Compatable TV Tuners with a Z1

[shhnappa]

I was wondering if anyone could tell me which unit is compatable with my Z1:

 

GEX-P6400TV

GEX-P5700TV

GEX-6100TV

 

Thanks for the help, also, which one is better if there are more than one that is compatable.

[bobmun]

I believe they all would work. The 5700 would be the easiest, the other two need to be modified if memory serves me corect. Good luck finding any.

[jbhorne]

I second that. Good luck finding any, and if you do, expect to pay top dollar. In addition, you are buying obsolete technology. Wait for ATSC tuners to come out.

[shhnappa]

I found a few new, factory sealed GEX-P5700TV units for $249.00 with free shipping. I was thinking about the outdated technology as well, and I'm tossed up about spending the $250, only to have to replace it in two years.

[johndavis454]

I hear there are going to be converter dtv to analog converter boxes coming out soon (~Jan 2008). Does anyone know if these will possibly work with our AVIC tuners? Does anyone have any idea how these are going to work? If it just needs to convert the signal, I suppose it wouldn't be too difficult (though might require some splicing, etc.) to run the antennas into the converter and then into the tuner, right? You'd lose some function of the diversity antenna, but at least it would work. Or, are the converters actually tuners as well and work like a cable box? That would surely suck, as it would mean you wouldn't be able to switch channels through the head unit.

[GnatGoSplat]

The converters are tuners as well and would hook up similar to a cable box. It would be pointless to have a GEX because the add-on digital (ATSC) tuner could plug directly into an RCA.

 

Converter boxes have been out for many years now and let you watch digital broadcasts on any TV.

 

These GEX tuner units will be obsolete at midnight, February 17, 2009. That's why I bought a GEX-P7000TV for $60. I think you could get one of those to work on a Z1, but it's not plug & play (requires cable splicing).

[johndavis454]

Thanks for all the info - very helpful. Do you think Pioneer has any plans to make an ATSC tuner? If not, have you heard of any mobile ATSC tuners which are available now? It seems crazy that this transition is going to happen in less than a year and a half, and you can't even buy a tuner for your home right now, let alone your car. (Ok, so I was able to find a couple of merchants in Taiwan selling them on Ebay, but it's still ridiculous.) Do you think they'll end up pushing the cut date back again? I have an AVIC-D1, which works perfectly with my GEX-6400TV. It's hard for me to justify spending $300 for a year and a half's use, but $60 sounds a lot more reasonable. Once you spliced your 7000 to work, it works just the same as 6400, right? - with all the head unit controls working?

[GnatGoSplat]

Yes, I think Pioneer plans to make one. When the UK went digital, Pioneer made an add-on tuner for their HUs there. We can't use that one because their digital standard is DVB-T, not ATSC like ours. I'm sure an ATSC version is in the works... although I have read the D3 can't support a tuner, so maybe if none of the new Pioneer HUs can control a tuner, they won't bother to make one or if they do, it might be several years down the road.

 

Actually you could buy the digital tuners for home for many years now. Circuit City has a Samsung model for $170. I actually recommend people to buy an old Samsung SIR-TS160 or better yet, a Samsung SIR-TS360 from eBay. These are DirecTV HD receivers with built-in ATSC tuners. Throw ANY old, used DirecTV access card in it, and it can work as a standalone ATSC tuner. You can buy these less than $50 shipped and they'll do everything the $170 one at CC can do.

 

I have never seen an ATSC tuner for the car, but I did find a small ATSC tuner that could be used in a car.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx ... ia=AA70180

It looks promising because it has a DC power input and uses an external AC adapter. I don't know if it runs on 12V, but there is a really good chance that it does, or could be made to run on 12V. It's kind of large-ish, but I think it might be a little smaller than the 7000TV! Only thing is it's not designed for mobile use, so it doesn't have any kind of diversity antenna input. It might not be necessary though, digital channels are very strong and I can pick them up at home just sticking a 10" piece of bare wire into the antenna jack!

 

They have pushed the digital cut-off date back maybe 2 or 3 times. It's possible they'll do it again. I almost think it will stick this time though, because now Federal Law says the tuner built into all new TVs MUST be digital (as of March '07). Also, it was probably the stations that petitioned the FCC to push back the original dates. Most stations by now are broadcasting in digital. All but one of the local stations are digital except the ABC affiliate and they're currently working on it. With most stations broadcasting digital around the country already, I think there will be a lot less resistance to the cut-off date this time around.

 

Yes, a 7000TV spliced in works the same as a 6400, controlled fully through the IP Bus.

 

At one point, I had a lot of ideas about interfacing things to the IP-Bus. I built an IP-Bus to PC data logger, but never could get it to work. Had I managed to get it to work, I would have liked to build an IP Bus device that lets you control an ATSC tuner through the HU. It would fool the HU into thinking it was a tuner, and it would take the touchscreen commands and convert it into IR to control an external ATSC tuner. Or better yet would be a box with built-in MPEG2 decoder (digital broadcasts are MPEG2 encoded) with a USB port that would let you plug in an inexpensive USB ATSC tuner and controlled by the HU.

[johndavis454]

I think I'm going to ride it out - at least for now. I'll see how much use I get out of it in the next month or two, check how much they're still fetching on ebay and reassess. I have a feeling that if Pioneer comes out with an ATSC tuner, it's going to be at least $400, which I won't be willing to pay at any point (and that's assuming it will be backwards compatible with my D1).

 

Thanks for listing those DTV tuners. The DirecTV tuner definitely appears to be the best value, but it looks like it takes AC current, which I guess means I'd need an inverter to power it - not to mention, its larger form factor would make it pretty much impossible to feasibly mount under the dash on the passenger side. I suppose I could mount it under one of the seats, though I'm not sure how well it would pick up IR remote signals sitting there. It's probably more trouble than it's worth.

 

The other one looks pretty good - about $125 shipped. I currently have a DVD player running into the RCA input, so I guess that would mean I'd either need to get an RCA switch or run it into the RCA input on the DVD player. Either way, it's definitely not going to be as convenient as having the controls right through the HU. I found this one on ebay for about $175 shipped, but that's pretty expensive for something that isn't integrated as nicely as a GEX tuner. It's rectangular shape and outward facing controls, however, mean I could stack it neatly right underneath the DVD player in the glove compartment. So, at least you could operate the controls without having to dig up the remote.

 

Maybe my best bet is to wait for some more DTV tuners to hit the market, so the prices start to drop. Hopefully, I can find another compact one that's cheap enough, so I can offload the GEX before it becomes a paperweight. Thanks for all the help.

[GnatGoSplat]

$400 is probably a good estimate. I can't hardly believe the current analog tuners are $250 when you can buy standalone ones for next to nothing.

 

Yeah, those DirecTV tuners would only be good for home use.

 

The SH770-T would definitely work, looks like it needs 5V which is easy enough to get from 12V.

 

I think we can expect them to get MUCH cheaper because demand is going to go up really quick, especially close to 2009!