Will this antenna work for HD broadcast. (1 Viewer)

[Jerome Grate]

I just purchased this t.v. http://www.magnavox.com/index.cfm?ev...=3&product=102

for the family room for daily t.v. watching and as you can see it has the ATSC/OAM tuner. I'm looking to purchase this indoor amplified antenna

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4010754
The question I have do you think it will work. I went to CES and saw that based on my zip code there are two channels I can get and that's fine because one is a local channel that has the local news and other HD programming. Should I placed this near a window or in this case it would be the side door to the deck. Will this work or should I look for something outside mounted.

 

[JeremyErwin]

Two channels? What color code were they?

 

[Robert_J]

Terk is the Bose of the antenna world. But at least that's their best antenna for UHF. I wouldn't count on it for any VHF channels though. Also, since it is an indoor antenna, you shouldn't buy it unless you are within 10-15 miles from the transmitters.

Go to antennaweb.org and enter your address. Copy/paste the digital channel information back and we can better help you with the appropriate antenna selection.

-Robert

 

[Jerome Grate]

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
blue - uhf WRNN 62 IND KINGSTON NY
326° 33.8 62
violet - vhf WFSB 3 CBS HARTFORD CT
101° 41.6 3

 

[Robert_J]

Those are the analog channels. For example, you need to list WFSB-DT, channel 3-1, frequency 33 (UHF). I did notice that they broadcast both their analog and digital channel from the same tower.

But at 41 miles, that Terk will give you nothing but a PITA. I'm 25 miles from the Memphis antenna farm and I use a Radio Shack outdoor UHF antenna mounted in the attic. It works 99% of the time. There's the occaisional glitch. At 40+ miles, I'd go for a Channelmaster 4 bow-tie antenna mounted on the peak of your roof. Since the channels are in opposite directions, you will also need a rotor.

-Robert

 

[Jerome Grate]

Thanks for the help, do I have to ground it if you know.

 

[Todd H]

You have to ground the antenna mast to your house ground with at least 10 gauge copper ground wire. You also have to run the coax through a grounding block and ground it to the house ground as well.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Thanks for the info guys, looks like the project for the weekend.

 

[JeremyErwin]

On the other hand, I just ran antennaweb.

Here's what an analog station listing looks like:
blue - vhfWUSA9CBSWASHINGTONDC79° 16. 9

And a digital station

violet - uhfWUSA-DT9.1CBSWASHINGTONDC 9° 16.7 34

Hmm. Not my imagination after all. My signal has really deteriorated over the past year or so. WUSA-DT used to be "red".

Anyway, the digital stations, the ones that can broadcast HDTV, are suffixed by the letters DT. The ones you found are not. So, you won't be able to get HDTV over the air.

 

[Todd H]

Add 100 ft of height under options to get a better idea of what you can receive.

 

[Jerome Grate]

Rats, 2 HDTVs, one with upscaling player and none with HD programming. I have DirecTV but are there compression issues, is it really HD or scaled etc.?

 

[Robert_J]

Instead of 1920x1080, then send 1280x1080. Same with 720p. It has been affectionately (?) named HD Lite by the crowd at AVS.

Sometimes OTA is no better. Here in the Memphis area, we are plagued with multi-casting. The stations are dedicating a huge amount of data to sub-channels that carry a weather radar, repeats of the evening news and The Tube video network. The main digital channels show the effects of being starved for bandwidth.

-Robert

 

[Don T]

I am actually very curious about this. I did buy a HD antenna from Radio Shack when I first bought my TV, but now how DishNetwork HD. Below is the AntennaWeb info I got. However it seems like I only get KTEH and a few spanish channels in HD over the air.

*yellow - uhfKGO-DT7.1ABCSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.724
*yellow - uhfKTSF-DT26.1INDSAN FRANCISCOCA302°41.527
*yellow - uhfKKPX-DT65.1IONSAN JOSECA302°41.541
*yellow - uhfKPIX-DT5.1CBSSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.729
*yellow - vhfKNTV-DT11.1NBCSAN JOSECA302°41.412
*yellow - uhfKQED-DT9.1PBSSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.730
*yellow - uhfKMTP-DT33.1INDSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.733
*yellow - uhfKSTS-DT48.1TELSAN JOSECA353°17.349
*yellow - uhfKTEH-DT54.1PBSSAN JOSECA354°16.650
*yellow - uhfKDTV-DT14.1UNISAN FRANCISCOCA353°17.351
*yellow - uhfKICU-DT36.1INDSAN JOSECA354°16.552
*green - uhfKTVU-DT2.1FOXOAKLANDCA305°45.756
*green - uhfKRON-DT4.1MNTSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.757
*green - uhfKBWB-DT20.1INDSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.719
*green - uhfKCSM-DT43.1PBSSAN MATEOCA305°45.743
*green - uhfKCNS-DT38.1SAHSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.739
*lt green - uhfKSMS-DT31.1UNIMONTEREYCA134°16.231
*red - uhfKTFK-DT64.1SAHSTOCKTONCA345°43.662
*red - uhfKBCW-DT44.1CWSAN FRANCISCOCA305°45.745
*red - uhfKFSF-DT66.1TFAVALLEJOCA305°45.734
*violet - uhfKTLN-DT47.1INDNOVATOCA314°72.347

 

[Don T]

Somebody throw me a bone with what this means!

 

[JeremyErwin]

perhaps your antenna is pointing in the wrong direction?

 

[Don T]

Jeremy,

I am not sure I know what you mean. This is what happens when I put this into the website. What should I expect, what antenna should I be looking into?

Thank you,
Don

 

[Robert_J]

If you are only getting the PBS station and Spanish language channels, then you are pointed at the antenna farm at 353 degrees. It is also closer (under 20 miles). To get the stations at 305 degrees, you will need a much larger antenna since they are all over 40 miles away. Plus terrain will make a huge difference. If you have a hill, etc between you and the towers, you can either give up or build a tower so the antenna has a good view.

I would look at a 4 bay UHF antenna. It should pick up all of the UHF stations and maybe the NBC station since it is VHF channel 12 (most UHF antennas pick up high frequency VHF stations).

-Robert