HDTV antennas

[GWood]

I realize this has been rather beaten up previously, but my question hasn't
really been covered.

We have a brand new tv with HDTV tuner. Our intention was to enjoy rented
movies more, as we watch very little commercial television. We get only
basic cable and will not be signing up for HD channel packages. I wanted to
supplement our watching with an hdtv antenna for local channels.

I've been on AntennaWeb and they recommend a mid-range directional "red"
antenna. All my local hdtv channels are within a few degrees of each other
and 6-7 miles from my location, so I guess that's a good thing if I decide
to go with an external antenna. However, I'm not convinced at this point
that I want to add an antenna to my rooftop, so I'm researching indoor
antennas.

We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
Soooo....
Can an indoor antenna be placed our of the way (ie. behind a tv) and still
be expected to operate OK? Does it need line-of-sight clearance to the
signal direction? If I sit one in the corner of a room behind an
audio/video stand, any chance it will provide good reception?

Thanks for any help you can provide.
Cheers
Gary

[proc]

If you decide to go the indoor route, try the Zenith Silver Sensor.
You should be close enough to use an indoor antenna. Its fairly small.
I use a DB2 (from antennasdirect.com) that I have outside. I am
about 14 miles from the towers here in Motown. I have it mounted on the
room on the old DirecTV satellite mount.

[Yeechang Lee]

GWood wrote:
> We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.

The Silver Sensor/ZHDTV1 mentioned elsewhere in the thread resembles a
piece of modern art more than anything else; you might very well
decide it looks OK should circumstances require it be visible in your
living room.

--
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Homemade 2.8TB RAID 5 storage array:
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[GWood]

Thanks. If it is pointing at a wall a foot away, can I expect it to still
pick up a signal?

"Yeechang Lee" > wrote in message
...
> GWood wrote:
> > We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
>
> The Silver Sensor/ZHDTV1 mentioned elsewhere in the thread resembles a
> piece of modern art more than anything else; you might very well
> decide it looks OK should circumstances require it be visible in your
> living room.
>

[Dennis Mayer]

GWood wrote:
>
> I realize this has been rather beaten up previously, but my question hasn't
> really been covered.
>
> We have a brand new tv with HDTV tuner. Our intention was to enjoy rented
> movies more, as we watch very little commercial television. We get only
> basic cable and will not be signing up for HD channel packages. I wanted to
> supplement our watching with an hdtv antenna for local channels.
>
> I've been on AntennaWeb and they recommend a mid-range directional "red"
> antenna. All my local hdtv channels are within a few degrees of each other
> and 6-7 miles from my location, so I guess that's a good thing if I decide
> to go with an external antenna. However, I'm not convinced at this point
> that I want to add an antenna to my rooftop, so I'm researching indoor
> antennas.
>
> We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
> Soooo....
> Can an indoor antenna be placed our of the way (ie. behind a tv) and still
> be expected to operate OK? Does it need line-of-sight clearance to the
> signal direction? If I sit one in the corner of a room behind an
> audio/video stand, any chance it will provide good reception?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
> Cheers
> Gary


If your Cable Company has HDTV offerings...... and you have basic

cable...... All you need is a digital QAM tuner to pick up local

HDTV channels off your Basic cable wall cable...

Local HD like ABC-HD, CBS-HD, PBS-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD are not

scrambled.... If your new TV does not have a QAM tuner (a portion

of the Cable Card system), a Samsung T-451 digital tuner at $250

does have a QAM Cable tuner included. QAM channels run from:

75.1 thru 124.20... ESPN-HD is always scrambled...


About the OTA (over the air antenna), If home has metal siding....

antenna should go in attic... Most HDTV is UHF channels 14 thru

59..... so think UHF antenna, not HDTV antenna. A Channel

Master 'flat outdoor' UHF #3021 4 bay bow tie costs $25.....

Use RG-6 antenna cable, not RG-59 cable....

[Tam/WB2TT]

"GWood" > wrote in message
...
>I realize this has been rather beaten up previously, but my question hasn't
> really been covered.
>
> We have a brand new tv with HDTV tuner. Our intention was to enjoy rented
> movies more, as we watch very little commercial television. We get only
> basic cable and will not be signing up for HD channel packages. I wanted
> to
> supplement our watching with an hdtv antenna for local channels.
>
> I've been on AntennaWeb and they recommend a mid-range directional "red"
> antenna. All my local hdtv channels are within a few degrees of each
> other
> and 6-7 miles from my location, so I guess that's a good thing if I decide
> to go with an external antenna. However, I'm not convinced at this point
> that I want to add an antenna to my rooftop, so I'm researching indoor
> antennas.
>
> We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
> Soooo....
> Can an indoor antenna be placed our of the way (ie. behind a tv) and still
> be expected to operate OK? Does it need line-of-sight clearance to the
> signal direction? If I sit one in the corner of a room behind an
> audio/video stand, any chance it will provide good reception?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
> Cheers
> Gary
>
>
If possible, I would go for mounting the antenna in the attic, and get it
out of sight. Also, antennas near the set are sometimes disturbed by people
walking around the room. At 6 - 7 miles, get a conventional antenna, not
one that is amplified. If it is all UHF, the Radio Shack $24.99 will work
just fine. Usually much eaier to obtain than the ChannelMaster.

Tam

[Greg]

I have my Silver Sensor pointing right at my interior living room wall (in
the direction of the tower) and my reception is fine. Antenna reception
depends on many things (distance from the tower; number, height and
composition of obstructions; whether your house has wood or metal siding,
etc). The Silver Sensor can be had for about $40. Give it, or something
like it, a try and return it if it doesn't work out.

Greg

"GWood" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks. If it is pointing at a wall a foot away, can I expect it to still
> pick up a signal?
>
> "Yeechang Lee" > wrote in message
> ...
> > GWood wrote:
> > > We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
> >
> > The Silver Sensor/ZHDTV1 mentioned elsewhere in the thread resembles a
> > piece of modern art more than anything else; you might very well
> > decide it looks OK should circumstances require it be visible in your
> > living room.

[L Alpert]

GWood wrote:
> I realize this has been rather beaten up previously, but my question
> hasn't really been covered.
>
> We have a brand new tv with HDTV tuner. Our intention was to enjoy
> rented movies more, as we watch very little commercial television.
> We get only basic cable and will not be signing up for HD channel
> packages. I wanted to supplement our watching with an hdtv antenna
> for local channels.
>
> I've been on AntennaWeb and they recommend a mid-range directional
> "red" antenna. All my local hdtv channels are within a few degrees
> of each other and 6-7 miles from my location, so I guess that's a
> good thing if I decide to go with an external antenna. However, I'm
> not convinced at this point that I want to add an antenna to my
> rooftop, so I'm researching indoor antennas.
>
> We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
> Soooo....
> Can an indoor antenna be placed our of the way (ie. behind a tv) and
> still be expected to operate OK? Does it need line-of-sight
> clearance to the signal direction? If I sit one in the corner of a
> room behind an audio/video stand, any chance it will provide good
> reception?
>
> Thanks for any help you can provide.
> Cheers
> Gary

Is your tuner QAM compatible (Mitsubishi tuners are QAM)? Your local HD
stations may be able to be picked up off of your cable if you do a channel
scan.

[shutterbug]

I looked at the "t451" user manual and there is no indication that it
supports the cable "qam" format. They only specify 8vsb which may be on some
small cable systems.

"Dennis Mayer" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> GWood wrote:
>>
>> I realize this has been rather beaten up previously, but my question
>> hasn't
>> really been covered.
>>
>> We have a brand new tv with HDTV tuner. Our intention was to enjoy
>> rented
>> movies more, as we watch very little commercial television. We get only
>> basic cable and will not be signing up for HD channel packages. I wanted
>> to
>> supplement our watching with an hdtv antenna for local channels.
>>
>> I've been on AntennaWeb and they recommend a mid-range directional "red"
>> antenna. All my local hdtv channels are within a few degrees of each
>> other
>> and 6-7 miles from my location, so I guess that's a good thing if I
>> decide
>> to go with an external antenna. However, I'm not convinced at this point
>> that I want to add an antenna to my rooftop, so I'm researching indoor
>> antennas.
>>
>> We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
>> Soooo....
>> Can an indoor antenna be placed our of the way (ie. behind a tv) and
>> still
>> be expected to operate OK? Does it need line-of-sight clearance to the
>> signal direction? If I sit one in the corner of a room behind an
>> audio/video stand, any chance it will provide good reception?
>>
>> Thanks for any help you can provide.
>> Cheers
>> Gary
>
>
> If your Cable Company has HDTV offerings...... and you have basic
>
> cable...... All you need is a digital QAM tuner to pick up local
>
> HDTV channels off your Basic cable wall cable...
>
> Local HD like ABC-HD, CBS-HD, PBS-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD are not
>
> scrambled.... If your new TV does not have a QAM tuner (a portion
>
> of the Cable Card system), a Samsung T-451 digital tuner at $250
>
> does have a QAM Cable tuner included. QAM channels run from:
>
> 75.1 thru 124.20... ESPN-HD is always scrambled...
>
>
> About the OTA (over the air antenna), If home has metal siding....
>
> antenna should go in attic... Most HDTV is UHF channels 14 thru
>
> 59..... so think UHF antenna, not HDTV antenna. A Channel
>
> Master 'flat outdoor' UHF #3021 4 bay bow tie costs $25.....
>
> Use RG-6 antenna cable, not RG-59 cable....

[Dennis Mayer]

shutterbug wrote:
>
> I looked at the "t451" user manual and there is no indication that it
> supports the cable "qam" format. They only specify 8vsb which may be on some
> small cable systems.

I own a Samsung T-451 digital tuner and it does support both

digital OTA antenna TV or unscrambled QAM cable TV programs.....

The T-451 dual internal memory holds both the OTA antenna and QAM

cable channels.... however the RG-6 input cable must be

swapped to watch the 'Digital Program group of choice'.


The T-451 QAM cable scan is listed as Cable STD....


I believe both the Samsung T-151 and T-351 do NOT support

unscrambled QAM.....







> "Dennis Mayer" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> >
> > GWood wrote:
> >>
> >> I realize this has been rather beaten up previously, but my question
> >> hasn't
> >> really been covered.
> >>
> >> We have a brand new tv with HDTV tuner. Our intention was to enjoy
> >> rented
> >> movies more, as we watch very little commercial television. We get only
> >> basic cable and will not be signing up for HD channel packages. I wanted
> >> to
> >> supplement our watching with an hdtv antenna for local channels.
> >>
> >> I've been on AntennaWeb and they recommend a mid-range directional "red"
> >> antenna. All my local hdtv channels are within a few degrees of each
> >> other
> >> and 6-7 miles from my location, so I guess that's a good thing if I
> >> decide
> >> to go with an external antenna. However, I'm not convinced at this point
> >> that I want to add an antenna to my rooftop, so I'm researching indoor
> >> antennas.
> >>
> >> We also don't want to have an antenna sitting on top of our TV unit.
> >> Soooo....
> >> Can an indoor antenna be placed our of the way (ie. behind a tv) and
> >> still
> >> be expected to operate OK? Does it need line-of-sight clearance to the
> >> signal direction? If I sit one in the corner of a room behind an
> >> audio/video stand, any chance it will provide good reception?
> >>
> >> Thanks for any help you can provide.
> >> Cheers
> >> Gary
> >
> >
> > If your Cable Company has HDTV offerings...... and you have basic
> >
> > cable...... All you need is a digital QAM tuner to pick up local
> >
> > HDTV channels off your Basic cable wall cable...
> >
> > Local HD like ABC-HD, CBS-HD, PBS-HD, NBC-HD, FOX-HD are not
> >
> > scrambled.... If your new TV does not have a QAM tuner (a portion
> >
> > of the Cable Card system), a Samsung T-451 digital tuner at $250
> >
> > does have a QAM Cable tuner included. QAM channels run from:
> >
> > 75.1 thru 124.20... ESPN-HD is always scrambled...
> >
> >
> > About the OTA (over the air antenna), If home has metal siding....
> >
> > antenna should go in attic... Most HDTV is UHF channels 14 thru
> >
> > 59..... so think UHF antenna, not HDTV antenna. A Channel
> >
> > Master 'flat outdoor' UHF #3021 4 bay bow tie costs $25.....
> >
> > Use RG-6 antenna cable, not RG-59 cable....

[Joe Moore]

Dennis Mayer > wrote:
> QAM channels run from:
>
> 75.1 thru 124.20...

QAM channels can be up to 135 depending
on your particular cable provider's equipment. The Samsung
T-451's QAM tuner only goes up to 125, however.

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