Over the Air Digital not that great

[johnnymk]

Digital TV problems start to surface

http://www.edn.com/blog/1700000170/p...&rid=587295651

So the broadcast industry took 20 years to come up with the digital TV standard and it sure does not live up to all the hype. I have been using over-the-air digital TV for about two years. As you would expect from anything digital, when it works it is pretty good, but when it screws up it “falls off a cliff” as they point out in this great article. .

I could only pick up about five channels, eight at most. And they were never the same ones. Twist the antenna one way and get ABC and NBC. Turn it another way and get CBS and Fox. I couldn’t get any PBS stations at all, which were the real reason I wanted to get a better signal in the first place.

And this;

A digital signal is affected by practically everything – where your TV set is located in your house, the walls in your house, the number of trees in your yard, how close it is to other electronic devices, birds migrating south in the fall. No kidding. A Washington Post story described how a woman who lived on the 20th floor of an apartment building would lose her signal for a few moments every time a plane landed or took off from Reagan National airport.

And this in a comment:

With my converter box the picture is crystal clear - when I can get it. I tried it for a while and the whole family agreed - snow is better than the picture dropping out completely every few minutes. I tried positioning an antenna all over the outside of my house but with no better luck than the indoor one. We had some success with the front door open and the antenna balanced and pointed in a particular direction but that did not seem like a good long term solution.

[InfiniteNothing]

How far from the transmitter are you? Any large hills in the way?
(see antennaweb.org)

I noticed having the antenna high up helps alot and there's usually a sweet spot in the house where lots of channels come in. Really, once I found the sweet spot and set up the antenna, I really don't think about it much. I get plenty of channels. I might have to move the antenna a couple times a year though I'm not quite sure why? Trees growing?

[johnnymk]

The whole thread is from the linked article.

I am thinking of getting rid of my dish soon because I rarely watch TV. However, I am hoping that there will be enough local channels available OTA to watch the news.

I have an analog antenna with a rotator outside (fairly large). Can I use this antenna for digital signals?

[LPMiller]

yes, as long as it gets UHF signals. You'll still need a converter box for non digital tv's. But I use an old outdoor antenna, and I have zero problems with OTA digital,

[zippyjuan]

Some digital converters include an "antenna tuner" which will try to find the strongest signal and rotate an apropriate antenna to get it.

One of the things about digital is that the signal is pretty much either there or not there. You don't get a snowy image where you can still make out some things and perhaps have audio too. If the signal starts to break up you lose the whole thing. I set up a box at my parent's house a couple months ago. Some channels they got before don't come in on the digital but the ones they do get have a much better picture. Some stations may not have made the change yet and some small stations can be exempt from going digital if they choose. I think there are a couple they did not get before too. It will depend on your reception.

[attgig]

I live right near the police station, and whenever the police chopper swings by, I lose my signal. the antenna is also right by my stairway, and whenever someone walks up/down the stairs, it goes out too.

[renovation]

im trap by comcast. i cant use dish or direct tv due to trees. in the past i have tryed rabbit ears and a outside antenna. i was limited to like 3 stations clearly and i could bring in 2-4 more but they would come in snowy. im sure now that the stations have switched to digital signal. im going to get even less and not worth the cost of buying a new antenna to find out im correct in my guess i sure hate paying a cable bill but they got me were it counts in the old pocket book. just in the last month they increased there fees to. also for those who use comcast beware there are charging you $35 for every service call they make out to the home even if the problem is the out side line. in my area anyway this is going on anyway.

[Yossarian]

i feel you reno...comcast blows monkey nuts. the HD selection is pathetic

[attgig]

can't cut a tree down?

[kimchicowboy]

when i lived in VA, my OTA HD was pretty good 75% of the time. i invited friends over to watch March Madness, and it was going out all the time, i was so embarrassed. so we went to someone else's to watch SD march madness. so sad. hahha