Digital TV reception

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buck91

buck91

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Figured this is my most active forum, so I'll bring it up and see if anybody has any knowledge of experience.

I have an indoor digital TV antenna hooked up to my smart tv, its the flat type which I have mounted at the top of the wall kind of were the ceiling peaks (maybe 10ft off floor, which sits about 2 feet off the grade, so 12ft about ground). Anyways, I get pretty decent reception on certain channels but roughly half of the major channels in my area are simply not picked up. I've tried different mounting locations and directions with no change. I have also checked https://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/ which indicate strong signals for many of these stations.

Specifically I am trying to tune in to CBS for Sunday's superbowl. Last year I ended up streaming it, but I was really hoping to NOT resort to that this time. Any thoughts? I am not willing to subscribe to cable or pick up an expensive, fancy antenna for this either.
 
Crack a window and hang it out of that? You could have foil in your house insulation messing with the signal.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Figured this is my most active forum, so I'll bring it up and see if anybody has any knowledge of experience.

I have an indoor digital TV antenna hooked up to my smart tv, its the flat type which I have mounted at the top of the wall kind of were the ceiling peaks (maybe 10ft off floor, which sits about 2 feet off the grade, so 12ft about ground). Anyways, I get pretty decent reception on certain channels but roughly half of the major channels in my area are simply not picked up. I've tried different mounting locations and directions with no change. I have also checked https://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/ which indicate strong signals for many of these stations.

Specifically I am trying to tune in to CBS for Sunday's superbowl. Last year I ended up streaming it, but I was really hoping to NOT resort to that this time. Any thoughts? I am not willing to subscribe to cable or pick up an expensive, fancy antenna for this either.



What type of house do you have (single floor bungalow, two-storey, split)? I am assuming (if not a single-floor home) that you currently have the antenna on the ground floor?

When I used to have an indoor antenna (I now have an outdoor, roof-mounted one) I was able to significantly affect the reception depending on where in my house I placed it. I would recommend this (without buying a better antenna) to see if you can get CBS:

1. Go to www.tvfool.com and use the "Check your address for free TV" function. It will map out all of the available signals coming to your home, how far they are, and which direction they come from.

2. Find the CBS signal and determine which direction you need your antenna to point in.

3. Remove the antenna from the wall where it is now and bring it to the highest window in the house that points in the direction of the CBS signal, temporarily stick it there with some tape or suction cup hangers, and run the shortest cable possible back to the TV. See if CBS works.

4. If no luck, you can try moving the antenna outside just for that day to see if it gets any better (mounted as high on the house as possible, and pointed in the direction of the CBS signal).

5. If all else fails, try an inexpensive pre-amp with the options above. The RCA TVPRAMP1R is an inexpensive option, available at Walmart (US only) or Amazon. It's for outdoor antennas but can be easily adapted to indoor. Set the FM trap to on, and set the antenna signals to combined (the amp supports two separate antennas for VHF and UHF signals, but since you only have one, you will disable this option by setting it to combined). Worst case you can return the amp if you don't have any luck.
 
You can go on Amazon and look at the highest rated antennas. You can probably find a decent one for around $20. Returns are easy if you don't like it and they credit your account quickly.

reviews:

http://www.tomsguide.com/us/best-tv-antennas,review-2354.html
 
Last edited:
Originally Posted By: dparm
Try this:
http://antennaweb.org/


Should help you understand the type of antenna you need for your exact location & stations, pointing it, height, etc.


Its interesting that this website DOES NOT match the FCC signal strengths (map and directions are comparable). antennaweb.org definitely seems more true to life.

And it looks like there is no easy or cheap solution for me. I do live in a ranch or single story house and I've tried both amplified and unamplified with maybe WORSE performance with the inline amp.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
Originally Posted By: dparm
Try this:
http://antennaweb.org/


Should help you understand the type of antenna you need for your exact location & stations, pointing it, height, etc.


Its interesting that this website DOES NOT match the FCC signal strengths (map and directions are comparable). antennaweb.org definitely seems more true to life.

And it looks like there is no easy or cheap solution for me. I do live in a ranch or single story house and I've tried both amplified and unamplified with maybe WORSE performance with the inline amp.



Yeah, unfortunately you may need to plan for a more substantial antenna install. It should still be cheaper than cable TV in the long run.

Without knowing your location, my guess would be that height is the issue -- you have things blocking line-of-sight to the broadcast sources. There are some interesting chimney-mount ones, if you have a chimney. They're much harder to see from the street.
 
With antennas, the higher, the better. Outdoors is also way better then indoors. If you really want to out an antenna indoors, put it in a window that doesn't have a metal screen in front of it.
 
Originally Posted By: buck91
I have an indoor digital TV antenna


There's no such thing as a "digital" antenna. This is marketing [censored] at its finest. "Digital" is describing the type of data contained in the radio signal. It makes no difference to the antenna whether the data is digital or not. Antennas are designed to receive specific radio frequencies. What you really need to do is determine whether TV stations in your area are operating on VHF band, UHF band, or both. Then you need to get an antenna designed for that frequency band. If you're trying to receive both VHF and UHF, you ideally want separate antennas for each band.

With a little research, you can actually build an antenna yourself at very little cost.
 
Our cable went down a couple years ago during a playoff. ( Boston Area) I connected up the ATSC converter box and didn't get much, then I went upstairs and connected to the old rabbit ears through a booster amp and it didn't work too well. So now,getting Frustrated, I threw the thing in the corner of the attic and the picture came in perfect - better than cable QAM.

Lesson: experiment - but the booster works ( low) on a remote antenna and get as high as you can (antenna height!)
smile.gif
 
I also should have mentioned that I don't think antenna amplifiers help in most cases. If I were to use one, use one with adjustable gain. At least with analog TV that's what worked best. Not sure if that applies to digital TV.
 
Originally Posted By: zzyzzx
I also should have mentioned that I don't think antenna amplifiers help in most cases. If I were to use one, use one with adjustable gain. At least with analog TV that's what worked best. Not sure if that applies to digital TV.


I'm 60 miles west of DC. I have a UHF and VHF antennas that I combine. Without my preamp, I get zero channels. With, I get 50. All DC channels as well as Charlottesville. The antennas are pointed at DC. My preamp worked wonders.

That's why I suggested one above. If he already receives a few channels without a preamp, then my experience with them suggests it will help pull in the last few he can't get.

YMMV, of course.
 
Last edited:
+1 the line amp. Older discrete electronics had high sensitivity and selectivity. Newer stuff uses LSI integrated chips and the specs are lower but can track local stronger signals better.
 
Outside antenna is the only way to go for best picture, and no it won;t break the bank,
56.gif
 
I'm not sure what your flat antenna looks like, nor what cable is used to attach it to your TV. However, the direction it faces DOES make a difference, i.e. antennas (unless an omni) have a polar reception pattern.

Turn it 90° and see if your reception improves.

I receive all TV off the air, via an outside old-style antenna. I can see the transmit towers from my house so aiming is straightforward.
 
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