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DTV Question
- Thread starter wncc
- Start date
I don't live in or near your city but have had some, OK, a lot of negative experience with OTA DTV in mine and have the following suggestion.
Do not take anyone's word for the possible reception you might get at your place. Borrow a converter box from someone, hook it up and try it out. Rabbit ears are cheap.
Do not take anyone's word for the possible reception you might get at your place. Borrow a converter box from someone, hook it up and try it out. Rabbit ears are cheap.
East Side of Charlotte report. All stations come in fine with a combination of UHF bow tie and rabbit ears. The rabbit ears are only for WTVI since they are the only station in the area on VHF, all the rest are UHF.
WBTV, WCNC, WSOC, WTVI and WCCB all have good signals where I live. WSOC, WTVI and WCCB transmitters are in Charlotte while the rest are in Gaston County. WJZY and WMYT can be a problem sometimes but I can usually find one position where all the stations come in without signal dropouts.
it's amazing to me that WBTV comes in so well now. I could never get their analog signal with an indoor antenna, not even a snowy picture. With an outdoor antenna it was still a little fuzzy.
No cable bill here, except for internet.
WBTV, WCNC, WSOC, WTVI and WCCB all have good signals where I live. WSOC, WTVI and WCCB transmitters are in Charlotte while the rest are in Gaston County. WJZY and WMYT can be a problem sometimes but I can usually find one position where all the stations come in without signal dropouts.
it's amazing to me that WBTV comes in so well now. I could never get their analog signal with an indoor antenna, not even a snowy picture. With an outdoor antenna it was still a little fuzzy.
No cable bill here, except for internet.
Mike Sheridan said:
Mike...can you get WAXN, WUNG (UNC-TV), or WNSC (SC-ETV)?
eacalhoun1 said:
Oops sorry I left those out. I can get them. WUNG tends to be finicky because it's in a different direction. Same for WNSC but both come in well if I move the antenna a little bit.
Overall I can use an indoor antenna which I could not do with analog. Channel 3 was the biggest problem in the analog days and probably the reason for much of cable's success.
17 miles south of "center city" in SC and 20-30 miles from most towers and also in a townhome community---excellent, effortless reception of ALL channels except WTVI/42 with indoor antenna, including 46,55, 58 and 64. This neighborhood had the same problem as Mike with WBTV/3 analog--we couldn't get it at all, now WBTV/23 may have the best signal of all of them, and that's pretty damn good,,,
you might be able to get by with a cheap antenna, but a good antenna isn't that much more.
get a philips silver sensor, under $20 at amazon.com it's only UHF but all the charlotte DTV's are U (except for WTVI on V 11), so it's not an issue. the silver sensor is an amazing little antenna, and you'll be amazed at the signals you get.
if you can find a place for it, the channel master 4221 is a wonderful antenna. it's actually an outdoor antenna but i've had it on a tripod in front of a window in a sunroom. currently it's in my attic.
i live in rural hall, nc, which is about 15 miles north of winston-salem. with the silver-sensor in the bedroom i get all the triad locals. with the cm-4221 in the attic connected to my tv in the living room i get WBTV, WSOC, WCCB, WCNC, and WUNG plus the triad locals. the charlotte towers are about 70 miles from me, yet the stations are almost always perfect reception. sometimes they do pixel, but not much.
before putting the antenna in the attic, i had it in a sunroom in front of a window in an apartment i lived in near high point. from there i could get all the locals plus usually WSLS, WDBJ, and WFXR in Roanoke, but no charlotte. roanoke was 100 miles north, with their towers on a mountain. i could get roanoke now but sauratown mountain is directly between rural hall and the roanoke towers.
so if i can get WBTV, WSOC, WCCB, WCNC and WUNG from 70 miles away, you can certainly get them near center city. get the silver sensor, you won't be disappointed.
get a philips silver sensor, under $20 at amazon.com it's only UHF but all the charlotte DTV's are U (except for WTVI on V 11), so it's not an issue. the silver sensor is an amazing little antenna, and you'll be amazed at the signals you get.
if you can find a place for it, the channel master 4221 is a wonderful antenna. it's actually an outdoor antenna but i've had it on a tripod in front of a window in a sunroom. currently it's in my attic.
i live in rural hall, nc, which is about 15 miles north of winston-salem. with the silver-sensor in the bedroom i get all the triad locals. with the cm-4221 in the attic connected to my tv in the living room i get WBTV, WSOC, WCCB, WCNC, and WUNG plus the triad locals. the charlotte towers are about 70 miles from me, yet the stations are almost always perfect reception. sometimes they do pixel, but not much.
before putting the antenna in the attic, i had it in a sunroom in front of a window in an apartment i lived in near high point. from there i could get all the locals plus usually WSLS, WDBJ, and WFXR in Roanoke, but no charlotte. roanoke was 100 miles north, with their towers on a mountain. i could get roanoke now but sauratown mountain is directly between rural hall and the roanoke towers.
so if i can get WBTV, WSOC, WCCB, WCNC and WUNG from 70 miles away, you can certainly get them near center city. get the silver sensor, you won't be disappointed.
amos said:
Better yet - the Terk HDTVi is a Silver Sensor that also incorporates VHF rabbit ears, and it doesn't cost much more than the UHF-only Silver Sensor. Avoid the similar-looking HDTVa, which has an amplifier. I'm not a fan of amplified indoor antennas, which tend to add more noise than useful signal in my experience.
Don't use rabbit ears.landtuna said:
Unless all the stations you want are close by, use an amplified antenna, which does cost a few bucks. If you can't have an outdoor antenna, don't expect much. I like my cable. $14.27 a month.
vchimpanzee said:
You and Mr. Fybush have very differing opinions on the use of indoor antennas.
I finally found a combo that works. I have both VHF/UHF stations in my market and the worst reception is on VHF (channels 8 and 10). I use an older VHF/UHF roof-mounted outdoor antenna split to two sets. The other two each have their own rabbit ear/bow tie/loop indoor antennas. So far I've been able to get perfect pictures on all the stations with only the occasional pixelation and the outdoor antenna doesn't seem to be affected by wind and/or the setting sun as it used to. None of the antennas are amplified and none use the old RG-59 coax that was installed when the house was built (1980).
Now to convince the better half to buy an HDTV.
Well, when I asked about an outdoor antenna at Sears, they didn't sell them and the man told me his was better. I asked at Radio Shack when Sears only had one, and decided I didn't want to spend the hundreds of dollars installing an outdoor antenna would cost. In the long run it would have been cheaper than cable, but I'm happy with cable.landtuna said:
YMMV.
but unless you live in a hole i think you'll be suprised at how good DTV reception is with an antenna.
obviously people have different experiences and ideas, but at least try an antenna. i am amazed at the silver sensor. i haven't been all that happy with terk antennas but i haven't tried the one mr fybush suggested. i also really like the channel master 4221.
i'm 35 miles from the level cross, nc towers and i get them fine with the silver sensor.
i'm 70 miles from the charlotte area towers and i get them fine with the cm 4221.
some markets have more stations on VHF and therefore would need a different antenna.
anybody that already has a roof antenna left from the old days should try it. you'll probably get locals and out of market stations with perfect reception.
but unless you live in a hole i think you'll be suprised at how good DTV reception is with an antenna.
obviously people have different experiences and ideas, but at least try an antenna. i am amazed at the silver sensor. i haven't been all that happy with terk antennas but i haven't tried the one mr fybush suggested. i also really like the channel master 4221.
i'm 35 miles from the level cross, nc towers and i get them fine with the silver sensor.
i'm 70 miles from the charlotte area towers and i get them fine with the cm 4221.
some markets have more stations on VHF and therefore would need a different antenna.
anybody that already has a roof antenna left from the old days should try it. you'll probably get locals and out of market stations with perfect reception.
Scott Fybush said:
Agree 100% this even applies to some amplifiers for outdoor antennas. The cheap amplifiers add noise and can cause signal overload. I have good luck with the Zenith DT converter and rabbit ears ( for WTVI-DT11) and bow tie for the rest. I think everyone should try it.
Here is a little secret, at work we have some big HDTV sets used for computer displays. One of them has no trouble receiving WBTV and WCNC with a very simple antenna. Would you believe a paper clip? It's true, don't ask me how I know!
vchimpanzee said:
Bad advice.
Amplified antennas are simply bad news, unless they're very very good low-noise amps, and those don't come cheap.
If you're close enough to a transmitter site to use an indoor antenna, an amplifier is simply going to add noise and potentially, as Mike notes, overload your receiver.
If you're far enough from a transmitter site to need amplification, you really need to be using an outdoor antenna, and maybe a mast-mounted amp if you're deep in the fringes.
Most of the time I get good results unless the weather is bad. And bad weather wasn't a problem last year.Scott Fybush said:
There are problems with outdoor antennas. They're expensive to install (though in the long run I realize that would be cheaper than cable), and with my situation, I don't know there'd be a good place to put one. Plus what about lightning? And what if it's windy?
windy? lightning?
then your outdoor
antenna would be just
like Direct TV.
but no monthly.
then your outdoor
antenna would be just
like Direct TV.
but no monthly.
It's pretty easy for someone who isn't very handy to install a TV antenna. Antennas themselves cost $20-$30 plus the price of the pole to hang it on (about another $20) and some coax cable (about another $12). I have a mount that attaches to the side of the house and the 20 foot pole goes all the way to the ground. So far I have never had a problem with lightning. Unlike DirecTV the signal stays even during a rain storm. The signal quality is better than DirecTV or cable.
Ever notice on DirecTV how in the dark areas the picture gets kind of blocky. That's due to signal compression which you don't have with over the air stations.....and as you said, no monthly bill.
I have no idea how much an installer would charge but I'll bet you could find a friend to give you a hand.
Ever notice on DirecTV how in the dark areas the picture gets kind of blocky. That's due to signal compression which you don't have with over the air stations.....and as you said, no monthly bill.
I have no idea how much an installer would charge but I'll bet you could find a friend to give you a hand.
I'll keep my cable, thanks. There is a man who installs antennas. I bought a TV/VCR from him and if he still has any I'm close to needing a new one.Mike Sheridan said:
But I am most definitely not handy. There are trees which might affect where I can put an antenna and make it work. If it could just go in the front yard I might be all right.
Of course, I can watch stations in different geogaphic locations now, without having to change the antenna's direction. If I taped one show in one direction and watched another in another, you can see where there might be a problem. Plus I can't select channels on a VCR right now unless it's hooked up to cable.
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