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HDTV Antenna Question
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savrip
Newbie
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13. February 2008 @ 06:40 |
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Senior Member
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13. February 2008 @ 10:29 |
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what some people don't know about antenna's versus satalite, is you will get a better picture with antenna over satalite, because with satalite the signal has to be compresses to fit in the streem down to the reciever, and you don't have to do that with antenna, i use a antenna that is 50 ft with a booster, bigest city where the bradcast coming from is 100 miles, i get 8 stations.
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. February 2008 @ 14:51 |
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@burNasty
The transformer is simple a 300 ohm Flat TV antenna wire to 75ohm (round cable wire) The flat wire of the TF on the screws and the 75 ohn cable screws onto TF and other end goes to set. I haven't made this antenna. I just took an old aluminum VHF-UHF antenna and laid it in my attic pointing toward towers. I'm at least 20 miles from tower and getting signal that is pretty good. Equal to my HD cable signal. Back up my cable if it goes out. I seems very easy a project to do!
@hobbit
I wish I could take credit for the antenna, but alas it's not mine. I found it with google last year when I got my HD TV.
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Member
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13. February 2008 @ 18:20 |
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Could I technically make two or three of these point them in different directions, connect with a diplexor and throw in a preamp and get better reception without the use of a rotator.
Buy the ticket, take the ride. -H.S.T.
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AfterDawn Addict
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13. February 2008 @ 21:43 |
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I have no idea about two antennas, together.
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gsweet11
Newbie
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15. February 2008 @ 19:00 |
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I have not built one but My Dad built two of them (different from the link). We are in Burlington, ON. He pointed one to Toronto and picked up CBC. He pointed the other towards Buffalo, NY (about 70 km away) and was able to get Fox, ABC, PBS and CBS. The NBC transmitter was not strong enough to get a signal. The thing with DTV is you either get a perfect signal or not. There is no fuzzy picture like old analog signals.
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Member
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17. February 2008 @ 19:00 |
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I finished an 8 bay UHF multidirectional antenna. I used the DB8 as a template. I put it in my attic which has metal lining the entire surface of my roof. I get remarkable reception on all local channels. The hd content looks better than the compressed stuff I was getting from dishnetwork. I live in McKinney Texas and according to antennaweb live atleast 43 miles from the nearest tower. I copied nearly all charectoristics of the db8 and am not going back to cable or sat. again. I did pair my antenna with an amplifying splitter 1-4. It was a 10 db amp with extremely low noise. I didn't need it when testing but after throwing in a few diplexors and around 100ft. of cable. I now don't have to worry about cut outs or poor reception.
I bought all materials new and it cost a total of $53 from Lowe's (not inluding the amp which cost $29). The DB8 with tax and shipping was around $150. That is a pretty big savings if you ask me.
Buy the ticket, take the ride. -H.S.T.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 17. February 2008 @ 19:02
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Newbie
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28. March 2008 @ 13:46 |
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Newbie
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28. March 2008 @ 13:52 |
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CM400T
Newbie
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31. March 2008 @ 21:23 |
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Quote:
"Has anyone tried this one?"
I have. There is a dedicated G-H page here:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/ota/superantenna
Also, a forum thread here:
http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/showthread.php?t=81982
Finished mine yesterday. Two ATSC stations that were marginal are now much better. Exactly what I was hoping for. And I'm close enough to those still on VHF (9-10 miles) that I don't have to worry.
Before I can show you the Gray-Hoverman, It looks like I'll need a photobucket (or similar) account, then create links to the photo. Could take a few days. Mine is a PVC framework holding both a the driven elements (the "kinky wires") and a wire mesh "hardware screen" (instead of the pictured straight rods) behind. It's about 27.5 inches wide and 35.5 inches tall. It CAN be done indoors, that's why I did it (I'm limited to indoors).
When my parents get their converter box, I'll compare the "bars" of signal strength, but for now, I can confirm the signals are stronger. And OTA HDTV = no ghosts. Nice!
Here's a link to some gain figures for popular antennae:
http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html
I probably could have crafted some kind of a stand and used the Channel Master 4221 indoors. I didn't think about time/money tradeoff, I just started building the DIY.
Quote:
What kind of transformer is used in the diy?
I used the Radio Shack 15-1140.
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CM400T
Newbie
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11. April 2008 @ 22:21 |
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Okay, here it is. Forgive the complicated background.
It is about 27 inches wide and 35.5 inches tall. And the base is only 8 inches by 10 inches, to sit on today's small DVD players. A couple of channels that were "sometimes" received are now reliable. In fact, I can turn the antenna further away from the "correct" compass heading than I thought I could. Of course your mileage may vary.
Look at the gain figures by following the links in my previous post. The "rabbit ears" I had been using were advertised as "up to 25dB gain". Clearly over-hyped, I was ripped off. This antenna doesn't give 25dB, but it delivers EVERY BIT of what it promises.
Your mileage may vary, but I'd definitely recommend this antenna. Especially if you are restricted to indoors.
Try it out. Using scrap wood and wire is cheap and quick (an hour or so). Place it behind something (like a TV cabinet) and you'll hardly notice it is there. And don't forget to post back.
(There is a Gray-Hoverman thread at www.digitalhome.ca. It is Canadian, but USians can sign up too.)
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2008 @ 01:40 |
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Wow... pretty intense. Nice but, overkill comes to mind :)
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2008 @ 02:08 |
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Did you bother to glue all the pvc tubes and couplers together. If so, where did you begin? You could string different colored Xmas lights thru out inside the tubes and get an "art deco" effect! LOL
How many trips to the hardware store did it take to get all the correct pieces?
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2008 @ 03:23 |
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Originally posted by grimpuffa:
Anyone use a Antenna for HD content?
yes i do and it looks/works great . picture looks better than cable or sat. beening its not compressed
Antec 1200 Full-Tower Case/Thermaltake 750-Watt PS/ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 Mobo/Western Digital Black WD500 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache/NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card/CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 16GB DDR3 /Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo)/CORSAIR Hydro High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler/3-Asus DRW-24B1ST Sata Drives/Samsung 2493HM 24" LCD Monitior 1920x1200 resolution,5ms respone time/OS Windows 10 Pro SP1 64-bit
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2008 @ 10:57 |
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@ZOSO
I have just a plain old vanilla TV antenna lying in my attic that gets the local stations. Picture is great. I have it as a back up in case cable goes out which is rarely. I've been tempted to make the one I link to early in this thread tho.
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2008 @ 13:44 |
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garmmon, and that antenna will pickup the HD signal if you have an HD set.
funny story:
I don't have cable TV and the cable company called me telling me i should have it as a backup. I just laughed and said i use a rooftop antenna which is a better backup than cable by far then explained to him that the HD signal was clearer/better than the cable HD signal (no compression) he had no clue lol
Antec 1200 Full-Tower Case/Thermaltake 750-Watt PS/ASUS SABERTOOTH Z77 Mobo/Western Digital Black WD500 500GB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache/NVIDIA GeForce 8800GTX 384-bit GDDR3 PCI Express Video Card/CORSAIR DOMINATOR PLATINUM 16GB DDR3 /Intel Core i7-3770K Ivy Bridge 3.5GHz (3.9GHz Turbo)/CORSAIR Hydro High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler/3-Asus DRW-24B1ST Sata Drives/Samsung 2493HM 24" LCD Monitior 1920x1200 resolution,5ms respone time/OS Windows 10 Pro SP1 64-bit
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AfterDawn Addict
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12. April 2008 @ 16:09 |
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@Zoso
Yeah the old VHF-UHF combo works in my attic. Gets good picture. I imagine the one I want to make would do better but what I got now is fine for cable outages. As for Cox cable after you sign up for HD signals and two HD DVR receivers and basic digital cable and the internet connection it's near $130 monthly with TT&L(no premium sh*t). Hell there is very little in HD selection on Cox now. The networks broadcast an HD signal but the programming remains standard Broadcast. 20/20 last night was in SB. The nightly national news has only NBC broadcasting in HD-where are ABC and CBS-not that I care-poor Katie.) The technology is way ahead of the networks much like color was to B&W or as they say now greyscale!LOL. I remember gathering around friends TV with them and watching Bonanza when it came out in color.
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snapp
Inactive
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13. May 2008 @ 17:48 |
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hi there,hope someone can help. i have a roof antenna which i connected the coaxial antenna input to my misubshi 65 in tv. Im in michigan and i only get 2 locals at 480i. misubshi sez my tv does not have digtal tuner but its upgradeable through the rgb inputs to get 1080i. so my question is how do i get 1080i or 720p to my tv from over the air signal? pc tuner was my first choice, but i wonder is there any recievers that has in\out antenna input? i have 1 rgb input on tv
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Member
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13. May 2008 @ 20:26 |
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If I were you I would get a digital converter box. I saw one on craigslist in my area for $75. It's a set-top box that will offer your rgb (componant) connection. You might also want to think about getting either a bigger antenna or making sure it is aimed properly if it is a yaggi. www.antennaweb.com or www.tvfool.com offers easy to navigate tools that will tell you exactly what channels to expect to recieve with exactly what kind of antenna.
Buy the ticket, take the ride. -H.S.T.
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snapp
Inactive
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14. May 2008 @ 16:07 |
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will i still get anlog 1080i?
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AfterDawn Addict
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14. May 2008 @ 17:34 |
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Originally posted by Burnasty:
If I were you I would get a digital converter box. I saw one on craigslist in my area for $75. It's a set-top box that will offer your rgb (componant) connection. You might also want to think about getting either a bigger antenna or making sure it is aimed properly if it is a yaggi. www.antennaweb.com or www.tvfool.com offers easy to navigate tools that will tell you exactly what channels to expect to recieve with exactly what kind of antenna.
RGB and Component inputs are not the same.
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Member
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14. May 2008 @ 20:45 |
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I have seen some that do have rgb and componant, they were not pc tuner cards either. I wrote that in a misleading way. My mistake.
Buy the ticket, take the ride. -H.S.T.
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snapp
Inactive
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14. May 2008 @ 20:51 |
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i have rgbhv which i can use both ways. but will i get 720p/1080i anlog?
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