Don’t throw away that old TV Antenna just yet…
Did you know that you can get crystal clear HDTV signals right over the air? I guess I did somehow realize it, but to be honest I did not fully comprehend how easy it was to get HDTV via a UHF antenna until recently. It just never dawned on me that over the air (OTA) signals could be that good. I guess I was trained that TV from an antenna always had static, ghosting and was a general PITA. That’s why we have cable, right?
Well I have good news if you don’t already know….the good news is that with that old UHF antenna you have on your roof or in your attic, you can get lots (I can get 40+ stations) of perfectly clear, high contrast, no static, beautiful HDTV stations, in very high quality all the way up to 1080i resolution! And you don’t have to pay the damn Cable or Satellite people. And from what I can observe, the quality of the OTA signals is actually better than the ones you get through Comcast Cable (maybe because Comcast compresses the signal via QAM encoding?).
Antennaweb.org is a great site to visit to see what is available in your specific location. They tell you the direction of the stations, how many miles away, and even what specific type of antenna will work for you (color coded so you buy the right one). See images below.
Oh, and you might not want to spend $900 on an HDTV TIVO either. A Mac mini or MythTV might be a better option and more versatile too.
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Consumer interest in free over the air digital- HD TV is definitely on the increase. The number of visitors to our web site http://www.dennysantennaservice.com has skyrocketed over the past year, mainly do to the introduction of free over the air digital - HDTV.
Choosing the proper TV antenna for a particular location is the main issue for most. Many consumer’s have a tendency to purchase antennas that are to small to do the job, digital reception is an all or nothing proposition, you’re going to want a strong signal. Also, there is a misconception that all digital - HDTV broadcast signals are on the UHF band (14-69) Currently it’s true, many broadcaster’s are transmitting their digital signals on UHF, because much of the VHF band (2-13) is currently being used to broadcast analog TV signals. However, when the digital transition is complete on February 17th of 2009, the date set when broadcasters will turn off their analog signals, things will change. There are only a handful of broadcast locations across the U.S. that have plans to remain 100% on the UHF band, most areas will have both VHF and UHF digital stations. This means if you purchase a UHF TV antenna now, chances are you may loose the ability to receive a portion of your digital channels in the future. Some areas already have VHF digital stations.
My best advice is to purchase a TV antenna that is large enough to be certain it can easily receive all of the digital broadcast signals in your area, even during poor reception conditions. The antenna should be VHF/UHF capable, unless you are absolutely certain all of your stations are currently UHF, and will remain UHF after the digital transition is complete. To determine the channel number your area digital stations currently broadcast on now, and the channel number they plan to broadcast on after the 2009 analog shutdown date, visit http://hraunfoss.fccgov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf. When you visit this site, start by finding your state and then the city where your area stations are located. The channel number that appears in the first column is the current digital channel number of that station, the second column is the current analog channel number, and the third column is the tentative final channel number destination. The third column is the channel number where the station plans to permanently broadcast their digital signal. VHF channels are 2 - 13 and UHF are 14 - 69. If your not sure where or what stations are available in your area, visit http://www.antennaweb.org. This is a great site to visit, it will provide the city location of the stations in your area and much more.