[patron]

Hi,


I'm EXTREMELY new to the HTPC world but am trying to get setup to receive OTA HDTV in time for the Superbowl next weekend. If it helps I live in the SF bay area, 94041.


I got my hands on a Fusion HDTVII tuner card and installed it in an older PC that just meets the minimum system requirements (P3 800, ATI Radeon card) I installed the software that came in the box, which I think was 2.1. Should I locate a faster PC, or has anyone had luck with their minimum requirements?


I'm using a cheap Rado Shack indoor antena for the signal, and feeding the video output to a SE1HD (Sanyo PLV-Z1) front projector.


I used the "auto scan" feature to have the card scan all the OTA channels and determine which ones it receives a signal on. I managed to tune in several analog channels and a two digital channels.


All I care about right now is tuning in CBS for Sunday's superbowl. I looked on titantv.com and found that this is on channel 29 for me. Here's my question:


What I would like to do is set the tuner for channel 29 and adjust the rabbit ears until I can get decent reception. It would be REALLY useful if there is a function where I can get the display to show me signal strength. Can that be done? If so, how?


Any other tips for me from people in my area who are able to receive CBS over the air?


Thanks in advance,

 

[Rack]

Yes. There's an app called TuneFinder or the like in the FusionHDTV installation directory. Its display is nice and big, too. Just enter 29 for the channel, hit the big check strength button, and then adjust to your heart's content.

Given that the station is 29 and UHF, you'd have to make the ears pretty short, or you could get a nice indoor UHF antenna like a silver sensor, double bow-tie, or a plain UHF loop. Good luck on trying to get everything set up head of time.

 

[hkenshin]

In addition try using anntenaweb.org to find the direction you should point your bunny ears in and to verify you can even recieve KPIX-DT with bunny ears only. I have a hard time getting KPIX in san jose but that's mostly cuz my antenna sucks.


An 800mhz pc is probably going to not cut it, even with dxva mode. If you have a pc that's 1.3+ ghz, I'd recommend using that.

 

[patron]

Thanks for the quick reply!


I know nothing about antenna's, but can you explain a bit more about how to configure my antenna? Mine is powered, and has two rabbit ears plus a plastic disk (not a loop, but I'm not sure if a loop is inside the plastic).


Are the ears used for VHF and the loop for UHF? If so, should I just get a different antenna?

 

[patron]

One more question-


I did check antennaweb.org and found the direction of the transmitter.


For the best reception, do I point the antenna ears directly at the transmitter or does it want to be at a right angle?

 

[SNOOT]

The ears are for VHF ch 1 - 13. The loop (most likely inside the disk is UHF). Arranging the ears is not going to help you watch football.


Dave

 

[john12345]

If you can get the antenna outdoors that would be good. You could get a 50 or 100 foot coil of RG59 coax from Target for little cost. You could try your rabbit ears but if you want to get a directional antenna Radio Shack has a UHF antenna for $21. If you can't mount it permanently where you live maybe you could mount it temporarily just for the SuperBowl.

 

[airduct]

i currently use a uhf only radio shack outdoor antenna indoors. it looks funny, but picks up every channel very clearly.

 

[patron]

Thanks for all the advice.


Last night I played around with "Tunefinder" application and it was exactly what I needed. Without that app, I could have never adjusted my antenna properly. After a bit of work I was able to get the signal strength up around 100%.


There was some HD content on last night and while I was able to tune it in, the picture was really jerky. I'm going to put the card in a faster computer and try again tonight.


Do I need to revert to software 2.02? I've read that the latest version may also cause jerky video.