HDTV OTA Question for the Experts

Quote:
I have the same antenna for general purpose VHF-UHF use, and am pleased with its performance. But, for digital reception (RCA DTC100) it only brings in 4 of the 9 L.A. stations at about 40 miles. I ended up buying the RatShack U-120 dedicated UHF antenna. It brings in 6 of the available 9 digital stations

(KNBC DT - 36 - 82%)

(KCAL DT - 43 - 82%)

(KABC DT - 53 - 80%)

(KCET DT - 59 - 76%)

(KCBS DT - 60 - 70%)

(KTTV DT [FOX] - 65 - 50%)

with occasional snippits of

(KCOP DT [UPN] - 66 - 0-40%)

(KTLA DT [WB] - 31 - 0-28%)

and nothing lockable on

(KWHY DT - 42 - 0-24%)

a Spanish language channel which is a non issue in my case. I'm in a high multipath area because of intervening hills, so I've resigned myself that UPN and WB digital just aren't going to be in my future at my current location, but at least my VU-190 XR brings in the analog programming on these two providers just dandy. Your experience on WFOR suggests multipath, but maybe the extra directivity and gain of a higher element numerical count of a dedicated UHF antenna like the U-120 will lock it for you. Nice thing about RatShack is that they'll accept returns without problems if it's at all saleable. Good luck.

Ray, thanks for your response. I tried the U-120R dedicated UHF antenna, and the stations improved by about 10%, but nothing on Ch 22.


I went back to Radio Shack and returned both antennae in exchange for a VU-210XR it claims 135 mile range on UHF and 210 miles on VHF.


I did notice that with a 19' mast, the antenna is about 1' above roof line, should I add another mast to make it 10' above roof line or do you think the VU-210XR will be able to lock on ch 22.


Your feedback will be greatle appreciated.


Also, feedback is appreciated from anyone in or near Boynton Beach, FL.


Thanks

Gentlemen,


I too am a newbie here, it’s a great place I am a long time BUD owner and I have an OTA antenna I've been using for years to receive local channels all of which are very good except for WTVJ-6. I’m guessing I can’t be more than 10-15 miles from any of the broadcasting towers for the major networks.

I have a Radio Shack double bow tie for UHF channels and with a little position tweaking I can get all of them very well.


I've been reading all the HD threads and decided to take the jump. I bought a Samsung Digital TV Tuner SIR-T150 that should be here Monday or Tuesday. I got a box of 25' of RG-6 cable and a 75-300 ohm connector to attach the bow tie to the STB. This tuner will feed a Toshiba 40H80 through component inputs.


A couple of questions please:

When I read a post that state "CBS channel 8" or "WPLG channel 20.3, 20.4" are these official station channels for a particular area or channel numbers for DSS & OTA combo units?


If I find a location in my house now for the bow tie and I receive a strong UHF signal, can I assume that the reception will be sufficient for HD as well?


Thanks for any help you may provide.





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-Gary