Detroit, MI - HDTV - Page 382

I am also in Westland, and got a 65vt50;
Every thing comes in great with just a small antenna

I am on the west side of Detroit. Have you ever posted in the Uverse forum?

Where did you find that antenna?

If you're in Northwest Detroit, you certainly have more than enough signal strength to watch the Detroit locals, most of which transmit from Southfield or Oak Park.

Your only problem will be with multipath (echoes).

Did you watch analog TV at your current home with an indoor antennas in the past? Was the picture stable and without excessive ghosting on the local (especially UHF) channels - not ghosty or prone to shifting and rolling?

You may find rabbit ears (even cheap ones) fine if you have a clear path between your antenna and the transmitter sites (for example, your TV is in a north-facing window).

If rabbit ears on the set do not work out, you may need a small antenna in the attic, with a cable leading through the ceiling and floor of a closet (where no one will see it). into the basement, then back up through the floor at the TV set.

If you do go with an outdoor antenna, the smallest (Antennacraft AC-9, for example) will get more than enough signal.

Good luck with the project!

Just a small antenna from Wal-mart

As a fellow Comcast user, I can assure you that you will be *much* happier ditching the (still) clunky Comcast DVR system and plunking down a $100 for a 500GB Tivo Premiere. If you don't watch plan on watching OTA, then $200 will get you a four tuner model (cheaper one has two OTA and two QAM + but only two can be active at once).

The big benefit as long as you cable company doesn't set the restrict flag on the program, you can dump almost anything you record to your home computer ... or go the other way around and put any content from your home computer to your TiVo.

Yes TiVo will costs you $15/month, but you get to drop $10 for the DVR option from the Comcast, plus you get a $2.50 "refund" for not renting their box. It is well worth the $2.50/month.

I would be fine with going to that option, but is ON DEMAND available via the Tivo box ? If not, thats a deal breaker.


John

I don't know about the entire region, but here in Royal Oak we can access On Demand content with the Tivo Premiere as of a couple weeks ago.

I was just reading reviews of the Tivo Premier unit in preperation for getting ready to purchase one. However, several reviews say that the unit requires a phone line. My land line is long gone, is the Tivo unusable without one?


John

It's available in Canton as well.

I wouldn't trust those reviews, since the Tivo Premiere doesn't even have a built-in modem. It's designed to be used with a broadband connection.

I verified at the Tivo site that its available in Clarkston too.


John

Why would wjr not be on an fm subchannel,
And do Canadian stations just not participate in HD radio at all?
Edited by billmich - 2/9/13 at 6:43am

It was on WDRQ HD2 for a while.

Why no longer then?

And Canadian stations??

I have some theories, but I don't know why they ceased for certain.

No Canadian stations that I know of. They might eventually, as they approved the Ibiquity model and authorized testing. That was six years ago.

Canada has been concerned about adjacent-channel (arguably actually co-channel) interference allegedly caused by IBOC. In fact, IBOC transmissions, FM as well as AM, occupy part of the spectrum of adjacent channels.

They have been particularly concerned over the effects of IBOC on powerful class A stations in the US on highly directional Canadian AM stations at night, with some in Canada going so far as to accuse the US of abrogating NARBA.

That said, Canada has not barred IBOC altogether. CFRM, 100.7, in Manitoulin Island, ON has been using HD Radio on an approved test basis for several years . Recently, some FM stations in the Hamilton and Toronto areas have gone IBOC as well.

I got my Panasonic Viera hdtv and it is great. I bought a little UHV/VHF antenna from Home Depot and it works really good. Channel 50 is a little iffy when it is cloudy but I am thinking about attaching a little wire to the UHF ring and extending it to the window. I have not seen channel 9 OTA though.

Same here 65vt50
Joy/Newburgh area
All locals except 9 and 38 are solid
No Toledo however which I was able to get back in the analog day

VHF DTVs do not do as well with indoor antennas as UHFs do. Channel 9 actually is on RF channel 9. You may need an outdoor or attic antenna to get them, though a par or rabbit ears, fully extended, horizontal, and as far from the TV as possible, might work.

Fox (2) is actually transmitting on VHF channel 7, but you're getting them because you are extremely close.

Why is WDIV channel 4 signal so weak?. I live in Oxford MI. Funny certain seasons offer better better / worse reception, I have a nice sized rooftop antenna btw. Thx

Coolpixer, I'm glad you mentioned that! I get a strong signal from WDIV, then suddenly it breaks up and/or freezes. It's inconsistent, frustrating and sometimes unwatchable. I live 29 miles west of the transmitter and I get great reception on all the other Detroit stations. (TVFool link below) In fact, I am 46 miles west of WADL, and WDIV is only marginally more watchable than WADL. WADL, I can understand since it's so far away, but I'm baffled as to why I have a problem with WDIV. Anyone else share a similar frustration or have any theories or suggestions?
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d1dda8c672482ae

The stations that seem to have the strongest signal at my house are channel 62 and 56. Even though they are UHF they I don't have to move the antenna to get an uninterupted signal. The first day I set up the antenna every channel tuned quite well. Since then channel 50 has been pretty much a no show, 20 will peak in every now and then, 2 is decent, 4 is ok, 7 is decent, 9 doesn't exist. It was unexpected to have channel 4 isn't as strong or as consistent as channel 56, and 62 though.

I made sure to get a VHF/UHF antenna, channel 2 is fine, but 9 is nowhere, then again, channel 9 directionalized their pattern about 10-15 years ago, so it doesn't boom across the border like it once did

I am OTA only in Farmington Hills and can see several towers from my roof. I have used a Sony DHG DVR for 6 years and recently acquired a TiVo Premier whose tuner is quite inferior to that on the Sony. The TiVo breaks up on both overload from 7.x, and weak from 9.1 that the Sony has no problem with.

I have had periodic breakup problems with 56.x, particularly the past three summers. 4.x has been an off and on problem for many years. Their problem appears to be the transmission in that it will be high strength (Sony) and high quality(?) (TiVo) then suddenly drop to less than half value on the meters for a second or a few seconds then back to very good. Pointing the antenna directly at their tower, compass 83, does little to help.

I have a large rooftop antenna with rotor. Prior to the TiVo I used compass 103 which is directly at 56.x, 20.x, 62,x or sometimes compass 83 which is 4.x and 7.x. With TiVo I added a signal attenuator. In my ongoing search for the best all around setup I have minimum attenuation (like none) and the antenna pointing compass 165, SE. This gives 9.1 not too weak for TiVo, and good 7.1 which overloads if the antenna is anywhere from North to near SW. The only remaining problem is 4.x.

All of the above is true when the weather is favorable. When serious rain, snow, fog, and especially winds come little is watchable.

I also get 18.x on my scan, but those channels don't interest me, so I hide them

I have set at other X.1 channels as my favorites, now I really don't have that much of an overly critical ever, but the OTA HD does seem a bit more "vibrant" than the Comcast cable equivalent......

More important, then changed their transmitter site (about 30 years ago?), from a tower on Riverside Drive, the top of which would literally have fallen into the Detroit River if a big southerly wind were to strike it, to the tower near McGregor shared with TVO (and formerly with SRC), about 15 miles to the southeast.

1996

http://www.michiguide.com/dials/tv/cbet.html

I get CBET really well 52 miles away up here, but I have a pretty elaborate antenna set up!

Power was also cut in about half at that time too