Update 3/23/09– Received the new cable today.
Update 3/19/09 – A full month later, I finally received a response to my request to Digit/ILStream for a new RF cable. They have asked me for my address so they can send it to me.
In January I wrote about my experiment with a DTV converter box on an analog television, and compared the channels I received with the converter box to those I received with Comcast’s “antenna service”. Ultimately I decided that I would drop my cable service and get a second converter box for the TV in my bedroom.
Doing this not only saves me a little coin each month, but it also gives me the freedom to move my 13″ TV around. I can now watch TV while making dinner, and although I don’t do this often, I can also watch TV in my office by bringing the 13″ TV with its converter box into the room.
So to complete my setup I needed to purchase a second converter box. I like the Zenith converter I originally bought at Circuit City and returned there hoping to get another one. Unfortunately they were sold out and I didn’t know where I could get another one. I ended up purchasing a Digit/ILStream at Radio Shack. The Zenith box came with an RF cable and a set of audio video cables. The Digit/ILStream converter box came only with an RF cable.
One night, in fact my first night without cable, I was watching the TV with the Digit/ILStream converter box. I had moved it to the kitchen while I was cooking and then back to the living room. When moving it back I must have knocked the cable against the stand because shortly after, the picture went bad. As I wiggled the antenna and checked out the connections I noticed that one end of the RF cable looked a bit bent. The metal piece had practically detached from the rest of the cable. In my opinion, and by comparison to the Zenith RF cable, it was poorly made.
I went to the Digit/ILStream website and clicked on Contact Us and sent them a message asking for a replacement cable. It’s been over a week and I haven’t gotten a response. I was going to take it back to Radio Shack for an exchange, but found that I could use the audio video cable that came with the Zenith converter box. It didn’t enhance my reception with the Zenith box and RF cable, but makes a good substitute for the broken Digit/ILStream RF cable. So if you haven’t bought a converter box yet and need to, do not buy the Digit/ILStream converter box. Not only is the RF cable flimsy, but customer service is unresponsive.
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