[TriLUG] [OT] HD Antenna suggestions, was: TV Tuner Card suggestion

[Steve Litt]

How do you split the signal between different TVs (or do you have only one?). 
From what I hear, splitting lowers the signal by 3db each split, or something 
like that, and it requires special hardware.

If I had only 1 TV, I'd love to have an external antenna!

SteveT

On Wednesday 07 January 2009 11:57:31 am Jon Fraley wrote:
> I bought an amplified rabbit eared antenna from Wal-mart a while back,
> it worked somewhat better than just plane old rabbit ears.  I have since
> mounted a rooftop antenna and are very pleased with the results.  I get
> over 40 channels OTA.  Granted alot of them are redundant (3 CBS, 2 Fox,
> 3 NBC, 3 different sets of PBS and more weather than I will ever need)
> and I have to reposition the antenna to get some.
>
> Jon
>
> On Wed, 2009-01-07 at 09:53 -0500, Brian Henning wrote:
> > Hi gang,
> >
> > Thought I'd hijack this thread to see if anyone might have advice on HD
> > antennas.  I just got the converter box (I have an old analog-only TV
> > right now, and dropped TWC a few months ago when they wouldn't let me go
> > straight from one promo deal to another) and I've been trying different
> > antennas and have had somewhat surprising results.  Note: low-profile is
> > a requirement; I don't have room for something I can't mount on the
> > wall.
> >
> > First I tried a $20 passive antenna.  Looks cheap, but scanning found
> > about 12 channels (though I can't actually watch all of them; I get
> > weak- or no-signal messages on all the NBC channels, and most channels
> > suffer frequent dropouts).
> >
> > Then I tried a $100 "smart" antenna.  It works WAY WORSE than the $20
> > contraption; I can only pull in PBS with that thing.  Granted I was
> > testing during the icky weather last night, but I was
> > half-expecting/hoping that the $100 guy would always outperform the $20
> > guy.  Caveat emptor.
> >
> > So next I'm thinking about trying a $60 amped not-smart antenna.  Should
> > I bother?  It seems my reception (in a ground-floor apartment near
> > Southpoint) is poor all around, but even with a low SNR, more amplitude
> > still means more signal, right?...  until you start to overwhelm the
> > receiver, but one amped antenna shouldn't do that...
> >
> > All suggestions welcome.
> >
> > Thanks a lot!
> > ~Brian
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
> > Behalf Of OlsonE at aosa.army.mil
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 9:38 AM
> > To: trilug at trilug.org
> > Subject: Re: [TriLUG] TV Tuner Card suggestion [may be OT]
> >
> > LOL! C-SPAN would be the last channel on my list I'd pay for!
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: trilug-bounces at trilug.org [mailto:trilug-bounces at trilug.org] On
> > Behalf Of Tanner Lovelace
> > Sent: Wednesday, January 07, 2009 9:36 AM
> > To: Triangle Linux Users Group General Discussion
> > Subject: Re: [TriLUG] TV Tuner Card suggestion [may be OT]
> >
> > On Wed, Jan 7, 2009 at 7:55 AM, Josh Vickery <josh at vickeryj.com> wrote:
> > > If you have Timer Warner Durham, I find this list to be wonderfully
> >
> > helpful:
> > > http://home1.gte.net/res18h39/channels.htm
> > >
> > > as Time Warner seems to like to change their channel assignments.
> >
> > I wonder why, out of all the possible channels, it lists C-SPAN  as
> > "(encrypted)".  I would have thought that would be one of the first
> > ones to leave unencrypted.  I guess they just can't have people
> > watching their government without paying for it!
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Tanner
> >
> > --
> > Tanner Lovelace
> > http://wtl.wayfarer.org/
> > (fieldless) In fess two roundels in pale, a billet fesswise and an
> > increscent, all sable.
> > --
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> >
> >
> > --
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