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RodBarnes
1-Jun-2010, 3:26 AM
I have a Vizio VW22LHDTV10T TV/Monitor I am hooking up for OTA digital. I am using a Terk FDTV2A antenna which, for the most part, seems to work fine. I live in ZIP 97007 and have included the link to the Station Locator report, below. As it shows, all towers are within six miles of my location.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d9fbea80f88ef7a

The odd thing is that both KATU-DT and KOBP-TV are nothing but snow. Not just an indication of weak signal (blanking screen, pixelization, etc.) but only snow and the TV says "No signal". Moving the antenna around doesn't seem to make any difference. Stations of comparable strength (KOIN-DT and KPTV-DT) are received without any issues and both show very good signal strength (about 70% or better).

Any suggestions?

teleview
1-Jun-2010, 5:21 AM
Virtual and Real Channels. Virtual Channel VHF 2 is Really UHF 43. In the Digital Tv World there are Virtual and Real Channels. . Here is some information on missing channels from Audiovox . .http://voxrightnow.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/6753/~/installing-terk-fdta-amplified-flat-indoor-television-antenna . . . http://www.dtv.gov . .At dtv.gov , read the part and watch the video about Double Rescan. . . This next information is about Amplified and NON AMPLIFIED indoor television antennas. . http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=233 . . The Super Small Flat Panel antennas DO NOT provide good reception and can not provide good reception , there is no such thing as a Magic Tv antenna.

teleview
1-Jun-2010, 5:38 AM
At 72 NM(dB) and 67.9 NM(dB) the tv signals are over the top strong. The amplifier in the antenna Will Over Load and cause the Tv Tuner to Over Load.

teleview
1-Jun-2010, 5:41 AM
antennaweb does not show the locations of the television transmitters and often has incorrect information. . It is best to stay with tvfool and dtv.gov

Tigerbangs
1-Jun-2010, 10:03 PM
Those flat-style antennas are a real gimmick, and I wouldn't expect them to work very well in ANY situation. Because of the high signal strengths in your location, any amplified antenna that you use is likely to overload and cause more problems than it solves. You really need a passive-type antenna with some gain of it's own on VHF-high-band plus UHF. Are you adverse to roof or attic-mounting a real antenna? If this was my choice, I would install an AntennaCraft HBU-22 in the attic, or, preferably on the roof aimed at 50 degrees by your compass. The quality and quantity of stations will improve immeasurably.

http://www.antennacraft.net/pdfs/HBU22_.pdf

RodBarnes
3-Jun-2010, 1:15 AM
Thanks for the tips, Tigerbangs and teleview. I'll take your ideas into consideration and see what I come up with.

Tigerbangs: I actually still have my old analog antenna still hanging in the attic right now :). It is just unconnected so I'm not opposed to putting a digital one up there.

Details on my situation:
We're currently on FIOS TV and I've just decided that: 1) we aren't using it for as much as we are paying for it (we watch broadcast almost exclusively), 2) I live close enough to get decent OTA, and 3) its being sold to Frontier. All together, it just seems like the time to check out OTA.

So I purchased the one antenna for a room which has no cable connection and to test how well the OTA would work for us. Sounds like those signal strengths are more than adequate and if I put a digital antenna in the attic and connect it into the house cabling I should be doing okay.

RodBarnes
3-Jun-2010, 1:24 AM
teleview: A clarification: If the signal strengths for those two channels are so strong that they overload the amplifier/antenna, then I'm not sure why I'd be able to receive the channels that have even stronger signal strengths listed. Maybe just because signals get attenuated bouncing around between surfaces? Other than a few trees, we have a pretty clear LOS to the towers.

coco
3-Jun-2010, 3:00 AM
Before buying a new "digital" antenna, I would hook up the old "analog" antenna . If it is a VHF/UHF antenna it should work.

http://www.crutchfield.com/learn/learningcenter/home/antenna.html

teleview
3-Jun-2010, 9:29 AM
Gogo Coco. Excellent Research , showing very good information about DTV reception. I must say I had not been too the Crutchfield web site for a long time , as I did not think that any one their had any idea what they are talking about. And yes I understand your quote marks on the word "Digital" antenna and "Analog" antenna. I must say , you impressed me.

kb2fzq
5-Jun-2010, 10:40 AM
An antenna is an antenna, there is nothing special about an advertised "digital" antenna...if an antenna is designed to receive VHF-hi, it will receive digital signals as well as analog signals, same with VHF-lo...same with UHF.
The use of the word "digital" in advertising is intended to cause you to buy said antenna before you would buy an antenna that doesn't mention the word "digital"....it's a hook to get your money, and 9 times out of 10, if the advertiser HAS to use the "digital" word ploy, odds on favor is it is not a very good antenna....this ploy is designed to flim-flam the unknowing, so be careful what you purchase....it may look fancy, but it could be a dud, IMO.
And, yes, the "old analog" antenna will work just fine with a digital signal....