# HD antenna



## sansha (Apr 27, 2007)

I get locals from Dish, but they are not available in HD, though all my locals broadcast in HD. Should I buy a HD antenna, and is there one that anyone recommends, and how does this work. I saw an amplified HD Terk antenna that ran about $60. Do you hook this up to the TV directly, or to the 622? Can the 622 actually DVR OTA signals as someone said?


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## Taco Lover (Jan 8, 2007)

It differs for everyone. Check out dbstalk.com's sister site AVSForum-particularly this forum: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=25

There you can get recommendations etc. about antennas and such. Also check out www.antennaweb.org to get info about which TV towers you can recieve, how far they are compared to you, which direction to point the antenna in, and whether the stations are UHF or VHF.

Good luck.


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## Hound (Mar 20, 2005)

What antenna you buy depends on how far you live from the broadcast tower.
I live 39.5 miles from Phila and 41.5 miles from New York according to
antennaweb.org. So I bought a Winegard 9085 UHF antenna and coupled it
with a Winegard 4053P VHF. With the digital change over occuring in February
2009, all VHF channels will be digital and you will need a VHF antenna. The 9085 antenna is recommended for 40 miles. It is not a good idea to buy, say a 60 or
70 mile antenna if you live 40 miles from the signal because the signal may
get distorted. If you live close to the signal, 25 miles or less, an amplified 
indoor antenna will probably be OK.

You can hook the antenna up to either the 622 or directly to the TV. All new
digital TVs have antenna tuners. In my case, I hook the antenna up to a
Sony DHG HDD500 DVR. The 622 and the Sony DHG are hooked up to the TV
through separate inputs and I use my remote to switch between inputs.
If you subscribe to locals through Dish, your 622 may give you program guide
information for your off air antenna. My 622 has never given me program
guide information for OTA locals because I live in a zip code that covers two
DMAs. I was not happy with the 622 as an OTA tuner. The Sony DHG is a much
better off air tuner and it records 60 hours of HD programming as well.


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## bruin95 (Apr 23, 2006)

sansha said:


> Should I buy a HD antenna, and is there one that anyone recommends, and how does this work. I saw an amplified HD Terk antenna that ran about $60. Do you hook this up to the TV directly, or to the 622? Can the 622 actually DVR OTA signals as someone said?


Just so you know, there is NO SUCH THING as an HD antenna. It is a marketing device to make you think one antenna is better than another. Don't fall for it. In reality, you can receive OTA HD using a metal coat hanger attached to your TV. There is no need to spend a ton of money on an antenna. Like a previous poster said, go to antennaweb.org and put in your local info. It will show the digital channels in your area and what size antenna you would need to receive each of those channels. Chances are, if you live in or close to the city that broadcasts your locals, you would only need a small set of VHF/UHF rabbit ears that cost less than $10 at your local discount store.

You can hook up the antenna directly to your TV, if it has an ATSC tuner, but you will not be able to record those channels. Simply hook up the OTA antenna to the "antenna in" connection in the back of the 622. Go into "System Setup" and then "Local channels" on your 622 and scan your locals. You may have to adjust your antenna to peak the signal levels. Once scanned, your local "digital" channels will be mapped out in the guide under their assigned local numbers, such as 3-1, 5-1, etc. You will now be able to view and record them through your 622.


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## Taco Lover (Jan 8, 2007)

bruin95 said:


> Just so you know, there is NO SUCH THING as an HD antenna. It is a marketing device to make you think one antenna is better than another. Don't fall for it. In reality, you can receive OTA HD using a metal coat hanger attached to your TV. There is no need to spend a ton of money on an antenna. <snip> Chances are, if you live in or close to the city that broadcasts your locals, you would only need a small set of VHF/UHF rabbit ears that cost less than $10 at your local discount store.


Agreed. I live 35-40 miles from my local towers and I use the UHF loop on a $10 antenna from Radio Shack. Digital feeds are different from analog. What looks fuzzy or snowy as an analog signal comes in crystal clear as a digital signal... all on good ol' rabbit ears.


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## projectorguru (Mar 5, 2007)

I am 20 miles from a tower in Harrisburg, pa, I bought a 15 dollar antenna from Lowes and receive local CBS in HD, so yeah don't spend a bundle


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## sansha (Apr 27, 2007)

Flushed with inspiration, I tore the rabbit ears from another TV and hooked them up to my 622 "antenna in". Tried the scan for local channels, but...it didn't pull any in. I'm less than 20 miles from the city and most of the towers so this is disappointing. 

I read the phillips phdtv1 hdtv antenna (24.99) gets good reviews on circuit city.com, so I'll try that, but of course it is out of stock at my local store.


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## PEARLTONE (May 27, 2006)

Hound said:


> What antenna you buy depends on how far you live from the broadcast tower.
> I live 39.5 miles from Phila and 41.5 miles from New York according to
> antennaweb.org. So I bought a Winegard 9085 UHF antenna and coupled it
> with a Winegard 4053P VHF. With the digital change over occuring in February
> ...


didnt know about the change over, i have this antenna hope it will work ok after FEB 
http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...roductId=2103087&support=support&tab=features, so if i was to get another antenna to add to this one i would need a VHF one???

thanks


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## Grandude (Oct 21, 2004)

PEARLTONE said:


> didnt know about the change over, i have this antenna hope it will work ok after FEB
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...roductId=2103087&support=support&tab=features, so if i was to get another antenna to add to this one i would need a VHF one???
> thanks


That antenna is UHF/VHF. The longer elements are VHF and the short ones UHF.
As to after the changeover to digital, you should expect that at least some of your locals will be in the ch7 to ch13 range VHF, and some will be in the upper UHF range.


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## Grampaw (Feb 6, 2006)

That antenna is a combo UHF/VHF antenna, designed for deep fringe reception.
The VU in the part number means VHF/UHF.
Some stations will change transmit frequencies when the analog cutoff date
arrives, but the majority will stay as-is. You may have to re-scan for channels,
but you won't need a new antenna.

Walt


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## kkozma (Mar 1, 2007)

sansha said:


> Flushed with inspiration, I tore the rabbit ears from another TV and hooked them up to my 622 "antenna in". Tried the scan for local channels, but...it didn't pull any in. I'm less than 20 miles from the city and most of the towers so this is disappointing.
> 
> I read the phillips phdtv1 hdtv antenna (24.99) gets good reviews on circuit city.com, so I'll try that, but of course it is out of stock at my local store.


Did you go to antennaweb.org??? There's a good chance that your locals are only broadcast on UHF, in which case a set of bunny ears aren't going to do squat. Further, you need to figure out which direction your stations are coming from and aim your antenna in that general direction. I fell for the gimmick of an "HD Antenna" and spent a LOT of money on one (It was an RCA that I got at Meijer for nearly $100). Only to find out that the $5 bowtie antenna I've had sitting in a box of crap since I moved out of my parents house 18 years ago got an absolute flawless picture and 100% signal strength across the board on my local's.


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## isuzudave (Sep 29, 2006)

sansha said:


> Flushed with inspiration, I tore the rabbit ears from another TV and hooked them up to my 622 "antenna in". Tried the scan for local channels, but...it didn't pull any in. I'm less than 20 miles from the city and most of the towers so this is disappointing.
> 
> I read the phillips phdtv1 hdtv antenna (24.99) gets good reviews on circuit city.com, so I'll try that, but of course it is out of stock at my local store.


I think that "rabbit ears" are only going to pick up VHF. A "loop" TV top antenna is for UHF. In my area most of my digital signals are on the UHF band. Even if it is channel 2 KPRC (NBC), it is not sent on channel 2. It is sent on 35. The TV still displays it as channel 2 so that it does not confuse people who have been watching channel 2 on channel 2 for 30 years.

You might have good luck with a set top UHF antenna. I live about 40 miles from my locals. I did not have much luck with an amplified set top antenna (Philips Indoor Antenna (MANT510) . I moved the same antenna into the attic of my two-story home and it worked well. I had even better luck with a Channel Master 4228 and an amplifier in the attic. The Channel Master is advertised as UHF only, but it picks up the higher VHF channels. It worked for me because the only local that broadcast digital on VHF is PBS on channel 9, and I get it with the 4228. 
The PHDTV1 is UHF only, so you will not be able to get any digital VHF stations.


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## sansha (Apr 27, 2007)

I'm 13.5 miles from four digital stations (though it is hilly around here).

The rabbit ears that I borrowed from another tv is a combo antenna -- rabbit ears with a hoop in the center for UHF.


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## bthessel (Oct 26, 2004)

Is anyone using a large antenna in the attic? I am tired of my 622 in the basement getting poor signals with a small indoor and having to turn the one on my 622 upstairs to keep certain channels working well. Can you diplex the OTA signal along with the dish signal down the same coax to avoid running another drop to the receivers?


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## Taco Lover (Jan 8, 2007)

sansha said:


> I'm 13.5 miles from four digital stations (though it is hilly around here).
> 
> The rabbit ears that I borrowed from another tv is a combo antenna -- rabbit ears with a hoop in the center for UHF.


Terrain does have an effect on it.

I live in the Central Valley, CA-flat as can be. Maybe that's why I have no problem with stations 35+ miles away with a UHF loop.


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## Hound (Mar 20, 2005)

PEARLTONE said:


> didnt know about the change over, i have this antenna hope it will work ok after FEB
> http://www.radioshack.com/product/i...roductId=2103087&support=support&tab=features, so if i was to get another antenna to add to this one i would need a VHF one???
> 
> thanks


Your OK with that antenna when the changeover occurs. That antenna is
UHF/VHF.


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## PEARLTONE (May 27, 2006)

thanks for all your responses....im thinking of getting another smaller to go with it, not getting one of the channels thats not in perfect line with the others, im just curious if when the change occurs if it will effect anything,,,,,,, i dont think the locations of the channels are going to change... am i right????

thanks again


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## PEARLTONE (May 27, 2006)

bthessel said:


> Is anyone using a large antenna in the attic? I am tired of my 622 in the basement getting poor signals with a small indoor and having to turn the one on my 622 upstairs to keep certain channels working well. Can you diplex the OTA signal along with the dish signal down the same coax to avoid running another drop to the receivers?


hey man....... that one i have linked above is in my attic, had an issue with homeowners association, i know i could fight it but was lazy so i took it off my roof and gave it a try in the attic and works just fine


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## isuzudave (Sep 29, 2006)

bthessel said:


> Is anyone using a large antenna in the attic? I am tired of my 622 in the basement getting poor signals with a small indoor and having to turn the one on my 622 upstairs to keep certain channels working well. Can you diplex the OTA signal along with the dish signal down the same coax to avoid running another drop to the receivers?


Yes you can diplex OTA and dish siganl.


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## kkozma (Mar 1, 2007)

Yep, I had a bowtie in my attic for a while, but then I wanted to see if I could get the locals from Cincy (cause my local CBS station pre-empts tv too much with local sports) so I bought a bigger antenna and hooked it up, up there. Got 2 more stations, but there are 3 more I'm trying to get. HOPEFULLY the weather holds out this weekend so I can get the sucker up on a pole outside. 

Elevation is everything with these things!!


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## MikeHou (Oct 18, 2006)

isuzudave said:


> Yes you can diplex OTA and dish siganl.


To expand on this can you combine OTA with TV2 backfeed and sat?


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## isuzudave (Sep 29, 2006)

MikeHou said:


> To expand on this can you combine OTA with TV2 backfeed and sat?


I think so. You would need to make sure the TV2 output is not using the same channel as one of your OTA stations.


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## whatchel1 (Jan 11, 2006)

Hound said:


> What antenna you buy depends on how far you live from the broadcast tower.
> I live 39.5 miles from Phila and 41.5 miles from New York according to
> antennaweb.org. So I bought a Winegard 9085 UHF antenna and coupled it
> with a Winegard 4053P VHF. With the digital change over occuring in February
> ...


What are you meaning by a signal being distorted? An antenna that is made for stations that is farther away just has a tighter beam pattern than the one list for only the 40 miles you are referring to. It will also be more likely to have less problems w/ multi-path distortion than the smaller one. Now as far as the case of someone being half way between 2 cities that have digital stations. It would be better to have a good omni-directional antenna. That is if there is no problem with multi-path. If there is multi-path then it comes down to having an antenna that has a tight pattern on a rotator. Then you can scan in the direction of the most stations then turn the antenna to the other city and add them one at a time w/ the add stations menu in the add locals screen.


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## jmsteffen (May 4, 2005)

Anyone know how I can hookup an OTA antenna to TV2? My TV2 is remote from the 622 and my TV has a single coax input. Right now, I've got the coax connected from the wall outlet (leading to the 622) to the TV coax input,. So, where can I plug in another antenna? Thanks in advance.

John


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## garys (Nov 4, 2005)

jmsteffen said:


> Anyone know how I can hookup an OTA antenna to TV2? My TV2 is remote from the 622 and my TV has a single coax input. Right now, I've got the coax connected from the wall outlet (leading to the 622) to the TV coax input,. So, where can I plug in another antenna? Thanks in advance.
> 
> John


Easiest way would be to get 2 splitters (regular type from Radio Shack) and two short pieces of coax wire, use one to split the ota before it goes into the 622. Then use the other splitter in reverse (becomes a combiner) with the outs used as ins and the in used as out. The rf out and ota line just split into the outs and the line running to tv2 from the in. You would have to make sure the modulated signal out of the 622 is the same type (analog) as the ota and that the channel number does not overlap any of the ota channels. The tv2 must also be matched to the analog signal and may have to be rescanned.


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## sansha (Apr 27, 2007)

Apparently Dish had/has some sort of Antenna discount that they would do with an install. I am miffed that i didn't know about it, because I sure would have taken advantage of it at the time. Apparently it is/was not well advertised and not all CSRs know of it.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

The antennas Dish is providing are, shall we say, not the best (being generous).

Look up you exact street address on both antennaweb.org and TVFool.com. These two sites will give you an idea of what strength antenna you need.

All antennas nowdays are color coded yellow for local reception to purple for fringe reception. Find out what type of antenna you need then report back.

Providing us with your zipcode will give us something to go on for more specific information.


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