OT- TV question from a techno-moron

[Mike (WA)]

We're finally being dragged, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century- Old Dish box gave out, so upgrading to HD TV with the new system (had analog picture-tube type TV's up to now). Need TV to watch Classic Tractor Fever on RFD TV, don'tcha know.

They say there are no stupid questions, but "they" haven't heard mine: We have a VHS player, and many tapes- can we play those through the new HD flatscreen TVs? I'm guessing not, since they're analog and new TVs are digital. . .
 

[Dick2]

Yes, they will play if the player connects to the TV. We use an entenna (no payment for cable or satellite) and still get some analog stations.
 

[omahagreg]

Yes, they have some analog inputs, along with the HDMI for digital. I have my analog surround sound hooked up with mine, and it does sound better than the TV! I am sure digital surround would be better, but baby steps...!
 

[old_bc]

You can play it through the new TV with composite cables(RCA L+R & Video). You can also get a composite to HDMI converter but they are pricey. I don't think it will work through the digital tuner by using channel 3 or 4.
Converter

 

[buickanddeere]

Just plug the VCR analog output into the TV's analog input. Jacks. Should be a red, white and yellow jacks iirc all together in a group.
Your blue -ray player in he future will use a hdmi just like the dish.
We just went from a 27" CRT to a 32" flat screen and a dish last November . Outside antenna quit bringing in all the HD stations from across the lake. Tired of tipping the thing down every 6 months to repair weather damage. A proper 7-51 antenna would reduce wind damage compared to the current large 2-83.
 

[LJD]

If you've got a 2-83 antenna - it's really a bunch of antennas stuck together. I've got a couple of those monsters and they are hard to keep together in high winds. That is especially true with the newest ones that are more flimsy (like the Winegard 8200U). It's about the biggest VHF/UHF antenna available now and used to be more HD and truck-shipped. But it's been cheapened so it can be shipped via UPS in two pieces.

If you want good UHF reception - the square "bow tie" antennas work incredibly well and have a small wind "foot-print." Very durable in lousy weather. Channel Master 4228HD or a Winegard HD8800.

With VHF - since the antenna has to be larger then UHF - using two antennas works better IF you actually have that many VHF channels you care about. Where I live in NY - there is only one channel left on VHF low-band. VHF high-band has 2 or 3. By nature of the wavelength - channel 2 requires the largest rods and channel 13 the smallest. So a low-band 2-6 is pretty big, whereas a high-band 7-13 is much smaller.
There is a huge gap between what is called channel 6 and channel 7 since that is where FM radio exists. There was a huge law-suit over it many years ago. The poor guy that invented FM radio sued the TV industry (RCA) and died before he won the award. His widow later got the money but the big hole between 6 and 7 still holds the FM signal. That guy was Mr. Edwin Armstrong - inventor of the Armstrong System that later became FM radio. He was one of the most promient commication inventors in history - yet I guess few people now-adays know who he was.
 

[Mike (WA)]

Thanks- and I actually understand what you told me, which is a tribute to your educational skills.

I think it was JDemaris (now LJD) who gave us a website to check which stations we would receive with a proper antenna, when everything went from analog to digital some years ago. I did it for my location, and came up with a couple PBS stations, and that was it. So don't know how many there are out there, still using house-top antennas. I look around town here, and nary a one. We're 90 miles from both Portland and Seattle, and there are no transmitters closer.
 

[LJD]

If you are actually 90 miles from the closest transmitter - chances of getting anything are pretty slim. But - you certainly cannot go by the presence, or lack of, antennas in the area. Many people since the digital change seem unaware that over-the-air reception is even possible. That fact along with the availability of small "one satellite" dishes, cable, etc. make antennas even more rare. In my town - I don't see any antennas anywhere. That being said, I get over a two dozen channels/sub-channels from 50-75 miles away and blocked by many mountain-tops.

The furthest TV reception I've experienced is at my place in northern Michigan. Fairly flat land and several Great Lakes around. I get quite a few stations from Canada that are 125 miles away from Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (Canada). That with a Winegard HD8200 antenna and a 30 dB pre-amplifier.
 

[LJD]

It's funny you mentioning the VHS tapes. I realized a few weeks ago that my "newest" kid just turned 9 years old and had never heard of a video tape. We were watching an old Columbo mystery on TV and Columbo caught some murderer by using a VHS recorder.

So, my kid asked and that led to digging out a bunch of old VHS tapes and then trying to find a way to play them. They were from 30 years ago when my other children were little. So, what should of been a quick project wound up taking days. None of the old video players worked. I yanked two of them apart, cleaned the heads and finally got one working. Hooked to our new TV via the coax antenna connection and it worked fine. When we got all done we decided it we ought to find a way to put those old family tape videos onto DVD disks. Well that turned into another project. I found a way to hook the VHS player coax output to the TV tuner-card antenna input on my computer. From there, I recorded to my hard-drive, changed file format, and then finally got it all onto DVDS.

Then my kid found a bunch of VHS Three Stooges tapes. So, now we've got to get them on DVD also and "preserve for the ages."

After that - we are onto even older technology. My kid whats to see a wire-recorder work. I've got two of them in the barn (pre-cursor to the tape recorder).
 

[Ultradog MN]

If you are going to bring up your TV I'm gonna bring up my usual rant.
Kill your Television!
You and your family will be happier, smarter and more self reliant without it.


 

[George Marsh]

Mike, I have 3 old dish boxes, 312 models I think. When I up graded, the person on the phone told me they are mine and not to let the guys take them. Didn't cost me anything to up grade.
George
 

[LJD]

Any new TV is going to have a two tuners (digital and analog) inside and also have a co-ax antenna hook-up. Any VCR will hook to that antenna connection. In fact, some of the oldest video players (VCRs or VCPs) can only be hooked via the antenna connection. Many early models lack the composit RCA jacks.