How do I get a decent digital TV signal?

Question

I tried a powered antenna and the signal was WORSE! And I've heard the same concern from others. I'm in the heart of downtown Columbus, Ohio on the 5th floor with my antenna high up in my 15ft ceiling attached to a high end digital TV. I can see the station's transmitter from my patio. And the NBC affiliate is less than a block away. But yet I can't get through a show without the station going to black, pixalating, or skipping audio. Nobody at any of the stations have an answer because they don't know anything. The electronic retail stores make stuff up as they go. And I'm convinced that nobody knows what's going on. If anybody has any REAL answers, please let me know. Because if this is the broadcaster's answer to free TV, all they are gonna do is make more money for the cable companies when people realize how much this signal sucks.

Answer 1

Are you sure you can see the stations transmitter? That's bizarre.  I get a pretty good signal from transmitters on lookout mt about 15 to 20 miles away (Denver area), but they just converted to a new tower for 4 of the stations - I get about 10 digital.  I use a really low end piece of junk antenna, so there must be something else going on with your location/building.  The FCC might investigate if there's interference that's at an illegal level - they will do something about it.

Answer 2

You need a digital cable box from your cable company.  In February 2009 the analog channels that we have seen since we were a kid and your father and grandfather was a kid, CBS, NBC, ABC and your local channels will all disappear from you and your tv set will be nothing but snow.  All channels by law must change to a digital signal.  It is worse, if you still have a tv set that has a k**b to it you turn for channels.  By February, you will need a digital converter box to recieve all your local and CBS, NBC, ABC, channels.

  Too expensive for me.

  They were trying to propose a new law that cable companies must still offer analog channels, but I don't think it has been made into a bill.

Answer 3

What do you mean by a powered antenna? Are you referring to an antenna mounted pre-amplifier?

Okay, here we go... You need an S9 plus signal to receive digital transmissions. In other words, a solid signal.

You need to know the band with of the antenna you are using, too. Wide band, high gain directional antenna with a minimum of 32db of gain, and pointing in the right direction, helps, too.

If the antenna is indoors, then you will have a signal loss of at least 15db, as well as a 200 db path loss from the transmitter.

Use the very best, 75ohm coaxial cable to the Pre-amp. Your anteena, being on the ceiling is looking directly at the window's 'I' beam, thus blocking much of the signal. Move it to the window, or make a bracket to hold the antenna outside the window and pointing to the transmitter.

Kind regards

Dr Antony

Answer 4

I understand your frustration.  Not knowing the details of your situation is a bit limiting, however here are a few suggestions.

1. Stay away from the "powered antennas".  These have built in preamplifiers.  Without going into a lot of detail, the amplifier can actually limit the bandwidth (number of channels) you are getting.

2. You are on the 5th floor with the antenna in the ceiling.  Many multistory buildings are steel and concrete.  This type of construction does a pretty good job of killing radio signals.  I'm in a building that is steel and concrete and I can't get a good signal on all channels inside the building either.  Put the antenna outside or at least near a window.

3. Looking up all the Columbus digital stations on http://www.antennaweb.org , I see that WSYX (ABC) is on channel 13 (VHF), WCMH (NBC) is on 14 (really low UHF), all the way up to WOSU (PBS) on channel 38 (about the middle of the UHF band).  Many of the "powered" antennas that are sold as "HD" or "digital" antennas are UHF only.  One of the big myths is "all digital stations are UHF".  Not true!   Also, many poorly designed antennas do well at the center of the band (channel 38) and poorly at the edges of the band (channels 14 and 52).  You need a good quality VHF/UHF antenna.  I've actually outperformed some antennas with a paper clip!  (No joke).

Use the link to antenna web above as a resource to aim it properly and I think you will be OK.

I hope this helps.

Answer 5

You need a outside antenna that is in line of sight with the transmitter.