HiSense (US Digital) DB-2010 OTA HD Reciever...

[WildeComputers]

Well, I think I already know the answer, but want to see if anyone has run into this before...
About two years ago I bought the HiSense DB-2010 receiver at Walmart which was available for $200 and geared towards the former US Digital company and their HD OTA pay service. Since this was not available in rural Minnesota, it worked great as an OTA HD receiver. Occasionally it would show a strong signal but a blue screen saying that the channel was not available. All I needed to do was unplug it and it was fine. Same thing with the audio, occasionally the audio was "missing" but the picture was fine. Unplug it and it was fine. Fast forward to last night...

Last night the audio was missing but the picture was fine. I unplugged it and when I plugged it back in now both the Signal & Power LEDs flash green (about once per second). It does not post any screens and nothing from the remote nor the front power button work. Is this one a goner, or is there a chance I can plug a USB stick into the unit and power it on to reflash the firmware? I found the firmware version 2.7.11 on the Internet and formatting a USB stick to the ext2 file system won't be hard for me to do, but will this fix it?

 

[WildeComputers]

It's a goner...

Anyone have a good recommendation for a new HD set-top-box? I want to keep it under $200 as my TV has seen its better days, and I know if I buy a nice, expensive STB my TV will die the next day. Also, who sells them anymore? Back-in-the-day, I was able to walk into Walmart and Best Buy and pick one up, now I see Best Buy has one that needs to be ordered online.

It was a difficult weekend trying to watch the football playoffs in analog. Nothing's more painful than going from HD to analog.

 

[concord]

You may want to put an ad in the SatelliteGuys Classifieds for something used. I bought a voom receiver on ebay a couple years ago as a gift, seemed to work fine...just make sure that it's active (when voom service went out of business) otherwise it will be locked and will act as a small boat anchor

Edit: Check out Dish TR-50 in news release: http://www.satelliteguys.us/1179709-post24.html

 

[techno935]

I bought a voom receiver on ebay a couple years ago as a gift, seemed to work fine...

I recommend NO on the Voom box if your CBS affiliate is owned & operated by CBS. For some reason the data signals from the CBS stations reboot the box. My Voom receiver is good for a doorstop til CBS straightens that crap out.

 

[Hall]

By now, you're not likely to find any set-tops in stores since so many TVs now come with built-in digital tuners. Start looking for used ones.....

I'd be very leery of VOOM boxes, especially off of eBay. It seems that many were bought in liquidation type deals and were never activated. In that case, they are DEAD boxes in regards to OTA usage. Unless it's a private seller who clearly states it was used, and still works, for OTA, avoid it. Check craigstlist also as people will un-load theirs as they buy new TVs that include tuners.

In case you didn't know, older HD DirecTV boxes (ones that are 3rd-party, i.e. Samsung, Sony, etc) will work without a D* subscription for this. I have one myself (a Samsung SIR-TS160).

Here's some TS160 boxes currently available on eBay.

 

[gordonzo]

here is some sites you can check out:
home.att.net/~roashru/Voom.html
home.att.net/~roashru/Directv.html
yro.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/03/27/2122222
avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=479882&pp=30
amazon.com/Coby-DTV-140-ATSC-High-Definition/dp/tech-data/B000NW7A2G/ref=de_a_smtd
winegard.com/mobile/dig_receiver.htm

also rochester mn. radio shack said they will be selling zenith boxes next month.

 

[WildeComputers]

Yeah, I was starting to think the good ol' days of buying a HD STB at a local store were going the way of the Dodo. Right now, I am waiting on a part to try and fix my receiver, if that doesn't work, I was planning to ship it back to the company I contacted and they offered to fix it at a reasonable rate. I have my fingers crossed that I get the part tomorrow (football games) or at least on Monday (Prison Break), but I stopped holding my breath and got a box lined up for shipping next week (just in case).

It's sad there's no longer a market with major consumer electronic chains, but I can't blame them; force the consumer to purchase a new TV with a built-in OTA HD receiver. I know the wife and I were very close to this option until I ran across someone willing to repair it.