Digital TV Antennas

[Jet Black]

Forgive me if this has been covered here. I have never paid mauch attention to DTV because I live in a remote area where analog signal usually requires fringe antennas and usually has poor reception. I went out on the internet somewhere and did a "model" for my location, to see what kind of digital antenna I's need, and it told me to pretty much forge, which is what I thought in the first place.

However, my brother, who is in the same geographical boat as I, has gotten DTV over the air. CHeck this out: He is not sophisticated about electronics, and recently, his wife bought a small Vizio flatscreen and also got a coupon and used it for one of those converter boxes, not realizing the TV had a digital tuner. Well, they set up the Vizio, set up the converter box ahead of it, and hooked their existing analog rooftop fringe antenna to it. It works perfectly, he tells me. He gets better signal than he did with analog. I don't understand this. I thought one had to have a special digital antenna to get digital signal.

So, is this the way it is, any old tv antenna can be used with a digital tuner? I'm strictly satellite now, but if I think I can get some digital signal without spending big $, I might try to rig something up. (All my tvs have built-in digital tuners, the oldest is only about two or three years old.)

[genlock]

Hook it up to the antenna and try it.
You do not need a special antenna for digital signals.

[Dave Loudin]

RF is RF. Doesn't matter what modulation scheme you put on it.

Jet, have you looked at tvfool.com to assess your reception conditions?

[fearpeddler]

if the sets got the tuner in it already the actual antenna doesnt matter for crap, you can keep using the rig you have now. if not just go get a tuner, and use the rig you have now.....

[Big Media]

The problem we keep running into is that consumers are still buying the biggest VHF antenna they can find. What the world needs is a high-gain, UHF antenna. If your cable run is over 50 feet, or split, amplify the signal BEFORE the splitter. Use RG-6 cable with quality, weather resistant connectors.

The secret is that you can get a perfect digital picture and sound with very little signal strength. Also, most tuners on the market today have advanced chipsets that help eliminate multi-path, a common problem with analog. Multi-path is almost a non-issue with digital.

I was able to receive most of the Charleston/Huntington stations (except for WOWK, which was not a full power at the time) on a single bow tie 30 to 40 miles south of Charleston.

I was able to receive all the Charleston signals on a 14db gain yagi as far away as Williamson, WV.

The problem areas are mainly to the north of the sticks. Once you get past Frametown, the signals are very spotty.

[Hoosier Daddy]

One of the most difficult challenges with rural OTA DTV is the near extinction of the neighborhood TV repairman. In the old days, you could call Emmitt's TV Repair and get the low down on what kind of antenna you need, and Emmitt could send a crew to your home to erect a tower, install the right antenna, add the best cable and weatherproofing, hook up an earth ground and lightning protection, and orient the antenna to the stations of your choice. After a generation of cable TV and Dish Network and throwaway television sets, local resources like Emmitt have gone the way of the buggy whip manufacturers. Most people are on their own.

[Jet Black]

Jet, have you looked at tvfool.com to assess your reception conditions?

I checked this out, very interesting. I think it's optimistic for me, but I won't know until I try. I'm not going to put any money into this project at the moment, but I'll let you all know if I ever get an aerial hooked up, and let you know the results. Thanks, all.

[Dave Loudin]

TVFool uses Longley-Rice calculations (includes terrain effects) to predict reception, so you will find no better modeling of your situation.

[Jet Black]

Since I've got a rural address I couldn't get it to recognize, I had to use the nearest burg as the model point, which is a good ways away and different in elevation. I don't have the GPS coordinates for the Arx handy. I'll look up the GPS numbers and try again. Neverthless, good info, and as usual, DL, you are a source for the best broadcasting info. Thanks again.

[Dave Loudin]

Aw, shucks. I spend too much time poking around the net for this stuff.

I had to resort to coordinates to get the right analysis, too (Google maps can help with this).

[Arp2]

I'm impressed by this tool, but I'm confused and frustrated by its claims that my strongest signal is one I've never picked up a single time in my life and that one I do receive about a third of the time is theoretically impossible to get because of terrain. I guess one's mileage may vary.