Who here has used or is using a Channel Master CM-7000?

[Frank-0-Video]

Greetings ...

I am strongly thinking about buying a Channel Master CM-7000 (link is for illustration purposes) digital OTA broadcast tuner. I welcome input from anyone here who has experience with the device.

Also - recommend the best indoor antenna, either amplified or non-amplified, to mate to the CM-7000.

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

[kimco52]

I have one and like it. It has S-video out, most others do not. It has a better tuner and is more sensitive than two other boxes I have....Apex and Zenith. I don't have their model numbers handy but I have two of each one of those boxes. They have their good and bad points. Overall, I prefer the Channel Master one to the others. Since I now have a digital TV, this box is now in my video cabinet and is used for quick checks and sound to feed into my sound system when I want better audio.

[usually_quiet]

I have a CM-7000 as well, which I use with a DVD recorder, connected via an S-Video cable. The picture is great. The tuner handles a fluctuating signal very well, and can pull in a couple more stations than my DTVPal converter boxes. It has no timers, and only stays on for 4 hours when unattended, so that limits its usefullness for recording programming, but I am quite happy with it overall.

The only complaint I have about is the size of the fonts it uses, which are too small to read easily on a small TV, unless I am close to the set. It has buttons on the unit itself, but according to some of the reviesw I have read they are not very sturdy, and should not be used regularly.

As far as indoor antennas go, you just have to pick one and try it. If it works, great. If it doesn't, hopefully you have purchased from a store with a liberal return policy, or can trade it in for another one instead. If most of your stations are within 15 miles, an unamplified antenna will most likely work OK. One of the antennas I tried with the CM-7000 is a cheap ($10) unamplified antenna, and I still received stations that are 50 miles away. (I'm not living in a flat part of the country either.) I needed to move it around, and if the weather was bad, I lost the signal on the most distant stations, but it worked for all my truly local channels.

The other thing to consider is whether your digital channels are VHF or UHF. While most digital channels will be UHF, in some areas there will still be digital channels operating in the upper VHF frequencies even after the switch. Some antennas being marketed for DTV are UHF only. If you will have some VHF channels locally, you will need to avoid those.

[SmokieStover]

I have a CM-7000 as well, which I use with a DVD recorder, connected via an S-Video cable. It has no timers, and only stays on for 4 hours when unattended, so that limits its usefullness for recording programming, but I am quite happy with it overall.

You can't enter the menu and change the power savings setting to OFF, or ALWAYS ON?

[SmokieStover]

After following the link and reading a data sheet, I would ask if you can turn the auto sleep function OFF.

[usually_quiet]

After following the link and reading a data sheet, I would ask if you can turn the auto sleep function OFF.

I just looked at the menu and it appears I can turn the energy-saving function off by unchecking a box. So that should help. Thanks

In the past, I had attempted to change from 4 hours to a longer period, which my other boxes allow, but this one doesn't. It only allows 1-4 hours before shut off, or (apparently) always on.

[Frank-0-Video]

Greetings ...

I already know about the power saver feature that shuts the CM-7000 unit down four hours after the last action performed, say a channel change.

If I interperet that correctly, it means that I may tune in to Super Bowl 43 on NBC at 6:00 PM, watch continuously to about, say 8:33 PM, at which point I would change to another channel then change back to NBC at 8:35PM. Now, assuming that I do not access the unit again in any way, it should shut itself off four hours later at 12:35 AM - right?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

[usually_quiet]

Greetings ...

I already know about the power saver feature that shuts the CM-7000 unit down four hours after the last action performed, say a channel change.

If I interperet that correctly, it means that I may tune in to Super Bowl 43 on NBC at 6:00 PM, watch continuously to about, say 8:33 PM, at which point I would change to another channel then change back to NBC at 8:35PM. Now, assuming that I do not access the unit again in any way, it should shut itself off four hours later at 12:35 AM - right?

Thanx-A-Lot, Frank-0-Video

Your interpretation of the scenario is correct. Incorporating an energy-saving feature that can turn the unit off after 4 hours of inactivity was one of the requirements for the coupon program. All of the CECB's have it, though the number of settings they offer to control this feature can vary.

[Edit] I read Channel Master's explanation of the feature, and it appears that it will not turn itself off until the end of the program currently being viewed when the auto-shutoff time expires. So with your hypothetical situation, if there is a program that started at 12:30 AM, and runs until 1:30 AM, it should shut off at 1:30 AM, not 12:35 AM.

In contrast, My DTVPals would shut off at 12:35 AM. They don't seem to wait for the program to end.