O.T. Digital T.V.

Guys,
Time is short for the switch over to digital t.v.Any opinion's on the best digital antenna to get the best signal.

Tons of good antennes to get how far is the station how high is their channel# and how much power are they reunning they will be glad to tell you what will work best in your area give them a call. Local RadioShack is another good source.

You have had 2 years and your thinking about it now!

Here's one that has so much gain that you will get sparks off the input leads.

www.antennasdirect.com/DB8_HD_Antenna.html

I would agree that the DB series is a good one.
I put in a DB4 on my MIL's TV, with a Radio Shack Pre-amp and it works great for a 55 mile distance. About 15 feet in the air.
The DB8 is basically a double DB4.

Was in SE Wyo last weekend at at Sil's, excellent picture with his old antenna, for them digital is much better than what if was before, it rivals satellite.

(quoted from post at 07:42:05 06/06/09) I would agree that the DB series is a good one.
I put in a DB4 on my MIL's TV, with a Radio Shack Pre-amp and it works great for a 55 mile distance. About 15 feet in the air.
The DB8 is basically a double DB4.

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y mother's place has a DB4 antenna with a Radioshack preamp, feeding 3 tvs. My place has a DB8 antenna with a Radioshack preamp and distribution amp feeding 6 tvs and vcrs. Both are 20 feet high and working great receiving signals from 70 miles away. Digital tv is in the UHF band. try using your existing antenna before you invest in a new one.

A few rants and raves about DTV

FIRST THERE IS NO SUCH THING as a "digital" or HD tv antenna. Antennas work the same today as they did when the Titanic sank, that is, if they are designed well, for a set frequency band, etc

SECOND antenna gain claims are, well, QBS. This has been going on for years. You are much better off going with a reputable known brand than worrying about the last dB claims, because they are probably a lie, anyhow.

I"ve been told the big Wienguard 8 bay bowtie, similar to the one posted above, works well

THIRD BE CAREFULL that you do or don't or won't need VHF. That's right, that's what I said--VHF. Many broadcasters are only TEMORARILY operating on UHF, and may, will or have reverted to VHF!!!!! There are several reasons for this, part of which is that they were waiting for other channels to drop so they could step in, etc. VHF transmitters are more efficient, therefore cheaper to operate, and generally VHF gives the broadcaster better area coverage, therefore lower power is needed.

BE SURE to be aware of this. Here in Spokane, my understanding is that the channel "musical chairs" is not over.

NEXT is my rant about signal quality. Remember when the irritating old lady next door was vacuuming right in the middle of your Saturday game? And the analogue TV was popping and producing nice colored snow because of her vacuum? Well guess what, THAT IS STILL AN ISSUE, you just cannot see it, UNTIL......

the signal gets so bad that it simply tiles up, blanks, and freezes!!!!

The point is, that interferance, the same interferance that used to irritate us with analogue TV, is still a factor---it still degrades the signal coming into your converter/ TV, it's just that you don't see it until the signal "just quits."

The same is true of ghosts, do you know what they are? Ghosts are a name for "multipath" meaning reflections, that is the main and a reflected signal gets to the receiver antenna at slightly different times. On old analogue TV's we could SEE the ghost because of the time offset. YOU STILL may have problems with ghosts on DTV--but once again, you can't see the effect until it gets SO bad that the signal freezes up!!!!

Digital tv is in the UHF band. .

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As I said above, some channels are in VHF and or broadcasters may or have switched from their initial DTV channels BACK to VHF
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A quote from the posted site:

http://www.antennasdirect.com/faqs.html

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Q: Are all Digital Channels on UHF?

A:No, but currently (prior to June 2009), 91% of broadcasting DTV stations are on UHF. A few cities, such as Chicago and Las Vegas have DTV stations on VHF as well as UHF. While Many DTV stations are now occupying UHF broadcast channels, the plan will allow some broadcasters to move back to their original VHF or UHF TV channels once the transition to DTV is complete. After June of 2009: 74% of the DTV stations will be on UHF (14-51), 24% will be on high VHF (7-13) and less than 2% will be on Low VHF(2-6). For more information, please visit www.antennapoint.com.

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Call Barak Monday. Cry and whine a little and he will call the Dish TV guys to install satelite TV. If you put on a good enough act he will also throw in a 50" flat screen.

Gene

Leave it to a Mopar dude to give such a good reply! Digital, rabbit ears, working well. Dropped cable/sat. years ago, thousands of $$$ to spend elsewhere!

(quoted from post at 15:06:06 06/06/09) Call Barak Monday. Cry and whine a little and he will call the Dish TV guys to install satelite TV. If you put on a good enough act he will also throw in a 50" flat screen.

Gene

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Why in HELL would you post such BS?

Any good UHf/VHF antenna will work. I am using the same antenna that I was using for analog. You will probably need an antenna amplifier (one that has a preamp on the antenna and an amp at the TV is best). Use RG6 cable.
If you need a converter box I have tried three brands and the best one was a Digital Stream from Radio Shack. No converter is needed if your TV has a digital tuner. I also have a rotator because Digital is more sensitive to direction.
I put a link to the maps so you can tell which stations are in your range.
I live 80+ plus miles from the nearest TV transmitter.
MAP

Digital TV will be both UHF and VHF. For instance AETN VHF Channel 2 will be Transmitting on KATV VHF channel 7's frequency after June 12Th.

Distance is not the only thing involved. Terrain, direction, and signal strength also comes into play. The whole DTV mess is a farce. Analoge came in just fine for us. We brought in 8 stations. CBS(2), ABC (2), NBC, FOX, WB, and PBS. With DTV, we bring in PBS, FOX, WB and some Spanish station. These stations are continually fading out and locking up. The slightest storm causes them ALL to go out. The storm doesn't even need to be here - just BETWEEN us and the transmitter. We live about 60 miles from a transmitter (except PBS - about 20 miles...). This is with a digital ready TV, not the box.
Fine for city slickers, worthless for rural aras.
We just decided to not watch TV.

(quoted from post at 06:03:10 06/07/09)
............Fine for city slickers, worthless for rural aras.........
.

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I feel your pain. I finally downgraded my high speed internet in order to get reduced speed internet AND basic cable TV for the same price. This is because --with the all new--all improved DTV--I can no longer receive channel 2 or PBS 7 out of Spokane reliably, nor can I receive the little independent channel 22. Analog was a LITTLE snowy here and there but at least I could watch it.

So now I've gone from a beat up old yagi 6 ft above the roof to a 14' boom combo uhf/vhf log at 55 ft on my tower, and STILL CAN NOT reliably get 2, 7, or 22 from Spokane.

Considering the quality of th progams, I didn't need any better uh, 'quality'

oldbc and 440 pretty have explained the DTV situation as clear as any.
Low loss cable, an antenna mounted amp and a rotor. Don't have those, forget it. A simple inline amp mounted at the TV or converter just adds electrical noise.
Here is a high gain antenna that don't catch a lot of wind and overload towers or rotors. You don't need an antenna tuned for 2-6, they just bring in interference from FM broadcast radio stations.

http://www.winegard.com/kbase/upload/HD7697P.pdf

Digital signals can also break up like satellite during a storm.

This is the antenna that I am using.