Posted: 1/6/2010 6:31:15 AM EDT
| I have an older TV and a converter box;how badass an antenna do I need with the transmitters 16-30 miles away? |
|
I'm under the impression that an antenna is an antenna and labeling one "HD" is just marketing. Sorry this doesn't answer your question in the slightest.
On a related note I am in the metroplex where I assume there's an abundantly strong signal. Thinking of dropping my DirecTv. How much antenna do I need and can I just use a single one for both TV's while using the coax cables already in place? I'll be wanting over the air HD also. |
|
Read up here.
http://www.hdtvinfoport.com/TV-Antenna.html and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw Short answer, you don't need a "digital" or HDTV antenna, just an antenna. |
|
Quoted:
get a rooftop antenna from radio shack for about 50 bucks stick in attic and point toward transmission signals and you are GTG. this is what I did, but its actually in my garage. I have a pretty high ceiling so I put it in there instead of on the roof, works great |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
The only reason you'd need an HD antenna is if you have an HDTV. Bullshit. You don't have a clue. Sure bud. Educate me then, oh great one. I realize all antennas can get HD signals. No, educate yourself. And make sure to do it before you give anyone anymore advice, please. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
You don't need to go buy a high dollar antenna, you likely won't notice a difference on your TV. Yeah,just want the network drivel occasionally in that room.Also hate to throw away a good TV. It's digital, there is no difference to notice. Either you get reception or you don't. You want to make sure that you have an antenna that will get a strong enough signal, antennaweb.org will help. Don't listen to that guy, he has been wrong on 3 different things so far. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
You don't need to go buy a high dollar antenna, you likely won't notice a difference on your TV. Yeah,just want the network drivel occasionally in that room.Also hate to throw away a good TV. It's digital, there is no difference to notice. Either you get reception or you don't. You want to make sure that you have an antenna that will get a strong enough signal, antennaweb.org will help. Don't listen to that guy, he has been wrong on 3 different things so far. It seems according to that site I need medium directional with pre amp.I have a few 20 db preamps lying around so I may try to buy an antenna off a neighbor who is wedded to cable. |
|
Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: The only reason you'd need an HD antenna is if you have an HDTV. Bullshit. You don't have a clue. Sure bud. Educate me then, oh great one. I realize all antennas can get HD signals. So why did you recommend an "HD antenna" in your original post? All antenna will receive HD signals. Any HDTV can use any antenna to receive HD broadcasts, provided the antenna is big enough to get a decent signal. Any antenna marketed as "HD" is exactly that - marketed. The rabbit ears that came with your old TV will work just fine if you're close enough to the transmitter to get a decent signal with rabbit ears. |
|
With a signal distance of 16-30 miles, you shouldn't need to amp more than 15dB unless you are splitting the signal to more than two TV's. Standard amplification is 15dB or 25dB for residential use, it just depends on how you split the signal. Just don't over amp your distribution. I have a Wineguard PR7037 antenna (amplified 15dB and distributed through a powered multiswitch) on my roof and it pulls in HD signals just fine. I have mounted a few round omni-directional antennas for my neighbors recently (I call them Frisbees) and they seem to work just fine too. Like with any digital signal, you ether have it or you don't. It is not at all like analog off air signals. Hell you could probably hook a wire coat hanger onto a 300 ohm matching transformer and get a digital off air signal. |
|
All you need is an antenna that will pickup UHF and VHF.
I have a tremendous amount of tall trees around my property so I needed a bigger antenna. You'll have to make a decision on whether you want a directional or omni antenna. With a directional, you'll probably want a motor (additional cost) to point it where you want. |
|
Quoted:
get a rooftop antenna from radio shack for about 50 bucks stick in attic and point toward transmission signals and you are GTG. Depending on your house's construction, an outdoor mounting location may work MUCH better. How to Build a HDTV Antenna for Cheap! |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hell you could probably hook a wire coat hanger onto a 300 ohm matching transformer and get a digital off air signal. I have to try that.  That's what I did.
The 2nd link was what I used. Hehe.. I zip tied a coat hanger to my USB HDTV stick antenna. Works great and looks ghetto! |
|
Quoted:
You don't even need an antenna. Simply leave your cable plugged in after you cancel the service and then do a channel search. Leave input on cable. You'll be amazed! I have over 50 channels. Some are duplicates, but I don't miss cable. Konger That's how my grandmother's 2nd TV is. Does the coax act as an antenna? She's in a city, but all of the channels are friggin perfect. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
You don't even need an antenna. Simply leave your cable plugged in after you cancel the service and then do a channel search. Leave input on cable. You'll be amazed! I have over 50 channels. Some are duplicates, but I don't miss cable. Konger That's how my grandmother's 2nd TV is. Does the coax act as an antenna? She's in a city, but all of the channels are friggin perfect. Shouldn't work as an antenna because it is shielded. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
You don't even need an antenna. Simply leave your cable plugged in after you cancel the service and then do a channel search. Leave input on cable. You'll be amazed! I have over 50 channels. Some are duplicates, but I don't miss cable. Konger That's how my grandmother's 2nd TV is. Does the coax act as an antenna? She's in a city, but all of the channels are friggin perfect. Shouldn't work as an antenna because it is shielded. It's working somehow. I cancelled my cable over the summer and I have 50+ channels of crystal clear HD goodness. Konger |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
You don't even need an antenna. Simply leave your cable plugged in after you cancel the service and then do a channel search. Leave input on cable. You'll be amazed! I have over 50 channels. Some are duplicates, but I don't miss cable. Konger That's how my grandmother's 2nd TV is. Does the coax act as an antenna? She's in a city, but all of the channels are friggin perfect. Shouldn't work as an antenna because it is shielded. It's working somehow. I cancelled my cable over the summer and I have 50+ channels of crystal clear HD goodness. Konger Thinking the TV has an internal antenna maybe? |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
You don't even need an antenna. Simply leave your cable plugged in after you cancel the service and then do a channel search. Leave input on cable. You'll be amazed! I have over 50 channels. Some are duplicates, but I don't miss cable. Konger That's how my grandmother's 2nd TV is. Does the coax act as an antenna? She's in a city, but all of the channels are friggin perfect. Shouldn't work as an antenna because it is shielded. It's working somehow. I cancelled my cable over the summer and I have 50+ channels of crystal clear HD goodness. Konger Thinking the TV has an internal antenna maybe? Nope. Just a basic Magnavox 26" flat panel HDTV. Bottom of the HD barrel probably. I bought it on sale after my divorce two years ago. I tried using an antenna, but after doing a channel search, I was only getting a couple of channels. I read on some HD tech forum to leave the cable plugged and it worked. Give it a shot and you might be surprised. Konger |
|
There is no magic involved. The reason you are getting so many channels is because the cable is still hooked up. They installed a trap on the line to block out the better channels, but you still get basics. Usually they disconnect the line, but sometimes they keep it connected with a trap for whatever reason.
As for placement of an antenna in an attic, that's where I put mine, but I could see the Empire State Building from my windows so I have direct line of sight and an excellent signal. In most other places, you might have a problem. Snow, rain, or even just moisture on the roof will seriously interfere with the signal. You are better off putting it on your roof where it is unobstructed and higher in the air. I bought a Winegard HD-1080 for about $40. It's small and attractive (not as ugly as those huge airplane looking things), I mounted it to a piece of 3/4" EMT that I screwed into my floor joist. If you mount it outside you will have to mount some type of proper mast. This is a directional antenna, tho. I point it at the ESB and only get those channels, not the ones coming from the other directions. http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-HD-1080-HDTV-High-Antenna/dp/B001DFTGQU |
|
Quoted:
I have an older TV and a converter box;how badass an antenna do I need with the transmitters 16-30 miles away? What you are looking for is a UHF antenna. "HD" is irrelevent to the discussion or pursuit of a good antenna. The 4 element/8 dipole Winegard or Channelmaster antennae will probably work great for you, if you get the antenna sufficiently high and all of the transmitters are located within a few degrees of your location. These antennas work a fair bit better for receiving stations that are on an azimuth slightly off where the antenna is looking than a directional Yagi type. There are lots of variables from the environment that affect the signal at a UHF antenna, and generally the two solutions are to get the antenna higher first, then change to a design with more gain. A pre-amp should be your last resort, and at your distance I can't imagine that one will be needed. |
|
Quoted:
I have a set of cheapy old school rabbit ears on my $1700 Samsung HDTV and the "over the air" picture is better than the HD channels I receive through DirecTV. I paid less than $15 for the rabbit ears. Over the air HD isn't compressed all to hell like satellite or cable HD. I've seen the difference too, it's significant. |
|
RF is RF.
Regardless of content that is being sent. Anyone who sez different is, well, pissing in the wind. Case in point, I finally bought an HD tv this year. I had an old set of rabbit ears (they've got to be 10-15 years old) that I hooked up. Due to living in the metro Phoenix area, I got a plethora of stations, all crystal clear and beautiful picture. I don't think I've watched tv once since I hooked it up though - I mostly use it for either gaming or for movies (I'm a movie nut, and I love my blu-ray player... it streams netflix natively...) And before you start questioning my qualifications, I used to be a HAM, and now work in the Cable TV industry as well as being a technophile. I think I have a pretty good grasp of RF and what it will/will not do. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
Hell you could probably hook a wire coat hanger onto a 300 ohm matching transformer and get a digital off air signal. I have to try that. That's what I did.
The 2nd link was what I used. Hehe.. I zip tied a coat hanger to my USB HDTV stick antenna. Works great and looks ghetto! I finally took down the loop I had zip tied to a muzzle loader ramrod telescoped into a container for viola strings that pivots on an old display stand for a Bird of Prey model; my kid thought it looked ghetto until I stood up the Channelmaster zip tied to a piece of quarter round! 
When it gets warm enough, I'll hang the new antenna in the attic near the television. I needed to experiment first to make sure I had enough gain to get every station I want and make a determination about whether I needed an outdoor mast. |
|
Quoted: That's exactly the antenna my roommate made. Works great with the converter box.Quoted: get a rooftop antenna from radio shack for about 50 bucks stick in attic and point toward transmission signals and you are GTG. Depending on your house's construction, an outdoor mounting location may work MUCH better. How to Build a HDTV Antenna for Cheap! |
|
There are a few unique characteristics of HD television transmission.
Most HD transmitters are in the UHF spectrum (channels 14 and higher), whereas previously the majority of the broadcasting was in the VHF bands (old channels 2-13). And certain antenna designs have a little trouble with phase distortion which really hurts the digital demodulators. UHF has more loss than VHF so better quality cable is a good thing if it's a cable run of any significance - RG6 is fine for most consumer installations. Go to http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx and see what the actual transmitter channels (RF channels) are for your area. If everything is UHF then your antenna selection is a little easier, as you don't need VHF capability. A simple dipole array UHF antenna should work fine at your distance for UHF reception, they are inexpensive, easy to work with and work well. The DIY article linked above is an antenna of this type. |