OTA with E*

[gkjdc24]

I'm a new sub to E* and I have a couple questions about receiving OTA channels...

Does the antenna just connect to the rear of the 722 and that's all I need to do, or is there more involved?
Is there a recommended antenna for OTA channels, or is that dependent on the distance from the source? I think I am about 5-6 miles from the provider.
I would really like to keep the antenna to one of those indoor models, simply for asthetic purposes. Unless of course, they don't work.
Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Chinatown]

Go to Radio Shack, etal, connect it, scan & hope the signals hold.
I tried it here, but eventually went to a roof top.

 

[kvnfl]

After you connect the antenna you have to go in to set up and OTA. The receiver will do an auto search, then you delete what you don't want and add the channels it missed. HD channels will be displayed as -01, -02...

If set top antenna works for you now it should work with your Dish equipment. Some folks find their TV has a better OTA receiver.

 

[mstregamer]

you can always use an amplified table top antenna as well a little more expensive i just have a cheap one that i use and it works fine

 

[concord]

Check out antennaweb.org for more information on where the towers are. If you live in a fairly flat area and all the towers are in the same direction and within 25 miles, you shouldn't have any problems getting OTA. Note that the website color codes for the OTA channels and use that for picking an antenna....

 

[gkjdc24]

Hmmm...I guess my OTA comes out of OKC, instead of here in town.
That puts me about 38 miles from the antennas, so does that mean I am SOL for using an indoor? Or am I SOL even with a rooftop?

Thanks again!

 

[wonko]

Hmmm...I guess my OTA comes out of OKC, instead of here in town.
That puts me about 38 miles from the antennas, so does that mean I am SOL for using an indoor? Or am I SOL even with a rooftop?

You're probably going to have problems with an indoor at that distance, but it should be no problem for a rooftop or even an attic mount. Do some shopping based on the antenna type colors from antennaweb.org. Also, since some OKC stations are using VHF for their DTV, you'll need a combo VHF/UHF antenna.

 

[teamlazyboy]

Hmmm...I guess my OTA comes out of OKC, instead of here in town.
That puts me about 38 miles from the antennas, so does that mean I am SOL for using an indoor? Or am I SOL even with a rooftop?

Thanks again!

It varies for people, I have a 20db indoor antenna hooked up to an amp (i forget the db) and am a minimun 30 miles away from any tower in huntsville and i get Excellent signal from them and i'm also a minimum of 55 miles from birmingham and i get decent signal from them.

the best thing to is to hook up an indoor and see what you get

 

[navychop]

Many rooftops will work for you. Check out the HD OTA forum for antenna suggestions.

Just one thing to remember: Never buy Terk. Good looking, under performing, overpriced.

 

[KAB]

No one else has asked if you are getting SD locals from Dish. You will need to if you want your OTA's to show up in your channel guide. Otherwise, the channel will only show as "digital service".

 

[gkjdc24]

I am getting SD locals from DISH.

Thanks for all the help folks!

 

[wally001]

Yeah... as I just found out. I didn't think I needed to subscribe to locals for my 722 since I get fine OTA reception. Then I found that I had no guide information for my local channels. End result -- I ended up paying another $5/month JUST to get guide data for my locals (to allow DishPass to work with locals as well as sat channels). This is highway robbery. I DO NOT NEED or WANT SD locals. I'd rather pay $1/month for the guide data than $5/month to get my locals. Apparently Dish has just made this another revenue stream. :-(

 

[teamlazyboy]

Yeah... as I just found out. I didn't think I needed to subscribe to locals for my 722 since I get fine OTA reception. Then I found that I had no guide information for my local channels. End result -- I ended up paying another $5/month JUST to get guide data for my locals (to allow DishPass to work with locals as well as sat channels). This is highway robbery. I DO NOT NEED or WANT SD locals. I'd rather pay $1/month for the guide data than $5/month to get my locals. Apparently Dish has just made this another revenue stream. :-(

yeah what really sucks is i'm closer to huntsville than birmingham but i get birmingham HD locals on Dish, Huntsville HD locals OTA, i can't get my reciever to reconcile the OTA to guide info so my OTA are all "digital service"

 

[Jerryinvirginia]

Many rooftops will work for you. Check out the HD OTA forum for antenna suggestions.

Just one thing to remember: Never buy Terk. Good looking, under performing, overpriced.

It's difficult to say how any brand of desk top or roof top antenna will perform. What 1 brand or style didn't work for 1 location might work well at another. I've seen 50 year old models do the job and I've seen high end, " digitial compatible" return dis-appointing results. When someone takes the time to setup a local signal antenna, it's like going fishing. It's hard to tell what bait is going to catch the big one. Start cheap and work your way up.