Hi Sam, I have been using an OTA antenna w/ digital converter since the switchover with outstanding results. I live on the Cabot-Marshfield town line at about 1300' with a northwestern exposure. I can see Mt. Mansfield 28 miles or so distant on a clear day.
My equipment? A fairly pricey long-boom antenna from Radio Shack for about $185, and a "Zinwell ZAT-970A Digital to Analog TV Converter Box" from Amazon for $40.00. Bought all new coax cabling. Also bought a Motorola Signal Booster 48... @ $31.98, all together about a three hundred dollar assemblage. (need the converter because there's nothing wrong with my 36" CRT and I'm waiting for cheaper TV's) Am able to receive channels 3, 5, 22, 33, 44. Weather note: I have a DirecTV dish. When thunderstorms come along, the dish gets pixelated before the antenna. Sorry if this is TMI, but that's my tale... Rick --- On Thu, 4/14/11, Sam Hooker <[email protected]> wrote: From: Sam Hooker <[email protected]> Subject: Re: OT: I want to talk antennae... To: [email protected] Date: Thursday, April 14, 2011, 3:51 PM -----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA512 Well, I was going for minimal "OT pollution", but since we're talking about this on-list, here goes. I've some experience in medium-distance microwave, at least enough to have a sense for when there are terrain issues at play. And since the local OTA is predominantly UHF (300-3000MHz), I suspect Warner's issue has at least something to do with being in the shadow of The Hill in Burlington. The major local stations' primary transmitter is atop Mount Mansfield (which, given the address in your sig, is at about 092MN). If you can't see the ridgeline between The Forehead and The Chin from your antenna, I'll bet you get poor reception. This site has a mapping mash-up for determining directionality and availability of stations: http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx Thanks for your responses thusfar; it's fine to keep this on-list, I guess, as long as it doesn't anger any purists. Cheers, - -sth sam hooker|[email protected]|http://www.noiseplant.com "To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk." Thomas Edison - ----- Original Message ----- > Folks, I'm a long-time lurker and most of your topics are beyond me, > but not this one. I have tried a digital antenna with poor luck. All I > got was Plattsburg stations--not including NBC. I live right on the > lakeshore--I don't know what effect that has. But I sure would be > interested in getting off the Comcast bandwagon. (B Telecom has not > come into our condo; so that's not a choice for me.) So I hope if > someone tries an antenna we hear the results. I can't remember what > kind of antenna I tried except that it was not top of the line. > > > Warner > Warner White > 12 Harbor Watch Road > Burlington VT 05401 > http://www.warnerwhite.org > > > > > > From: john bertelsen <[email protected]> > To: [email protected] > Sent: Thu, April 14, 2011 3:21:20 PM > Subject: Re: OT: I want to talk antennae... > > Sam, > I have thinking about the same thing, even if to add to our not-HD > wired service. I asked a guy at the Radio Shack in Sherburne Road, > about what luck his customers had with digital antennae. He said "Not > good". He did say you could buy an antenna from them and try it. If it > does not work, return it during the return period. > > Hope this helps. > > John Bertelsen > > > On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 3:05 PM, Sam Hooker < [email protected] > > wrote: > > > > Hi folks, > > Sorry for posting off-topic, but I'd like to talk TV antennae: I'm > looking to go over-the-air for all non-Internet TV at home, and want > to know if 1) you have personal experience with OTA digital TV, and/or > 2) if you have a favorite TV shop (a what? an anachronism?) containing > the requisite gruff character out back with whom I can have a > hacker-to-hacker talk free of marketing hype. > > Yes, I could read the Internet for this. I read the Internet all day > for work; this is for the off-hours. Also, the Internet seems to be > populated by people trying to sell me things. (Have I mentioned my > distaste for marketing hype?) I'm looking for someone who's in it for > the love of electromagnetic radiation. ;-) > > So: Who's my new TV-hacker buddy? Please reply off-list. > > > Cheers, > > - -sth > > sam hooker| [email protected] | http://www.noiseplant.com > > "The wooden boards and other incised artifacts of Rapa Nui > also bear a boustrophedonic script called Rongorongo, > which remains undeciphered." > > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boustrophedon > -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.9 (Darwin) Comment: Use GnuPG with Firefox : http://getfiregpg.org (Version: 0.8) iQIcBAEBCgAGBQJNp1AzAAoJEPoh2/xXOP2jmToP+QE1JLSSiGXPdZ30QOzsxpQa a59klduyne2Ndj1C6OAq4qEO4EgoDMkdH2G9KKEf/YWbyeLYbsocoDYs3Y4+Psyv 1UZfM75TaKkYERhHl6mR/IPolvembpt6Tk4gMIiKYlC6x2vaE0E7AmPNktnMWRox kZ52qVJE5b6XPoWcJJvRu/Kk+moVeOPlgDXR8LkVWZnzg/upK7A3+bhOpyw/oSre folnGdFJ4RFIU2rH+BJCG+psjyyKRckvoz1Z9LdXho2s+oIiAczFp1Thtsf3NjKV /64JGGxvzI1GGQzhfwfTQf6P1x6zKX6vQjhvjG4cPbP1b24AQU4N+F6CDs7ofwdt 5KRbyHpbvEWzyh7c+ilLpU9p154Pmf8oEDMWLyvSLXx4TthP6ZTOjDEizS8jomrO nkMbeIm/rWlRW/Alw8vgWPaaJKcm3lzE+ERDanglfWJB02Kswlod1igWFsfKyI0r I6g+f9naOhzPpnOjWqQK5Y8qjuVpoEXsNX67rT5bT8BtjM5WR9tZ1grgYa7Ci2+g KgUWaj/JdasgH9R3QAMOCi9w1ajNAMfFamsDt6HKNumq4PAiOEn/CC6XcsYsDq+Y t7XKsgscQwB0sSFyxUnCdjU2NQPTJHzPtZJvbRsHTQbGuzFpsmm7F4VGRZHryEVG uohxFzLDpHqMFLv/GB6o =e7cX -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
