Use a Samsung SIR-T451 as HD Backup during Rain Fade

[R-U-Q-R-U]

During the summer we get lots of heavy thunderstoms in FL that cause rain fade. Even with good numbers on TP 11 and 12 (115-123) I had a half hour rain fade outage last Friday night. Anytime there is deep cloud cover with these storms we loose signal for a while.

I was wondering if anyone uses an HDTV STB like the Samsung SIR-T451
( http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=SIR-T451%2fXAA ) for HD backup?

These boxes are selling on eBay for about $155 plus $20 shipping. With a good UHF antenna I have read these are better OTA receivers than the 811.

Is this worth the money? Anyone have one for this purpose?

 

[pacman]

Well, I have a Samsung SIR-T351 (one model earlier than the 451) and that is all I have for HD (I still use my 721 receiver for Dish, which doesn't have HD). It works great IF you have good OTA signals available in your area and have a good antenna. It took some time to get my antennas right, but once they were the signal is awesome. I love the T351 and tried a couple other HDTV boxes, but had signal issues. The T451 is supposed to be an improvement, but it wasn't available when I picked up the T351.

 

[R-U-Q-R-U]

Can you split the RG-6 from an OTA antenna with a regular cable splitter?

 

[boba]

Can you split the RG-6 from an OTA antenna with a regular cable splitter?

Yes, I would also suggest that you search on Ebay or your local classifieds for a VOOM (Motorola DSR 550) receiver. A lot of them have been coming from Florida. Auction prices with shipping have been below $100. The one I bought last week ran about $35 without remote and was cheap but it came from Florida, the service seems to have been popular there. I have 6 HD receivers connected to one OTA,1 DISH 6000,2 Directv receivers, 2 VOOM receiver and 1 Samsung 451. No complaints on the 451 so far but it does seem to run hot which will usually result in a short usage life 2-3 years.

 

[Larry]

Yes, I would also suggest that you search on Ebay or your local classifieds for a VOOM (Motorola DSR 550) receiver. A lot of them have been coming from Florida. Auction prices with shipping have been below $100. The one I bought last week ran about $35 without remote and was cheap but it came from Florida, the service seems to have been popular there.

Do I understand you correctly...I could use an old VOOM receiver as an HD OTA tuner? If so, below $100 would be quite a bargain compared to regular OTA tuners.

 

[boba]

Yes they work quite well for the price, just understand their is no warranty or service.
Be sure it was previously activated, New In BoNIB) is a boat anchor and they have sold for high prices. There is a VOOM forum here read it.

 

[Larry]

Yes they work quite well for the price, just understand their is no warranty or service.
Be sure it was previously activated, New In BoNIB) is a boat anchor and they have sold for high prices. There is a VOOM forum here read it.

Thank you for your response. Since I never had VOOM, I didn't bother reading the VOOM forum. But you are right...there are some very informative posts regarding this issue.

 

[R-U-Q-R-U]

Yes, I would also suggest that you search on Ebay or your local classifieds for a VOOM (Motorola DSR 550) receiver. A lot of them have been coming from Florida. Auction prices with shipping have been below $100. The one I bought last week ran about $35 without remote and was cheap but it came from Florida, the service seems to have been popular there. I have 6 HD receivers connected to one OTA,1 DISH 6000,2 Directv receivers, 2 VOOM receiver and 1 Samsung 451. No complaints on the 451 so far but it does seem to run hot which will usually result in a short usage life 2-3 years.

Cool...thanks for the great information. You have alot of HD TV's!

 

[boba]

Cool...thanks for the great information. You have alot of HD TV's!

No I have a lot of SD TVs that I watch Digital channels on only have two HDTVs, they have Directv receivers connected to them.

 

[R-U-Q-R-U]

Well, I got the SIR-T451 and added a Winegard SS-2000 Square Shooter with pre-amp to the mix and now get ALL my local OTA's on my 811 with a minimum signal of 88. The strongest comes in at 96.

Before the SS-2000 I could not get NBC HD OTA. It is the only local that broadcasts VHF. Now it comes in with 88 signal strength.

Even if you don't bother with a separate receiver the SS-2000 makes the 811 OTA tuner work well.