OK, my parents have decided to purchase a tv (it has a digiatl tuner) for their bedroom, but have decided not to connect it to cable as the others in their house nor do they have nor want an outside antenna. So, I went out and bought a RCA digital flat antenna and connected it with the amplifier. It’s not the best as there are sevral hills near the house.
I scanned for regular channels and got only a few channels, but none of the networks. So, I scanned for digital channels. This time I managed to get PBS and its several subchannels with no static and several Spanish stations with static. Again, there were no networks. In both cases, I did get a channel run by some televangelist group that apparently has so much wattage that it was cable quality even before I attached the attenna. Finally, I tried scanning for cable and I had more success. The channels are still staticky and spread out wide. For example a Spanish station that was on channel 32 is now in on channel 85 and another is in the 100’s.
Ok, to my question, (finally), is how will the digital switchover affect the reception? I’ve been told I would have had better reception a year ago, but that the networks have reduced the power to their analog signal. Yet, either they haven’t switched to digital or if they did, I can’t receive it. which is strange as one of the PBS stations is 2 counties away. Well, the reception improve when, if they haven’t yet, they do swtichover?
The reception for digital TVs won’t be as good as analog. All the digital channels are in the UHF range, not VHF, so they need more power to get the same signal even without the digital stuff.
However, if you get a digital station, it won’t be snowy. It’ll either be there or not, not much in-between.
It may be enough to make you subscribe to a satellite or cable service after all.
Static? You shouldn’t be getting static with digital - either all or nothing. (Or something, just briefly.) Could you describe the static? Was it snowy? Blocky/pixely?
Cable?
Major stations were required to start dual-broadcasting a few years ago, so unless you’re *really *out there, they’re sending the signal. Are you sure your settings are correct?
Very badly pixelated. Just used to saying staticky. However, I only got a “No Signal” with one local station, the rest, including the major networks, were just blank.
There are three scanning options on the TV: Auto Preset CH(TV), Auto Preset CH(TV/DTV) and Auto Present CH(CATV). It was on CATV that I managed to most of the channels, but with static.
My parents’ home is about 20 miles from the city where the networks are. There are two nearby hills, yet I get the best reception, if one can call it that, when the attenna is pointed south towards one of the hills. However, there are the PBS stations, there are 3 of them all on the subchannels, each in their own county, that come in clearly as well as that religious station with what seems to be a riduculously powerful tower.
Currently, the vast majority of TV stations broadcasting in digital are using UHF (14 and up) channels to do so. This is not due to any technical requirement of digital broadcasting, however. It is mostly because the UHF channels were more likely to be available in most markets. Eventually, after the digital transition is complete and TV stations no longer need to broadcast in analog, they may switch and use their current analog VHF channels for digital instead.
From the AntennaWeb faq. In my area there are or will be several VHF digital stations.
Digital signals are more sensitive, you need a good antenna. I live in Chicago, only 3 miles NW of Sears Tower (where the transmitters are). I get 16 analog stations and NO digital TV (with a digital TV). When I use a converter box with the analog, I get only three stations (two of which are pixilated). I think it’s the buildings and such that block the digital stations.
Digital is basically all or nothing. You either get enough of the signal to produce a picture or if you’re not getting enough you will get nothing.
Most stations are on UHF, but not all. A silver sensor antenna is best for indoor reception, but this may not be powerful. I have one and need an outdoor antenna. Since my landlord won’t put up a master antenna, he said to get cable, I will have to get cable or lose TV all together.
That’s my biggest complaint, I now have to pay for something I was getting free
I used a simple FM dipole antenna with great success. I also found that if I put a 4" diameter loop in it I increased signal strenght on all channels. I’m just shy of pulling in a UHF channel 50 miles away. I would expect an external antenna to increase the reception.
There is one other very common problem with digital reception: the audio often doesn’t sync with the video. So, yeah, you get enough of both signals, but they don’t match.
I fear that this whole transition to digital TV broadcast is just a giveaway to cell phone companies, who will get the bandwidth for things like allowing you to watch TV on a 1.5 square-inch screen while you wait in line at the supermarket.
This is one of those times I’m glad to be an aging baby boomer, because I can remember my father screwing around with an old-fashioned antenna, trying to get old-fashioned analog signals to get a decent picture on an old-fashioned TV.
Here’s the secret: it’s all trial and error.
If you’re not getting a signal with the antenna as it is, you’ll need to move the antenna to different spots, reposition the antenna, maybe hang the antenna outside the window, prop it up on top of the curtain rods, etc., until you get a signal. In a perfect world, your TV will have a signal strength meter, so you can actually see how strong the signal is, rather than just hoping the pixels disappear and a picture comes in.
The reason you’re picking up channels using the cable setting is because your parents’ home’s cable is “leaking” the signal. That’s hardly going to be reliable.
You say your parents don’t want an outside antenna. That’s unfortunate, because that may be the only way they’ll get a consistently good signal. Maybe some day when the weather is nice, you can take your antenna up on the roof, find where you get a strong signal, then take it back in the house and try aiming it in the same direction.
