Tampa, FL - HDTV - Page 4

Dan:

Welcome to the forum. I live very, very close to you. See my earlier posts which describe my setup. I will tell you that, even though Riverview is only 40 miles away, an attic mounted antenna is not reliable all of the time. I have no experience with either of the antennas you are referring to.

Currently I'm using a combination of DirecTV and the attic antenna. I've given up on Holiday, as it's just too far away. I may throw in the towel and pay the $$$ for Comcast's HD lineup. They are, however, lacking NBC, but actually Ft. Myers, off the back of my attic antenna, comes in pretty good.

Sarasota thread merged.

Would anyone care to summarize (preferably kgalbreth since he is the OP) the OTA HD offerings in the Tampa area so we can post it in the first post for reference?

It might be a good idea to include Sarasota and St. Petersburg in the title for search purposes.

Under the new format, only the primary Nielsen DMA city is listed in the thread title. However, in the master list of threads sticky, all DMA cities are listed individually.

Then I disagree with a small part of the implementation of the new format. New people doing a title search will often not find their city. Having all the major cities in a DMA shouldn't take up that much room in a title. It's a basically fine idea that could be implemented a bit better.

An acceptable alternative may be to title the sticky note better so it becomes obvious to newbies where to look for their city. Something like "LOOK FOR INFO ABOUT YOUR CITY HERE FIRST". I recently directed a newbie here and he reported a complete lack of success finding information. I've been here for years and had a little trouble finding threads to give him a place to look. Now the Sarasota thread is merged and the title lost and I wouldn't have found it in a title search.

No insult intended to the moderator, but frankly I don't understand the point in merging these threads.

I thought the original poster was very clear in why he started the thread in the first place and why he didn't post in the Tampa thread.

Larry

This isn't the same Tampa thread. There is still a separate Tampa area thread dedicated to BHN issues. The only way for this thread to be of value is to increase the activity and have one single location to route all questions and discussion. 60 or 70 posts in 16 months isn't as active as it probably could be.

As far as locating the thread, all they need to do is check the list of discussion threads. If they can't locate Sarasota or St. Petersburg under the Florida header - well, we can only do so much.

Hi,

I know that you meant well, but with all due respect I fear you've missed a very key point. You are under the impression that folks living in Sarasota are trying to get the Tampa offerings.


However, what the Sarasota folks really want is to get the most amount of OTA HD as possible, regardless of source. As it turns out many of us have better luck pulling in OTA HD from Fort Myers.

I realize that there hasn't been a lot of activity on the Sarasota thread, but the issue isn't activity, its relevance. Don't you see that one response from a Sarasotian, who like me is 80 miles from a Tampa transmitter, is going to be a lot more relevant than 10 responses from folks in Tampa who are only 5 miles away?

Regards,

Larry

If the Tampa/St. Petersburg/Sarasota DMA isn't the target market, there's also a thread for the Fort Myers/Naples DMA located here:

Fort Myers, FL - HDTV

Thanks for the link, but the original thread was started to learn what are folks in SARASOTA doing to get OTA HD. Its not about what are Tampa folks or Fort Myers folks doing to receive Tampa or Fort Myers transmitters.

Larry

Are you really pulling in the VHF channels (8.1, 10.1 and 12.1) with your UHF antenna?

For Larry Chanin,

Re: Post 33 on the Sensor II installation you planned...How did it work out?

Thanks,

Dan

Hi Dan,

I've been in holding pattern for a while. It was only recently that I obtained an HD TiVo that works to connect the outside antenna to. I was on a very long multi-month waiting list for the TiVo. Then when it finally arrived it failed in two days. Then I was jerked around by my retailer for about three more weeks before they referred the problem to DIRECTV. Then it took an other week to get the replacement. Knock wood, the replacement has been working.

In addition, I'm in the midst of building a home theater and I've been sort of obsessed with that. I think that maybe in a month or so I'll pursue an outside antenna. I was hoping to that someone local would respond to my question about antennas before I proceed, but so far I haven't received any feedback to my approach.

Larry

I live in Bradenton and had Direct TV do my install with the package that I got discounted for being a long time customer. They sent me a Samsung SIR-TS360 and an amplified circular OTA antenna (think it was a Winegard) that looks like a sonar antenna you would find on a boat. It works great! I didn't think I would be able to pick up CBS out of St. Pete but it is fine! I am glad they went up on my roof and not me. Well worth the price! I am getting way more than BHN had available! If anyone has any reception questions email me or PM me.
Good luck!
Rob

Thanks for writing back, Larry. Yes, I was hoping for some feedback on my approach, too. Oh well. This afternoon I'm going to head off to Sound Advice to see if they have any. I'm going to run my Sensar scenario by them and see if they laugh. Good luck with your home theater.

Dan

Just back from my meeting with Paul Dushane of Sound Advice on the Trail. I have good news and bad news.

The good news is that the preferred antenna used by Sound Advice for their DTV/HDTV installations is the Winegard Sensor II GS2000. It is mounted on a four foot pole to the peak of the house. Installation is about $125 and they charge $125 for the antenna.

The bad news is for me and anyone else that has been trying to avoid a roof mounted antenna. Convincing my wife will be tough!

I've found that chocolate and roses work great...and if that fails...jewelry does the trick.

Hi Guys,
I live in Sarasota and I have a sensor2, looks like a T on top of my pole, installed and I get everything from Tampa stations to ch 40 and some Ft. Meyers stations. I have had it connected to a MyHD card in an HTPC and now I am using a VOOM box and love it. It integrates all my local channels into the guide and I even get all the sub channels NO PROBLEMS at all.
I love it. Ask any questions you want I am going out of town tomorrow but will check in and see if you posted anything. By the way I had Hi-Tech on Bee Ridge install my antenna and pole.
Hope this helps,
GeoffQ

Hi Geoff,

Thanks for the information on your successful installation. A grouping of questions if you don't mind:

1) Did you buy the antenna from High Tech Electronics?
2) Why did you choose High Tech? Did you talk to other vendors?
3) How long is the pole used to mount the Sensor II?
4) Are you using a rotor?
5) What Ft. Meyers stations are you receiving?
6) What type of roofing materials do you have--asphalt shingles, tile, tin...?

Thanks!

Dan

Hi Geoff,

It's very kind of you to share your experiences.

In a previous posting I believe you said you have your antenna on a 30 foot pole. Is the pole mounted on the house or ground?

Can you give us an idea of what part of Sarasota county you're located?

Are you running a separate coax feed from your Sensar to your VOOM receiver, or are you using a diplexer to attach it to an existing satellite coax feed?

Thanks again.

Larry

Geoff,

One more question, if I may. Do you recall the name of the installer? Al at High Tech Electronics told me that he uses an independent contractor for installation work.

I've already got a Sensar II on order and need a reputable installer. Thanks.

Dan

Dan:

You've got a PM from me.

I'm beginning to have buyers remorse over the Sensar II I ordered and it hasn't even arrived yet. I was talking with an installer from Satellite Services in Sarasota. He told me he's had good luck with an unnamed ChannelMaster antenna mounted in attics. I know it wasn't the Sensar II GS2000. Now I'm thinking I would be better off with a CM 4248 or a CM4228 in the attic. In each case, I'd use a CM7777 pre-amp. Perhaps the CN 4228 would make it easier to pull in channel 10.1 because it's not so directional.

Guidance, please!!!!

Dan

Dan:

You are not going to have good luck with ANYTHING in the attic for 10.1. You must go outdoors to have any shot at their tower which is 70 miles away. Each installer, I'm sure, has their own opinions, and alot has to do with what's in between your antenna and the transmitters. You will just have to be prepared to experiment with all possibilities. It can prove to be very frustrating. I know, as I've been fooling with HDTV reception in this area for at least 4 years now.

Hi Dan,

I'm inclined to agree with Ron. I believe you lose half your signal strength when you put the antenna in the attic. In our last home I put a Channel Master 4248 in the attic along with a Winegard AP4800 preamp. My reception was just so-so. The antenna is so long that I had trouble just getting it into the attic let alone trying to put it on a rotor.

Larry

Larry,

No doubt, putting an antenna in the atic is not preferred. BUT, Ron has had good success with an antenna in his attic with the exception of channel 10.1. Since he lives a stone's throw away, I have hope that the "attic scenario" may work.

I guess the only thing to do is try it.

I borrowed my neighbor's 8' ladder and took a look in my attic. I had a hard time seeing the north wall with all of the silver foiled HVAC equipment and ductwork. Even though there is space in the higher reaches of the attic for an antenna, I think it would be terribly difficult to mount the unit because of the truss structure. There's more wood up there than at Home Depot. What makes it especially difficult is all of the recessed lighting cans poking up through the insulation. It would be hard to put down some plywood without conceivably causing some damage.

The Winegard GS2000 came today. Once the tuner arrives, I'll run an attic test (although I don't expect much) and an outdoor test off the roof. The good news is that the WAF for a mounted roof implementation is improving over time. As obstacles appear, my wife is taking a reasoned approach to finding a workable solution.

Funny thing you'll appreciate, Ron. I was looking at checkhd.com, a site link off of the FCC's DTV site dtv.gov, and I ran a check on available DTV stations for my address. Guess what, no 10.1 at all. Forget the attic, forget mounting a Sensar II on the roof. No, not even a violet "large directional antenna with pre-amp" shows success according to this site! I guess I'll be watching CSI in analog for a while.

Dan

Ron,

More on 10.1. I just learned that WTSP-DT is now transmitting on channel 24. Take a look at http://www.tampabays10.com/inside10/dtv.asp And get a load of the DTV reception tips. Basically, bend over backwards to get our signal.