jhawk92 Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 Ok, so construction on the HT starts next week, and I've been doing some research on HDTV. We have 5 HDTV stations here in the Denver area, and looks like I should be able to pick them all up. Is anyone using an OTA antenna? I found a couple by Terk and one at my local Rat Shack. What are you folks using? Since it's been so long since I've watched OTA TV, in any form, will these antennas carry both the audio and video signals in a single coax, or are there separate audio lines? The theater will have a front projector with a scaler, so there won't be a single location for a audio/video coax to terminate at. Any advice here would be great. Thanks. Edit: Do I need to get an HDTV STB, or will an antenna do all I need? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrench_peddler Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 You will need a STB if the projector doens't have a tuner built in. I don't know of any that has a tuner. All the signal is brought down a single coax. It goes into the tuner and the tuner breaks it down into audio and video. What antenna you use will be determined by the distance to the transmitters and your elevation. Uhf is line of site and according to some websites I have seen, 60 mile is about the max distance without using a huge tower, antenna and amp. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malcolm Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 You need a STB. There is nothing special about an antenna for DTV. If your DTV stations are all UHF, you just need a good UHF antenna. If you have a mix of VHF and UHF DTV stations, you need a good VHF/UHF antenna. The same antenna will also deliver the old fashioned analog signals. Everything, audio and video, analog and digital, comes down the same cable. Forget Terk. Nothing wrong with their products but they are very overpriced. RadioShack antennas are fine. You might want to check out the major antenna manufacturers like ChannelMaster, Winegard, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted April 16, 2004 Author Share Posted April 16, 2004 Steve- Ok, STB it is then, as I know my PJ doesn't have a tuner. I checked out antennaweb.org and found I am about 17 miles from the antennas, and I am actually slightly above them, in terms of elevation, and all are UHF. However, here in Denver, a few of the stations are only transmitting low-power, so I don't know if I'll be able to pick them up. Malcom- Good to know about Terk. I'm already spending enough on the remodel/PJ/screen that any savings are good savings. Thanks for the other links to view. I didn't realize Channelmaster did those antennas. I used to work in the communications satellite field and used their C-/Ku-band antennas all the time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruinsrme Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 jhawk, http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB55 tons of great stuff and people over there. some of these guys are antennaholics of yesteryear and can offer some great advice. of course not to take anything away from the great people here. also do a search under colorado avs fan in that forum. I have a couple of posts that will give you an accurate bearing using lat and lon. http://www.hometheaterspot.com/htsthreads/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=UBB55&Number=554793&Forum=f55&Words=bearing&Searchpage=0&Limit=25&Main=554793&Search=true&where=sub&Name=28737&daterange=1&newerval=4&newertype=m&olderval=&oldertype=m&bodyprev=1#Post554793 currently I am using a channel master 4228 uhf on a rotor. http://antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx with the antenna on the roof I am able to pull roughly 25 channels from hartford, boston, providence and springfield MA. PBS by far has some of the most intriguing HDTV programming. I am using an LG 3200A as my reciever. antenna selection is important and on the other forum they can help you with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ygmn Posted April 16, 2004 Share Posted April 16, 2004 As you figured out...ya need STB....I am using my Hughes DIRECTV HDTV receiver as the STB...works great... RADIO SHACK antenna...mine is in attic..and works well...I get DTV stations from 60 miles away...it is flat here in Louisiana though.... you found antenna web site... http://www.antennaweb.org Which will tell you what type of antenna you need for your location for each channel you can receiver..... Good luck and enjoy HDTV...it is awesome... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 ---------------- On 4/16/2004 5:18:31 PM ygmn wrote: Good luck and enjoy HDTV...it is awesome... ---------------- 'like looking thru a window at what was filmed' avman. btw-my parents use the Terk TV 55 in their attic,and get ALL the local digital channels...i use a standard 'beam-and-element' antenna, and am about to change out to another 'beam-and-element'antenna that has higher uhf gain(more elements for uhf reception) AND a rotor-so i can maximise my opportunity to receive the local digital channels available. avman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted April 19, 2004 Author Share Posted April 19, 2004 All- Thanks for the help and advice. I may have a line on a used Sony HD100 from a local contact, so that might be a good start. Any comments on this unit? Grab an antenna and I'll be good to go. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avman Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 i am not sure,but IF you can use the digital tuner WITHOUT a subscription to directv(assuming you DON'T want satellite service),and it is less than a digital tuner,go for it... you MUST find out about this ? first before you commit. 1-800-directv or 1-800-222-sony hope this helps avman. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruinsrme Posted April 19, 2004 Share Posted April 19, 2004 I believe the sony, LG 3200 and the hughes are all made by LG and some features are removed for the various units and the cosemetics are change slightly. the sony and LG are nearly the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dougdrake Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 Rob - You might want to consider getting a HDTV tuner card for your PC instead of a STB. That way you can record HDTV on your PC, for later playback, as well as use it as a live tuner. Doug Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
easylistener Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 You are close and should not have any problems getting the stations. I would get a 4bay antenna. It is for uhf only and works great with high gain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sfogg Posted April 25, 2004 Share Posted April 25, 2004 I bought a R/S VX210 (18.5' long) on closeout for $5. It is in my garage and picks up digital signals on both UHF and VHF well with my Samsung SIR-t165. Shawn Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jhawk92 Posted April 26, 2004 Author Share Posted April 26, 2004 avman- Good point. I think it will be cheaper to just get a generic STB and antenna to see how this all works out. Easy/Shawn- Thanks for the tips, I'll check out these antennas as well. I met up with the guy who has the Sony STB late last week. Pretty impressive pics on Discovery HD (they were showing some Mars shots!) and regular network shows as well. Unfortunately no HD sports, as he said that is very immpressive. He also recommended just going with an inexpensive STB. Antennas will be interesting, since I am not sure where the best spot in/on the house will be, so I'll just run the cable when I get around to it, and not try to guess where it will be just to get it as a clean install in the basement. Besides, the theater will have darker walls, so the cable might not even show. Thanks again for the help. Will take a trip to the various A/V locations over the next few days to see what pricing is like. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.