DTV Issues

[longstiffrod (imported)]

DTV...Life is supposed to be better with this new technology. Let's see. ALL the television stations in SW Florida went DTV as of 2/17/2009. Guess what..NO tv signals. OK...I hook up the DTV converter box, follow the instllation and setup instructions and guess what?? NO SIGNAL!! So I call the manufacturer of the converter box to verify I correctly did everything. I have. They tell me to call the local television stations I wish to view (they are anywhere from 35 - 80 miles away). AH HA!! I was told that digital signal DO NOT travel as fae as the analog signals, therefore I cannot receive any digital signals as I live too far from the tv stations. In other words, lots of people will be without television due to this new technology. I cannot afford cable or satellite or a new tv. Any other LOGICAL solutions? I would be willing to entertain any suggestions out there. I can be reached at longrod01@yahoo.com. I live in North Port, FL. TV statons are located in Fort Myers, Sarasota, and Tampa. I want my digital TV.

[balletkyle (imported)]

watch TV on line for free

http://www.surfthechannel.com/channels.html

[fhunter]

Use some kind of active/directional antenna?

[longstiffrod (imported)]

I do have an INDOOR DTV antenna hooked up to the system. As I live in South Florida (the lightning capital of the world), it is NOT recommended to have an outdoor antenna for obvious reasons. I am not really keen on having a fireworks show inside my home. Now, if there is an INDOOR direction antenna out there, I would like to know about it.

[Uncle Flo (imported)]

All DTV signals are directional. If your antenna is not pointed towards the transmitting antenna you will not have a useable signal. Also the signal is very interruptible. Anything in between your antenna and the signal can cause an interruption and the recievers are not capable of discriminating between the primary signal and a reflected signal so, they stop producing sound/visual results. At my house I can see the transmitter towers from the second floor, yet I lose a useable signal when an airplane flies by, someone moves around the room or the weather acts up (including lightening). When my current television equipment dies i may not replace it. (And, the bastards cancelled "Life on Mars"!) --FLO--

[fhunter]

As I live in South Florida (the lightning capital of the world), it is NOT recommended to have an outdoor antenna for obvious reasons. I am not really keen on having a fireworks show inside my home. Now, if there is an INDOOR direction antenna out there, I would like to know about it.

Haven't thought of this...

Have your been here:

http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

and here:

http://antennaweb.org/aw/info.aspx?page=indoor

[Losethem (imported)]

I'm rather surprised living on the east coast that you're not able to get anything, since there is seemingly a TV station about every 3 miles there. That is, at least compared to the west coast.

We are experiencing the same issues out here in the west where we get to deal with things like mountain ranges, etc. We've never gotten usable UHF signals (and that's what they decided to use for DTV, instead of the stronger VHF), so we can't get DTV here. I hooked the box up that I had on the east coast and picked up one station, very weak and spotty, and it was no use to me unless I wanted to watch Spanish language tellenovellas.

Even when I was back east, I was having issues with the signal. When it came in it was crystal clear, great sound, etc. Problem was, I was living in the city where the TV stations originated and was still having issues. If I was living right next the transmitter, what was it like for folks who were not?

I have sympathy for you, but unless you can use a better quality antenna, you're probably out of luck. Thank the cell phone carriers for successfully lobbying the government to make this switch to DTV so they could have more of the available spectrum.

[Visionary (imported)]

The digital signal is supposed to travel farther than the Analog signal, however, without a proper outdoor antenna, amplifier, and of course a television with a built-in quam tuner... you will never pick up anything. The DTV Digital-to-analog converter boxes don't work for shit. I had one and ended up purchasing a 32" LCD TV because the box didn't work.

[Paolo]

Ever since DTV here, Grandpa has been watching the local PBS affiliate out of the University, run by students. There are 4 channels of it. Let's call it channel 82-1, 82-2, etc. He's on -4 most of the time - ironically, it's crystal clear and seldom "blips"...

It's also in Spanish...

But the rest that we HAD - gone.

[markle (imported)]

In my market, where there are 4 'stations' , very nice results are being had for folks willing to build their own antenna. One friend in particular experienced very good results (over conventional 'rabbit ears') from his DIY antenna and he didnt make much effort to exactly position the elements. Can't help wonder what reception might come from adhering to better measurements.

This is where he got the info:

http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/

Here, sub channels take those 4 'stations' to 9 'channels' here. it is much better than 'old tv' for me. I use a converter box, and will build my own antenna very soon so i can move it outside rather than rely on old rabbit ears. Did try a powered set of ears, but have had better results from plain old $3 ones from the dollar store. go figure (lol)

markle