Las Vegas NV OTA questions - tv-tech challenged

[chelita]

1st off, I've been a member of your site for a long time, and once in a while find my way back thru internet searches on questions. Admittingly, am very intimidated as I understand very little of of the tech jargon used and the audience seems way more tech advanced than I.

My needs are fairly basic (I don't record, play games, or none of that). Since I'm fairly disgusted with the sat provider, DishN, and at some point soon if I find a dependable OTA setup, I may terminate service. so, am seeking advice for OTA with these as concerns
1. I have two cheap rabbit ears with boosters, ones a radio shack & other is a non name brand made in another country :>). When either is directly attached to tv antenna in, produce very sketchy results. Only about 5 local channels are very clear, others go in and out. Horrible!

2. With DishN receiver model #VIP22K, with the OTA module and an interior rabbit ear w/booster plugged into OTA antenna in, and scanning from dishn receiver menu, finds 39 'local digital channels'. But, am less than satisfied because a) there's no programming for any OTA channels, they all say "DIGITAL SERVICE" and 2) I want COZITV which I'm not receiving. COZITV is channel 3, subchannel, 3.2 (or 3.3 don't remember which one). On dish programming guide, I get channel 003-00 regular and 003-00 HD (KSNV) but not the 2 subchannels.. Since I am challenged, its possble a solution to both is staring me in face so if there's a quickfix in the menus, interested in pointers.

3. The receiver with OTA module and the same rabbit ear antenna is capable of picking up 39 channels, but without the DishN receiver I get practically nothing with the same antenna. As suggested by other forum members, checked fooltv, and it says that an indoor antenna is sufficient for my address, but definitely does not seem the case since I only pickup 5 or so channels with the rabbit ear antenna + booster plugged directly into tv. Fool tv also shows KSNV-DT as 'VHF Lo'. I'm not sure exacty what this means to antennas.

4. I think the solution is to purchase a strong outdoor antenna and have installed which I hope will accomplish a) get ALL local channels the 39 that dishn picks up with OTA as well as COZI, and b) pick up all programming information instead of it saying "Digital Service", 3) eliminate the need to 'monkey around with the rabbit ears to point and repont, and 4) get rid of the unsightly rabbit ears. (I'm kind of retro and old-fashioned cause I'm always behind with technology, but they are precariously balanced on top of the flat screen tv). FoolTV show most stations are at least 17 miles away, and there is not a clear line of sight since I am sandwiched between 2story homes on all but 1 side opposite of where staion signals are.

Can someone advise the best antenna solutions for my circumstance ? very appreciate of any help offered. thank you

 

[sportsfan42]

I would go to tvfool.com and antennaweb.org and type in your address. Then post the link or post the reports here for people to look at. I got a lot of help by doing that. I received some help here and could probably offer a little knowledge but nothing like the others in this forum. Others may be able to help you with the Dish stuff.

 

[osu1991]

I haven't been out there yet, but my dad just bought a condo out there since they spend several months in Vegas throughout the year. He can only get ABC and CBS reliably with a non amplified indoor antenna. We will have an outdoor antenna mounted in the attic sometime soon.

Sounds like multipath is probably your problem. Have you tried the antenna's without the amps. You could be over driving the tuner in the tv without the Dish box, or the tv tuner is not as sensitive as the Dish tuner.

When you scan for locals on the Dish receiver it will take a few hours to as much as 24 hours for the guide info to populate for the OTA locals. Dish doesn't provide guide guide info for all local subchannels either and the Dish receivers block any psip info the local channels may be broadcasting.

The most reliable and simplest solution is an outdoor antenna, but that won't help you get guide info for Cozi, until Dish adds the info to their data stream.

 

[mikekohl]

One of the biggest problems in Las Vegas is that you have a number of channels in the VHF band.
An indoor antenna is simply not going to work, nor will you have great luck in many cases with an attic mounted antenna, because of the construction of most homes. Stucco is common in the Southwest, and the metal inside the walls creates a perfect "cage" that blocks much of the VHF band...so you will need an outdoor antenna. I have just completed a bunch of state by state reception charts that give expected channels in each community. Just remember that 7-8-10 & 13 are VHF in Las Vegas, and you may have issues unless you can either mount an antenna outside, or have a window facing the transmitter sites.

Go to the Off-Air section of the Global Communications website at www.global-cm.net It's a work in progress, but the western half of the country is updated up to January 2013.

 

[osu1991]

Thanks

That's what I haven't done yet. I need to plug the address of the new place in and see where everything's at. I'm not as familiar with Las Vegas as my dad, since he travels out there nearly every other month.(retirement is apparently a nice thing ) I don't have a clue yet what channels are broadcasting out there.

 

[Mr Tony]

One of the biggest problems in Las Vegas is that you have a number of channels in the VHF band. Just remember that 7-8-10 & 13 are VHF in Las Vegas, and you may have issues unless you can either mount an antenna outside, or have a window facing the transmitter sites.

dont forget NBC 3 which is on VHF Low band (RF2)
actually the Big 4 + PBS are on all VHF

 

[chelita]

All, thank you for the helpful info! Big Help!
Update - Was able to rescan and get Cozi which here is an NBC subchannel. Reception is sketchy. Goes from 0 to 63 in seconds. Unfortunately, the guide never populates for any Vegas local channels. Not sure why that is.

For both brands of rabbit ears, similar results for both. Almost zero reception non amplified both plugged directly into tv as well as plugged into receiver antenna in Definitely pickup most locals with amplification/booster plugged in with power. Cozi is sketchy and only came thru after placing rabbit ears in window seal. Not a pretty setup! I don't understand the 'multipath' issue in prior post, but assuming I need booster to pick up any locals at all perhaps the issue here has nothing to do with multipath?

I'm onto researching exterior antenna, and want something reliable that picks up the VHF 4+PBS which the rabbit ears with booster picks up well with pixelization happening a few times a day. But for NBC also want 'low band' and pick up NBC's 2 subchannels including CoziTv. I hope whatever reliable antenna I can find that works great for Vegas, I can hire a handiperson to install cause I definitely cannot handle. Seems best would be something that mounts ontop of my satellite, like the old Terk I had for many years before digital came along and blew it out of the water. Haven't heard of a digital version of the Terk. That way would not need to run new wires into the house and seems more efficient instead of poking more holes in the home. If anyone has any advice, would be greatly appreciative.

 

[TheSa|nt]

I've been wanting to contribute to this but I was too lazy to register but finally broke down and manned up heh

I think I might be able to help. I ditched cable last year here in the valley. I tried 8 different antennas trying to get as many channels as possible. I tried everything from indoor flat antennas to a $200 giant directional one from Fry's (biggest pos ever...lol). In the end I finally found this antenna that worked. I tried it both on the SW side of town at my house, my friends house in Summerlin and my parents in Henderson. All three locations picked up 68-73 channels total on the channel count (including all sub channels in the total). All 3 locations picked up channel 3!


Finally I won the war!! The antenna was tested both inside and out. It worked best indoors as close to any window as possible (all channels except for channel 3 worked from inside the atic...could be because all 3 homes have a radiant roof barrier?). All 3 locations it worked great outside about 6 ft off the ground attached to a wood post (you just have to figure out a power run if you keep it ouside). Obviously based on the tests it would work great on the roof. Since it's omni directional you don't have to worry so much about which direction it is facing. I'd just make sure you do your best to give it the most open view possible and you are good

 

[jayn_j]

I want to repeat what was said earlier about posting your TVFool reports for us. Reception is very dependent on location. What works for TheSaInt may not work for you. One factor which will influence your choice is whether the towers are all in the same direction, or scattered all over. If they are all in the same direction, a yagi type antenna that covers UHF and full range VHF is probably your best choice. Which one depends on signal strength, but a good bet is to stay with established brands such as Channelmaster and Winegard. I would recommend staying away from the antennas that look like they are straight out of Star Trek. They are generally all style and usually poor performers.

Do you still have that Terk hooked up? If so, give it a try. This whole thing about "Digital antenna" or "HD Antenna" is marketing hype. TV stations transmit on a certain frequency and antennas are designed to pick up signals at that frequency. They don't care what the signal looks like (analog, digital or HD), only the frequency. If the Terk worked before, it likely will work again.

One other thing. You mention recieving via a DISH 211. You need to know that if you discontinue DISH service, they are going to ask that you return that unit. Even if you didn't, they wouled disable it including the OTA receiver. You need to make sure that your TV can receive digital TV signals. Most sets made before 2006 cannot receive the digital signals directly and need some sort of converter. Further, the cheap converters out there only output a low quality signal, not HDTV. Bottom line is that you might need a new TV as well. If you can give us model numbers on your TV, we can advise there as well.

 

[andy_horton]

Get an outdoor antenna. The reception websites are good, but you have to remember that you have to take into effect line of sight, other buildings, your building type (brick or whatever) and if the broadcast towers are in the same general location. With the new digital signal, you can be off by a little when pointing and get nothing. Using a compass will help you point. Just remember, getting the compass too close to metal will mess up the compass some. Hope this helps.

 

[madmadworld]

All three locations picked up 68-73 channels total on the channel count (including all sub channels in the total). All 3 locations picked up channel 3!

first to you and chelita
the channel count is about right. amazing remember 3 only.
so chelita how is it going ?
got 2 like this here
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...ce=CAT&znt_medium=RSCOM&znt_content=CT2032189

ch 3 is the weakest once you got that maxed out tighten it up all stations will come in.
there is a guy on craigslist who installs don't know anything about him.
good luck

 

[harshness]

I'd try removing the booster and see what happens.

Putting a booster on rabbit ears is asking for trouble; especially if the signals are strong. Boosters are best used with antennas that are highly directional and ONLY when they are needed.