Analog TV Converter box reception question? - Videokarma.org TV - Video

medusa · #1 05-26-2008, 06:40 AM

I just bought a new GE 22729 digital to analog converter box for my analog tv. I use rabbit ears for recepetion and after hooking up the box I was really surprized with the new great reception. But I'm a little dissappointed that it want pick up my favorate public tv channel. When I was using the rabbit ears before the box it came in fuzzy but I could halfway watch it. The rabbit ears I use is an older aplified type, do I need to get a better uhf antenne or digital antenne such as a smart antenne? I am also considering putting a rotating roof mounted antenna. I do know someone in the area that bought a new digital tv hooked it up with rabbit ears and the pick up all the local public tv channels fine. Thanks for any help.

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KentTeffeteller · #2 05-26-2008, 08:08 AM

Hi,

A note: DTV reception is an all or nothing affair. Either you get a superb picture and audio or get blocky, glitchy picture and glitchy sound. If the PBS station is on a different tower, your antenna will need to be reoriented. It's not unusual to need to have a directional antenna with a rotator for best DTV reception.

KingBubba · #3 05-26-2008, 10:17 AM

Chances are your PBS station is a low wattage signal that is too distant for your antenna. You will need to go to a roof type antenna to get weak signals. Even then the weak signal stations will have good days and bad days. This has been my experience with our new "improved" system. The poor and the remote won't have much to watch after February, 2008.

Chad Hauris · #4 05-26-2008, 10:36 AM

One thing I have found is that you really need to use a UHF-specific indoor antenna to reliably get UHF DTV stations...either the UHF lead coming out of a rabbit ear set that has both a loop antenna and the "ears" or even better, a bow tie type reflector antenna. When trying to use a VHF only rabbit ear set to get UHF I have gotten no signal at all or poor reception but with the UHF Loop it has come in fine.

I'd recommend the bow tie type which has two bow ties plus a rear reflector and is gold in color.
One setup I have used in a downtown building where reception is really tough is to put the indoor antenna in a window and use a balun to connect it to 75 ohm coax which runs to the DTV receiver. Putting it in the window and adjusting for best orientation has made a big difference in signal quality.

old_tv_nut · #5 05-26-2008, 12:57 PM

Medusa, you didn't say where you are located. It's hard to answer reception questions without knowing!

Go to www.antennaweb.org to get an idea of what you need. If you are trying to get New York City stations, be aware that the situation will not improve for several years until a new tower is built.

medusa · #6 05-26-2008, 05:43 PM

I'm about two miles from downtown in a small house in a mostly one story neighborhood. Just west of us in the direction of the public (lower output) tv station (30 miles away)I'm not picking up digitally there is a 3 story apt bldg 60 yards away. But I can halfway pick up the station with rabbit ears directly into the tv the old fashion way. A friend of mine said I might have luck putting my rabbit ears in the attic and connecting thru the converter box. I'm really tempted to go the roof top mount, someone suggested antennaweb.org i did and it suggested i needed a a med directional antenna with a pre amp. Maybe if I contact someone that does that for a living they would know??? Seems like you could test it before you hook all that roof antenna stuff up. Thanks for all the input.

medusa · #7 05-29-2008, 08:19 PM

antenna. It's a 8 bay bowtie dipole design. It has a range of 60 miles, and the most distant station I would like to pick up is the a weaker public tv station 30 miles away. Not too hilly here in Raleigh, N.C. Channels range in the direction from my house from 288 degrees(almost west) to 255 degrees(southeast) I guess I might be expecting too much to point the antenna halfway inbetween these two points and have good reception. I hope to get the antenna next week and mount it in my attic. My wife said up on the roof was not an option, even tho i don't mind a little hardware. I will go to a rotor if i need to. If anyone has any thoughs, please let me know. Thanks.

medusa · #8 05-31-2008, 11:59 AM

With my GE digital to Analog converter box hooked up to the Channel Master 4228 8 bay bowtie antenna( up in my ranch house attic)

I am getting all the channels in this area and more. This includes 5 very clear Public TV channels. I have it pointed in one direction no rotor no preamp.

When I first posted on here there seemed to be some interest in what I was trying to figure out(layman) just thought I would let people know my results. Or it may be it's all been posted enough, but maybe in the new switch over to digital it will help someone. Maybe I got into the wrong group here, or maybe some of you are just snooty. Whatever it was fun and some of you did give me some good pointers.

old_tv_nut · #9 05-31-2008, 02:21 PM

I'm glad it worked.

Here's a terrain plot for WUNC to an arbitrary location about 2 miles east of downtown Raleigh. As you can see, it's close to being terrain blocked, so an attic antenna would help.

medusa · #10 05-31-2008, 03:13 PM

Thanks for the reply, that is very interesting abouut the terrian makes sense to me. Do you know if most TV stations are sending out full powered digital signals yet and are most Public TV stations including WUNC a bit on the weak side for signal?

old_tv_nut · #11 05-31-2008, 03:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by medusa

Thanks for the reply, that is very interesting abouut the terrian makes sense to me. Do you know if most TV stations are sending out full powered digital signals yet and are most Public TV stations including WUNC a bit on the weak side for signal?

It varies from station to station. There was a FCC hold on maximization until recently while the allocations got sorted out a bit more. Stations may now proceed with maximization, but it also involves negotiations with neighboring stations that might experience interference.

WUNC-DT is presently on RF channel 59 with 893 kW. Note that it will switch to RF channel 25 and 404 kW after the analog shut down. You probably will need to find the channel scan menu and rescan the channels then.

To find out TV transmitter locations, antenna heights, and powers, go to the FCC TVquery data base at:
http://www.fcc.gov/mb/video/tvq.html