Antenna
- Thread starter f11vid
- Start date
Necktie Boy
Well-known member
Depending where all the transmitters are, you might have to change the direction of the antenna.
With my cheap rabbit ears, I have to re-aim the ears to get different channels.
With my cheap rabbit ears, I have to re-aim the ears to get different channels.
Ben Longden
Well-known member
Just make sure the frequency coverage of the aerial is suitable...
Here, my UHF TV aerial maxed out at 500Mhz... which gave "simply won-der-ful' results for a new channel on 790Mhz.
$180 later and all was well.
The old aerial was designed for VHF and UHF, with the VHF being analogue and vertically polarised. The UHF was designed for horozontal polarised transmissions, and worked well during the transition from analogue to digital transmissions, including HD (1080i).
Its just that new channels were beyond the aerials bandwith.
As an aside, Australia is switching off analogue transmission in stages over the next two years, starting in about two months.
Ben
Here, my UHF TV aerial maxed out at 500Mhz... which gave "simply won-der-ful' results for a new channel on 790Mhz.
$180 later and all was well.
The old aerial was designed for VHF and UHF, with the VHF being analogue and vertically polarised. The UHF was designed for horozontal polarised transmissions, and worked well during the transition from analogue to digital transmissions, including HD (1080i).
Its just that new channels were beyond the aerials bandwith.
As an aside, Australia is switching off analogue transmission in stages over the next two years, starting in about two months.
Ben
When I purchased my first HD set back at the end of '04, I waited a couple of months before adding the HD package on DIRECTV and I was able to pick up almost every Digital/HD OTA signal in my area with just a paperclip in the ANT jack(I thought it was funny, I had this huge $5K-$6K 60" HDTV and I was able to watch these beautiful HD pictures with a 1 cent paperclip stuck in the back). I eventually got a cheap set of rabbit ears(less than $20) and they worked just fine. I actually tried a more expensive pair before that had an amp in them and I could not receive ANYTHING with them.
Dirge
Well-known member
With the exception of my college years, when I lived on campus, I've NEVER had cable. My family didn't have the disposable income to afford the luxury of having television without commercials. Oh snap, they don't do that any more! Why the f would anyone pay to watch TV that's already sponsored?
Without an address (or the very least a zip code), I can't give you an antenna recommendation. You'll have to go to antennaweb.org and plug in your address. It'll give you a nice little map that shows you which direction the towers are from your house. Antennaweb, however, is just a start. It's way too simple for my taste AND it's way to conservative in estimating which channels you'll receive.
Check out tvfool.com and plug in your address. Alright! Now we're talkin'! Now go to the signal/NM column. Anything above 0.0 is what you'll most likely get with an external antenna without an amp. Anything below that and you'll be in the Dxing/advanced user category. A nifty feature is if you click on one the stations on the chart, it'll give you a topographical profile. Sweet.
A few rule of thumb things:
There is no HDTV antenna. An antenna is an antenna is an antenna. I've got a 40 year old UHF/VHF combo on the roof and it's the same thing as a high price UHF/VHF HDTV rig.
The range of the antenna is not the same as advertised on the side of the box. That is the range under ideal conditions. When in doubt, go up one size in antenna.
Mount the antenna as high as possible. Make sure it's not blocked by obstacles. It's fairly line of sight like a live shot.
Guys who mount their antenna in their attic don't realize that they just cut their range in half and added a ton of multipath to the signal.
If the towers are in very different directions, you'll need a rotor.
Ground the antenna.
Use RG6 cable. NOTHING ELSE!
Passive splitters suck. They split your signal strength in half. If you have a 3 way splitter, it doesn't give you 33% at each port—it gives you 50% at the first, 25% at the second, and 25% at the third.
You can't go wrong with stuff from Blonder Tongue, Winegard, or Channel Master.
Rabbit ears are for VHF reception. A loop is for UHF.
TV reception is not an exact science. You'll have to get your parts and just try it.
Yep. That's my favorite parlor trick. It's also the first thing I try to get OTA.
Without an address (or the very least a zip code), I can't give you an antenna recommendation. You'll have to go to antennaweb.org and plug in your address. It'll give you a nice little map that shows you which direction the towers are from your house. Antennaweb, however, is just a start. It's way too simple for my taste AND it's way to conservative in estimating which channels you'll receive.
Check out tvfool.com and plug in your address. Alright! Now we're talkin'! Now go to the signal/NM column. Anything above 0.0 is what you'll most likely get with an external antenna without an amp. Anything below that and you'll be in the Dxing/advanced user category. A nifty feature is if you click on one the stations on the chart, it'll give you a topographical profile. Sweet.
A few rule of thumb things:
There is no HDTV antenna. An antenna is an antenna is an antenna. I've got a 40 year old UHF/VHF combo on the roof and it's the same thing as a high price UHF/VHF HDTV rig.
The range of the antenna is not the same as advertised on the side of the box. That is the range under ideal conditions. When in doubt, go up one size in antenna.
Mount the antenna as high as possible. Make sure it's not blocked by obstacles. It's fairly line of sight like a live shot.
Guys who mount their antenna in their attic don't realize that they just cut their range in half and added a ton of multipath to the signal.
If the towers are in very different directions, you'll need a rotor.
Ground the antenna.
Use RG6 cable. NOTHING ELSE!
Passive splitters suck. They split your signal strength in half. If you have a 3 way splitter, it doesn't give you 33% at each port—it gives you 50% at the first, 25% at the second, and 25% at the third.
You can't go wrong with stuff from Blonder Tongue, Winegard, or Channel Master.
Rabbit ears are for VHF reception. A loop is for UHF.
TV reception is not an exact science. You'll have to get your parts and just try it.
Run&Gun said:
Yep. That's my favorite parlor trick. It's also the first thing I try to get OTA.
f11vid
PRO user
Good stuff Dirge,thanks.Moved into this place a year ago and there is no existing antenna.I'm in 60015, which puts me about 30 mi N/NW of downtown Chicago where the sticks are.Should be a chip shot, but I'm wondering what my chances are of getting MKE and RFD stations.Gotta clean the gutters tomorrow,anyway,will see what my line-of-sight is ( lotsa elm trees)
Dirge
Well-known member
f11vid said:
Holy cow! Those signals are screaming in your zip.
I'd say try the paper clip first. Uncurl it so it makes an “L†shape and stick it in the jack. Then do a channel scan. You should be getting something if your set isn't in the basement or there isn't a brick wall between the set and transmitters.If stuff comes in okay and not great (say 60% instead of 80%), I'd say pick up a Terk HDTVa antenna and point it towards the towers. Ideally through a window. I've picked up stations 40 miles away with one of those. You're like 25 miles away from your towers.
As for the Milwaukee stations, you'll need a deepest fringe UHF/VHF combo antenna with an amp at the least. Those suckers are big. As in 20 feet long! Get that at the end of a mast while you're standing on a roof and your life will flash before your eyes if the wind blows. You may have to use two stacked to get that far out. I'm not saying it can't be done but it will take some effort.
zac love
Well-known member
I'm using the cheapest antenna that Target sells. ($12? or something) & I think it picks up all the main stations (but I don't watch that much TV), although I'm just across the border of Chicago & less than 10miles away from the loop, so I better be getting everything loud & clear.