TV missing Coax input

[jmidd]

I have a Protron PLTV-20 and received it a couple years ago. I had cable that only has a coax no box, but to be honest I have no idea how my step-dad set it up and neither does he. The point is I no longer have cable, but just wanted to use a digital antenna to pick up the new signal. Well I look at where is says the ant in should be and it's missing. Instead there is a huge hole, the size of a larger than normal headphone jack. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone. So heres the deal. I bought one of those analog to digital boxes and was gonna set it up through RCA, but then noticed that the ant in is too small for my Phillips Digital antenna! And I really don't see why I should use that because my TV already has a digital tuner! I'm at a loss. I know that the piece is missing from the TV, even the manual shows it should be sticking out from the back. Is there anything I can get to plug into the area where the coax should go? I was reading something about "R F socket to coaxial", but honestly I don't understand it. And it looks too small. I don't want to have to run this through a VCR (since it is only analog) and analog to digital converter box, plus get a new antenna that will somehow fit, if it will. And if that is the only solutionm, do I hook the antenna to the vcr, vcr to converter, converter to tv via RCA. OR antenna to converter, converter to vcr, vcr to tv via RCA. BUT I'd like to be able to just use my tv remote when I watch tv and I know there has to be a shorter path. HELP!! I'm pretty good with directions, but lay-mans terms please.

 

[jwgreen68]

I have a Protron PLTV-20 and received it a couple years ago. I had cable that only has a coax no box, but to be honest I have no idea how my step-dad set it up and neither does he. The point is I no longer have cable, but just wanted to use a digital antenna to pick up the new signal. Well I look at where is says the ant in should be and it's missing. Instead there is a huge hole, the size of a larger than normal headphone jack. I don't know if this makes sense to anyone. So heres the deal. I bought one of those analog to digital boxes and was gonna set it up through RCA, but then noticed that the ant in is too small for my Phillips Digital antenna! And I really don't see why I should use that because my TV already has a digital tuner! I'm at a loss. I know that the piece is missing from the TV, even the manual shows it should be sticking out from the back. Is there anything I can get to plug into the area where the coax should go? I was reading something about "R F socket to coaxial", but honestly I don't understand it. And it looks too small. I don't want to have to run this through a VCR and analog to dig box. Because I'd like to be able to use my tv remote to watch tv. And I know there has to be a shorter path. HELP!! I'm pretty good with directions, but lay-mans terms please.

It sounds to me like the coax input has been broken off. You might take it to a repairman to see if it can be fixed.

 

[jmidd]

Is there nothing I can do on my own? About how much do you think that would cost?

 

[dfergie]

Moved to TV forum, could it have had a back nut that held it that came loose and the connection is inside the TV?

 

[jmidd]

it doesn't have anything rattling aroudn inside.

 

[Andrewwski]

Could have gotten wedged somewhere, or even have broken off and fallen out.

 

[harshness]

According to what little information I could find on Google, the PLTV-20 has no digital tuner. They marketed it as an "EDTV Ready" model.

Note that this unit is probably MUCH older than two years.

If the information I found is accurate, you don't need to bother with extracting the F connector as the tuner won't help you.

 

[BigLou]

If you are comfortable doing some small repair work, you might be able to fix this with stuff you have laying around.

All you need is:
1 - 8" piece of coaxial cable with male connector on one end
1 - set of RCA cables (Red/White/Yellow)
1 - coaxial coupler
2 - small wire nuts

electrical tape

Take the back housing off of your TV. You may have to unscrew the small nut holding the threaded connector to the TV. This threaded connector should connect to the motherboard with a male RCA prong that should be soldered to the component on the motherboard. You will need to carefully cut
& remove the old soldering & wiggle the connector off. This is the hardest part, but it WILL come off with a little trying.

Now get your coax cable and strip off about 2" of the black outside housing ONLY. Your solid copper` interior cable should be protected by a small plastic coating which is covered in braided wire. You'll need to be careful not to cut the braiding off. Untangle the braiding down to where your cut stops and try and get it all on one side of the cable so you can twist it all together and make a nice wire. Now strip about an inch off of your interior plastic sheathing to reveal the small solid copper wire on the very inside.

Get your RCA cable and cut about 6" off of the one yellow side. Follow the same process above to get a braided sheathing wire and a solid copper wire. Attach this yellow wire to the coaxial cable by twisting the two braided wires together and the two solid copper wires together. Use your wire nuts & electrical tape to secure your connections making sure none of the wires can touch each other.

Connect the yellow cable's male prong into the component on the motherboard and attach your coaxial coupler to the male end of your coaxial cable. If you saved the small nut from earlier, you can re-attach this new coupler to the housing on your TV. Screw your housing back on the TV and you should be good to go.

 

[mw1597]

[FONT=Frutiger55Roman,BoldItalic][FONT=Frutiger55Roman,BoldItalic]This TV has RCA input for the antenna. It came with an adapter to connect to a coax cable. If lost, Radio Shack may have one, look for Video Adapter - RCA Male to F-Type Female.[/FONT][/FONT]​

[FONT=Frutiger55Roman,BoldItalic][FONT=Frutiger55Roman,BoldItalic]As others had mentioned this TV has an analog tuner so you will need a converter box for digital OTA.[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=Frutiger55Roman,BoldItalic]​

[FONT=Frutiger55Roman,BoldItalic]To connect a TV signal source to the display:[/FONT]
[/FONT]​

1. Insert coax-to-RCA adapter into the antenna (ANT) jack on the bottom of the display.
2. Connect a coax cable between the adapter and TV signal​

source (for example, a cable box, satellite receiver, or antenna).