Which Brand of Digital TVs Works Best With An Antenna?

My old Philips television bought way back in 2000 can pick up all the signals in our area using an outdoor antenna. The reception is pretty good because the screen images are very clear.

drt cable is the optional for old tv-s

The same Question here ..

Originally Posted by atlanta

RELATED QUESTION: I have a 23" Vizio, and I split the set-top flat antenna (w/rabbit ears) into 1)the TV and 2)the VCR for recording shows. It seems to me like the Vizio signal breaks up more than when I used to have a single antenna to analog TV. Does it need an amplifier? What type of amp would it need, and where would it go (before or after the splitter)? Are amps expensive?

atlanta, generally REars don't have a lot of gain, making splitting their signal a little questionable, as you have found. There are several other indoor/shelve type Antennas which are stronger, and may be able to do what you want (split the signal) and have enough strength to operate both components satisfactorily.

Comes to mind...
Antennas Direct C1C
Terk HDTV#
Several Phillips Units, but...

Before you just go out and buy one, you need to do a lookup via TVFool, and see which one is more appropriate for your location.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

Thanks, Houston! I looked up my address <http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbeeeaa0f9f1 f> and it showed that an indoor set-top antenna is sufficient for all the channels I want (all the major broadcast + pbs stations) although some of the terminology was a little confusing, like LOS and 1Edge and 2Edge. Not sure about that. My main beef with reception is the airplanes that go over the house and break up the screen. I don't know that a stronger antenna would be able to filter that out. We have a regional airport a mile away.

I'm now thinking about getting an OTA DVR and watching everything through that if it looks OK in high-def. I was thinking about the DTVPal DVR but now I think I might look into the Channel Master CM-7000pal. I gather it's the same unit but with a 1-year warranty instead of a 90-day warranty. But man, it's expensive. Have you heard anything about these units?

Originally Posted by atlanta

Thanks, Houston! I looked up my address <http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbeeeaa0f9f1 f> and it showed that an indoor set-top antenna is sufficient for all the channels I want (all the major broadcast + pbs stations) although some of the terminology was a little confusing, like LOS and 1Edge and 2Edge. Not sure about that. My main beef with reception is the airplanes that go over the house and break up the screen. I don't know that a stronger antenna would be able to filter that out. We have a regional airport a mile away.

I'm now thinking about getting an OTA DVR and watching everything through that if it looks OK in high-def. I was thinking about the DTVPal DVR but now I think I might look into the Channel Master CM-7000pal. I gather it's the same unit but with a 1-year warranty instead of a 90-day warranty. But man, it's expensive. Have you heard anything about these units?

A stronger antenna would help you keep a lock on thiose stations, especially one thats more directional. Indoor antennas tend to be not very selective / directional. You're going to need to do something if you want reliable recording.

The CM-7000 IS the DTVpal. I've heard its more reliable than the DTVpal, but its the same design. The DTVpal is no longer being produced, and I believe only Kmart online is selling the remaining units. Yea, its expensive, but figure 6 months without pay TV and.. its paid for! And there's no subscription fee, unlike TIVO. Your other option would be a media PC with a tuner, but thats nowhere near as convenient.

atlanta,

The channels marked "LOS" (line of sight) are the ones that should be received the best. Those marked 1edge/2edge mean, that you don't have a good LOS to them. Something is probably in the way, a Hill, Building, something like that. This doesn't mean that you positively can't get them, just that they're more difficult to get, and probably won't provide you with as good/stable a picture as will the LOS'.

From what I see on your chart, the group found at your southerly direction would provide you with the "most" stations to view. I do see one exception.

You have two PBS Channels. One in you "primary" direction which is not very strong, and another in an Easterly direction (112° Degree Azimuth) which is worth checking out. If you get something like the C1C, or one of the Turk's, you could turn it to the east, and check out how well you get that Channel (8) even though it is a 1Edge. Don't be afraid to experiment a little, you can always put things back like they were !

I can't speak to your comment on the CM-7000, but, I own a DTVPal DVR and am quite satisfied with it.
This Forum contains MANY comments on this type unit, please use the search feature, to bring those Topics up, where you can make an informed choice.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

On the Radio Shack discussion, each Radio Shack is locally owned and how they are run is based on what the local owner's preferences are. My local one (Tri-Lakes Electronics) has lots of OTA stuff and few if any cell phones. I like to buy there because I know their local, and I've bought two antennas there. On the other hand the mall stores have lots of cell phones and few if any OTA stuff.

Originally Posted by dkreichen1968

On the Radio Shack discussion, each Radio Shack is locally owned and how they are run is based on what the local owner's preferences are. My local one (Tri-Lakes Electronics) has lots of OTA stuff and few if any cell phones. I like to buy there because I know their local, and I've bought two antennas there. On the other hand the mall stores have lots of cell phones and few if any OTA stuff.

My store is in a mall, when I wanted an antenna they had to have it transferred from another store... no big deal, it took 2 days.

[QUOTE=SWHouston;66165]atlanta,
If you get something like the C1C, or one of the Turk's, you could turn it to the east, and check out how well you get that Channel (8) even though it is a 1Edge. Don't be afraid to experiment a little, you can always put things back like they were ! [/FONT][/FONT]

I am still quite confused about antennas. I looked up the C1C, and it looks like they have a non-amplified antenna that you can use indoors. I'm not sure about amplifiers because I tried a winegard ss3000 antenna and didn't find any difference between it and my flat/rabbit ear type, so I returned it. We don't have an attic, just an alpine roof, so I don't know about going to the expense and trouble to mount an antenna up there (could not possibly do it ourselves.) I've also seen an antenna that looks like a flat piece of cardboard that you put on your wall. I've noticed that wind really affects our reception, too. Is there a good indoor antenna that is nice and strong and not too expensive?

atlanta,

What I understood of your initial question was....
You were using a set of REars, and when splitting the Signal, the Signal strength was too low.

Any of the Antennas I mentioned previously would provide greater Signal strength (with a splitter) than would REars by them selves. I have a C1C on a shelve, and am quite pleased with the reception.

Amps are good, but, if you can get your system set up to work without them, that's always better.
Just get a good Antenna first, then, if it needs Amplification, I can recommend an modest inline Amp, which will help IF it's needed. It will be a very simple task slipping it inline at any time.

The "Flat" type Antennas which you mentioned, probably are the RCA ANT-1400 Series.
I have one of those too, and I'm sorry to say it's working best in my junk box, not that it may not be just right for someone, but... I'm afraid I don't have very much good to say about them.

Have a good Day !
S.W.

Ref: TV Fool

Thank you very much! That clears things up!

-Katie

I too have a Dish DTVpal-DVR. The only issue I've had is not getting all of the TVGOS (TV Guide On Screen) data for my area. (I get 7 days on most Denver Stations and only the PSIP data for Colorado Springs.) It is the most convenient OTA HDTV DVR without fees there is.

Originally Posted by MrPogi

A lot of stores don't even have cable, they just run all tvs from one or a few blu rays. While you can compare pictures side by side on blu ray, there's no way to really test drive a tv without an antenna or QAM cable. Most tvs provide a decent picture, but how the unit behaves when surfing channels is important. Does it switch channels quickly? Does a big box appear over the screen every time you change channel? How does it handle different formats? Nobody reviews these things, and if you can't see it for yourself in the store, you basically have to buy the TV to find out if you like it. Salesman would probably kill you after you came back to return your 5th 60" Plasma!

Here happens the same thing, i just saw some times now some TV with an real broadcasting of HD mainly the channel 7 and looks with high pixellation, also i did an test with an LG TV changed of channels and well saw one channel that i do not expected to see the 9.1 -9.2 the 9.2 basically shown old tennis matchs only and the main 9 channel the obvious main TV programming upscaled, , i just when see tv compare the fluent of motion and the black levels quality.

i saw that in our DTV system the image looks grainy and not look clean the image i think is an MPEG4 artifact as mpeg4 is not suitable for high quality Video applications.

i saw some years backs an test with an Sony Bravia on ATSC and just twice times lost the signal well the only station that were doing the ATSC test was the channel 13, i think already to that channel do not like the fact of work on ISDB-TB

Originally Posted by hein George

I found my Philips Digital TVs best with an Antenna. And I am using it for seven years.

I don't know how good new Philips TV set are, they are now owned by Funai. I bought my 52" LCD just before they were sold, and my opinion is, receiver and display are excellent. However, there is NOTHING for a program guide - it tells you the title only when you tune to that channel. I also dislike the menu system, it forces you to drill down from the main menu to the sub-menus to do simple things like change audio language, and the menu is FULL SCREEN WHITE and not transparent. Also, the OSD is WAY too big when you change channels.

But I only paid about $800 for what was then one of the sets with the best picture on the market. I do hope Funai has addressed these shortcomings. BTW, Funai bought Philips engineering and production facilities, not just the brand name.

Ok I"m new to this so have patients here..... I decided originally NOT to put up outdoor equipment/ set up because after doing a websearch the online site/station locator said the Memphis stations we mostly unreachable *either orange or red zone... so I just throw up a rabbit ear to get the few local channels available.... THEN I noticed that after a channel search ALOT more of these stations come in than they said would and if they did that would give me at LEAST one of each of the Majors....now I'm only about 80 miles or less outside of Memphis and a little rabbit ear picked up alot....so I'm assuming that a outdoor set up would pull in almost ALL of these (possibly more)....anyone got any suggestions about what I might use outside and what set up I might need to go ahead an pull these in?

Dan,

Please go to the TV Fool website and run a free TV reception survey based on the maximum height you can install an outdoor antenna. Then, post the resulting URL here so we can study it. That website will automatically conceal your personal information for security. We look forward to helping you.

Jim

I have a Sharp LC-60LE835U that I purchased recently. It is hooked to a Direct TV receiver, but on the second RF input, I hooked a regular indoor UHF/VHF rabbit ears antenna. I have the antenna sitting behind the TV out of sight. I have no problem getting all the local channels with this. It really comes in handy when Direct TV goes out due to an intense storm.

Be careful MJ,

That FREE TV sure becomes habit forming. With all the really good shows on the Local Channels now, gives one pause when he feeds out those bucks for something that works part time.