Portland, OR reception problem

[alaskagrown]

Hello, this is my first post but I have already gained a wealth of knowledge by browsing the forums, thanks!

I live in NE Portland at the bottom of the north side of Mt. Tabor. I ditched DirectTV a few months ago and have been surviving off my Roku, but I would like to get local channels since football season just started. I bought the RCA ANT121R rabbit ears, but I'm only getting channel 47 clearly, and barely channel 5. I'm about 7 miles from the transmitters and have about 50' elevation, with no obstructions. I even connected my rabbit ears to a 25' coax cable and put it outside on my roof with a clear line of site to the west hills with the same results. I tried the paperclip test and got no channels at all.

Here's my report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9e74a84cec6b63

I should be getting everything I want with no problems... I don't think this is the case, but I'm wondering if my TVs are even capable of receiving digital channels. I have a ~2001 Toshiba rear projection tv that is HD, and I read that anything HD should be okay... I also tried my 2006 Sharp CRT in my bedroom with the same results.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Cheers

[coco]

Your tvs have analog tuners. you will need converter boxes or new digital tvs

[coco]

There is a lot of info for newbies on this site:
http://www.dennysantennaservice.com/TV_antenna_help_center.html

[alaskagrown]

DOH! I was afraid of that... Yet another excuse to get a new flatscreen LED TV!

Thanks for the help!

[GroundUrMast]

If your home is conventional wood frame construction with no foil faced insulation or metal siding, the RCA ANT-121 should do quite well for you. That you see a couple of analog signals now, indicates you will likely be able to see digital signals once you connect and configure a digital ATSC over-the-air tuner. (Digital cable uses a different format, QAM. Be sure to set your tuner for ATSC, Antenna, OTA or Air... how ever the vendor labels it in the set-up menu.)

Coco is right, your analog tuners can't decode the new digital format broadcast signals.

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=1166

http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=380
(http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=1166)

[John Candle]

The 2001 Toshiba will likely NOT have a digital tuner and the 2006 Sharp CRT will likely NOT have a digital tuner. Here are , converters , tuners , recorders. Some will supply a analog signal to a older analog Tv and some will supply both a analog signal and a Digital HD signal to a Tv or monitor that can display a HD picture. http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=380. Also it is a good idea to keep in mind that new HD Tv's do not cost much money now days and your Tv's are getting older. So now for the reception , you have Way To Many Easy To Receive LOS = Line Of Sight , Digital Tv channels that can be received with simple indoor antenna , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=233. Here is how to aim a simple indoor antenna , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html . Aim the simple indoor Tv antenna at about 255 degree magnetic compass.

[John Candle]

Read and understand about , REAL Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Broadcast Tv Channels , Analog Broadcast Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695