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I No Longer Receive Cable TV Since I Installed a DTV Converter Box, What Can I Do To Fix It?

by TNT
(Clermont, FL)

I have purchased a digital tuner for my TV's in my motor home. No problem with the installation. Works great. It comes in on channel 3. Prior to connecting the digital, my cable came in on channel 3 and when I wanted to watch satellite TV I would change it with the TV remote AV button which changed it to AV1. AV 2 was blank and cable was back on regular channels. Now the digital works but no cable when I shut off the digital box. Same for the rear TV set. If I disconnect the coax from the digital box and go back to the original connection, the cable works fine. I have DISH as my satellite service.

Any advice would be appreciated.

ANSWER Greetings TNT thanks for asking your question on our Ask An RVing Question Page.

You do not say what brand Digital TV Converter Box you are using. You need to confirm that the Digital TV Converter Box you are using has the Analog Pass-through option. The Analog Pass-through option allows signals to Pass-through the Digital TV Converter Box when it is in the off position (also known as standby mode on some boxes). This is why I highly recommend the Zinwell ZAT-970A Digital to Analog TV Converter Box as it has the Analog Pass-through option and it is also very highly rated by its owners. If the box you have does not have the Pass-through option, then the cable signal cannot Pass-through the box.

It also sounds like you are using a cable box from your

cable provider to get the cable channels on your TV and the cable box is not able to receive or send the signals to your TV because there is no Pass-through. You basically have two options. Option 1 is to purchase Digital TV Converter boxes with the analog Pass-through option. Option 2 is to split the signals going to your cable box and DTV Converter Box.

If you choose option 2 please read the answer I gave to this question How Do I Install a Digital TV Transport Adapter In My RV? Just substitute your cable TV box where it talks about the Digital TV Transport Box. If you split the signals going to your cable TV and DTV Converter Box, you will end up with weaker signals getting to both boxes and you may have to install a TV Signal Booster to get a better picture. The TV signal Booster I highly recommend is the PCT 1-PORT BI-DIRECTIONAL TV SIGNAL BOOSTER. Read the answer I gave to this question How Can We Improve The Digital TV Reception In Our RV? to learn how to properly install a TV Signal Booster in your RV. By the way all of these instructions also work if you are having the same problems in your home.

I hope that this information has been helpful to you. If any of our visitors have additional tips or suggestions for you they can add them to this page by clicking on the add a comment link located near the bottom of this page.

Happy RVing

RVing Al

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