HDTV over antenna - questions (1 Viewer)

[Robert_J]

I got my HR10-250 for $250 and then $200 worth of programming credits from DirecTV when I activated it. Net cost was $50. The hard drive died a year later and I did spend $99 upgrading to a 320GB drive. My HR20 DVR was ordered last week. Their first offer was $99 plus shipping. I asked if they could just give it to me. I ended up paying for shipping ($19.95) for a new HD DVR, a new dish and installation.

DVR rental from your local cable company is not expensive most of the time. You may pay $10/month but if it breaks (and all hard drives will), they will give you another.

-Robert

 

[bradhart]

Quite right on HD DVR's. If you already have an older p4 (which likely has a decent sized hd, ram, and soundcard) turning it into and hdtv receiver, recorder and player is only about $100. The other big expansion capability is HD radio a radio tuner is another $200 on top of your hdtv tuner. So there you are at around $350 to $400 vs $100

To further the argument for going a pc media center route blu-ray and hd-dvd drives will quickly be more affordable than stand-alone players, plus AnyDvd-HD from slysoft will let you watch (as I understand it) blu-ray and HD Dvd's from either type of drive. (Don't own either drive so I haven't upgraded to the HD edition)

 

[bradhart]

for me the cost would be $20 plus the regular cable, which I don't have or want. But $10 a month is still $120 a year vs a $100 once if you already have the other equipment. You can expect The PCI HD Tuner to last a good 10 years even if you can't expect windows 10 years from now to support it.

 

[JohnRice]

I'm hoping to get this thread back to the topic, which is HDTV (or at least digital) over Antenna.

I still don't have HD and have no idea when I will. I am mostly into movies and haven't had any cable or satellite for over 5 years. The little bit of TV I get is with a pair of rabbit ears. Anyway, I bought a cheap SDTV and I can pick up a few digital stations, but unfortunately in my area (Northern Colorado) legal wrangling has seriously delayed building of high power transmitters.

Anyway, I am located almost half way between Denver and Cheyenne Wyo, and I would like to pick up stations from both locations, plus the local repeaters we have here locally. I can actually pick up one station in Cheyenne with just the rabbit ears. Anyway, once all the high power transmitters are up, I will be wanting to receive stations ranging from due north to south and slightly west and I don't want to deal with a directional antenna and rotor. Once the final transmitters are up outside Denver, they are supposed to cover my area without the need for a directional antenna. Also, I have been checking antennaweb.org for a couple years now, and they are proving to be virtually worthless. They don't even acknowledge half the stations exist, and I am already picking up digital stations they say don't exist.

Anyway, looking around, This Antenna from Radio Shack looks like a good choice. I would just like to know if anyone else has bought it. There are some reviews from customers claiming they are picking up far more remote stations that I need to get.

In summary, this is basically my situation. I need to pick stations ranging anywhere between 0 deg and about 195 deg, ranging in distance from 5 miles to about 60 miles. I DO NOT want to deal with a rotor and all that crap. If I can't pick something up without that, I just won't get it. I definitely want to get both the Cheyenne and Denver stations, since they tend to show different football games, which is one of the few things I actually want to watch on TV.

I am currently picking up 4 digital stations with just rabbit ears. One is CBS in Cheyenne, one is a local repeater of the Denver Fox channel. The final two are ones antennaweb doesn't even show, so I don't know where the transmitters are, though one station appears to be in southeast Denver, which would put them at least 70 miles away. I pick up all the Denver and most Cheyenne analog stations with the rabbit ears.

Sorry for the ramble. I guess I'm mainly looking for real world experience picking up digital over air and suggestions for antennas for my situation. I'm kind of itching to pick up the RS model I linked to see what happens.

 

[ChrisWiggles]

I have that antenna from radio shack. Worked great while it worked, which it no longer does.

 

[Al.Anderson]

Antennaweb.org is pretty accurate. So based on your location I wouldn't think even a large omni-directional antenna will cut it.

(Did you not know about antennaweb.org, or are you just looking for someone in the same location that has direct experience?)

 

[JohnRice]

yeah, I know about antennaweb.org and mentioned it multiple times in my post. It may be accurate other places, but it is pitiful for Colorado/Wyoming. It does not even know the existance of over half of the stations, including most of the networks, plus as I said, there were ugly legal issues regarding the building of high power transmittors, which are supposedly settled now. We are supposed to be getting high power coverage for our region of the state.

 

[Allan Jayne]

Most antennas meant for distant reception require rotors, or more than one of the antennas pointed in different directions respectively together with a switch box at your TV.

 

[JohnRice]

I guess in my rambling I wasn't really being clear.

I am currently using rabbit ears. I can pick up all the analog stations I really want with the rabbit ears. I will not be using rotors, directional antennae, multiples or any of that stuff. I am hoping for suggestions on omnidirectional antennas. There must be models capable of significantly better performance than rabbit ears. I am just hoping to find one that will give me the best reception I can get within the limitations I spelled out. Colorado still does not have a single high power digital transmitter. This is going to change. So, I will be gaining reception of digital stations as that happens. I already pick up one digital channel in Denver and one in Cheyenne, that I am supposed to have no chance of receiving with rabbit ears.

 

[JohnRice]

There is finally some progress on our local digital broadcasts. Stations are finally migrating to high power transmitters. I am still just using rabbit ears (for the time) though I moved it to a better location. Last week, 2 Denver stations moved their digital transmission and I can pick them up with just the rabbir ears. So, I take this as a good sign I will soon be able to pick up a variety of stations with an omni-directional antenna.

So, I am asking again for suggestions on good omni-directional antennae. The various stations I want to pick up, ranging from local to Denver to Cheyenne cover directions over about a 270 degree range and I don't want to bother with a directional antenna with rotor. I think the fact I am picking up the full power digital stations broadcasting outside Denver (60+ miles away) with rabbit ears is a good sign a higher placed, outdoor omni-directional antenna will work.

Any suggestions?