tv antenna....

[mrcaptainbob]

What's the skinny on the outside tv antenna's? I have the converters. I am taking down the junk roof mounted job and tossing that. But I have a new-in-the-box, but old, antenna that could be used. Is it necessary to use a new antenna for today's digital signals? Or can I use that old (new) antenna with the converter box?

[Speedbump]

The antennas are no different for the digital signal, since the channels received are on the same frequencies as they were before.

The trick is making sure you have a digital TV or the converter box working and wired properly.

The weird thing about digital signals unlike the old analog signals is that when the analog signals were weak, the picture would be snowy. When the digital signal is weak, there is nothing but a blank screen.

[mrcaptainbob]

Antenna....

That was my suspicion, Speedbump. Thanks for confirming....

[adnadeau]

Digital TV Frequencies

The digital signals are not necessarily being broadcast on the same TV channel frequencies that they were as analog signals. The digital signal has a channel identifier on it that can be programmed by the broadcaster, so the ID on your screen says channel 10.1, for example, but the signal is actually being broadcast on the frequency corresponding to channel 3. Around the Portland Maine area some of the VHF tv channels went to UHF channels when the change to digital tv was made. So make sure your antenna has a good UHF section. You can go to the FCC website to see what the actual channel frequencies for your area are.

[mrcaptainbob]

Thanks, adnadeau. That worked great!

[Speedbump]

The digital signals are not necessarily being broadcast on the same TV channel frequencies that they were as analog signals.

I didn't know that. But I did put up a small Weingard antenna and got all the channels except channel ten in my area. That transmitter is about 20 some odd miles away and the antenna was looking through a row of trees. The rest of the transmit antennas are practically in my backyard about 4 miles away, so I can receive them on a bobby pin.

[mrcaptainbob]

Antenna elements

Interesting that the old antennas would still work with the different frequencies. I thought the element length is what read the signal. If the signal was off from the element length, nothing (or very fuzzy) reception was achieved.

[Speedbump]

Element lengths are important, but at VHF and UHF frequencies, the antennas are far more forgiving than they are at HF frequencies. Even if the new digital freq's are not in the same exact place, your old antenna should still work good as long as all the connections are clean.

[mrcaptainbob]

antenna info...

Thanks, Speedbump....

[TransformStuff]

You can use the old antennas. I actually recently canceled my cable and bought an antenna. Number 1 was to cut back on watching TV haha and I get to save some money. Just get the converter box. I found antenna placement to be of high importance on digital channels.