The Official AVS 'Smart Antenna' topic - Page 2

A number of related topics have been merged into this topic.

I just purchased the DTA-5000 smart antenna to see how it would perform. I also have the CECB Apex DT250, which I picked up for the smart antenna function, the S-video port, and the analog pass-through, as not all my local stations have made the switch yet. I have been very pleased with the DTA-5k's ability to bring in the best digital signals, but there is a quirk, at least when using the analog pass-through feature of the DT250.

The DTA-5k mentions in its instruction manual that it will only work with an ATSC receiver that has a smart antenna feature. When I first read this I thought it just meant the "smart" feature would only work with this type of receiver. No, it really means exactly what it says. When I tried to use the analog pass-through ability of the DT250, which simply means that you turn off the receiver and change the channels on the TV set, I could only get a couple of stations, and with poor reception! Just to make sure the problem was not the receiver box, I fed the DTA-5k directly to the TV. Same problem. This antenna only works with a "smart" receiver box that is on, which means no analog signals. Of course, the analog pass-through ability will be moot after Feb., but if you are thinking about getting this antenna soon and currently enjoy some analog stations, do not rely solely on this antenna!

By the way, does anyone happen to know of any digital TV tuner cards with smart antenna capability yet?

I'm really curious about it, but I already have a new tv, and would probably use an indoor antenna.

Does anyone know if it would be possible to control a rooftop antenna rotor with the smart antenna interface? I realize that this is a completely different utilization of the interface than the omni-directional smart antennas with selectable elements, but a good old fashioned directional antenna would be much better for reception.

You can find it here, for $89.99.

Disclaimer: I have a minor financial interest in this product.

The big retailers will stock this product if the price can come in at close to the CECB cost. That's only feasible if M's of units are sold, so it's a bit of a Catch-22.

Yep, analog pass-through that needs the converter box powered down won't work well with smart antennas. The reason is the antenna gets it's power from the converter box. With the box powered down, no antenna either.

I get around this problem with a signal splitter in between the converter box and the smart antenna module. That works well for me. Of course the antenna direction may not be optimal.

Peter

Well it is about four months late, better late than never, but the RCA ANT2000 is showing up on on-line stores and Walmart online, Walmart is the only one listing stock. I just ordered one to try on on my Goodmind DTA1000. We will see how it compares to the DTA-5000 smart antenna that I have been using, since May I think. I did a ship to store so it will be next week before I see it.

Well in how many years, and this is only the second smart antenna to hit the market.

Well I picked up the RCA ANT2000 last night and plugged it in. The unit looks like a small almond colored box. Nice feature, the case has is screw mounts so you could mount it on a ceiling or somewhere else horizontal. I don't think you would mount this unit vertical, it would defeat the smart antenna array. Another nice feature is that it support upper VHF channels. My location currently doesn't have any digital channels in upper VHF but will after the conversion. On the negative, the RF cable from the antenna is permanently mounted. So you better be kind to it. The external smart antenna box has the two F connectors and the smart antenna cable jack. At least nothing there is permanently connected.

RCA's web page is found here.

Initial thoughts:
1. Looks like it takes longer for the antenna to change directions than my DX Antenna DTA5000.
2. The performance so far I would rate below my DX Antenna DTA5000 unit. The DTA5000 is a much larger and more expensive antenna. It was raining last light so I would have to hold off on final assessment on that for now. Also, I was just looking at one channel.

I placed that antenna in the same place the DX Antenna DTA5000 was, so hopefully over the next week or so I will have a better feeling about how well it works.

Peter, any more results from using the ANT2000?

Sorry, been a bit busy right now.

As I continue to use the RCA ANT2000 I find that it is close to the DX Antenna DTA-5000 in signal strength. Some stations come in stronger and some stations come in weaker. I am using the power meter on my Goodmind DTA1000 for a comparison. But I definitely see more dropouts with the RCA than with the DX. My guess is that the gain pattern isn't as narrow as the DX model. After all, the RCA is a much smaller unit than the DX antenna.

Over all I think the RCA is a good indoor antenna, the DX is really a outdoor antenna that I was using indoors. Nice plus with the RCA is that it supports the upper VHF band as a smart antenna. I am unable to test the upper VHF band right now because there are no stations in my area doing digital there. After the conversion I will have two stations at that point in the upper VHF band, stations 9 and 11. I bring up the VHF support issue because some of the prototype pictures I have seen just have rabbit ears for the VHF for the indoor smart antenna units. Note that the DX Antenna support the full VHF band, not just the upper VHF. Yet another reason why the DX antenna is bigger. The lower VHF is going away after the conversion so that isn't an issue for the RCA model.

This sounds similar (though less complex?) to the situation with heavy-duty 36V dish positioners and modern satellite receivers designed for Diseqc motors (which because they are powered via the LNB feed are slow and low-power)

There are microcontrollers (VBOX is popular) that sit in the LNB feed pretending to be a Diseqc motor, and drive a 36V positioner instead. They aren't that expensive.

I think PeterTheGeek may have, almost literally, gotten the only RCA ANT2000 to hit the market. They've been out of stock online at Walmart ever since he bought one. I used the store locator on random US cities (since there were none available near me), and I talked to a Walmart employee who told me they had two in stock but that they've already been discontinued.

I think that because so few of the converter boxes had smart antenna capability, the demand for them simply isn't there, so Audiovox may have totally scrapped it. If anyone can find any online that are also in stock, please post a link.

Just as an additional question to those more technically adept than myself: simply based on their features/specs, what on paper is a better performer, the non-amplified RCA ANT2000 smart antenna, or the amplified ANT1450 or ANT1550?

I've wasted money before on amplified antennas for FM, only to find the old dipole FM wire antenna or telescopic antenna to do a better job (probably due to the flexibility of positioning them).

All three RCA models seemingly have the same availability status, which is next to zero at this point, however.

I tried to look up the other antenna's on RCA web page but it is down right now. The RCA ANT2000 does have gain settings as part of the CEA909 standard. On the spec sheet from the very short manual, it says it has a maximum of 20 dB gain. So it does have RF amplifier as part of the package. I have found as you have stated, that leaving the gain at zero is just as good as any other of the 4 setting available. The Goodmind DTA1000 that I am using give me access to the direction, gain and polarity number that get sent to the antenna. So I have played with these setting on my RCA ANT2000.

You can't use that with a digital tv right?

Solid Signal is selling the RCA ANT2000 as well...better price than Best Buy or Walmart.

Can't post the URL just yet...next post.

Here we go:

http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_disp...p?prod=ANT2000

It would be cool if they combined a smart antenna with the radio shack remote control antenna ( http://www.radioshack.com/sm-indoor-...i-2131034.html ).

Err, if the RCA ANT2000 is a good performer, there shouldn't be any need. The antenna adjusts itself without you having to constantly adjust the settings with the remote like that Radio Shack model.

How is that thing by the way? As good as people say?

I have two homes 40 miles apart. One home is in a populated city. I subscribe to cable tv there. The other home is in the country, and cable tv is not even available there. Only satellite. For now I use an old rabbit eared dipole antenns, with a loop for the UHF stations. With the rabbit ears I get three VHF stations, and since they are in opposite directions from each other, I do a lot of antenna adjusting. I also get three UHF stations, but they are full of "snow" most of the time.
I bought one of those new converter boxes at WalMart using my $40 government rebate credit card. I hooked up the box and ran the antenna through the new converter box. I have been using the rabbit ears on my 42 inch plasma tv.
After hooking up the converter box, I could hardly believe the results. I now get the same three VHF stations I got before, plus I get two sub channels on each of the VHF channels. And I get the same UHF stations, with their sub channels. And I get four (4) PBS stations, which I didn't get before. All of the channels have pictures so clear you would think you were in a television store. And when those channels are broadcasting in HDTV, I am getting that too. I have never seen golf and football on a tv with such clarity. So I am thinking of not even subscribing to cable, because the free stuff is great. By far my rabbit ears beats the picture I get from cable at my other house.
So I offer this for what it's worth, and maybe someone else can get the benefit I'm getting.

So, anyone's reviews of the RCA ANT2000? I find that it's outperforming the decades-old antenna in my attic (rotor no longer works), but that it needs to be repositioned and I need to rescan for new channels on my Apex DT502. I know that this is an issue with the Apex...does anyone know if RCA's smart antenna-ready box (DTA800B1) is any better? A little slip in the ANT2000's box says a full scan may take up to an hour (therefore finding almost all available stations, one would assume). I wish the LG boxes (Zenith, Insignia) had smart antenna connections, because they are by far the most user friendly. The Apex's remote is rubbish, the GUI too, and the need to rescan without retaining the stations you've already picked up almost negates the smart antenna function. I think the sound and image quality are inferior to the LG boxes as well. If anyone has any experience with the RCA box or RCA box w/smart antenna, please speak up.

I wrote up a small review above. I found the RCA ANT2000 to be fairly good but not as good as the much bigger, older DX Antenna DTA5000 Smart Antenna.

As for the time to scan. It depends on how the tuner works. I am not too familiar with the Apex DT502 model. But if it works similarly as the Apex DT250 it does a very fast scan. The Apex DT250 will not dwell on a transition when tuning the antenna. If it gets a signal over a quality threshold it moves on. Therefore you may not get the best setting. You can go into the menu under "Smart Antenna" and tune it for the current channel you are watching. If you don't set save it won't save it, so make sure to do that after you get done. I wish they had a meter on that screen it would help tons. Again, I don't own a DT250 or a DT502 myself, so I can't try it, but some models let you map in a channel if you tune it to the RF channel. So you can try that to get the missed channels. TVFool will list the RF channel number as well as the digital mapped channel number.

I have seen reports that the RCA DTA800 will take about 20 minuets to run a scan with a smart antenna. So like I said, it depends on the tuner that the antenna is connected to. I thought someone posted something on a DTA800B connected to a DX Antenna DTA5000, but I can't find it right now. From what I remember, the deep scan is the only method of adding channels and tuning the antenna. So if it doesn't find the channel you need too bad, you can try again.

Glad you having good luck with your RCA ANT2000.

Peter, how would you rate your Goodmind DTA1000, both overall and in tandem with either of your smart antennas? Does it allow you to overscan? That's the Apex's major flaw (well, it has others that I mentioned)...you can't manually enter a station/RF channel and then try to tune that in. You can only get stations it receives on its initial scan. I wish LG would put out a Zenith or Insignia box with a smart antenna input!

If anyone's using the RCA, Tivax, or Alpha Digital, please speak up. Or if you know of a stellar box with smart antenna input that I haven't already mentioned!

Actually, you can (provided the RF channel you're entering isn't the virtual channel number for an RF channel the Apex has already scanned; this is an issue in some areas). It's not documented but I've tried it and it works.

Entering the RF channel will also force the Apex to rescan that channel, which is the only way (besides a complete rescan) to get it to recognize an added subchannel.

Update: I just read you're using a DT502. I have a DT250, which may work differently.

BTW, I agree the Apex remote is lousy (true of most CECB remotes, I'd say). I'd invest $25 in a Sony learning remote and put the OEM remote in a drawer somewhere.