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PLEASE HELP! Hitachi 57F500A

#1
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9/18/09 at 8:27pm
  • Joined: September 2009
  • Post Count: 1

First, I will say...I have NO IDEA about tech stuff. I have a Hitachi 57F500A Projection TV that's manual says it's "HD Ready". I no longer have cable and am trying to hook up an external antenna to get TV reception, but with no success. Do I need more than an external antenna? Do I need an HD converter box too? Please help, my kids are driving me nuts, because we've had no TV for almost a month! GRRR  Thank you!
 

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#2
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9/19/09 at 7:02am
  • Joined: April 2006
  • Location: Charlotte, NC
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For an external antenna to pull in HD signals, your TV needs to have a digital (ATSC or QAM) tuner. If it doesn't have one already, you will need to buy an external digital tuner.

"HD Ready" meant different things in different TVs. For some TVs, it meant you could hook up an antenna, tell the TV to scan for channels, and you'd get whatever HD channels your local area had to offer. For others (like a JVC that I had), one had to buy a separate digital tuner box which connected to the TV (via either component or HDMI connection), hook up an external antenna, and then scan for channels.

If you hooked up the antenna and had the TV scan for channels and got nothing, it sounds like you're going to have to find an external digital tuner box. They used to be plentiful (mine was made by Panasonic), but with most TVs having built-in tuners now, I suspect these will be harder to find.

Good luck.
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#3
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9/19/09 at 5:11pm
  • Joined: April 1999
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I would recommnd an OTA DVR so you can record.  TivoHD is best but rather expensive (~$200 for box, $400 for lifetime sub).  DTVPal DVR is cheaper, less features, ~$300.
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#4
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9/20/09 at 6:56am
  • Joined: January 2004
  • Location: Mechanicsburg, PA
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Your TV has only analog tuners in it.  As of June, there are no analog TV stations.  You will need a converter box.

BTW - Nice TV.  I still think the picture on mine is nicer than my LCD and almost as nice as my LCoS.  
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