antenna reception for HD

[gizak]

So I bit the bullet and threw more money at Snapstream today since it was the last day to upgrade to BTV4. I waited to the last minute since my current setup works fine and I don't have a big need for HD.

Since it's going to be option to me now, I did my research to see if I could snag a signal and according to www.antennaweb.org, my current location would require a large directional antenna with pre-amp (violet) which looks to be the strongest one needed. Unfortunately, I'm in a small area with some low mountains around me blocking the line that points towards the HD stations.

I want to snag the Zenith one that comes with the Snapstream package, as I've heard nothing but good reviews about it, but worried I won't be able to snag anything if I drop any more money into HD. My question is, has anybody had success with the Zenith antenna despite living in a area suggesting a "violet" antenna. Or any suggestions on what models would work for me?

[pdaughe]

Read this thread!

http://forums.snapstream.com/vb/show...361#post180361

[Mamba]

Not sure what Zenith you're talking about, but I use a CM 4228 UHF antenna which has a CEA LD rating. The AW site is a good starting point, but not comprehensive...I get several HD stations not listed there (well, listed but not correctly as digital content). Given the description of your locale IMO it'd be a major gamble for decent OTA, especially for BTV since (from what I've read...only have PVR-150 myself) it requires a very strong signal for PVR to work.

[gizak]

Thanks for the tips, that one thread link sure was detailed! but it doesn't help me much. I guess my basic question would be - is there anybody out there who has success with getting HD in my current situation (violet antenna range)?

[ThickHead]

Maybe I can give some perspective from my experience. Using antennaweb.org on "street level" I should get 6 digital networks, all are 38.5 miles and at the exact same compass heading. There are 3 are listed in the "green" range, 2 in "lt green", and 1 is "red". I have a medium range directional antenna with preamplifier which would be a "blue" so I should be able to get everything. If I apply the coax feed directly into my Dvico FusionHDTV5 USB, I get all 6 just fine (80-100% signal strength per Dvico's signal checker). But if I insert a 3 way passive splitter to feed coax's to my 2 PVR250's and the Fusion at the same time, the signal strength on 2 of the digital networks drops below 70% and I can't get reception on those 2. One of the dropouts is the "red" as expected, but the other one is in the "green" range, which I wouldn't have expected. I'm going to try using a 4 way amplified splitter to see if that fixes it. Transmission frequency, weather, terrain, antenna height, etc. will affect your results, so I'd say it's a pretty much a coin toss as to whether it will work if you're in the "purple" range. Plan on needing amplifiers even if you get a big antenna.

[Harold]

Don't know if this will help you or not. I'm 35 mi or so from the antenna farm in Houston (flat). A two bay UHF (two bowties) worked fine for all UHF stations that I wanted and the antenna is only about 15 ft above the ground. I went to an 8 bay UHF to get an upper VHF station (PBS). The main reason for an amplifer is to recover losses from a long cable run or splitting. I have only one HDTV card, so it's a straight run for me.

It's difficult to get a precise prediction of the link margin, so I would purchase the antenna from a source that will allow returns and try it out. Also, all tuners are not created equal, so that's another variable.

The AVS forum has a thread for OTA HDTV for most markets. In Houston, one of the local HDTV station engineers frequently answers posts. You may find someone in your area to compare with.

[gizak]

thanks Harold,
I'll head over there to do more investigation... Somebody needs to sell a cheap HD indicator dongle like the wifi ones lol.