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DTV Boondoggle

  • Thread starter Samuel M. Goldwasser
  • Start date
S

Samuel M. Goldwasser

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jeff Liebermann said:
Bingo. Under the stucco is probably chicken wire or galvanized metal
screen. These will block RF quite nicely.


That's because the chicken wire is in the way. See if you can move
the antenna up over the edge of the stucco. Put a little coax
extension on whatever indoor antenna you're using and try moving the
antenna upstairs, where it doesn't have to go through the chicken
wire.

Is that above the chicken wire line?

Possible. It's getting close to the top of the stucco.
Is the Toshiblah on the ground floor? If so, it has the same issue as
the other TV. Move the antenna above the chicken wire layer.

Should have mentioned. It is on the second floor, but on the opposite
side of the house from where most of the transimtters are.
Just run a long length of coax cable temporarily across the house to
see if it helps. We're testing the house, not the antenna.


I spent my first 50 years accumulating the mess. I'm going to spend
the next 50 years getting rid of it.

Me too, unfortunately. :( :)

Thanks.

--
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J

Jim Yanik

Jan 1, 1970
0
Right, like cell phones were a step forward. Our grandparents had better
phones.

the old dial phones?? those were better?
or are you referring to the crank-style phones???
 
S

Sjouke Burry

Jan 1, 1970
0
Jim said:
the old dial phones?? those were better?
or are you referring to the crank-style phones???
Did he not mean phones which work, keep on working,
never have an empty battery, dont need ugly ways to
pay, anybody can use their keys without a magnifying glass,
dont attract thieves, even work when the mains power is off,
etc etc etc...........
 
J

Jim Yanik

Jan 1, 1970
0
Did he not mean phones which work, keep on working,
never have an empty battery, dont need ugly ways to
pay, anybody can use their keys without a magnifying glass,
dont attract thieves, even work when the mains power is off,
etc etc etc...........

He said "GRANDparents". That's rotary-dial phone era for me.
My parents had the rotary dial phone.

I have one of the phones you describe.
same size as the old rotary-dial phone,but with a tough-tone keypad,POTS
landline.
got enough extension coilcord that I can walk around my entire apartment
with it!
 
Richard said:
cable

You and me, pal.


If you can fit a big outdoor antenna into the attic, just laying it on the
attic floor usually works quite well. Nothing small and convenient will
work very well, especially indoors. A mast and rotor outdoors are the
thing to have.

With DTV, computer DVRs are practical - I have 4. If the rotator moves
while a recorder is going, you lose it.

 
U

UCLAN

Jan 1, 1970
0
Sjouke said:
Did he not mean phones which work, keep on working,
never have an empty battery, dont need ugly ways to
pay, anybody can use their keys without a magnifying glass,
dont attract thieves, even work when the mains power is off,
etc etc etc...........

Uh...those are still available. I have one next to my bed, and one in the
kitchen. They cost me less than $10 each, new.
 
OK, so I'm one of the 6 people in the Universe who don't have cable,
satellite, or fiber-optic TV.

With analog reception, the picture remains viewable even with a weak
signal, with increasing snow, but nonetheless, usable. The sound
would survive even lower signal levels.

A set of rabbit ears and loop antenna sufficed.

Now, as expected, with DTV, it's either there or it isn't, and even with
the built-in signal strength display on DTVs and converter boxes, it has
become a royal pain to tune in many channels.

The assumption today is that one will use a wired connection so DTVs
usually don't even come with any sort of indoor antenna.

Now, this could probably start a lively discussion on the politics and
economics of the DTV conversion and that's just fine. :)

But, what I would like input on is what sort of indoor antennas might be
best to use in what is basically an area which should have decent signal
strength for the channels I care about.

So far I've tried using old loop antennas and basic indoor antennas (loop+
rabbit ears) from Radio Shack, both unamplified and amplified (though I'm
not convinced the latter was even working properly).

This is a residential location with no high structures nearby. I believe
most of the transmitters are only a few miles away.

For a 10 year old TV with a converter box in one location, a simple loop
antenna seems to be fine. For a similar setup on the floor below,
reception is terrible on nearly all channels no matter how the
antenna is oriented.

For a new HDTV at the other end of the house, nothing I've tried seems to work
very well, with some channels requiring very careful fiddling with the
antenna orientation to be acceptable most of the time.
Reception on analog channels is fine and I believe the TV is working correctly.

According tohttp://www.antennaweb.org/, for most of the channels I
care about, a "small multidirectional antenna" should suffice.
I haven't yet tried an antenna like and would hoping for recommendataions,
or whether it would even work.

I realize this is insufficient information for anyone to suggest a
specific remedy other than "get a wired connection", but figured it
might be worthwhile to hear about others' experiences so far.

Thanks!

--
sam | Sci.Electronics.Repair FAQ:http://www.repairfaq.org/
Repair | Main Table of Contents:http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/
+Lasers | Sam's Laser FAQ:http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/lasersam.htm
| Mirror Sites:http://www.repairfaq.org/REPAIR/F_mirror.html

Important: Anything sent to the email address in the message header above is
ignored unless my full name AND either lasers or electronics is included in the
subject line. Or, you can contact me via the Feedback Form in the FAQs.

I am so surprised that no one has mentioned the (to a bunch of people,
anyway) best site for antennae information:

http://www.tvfool.com/

Both analog and digital information is available along with a .png
file for either, or after the February 2009 cutover. The Kw ratings
and db figures are there, along with the actual and virtual channel
numbers.

Someone did a very good job

tom walsh
 
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