Dish Network - Local HDTV Antenna Problems

[Mike Maloney]

Okay, I'm very inexperienced at dealing with HD, so I'll try and be as clear as possible.

I live in an apartment building in Chicago. I just purchased the HD package with Dish Network. I have an 811 receiver. I have been told that our building can't handle MPEG-4, only MPEG-2, which is preventing me from getting the local HD channels that are broadcast through Dish (I have the local package as well to get local channels-SD).

So, basically I'm under the impression that in order to receive any HD local channels, I need an antenna. I picked up an RCA ANT1250, it's an indoor antenna, and have it hooked up to my receiver. I went to AntennaWeb, and typed in my address and zip code (60610), and these were the results:

yellow - uhf WWME-CA 23 IND CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 23
yellow - uhf WCIU 26 IND CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 26
* yellow - uhf WCIU-DT 26.1 IND CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 27
yellow - uhf WCPX 38 i CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 38
* yellow - uhf WCPX-DT 38.1 i CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 43
yellow - uhf WFLD 32 FOX CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 32
* yellow - uhf WFLD-DT 32.1 FOX CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 31
yellow - uhf WOCH-CA 41 IND CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 41
yellow - vhf WOCK-CA 13 BOX CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 13
yellow - uhf WYCC 20 PBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 20
* yellow - uhf WYCC-DT 20.1 PBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 21
yellow - uhf WSNS 44 TEL CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 44
* yellow - uhf WSNS-DT 44.1 TEL CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 45
yellow - vhf WTTW 11 PBS CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 11
* yellow - uhf WTTW-DT 11.1 PBS CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 47
yellow - uhf WPWR 50 MNT GARY IN 182° 0.8 50
* yellow - uhf WPWR-DT 50.1 MNT GARY IN 184° 0.8 51
yellow - vhf WLS 7 ABC CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 7
* yellow - uhf WLS-DT 7.1 ABC CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 52
yellow - uhf WGBO 66 UNI JOLIET IL 54° 0.9 66
* yellow - uhf WGBO-DT 66.1 UNI JOLIET IL 54° 0.9 53
yellow - vhf WGN 9 CW CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 9
* yellow - uhf WGN-DT 9.1 CW CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 19
yellow - vhf WMAQ 5 NBC CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 5
* yellow - uhf WMAQ-DT 5.1 NBC CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 29
yellow - uhf WXFT 60 TFA AURORA IL 182° 0.8 60
* yellow - uhf WXFT-DT 60.1 TFA AURORA IL 180° 0.8 59
yellow - vhf WBBM 2 CBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 2
* yellow - vhf WBBM-DT 2.1 CBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 3
green - uhf W68DO 68 TBN PALATINE IL 182° 0.8 68
green - uhf W34CK 34 REL ARLINGTON HEIGHTS IL 182° 0.8 34
red - uhf W57DN 57 TBN ELGIN IL 286° 32.0 57
* red - uhf WJYS-DT 62.1 REL HAMMOND IN 182° 0.8 36
violet - vhf WITI 6 FOX MILWAUKEE WI 354° 83.9 6
violet - vhf WTMJ 4 NBC MILWAUKEE WI 354° 84.0 4
violet - uhf WJYS 62 REL HAMMOND IN 201° 24.6 62

So, I think I have everything pointed in the right direction, but I do a scan for any Digital signals and my receiver doesn't pick up anything. I don't know what kind of visibility I need, I live on the fourth floor of my building, there are 25 floors in the building, a parking garage across the street, etc., so it's not exactly like I get much of a clear view of anything.

I really have no idea what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, or what I'm not doing that I should be. Is it a problem that the 811 is an MPEG2 receiver? Am I screwed because I live downtown around a bunch of big buildings? I would appreciate any help anyone can offer.

[DougRuss]

You may want to check the Chicago Local section ,I think there might be some that live in the Concrete Jungle,that might be of some Help?

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=444398

[kenglish]

You are 0.8 miles from most all of the TV and FM transmitters in Chicago, and you have a "45 dB gain, Amplified Antenna".

That's a recipe for overload disaster!

Try some very simple rabbit ears, or a plain-old loop antenna (like they used to give away with new TV sets). Or, just stick a small piece of wire in the "F"-connector and see what you get. You might wind up just needing to tape a small loop of wire to your window glass as a permanent solution.

[Mike Maloney]

Thanks for the advice Ken. I tried the antenna without the amplification, and I've also tried just using a piece of wire, but I still can't get my receiver to pick up anything. If I do an analog scan my receiver picks up all the channels that are broadcast by default through all the apartments in the building, but I do a digital scan and it finds nothing. I have to be doing something wrong here, but I can't figure out what.