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HDTV OTA ch 4.1 reception

Discussion in 'Homeowners Corner' started by thenguyens, Nov 21, 2003.

  1. thenguyens

    thenguyens New Member

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    Hello All,

    Does anyone know what happened to ch 4.1 (WRC)? I did a scan and it no longer shows up on my channels list; did the channel move? Is anyone else getting this channel?

    thanks,
    thenguyens
     
  2. mburton

    mburton New Member

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    HDTV chanel 4.1 (WRC) is still available at 48.1
    (at least it was last night when I watched ER)

    It seams that WRC is not sending the proper signal to map the chanel to 4.1, and some receivers then lose the mapping.

    Michael
     
  3. Tech Head

    Tech Head New Member

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    I'm getting WRC just fine on 4.1 (100% signal). Every once in a while though it does get deleted from my channel list and I have to manually add it back in. It has been doing that ever since I installed my HD receiver six months ago. I always thought it was a bug in my receiver.
     
  4. thenguyens

    thenguyens New Member

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    Awesome ... I can watch Leno in HD again. When I did my scan it didn't pick up 48.1 and 4.1 disappeared. Thanks very much.

    -thenguyens
     
  5. j12toad

    j12toad New Member

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    Ok, I just my HD Ready TV, how are you guy getting the HD signal... Antena? Is it in your attic or on the roof? I guess I just need some info to get started, any help would be great.
    thanks
     
  6. mburton

    mburton New Member

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    j12toad:

    I am using an old RCA DTC-100 receiver, and an indoor antenna. The antenna is a Radio Shack "Double-bow-tie" and is a work of art, but VERY directional. The receiver is a DirectTv model, but I have no dish, as I use OTA only or upconvert my cable. My plan is for an attic antenna some day when I want to run the coax.

    Michael
     
  7. j12toad

    j12toad New Member

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    Michael, thanks for the info. Just need a little more clarification... I have Dish network and have a dish on my roof. So what you are saying is, that you have an antenna that runs in to your directTV receiver, then into your TV. Is that a HD tuner receiver? What is upcoverting cable? I dont mind running coax, so all I would need is an atenna in the attic then run coax to a reciever or direct to my TV?
     
  8. mburton

    mburton New Member

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    j12toad:

    In our area (Broadlands) there is currently 2 ways of receiving an HD signal...

    1. Via Satellite (Dish or DirectTv or Voom) and SUBSCRIBE to the HD package, which also means purchasing an HD capable receiver. I do not have this. Also... you can not get Local channels in HD this way.

    2. Over-the-Air (OTA) where you use a UHF capable antenna and an HD receiver capable of OTA tuning. THIS IS FREE (minus the one-time cost of the HD tuner/antenna). The antenna can be as small as a toaster, up to a 6 foot attic mount. Some need an amplifier, and some are VERY directional. ALL local chanels are now digital, with a majority of prime-time programming in HD. Even WB and UPN are now going HD. (includes an occasional Caps or Wizards game)

    those are the only 2 ways I know of... for now

    Possibly to our area is Cable HD (via OpenBand or Adelphia) if either keep a promise.

    What I meant by "upconvert cable" is the DTC100 will take in the Adelphia Cable signal (basic channels only, not the digital channels), and then send it to my HD projector at a slightly higher resolution. The problem there is, garbage in = garbage out

    hope that helps

    Michael
     
  9. j12toad

    j12toad New Member

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    Michael,

    thanks for all the info, that helps a lot. Any good places to buy an antenna and HD reciever? Radio shack?
     
  10. mburton

    mburton New Member

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    j12toad:

    If you want to go cheap, look on E-Bay for an RCA DTC-100. It is now a couple years old, but a proven workhorse and can be had for $200 or so. The Samsung T151 is also on ebay a lot. Newer models are also available, with more bells and whistles if you prefer, at Best Buy or Circuit City.

    Radio Shack is a great place for antenna's, as they have an excellent return policy. I have the RS "double bow tie" which is an indoor UHF antenna #930-0998 @ $15 is worth a try.

    Michael
     
  11. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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    I have had good results with the hard to find (mine took 2 months on special order) radio shack double bowtie antenna. I have 2 of them hooked into my HTPC/HD Tuner Card. I can't receive WETA and UPN for some reason. I need to try putting then antenna(s) in the attic as they are in the basement now.

    nbc4 has been on 48-1 for a while -- wish their techs would fix their stuff.
     
  12. j12toad

    j12toad New Member

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    If I go with the RCA DTC-100 do I need the access card? I am assuming I run the line from the antenna into the input of the reciver then out to the TV. Correct?
     
  13. mburton

    mburton New Member

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    j12toad

    I have an acess card on my DTC100, but it is not current. I honestly do not know if it is required for OTA tuning. I've never pulled it out to find out. I'll let you know.

    setup is simple. Antenna ---coax----DTC100----VGA---monitor

    note that the DTC100 output for HighDef is a VGA style connector. This works well with many Mitsubishi TV's and projectors, but may be a problem with other tv's.
     
  14. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

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  15. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

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    That new LG unit is nice. (I heard Direct TV made them disable QAM in the firmware) However, I really wish they would break out the DVD player (w/ DVI) seperate though. I'm going back to Direct TV (even though open band gives me cable as part of my HOA) and don't have the use for a OTA receiver seperately. I currently have a Hughes E86 Direct TV receiver w/ OTA, but I'm going to sell it to get the DVI outputs on the new models (LG 3200 maybe). The only other DVI output DVD players on the market have lots of bugs.

    On the anntenna questions - I have an 8 ft Winegard antenna in my attic and was having all kinds of multipath issues. I bought a channel master 4221 ($27) from www.solidsignal.com and literally have it hanging on a nail in my attic (just one nail). All my problems are gone! 100% all stations from DC w/ the expecption of fox which is at 75%. Not one dropout from multipath issues ... nothing. The downfall is that my Winegard pulled in all of baltimore, but I lost that b/c this antenna doesn't have the range. I'm VERY happy w/ this antenna!
     

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