[needHDhelp]

I have an HD Ready TV and currently subscribe to sattelite without an HD receiver.


I purchased a used satellite HD receiver for $20 that has an antenna input that I can hook up. I want to cancel my satellite and go to an antenna to save money. Can I use the HDTV Sat receiver antenna connection to convert the signal for my HD Ready TV without subscribing to the sattelite service?


HDTV receiver is a Samsung SIR-TS360.

 

[hokie93]

I believe you might be able to. But if you can't solidsignal.com sells a HD tuner for $79.99 plus shipping. Otherwise you have to get a new Directv reciever since that one is for the old MPEG-2 channels.

 

[w0en]

The TS-360 will do that without a sat sub. It's an older generation and has a couple of quirks but will receive analog NTSC cable, analog NTSC OTA and digital ATSC OTA all at the same time if you use more than one input. It will view the channels numerically one after the other if you have multiple inputs (2 cable, 2 NTSC, 2 virtual digital) rather than in separate sections (all cable, all NTSC analog, all digital) if you are using more than the antenna input. If it is unplugged for a while and won't start or clicks - leave it plugged in overnight and it will start to work. Select "no dish" first thing in the setup menu and use the component leads to your HD ready set. There will be no program guide information since it relies on the sat for that. The time zone may be incorrect and won't be able to be corrected.

 

[needHDhelp]

Thanks for the feedback. I have a DVI connection on my tv and the receiver has a DVI output shouldn't I use this connection instead of a component connection so that I can get the 1080i HD signal?


What picture qaulity will I lose by having an older model HDTV receiver? I know little about the MPEG standards.


Also was wondering about which tv antenna to buy. Was thinking about getting one from US High Definition Direct probably the Cape Cod UP8-DA since it is a multi directional and I am hoping to pull in signals from Louisville, KY....Indianapolis, IN....Bloomington, IN....and Cincinnati, OH from my house in Columbus, IN. Kind of in the middle of things here. I don't really want to mess with a rotor if I don't have to but haven't ruled it out.


Here is a link to the US High Def. Direct antenna info. http://hd3dman.tripod.com/id1.html

let me know what you experts think and what you recommend.

 

[jtbell]

To get informed antenna advice from the regulars here:


1. Go to tvfool.com and enter your address (or better, your exact latitude and longitude) to get a chart of stations that you might be able to receive, with lots of technical information.


2. Save that chart (it's a PNG image) to your computer.


3. Attach it to a posting here, using the "Manage Attachments" button below the message-entry box.

 

[needHDhelp]

Thanks for the info. once again. Here is the file from tvfool.com using the lat. and lon. for my house. I never knew antenna's were so complicated. This stuff is very interesting.

 

[jtbell]

Your closest stations are the minor networks in Bloomington (38 miles). Then you have the major networks and some others in Indianapolis (65 miles), Louisville (52-53 miles), and Cincinnati (83 miles). They're scattered around the compass, with B and I to the northwest, L to the south, and C to the east.


To get all of those, you need a deep fringe setup with a rotator. The antenna you linked to is similar to the Channel Master 4228 (8-bay bowtie type), which is one of the top choices for deep fringe UHF reception, so it's in the right category for UHF.


However, you also have some VHF stations, on 9 ,10, 11, 12 and 13. The 4228 is actually fairly good with channels 7-13 (high VHF), but at your distances I think you really need something that is designed for VHF. Fortunately, you don't have any stations on channels 2-6 (low VHF), which require much longer antenna elements than high VHF. So you can use an antenna that's tailored for 7-13 and has shorter elements.


So you basically have two general choices. First is separate antennas for UHF and VHF. For UHF the antenna you linked to will probably work. A different design is the Antennas Direct 91XG (also sold under the Terrestrial Digital brand). For VHF you would use a high-VHF Yagi-type like the Winegard YA1713 . Antennacraft has a similar model.


Or you can use a combination VHF/UHF antenna whose VHF part is tailored for high-VHF, like the Winegard HD7698P . Winegard has smaller versions (HD7697P, HD7696P, etc.) but with your distances and signal levels, I'd personally go straight to the top of the line.


In either case you need a rotator and a good pre-amplifier like the Channel Master 7777 . The 7777 has separate inputs for VHF and UHF so it works nicely with separate VHF and UHF antennas.


I'm in a rather similar situation to yours, with stations serving three major cities in different directions: Greenville SC (50-80 miles), Columbia SC (70 miles), and Charlotte NC (70-85 miles). I use separate VHF and UHF antennas (91XG and YA1713), a 7777 pre-amp, and a rotator. You can see pictures of the antennas at the page linked in my signature. These two are about the same length (100"), so they make a nice-looking pair on the same mast IMHO. The Winegard HD7698P is about 170" long and somewhat wider.

 

[needHDhelp]



Quote:
Originally Posted by jtbell /forum/post/15445590


Or you can use a combination VHF/UHF antenna whose VHF part is tailored for high-VHF, like the Winegard HD7698P . Winegard has smaller versions (HD7697P, HD7696P, etc.) but with your distances and signal levels, I'd personally go straight to the top of the line.

When you say you would go to the top of the line, are you referring to the Winegard HD7698P?


I really want to do this right and the information you are giving me is excellent. I can't thank you enough for sharing your time and expertise.

 

[jtbell]

Yes, the HD7698P is the largest and most sensitive (has the highest gain) of the series.


I haven't seen any test reports or simulations of the expected behavior of any of HD769xP antennas. They came out only in the last year or so. So I don't know how they compare to a two-antenna setup like mine, in performance.


From a purely mechanical point of view, longer antennas require more torque from a rotator, than shorter ones. Two "short" antennas like the 91XG and YA1713 probably put less strain on the rotator, than a single long one, because their mass is closer to the axis, overall. (If you ever took a physics course, you might remember something about "moment of inertia.") That's one reason I went with separates.

 

[w0en]



Quote:
Originally Posted by needHDhelp /forum/post/15444671


Thanks for the feedback. I have a DVI connection on my tv and the receiver has a DVI output shouldn't I use this connection instead of a component connection so that I can get the 1080i HD signal?


What picture qaulity will I lose by having an older model HDTV receiver? I know little about the MPEG standards.


Also was wondering about which tv antenna to buy. Was thinking about getting one from US High Definition Direct probably the Cape Cod UP8-DA since it is a multi directional and I am hoping to pull in signals from Louisville, KY....Indianapolis, IN....Bloomington, IN....and Cincinnati, OH from my house in Columbus, IN. Kind of in the middle of things here. I don't really want to mess with a rotor if I don't have to but haven't ruled it out.


Here is a link to the US High Def. Direct antenna info. http://hd3dman.tripod.com/id1.html

let me know what you experts think and what you recommend.

By all means use the DVI if you want, I hadn't used it so I just looked at the back of mine and discovered it had DVI connections. Digital PQ should be excellant with either DVI or component cable hookup. The older units were more suseptable to multipath macroblocking than the latest chips used in new TV's and the CECB converter boxes, but I never had any trouble with mine. Samsung packed a lot of features into that box. One thing I noticed with mine was on cable NTSC analog channels it would "shudder" for a fraction of a second and then lock in. It didn't do this on OTA signals either NTSC or ATSC. I don't know if this was a characteristic of the cable TV tuner or just a quirk in mine - it was a refurbished unit from an Ebay seller. It shouldn't be an issue if all you are watching is NTSC & ATSC over the air signals.

Regarding the antennas they physically look very similar to many highly rated models discussed in the forums but in the last several years of viewing all the major forums I haven't seen this brand discussed anywhere either pro or con. I use the XG91 and Winegard VHF highband 10 element 1713 with a CM 7777 preamp with excellent results, slightly better than when I used the CM 4228 with the Winegard, the style you are proposing. If you need a rotor, the windload and weight of the 8 bay bowtie can be hard on a TV type rotor.