I Been Quoted in a Major Newspaper!
I’m somebody now! I was actually quoted in an article on DTV reception issues in the area. Our calls had gone down to a trickle this week after our daily phone banks last week during the 6 & 7 PM News, with the majority of callers needing assistance navigating the menus and step by step instructions on scanning the channels.
The call volume was brisk today after the article posted our number, and we are definitely trying to help each person that calls as soon as possible, and take the time to answer all their questions. Call us at 919-836-1717 and press 8. We can’t pick up the phone 24 hours a day, but we will get back to you as soon as possible, so leave a message and a good time to call back, and we will do our best to help you out.
I practically have all the converter box menus memorized at this point! I mentioned in one of my posts here, we don’t expect everyone to be a RF system engineer with a degree in computer science, but it sure is helpful! Fortunately, I have a PHD from the school of hard knocks and experience, and I am giving away my secrets to the public for free!
If you’re missing a channel or two, or have no idea what channels you should be getting, you can check antennaweb for information on antennas and what signals are in your area.
You have to aim your antenna towards the tower. Analog was a bit sloppy, and as long as you had the antenna oriented in the general direction of the towers, you could get a watchable picture. Digital is a lot more precise and the antenna needs to be aimed toward the towers. Look at a map, and locate where US 70 East crosses the Wake and Johnston County line. That’s where you point to.
If your antenna has a round loop or bow tie style element, pretend you a re looking through the center of the circle and aim it toward the towers. UHF antennas work differently than the long VHF rabbit ears, and you aim them differently. The long ears will only work for WTVD on channel 11, so aim them separately from the loop antenna.
Use the signal meter in the menu to aim your antenna. You no longer have an analog signal to “see” when the picture gets better or worse as you aim your antenna. While watching the signal meter, turn the antenna left, then right trying to get the highest indication on the meter. It is true you can get too much signal into the box, but let’s not worry about that right now. Try to maximize the signal for now.
If you are using a Terk or Silver Sensor antenna, both great choices, point the pointed end toward the towers.
Once you peak the antenna, perform another channel scan. This will take a couple of minutes, but let it finish the scan, then check to see if it found any missing channels.
Don’t throw away your old antenna just yet. Many folks have bought super duper HDTV antennas especially for digital. There is really no such thing as a digital antenna, and one from 1950 may work just fine. There’s only one way to know, and that’s to try it out and see what it does. I have advised against those 50 dB amplified antennas all along. 50 times nothing is still nothing. And in most cases so much noise is amplified they hardly pick up anything. A 10 dB amp is all most of us will need and usually run in the $30-$40 range. I have not tried every type of antenna out there, but I highly recommend asking at your locat Radio Shack or Best Buy, or local TV Repair shop what they recommend for your area.
What works in Raleigh, may not be right for Fayetteville. To confuse matters even more, what works for your neighbor may not work for you. A little experimenting may be needed, but it’s worth checking in with the neighbors to see what works and does not work. (Remember Help a Digital Newbie Month last August?)
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