advice on TV antennae

[cc-rider]

I finally have a TV, and no clue how to use it. It is a smaller, flat-screen, whatever it is called? HDTV? It has a built-in DVD player, which is the only way I can use it right now.

I don't have cable, dish, net, whatever. And don't want them. I have an antennae on the house up high from decades ago...but it doesn't seem to work with this TV.

I've looked at "amplified" antennaes for in the house, but everyone at the store is advising against them. I live in a town (currently), and am probably 25 miles from the closest TV station. 50 miles to a decent one.

Suggestions??? There are so many different types that I can't seem to compare apples to apples....even if I knew what I was looking for! Basically I need something that will get a signal from 25-50 miles away.

Thanks!

[Bearfootfarm]

...but it doesn't seem to work with this TV.

It should work.

Have you done the "digital channel search"?

This site should help:

www.antennaweb.org/

[Cabin Fever]

In our area, some TV stations are broadcasting digital signals and others are still broadcasting analog signals. I assume your new HDTV can only receive digital signals, so you may be missing out of some available analog stations in your area. I'd recommend splicing an amplifier into your existing rooftop antenna.

[Windy in Kansas]

For whatever reason your tired old antenna must not be feeding the television any signal or one too weak. You could always check the feed line, i.e. coax, 300 ohms ribbon, etc. to see if all of the connections are secure and there there are no breaks in it.

I think you are on the right track to plan on a new antenna. By your being in the flatlands of Ohio you may be able to pick up stations from further away with a good antenna. Height is key as well as having a good antenna. From all of the reading I've done digital signal is more directional than analog was so it may help to invest in a rotor too in order to aim the antenna toward the broadcast towers. You shouldn't need that for the 25 and 50 mile away stations, but for further ones if you desire to attempt to receive signal for them.

I think using the information Bearfootfarm presented will get you on the right track. If I lived nearby I'd loan you an amplified indoor antenna to try as I bought one for my kids house. They finally installed a satellite system as no cable provider is in the area and FOOTBALL is a requirement for my son in law.

[Harry Chickpea]

The antenna on the roof may be for the old VHF stations (2 to 13). A simple three bay UHF antenna and new coax cable might fix you up. Aiming is critical, and sometimes locations even a few feet apart have vastly different signal strengths.

There are plans on the net for how to make a homemade antenna out of screening and coathangers, but Radio Snack has cheap antennas if you aren't inclined.

[foxtrapper]

Two things come to mind with the antenna.

1. It's probably not aimed right. In many areas when the switch to digital took place, they went with new towers, in different locations. So you likely will need to re-aim your antenna. And with the digital signals, it's pretty much an all or nothing issue. Aim the antenna wrong and you get nothing on the screen.

2. The new TVs have dozens of jacks and connections and plugs on the back. HDMI, USB, cable, RBY, etc. Some don't even have an old fashioned antenna connection any longer. You have to use an adaptor through the cable input (cheap and easily obtained). So you might not actually have the antenna hooked up.

It would help us help you if you told us the exact model TV you now have.

[rambler]

1. Does your TV have a digital tuner on it? Some of the early HDTV's were 'digital ready' which meant they were the right size/resilution, but they did not have a digital tuner....

2. Are you scanning for channels from the menu? With digital, you cannot just punch in the channel numbers. You need to let the TV look for the channels. It will be somewhere in the menu, will take a couple minutes.

3. An old antennea should work, anyhow somewhat. An old wire from the antennea to the TV can very easily have a break, short, or bad connection on it. You might need to replace that wire. If it is the old flat wire, replace it with coax. That will be the best upgrade you can make.

4. Digital TV broadcasts on VHF channels 6-13 (the long sticks on an old aqntennea), and UHF channels 14-69 (looks more like a grill or many very short prongs). There is no difference between old and new antenneas, the old will pick up digital just fine. However, any station that is in trhe 2-5 channel range had to move up to the UHF range, so you will be best off with a combined antennea that handles both VHF and UHF in most locations.

5. Most antenneas need to be aimed at the station tower. Digital this is more important.

6. esp now with digital, a clear line of sight to the station tower is imprtant. any trees or buildings that got in the way will mess things up.

7. TV reception is poorer in bad weather, and much much better on clear, cold, windstil, before sun-up crisp days. I'm in MN and pulled in stations from 200+ miles away for brief periods from 3 directions on such early mornings. To see if anything at all will come in,try one of those mornings.

8. If you are replacing coax cable, a good 4 shielded cable is worth the money. Digital is fussy about 'reflections' which is extra signals the wire pics up; the better cable is worth the few bucks extra.

9. A $20 or 30 amplifier from Radio Shak will stablize poor reception, and help deal with less than perfect conditions. I got 1 channel without it; I get about a dozen with it. A little device goes up on the antennea on the coax. Down at the bottom of your wire (with no connectors in between!) the amp plugs into a wall and the coax from the antennea in and a coax out to the TV.

10. Don't listen to the kids behind the counter. I live 40 miles from the closest TV station, and close to 100 miles from the distant big city towers. I heard it all. Back at the switch over I did a lot of research. I'm too far away from any TV tower to get any. I was asking email questions of station managers, and they couldn't believe I got their stations at any time, much less regularly. The Radio Shak guys were selling UHF only antenneas, they didn't know the 6-13 channels returned to VHF after the changeover.... And on and on and on. I basically had to learn it all myself, as in general that whole changeover was made on the fly & with very little facts getting out....

I'm told you shouldn't get digital more than 60 miles away. I get 7 stations 90% of the time at 80-95 miles away, and on my 20 year old antennea (biggest Radio Shak sold then, $99 at the time). You should have no problem at 30 miles.

An outdoor antennea, a new good coax cable to the antennea, and a powered booster will do wonders. I got nothing with the old flat 2 wire cable; I got very little stable with the coax wire; I get good stable TV with the amplifier.

My experience.

Edit: Are you sure you are setting up the TV menus right, to scan off the air, the right antennea input (some have 2), and look for digital antennea or air channels? It's not like the old days, you have to program them to do it for you, and out of the box they are often defaulted for cable setups......

--->Paul

[farmerbrian]

This website

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Welcome.aspx

can help you aim the antenna for different stations.

[cc-rider]

Thanks for all the info! It's a brand new model, but I'd have to be at home so I can look at the box to tell you anything more. I would assume it has the latest technology.

I was told my old antennae wouldn't work because it wasn't digital?? I haven't tried hooking it up to the TV, though. Just assumed it wouldn't.

Yes, I figured out how to make it scan for channels. It didn't find any....but I didn't have ANY antennae hooked to it.

I was hoping to find something that I could use inside the house and not have to climb the antennae tower. <grin> Something like digital rabbit ears. Found some (RCA, Terk, etc.), but everyone says they won't work for anything more than a local (in town) signal.

[rambler]

Originally Posted by cc-rider

I was told my old antennae wouldn't work because it wasn't digital?? I haven't tried hooking it up to the TV, though. Just assumed it wouldn't.

You were told wrong. Period. That is a very common fallicy.

There is the VHF/ UHF difference, but the old antennea and the new antennea work exactly the same, their is no difference.

It was common for the people behind the counter to claim you needed a 'new digital antennea' which they sold, which was a UHF only antennea.

Many people believe(d) this - chucked their perfectly good antennea, and now don't get channels 6-13 any more, which are actually easier to pick up over long distances. But the6-13 channels take the VHF type antennea - the long spikes, which the new antennea they were sold no longer gets. Ripoff!

Hook it up, see what you get. If nothing, there are wire or aiming problems, the old antennea should work. If you get something, but not stable, a booster will really help.


Friend of mine used to get 1 channel, couldn't any more. Got a converter box, got nothing. I stopped over, he had a little extra coax screwed on the wire coming in from the antennea to make a Y. That little extra wire had a loose connector on it, took that short bit of wire off, and now he gets 15 different channels. It was just a loose connection. That coax wire is very sensitive to getting beat up, broken, waterlogged, the braided coating gets frayed, a connection comes loose, the center wire gets broken on an end, the connection from the antennea breaks, etc. Try it as is, if it doesn't work, I bet you have a simple (if hard to find up on a pole....) broken wire issue.

Edit: Your outdoor antennea will be much better than an indoor type. Any time you move the ears you can lose reception on the indoor unit. Because of the TV needing to scan for channels, it's real hard to use an indoor any more. Need to be near a window, metal siding or thick walls really hampers them, etc. You can try one, but likely much much worse than using the outdoor antennea you have. I did get a $70 TV tuner for my computer back when digital just started. Was something I could move around & play with for cheap. It came with a little tiny antennea - looks like a short radio antennea on a car. It will pick up one channel for me - I took it to my sister's place in the metro area, and got about 40 channels with that little antennea.... So an indoor type might work for you, but the outdoor will be much much better if it's in good condition.

--->Paul

[Cabin Fever]

Originally Posted by rambler

You were told wrong. Period. That is a very common fallicy.

There is the VHF/ UHF difference, but the old antennea and the new antennea work exactly the same, their is no difference.

It was common for the people behind the counter to claim you needed a 'new digital antennea' which they sold, which was a UHF only antennea.

Many people believe(d) this, and now don't get channels 6-13 any more, which are actually easier to pick up over long distances. But they take the VHF type antennea - the long spikes.

Hook it up, see what you get. If nothing, there are wire or aiming problems, the old antennea should work.

Period.

--->Paul

Ditto what Paul sez. Old antennas still should work after the digital conversion.

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

Like you I have a hi-def TV but don't want to pay for programming. I ordered some cheap antenna with a suction cup (about $7) that I attach to a window over my TV. I get about 12 stations perfectly. Most of them are 30 to 40 miles away.

[cc-rider]

David, do you know what it is called or where you got it?

I got on the www.antennaweb.org/ that a couple posters mentioned. Oh my!!!! I could type in my address and it told me all the stations in my area and where to aim to find them. Too cool! I typed in the new farm address, too, and it looks like I should be able to get a few out there.

[Nature Man]

If you go to the trouble of getting a new roof top antenna I would also put a rotor on it. You will get much better reception from stations farther away. Also if you get a PBS station in your area another PBS station a little farther away may offer different programing. With digital TV many TV stations now have sub stations offering different programing like channel 6, for instance, may also have channels 6.2, 6.3 etc.

Bill

[Bearfootfarm]

Hook up your antenna and do the "digital channel search" and I bet it works just like it is.

[jross]

Before climbing the tower, look for any down wire at the base of the tower, then trace it to it's termination at the house. You may surprised at what you could find.

[Danaus29]

I'm using an old analog antennae that wasn't supposed to work with the digital stations but it does just fine, unless the wind is blowing, it's raining, or there are leaves on the trees. But those conditions interfere with satellite reception too.

[DAVID In Wisconsin]

The brand name on mine is Artec. I just ordered the cheapest thing I could find. I knew nothing aout them. I expected it not to work but digital signals seem to be stronger. I am amazed the number of stations and the quality that I now get. With that dinky lil antenna, I get HD tv. It's amzing. When I was paying $50 plus a month with Charter I wasn't getting HI-Def! Good luck!

[arabian knight]

Originally Posted by Danaus29

I'm using an old analog antennae that wasn't supposed to work with the digital stations but it does just fine, unless the wind is blowing, it's raining, or there are leaves on the trees. But those conditions interfere with satellite reception too.

When you say "Analog" antenna, are you just talking about getting stations from 2 to 13 nothing and above that? Say like 13.1 18.3 and so on?

[pcwerk]

Yea, I work for a cable company and it just burns my hide how they did
us. Got congress to do the digital conversion thing and now folks can't
get in squat w/o paying a small fortune for what should be free! Get a
digital conversion box to go with your antennae and you should be good.
jim