# my friend gave me an old TV but I can't get every channel on it **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2011, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311 "2011-01-04T04:06:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/21 "2011-01-05T02:36:36Z")
Your friend sucks. You should sue him. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/22 "2011-01-06T01:07:57Z")
Is this the same friend whose weed-smoker you broke? ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/23 "2011-01-06T01:18:26Z")
Let me see if I understand this correctly. You have a laserdisc player, a VCR, and an Atari, correct? You want to know if chicks will like you if you paint your Jeep to look like the ones from Jurassic Park, and now you have a TV from 1989 and are trying to get channels in the U band? Are you in 1995, and communicating to us from the past? Are you using Mosaic to connect to the World Wide Web? Where did your friend even find such a TV? If your friend is your age, then that TV is older than he is. Why would he cart the thing along to college? If you are in the year 2011, throw that thing in the trash\*. It can’t possibly be worth keeping. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/24 "2011-01-06T01:20:24Z")
He didn’t have it at college we are home for Christmas break now. He rescued the TV from his Grandma’s house when she was gonna throw it away. It was made in 1987, but my other TV from 1986 does get those channels, so I thought maybe this one could too. I was just kidding about paining a Jeep like Jurassic Park. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/25 "2011-01-06T01:40:26Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > If it was made before 2006, it’s undoubtedly analog. Since the switchover to digital transmissions in 2009 (assuming you live in the U.S.), you’re not going to pick up those transmissions without some kind of converter box. You can buy one for over the air transmission. You just need an antenna with one of those. It used to be if you had cable, you could hook the cable to the TV and watch analog cable channels below ch. 125 (depending on your set and your cable company’s tiers of channels). However, recently, many cable companies have switched over to 100% digital. I know Comcast has. Customers are required to have a digital box, even for basic cable. So, basically you need some kind of box hooked up to it to watch anything. Either an over-the-air box or some kind of cable or satellite subscriber box. Comcast hasn’t switched over everywhere. It’s basically a phased roll-out across the country. I know here in Chicago the switch is coming at the end of January. ---
**Author:** ![AnalogSignal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/analogsignal/32/1085_2.png) [@AnalogSignal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AnalogSignal)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/26 "2011-01-06T04:46:13Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > But I can’t get any channels on the U setting. What am I to do? UHF stands for _ **Unsafe** _ High Frequency. If you watch UHF, you’ll splatter on the living room wall. DO NOT DO IT. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/27 "2011-01-06T05:35:02Z")
**Caffeine.addict** – you forgot stealing the x-large boxes of popcorn out of trashcans at the movie theaters to get free refills. ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/28 "2011-01-06T06:09:18Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > I bought a VCR today and hooked it up to it A fine choice. I’m not convinced that Betamax is going to take off. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/29 "2011-01-06T07:05:18Z")
I don’t have any Beta movies but I have a lot of VHS already. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/30 "2011-01-06T07:22:18Z")
Do they still make VCRs? ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/31 "2011-01-06T08:05:19Z")
maybe. I bought this one at Goodwill for $2. what a bargain ---
**Author:** ![Capitaine\_Zombie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e95f7d/32.png) [@Capitaine\_Zombie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capitaine_Zombie)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/32 "2011-01-06T09:42:22Z")
> [@Dag\_Otto](#): > > A fine choice. I’m not convinced that Betamax is going to take off. That made my day. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/33 "2011-01-06T09:45:00Z")
They still make VCRs brand new, but they are VHS/DVD combos now. It’s pretty pointless since they don’t put movies on VHS tapes anymore. I have a betamax player and beta camcorder that still work around here somewhere. The camcorder must weigh like 40 lbs since it’s made of pig iron and Fresnel lenses. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/34 "2011-01-06T17:47:27Z")
but I can get VHS movies for like $1 at the flea market now. Once I even got 10 movies for $5. What a bargain. ---
**Author:** ![Caffeine.addict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f475e1/32.png) [@Caffeine.addict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caffeine.addict)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/35 "2011-01-06T18:21:27Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > **Caffeine.addict** – you forgot stealing the x-large boxes of popcorn out of trashcans at the movie theaters to get free refills. While disgusting, that doesn’t really support my theory of him being in 1995. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/36 "2011-01-06T18:27:37Z")
> [@Caffeine.addict](#): > > While disgusting, that doesn’t really support my theory of him being in 1995. Hmmm, true. But were laser discs all THAT popular in the 90s? I remember every once in a while a teacher using one in high school, but they were all educational. I have a VCR/DVD player. I still have a bunch of old tapes I still watch – all my MST3K episodes. Everything else I have is on DVD. I recently went to pull out my old Super Nintendo, just for kicks, but it was all moldy from being up in the attic for so long. Oh well. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/37 "2011-01-06T18:45:33Z")
laserdiscs were never popular ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Onimous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ea5d25/32.png) [@Ann\_Onimous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Onimous)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/38 "2011-01-06T20:53:08Z")
> [@PSXer](#): > > laserdiscs were never popular True. [The Biggest CES Flops of All Time](http://www.foxnews.com/slideshow/scitech/2011/01/05/biggest-ces-flops-time/?test=faces#slide=1) I admit I still own and enjoy one product on the list, and it’s not the laserdisc. ---
**Author:** ![PSXer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/48db29/32.png) [@PSXer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PSXer)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/39 "2011-01-06T22:31:05Z")
My laserdisc player is a lot more modern than the one pictured on that list. I still have that and Vista too. My friend has a Virtual Boy. I saw one at the Salvation Army but it was $80 so I didn’t buy it. edit: that’s not fair to call laserdisc a flop it was just a niche market for true fans who could afford the expensiver price. It was supported and movies came out on it. from the 1978 until DVDs killed it. They kept making players all the way till 2009. None of the other actual flops on that list lived so long. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2011, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311/40 "2011-01-06T22:38:58Z")
Why don’t you just get a DVD player? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/my-friend-gave-me-an-old-tv-but-i-cant-get-every-channel-on-it/566311.md?page=3)