anyone recommend a good OTA HD tuner/receiver/antenna?

In , wrote:
: On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:02:01 -0800, dan wrote:

:khee mao wrote:
: so if you have any good
: recommendations for a good indoor antenna, that'd also be appreciated.
: thanks, guys/gals.
:
:I would recommend you go to your nearest Radioshack and pick up a decent
:indoor antenna (Only UHF type is required for digital stations).

: Uh...not quite. There are lots of stations broadcasting digital on
: VHF, and even more will be doing so come next Feb. Some UHF antennas
: do a good job with upper VHF--others don't.


Not in Seattle. Looks (on the fcc web site) like there might be one
low power on channel 8 but everything else is UHF.

The problem with Seattle is that there are five different transmission sites.
Queen Anne Hill: (KOMO, KIRO, KING, KONG),
Capitol Hill: (16th and Madison) (KCTS, channels formerly 11 and 22),
West Tiger Mountain: (East of Issaquah) (PAX, Univision, and about
3 others that don't come in here (West Seattle) very well),
Gold Mountain: (South of Bremerton) (FOX and Trinity), and
Tacoma: (KBTC Tacoma's PBS station).

So the OP will probably have to bit of fiddling, but a indoor UHF
bowtie should work ok for most.

Mark Zenier

Alan F wrote:

A lot of people who
brought small UHF only antennas are going to be caught by surprise next
February. All of the top 20 DMAs will have at least 1 station on upper
VHF and 2 (Philadelphia, Phoenix) will have 1 station on lower VHF.

I'm a good example


I bought the DB2 thinking all my local channels will be
UHF only nest year..... only to find out some wont be

Mark Zenier wrote:
In , wrote:
: On Mon, 18 Feb 2008 17:02:01 -0800, dan wrote:

: Uh...not quite. There are lots of stations broadcasting digital on
: VHF, and even more will be doing so come next Feb. Some UHF antennas
: do a good job with upper VHF--others don't.


Not in Seattle. Looks (on the fcc web site) like there might be one
low power on channel 8 but everything else is UHF.

The problem with Seattle is that there are five different transmission sites.
Queen Anne Hill: (KOMO, KIRO, KING, KONG),
Capitol Hill: (16th and Madison) (KCTS, channels formerly 11 and 22),
West Tiger Mountain: (East of Issaquah) (PAX, Univision, and about
3 others that don't come in here (West Seattle) very well),
Gold Mountain: (South of Bremerton) (FOX and Trinity), and
Tacoma: (KBTC Tacoma's PBS station).

So the OP will probably have to bit of fiddling, but a indoor UHF
bowtie should work ok for most.

Mark Zenier

In 1 year, there will be 3 full power stations on upper VHF in Seattle.
Quoting from my reply elsewhere in this thread:
"Problem with the recommendation for the UHF only antenna. This year
all the digital TV stations in Seattle are on UHF. However, by or soon
after next February 17, 2009, three DT stations in Seattle will switch
to their current upper VHF analog channel: KCTS-DT PBS 9, KSTW-DT CW 11,
KCPQ-DT Fox 13. So for the long run, you need to get an indoor antenna
with rabbit ears for upper VHF or one that can work for upper VHF *(7 to
13)"

Checking the FCC filings:
KCTS PBS 9 - will reduce analog power by 50% on October 6, 2008 by
shutting off 1/2 of transmitter hardware to enable an installation of a
new digital transmitter for VHF 9. Digital flash cut from UHF 41 to VHF
9 on February 17, 2009. See
http://fjallfoss.fcc.gov/cgi-bin/ws.... fac_num=33749.

KSTW CW 11 - Skimpy on the details, but will shift from UHF 36 to VHF 11
by or on February 17, 2009.

KCPQ Fox 13 - nothing filed yet.

People need to be aware that 659 stations are currently set to change
their digital broadcast channel either before, on, or not long after (if
they can get a waiver to delay the shift a few weeks) February 17, 2009.
Some 515 of the 659 stations will be moving to their current analog
channel. A UHF to UHF move will be no big deal for antenna selection.
UHF to upper VHF may be.

Alan F

In [email protected], Alan F wrote:
: Mark Zenier wrote:
: Not in Seattle. Looks (on the fcc web site) like there might be one
: low power on channel 8 but everything else is UHF.
....
: So the OP will probably have to bit of fiddling, but a indoor UHF
: bowtie should work ok for most.
:
: Mark Zenier

: In 1 year, there will be 3 full power stations on upper VHF in Seattle.

Many thanks. That sort of detail doesn't show up in the license search
web page.

Damn, I was hoping I could get a nice high gain UHF antenna to replace
the all band antenna I've got on the rotator now. For folks in Seattle
looking for old style rooftop antennas, forget any in town store.
Everybody is on cable, so the best bet is to got out to a discount
store or hardware store in the suburbs (or exurbs). Fred Meyer, Frys,
etc. Seems to be a lost art.

Mark Zenier

Mark Zenier wrote:

Damn, I was hoping I could get a nice high gain UHF antenna to replace
the all band antenna I've got on the rotator now.

Where you hoping to do the above so as to have a
SMALLER antenna? that it?

"khee mao" wrote in message
news:[email protected] .com...
I'm currently living in downtown Seattle on a block serviced by Millenium
Cable, which sucks major hemorrhoidage. Because the service is so
horrible (SD feeds on 'HD' channels, stuttering, dropouts, no on-demand,
no premium HD channels, etc), I was thinking about dumping them entirely
and getting my programming OTA. my situation is that I live near the
water, have a lot highrises between my place and all known transmitters,
and am a little concerned about signal clarity. I'll also probably have
to use an indoor antenna as my condo association is completely
non-responsive when I ask if there's a way to switch cable providers or
put up a community dish/antenna, so if you have any good recommendations
for a good indoor antenna, that'd also be appreciated. thanks, guys/gals.

I guess I wasn't entirely clear in my original post that my display is
actually an HD 'monitor' (no built in tuner), so I'm be interested to know
which external tuner/receiver is best.

wrote in message
t...
khee mao wrote:
I'm currently living in downtown Seattle on a block serviced by Millenium
Cable, which sucks major hemorrhoidage. Because the service is so
horrible (SD feeds on 'HD' channels, stuttering, dropouts, no on-demand,
no premium HD channels, etc), I was thinking about dumping them entirely
and getting my programming OTA. my situation is that I live near the
water, have a lot highrises between my place and all known transmitters,
and am a little concerned about signal clarity. I'll also probably have
to use an indoor antenna as my condo association is completely
non-responsive when I ask if there's a way to switch cable providers or
put up a community dish/antenna, so if you have any good recommendations
for a good indoor antenna, that'd also be appreciated. thanks,
guys/gals.

tivo hd has good ota hd tuners.


will check into it! thanks!

On Wed, 20 Feb 2008 17:36:16 +0000, Mark Zenier wrote:

: In 1 year, there will be 3 full power stations on upper VHF in
Seattle.

Many thanks. That sort of detail doesn't show up in the license search
web page.

Damn, I was hoping I could get a nice high gain UHF antenna to replace
the all band antenna I've got on the rotator now.

Many UHF antennas do a good job picking up upper VHF frequencies. I'm
using a Channel Master CM4228 at over 40 miles and get upper VHF fine with
it. I disconnected the VHF antenna I had connected also and the signal
strength on the upper VHF channel actually went up. And i still get the
upper vhf analog channels fine as expected.



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Wes Newell wrote:

'm
using a Channel Master CM4228 at over 40 miles and get upper VHF fine with
it.

That's an 8 bay antenna right?

wrote:
Wes Newell wrote:

'm
using a Channel Master CM4228 at over 40 miles and get upper VHF fine with
it.

That's an 8 bay antenna right?

Yes. It works for upper VHF because of the single connected
backscreen. But it has a notch in gain for VHF 8 and is rather heavy.
See http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/cm4228.html. It is a good choice
if there are no distant VHF 8 stations (nor any low VHF) and all the
stations are in the same direction of less than a ~ 30 degree spread in
azimuth.

For a lot of people at medium to long ranges, the new Winegard HD-769
series of upper VHF and UHF antennas will be a good match for outdoor or
attic locations. See http://www.winegard.com/offair/vhfuhf.htm. Although
this doesn't help you for an indoor antenna setup.

Alan F