mcgrew's Journal: An open letter to RCA

I bought an RCA digital tuner last year. It will be the very last RCA product I'll ever buy.

I was going to send this as an email to RCA, but they have no email address anywhere on their site. I couldn't find it. Apparently, looking at Google, neither can anyone else. So rather than a strongly worded private email, FUCK YOU RCA I'm just going to post this open letter to slashdot in the hopes that one of your incompetent engineers see it and hang his head in shame. Where did you get your credentials, cretin, out of a crackerjack box?

I ditched cable a year and a half ago for an antenna and bought a "converter" from Wal=Mart. Worst $40 I ever spent.

I picked up an RCA antenna to go along with it, and that ten bucks was wasted as well. So I threw good money after bad and spent another$40 on a better RCA antenna.

I have never seen such poorly engineered pure shit in my life. I get six channels... once in a blue moon. I get four... sometimes. My friend with a $10 used Magnavox anda $3 rabbit ears, six blocks away, gets fifteen channels all the time.

Worse, even on a good day it will cut out. Then it has a box that takes up 1/3 of the screen saying "no signal." Well, no sit, Sherlock. I've had DVDs since forever and damn it you fucking morons, I know what it means when the screen freezes. Worse, it then loses the sound completely, until another car goes by and I lose the signal agin, tune to a nonexistant channel, or reboot the god damned piece of shit.

I have never seen more poorly engineered tech in my six decades on this rock. If I'd designed this utter worthless piece of crap... well, I'd find another line of work. The $40 antenna is no better than the $10 rabbit ears.

There is no reason that I shouldn't be able to pick up a station IN TOWN. Damn it, I feel robbed. So I went to their web site, and it's as fucked as their electronics! The only contact is by phone, and it hangs up on you.

It's sad, like Sony they used to be a good brand. Like Sony, I will never give you stupid assholes another dime. Fucking thieves.

Rca (and you, too,Sony) I'm getting my money back one way or another. Mailing me a check for $90 and an apology and firing all your engineers, managers, CEO and board of directors and I might consider buying product from you again. If your HQ gets bombed, don't look at me, look for someone that's not nonviolent who you fucked over with your utter fail of equipment.

Sony, you rooted my computer ten years ago and I won't settle for less than ten grand.

God damn it, are there any corporations left that aren't the epitome of evil? Why can't we elect politicians who will put these motherfuckers in prison where they belong?

BTW, blame any typos on beer.

Are they still a thing?

[gmhowell]

Does RCA really exist, or are they just a nameplate for Taiwanese shit like Schwinn?

Re:

[GameboyRMH]

They've been just a nameplate for decades now from what I understand. That said, I've had a lot of RCA stuff and it's all been reliable.

Re:

[mcgrew]

In the 20th century I was always happy with RCA gear. Now? The shit barely works at all.

Re:

[fustakrakich]

I wasn't sure if RCA still existed either... It appears they fell down the same rat hole as Magnavox, Motorola, and Zenith.

Re:

[mcgrew]

I've had a Magnavox DVD recorder for a couple of years, it's only now starting to show wear (reads fine but is starting to have trouble writing). The last I heard of Zenith, the French bought them and moved the manufacturing to Mexico. Haven't heard much since.

Good digital antenna and converter box?

[pwizard2]

I'm ready to ditch my satellite. I've downgraded to basic service already, paying $40 a month for local service and a few bullshit filler channels isn't worth it to me since I'm poor as shit these days and I need the money for other things. I need to find out what converter box brands are good since you found out that RCA is is piece of shit.

My TV is pretty old, probably one of the last generation of CRT ever made. I got it for free, so I have no complaints; all it has for connectors is a component inpu

Re:

[mcgrew]

You may need an outdoor antenna, I'm not sure, but a guy I know had an old Magnavox converter and a $3 rabbit ears and picked up the Decatur station 40 miles away and a couple of St Louis stations 100 miles away. I don't know if all their converters are good or just one model, and don't know what model he had.

I know I wasted my $40 on the RCA converter.

Antenna

[cffrost]

If you're going to commit to broadcast TV, why not invest in a rooftop VHF/UHF mast antenna? It's pretty much guaranteed to work, and will give the best possible performance for that application. I have a feeling that some of the indoor antennas that are sold are not even meant to work; i.e., I believe that some of those products are relying on a placebo effect to deliver any customer satisfaction that may incidentally occur.

Re:

[mcgrew]

I'll be moving in a couple of years, so it wouldn't be worth the work and expense.

Gray/Hoverman

[pwizard2]

Why not build a classic Gray Hoverman [casano.com] antenna? The parts range $10-20 and the actual build process is within the abilities of anyone with a decent bit of DIY prowess.

Re:

[mcgrew]

Actually, I've been thinking of doing that, but with a crap tuner the best antenna in the world won't help. Back in the 1970s I had an EXCELLENT FM receiver. I lived on-campus in Edwardsville and picked up a ten watt college station 40 miles away, you had to be in Forest Park right by the transmitter to hear it in a car. The quality of the radio itself really matters, even more than the antenna.

I've had a few Motorola phones, and they'll give me a signal when nobody else's will. I just Googled, I think I'll