HDTV Question

[Jovian9]

I have an HD Television that does not have a built in HD receiver (so I have to have external HD receivers to receive HD signals). Right now I have HD Satellite........which is great except for the fact that the government does not allow satellite companies to broadcast the local HD channels. Therefore I cannot get my local HD channels (which I would love to have for MNF and College Basketball b/c I had this last year with cable before I moved).

My question is this:
My Satellite HD box has lines in for other video signals to come through it. Would I be able to use an HD antenna and run that signal through my Satellite HD box (using the Satellite HD box as the receiver for the antenna to the TV)? If so, this would allow me to acquire local HD signals via the HD antenna.

Thanks!

 

[MacNut]

Does the TV have any other inputs that you can use for the antenna. Have one input for the Sat and another for ant.

 

[andypop]

My Satellite HD box has lines in for other video signals to come through it. Would I be able to use an HD antenna and run that signal through my Satellite HD box (using the Satellite HD box as the receiver for the antenna to the TV)? If so, this would allow me to acquire local HD signals via the HD antenna.

Thanks!

I can't answer your question about the inputs, but I can tell you that you don't need a special HD antenna. Any antenna will work to receive HD broadcasts.

I have HDTV, and I use my regular (20+ years old) roof-top antenna to receive all the local HD stations (and there are a LOT of them in the Los Angeles area).

 

[JeDiBoYTJ]

Im basically the same as you, I have an HDTV with no tuner. and just recently I went out and (finally!) bought the DirecTV HD Satallite with an external tuner. We bought it at best buy, and we asked the guy about Local channels in HD, he simply went out and grabbed an external antenna that you put on top of your TV. I think it was $20-30. And we simply plugged in it and BAM it worked. The only problem I have is that sometimes you will need to adjust the antenna (some way as back in the day, lol), to get the better picture, only instead of "snow" you will get a lot of pixelization and hiccups if the antenna isnt positioned properly... but believe me, when you get it working... hehe, it will make you want to spit on a normal TV

 

[Jovian9]

Im basically the same as you, I have an HDTV with no tuner. and just recently I went out and (finally!) bought the DirecTV HD Satallite with an external tuner. We bought it at best buy, and we asked the guy about Local channels in HD, he simply went out and grabbed an external antenna that you put on top of your TV. I think it was $20-30. And we simply plugged in it and BAM it worked. The only problem I have is that sometimes you will need to adjust the antenna (some way as back in the day, lol), to get the better picture, only instead of "snow" you will get a lot of pixelization and hiccups if the antenna isnt positioned properly... but believe me, when you get it working... hehe, it will make you want to spit on a normal TV

What type/brand of antenna did you buy?

 

[Jovian9]

Does the TV have any other inputs that you can use for the antenna. Have one input for the Sat and another for ant.

Definitely. It's a 53"er. It has 2 component (HD Satellite & DVD Player), 2 s-video (DVR Satellite & iPod Photo Dock), 4 video (VCR, & Nintendo Gamecube), 2 coaxial, and 1 antenna.......all inputs.

 

[MisterMe]

What type/brand of antenna did you buy?

andypop is correct. There is no such thing as a digital TV antenna. HDTV signals are broadcast on a subset of the same channels that are used to broadcast NTSC signals. The type of antenna that you need depends on your distance from the antenna broadcasting the signal that you want to receive. Most HDTV is broadcast on UHF channels. That is the easy part. If you live in the same city as your TV station, then a regular UHF loop antenna should work fine. The hard part is that most broadcasters use a much weaker signal for HDTV than they use for analog broadcasts. If you live some distance from your broadcaster, then things will get more complicated. You may need a high-mounted antenna with a rotater. Everything that you need to know about the antenna that you need can be found on the Antennaweb.org website.

 

[Jovian9]

Thanks for the help. I went to a site to see what HD was offered via antenna in my area and I was not able to find ABC or CBS (which is what I wanted for NFL and NCAA basketball). I'll do a little more research before I buy an antenna since these are the signals I wanted.

 

[jeremy.king]

This is the very reason I am going back to digital cable.

If DISH could broadcast local HD and figure out how to work when its storming out or the sun is in the direct line of sight, I would be one happy camper. Until then...http://www.onlycablecan.com

I'll happily pay $15 more for this from cable. Anyone want my SuperDish in April?

-One frustrated DISH customer.

 

[MisterMe]

This is the very reason I am going back to digital cable.

If DISH could broadcast local HD and figure out how to work when its storming out or the sun is in the direct line of sight, I would be one happy camper. Until then...http://www.onlycablecan.com

I'll happily pay $15 more for this from cable. Anyone want my SuperDish in April?

-One frustrated DISH customer.

I am happy for you to have a cable provider that includes HD. My cable company does not do so. We have several local stations that broadcast in HDTV, including our local public broadcasting station and a religious TV station. Of the major network affiliates, only the NBC station has not gone live with HDTV. I get HDTV via the VOOM satellite dish when it isn't raining One of the many frustrations of HDTV is that the broadcast signals tend to be extremely shortrange. This makes it frustrating that VOOM cannot carry local channels. I would be one happy camper if my cable company carried HDTV, but it is going to begin no time soon.

 

[MacNut]

It may not be that your cable company doesn't want to carry HDTV but that it can't reach an agreement with the local stations.

 

[MisterMe]

It may not be that your cable company doesn't want to carry HDTV but that it can't reach an agreement with the local stations.

You ran down the wrong path on this one. My local franchise of this major cable provider carries no HDTV programming of any kind. I check its website on occasion. As of today, it continues to tout the advantages of HDTV, but gives no indication of any plans to implement the service. As far as the agreement that you mentioned, my provider is party to the agreement among the major cable providers and the broadcasters to carry HDTV and to eliminate the set-top box. As you may remember, this agreement was a result of pressure by the FCC to accelerate the adoption of digital television. Believe you me, the local broadcasters want their HDTV signals on the cable; they just don't want the signals from distant broadcasters there. Foot-dragging on the part of my cable provider, and not legal or technical difficulties, is the reason for its failure to implement HDTV service.