[opendtv] Exploring the Off-Air DTV Dilemma
- From: "Manfredi, Albert E" <albert.e.manfredi@xxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <opendtv@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Aug 2010 16:33:54 -0500
"Once out of the suburbs, reception is much more difficult and there are no
easy solutions. Analog stations that provided viewable (although far from
excellent) reception are now simply not there in digital."
I think this makes the perfect case for ATSC M/H in non-mobile TV receivers.
Bert
---------------------------------
http://www.tvtechnology.com/article/104860
Exploring the Off-Air DTV Dilemma
by Bob Kovacs, 08.16.2010
ALEXANDRIA, VA.
More than a year after the big switch was thrown from analog to digital, the
dust has mostly settled with regard to reception of digital TV transmissions.
Certainly there are people with serious reception issues, but I've heard
precious little when walking through stores and skimming online DTV forums.
There are probably a few reasons why there was little complaining. One reason
getting short shrift is that pictures from digital TV stations look so good,
especially if they are in high definition. People like to think they're getting
a fair deal with the HD offerings, and are willing to accept occasional loss of
signal when the pictures look great most of the time.
With this simple stick antenna, WUSA (Channel 9) from Washington had
considerable break up, but many other channels were fine.
Another reason is that there are more channels. I can reliably receive 15
different digital stations with my modest rooftop antenna in this Washington,
D.C. suburb, and these stations carry 42 discrete programs that vary from
entertainment to weather to foreign to all-talk. In an era of 500-channel cable
systems, 42 different program feeds may not sound like much, but it is a
bargain at the price: free.
WHAT CAN YOU RECEIVE?
Still, the question "what can you receive and how do you receive it" is a good
one. I checked my reception to determine what could be received with a simple
stick antenna and what improvement occurred when a reasonable rooftop antenna
was connected instead.
My home is just inside the Beltway that circles Washington. It's about 10-15
miles from the market's TV transmitting towers, and the terrain here is
generally rolling. Thankfully, I'm at a fairly high point in my neighborhood.
The signals reach me from a mix of locations. Tower heights are significantly
restricted in the Washington area, and only one station operates with a tower
that's even close to 1,000 feet in height. This means that reception in the
Washington area is somewhat crippled due to low-transmitting antenna heights.
The stick antenna I'm using with my set has a weighted magnetic base and
extends to 25 inches. With this antenna connected, I checked the TV band to see
what I could receive.
I'm using a Channel Master CM-7000 DTV converter box-one that could be bought
at the beginning of 2009 for 10 bucks, plus a $40 government coupon. I chose
the Channel Master unit because it was one of the few DTV converter boxes with
an S-video output, and S-video clearly makes better pictures than composite
video.
With this simple antenna and no experimentation to find the best position, I
received seven stations perfectly. In addition, another three stations that
registered 80 or higher on a scale of 100 on the receiver's quality meter all
produced solid pictures with no break-up. These 10 stations account for about
30 different program feeds-all received solidly with an exceedingly simple
antenna and no attention whatsoever needed with regard to placement of that
antenna.
Interestingly, two stations that weren't received well with the stick antenna
were the two major network affiliates that moved their DTV transmissions from
temporary UHF slots back to their analog VHF channels positions, 7 and 9. Since
they represent the ABC and CBS networks in Washington, their loss is
significant. With the stick antenna, both suffered continuous breakup.
UP ON THE ROOF
Things improved substantially with a rooftop antenna, despite the tall, leafy
trees that surround my home. This particular antenna was installed in 2002 and
is still in good condition. It's mounted on a mast attached to a chimney, and
positioned about six feet above the chimney. About 70 feet of RG-6 coax
connects the antenna with the receiver.
Using this antenna, all 15 stations were received reliably. This includes two
Baltimore stations, WMAR-TV and WBFF, which are located about 40 miles away.
WMAR-TV, which operates on Channel 38, had some occasional momentary breakup,
but it wasn't bad enough to ruin the viewing experience. WBFF, on Channel 46,
was rock solid.
Of course, the weather can wreak havoc with UHF DTV signals and the sky was
generally clear when I did my informal testing. And mine was just one
unscientific test for DTV reception, with no attempt to gather hard data, but
rather to see what the viewing experience was like.
With analog TV transmissions, a rooftop antenna was needed in my neighborhood
to avoid ghosting and interference from frequent overhead aircraft. (My home is
located near a major regional hospital that accepts patients delivered via
helicopter.) As described, with digital transmission, many of the area stations
could be received perfectly with a simple indoor antenna, but a few couldn't be
received at all.
Cable penetration is heavy in my area. In fact, I have a cable connection
(Verizon's FiOS) for my main TV in the living room, but use off-air signals for
the bedroom. If all you want is to be able to receive one of the 11 p.m. local
newscasts, a simple rabbit-ear antenna will probably suffice. If you want to
reliably be able to check who's on Letterman versus who's on Leno, you'll need
a rooftop antenna.
RURAL RECEPTION
With this antenna at my suburban location, solid reception is available on 15
channels carrying 42 different program feeds.
I also have experience with DTV reception at a home in the mountains of rural
Virginia, with signals there more difficult to come by. If you don't have
service from a satellite provider (and cable isn't available), you better have
a large antenna and a rotor. However, this was also required for analog TV
reception.
In the mountains, the biggest DTV loss was on the low-band VHF Channels 3, 4
and 5. In the analog days, I could point the antenna and get decent signals
from Washington Channels 4 (WRC-TV) and 5 (WTTG), as well as Channel 3
(WHSV-TV) in Harrisonburg, Va. Those stations are affiliates for NBC, Fox and
ABC, so their loss in the digital era is significant. I can get the NBC
affiliate in Hagerstown, Md., WHAG-TV, but can no longer receive any ABC, CBS
or Fox affiliated stations.
Fortunately for me, this rural home is primarily a weekend place. However, for
my full-time neighbors, the only solution was satellite TV. None of them wanted
to deal with buying and installing a large antenna and the hefty rotor that
would be necessary to point it.
The change to DTV has been a mixed bag for me. Like so many others, I love the
quality of HD viewing, and marvel at how easy it is to receive lots of signals
in the suburbs.
Once out of the suburbs, reception is much more difficult and there are no easy
solutions. Analog stations that provided viewable (although far from excellent)
reception are now simply not there in digital. The solution for many people in
rural locations, including me, is to spend more time on the Internet and less
time watching TV-good for Google; bad for broadcasters.
The transition from analog to digital broadcasting was never going to be
perfect. Depending on where you live, your reception experience could be more
or less perfect than others living just a few miles away.
The ability to pull a viewable picture from the snow of a marginal analog
signal is something that digital doesn't support. If you live in the suburbs,
you are probably among the DTV reception "haves." Please spare a kind thought
for the "have nots" in more rural areas.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
You can UNSUBSCRIBE from the OpenDTV list in two ways:
- Using the UNSUBSCRIBE command in your user configuration settings at
FreeLists.org
- By sending a message to: opendtv-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word
unsubscribe in the subject line.
Other related posts:
