One of the best OTA receivers???

[lilyarbie]

I would like to get some opinions out there on which Over-The-Air receiver or receivers is best. I know the LG 4200A model receiver used to be one of the best a year or two ago. Unfortunately, this receiver is a rare find on Ebay and whenever it does pop up, it ends up on an auction that closes out at an extremely high price. Also, what is the latest generation chip out there in the newest receivers? 4th? 5th? 6th? Does the later generation chips receive OTA signals more efficiently than previous chips? By this, I mean, does the receivers that use newer chips utilize less signal quality to get a picture than previous ones? I've read on the FTA forum where some of the newest and best FTA receivers are able to get a stable picture with less signal quality so I thought this might be applicable to OTA. I currently own a Motorola DSR 550 model Voom receiver which has to have at least 83% signal quality to get a picture at all and at least 84-85% signal quality to get a stable picture.

 

[navychop]

Yes, the 4200a is the best. I daresay, still the best. The "fifth generation" receivers are better at multi-path rejection, but seem to be a bit less sensitive. So it would matter what kind of signal problems you may have. The Dish ViP622 has a good OTA ATSC receiver in it.

I suppose I could let my 4200a go- please describe your good arm, your good leg, and your first born. Value Electronics did real well by me in selling it to me. I use it on older large analog TVs. My HDTV has a built in ATSC tuner. I think it's foolish not to get an ATSC tuner in any new TV. Makes it more useable, especially if you move it where there is no cable or satellite box, or if you sell it.

There just aren't any notable ATSC STBs on the market right now. Try looking at the whole LG line- you may get an OTA DVR or DVD burner with a built in ATSC tuner.

 

[Bulbman2]

hd receiver

I have 3 hughes e86 hd direct tv receivers that I use only for ota- i do not subscribe to ditectv. they work great. Only using one now 2 available

they are also sold on ebay 60-100

John

 

[Widescreen]

I have 3 hughes e86 hd direct tv receivers that I use only for ota- i do not subscribe to ditectv. they work great. Only using one now 2 available

they are also sold on ebay 60-100

John

How does the e86 receive EPG data? Dish Network receivers don't use PSIP to collect guide data but I'm not sure how Directv receivers handle this.

 

[roashru]

directv and voom satellite receivers that can be used only for over the air local hdtv receives all program guide information through the satellite.

 

[charper1]

I have buddies that use the Voom receivers just fine and have for almost a year without issues. Never get one new in the box.

 

[roashru]

One of the best low cost OTA receiver is Voom the receiver sensitivity is very good and the channel signal to noise ratio meter built in is helpful when aiming an antenna unfortunately a used activated one needs to be found to be used for over the air local hdtv.

 

[Rhinoman]

I bought a used VOOM receiver off ebay about a year ago and it has worked well for free OTA HD. The only problem I had was that I could not get the previous owner's channel numbers erased so I had to scroll through his channels along with mine. (He lived in California and I'm in NC )
Last fall, when Radio Shack put their Accurian OTA Receivers on sale for $89, I snatched one up. (I keep the VOOM for a backup) I like the Accurian better, even though the remote is crappy and the guide is useless. I bought it for watching local channel NFL action in HD and it does that just fine. You might have luck finding one of them on ebay. It pulls in a decent signal, at least on par with the VOOM, if not better.

Sorry, I don't know what generation chip the Accurian has in it.