msargent76

EscapeVelocity

Have you tried switching box locations (bedroom and den) to see if its the wiring that is the problem?

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Eureka

What EV said, +1.

Swap the boxes out to make sure it's not a cabling problem. After you move the problem box, go into the menu and rescan for channels. If it's still missing a lot of channels, the box is defective.

JakesDTVBlog

Unfortunately, Miranda, I've not read or heard too many good things about those Craig boxes. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it's defective.

The Magnavox, while it's still not my personal favorite, has been a much better box, in my experience.

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Piggie

Are the two cable runs from the splitter the same length? And which is longer and how long are those 2 runs?

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Orrymain

I was going to ask if the connections are the same. I have two boxes, both the same, but one is a coax lead and the other a twin lead, and there's a difference in reception. I was also going to ditto what Jakes said about Craig. I've heard they are the worst.

jwalter

I would start by eliminating the splitters and just hook a single converter up at a time directly to the antenna and then re-scan to see if the problem is with the boxes. There can be differences in sensitivity between tuners. This should make it easier to narrow down the problem (i.e. cableing vs tuners)

curt_dawg2000

Believe or not they are difference in the dtv tuner I think. I had a magnovox and loaned it out to someone, the recption on it was not great but during the day I could pick up 2 more stations than want I now get with a radio shack box. The signal past a point on the radio shows stronger but on weaker signals it will like a 15 or something but no picture. But when I get my magnovox back I will do a true field test.

msargent76

Well, first I would like to thank everyone for their input. Secondly, I would like to tell everyone what I tried. I disconnected the splitter and hooked the Craig box direct to the booster. The results were the same. I unhooked the Craig box and hooked the Magnavox up in the bedroom. The Magnavox got the same reception as it did in the living room. We had purchased 2 craig boxes so I checked the other Craig box in the bedroom and it had the same results as the first. Go figure! So I tried hooking both the Craig boxes up in the living room and guess what, they still sucked lemons! LOL I think this is such a crock for a company to sell crap like this. There should be a lemon law on these devices! I contacted the company that makes the Craig boxes and their first question was, "well, do you have it hooked up to an antenna?" DUH!!! And the fact that they are only open M-F 8am-5pm Eastern Time. The next comment was "you may need to upgrade our antenna"...LMAO!! We advised them that we currently own the biggest one they make and we have a booster hooked to it as well, so that is definitely not the issue. My question is, will the government replace or reissue the government coupons to us if the boxes we bought were lemons?

DTVuser2009

The later (newest released) Magnavox boxes, for a cheap $49.99 model, are the best in my opinion. at least for the price, they're great with weaker signals. there's been times that it could pick up something that even the DTVPal + couldn't. some boxes have higher signal strength requirements than others (some have their bar set high for a decent picture, around ~50-60% to hold without breaking up) and the Magnavox, from my personal experience, while lacking a few desired features (such as a better EPG, or timers and even a clock) can pick up a UHF signal as weak as 18-24%. it was the only box i could use during our thunderstorms last week.

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