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#1
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local TV what antenna?
We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a
Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson |
#2
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local TV what antenna?
On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:11:03 -0500, "J. Davidson"
wrote: We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson Just the site for you. Welcome to AntennaWeb.org http://www.checkhd.com/aw/welcome.aspx -- Oren "I don't have anything against work. I just figure, why deprive somebody who really loves it." |
#3
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local TV what antenna?
Thank you very much! I sincerely appreciate it.
Jackie Oren wrote in message ... On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:11:03 -0500, "J. Davidson" wrote: We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson Just the site for you. Welcome to AntennaWeb.org http://www.checkhd.com/aw/welcome.aspx -- Oren "I don't have anything against work. I just figure, why deprive somebody who really loves it." |
#4
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local TV what antenna?
On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:45:37 -0500, "J. Davidson"
wrote: Thank you very much! I sincerely appreciate it. Jackie Just the site for you. Welcome to AntennaWeb.org http://www.checkhd.com/aw/welcome.aspx Better! The site helps identify broadcast and takes into account mountain ranges. You should be able to buy locally; any antenna you need for a single TV. Good Luck. -- Oren "I don't have anything against work. I just figure, why deprive somebody who really loves it." |
#5
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local TV what antenna?
Oren wrote:
On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:45:37 -0500, "J. Davidson" wrote: Thank you very much! I sincerely appreciate it. Jackie Just the site for you. Welcome to AntennaWeb.org http://www.checkhd.com/aw/welcome.aspx Better! The site helps identify broadcast and takes into account mountain ranges. You should be able to buy locally; any antenna you need for a single TV. Good Luck. Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... |
#6
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local TV what antenna?
On Sun, 07 Oct 2007 23:18:13 GMT, aemeijers wrote:
Oren wrote: On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:45:37 -0500, "J. Davidson" wrote: Thank you very much! I sincerely appreciate it. Jackie Just the site for you. Welcome to AntennaWeb.org http://www.checkhd.com/aw/welcome.aspx Better! The site helps identify broadcast and takes into account mountain ranges. You should be able to buy locally; any antenna you need for a single TV. Good Luck. Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. Rabbit ears will even receive the local HDTV signals. :-) -- Oren "Well, it doesn't happen all the time, but when it happens, it happens constantly." |
#7
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local TV what antenna?
"aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. |
#8
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local TV what antenna?
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. Oh to have even one _within_ 60 miles!!! -- |
#9
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local TV what antenna?
We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a
Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Whatever anyone is selling on Craigslist http://memphis.craigslist.org/ |
#10
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local TV what antenna?
This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. I have a "special circumsance" in that the Potomac River sort of acts like a "wave guide" but I get VERY good reception of Washington DC stations and "pretty good" reception of Baltimore stations with a roof top antenna from our home in King George, VA. The distances are 40 miles or a bit longer. I have a "rotator" but with a swing of 30 degress it doesn't make much difference to we just set it up and leave it alone. The basic set up is a "tripod" on top of the roof with a 6' mast holding the rotator which holds up a second 6' mast with the antenna. The antenna has something on the order of 20 elements. Generaly speaking, you want the antenna as high as you can get it. My "rig" survived Isabel. That storm knocked out power for most of the county for almost a week. Other storms have knocked down trees on our property but the antenna still has all its little rods, etc. During the early morning we sometimes pick up stations in Pennsylvania. |
#11
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local TV what antenna?
On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:11:03 -0500, "J. Davidson"
wrote: We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson P&M I presume you have a coaxial cable connector on the back of your tv? A silver colored little thimble like thing, but not tapered, with threads on the outside? What I would try first is a thin piece of non-stranded (single thread) wire, insulated if possible, with the insulation stripped off the inch at one end, and stuff that wire into the little hole in the center of the coaxial connector on the back of the tv. You can put it in a half inch, or even maybe an inch if it goes that far. Although even a tiny bit, a mm. or two, is enough to work, but it might fall out. The wire should be as thin or thinner than the wire that sticks out of a coaxial cable connector with the threads on the inside. You can use one of the strands in a piece of 4-conductor phone line, for example, or just about anything. While commercially sold antennas are stiff and stick up, those aren't very inportant characteristics. Stiff is only useful so that one can put the antenna where he wants it, but I just let it run down the back of the tv and the tv-table to the floor. Sticking up, as opposed to dangling down is only important if the stations are far enough away that reception is marginal, and even then one could hook the wire to the curtains or a shelf or a brad in the wall if necessary. I'm sure it won't hurt to wrap the last half inch of the wire once or twice around the brad, although that half inch won't function as an antenna anymore. (becuase it is in a circle and the induced currents in it will be in all directions and will cancel each other out) If the stations in Memphis are near enough reception will be ok to great with anything although low stations like 2, 3, and 4, require a piece of wire that is at least 3 feet long. Higher number stations usually don't require that, but you probalby want to get channel 2 also. 30 or 40 or 50 miles is where tv reception fades away, and if the broadcast antenna is that far away, it can matter if you are on a hill or in a valley, even a tiny valley like I'm in. It can also matter what floor you are on. The basement can be bad. Finally, although SONY usually works well, after that I find that one can't predict quality of reception by brand. I have local stations in Baltiomre, and others in DC, and some tv's will get channels 4, 5, 7, and 9 in DC, but most will only get 3 of them, and which 3 varies. Others will only get 2 or 1. I have maybe tv's of all ages and brands going through here over the last 24 years, so I think my sample is pretty good. Neither brand nor age is a good predictor of how many DC stations they will get, although all of them get the Baltimore stations. |
#12
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local TV what antenna?
Edwin Pawlowski wrote:
"aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. |
#13
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local TV what antenna?
On Oct 7, 5:11 pm, "J. Davidson" wrote:
We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson You want the best, go with Winegard, they are awesome: http://www.winegard.com/offair/products.htm Also consider that VHF analog broadcasts will be gone in short time, so an antenna that favors UHF reception would be better for over the air High Definition which is broadcast digitally in UHF. The HD8200P should be fine if you still need good VHF reception now, and should do outstandingly well for everything in the future and current HD broadcasts. |
#14
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local TV what antenna?
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:09:39 -0700, RickH
wrote: On Oct 7, 5:11 pm, "J. Davidson" wrote: We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson You want the best, go with Winegard, they are awesome: http://www.winegard.com/offair/products.htm Also consider that VHF analog broadcasts will be gone in short time, so an antenna that favors UHF reception would be better for over the air High Definition which is broadcast digitally in UHF. The HD8200P should be fine if you still need good VHF reception now, and should do outstandingly well for everything in the future and current HD broadcasts. Most of the newer TV stations around here use UHF, but there's an interesting exception. The local ABC station broadcasts digitally on channel 10. -- 78 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin |
#15
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local TV what antenna?
On Oct 8, 10:23?am, Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:09:39 -0700, RickH wrote: On Oct 7, 5:11 pm, "J. Davidson" wrote: We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson You want the best, go with Winegard, they are awesome: http://www.winegard.com/offair/products.htm Also consider that VHF analog broadcasts will be gone in short time, so an antenna that favors UHF reception would be better for over the air High Definition which is broadcast digitally in UHF. The HD8200P should be fine if you still need good VHF reception now, and should do outstandingly well for everything in the future and current HD broadcasts. Most of the newer TV stations around here use UHF, but there's an interesting exception. The local ABC station broadcasts digitally on channel 10. -- 78 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloydhttp://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - how many tvs are you watching at the same time? if its usually 4 or less you can run a cable from one or two of the satellite receivers add a switch with infrared remote extender and control your satellite receiver and watch it from tv number 5 |
#16
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local TV what antenna?
On Oct 8, 7:52 am, "Pete C." wrote:
Edwin Pawlowski wrote: "aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, as well as a TV with an ATSC tuner or an external ATSC tuner/converter to use with older TVs. Antennaweb.org has lots of good info. |
#17
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local TV what antenna?
wrote in message ups.com... On Oct 8, 7:52 am, "Pete C." wrote: Edwin Pawlowski wrote: "aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, as well as a TV with an ATSC tuner or an external ATSC tuner/converter to use with older TVs. Antennaweb.org has lots of good info. Your points regarding the February 17, 2009 turn off date for analog broadcasts are timely. This FCC site has a wealth of information about the transition: http://www.dtv.gov/index.html That said I must say that at least in my case, a modest standard UHF antenna does a great job. I'm 44 miles from most of my OTA (over-the-air) stations. I have a modest (6' to 8') VHF/UHF directional antenna without a rotor mounted 4 feet above my flat roof about 12 feet above ground level. Digital signals are all crystal clear; the worse signal registers 78% signal strength, most approach 100%. On the other hand the analog signals are generally poor to mediocre. Admittedly that rating is relative to the digital reception : ) Another thing your cable and satellite providers don't want you to know is that the OTA signals will generally provide the best reception. It's either straight from the source to your antenna or you don't get it at all. That is, it's either received or not --- discounting very infrequent pixelation. I receive over 20 HDTV channels via Dish network and previously got them via Cox cable so this is not hearsay. Side-by-side, my OTA reception is noticeable better --- even at 44 miles! Bottom line: don't be sold on "Special HDTV" antennas being pushed by too many vendors. And yes, rabbit ears may well be more than adequate. Just my 25 cents : ) |
#18
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local TV what antenna?
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#20
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local TV what antenna?
"Pete C." wrote in message ... wrote: On Oct 8, 7:52 am, "Pete C." wrote: Edwin Pawlowski wrote: "aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, as well as a TV with an ATSC tuner or an external ATSC tuner/converter to use with older TVs. That would be a problem if there was anything worth watching on OTA TV. I have cable, mostly because my work pays for the cable modem and the package isn't a lot more, and even with cable there are only about three channels I watch with any regularity. My, my! Evidently you don't enjoy any sports broadcasts. And any PBS broadcasts such as the recent excellent Ken Burns series "The War." And you could care less about what's going on locally via your local news broadcasts. And all this for free! I do however agree that most prime network broadcasts are crap and unfortunately getting worse all the time -- if that's really possible. Also, I refuse to watch the biased and sensationalized (both sides) prime-time national news broadcasts. I get better and more timely information via the internet. Sigh.... |
#21
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local TV what antenna?
DonC wrote:
"Pete C." wrote in message ... wrote: On Oct 8, 7:52 am, "Pete C." wrote: Edwin Pawlowski wrote: "aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, as well as a TV with an ATSC tuner or an external ATSC tuner/converter to use with older TVs. That would be a problem if there was anything worth watching on OTA TV. I have cable, mostly because my work pays for the cable modem and the package isn't a lot more, and even with cable there are only about three channels I watch with any regularity. My, my! Evidently you don't enjoy any sports broadcasts. Nope, never cared about sports. And any PBS broadcasts such as the recent excellent Ken Burns series "The War." In recent years the few good PBS programs have been overshadowed by a good deal of crap, and much of what used to be good on PBS has been taken over by commercial networks (chiefly Discovery Networks) that do a better job with them anyway. And you could care less about what's going on locally via your local news broadcasts. There is little locally of relevance to me. And all this for free! Not free when you consider the cost of an adapter or new TV. I do however agree that most prime network broadcasts are crap and unfortunately getting worse all the time -- if that's really possible. Also, I refuse to watch the biased and sensationalized (both sides) prime-time national news broadcasts. I get better and more timely information via the internet. Sigh.... Yep, broadcast TV as it used to be known is dead and just hasn't been buried yet. The same is true for newspapers and mainstream magazines. |
#22
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local TV what antenna?
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 12:29:57 -0500, Mark Lloyd
wrote: As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, The same antenna that works with analog will work with digital. The thread reminds me that I need to check a PC TV tuner. "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin He liked French ladies as an Ambassador -- Oren "I didn’t say it was your fault, I said I was blaming you." |
#23
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local TV what antenna?
On Mon, 8 Oct 2007 18:01:09 -0600, (Neill
Massello) wrote: Mark Lloyd wrote: On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 05:09:39 -0700, RickH wrote: On Oct 7, 5:11 pm, "J. Davidson" wrote: We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us? Many thanks, Jackie Davidson You want the best, go with Winegard, they are awesome: http://www.winegard.com/offair/products.htm Also consider that VHF analog broadcasts will be gone in short time, so an antenna that favors UHF reception would be better for over the air High Definition which is broadcast digitally in UHF. The HD8200P should be fine if you still need good VHF reception now, and should do outstandingly well for everything in the future and current HD broadcasts. Most of the newer TV stations around here use UHF, but there's an interesting exception. The local ABC station broadcasts digitally on channel 10. UHF TV channels above 51 are being phased out to accommodate cell phone and other uses. As far as I know, all the current VHF frequencies will remain available for DTV, and current analog VHF stations will be allowed to switch their digital signal to their VHF allocation when analog TV dies in 2009. One of the stations here (NBC) broadcasts analog on 56, but the digital version is on 22. -- 77 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin |
#24
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local TV what antenna?
On Oct 8, 1:29 pm, Mark Lloyd wrote:
On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:20:28 -0700, wrote: On Oct 8, 7:52 am, "Pete C." wrote: Edwin Pawlowski wrote: "aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, The same antenna that works with analog will work with digital. Oh, really? If he installs a VHF antenna for NTSC, which is apparently what he want to watch right now, it's gonna work with digital ATSC, most of which is UHF? Afraid not! Plus in some parts of the country, the transmitters for the 2 can be in different locations. I don't think he wants to mount a VHF antenna, only to find out in a year and a half that he needs UHF and the place he mounted the mast is blocked from the direction of the ATSC transmitter? That's why I suggested antennaweb.org, so he can get it right. as well as a TV with an ATSC tuner or an external ATSC tuner/converter to use with older TVs. Antennaweb.org has lots of good info. -- 78 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloydhttp://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - |
#25
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local TV what antenna?
On Tue, 09 Oct 2007 11:45:27 -0700, wrote:
On Oct 8, 1:29 pm, Mark Lloyd wrote: On Mon, 08 Oct 2007 09:20:28 -0700, wrote: On Oct 8, 7:52 am, "Pete C." wrote: Edwin Pawlowski wrote: "aemeijers" wrote in message Try cheapest solution first- rabbit ears. Radio Shack, or even local thrift store. If all the stations you want are within 20 miles or so, they may work well enough. aem sends... This site just confirmed why I have cable. Nearest stations to me are 28 miles, most are 40, but the ones in my state that I prefer to watch are all over 50 miles. That's a problem in the hilly northeast, not so much in the flatter parts of the country. As part of the overall consideration, I'd factor in that NTSC broadcasting over the air is scheduled to be turned off in less than 18 months. So, at that point, you'd need an antenna appropriate to received digital, The same antenna that works with analog will work with digital. Oh, really? If he installs a VHF antenna for NTSC, which is apparently what he want to watch right now, it's gonna work with digital ATSC, most of which is UHF? Afraid not! The difference between VHF and UHF is NOT the difference between analog and digital I was discussing. There is still no such thing as a "digital antenna". Plus in some parts of the country, the transmitters for the 2 can be in different locations. Never heard of aiming? I don't think he wants to mount a VHF antenna, only to find out in a year and a half that he needs UHF and the place he mounted the mast is blocked from the direction of the ATSC transmitter? Many antennas have both VHF and UHF. Anyway, nothing to do with the difference between analog and digital. That's why I suggested antennaweb.org, so he can get it right. Good idea. Still there's no difference in antennas for analog of digital. as well as a TV with an ATSC tuner or an external ATSC tuner/converter to use with older TVs. Antennaweb.org has lots of good info. -- 78 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloydhttp://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - -- 76 days until the winter solstice celebration Mark Lloyd http://notstupid.laughingsquid.com "I have found Christian dogma unintelligable. Early in life I absented myself from Christian assemblies." -- Benjamin Franklin |
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