Minneapolis, MN - OTA - Page 46

Am I the only person having periodic really severe problems receiving 9.1 in the evenings, especially this week? What is going on? None of the other channels are having problems. Aren't they pretty much all coming from Shorview?

I doubt that you are the only person, but I am not experiencing that here. Perhaps if you post some additional details like a report from TV Fool, we can take a look. Also, do you have an inddor or outdoor antenna? Both 9 & 11 are VHF. Multi Path Distortion Interference (MPDI) can often times be the culprit. The solution is often the antenna system

Well, I'm in St. Paul, and usually have no problems receiving any of the channels from Shoreview on a small RCA Amplified Flat Multi-Directional indoor antenna in my attic. And 11.1 is coming in fine. Usually 9.1 is fine, but this week in particular has been really rough for 9.1. In fact, just a few minutes ago, I noted that there was no signal at all being received. What kind of information would you be looking for from TV Fool? (I don't know what you are asking for...)

That is probably enough right there. The best antenna system are on the outside of the house. However, because of how they look,many people go with an indoor antenna. You are so close to Shoreview, that you really don't need an amplified antenna. Depending on where you are in Saint Paul, you might be only 6 or 7 miles from the antennas! Anyway, there are a few things to try:

-Turn off the amplifier, if you can, when watching 9.1

-Move the antenna. Often times you don't have to move it much, but hafve somebody at the TV and another person at the antenna and try different locations to see if you can get all channles at a certain "sweet spot".

-Try to get 9.1 on 29.2. I think they are still running a simulcast. The content from 9.1 is carried on 29.2 and, conversely, 29.1 is carried on 9.2. The confusing thing is some tuners map those channels differently, so you might see the virtual channle numbers different. They do this for the very reason that you are experiencing.

-If none of this works, but it should give some thought to an outodor antenna, is at all possible. Don't use an amplifier living that close to Shoreview if you use an outside antenna. You could even consider a different antenna for the attic, but try without an amplifier. Some people have had to attenuate the signal living so close!

http://www.tvfool.com/

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Stations.aspx

Saw this over on Northpine-

NATIONAL/IOWA/MINNESOTA/WISCONSIN:
The FCC has dismissed an unusual proposal to split the licenses of ION Media stations in two. The ION stations include KPXM/41.1 (St. Cloud-Minneapolis), WPXE/55.1 (Kenosha-Milwaukee), KFPX/39.1 (Newton-Des Moines), and KPXR/48.1 (Cedar Rapids). ION and Urban Television LLC had proposed converting 41 ION stations into shared-time licenses, with Urban Television getting a subchannel on the ION stations. The move would have essentially required cable and satellite providers to carry two channels for each station instead of one. In a brief letter explaining its decision, the FCC said shared-time arrangements can apply only to stations that split up the broadcast day, with only one station broadcasting at a time, not stations that share the same digital spectrum. (1/25/2012)

NATIONAL:
News Corporation, owner of FOX, has announced plans to launch a national spanish-language broadcast network called MundoFOX this fall with stated plans to reach 75 percent of the U.S. at launch. There are numerous other spanish-language networks, but few have the backing of a major company like News Corp. or such wide distribution. Affiliates have not yet been announced. News Corp's owned-and-operated stations include KMSP/FOX 9 and WFTC/My 29 in Minneapolis. (1/25/2012)

Your periodic problems are caused by the antenna you are using. As stated above, you just don't need an amplified antenna. My recommendation is to go with the RCA ANT751R. See link below from Amazon. It sells for around $46.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751R-Ou...7847314&sr=8-5

It's smaller than most outdoor antennas and should fit in your attic. Check the size of the antenna and compare to where it should go in your attic and see if it will fit. The antenna elements fold side ways so you should be able to get it into the attic and then unfold them. I have my antenna in the attic and it works great and Minnetonka is farther than you are from Shoreview. If you have a wood roof with asphalt shingles you should be fine.

The antenna is optimized for channels 7-51 which is why it's much smaller. It comes with a pole and everything you need.

Note that most amplified antennas won't work at all if you turn them off or disconnect the power supply. This is because the amp is between the antenna and the output connector and nothing will pass through the amp when it's turned off. Also, multi directional antennas in an attic are more likely to have problems with multipath interference, IE it will pick up signals reflected in the attic. Since most channels come from Shoreview, the directional RCA antenna I recommended above should work great.

I'm looking into cutting the cable. I just don't see the value in paying so much for content I don't use. Looking at going OTA and augmenting with streaming services.

I'm in Eagan just north of the zoo and not overly concerned with reception. But hoping for an antenna recommendation. It'll be mounted in the garage attic. I plan to split the signal to several TVs. Will I need an amplifier?

Also looking at Tivo for my main TV, but need converter boxes for the other sets that don't have a QAM tuner. Any thoughts?

I like supporting local businesses but I think TrailTV in Eagan is now closed. BB is out of the question for reasons I don't think I need to go into. Are there any other good locally owned shops in the south metro? I enjoy the real service that locals can offer. Showing my age here

Thanks!

Just to make sure you know but make sure you get a Tivo Premier and NOT a Tivo Elite. The Tivo Premier has OTA capabilities where the newer larger Tivo Elite does not.

I've had great results with the RCA ANT751R. It's available at Amazon.com.
http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751R-Ou...8887223&sr=8-5

How many TVs will you be needing to provide a signal to? You may not need an amp, depending on how much signal you are able to pickup in the garage.

I also use an HD Tivo for off air reception and streaming. I'm very happy with this setup. I use Netflix and Amazon.com and find plenty to watch. Most of what I watch is from local channels.

Ness Electronics is the only local company I know of that sells decent TV antennas. I don't know if they carry the RCA. It's smaller than many antennas but is optimized for the frequencies in use.

Thanks for the tip on Tivo Premier. I thought I read the same so good to confirm.

Nice price on the RCA ANT751R. I'll be hooking up six TVs total to the antenna. I had OTA years ago when I had DTV. That was before they offered locals in HD and we had to get them OTA. Always had good signal quality then. I still have the old antenna but it's UHF only. I understand things have changed and both VHF and UHF are now used.

I don't know squat about TV converters. What should I be looking for? I'll need three.

If the old antenna is still installed connect it to your digital TV and do a channel scan and see what you get. Only 9 and 11 broadcast on VHF and some UHF antennas do a decent job receiving the upper VHF channels. Update here on what happens for further advice. I have some converter boxes I'd be happy to sell. If you are interested, let me know. I'll check when I get home and see which models I have.

I hooked up a TV to the old antenna and you're right. 9 and 11 come in with a good clear picture. Both at about 65-70% strength, but could probably do better with new cabling (wiggling the wire changed signal strength). All other channels I checked were in the 85-90% range.

Hi neighbor! I am in nearby Rosemount, but very close to the Eagan border! Anyway, I have the earlier Channel Master CM-4228HD 8-bay HDTV/UHF Outdoor Antenna in the attic above my attached garage. Yes, by all means check your feedline. If you have RG-59, dump it and get RG-6, or better. Use only RG-6 on every point in your system. Even the short patch cables. Think of this as part of your antenna system. Forget about finding stuff down here. If you have to buy locally, run up to Ness Electronics in Saint Paul. They probably are only open when many people are at work, however. Otherwise you may to buy online. If price is important to you, shop around a bit since prices and shipping costs can vary. Believe it or not, I have found some good prices locally of accessories at Mills Fleet Farm and/or Menards. If they have a sale on, pick up some RG-6 or whatever you need. Both will also have antennas, but it might not be as big of a selection as you were hoping for.


http://www.nesselectronics.com/

http://www.solidsignal.com/

I did a quick Froogle search and it looks like the CM-4228 can be ordered from Sears or Wal-Mart

If you have the room for the Channel Master 4228 I recommend that you consider one. I have one in my garage attic and it works great. It's perfect for upper vhf and all UHF. But it's wide and takes up a lot of space. Check the dimensions on line. The advantage to a large antenna of this type is that it picks up a lot of signal so you can split it to a lot of TVs and most likely won't need an amp. The disadvantage is that it's big. I'm curious about your current set up. Can you access the antenna easily? You may want to check signal strength and move the antenna some and see what happens.

One of the nice things about digital broadcasting is that you don't need a lot of signal, like you did with analog. You just need enough and you get a perfect picture. Note that you also get some channels not carried on satellite. I especially like METV on channel 5.3, they have a lot of great old TV shows from the 60s and 70s.

I was able to drop my 4 output distribution amp when OTA switched to digital, in fact with the amp I had occasional drop outs that went away when I replaced the amp with a 4 way passive splitter.
I didn't know TrailTV went out of business sad to hear, if they didn't have it they were always happy to order in what you wanted.
I also agree with the Ness recommendation but as mentioned they are a work hours only shop, I make it a long lunch hour.
AFA converter boxes, if your TVs are just SD then a CECB is all you need. The Channel Master CM-7000(with S-video output) is probably the highest rated with the Zenith DTT-901(or Insignia clone) being a very close second. Personally I didn't like the Digital Stream(sold at RS) or other lesser known brands. I had mine hooked to a HDTV so resolution was very important to me, hooked to a smaller tube TV they would all probably look fine but the two I mentioned are also known for the best reception.
Not really sure where to purchase a CECB anymore, most I've seen are the cheap RCA or similar from places like W/M or similar. I've seen the occasional CECB at the large Pawn America in Burnsville but it's rather hit and miss. They generally go for $20-$30.
BTW QAM is digital CABLE, ATSC is digital OTA. Generally all devices with a ATSC tuner will also tune QAM, I've never seen a QAM device that also didn't do ATSC.

Not much going on lately, but I did see that 3ABN got a new subchannel the other day, exciting!

Amazon.com still sells the Zinwell ZAT-970A new, for $40, with free shipping, if there's nothing available locally.

I've seen them recently at Radio Shack, Best Buy, MicroCenter, and my local WalMart....

Retail pricing of $50-60, though.

You can find most digital converter boxes on Ebay.

For anyone looking for a subscription-free and PC-free way to record OTA broadcasts, Channel Master has recently released a new DVR called the Channel Master TV CM7400. The DVR has the same dual tuner recording functionality as a Tivo, but can be used with either just the free station PSIP program data or with a $50/year premium program guide. There's an extensive thread about it on these forums here. Initial reviews were mostly negative, but some of the more recent reviews posted after some software updates from Channel Master have been fairly positive.

Definitely worth keeping an eye on as a possible alternative to a Tivo or an HTPC!

You might want to check the Pawn America in Burnsville(I35w and Co42). As of today they had a Apex 502 CECB(w/S-video output) for the great price of $15. I tried a Apex and it wasn't too bad although I really saw no improvement using S-video vs composite. Oh and it even had a SMART antenna connector(I think that's what it was called) although I'm not sure if they sell such antennas anymore, it used a RJ phone type jack. Of course it had the regular F connectors too.

It looks like there's another (small) change coming to our OTA lineup. I was watching Friday night's Almanac on 2-1, and during a segment with Paul Douglas, he mentioned that his 24/7 weather network will begin airing on 11-2 next month. I hope this doesn't mean that we'll be losing the local live radar and current condition readouts, since those are the main things that make the subchannel useful to me. Some Googling yielded this press release about the new partnership.

They already are airing it part time on there. When they dont have the local (outdated usually) forecast on there they use old Paully Wally's group with its (usually outdated) forecasts too

Channel 11-2 is already using Weather Nation for their national forecasts. If you look at the meterologists on the Weather Nation website you will recognize the faces. I'm not sure how 11-2 will be changing.

Here are the Weather Nation forecasters:

http://weathernationtv.com/tv/weathernation-team

Well, at approximately 1:30 into this segment Paul says regarding his national network "next month it debuts locally" and goes on to clarify that it will be on 11-2. So he's clearly under the impression that the channel's content will be changing significantly. My guess is that at the very least the station's video content will be replaced with a 24/7 feed of national weather stories similar to The Weather Channel. As I said earlier, I just hope they keep the local live radar and current conditions display.

Edit: It looks like there's a live stream of the network feed that we'll probably be getting on 11-2 available here.

Anyone receiving our local channels via QAM as an alternative to an antenna may want to read this article about why that option may not be available much longer.

Update to my OTA/cable cutting project. To recap - the goal is to drop cable and replace with antenna and streaming services. I'll keep Comcast HSI.
First step was to order the parts. I went with Tivo Premier to replace my Comcast DVR, and Zinwell converter boxes for the older TVs that don't have internal tuners. I also ordered a large coil of RG6 cable, F connectors, new splitters, etc as most of the cables in the house are many years old. I kept the old UHF antenna I had in the garage attic. I may replace that too, but so it's working ok. I'm in Eagan and reception is good. All parts were ordered from Amazon. I used the free trial of Amazon Prime to reduce costs, and try out their streaming service too. Total was about $300. With the reduction in my cable bill, I'll recoup that in a few months.
Next I moved my internet modem and router to be closer to my big screen so I could hardware HSI to the Tivo, and to an AppleTV box I've had for a while now. Buffering can be a problem. I'm temporarily splitting that cable to run to both the Comcast DVR and the modem. I'll drop that to just the modem later on.
I hooked up the Tivo Friday night and am very happy with the quality of OTA. Picture quality exceeds cable. No question about it. Streaming Netflix and Amazon works great . Surround sound is great too. My wife is very impressed with the Tivo too, which certainly helps with the transition.
Yesterday I started splitting the antenna signal for running to the other TVs. The junction for cable Tv is in the basement, so I needed to create a new junction in the garage attic. That initial split goes four ways - first to my big screen w Tivo one floor below but on the same side of the house, two to upstairs bedrooms, and one long run to the old junction in the basement. All cable runs have been replaced. I did have to use an old in-line signal booster I had laying around as PQ on 9 & 11 suffered. Tivo OTA reception is still strong. My BR TV scanned fine too. I haven't looked at the 2nd BR yet. That one needs a converter box.
After that was tackling the old cable junction in the basement. I pulled a line from the attic junction down to this junction, and used another in-line booster. The basement junction will now go three ways - one to a TV one floor up in the LR, one to my shop room in the basement, and the third to the rec room I'm building. Yes, this is all part of a larger project.
The TV in the LR scanned fine. PQ is outstanding. I put a Roku box here for streaming services. The other two line haven't been tested yet.
Today I'll be replacing the cable run to the 2nd BR and installing converter boxes on two TVs. After that is simply catching up on anything on the Comcast DRV then cutting the cable at the end of the month.
I have to admit that I'm enjoying filling a box full of cable boxes and remote controls to return to Comcast. I'm really tired of spending money for services simply don't use. I'm not ripping on Comcast when I say this. There are simply more options available now then before. There's trade offs, especially with sports, but I'm more into movies myself.
Sorry for the length of the post, but it's been a fun project. Thanks, all, for your suggestions and encouragement.

It just makes me sad ...

Just had a conversation with a co-worker that started when he was talking about having his cable hooked up straight to the TV. I mentioned the Comcast filing with the FCC regarding encrypting the QAM and the possible future of having a box.

As the conversation progressed and he found out I was getting my TV OTA, he asked me:

"So -- you don't get any HD channels?"

I replied that, in fact, I get very good quality HD channels.

His response:

"But - how can you get HD channels without an HD box?"

We still have so much educating left to do ...

I had the same thing happen at work. Someone moved into their own place after college and got an HDTV. I asked her what she is doing to receive a signal. She said she can't afford cable so she just watches DVDs. I explained about getting a TV antenna and getting local channels for free. I even recommended the Terk HDTVi. She gave me a sort of blank stare. I'm not sure she really understood what I explained.

Another update - I did end up replacing my old UHF antenna with the RCA ANT751R Runch recommended. Reception on 9 & 11 was spotty, but the new antenna took care of that easily.
I also cut off cable service yesterday, but kept phone and internet. That reduced my bill by $90 a month. I'll easily recoup anything I've spent within the year, even if we use Amazon or iTunes for PPV more often now.