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Step 10The visual results
The digital tv converter box I chose is the Digital Stream DSP7700P Digital Set-Top Box. There are many to choose from. Some have much better reviews than others. But, there are enough horror stories for each box to make you think that all of them will be a lemon. And at this time not many are available since the government coupon deadline is over. This one seems to be working well.
The second picture shows the back of the converter box. Simple really. Coax antenna in and coax out to TV or you can connect your TV via the analog RCA jacks. Your choice. The box has an on button and channel up/down buttons. It comes with a infrared remote that has more bells and whistles. The instructions are sequential and fairly clear. You can see a signal strength and scan for channels that lock in when done. There are full menu items for a variety of functions.
Where I live in Southern Maine there are three locl channels NBC, ABC, and CBS that are 25-35 miles away. I live on a lake and therefore a valley that is low and surrounded by hills. Trees are also all around my house and the leaves are still on them. My antenna is about 20 feet above ground.
There are three public television stations 7-35 miles away and Fox movie station where american idol exists. So, the wife would like to get that. The only problem is that Fox is 62 miles away. Definitely a fringe station.
The closest station NBC has a signal strength of 88-90 and very strong. ABC and CBS have lower but still strong signals. ABC is further away but the antenna is atop Mt. Washington so, a good signal. Picture three shows the signal strength for NBC.
The fourth picture shows the signal strength for Fox at 62 miles away. The signal strength is 30% which is more than enough for viewing. A strength of 5-10 should be enough but with this station at least 18 is needed. With digital signals the picture is usually always good if you can see it. Snow on the screen is only for analog signals. At 18 though some blocky artifacts can sometimes be seen. This signal was supposed to be the litmus test for my antenna. My neighbor with a db4 an amplifier can't get this station.
The last picture is of the trees in the direction most of my stations need to deal with. Trees aren't good but the antenna seems to not be bothered by them. The leaves will soon be down.
Overall the construction experience has been pretty good. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot in the process. I hope the info here is correct. I'm no expert for sure. I ended up getting the three networks and Fox, three public television stations, and a couple of smaller local stations. BTW one of the good ones ABC is a VHF not UHF station. This often requires a VHF antenna. The strong signal along with the strong antenna seems to make this unnecessary. After the weekend I will be giving Cable TV back their signal.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
The second picture shows the back of the converter box. Simple really. Coax antenna in and coax out to TV or you can connect your TV via the analog RCA jacks. Your choice. The box has an on button and channel up/down buttons. It comes with a infrared remote that has more bells and whistles. The instructions are sequential and fairly clear. You can see a signal strength and scan for channels that lock in when done. There are full menu items for a variety of functions.
Where I live in Southern Maine there are three locl channels NBC, ABC, and CBS that are 25-35 miles away. I live on a lake and therefore a valley that is low and surrounded by hills. Trees are also all around my house and the leaves are still on them. My antenna is about 20 feet above ground.
There are three public television stations 7-35 miles away and Fox movie station where american idol exists. So, the wife would like to get that. The only problem is that Fox is 62 miles away. Definitely a fringe station.
The closest station NBC has a signal strength of 88-90 and very strong. ABC and CBS have lower but still strong signals. ABC is further away but the antenna is atop Mt. Washington so, a good signal. Picture three shows the signal strength for NBC.
The fourth picture shows the signal strength for Fox at 62 miles away. The signal strength is 30% which is more than enough for viewing. A strength of 5-10 should be enough but with this station at least 18 is needed. With digital signals the picture is usually always good if you can see it. Snow on the screen is only for analog signals. At 18 though some blocky artifacts can sometimes be seen. This signal was supposed to be the litmus test for my antenna. My neighbor with a db4 an amplifier can't get this station.
The last picture is of the trees in the direction most of my stations need to deal with. Trees aren't good but the antenna seems to not be bothered by them. The leaves will soon be down.
Overall the construction experience has been pretty good. I had a lot of fun and learned a lot in the process. I hope the info here is correct. I'm no expert for sure. I ended up getting the three networks and Fox, three public television stations, and a couple of smaller local stations. BTW one of the good ones ABC is a VHF not UHF station. This often requires a VHF antenna. The strong signal along with the strong antenna seems to make this unnecessary. After the weekend I will be giving Cable TV back their signal.
Thanks for reading,
Dan
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The customers actually had limited basic TV service if they added a splitter to the line that fed the cable modem. Thus, the price difference was the same as the price of limited basic TV. The customer was buying TV but didn't know it.
I believe they have since gained the ability to filter out all TV w/o filtering out the internet. I'm pretty sure they still charge the same though. If I were a customer still however, I wouldn't trust the new filter to not harm the internet service at least a little. I no longer work there plus live in a different state with a different provider so my information is kind of old.
That's a nice antenna you built btw. I don' t mean to discourage you. I'm tempted to try it myself just for fun even though we have a roomate who pays for our cable.
If you look at your itemised bill for cable internet, if you drop your basic cable, then only your internet will go up by 5 dollars at least around here, but your total bill will be lower.
I had extended basic cable and cable internet and I dropped cable tv altogether, but I keept the internet.
Yes there is a filter on the cable internet, but around here you still can get 13 channels. You would need a digital Tv and a analog tv will not work , a converter will not work.
You will need a high quality 2-way splitter 5-1000 mhz 7.5 db( mine was $12.00 ).Internet cable to "in" on splitter, one "output" from splitter to cable modem, one "output" from splitter to tv. Set tv to cable and scan tv for digital chanels.
For those who are not able to get cable tv or OTA (over the air ) antenna signals because of location you may consider true FTA (free to air) satellite, this would be free and legal satellite reseption. Just google "true fta".
I have antenna and internet cable Tv for locals, and satellite.
I agree That is a realy nice antenna and exellent documentation.Good job, well done.