Dish and converter box for local channels

jsd2

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Jan 13, 2009
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CO
My parents have Dish, but use an antenna for local channels. My mom purchased a converter box for the local channels. Can you tell me how to set the conveter box up with Dish?
Thanks!
 
What receiver do they have??? How are they presently hooked up??
 
The converter box isn't connected to the DISH system. It connects to the TV set and the TV antenna. What connections do your parents have on the TV set?
 
depends

My parents have Dish, but use an antenna for local channels. My mom purchased a converter box for the local channels. Can you tell me how to set the conveter box up with Dish?
Thanks!

Do they not get locals from E*? If they do they don't need the DTV converter box. Depends on the converter box. If it has analog pass thru. If they have been using ch 3or 4 then an analog pass thru will work.
 
I'm going to assume your mom's set only has an antenna input, and does not have RCA jacks on the back (an AV input.) We'll also assume that there is no VCR or DVD player involved (which adds another layer of options and complexity.)
So, given those assumptions, as an earlier poster stated, you really should have a converter box with analog pass through - some boxes have it, many do not. It should say in the manual that came with it (although I'm sure some boxes come in inadequate documentation.) Here is why you want analog pass through: The dish box sends an analog signal (probably on channel 3 or 4) to the old analog tuner on the TV. So if the digital converter has analog pass through, you connect the antenna coax from the dish box to the input on a splitter/combiner, and you connect the coax from the antenna to the second input on the splitter / combiner. Then you connect the output from the splitter / combiner to the input on the digital converter, and you connect the output from the digital converter to the TV. Now, when the digital converter is turned on, you can tune in your over-the-air channels, and when it is turned off, it "passes through" the signal from the dish network box, and you can watch the dish. If the box does not have digital pass through, you can get an a/b switch at radio shack that would allow you to switch from the dish box to the digital box, or you might try using a splitter/combiner to combine the signal from the dish box with the signal from the digital converter. This might work if one is set to channel 3 and the other is set to channel 4, but I'm not sure - there might be too much adjacent channel interference.
 
Best reasonably priced converter box I found is the Zenith DTT901 available at Circuit City and such. It has analog pass through and in SW Orlando picks up more channels than either the Dish Box or the TV itself.

It is best if you can have seperate inputs to the TV (Zenith has coax and three-wire composite outputs) and use individual cable: antenna to converter and dish to dish box. Splitters by definition reduce the signal.

Be aware that converter boxes output in 480p (aka Standard Definition/4:3) and not HD though most offer a choice of displays (zoom, crop, etc.), provide a rudimentary program guide, closed captions, channel scan, manual channel add/delete, and signal strength display.
 
Thanks so much for all the input! Lifterguy what you say to do makes sense, but they do have the red/white and yellow jacks, (I am assuming the RCA jacks are the red/white and yellow) but she tells me they are being used for the dish. AND yes, unfortunately, it is routed through the DVD player. :(

I called to find out what type of converter (with or without the analog pass through. I do know she bought it at Kmart.) but she was not home, so will try later.

Whatchel1: they have been getting local channels just from the antenna. Dish wants $5 per month, and they are on limited funds, hence the hook up problems.

bobo, kab, and padgett: Thanks for the info! I will ask if she has separate inputs, --- what exactly she has.

Thanks!!
 
Everything said here is fine, but you actually do not need a converter box with analog pass thru in order to hook everything up. My mother has a 510 (a single tuner SD DVR) and she does subscribe to locals, however we do not receive the X.2, X.3 channels available OTA through dish.

This is how I connected the system.... The receiver is connected to the tv on RF channel 3. I then connected the DTV converter box to the outside antenna and the output (also on channel 3) to the antenna input on the receiver. Now when the receiver is turned off, the programming from the converter box is viewed and when the receiver is on, satellite programming is viewed. The converter box that I used is the DigitalStream 9900 with does not have analog pass thru and I do not need any splitter/combiners or A/B switches in this setup. This works very well!
 
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