Antennas

[BlahBlahYouToo]

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Its not surprising that you were confused. Much of America probably thinks they need cable or satellite to enjoy HD programming.

When in fact Over the Air signal is less compressed and usually comes in with more signal strength. I notice that HD Local programming from Cable is lower quality than OTA. And OTA is free which is a bonus.

I get 20 or so local HD channels in the Miami FL area using a long range antenna on the side of the house.

what if i want to combine ota local channels (since they are uncompressed and therefore better quality), and cable HD channels like ESPN, TNT, etc.
how would i be able to hook that up to my tv?

nm, i see it answered on pg 2.

 

[note235]

will a better antenna get more channels?

 

[Kaspian]

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
Why buy an antenna, when you can make one yourself for practically nothing? I've done it, and it's about as good as the store bought ones.

Thanks for the link. I'm going to try that.

 

[Pabster]

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Its not surprising that you were confused. Much of America probably thinks they need cable or satellite to enjoy HD programming.

Sad, isn't it?

OTA has the highest bitrates. Most cable and satellite compress it down considerably, which is why people say it just doesn't look as good.

Of course, there is a much wider variety of programming available from the other choices, but OTA really is the highest quality HD you'll get. PBS is stunning, believe it or not...

 

[Tegeril]

Originally posted by: note235
will a better antenna get more channels?

Yes. Mine is basically pointed directly at one brick wall and the other end goes through my room into another brick wall and I get uninterrupted signal 5 (and 7) miles from the significant tower(s).

For Boston residents. In my situation, the DB-2 gets me 2, 4, 5, 7, 25, 38, 44, 56, 62, and 68. The towers broadcasting these channels are 180 degrees opposite of each other so the DB-2 is perfect.

 

[waggy]

Originally posted by: Funyuns101

Originally posted by: Indolent

Originally posted by: Funyuns101
link
but at $70... it was kinda costly.

That antenna is $40 with free shipping at Amazon.

Yeah I know. I was wondering if anyone had experience with this and other comparable ones. There's a Zenith and Philips that are pretty similar... Trying to get the best bang for the buck~

i have the terk one. it does not work. BUT then again i am 17 miles from any town.

but i got lucky and got a free outdoor one. the thing is huge! i have it setting 5ft above ground and i get like 15 HD channels. only 3 come in great though. i really need to attach it to my chiminey

 

[NuclearNed]

Originally posted by: Shadowknight
Why buy an antenna, when you can make one yourself for practically nothing? I've done it, and it's about as good as the store bought ones.

I had some time on my hands this past Sunday, and I was going to spend it buying and installing a new antenna for HD reception, until I saw this post. I decided it would be fun to try to make my own based on this video. I can confirm - this antenna definitely works better than the one I bought, plus it was a whole lot of fun to make.

 

[SonicIce]

Lets say you made an antenna out of a peice of speaker wire. Do you need the 75-300ohm transformer or can you just plug the end of the speaker wire into the antenna jack? Because I've been doing that.

 

[mitchafi]

sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I have a westinghouse 37" lcd with no tuners in it whatsoever. Is it possible to get these HD channels (the basics - fox, cbs, etc) relatively inexpensively (under 100) - If so, what do I need?

 

[Shadowknight]

If you have no tuner, you'll need one to receive QAM/cable or OTA digital signals. Samsung sells a tuner for around $176, I believe, and it's carried by Circuit City and Best Buy among others.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Originally posted by: Excelsior

Originally posted by: cmdrdredd

Originally posted by: Excelsior
Its not surprising that you were confused. Much of America probably thinks they need cable or satellite to enjoy HD programming.

When in fact Over the Air signal is less compressed and usually comes in with more signal strength. I notice that HD Local programming from Cable is lower quality than OTA. And OTA is free which is a bonus.

I get 20 or so local HD channels in the Miami FL area using a long range antenna on the side of the house.

Exactly.

Ditto.

I've tried a bunch of different antennas - the best overall I've found is the Low-Profile Omnidirectional Amplified TV Antenna from Radio Shack. They had actually phased it out a year or so ago and you could get 'em cheap - but they brought 'em back and jacked-up the price to $80.

I'm covered up by tall pine & oak trees, 100kv transmission lines less than 1/4 mile away approx 20 miles in nearly opposite directions from the tv towers - I get 28 digital and 12 SD channels, most at 100%-33 db.

sorry to bring this thread back from the dead, but I have a westinghouse 37" lcd with no tuners in it whatsoever. Is it possible to get these HD channels (the basics - fox, cbs, etc) relatively inexpensively (under 100) - If so, what do I need?

I use a Westy W4207 HD monitor with a Fusion5. Check out the HDTV Tuner Card & USB HDTV Tuner Chart if you would like an HD tuner in your computer. And I believe in the next month or so there will be a guv'ment-sponosored program where you can buy SD->HD tuners at a subsidized discount.

btw - the recovered bandwidth to the government in fees far exceeds the cost of the subsidy.

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: JAH
I just used a 30-years-old antenna that the previous owner of the house put up and get all HD channels available in my area.

I still have the mount for one of those on my roof, but no antenna in it. I plan on building on of the aforementioned coat hanger units and putting it in my attic.

Placing an antenna in the attic reduces signal strength and creates 'multipath' problems. Find an uniformed neighbor and ""offer"" to remove their outdoor antenna for 'em - then mount it on your roof.

 

[Inspector Jihad]

bump...

i'm thinking of getting a DB2 and using it in my living room. tegeril, you say you've have a good experience with it?