[zx7king]

I live just outside (<10 miles) of Raleigh in Cary and I am ready to purchase an antenna for HD. I want to see Augusta in all its glory, hehe . From what I have read, I have narrowed it down to the channelmaster stealth and the good old rat shack bowtie. Before I buy, I would love to hear from someone in my area and what antenna they recommend.... Thanks in advance !!!

 

[Wilson-Flyer]

I'm 40 miles east of Raleigh and have a Stealth with its pre-amp and it works like a champ. I've had my whole setup for almost 3 years and went through the whole "beta" cycle with WRAL. Trust me... there's a reason they were giving away the StealthTenna in their give-away. It's the real-deal and you probably won't even need the pre-amp in Cary assuming you are mounting it roof-top at an elevation of 25-20 feet above ground level.


You're pushing time though. I know a place in Fuquay that has them in stock if you need to get one locally but I think they only sell to dealers. Starke Electronics is where I got my last one. I've lost two in hurricanes. They don't fly as well as they look like they would! LOL


I've also designed a brace system that makes it hold up MUCH better in noreasters like we have around here if you're interested. I've had one that was bent up pretty bad already with my new brace system installed on my roof for over 8 months on an 8 foot mast with no guidewires and even in the few bad storms we've had this winter, it hasn't moved. Let me know if you're interested.


You probably WILL want to get a nice rotor even though virtually all of the towers are almost in a straight line for you in Cary.


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Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket!


[This message has been edited by LearningMan (edited 03-29-2001).]

 

[zx7king]

thanks LearningMan and Paul...great to get some local feedback.

I am picking one up today, found it in stock for 30 bucks. Now, i need to go get the SATHD100 and spend countless hours in weird positions in the attic setting this thing up.. better put it in the attic so the wife doesnt see it on the roof, hehe.

 

[Wilson-Flyer]

Good luck. You REALLY oughta be fine in your attic in Cary. I'm just too far away. Really wasn't an option for me. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/frown.gif


Let us know how it turns out. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/wink.gif


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Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket!

 

[dkeller_NC]

My understanding is that WRAL is still giving these antennas away - you might want to call the station. If you have the receipt for your STB, you might just be able to drop by the station and pick one up.


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BOYCOTT DVI/HDCP & JVC!

 

[Wilson-Flyer]

Good point DKeller. I thought the give-away was over but you're right; it's probably still "on" and just no longer being advertised. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif


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Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket!

 

[zx7king]

Dkeller,

I called them and they are still giving them away, but they are backordered untill the end of april. So the question is, how badly do I want to watch the Masters, hehe. I think I am going to buy the other one today and then maybe sell the other when I get it. I am just to eager and it is only 30 bucks.


Thanks.

 

[NakedEngineer]

Looks like an active thread for the Raleigh viewers, I have two more to add here.


1) Have any of you explored using the 18x24 dish with the third transponder to get the local stations from DIRECTTV satellite? And does anyone know/understand the requirements to be able to access the local channels from the satellite?


2) I live in Greenville NC and I am interested in using an antenna to receive the Raleigh stations. Has anyone nearby had success with this? I hear Greenville TV is using a 40 foot tower to pick up the OTA from Raleigh - but I'm not so sure a 40 foot tower would go well in the neighborhood....


Thanks in advance

NE

 

[dkeller_NC]

I use the three-LNB setup to get Raleigh Locals, HBO-DT, and the regular satellite channels. It's really not too difficult once you know where the satellites are in the sky and whether or not you have a clear signal path. Check www.dbsforums.com for the satellite locator.


Since you're probably out of market for Raleigh, though, you're going to have to pull some shenanigans to get permission from DirecTV to view the Raleigh locals - like have your DirecTV bill sent to a Raleigh P.O. Box or a relative's address.


In greenville, I think you'd be beyond the radio horizon, but you'll have to find the height of the Raleigh Transmitters to know for sure.


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BOYCOTT DVI/HDCP & JVC!

 

[NakedEngineer]

Interesting tip. I do know some folks in Raleigh, I just didn't think of manipulating the billing address last week when I made the subscription to DIRECT-TV.


Since you mentioned radio horizon - I pull the Raleigh FM radio stations just fine - is there a correlation to the HDTV broadcasts? I ask so that I don't spend bucks and time trying to get a signal that I just cannot pull in......


Thanks in advance,

NE

 

[Wilson-Flyer]

NakedEngineer:


You are DEFINATELY out of market. My parents live five miles east of me (different zip but CLOSE to you http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/wink.gif ) and THEY are out of market. I'm In. Go figure! LOL Sorry about that!


The 24" with the 110 LNB works fine for NTSC broadcasts from the Raleigh locals though. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/biggrin.gif


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Where are we going and why am I in this handbasket!

 

[Bruce Embry]

Please Help,

I live in SW/W Cary and in three weeks I will be ordering my HDTV through my work. Yes I work at Mitsubishi. I can not make up my mind on what STB to get. Does anyone have any suggestions.


Thanks All!


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Bruce.in.Cary

 

[WildBill]

Good luck zx7 you should enjoy the show. (and everything else wral does)


I live in Apex and installed the Rat Shak double bow-tie about 2 months ago. It works fine for me, I use the Toshiba DST3000 with a Tosh 40H80.

I can understand the comment about 'spend countless hours in weird positions in the attic '.

I tried it on the roof and on the attic. Worked OK in either, but had to play A LOT to get really high strength numbers on all digital channels. I probably spent about 2 hours on the roof, then another 1 in the attic until I found the 'best spot' with the wife calling out strength signals and me doing the rotator impression. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

Funny thing happened when I found that 'best spot'. I told the wife "thanks, I will take it from here", wedged the antenna between two raftors and a cross beam and went down to get a drink. Took a glance at the TV and noticed a clear image. Glanced at the signal strengh numbers and they were 100, checked all the other stations and they were 100 as well. I about croaked. After hours of messing around, I got the best recption by just setting the thing down. Go figure. Needless to say, since the antenna wasn't anywhere someone would trip over it, I just closed the attic stairs and said 'THANKS, where is the remote!!'.
http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif

 

[Richard Casto]

I live in Durham (actually between RTP and RDU), so I am should be even farther away from the tower than you are in Cary. I also live in a low point in my sub-division. I was very fearful about the quality of my DTV reception.


I have only had my HD receiver (Toshiba DST-3000) for about a week and I have yet to mount my antenna permanently, but I have a regular silver sensor (no amp) in a room on the second floor. I am able to get all four DTV channels right now with no problems. http://www.avsforum.com/ubb/smile.gif According to the signal strength meter I am getting 90-100 for WRAL and the others are between 40 and 80. I assume this is not really a strength, but ‘zero’ errors in the bitstream (when at 100%).


I sent in my receipt to WRAL for the free antenna about two-three weeks ago. The note about the backorder status explains why I haven’t received it yet. I am going to mount the Silver Sensor in the attic this weekend. Once I get the free antenna from WRAL, I may try it out as well as I don’t have a VHF antenna and the Silver Sensor is only a UHF.


So far I love the Silver Sensor. I had also tried an old Terk bowtie I had around. The Silver Sensor was much better than the old Terk.


Richard

 

[dkeller_NC]

Yep, there is a correlation between FM and UHF, but it does depend on the height of the towers - if an FM tower is higher than a UHF tower, you'll be able to get the FM at longer range than the UHF. Remember, though, that FM is a very low-bandwidth analog signal, whereas DTV requires a steady signal with relatively few dropouts to produce a watchable picture. If you're really "on the edge" of the cliff effect with DTV, you're likely to be able to watch it only during certain atmospheric conditions/time of day.


Regarding what STB to buy - if you want it cheap, get a DTC-100. If you get an employee discount, get the Mitsu (really a Hughes) STB.


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BOYCOTT DVI/HDCP & JVC!

 

[zx7king]

Thanks for all of the good replies and I am glad we started a Raleigh thread. It is good to get some local feedback. Well after much agonizing and research, I went ahead and got the stealth antenna yesterday and the Sony SATHD100. I am going to start contorting myself this afternoon to get the antenna setup in my attic, but I am sure it will be worth it. The sony is great, the only negative I had read prior to buying it was the fan noise. Well, maybe I am deaf but it is no worse than the spinning hard drive in my Tivo. I can't wait to watch some HD on it. I have another question for everyone....


Someone posted a website a while ago in one of these forums that you could go to, imput your address or phone number (I don't remember which) and see the HDTV station schedules for your area, as in which program on which channel at what time would be broadcast in HD... Does anyone know this site, I forgot to save it, argggghhhhhh.