Antenna Shortages the Weekend of June 13th ?????

[w9wi]

I hooked up an amplified indoor antenna and tried to get DTV signals in Garland, Tx. with a converter box attached. Got maybe one station to come in.

Amplified antennas may not be a good idea in metropolitan areas.

It is possible for digital signals to be too strong.

In analog, an excessively strong signal results in some "posterization" of the signal -- loss of resolution in bright areas, distorted colors, etc...

In digital, it results in lost data. Lose too much data and you won't get reception at all.

Additionally, frequently the reception problem is not a weak signal, but noise from sources within the home. (computers, especially) Using an amplifier on your antenna amplifies the noise just as much as it amplifies the desired signals. The signal-to-noise ratio remains constant; you don't get any improvement in reception at all.

A bigger antenna, higher and more in the clear, is always a better idea. An amplifier only stands a chance of helping if the problem with your old analog reception was snow and only snow.

 

[vibe]

I saw an amplified indoor antenna at one of the local thrifts for $4.99. It wasn't there the week before. My "theory" is since that the transmitters are about 30 mi away, one could get a decent (albeit imperfect) analog signal but no digital. This is a feast or famine location-an abundance of signals on the hills but NO digitals in the deepest valleys unless one has cable or a rooftop antenna. I think the thrifts will be full of these things SOON particularly in semi rural or rural locations.

 

[vchimpanzee]

I don't know how to solve my problem.

I started to buy an outdoor antenna at Radio Shack but decided it would cost too much, and then of course there are the various risks like lightning. So I bought the best indoor one they had. I didn't hook it up until last week for reasons discussed on other threads on this board, and on the Off The Air board for reasons only a moderator could answer.

Sears had a 45 dB antenna. I think I've mentioned that here. On Feb. 21 it received 8 channels (not counting digital channels such as weather that weren't there before because analog TV doesn't have them). Yesterday it received 6. I think I know what the problem is for one of them, which I'll go into on another thread I intend to create if one is not here already for the purpose. As for the other, I'm not aware it changed frequencies or anything, and I'll go into more detail, about that channel on another thread.

So imagine what a 22 dB antenna will do. I decided the kitchen was probably a terrible place for reception, and I moved the TV to what I thought would be a better place. I picked up three channels. That doesn't count the ones that did nothing but pixilate and then go blank with the words "No Signal".

I was tryig to avoid using this one TV, though. If I just need that TV to record something while I'm watching something else, I may be okay--although the cable went out brielfy yesterday, and you never know how long that will last. As long as those channels I get with that TV don't pixilate too. One channel did so as I walked past the TV. Another channel that does nothing else but pixilate cleared up when I stood beside the TV.

 

[TheRover]

CNET has published an article on June 12, 2009 titled:

DTV converter boxes aplenty, but good luck finding an antenna

The article confirms what I suspected would happen when people tired to get "Digital" signals through the same antennas that gave them "Analog" signals.

And finding the antenna that's right for your situtation can be a challenge...

Basically just start with the cheaper antennas, and keep buying ang returning the antennas until you get one that does the trick....

Uncle Sam didn't cover that exorcise fully in their 100 Million Dollar Campaign, did they ? ?

 

[vchimpanzee]

CNET has published an article on June 12, 2009 titled:

DTV converter boxes aplenty, but good luck finding an antenna

The article confirms what I suspected would happen when people tired to get "Digital" signals through the same antennas that gave them "Analog" signals.

And finding the antenna that's right for your situtation can be a challenge...

Basically just start with the cheaper antennas, and keep buying ang returning the antennas until you get one that does the trick....

Uncle Sam didn't cover that exorcise fully in their 100 Million Dollar Campaign, did they ? ?

There is a bill in Congress that would subsidize antennas and provide other help for people having problems. Who knows whether it will pass?

An update on my situation: I looked at the directions for the antenna, and apparently you're supposed to manually turn the antenna when you are on the channel you want. It's not sophisticated enough to turn the antenna by itself when you enter the channel number. Entering the channel number assumes you have saved the direction and gain.

So I turned to one of the channels that was giving me trouble. I pushed the buttons until the picture quit acting up. It turned out that with that direction, I could get six channels, compared to eight in the other room. and I remembered what happened with one of those eight: I picked it up perfectly when I entered the real channel number. Now the gain was at one when I was up to six channels, but it's now at three, and I don't know when I did this. But with a gain or three--the maximum on the 22 dB antenna--I now get seven channels. I have not tested the eighth channel but according to a post I just saw on this site, the station that moved to VHF was on a frequency which has not been taken by someone else and is still used for digital TV. I'll try it out later today on both TVs.

By the way, I could get 17 channels before, though some were better than others depending on which set. Most of the ones I can't get now are on cable. Digital TV is just a backup for some of those, and it allows me to get the ones that aren't on cable. Where I live, five of the eight digital channels (not counting the extra ones that weren't on analog) aren't in the same market as the stations I get on cable, and only one of those five is on the cable system, though more were some years ago.

 

[markwooldridge]

If you're going to your Wal-Mart or Best Buy or places like that, then yes there may well be an antenna shortage in places. I was however able to walk into Dow Electronics in Greensboro and walk out with a Winegard HD 8800 (at a good price too). Just need to get a pole and mount and cable and I'll be ready to try it out.

 

[vchimpanzee]

Further update on my antenna situation:

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=147443.0

Read the third post.

This is something everyone should be concerned about, and I'll bet it gives headaches to the people who answer the phones trying to solve people's digital TV problems.