TheEquineFencer
Well-known member
I had a new HDTV show up for the shop todsy. I'm heading to Wally World looking an antenna for it tonight, any advice?
air T.V. antenna advice
- Thread starter TheEquineFencer
- Start date
BillK
Well-known member
Check this site first to see what is available and how far from you the stations are. They also give some suggestions as to how good of an antenna you need.
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/
Basically the bigger the better as far as getting a signal, but also the longer antenna will be more directional and might require a rotator depending on where the stations are located in comparison to your house.
It might even be worth trying a small set top antenna first. I can get all of the local network stations with the one I have out in my garage.
http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/
Basically the bigger the better as far as getting a signal, but also the longer antenna will be more directional and might require a rotator depending on where the stations are located in comparison to your house.
It might even be worth trying a small set top antenna first. I can get all of the local network stations with the one I have out in my garage.
if you are in a stong signal area, just make one out of a few metal coat hangars. The instructions are on the net- takes about 15 minutes to make if you already have the hangars. I made only 1/2 of the antenna (2 bay), and it sits on the floor. Gets all local stations.
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n8n
Well-known member
For an indoor antenna, rabbit ears and a loop or bowtie is your best value. The 'silver sensor' amplified ones are a little better but not worth the price unless you can't mount a big one outside. Most of the 'amplified antennas' on the market are unmitigated garbage. You don't need a special antenna for HDTV, the frequencies are the same, with one difference - the channel assignments may have changed during the HDTV switchover. Due to some logic that eludes me, e.g. your local 'Channel 2' may actually be being broadcast on a UHF frequency and be remapped to display as 2 on your set, so you'd adjust the bowtie not the rabbit ears in marginal reception conditions. Made sense to someone I guess.
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jhochst
Well-known member
dishnetwork add on. $7.99 per month. antennas hardly work in rural Indiana. 
logixjock
Well-known member
Go here and educate yourself a bit,
http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/
I'm putting an HD Stacker up this summer as soon as I get a tower built.
http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/
I'm putting an HD Stacker up this summer as soon as I get a tower built.
www.antennaweb.org
good info here also.
good info here also.
SGKent
Banned
This is the best place to look. www.antennaweb.org
It will show you where the stations are and what you need for an antenna. You didn't give much info on your location so it is hard to guess. If for example you are on a hill top with no trees your antenna needs to be less than if you have hills and buildings around that will scatter the signal or bounce back ghosts.
You REALLY need to know what frequencies the channels are broadcasting that you want to pick up. The front part of the antenna picks up very high band signals while the long elements pick up a different band. You may need one or both styles - they can be together or separate antennas.
Handoogies
Member
- Joined
- May 6, 2014
- Messages
- 19
How good of a picture quality can you realistically expect if you have a good signal? Seems like a awful lot of data to be transferred if the image is in HD.
fteufert
Well-known member
The picture quality for me is as good as cable TV. My stations are about 15 miles away. No rain fade, no signal loss ever. So simple, and good quality.
mmack66
Well-known member
Same here, and I am just using a cheap pair of rabbit ears.
Notgrownup
Well-known member
I had one of them huge ones hung upside flown in my attic, I got channels from Raleigh and Wilmington, I live in Snow Hill so not too far....the better Hdtv ones seem to work ok also...we had one also but gave it to the kids gorgeous the lake trailer.
ddawg16
Well-known member
Just so it's understood....there is no such thing as an HD antenna.....or digital antenna.
If you have an old antenna from 40 years ago....it should work....not much of the vhf section is used as most of the HD stuff got pushed into the UHF range....hence, you can get by with a smaller antenna.
Where most people loose signal is with the coax. You want to use RG6 now vs the old RG59 or twin lead.
Also....if you plan to use a splitter.....a 2 port splitter will drop the signal in half on each port. So try to avoid using one....if you need more than 2 ports, you might need an amp.
If you have an old antenna from 40 years ago....it should work....not much of the vhf section is used as most of the HD stuff got pushed into the UHF range....hence, you can get by with a smaller antenna.
Where most people loose signal is with the coax. You want to use RG6 now vs the old RG59 or twin lead.
Also....if you plan to use a splitter.....a 2 port splitter will drop the signal in half on each port. So try to avoid using one....if you need more than 2 ports, you might need an amp.
OP
TheEquineFencer
Well-known member
Notgrownup, you're not far from me. I'm just past Lizzie, next road on the left coming from Snow Hill. Stop by sometime.
MisterMike
Well-known member
My OTA HDTV picture at my cabin in rural Wisconsin is better than what I get through DirecTV at my home in suburban Chicago (or what I previously got through Comcast).
Highbeam
Well-known member
The digital OTA signal is superior to cable. Especially with an HD program, cable companies compress the signal and you will never uncompress it. The best HDTV experience based on a broadcast will be with an OTA antenna. I am at 40 miles from the transmitter farm and with my channelmaster DB4 in the attic I get all of the good channels in excellent quality. Better than cable and the best part, free.
TO make sure antennas were really all they are cracked up to be I made my own similar to the coathanger antenna but with leftover romex wire. Freaking thing worked so well I kept using it for two years. I switched to a commercial antenna just because I felt bad. Kept the DIY antenna for in the shop.
Buy RG6 coax at home depot. It is easy to work with. Make home runs to a splitter only as big as you need right at the antenna.
TO make sure antennas were really all they are cracked up to be I made my own similar to the coathanger antenna but with leftover romex wire. Freaking thing worked so well I kept using it for two years. I switched to a commercial antenna just because I felt bad. Kept the DIY antenna for in the shop.
Buy RG6 coax at home depot. It is easy to work with. Make home runs to a splitter only as big as you need right at the antenna.
Notgrownup
Well-known member
Drove by there this morning going to G-vegas to the Dr...Now i have to have surgery... Carpal Tunnel ****...
OTA uncompressed signal produces noticeably better picture than cable, and it's free. I went no CATV when i moved - netflix and hulu with a smart TV and Roku for existing TV, best broadband service i could buy, which is around 20 Mbps. I am 35-38 miles from the transmitters in our area, on relative high ground with little or no obstructions. bought this antenna: http://dennysantennaservice.com/winegard-fl6550a-flatwave-hdtv-antenna.html#Review
on sale for $99 here :http://www.solidsignal.com/
as i didn't want to look at a big ugly one. Hooked it up and let the TV scan for the first time and got 70 stations, mostly **** but have a great signal from all majors in market plus all the secondaries. I have the antenna sitting in the attic, never bothered to mount it outside and it is wired to the house cable, so all cable outlets have a TV signal. The internet signals are all wireless to the other TVs.
it all works great and there is no cable bill, Hulu and netflix are under $20/month combined.
Complaints? Hulu is flakey as far as smooth downloading on HD, which many people report. Changing to lesser resolutions cleans up almost all stuttering. No ESPN. And i have yet to hook up a hard drive to store OTA shows for later viewing.
It's the future.
on sale for $99 here :http://www.solidsignal.com/
as i didn't want to look at a big ugly one. Hooked it up and let the TV scan for the first time and got 70 stations, mostly **** but have a great signal from all majors in market plus all the secondaries. I have the antenna sitting in the attic, never bothered to mount it outside and it is wired to the house cable, so all cable outlets have a TV signal. The internet signals are all wireless to the other TVs.
it all works great and there is no cable bill, Hulu and netflix are under $20/month combined.
Complaints? Hulu is flakey as far as smooth downloading on HD, which many people report. Changing to lesser resolutions cleans up almost all stuttering. No ESPN. And i have yet to hook up a hard drive to store OTA shows for later viewing.
It's the future.
I've got a question relating to this. Right now I am splitting my antenna signal to 4 TV's using a passive splitter that reduces the signal by -3.5db and -7db. Most of the time this works OK, but the signal strength isn't the best especially in the rooms with the longest RG6 runs. It also causes occasional signal problems for my TV card (on my HTPC) depending on the weather.
I want to improve the signal strength and distribute the antenna signal to 8 locations. I think I need to buy an 8-port distribution amplifier to send this signal to the TV's, however my head hurts after trying to figure out what to get on Amazon. The reviews complicate things and it's hard to tell if it's user error or the wrong product. Anyway... I'm looking at this specific unit: 8-Port Bi-Directional Cable TV HDTV Amplifier Splitter Signal Booster with Passive Return - http://amzn.com/B000WDR94U. Is this what you guys would recommend?
I want to improve the signal strength and distribute the antenna signal to 8 locations. I think I need to buy an 8-port distribution amplifier to send this signal to the TV's, however my head hurts after trying to figure out what to get on Amazon. The reviews complicate things and it's hard to tell if it's user error or the wrong product. Anyway... I'm looking at this specific unit: 8-Port Bi-Directional Cable TV HDTV Amplifier Splitter Signal Booster with Passive Return - http://amzn.com/B000WDR94U. Is this what you guys would recommend?
The passive return is probably so you can hook up a cable modem and have its uplink/ backhaul make it through the amp and go to the cable company.
I would get a "decent" amp... 12 to 20 dB is plenty... and hook it up "nearish" to the receiving antenna so it doesn't amplify line noise. After that, it doesn't much matter if you tap one port and put splitters on or if you have each output go off to a different room. Depends on how your house is pre-wired.
I have my amp in my basement-- the wire goes from my roof antenna down the eaves, to a grounding block, in a hole, then gets amplified and distributed back "up". The attic would be an even better spot.
I got an ATSC HD-PVR off amazon-- they sell a few for $40 ish, you plug in a USB hard drive. You can play/edit the files on your computer, and they even include the SAP language and closed captions as they are in the unmolested transport stream. (easier to just record "everything"). Said PVR can also of course play back in hi-def to the TV next to it.
I would get a "decent" amp... 12 to 20 dB is plenty... and hook it up "nearish" to the receiving antenna so it doesn't amplify line noise. After that, it doesn't much matter if you tap one port and put splitters on or if you have each output go off to a different room. Depends on how your house is pre-wired.
I have my amp in my basement-- the wire goes from my roof antenna down the eaves, to a grounding block, in a hole, then gets amplified and distributed back "up". The attic would be an even better spot.
I got an ATSC HD-PVR off amazon-- they sell a few for $40 ish, you plug in a USB hard drive. You can play/edit the files on your computer, and they even include the SAP language and closed captions as they are in the unmolested transport stream. (easier to just record "everything"). Said PVR can also of course play back in hi-def to the TV next to it.
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I built the house and wired it myself. The passive splitter I got from Home Depot as a stop gap until I figure out what to buy. I was surprised I got a signal at all as many of the RG6 runs are over 75'.
My current antenna is a small RCA multi-directional one that is amplified. I have no idea how much it's amplified, but that is the reason I was considering a distribution amplifier instead. Is that a bad idea?
ddawg16
Well-known member
I have that amp.....works fine.
As for your splitter....actually...it's 7 DB on all ports. Signal comes in and is spit to more splitters...so those splitters are now getting 1/2 the signal strength (3db drop is half power). Those spitters are then feeding your TV's....and since each one drops it another 3 db....you end up with 1/4th the power of your original signal....toss in a less than perfect connection...bad coax, etc. Yea....rough signal.
theoldwizard1
Well-known member
For those not up on electronic terms, VHF is basically the old analog channels between 2-13 (in VHF 2 different bands 2-6 and 7-13). Most, but not all, digital broadcast are in the frequency that were analog 52-69. (There is some discussion by the FCC to make that the ONLY frequencies available in the future.)
Designing and building an antenna for a smaller range of frequencies is easier and cheaper.
Most of the DIY designs on the Web/YouTube actually do work !
High5
Well-known member
We bought an antenna from these guys and have had terrific reception.
http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/HDTV_antennas.html
http://www.antennasdirect.com/store/HDTV_antennas.html
I use an antenna mounted in my attic in conjunction with my Directv. I have my satellite registered out of my market for sports programming reasons and I use the antenna for local news. I use an over the air tuner with my satellite receiver so my local channels show up on my satellite program guide and can be recorded on my DVR. I have used this setup with Dish and Directv and they make it really convenient.
ddawg16
Well-known member
And the reason for a smaller antenna is....the higher the freq, the shorter the wavelength...hence, the smaller the elements on the antenna.
This is the antenna on my roof.
