I live in San Francisco. I get the local channels through dish. Do I need an OTA antenna? Are the channel I'm getting the digitals versions? I'm looking to get ER and others in HD and I want to make sure I'm completely setup or if I should pick up a Terk or something.
do I even need an OTA antenna?
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the channels you get through dish are not hd.. you need to hook up an ota antana.. to the 811.. then have it do a digital scan, menu 6-1-5 and get your local hd that way....
gotcha. Guess I'm keeping the antenna I bought yesterday.
On the directions in the antenna packaging it says I have to turn off the satalite receiver in order to see the ota's. I'm guessing that's not really true since I'm finding them through the receiver. Should I be hooking it according to the directions or is there another way? I'm using the Terk tv-44 with the 811.
On the directions in the antenna packaging it says I have to turn off the satalite receiver in order to see the ota's. I'm guessing that's not really true since I'm finding them through the receiver. Should I be hooking it according to the directions or is there another way? I'm using the Terk tv-44 with the 811.
nahh just plug it in to the antanna/ catv coax connector.. no need to turn tv off cauz locals will apear in your program guide as local digital once you have them tuned into your 811.. you could even do analog if you so choose to through your reciver.. theres an option to do dishnetwork locals or analog ota locals.. it all works the same..
Getting OTA is not as easy as slapping an antenna on. I suggest that you do a search on OTA and 811 on this site and you will see a number of threads with suggestions on how to give yourself the best shot at achieving a strong reliable signal.
goaliebob99 said:
Well then you got lucky.. Just pop over to avsforums.com and do a little poking.... Mine went pretty smoothly, but it was mainly because I researched before hand and just didn't pop down to Radio Shack and purchase an antenna.
I got my OTA antenna 20+ years ago. Always used it for analog reception. Don't remember where I got it, could have been Radio Shack. Huge, expensive monster and mounted in the attic. I have a 4-way splitter at the antenna with leads to 3 rooms, and another powered 4-way one at the TV for leads to various components.
I just plugged one of these leads into the 811 and found all the HD channels without a problem. Signal strength is usually in the mid to high 80s, but I attribute that to the antenna being in the attic. I did swap the old RG58 for good RG6 and noticed an improvement in the signal.
So, I guess what I'm saying here is that a good quality VHF/UHF/FM antenna goes a long way at making this really easy.
I just plugged one of these leads into the 811 and found all the HD channels without a problem. Signal strength is usually in the mid to high 80s, but I attribute that to the antenna being in the attic. I did swap the old RG58 for good RG6 and noticed an improvement in the signal.
So, I guess what I'm saying here is that a good quality VHF/UHF/FM antenna goes a long way at making this really easy.
If you pop over to avsforums.com, you will see that getting an good OTA signal depends on Good Location, getting the right antenna, Good quality installation, and a bit of luck!!
Does poor analog reception automatically mean poor HD reception?
I get almost no analog channel reception at my place -- I've tried both a cheapo rabbit-ear antenna and a expensive TERK POS. (The rabbit-ear antenna at least gave me decent reception at a different apartment, the TERK has consistenly failed.)
Anyways, my question is whether poor analog reception translates to poor HD channels also? Or is there a chance that buying a good HD antenna could provide reception even where analog reception is zilch.
Thanks.
I get almost no analog channel reception at my place -- I've tried both a cheapo rabbit-ear antenna and a expensive TERK POS. (The rabbit-ear antenna at least gave me decent reception at a different apartment, the TERK has consistenly failed.)
Anyways, my question is whether poor analog reception translates to poor HD channels also? Or is there a chance that buying a good HD antenna could provide reception even where analog reception is zilch.
Thanks.
There is no such thing as an HD antenna. Go to antennaweb.org and find out which DTV channels are available to you and what level of antenna it will take to view them. Good analog reception is much more difficult than DTV reception. With a DTV channel, if you can lock the signal, you have a great picture. Channel signals to be locked can be much lower power and/or distant than analog signals and you can still view them. That said, many DTV channels are currently at very low power now because they are proto-typing and testing.
Reason I asked
CArlB, styxfix, thanks for the response. I did check antennaweb.org and there's a huge lineup of DTV channels in my area (Phoenix.)
Like I said I get zero analog reception. I am toying with buying a HDTV tuner and a HD antenna. You mentioned that there's no such thing as a HD antenna but from my reading there seem to be antennas created specifically/optimized to capture HD channels.
Thanks again.
CArlB, styxfix, thanks for the response. I did check antennaweb.org and there's a huge lineup of DTV channels in my area (Phoenix.)
Like I said I get zero analog reception. I am toying with buying a HDTV tuner and a HD antenna. You mentioned that there's no such thing as a HD antenna but from my reading there seem to be antennas created specifically/optimized to capture HD channels.
Thanks again.
new_berlin: You might be confusing OTA HDTV with DTV - lots of people do.
DTV (Digital TV) is not necessarily HD - that's why the OTA antennas are not HD antennas. It's kind of a semantic point, but can be relevant. For example, a DTV tuner box may or may not actually do HDTV.
As for marketing stuff that might say HDTV optimized - that's hype. The product itself may be very good, but the point is, if the Digital TV signal comes in, it's there, and whether it's HD, ED, or just SD doesn't really matter at that point (provided your tuner box does what you want).
DTV (Digital TV) is not necessarily HD - that's why the OTA antennas are not HD antennas. It's kind of a semantic point, but can be relevant. For example, a DTV tuner box may or may not actually do HDTV.
As for marketing stuff that might say HDTV optimized - that's hype. The product itself may be very good, but the point is, if the Digital TV signal comes in, it's there, and whether it's HD, ED, or just SD doesn't really matter at that point (provided your tuner box does what you want).
Great link! thanks.
Do you see the huge antenna in the picture. That is pretty much in direct view less than 1/2 a mile from my house. I connected the terk tv44 to my satellite dish and can barely receive anything. I get more from a cheap rabbit ears antenna actually in my house. I get lots of 49% signals, no picture. I even tried a radio shack signal booster to no avail. This is very frustrating, perhaps I should spool out some cable to the source antenna on the hill.
Do you see the huge antenna in the picture. That is pretty much in direct view less than 1/2 a mile from my house. I connected the terk tv44 to my satellite dish and can barely receive anything. I get more from a cheap rabbit ears antenna actually in my house. I get lots of 49% signals, no picture. I even tried a radio shack signal booster to no avail. This is very frustrating, perhaps I should spool out some cable to the source antenna on the hill.
styxfix said:
Where is this terk antenna placed? Are you pointing in the right direction. Terk has more name than the value it delivers. I would recommend some other antenna depending upon where you are planning to place it. Outdoor or Indoor?robotX said:Great link! thanks.
Do you see the huge antenna in the picture. That is pretty much in direct view less than 1/2 a mile from my house. I connected the terk tv44 to my satellite dish and can barely receive anything. I get more from a cheap rabbit ears antenna actually in my house. I get lots of 49% signals, no picture. I even tried a radio shack signal booster to no avail. This is very frustrating, perhaps I should spool out some cable to the source antenna on the hill.
Hmmm. I wonder if you are UNDER the radiated beam???
It's entirely possible - being that close and downhill to boot.
It's entirely possible - being that close and downhill to boot.
It's on my roof connected to my dish three stories up. I just went out and bought an indoor antenna, a Jenson TV 920. That sucks pretty hard too. I' m going to go back to the terk (which a read hear is actually pretty good compared to their other antenna's) and start playing with it's position.
