Charlotte, NC - OTA - Page 13

Thanks Bob.

I suppose I should get the same reception quality with HDTV signals on an HDTV as I would analog signals on an analog tv. I get FOX and ABC well on a little 13" in a spare bedroom. Can't get CBS worth a flip though.

Sorry in advance if this has been asked already - scanned the thread and nothing "jumped" out at me...

I just installed an ATI HDTV Wonder in my MCE 2005 box and am getting decent OTA signals with the included, small, Terk that comes with the tuner card. (I also have HD from TWC so this is more of a tinkering project than anything for now.)

However, in an effort to make this more wife-friendly -- looking better aesthetically, with no need to move the indoor I have a couple of questions:

1. Anyone using a Winegard Square Shooter 1000 or 2000 in South Charlotte (Marvin Road @ Johnston Road, aprox 2 miles south of Ballantyne) with success? I currently have an old DirecTV dish mounted on the roof at the back of my house and could use that mount fairly easily if I bought an outdoor antenna. If not, any other multi directional antennas recommended?

2. If I connected an RG6 to the outdoor antenna and ran the signal to my structured wiring enclosures - is it then possible to split it out (passive OnQ splitter laying around somewhere) and run to various premise locations? Anything I need to be aware of other than possible signal degradation?

Thanks in advance, E.

WTVI seems fine to me here Dale.

Ericwe- I use the Squareshooter 1000, feeding a commercial grade 4 way 15db amplified splitter. I get all the locals perfectly, where you are it should work very well. I'd buy the amplfied 200o model tho.

Interesting WSOC development - After they dropped the ABC News channel, I did a rescan and can get the channel in perfectly. Looks like it wasn't necessarily a sw issue on my TV.

I just got an hdtv today (phillips 30" widescreen 30pw8402 from Costco) and I can't get T/W out to my house to set up HD Digital Cable until tuesday Feb 8th. I want to watch the superbowl in HD. Does anyone know of a place in charlotte I can buy (or rent) an inexpensive OTA HD set-top box? I know walmart.com sells one for about $200 but I haven't been able to find one in the walmart stores. I would appreciate any help.

Thanks!!

Yeah true but I didn't know if I would have had the money for the HDTV until Tuesday. Bonus from work ;-)

I'll probably just go to BB or CC and buy one then return it after the cable is hooked up.

I just wish I knew of a place that rented them.

The FCC should have mandated tuners in all HDTV's when stations started broadcasting in digital and hi-def instead of waiting till mid '05 to mandate it. Our gov't at work!!

Thanks.

Yeah, During the election WSOC broadcast 9-2 OTA which was an ABC news channel - I first noticed the switch about 2 weeks ago when they switched 9-2 over to the weather program.

Found an OTA Tuner STB at Walmart in Matthews. US Digital is the brand. I hope I can get FOX over it down here in Monroe. I'll be testing it out tonight when I get home from work.

I picked up FOX with no trouble with a simple RS Double-Bowtie on top of my TV in Fort Mill - probably about the same distance as Monroe.

I have a set of rabbit ears with the uhf hoop/loop thingie on it. Its also powered so I guess that means amplified. haha.

I can get channel 18 fairly well on it with my little 13" tv in a back bedroom. So I'm guessing it should pick up an hdtv signal just as well.

What is a good website to find out what the local channels will be broadcasting in HD over the weekend. I had found one at one time and now I don't remember what it is. I know about Titan TV but this was another site. Thanks for any responses.

I went from my RS DBT up to the $30, $50 on up to the $100 "HDTV Powered super dooper...." antenna. None worked anywhere close to as well as that $5 antenna. Which may be why Radio Shack started making and selling it again (for $15 this time) after discontinuing it a few years earlier.

Many years ago once we put 'BTv-DT on air..USSB & CEMA came here for antenna testing for the antennaweb page..most of the antenna mfgs sent in product, and a couple came by, including the now deceased Neil Terk..
Nice guy too..Neil and his design engineer came with a new, super dooper HD antenna..kept in a black cloth bag they would not open..it didn't work as well as the old antenna designs. No matter the design, you can't chnage the laws of physics..and pretty doesn't help reception ..The RCA receiver was also a jumble of boards and wires in the back of a van for this testing, and the audio didn't yet work..

Pretty does help how receptive your wife is to letting you put it on the roof (or in the middle of the living room)

Yea, I Don't dispute the affect of the WAF on HDTV and reception!

With that US Digital tuner box from walmart, I'm getting great reception down here in Monroe with some regular Magnavox powered rabbit-ears.

The 1 foot square Brass colored antenna had a somewhat retro look (that's what I told my wife - neuvo retro ) - what I thought was cool was flipping between the local network feeds on Cable (analog) - the digital SD LIL feed from Satellite - then HD OTA. Then looking at the expressions on friends and family's faces when I tell them that the last one is coming via that old antique antenna.

They found it much more attractive after that.

Finally watched HD OTA tonight. Wow. It is totally worth it. I was worried at being let down with all the money I've spent but it is totally worth it and amazing. I can't wait to watch the superbowl in HD. Now I want everything in HD haha.

I don't know why the Phillips has such a bad wrap. Mine looks great.

Mostly reliablility issues from what I know.

Welcome New2..glad you finally made the plunge..

I have a thread-related issue. Why do my subscriptions 'disappear' When scanning through the 100's of Local HD Info threads, it's easy to pick this one out b/c of the yellow 'subscribed' (Unless, you guys don't WANT me to find the thread)

Just wondering if anybody else noticed that the picture was "grainy" on WBTV-DT OTA last night during the Duke-UNC game. It seemed that way to me. Before the game came on, everything was fine. Anybody else notice anything? It may have been just the poor quality of the Raycom-JP broadcast!

Most likely set up of the satellite receiver at WBTV..having worked JP's games for many years, their video quality is usually pretty good. We take
them here as well.

see the Charlotte TWC thread as well.

I had no problem with the Duke/UNC game the other night. Bt last night CSI and Without a Trace were terrible. We reverted to SD on the satellite. Does weather effect signal quality? Or, is the transmission quality better on some days than others?

Finally, DirecTV is running ads saying that they are launching moe satellites to handle up to 1,500 more HD channels. Will these be local channels?

Thanks.

Supposedly by the end of 2005 they plan on providing locals to the top 50 markets (Charlotte is around #30 IIRC). Of course this hinges on new satellites that have not launched yet.

Not unless there is ice on the receive dish (or your antenna). And no, the transmission quality should not vary. The quality of the transfer from film to HD does vary at times, but should be fairly consistent on those shows.