[n737nc]

Morning guys and gals,


I've had my HD set up for a while now. Mostly running just HD DVD's. Now I'm wanting to pick up some HD channels. What am I going to need? I've got an antenna up in the attic(not sure if it's an HD antenna or not), but when I hooded it up, I got nothing.


I live in Grapevine Tx, which is about 20 miles from Dallas, so I was thinking that I should be able to pick up something, but I got nothing at all

Is it normal to just run coax cable from the antenna to the TV and be able to pick up HD channels?


TV is a Philips HDTV 42 inch plasma.


I'm sure you guys need more info, but I really don't know what to provide you with.



Thanks in advance,

Nick

 

[biker19]

You need to make sure the antenna is actually connected and pointing in the right direction. Then do a scan - you should see both analog and digital chs.

 

[n737nc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by biker19 /forum/post/0


You need to make sure the antenna is actually connected and pointing in the right direction. Then do a scan - you should see both analog and digital chs.

Ok, thanks! I'll hook it up again this afternoon when I get home, and move the antenna around.

 

[rlj5242]



Quote:
Originally Posted by n737nc /forum/post/0


not sure if it's an HD antenna or not

There is no such thing as an HD antenna. There are just UHF, VHF or combo antennas. You need to check out the sticky OVER-THE-AIR DIGITAL TELEVISION RECEPTION FAQ: New to OTA? Start here! at the top of this forum.


-Robert

 

[n737nc]



Quote:
Originally Posted by rlj5242 /forum/post/0


There is no such thing as an HD antenna. There are just UHF, VHF or combo antennas. You need to check out the sticky OVER-THE-AIR DIGITAL TELEVISION RECEPTION FAQ: New to OTA? Start here! at the top of this forum.


-Robert

Ok, thanks! I'll read thru it.


Nick

 

[afiggatt]

The starting point is to go to antennaweb.org and figure out where and on what channels are your digital stations. Looking up Grapevine, TX and randomly selecting a zip of 76051 for somewhere in the town, you have a respectable list of digital stations:


* yellow - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 DAY DENTON TX 159° 27.9 43

* yellow - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC DALLAS TX 160° 24.8 9

* yellow - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC FORT WORTH TX 159° 24.9 41

* yellow - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 159° 24.9 40

* yellow - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS FORT WORTH TX 157° 25.7 19

* yellow - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 IND FORT WORTH TX 159° 27.9 18

* yellow - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 159° 27.9 48

* yellow - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 i ARLINGTON TX 159° 24.5 42

* yellow - uhf KMPX-DT 30.1 DAY DECATUR TX 109° 10.4 30

* yellow - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 CW DALLAS TX 159° 27.9 32

* yellow - uhf KDFW-DT 4.1 FOX DALLAS TX 160° 24.8 35

* yellow - uhf KFWD-DT 52.1 IND FORT WORTH TX 158° 24.7 51

* yellow - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS DALLAS TX 157° 25.6 14

* yellow - uhf KUVN-DT 23.1 UNI GARLAND TX 159° 24.7 24

* green - uhf KDTX-DT 58.1 TBN DALLAS TX 159° 24.7 45

* red - uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 MNT DALLAS TX 159° 27.9 36

* violet - uhf KLDT-DT 55.1 IND LAKE DALLAS TX 45° 7.9 54


All of these stations are digitally broadcasting on UHF (the last number on each row is the actual broadcast channel), except for WFAA-DT ABC 8 which is broadcasting on upper VHF 9. You should check the antenna in the attic to make sure that it has a UHF antenna just in case it is an old VHF only antenna.


Hook the antenna up to the co-axial antenna input on the TV and do a scan with the digital ATSC tuner. The TV will not show any digital stations until it has completed a scan. If for some reason, it does not find many stations, you can try to manually enter the digital channel # such as 35 for the KDFW-DT Fox station. This works for some ATSC tuners, but not others.


Not all of these stations will have an HD sub-channel. Univision, i (aka Pax), Telemundo, and the independents (probably) will be SD only.

 

[jimcrow21]

I'm glad you're watching some form of HD on your HD set. Thank god you are not one of the many ignorants of America who buy HD TVs and don't watch HD at all on it.


I'd hate to say this but when buying your HDTV, did you know that you were able to pick up HD simply using an antenna (did the sales rep tell you this)?


Not too long ago I was a sales associate at Sears. Customers would simply buy HDTVs and assume regular old analog channels coming from non-HD cable would look good. I would explain to customers that analog signals (coming from your non-HD cable for example) would only look OK, but that only digital signals look the best. I would tell them that all they needed was an antenna and would reccomend one to them, but they would never buy it. Some return the TV, disappointed about its performance on their shyttie cable service, despite the fact that I told them the best way to watch TV is to watch the locals using an antenna and watching cable exclusive channels through their cable box.


I apologize for my digression, but there is a chance that your good old antenna will work for you. Simply connect it to your TV and scan for channels, in particular the digital ones. Your TV probably has two coaxial inputs, so if you can't pick up digital channels on one input, try it with the other.

 

[n737nc]

Got it! And it works AWESOME! The picture is nice, crisp and perfectly clear! YIPPIE!!

jimcrow21-no, I did not buy this TV knowing that I could pick up OTA HD channels. I originally bought this TV to compliment my HD DVD player. At the time, I had Direct TV(since then I have cancelled my service). Now that I have the OTA HD channels, I am a happy camper!

Thanks to all who gave me advice, I really appreciate it! You guys are the greatest on this site!


Thanks,

Nick