Old tv to Roku?

[jham55]

This is a tough one.. I have an old 1940's TV that I want to run a roku on. Has anyone ever attempted this? I dont think this even has RF output on it. I'm curious if it is possible.

[cholla]

I have never worked with a 1940's TV.
AnalogTV sera a bit later have two screws for the antenna.
Those should be the same as RF in.
There is no RF out on even newer old analog TVs.
These for example:
twin-lead adapter:

Your Roku box will need an RF out & a RF cable to connect.
If the roku does not have an RF out then you will need a RCA to RF adapter to add to the mix.

[jham55]

Ahh ok cool so that twin lead adapter> to this HDMI RF Modulator VHF Coaxial Converter HD 1080P Input Coax Output Adapter w/Remote for Laptop PC PS4 PS5 VCR DVR Chromecast Blu-ray Roku Fire Stick Set-top Cable Box Digital Video to Analog NTSC TV> HDMI to Roku?

[jagabo]

You need an HDMI to Composite (digital to analog) converter and an RF modulator (composite video to RF) and then tune the TV to the correct channel (usually 3 or 4). I don't know of any D to A converter that includes an RF modulator. So you'll need to get separate devices. Picture quality will suffer, of course.

Those twin lead adapters will not work for you. They are simply for connecting RF on coax to RF on twin lead.

[cholla]

Those twin lead adapters will not work for you. They are simply for connecting RF on coax to RF on twin lead.

If the roku box you have does not output an analog RF signal usually through a RF coax(male) connector.
Then at least some if not all of the hardware jagabo recommends will be necessary.

Simply you will have to connect the output of the Roku to a device or devices that will convert that output to analog.
The analog output signal will need to be a 300ohm signal. This is where the device I recommended will come in.
It is doubtful that any of the devices jagabo recommended will have a twin wire output to connect to the two antenna screws that I believe will be on this 1940's TV.

The oldest B&W TV I ever connected was late 1950's to 1960's.
That was a very long time ago.

[jagabo]

Here's an example of an HDMI to RF converter:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0DXVG4TVQ/

I'm not recommending for or against that particular device, just pointing it out as an example. That along with the coax to twin lead adapter from cholla should work.

One other issue you should be aware of: The Roku devices assume you are using a high resolution HDMI display. You may not be able to read the user interface text on the old analog TV.

[cholla]

Taking a look at a couple of Roku boxes : They all were HDMI output only.
I did not check but maybe the HDMI to Composite (digital to analog) converter has a SD out setting.
This is a cheap one that states:

HDMI to RCA Converter: Convert HDMI video signal to normal CVBs(AV) signal (standard-definition 480i, 576i), available for TV Stick, Roku, Chromecast, Apple TV, PC, Laptop, Xbox, HDTV, DVD-Black etc. But it can not be used as a RCA to HDMI Converter

It does not have RF out. It does show that some are avaialbe that do output SD.

Like jagabo NO recommendation for this device as I have not used it.
The one jagabo posted a link to did not state what it is able to output.

I do still use a balun to connect to my outdoor antenna for OTA signals.
It seems to work well for doing this.

The last CRT TVs I had could be connected with RF coax or RCA composite in.
All my TVs with the 2 wire antenna connections had died long ago.

Even the analog to digital converter boxes I bought during the change to digital OTA do not have a two wire in or out.
Those are mothballed now but I kept them just in case I ever needed them.
The last one of those I used was for an old B&W battery powered 5" CRT. This was my emergency TV for when the power goes out.
I replace that TV with a much better laptop type digital TV that also has a DVD player.

[The_Doman]

You need an HDMI to Composite (digital to analog) converter and an RF modulator (composite video to RF) and then tune the TV to the correct channel (usually 3 or 4). I don't know of any D to A converter that includes an RF modulator. So you'll need to get separate devices.

For the RF modulator you could use a VCR or DVD/HDD recorder if you have that available.

[jagabo]

The one jagabo posted a link to did not state what it is able to output.

It outputs NTSC video RF modulated to channel 3 or 4. This is the same as an over-the-air broadcast signal on those channels. The only problem is that it's on a RG coax (cable TV) connector so it needs to be converted to a twin lead connection with a device like the one you linked to.