Uses for analog cable boxes?

[Jon A.]

I'm just wondering if they're any good for electronics projects in these waning days of analog cable, and not just as remote power switches. There are a couple of models I would like to get my hands on, I even have a remote for one, just no box, grrr.

[DavGoodlin]

I have a few of those myself. I also have a few UHF converters. I have not experimented with them yet. I assume you may be asking something like this:

The cable box is a frequency conversion device like a VCR tuner, so I wonder if I could tune an ASTC (digital) signal on the "box" and down convert it to channel 3/4 and have my HDTV or STB display on channel 3/4 what I tuned with the box.

One thing Im sure of is this: If the box in question demodulates and then re-modulates on the output channel, its useless for ASTC.

[Rod Beauvex]

Charter still broadcasts analog cable here, but I don't have service.

[Kamakiri]

I've got a couple that I use regularly. The one in my office is an ancient OAK control cable box with remote that I got on eBay for $25 shipped.

[Jon A.]

^ No kidding, ultrasonic control? The one I have my eye on right now is that much without shipping, sans remote, but I have the matching remote. No "make offer" button, but I wonder if I can get the price down...

I'm pretty sure that they couldn't tune in DTV without replacing pretty much everything inside, which would probably render the original remote useless. What I'm wondering is if there are other video devices that output on channels other than 3 or 4 (or 2 in the case of one obscure analog box I was looking at)...

[radiotvnut]

The biggest use of old analog cable boxes is use them for a doorstop or harvest parts out of them for other projects. Around here, Crapcast stopped analog delivery about two years ago; so, what analog boxes that were in use suddenly became obsolete. Somewhere, I have an old Jerrold analog non-remote box that has mechanical pushbuttons for changing channels (up to channel 37). That one is probably from the early '80's and I don't recall seeing any in use since the mid '80's, when remote controlled boxes became standard.

[W3XWT]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

The biggest use of old analog cable boxes is use them for a doorstop or harvest parts out of them for other projects. Somewhere, I have an old Jerrold analog non-remote box that has mechanical pushbuttons for changing channels (up to channel 37). That one is probably from the early '80's and I don't recall seeing any in use since the mid '80's, when remote controlled boxes became standard.

That box is the Jerrold JSX and the corded remote equivalent is the JRX. Both were available in "open" (mostly in "trapped" systems) or "decoder" versions (with those funky "security" screws) where Jerrold's "scrambling" system was used.

For whatever reason, the JSX always reminded me of a toddler's toy piano. Besides the design I think the build quality affected that impression. It reeked of cheap!

Also, the JSX dates from the early 1980's as that was what was installed in the apartment my then-girlfriend and I shared back in 1982...

[radiotvnut]

I recently saw a picture of an old Hamlin cable box with a slider channel change mechanism. That one looked to be one of the first cable boxes. If I found one, I'd probably get it just to have.

[dieseljeep]

Originally Posted by KV-1926R

I'm just wondering if they're any good for electronics projects in these waning days of analog cable, and not just as remote power switches. There are a couple of models I would like to get my hands on, I even have a remote for one, just no box, grrr.

I was in a home for a garage sale, where the owner used an old Jerrold cable box to control a fluorescent shop light. The owner was in a wheelchair and couldn't reach the switch.

[Jon A.]

Man, it would probably be easier to find a use for the ultrasonic remote. With 16 buttons, who knows what it will trigger on which devices...

[ChrisW6ATV]

I use cable boxes as tuners (RF demodulators) for ham-radio TV signals (ATV, amateur television). Channels 57-60 are in the 70cm ham radio band, and a channel 3 input can be used to get audio and video from a downconverter (a device that converts other ham radio bands to TV channel 3).

[Jon A.]

^ Now we're talkin'. I'll have to dig into the amateur radio section. Speaking of radio, while testing my '82 ColorTrak I was surprised to get audio other than static when I hit channel 6. My RF modulator was hooked up, and when I disconnected that, nada. I hooked my Sony back up, tried channel 6, same thing. It was shortly thereafter that I learned that analog channels 6 and 7 bookend the FM radio spectrum. Surprises abound when new to this hobby. As long as I'm not serving as a ground for any surprises measured in kilovolts, I'm happy.

I'm digging those Pioneer boxes with clock/timer, there's another potential use...

Edit: Well, I purchased the Jerrold StarCom III box I was eyeing, after receiving the remote purchased from another source yesterday. I negotiated a slightly lower price with the seller, who also offered to ship it to me from his alternate address in Canada, cutting the shipping cost by about half, wheeeee. Whenever I get around to taking some good electronics courses, perhaps I can make something that will make this box really useful. It's the only ultrasonic-controlled cable box I know of, and being nuts about ultrasonic remotes, I just had to have that one.

[wa2ise]

Originally Posted by radiotvnut

I recently saw a picture of an old Hamlin cable box with a slider channel change mechanism.

Maybe like this one I have.