want to add HD antenna

[deldest]

I've got an HD reciever (with DISH sattelite) going (component) to an Optoma H31 front prjector. The HD channels I get thru the sattelite feed are just amazing, but I believe I need an (off air / UHF?) HD antenna to actually recieve the (ABC/NBC/CBS) network broadcasts (when HD). I did not think this was the case originally as those channels showed up in two places (the normal 02-XX spot and 8XXX-9XXX spots) and I did get the HD package from dish. But it is strikingly obvious when compared that both (local network channel) feeds I'm getting from the dish are not HD.
As I check the Dish website this seems to confirm my suspicions.
My question is, What is a GOOD ANTENNA to get?? Are there any real differences for a huge range in price?? Does a normal, old fashioned UHF antenna actually transfer a HD signal? (some for sale that look just like an old UHF one). Is the only difference a new "standard" plug type to connect to my reciever? (instead of a two wire?). Is there a 'new standard' plug type for antennas (are they all the same?) as my reciever has a funny plug slot for an aux antenna.
I see some cheap "HD" antennas for sale for like $30 (are they good enough?)that look somewhat different than the old 'rabbit ears' that claim to be 'unidirectional' 'designed for HD' 'have signal amplification' etc. What features are important for this type of antenna??
Anyone have any recommendations on one, and what are you guys using??

 

[Duffinator]

How far are you from the broadcast towers as that will make a difference on what type of antenna you buy and where it's placed. I had a Zenith Silver Sensor indoors and it worked fine. Now I have this radio shack antenna mounted in my attic and it works fine. I live about 30 miles from the towers with nothing but flat land between us.

http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog_name=CTLG&category_name=CTLG_003_001_002_000&product_id=15-2160

 

[Spiffyfast]

www.hdtv.net is a great site and if I remember right you can search by your zipcode and see what ove the air channels you can pick up and it will even reccomend different types of antennas.

 

[deldest]

I'm guessing I am about 20 miles from the towers (they gotta be located somewhere in the city of Philadelphia).


And a little bit of searching/learning it looks like we're back to old style antennas. I think I would want a full sized one as I could mount in the attic as well (unless you guys know a really good indoor one that would make it unnecessary) and they all seem reasonable/cheap enough. It looks like most come with a regular coaxel cable now (gotta go home and check that input plug but somehow It looked a little different).
Also is there seperate broadcast frequencies for HD than VHF and UHF? I was assumming If I got a fullsize one I should get one that does both (UHF/VHF), but are some "tuned" better for (my main purpose) HD frequencies?

 

[deldest]

www.hdtv.net is a great site and if I remember right you can search by your zipcode and see what ove the air channels you can pick up and it will even reccomend different types of antennas.

Your right. Great site. seems to have everything I need. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction!
No one else seems to be really covering this (why do I feel so stupid?) and I can understand why cable/sat providers aren't promoting it.

EDIT: Wish me luck, I'm gonna try for at least a 100+ mile Antenna as I can now see that there is many more HD channels in the NYC area (that I can't get from my dish). As well as not being forced to watch only Eagles games (I'm a NY Giants fan) I would be able to get a couple more NFL games (and other sports) per week if I can pull broadcasts from both media markets.....WOOHOOOOO.

 

[Duffinator]

I'm guessing I am about 20 miles from the towers (they gotta be located somewhere in the city of Philadelphia).


And a little bit of searching/learning it looks like we're back to old style antennas. I think I would want a full sized one as I could mount in the attic as well (unless you guys know a really good indoor one that would make it unnecessary) and they all seem reasonable/cheap enough. It looks like most come with a regular coaxel cable now (gotta go home and check that input plug but somehow It looked a little different).
Also is there seperate broadcast frequencies for HD than VHF and UHF? I was assumming If I got a fullsize one I should get one that does both (UHF/VHF), but are some "tuned" better for (my main purpose) HD frequencies?

HD broadcast are all UHF. The FCC will sell off the VHF channels once the conversion to digital is complete. The antenna I posted previously is a full size UHF antenna. You do not need to go out and spend a fortune on an antenna. The back of your Dish box is coax. I've recommended that antenna to two friends that also installed them in their attics and it works great. But installing in an attic will not work in all situations. My suggestion is to temporarily mount it in your attic to see if it works. If it does great. If not then it will have to go on your roof.

 

[gellor]

HD broadcast are all UHF. The FCC will sell off the VHF channels once the conversion to digital is complete. The antenna I posted previously is a full size UHF antenna. You do not need to go out and spend a fortune on an antenna. The back of your Dish box is coax. I've recommended that antenna to two friends that also installed them in their attics and it works great. But installing in an attic will not work in all situations. My suggestion is to temporarily mount it in your attic to see if it works. If it does great. If not then it will have to go on your roof.

So if the Dish receiver has a coax input in the back, how hard is it to program the channels into the receiver? Or does it happen automagically when the receiver queries for channels?

 

[deldest]

So if the Dish receiver has a coax input in the back, how hard is it to program the channels into the receiver? Or does it happen automagically when the receiver queries for channels?

When I was playing with my reciever (Dish sattelite) last night I found a menu/system setup/selection that toggled between "locals from dish/locals from off air". When you toggled to locals from off air it will invoke the search for channels (looks like it will provide a list that you select off of to add to your regular channels). Since mine (don't have antenna setup yet) didn't find any, I had no channels 0-100 until I toggled/set it back. I am assuming that when I install an antenna it will place it will put the (broadcast)regular channels in 0-13 and the new (broadcast) HD channels in 14-100. I should still get the locals (digital as streamed over the sattelite band) in the 8XXX-9XXX range.
Different recievers may be slightly different, and DirecTV might have a slightly different menu to scan/search for channels but I think the concept would be the same.

Has anyone had luck pulling channels from adjacent markets with the HD signals?? I know back in the day the analog reception was pretty good from far away in the NYC market. I know it all depends on the station and signal strength. Just wondering if the signal type (digital?) would freeze/drop on the fringes (read unwatchable) as apposed to just being a little snowy like the old analog signal. Thus giving it shorter transmission abilities? I'm probably about 80 miles from NYC, what does everyone think my chances are of getting an HD signal (used to be able to get an anolog on a good day)?

 

[Duffinator]

So if the Dish receiver has a coax input in the back, how hard is it to program the channels into the receiver? Or does it happen automagically when the receiver queries for channels?

Basically what deldest said. I have DirecTV and it is similar. Once you have the setup options set correctly it will pick up the channels automatically and bring in the guide as well. It works very well. I setup a friends Dish HD box but don't remember exactly what options need to be set but it should be pretty straight forward.

 

[pidus]

i also have direct tv (dtv) with local channels but not the HD setup...just the regular dtv....i will be adding a HD antenna soon and if i understand correctly i can feed the HD signal from the antenna into my dtv receiver and then out to my tv (which has it's own built-in HD tuner)........then i can have the function of the guide???.....how do i go about setting the receiver to not look for local channels from the dish signal and use the antenna signal?????

 

[Duffinator]

i also have direct tv (dtv) with local channels but not the HD setup...just the regular dtv....i will be adding a HD antenna soon and if i understand correctly i can feed the HD signal from the antenna into my dtv receiver and then out to my tv (which has it's own built-in HD tuner)........then i can have the function of the guide???.....how do i go about setting the receiver to not look for local channels from the dish signal and use the antenna signal?????

You need a DirecTV HD tuner for that. But if your TV has a built-in HD tuner you can connect a UHF feed directly to your TV and watch it from there. Your TV will be able to show some channel information that is part of the digital signal but it won't be as slick as DirecTV's.

 

[pidus]

Ahhhh, I figured as much....great advice....I can't wait for my HD antenna......how about free-to-air broadcasts in HD....what's the best way to capture them......currently I have a spearate receiver for that.....so I have my dtv receiver and a fta receiver....

 

[Duffinator]

Ahhhh, I figured as much....great advice....I can't wait for my HD antenna......how about free-to-air broadcasts in HD....what's the best way to capture them......currently I have a spearate receiver for that.....so I have my dtv receiver and a fta receiver....

See my earlier post in this thread about a UHF antenna. If you have any old UHF antenna try hooking it up and see if it works. If you are receiving the signal that's all that matters. You either get it or not, no ghosting with digital.

 

[westcott]

Try to find an installer that knows what he is doing.

Make sure it is grounded properly, he connect the fm antenna at the same time, and preferable into a splitter that allows you to receive OTA signals to all the TV's in the house, not just one.

When you stop paying for local channels and pick up 10 to 15 new stations, it will make it all worth while. Not to mention getting HD for free!

 

[jimmy w]

Deldest,

What's the latest? I'm interested to know if you have had any luck getting NYC-DT. I'm 20 miles from South Bend and 70 miles from Chicago and am debating whether to buy a 20 mile antenna or a 70 mile antenna or both and point them in opposite directions!?

Any wisdom from experience will be appreciated!

Thanks, JW

 

[deldest]

Deldest,

What's the latest? I'm interested to know if you have had any luck getting NYC-DT. I'm 20 miles from South Bend and 70 miles from Chicago and am debating whether to buy a 20 mile antenna or a 70 mile antenna or both and point them in opposite directions!?

Any wisdom from experience will be appreciated!

Thanks, JW

Well here's the latest, I had originally tried one of those dish attachment antennas (TERK) just cause it was so simple and to see how well things would work with the close stations. Well I had ZERO luck (would not pic up one digital channel cleanly) but I think that's because of my specific location and the fact that my dishes are low on the south side blocked by my huge house etc. I don't think it really standed a chance. So I picked up a rather LARGE (like 8'X6'?) 120mile range rated outdour radio shack one and put it together in my garage to test. Works GREAT for all the Philly digital channels (about 25-30 miles away) and I'm getting alot more than 3 -4 channels, more like 15 (funny like 3 abc, 2 nbc, 3 cbs etc.) Even got a local all weather channel which you can't get on sattelite services.

Also with this thing just sitting in my garage I think I'm picking up some local Wilmington DE. and Baltimore stations but didn't see any from NYC that I was hoping for. Now I was going to test this as an attic mount just to see if that would work, but haven't had time. (and the Giants were on HD ESPN last week so no need). I'll be playing with it this weekend I'm sure. My guess is it will probably have to be roof/chimney mounted for me to have a real shot, and I was still trying to figure out if a (motorized) pointer would help. (don't want to spend the money if no chance. I had checked a couple websites and the consenus seemed to be that the digital signal seems to break down pretty good after about 60 miles so it doesn't matter if you have a 1000mile antenna. I'm sure this is dependant on braodcast tower strength and each one is different. They do expect that over time these towers will increase their strength and range, so even if I can't get it now, I may be able to in the future.

I'll let you know what happens but for now all I can say is an off-air antenna is well worth it and it seems the BIGGER/uglier the antenna the better.

 

[videobruce]

Try here;
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp

use the link for lat. and long.,
find where you are (you should be able to pinpoint your house/apartment,
write down your lat. and long. as it shows,
enter it in where it asks,
check; by distance and change miles to less than 100,
clink on the link to bookmark the results.

 

[westcott]

You should be able to find which direction is best for the stations you want to capture. The directions that came with your antenna should outline proper orientation in relation to the stations you are looking for.

Otherwise, get a rotator and you will be able to experiment.

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/info.aspx?page=more_info

You should be able to find what you are looking for here.

 

[jimmy w]

I've got my antenna up!

Works great. I've always had cable but now I've got football, nascar, PBS and whatever else the networks broadcast in HD for free! Woo Hoo!

 

[madregal]

Can I use antenna signal from Non HD Direct TV

Can I use antenna signal from Non HD Direct TV to feed into my Samsung HDTV receiver to get OTA HDTV?

I already have non HD Direct TV service. But I want OTA HD signals. Can I make the Direct TV dish my antenna to hook up to the Samsung?