I can't get cable channels with my DTV converter box?

WHOA!

First of all all of those boxes scan CABLE channels as well. For that matter they scan to UHF channel 69 for over the air and we aren't using channels above 51 and haven't for a couple of years now at LEAST.

I don't have cable and I build my own antenna and computer connections as well as phone extensions, If I'm a geek then the other geeks are rather bummed and in a pickle(!)

I checked both dtv2009.gov AND dtv.gov and they are there still. Perhaps you mistakenly used the .com suffix

They list a plethora of resources to link to. Your local television stations should have links as well, likely most of the same and some local places to ask...perhaps the local help lines have closed although some of the ones I've noted only operated during business hours of the station (other than during the day of the switch when everybody was hopping).

Rather than use an A/B switch I would recommend something with full A/V switching. Do you have an audio-video receiver that already passes the video to your set and has various AV inputs and outputs for DVD players and VCRs, says 5.1, Dolby Pro-logic or Dolby Digital somewhere?

If you do your problem is solved and they aren't hard to find used in the papers, on Craiglist or on other classified ad sites or flyers and yes, they actually do all that. Dolby Digital equipped sets should decode the DTV standard's multichannel capable audio fine and one that also has DTS will handle all the possibilities that DVD video can provide. After 2000-2001 this is standard equipment for many AV receivers. My preferences for makers here are usually Pioneer, Sony, Onkyo and certainly Yamaha or Harman Kardon.

Look around and try things out, skip the gimmicks and use more conventional speakers that you can enjoy when listening to your favorite songs. Yes, I repair and build my own speakers and some equipment for a hobby and friends too. Cubes are for ICE.

I've spent two hours on and off in between making my dinner and thinking and Honestly, I once found a fairly recent Yamaha with all that for my folks' Christmas present for $25 with some 90s Pioneer stereo speakers and my Onkyo came broken for $3 and I fixed it later, extreme deals but under $100 may not be so hard if you look. Don't piece it together with stuff that boggles your brain if you have to move it. Skip the Chinese junk at Walmart too. You will thank yourself in the long run.

Your problem is easy to fix.

>The coax goes from the wall to the Antennae (bunny ears), to the DTV Converter box, to the DVD/VCR, and finally to the TV<

Where ever you got the idea you could do this, you need to drop it!! I can't even imagine how or exactly what you have done to manage this, but I will assure you that it is all screwed up.

All you need to buy is what is known as a AB switch like this:

http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express-Coaxial-A-Swit...

Best Buy, Radio Shack and just about any hardware or home improvement store should have something similar.

As you will notice from the picture, one position is cable and the other is antenna. You simply hook up the antenna coax to one side and the coax from your basic cable to the other side. Then you use the switch depending what you want to watch.

if you have cable you dont need the converter box