DTV reception question ... 1,200 ft in elevation and no signals from 12 miles away?

[gar hi]

Since I went to all the trouble to get it (had to order it 3 times because the stock kept running out), I have to see how a real good antenna works first.

My neighbor's isn't one of the best quality ones compared to what's available now.

I found a review about the TV that sounds a lot like my issue ....

"I agree with others that say you cannot pick up many stations without some kind of powered or directional external antenna, preferably not the ones that came with the unit. The telescoping antenna is absolutely worthless for picking up any stations while scanning. I'm only a 15 minute drive from one local station here & it cannot receive that channel. It also cannot receive the stronger network stations (NBC, CBS, FOX & others..they broadcast 30 to 50 thousand watts of power here) that are about 20 minutes away. And that's also trying to receive them while upstairs here, about 15 feet off the ground. But... when I attach my powered flat wall antenna (it looks like a rectangular plastic dinner table place mat), it can now receive those elusive stations that the telescoping antenna & magnetic based antenna just couldn't. I now receive 19 channels with the wall antenna. Zero with the telescoping & magnetic antenna."

 

[semoochie]

Since I went to all the trouble to get it (had to order it 3 times because the stock kept running out), I have to see how a real good antenna works first.

My neighbor's isn't one of the best quality ones compared to what's available now.

I found a review about the TV that sounds a lot like my issue ....

"I agree with others that say you cannot pick up many stations without some kind of powered or directional external antenna, preferably not the ones that came with the unit. The telescoping antenna is absolutely worthless for picking up any stations while scanning. I'm only a 15 minute drive from one local station here & it cannot receive that channel. It also cannot receive the stronger network stations (NBC, CBS, FOX & others..they broadcast 30 to 50 thousand watts of power here) that are about 20 minutes away. And that's also trying to receive them while upstairs here, about 15 feet off the ground. But... when I attach my powered flat wall antenna (it looks like a rectangular plastic dinner table place mat), it can now receive those elusive stations that the telescoping antenna & magnetic based antenna just couldn't. I now receive 19 channels with the wall antenna. Zero with the telescoping & magnetic antenna."

Let me see if I understand you: Are you saying that you switched to a wall antenna and now get five more channels than your neighbor gets with his roof antenna? If so, it makes me wonder how many channels he would get, if he plugged into YOUR wall antenna, assuming that there are more than 19 receivable signals in the area. Have you gone to TV Fool or some similar site to find out?

 

[Ai4i]

Try something like this
(good luck, if you can still find one!).

 

[K.M. Richards]

Let me see if I understand you: Are you saying that you switched to a wall antenna and now get five more channels than your neighbor gets with his roof antenna? If so, it makes me wonder how many channels he would get, if he plugged into YOUR wall antenna, assuming that there are more than 19 receivable signals in the area. Have you gone to TV Fool or some similar site to find out?

No, he says he found a review online from someone else's experience and shared it with us.

 

[gar hi]

I'm sending the TV back to Amazon.

What a waste of time and effort.

Maybe I'll use the refund money to order another radio. The more I think of it, I'm not really missing much by not having TV and there's plenty to be found on the internet anyway.

 

[semoochie]

No, he says he found a review online from someone else's experience and shared it with us.

I looks like I missed that one line. Maybe, I should consider changing my name to Emily Latella. Never mind!

 

[Ai4i]

In the DTV era, VHF signals, especially those on channels 2 to 6, are considered worse than UHF.

Low-V has always been noisy, but in the case of DTV, noise does not manifest itself as sparklies, but prevents receivers from decoding data streams altogether.

 

[KR4BD]

One thing that many don't realize: DTV stations are operating with only about 20% of the power they were authorized to use when transmitting in analog. At my location, several stations I formerly received well, are no longer receive-able even with an elaborate outdoor antenna up 50'. I, too, have a small portable digital TV (an RCA 7" TV/Android combo). I am just 10 miles from my local stations, all running just 20% the power they had previously, and all are a challenge to receive well with the on-board antenna on the TV. At my office, about 5 miles closer, reception is excellent. I have long wondered why the FCC has throttled back the output power on DTV. Maybe they are trying to do away with OTA TV reception...????

 

[Ai4i]

Same as with digital radio,
they are only interested in equalling the picture-perfect range of the stations.
After the point of what would have been called "full quieting" reception,
in stead of a noisy signal, one now gets no signal.
In other words, the intent was never to alter (increase) the stations' perfect image range.

UHF works betterly for this goal than VHF because the horizon becomes more akin to a brick (or grounded coper) wall as we ascend the spectrum

 

[MarioMania]

Most of the time, I like DTV when it works, Hate it when it don't

I really miss Analog TV

 

[mimo]

I finally bought an HD tv last summer. A really nice one with a built in dvd player for just over $200. At first I was just using it with the satellite dish, and it took me a few months before I learned that I could switch the box from a 720i dispaly to a 1080i...so for a few months I wasn't getting the most out of the tv. I put a guitart string into where the antenna would go, and found that I was able to get about 4 or 5 channels. I loved how clear the over the air signals were....so I bought an HD antenna with a signal booster, in case I had an outage with the dish due to weather. I do get all the channels, but some drop out on occasion. I didn't know until reading this thread last night that I had to know the actual channel number to tune in directly. Only a couple here in Ottawa are using their previously assigned channels. We get 16 channels over the air..and it can take a while to tune from channel 13 to channel 65. 13 is using it's original assignment, but to get channel 65, I have to enter 17 on the remote. I live in an extremely noisy environment in terms of interference. I bet if I could lower that, I would lose the dropout I have on 3 channels.

 

[Ai4i]

Leave the screen resolution on normal.
Do not set it to stretch standard definition signals to fill the screen or you will distort the image and make everyone look fatter than they should. I see this on a lot of TVs and when I point it out, the people do not understand why they should watch a smaller image.

 

[xyz]

The only real way to do it correctly is to install the best antenna and highest gain amplifier possible for your particular situation. YOU MUST PLACE THE FM TRAP IN THE AMP TO "IN" OR "ON". FM are the only signals that are constantly on and may overload and swamp the amp if those signals aren't attenuated. A rotator may or may not be needed depending on your location and the signal sources. I had very good luck with a 4 bay panel antenna but its relative lack of directionality caused problems with airplane interference. I replaced it with a high gain yagi and rotator which solved all my reception problems. Try the 4 or 8 bay panel antenna first. If OK praise the Lord. If not then you'll need the yagi/rotator solution. There is no real way to cheap out a DTV antenna problem and not "pay" the price in maddening reception problems. Remember that the FM signals MUST be eliminated in the amp! Good luck!

 

[alok]

DTV is not like picking up analog TV, with analog TV you were in control of the picture and how much snow or multipath ( ghost ) you were willing to put up with in an area where there were reception problems.
With DTV the TV decides if it can decode the signal and make a picture out of it ,if it is too weak or has too much multipath or your getting interference from a strong nearby signal like an FM radio station . . . you get nothing.
If you are in a flat terrain area, choosing the correct antenna and maybe using a rotator helps ,but in a mountainous area ,it is all harder to do, a big antenna and rotator might help. An amplifier doesn't always make things better.
I'm in an area in the mountains in Northern California 80 miles from the TV stations with a big antenna and rotator ,I get 2 VHF channels perfect from Sacramento all the time but the others, all UHF vary, sometimes there ,sometimes not.
If I was closer and in flat terrain things would be better. It seems your close to transmitters but your in or near mountains.
I believe that the new TV standard ( ATSC 3.0 ) that hopefully will start seeing in 2017 will be easier to pickup under adverse reception conditions, then the present system.


Al

 

[Ai4i]

I believe that the new TV standard ( ATSC 3.0 ) that hopefully will start seeing in 2017 will be easier to pickup under adverse reception conditions, then the present system.
Al

I am not familiar with the different DTV standards, as I did a LOT of research on the various analogue transmission standards, but I remember reading that the Chinese standard works much better than ours does from inside of moving vehicles.

 

[mimo]

DTV is not like picking up analog TV, with analog TV you were in control of the picture and how much snow or multipath ( ghost ) you were willing to put up with in an area where there were reception problems.
With DTV the TV decides if it can decode the signal and make a picture out of it ,if it is too weak or has too much multipath or your getting interference from a strong nearby signal like an FM radio station . . . you get nothing.
If you are in a flat terrain area, choosing the correct antenna and maybe using a rotator helps ,but in a mountainous area ,it is all harder to do, a big antenna and rotator might help. An amplifier doesn't always make things better.
I'm in an area in the mountains in Northern California 80 miles from the TV stations with a big antenna and rotator ,I get 2 VHF channels perfect from Sacramento all the time but the others, all UHF vary, sometimes there ,sometimes not.
If I was closer and in flat terrain things would be better. It seems your close to transmitters but your in or near mountains.
I believe that the new TV standard ( ATSC 3.0 ) that hopefully will start seeing in 2017 will be easier to pickup under adverse reception conditions, then the present system.


Al

FM overload is a serious issue where I live. We have 2 stations with towers within sight of the house, and they put out enough wattage to make FM unusable on most radios. That might explain the signal issues. We used to have 4 but one moved to another tower and another shut down.