QAM

There is digital, digital and digital
OTA digital is ATSC and by federal law all TVs sold in the US must receive or must be clearly labeled that they do not. .and I think that last "Labeled they do not) has expired but.. not sure.

This leaves QAM digital
And ENCRYPTED QAM digital

Now many TV's (The Element brand is the only exception I know of) have done QAM for along time... NOTE: Though Element is the only brand **I** know of, well, this does not mean others can not.. Just I don't know it.

BUT: the problem with QAM digital, ATSC digital and Analog is this.. A subscriber can go to Radio Shack, Dollar General, Wal*mart, Best buy and a long list of other stores and get a SPLITTER, and some coax and run a 2nd line to a 2nd TV or a 3rd, or 4th and not pay any additional fee to the cable company.

NOTE they are already over charging you.. Delevering about 10 dollars worth of service for 100 dollars a month type over charging you, but oh, we can't have you adding TV's without our getting an additional FEE.

So some cable companies (And I won't name names because..> Well.. Liability is attached to names) have gone to ENCRYPTED digital.. that way you need a Set Top Box for every set. And they can charge you an additional fee per set top box.

Moved from Forum Technical Support

Check with the park host to make sure that they are distributing a Clear QAM cable feed. If they are and you are sure that your TVs do not have a QAM tuner, you can purchase a converter box for less than $35. Here's a couple boxes available from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/IVIEW-3200STB-Multimedia-Converter-Recording-function/dp/B00RDQGBIE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1490470363&sr=8-1&keywords=iview

https://www.amazon.com/Edal-Receiver-Converter-Recording-Composite/dp/B01LYL35SP/ref=sr_1_13?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1490470703&sr=1-13&keywords=digital+converter+box

These boxes have a Clear QAM tuner and have High Def HDMI output. With the addition of an external portable USB hard drive, they can function as a DVR.

oneross wrote:
I too was surprised...very surprised, but I spoke with Seiki and they confirmed. They are the ones who told me to get a digital adapter.

If the adapter tuner doesn't work, neither will a new TV....for that particular cable system.

I'm not too surprised. I bought a Seiki for our bedroom set and it's truly a remarkable piece of c***. I was beginning to think all TVs were equal. Not so! Speakers were unbelievably poor, even for a TV set. Solved that problem by hooking up an old set of computer speakers to the earphone out jack.

Double check your manual? The Seiki 50" I'm finding on Amazon all list Clear QAM support, along with NTSC and ATSC.

If you're not getting channels after a scan (you do have to scan for each new park), the cable is using encryption, and you'll need a box from the cable company.

could be the park is just providing the feed, but you need to sign up with the 3rd party cable company to actually receive service (trailer park up the road from me does this)

quote from Amazon for the Seiki SE50UY04:

This TV contains ... over-the-air ATSC/NTSC RF input support, Clear-QAM digital cable support, digital/analog channel auto tuning, V-CHIP/CCD/Favorite Channel support, and more. I

A (clear) QAM tuner is becoming a dinosaur these days since most are scrambled digital. The FCC removed the 'Clear QAM' proviso several years ago and most if not all the name brand cable suppliers require their flavor of STB to work at all. Anyplace you find Clear QAM or NTSC (analog) the CG likely has a small head end in the office to supply the property with decoded cable or remodulated OTA. The FCC requires an NTSC & ATSC tuner but don't think they have any QAM requirements for the above reasons.

If those TV's really don't have a QAM tuner, I'd replace them.. Also, make sure your external antenna works properly when the CG can't deliver.

I too was surprised...very surprised, but I spoke with Seiki and they confirmed. They are the ones who told me to get a digital adapter. Thank you for your input. It is much appreciated.

I find that's interesting that a 2015 RV Unit does not support Digital TV signals. The National Broadcast System doesn't use analog signals anymore since 2009 i think it was and I am pretty sure all of the newer RV's use Digial TVs in them. Running off the batteries off-grid is part of owning a RV unit. I imagine alot of the Camp grounds are now converting over to digital TV signals...

I think your best bet is to go to WALMART and make a deal on their 22-inch VIZIO. They are often on sale and bet you can talk them down to their sales prices for the asking...

The digital adapters will convert the very good viewing digital signal to analog mode. Big loss...

These TVs will pick up both Analog and Digital TV signals and are pretty rugged ($100-$150). I have had one in my OFF-ROAD POPUP since 2008 and always way back off the trail using it...


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I was in WALMART the other say just walking around while the wife was grocery shopping. I found one of those Antenna Stick plug-in adapters that came with a TV Thumper. All you need to do is connect an antenna to it. This would plug into your computer USB port. Didn't notice the price but probably less than a full blown TV set...

Be sure to check out you system - something has failed there I'm thinking. I would almost bet 2012 year and up RV's all come with Analog and Digital LCDs now...

Be sue to check the button on our Antenna panel and make it is off (led OFF). This will inhibit the CABLE TV port if it is on...


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Roy Ken