Not entirely true. You need an HDTV with a built in digital tuner, not just an HDTV or DTV compatable tv. I learned the hard way. I bought a set for my daughters dorm. It was a TV/DVD combo. It was more for watching DVD’s, but I thought with some rabbit ears she could watch a little local TV. I was NOT springing for cable at $45 a month. Anyway, it said digital all over the box. However, it does not have an digital tuner. So I will need a box, or she can just watch DVD’s… I really though I was getting an HDTV with a tuner. I did not do quite enough home work.</p>
<p>maybe this will help for reception
Your antenna coax input goes on the IN of the converter. The OUT of the converter goes to the TV input. Often times I get the two mixed up when I don’t use my glasses. </p>
<p>The following will help you determine if your antenna is the correct type and if you are within reception range. UHF antenna pointing is much more sensitive than VHF aiming. Sponsered by consumer electronics association and the national association of broadcasters.
[url=<a href=“http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx]AntennaWeb[/url”>http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx]AntennaWeb[/url</a>]</p>
<p>About $19-$49. Be sure to keep the receipt so that you can return the item. I got mine (3) from Goodwill. If you are using rabbit ears, you should be able to use something on the $19 side.</p>
<p>Well shoot, I am really confused now, because I thought rabbit ears were my antenna. Are you saying LP I will be buying an antenna that will be used in conjunction with my existing rabbit ears? It’s times like this that I would need a man around the house…nah!</p>
<p>the wabbit ears can be used until Feb 17 2009 for the analog channels. UHF antenna is for the free digital tv that is broadcasted. You will connect the UHF to the converter box “antenna input” [CEA</a> Connections Guide](<a href=“http://www.ceaconnectionsguide.com/]CEA”>http://www.ceaconnectionsguide.com/)</p>
<p>Cable and Satellite companies hate HDTV.</p>
<p>You will use only one antenna. Preferrably the UHF type. </p>
<p>I am assuming that your area does have digital broadcasters. Our coastal-vacation home has UHF TV and the major networks, but will not convert to digital because of the small number of viewers and cost.</p>
<p>Thanks for the advice LongPrime. It seems as though I have to get cable, I live “down in a hole” right next to a lake, and unless (and still not guaranteed) I get a roof top (3rd story) antenna, I am SOL for getting a signal. :(</p>
<p>We sent away for our coupons in mid-December and just read that the gov’t program is out of money. No coupons yet and no idea if we made the cutoff.</p>
<p>The only over-the-air TV I have is a little 9-inch TV/VCR for which I paid < $100, 8 years ago. It hardly seems worth spending $40+ on a converter box for it.</p>
<p>I just applied for my coupon. They say that the program has reached its funding limit, and that those on the waiting list–like me–will receive coupons as ones issued earlier but not used expire.</p>
<p>And Santa didn’t bring that new tv. Oh well.</p>
<p>Just got a converter box. Hooked it up and … no signals. Maybe it doesn’t like my amplified antenna? I’m in no mood to haul the television up to the attic for a direct connection. I think that I’m going to have to install the Hauppage drivers to my MacBook Pro and test the TV signals using my laptop. It will be a real nuisance if I have to replace my TV amplifiers.</p>
<p>With an analog signal you could always get a picture, it might be snowy but you’d get a picture. This is not so with digital. With over the air digital you either get a perfect signal, or you get no signal at all. Many people in rural areas and people far from the transmission site that rely on over the air signals will soon find themselves signing up for cable or satellite service because of this. And it is one of the reasons that the new administration is seeking to delay the switch over to all digital.</p>
<p>BC, does your box provide signal strength info? If so, you can play around w/your antenna while watching that info change to maximize signal strength.</p>
<p>My dad can’t get Channel 2. Nor can we, with a special digital TV antenna. Now he says he may just go to cable. Maybe they should - they live quiet lives and might really like the extra channels. But I told him I’d heard that they were going to move Channel 2 up in frequency, so people could receive it, but I haven’t heard much lately.</p>
<p>I turned my laptop into a television and went up to where the antenna is and plugged it in directly. Tons of channels. I plugged the converter box in and then connected it to the laptop. Lots of channels through more through directly from the antenna to the HD USB device. I tried the signal at various other points in the house. I finally disconnected a bunch of signal splitters and reception is very good in the basement now to our old analog television. We’re pretty happy the way things are except for one thing.</p>
<p>I did a little experimentation and found that there are two overlapping sets of channels with the antenna pointed in different directions. We would like to have the union of the sets without having to repoint the antenna. It would also be interesting to see what other channels are available by pointing the antenna in other directions.</p>
<p>I’m looking to see if I can use a multidirectional antenna or get a second antenna to along with a splitter (in reverse) to combine the signals from two antennas. So far, so good. Picture and sound are much better than analog.</p>
<p>Debugging things with the laptop made it so much easier as I didn’t have to carry the TV around to check the signal. Minimizing the run length of cable runs reduces attenuation but even so, the signal strength is under 40 (out of 100). We could probably do with a stronger amplifier though what we have works for the moment.</p>
<p>In looking around at electronic retailers, it’s hard to find stores that carry antennas at the stores. Many ship it to you and allow you to return them to their stores.</p>
<p>I am heartened that so many CC-ers have tv’s that need a converter box. In our case, we have one 27" tv with bunny ears. Haven’t tried out the converter box yet.</p>
<p>Just picked up an 80 inch antenna at Radio Shack. It’s amazing that something this big is so light. Felt like a feather carrying it around. It’s rated at 70 miles for UHF and 90 miles for VHF and is way bigger than my old antenna. It should be interesting to see what it pulls in and even more interesting when I use the two of them together.</p>
<p>We have a 30 inch antenna in the roof right now with an amplifier and it pulls in a lot of stations. The wire length is probably 50 feet. Splitters kill the signal pretty quickly along with run-length of the splitters. I’m not sure what he means about retuning the antenna.</p>
<p>BTW, there’s a cool site listing where the stations are relative to you so that you can know where to point your antenna for the most channels. You enter your address and it figures out what you can pull in.</p>
