Oh dear

~ susie

Well, you’re either the kind of person who watches TV, or the kind who doesn’t. I definitely fall into the latter category.

I got this strange onscreen message that said, “Uh oh, that can’t be good!” and now it doesn’t work. The picture freezes, no sound. I tried unplugging it for a half-hour, got the sound back for about five seconds and then it stopped. And since I bought it used, no warranty.

I have an old TV in my bedroom, but it’s not HDTV and the digital cable box won’t work with it.

Argghh.

Published by susie

5 thoughts on “Oh dear”

  1. Susie, the digital cable box will work with your old TV if you hook it up with an RF cable, i.e., an antenna cable. Connect it between the antenna input on your TV and the “TV Out” stud on the cable box. Tune your TV set to channel 4 as if you were watching a VCR and, voila!, you’ll be back in business.

    FWIW: cable boxes (and VCRs) have a small switch on the back that switches the “TV out” modulator between channels 3 and 4. You’re supposed to choose the channel that’s NOT in use in your area. Since there’s a channel 3 in Philly, the switch should be set to channel 4.

    Good luck!

  2. Sign up for Freecycle. I got an older Sony Trinitron tv through freecycle. I had to pay a man-with-van to help me bring it home. The tv has problems with the color tubes but it basically works and I’ll probably keep it until I can buy a new set.

    I’ve returned the favor as it were by giving a number of people things they needed or something I no longer needed or wanted.

  3. Knowing as I do your travails down through the years with computers, I have to smile at your attempt to “reboot” your tv;) ‘Course as a “Computer Professional” known to shoot tv’s*, I’d probably have done the same.

    *I know, I know, violent rhetoric
    *I wonder on those rare occasions when I actually see a tv if as with the old days when you shoot one it implodes with a satisfying bang or will these new flat panel lcd’s keep working. Wouldn’t that suck.

  5. In digital video, when you have some kind of signal problem going into the device (TV or whatever) the device will hold on to the last good picture it had – freeze – until the signal comes back. In old fashioned TV the picture just got weak and snowy or just went away.

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