Previous Thread
Next Thread
Print Thread
Rate Thread
Page 2 of 2 1 2
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
oldskoolboarder #210892 06/06/08 10:42 PM
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,210
axiomite
Offline
axiomite
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 5,210
This thread is worthless without pictures.


\:\)

Congrats Peter ... 'bout time, huh?


Rick
Our Room

smile
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
RickF #210895 06/07/08 01:09 AM
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 43
G
buff
Offline
buff
G
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 43
I live within Quincy city limits and I have had dropout problems with every antenna that I have tried so I purchased the DB4 from amazon a few months ago and it works better than the others.

I have not tried the terk antenna with ATSC signals I did try one with analog NTSC signals and promptly returned it because it did not improve my signal.

Im guessing the DB4 will be an improvement. although it is supposed to be pretty directional are all the Springfield towers in the same area?


M80,VP150,QS8,ERD-1,XPA-2,XPA-5,UMC-10,PS3,XBOX360,Dish VIP622,PB13 Ultra,Panasonic PT-AE3000U
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
gmeyer #210951 06/08/08 05:52 AM
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 185
veteran
Offline
veteran
Joined: Nov 2004
Posts: 185
Peter, oldschool is correct on the CM 4228. I've got one inside my attic and am pulling in signal 45-50 miles. On the roof it should have more range. Congrats on the HD purchase. I've been enjoying OTA HD for years and now have cable HD too. My first was a 46" mits platinum rear projection in 2000.


Whose avatar should I borrow next?
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
PeterChenoweth #210977 06/08/08 07:11 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
connoisseur
OP Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
Hey gang!

Thanks for all the congrats and kind words. I've wanted to respond, but my weekend has been a bit busy. \:\)

In a word, wow. Absolutely incredible TV.

As I hoped, my Dish Network install/upgrade went a whole lot more smoothly than Nick's experience. The scheduled time was noon-5 on friday. Their dispatch office called me at 4 to say they were running late but should be here by 5:30 or 6. At 5:30 the installer himself called to appologize and say that he had some trouble with earlier installs and would be here around 7, but promised that he would be here. At about 6:45 he and another guy showed up. Extremely appologetic for being so late. A really good couple of guys. We were up and running with full HD by about 7:30. Kudos to them for working until 7:30 on a Friday night, and he really took the time to peak the dish and to make sure that everything was working correctly.

I spent several hours yesterday tinkering with the DB4 & a Radio Shack UHF signal amplifier. I'm pretty impressed. The best place I found was from an attic window. I'm sure the roof would be better but I'm not really in the mood to deal with the hassle & expense of doing that just yet. Pointed east, towards all of the possible stations I could get, 100% signal on the 760kW ABC and 335kW Fox stations located 30 miles away (Springfield). Those are expected. The Terk HDTVa sitting in my den could pull those in. But with ths DB4 & amp, I'm also pulling in 65-80% signal on the 350kW NBC HD tower that's 76 miles away ( Decatur,IL). But since it's HD, it's a perfect signal. Freaking awesome. Olympics 2008, here we come!

Still no dice on CBS-HD. The nearest tower is 72 miles away (same direction as the others) and 100kW more powerful than the NBC tower, but I've learned that it's not as tall. Bummer. I'll just deal with the SD feed from the Dish for now. All of the SD programming is up-converted to 1080i by my Dish 722 receiver, which is nice. Certainly still SD, but it's not too bad.

Dropped & ran the antenna coax down to the basement and back up to the den, so it's all neat and tidy. Much better than coax cable running all over the house.

The picture. Oh my goodness. Incredible. We've spent a large part of the weekend just watching HD stuff. I'm sure everyone who has gone through this transition has done exactly the same thing. The locals in HD are stunning when they're broadcasting true HD feeds. All of the Dish HD channels are gorgeous as well, and I can't really tell a difference between the compressed satellite HD feed vs. OTA. Of course, we're quickly learning that the programming makes a huge difference. Battlestar Galactica on Friday was stunning. Extremely impressed with the black levels too, as that had been a minor concern with DLP sets.

And since we're all here for Axiom, the sound is also incredible. The real Dolby Digital feeds on the HD channels are fantastic. No surprise that the audio realism seems cranked up a notch as well.

Did someone say pix? \:\/ I do not have the luxury of a dedicated home theater room, so this is just our den, which is well lit. I'm happy to report zero glare or brightness isues.




And a still from a Blue Man Group concert on one of the HD channels. Pictures just don't do it justice!





M80v2 | VP150v2 | QS8v2
SVS Pci+ 20-39
Emotiva UMC-1 & LPA-1
M22ti + T-Amp, in the Office
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
PeterChenoweth #210984 06/08/08 08:53 PM
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441
shareholder in the making
Offline
shareholder in the making
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 16,441
Those guys are failed plumbers, I think. ;\)

Your entire setup looks amazing. Let's home they don't release a new standard for TV anytime soon so you can be set for a few years. \:\)

Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
pmbuko #211047 06/09/08 12:03 PM
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 868
aficionado
Offline
aficionado
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 868
Congrats on the new display, enjoy.


Dave
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
pmbuko #211155 06/10/08 03:09 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
connoisseur
OP Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
 Originally Posted By: pmbuko
Let's home they don't release a new standard for TV anytime soon so you can be set for a few years. \:\)


That's the plan, anyway. ;\)

I wanted to post a brief update for others in my situation....

I've removed the Radio Shack preamp/amp. I was having some signal problems last night. The 76-mile away NBC feed was jumping around a lot. Nothing, then 80%, then 60%, then 70%, then nothing, etc. Not watchable, as it would lose the picture & sound every 30-60 seconds for 2-3 seconds. I removed the amp/preamp and just hooked up the DB4 directly to the Dish 722. So now the signal was just traveling over about 50' of RG6 cable. The signal peak levels dropped by about 5%, but it's much more stable. NBC immediately became completely watchable, with only extremely brief pixelations (maybe once every 5 minutes) with no loss in sound. I have read over on AVS that the R/S thing is pretty crummy, and this seems to be proof. It's being returned today. I have a ChannelMaster 7777 on order that should be a much higher quality preamp/amp. I'm hoping anyway...

I also managed to capture the nearest CBS-HD feed this morning! I flipped on the NBC morning news and noticed the signal was a good 10% higher than I have ever seen it. I'm guessing because it is a very calm, clear, cool, and beautiful morning. So for fun I re-ran the auto-scan on the 722. Lo-and-behold, it found the CBS station. Holy cow. According to TVFool.com, the tower I'm picking up is **96** miles away. 96 miles! Granted, it's flat central Illinois but I thought that was pretty freaking amazing. I was only getting it at about 60%, and the HDTV signals start to break up at about 58% and is gone by 56%, so it's right on the edge of reception. I fully expect that the heat and disturbances of the day will kill the signal. But still, there is hope that I can find a way to pull that signal.

In a nutshell, this DB4 antenna does seem to be pretty amazing. And it's not even roof mounted, just in an tower-facing attic window. It even has a big tulip tree (huge leaves) 30 feet in front of it. I wish I had the space for the DB8. Anyone looking for a decent UHF antenna, definitely check out the AntennasDirect DB4.



M80v2 | VP150v2 | QS8v2
SVS Pci+ 20-39
Emotiva UMC-1 & LPA-1
M22ti + T-Amp, in the Office
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
oldskoolboarder #211275 06/11/08 04:53 PM
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,955
axiomite
Offline
axiomite
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 6,955
61" Samsung ?

SWEEEET !


With great power comes Awesome irresponsibility.
Re: Just joined the HDTV club.
Murph #211453 06/13/08 12:57 PM
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
connoisseur
OP Offline
connoisseur
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,349
A final update to my saga of getting OTA HD. Maybe someone in my shoes will stumble across this in the future...

I've returned the Radio Shack preamp and have received the ChannelMaster 7777. It's better, but not really making as much fo a difference as I had hoped. It certainly feels quite a bit more well-made than the Radio Shack one. The mast-mounted preamp part is a nice and solid chunk of metal instead of the super-cheap plastic that the RS one was, and the connections just feel and look nice.

But anyway, it's up and running. I'm getting about a 5% boost in signal across the board with it. Not helping the close stations (they were perfect already), but it is helping with a distant one. The signal is much more stable than with the RS one.

So the setup now: AntennasDirect DB4 in an attic window + ChannelMaster 7777 + 50' of RG6 + DishNetwork 722 = solid locals from as far as 75 miles away. I'm probably not going to go to the trouble/hassle/expense of putting the antenna on my roof, so this is how it will stay until Dish can get me my locals in HD.

For anyone getting into OTA HD, the UHF band is so fickle. It takes a lot of patience to get it dialed in just right. Weather and the time of day affect it greatly. Do try to see what you can get in the early morning hours. The reception in the morning seems to always be astounding. I wish the signal strengths would stay like that all the time! I guess the heat and solar interference during the day just kill it. This morning, for instance, I could again pick up all 4 majors in HD, including the 96-mile away CBS tower. Not only that, but I was also actually able to pick up WQAD, which is ABC out of the Quad Cities, IA. Their tower is 140 miles away from my house. 140 miles. That's absurd. It wasn't really watchable, as it would break up every few seconds, but it was there. Too bad those distant ones will dissapear during the day.

So there it is. I can say that I definitely recommend the DB4 antenna. It's proven quite effective even when just in my attic. The CM 7777 seems like a good product too, though I can't say that it's absolutely a 'required' purchase.


M80v2 | VP150v2 | QS8v2
SVS Pci+ 20-39
Emotiva UMC-1 & LPA-1
M22ti + T-Amp, in the Office
Page 2 of 2 1 2

Moderated by  alan, Amie, Andrew, axiomadmin, Brent, Debbie, Ian, Jc 

Link Copied to Clipboard

Need Help Graphic

Forum Statistics
Forums16
Topics24,940
Posts442,457
Members15,616
Most Online2,082
Jan 22nd, 2020
Top Posters
Ken.C 18,044
pmbuko 16,441
SirQuack 13,840
CV 12,077
MarkSJohnson 11,458
Who's Online Now
0 members (), 386 guests, and 4 robots.
Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod
Newsletter Signup
Powered by UBB.threads™ PHP Forum Software 7.7.4