[gatisimo]

Hi guys,


I'm a general newbie to the HD world. I've been doing a lot of reading for the past couple of months in preparation for the big step. Finally, in November, I moved to a new house, and bought a new HDTV, subscribed to DirecTV, bought a HD receiver and an OTA antenna (Terk TV-42), and other things, but they're not related to this topic.


The HD received I got is the Samsung TS-160. I bought it because of the fact it can display HD signals in HD through component and 480i through s-video and composite. Unfortunately, when I signed up for DirecTV, I didn't plan on going HD right away, so I'm stuck with the plain round dish. This is getting HBO-HD for me, but not HD.Net nor Showtime. I guess I'll call them up and see if I can get an oval dish installed soon.


Anyway, just wanted to give you guys some background... onto my problems:


I installed the Terk last night, and am receiving absolutely zero digital channels. I am now reading that this wasn't a very smart purchase. The reason I opted for the Terk was I would prefer to not use a roof antenna for two reasons: (a) there's one up there already, from the previous home owners, and the cables from it are cut on the outside. I only see the cable hanging from the antenna, I don't see the other half sticking out from the house. (b) I am new to this whole home-owner thing, and don't have a clue how to bring a cable through the roof into my attic. The Terk gave me the ability to use an outdoor antenna without having to bring any additional cables through the roof.


I am now ready to get an indoor antenna, like the Silver Sensor, and place it up in my attic.


Is this my best option? Or should I look into a larger antenna for my attic? My pockets can only go about another $100 or so, tops, so be gentle.


Another thing is, I live in Middlesex, NJ (08846), and want to receive OTA HD from both NYC and Philadelphia. The reason I want philly is because NYC OTA of ABC is not available (at least I think it's not). I really really want to watch the Super Bowl in HD. According to antennaweb, I am in yellow for NYC and blue for Philly.


I really appreciate any feedback I get. Many thanks!


- Marcelo

 

[dynamohum1]

Where did you mount the terk and how did you get the cable into the house from it? Can you get a cable from the antena to the spot where you have the terk? If you do replace the antenna you should keep it outside like the old one.

 

[dmodemd]

I've been in your shoes. Gotta get comfortable with pulling out the drilll and drilling through the wall! Its tough to do but you will be happy when you have. Choosing the right place to do this is the hard part. You want to bring in COAX not the old twin lead.


But once you do, you then have the flexibility to try and hook up with the antenna there and see what you can get.


You will probably want a rotor and an amp if there isnt one on it now. Once you do all that you will have a great set-up.


Otherwise start with your indoor antennas but you really will find yourself always a couple channels shy of where you want to be. You are lucky to be in between two cities but you will need a good antenna to get both reliably.

 

[gatisimo]

Dynamo: with the Terk, you just mount the antenna onto the existing DirecTV dish. Once mounted, you take the coaxial from the LNBs of the dish and put them through the Terk first. All the wiring is external. No new wiring needs to come through the house. The only indoor step is to split the SAT IN coaxial into the receiver... one into the SAT IN, the other into the ANT IN.


dmodemd: the existing antenna up there has twin lead coming down I have no idea if this is a good antenna or not. It looks like one of those big metal arrow antennas. I think it's been up there a while... maybe even before the owner previous to me. Probably dating back to the pre-cable/sat days. Neanderthals I think they were called?


Hmmm, I'm about 30 miles from NYC, and around 60 miles from Philly. I don't know any good way to measure this, since I don't have a map in front of me.


I thought about a rotator, but all the channels from NYC seems to come from 84 degrees, and all the Philly from around 230. If I can get Philly, I would just point it there for now, and then move it to NYC when it's back up. I wouldn't need to switch back and forth between them now.

 

[wward]

gatisimoI was in a very similar situation I lie in Freehold I used the Terk TV42 clip on antenna and did not get decent results. The problem with the Terk antenna is that it is omni directional antenna and not very useful for folks like us that are trying to receive New York digital stations.


I recently purchased a Silver Sensor and high gain amp and have achieved great results with the New York stations. I didn’t even mount it in my attic yet (and may not bother).


One word of caution the Silver is a very directional antenna (its designed that way) so decide early on if you are going to mount it in the attic if you want to receive Philly or New York stations.


The New York stations that are on the air now are all at 37 degrees (CBS, FOX & UPN) for me it may vary a little for you.

 

[gatisimo]

wward: Thanks. I am hoping to return the Terk to Circuit City sometime this weekend. Which preamp did you get, and where can I get one?


Hmm, if it gets a good signal from my living room, I'll keep it there so I can hit Philly and NYC as the need arises. I have a feeling I'm only going to get NYC though

 

[dynamohum1]

Where is you dish mounted in relation to the old antenna, is it close, if so you can combine the signals with a diplexor (cheap) and use the sat line to bring the signal in. What kind of condition is the antenna in... does it look like anything is missing? You can attach a balun (also cheap) 300 ohm to 75 ohm right where the twinlead attaches to the antenna now and then run some rg6 cable over to the dish where it will go into the diplexor the line from the dish goes into the diplexor as well and then the line that is already there going into the house attaches, thats it and all the new wiring is done outside....cost 20-30 bucks, and if you need to replace the antenna you have enough left over to do that and you will use all the same wiring.

 

[RichYak]

At 60 miles, you're probably going to need to use that roof antenna to get philly. I doubt anything indoors, even in the attic, will work.

 

[SteveWinNJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by RichYak At 60 miles, you're probably going to need to use that roof antenna to get philly. I doubt anything indoors, even in the attic, will work.

Rich,


I'm in Mahwah, just a few miles from you, and I was wondering what setup you have and what you are receiving. I am getting NYC just fine with the indoor Silver Sensor, and I was thinking about trying to get Hartford or New Haven Ct to pull in NBC and ABC (especially ABS for the Super Bowl).


I have purchased the Televes 75, and I'm going to try playing around when I'm off from work next week. I also still need to pick up a preamp, and was leaning towards the CM Uhf/Vhf 7557. Any thoughts?

 

[gatisimo]

dynamo: Yeah, the antenna and dish are relatively close. I'd say between 5 and 8ft apart. If your idea works, that would be ideal. The only part I'm not sure about is this:


I originally had Cablevision cable installed, and still have it running (for internet and as a backup for TV). When the DirecTV guys came, they installed the sat system using the same coax feed. In my living room, the line is being split. One end goes into my DirecTV receiver, the other into my cable box. If I throw this third feed in there, the local OTA broadcasts coming from my roof antenna... will it still work ok? I thought this might have something to do with the Terk not picking up any signals.


Also, what's a good place to go and buy a preamp in person? Or should I just look for one online? I can use the preamp in the Silver Sensor, and then for the outdoor antenna if I choose to switch, right?

 

[dynamohum1]

The cable and OTA cannot exist on the same line, .

 

[RichYak]

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveWinNJ I'm in Mahwah, just a few miles from you, and I was wondering what setup you have and what you are receiving. I am getting NYC just fine with the indoor Silver Sensor, and I was thinking about trying to get Hartford or New Haven Ct to pull in NBC and ABC (especially ABS for the Super Bowl). I have purchased the Televes 75, and I'm going to try playing around when I'm off from work next week. I also still need to pick up a preamp, and was leaning towards the CM Uhf/Vhf 7557. Any thoughts?

I have the worst setup imaginable. A radio shack UHF only roof antenna mounted in the attic, original home builder's cable (ie Cheap) from the attic to a UHF only radio shack pre-amp to my DTC-100. I get WCBS just fine and FOX occasionally. When they were live, I got WNBC, WABC, WPIX and WNET just fine. FOX was always the problem but who cares?


I'd get more aggressive on the setup (roof the antenna, upgrade the cable, etc) if I didn't see a light at the end of the tunnel. The missing locals are supposed to be piggy-backing on WCBS-DT's antenna on ESB by May. There's also Cablevision, which should offer some HD package in the next few months. I have DirecTV for now, but may cancel when Cablevision finally comes around.

 

[gatisimo]

I've called Cablevision several times regarding HD availability in NJ. They insist it's not coming for several years. On top of that, the reps argue with me that NO cable company in the entire country is showing HDTV right now. I told them that not only are they misinformed, but I've actually seen HD cable with my own two eyes, and in their own backyard -- provided by Comcast in NJ, and Time Warner in NYC. Every time I've called, the reps laugh at me like I'm some ignorant shopper who doesn't even know what high-definition means.


According to their website, HD programming isn't coming to NJ anytime soon either

 

[wward]

Gatsimo


I use a Radio Shack amp Cat # 15-1109.

 

[SteveWinNJ]

Quote:

Originally posted by RichYak The missing locals are supposed to be piggy-backing on WCBS-DT's antenna on ESB by May. There's also Cablevision, which should offer some HD package in the next few months. I have DirecTV for now, but may cancel when Cablevision finally comes around.

That's good to hear about ESb in May. I heard they were having problems working out the technical/political details. Glad to hear we have a timeframe to look forward to.


Re: Cablevision and HDTV in Bergen County, NJ; I keep seeing conflicting information. I have Directv also, so unless I know for sure that HDTV is broadcasting on Cablevision and what equipment is required, I'm going to sit tight. Anyway to test if Cablevision's HDTV channels are in the open at my neighbor's house using either my DTC-100 or Sony HD-200? Or would I need the cable systems HD box to test it?

 

[gatisimo]

wward: I went out last night and picked up that amp. I don't know what happened, but now I get zero reception. Without the amp I can pull in CBS and Fox at about 69%. whenever I put the amp back in, I get zero. I have all 75ohm coaxials -- the first from the antenna to the amp, then one from the amp to the power supply, then the power supply to the receiver. Do you think it's a faulty unit?


Steve: I heard in parts of NY, where Cablevision does have some HDTV (MSG, FoxSports, etc), some people have had luck plugging their cable line directly into their HD receiver and scanning the channels. I haven't tried this yet. Let me know if you find anything.

 

[wward]

gatisimo


You could have a bad amp did you try adjusting the gain on the amp?

 

[RichYak]

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveWinNJ That's good to hear about ESb in May. I heard they were having problems working out the technical/political details. Glad to hear we have a timeframe to look forward to.

That May timeframe is only based on what I recall reading in these forums.

Quote:

Originally posted by SteveWinNJ Re: Cablevision and HDTV in Bergen County, NJ; I keep seeing conflicting information. I have Directv also, so unless I know for sure that HDTV is broadcasting on Cablevision and what equipment is required, I'm going to sit tight. Anyway to test if Cablevision's HDTV channels are in the open at my neighbor's house using either my DTC-100 or Sony HD-200? Or would I need the cable systems HD box to test it?

Don't bother trying. It's in the clear (8VSB) only on one system on Long Island and not for long. They're moving to QAM "soon" and you'll need their HD cable box. Then they'll start rolling it out to customers. No time frame given.


Rich

 

[magic123]

Steve..


The advantage of CM 7777 pre-amp is that it has 2 inputs (1 for UHF and 1 for VHF)..combined within and 1 output..and high gain... Remember, a pre-amp works no magic; getting a strong signal at the antenna head is the most important factor. Always mount pre-amp on mast about 2 feet from antenna.

 

[gatisimo]

Being that I'm attaching it to a Silver Sensor (for now), where should I put the pre-amp? Is there a certain distance I should try to keep? Not close to the antenna, or not close to the TV?


Oh, and wward, I went and got a new RS amp. This one looks to be in much better condition, and actually had the cables this time. I will try it out tonight. *fingers crossed*