1. Yes, it's a whole new look! Have questions or need help? Please post your question in the New Forum Questions thread Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice
  2. Seeing tons of unread posts after the upgrade? See this thread for help. Click the X to the right to dismiss this notice
    Dismiss Notice

HDTV service - How does Voom compare?

Discussion in 'Community Broadband & Computers' started by Dwarflord, Jul 21, 2004.

  1. Tech Head

    Tech Head New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2003
    Messages:
    710
    Likes Received:
    0
    I have one in my attic as well. I pull in all the digital DC and Baltimore locals. Just put a small preamp on it. It works great!
     
  2. Dwarflord

    Dwarflord New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2002
    Messages:
    450
    Likes Received:
    0
    Hmmmmm, now thats a good idea. Ive heard all bad reviews on attic antennaes. Maybe they just had bad antennaes installed in the attics. I could deal with one in the attic. What kind of setup do you have? Does it have a rotor? Amp? What type of antennae is it and how large? Ill have to look into this, this makes me happier...:)

    DwArFlOrD
     
  3. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2003
    Messages:
    207
    Likes Received:
    7
    Dwarflord - Read my post on page one for my setup. The CM4221 is only about $25 and you can buy a receiver from a big box store .. if it doesn't work, return it.

    How your house is constructed, the orientation of your house, the elevation, surrounding structures, .. all determine whether a attic antenna will work. Get a compass and see what direction DC is (110-111 degrees for the major networks). Look and see whether you have a clear line of sight.
     
  4. sasha_j

    sasha_j New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2004
    Messages:
    177
    Likes Received:
    0
    Ok, so it is aesthetics alone that is Dwarflord's objection.

    I think Dwarflord was poorly advised by VOOM regarding the nature of OTA antennas and terrestrial HD reception. Indeed, this may have compromised his expectations.

    If Dwarflord's house is well suited for an attic installation, by all means, sounds like the ticket for him. Others here in this forum seem to get excellent results with attic antennas. However, all of the local folks I know with attic antennas (in Chantilly, Cascades and Ashburn at least) don't get all the available digital channels and experience drop-outs on a regular basis, something I personally would find unacceptable.

    I guess you can view this also as an issue of aesthetics. Speaking for myself, I don't tolerate SD video (or digital with dropouts) and find them both offending to my sensibilities as well as objectionable on my displays. HDTV, accept no substitutes I guess you can say is my motto. I can say in my experience, once you install the antennas on the roof, you don't really notice them day-to-day. But you sure do notice the stellar HD quality every time the TV is on. I guess you do whatever is most important to your requirements.

    So, unless an attic antenna works for you, and more power to you if it does, I guess the trade off is this:

    Either you have a clean rooftop but poor video (or limited selection) on your display.

    -or-

    You have a visually "offensive" roof top, but darn good visual display, with free programming to boot.

    And I say this in the context of National broadcast networks like PBS, CBS, ABC, NBC, FOX and WB, the HD versions of which (in our area at least) you can ONLY access completely via OTA.
     
  5. Tech Head

    Tech Head New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2003
    Messages:
    710
    Likes Received:
    0
    Call Fairfax Antenna - that's who I used. They will come out and do a site survey to make a recommendation based on your location. They will take readings from all over your house and make a suggestion on what you should buy. If you don't buy from them, they will charge you a minor site survey fee. If you do, they will waive the fee. They really know their stuff! I don't remember the exact antenna I ended up with, but it does have a preamp but no rotor. I rarely get dropouts.
     
  6. sasha_j

    sasha_j New Member

    Joined:
    Mar 23, 2004
    Messages:
    177
    Likes Received:
    0
    This is excellent advice, I couldn't agree more. If you want the best possible HD, they are the ones to call.
     
  7. Pictor Guy

    Pictor Guy New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2004
    Messages:
    232
    Likes Received:
    1
    No dropouts. Just good clean HDTV video. I have a ChannelMaster Yaggi UHF but I can't remember the model. It's big so I can't use a rotator. And I do have a pre-amp. I used a signal meter to aim the antenna to the DC channels. If you have a steel frame house you might be SOL on attic mount antennas but wood frame wouldn't be an issue.

    __________________________________________________________
    Some software money can't buy. For everything else there's Micros~1
     
  8. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2002
    Messages:
    2,260
    Likes Received:
    34
    where do you get a signal meter? I presume it's expensive, eh? I have a meter for my satellite aiming, woul dbe nice to get one for OTA signals so I don't have to run up and down the ladder trying new pointing directions.
     
  9. Dwarflord

    Dwarflord New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2002
    Messages:
    450
    Likes Received:
    0
    Thanks everyone! You guys are so helpful.
    An attic fan may be the way to go for me. My house is of wood construction so that is better than the metal 2x4s.
    My attic is also very large so a large antenna should fit with no problems. I understand (did a lot more research yesterday) that an antenna installed in the attic will give me about 50% less signal.
    I visited antennaweb.org and I would have to point the antenna in the direction of Herndon from where I live, I guess youguys too...LOL. Also, from where I live, I live on Glebe view dr which is on top of the hill. At night I can see down into herndon/sterling w/no problems, so I am pretty certain that with my LOS I should have no problems getting a good signal. we also only live about 25 miles from the towers/stations, which is comparably a decent distance.
    It looks like I will need to get a "medium directional antenna" for my purposes and possibly a pre-amp.

    Pauley, did you say your antenna is outside or inside the attic? If its inside I would probably need a pre-amp? Does anyone know what a pre-amp is? I see some internal set-top anteannas with amps built in. Ill research that too.

    What do you guys think about this as an external antenna?
    http://www.lashen.com/vendors/winegard/uhf_antennas.asp
    That would work great for me, I think....[:I]

    DwArFlOrD
     
  10. Pictor Guy

    Pictor Guy New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2004
    Messages:
    232
    Likes Received:
    1
    yeah... the meter is not cheap. I use a Leader meter. I can't remember the model.

    __________________________________________________________
    Some software money can't buy. For everything else there's Micros~1
     
  11. boomertsfx

    boomertsfx Booyakasha!

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2002
    Messages:
    2,260
    Likes Received:
    34
    Squareshooter is getting pretty good reviews on AVS. I would put that outside, since it's pretty small. Might not need a pre-amp at all.
     
  12. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2003
    Messages:
    207
    Likes Received:
    7
    Dwarflord - My antenna is in the attic. Its a small CM4221 (~$27) w/o a preamp or rotor. Since my HD is connected to my projector, I don't watch tv on it EVERYDAY. However, I have never experienced any drop outs or loss of signal from the 4 networks I watch (FOX, NBC, CBS, ABC). Glebe View is a higher elevation than me, but very close. I live in Southern Walk near the nature center.

    We are only a few weeks from getting HD OTA passed by our cable provider and although I have been getting by w/ OTA, I will enjoy having HD on my other HD sets! Not to mention the other HD offerings I haven't been getting. I also prefer to rent equipment for 10 bucks a month vs. buying OTA tuners for all my TVs. Technology changes so fast that month charges are less than the cost of the 2 tuners I have bought over the 4-5 years I have been getting HD OTA (~$900). I guess you can say its a love/hate. My .02
     
  13. Dwarflord

    Dwarflord New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2002
    Messages:
    450
    Likes Received:
    0
    Techhead,
    What model type of antenna do you ahve in your attic? Pre-amP? do you get all the stations?
    I saw that PauleyC has a 4221 in his attic and has no problems. But I also wanted to see what other antenna models are doing well too. I cant find a 4221 locally at a good price ($25) so Ill have to "online" it. Radio Shack, none of the home improvemnet stores, not at sears, true value.....just cant find one. Ill be looking in the phone book for antenna shops and see what their prices are. I dont expect them to be as low as $25 though....:/

    Now for the receiver. The best terrestrial receiver I have seen is the samsung sirt 351. It has dvi and component outputs and 5.1 dolby. I havent seen anything else, in fact, ive only seen 2 other options in the motorola and US digital. Anyone else seen a better HDTV terrestrial reciever out there for around the $300 range?

    Thx, all the feedback has really helped me. Im getting excited to get this all in before next week.

    DwArFlOrD
     
  14. Tech Head

    Tech Head New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2003
    Messages:
    710
    Likes Received:
    0
    Here's my setup:

    - Fixed Channel Master 4221 Antenna mounted in attic
    - Winegard 405 Amplifier mounted in attic
    - Samsung SIR-TS160 DirecTV High Definition Receiver (DVI/Component video outs & Optical 5.1 Audio out)

    I get every DC and Baltimore HD channel, as well as every UHF channel in the area. The nice thing about the SIR-TS160 is the local terrestials are integrated with the DirecTV guide. I don't have to switch between HD locals and the rest of the DirecTV channels.

    I had Fairfax Antenna install the antenna and amp in my attic. They charged me $400 total (inc. tax) for the hardware and installation. I already had an existing cable run from the attic to the multiswitch. Let me know if you have any other questions
     
  15. Dwarflord

    Dwarflord New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2002
    Messages:
    450
    Likes Received:
    0
    When you bought the directv receiver did you have to sign up for service? I currently have directv, but do not wish to get the HD lineup. My understanding isthat if you buy a HD receiver with directv, then that is the only sat. service you can use with that receiver and you have to sign up for DTV service. Am I wrong with that? Because it would be very nice to get the receiver and be able to mix it w/the dtv channels.

    DwArFlOrD
     
  16. Tech Head

    Tech Head New Member

    Joined:
    Jan 1, 2003
    Messages:
    710
    Likes Received:
    0
    I just had to commit to one year of programming from DTV - NOT the HD package. Believe it or not, I can't see the other satellite which has the HD content from DTV (trees are blocking it). So, the only HD content I get is from the local HD channels. You'll want to confirm the commitment though with DTV. My HD receiver is a DTV box. So, it gets regular DTV programming (as well as the over-the-air HD locals and UHF channels). Hope that makes sense.
     
  17. pauleyc

    pauleyc Member

    Joined:
    Feb 7, 2003
    Messages:
    207
    Likes Received:
    7
    Dwarflord - You can purchase DTV HD receiver w/ or w/o a commitment. They were giving a super cheaper deal on HD receivers w/ a contract, but *I believe* this is only for new subscribers (existing customers didn't qualify). All HD Sat receivers integrate SAT and OTA signals nicely. Typcially its channel 4 is the sat channel and 4-1 is the digital OTA.

    You will most likely have to buy one free and clear, so you won't have any contract requirements (only the cost of an additional box w/ DTV). Remember that if you do want the SAT HD content, you will need the 18" oval dish also.

    Too bad you are in a hurry ;) Once Openband gets our HD up and running, I will have a CM4221, and big 8ft Winegard UHF (from a previous house) and an HD receiver that you could borrow/test w/ before purchasing. However, I'm guessing it would be 30 days before they will get the service up/running.

    Good luck, you won't regret it.
     
  18. neilz

    neilz New Member

    Joined:
    Dec 7, 2003
    Messages:
    2,547
    Likes Received:
    0
    Just a heads up on antenna requirements in the Broadlands:

    Specific guidelines are:

    1. They should be placed in an inconspicuous location as far as possible.

    2. The use of attic antennas is encouraged

    3. Antennas should not be more than 12 feet above the roof line (per federal Telecommunications Act of 1996)

    4. No submission is required to install an antenna, nor a satellite dish that does not exceed 1 meter (39") in size.



    Neil Z.
    Resident since 1999
     
  19. Dwarflord

    Dwarflord New Member

    Joined:
    Apr 30, 2002
    Messages:
    450
    Likes Received:
    0
    Ok, looks like im getting the HD receiver that can handle DTV sattellite (since I already have that service) as well as terrestrial OTA stations(samsung 360). It looks to be a very good model and a lot of people like the video and speed of changing channels.

    Antenna is confusing me now. The more I research, the more questions that I have.
    UHF vs. VHF
    UHF, from my understanding is for digital channels only and cover channels 14 and above. VHF covers 2-13. If that is true, then I would not be able to receive local stations on a digital channel, based on the info from antennaweb.org because the local channels (4,5,7,9) are on channels 4.1, 5.1, 7.1 and 9.1. Eventhough they are digital, they are lower than channel 14 in the UHF range so that means I could not utilize an UHF only antenna. Is that correct?
    Or am I misinterpreting something? Because I do notice that the frequency #s fit the UHF vs VHF range that the manufacturer states as channels. i.e. for channel 4.1 (digital local channel 4) the frequency is 48, which places it above 14 frequency and lies in the UHF range.
    I guess im trying to make sure that if I get a UHF only antenna which covers "channels 14 on up", that I will be able to get the locals in digital....[:p]. Based on what others are saying, their UHF only antenna is getting the local digital channels in the low range 4.1 5.1 and on .......
    Sorry to keep draggin out this thread....im almost done :D

    DwArFlOrD
     
  20. Pictor Guy

    Pictor Guy New Member

    Joined:
    Feb 22, 2004
    Messages:
    232
    Likes Received:
    1
    All our local Digital HD channels are in UHF. The 4.1, 5.1, etc. is just channel mapping. You're really pointing to channels in the 20's and over. It's easier for people to remember HD 4.1 as being the digital version of channel four even thought it's really channel 48.

    __________________________________________________________
    Some software money can't buy. For everything else there's Micros~1
     

Share This Page