Dallas, TX - HDTV - Page 8

> They tell me I am 30+ miles from the HDTV antenna, need a powered antenna, specially insalled

They're full of it...the stations that are transmitting HD content are all running at reasonably high power from tall towers, and are not difficult to receive unless you are in a problem reception area (surrounded by tall buildings).

While I normally use an outdoor antenna for HD reception, I tried connecting my tuner to an indoor antenna to see what I could get, and was able to receive almost all of the local DTV stations. And that's in Plano, about 35 miles from the Cedar Hill transmitter sites.

I'm about 35 or so miles from Cedar Hill (in Rockwall) and I am using a Terk55 outdoor antenna. Nice low profile and was able to hang it under the eve of my roof. Power boosted (10db) and I am able to get all of the HD channels with the exception of 13. Sometimes it come in, sometimes it doesn't. As another person in a diferent forum said, there is an art to tuning an OTA HD Antenna. I hear good things about the indoor Silver Sensor but I have had no personal experience with it.

I have a metal roof, seems to cause problems.

Could but it would seem if you hang it under your eve outside and not place it in the attic, that might work.

I live in North Arlington and there seems to be a sound level difference between the analog and digital signals. Has anyone else experienced this?

Howdy, I'm in Allen about 40 miles away from the transmitters...I purchased a DB4 antenna from antennasdirect-dot-com(supposed to be a +13.8db). I have not mounted it yet, but I would like to see if I should even bother trying it in the attic or head straight for the roof. I have a 2 story house and the attic is above the 2nd floor, so it would be pretty high...roof is standard shingles, plywood.

My HDTV will not be here until Sat. so I have a few days....does anyone have experience with this antenna or in this area to say "don't bother with the attic, it won't work!"...or... "yeah it should work fine..." Thanks for any info or suggestions.

Im not too far from you, and have no experience with that particular antenna. But I did want to say if you have the foil backed roof sheeting as a lot do in TX then the attic location is not a good option. I am about 45 miles out and I had to mount a larger antenna outside.

Ah, ha...not sure if I have foil backed roof sheeting or not. I've decided to go ahead and mount it outside anyway. Thanks, I'll report what channels I get (and signal strength) when I get it set up....can't wait!!!

I live in Euless roughly 20 miles from the DFW towers and have a LG LST4200A tuner. My house has aluminum siding which I think is responsible for most of my reception problems for both TV and cell phone. Before going the outdoor antenna route I wanted to try all the major possibilities for indoor antennas. My testing only involved the 4 major networks ABC, CBS, NBC and FOX.

The Radio Shack 15-1880 only allowed me to pick up one of the major networks. When I took it back the clerk said his customers were having better luck with the lower priced 15-1838 so I gave it a try. It did no better! Then I tried the famous Zenith Silver Sensor and could sometimes pickup a 2nd major network but still not good enough. I finally received the Radio shack 930-0998 which is only available on their website and can now pick up all major networks. I do have to move it around slightly to pick up some of the stations but will soon see if an amplifier corrects this. Still I will probably evenutally try an outdoor antenna for the best reception.

I realize the right anenna is a craps shoot but would highly suggest those seeking an indoor antenna look first at the Radio Shack 930-0998.

I live near Frankford and the Tollway in North Dallas near Plano/Addison. I'm in a second floor apartment and I hung a large Channel Master antenna from hanging plant hooks (the ones that look like upside down question marks) on my apartment balcony. There are trees in the way so someone else may have better luck than me with the same antenna and area.

This is the antenna:
4228 8-Bay Bowtie UHF Antenna (CM4228)

I am not using any kind of signal booster.

I'm using it with a Hughes HD DirecTivo box.

I am able to receive the Fox, NBC, ABC, CBS, UPN and WB HD channels, so it did what I needed. I am also able to receive most of the religious channels, which I don't really care about. I am not able to receive the 27 (independent) and I believe one of the foreign channels. I don't know that I need 27 but wanted to share my result for those of you who do.

I would like to add that I am finally a new HDTV viewer with the following equipment:

MIT MyHD MDP-120 HDTV tuner

Wineguard Square Shooter SS-1000 Antenna

And I can pick up all of the following stations from Irving, Texas. The furthest broadcasting tower is 20.8 miles:

* yellow - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 WB Dallas TX 172° 20.8 32
* yellow - uhf KDFW-DT 4.1 FOX Dallas TX 175° 17.9 35
* yellow - uhf KFWD-DT 51.2 IND FORT WORTH TX 173° 17.6 51
* yellow - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC Dallas TX 175° 17.9 9
* yellow - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC Fort Worth TX 173° 17.9 41
* yellow - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 173° 17.9 40
* yellow - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS Fort Worth TX 171° 18.4 19
* yellow - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 UPN Fort Worth TX 172° 20.8 18
* yellow - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 172° 20.8 48
* yellow - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 PAX Arlington TX 174° 17.5 42
* yellow - uhf KUVN-DT 23.1 UNI GARLAND TX 174° 17.6 24
* yellow - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 PBS Denton TX 172° 20.8 43
* yellow - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS Dallas TX 171° 18.4 14
* green - uhf KDTX-DT 58.1 TBN DALLAS TX 174° 17.6 45
* red - uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 IND DALLAS TX 172° 20.8 36

I have ran into some instances where the stations are not broadcasting anything during the day, and I just get a no signal on the screen. I love the HDTV picture when it is broadcasting in HDTV. I was able to successfully record also, and everything is good.

I enjoy that early in the morning on KTXA-DT 21.1 you see some HDNet programming when you feel like seeing some HDTV after waking up. This is also great for recording some demo loops they play also to impress your family and friends later.

The only digital station that I get alot of breakups is KUVN-DT 23.1 even though the signal strength meter is switching between 93% - 100%!

You won't be seeing that morning HD programming on KTXA-DT after tomorrow. Apparently, HDNet is pulling the plug on their broadcast feed to KTXA and a few other stations nationally, effective November 1. KTXA has elected to drop the service a month early, so it will disappear here on October 1.

RScottyL, You did not mention if you are receiving 8.2. There used to be 5.2 and 11.2 but they disappeared. Does anyone know why they are no longer available? They both showed radar weather.

Because they decided to allocate all their bandwidth to the main HD channel to provide better picture quality. I'm all for that!

AMEN BROTHA!

Xesdeeni

Anyone know if that Winegard Square Shooter would be effective in Frisco?

So, is there anyone in the Lake Dallas, Hickory Creek, Corinth, and far south Denton area (close to the hospital) that gets HD?

What equipment do you have, where is it installed and what can you get?

I'd like to think that in the coming months I won't be the guinea pig for this particular area. Mostly b/c I'm a Noob and haven't had enough ramp up time to know what equipment is the best for me to get as far as OTA STB's and antenna's.

I looked at antannaweb.org and the color patterns don't mean anything to me. I must be overlooking some explanation for it though. Right?

I'm in Corinth. I have an HD Tivo, with a Radio Shack anntena in the attic. I get all of the locals except for 27-1.

According to this:

http://www.solidsignal.com/manuals/w...rd_SS-1000.pdf

Analog Range is 40 - 50 miles
Digital Range is 50 - 60 miles

Darn! I was really starting to enjoy it. I wish another channel would show alot of demo loops or something during the day. I need to have my HD fix!

The problem is that the novelty passes for most folks after some time -- which means that sort of programming really doesn't make any sort of sustainable business. I've had HD reception for several years now, and have long ago gotten tired of "demo loop" style programs.

Allen, TX - Just got my TV....my antenna is a DB4 from antennas-direct-dot-com. I mounted it on the roof (2 story house). So far, I can only get the following channels...
2-1
4-1
5-1
11-1
13-1
21-1
21-2
23-1
33-1
33-2
39-1
46-1
49-1
68-1
68-2
68-3
68-4

So, no channel 8 or 27. This bugs me (i.e. no channel 8 means no MNF). I know channel 8 is VHF, and my antenna is UHF but I thought it would get it anyway. I've tried both the tuner in my TV (Mits 62725) and the tuner in the Sammy 360 HD sat. rcvr. and neither one seems to get 8.

I'm going to try re-positioning my antenna, and possible adding some sort of "booster"...my cable-run is around 75'

Any other suggestions? Thanks.

Why don't you try getting a separate VHF antenna to receive WFAA-DT (8.1, on channel 9)? Heck, you might try hooking a pair of rabbit ears to your tuner and tweaking those to see if they'll bring in WFAA-DT. I live just south of you (in Plano) and when I experimented with an indoor antenna upstairs in my home, I was surprised with how much I could receive.

OK, need some advice from you guys with experience.

I live in Frisco and need to choose a good UHF/VHF antenna.

Would a simple 80" UHF/VHF from Radio Shack do the job? Something better?

I have an antenna in my attic now that the previous homeowner had installed, but I seem to remember getting marginal SD reception the one or two times I tried it out so I'm not confident it will do the job for the digital signal either.

My DirecTV installer comes Monday to install the new Dish so I'm hoping to offer him some money to install the new antenna while he's here.

Any advice from you guys?

Can anyone tell me if an amplifier might help me and if so, which ones I should look at?

I have a Channel Master 4228 8-Bay Bowtie UHF Antenna (CM4228) with a Hughes HD-DVR250 receiver (DirecTV + OTA and Tivo). It is mounted from the ceiling on the balcony of my second floor apartment. I receive all of the channels I care about (usually around 80%) but they sometimes break up and the performance isn't as good in bad weather.

Hello..

New to HDTV. I'm up in the Frisco area...far east side near Allen/McKinney.

I have an HTL-HD box. I'm using a Radio Shack 80" VHF/UHF antenna.

I receive all the major local's digital feeds no problem with the exception of ABC channel 8 (wfaa)..

I get a picture, but no sound. The picture has artifacts that come and go about every 2 seconds. About every 10 seconds I'll get 2 seconds of sound.

Now then, I'm curious: According to my HD box, I'm getting a 92 signal on this channel.

Other locals the same distance away have lesser signal and I have perfect pictures and sound.

Any ideas? Can a multi-switch cause problems with the OTA signal?

Thanks in advance,

David

David,
I can't get WFAA Ch. 8 in West Allen at all (not even a picture)!! I've tried several antennas on the roof, upstairs, in the attic...nothing! I have 2 OTA tuners (Samsung 369 HD Sat. and builtin to my Mits TV). I'm really bummed about this.

Maybe someone can answer this....one of the things I've tried is adding one of those VHF/UHF/FM "amplifiers" to my antenna cable in the attic. To do this, I had to cut the cable, add connectors and put the "amp" inline with the cable. After I did this, I could not get ANY of the channels I could previously get...ZERO. So, I took the amp back out and reconnected the cables with a "double male" joiner thing....still NOTHING, worse than before! Could this cause major antenna signal loss? I used these "screw-on" connectors....is there some magic to using these to where I've just really messed up the cable shielding or something?

Please, any suggestions would help.

Went to the State Fair and somewhere was showing a channel named XPress 8.2 with WFAA's name on it so I came home to see what it was all about. Pulled up my deleted local channels and added back into my list and switched to it. Shows temp's, forecasts, rolling news ticker and some programming.

This has probably been mentioned before. I just didn't go through the other pages in the thread.

Yea, WFAA switched to that format about a month ago (from pure radar channel).

Actually WFAA is testing a new encoder now and is running 3 channels.

8-1 is the HD feed
8-2 is Access Now
8-3 is radar

The 8-1 bitrate has not been reduced (based on averages I've been monitoring) and statistical multiplexing is being used between the 3.

This is a test configuration until Friday according to a WFAA engineer.