Posted on 06/17/2009 12:46:03 PM PDT by 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?
You can’t go back to analog.
.. but you can increase your at home DVD’s on Netflix, plus everyday more is available for free from them online, lot’s of fun.
Cable is only available if I want to pay to dig the ditch and bring it up the road - they estimate about $25,000 will do the job. Yeah right!
Well gee, I thought I was being smart learning how to cook on the TV shows!
essentially junk now...
that part T’s me off. I have a nice little Emerson (that also has an excellent radio tuner).
Seven inch color screen. Had great reception. Used to.
1) Go into your TV’s menu and look for a master reset or factory reset.
2) Reset your TV back to factory specs
3) Now do a re-scan
If that doesn’t work, you’ll need either an amplifier or a larger antenna that is designed for UHF frequencies, or, in some markets, both UHF and VHF.
Antennas work better outside. If yours is indoors, consider moving it up to your roof. Your reception will be much better.
(P.S. - I sell outdoor TV antennas and amplifiers for a living. I’ve gotten a mountain of calls in just the last week over exactly the same problem you are having.)
I think an amp is pretty much a must have. My reception is fairly stable, but if it rains or the wind blows, it can start to flake out on me. Amp solved most of the problems.
For many people, yes. However, for some there is the risk of over-amplification, especially if they have a converter box that already has some form of pre-amplifier built into it, or their signal is already at 70-80%. Digital only needs about 50% signal strength to lock on - anything about that is just gravy. If the signal bounces around a lot, an amp will be of limited use, as a fluctuating signal is a sign of multipath interference or of objects like trees between the antenna and the TV station’s transmitter blowing around in the wind.
A good outdoor antenna is still the most important item in any off-air system.
How are things going with your DTV reception?
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