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Electronics Repair (sci.electronics.repair) Discussion of repairing electronic equipment. Topics include requests for assistance, where to obtain servicing information and parts, techniques for diagnosis and repair, and annecdotes about success, failures and problems. |
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#1
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Aerial wifi antennae
Since HDTV came out, I basically get one different station in each room I
move the TV to. Someone joked that the reason HDTV was invented was to force people off of aerial TV. Any anecdotes? I tried some booster antennae and also a thru the AC antennae to no avail. The best antenna was one from a computer TV card. My uncle has had some better luck with a roof antenna. Are people out there silly enough to waste their time and money watching cable? - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos] |
#2
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Aerial wifi antennae
wrote in message ... Since HDTV came out, I basically get one different station in each room I move the TV to. Someone joked that the reason HDTV was invented was to force people off of aerial TV. Any anecdotes? I tried some booster antennae and also a thru the AC antennae to no avail. The best antenna was one from a computer TV card. My uncle has had some better luck with a roof antenna. Are people out there silly enough to waste their time and money watching cable? - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos] Google is your friend. I built the one here http://www.tvantennaplans.com/ when digital transmission was becoming more popular but was not yet he only game around. I hooked it up to my 32" Vizio and was able to receive all the networks and a few other providers. I am in the flat land of Florida and with the antenna on the floor and about 4' above ground level. It is fairly directional but one day when cable was out I was the only one in the neighborhood watching he tube. Charlie |
#3
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Aerial wifi antennae
"Charlie" wrote in message ... wrote in message ... Since HDTV came out, I basically get one different station in each room I move the TV to. Someone joked that the reason HDTV was invented was to force people off of aerial TV. Any anecdotes? I tried some booster antennae and also a thru the AC antennae to no avail. The best antenna was one from a computer TV card. My uncle has had some better luck with a roof antenna. Are people out there silly enough to waste their time and money watching cable? - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos] Google is your friend. I built the one here http://www.tvantennaplans.com/ when digital transmission was becoming more popular but was not yet he only game around. I hooked it up to my 32" Vizio and was able to receive all the networks and a few other providers. I am in the flat land of Florida and with the antenna on the floor and about 4' above ground level. It is fairly directional but one day when cable was out I was the only one in the neighborhood watching he tube. Charlie BTW I did not use the reflectors shown near the end |
#5
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Aerial wifi antennae
Jeff Liebermann wrote in
: On Sat, 26 Nov 2011 01:40:29 +0000 (UTC), wrote: Since HDTV came out, I basically get one different station in each room I move the TV to. Someone joked that the reason HDTV was invented was to force people off of aerial TV. Any anecdotes? I tried some booster antennae and also a thru the AC antennae to no avail. The best antenna was one from a computer TV card. Get an outside antenna. There's no such thing as an HDTV antenna. They're VHF, UHF, or both. The amplifier goes near the antenna on the roof. Use RG-6/u coax, not twinlead. Try not to fall off the roof. My uncle has had some better luck with a roof antenna. No luck required. Indoor antennas only work in strong signal areas. You've supplied no numbers or location, so you only get general advice. Are people out there silly enough to waste their time and money watching cable? I pay for DirecTV satellite. The local OTA (over the air) broadcast programming is awful. I receive HDTV OTA fairly well, but only with a rotator and self designed antenna and amplifier. Antenna aiming: http://www.tvfool.com Antenna comparisons: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html The basics of HDTV: http://www.hdtvprimer.com I built a passive quad bowtie antenna that works well for OTA digital TV. Saw the plans somewhere on the net. try "DTV coat hanger antenna" www.makezine.tv -- Jim Yanik jyanik at localnet dot com |
#6
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Aerial wifi antennae
wrote:
Since HDTV came out, I basically get one different station in each room I move the TV to. Someone joked that the reason HDTV was invented was to force people off of aerial TV. Any anecdotes? I tried some booster antennae and also a thru the AC antennae to no avail. The best antenna was one from a computer TV card. My uncle has had some better luck with a roof antenna. Are people out there silly enough to waste their time and money watching cable? - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos] I have at least one VHF HDTV channel that requires another antenna band type. Most commercial amplified ones don't work at all or work poorly on channel 13. In my area, western pa, with hills, many places that formerly got reception, have little or no reception. A RCA rabbit ear dual band picked up at the dollar store, works good for stronger signals. I got channels in different directions, so I have to turn the antenna, and except for a halo antenna, all have directivity of some sort. Picked up some amplified HDTV antennas from all electronics, $20 each, they work better than ears. Greg |
#7
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Aerial wifi antennae
On Nov 25, 5:40*pm, wrote:
Since HDTV came out, I basically get one different station in each room I move the TV to. Someone joked that the reason HDTV was invented was to force people off of aerial TV. Any anecdotes? I tried some booster antennae and also a thru the AC antennae to no avail. The best antenna was one from a computer TV card. *My uncle has had some better luck with a roof antenna. Are people out there silly enough to waste their time and money watching cable? There are MILLIONS 'silly' enough (renters with no roof access or behind big hills or tall buildings) to use cable. We've been using digital OTA since 2003 in LA and there is nothing magic about it. When there was analog you could see ghosts (multipath) and adjust the antenna. With digital the ghosts are still there but you _can't_ see them so it's more difficult to align the antenna. If the ghosts are not severe the receiver can equalize them out but he early receivers could not handle dynamic multipath if the wind was blowing the trees around - particularly when raining. It would be way cool if the TV manufacturers included a 'spectrum analysis' function in the receiver which would consist of displaying the equalizer coefficients. The closer you get to 'minimum processing' the better it works.Signal strength itself is not sufficient. A relatively weak signal with no multipath is much preferred. I 'cheated' and borrowed a spectrum analyzer to get the antenna system 'tweaked'. I never see pixelation or breakup of any variety in the LA area 35 miles from Mt Wilson but I do have Line Of Sight to the 'towers'. Use a GOOD antenna and downlead and connectors properly attached. I've used Winegard for almost 40 years and have never been disappointed with them. The antenna I usually suggest is the HD7694 for nearly everywhere in the country. It has very good gain and directivity for VHF hi and UHF while being relatively small (65" long, 35" wide 13" high) There are a VERY small number of places with low- band VHF DTV and this antenna would not be good there. Many locations are UHF only so you can use an even smaller antenna. To find what the stations are this is the official place http://www.dtv.gov/stationlist.htm The 'virtual' channel column is what your old analog channel used to be and is the 'reported' channel number. Example, in LA the channel that calls itself 2 (CBS) is actually on 43. The 'digital' column is the actual channel being transmitted. Most locations have nothing in 2-6 but there are some. Why any TV engineer would WANT to be on low band VHF with DTV has me stumped. G² |
#8
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Aerial wifi antennae
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#9
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Aerial wifi antennae
In article ,
Jeff Liebermann wrote: Get an outside antenna. There's no such thing as an HDTV antenna. They're VHF, UHF, or both. The amplifier goes near the antenna on the roof. Use RG-6/u coax, not twinlead. Try not to fall off the roof. What Jeff said! Analog (NTSC) TV did have one advantage over ATSC for many people... under weak-signal conditions, it would often give you some sort of picture (noisy and ghosty) rather than none at all. With ATSC, once the signal quality deteriorates past a certain point, it "falls off a cliff" very quickly and you get no lock and no picture. Even in the NTSC era, the best approach for OTA was usually "A directional antenna, mounted up as high as practical, aimed in the proper direction, with good coax cable". That's equally true (and perhaps moreso) in the ATSC era. Indoor antennas are usually hit-or-miss, and the fancy-looking ones are often no better than rabbit ears and coat-hangers. "Amplified antennas" are usually worthless gimmicks or worse. "Turn your whole house wiring into a TV antenna" devices are best lain down, buried in cement, and avoided thereafter :-) I pay for DirecTV satellite. The local OTA (over the air) broadcast programming is awful. I receive HDTV OTA fairly well, but only with a rotator and self designed antenna and amplifier. A remotely-controlled rotator is often a very good idea. -- Dave Platt AE6EO Friends of Jade Warrior home page: http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior I do _not_ wish to receive unsolicited commercial email, and I will boycott any company which has the gall to send me such ads! |
#10
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Aerial wifi antennae
WOw! Thanks to all. Yes my uncle does much better with an outdoor antenna,
so I guess it may be best to just pull a line to his (upstars from me). I also have probs with 13 in NYC where it is the NET station. - = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist http://www.panix.com/~vjp2/vasos.htm ---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos] |
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