Over-the-air digital TV reception

Danny Tse

I've been to do it since January....

Last night, I finally hooked up one of my digital TV converters (an Insignia model from Best Buy) to an old Trek powered antenna, then to my 20 year old 19 inch Magnavox TV, one with just a coax antenna input in the back, and I was shocked at the clarity of both digital TV transmission and the resolution this TV can display. The TV is in the garage to provide some sound for our dog Bogi, instead of silence, when we go out (I could’ve use a radio). Simply amazing!! And more channels than I imagined. I am having pixilation with a couple of the Spanish-language TV channels and the ION network thou.

I then go inside to the house and look at the picture quality I am getting on the big screen TV for $60.00/month thru Comcast. I'm really tempted to dump Comcast now.

cnh

Is the Big screen an HDTV? Also various cable companies 'compress' their signal so that can affect the quality of your picture as it get decoded by your set top box. I have Time Warner, and not all HD channels are equal. I also have a Samsung HDTV converter box the I've used to get a few local channels. The over air channels in HD often look just a bit better than the cable version.

Anyone else..noticed this?

cnh

bobman1235

Yeah, it's definitely noticeable. Unfortunately a good half of the programming I watch isn't a network show so OTA doesn't quite cut it.

ben62670

That is all I have (OTAD), and I love it. I am not a TV freak. It has great programing for the kids, weather channel, and all the major networks:) Did I mention its free:)

Marty913

Danny Tse wrote: »

The TV is in the garage to provide some sound for our dog Bogi, instead of silence, when we go out (I could have use a radio). Simply amazing!! And more channels than I imagined. I am having pixilation with a couple of the Spanish-language TV channels.

Wouldn't Bogi miss Animal Planet with the OTA only antenna??

And I guess learning to bark in Spanish would be out too.

Danny Tse

Marty913 wrote: »

Wouldn't Bogi miss Animal Planet with the OTA only antenna??

And I guess learning to bark in Spanish would be out too.

Previous to the DTV converter, all Bogi got in the garage was regular OTA TV....and in very fuzzy reception. He wasn't too excited about that....we found him sleeping on the treadmill once while the TV was on. We will test the DTV on him tomorrow.



Last time he was watching Animal Planet, he walked up to the big screen and tried to sniff at the wolf on the screen.

dave shepard

Sheep dog. My parents use to raise/breed and show Old English Sheep dogs, they are really wonderful with family and I remember they were always looking after us kids as their nature is to look after/protect the herd from other animals and to make sure they didn't stray too far. Great dogs.

Dave

LessisNevermore

Danny Tse wrote: »

I then go inside to the house and look at the picture quality I am getting on the big screen TV for $60.00/month thru Comcast. I'm really tempted to dump Comcast now.

I recently upgraded my DirecTV to HD, and was curious to compare PQ to OTA HD. I was very hard pressed to see a difference. I was very impressed, and since my local channels are in HD, I never switch to OTA anymore.

Marty913

LessisNevermore wrote: »

I recently upgraded my DirecTV to HD, and was curious to compare PQ to OTA HD. I was very hard pressed to see a difference. I was very impressed, and since my local channels are in HD, I never switch to OTA anymore.

I agree, sort of. My Direct service just added (finally) all the local channels in HD a couple of months ago and it is a very close call as to quality. Still, I plan on keeping my little Winguard Squareshooter wired into my HD receiver just in case. It has come in handy a few times during very heavy (tropical type) rainstorms here. Then again, we occasionally have those little hurricane thingies down here.

Danny Tse

An update....

I was paying my Comcast bill today and I'm simply shocked at the amount I'm paying each month ($80.00 each month including all government surcharges). I never really noticed it before but I'm really forking over the money each month. If I dump Comcast and just go with OTA reception (I have 2 extra digital TV converters sitting around), I could save close to $1,000 per year. I don't really watch that many programs on cable anyway, and even if I end up buying the DVDs to a whole season of a particular program, it would still cost me much less.

While all the local channels are in HD, no HD capable TV at my house yet.

Btw, any recommendations on HD antennas? The Trek powered antenna that I've been using is very good, but it was from an era in which Trek was an independent company....as opposed to just being a brand now owned by Audiovox.

AudioGenics

neat dog... does it shed alot of hair around the house ?

Danny Tse

jvc wrote: »

neat dog... does it shed alot of hair around the house ?

He doesn't shed that much hair....certainly less than a Golden Retriever. However, his coat needs to be combed through everyday if you don't want it to be matted. I just do it when I am watching the news or whatever.

Marty913

Danny Tse wrote: »

An update....

I was paying my Comcast bill today and I'm simply shocked at the amount I'm paying each month ($80.00 each month including all government surcharges). I never really noticed it before but I'm really forking over the money each month. If I dump Comcast and just go with OTA reception (I have 2 extra digital TV converters sitting around), I could save close to $1,000 per year. I don't really watch that many programs on cable anyway, and even if I end up buying the DVDs to a whole season of a particular program, it would still cost me much less.

While all the local channels are in HD, no HD capable TV at my house yet.

Btw, any recommendations on HD antennas? The Trek powered antenna that I've been using is very good, but it was from an era in which Trek was an independent company....as opposed to just being a brand now owned by Audiovox.

I've been using the Winegard Squareshooter (amplified version) for a couple years and it has worked great, plus it looks a lot better than most. It's directional mostly so if you've got stations in opposite directions it might be a problem. My locals (ABC,NBC,CBS,FOX, and PBS) are all within a 180 degree arc and come in great. Farthest is 45-50 miles out. Mine's on the roof now (comes with a mounting pole/bracket) but I used it indoors and in an attic for awhile and it worked well there. Around $90 (or was).

AudioGenics

the federal coupons - expiring - will no longer be given out for the digital conversion...

unclepauly

OTA HD is usually alot better than Satellite and a litter better than cable and moderately worse than Blu-ray(on average). I've got Dish and it's awful.

kevhed72

xcapri79 wrote: »

If you have one of the old analog TV's, the Tivax STB-9 with the DTA-5000 Smart Antenna is a great combination. The smart antenna with a smart antenna compatible tuner can memorize its position for the selected channel, so you won't have to rotate it. You can still electronically rotate it if you want to though, and sometimes you need to do this.

Even though the DTA-5000 is an outdoor antenna, it has small radiators and can be easily mounted in doors using some PVC duct and a christmas tree holder.

I've pulled in many OTA stations from up to 30 miles away from a first floor location with that setup. but weather can make it inconsistent.

I also own a DTA-3500 which has 4 telescoping radiators. Although it is rated as an outdoor antenna, I would think that a serious wind would destroy it. I've mounted mine in the attic and can receive all the New Orleans based stations approx. 30 miles away by using its electronic rotator. The OTA signal quality is very good.

I also tried a couple of different OTA tuners including a PHD-205 HDTV tuner with DVI and YPbPr analog HD video outputs and an optical digital audio output and a ZAT-502 HDTV Tuner with HDMI and the other standard outputs. The ZAT-502 is less expensive and the better of the two tuners.

I wonder what effect trees and topography have on receiving the signal. I live at the bottom of a hill with alot of large trees around the house. This has never been an issue with DTV, but I do understand the DTV signal is coming from a much higher point in the sky...

alphaone

Marty913 wrote: »

I agree, sort of. My Direct service just added (finally) all the local channels in HD a couple of months ago and it is a very close call as to quality. Still, I plan on keeping my little Winguard Squareshooter wired into my HD receiver just in case. It has come in handy a few times during very heavy (tropical type) rainstorms here. Then again, we occasionally have those little hurricane thingies down here.

I think if you receive the local channels using an antena your picture quality is better because they may compress the signal for the local channels too. Anyone has compared this?

I only have over the air channels. I get about 35. I dumped cable over a year ago because of a few reasons. One was picture quality. I don't care about the number of channels since most of them I never watched and many are useless. There are a few I wouldn't mind to have. However, I was surprised at some good programing I found in those 35 channels. Another good thing was that I don't find miself wasting time switching channes trying to find something I liked to whatch.
I am surprised at myself not missing cable at all. Because of the picture quality, I almost think I have something better than cable. But, not all channels, or programing, are in High Definition.

Marty913

unclepauly wrote: »

OTA HD is usually alot better than Satellite and a litter better than cable and moderately worse than Blu-ray(on average). I've got Dish and it's awful.

That is not true everywhere. I have Direct and it is far and away better than the Cox Cable supplied in my area. All my relatives have Cox and most of the channels are severely compressed, there are fewer of them (HD), and it costs more.

alphaone wrote: »

I think if you receive the local channels using an antenna your picture quality is better because they may compress the signal for the local channels too. Anyone has compared this?

One thing to keep in mind is that some of the compression or lack of resolution is a choice made my the show's originator; or a choice made by the feed provider, or of course the satellite / cable / local TV station. A show shot in 1080 can be retransmitted in 720 by the satellite, cable, OR local TV station. Satellite providers have a limited number of transponders (Dish has fewer than Direct), cable companies have a single RG6 cable for bandwidth so that has to be managed. There's a lot that goes into the mix. I will say that my OTA is consistently good but there is one local station that occasionally broadcasts shows in 720 and I can switch over to Direct and see in 1080. I think some of the time it just depends on what your provider thinks they can get away with.