HD Antennas Revisited - Update Post 29

[Kanewpadle]

This has been discussed a time or two but I would like some updated information and opinions please.

If you have made the switch, how long has it been and are you satisfied?

Was it difficult tuning in your antenna?

Do you subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or?

Any other advice?

Looking real hard at ditching Directv. Expensive and the content stinks.

Thanks in advance.

 

[vonn]

Hope you get some good info,I have been meaning to get rid of mine as well. Thanks for posting.

 

[Welshman]

This has been discussed a time or two but I would like some updated information and opinions please.

If you have made the switch, how long has it been and are you satisfied?

Was it difficult tuning in your antenna?

Do you subscribe to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu or?

Any other advice?

Looking real hard at ditching Directv. Expensive and the content stinks.

Thanks in advance.

I can't say that I've made the switch - I've never lived in a house with cable or dish, so I've never paid a dime for service.

Antennaweb.org and a compass is all you need to set the antenna. I don't have decent internet service so I can't stream.

 

[LedFowl]

I have basic cable with Comcast and I supplement that with a digital HD antenna. I get about 20 stations on it, but some of them are duplicates. They're local channels along with a variety of second tier networks, like MHZ and Decades, as well as religious and home shopping channels. No ESPN, dang it!

Antenna position is really important; some stations don't always come in. Stuff in HD looks great, btw.

I think it's worth it to just get one and try it out. My son lives closer to the city and he gets about twice as many stations as I do.

I don't do Netflix or Hulu yet. I'm playing around with the Amazon FireTVstick. I haven't figured it out completely.

 

[old tanker]

...Antennaweb.org and a compass is all you need to set the antenna...

Unlike analog signals, digital signals are either good or gone. The time lag involved makes trying to rotate an antenna back and forth to get the best picture infuriating. Unlike the old days there is no snowy ghostly image becoming clearer letting you know you are point the right way. It really is necessary to be able to point your antenna accurately at each transmitter.

Antennaweb, and sites like it, use digital mapping to figure line of sight and compute a bearing to each station you can get. While the stations may retain their "traditional" channel numbers most are in what used be the UHF TV spectrum and no voodoo antenna is needed for HD.

 

[gman51]

I bought an indoor GE Pro Bar HD 200 amplified antenna from WalMart for around $30. I am a good 50+ miles from any stations and I got around 60 channels which I deleted over 30 I wouldn't ever watch. I get a really good reception mostly leaving the bar in one position. Sometimes I might have to move the bar to another position due to atmosphere or weather conditions I guess.
A friend lives out in the sticks and she had an outdoor antenna that she didn't get but two stations and they were terrible. I bought her an antenna like mine and she gets a bunch of super clear channels now.
Best of all it costs me nothing to get all the stations and movie channels.

 

[Tyrod]

This is the part most folks don't get. There is no magic in digital TV broadcasts. They still use the same old analog FM carrier waves that old TV used. The ability to receive the carrier wave is no different than at anytime before. The pointy heads haven't yet figured out how to broadcast digital directly and I doubt they ever will. If you had a good analog antenna before, it'll still work just fine. The magic comes after that. While watching an old analog TV broadcast, if there was a little snow or some distortion the human eye and brain could filter that out. So, if your antenna wasn't aligned as well as it could be, most folks couldn't tell. Most digital TVs can't deal very well with distortion or noise of most types. Although some really high end digital TVs are better at it than others. The price of the TV is no assurance the the receiver/demodulator is better. So your job, as the user is to get the most noise free signal you can. I keep seeing that scene from BACK TO THE FUTURE WHERE the guy is slapping the TV and jacking the rabbit ears around. The Feds knew when they implemented digital HDTV that folks in rural areas were gonna have issues. I doubt that is gonna change anytime soon. But digital signals have the advantage to grow and we're already seeing the result of that by the testing of 4k digital TV. As if 1080i/P wasn't enough. The Japanese did things differently, they implemented analog HDTV @ 1080i. Not only did they have HDTV about 10 years before we did, there are no range or alignment issues. If it worked before, it worked after implementation. But, it would seem they have no room to grow.

If you intend to watch broadcast TV, this is my advice. When buying your TV, read the reviews from the professionals. User reviews are useless. Align your rabbit ears as best you can. An outside antenna always will work better. Perhaps accept that there are some of your local broadcast area signals you may never get.

 

[Welshman]

Unlike analog signals, digital signals are either good or gone. The time lag involved makes trying to rotate an antenna back and forth to get the best picture infuriating. Unlike the old days there is no snowy ghostly image becoming clearer letting you know you are point the right way. It really is necessary to be able to point your antenna accurately at each transmitter.

Antennaweb, and sites like it, use digital mapping to figure line of sight and compute a bearing to each station you can get. While the stations may retain their "traditional" channel numbers most are in what used be the UHF TV spectrum and no voodoo antenna is needed for HD.

I never had to rotate the antenna once it was set. I'm about 45 miles away from the Cleveland area broadcast array, and according to Antennaweb, all the stations are within (I'm guessing now) 15 degrees on the compass of each other. I just split the difference, locked down the clamps, and was good to go.

Interestingly, even though I have an outdoor directional antenna, I can pick up the Youngstown stations, which are in the opposite direction.

 

[Rastoff]

Up to 0 channels from 0 over-the-air stations may be received at this location.

I guess I won't be switching.

 

[Welshman]

This is the part most folks don't get. There is no magic in digital TV broadcasts. They still use the same old analog FM carrier waves that old TV used. The ability to receive the carrier wave is no different than at anytime before. The pointy heads haven't yet figured out how to broadcast digital directly and I doubt they ever will. If you had a good analog antenna before, it'll still work just fine. The magic comes after that. While watching an old analog TV broadcast, if there was a little snow or some distortion the human eye and brain could filter that out. So, if your antenna wasn't aligned as well as it could be, most folks couldn't tell. Most digital TVs can't deal very well with distortion or noise of most types. Although some really high end digital TVs are better at it than others. The price of the TV is no assurance the the receiver/demodulator is better. So your job, as the user is to get the most noise free signal you can. I keep seeing that scene from BACK TO THE FUTURE WHERE the guy is slapping the TV and jacking the rabbit ears around. The Feds knew when they implemented digital HDTV that folks in rural areas were gonna have issues. I doubt that is gonna change anytime soon. But digital signals have the advantage to grow and we're already seeing the result of that by the testing of 4k digital TV. As if 1080i/P wasn't enough. The Japanese did things differently, they implemented analog HDTV @ 1080i. Not only did they have HDTV about 10 years before we did, there are no range or alignment issues. If it worked before, it worked after implementation. But, it would seem they have no room to grow.

If you intend to watch broadcast TV, this is my advice. When buying your TV, read the reviews from the professionals. User reviews are useless. Align your rabbit ears as best you can. An outside antenna always will work better. Perhaps accept that there are some of your local broadcast area signals you may never get.

Why then do the older, analog TV's require a converter box?

I've noticed that various makes/models of TV's vary greatly in there ability to receive over the air broadcasts, and the manufacturers don't publish any spec's on their receiver/modulators. Can you recommend a site that may?

 

[Rastoff]

Why then do the older, analog TV's require a converter box?

Old analog TVs can't convert the digital signal into a picture.

Contrary to what someone said earlier, the modern signal is not a simple FM broadcast. In the US they use the 8-VSB (Vestigial sideband modulation) and it takes a special demodulator along with a decoder to translate the signal into a picture. The waveform is quite complicated, but works well with good equipment. Old TVs simply don't have the ability to do that.

 

[Welshman]

Old analog TVs can't convert the digital signal into a picture.

Contrary to what someone said earlier, the modern signal is not a simple FM broadcast. In the US they use the 8-VSB (Vestigial sideband modulation) and it takes a special demodulator along with a decoder to translate the signal into a picture. The waveform is quite complicated, but works well with good equipment. Old TVs simply don't have the ability to do that.

Thanks. That's basically what I thought, and why I posed the question to Tyrod.

 

[JcMack]

About 4 years ago I canceled Comcast and put a Terk flat 1' X 10" antenna in my window pointed toward Chicago which is 35 miles as the bullet flies away. Picture is much better than Cable ever was. I get 66 channels 1/3 of which are Spanish or duplicates. I currently have Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.
Get a HD antenna and enough coax so you can move the thing around the house to see where reception is best.

 

[ChattanoogaPhil]

I'm on high land around here so I get good digital reception. The picture quality of some of the HD programming is actually better than Comcast. I can get something like 40 channels. Unfortunately, there isn't much on ABC, CBS or NBC I'm interested in, and a lot of the others are religious, Spanish and paid programming that I'm not much interested in watching either.

So.... If I was to cut the cable I would't be watching over the air either.

I wish there was a way I could just pay for the few channels I watch on cable for a reduced price. I've got something like 500 channels but watch about three.

I have Amazon Prime and Netflix.

 

[bigwheelzip]

Tell this FCC website where you live, and it will tell you the over-the-air channels available in your area. Then decide If you can manage with those offerings.

DTV Reception Maps | Federal Communications Commission

 

[HoleCarder]

I dumped Directv a couple months ago. I get around 20 channels from my antennae and have Amazon Fire TV. No Netflix, nothing else.

Haven't missed it yet. Football season may be a test, maybe not. We'll see.

 

[coltle6920]

This is what I used for my antenna hookup...Not saying it's better.
Antennas Direct | TV Transmitter Locator and Mapping Tool

I wouldn't necessarily worry about compass direction when hooking up the antenna.Just hook it up...extend the rabbit ears with a little elevation and do a TV scan for channels.Spin the antenna a little left or right and rescan the TV to see if you're getting more or less channels than before.Just don't accept the first results.

I have 19 transmitters within 65mi. of my house.I get 55 channels but sometimes when it's windy some of them are affected.Also,some channels are not on 24/7.

I usually rescan the TV once a month.Sometimes I get a few more channels and sometimes I lose some.Sometimes a picture will flutter depending on where I'm sitting in the room and before anyone asks I don't wear a tinfoil hat.

 

[Tyrod]

Why then do the older, analog TV's require a converter box?

I've noticed that various makes/models of TV's vary greatly in there ability to receive over the air broadcasts, and the manufacturers don't publish any spec's on their receiver/modulators. Can you recommend a site that may?

The converter box is to convert the demodulated digital signal to analog which the TV can then display.

I'm not aware of any extractable specification that can classify a TVs ability to deal with less than perfect signals. One can only take the subjective word of a professional reviewer. These reviews can be found in any electronic home entertainment print magazine. These magazines offer e-versions of same and often sponsor electronics & tv forums. I used to have bookmarks of these sites but lost them in a computer migration.

Hint: If a reviewer doesn't mention or makes short shrift of the receivers ability to decode the digital signal then stay away from that TV no matter the other attractive features or cost. The reviewers aren't shy about pointing out very good features. Keep in mind that some of these same reviewers also take bribes from manufacturers to hype their products. Sad reality but true. It's a battlefield.

 

[Tyrod]

Old analog TVs can't convert the digital signal into a picture.

Contrary to what someone said earlier, the modern signal is not a simple FM broadcast. In the US they use the 8-VSB (Vestigial sideband modulation) and it takes a special demodulator along with a decoder to translate the signal into a picture. The waveform is quite complicated, but works well with good equipment. Old TVs simply don't have the ability to do that.

I rekon that someone would be me. The OP was about antennas, not about electronic circuitry within the TV. I stand by what I said earlier. The carrier wave is still a simple analog FM signal. Any yagi array or rabbit ears that worked before will still work just fine. Better 75 ohm interface than 300 ohm. What may be muxed into the carrier wave is different, but still has nothing to do with an antenna.

 

[Pete99004]

I cut the cord about a year ago - have not missed my Dish much since. I have the locals ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, PBS, ME, ION, CW. 42 channels in all, but most are duplicates of the above. I have Amazon and a ROKU box for everything else. With ROKU you can pick up Sling TV if you really want some of the cable broadcasts for $20 month. That will give you ESPN for football games along with about 20 other cable channels or you can get XTV which will give you the same programming free. Between ROKU and Amazon and the locals we are very happy, and really don't miss the 500 channels with nothing on them from Dish that we had for the last 20 years. Any antenna that has a good line of site will do the job including most old style rabbit ears. The real key is do you have fast internet service? If not you won't be very happy with local TV alone.


Pete99004