TV & Electronics : About HDTV Antennas
Posted by admin in Aluratek Reader Wednesday, 28 July 2010 03:38 24 Comments
HDTV antennas are designed to mount to a mast on the outside of a house, and they usually use a standard coaxial cable connection. Use an HDTV antenna to receive high definition signals with help from the owner of an electronics store in this free video on HDTV.
Let’s just say that you are happy with your setup, and I’m happy with mine.
Anyway, there is now plenty of helpful information in here for people to read, and hopefuly it will help them make up their own minds on which route they would want to take.
It was nice discussing this subject with you. Have a good day.
“There’s no kind of Guide over the air as I’m sure you know.”
Have you ever used a dedicated set top ATSV box? On the Samsung I have, it pulls all relevant info like show info/description and times for every single OTA channel I receive, and it then displays all of this info kinda like that of a Tivo based PVR system. I don’t have a screen shot of mine, but here is one that looks very similar to what I get. (remove the spaces when you copy/paste)
h t t p : // tiny . cc / ztw16
To recap for myself:
“is going to cost you a LOT more than a 110 dollar PCI-Card that does the same thing in any decent modern computer.”
Sure, as long as the comp that card is going into is fast enough to begin with. If not, a person would have to add in the cost of a new comp that can handle it. Just curious… how much was your comp setup (tuner card, mother board, case, etc..)? I’m sure it was more than just $110.
And that’s what people need to know if they go the computer PVR route.
Oh and also (har!), back to simplicity: There’s no kind of Guide over the air as I’m sure you know. That means that to program your expensive and snazzy PVR, you’re going to either have to go online or use a paper TV listing, and then program your PVR manually with a remote. I don’t consider that easy, not compared to using a mouse to click on the channel and time/duration. especially on the amazing free and resource-lite “WatchHDTV” app. I’ll have my recording set before you even get going ;}
“Also, are you absolutely sure you can get a DVD recorder that will record ATSC in High-Def?”
I do not care if it doesn’t record in HD to DVD. In your setup, if you record to DVD (recorded so it can be played back on most dvd players), it won’t be in hidef either, so I don’t understnd your point here?
Anyway, we are kinda getting away from what the original youtube video was talking about.
For me I’m happy (for now) just watching OTA without the need of a “PVR” based system.
You have to remember that there are many types of people out there when it comes to HDTV. Imo, most will fall under one of these 3 categories.
1. people that are content with watching TV from cable or sat.
2. people that want a simple way to watch HD. (either with cable/sat, or without it)
3. people that want it all (example, the ability to recorder/pause/save the HD tv they watch)
You obviously fall under #3… but imo I and most US and Canadians tv viewers would usually fall under #2.
To recap: I don’t know where you’re coming from, but to buy a set-top box and a PVR that can record atsc to (removable and transferable?) DVDs in HD (assuming that’s possible…I don’t think so) is going to cost you a LOT more than a 110 dollar PCI-Card that does the same thing in any decent modern computer. Plus it’s fun as hell to surf the net and watch youtube vids on a bigscreen.
You fail to mention how much this unit will cost you. How much more is it going to cost you to record? Model? Also, are you absolutely sure you can get a DVD recorder that will record ATSC in High-Def? Care to name the model? And if it exists, will it allow you to play those DVDs on anyone else’s dvd-player/computer? And can you edit the commercials out of it? As for simplicity, I check the online tv listings and tell my computer to record that channel at that time and go to work. Pretty simple.
“I’ve got a terabyte of storage for recording on my PC & I can burn anything I record to dvd to free up room on my drive…can you?”
I will be able to do the same thing very soon (and w/o the need of a computer). I’m looking at getting a DVD recorder with an ATSC decoder & internal hard drive.
I’m sure the computer based route you picked is good for your needs, but most people just want a quick & easy way to watch HD TV. Imo, an HD ready tv (or set top box) + antenna is much easier to do.
@CoroaEntertainment
Geez buddy…the set-top box you recommend isn’t even a pvr! You can’t record anything with it. There’s nothing wrong with your setup or anything, it’s great….but you stated your set-top box is a better route than turning your PC into both a set-top box (a set-nearby box actually) AND PVR for 110 bucks and well, I can’t agree with you there. Have you seen how expensive the good PVRs are? Do any of them allow you to record to DVD or transfer to any other system?
@CoroaEntertainment
Continued: Both cards have onboard hardware acceleration (the lack of which causes that stuttering on old and/or cluttered machines), and at a mere 110 bucks, it’s a pretty cheap and effective way to go digital. I’ve got a terabyte of storage for recording on my PC and I can burn anything I record to dvd to free up room on my drive…can you? Even for those with atsc tvs, it makes more sense to go PC over PVR for that reason alone, as long as they have a good PC near the TV
My setup contains an older 47″ HDTV (without a built in ATSC tuner), DTB-H260F ATSC box w/remote off ebay for $100 (you need the original remote or the 260 is useless), Channel Master 4221, & about 50′ of RG6 coax without a booster. The 4221 is mounted on my roof (35′ up), and I currently get 27 digital/HD channels. Shows like The Amazing Race, Dancing with the Starts, House, CSI and many other live primetime network TV shows look stunning in HD. I’ve been cable free for almost 3 years now. : )
@CoroaEntertainment
Well, my computer is a few feet away from the TV (it’s the TV-TunerPVRDVD-PlayerHome StereoGaming Unit and web-surfer…in other words, the complete home-entertainment solution in a small box). I disagree about two things: 1-I started with an ATI HDTV Wonder in my P4 3GHz single-core with one GB of ram, and it never stuttered on me. Maybe your old pc was cluttered? Maybe you used a USB tuner with no Mpeg acceleration? I also now have an ATI TV-Wonder HD 650 in my quad.
@DoofNoofem, yes, you can use a tuner card for you computer, but then you’d need to run a coax from the computer to the TV. Btw, running HDTV with an older computer that is not fast enough (example not a dual or quad core with at least 2-3 gigs of ram), will cause the HD video stream to stutter badly.
Imo, a good set top box like the Samsung DTB-H260F is a better route. That set top box has an excellent ATSC tuner built in (better than most computer tuner cards). Best Buy used to sell them.
@CoroaEntertainment , sounds like you know your stuff. Btw…I’m not suggesting that the antenna presented here is necessarily bad or anything (though that reflector looks mighty small compared to the element).
Also, you left out one option…I have a “HDTV ready” Tv (no ATSC tuner) use a computer tuner to receive, record and present HD content on my TV because for the price of a Tuner-card I can use my computer as a PVR and record as well. PCI-card tuners are better than USB tuners afaik.
Some of the channels I get are Fox, PBS, ABC, CBS, MyTV, NBC …. all in glorious digital/HD. I canceled my regular basic cable, because I was getting the same channels for free over the air (OTA), and the nice thing is that the channels I get now are digital/HD compared to lower quality analog from the cable company. But unless you live within 50 miles of a big city, the chances of getting that many OTA hd channels gets harder to do. That’s when a Yagi antenna and a rotator/amp can help things.
@DoofNoofem, but most of those old setups have RG59 coax. To get the best performance, that cable should be switched to RG6 (& keep it as short as possible). A new baulm should also be used. For lengths under 50 feet one TV, an amp is not usually needed. Of course you also require a TV with a built in digital ASTC tuner, or a TV top box with an ATSC tuner. Without that you will NOT be able to receive these free digital HD channels. I get 27 OTA digital HD channels. Yep, I gave up my cable. : )
this is just a UHF loop with a reflector, good
for probably 15 miles, A grey hoverman with
narods is one of the best antennas.
I wonder how many suckers have old “analog” tv antennas on their roofs and get suckered into buying “HDTV Antennas” by “techies” who either lie or don’t have a clue what they’re talking about. HDTV is broadcast at VHF and UHF frequencies- the SAME frequencies on which analog signals are broadcast. If your old antenna worked well picking up analog (without major ghosting or dropouts), then it will work well picking up digital. The word “Digital” or “HDTV” on antenna packaging is bullshit.
If anyone was wondering, this is one of our antennas used in this eHow demonstration — Antennas Direct Clearstream1.
OTA antenna are definitely affected by trees and buildings in the way.
You are fucking noob. It’s no difference between analogue antenna or DVB-T antenna. This is marketing bullshit.
at best buy they said those are for outdoor and indoor use
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Have A Blessed Night