DirecTV/DishNetwork advice, please

[wjohn]

I posted something simular here before, but am still not clear on what to do.

I am going to lose my local channels (no line of sight) when analog TV goes dead next February.

I am planning to get either DirecTV or DishNetwork, no cable in my area.

I currently have two Hauppauge PVR-250 tuner cards, one is connected to my C-Band system and the other to the analog antenna. I intend to keep the C-Band system.

What will I have to do/get in order to operate the little dish from my Sage system? Is there some material around here that I can study? What about the little dish's HD channels?

Thanks a lot for any help and suggestions.

[BFisher]

have you checked if you can receive Digital signals via antenna? There are several sites that can help (antennaweb.org, etc). DirecTV offers many local markets in HD... but it's not easy getting a DirecTV (or Dish) signal into Sage.

there is a new HD input device (HD-PVR) that can accept the HD signal from the STB.

The advantage of going with HD via antenna for locals, it's easy and the picture is amazing. No external boxes, etc.

[wjohn]

Originally Posted by BFisher

have you checked if you can receive Digital signals via antenna? There are several sites that can help (antennaweb.org, etc).

I went to antennaweb.org on the assumption that digital comes via UHF and that web site clearly showed I cannot receive UHF at my location. Is my assumption correct?

[BFisher]

it's been a while since I've used the site, but seems to me that you enter your address and it shows you each digital channel in your area, how far they are, their direction from you and "ease" of receiving them (which type of antenna would be required).

Then reviewed the list of stations and their corresponding colors showed which type of antenna would be needed to receive it (based on distance/direction). I decided if I wanted the channel, found the worst case scenario, picked an antenna - and it receives everything I expected

If it says you can't receive them with any antenna, then it's probably right

[sic0048]

While there is no guarantee of this, I would hope that if you can receive your locals via OTA now, that you will be able to receive the digital locals OTA in the future.

Most stations are placing their digital transmission equipment on the same tower as the analog equipment, so line of site will probably be the same. There are some stations that are still not broadcasting their digital signals at full strength yet, so you may not be able to receive the signal now. But hopefully they will increase the power be the time the conversion occurs.

When you type in your address into antennaweb.org, when it brings up the list of available channels, you can narrow the search to just the digital stations by choosing "Show Digital Stations Only" at the top.

[MattHelm]

Also, don't forget, after the digital switch, all the channels will start using their analog "channel" instead of the temp one they are using for digital now.

In other words, most will move back to VHF (at least where I'm from) channels instead of UHF, and VHF isn't nearly as "line of site" as UHF.

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

Also, don't forget, after the digital switch, all the channels will start using their analog "channel" instead of the temp one they are using for digital now.

In other words, most will move back to VHF (at least where I'm from) channels instead of UHF, and VHF isn't nearly as "line of site" as UHF.

I thought I understood what was going on, but that comment makes me wonder about something... what frequency range is getting freed up to be sold for other uses? Or, am I thinking of something else that's happening?

- Andy

[wjohn]

Originally Posted by MattHelm

Also, don't forget, after the digital switch, all the channels will start using their analog "channel" instead of the temp one they are using for digital now.

In other words, most will move back to VHF (at least where I'm from) channels instead of UHF, and VHF isn't nearly as "line of site" as UHF.

That is really what I am after. If they transmit on VHF, I would be OK because I am NOT line-of-sight with the transmitter. I had sent an email to my station in San Luis Obispo CA, but have not received an answer.

[toricred]

I'm pretty sure the Low VHF (2-6) are being freed up. Most stations around here are continuing to use their "temporary" UHF locations permanently.

[gjvrieze]

Originally Posted by Opus4

I thought I understood what was going on, but that comment makes me wonder about something... what frequency range is getting freed up to be sold for other uses? Or, am I thinking of something else that's happening?

- Andy

VHF channels 2-6 are being freed for 2 reasons. (1) they are low frequency and such large waves, that in digital there were worries about stations getting Ducting and sporadic E taking other stations off the air. (2) because of this, the FCC was only going to allow stations to run on limited power in the lower VHF area....

UHF channels 52-69 (less 60, 61, 68, 69, which are going to be used for EMS uses) is the air space that was called the "700mhz spectrum" and was sold to highest bidders by the FCC a while back....

Most stations want to use their old channel, because it takes way less power in VHF to reach a greater broadcast demo then the same power on UHF, some station engineers say it can be as much as 300% more power, and distance is stay pretty tight at around 50miles..... VHF tower gear, is usually way way cheaper and much more reliable to boot....

Antennas will be centered in the new ground of channels in the next few years, since most are tuned to work from VHF 2-UHF 69, which means antenna gain should increase across the board....

[sic0048]

I noticed on antennaweb.org that it showed the current location of HD stations as well as the location the channel would be changing to after the conversion date (if applicable).

So you can probably get accurate channel listings both before and after conversion by using their site.

This wasn't available the last time I checked antennaweb.org although it has been a while since I visited that site.

I found that three of my major networks will be changing after the conversion. Two to their actual channel number again (CBS 7 will be 7.1 again), but NBC which is NBC 4 will now become NBC 36 and be on channel 36.1

[mzta9]

http://www.tvfool.com/

Much better info IMO and presented in an easy to understand format.

Quote:
This tool can help answer questions like

- Which broadcasters are transmitting locally?
- How far are the transmitters from me?
- Which direction should I point my antenna?
- How strong are the signals in my area?
- What analog and digital channels are available?
- (NEW) How will things look after the analog shutoff in Feb-2009?

[Fuzzy]

Interesting news. I was not really aware that most cahnnels would be moving back to VHF. This is upsetting, as I curently only have a HF antenna picking up my locals. (also, I get then perfectly clear with an unamplified UHF Yagi from radio shack ($25), even though antennaweb.org shows virtually none of them available).

Guess I'll be shopping for a VHF antenna come time to switch...