# HDTV locals via OTA



## gbward (Aug 16, 2006)

I am new to HD, and I have direcTV but my locals have audio sync issues and pixelization, direcTV isnt fixing them but I have heard OTA HD will work much better. We have a big Antenna on the house, it was here when we moved here 10 years ago. I assume this will not pick up HD, and I need something new that picks up the HD? Or am I wrong? If we dont need a knew one do I just plug it into the reciever or do I need an adapter? Any help with this will be great. Thanks


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

It may or may not pick up a digital transmission. There is no such thing as an HD antenna, all TV waves of the same frequency are captured on the same antennas.

You might need a smaller UHF antenna, depending on which frequencies your local stations are using.

Give us your zip code or go to www. antennaweb.org and enter your EXACT street address for a listing of all your digital and analog channels. Click on the digital only button to see the direction and the channel that they use. Most will probalby be UHF.

If your old antenna is reachable, replace the downlead with fresh RG-6 coaxial cable, connect it to your digital tuner on your DirecTV box and point the antenna at your target station(s). If it works, your good, if not replace it with the appropriate antenna for your situation.

With no more information, that's as far as I can go.


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## gbward (Aug 16, 2006)

I went to that site and returned this info:
* yellow - uhf WPWR-DT 50.1 UPN GARY IN 147° 26.2 51 
* yellow - uhf WGN-DT 9.1 WB CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 19 
* yellow - uhf WFLD-DT 32.1 FOX CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 31 
* yellow - uhf WMAQ-DT 5.1 NBC CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 29 
* green - uhf WSNS-DT 44.1 TEL CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 45 
* red - uhf WXFT-DT 60.1 TFA AURORA IL 147° 26.3 59 
* red - vhf WBBM-DT 2.1 CBS CHICAGO IL 144° 25.5 3 
* red - uhf WGBO-DT 66.1 UNI JOLIET IL 144° 25.5 53 
* red - uhf WLS-DT 7.1 ABC CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 52 
* red - uhf WYCC-DT 20.1 PBS CHICAGO IL 144° 25.5 21 
* red - uhf WTTW-DT 11.1 PBS CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 47 
* red - uhf WCIU-DT 26.1 IND CHICAGO IL 147° 26.2 27 
* red - uhf WCPX-DT 38.1 i CHICAGO IL 147° 26.3 43 


The antenna on my roof looks like it is both UHF and VHF. I am not sure what I need to do concerning the Compass Orientation. Whats the best way to figure out where the 147 degrees is?


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

gbward said:


> ...
> 
> The antenna on my roof looks like it is both UHF and VHF. I am not sure what I need to do concerning the Compass Orientation. Whats the best way to figure out where the 147 degrees is?


I'm just guessing here, but I'd say that 147 degrees is in the direction of Chicago.

Another way to look at it: 90 degrees is due East 180 degrees is due South. 147 degrees is 2/3 of the way from East to South.


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## gbward (Aug 16, 2006)

I live in a north suburb that is more west than east of chicago (east would be in lake michigan) so doing the compass south west would be away from chicago. So I wanted to check that 90 deg is not due east instead of due west.


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## Mikey (Oct 26, 2004)

gbward said:


> I live in a north suburb that is more west than east of chicago (east would be in lake michigan) so doing the compass south west would be away from chicago. So I wanted to check that 90 deg is not due east instead of due west.


Yeah - 90 degrees is due EAST. Sorry.


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## Jim5506 (Jun 7, 2004)

Your best bet for aiming the antenna is to point it south east, then tweak it right and left and see which way you get stronger signals. Your biggest problem may be WBBM, because they are low VHF and it is prone to interference. All the rest are UHF for now, but WXFT and WGBO will have to move because they are above ch 52 which will be the top UHF channel after Feb 2009.


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## arxaw (Jul 13, 2003)

Chances are, your existing antenna is already aimed in the ideal direction, but ~145° will probably be the sweet spot for your antenna.

Point it directly SouthEast (135°) and then move it slightly to the right.

Go to the signal strength meter for your tuner and find the weakest station, then tweak the antenna slightly until the weakest channel peaks on the meter. The weakest channel will likely be one of those listed as "red" above.


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## iucpa (Aug 31, 2006)

arxaw said:


> Chances are, your existing antenna is already aimed in the ideal direction, but ~145° will probably be the sweet spot for your antenna.
> 
> Point it directly SouthEast (135°) and then move it slightly to the right.
> 
> Go to the signal strength meter for your tuner and find the weakest station, then tweak the antenna slightly until the weakest channel peaks on the meter. The weakest channel will likely be one of those listed as "red" above.


I went to antennaweb.org and have all of my coordinates. Question is, now what? I understand to plug the cable into the "antenna" coax input on the back of the receiver, but how do you then access the locals?

I don't quite understand the ".1" channel numbers - for example, one of my channels is 17.1 - my remote doesn't have a "." so how do I dial this channel up?

Thanks!


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## arxaw (Jul 13, 2003)

Read your receiver's manual. It should tell you how to access the SETUP MENU to scan for OTA channels. Scanning is done after you connect the antenna to the receiver.

Each station can broadcast multiple digital channels in their bandwidth. Example if Channel 17 had 3 channels, they would show up as 17-1, 17-2 & 17-3 in your channel list. Some tuners or TVs show the channels as 17.1, 17.2, etc. Same thing. There should be a DASH - or DOT . somewhere on your remote if you have a digital tuner.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

iucpa said:


> I don't quite understand the ".1" channel numbers - for example, one of my channels is 17.1 - my remote doesn't have a "." so how do I dial this channel up?


Go with an implied decimal point (171). You may have to put in some leading zeros (0171) depending on how many digits the particular receiver can tune. Of course you can also use the channel up/down keys, but that's a cop out.


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## Nick (Apr 23, 2002)

harsh said:


> ...Of course you can also use the channel up/down keys, but that's a cop out.


Cop out?! :thats: That's hilarious! :thats: !rolling :lol:

As a record-holding channel surfer (229 cpm), I find the Up/Dn buttons to be the keys to my success.


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## bapcsteve (Sep 6, 2006)

I too am new to HDTV and OTA. I have no antenna on the roof or otherwise, just Directv and am in the same Chicago viewing area as gbward.

I'm caught up in the HR-10 vs. HR-20 flap and I guess I will ultimately wind up with the HR-20 and get the HD locals via that.

My question is with the HR-10 I already purchased and no antenna would I be able to get OTA HD local channels? I would assume not but got a lot of conflicting info from Directv people. I am waiting for a new dish install so I can't really test this myself on the HR-10.

Your guidance would be appreciated.


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## arxaw (Jul 13, 2003)

No. 

But if you simply add an antenna, you'll be rewarded with much better picture quality and reliability than the mpeg4 hd locals on D*, using their h20 and a bigger more complicated dish.


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## hometronix (Sep 8, 2006)

> No.
> 
> But if you simply add an antenna, you'll be rewarded with much better picture quality and reliability than the mpeg4 hd locals on D*, using their h20 and a bigger more complicated dish.


Agreed


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## jdspencer (Nov 8, 2003)

bapcsteve said:


> My question is with the HR-10 I already purchased and no antenna would I be able to get OTA HD local channels? I would assume not but got a lot of conflicting info from Directv people.


It's true that the HR10 won't tune OTA without an antenna.  So add one and see what happens.


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## maciej229 (Sep 11, 2006)

yes


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## gbward (Aug 16, 2006)

I just got the HR20, replaced my H20, the antenna when i got setup is greyed out and i cannot select it. Is this feature not available and will it be? My second question is, does anybody know for recording, can I turn off the box with the remote and still record my channels? or do i have to leave it on all the time?


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## kenglish (Oct 2, 2004)

There's probably something in the setup menu, where they ask what type of dish you have. There should be a selection for OTA antenna in there. 

Sorry I don't have specifics for the exact receiver you have, but they are all similar.


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## arxaw (Jul 13, 2003)

gbward said:


> I just got the HR20... the antenna when i got setup is greyed out and i cannot select it. Is this feature not available and will it be?


OTA is currently disabled and will not be availble for a while. How long is "a while"? Not sure.... :-(

Lack of OTA is the main reason I am not wasting time and effort on an HR20 for now.


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