RV TV Reception

ron.dittmer wrote:
I strongly lean toward the reason to go digital was primarily done for consumer entertainment benefit and growth of the economy. The opening up of those frequencies for 2-way communication was right behind it. A win/win except for a select few people like me and dodge_guy where our reception at home suffered.

Well the reason I lean toward the industry wanting a fresh new cash cow is Multi fold.. One, Even a small digital TV is a hundred bucks, and I used to get CRT's in that price class for half that. And a good TV can easily last 10 years or more, so by making all those old CRT's obsolete, Major cash cow.

Second: I too heard about the opening up of the VHF band for other services.. IN fact the rumor is the FCC has already sold off much of the spectrum.. BUT TV STATIONS ARE STILL USING IT.. Even VHF low is still in use in some areas.. The FCC has not forced them to upgrade the transmitter,, Modulator yes, transmitter no.

zekegb wrote:
We redid our TV & stuff in our motorhome. Went with a Samsung 32", Samsun Blue Ray disc player, and Jack antenna. Used the Jack antenna once so far and the reception for broadcast stations was super.

Sometimes I think every time we try for TV is an adventure. But it is better with the new equipment.

Yep, in the past few years I`ve given up trying the TV unless we have cable hookup. We don`t need TV, but it is nice to be able to check the weather or news every once in a while! or watch a race or some sports playoff game when we can.

We redid our TV & stuff in our motorhome. Went with a Samsung 32", Samsun Blue Ray disc player, and Jack antenna. Used the Jack antenna once so far and the reception for broadcast stations was super.

Sometimes I think every time we try for TV is an adventure. But it is better with the new equipment.

dodge guy wrote:


This explanation does make the most sense so far. Crazy!

Thank you, I do my research and sometimes I get it right :).

This I do know.. I like the studio monitor quality when it works.

I hope everyone is aware that digital TV is not unique to the US, or even North America for that matter. Virtually every country in the world has either transitioned to digital TV or will be switching, including some that made the switch well before the US did.

List of digital television deployments by country

ron.dittmer wrote:
I work at Motorola Solutions, the company who makes communication equipment for the military, police forces, fire fighters, businesses, etc.

I recalled the hype around the office over going digital for TVs, the abandoned UHF and VHF frequency bands would be opened up for communication purposes. I am not sure that was the primary reason or just the resulting benefit to our industry. After 9/11 lots of things got changed up to help with national security, and maybe this was one area of change for that reason.

I strongly lean toward the reason to go digital was primarily done for consumer entertainment benefit and growth of the economy. The opening up of those frequencies for 2-way communication was right behind it. A win/win except for a select few people like me and dodge_guy where our reception at home suffered.

I heard this also. I certainly hope it wasn't for communication in an emergency?!!! Anyone relying on OTA signal is in trouble!

wa8yxm wrote:

dodge guy wrote:
I still don`t know why they went to digital, never really heard a good reason for it!

That one I can answer and what's more I can answer it twice.

First: The government (FCC) required it.. But what is likely is the FCC requirement was put in place at the request of the industry. (The only way to do something where everybody does it at one time and not get hit with a "Collusion" charge is to make it a government requirement).

NOW: the official reasons as to why: With Digital each broadcast channel can carry 2,3,4 or more (I have seen 5 and I think 6) Layers of programming (Gets a bit low quality after 3 or 4) so more channels fit into less spectrum.. The FCC thus encourages stations to abandoned the VHF bands and the FCC wishes to re-sell that space to other services... Also since the broadcasters in many cases reduced their power (You do not need nearly as much push with digital, I will explain) there is a tremendous savings in electricity.. Some stations were hundreds of thousands of watts, now around 30-50 thousand.

The explanation: I work both digital and analog with my ham radios.. The same transmitter and antenna and freqauency band, VOICE (Analog) SSB (more effective than AM which is what analog tv (picture) was) I can work most of the US most of the time. Digital.. I cut it down to 30-40 watts and work most of the world most of the time.

THE REAL REASON (in my not very humble opinion) they changed.
TV sales were slowing as more and more homes already had one.. So the cash cow was drying up.. of course the old analog only TV's do not do ATSC digital video, so now that the world (Well country) has gone digital everybody had to go out and buy a new over priced Flat Screen TV.

More electrical savings as these things take way less electricity than the old CRT jobs. and of course. A nice fresh new cash cow for the industry to milk.

This explanation does make the most sense so far. Crazy!

I work at Motorola Solutions, the company who makes communication equipment for the military, police forces, fire fighters, businesses, etc.

I recalled the hype around the office over going digital for TVs, the abandoned UHF and VHF frequency bands would be opened up for communication purposes. I am not sure that was the primary reason or just the resulting benefit to our industry. After 9/11 lots of things got changed up to help with national security, and maybe this was one area of change for that reason.

I strongly lean toward the reason to go digital was primarily done for consumer entertainment benefit and growth of the economy. The opening up of those frequencies for 2-way communication was right behind it. A win/win except for a select few people like me and dodge_guy where our reception at home suffered.

dodge guy wrote:
I still don`t know why they went to digital, never really heard a good reason for it!

That one I can answer and what's more I can answer it twice.

First: The government (FCC) required it.. But what is likely is the FCC requirement was put in place at the request of the industry. (The only way to do something where everybody does it at one time and not get hit with a "Collusion" charge is to make it a government requirement).

NOW: the official reasons as to why: With Digital each broadcast channel can carry 2,3,4 or more (I have seen 5 and I think 6) Layers of programming (Gets a bit low quality after 3 or 4) so more channels fit into less spectrum.. The FCC thus encourages stations to abandoned the VHF bands and the FCC wishes to re-sell that space to other services... Also since the broadcasters in many cases reduced their power (You do not need nearly as much push with digital, I will explain) there is a tremendous savings in electricity.. Some stations were hundreds of thousands of watts, now around 30-50 thousand.

The explanation: I work both digital and analog with my ham radios.. The same transmitter and antenna and freqauency band, VOICE (Analog) SSB (more effective than AM which is what analog tv (picture) was) I can work most of the US most of the time. Digital.. I cut it down to 30-40 watts and work most of the world most of the time.

THE REAL REASON (in my not very humble opinion) they changed.
TV sales were slowing as more and more homes already had one.. So the cash cow was drying up.. of course the old analog only TV's do not do ATSC digital video, so now that the world (Well country) has gone digital everybody had to go out and buy a new over priced Flat Screen TV.

More electrical savings as these things take way less electricity than the old CRT jobs. and of course. A nice fresh new cash cow for the industry to milk.

Yes rightly said The existing antenna is designed to receive signals in the VHF-Low band, the VHF-HI band and the UHF band.and also many operators now offering internal antenna for motor homes but really not seen single one