tv antenna

[ztrmower]

anybody in southeast iowa have a tv antenna that works now days. during our house major project few years back now i put up two new tv antenna the big old fashion style, long story short wish i would have just left the old broken unit up. it did better. can you still get the old ty rotors have nott seen them around last few years.

 

[ss55]

You may need a signal amplifier, also check the distance to your broadcast towers. Check the archives, this topic is a regular.

 

[Steve@Advance]

The old style antennas are not good for digital signals, they were for analog, which is no longer transmitted.

You need a digital antenna, and yes they do have them with rotors.

If you are within a good signal range, it can be put inside the attic. If weak it needs to go outside, higher the better if there are obstacles, like trees or hills.

Look up your location, see what's available for signal. If there is no signal, it won't work wit any antenna.
Signal Locator

 

[buickanddeere]

(quoted from post at 10:32:48 12/14/21) The old style antennas are not good for digital signals, they were for analog, which is no longer transmitted.

You need a digital antenna, and yes they do have them with rotors.

If you are within a good signal range, it can be put inside the attic. If weak it needs to go outside, higher the better if there are obstacles, like trees or hills.

Look up your location, see what's available for signal. If there is no signal, it won't work wit any antenna.
Signal Locator

An antenna is an antenna .
The so called digital do not have the large heavy elements for channels 2 through 6 . Eliminating them reduces wind load.
Ice load and signal noise
From FM radio transmission .
Antenna Channels 7-51 were popular and still in use around the country .
The newest cut backs in TV channels will bring the channel selection down to 7-36 .

 

[buickanddeere]

As previously stated .
New RG-6 low loss cable and an antenna mounted amplifier is required . A rotor is also required to align the antenna .
NewTVs have less Money spent on the tuner sensitivity and selectivity because most people only use the HDMI input .

 

[CKain(MI)]

Buck&Deere, I agree with you fully. No real 'electrical' difference in analogue and digital antennas. Am a retired certified
elect tech, installed antennas for many years. When stations went digital, they also went way less power. Most tv viewers use
cable or satellite, why spend for big power to reach a couple hundred viewers.

 

[guido]

ztrmowers,

Here is one from Amazon. Many types available.
Two antennas supported. Signal booster and rotor built in with remote control.

Guido.

 

[Tom in Ga]

I have an old antenna that has been there as long as I can remember. We get about 40 channels on it. We get several networks and a pile of old shows.old shows are what we watch mostly

 

[Hdonly]

Make your own. I did. Cheap and works fine out to 60 miles away with an amplifier. Experiment a little.

 

[Tony in SD]

In SE Iowa, You are very near one of the oldest TV antenna manufacturers in the country. Contact Winegard for help.
Winegard

 

[Aaron SEIA]

I'm in SE Iowa as well. When they went digital I lost the CBS stations out of the Quad Cities. When I put a metal roof on (old school antenna in the attic), I essentially lost the PBS stations. I'm hoping a tower will help, but am curious what antenna to put on it as well.
AaronSEIA

 

[jimg.allentown]

BALONEY!!! There is no such thing as a 'digital' antenna. That is just advertising fluff to get you to replace your older antenna.

An antenna receives an RF signal that is in the air. It makes no difference what kind of modulation is used or what the content is. Digital is only another method of modulating the signal and encoding the content. The ONLY thing about an antenna that matters is how closely its size compares to the wavelength it is asked to receive. Higher frequencies have shorter wave lengths. Lower frequencies have longer wave lengths. Most antennas are tuned to 1/4 of the wavelength of middle of the range of frequencies they are intended to receive. It makes NO DIFFERENCE whether the signal is digital or analog.

 

[guido]

Aaron SEIA,


I would think that the one I posted would work. I guess you did not see my post?

Guido.

 

[spacecadet9]

(quoted from post at 06:48:09 12/16/21) I'm in SE Iowa as well. When they went digital I lost the CBS stations out of the Quad Cities
AaronSEIA

believe you're referring to WHBF in Rock Island. I personally believe they made a mistake when they chose to stay on vhf channel 4 instead of moving to uhf like chs. 6 and 8 did. Ch 4 had problems even covering the QC area using low band. I believe they run a low power repeater on uhf to even cover the cities.

 

[K Effective]

I was told that almost all stations switched to UHF when the digital conversions took place, so the smaller, UHF antennas like shown above work with those wavelengths better than the large, flat VHF ones. We still use one VHF and two UHF to get Chicago and South Bend, IN stations without rotating. It appears the tower survived the recent high winds.

 

[buickanddeere]

(quoted from post at 10:10:04 12/14/21) anybody in southeast iowa have a tv antenna that works now days. during our house major project few years back now i put up two new tv antenna the big old fashion style, long story short wish i would have just left the old broken unit up. it did better. can you still get the old ty rotors have nott seen them around last few years.

Took a wild guess at what south east Iowa is . This is what is available in SE Iowa .

 

[ldj]

(quoted from post at 20:04:45 12/14/21) ztrmowers,

Here is one from Amazon. Many types available.
Two antennas supported. Signal booster and rotor built in with remote control.

Guido.
<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto110797.jpg>

<img src=https://www.yesterdaystractors.com/cvphotos/cvphoto110798.jpg>

I have one of those antennas and it does a good job of getting channels. THE BAD, the rotor doesn't have any way to tell which way it is pointing. And what is worse is while you are rotating it, if you stop then start it again you never know which way it will turn, it might continue in the direction or it might start going the other way.