direct TV/ OTA local

On Jan 1, 11:05*pm, Alan F wrote:
kpb wrote:
On Jan 1, 5:05 pm, "flambe" wrote:

Well thanks all for advice.

I'm more confused than ever.

DirectTV doesn't offer local channels over their satellite, but you're
saying they could somehow have a tuner which would pick them up OTA?
I'm trying to do that now with my tuner, pick up local DIGITAL HD
stations. *I can pick up the local analog stations, they don't look
good though. *The local Digital HD stations freeze up. *I'm not sure
what DirectTV could add...other than putting an antenna somehow on the
roof next to the DirectTV dish. *I asked them about that and either he
didn't get what I was talking about or didn't know if they could do
that...or maybe he thought I already had an outdoor antenna.

Another thing he said (DirectTV guy) that confused me is that there
will be NO OTA broadcast in digital after the 2009 cutoff date. *I
thought there would be digital OTA broadcasts...that's why the gov't
is giving people money to pick them up and downgrade them for their
sets.

But no matter.

I signed up for cable TV. *Expensive 39.95 + another 10.00 for a
digital box. *This is for 6 months then it goes up about 20 a month.
There was something about a QAM tuner (my TV has one) and some people
were saying "just get regular digital service and the QAM tuner will
ferret out the HD stations". *That sounds like a good idea...not sure
if that would work for me or not. *I think there are only 7 or 8 HD
stations other than local.

AS you can tell, I'm kind of confused by the whole thing, but thanks
for all info.

My zipcode is 31906. *Not sure what that'll do for you...I dont' think
I want to put a multi-hundred dollar antenna above my house.

* First, as the others have already posted, it is analog broadcast TV
that goes away in February, 2009, not digital. The DirecTV guy is
seriously confused. You don't need to spend hundreds of dollars for an
OTA antenna setup at your range to the local stations.

* Before I get into listing your local stations, a few points. One, the
cable company should provide the HD local broadcast stations as in the
clear QAM digital channels. However, this is only for the stations that
they carry; many cable companies do not yet carry all the locals as the
local stations are demanding extra fees for the rights to carry their
digital signal. You need to check exactly what HD channels your local
cable franchise offers; it is likely to be far fewer HD channels than
DirecTV has right now. You have to get a cable box or DVR or have a
cable card setup to get the national HD channels - ESPN-HD, Discovery
HD, HDNet, etc - from the cable company as those channels will be encrypted.

* According to antennaweb.org, these are the following digital broadcast
stations near you:

* yellow - uhf WTVM-DT 9.1 ABC COLUMBUS GA *138° 14.1 47
* yellow - uhf WLTZ-DT 38.1 NBC COLUMBUS GA *104° 3.9 35
* yellow - uhf WXTX-DT 54.1 FOX COLUMBUS GA *100° 4.2 49
* lt green - uhf WLGA-DT 31.1 CW OPELIKA AL *309° 20.6 31
* red - uhf WRBL-DT 3.1 CBS COLUMBUS GA *138° 14.1 15
* blue - uhf WJSP-DT 23 PBS COLUMBUS GA 07-08 32° 30.2 23

* The last 3 numbers on each row a direction, range in miles (from
the center of your zip code), and the actual broadcast channel. All of
these stations are currently on UHF. However, after the analog shutdown,
WTVM-DT ABC 9 will switch from UHF 47 to VHF 9. However, WTVM-DT is only
14 miles away, so many larger UHF antennas should pick it up on upper VHF 9.

* You have stations in different directions: 100°, 138°, 309°, and the
closest PBS station at 32°. You need a multi-directional antenna or
something close to it for all of them. If the four closest stations are
all you need for ABC, NBC, Fox, CBS, a good indoor antenna might do the
job. The Silver Sensor is a good UHF antenna design which is sold by
Terk, Philips, Zenith.

* However, my recommendation in your case would be to try the Channel
Master 4221 4 Bay bowtie. Seehttp://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4221.htmlfor a picture. I get
stations out to 46+ miles in 5 different directions with a CM 4221 in my
attic. Very versatile antenna that should be ok for picking up VHF 9 at
close range. The CM 4221 is around $25 on-line plus $15 shipping at
places such as solidsignal.com or warrenelectronics.com. You will likely
need to mount it in the attic or outside for the 20 to 30 mile stations.
Seehttp://www.hdtvprimer.com/ISSUES/erecting_antenna.htmlfor a lot of
useful antenna info. Lowes is a good place for antenna mounting gear and
RG-6 co-axial cables.

* My advice is to get both the digital cable box and the antenna, even
if you have signed up for cable. The antenna is not expensive and is a
handy backup to the cable company.

* Good luck,
* Alan F- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Well thanks for all the info.

I think I will get a better antenna...I'm only 15-20 miles out so it
shoudl work...I'm on a hill too.

Right now I canceled the DirectTV and signed up for cable. This will
be good in teh short term...it's a 6 month deal at about $55 per
month.

After that I may cancel the cable for a while and just use the
antenna. I don't watch much TV in the summer anyway.

Then before football starts I'll possibly call up DirectTV.

On Tue, 1 Jan 2008 13:13:42 -0800 (PST), kpb
wrote:

It did a search and found a bunch of local stations...I just have a
"rabbit ears" antenna. The HDTV signals come in but they're kind of
erratic, freezing up the TV for a second or so...it makes it
unwatchable.

If it is *just* rabbit ears, they will not be very good for UHF. At
least here in Los Angeles, all the HD signals are UHF. You can get a
bowtie or circle UHF antenna at Radio Shack for about $3.00, but then
you have to combine the signal with your VHF to feed to your TV. You
want to get a UHF/VHF splitter/joiner for that, and you may have to
convert from twinlead to coax to get it done, another $3 or so
connector.

Or, Radio Shack has a nice little "indoor/outdoor" amplified antenna
for $50, or just indoor ones (that consist of rabbit ears plus a
loop!" for $25 or so. These have combined VHF/UHF, and are generally
trivial to connect. I have the indoor/outdoor one, works pretty well
for all channels - except 2 (CBS in Los Angles). Note that CBS-HD is
some UHF frequency, the TV figures it out and calls it 2.1 even though
the numbers differ.

So, try your antenna issue at Radio Shack for a few bucks, see if that
helps. I'm sure an outdoor antenna is a better answer, of course, but
maybe you don't need it.

J.

On Jan 2, 10:17*am, JXStern wrote:

I have the indoor/outdoor one, works pretty well
for all channels - except 2 (CBS in Los Angles). *Note that CBS-HD is
some UHF frequency, the TV figures it out and calls it 2.1 even though
the numbers differ.

But rememmber, that recognition is the TV not the antenna. Quite
possibly, all that needs to be done is a little jiggling to get the
best orientation for the antenna.

Originally Posted by kpb

I just have a "rabbit ears" antenna. The HDTV signals come in but they're kind of erratic, freezing up the TV for a second or so...it makes it
unwatchable.

Your problem sounds like multipath (bounced signals). If you're going to stick to an indoor antenna, you might check out the Lacrosse Micron DTV Indoor Antenna from Antennasdirect.com, available shortly. It's rabbit ears on steroids

On Wed, 2 Jan 2008 18:44:01 +0000, antennaguy
wrote:


kpb;403786 Wrote:

I just have a "rabbit ears" antenna. The HDTV signals come in but
they're kind of erratic, freezing up the TV for a second or so...it
makes it
unwatchable.

Your problem sounds like multipath (bounced signals). If you're going
to stick to an indoor antenna, you might check out the Lacrosse Micron
DTV Indoor Antenna from Antennasdirect.com, available shortly. It's
rabbit ears on steroids

You mean this?
http://www.antennasdirect.com/lacrosse.html

Doesn't look like rabbit ears.

Looks a little like my Radio Shack:
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...entPage=family

Problem is the Radio Shack doesn't get channel 2 worth beans, but it's
pretty good on UHF.

Another problem is that it's not very directional, and if you have a
lot of multipath (and I do), don't you really want directional?

If I put an aluminum pie plate next to my antenna, it seems to help,
days when it otherwise gets confused. Hi tech at its best!

J.

G-squared wrote:


You think this little guy would look OK next to the dish? It's 16
inches across and UHF like the 4 DTV stations in your area.

http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm



crutchfield.com sells the unamplified flavor of this for $150.


--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

On Jan 3, 11:22*pm, Jer wrote:
G-squared wrote:

You think this little guy would look OK next to the dish? It's 16
inches across and UHF like the 4 DTV stations in your area.

http://www.winegard.com/offair/squareshooter.htm

crutchfield.com sells the unamplified flavor of this for $150.

--
jer
email reply - I am not a 'ten'

FYI

www.solidsignal.com has the unamplified SS-1000 Squareshooter for $87
+ shipping and the amplified SS-2000 Squareshooter for $84 + shipping.

Dan (Woj...)