Queue up for a digital set top box coupon for CT-100, etc...

[peverett]

Checked the local Wal-Mart today, boxes still not in.

[kbmuri]

Originally Posted by andy

Has anyone opened one of these boxes up? I'd be curious to know which chips they are using and how different they are inside.

Got mine. Two Insignia NS-DXA1's.

Re attached photo:

Largest chip (center of left board):
LG Electronics
LGDT1111D
0744
P35399.00

Above it:
Hynix 748A C
HYDU561622FTP-D43
Kor

Left/above it:
SPANSION
S29AL016D7OTF101
740FF544 C
(c) '04 Spansion

RF modulator has "SANYO" brand & logo

A whopping 38 Electrolytic capacitors.

Antenna in, RF out, coax.
Audio R/L outs and Video outs, RCA.

Remote and cables.

Manufacture date Dec '07

[radiotvnut]

OK, who wants to change that big chip in the center? The power supply appears to be built with standard parts and that's probably the area most likely to give problems.

I still have not received my coupons yet. Maybe in the next few days...I'm getting anxious.

[andy]

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[Pete Deksnis]

Originally Posted by andy

...what's in the Funai?

R8A66973FP
72010F

X6040
71215B1710814

Early November 2007 PCB design date code

It's clear there's a lot of unpopulated acreage on the end of many of those 216 leads.

[andy]

---

[Randy Bassham]

I see a no PB sign on the pc board. None lead solder and all those pins on the chip. Wonder how long it will be before the tin whiskers start shorting out the pins?

NASA article on tin whiskers link

http://nepp.nasa.gov/whisker/background/index.htm

Scroll down and read the segment "Why the recent attention to tin whiskers".

[andy]

---

[Pete Deksnis]

Here at long last is the future of analog television. Born only six years after the transistor, and force-fed from a microchip-rich converter box, the venerable CT-100 chugs on.

As planned, video from the converter box runs into the vintage 12AT7-based RCA-design composite video interface, while audio is received on channel 3.

First thing I noticed was an apparent consistency of color, due I suppose to the tight control ATSC has over color space quality.

By not connecting audio from the converter box to the audio section of the CT-100, the RF/IF is used, so virtually all the CTC2 circuits are functional except the second detector diode (1N60) and a very few associated components. Feels better that way.

[picture not attaching]
see it here: (Blip on top of the CT-100 is the ATSC-to-NTSC converter box the government subsidizes.)
http://home.att.net/~pldexnis/potpou...er-Box-OTA.jpg

[old_tv_nut]

Going in baseband from a digital source will probably give you better color transients on HD programs than even the CT-100 I/Q demods would normally do on NTSC, due to the chroma subcarrier being double-sideband and developed from wideband color difference signals.

[Phil Nelson]

So, what to buy?

There are five brands of boxes on the shelves around here:

Zenith
Digital Stream
Magnavox
RCA
Insignia

I saw a couple of votes for Insignia (is that a relabeled Zenith?).

Other votes?

Phil Nelson

[ChrisW6ATV]

Yes, the Insignia is a relabeled Zenith, and those boxes have received better reviews than others I have seen.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by ChrisW6ATV

Yes, the Insignia is a relabeled Zenith, and those boxes have received better reviews than others I have seen.

My brother got his coupons, and he bought an Insignia. We tested it at my mom's, same antenna as the first one I got, and it works just as well. Looks like they are consistantly good.

[jpdylon]

I got my coupons this afternoon (2 of them) and went and bought two insignia boxes. I gota admit these actually have some weight to them. I can't wait to throw them on a set ans see the results.

[Dave S]

Ordered mine on Jan. 1st and got 'em in the mail today!