Antenna help & sound connection

[kanishk]

I am planning to cut the Time Warner cord and join the OTA HD+Netflix+HuluPlus club. After researching the TV Fools here is my situation:

TV Fools signal analysis results:
http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...3cf4646a11f6cd

Channels of interest:
ABC,NBC,CBS,PBS,Fox,MyN,

Location: Ground floor apartment with windows facing north, no patio, apartment complex in park style surrounded by trees, not allowed to put dish/antenna outside

TV Fool Signal location map:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nidhika...n/photostream/

Satellite location of apartment:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nidhika...n/photostream/

I have looked at following indoor antennas:
http://www.homeantenna.org/indoor-hd...na-hd-800.html
http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Amplified...7039034&sr=1-1

My questions are:
Seeing the fact that the direction of my windows are not facing the signal towers, do I need the amplified antenna?

Which indoor antenna will be suitable for my needs?

How do I connect get the HD sound from OTA antenna to the Yamaha receiver? I can connect the antenna to TV through a coaxial and then take an optical cable from TV to the receiver (as suggested in http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.p...connection+OTA), but isn't it optical audio signal inferior to HD sound signal which I am currently getting through my cable box?

[John Candle]

If you have read other question askers posts then you know what is coming. The stations in green at 240 magnetic compass are -->Very Strong<--> DO NOT use any type or kind of antenna amplifier or amplified antenna. http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=233 . Read and understand this about Real Digital Tv Channels , Virtual Digital Tv Channels and Analog Tv Channels , http://forum.tvfool.com/showthread.php?t=695 . Here is information of aiming Tv Antennas , http://www.kyes.com/antenna/pointing/pointing.html . Is the apt. wood construction with wood siding or plastic siding or Non metalic siding ?? If not , then what is the the construction?? . . Metal siding , poured concrete walls and brick from ground to roof , reduce and reflect Tv transmissions. Is your apt. ground floor only??

[John Candle]

Here are some on line Tv Guides. http://www.titantv.com , http://television.aol.com , http://tvlistings.zap2it.com

[kanishk]

Thanks for your reply.

As for apartment, it is wood construction with vinyl siding. Apartment buildings have two floors and are surrounded by trees.

I have looked at the link for Indoor antenna and the first two are not available. (Phillips antenna at Walmart shows unavailable and HomeDepot link with GE antenna doesn't open). While looking for these two antennas I found the link for Terk non-amplified and the Lava HD800. Not sure if the Lava HD800 has an amplifier or not. I will buy it only if there isn't one.

Can you also answer the question related to sound? Is optical connection from TV to Yamaha receiver the only way to get the sound into my surround speakers?

Thanks

[draken]

The sound hookup will depend on what your tv will pass through. Most likely you'll only get two channel stereo unless the tv passes multichannel audio. If the tv passes multichannel audio, then it should be pretty equal to what you are getting from the cable box.

[John Candle]

I just checked the links .The home depot link is broken I will fix it now. The other links are working. Walmart has the Philips SDV5119/27 in the store. I go to great lengths to find antennas that are worth buying. DO NOT buy the lavasat. I have been in broadcast television for a very long time and I know whats what. I go to great lengths to help people and inform them of the TRUTH. Do not skim over lightly the information that I provide , the information applies DIRECTLY TO YOU. Tvfool is not the typical web site of ' jibber jabber heads' that have no idea what they are talking about.

[John Candle]

Light wave transmission and reception of information , digital or analog , video or audio is the cleanest close perfect way of transmitting and receiving. Unless you know of some way that is better. Draken is correct that it still depends on the source of the audio. Example: The audio starts out bad , every one will say that sounds terrible. The light wave transmission and reception will carry the bad audio in a perfect way , it's bad going in and bad coming out the other end of fiber optic cable. If audio is of high quality going in to the fiber optic cable it will be the same high quality coming out of the fiber optic cable. . Here is a truth. Cable Tv on copper wires uses Very High Levels of digital compression and this degrades video and audio. . Broadcast Digital Television that you receive with a Tv antenna uses Low Levels of digital compression and this better for video and audio.

[John Candle]

If the apt. has a second floor , Is a Tv on the second floor?? The best reception will likley be on the second floor. If the reception on the first floor is not so good , put the antenna close to inside wall that is closest to the Tv transmitters. Trees , buildings , and other obstructions reduce the strength of Tv transmissions. Like I say , you best read and understand the information and the information in the links it Applies Directly To You.

[kanishk]

For sound I understand the concept now. I checked the TV manual and found that it has optical output capable of giving Dolby Digital, when available. Per the post on light waves vs cable transmission, OTA broadcast quality is the best. (I always thought that cable must be compressing the quality. Thanks for such a good conceptual post)

For antenna, I will go either with TERK non-amplified or Phillips Non-Amplified SDV5119/27. Glad to know that Lava is a no-go before experiencing it hands-on.

And I do know that you guys are the experts here. That is why I came here and will go by your advice and not Google (which pointed me to a few websites showing that Lava antenna).

[John Candle]

Many 'antenna huggers' say that the Terk HDTVi Non amplified antenna has a little better performance then the standard rods and loop indoor Tv antenna and I agree. The UHF part of the HDTVi is a log periodic design that is better then the loop. The rods part of both antenna types are the same for VHF reception.

[John Candle]

I am not an expert. I am a antenna hugger that cares. For some reason a good part of my life is television transmission and reception.

[kanishk]

Originally Posted by John Candle

If the apt. has a second floor , Is a Tv on the second floor?? The best reception will likley be on the second floor. If the reception on the first floor is not so good , put the antenna one close to inside wall that closest to the Tv transmitters. Trees , buildings , and other obstructions reduce the strength of Tv transmissions. Like I say , you best read and understand the information and the information in the links it Applies Directly To You.

Yes, the second floor has a TV, but the apartment is not mine. They have entry on the ground floor and then stairs to directly go to the second floor into the apartment. So, I can't put an antenna on second floor and run a coaxial cable downstairs.

I think my best bet is to go with a non-amplified antenna and see hoe good reception will I get, before I get TWC connection removed.

Also, a TV upstairs and one behind the wall on ground floor on the other side of apartment building may result in signal interference.

[John Candle]

So your apt. is not the end unit. Thats Ok. You can use a length of coax in your apt. so as to try the antenna at different places in your apt. . The Tv transmissions are STRONG so you should have good reception down to W58CX digital channel 44