. You then can only punch in the virtual number or what was stored (that is the station name, not the RF frequency, which may have changed since 6/12/2009)



But one thing the CM-7000 did better than any other was to sniff out and STORE the most obscure stations' data, even if not stable or even lock in one day, but try it another day and if you get a steady 20% signal or more, it locks. I recommend just aiming the antenna, then scan. After that scan, fine-tune your antenna for the strongest signal on a received channel and scan again.
Do this each time you rotate the antenna and you will store all the channels

The CM unit has been revised to include a DVR but the basic unit was this.... http://www.channelmaster.com/Digital..._p/cm-7000.htm


The best antenna is another subject. I have tried many, old and new. I am not impressed with most of the ones you see online claiming "150 miles" and so on. Great UHF and VHF antennas were all figured out by the end of the 1970s. T

he best value I have seen yet is a "Gray-Hoverman" I have an example that Antennacraft made for Radio Shack in the 70s. It was cheap and it worked like a much bigger antenna. http://www.diytvantennas.com/sbgh.php it is like a 4-bay bowtie antenna, works as well and is easier to make with #10 or 12 bare, solid copper wire and chicken mesh for a reflector screen.
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Last edited by DavGoodlin; 10-14-2016 at 01:48 PM.
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