Dang digital TV! Give me back my analog...

[USAF385]

So here I got my digital converter boxes like a good boy. I didn't hook them up because my antenna rotater was busted and I.... just didn't feel like dealing with it since I was happy with my analog TV. The signal was good enough with the antenna stuck where it was that I could get the channels I needed. With Digital, I need a stronger signal. (and yes, I have a signal booster)

Since "the switch" is coming... again.. I decided on Monday to fix the rotater.. which I did. No problem.

My "free" digital TV only cost me about $170.... $170 for crystal clear TV.. when I actually pick up a station. Right now instead of the 11:00 news I'm watching a black screen with "no signal" written on it.

My house is located on a hill.... the hill is to the south of me. All the stations broadcast... south of me. The hill and trees make it tough to get a good signal, but I did fine with analog. The cable company can't (or won't) run the cable out to my house... they're afraid of the woods I guess. A dish is likely out of the question as well, since again. the trees will likely block the signal. (My house is VERY close to the woods)

I guess my next thing to do is try to find a "better" antenna. Sigh.

 

[gunsmith11]

call a dish company and have them ck...I had dish for years and a large two story house next to it, i was surprised a got a signal at all

 

[zoom6zoom]

If your existing antenna worked fine for UHF, it should be OK. Depending on the strength / distance of the digital signals, you may need to add a signal amplifier.

Nothing much worth watching these days anyway.

 

[RonJ]

With antennas height is your friend. Can you extend the length of the mast?

 

[USAF385]

With antennas height is your friend. Can you extend the length of the mast?

I'm at about 7 ft. from the top of my roof to the antenna.

I'm looking at AntennaWeb.org trying to figure out the best "type" of antenna.

 

[RonJ]

Most, but not all digital broadcasts are on the UHF band. Whether you want uni-directional or omni-directional depends on where the stations are relative to your location.

 

[USAF385]

Most, but not all digital broadcasts are on the UHF band. Whether you want uni-directional or omni-directional depends on where the stations are relative to your location.

It looks like I need a "Large Multidirectional Antenna". To be honest I'm not sure what the one I have now is exactly.... but it is older.

Now I just need to find one of these bad boys. Anyone know where these are sold?

 

[Wayne02]

I received 13 analog channels, and with digital? Zero. The digital tv people looked at my location/situation and said I need to get the antenna 100' up in the air and I "might" receive 4 digital stations. Yeah, I'll get right on that.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Why not just get cable or a sat. dish?

Failing that, I suppose invest in a shortwave radio. It's like TV, but without the pictures.

 

[Cobroller]

Started with an ABC station plus three PBS channels. Picked up NBC with two other channels including a weather channel this morning (12th). My 80 something parents get only the ABC. They (and I) saw TV come in to the world and have seen it leave.
And GatorFarmer we have no desire to pay for this crap. I did like my shortwave to listen to the BBC years ago. They read lot and Mom quilts and does puzzles. I have found that this forum is much better than watching "reality" TV.

 

[elcruisr]

One of the great things about digital TV is the quality. One of the bad things is it has about 1/4 the range. With degrading conditions the analog signal will start to fade but the digital signal will fail.

I've never understood why this was being rammed down our throats. Personally I watch very little of the drivel being broadcast anyway. I refuse to pay money for the garbage. It was nice to be able to get weather and news but now I'll just use my computer I guess.

 

[JcMack]

T.V. is absolute crap. I get about 60 channels of basic cable for $54 dollars a month. 10-15 channels are spanish. Another 5 or so are people trying to sell me stuff. The rest is absolute B.S. Who is that black guy a I keep seeing on T.V. and being called president. What happened to Ike?

 

[Half Scale]

USAF385....I totally agree!!!! I have satellite at the house, but can't get any local stations there....so antenna at the shop so i can get all the local news, etc.

I really enjoy going to the shop office at 0500, drink my coffee and watch the local news and weather, maybe look over some blueprints for guns i build. Now i get a beautiful screen about 50% of the time...no signal the other 50%.

At night and on weekends i work in the shop, so i like to take a break, go into the office and watch the local news and weather.

I should not be forced to buy another antenna or signal amplifier. I've got hundreds of channels at the house that i don't watch. But now can't get the 4 local (NBC, CBS, ABC, and PBS) that i really wanted to see.

Give me back analog too!!!!!

Cecil

 

[josephthreedogs]

I am still receiving two analog channels as of this morning, PBS and FOX.
These were the only channels I could receive befor the switch to digital. I don't have SAT,Cable,or a converter box.

 

[USAF385]

Yeah, this "far superior" television is such a pain!

I believe I've determined what antenna to try.. now if I can only locate the "antenna store". I'm also going to try to locate a good pre amp which will supposedly amplify the signal before it's sent through the 50 ft of cable to my TV.. I don't think the indoor signal amp is doing much good.

I just ran out to take a pic of my house... The shot is facing south... the direction from which all the signals come. The shot is also a bit misleading in that since the portion on which my house is located is on a hill, I'm downhill from my house, so you can't see how much higher the trees actually are. If you're on my room looking south.. the hill is actually in the way, not just the trees.

 

[Titan]

USAF385,

If you decide to go for a dish, the dish doesn't have to be on your house.

You could position it on a mast in a 'clearing' for maximum reception and run a cable underground or above ground to the house.

Yeh....it is a pain in the butt, but it will work.
.

 

[USAF385]

USAF385,

If you decide to go for a dish, the dish doesn't have to be on your house.

You could position it on a mast in a 'clearing' for maximum reception and run a cable underground or above ground to the house.

Yeh....it is a pain in the butt, but it will work.
.

This is an option I have also considered. I'm not really a fan of paying.. for anything. I mean.. I still use dial up. I do think I might have a dish guy come out and see if it will be possible from a mast further away from my house. The only issue I have with that though..... is it being in my yard. I look out my front window and see nothing but trees, farmland, and a big ol' "mountain" off in the distance. (I say "mountain" because sure isn't a mountain, but it deserves to be called more than a hill)

 

[mstuhr]

Channelmaster 4228

Howdy,
I set up a Channelmaster 4228 on a rotater w/ amp and am happy with it. I live about 50-60 miles south of St. Louis in Sainte Genevieve, not in town but in the hills, and on a good night I get Springfield Ill.
It works great for me and I pull in S.E. Mo, Paducah Ky., Indiana and Springfield Il. (on a good night) and all of St.Louis.
I'd say I'm in the fringe.
It might not work where you are but I'm not in the best location and pretty far from most stations.
As far as why. I heard digital takes up 1/8 of the band wave of analog signal and the digital frees up space for emergency channels and other types of expansion.
Hope this helps.
Good luck.
I just checked at this site http://www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/ and it shows 9 stations I should not get. Out of the 9 I get 7 all the time and an 8th sometimes.
I hate to see someone spend the money on a good antennea and not get a picture but a good one can help a lot.
Mike

 

[Pisgah]

I found that by mounting a digital antenna on my Predator drone, I can get great reception on 18 channels at least 25% of the time, as long as I launch it and have it hold a steady orbit at 3000' over my house.

Seriously, I have spent at least $200 on antennas, boxes, boosters, cables, etc. I have followed every available bit of advice on how to receive digital. I have risked life and limb trying various antenna mounting points/orientation. My analog reception was never good, but I rarely missed a program I wanted to see. Now, I'll rarely see a program, period. This stinks so bad that I can hardly wait to see how well the next government-mandated program turns out! Hey, who's up for buying a new GM automobile!!

I can switch to cable or dish -- but I refuse to pay for it as long as commercials are aired. I'm ALREADY paying for them, even though I don't have them, through the cost of goods and services sold in the commercials. If I can't get my reception straightened out, it's no more TV for me. Good riddance.

 

[Firehouse]

Dish Network

The satellites are high in the sky, so unless you are completely surrounded right up next to the house, you should be good to go.