Casio EV 550 B portable
I have my handheld Casio TV-980 up and running with a
converter box. All I needed (in addition to the converter box and standard
rabbit ears [UHF/VHF] antenna) was an adapter with an F jack on one end and a
1/8" plug on the other (Radio Shack catalog # 278-257, about $5). The
1/8" plug on the adapter goes in the external antenna jack on the TV, and
the other end connects to the coaxial cable that connects to the TV (RF out)
jack on the converter box. The adapter would have been a little cheaper at my
local, independent electronics store, but they were sold out.
If your antenna has flat 300 ohm wire connections, you'll
need a balun (Radio Shack catalog # 15-1297, about $8) to connect it to the
coaxial cable that goes to the Antenna (RF in) jack on the converter box.
I’ve tried 2 different converter boxes with the handheld
TV, and they both work well: Insignia (Best Buy’s house brand, same as Zenith)
and RCA (from Target, same as Venturer), so any government coupon-eligible
converter box should work.
A few other tips:
1. I always turn on the converter box before I turn on
the TV. The cpnverter box seems to take control better that way.
2. When I turn on the TV, the tuner doesn’t automatically
go to channel 3 or 4 (where it should be set when using a converter box), and
the picture quality is poor. If I use the tuner on the TV to get to channel 3
or 4, the picture quality is vastly improved. I have to do that every time I
turn on the TV.
3. Placement of the antenna is very important. I like to
watch my handheld TV when I'm on the computer, and the reception is better the
further away from the computer the antenna is located. I'm actually using a 6'
coaxial cable for the antenna, but I could also have used 2 shorter cables with
a coupler that has an F jack at both ends (Radio Shack catalog # 278-304, about
$3).
If your battery-operated TV does not have an external
antenna jack, instructions for connecting it to a converter box can be found at
http://www.digitaltvtrainer.com/national/showme-battery-tv-converter
There are a few battery-operated converter boxes available, but for do-it-yourselfers, this web page also contains instructions for
building a 12-volt converter box power supply.