sanlynriv0

I connected eveything correctly and I am getting a good picture. However, I cannot get any sound. All I hear is a staticky mess. I followed the tips that came with the box and none of them worked. Is it really true that the RCA cables are optional? How can I get sound? What am I doing wrong?

Jay

Do you have both the coax and RCA cables connected? Also, have you checked to make sure the connections are plugged into the correct inputs of your TVand are pushed in on both the conerter box and TV?

Jay

Additional info about connecting a converter box in case anyone is wondering:

To connect a digital-to-analog OTA converter box, most boxes offer two options.

Option 1: Use of RCA (Composite) Cables, which have the red, white, yellow connectors on the end should be used if you have the available input RCA connections on your TV. This type of wire offers superior video and sound quality over coax connections.

Option 2: Use of RF (Coax) Cables, which have a single metallic connector on the end (in the shape of a needle) can be used to connect from the RF output on your converter box to the RF input on your TV (Sometimes labled as VCR input or Antenna Input).

Note: Only one of the above connections should be utilized when connecting a converte box to your TV.

sanlynriv0

I do have everything connected correctly. I did try the red white and yellow cables and I had the same problem. I do have everything connected correctly as well. I verified that a buch of times. I appreciate your help but do you have any other ideas becuase I am gettinr really frustrated. I wish there was a technician that I can talk to you know?

Jay

You may want to try calling the support phone number that came with your converter box instruction manual. I don't know of any TV techs you can call in your area, but you might want to look one up in your yellow pages, they may give you free technical support over the phone.

Are you getting any kind of sound other than the static noise? Can you hear any sound from the actual TV channel you're viewing? Bad sound with Audio-Video products is usually attributed to one of these three items: bad wiring, TV settings, or bad equipment (or in your case, a bad converter box). Since you've elimited the bad wiring by checking your connections/cables, lets move on to TV settings. Are you only using the volume control on your converter box remote to control the volume, or have you tried walking up to the television set and adjusting the volume up there as well? Try turning the volume down just a bit on the converter box to reduce the static noise, and turning the volume up on the TV.

I've found others that have has somewhat similar problems as you, and in some situations, the converter box was actually faulty - broke.

Why is the audio quality so bad with my digital converter box? - Yahoo! Answers

kmon

My resolution was the opposite. Turn the TV down and converter up.

You just got to find the sweet spot

Thanks man. what a relief


My prob: static noise on converter menu options, some text on news channels, some credits, some text on commercials.

Jay

Glad to hear that helped! Speaking of odd noises, I've got a high pitched frequency noise coming out of my Apex converter box, but only when the unit is turned off. I have yet to figure out the cause, but I'm beginning to doubt the production quality on some of these DTV boxes.

sublute

I have an APEX DTT250 and the high freq. noise in the off/standby mode drives me nuts! It is good to hear I'm not the only one who hears this.... I just have to ignore all the other voices.. sorry for the emoticon....

If you find the cause please post. I have been tempted to take the cover off and try to locate the culprit.

The other complaint about this box is the color saturation. I like the EPG function and available S-vid out. I use it as the primary box because of the EPG look/see into the future; for some hours on some stations.

ShowMeRon

The static noise makes me think the audio output amp in the box might be fried. I would return the unit for an exchange. The noise in the audio might even over load to whatever input could damage that unit as well!! BTW- I am an electronics technician.

divxhacker

Yeah, kinda like that mosquito ringtone teenagers are supposed to only hear, huh?

That sounds like a switching relay noise. It's the mechanism that is supposed to conserve power when the unit is not demanding power from the source.

This mechanism works by measuring the available power in the unit, and if there is extra power left, it uses that extra power to activate the relay, disconnecting the AC power until the power falls below the base limit, then the switch closes, and AC power goes back in.

Complex solution: You might need to open it up, and put a couple of packing peanuts around the relay, it should look like a little thick rectangular box. It might say SPST or DPST on it.

Simple solution: Just leave the box on, it should consume very very little power anyhow, like a night light.