OldTV
@rr.com
| [TWC] Old TV can't get a few channels that a newer TV gets
I have basic cable with an old TV.
It gets channels up to 62 perfectly.
However, channels past 62, for example versus at 71 don't come in at all, it's just static, as if I had put in a channel I'm not supposed to get.
But when I hook the cable up to a newer TV, it will get these channels.
What causes this problem? Is there some sort of box I can buy to allow my old TV to get these channels?
I called the cable tech out, and they said it was the TV, not the cable. They also suggested if I hooked the cable up to a VCR and then to a TV I might be able to get those channels, but I tried that and it didn't work.
It seems like this must be a common problem but I can't see anything about it on google. My old TV is really big and nice, so I'd like to be able to keep using it.
Thanks for any help. |
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MacLeech
The one and only
Premium,MVM
join:2001-07-14
SoCal
edit:
April 11th, @08:14PM
| It sounds like your old TV has a 450 MHz capable tuner.
When you connected the VCR, did you tune the channel on the TV to 3 and use the tuner in the VCR to change channels? |
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BurntCricket
Gotta Do What Ya Gotta Do
Premium
join:2000-09-02
Here
clubs:
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to OldTV
How old is this "old TV" ? My twenty year old TV will show all channels up to 99 when directly connected, but it is "cable ready".
After you connect the VCR, you tune the TV to whatever channel you have the VCR set to(3or4) and use the tuner on the VCR.
If it doesn't work, you can buy a new TV or get a set-top box from the cable company, for about $7 a month.
--
If you have to ask, you wouldn't understand. |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
 ·AT&T U-Verse
 ·AT&T Southwest
| reply to OldTV
It's a really old TV that doesn't tune the newer analog cable bands.
Your VCR should be able to tune it, I've never heard of a VCR so old that it won't tune the upper band.
I wonder if you are putting the VCR/TV switch on the VCR in TV mode and still tuning with the TV? That won't work. You have to put it in VCR mode and tune channels with the VCR. You set your TV to channel 3 or 4 and leave it there. |
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InGreenwood
@rr.com
| said by MyDogHsFleas  :Your VCR should be able to tune it, I've never heard of a VCR so old that it won't tune the upper band. As a side light, I have a Hitachi M281 VCR that gets channels 2 to 13 only.
»en.allexperts.com/q/TV-VCR-Stere···mote.htm |
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cnd007
join:2005-10-10
Conneaut, OH
| reply to BurntCricket
"How old is this "old TV" ? My twenty year old TV will show all channels up to 99 when directly connected, but it is "cable ready"."
My bedroom set is doing something very similar, I just checked the manufacturer's date on the back and it is July 1991.
My set stopped showing anything after channel 61 a few months ago.
I never bothered to hook up a VCR to it (don't even have one anymore). However I am quite confident it should solve the problem. |
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MyDogHsFleas
Premium
join:2007-08-15
Austin, TX
·AT&T U-Verse
·AT&T Southwest
| reply to InGreenwood
said by InGreenwood :said by MyDogHsFleas :Your VCR should be able to tune it, I've never heard of a VCR so old that it won't tune the upper band. As a side light, I have a Hitachi M281 VCR that gets channels 2 to 13 only. Holy Crap. I stand (majorly) corrected. |
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MacLeech
The one and only
Premium,MVM
join:2001-07-14
SoCal
| reply to cnd007
said by cnd007 :"How old is this "old TV" ? My twenty year old TV will show all channels up to 99 when directly connected, but it is "cable ready"." My bedroom set is doing something very similar, I just checked the manufacturer's date on the back and it is July 1991. My set stopped showing anything after channel 61 a few months ago. Channel 61 is right below 450Mhz.
Channel 99 is in the FM band between 88 and 108 Mhz, putting it between channels 6 and 7.
450 Mhz is a common limit for older TV tuners, as was 550 Mhz (channel 78).
"Cable Ready" really just meant they could tune into the channel frequency assignments CATV used when it varied from OTA channel frequency assignments, it didn't really give a minimum frequency tuner limit. Although, most cable systems were limited to the 450-550 Mhz for quite a few years around the time TV's first started being marketed as "cable ready". |
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OldTV
@rr.com
| reply to OldTV
The TV says it was made in August 1991 on the back.
The VCR doesn't seem to have a date, but it could easily be as old, or older. It was probably my grandmother's originally, heh.
So it sounds like the problem is the VCR is too old to function as a tuner for higher channels?
It functions as a tuner but then all the channels after 13 just give a blank.
So I guess a newer VCR should work, I might be able to find one, but if not is there any sort of cheap radioshack device that'd get the TV to receive 62+?
Thanks for the info guys. |
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MacLeech
The one and only
Premium,MVM
join:2001-07-14
SoCal | Above channel 13 the channel layout is different between cable and OTA broadcasts.
Does the VCR have a setup menu or switch to change from antenna to CATV? |
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old TVold VCR
@rr.com
| reply to OldTV
Some old TV's and possibly some old VCR's had separate inputs for lower channels (VHF 2-13) and higher channels (UHF 14-99). If you didn't have an antenna connection on the UHF input, you would get no reception on the upper channels. I used to have an old TV that stopped receiving anything above about channel 67 on its tuner. I usually used the tuner on my VCR to get all the channels up to 99 (TV was set to ch3).
You have probably heard they are changing the way TV signals are going to be broadcast in February of 2009. A new digital tuner will be required for older TV's and VCR's to receive signals over the air after that date. You could get one of the digital to analog converters now and use the tuner in that to receive all the channels available on cable or Broadcast (antenna) reception. The government is giving away coupons that give you $40 off the purchase of one of the converter boxes. I believe if you have cable, you will continue to get the basic channels after the change in broadcast format occurs. I have 2 older sets with analog tuners and a newer set with an analog/digital tuner. I am tied to cable. On the older sets I get about 80 channels with basic cable. On the newer TV, I get about 150 channels - the Digital tuner allows me to see the digital channels as well as the analog channels. I still don't get premium channels. |
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Alan L
@rr.com
| reply to MacLeech
I have a question about the CATV vs Antenna switch. I can set up my TV for cable and have it auto program and stations get plugged into channel numbers. If I then change the switch to antenna and reprogram the tuner, it plugs those stations into channel numbers. I think those channel numbers are different between the 2 switch settings. Is that right? Why? And do I get all the same channels, just on different channel numbers? I have never taken the time to explore this - has anyone else? |
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Flashfox
Eco-Text -- Why print E-mails?
join:2003-10-01
Carlsbad, CA
| reply to OldTV
Hmm... practically any new "cheap" VCR/DVD reader would handle this. While at it, why not look at current "cheap" TVs? You can find CRT based TVs (tube) for dirt cheap now that the push is towards LCD and Plasma flat panels.
Hey, that TV has been running since 1991... time to retire it? (like insisting on running a car which requires leaded fuel in this day and age  |
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MacLeech
The one and only
Premium,MVM
join:2001-07-14
SoCal
edit:
May 4th, @12:52PM
| reply to Alan L
said by Alan L :
I have a question about the CATV vs Antenna switch. I can set up my TV for cable and have it auto program and stations get plugged into channel numbers. If I then change the switch to antenna and reprogram the tuner, it plugs those stations into channel numbers. I think those channel numbers are different between the 2 switch settings. Is that right? Why? And do I get all the same channels, just on different channel numbers? I have never taken the time to explore this - has anyone else?
Cable and antenna channel numbering schemes are different after a certain point. Its because cable is considered a closed system and can use frequencies not usable by over the air broadcasters. |
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spat72
@rr.com
| reply to Flashfox
Be sure a new VCR/DVD player has a tuner built in. I noticed shortly after the anouncment of the digital switch many of these items have omitted the tuner altogether on the low budget versions. I bought a DVD recorder with a digital tuner that works great. I used to get basic cable for free due to RR ISP but the signal just disappeared overnight last year. So I now just use an outdoor antenna. I assumed TWC changed the broadcast format. I tried going thru the VCR but still got nothing. I started looking at broadcast formats and saw there are a lot of them and they seem to change regularly among cable companies. I work with a guy who gets basic cable direct to an old tv wo/a box or VCR but he does live about 20 miles away. |
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