Digital TV Conversion

conservativesister

[conservativesister]

HELP, this digital TV conversion really is horrible! I used to get 9 channels with my antenna. I bought a new digital TV and now I get 2 channels, and they are spotty. I live outside the cable covered area and they will not bring it on up the road, so how can I get local TV stations like I did before?

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Where do you get wire coat hangers these days?

My wife's closet.

[ctdonath2]

Indeed. 3 years without, and I don’t see how anyone could possibly have time for it. Tried signing up for cable several times, but totally balked at the price ($60/mo for decent lineup? nuts!).

I follow the DTV stuff out of techincal curiosity; _what_ is delivered is largely crud (gimme my NetFlix), but _how_ it’s delivered is interesting.

[netmilsmom]

Dry cleaners.

[jaydubya2]

Thanks, I have a Wineguard mast mounted preamp and booster, and a good UHF/VHF antenna, mounted at about 25’, but my problem is transmitter power. My vacation home is 60 miles from the nearest transmitter, when they “upgraded” to digital, they reduced there effective reception area by about ten miles. I now am outside of their reception area. On a good day, I can get a signal, but mostly no signal or severely pixleized reception. I have good equipment now, but I am considering upgrading to the best I can get, or just watch less TV, which might be the better option.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Sounds like you’ve done everything you can.

[jaydubya2]

Yea. I had my pie and the man took it away.

[TheBattman]

I was concerned for my Father In Law when he splurged and bought an LCD HDTV. He too lives in a fringe area for coverage (reception was hit-or-miss with the old analog). To our surprise, he gets twice the channels he did before. With digital, you either get it or you don’t. There really isn’t much gray area between. That being said:

Your options, as best I can tell:

1. an outdoor antenna. Correctly put together and mounted, you should be able to pick up what you want. Don’t go cheap and get a itty-bitty $20 antenna and lean it against a tree... Part of correct installation is using good coax cable and connectors.

2. Call DirecTV or DishNetwork and have them come out and hook you up with satellite.

3. post and complain - though it can help with venting, it doesn’t generally help TV reception.

And the positive about getting Dish or DTV - you are not stuck with local variants on the mainstream media. You could get FoxNews.

[vpintheak]

Rescan and get an outdoor antenna. Works wonders.

[KrisKrinkle]

All these comments about Satellite TV and boosters and so forth are nice, but consider what you might want to do to get at least local TV when the power goes out.

We were without power for almost a week last fall and I hooked up a TV with antenna to an inverter and a car battery to get the local stations, for news and updates and so forth. Hope I can do the same with a TV and the converter.

And does anybody know what to do with those small battery operated TVs with built in antennas that you can’t hook up to a converter?

[TheBattman]

the so-called “digital” antennas are a scam in general. There is nothing digital about them. Just get a good antenna. Lots of places to get them. I even think Radio Shack still sells them (though you might have to order it). Get a big one with high gain.

[KrisKrinkle]

“Dry cleaners.”

Well, I post on FR, so I suppose I have the fortitude to put up with the laughter I'd get taking jeans, Dickie, T, and golf shirts in for dry-cleaning just so I could get wire hangers :)

[E. Pluribus Unum]

Yea. I had my pie and the man took it away.

From what I've seen, they're constantly fiddling with those signals. They might give you enough power yet.

[fso301]

Please come over here, fso301.

Ok. I'm here.

[netmilsmom]

Thank you!

[netmilsmom]

LOL!

Personally, I’d walk in and ask to buy a couple!

[dan1123]

consider what you might want to do to get at least local TV when the power goes out.

A television is much more power-hungry than a converter box or booster. If you were able to watch TV on your last power-outage, you should have no problem plugging in the converter box and booster for the next.

And does anybody know what to do with those small battery operated TVs with built in antennas that you can’t hook up to a converter?

Those are essentially junk now. If you want a little portable TV that picks up the new stations, you'll have to buy replace it with something like this.

[fso301]

I used to get 9 channels with my antenna. I bought a new digital TV and now I get 2 channels, and they are spotty.

1. What type antenna do you use?
2. How much cable is between your antenna and tv?
3. When you select "digital stations only", how many stations does this site www.antennaweb.org say you should be able to receive?
4. How far away are the stations from your address?
5. Are most of the stations along the same general compass heading +/- 25 degrees?
6. Describe your location; hilltop or valley and the type structures between your antenna and the stations?

[dan1123]

No one here seems to have mentioned that not all receivers are the same. Earlier and cheaper DTV boxes and televisions had a very hard time with any interference with or reflection of the television signal. New receivers are much better. I hear the ones here have top-notch reception.

[Atomic Vomit]

No tv? What's to complain about?

Consider it a blessing. You aren't missing a thing except for liberal propaganda, soft pornography, violent pornography and lies.

TV is soul poison. Now that you don't have it, you'll see what it is that you have been missing in real life.

Don't fix your tv.

AV

[rawhide]

We are having the same problem. Its a government program, what did you expect?

Just wait if the health care plan passes. You ain't seen nothng yet!