Tv tuner questions

[Wall7486]

If I get a HDTV tuner, would I need a regular tuner just for the regular channels? Also, would I need a separate antennae for the standard telvision? Because HDTV uses hdtv antennae. Thank you.

 

[SynthDude2001]

All HDTV tuners that I know of (at least ATSC ones, for North America) also support NTSC/analog tuning...also, there is no difference between regular antennas and "HDTV" ones...all OTA HDTV channels use either VHF or UHF frequencies, just like analog TV channels have for years. So if you plug in a single antenna (ideally, one that supports both VHF and UHF), you should pick up all available free/OTA HDTV and analog channels in your area...

You can check out antennaweb.org to find out more information about your local digital and analog stations, their locations and distances, etc...

 

[Wall7486]

Thank you for quick reply. I see that you have a myHD tuner. How is it? I'm in the market for one, I was actually looking at a DVICIO Fusion 5.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Wall7486
Thank you for quick reply. I see that you have a myHD tuner. How is it? I'm in the market for one, I was actually looking at a DVICIO Fusion 5.

I've been very happy with it. It was pretty expensive in retrospect, but at the same time it's given me very few problems since I've had it.

The Fusion 5 cards are pretty good too - especially if you're planning on getting your channels OTA you shouldn't really have any problems, since they still have some issues with QAM (HDTV over cable) tuning/timeshifting, etc. Since your profile lists you as living in New York, you shouldn't have much trouble at all picking up channels (I imagine you can do analog OTA just fine now?). The only potential problem is multipath if you live in an area with lots of surrounding buildings, and that can be mostly taken care of by getting a directional antenna (I also assume that all/most of your local stations are broadcasting from the same or a similar location).

 

[Wall7486]

Yea that leads to my next question. What antennae will be viable. I checked on antennaweb.org. It says a medium directionaly antenna will suit me. You are correct that I do have quite a few neighboring building that can potentially block some signal. Neverthlss, I'd think a good antenna can mitigate that problem. I'm just not sure which antenna to get.

 

[SynthDude2001]

Well, I don't have much experience with antenna shopping; I just use a Zenith Silver Sensor (small, UHF-only) to pick up a few stations that aren't available on cable here. It works fine for pulling in full-power stations at about 20 miles. What kind of distances will you need to be receiving signals from? And what channels specifically will you want to pick up? (This will be listed under "Frequency Assignment" on the antennaweb listing.) If there is anything between 2-13, you will need VHF, anything between 14-69 is UHF. Most likely, since you want to get both analog and digital channels, you will need an antenna that picks up both. I'm going to assume that since you're in New York, all your stations are full power...it just kinda depends on the distances then.

 

[Wall7486]

It looks like most of the channel I want are in a range of 1.6-2.2. I was looking at this antenna:

Link

 

[SynthDude2001]

Originally posted by: Wall7486
It looks like most of the channel I want are in a range of 1.6-2.2. I was looking at this antenna:

Link

1.6-2.2 miles? Wow, I wish any of my stations were near that close

That's the same antenna I have, and if all the stations you're looking to receive are UHF, it should work perfectly. However, from a quick glance at antennaweb's info for NYC, it looks like basically all the analog channels are VHF and therefore you wouldn't be able to receive them (although UHF antennas can usually pick up some "high" VHF channels, the ones close to 13). Then again, if you're receiving the digital broadcasts of all of those channels, it doesn't really matter if you can't pick up the analog version...

 

[Wall7486]

Ah thanks for pointing that out. Is only UHF. I guess I can pick a VHF/UHF to play it safe. This looks pretty good also

link

And by the way thank you for all the explanation and help. Much more confident on the purchase now.

 

[BigMonty]

Any good TV tuner card which supports both NTSC and pal?

Planning to take one while traveling to South Asia.

 

[SynthDude2001]

That one will probably be a better choice overall. I think it is weaker than the Zenith one as far as UHF reception, but honestly when your stations are like 2 miles away, any decent antenna should work. In that case, I would definitely pick up a combo VHF/UHF antenna for flexibility (and because in theory, at some point when the analog shut-down occurs, HDTV channels that are currently broadcasting on high UHF channels may return to the frequency assignment of their old analog channel, which is usually VHF).

That antenna is probably fairly directional as well, so even though all your stations are very close, you might want to check that they're all in pretty much the same direction relative to your location. But in that case, I'm pretty sure that even an off-axis signal at full power at 2 miles will be more than powerful enough

 

[JohnAn2112]

Wall7486,

Are you going to be using Windows XP MCE or a standalone program? If you're using MCE, then you would need an analog tuner along before MCE recognizes the HD tuner. If not, then you can use just the HD tuner by itself.

 

[Wall7486]

I'll be using the standalone window. Thank you for the concern JohnAn2112.