Opinion on Digital Stream DTX9950 and the Magnavox TB100MW9

[Ron]

Would like opinion on both the Digital Stream DTX9950 and the Magnavox TB100MW9 Converters, do know that the Digital Stream DTX9950 has the Analog Pass Through Signal, does the Magnavox TB100MW9 also have the Analog Pass Through Signal?

It is my understanding that the Magnavox TB100MW9 is one of the six better Converters, according to the Consumer Report, the six 'Better' converters are: the Philco TB100HH9, Magnavox TB100MW9, Artec T3A Pro, Insignia NS-DXA1, Zenith DTT900, and the RCA DTA800B.


Ron

RRCRT@aol.com

[kenking]

Hi Ron. I've got the Digital Stream and haven't used it much yet. It's in my van and I will say that so far I'm impressed with the major improvement in picture quality. In the driveway at home I used to get one or two stations..barely. Now I think I get 4 (a couple of them appear to be shopping channels though) but they look like I'm connected to cable. At work in Newton I get at least a dozen stations, several of them HD. I'd like to put a better antenna in though, all my van has is the little thing under the raised roof that the converter put in back in 96

[Mike]

Hi,
I asked Best Buy Canada if they ever heard of the Digital Stream model, and they finally answered and said "we're looking into something like it". A couple of other places have pretty much shrugged their sholders and said "Huh???". So it appears that ATSC tuners are almost as rare as LED replacement bulbs up here in Canuck Central. (More on that in a moment). I guess without a Digital TV OTA deadline looming up here, none of the prospective suppliers care. (Yet!!!)
So taking the offensive, I continued searching, and found the Artec T3A Pro available in a shop in St. Catharines. Am going to have a look today or tomorrow, to evaluate it, although there's a Youtube demo for it out there (sorry, don't have the link handy). It looks pretty idiot proof. Found some online references to excess heat, and not sure about power input (it's a standard 110-240V 2-pronged input plug which I'm guessing refines it to 12V output to the Artec tuner -Q: If you plug something like that into your "wall" outlets in the RT, with the house batteries on, will it draw the correct amount of power at 12V to power the Artec tuner? just curious. ) but the online specs say the tuner is 12V DC. It says the draw is 4.5W.
I found all this great info while searching for LED replacement bulbs for the RV/Marine type applications. It started at a website in Alberta called Ko-Hen Electronics, which pointed me to the Mode Electronics website, which has some useful info on LED bulbs, including a drop down "Distributors" tab. I found there actually are Canadian retail LED bulb outlets, although not all of them carry the same selection.
Link to Mode Elec.
http://www.mode-elec.com/

Hope this helps anyone interested in either of these subjects,
Mike.

[Davydd]

I bought the Digital Stream from Radio Shack. I haven't installed it yet so can't tell you much about it but have heard it works well in an RV from various reports. What I like about it is it is about the smallest box available and to me that is important in a B.

As for Consumer Reports, unless they listed the Digital Stream as an also ran you can take their report for what it's worth. They don't always evaluate every option out there.

The analog pass through will remain important after February. I had thought differently until I read there will be some exceptions and it could be those exceptions might be in low population areas were we camp. Regardless, it is a nice option to have just in case.

[Mike]

Funny you should reply when you did (guess a lot on here are off for the last unofficial weekend of the summer). I just got back from St.Catharines where I got replacement LEDs for all the interior convenience lights, the porch light, and the range hood light. The larger bulbs were C$12.95/ea + tax, and the smaller blade bulb was C$5.95 + tax. I needed 7 large and 1 small, so the math is pretty easy (add 13% for PST/GST in Ontario).
I also picked up the Artec T3A Pro. It's small, has a lot of useful features, but it won't track analog, so if you want to watch in a remote area with analog only signals, you'd have to install a two way splitter bypassing the T3A(or replug the input cable around it). My weekend project is going to be sorting through the mishmash of wires in the TV cabinet, and adding the T3A to the existing TV/VCR/DVD.
The place I got all this fine fare is called Nutech Electronics. Found them from the Mode-Elec site in my previous post, and they have 2 locations, one in St. Catharines and the other in Hamilton. Nice folks to deal with, very knowledgable and personable, and they do monitor their e-mail.
The LEDs are great, a very soft white, not overwhelmingly bright, but they work. Will post up results of new ATSC box when I have it up and running.

Off for an overnighter up north,
Mike.

[Mike]

taken from another "TV" related thread.......I've installed the Artec T3A Pro and so far it seems pretty good.

Joined: 10 Aug 2008
Posts: 40
Location: Ontario, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Sep 05, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject: Reply with quote
Well, I finally got the Artec digital box installed as an alternate path from the antenna side of the built in switch, and I'm still looking for my socks. Wink I used the 2 ultra-thin Philips coax cables and a 12V cigarette adapter (the Artec comes with a two pronged 100v to 12v adapter, which I can't use easily, no inverter) which I had lying around, and bought 2 A/B switches (about $6 each) at Home Depot to complete the bridge around the straight analog feed. Once I hooked it all up, and set the A/B switches to bypass the analog only feed, I ran the channel auto-program, and voila, cable quality digital pictures from several local stations.
I threaded the ultra thin coax and power wire up through the hole to the first shelf, and connected them to the tuner, so it sits there above the TV. The ultra thin coaxes allow some flexibility in positioning the tuner if the TV below it is pulled out of the cabinet and turned towards the back and beds. Just in case the remote needs a more direct view of the face of the Artec, I can sit it on top of the TV. So far it doesn't seem to, but I've got fresh batteries in it.
So far, I like the Artec digital tuner. It has an aspect ratio control which allows you to use the transmitted picture size, or choose from 3 other picture sizing options, depending on the shape of your TV screen. It has pretty much all the other usual bells and whistles you'd expect from a satellite or digital cable box. It does display the station identifier along with the channel number on screen as you change channels, so if you know your TV affiliate's alpha call letters you can pick out your favorite network pretty easily. I seem to recall, while searching for a suitable tuner, reading about an on screen programming guide, but haven't found it yet, if it exists on this model.
Channels: I don't know how often they update their lists, but here's a link to the Digiwave Technologies website. If you scroll down and look on the left side of the page for the "FTA" and "OTA" sections, there are some fairly extensive channel lists. I converted one of them to PDF (Firefox add on PDF Download has a save as PDF option) and will keep it on my desktop for reference. You can probably save it as a text file, with IE, if you like.
http://www.digiwavetechnologies.com/

Enjoy,
Mike.