The need for better antennas
May 1st, 2009 at 1:41 pm by Dennis Majewicz under TV Tech Talk
Gary Sgrignoli may know as much about DTV transmission — its strengths, its weaknesses, its quirks — as any person alive.
We’ve been preaching about the need for a good antenna for solid DTV reception for a long time now. Read Gary Sgrinoli’s article in TVNewsday. Warning: it’s quite technical at times.
when tv goes to dtv, we in this area will not get the the reg. tv stations in Bufflo, ny but we get them good before, we get 17,23,29,49, and Canadain stations good
Don
I don’t know where you live. But it would appear you have your antenna pointing toward Grand Island, since all the stations you have listed are broadcasting from there. If you are using rabbit ears, perhaps you have a window near your set facing that direction. Since 2,4,and 7 have move their DTV signal to UHF, the signal is much more directional, and it looks like you need to find a way to direct an antenna towards Colden and that direction
For my own personal preference, I wish WIVB would go back to broadcasting CW 23 on a sub-channel, since where I live in the southern tier, that is the only possible way I would ever get CW 23. Although I will admit, I probably would perhaps only watch part of Wake-up and the perhaps the 10 PM news. I am able to receive WNYO 49 analog with a clear signal and most of the time watch the 10 PM news on it.
Where do you live, Warren? We actually have at least one viewer in Wellsville who can watch WNLO most of the time. Of course they have a tall tower, but it can be done.
Yes I live outside of Wellsville, right next to the Genesee river, in the valley. And sometimes I do pick up WNLO. But most of the time I see a signal on WNLO, but conditions have to be just right to get a picture. I believe that about another 20 feet of height and I probably would get WNLO. I already have two large Yagis stack, and about 35 feet in the air, which WIVB booms in on, (WIVB Signal Quality 30 to 100 percent, signal strength 80 to 90 percent). I am also now getting a decent signal for quality on WGRZ and a so so signal, but solid signal on WKBW. Another mast I have an 8 bay bowtie (I know they are bad for Multi-path signals), but I am really impress with it, and how light it is. I have it mounted about 30 feet up, but I am not tying it into the two yagis, it is hook up to a different receiver.
Thanks for the forum I find it useful and appreciate your posting it.
Warren,
You’re right about worrying about multipath with the bowtie. They’re not too good at rejecting signals from the backside and not terribly directional. But if you don’t have anything around you that would cause reflections you shouldn’t have any issues. It’s usually the tall buldings that can give you trouble. And, the new chipsets in the TV’s and converters are doing a good job rejecting multipath.
Glad to have you join in the discussion.