Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Technical Questions ATSC (HD) and Antennas

Well I just got a ATSC HD tuner card for my MCE box (HTPC) and installed it tonite. Using this $30 indoor ANT I get ABC and FOX just fine but CBS and NBC are basically worthless.

I assume everyone round here has just used cable for HD? I'm wondering if I should bother going thru the trouble of getting an outdoor ANT or spending more money on a better indoor one.

There is a website that will tell you what type of antenna you need for each HDTV station to your specific location. You key in your address and it tells you the azimuth/ distance to your local stations. If I can find it, I will post the link.

It very well could be that for the other stations, you need an outside antenna with more gain. Or, maybe you can't get them at all because of mountains/ hills.

I'm not sure if this is the website ratpack was referring to, but it is an incredibly helpful site. I used an indoor antenna (and "standard" cable) for a year before finally getting digital/HD cable. I used the Zenith silver sensor, and it worked quite well. But my house is located within line of site of an "antenna farm" for almost all of TV stations offering HD in my area.

Antennaweb.org

Good luck!
Rich

I'll second the Zenith Silver Sensor.I use cable and ota the Zenith works very well for me in a lower level room with 4ft concrete walls and bad reception on everything.

I will definitely look into that Antenna. The one I got is an amplified one from RatShack that my friend had gotten with the same HD Tuner and it worked for him.

I have used Antennaweb, it was the reason I decided to give this a shot.

OK the weird part of this is:

CBS and NBC just don't come in very well at all. ABC seems to work great. Those three stations have their towers RIGHT next to each other (all in a row) about 10-12 miles from me. So obviously the direction of my antenna shouldn't need to be adjusted for those.

Looking at this site I wonder... if I got that Zeith antenna I'd probably want to invest in an amplifier to go with it. Or again, I wonder if I need an ext antenna to pickup those last two stations.

Yes, I think that is the website that I was referencing.

Skip the amp.My experience has been that all they do is mess up the signal.People with more knowhow than me all say never go with amplified antennas.Past experience pretty much confirms this,strong stations work great while borderline stations just become a jumbled mess.I am 15 to 20 miles away in a basement and I Now get all local ota hd stations great plus about 10-12 digital stations I never knew existed btw I got the Silver Sensor just for those rare occasions the cable goes out

I just purchased the Silver Sensor, I'll let you know how mine works in a few days when I get it.

Good thread.

My next purchase for my new HTPC will be an ATSC tuner. Here in the Des Moines area we get FOX, CBS, NBC, PBS, and ABC all in HD. I have a TERK TV55 outside ABS antenna on the side of the house for my upstairs TV. I'm not a big fan of this Terk antenna, I lose colors all the time and have to power off/on the receiver to get them back.

Anyway, I'm about 20-30 miles from some of the signals, so hope to find an inside one that will work in my downstairs HT room.

Inane, which tuner card did you buy?

In reply to:

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I just purchased the Silver Sensor, I'll let you know how mine works in a few days when I get it.

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Excelent!

In reply to:

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Inane, which tuner card did you buy?

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Well it's INANE, not Inane (heh actually its Ben )

I got the KWORLD ATSC-110 from Microcenter for 100 bux and there is a 30 dollar rebate on it. But my friend showed me this yesterday which bummed me out a bit, Directron has the same card for $51 after rebate.

Everything I've read on the web about this card is mixed, but it worked for my friend and it seems to work for me (I'd think my issues are more antenna related).

I just checked Antenna Web and even though I'm about 20 miles from the main signals, it said I was in the Yellow zone, which means the Silver Sensor might be a good solution to replace my Terk TV55.

My worry is the Terk is an outside based antenna, and I don't think the Zenith can be mounted outsides? Anybody have luck with far distances from inside their house with the ZHDTV1?

I guess they must do direct line of site, I'm about 23 miles from a signal. I should be setup within a week with the Zenith, if it gives me even a decent picture I'll be very happy, I've never had an inside Antenna that worked.

Any hills or mountains betweeen you and the stations? If so, you may have some issues.

There are many reviews on Amazon and other websites where this thing out performed outside HD antennas costing twice as much. Even a few people that used them in the basement to pull in very far distance reception.

My house is about 4500 ft above sea level, closest station is probably at sea level 24 miles away as the crow flies , there is one small range at about 5000 ft blocking my direct line of sight. I'm using the antenna on the only TV thats not hooked to the satellite, if I get a couple channels I'll be happy.

Let us know how it works.

A properly designed outside antenna should, consistently, outperform an inside antenna.

Rave reviews are always suspect in my book, especially if they are from non-technical users.

Just beware of what you purchase.

I agree, but if the average rating is 4.5 to 5 stars after 170+ reviews, then I give some credibilty to those folks. Afterall, most of them are just like us. If I would have doubted the reviews I've read on Axiom all over the net, I would have never known how great these speakers perform.

Remember, an ATSC or HD antenna is just an UHF antenna. I bought a $35 outdoor antenna from Radio Shack and it works great. I am about 45 miles from most transmitters in my area I think.

I am about 45 miles driving distance to the nearest antenna, if it doesn't work I'm only out 23.00 so no problem.

Well I ordered the Silver (whatever) antenna from Amazon for 20 bux/free shipping and it IS better than this RatShack antenna I had. But it seems to be more directional (as the box claims) then the RatShack one so I may have to get a 2nd one. It still doesn't work well enough in the basement for me so I will have to figure out where/how to run a cable upstairs somewhere.

I just got mine setup yesterday, on my old powered antenna I could only get one fuzzy station, with the Silver I get the 3 major networks clear and a couple other channels, so I'm a happy camper.

Right, there should be no mystery as to performance. The antenna gain is the number that you want to look at. For any given antenna, it may vary as a function of frequency (channel number) and height (location) above ground.

I really need to replace this Terk TV55 that is mounted on the outside of my house, it sucks. All the towers are exactly 20 miles due north. I have the Terk mounted up on the peak of my garage under the overhang. It is not consistant with performance. According to AntennaWeb I'm very close and don't need a very powerfull antenna. I'm thinking this Zenith might be the way to go.

However, since it can't be mounted outside, I wonder if I can mount the zenith up in the raftors of my garage, opposite the wall the Terk is now mounted. The cabling is about 50ft to my HT room downstairs. I'm afraid just putting the Zenith down in my AV closet won't work.

My ATSC Vbox Cat's eye PCI tuner card will be arriving from PCalchemy in the next few days.

OK this Silver Sensor is a very good antenna. I ran a test cable upstairs to a bedroom on the north side of my house. I'm getting the 3 major networks that I couldn't before. Fox isn't perfect now but its in a different direction completely so I may have to get a 2nd one.

INANE, do you know how far you are from your towers? Where did you purchase your Silver Sensor?

thanks, Randy

Ok, I should have gone back and looked at your previous posts, you answered my questions just fine... I may have to get one of these babies...

HomeDad, where did you purchase your SS Zenith? It sounds like this will have to be my next purchase... My VBOX Cat's Eye PCI HD tuner card will arive very soon...

I got mine from Amazon, it says Phillips but the box it came in says Zenith. They have both listed on their site, this one is just a couple bucks cheaper.

I am about 9 miles from the big three networks towers according to antennaweb (and I know where those 3 towers are, sounds correct to me). I am 14.5 miles from the Fox/WB antenna. But the WB signal doesn't even register for me.

/shrug

But like I said, out of the (8?) digital broadcasts I could potentially pick up, they are in 3 totally different directions. And this being a directional antenna I'm still getting the FOX signal, although it can get a lil choppy once in a while even thou I'm not directed at it.

I'll have to experiment more with pointing it at each tower directly and verify they all come in correctly when doing so.

Bought mine on E-bay for 11.99, but the shipping was 11.00 Fedex.

Another section of the site Ben previously linked has interesting test results.

Here is the street picture from antennaweb.org. Shows the directions of the towers I receive digital broadcasts from, I also made a note on there of which station is which, and the distance from me. Currently I have my antenna pointed to the CBS/NBC/ABC towers (N,NW) and I still get the FOX signal, though it has some drops on occation.

All my towers are about 20+ exactly due north of my house. We live out in the country on top of a hill, should be fine...

Sirquack, did you ever get your card and antenna hooked up? I checked and the same stations for me are 17 miles away. Our neighborhood only allows for 1 18" or smaller satellite dish, no antennas, so I would need to go with an indoor as well and run some cable from my attic to my basement to get HDTV down there.

I am also going to check with a guy from my company who got a "great deal" on a HDTV tuner/antenna combo somewhere. I'll post what I find there.

Wow, I've heard of associations having rules, but how can a city enforce that you can't have an external antenna, oh well.

Nick, no I think my tuner PCI card should be arriving tomorrow. I'll try my Terk external that is hooked up now, but may order this Zenith model soon, based on the good reviews on Amazon...

Yes, associations seem to think that they can have any rules that they wish.

However, if you live in the US, I think that there is a Federal premption such that you can have an outside antenna for satellite or OTA reception. I'm not sure of the link, but if you go to the FCC website, I think that you will be able to find it.

I know that such a law exists for rental properties, but I think you're right, homeowner's associations can do whatever they want.

Well I installed my VBox Cat's Eye DTA150 ATSC card in my computer a little bit ago. Right now my HTPC front end, MediaPortal is scanning for signals. Found 6 so far, hmmm, I'm getting excited to watch a little HD on the big screen.

I still have the Terk TV55 on the outside of the house, we'll see how this tuner card does with it...who knows maybe all this time the problems I've been having upstairs could be my Samsung OTA receiver....

Keep us posted.

Well I'm sure some of my problems are related to the Terk antenna. I am getting some slowness, jerkyness with Mediaportal. I'm playing with the different settings. I did watch a few shows last night that had a strong signal and the picture was jaw dropping, wow....My friend could not believe how nice the picture looked when we watched Saturday Night Live.

Nick, this might be useful information for your homeowners association rules. It appears they can't tell you you can't have an antenna.

My Homeowners association prohibits antennas on the roof, what can I do?
A: Show them the Federal law concerning antennas, homeowners and their rights. In 1996, The FCC affirmed the rights of homeowners to place antennas on property they own or control.* Check out the FCC ruling here: http://www.fcc.gov/mb/facts/otard.html. The law basically states that homeowner association covenants cannot prevent you from installing antennas or dishes. The rule "prohibits restrictions that impair the installation, maintenance or use of antennas used to receive video programming."
*Masts higher than 12 feet above the roofline may be subject to local permitting requirements.