Video Asylum

Posted by cfraser (A) on February 22, 2009 at 10:03:35

In Reply to: RE: Outside antenna not pulling in stations that have gone digital posted by Road Warrior on February 22, 2009 at 08:43:29

He needs to go to some place like http://tvfool.com/ and find out where the channels he wants are, how far away, and in what direction.

Digital reception is mostly go/no go, in that it is watchable or not, very little in between like with analog where you can put up with a bit fuzzy if necessary.

FWIW I have no problem getting many DTV stations up to 60 miles with a little antenna hidden behind my couch. It largely depends on the terrain between you and the station. Aiming the antenna is important. A good analog UHF TV antenna is still a good digital TV antenna. Similarly for VHF antennas, but more digital stations are in the UHF now. IOW, there's nothing "special" about a DTV antenna.

Edit: by "little antenna" I should say it is actually a "nice-looking" (as they go) fairly compact outdoor antenna. I could put it outdoors, but no need since I get all the networks, and all the stations I could possibly get without going into a very substantial installation. Indoors keeps the cable short, makes it easy to aim (there are only 3 necessary directions for me), and don't have to bother with weatherproofing. Your location determines how well this works. Outdoors and high is always better.

Edits: 02/22/09