[D-6500]

My father and I are having a VICIOUS debate over the subject of Over-The-Air digital TV signals and how they can be received.


He claims that he was told by not one - but TWO - retail establishments(Target and another) that he will not need a roof-top antenna to receive OTA digital broadcasts, as long as he has the digital-to-analog converter box hooked up to his older TV.


I told him that wasn't the case but he emphatically does not believe me!

This has been our relationship since I was born: DAD was always right, SON is always wrong!

Can you folks verify what I already know so I can show this to him??


Thanks.

 

[bluejayrock]



Quote:
Originally Posted by D-6500 /forum/post/15547107


My father and I are having a VICIOUS debate over the subject of Over-The-Air digital TV signals and how they can be received.


He claims that he was told by not one - but TWO - retail establishments(Target and another) that he will not need a roof-top antenna to receive OTA digital broadcasts, as long as he has the digital-to-analog converter box hooked up to his older TV.


I told him that wasn't the case but he emphatically does not believe me!

This has been our relationship since I was born: DAD was always right, SON is always wrong!

Can you folks verify what I already know so I can show this to him??


Thanks.

If he gets analog OTA now, the same equipment should be able to pick up the Digital OTA, but as everyone likes to say, your mileage may vary.

 

[Chris Arnesen]

Well, he obviously has some sort of antenna to pick up TV currently... So the stores are correct in that he doesn't need a different antenna...


Personally, I use some cheap indoor rabbit ears to pick up the digital stations and I'm about 20 miles away from the transmitter sites...

 

[foxeng]

No matter whether you are trying to receive analog or digital, you will need an antenna. The same antenna your dad uses for analog will work on digital just fine. If you dad has rabbit ears, talk him into a roof or attic antenna. Digital doesn't always work with rabbit ears.


Oh, I work for a TV station. I am the transmitter engineer. Those folks at Target and such have no clue what they are talking about.

 

[D-6500]



Quote:
Originally Posted by bluejayrock /forum/post/15547219


If he gets analog OTA now, the same equipment should be able to pick up the Digital OTA, but as everyone likes to say, your mileage may vary.

Currently he has Cablevision with the IO box. Hasn't had a rooftop antenna for over a decade. He was told the OTA digital converter box would be all he needed to get the signals off the air.

 

[IDRick]

Does Dad have a functioning antenna? If so, putting in the converter box is likely all he will need to do for the transition.... In some cases, people will need to change antennas. For example, in my area, our locals were all VHF in analog but 4 out of 5 switched to UHF in the transition. Someone with a VHF only antenna in my area will need to change their antenna by Feb 17th... It would be helpful if you checked on the stations for your Dad's area. Compare the current versus post-transition.

 

[johnpost]



Quote:
Originally Posted by D-6500 /forum/post/15547107


My father and I are having a VICIOUS debate over the subject of Over-The-Air digital TV signals and how they can be received.


He claims that he was told by not one - but TWO - retail establishments(Target and another) that he will not need a roof-top antenna to receive OTA digital broadcasts, as long as he has the digital-to-analog converter box hooked up to his older TV.


I told him that wasn't the case but he emphatically does not believe me!

This has been our relationship since I was born: DAD was always right, SON is always wrong!

Can you folks verify what I already know so I can show this to him??


Thanks.

for digital to work you need a quality signal, greater quality then many people got used to with analog.


for many in urban areas set top antenna may work. for many more, you may need to switch from set top or other indoor antenna to an outdoor one. more digital station are UHF which is harder to get a quality signal.


goto


tvfool.com


the data you can get there will tell you what antenna you might need.

 

[IDRick]

Which converter box did he purchase? Find the manual on-line and show Dad the page that depicts connections between the antenna and converter box.

 

[D-6500]



Quote:
Originally Posted by foxeng /forum/post/15547233



Oh, I work for a TV station. I am the transmitter engineer. Those folks at Target and such have no clue what they are talking about.

Appreciate it, fox-


Sadly, my Dad is inclined to believe the Target electronics department clerk making $8/hour instead of his son who works in the AV department at a very large corporation making over twice as much and knows a thing or two about broadcast VS cable.

 

[Beerstalker]

If he is using one of the CECB converter boxes to get programming he most definitely needs to have some kind of an antenna hooked up to the RF input. Whether he can get away with a paper clip stuck into the RF input, a decent indoor antenna, or if he has to upgrade to a roof mounted antenna is entirely dependant on where he is located and what channels he wants to receive.

 

[bluejayrock]



Quote:
Originally Posted by D-6500 /forum/post/15547255


Currently he has Cablevision with the IO box. Hasn't had a rooftop antenna for over a decade. He was told the OTA digital converter box would be all he needed to get the signals off the air.

Did he tell them that he didn't have an antenna?

 

[D-6500]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Beerstalker /forum/post/15547311


If he is using one of the CECB converter boxes to get programming he most definitely needs to have some kind of an antenna hooked up to the RF input. Whether he can get away with a paper clip stuck into the RF input, a decent indoor antenna, or if he has to upgrade to a roof mounted antenna is entirely dependant on where he is located and what channels he wants to receive.

Well, he was told, and believes, that he needed NO antenna - paper clip or otherwise - to get off-the-air digital with the digital converter box.


On a semirelated note: Cablevision has been in the habit of giving inconsistent information to its customers regarding whether they will need an iO digital box after February 2009 to continue receiving signal.


My folks, and their cousin, who have Family(read: no cable box required), were told they will not need an iO box after that date in February - although they should consider as Family Cable's channels are all being wittled away to the digital side.


Cablevision told MOI that EVERYBODY will need a digital iO box after February 2009 if they want to keep cable TV service in their home or place of business - period.


Again, pointing to the subject header of my post: Bad Information.

 

[Scooper]

Well - maybe the best thing you can do is leave your dad alone until he comes asking for help.

 

[IDRick]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Scooper /forum/post/15547625


Well - maybe the best thing you can do is leave your dad alone until he comes asking for help.

Probably is the best advice... Dad may not ask the son but will eventually have to ask someone and rectify not having an antenna...

 

[D-6500]



Quote:
Originally Posted by IDRick /forum/post/15547678


Probably is the best advice... Dad may not ask the son but will eventually have to ask someone and rectify not having an antenna...

Beginning at age three, I actually believed my name was one of the following:


"Dummy"

"Stupid-a.s.s"

"Dumb (D)uck" - you replace the letter in your mind!


I think he called me by my given name for the first time after I graduated H.S. Lamont Sanford should be so lucky!

 

[walford]

A digital tuner can be overlaoded by receiving too strong a signal and will receive nothing when that happens. Some users have had to install signal attenuators since old roof top antennas were supplying too strong a signal to their new digital tuner. As long as the signal strength is strong enough to be received at all by a digital tuner increasing the signal strength does not effect the receptionl since a digital tuner either gets it correctly or not al all.

Also digial tuner are more subject to multi-path problems so you will see Digital tuners advertised which means that they are very directional and therfore subject to less chance of reciving a singal from multipaths caused by reflection off of building etc, One user had a sifnigicant multi path problem with a stadard antenna every time a big rig went by on freeway close to his house,

If your Dad is currently watching HD programs using his cable vision box he wil be very disappointed after he discontinues his cabl vision service since all converter boxes downscale all HD programs to NTSV 480i Standare Definition.

 

[iowegian3]

If you choose the "leave him alone" option, make a point to drop in on him after 2/17. This isn't revenge, just satisfaction.


I was going to suggest that you email him the link to this thread, but if he believes he doesn't need an antenna, he may also believe Al Gore hasn't yet gotten around to inventing the Internet!

 

[D-6500]



Quote:
Originally Posted by iowegian3 /forum/post/15547973


If you choose the "leave him alone" option, make a point to drop in on him after 2/17. This isn't revenge, just satisfaction.


I was going to suggest that you email him the link to this thread, but if he believes he doesn't need an antenna, he may also believe Al Gore hasn't yet gotten around to inventing the Internet!

My friend - Dad doesn't even use a computer!!

 

[Falcon_77]



Quote:
Originally Posted by D-6500 /forum/post/15547365


Well, he was told, and believes, that he needed NO antenna - paper clip or otherwise - to get off-the-air digital with the digital converter box.

Did you check TV Fool.com for his reception prospects? If all the desired signals are in green, then a simple rabbit ear/loop combo may be sufficient. However, since he had a rooftop antenna in the past, probably not.

http://www.tvfool.com/index.php?opti...pper&Itemid=29


I use attic antennas, which I have found to be far more effective than set-top rabbit ears, but I am 51 miles from the towers. If you want to post the TV Fool plot here, we can review it.

 

[johnpost]

there are a number of possibilities.


sales people don't know and just say anything to make a quick sale. none of them probably ever had OTA tv any way so they don't know.


your dad misstated question ( do i need a roof top antenna instead of, i now get cable do i need an antenna to use CECB for OTA)


sales person assumed that someone wanting CECB already gets OTA with an antenna and was told they didn't need a roof top antenna, assuming they must already have a set top antenna if they were buying CECB.


who knows what other confusions could be had. i know plenty of technically challenged young and old people and questions, answers, explanations can come out really mangled when the correct words, definitions and concepts aren't known.