Antenna update

laknox wrote:
One thing to consider, if you have a newer TV, with HDMI inputs, you'll get even better picture than with co-ax, from an HD antenna.

LYle

Lyle, I think I need a little more info. Our four TVs range from two months old to 6 years. All of them do have HDMI ports. The signal from the roof HDTV antenna is through a standard RG-6 75 ohm cable. This is eventually (see my above reply to Old Duck above) hooked into the back of the TV using it's RG-6 connection. Are you saying I should be connecting the cable into the TV HDMI port using an adapter from the coax RG-6 connection to the TV HDMI port?

Bill

Old Duck wrote:
Curious, which antenna did you have Installed?

We were using this antenna.

After we ran into problems with the various TV transmitters being almost 180 deg out, we've put this one on order that is actually two antennas that can be aimed in different directions. The signals received from the two antennas are combined at the antennas into one outgoing coax.

Xtreme dual antenna

We'll also be using this booster

Wineguard booster

It takes 50' of 75ohm coax to get from the roof to where the coax goes inside. Then it goes to the basement where we have a powered four port splitter installed distributing coax to four TVs in the house.

4-port powered splitter

The new antenna should be here in a couple of days. The transmitting antennas are not long distances from us, they're just in very opposing directions.

Bill

One thing to consider, if you have a newer TV, with HDMI inputs, you'll get even better picture than with co-ax, from an HD antenna.

LYle

Curious, which antenna did you have Installed?

CWSWine wrote:
Cable compress the HD signal sends over the cable and the box in your house decompress it. Each time you compress a signal you lose signal quality so over the air HD will look better but in most RV cases the TV set is lower quality then the one in your stick house.

I appreciated your info. The TV in the MH is about 3.5 years old. The ones in the house vary from about two months to 6 years.

Do you think the second antenna to pick up the missing station will work?

Bill

Cable compress the HD signal sends over the cable and the box in your house decompress it. Each time you compress a signal you lose signal quality so over the air HD will look better but in most RV cases the TV set is lower quality then the one in your stick house.

Yes, it's amazing how good of HDTV you can pick up over the air with new antennas on an RV.

Our reception is so good in the MH, we dumped cable TV at home and will save a lot of money. Cable was $120 a month which wasn't HD. So far on over the air HDTV, we're out $36 for the antenna, $40 for a booster/splitter and $12 for a new piece of coax.

The results are a little spotty at the moment. In most places in the southwest, all of the TV station antennas for a particular area will be on the same hill or mountain, so it's easy to aim the antenna.

Here in Anchorage, our (not so bright) TV stations put their antennas in three very different directions. I don't think they could have messed it up any worse if they tried. Anyway, we've got them all coming in fine on the antenna except one station. Have found out how to install a second antenna to point at just the missing station and tie both antennas together. So after the second antenna the cost will be up to $124, just a little more than one month of cable TV. Good riddance to GCI cable TV.

Bill