Digital Stream DTX9950
In my best television announcer voice: “Digital TV has better picture, better sound and more channels!” Unless you’ve been living under a rock then you have probably heard that a million times by now. If you have been living under a rock then you need to check out the Digital TV 2009 website to learn more and to apply for a converter box coupon so you can watch free over-the-air digital TV on your analog televisions.
A couple of weekends ago I purchased my converter box, a Digital Stream DTX9950. I purchased it then because my coupon was soon to expire. I knew several people who had already purchased their converter boxes. A couple of those people had purchased the Digital Stream brand. After looking at the Digital Stream, GE, Magnavox and RCA converter boxes online, I felt the Digital Stream box was to my liking as well. I had helped my Father and Grandfather with their converter boxes. My Father had the DTX9900 and my Grandfather had one from Magnavox. The one from Magnavox felt really cheap and the on screen display looked even cheaper. I had considered getting an RCA converter box but after looking at the reviews and some YouTube clips I felt it was cheap and poorly designed like the Magnavox.
Almost all converter boxes are packaged with the same accessories: a very short RF cable, a remote with batteries, manuals and the converter box. If you’re going to connect the converter box to your television or VCR the included accessories will be enough for you. If you want to connect the converter box to your television using RCA cables (for better picture) you will have to purchase those separately.
Setting up the DTX9950 is really easy. When you power the converter box on it will walk you through a setup wizard which consists of: language selection, confirmation of the cables being plugged in correctly, channel scan and time zone selection.
After having the converter box connected I was able to pick up a lot more channels. Before connecting the converter box most of the channels were snowy. I am a bit disappointed, though. I was hoping to be able to pick up even more channels. I use to get more channels on my indoor antenna than we got on the television in the living room which has an outdoor antenna. That has changed and I now get less than the antenna in the living room. There are two channels I cannot receive and four more that if I move the antenna around I’m able to get but they are very weak signals. Two of which I was able to receive before connecting the converter box. If I move my antenna around I am able to receive them but they’re prone to cutting in and out. I’m probably going to have to purchase a better antenna to pick up anymore channels. The antenna I have now is 10 years old (the same age as the television) and is just an indoor antenna that’s not very strong so I’m not going to complain.
However, I do get two channels that I did not get before. I just don’t get everything that an outdoor antenna can pick up. I just wanted to point out that you may need to get a stronger antenna to be able to receive more channels.
The included remote works pretty well. I got it to work with my 10 year old 19″ RCA XL100. At first I could only get it to power off the television. I first programmed the remote using the codes in the manual. I then used the code search function of the remote (hold down the TV power button and press the channel up button until the television powers off). Using the code search of the remote I was able to get it to power the television on and off. The remote only controls the power, volume and inputs of the television (switches between channels 3 & 4).
The television we have in the living room has an older version of the Digital Stream converter boxes, a DTX9900. The only difference between the two that I have seen is that the DTX9950 has analog pass through which allows you to press a button on the remote and view analog broadcasts. Pressing the button again switches you back to digital television. This is handy in circumstances that you can pick up a channel in analog format but not in digital. When the switch happens next February I don’t know how useful this feature will be, there may be some low power stations that are allowed to continue broadcasting in analog. On the DTX9900 there is an “Info” button (instead of an analog pass through button) which brings up the program information for the channel you are currently watching. On the DTX9950 you can press the “OK” button to get the channel information to appear. There is a button for bringing up the Electronic Program Guide (EPG) on both remotes.
Note: Only digital TV signals will be sent through RCA cables. If you’re using RCA cables and want to watch analog broadcasts through the converter box you’ll have to use an RF cable.
Speaking of the EPG, this is another really nice feature. With the DTX9950 it seems that the program guide works really well and has a lot of useful information. Sometimes, more information than what is printed in the local newspaper television guide. I’ve noticed that there are some stations that have programming information for a couple of days and there are some stations that only have listings for the next few hours. Also, some stations have extended descriptions for upcoming programs and some don’t. Flashback: When I first got my RCA television the remote control had a program information button that sometimes displayed current programming information. Sometimes it would work, most of the time it wouldn’t. Hopefully, the EPG will work for the foreseeable future.
The Digital Stream and most other converter boxes allow you to take advantage of wide screen television broadcasts. If you have a wide screen television you’ll appreciate this the most. If you don’t have a wide screen television you’ll still appreciate this if you don’t mind letter boxing. I personally like it regardless of the letter boxing because it allows me to see a wider view. If you’re not a fan of the letter boxing you can zoom to fill the screen. You can also change to Anamorphic view which allows you to see the entire wide view in the frame. It doesn’t look all that great so I’d recommend sticking with the letter boxing or zooming.
A couple of other notable features are the ratings and emergency alerts. If you have children and don’t want them to view inappropriate content you can set up ratings for acceptable viewing and assign a pin number to keep them from changing the ratings. I won’t go into how stupid I think this is but I will say that I’m sure there are ways around this. Most of the converter boxes, the Digital Stream being no exception, allows you to view emergency alerts. I have not saw one of these come across the television (hopefully I won’t anytime soon) but I am guessing these would be for Amber and other emergency alerts (fire, weather, police). I don’t fully understand how the alerts would work or be shown on the screen, if you know feel free to leave a comment.
I have heard a lot of people say that they think this is a government conspiracy to get more money. I don’t agree with that. The government is freeing up the analog spectrum for other purposes and is giving you two coupons worth $40 each. The government doesn’t force you to watch television and they didn’t give you money to purchase your analog antenna or television. Besides that, digital television is truly a lot better in many ways.
Speaking of costs. The DTX9950 from Radio Shack is $59.99 ($65.84 after tax in Oak Ridge, TN). You have to pay taxes on the coupon (maybe this is a government conspiracy). After the coupon and taxes were applied I paid $25.84 for the converter box.
In conclusion I have to say I am very pleased with the DTX9950 (and the DTX9900). Like I have mentioned in this post already I think it’s one of the better converter boxes out there. I have read a lot of great things about it and in my experience with using it over the past couple of weeks I really do like it a lot. I think the features of the Digital Stream brand are far beyond those of other brands. I think it would be great if you’re someone like me who doesn’t pay for cable or satellite television and wants to receive free, local programming after the switch in February 2009. I could see this being used in campers for those who don’t want to sign up for mobile satellite television. Check out the Digital TV 2009 website to learn more about the switch to digital, sign up for two free $40 coupons from the government and find out what programming you can receive in your area with a digital television converter box.
Tags: converter box, converter box coupon, digital stream, digital television, digital tv, dtx9900, dtx9950, free, free television, over the air, radio shack, television, tv
August 16th, 2008 at 5:53 pm
Great review, Andy! I may look into one of these for our TV, just so we can have some broadcast TV coming into the house. Though, I had hoped to find some kind of USB antenna for the G4 instead of purchasing a set top device. Regardless, the after-coupon price is so low that it’s kinda dumb not to buy one of these.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
I HOOKED UP MY BOX. BUT IT DOESNT WORK. ITS SAYS WEAK SIGNAL. WHAT DO YOU THINK MY PROBLEM COULD BE.
August 18th, 2008 at 5:39 pm
SHIRLEY GALATI – Did you forget to turn off your CAPS lock?
Your problem could be that you live too far out to receive signals. With digital television it is pretty much all or nothing. The best advice I can give you is as follows. If you have an outdoor antenna, make sure the antenna is pointing in the direction of the television stations you normally receive programming from (via analog channels). If you have an indoor antenna try rotating it or moving it around then re-scanning for channels. If this doesn’t work you you might have to get a newer, stronger antenna.
December 4th, 2008 at 8:14 pm
I just tried to set up the DTX9950 DTV Converter for my parents who do not have cable. Tried the 1987 Magnavox, which has only an Antenna-In port, hooked the tabletop antenna to the converter box, box to tv. Powered on the tv, then the box – nothing, No Wizard. TV 2 config: Panasonic, tv top antenna, vcr. Hooked antenna to box, rf cable from box to tv, plugged in, powered on tv set to channel 3, set box to channel 3 (tried both on 4 too) and turned on converter. Nothing, no wizard, no set up. Tried adding, the white, yellow, red, audio in/out etc to the converter (removing from vcr) – nothing. I can’t get anything to work – what am I forgetting or leaving out? thanks
December 8th, 2008 at 3:57 pm
Judy – It sounds like you’ve tried everything. It sounds similar to the problem I was having with my Grandfather’s television. His television is really old, it’s one of those that has a wood cabinet built around the television and has to have a special adapter for newer antennas.
What we did for his was connect the antenna to the digital converter box (making sure it’s on channel 3 or 4). Then connect the digital converter box to the VCR (making sure the VCR is on the opposite channel you chose for the converter box). Then connect the VCR to the television.
Turn the television onto the channel for the VCR (power on the VCR of course), then turn the VCR to the channel you chose for the digital converter box (power on the digital converter box of course).
If you still don’t see anything I would check all the cables to make sure they’re still good or I would call the manufacturer and ask them.
December 22nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Use the EVG button to see signal strength also. Suggest you speak to someone at Radio Shack about rabbit ear antennae or other roof mounted same.
January 10th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
I have the 9950 model and I have spent 2 hours going through the codes both manually and in search mode and still can’t control the TV with the remote so set up is not possible yet. Any help would be appreciated.
January 13th, 2009 at 10:41 pm
Dan – I always forget to look at the signal strength that way. That’s a great tip, thanks!
btmidwest – I don’t have any advice to give you. I couldn’t get my parent’s RCA television to work either. The odd thing about that is the fact that my RCA television is about 10 years older than theirs and the code search worked beautifully on mine. The only thing I could get the code search to work on for my parents was their VCR.
January 27th, 2009 at 4:30 pm
I have hooked-up my DTX9950 converter box with my tv and antenna; all I get is snow; last night the picture was perfect – any suggestions? I checked all wires, tv, but the remote won’t turn the channel stations or won’t operst the volume.
February 5th, 2009 at 7:58 pm
I also have the DTX9950 boxes (2). No problems what so ever. Pictures have never been better. However the remote issues are goofy. Works great for my 25 yr old panasonic. Inputted the given code and no problem. The 13 yr old JVC (model AV31BM6) is another story. The codes given don’t work and the search method wasn’t helpful either. Any ideas?
February 7th, 2009 at 7:19 pm
I have correctly set up a DTX9950 digital conversion box on my TV. I am getting DTV clearly (tuned to Channel 3). I followed a procedure for using an analog VCR tuner (also tuned to channel 3) to watch and record a program. The recording was accomplished successfully. I was also able to view previously recorded video tapes. All was well with the world. However, when I tried to watch and record a program today, the procedure wouldn’t work. When I start the VCR, I get static on the screen and the words “No signal” appear. I moved my antenna to various positions, but the image didn’t appear. What is happening? How do I return to the state when I was able to record and watch?
February 11th, 2009 at 4:13 pm
The DTX9950 is a great box and installed without incident! Cudos to RadioShack.
]. It’s been recently installed and I’ll likely get an answer here before I get around to testing it myself. [if not, I'll let everyone know what I uncover]
My wife tapes using a vcr and we wanted to know – does the VCR tape (or continue to tape) a program when the box is in ‘Stand-by’ mode? [I know, try it Steve and let US know
February 12th, 2009 at 11:01 am
After checking out a couple of other related websites I found the answer. In the manual on page 11 under ‘Timer’, there are notes related to changing and/or turning off the ‘Stand By’ feature:
Disabling auto power down function to permit recording
Posted by skijor on Jan 8th, 2009 at 11:12am
Page 12 of manual…
Select Function>Time>Power Down
Select ‘Off’ and the auto power down function will be disabled. I’d advise that unit has good ventilation (not enclosed in a cabinet) so as to void overheating if you’re going to do this. I understand that this model’s predecessor, the DTX9900, had serious overheating issues.
February 12th, 2009 at 8:16 pm
I just installed a 9950. The picture and audio are good, even for some stations that show a low signal strength. I have a large 20 year-old antenna mounted in the attic. However, I have had no luck getting the remote to control my JVC AV-27F802 television. The search method does not work, and the following codes do not work; 034, 083, 211, 013, 054, 055, 060, 065, 066, 067, 089, 159, 012, 182, 123, 157, 158. To echo Alan, any ideas?
February 14th, 2009 at 1:43 pm
The Digital Stream box I had worked fine for a month then it stopped working. The blue light on the box would light up but I got nothing on the TV. Tried reconnecting everything and it didn’t help.
I called the 866 # and they are going to replace it.
February 18th, 2009 at 8:05 pm
Here you go,,, low dollar and better than store bought , 35 DTV channels very clear in the Boston Providence area ,,,, I’ve built 4 for the relatives, all great reception…
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/762088/coat_hanger_hdtv_antenna_better_than_store_bought_amazing/
February 23rd, 2009 at 7:10 pm
Love mine. 5 TVs hooked up toDXT9950. Old Ward’s TV found by converter with no need to go to codes. Recent Apex TV found by reading the directions several time because no code fit. Forget which button to hold down while TV was on and then repeatedly pressed the (+) button. Took more than 100 presses. Sylvania codes didnt work. So pressed the (+) button repeatedly, the tried the (-) button and it worked @ 47 more presses. Direction say to try (+) and then the (-). Really sold on DTX9950. Only problem I have is the Sleep Timer reached throuh the “MENU” series at the bottom. The remote turns off the Converter but you must turn the TV off with it’s remote. Does anyone know of a converter that does both??? I bought and sold 2 Magnavox TB100MW9 which are horrible from Walmart. You can’t control the volume from it’s remote and have to have both remotes to make things work. The DTX9950 does both, and the EPG is great.
April 13th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I have two DTX9950 boxes. They both work fine in two different parts of town. I didn’t realize that they have auto-powerdown turned on by default. If you want to program your VCR to tape something while you are away, make sure that you turn auto-powerdown off. It’s in FUNCTION | TIME | POWER DOWN.
September 25th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
how do I select a channel input other than “antennae” on my dtx9950?
The guys at the cable company say I should pick up a couple of digital pbs stations on my basic cable (no cable box) with a digital converter.
The unit doesn’t detect any signal at all with the “antennae” input slected.
September 26th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
I LOST THE UNIVERSAL REMOTE CONTROL FOR MY ANALOG PASS-THROUGH DTV CONVERTER BOX DTX9950…..WHAT CAN I DO..? OR WHERE CAN I GET IT..?
PLEASE, LET ME KNOW…….
October 2nd, 2009 at 2:01 am
bob – You wouldn’t choose anything other than antenna on the digital converter box. You use the digital converter box to receive your local PBS stations. Your basic cable signal is already digital and does not need to be converted.
JOSE PAYANO – YOU CAN VISIT THE DIGITAL STREAM WEBSITE AND USE THEIR CONTACT FORM AND ASK THEM IF YOU CAN PURCHASE ANOTHER ONE FROM THEM.
January 9th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
Okay, so basically reading some of those comments, I need a better antenna to get a local station? I currently have an indoor antenna (RCA ANT1450B) and can not get channel 3, as well as other local stations….. I can move my antenna around and get any local station except channel 3, any other suggestions???