Our company has a Radio show on Sundays now On WLS AM- which draws in a considerable audience, and I get forwarded all the OTA reception problems. Guess I don't like repeating myself. Sorry. What gets me riled up is all the mis-information. I am going to a potiential client this afternoon, a 6-building condo complex. People are not getting the DTV stations on the old in-house antenna system. Another company told these nice folks it was because they didn't have "Digital" capable amplifier in the system. Lots of stuff like that out there.
Here is what I know- I have never been shut out of getting a DTV station we should be recieving. When there was a problem of any type one trip to the site with a spectrum analyzer let me determine the problem and fix it. Really easy to fix when you can see it. Most fixes are basic antenna system PROBLEMS. A handful were due to multipath, but we fixed them too. I'm sorry to hear if others are having such problems. If your on the fringe your on the fringe. Again, were all RF guys here so there should be some understanding about that. Mark- we all know about the RF black hole your near (some call it Joliet). On the fringe in a river valley. Tough nut to crack. On the flip side, I'm 45 miles from the city at home. My neighbor has a modest TV antenna on a 15 ft tower, pointed right into an evergreen tree. He does not get the analog stations well at all, but he pulls in all the digitals 100%. And your right about the equipment availibility not coming until late in the process, there were a bunch of people who got cards before the equipment was available and the cards expired. oops! In response to other posts since: Yes- break up due to momentary signal loss is probably more annoying than snow on analog. Guess there is a trade off for everything. I will live with occasional break-ups (which should be occasional) in trade for the better DTV picture. Cassette Tapes didn't skip either, I'll take a CD thank you. Not getting a Card- First I heard of a flat out rejection. The Govt. told us agents that they were going to put people on a waiting list. One more thing- sometimes break-ups or interruptions in broadcasts are on the TV stations end, in their equipment or their downlinks. Harder to tell these days where the problem lies with Digital. One overlooked item- I get many comments from clients about DTV on the fact that there is MORE TO WATCH! More efficent use of specturm again, More channels to watch in the same space. This is a good thing. Here in Chicago (as it probably is other places) I can change to two or three live weather radars on TV on the secondary channels. I'll take that and deal with the occasional break-ups. Finally, Free is the word. You get what you pay for. Then again- you pay for satellite & cable can have break-up problems too in the digital world.;) My guess is that over time the tuners will get better, have better error correction (Less drop out issues) and we will all in a short order of time wonder why we ever liked analog.(Except in 2-way radio- down with digital! I'll keep my micor!) hi Hi;) I will stop posting on this topic now as the moderaterors are probably tired of it! Tom W9SRV PS Mark- had the Jack in my highly caffinated Coke last night! It does help. --- On Thu, 1/8/09, Mark <n9...@ameritech.net> wrote: > From: Mark <n9...@ameritech.net> > Subject: RE: [Repeater-Builder] OT- Digital TV converter box issues > To: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com > Date: Thursday, January 8, 2009, 10:02 AM > Tom, > > Did we all hit a nerve?? Hehehehe > > Regarding the February changeover date - the FCC could > still have set > another date in June 2009 (or April for that matter - > anytime when the > weather in 2/3 of the country was a bit more tolerable) but > *chose* not to > do so. I deal with government on a daily basis in my > primary job, so I know > that a LOT of times there is no rhyme or reason as to what > dates are set for > anything - other than there was a blank spot on a calendar > somewhere... > Also, DTV may have been around for 2 -3 years, but until > late last year, I > was unable to find converter boxes that I wanted (with > pass-through) locally > - so I ended up going online to get the ones I own. > Availability also needs > to be figured into the equation - and I'll accept > *some* responsibility for > not beginning to prepare early enough - but the supply side > also needs to be > considered. > > I understand that you're in the business, and as you > stated - it has been > the "Bain of your existence" lately. Maybe a > little less caffeine, or a > little more Jack Daniels will help you cope. (All in > jest!!) > > I do like the suggestion about the pre-amp - I may give > that a try this > afternoon (if it isn't too cold in my attic!) and > I'll report my results. > (BTW - mine is not a "hardware store" variety, > it's a Winegard that I spent > probably $70 on about three years ago.) > > Mark - N9WYS > > -----Original Message----- > From: Repeater-Builder@yahoogroups.com > [mailto:repeater-buil...@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of > TGundo 2003 > > The bain of my existance the last few weeks.....DTV. > > Several Points of order: DTV Myths, Comments, Q&A: > > > I hear once a day: DTV doesn't work as good as analog. > > My Response (based on experience): Does not work as good is > from a point of > view. The fact is DTV is more effiecnt, the stations are > typically running a > fraction of the output power and achieving the same > footprint of coverage. > It takes far less signal to noise to pull out a clear, high > quality picture > than it does with analog. Can you make out an analog > station with a ton of > snow, lines, sparkles, etc when you might not pull in a DTV > Station? Sure! > Do you enjoy watching a crappy picture? Do you like to > listen to the guy on > his flea power portable noisy into the repeater or the guy > on a good mobile > who is full quieting? > > > I hear once a day: The antenna in my attic/ my old antenna > system does not > get the DTV stations that I get in analog. > > My Response: Well, this is a technical group with a high > level of RF > knowledge. How well does your 440 antenna (or any band) > work in the attic > compared to on your roof or tower? > There is some implied responsibility on the part of the end > user to ensure > that their equipment is optimized for the best performance. > That being said, > I have many many clients with antennas in the attic that > work just fine. > What I do find to be the typical problem is that most > people with antennas > in their attics have an amplifier installed to make up for > being in the > attic. I'm sorry to say that the $15-20 amplifier you > pick up at the > hardware store sucks, to prove that just bench test it on > your specturm > analyzer & look at a DTV signal. They typically distort > the waveform badly > and that is more common a problem why you can't tune > the DTV station. I have > pulled those from an antenna system that were receiving > analog but not > digital. Once out of the system, while the analog was > virtually unwatchable > now (which the amp had boosted enough to tolerate), the DTV > signal suddenly > came thru with flying colors! Would you put a crappy preamp > on your repeater > receiver? > > > I hear once a day: My converter box does not seem as > sensitive as my new DTV > set in the other room. > > My Response: Let's use some common sense here. The > government mandated that > the LOWEST COST possible converter boxes be made available > for people to > convert their OLD analog TV's. The bottom line: You get > what you pay for. > Was not that long ago a wise jedi master here on RB posted > findings on PL > circuits in radios with his test equipment and found that > the cheaper radios > did a poorer job. Your $50 converter box is not going to > have as good of DTV > tuner in it as your new $5000 Sony HDTV. This difference > existed in analog > tuners as well. Nuff said. > *A side note: We have found that there are huge differences > in converter > boxes. For what it is worth the Zenith model seems to be > one of the best, in > case your shopping. I would stay away from brands you have > never heard of at > the big box stores. > > I hear every day now: The government screwed up & is > running out of money > for the program. > > My Response: We knew 3 years ago they only had so much > money set aside for > this. What did everyone think would happen? There are a ton > of unclaimed > cards out there right now, and as they expire they will put > that money back > in the pot. However, it was always first come, first serve, > and the > government should not be there forever to make sure you can > still use your > dads 40 year RCA TV. And, it's $50-70 for a typical > converter box. Holy cow. > If the $40 coupon makes the difference for you of eating or > not that week, I > think TV should be less of a priority for you. (Sorry for > the social > commentary) > > > I hear every day now (This one is yours Mark;) ): Leave it > to the government > to make the change in Feb instead of June. > > My response: If I remember correctly the orignal cutoff > date was in a June, > but the lawyers fought & fought and got extension after > extension. DTV has > been around for 3-4 years now in most markets, and we have > known this date > was coming for roughly the same time. It's like high > school: we knew for 2 > weeks our paper was due, but still blamed the teacher when > we were really > tired on the due date because we stayed up really late the > night before > doing the paper. ;) > > Finally- I cannot speak for all the markets out there, but > here in Chicago > the DTV stations for the most part are at their full > licensed power now, > only changes left to come are some channel re-assignments > when the switch > happens. So go to work on your antenna that has been up for > 30 years and get > it in shape again! > > Tom > W9SRV > > > > ------------------------------------ > > > > Yahoo! Groups Links > > >
