I have older relatives who still rely on over-the-air analog signals. They live in areas far from any broadcast towers but currently receive all major stations, except that their nearest NBC affiliates are never very clear. They use a rooftop antenna, which is stationary. According to sites we found online, (e.g. tvfool.com, etc.) these available NBC affiliates are not listed very high on the available digital station list for their location. Does this mean that they will likely no longer receive those NBC stations or that, at best, they might receive an intermittant signal? Or should they receive a viable signal, since the current analog signal is strong enough to yield a watchable picture?

Are the local stations low-power broadcast stations? What town/state do they live in?

I doubt any important stations there are low-power. They're in the ZIP code 27205, which recieves stations from both the Triad and Triangle regions of NC. From what I can tell, it seems that they should be able to receive all the stations that they currently receive, but I want to make sure that they won't require any additional costs or effort to get them, and it's just the NBC affiliates that worry me, because of the more distant transmitters and the quality of the current analog signal.

it may just mean they will need to upgrade their antenna and add a pre amp to it to receive the lower powered stations, some areas will have UHF and VHF stations but others will have only UHF when things go digital. if you can give me this info I can tell you which antenna will work better for you. For UHF I recommend the xg91 from antennas direct with a wineguard 4800 pre amp for those needed a extreme fringe antenna, the Antenna I use is the antenna craft U8000 with the wineguard 4800 pre amp. you could combine one of these with a their VHf antenna using a channel master Titan 7777 preamp, which has inputs for both uhf and vhf and a single output. you must put the uhf antenna on top of the vhf with about 3 to 4 foot between them. I live 60+mile from my stations and could not get good reception until I put up a new antenna, with uhf higher is better. check out deep fringe post on this forum at Deep Fringe reception and antennas at Member DTV/HD Antenna Reviews

Some stations actually use a repeater station also known as a broadcast translator. Here's the Wiki: Broadcast relay station - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Here's a quote from the Wiki article:

Cowboy gave you some good suggestions for antenna reviews, but you may also want to find out the phone number of the local NBC station and give them a call. Most local stations will actually have you talk to one of their station engineer's or qualified technician to help you out. If they do indeed use a repeater to broadcast their signals in a fringe area, no antenna will help, because they won't have to upgrade to DTV in February 2009.

These people are elderly and happy with their current service, so they want to make sure that there are as few noticeable changes as possible to the way they do things. More importantly, they don't want to be forced to spend any money in order to keep things as they currently are. Needing to buy a new antenna, especially roof-mounted, is probably out of the question.

The NBC stations available to this area are VHF.

the question is will they stay vhf most digital broad casts will go to uhf when they go digital only a few will stay vhf and a very few will stay analog with their translators only low power stations will stay analog ie: independent low power. this is why the lists help to make suggestions tv fool and antenna point TV Fool - TV Signal Locater Antennapoint.com - Antenna Locator

you are in Asheboro NC not far from my site in Carthage NC. All stations but 11 will go UHF for this area in 2009 there will be no digital vhf but for channel 11 in Durham, they should get a ton of stuff uhf with the antenna craft u 8000 and a wineguard 4800 pre amp if they add a rotator they will have Raleigh and Fayetteville as well for a total of 39 channels. there are no translators but pbs in this area which are high power.
for get the pre amp there are high power stations with in 17 miles so the U8000 pointed toward Greensboro would do the trick but from summitsource.com I think about 60.00 with shipping. you will have to use coax cable as well digital will not run over the flat twin lead cable. hope this helps, but you will have to go with a new antenna in that area.

Current Location: Asheboro, N Carolina 27205, USA
WGHP FOX 8 8 UHF 15.0 kW High Point 13.35 mi 8.33°
WFMY-TV CBS 2 51 UHF 1000.0 kW Greensboro 17.47 mi 6.35°
WXLV-TV ABC 45 29 UHF 990.0 kW Winston Salem 17.63 mi 9.97°
WUPN-TV UPN 48 33 UHF 700.0 kW Greensboro 17.63 mi 9.97°
WLXI-TV IND 61 43 UHF 105.0 kW Greensboro 17.63 mi 9.97°
WTWB-TV CW 20 19 UHF 800.0 kW Lexington 17.63 mi 9.97°
WUNC-TV PBS 4 25 UHF 300.0 kW Chapel Hill 43.19 mi 66.09°
WUNG-TV PBS 58 44 UHF 149.0 kW Concord 45.13 mi 246.83°
WGPX PAX 16 14 UHF 95.0 kW Burlington 45.27 mi 15.32°
WUVC-TV Univision 40 38 UHF 500.0 kW Fayetteville 50.89 mi 98.26°
WTVI PBS 42 11 VHF 2.2 kW Charlotte 51.78 mi 244.17°
WCCB FOX 18 27 UHF 1000.0 kW Charlotte 53.92 mi 243.65°
WAXN-TV IND 64 50 UHF 50.0 kW Kannapolis 54.23 mi 243.00°
WSOC-TV ABC 9 34 UHF 1000.0 kW Charlotte 54.23 mi 243.00°
WUNL-TV PBS 26 32 UHF 263.0 kW Winston Salem 59.50 mi 332.37°
WXII-TV NBC 12 31 UHF 815.0 kW Winston Salem 59.50 mi 332.37°
WFPX PAX 62 36 UHF 1000.0 kW Fayetteville 68.39 mi 138.13°
WUNU PBS 31 31 UHF 109.0 kW Lumberton 73.35 mi 140.32°
WJZY UPN 46 47 UHF 1000.0 kW Belmont 74.58 mi 256.48°
WMTY-TV 55 39 200.0 kW Rock Hill 74.58 mi 256.48°
WCNC-TV NBC 36 22 UHF 791.0 kW Charlotte 75.30 mi 256.07°
WRAL-TV CBS 5 48 UHF 916.0 kW Raleigh 75.66 mi 86.93°
WRAZ FOX 50 49 UHF 1000.0 kW Raleigh 75.66 mi 86.93°
WNCN NBC 17 17 UHF 244.0 kW Goldsboro 75.66 mi 86.93°
WLFL CW 22 27 UHF 568.0 kW Raleigh 75.66 mi 86.93°
WRDC UPN 28 28 UHF 225.0 kW Durham 75.66 mi 86.93°
WTVD ABC 11 11 UHF 19.2 kW Durham 75.66 mi 86.93°
WBTV CBS 3 23 UHF 1000.0 kW Charlotte 76.22 mi 256.79°
WHKY-TV IND 14 40 UHF 600.0 kW Hickory 82.14 mi 275.79°
WNSC-TV PBS 30 15 UHF 403.0 kW Rock Hill 84.22 mi 230.55°
WBTW CBS 13 13 UHF 18.3 kW Florence 91.93 mi 159.85°
WPDE-TV ABC 15 16 UHF 421.0 kW Florence 92.39 mi 160.33°
WWMB UPN 21 21 UHF 384.0 kW Florence 92.39 mi 160.33°
WJPM-TV 33 45 50.0 kW Florence 92.93 mi 175.26°
WRAY-TV IND 30 42 UHF 873.0 kW Wilson 97.93 mi 80.93°

So they'll likely need a new antenna...
Is it just me, or does it seem that the FCC really dropped the ball on this? It's fine that they're offering these coupons for converter boxes, but what about antennae? These people have a digital-ready TV already, but apparently their current antenna (which they spent an awful lot for just a few years ago) will need to be replaced, yet I've seen no advertising campaign telling people that they might need to invest in a new antenna.

Completely agreed. Before you go out and purchase a new antenna, you may want to think about adding a pre-amp like Cowboy suggested before. I think you can pick one up for less than $8 now. It's worth a shot...

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