Group: alt.discuss.clubs.public.xxxxx.technical.offworld-
Date: Tue, Oct 28, 2008, 8:22am (CDT-2)
From: jesus475073@xxxxxx.xx (JC)

This is not a DTV only antenna issue, but more I believe a tuner issue analog and digital. I have noticed one of my old analog VCR's a Sanyo got superior reception, better than my other vcr's and tv's too. Also i live in a trailer and for a while used a Channel master Stealth RV antenna inside till I could get a better one up outside.

Well it worked better than rabbit ears, but when i merely set it outside on the ground standing up on a rotators and 5 foot mast the reception improved drastically!!!

Bigger is better and outside makes a tremendous different. Also I highly recommend using quad shielded cable cause i once used the cheap stuff and it multiplies interference ghost many times acting as an antenna itself, but in a very bad way.

This also happened when i used a 25foot section to run it to a TV in another room, i would not use more than 10feet of that cheap stuff anywhere it causes all kinds of TV ghosts!

100 feet of quad shielded coax cable was $54. dollars last time i looked a Radio Shack.

You may get by OK using short lengths of cheap coax down low inside the house, but i would most definitely use the quad shielded coax cable coming in from an outside antenna!!! It also comes in 50ft and 25ft lengths.

Group: alt.discuss.clubs.public.xxxxx.technical.offworld-
Date: Tue, Oct 28, 2008, 4:58am (CDT-2)
From: starship_2001@xxxxx.xxx (Norbert 26)

This is a great time for this thread . I have been busy working with DTV antenna issues.

It all started out about 1 year ago November i had to get a new DTV when I blew my old one out accidentally with Windex spilling inside. i am glad I replaced the set now.

Now on to the antenna issue: antenna placement is very important with indoor antennas. When I had the antenna on top of the TV (good amped radio shack remote antenna) on an INSIDE wall..

On some days reception would be good and some of the Boston channels at 60 miles would come in. On bad days they would not and I would even have trouble with the locals about 20-25 miles away. I then tried 3 different converters I purchased for family and got some improvements but still had bad days.

Next I got 25 feet of 75 ohm coax cable so i could move the antenna around the room. I moved it to a high shelf on an OUTSIDE wall near a window and got more improvements. Yesterday I pulled the converter out of the loop and connected the antenna DIRECTLY to the built in DTV tuner inside my TV set. Lo and behold every station between here and Boston could be seen and reception was stable. It was the best performance I ever got so far !!!!

Lets sum this up:
1) try antenna placement in different parts of room. try outside wall high up if you can You want antenna above people walking and moving about.

2) you will need about 25 feet of cable for flexibility on moving the antenna.

3) Not all converters are created equal when it comes to pulling in stations. some do better. I have seen high recommends on the Zenith 901 although I have not tried this one personally

4) some areas DTV channels are NOT yet operating at full power. They may still need to do more antenna work on THEIR end and may have to wait until after Feb 17th when the analog is turned off to complete work.

5) if you need a converter get rolling on it NOW. Now is the time to practice using DTV while you have analog to fall back on in case you run into snags. If you wait the last minute until analog goes away you may have NO TV if problems should arise !!!!
.

OK! You have taken the time to read all this. And may have some idea what you may like to do. There are other things that you may need to know. If you had read the page on your local or network TV web pages. They may not have not told you that low power station don't have to made the move over to DTV.

So with satellite and some cable outlets may not show these station if it not consiser local. You may get the station off air. And you live in another community. So the cable company don't have to have it on there system.

So make sure that new converter box have pass thur.

Remember to look at the box as a antenna. When you set it up. And if you plan on to record a show. You can't view another channel.

So be smart. Do all this stuff before the change.. To work out all the bugs.

For time is running out..

Starting January 1, 2008, you can contact the federal government for coupons to make sure you can still watch your favorite show.

In February some have done so. but the rest will in June, 2009, broadcasters will switch from analog to digital signals. So folks with antennas will need converter boxes.

The government will provide two coupons for the converter boxes worth $40 each.

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