Apex DT250A DTV converter

Last week my Digital TV converter box, an Apex DT250A, refused to power up. When I'd press the power button, instead of the light going from red to green for GO, it simply blinked red. Bah! After contemplating replacement which I can ill afford, I used Google to find a thread on an online help forum where my exact problem was detailed along with a possible solution. It seems the power supply may have a bad capacitor. A closer look:


















Aha! The bad component was all swollen just like a human injury! Scrounged through my parts box for a 470uF 25V cap - zilch.

Hannah mentioned that what she often does with discarded electronics in incorporate them into her art projects . Reuse, repurpose...this got me thinking: discarded components, hmm...I have some little power supplies in parts box. Scrounge, scrounge..yes! And as luck would have it, one power supply actually had the very component needed..sweet! After about 45 minutes of dorking around inside the little black box to replace the capacitor, cursing the observed phenomenon that a little knowledge can be dangerous, postulating that a sane man would have just chucked into the trash and moved on, yadayada - my Apex POS had been given a 2nd lease and will provide it's digital link to the broadcast television medium again, for better or worse*

Then Hannah, home by now, wrote that I might look in the butter compartment...and behold: at tasty morsel of chocolate from the neighborhood shop. It was consumed hastily it was, and with celebratory glee!

*2011 update: The Apex DT250A is shite! Another el cheapo Made in China DTV box (Magnavox E172516) was recently inherited from my late step father so I gave it a whirl. Picture quality is greatly improved! Channels 3 and 47 no longer glitch out when there's stormy weather. The Apex also used to 'forget' channels 3.1 and 3.2 and required retuning to bring them back. Next time I'll know better than to waste time with this nonsense. Magnavox E172516 is OK.


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