DTV Reception

This was at the very end of this message, but then I said, "D'oh!"
Better make sure the thing's plugged in first. : )

BTW, did you say you're starting to get some more channels? Skip to my
reply to your message.


Otherwise:

Double check and make sure that your antenna is connect to the
converter's ANT IN and your TV connected to the converter's ANT OUT or
VIDEO OUT. Whichever you use goes into the IN on the TV.

If you're doubting you've connected it right, reverse the connection,
just to be sure. Somebody mixed that up just last month. But you're
getting messages from the converter so I think you have the setup
right, at least going into the TV.



BTW, I found instructions for your set top box at

http://www.ezdigitaltv.com/support-f...ser_manual.pdf


FROM YOUR MESSAGE

On Apr 3, 10:49 pm, (Dianne K) wrote:

I did reply to your email.

I didn't get anything on my juno.com account, which is just remysun,
or the remysun2000 yahoo address that I post with, and sent the
message from. Sometimes Alan F replies to me there.

I tried entering all of those channels manually.....I kept getting a "no
reception" message.

If we only knew another poster out of Pittsburgh, we'd have another
expert on your situation.

I called the mfr. of the box tonight....he stated that all stations are
not broadcasting digitally yet, and that unlike analog which may get a

Unlikely-- Pittsburgh TV listings show that certain shows are in HD--
all HD is digital.

picture in even if it's fuzzy.....a digital station either comes in or
it doesn't. Also that it needs a 50% signal strength to be picked up.

Signal strength can have a lot of variation, in which case your
picture could cut in and out, and that's what I meant by cliff effect.
But in this case, cutting in and out would be a good thing, because it
says that we're headed in the right direction and just need a better
signal. Let us know if that happens.

So, I tried again to enter the stations manually...no luck. Then I
tried to auto-scan again. Now there are channels 4, 13, 22 and
53...which never showed up before. (only 4) It is raining
tonight...could that make a difference in the signal that the antenna is
picking up?

Sometimes, especially if the antenna is not that great, the weather
can make a difference. But it sounds like you picked up some PSIP
data. How's your reception of those channels? Double check with the
meter for antenna strength. I think you received The AccuWeather
Channel from Ch. 4's subchannel, rather than the NBC Weather Plus and
local graphic I get.

I entered your ZIP code on the following website to check for other
stations:

http://www.titantv.com/quickguide/quickguide.aspx

Nice thing is that all the brown numbers in parentheses are the analog
channels that I had you looking all over Wikipedia for-- and they're
all on one page. When you enter those numbers in, the converter should
change that to the digital info, if you can receive that channel. I
don't think you even need the dot button.

Try entering 50, 46, 33, 26, and 29. See what you get.

Now, I'm afraid to turn the box off for fear I'll lose the stations I
got tonight.

I'd turn it off. Anything you get once, you can get back again, but
sometimes the best thing you can do to home electronics is turn it off
and reboot. Plus you have an EPG-- Electronic Program Guide. To
receive the schedule (and that could help a lot), the box should be
turned off overnight.

The plot thickens.....

I know. I'm reminded that I wanted to take a vacation to see Falling
Water, Kennywood, and Idlewild.

Three final caveats a 1) I noticed some complaints about the
Magnavox itself when I Googled for reviews and specs. ATP, I can't
tell whether there's a legitimate problem, or people just hate Funai
for sounding foreign. 2) Wes and Alan know more about this than I do,
but the standards I looked up earlier today mention that having an
analog passthrough, which the Magnavox may have, causes a 3dB drop in
reception. 3) The terrain of Western Pennsylvania probably does more
to the UHF signals you need than anything else. But you mentioned that
already, being halfway up a hill. Are you on the Pittsburgh side or
behind it?

On Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:05:13 -0400, Dianne K wrote:

Nooooooooo, I said I get 4 or 5 on analog...only 1-2 on digital

If you're replying to me, you said you only got one analog channel clear
IIRC. With a decent antenna, you should be getting all the Pittsburg
stations clear. Both analog and digital. None of them are more than about
30 miles from you, and many are about 20 and one is only about 5 miles.
All the ones I get are about 40 miles, and I got about 40 sub channels
with a scan with the coonverter box I bought. I gave it to my duaghter who
is 45 miles from the towers and she got all the UHF stations with uhf/vhf
rabbit ears. If you were close, I'd come over and help. but I'm in DFW
area and can only offer free phone support.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
My Tivo Experience http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/tivo.htm
Tivo HD/S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
AMD cpu help http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php

On Thu, 03 Apr 2008 23:54:38 -0400, Dianne K wrote:

I have another antenna here...I tried it before but it didn't seem to
work any better.

It says that it has a 12 position VHF/UHF fine tuning knob. Adjustable
34" VHF dipoles for channels 2-19. Multi-position UHF loop for channels
14-69.

The 6' coax cable is attached.....I do have some more cable
somewhere....would it be ok to buy a connector of some type so that I
could move it around more? Or would that weaken the signal?

I really thought this would be a lot better than the single one that
came on the tv.

Most commercial buildings like apartment complexes have thicker walls and
lots of interior insulation to eliminate noise. Guess what else they tend
to eliminate? Yep, rf signals. You can buy an inline splice F connector
and use it to get the antenna by the window. There's not enough loss to
worry about the splice. For best results though, you really need to find a
way to mount and outside antenna. Even if you have to mount an F connector
in the window frame somewhere. They do make wall and window mount atnneas
too.

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
My Tivo Experience http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/tivo.htm
Tivo HD/S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
AMD cpu help http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php

"Dianne K" wrote in message ...
I just connected a digital converter box to my tv. Before doing this, I
could pull in about 5 stations with just the antenna on the tv. After
connecting it, I only get 2.
Any suggestions? Is it the antenna or is the new box not working
correctly?

Hi, Dianne,

Like you I live in an apartment with marginal reception. I've always benefitted from one form or another of amplified antenna to
even get decent analog reception. I now get a dozen digital stations, with subchannels, using a Terk HDTV Antenna Pro; and that
excludes several shopping channels.

Without amplifcation I get *maybe* half a dozen. The specific antenna is not a recommendation as what works for me might not work
as well for you. What I do recommend is experimenting with amplified antennas that you can return to the retailer until you get one
that pulls in a satisfactory number of channels. I get stations ranging from 11 to 40 miles away.

HTH
--
Rick Evans
---------------------------------------------------------------
Lon -71° 04' 35"
Lat +42° 11' 07"

Dianne K wrote:
I have another antenna here...I tried it before but it didn't seem to
work any better.

It says that it has a 12 position VHF/UHF fine tuning knob. Adjustable
34" VHF dipoles for channels 2-19. Multi-position UHF loop for channels
14-69.

The 6' coax cable is attached.....I do have some more cable
somewhere....would it be ok to buy a connector of some type so that I
could move it around more? Or would that weaken the signal?

I really thought this would be a lot better than the single one that
came on the tv.

Yes, the antenna with UHF loop will be better! You can get a 10' or
15' co-axial RG-6 cable and a connector. Lowes and Home Depot are less
expensive for co-axial cables than Best Buy and Circuit City. Best Buy
especially is overpriced for cables and connectors. With a decent
quality RG-6 cable, signal loss is not a concern for only a 10' or 25'
co-axial cable run.

This is not that difficult. Get a RG-6 cable and move the antenna to a
window or a room with the fewest walls to the North. You can also turn
the converter box off as it will retain the results of the last scan.

Alan F

On Apr 4, 2:40 am, Wes Newell wrote:
On Thu, 03 Apr 2008 20:05:13 -0400, Dianne K wrote:
Nooooooooo, I said I get 4 or 5 on analog...only 1-2 on digital

If you're replying to me, you said you only got one analog channel clear
IIRC. With a decent antenna, you should be getting all the Pittsburg
stations clear.

For reference, she actually said that her analog reception was:

On Apr 2, 4:02 pm, (Dianne K) wrote:

The stations I got before we

2 (lousy)
4 (very clear)
11 (decent)
13(decent)
40 (fair)
53 (fair)

So she did pick up analog before.

On Apr 3, 10:49 pm, (Dianne K) wrote:

So, I tried again to enter the stations manually...no luck. Then I
tried to auto-scan again. Now there are channels 4, 13, 22 and
53...which never showed up before. (only 4)

Now, I'm afraid to turn the box off for fear I'll lose the stations I
got tonight.

It sounds to me like an improvement if she's afraid to lose what she's
got. If that is the case, she may or may not want the better antenna
at this point. At least it'll be a matter of choice rather than
attempt to solve something that might not have been the problem.

I'm a rabbit ears myself, but I'd like to hook my parents up with
their attic antenna, just to see what we could get.

On Apr 4, 2:40 am, Wes Newell wrote:
All the ones I get are about 40 miles, and I got about 40 sub channels
with a scan with the coonverter box I bought.

Are you referring to your RCA?

rabbit ears. If you were close, I'd come over and help. but I'm in DFW
area and can only offer free phone support.

I've been on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, and the terrain really starts
to roll where she's at-- she may be halfway up on the wrong side of a
hill. Dallas (at least the TV show : ) looked kind of flat.

Thanks again all. I've been forwarding the info and links to the
pc..it's faster to check them all there.

Ok, I got a piece of cable.....connected it to the other antenna. (the
one with the loop) I moved it onto the windowsill and reran the
autoscan. Here's what happened.

I kept channel 4 (my best with or without the box)

Picked up channel 2....the worst without the box. (it was barely
watchable before but you could hear it)

Lost 13, 22 and 53.

I moved the antenna again and rescanned hoping to get those channels
back and lost 2. Now all I have is 4.1 and 4.2 again.

It HAS to be the antenna/reception then, right? Apparantly they are
broadcasting in digital. (in contrast to what the STB rep indicated to
me)

I'm a little SE of Pittsburgh....I'm not sure where their towers are
exactly.

(Dianne K) wrote:
Thanks again all. I've been forwarding the info and links to the
pc..it's faster to check them all there.

Ok, I got a piece of cable.....connected it to the other antenna. (the
one with the loop) I moved it onto the windowsill and reran the
autoscan. Here's what happened.

I kept channel 4 (my best with or without the box)

Picked up channel 2....the worst without the box. (it was barely
watchable before but you could hear it)

Lost 13, 22 and 53.

I moved the antenna again and rescanned hoping to get those channels
back and lost 2. Now all I have is 4.1 and 4.2 again.

It HAS to be the antenna/reception then, right? Apparantly they are
broadcasting in digital. (in contrast to what the STB rep indicated to
me)

I'm a little SE of Pittsburgh....I'm not sure where their towers are
exactly.

The towers should be about 335 degrees, or almost due north.
Experiment with the antenna pointing and keep trying! As was
mentioned by another, you may need an amplified antenna.

Chip

--
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Usenet Newsgroup Service $9.95/Month 30GB

On Apr 4, 12:39*pm, (Dianne K) wrote:

Ok, I got a piece of cable.....connected *it to the other antenna. (the
one with the loop) *I moved it onto the windowsill and reran the
autoscan. *Here's what happened.

I kept channel 4 (my best with or without the box)

Picked up channel 2....the worst without the box. *(it was barely
watchable before but you could hear it)

So ch 2 came in clear?

Lost 13, 22 and 53. *

I moved the antenna again and rescanned hoping to get those channels
back and lost 2. *Now all I have is 4.1 and 4.2 again.

It HAS to be the antenna/reception then, right?

Yeah, although I don't know if the rescan means that you lose PSIP
data if it can't detect the station anymore. If that's the case, I'd
get a good scan, and then just add the channels as I find them using
the channel editor.

Two questions:

1) Have you gotten EPG info yet for your program guide?

2) When you describe your reception, everything in your early post was
obviously analog quality (because it varied). Are you now getting a
crystal clear digital picture when you're pulling in these channels,
or are there still bits of analog static? When digital is just above
the cliff effect, you may notice "Tetris blocks" and freezing of the
picture. Otherwise, the rest of the picture is good.

So we need to know if you think that you've gotten some digital now,
(any PBS should be offering new stations that you haven't seen before,
like the AccuWeather Channel you saw) or if it still looks like analog
problems to you.

As long as you're saying that what you ARE getting with the box is
digital, then I'd say we're on the right track, and if you got that
digital with your old antenna, let's stick with that for a while,
rather than messing with anything that requires more tinkering. Once
we're sure we got the setup right, then we can think about better
antennas, if you want.

On Apr 3, 5:12*pm, Wes Newell wrote:

Just FYI, The RCA converter box I bought would select the main .1 sub
channel if no other input was given. IOW's pushing only the button 8 would
tune to 8.1, etc.

Have you tried entering analog equivalents to see what would happen?
My RCA TV reads them as digital; the LG DVR reads it as analog, since
there is no digital info for that channel.