Reception of Over-The -Air Digital TV

[Steve]

I am one of the remaining dinosaurs that still receive all their home TV from over-the-air free broadcast.  (Had cable, been there, done that, it's not worth the money to me.)  With my 3-year old 32" tube TV and rabbit ears, I currently receive channels 2,6,8,11,17,19,23,25,35,39,41,44,47,53,69.  Reception on some channels may be "iffy" depending on current weather conditions, but all stations are watchable, nearly 100% of the time.  I live in mid-town Tulsa at 26th & Yale and only have indoor rabbit ears.  An outdoor antenna would improve my reception I am sure.

Anyone else like myself out there that receives only over-the-air TV but has a newer TV with a digital tuner?  What is your reception like from the local stations that put out a digital signal?  My understanding is that with digital broadcast, it is an "all or nothing" deal;  with analog, you may get a fuzzy but watchable picture, with digital, it is a clear picture or a blank screen.  I am curious as to the local reception of over-the-air digital broadcast, so I know what to expect when I get a converter box so I can still use my perfectly fine, analog TV, come February 2009.

I also read that over-the-air broadcast of digital HD TV is superior to HD transmitted by cable or satellite because broadcast HD is not compressed, and there is no signal loss or degradation.  If I should decide to purchase an HD TV in the future, the best HD picture is actually obtained from free air broadcast, so I have read.    

[sgrizzle]

It's kinda all or nothing. You can get pixelation or jerky picture/sound. It will be clear, jumbled, or not existent. I've heard channel 8's signal is lousy. Keep in mind there is supposed to be money for every household to get a HDTV tuner to allow their old TV to work on the new frequencies.

You will only get 4-5 stations on HD, but some stations such as 6 and 8 also broadcast their weather-only and news-only station on HD subchannels. (6.1, 8.1, etc.)

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by sgrizzle

It's kinda all or nothing. You can get pixelation or jerky picture/sound. It will be clear, jumbled, or not existent. I've heard channel 8's signal is lousy. Keep in mind there is supposed to be money for every household to get a HDTV tuner to allow their old TV to work on the new frequencies.

You will only get 4-5 stations on HD, but some stations such as 6 and 8 also broadcast their weather-only and news-only station on HD subchannels. (6.1, 8.1, etc.)

HD is not my current concern, since I only have a standard definition analog TV, a Panasonic 32" flat screen tube TV which suits me just fine.  The hoopla over HD does not concern me.  My main concern is being able to receive the current TV broadcasts that I now receive in standard definition.  Are the current transmissions of standard definition digital TV received well in Tulsa with people that have digital receivers and receive their TV from over-the-air broadcast?  I will make use of the $40 gov't discount coupons to purchase a converter as soon as they are available, but I want to know what the experiences have been so far from people that get their TV strictly from air broadcast, like myself.  I really don't care much about HD; I just want to know about local reception of standard digital TV.

Like you said, I have heard that some local stations may go black, due to poor quality digital transmission.  With analog, you could get a watchable picture, even if it was sometimes fuzzy.  With digital, I understand it is all or nothing.  Just want to know the current state of digital over-the-air transmission for local stations and the experience of local users tuning in to digital broadcast.

[Wilbur]

I have one small HDTV in my home office that I only use rabbit ears on.  I get all of the channels you talk about, then many others.  Many of the 'main' stations broadcast several different programs on different channels.  Such as, channel 2 shows one thing, then channel 2.1 shows another.  Channel 8 has 8, 8.1, 8.2.  OETA has four or five.

The reception on the regular channels is just fine.  The only channels I have a problem with is channels 8.1 and 8.2.  Everything else is fine.

I have not noticed a difference between the over-the-air HD channels and the HD channels I get from Cox.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

I have one small HDTV in my home office that I only use rabbit ears on.  I get all of the channels you talk about, then many others.  Many of the 'main' stations broadcast several different programs on different channels.  Such as, channel 2 shows one thing, then channel 2.1 shows another.  Channel 8 has 8, 8.1, 8.2.  OETA has four or five.

The reception on the regular channels is just fine.  The only channels I have a problem with is channels 8.1 and 8.2.  Everything else is fine.

I have not noticed a difference between the over-the-air HD channels and the HD channels I get from Cox.

Thanks Wilbur.  My understanding is that if you currently have clear reception with standard analog TV, then you shouldn't have much problem with digital reception.  The only channel I have poor picture with on my TVs with rabbit ears in midtown Tulsa is NBC Ch.2.  I anticipate that with a digital converter box, I shouldn't have much problem with the pending digital-only transmission, although I may need to add an outside-mounted antenna.  Everything old is new again.

[jiminy]

Another option is to buy an external antenna, but put it in your attic.

[FOTD]

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

I have one small HDTV in my home office that I only use rabbit ears on.  I get all of the channels you talk about, then many others.  Many of the 'main' stations broadcast several different programs on different channels.  Such as, channel 2 shows one thing, then channel 2.1 shows another.  Channel 8 has 8, 8.1, 8.2.  OETA has four or five.

The reception on the regular channels is just fine.  The only channels I have a problem with is channels 8.1 and 8.2.  Everything else is fine.

I have not noticed a difference between the over-the-air HD channels and the HD channels I get from Cox.

KTUL needs to upgrade. Their signal for HD goes below the acceptable range. Cheap skates.

[Conan71]

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

I have one small HDTV in my home office that I only use rabbit ears on.  I get all of the channels you talk about, then many others.  Many of the 'main' stations broadcast several different programs on different channels.  Such as, channel 2 shows one thing, then channel 2.1 shows another.  Channel 8 has 8, 8.1, 8.2.  OETA has four or five.

The reception on the regular channels is just fine.  The only channels I have a problem with is channels 8.1 and 8.2.  Everything else is fine.

I have not noticed a difference between the over-the-air HD channels and the HD channels I get from Cox.

KTUL needs to upgrade. Their signal for HD goes below the acceptable range. Cheap skates.

Damn Kapitalists.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by jiminy

Another option is to buy an external antenna, but put it in your attic.

My house is a 1954 modern design, no basement, concrete slab foundation, and lucky me, no attic, so attic antenna mount is not an option for me.  This has caused many a homeowner problems in my neighborhood when they have encountered problems with plumbing, HVAC or mechanical systems.  It's hard to describe in writing, but drive through 26th St. east off of Yale (the Lortondale housing addition) and you will see my neighborhood and house styles.  When I bought my home 21 years ago, there was an old outside TV antenna on the top of a 15' pole, mounted to the rear of my home, which I promptly ditched at the time because I had cable.  Now I wish I had kept that relic!  But anyhoo, intuition tells me I should have no significant problem with broadcast digital TV once I get the proper converter box for my perfectly fine analog TV set, at least from my end of the chain.  The main problems seem to lie with the TV stations and their sending out a decent signal.  Thanks.

[Wilbur]

quote:Originally posted by FOTD

quote:Originally posted by Wilbur

I have one small HDTV in my home office that I only use rabbit ears on.  I get all of the channels you talk about, then many others.  Many of the 'main' stations broadcast several different programs on different channels.  Such as, channel 2 shows one thing, then channel 2.1 shows another.  Channel 8 has 8, 8.1, 8.2.  OETA has four or five.

The reception on the regular channels is just fine.  The only channels I have a problem with is channels 8.1 and 8.2.  Everything else is fine.

I have not noticed a difference between the over-the-air HD channels and the HD channels I get from Cox.

KTUL needs to upgrade. Their signal for HD goes below the acceptable range. Cheap skates.

My understanding is, KTUL signals don't come in as well but broadcast further.  Not sure it is worth it if no one gets a very good signal.

[wenwilwa]

We also have over-the-air reception on a digital TV in our home.

So far, we don't receive Channel 2's digital signal (2.1) so we still watch the analog version of that one. We get fine digital reception for 6, 8, OETA and the WB. Digital and analog Fox is hit or miss for us. Wind or bad weather will make Fox unwatchable. (Not a problem for us...the only program we usually watch on Fox is the Seinfeld rerun at 10pm.)

We do have an old outdoor antenna mounted on our chimney, but we've been told that our reception would improve if we replaced it.

I've noticed that digital reception for some stations has improved since we bought the TV about a year ago, namely Channel 8.

[wenwilwa]

^^^^
Oops. My husband wanted me to make one correction...now that it's football season, he does get irritated when our Fox reception interferes with his game-watching.

That's when we invite ourselves over someone else's house with nice clear cable reception and usually a much bigger TV than ours.

[Steve]

quote:Originally posted by wenwilwa

We also have over-the-air reception on a digital TV in our home.

So far, we don't receive Channel 2's digital signal (2.1) so we still watch the analog version of that one. We get fine digital reception for 6, 8, OETA and the WB. Digital and analog Fox is hit or miss for us. Wind or bad weather will make Fox unwatchable. (Not a problem for us...the only program we usually watch on Fox is the Seinfeld rerun at 10pm.)

Thanks for sharing your experience wenwila.  It's going to be very interesting to see just what transpires if the government sticks to the cutoff date and all analog TV broadcast ceases in Feb. 2009.  I intend to be prepared well in advance, but I bet many won't be.

Personally, I think standard definition analog TV is just fine.  I don't give a hoot about HD.  I think this pending change is just a big money grab pushed by television manufacturers and the federal government so they can resell the old analog TV bandwith for big bucks.  Are the "public airwaves" really public?  As they say, "follow the money."

[patric]

quote:Originally posted by wenwilwa

We do have an old outdoor antenna mounted on our chimney, but we've been told that our reception would improve if we replaced it.

If the wire coming from it is a flat ribbon (called Twinlead) then yes, your reception should improve if you upgrade it to RG-6 coax cable.

Even if you have the older RG-59 coax, you would be better of with RG-6 as it does a better job (especially at higher frequencies).
 
Twinlead Vs Coax

[Wrinkle]

If you're getting UHF off of rabbit ears, you're doing pretty good.

Mine takes one of the round ones.

I also get pretty good over air reception, if I can keep DirecTV from interfering with my air signal (mostly at prime time, diagonal lines).

I don't have locals on my DirecTV.

UHF/HD is another issue. Isn't there supposed to be something else involved on a UHF antenna if it's connected in series with a VHF antenna on the same line? It doesn't seem to work well, so I use an inside round one instead now.