how do you get cable on older TVs?

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i had a newer tv downstairs before and everything was fine. All the programs came in with just the cable plugged directly into the back of the tv. then it spontaneously burned out, or stopped working for whatever reason and i had to use an older one, and now none of the programs are coming through except the local ones. Do i need some kind of box to run my cable through? and if so, what & can i buy something like that at a store like wal-mart or fred meyers?

if the tv is older than the digital switch, chances are it wont work. most old tvs were set up with analog converters thats why some local stations are still on cause they are still analog

Yes, you'll need a cable box, but you can't get that at Wally World, you need to contact your cable provider.

Do they have freeview in the the states? In any case you need a "digibox" or decoder either cable or ariel variety.

there used to be a device with a coax connection, and 2 leads that went to the rabbit ears...Radio shack might still have them...

You mean a 300 to 75 ohm pigtail transformer, and radio shack does have them too

No, I'm afraid not.

That is till not enough, is it? Wasnt all cable switched to a compressed digital signal in... 2008?

Really old TVs only get a few channels like 2-13 in USA.
Old cable boxes from 1990s or VCRs have tuners that get up to 100 channels or so.

I left out UHF on the old TV tuners because that band was never used much by
cable for analog TV because being close to microwaves it doesn't like to stay
in wires very much. Microwaves prefer hollow wires like pipes but they do not
like very long electrical conductors in general and they get weak quickly in them.

VHF is still broadcasting in the US? I understand UHF is now off the air.

Most cable/satellite receivers in North America have two analog outputs (RCA and S-Video), regardless of vintage. If you have a really old TV with no RCA jack, that is when you need the adaptor. Not the type pictured above, but the type you would have used in the 80s to plug in a Nintendo.

If you have a cable company (Like Time Warner or Bright-House) you will usually connect a box to the tv. Turn your TV to channel 4 and get channels via the box

If you don't have a Box you may need to auto program the channels in the TV menu.

However if you don't have cable you need a Digital TV Antenna. The U.S Gov't had a program not long ago for subsidized Digital Antennas.

You got it backwards UHF is the primary broadcast band for Digital TV in the US. They rarely use VHF now and when they do it is channels 7 to 13. It might be not digital cable, but you might need to use something with a Cable-Ready tuner in it like a Tunered DVD Recorder or a Cable Ready VCR. Is the TV set to Cable not TV in the menu? The old TV's with the channel knob or knobs on the front will not work with cable without an external Cable-Ready tuner. I have used a VCR for a Cable tuner on an Old Panasonic TV with the two channel knobs on the bottom of the set.