So, I Hooked My TV Up to an Antenna...

[Wanted]

... or is it the other way around?

Anyway, my HD television has a built-in ATSC tuner, and I figured that I might as well get familiar with it before February 2009. So, the other weekend, I hooked an indoor antenna to the set, and lo and behold, I got no channels (but I did receive a glimpse at one subchannel for one frame of a second).

That got me wondering how this whole fiasco's supposed to work. Surely I shouldn't have to install an outdoor antenna just to get reception, especially considering that I live in the New York/New Jersey area.

I just wanted to get the FUNimation Channel .

[Matt Hazuda]

Did you use an actual digital antenna, or the old school bunny ears?

If you used an old antenna, that's analog, which explains why you wouldn't have picked up any signals at all on the ATSC tuner.

[Wanted]

I didn't know there was a "digital" antenna, as I'm pretty certain I used the old bunny ears.



looked like this, except with one knob. Where should I look for digital antennas?

[Temple Fugate]

We have to get ANTENNAS on top of the converter boxes now? Antennas are antennas. They can pick up anything.* I figured the converter box would sort out the digital signal from the rest of the garbage. Even my computer speakers sometimes intercept CB radio transmissions because their audio cables act as receivers.

I suppose I might as well just go with digital cable when the switchover happens, but I loathe Comcast and any reason to sever ties with them is welcome.

*Temple Fugate does not accept responsibility for the factual inaccuracies of this statement which he, until this moment, considered to be completely correct.

[Wounded_Dragon]

There's really no such thing as an HD antenna.With OTA HDTV, you have to know where to point your antenna. You either get the signal or you don't.

However, that doesn't mean another type of antenna won't help. Antennaweb.org is a good starting point.

[The Irishman]

You may need to buy a new antenna. If your antenna is an old model it may not be a 'high gain' design, which is needed to pick up high bitrate, HD signals. You may also need a booster, most rabbit ears which need an electrical socket will have an in-built booster, otherwise you'll have to buy one.

I recently got a converter box and whereas before I would get really bad signals on all but one station, they now come in crystal clear. You will need to retune your TV for the digital channels as they are not in the same place as the analogue ones because of extra channels, etc.

[Peter Paltridge]

What the poo? You mean an antenna is still necessary?? I thought the box did well enough receiving digital channels on its own.

[Kagetsu]

Ok wait. An antenna is an antenna. It's length is a mathematical requirement for the transmitter load. All transmissions are the same electro-magnetic spectrum. The "mode" AM,FM,SSB, ASCII, PACKET, SSTV or FSTV is just how it's modulated. There really isn't a difference between digital or analog for the antenna. You just have to be in range of the transmitter for the frequency. And frequencies can do some weird stuff depending on how high in the spectrum they are. Height and physical objects will effect the attenuation.

no one has said anything about frequency shift. Digital channels can overlap on the same frequency because of their nature. but frequency spread,,, which is different for each mode, is only governed by the narrowness of the filters. The "channels" should stay the same unless they modify the transmitters. They can,,, but haven't mentioned it as yet.

I "think" the whole idea of this change is they can gain money through the FCC being able to license more of the spectrum because of the tighter band width that digital allows. You would not believe the battles that go on about who can have how much band space and when they can use it. It's an Internation conflict that is always going on.

Keep in mind that International agreement, no transmitter can knowingly interfere with the established coverage of another transmitter. Much of radio law is held worldwide by handshake only.

You'll notice some AM stations going off air at night. It's because another station has established it can transmit in that distance after dark. The sun greatly affects radio in the lower bands.

[PeppeRaskell1]

You'll have better success with a double-bowtie UHF antenna. Try finding an old "Goldie Bowtie" from Radio Shack on eBay, or for a little more money, buy a Terrestrial Digital DB-2 antenna, which can be used indoors, as well as outdoors. An amplifier is a definite must, as well as having your antenna close to a window.

With the antenna I have, I can pick up WRNN and its two subchannels (including FUNimation), as well as five TBN channels (Ned Flanders would just love these channels!) Some days I can pick up a few stations from NEPA and/or Philadelphia, but the signal breaks up around 8 o'clock in the morning...sorta like the AM radio stations someone mentioned.

[Wanted]

Thanks, for the help.

It's not that I need an antenna... there's just a certain point in time at which I believe paying for cable won't be necessary any longer (right now, if I could get those digital channels!), and I'm tyring to stay ahead of the curve. If only there was a try it before you buy it kind of thing with TV antennas.

[Matt Hazuda]

If only there was a try it before you buy it kind of thing with TV antennas.

It's called buy it at the store, bring it home and test it out and if you don't like it, return it.

[Wanted]

That's just what I was thinking.