Author Topic: antennas  (Read 2740 times)

Luke Warm

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antennas
« on: May 26, 2016, 12:09:28 PM »
i guess our cable provider went fully digital and we don't have a digital tv (that i'm aware of. i didn't feel like researching it last night). so we can get one of those boxes they want to rent us or we could ditch cable and get an antenna. any recommendations on antennas?

GuitarStv

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Re: antennas
« Reply #1 on: May 26, 2016, 12:18:30 PM »
Signals off the air are digital.  When you say you don't have a digital TV, what exactly do you mean?  When was your TV built?

Luke Warm

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Re: antennas
« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2016, 12:25:42 PM »
it's probably 5 yo. i would think it would be digital but i don't know.

GuitarStv

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Re: antennas
« Reply #3 on: May 26, 2016, 12:30:19 PM »
Oh.  If you bought it in the last five years it will be fine for picking up digital OTA signals.  The best type of antenna for you will depend on how much you want to spend, how much work you want to do to install it, how many channels you want to get, and where you live.

Generally exterior antennas that are located somewhere tall without buildings or trees blocking them will get you better signal.  If you're adventurous, it's possible to look up instructions and DIY your own very powerful antenna for not too much money.

Luke Warm

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Re: antennas
« Reply #4 on: May 26, 2016, 12:32:13 PM »
is there a particular brand to look for or stay away from?

robartsd

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Re: antennas
« Reply #5 on: May 26, 2016, 12:43:25 PM »
i guess our cable provider went fully digital and we don't have a digital tv (that i'm aware of. i didn't feel like researching it last night). so we can get one of those boxes they want to rent us or we could ditch cable and get an antenna. any recommendations on antennas?
US broadcasters shut down most analog TV (NTSC) stations years ago. Most over the air TV is now digital (ATSC). Digital Cable is usually (QAM). All new TVs for the US since March 2007 were required to provide ATSC - the requirement was phased in over time starting with the largest screen sizes; QAM is also frequently included with ATSC by manufactures but is not required.

robartsd

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Re: antennas
« Reply #6 on: May 26, 2016, 01:02:16 PM »
Anntenna Web can provide you with information on how strong an antenna you need for stations in your location. If you want to be more geeky about it TV Fool provides more data about signals you are likely to receive. In my area, I have had not difficulty picking up local stations broadcasting on UHF frequencies with small passive indoor antennas. I use a larger amplified indoor rabbit ear antenna in order to get my two stations on VHF and frequently have signal problems on windy evenings. Antenna Web indicates that a small multidirectional anntena ("Yellow") should get me all of these stations.

Luke Warm

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Re: antennas
« Reply #7 on: May 27, 2016, 06:42:37 AM »
i messed with the tv last night to no avail. either i rent the box from cox for $2 a month, buy a box for $30 or cut the cable and get an antenna. i did find this:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Powerful-Modern-Homemade-HDTV-Antenna/

markbike528CBX

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Re: antennas
« Reply #8 on: May 27, 2016, 07:21:37 AM »
Don't worry if the antenna doesn't say "HD"or digital, signal is signal.

try http://www.winegard.com/hdtv-outdoor-antennas?q=offair

for the price of a half month of cable, you can get stations galore.

I got a big outdoor antenna HD7694P Platinum HD Series Antenna, suspended it from the attic rafters, pointed at the broadcast towers ( conveniently all on one hill) and voila! 

I even get a VHF station 70 miles away.

Paul der Krake

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Re: antennas
« Reply #9 on: May 27, 2016, 07:37:39 AM »
I have a $17 RCA antenna bought from Best Buy. It has been no more or less finicky than the other, more expensive models I have tried and returned.

robartsd

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Re: antennas
« Reply #10 on: May 27, 2016, 09:03:07 AM »
You should be able to pick up these stations with a small indoor antenna:
WSRE-DT 23.1 PBS RF Channel: 31
WPAN-DT 40.1 IND RF Channel: 40
WPMI-DT 15.1 NBC RF Channel: 15
WMPV-DT 21.1 TBN RF Channel: 20
WJTC-DT 44.1 IND RF Channel: 45
WEAR-DT 3.1 ABC RF Channel: 17
WFGX-DT 35.1 MNT RF Channel: 50

Your CBS, Fox, and CW stations are closer to Mobile and may require a directional outdoor antenna.

Your only VHF stations are:
WALA-DT 10.1 FOX RF Channel: 9
WBQP-CD 12.1 A1 RF Channel: 12
Many HDTV antennas focus on the UHF range because before the digital transition in 2009, all HD channels were UHF. The loop part of traditional rabbit ear antannas and the many different grid antennas you see today capture UHF signal based on how much signal passes through the loop/grid (the very front of traditional outdoor antennas - usually many elements of the same length pics up UHF in a different way). The long straigt antennas on the traditional rabbit ears or varied lenght elemets of traditional outdoor antenna pick up VHF - very similar to FM antennas because FM radio is in the middle of the VHF TV spectrum (audio on analog TV channel 6 IS FM 87.7). Because the VHF wavelengths are longer, you need larger antenna elements to capture them. Digital VHF signals also seem to have more difficulty penetrating structures.

Because the ditital TV allocations today use less spectrum than TV allocations prior to the digital transition, antennas designed after 2009 should provide better reception for their size. Particularly, the longest VHF elements are tuned to the lowest channels and channels 2-6 are not used by full-power digital broadcasters (some low power stations still use these channels) and the traditional UHF elements are most effective for the highest channel they are designed to pick up and the transition eliminated the highest UHF channels (52-69). The FCC continues to make an effort to pack TV signals closer together to free more upper UHF channels and sell that spectrum to mobile broadband providers.

forummm

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Re: antennas
« Reply #11 on: May 27, 2016, 11:15:23 AM »
I have a $17 RCA antenna bought from Best Buy. It has been no more or less finicky than the other, more expensive models I have tried and returned.

Same with my $5 one from Amazon being about as good as the $50 one. The signals sometimes cut out, which is irritating. But the picture quality is great compared to the old days of OTA non-HD.

If you can put an antenna on the roof, that will be the best signal for you. My signal is limited by being down on the ground behind other houses.

DoubleDown

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Re: antennas
« Reply #12 on: June 06, 2016, 03:40:25 PM »
Same here -- $10 rabbit ears worked just as well as any of the "special HD super antennas" I tried that cost $75 and up. Ended up returning them all to stick with the rabbit ears.

jim555

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Re: antennas
« Reply #13 on: June 07, 2016, 02:21:55 AM »
A lot depends on surrounding trees and angles of buildings near the antenna.  The higher the antenna the better, usually.  Sometimes plain rabbit ears will work just fine, depends on your location.