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Rabbit Ears To Stage a Comeback Thanks To DTV
Jeffrey Breen writes "Like Monty Python's Killer Rabbit, cheap indoor antennas seem harmless to satellite and cable providers. But with the digital TV transition in the US, rabbit ears can suddenly provide digital-perfect pictures, many more channels, and even on-screen program guides. Already feeling pressure as suddenly budget-conscious consumers shed premium channels, providers must now get creative to protect their low-end as well."
Rabbit ears don't pick up UHF signals; they are for VHF which is going away. It's the "loop" part of current antennas which will receive UHF.
I feel sorry for people that don't drink, because when they get up in the morning, that's as good as they're gonna feel
Using rabbit ears, I picked up several new stations (other cities). But with such weak signal, they cut in and out too much. "Coathanger" antenna to the rescue!
I don't think that rabbit ears are going to be a threat anytime soon. That PayPerView things is pretty compelling. Admittedly, in tough financial times switching to just a few local channels for free would be an option - until you look at unbundling your catv from internet and phone etc. I'm pretty certain that cable providers have a grip on how to bill this so changing really doesn't save you anything worth getting excited over.
Now, if bundling of services with savings was not allowed, and catv ISPs were forced to act like common carriers things might be different. That doesn't look likely to happen any decade soon.
As cynical as I am I expect that soon I'll be paying a penalty for using Vonage instead of the catv ISP version of VoIP; which is a sucky service BTW. None of the available VoIP services can compete with Vonage for features or price or price per feature in my area. No soft phone, no taking your phone modem on vacation, and North America Plan means only US and protectorates - no Canada or Mexico etc.
My mom has DTV and during a storm it sucks. Yes, with indoor antenna it still sucked. Pixilation was devastating to viewing pleasure. It had nothing I'd switch from catv for.
This is an interesting thought, but nothing we'll see in reality.
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The house I went to was tech savvy enough to realize our over the air HD picture was far less blocky and pixelated than the one provided by his HD cable package. If you can get locals with antenna, I would suggest it for any major sporting event. The difference is really amazing.
Here in the Bay Area I get about 42 digital channels over the air, many of which are HD. Between that and all the streamable content on sites like Hulu, and Netflix on demand, the case for paying a monthly cable or satellite fee really does seem pretty weak these days. (At least for those in major metropolitan areas.)
The Olympics last year were what motivated me to attempt to do the TV thing . . . so I found a very small set and got some rabbit ears. It was pleasantly surprising to discover the dual nature of the channel settings available . . . the old analog signal is still full of snow and noise while the digital airwaves really are better than cable. Channels are a little bit longer (e.g. KQED is 09-003, needs to be manually entered with the dash and all. Best of all, no monthly cable bill!
It's likely that the cable / satellite television industry is going to take a hard hit once people figure out that the can get clarity without paying for ridiculous "service contracts" and "package deals" and "bundles".
My brother hooked up an antennae at his place in LA, and now gets somewhere around 60 channels. All in perfect clarity.
Considering how much I HATE paying a cable company for ads(what happened to Ad-supported?), this is looking very much like something I am going to try out. Fuck Comcast.
But how will cable companies respond when broadcast stations start taking back business?
My guess, they will start BUYING them.
Measuring perfection should include the ability to degrade gracefully, and digital TV is absolute shit at that -- far worse than analog TV signals. Perhaps the worst part is that audio dropout happens much more easily than with analog signals; not only will you have tons of stations with pictures that lock up - as my parents digital cable did so often while visiting over the holidays - but you won't even be able to keep up on the story via the audio (not to mention emergency broadcast usage).
Third possibility:
- private firms and individuals contracted by a government to raid the carrot patches of an enemy
Why don't you guys just install a proper rooftop / loft aerial and get a decent signal without all the fiddling? In the UK all most buildings where people live have an aerial and tv points in the rooms, in the same way each room has power sockets.
I get NBC, CBS, and PBS and all the crap spanish language channels just fine.
ABC and FOX aren't broadcasting at full power yet.
NBC is 1000kW right now and FOX is 35kW.
Even outside of city proper, you will be able to use rabbit ears once they make the switch and start broadcasting at full power.
They're using their grammar skills there.
If you want to do DTV over the air right, you need to build yourself a Gray Hoverman Antenna. There are lots of plans for it on the net, including the hackaday sight. Takes most people a couple of hours to build and works very well. You can stick it in your attic, or just behind the telly.
It's because they're only broadcasting at like third power or something.
When analog is shut off, and the DTV stations increase their power, we should see things a lot clearer.
But even an omnidirectional antenna gets every major network beautifully. Cable is an insanely weak value proposition. A good cable package in digital is like $75+ where I am. For $900 a year, I can buy every series I watch in HD, and have a lot left over. (In my case, a heck of a lot, since I only watch one show) And I have the antenna for backup.
"It's really not that tough to make. You could make one yourself just as easily in an hour or two. Construction is as follows:
Make eight Vs from 16" lengths of coat hanger, with stripped insulation at the point(EDIT: Guess he means the plastic coated coathangers). The mouths should open about 3.25".
On a 33" or longer stick, about 2" wide and ½" thick, measure off 8" increments on both sides of the ruler. At each of these marks use a wood screw and washer to hold down a V. It should look like four cats stacked head on head when the stick is upright. These V's, now lying flat, should be pulled forward about 20-35. Just pull on one wire at a time to reduce strain on the screw.
Next the Vs need connected with two more coat hangers. Each of these hangers is bowed, connecting to the two center Vs on one side, and the two end Vs of the opposite side. Insulation needs removed at all eight woodscrew junctions, but must be intact where the wires cross over each other between the end and center bows.
Finally, at the center of these two bows (which should be the width of a ruler apart), also strip insulation, insert two additional screws, and attach a UHF-VHF transformer. This is $2 radio shack item which allows one to hook a 300 ohm spade-lug antenna to 75ohm threaded-tube coax cable. The ideal one should be small tube with male threads at one end, and the two spades at the other end which you will screw to the antenna.
Installation. Hook a 75ohm coax cable between the antenna and the 75ohm air-antenna connector of your tuner. A brass hook in one end of the stick, and another in the ceiling is a convenient method of installation. Mounting it to a pole on the roof would provide even better reception, but then would be difficult to aim if not all your TV stations come from the same direction. Here they all come from Mount Wilson which is 41 East of North from me. Directions of your stations from your zip code and signal strengths can be found at tvfool.com. The cat faces aim at the stations. I pick up all stations with a signal strength of 41 Db or more (the ones shaded in green)."
I guess he used a cool piece of driftwood for structure.
Hope this helps.
One thing I don't hear much about with the chatter around digital conversion is VCRs. If my parents are going out for the evening and they don't want to miss programs, my dad will 'program the VCR'to record channel 8 from 8pm to 9pm, then channel 11 from 9pm to 10pm. They're on analog cable, so nothing impacts them (plus we're in Canada to boot), but I assume those people with analog antennas hooked up to the VCRs are losing the ability to timeshift, unless I'm missing something?
One *in* for the Cable Companies might be to offer a cheap basic PVR along with basic analog cable. That might lure away the mom and pops who can no longer timeshift.
Grab a 6ft patch of coax.....strip half the casing off. Then jack into HDTV/Digital tuner. Hang straight up wall or best you can. Have tuner scan for new stations.....pulling in about 12 stations in the Buffalo area.... HDTV PBS is spectacular !!! NFL in HD was really sweet too.....and all free.....mwa haha ha ha
What is this TV you speak of? Is that a program that runs on a computer?
Mounting in my case is by tower. The antenna comes with mounting hardware required to attach it to a standard antenna pole; the tower/pole and mounting for it is for you to provide.
My antenna is very directional, yes. All of my stations are effectively in the same direction, so I'm mounted statically. My grandfather has a motor as he's located between a number of different cities, so he'll turn the antenna depending on what he wants to watch; a lot of duplication today though compared to when I was a kid.
Running the wire, well, I only have 1 TV that I really use, but it'd be easy enough to add a splitter in the attic. I might need to add a amp if I did that. The wire goes down the wall to a box with the post.
And yes, it needs to be grounded. Mine is grounded through my tower, and the tower has a nice long copper post.
I did it myself, however it was mostly just replacing the old antenna.
I don't read AC A human right
The only television service that offers full ATSC bitrates (around 15 Mbps) is Verizon FiOS because they have so much raw capacity down that fiber. Everyone else is between 8 to 12 Mbps.
Has anyone tried out this design?
Plans for a homemade Sierpinski triangle antenna.
Stating on Slashdot that I like cheese since 1997.
HDTV antenna on the cheap. Coaxial cable adapter, coat hanger, screws & a board.
The coat hanger antenna out-performed a $40.00 'HDTV' antenna from Philips and another from Radio Shack.
Here is one made with a coffee can...
I've got all three, and I watch the HD feeds off of the antenna whenever possible. The picture quality beats both other systems by a long shot.
-ted
Cable companies, you want to protect the bottom line?
Stop sending me six-page glossy advertisements first class mail every week. How much does that cost you in printing and postage? Quit begging me to upgrade to services I already have. Stop bombarding me with ads that insult my intelligence. Stop offering me "this price for six months!!!1!!" deals that will rip me off in half a year and hope in vain that I'm too stupid to notice. Stop cutting all of the channels I actually watch and moving them to premium packages. Quit reordering my channel numbers every two weeks. Stop lying about how many "HD" channels you have. Stop trying to screw me by playing billing games - my bank tells me when you cashed my check, so don't try to rip me off with fake late fees. Hire operators who are neither surly nor clueless...
Is this so difficult?
I have set up three households with over-the-air DTV now. The first was with amplified 'rabbit-ears', and was marginally successful. The next two were with the RCA 'smart' antenna that auto-tunes to the target channel when used with a compatible converter box (I used Tivax units). They both work wonderfully. All three were indoor installations in suburban Tampa, FL. Bye, bye, Brighthouse!
- Michael