What's going on with HD broadcasting?

[peppy]

Here is the link for the coupons. https://www.dtv2009.gov/

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by scottmandue

I wonder if I could set up a high power analog TV transmiter in Mexico and send free pirate TV into the USA?

You don't need HIGH power, you need LOW power. The digital switchover is exempted for very small, low power local TV transmission

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

Let me dispel this myth. I'm one of those who watch Over-the-air (OTA) digital TV (Yes, I'm "too cheap" to pay $50 for 30 channels of crap. The free crap is sufficient.) Our reception is great. No matter what the weather is, the reception is ALWAYS better than the analog channels.

BTW: The broadcast towers are about 20 miles away. We pick them up using a small gable-mounted outdoor antenna.

I get perfect reception, through an entire apartment building, from my $15 powered rabbit ears. Only during the worse storms do we lose reception. If I had a nice roof mount antenna (when we get a home...) I expect to pick up every station 100% of the time.

Also, with digital OTA, you get several stations that are purely local weather/traffic/news...try THAT with cable!

I'm not too cheap to pay for cable, I just don't see any need for it. Why pay for some luxury item that ultimately takes away your useful free time and melts braincells at the same time? If I sold a vitamin that wasted your time and made you stupider, I'd be banned from the FDA and sued up to my nose...but cable and satellite do it day in and day out

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by Capt. Carrera

Let me dispel this myth. I'm one of those who watch Over-the-air (OTA) digital TV (Yes, I'm "too cheap" to pay $50 for 30 channels of crap. The free crap is sufficient.) Our reception is great. No matter what the weather is, the reception is ALWAYS better than the analog channels.

BTW: The broadcast towers are about 20 miles away. We pick them up using a small gable-mounted outdoor antenna.

I guess we will have to see what happens when they pull the plug
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8VSB

a Centris study released in February 2008 revealed "serious 'gaps' in digital TV signal coverage across the country "when taking into account 'outdoor receiving antenna sensitivity and multipath interference.'" As a result, the Centris study states, "certain households - for example: those that are not elevated; are surrounded by trees; or have set-top antennas instead of roof-top antennas; among other factors - are at higher risk of having limited or no signal coverage. Centris surveys reveal that 75% or more of over-the-air households have only set-top antennas."[3]

[Pazuzu]

"a Centris study released in February 2008 revealed "serious 'gaps' in digital TV signal coverage across the country "when taking into account 'outdoor receiving antenna sensitivity and multipath interference.'" As a result, the Centris study states, "certain households - for example: those that are not elevated; are surrounded by trees; or have set-top antennas instead of roof-top antennas; among other factors - are at higher risk of having limited or no signal coverage. Centris surveys reveal that 75% or more of over-the-air households have only set-top antennas."[3]"

Um...a fool coulda stated that. It does NOT state that those people will have no TV. Naturally, someone running cheap rabbit ears will have a higher risk of losing signal than someone with a wide band, full sized rooftop antenna. Naturally someone in a geographic bowl has a higher risk of losing signal over someone on a hill. So? If they both DO get signal, then they both get the exact SAME signal.

[TerryH]

Digital signals from transmitters are more directional than analog signals. If you got a good picture with ears with analog, it doesn't mean you will when it changes to digital. A poor digital signal is exponentially worse than a poor analog signal.

With digital there isn't snow or something less tolerable but still watchable. Most of us have seen the mozaic scrambling annoying digital mess that a poor digital signal can bring. It's either a great picture or something unwatchable.

I'm fortunate to have line of sight to the LA transmitters and there's still a nine foot full antenna on my roof.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by Pazuzu

If they both DO get signal, then they both get the exact SAME signal.

Not exactly. The NTSC channel bandwidth is 6 MHz and I think that is what is assigned to the new digital stations. The bandwidth required for a raw 1080i image is well over 300 MHz. The compression schemes and error correction to accomplish this require a fairly continuous accurate data stream.

What you see as a ghost around the image or light snow now will be picture and sound that drops out until the decoder fills up again -- to me unwatchable.

I think it is generally agreed to that an indoor antenna will be unusable except in the most ideal conditions. Do you have a TV on your dresser you turn on while getting dressed not hooked up to a central antenna? For me that will go away.

antennaweb.org says I am 15 miles from all the transmitters but they still tell me I need a highly directional antenna.

[mcuozzo]

Pazuzu,

You do get all those channels with cable. I'm sitting here right next to a tv hooked up to cable and I get about 3-4 channels for each network. 4 is NBC, 4.1 is NBC HD, 4.2 is Weather, etc. And all I have is the basic cable.

I think why some cable TV's don't get those channels is that you have to go through the channel programming setup again to pick 'em up.

And like I said OTA signals are easier to get in some places. In NYC\nnj there is a lot more interfence than most places.

[onewhippedpuppy]

We pick up the 4 major networks in over the air HD via the build-in antenna on our LCD TV. They come in great, regardless of the weather. Not sure where the antennas are, but they aren't in my backyard.

[rick-l]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

We pick up the 4 major networks in over the air HD via the build-in antenna on our LCD TV. They come in great, regardless of the weather. Not sure where the antennas are, but they aren't in my backyard.

But there aren't any trees in Wichita. They create dynamic multipath. It is rather flat there also.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Is that why Wichita has been a Tree City USA for 22 years? Boy, they should really review their criteria.

http://www.arborday.org/programs/treeCityUSA/map.cfm

What affect does the multitudes of stray bullets and 28" rims have on reception in St. Louis?