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Toad King posted:I'm in an apartment so attic isn't an option. It's on the 7th floor so I was a little surprised the omnidirectional one didn't work. Well if you are surrounded by tall structures (or even just sufficiently near them) the multipath will still be pretty bad. IIRC ATSC was designed with directional antennae in mind so if all your transmitters are in one direction I think a directional antenna will suit you well.
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Sep 28, 2014 23:38
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| # ¿ Apr 28, 2024 03:24 |
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Another option: get a cheap cell and use Ting (or something like it). You'll want to be sure Sprint coverage is good in your area first. The wife and I are very lite phone users so we generally wind up paying around $20 a month. Highest ever was $30. If you can boot the money for the phone up front (or already have an unlocked Sprint phone) it is WELL worth it. Also they have discounts for referrals so if you feel like signing up, here's my link: https://zbs7s12c0e1.ting.com/ 
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Sep 29, 2014 13:18
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EugeneJ posted:Time Warner just sent me an email saying they're lowering the price of their Starter TV package to $10.00/month with equipment included (local channels, PBS, TBS, shopping channels). That's not bad for what amounts to an "I don't want to fool with an antenna" package. It had been closer to 30/month PLUS equipment rental and that's kind of outrageous for local channels, TBS, and a couple of shopping channels.
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Oct 2, 2014 19:00
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That's huge. I can really see the transition to over-the-top service kicking into high gear now.
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Oct 16, 2014 00:19
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I would imagine as long as the antennas are picking up different frequencies, but if there is any overlap that could cause some real issues.
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Nov 20, 2014 02:26
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PuTTY riot posted:Is quad shield coax necessary for digital cable (if I go back) or an OTA antenna? I think I'm going to replace most of the coax runs in my house and do all of the home runs to a spot in the attic instead of to the telco demarc box. I'm saving like $13 so it's not a huge price difference but every dollar I can save helps, since I'm cutting cable to save money. It really depends on how strong local OTA signals are around your house (TV, cell, etc). I've seen place where FM tends to worm its way in almost no matter what, although you are generally right on top of a tower for that. Cell signals can be an issue for cable since they overlap (cell uses 600 and 700 mHz, cable uses 5 - 1000 mHz and if there's any leakage hello loss of service). For 13 dollars I'd be running quad. It's cheap insurance. Don't cheap out on the connectors either, a bad connection (it takes surprisingly little for it to be bad) will gut any wire's performance no matter how fancy.
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Dec 10, 2014 17:00
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PuTTY riot posted:I'll spring for the quad shield then, I didn't think about cell towers and there's definitely one maybe half a mile away. Those are excellent. They maintain their ground connection exceedingly well, even if not fully tightened (please fully tighten your connectors). What are you using as a stripper/prep tool?
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Dec 11, 2014 00:11
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Quad shield is unnecessary in most cases but it's cheap insurance. Even with OTA if you have signal ingress (say, channel 6 is hitting the antenna and the cable at the same time) they wind up being out of phase. I don't think cell or FM overlap with ATSC so that's a plus. Either way quad is cheap insurance and well worth not having to re-run a cable a few years down the line (gently caress attics).
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Dec 11, 2014 02:06
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A preamp at the antenna might help. If I'm understanding correctly the antenna works OK hooked straight to a TV? assuming sufficient signal strength at the antenna a preamp will offset losses in the cable and splits. If the signal is already low enough that it's right next to the noise floor the preamp may not do much and you will need a larger, higher gain antenna. How many TV s are you trying to run?
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Dec 11, 2014 19:27
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Uncle at Nintendo posted:I would imagine being in the attic could block the signal a bit too. Is there a particular reason people don't want them outside? I can't imagine it's an appearance thing; everyone on their block (and ours) has all sorts of antennas and satellite dishes sticking out of their houses. Appearance is a concern, but most people are too lazy to remove an unused antenna or dish Roof or mast mounting is also a lot more time consuming and potentially dangerous. Also you have to ground an external antenna, at least if you want your house to not burn down if lightning hits the antenna.
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Dec 16, 2014 03:33
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Don Lapre posted:Grounding a roof antenna isn't that big of a deal, just mount it near where your cable line comes in for internet and tie into the ground. True but most people don't want to fuss with it if they can just throw it up in the attic.
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Dec 16, 2014 04:43
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The antenna still has metal elements and is fairly high. That being said it's probably not as likely to attract a strike as a gigantor Yagi array, but the risk is still there. While that surge protector is better than nothing a good path to ground is your best bet. I've had to fix power surge damage that still welded metal things together, and that's on systems that were grounded (also a power surge is nothing next to lightning). Borrow an extension ladder if you must but I wouldn't feel good about leaving it ungrounded, personally. Also there's no such thing as an "analog" or "digital" antenna. They're all just tuned to specific ranges.  e: what do you mean you grounded it by the FIOS box?
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Dec 17, 2014 14:27
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Uncle at Nintendo posted:I updated my wonderful drawing: Well, that should protect the lines coming of that split at least. The upstairs will bear the brunt of a lightning strike though. Ideally if you can't place the ground block high I would run the coax from the antenna down to FIOS box, ground it, then run a coax to the upstairs room. Basically the split would be down by the ground point instead of upstairs. That would protect all of the lines.
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Dec 17, 2014 22:40
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Don Lapre posted:Of course once it comes inside the house up top all hell will break loose That's what I said...?
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Dec 17, 2014 23:49
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Is there a particularly compelling reason to choose a full size Fire TV over a Fire Stick if I won't be using it for playing games? The four core CPU and more RAM sound nice but I don't know how necessary that is for watching movies.
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Jan 18, 2015 14:50
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Hm. Ethernet won't be happening no matter what so no big there. I wasn't planning on side loading anything but I guess you never know. I like Plex (I like XBMC too - haven't used Kodi) so I was probably just going to use that which I think has a native app. Also I think the phone app give you voice command or search on the Fire Stick and TV, doesn't it? e: my wireless has been super grouchy since I moved. No idea what the hell it is - levels/MER fine on the cable modem, no appreciable errors. Tried both my RT-N56U and the built in wireless on the SBG 6580. The 6580 is actually being nicer than the router right now. Gonna roll back a couple of firmware revisions on the Asus but if nothing happens it may just be the radio. 
Panty Saluter fucked around with this message at 16:30 on Jan 18, 2015 |
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Jan 18, 2015 16:27
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Hadlock posted:Edit: if your wifi is sketchy use an app like Wifi Analyzer on your android phone to determine which channels are most in use, then switch your router to use a different channel Oh I'm well past that, believe me. I'm using a 5 gHz channel in the same room as the router and it's still shaky. Same setup used to provide 100 mbps all day but now...not so much.
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Jan 19, 2015 00:09
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Don Lapre posted:Sounds like you weren't running power to it, or you could be overpowering the tuner going through an amp. While it is possible to overpower your tuner with an OTA signal I can't imagine that this is a common scenario. Remember that these tuners also have ClearQAM cable in mind and as such will usually accommodate +15 dBmV using QAM256. Unless you are on top of the broadcast antenna and have a vastly huge gain amp I don't see an OTA signal even going over 0. Maybe 8VSB clips easier but I can't imagine that given its relative simplicity compared to higher rate QAMs.
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Feb 3, 2015 01:54
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PuTTY riot posted:No nipples though. The death of the independent UHF station is almost criminal in this regard.
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Feb 23, 2015 15:19
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PuTTY riot posted:W/ amp: Your return is too high with the distribution amp inline (53 is the absolute max you want to see on it, preferably not more than 50). That will cause your connection to drop periodically. At a minimum I would run the modem off a passive 2 way split connected directly to the input line. So it will be input line -> 2 way with one leg to the modem, other to the distribution amp. That will leave your modem at around -6 Rx/48 Tx which should work well, assuming there are no other issues with the line. That being said there may be another issue with the incoming line, or maybe not. This stuff will work fine with a borderline signal for a surprisingly long time. Additionally now that it's heating up that will easily take a borderline but OK signal into non-working territory (the threshold between pass and fail is also surprisingly thin). Panty Saluter fucked around with this message at 02:34 on Mar 19, 2015 |
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Mar 19, 2015 02:30
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A split after the distribution is probably OK as long as it doesn't knock the forward signal down too much (probably OK in your situation from what little I can see). Try it, if it works leave it. If not try something else
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Mar 19, 2015 02:43
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If you're on TWC encryption is coming.
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Mar 19, 2015 03:08
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Jose Oquendo posted:Can actually detect just a coax going into a TV? Wouldn't it be on them for not putting a filter on the line. No and yes. Also they are encrypting everything so enjoy it while it lasts
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Apr 2, 2015 13:29
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Superb Owls posted:Or you could just buy a Nanostation. I thought Nanostations were for extending voice cell service using hard line internet?
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Apr 4, 2015 18:16
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MrBond posted:The last rumor was that tivo laid off a lot of their hardware engineers, so depending if you believe that you may not see any hardware after the roamio anyway. I wouldn't be surprised. With IP based solutions becoming more popular all the time I don't see CableCard lasting much longer. With better/more consistent stream availability DVRs might start to fade too. Lord knows I barely use mine anymore. Maybe they'll hack up their own streaming device?
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Apr 13, 2015 19:57
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A preamp might help if the antenna is picking up enough signal to use. A Yagi is very directional so it may not be, given how off-axis you are. Could you fit a slightly smaller directional antenna? You shouldn't need anything huge since you have line of sight and practically live next to the tower.PuTTY riot posted:Put it on the roof IMO. ....and ground that poo poo but good if you do. Don't get too familiar with electricity.
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May 17, 2015 21:05
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Now that you mention that I wonder if that Yagi isn't designed for VHF and just happens to pick up the two lower band UHF stations OK but not the higher frequency CICT. Maybe the beam width was too narrow too, which would make sense given how close you are to the transmitter. Either way glad you found a better solution 
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May 19, 2015 10:23
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Don Lapre posted:Except no DVR which is important since it is 2008 and we all care about DVRs
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May 22, 2015 03:54
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I think it filled the gap before On Demand/streaming took off in earnest. Now that you can stream so many things I think DVR has lost some steam. Also one too many DVRs has eaten poo poo and taken all the shows you recorded with it and I would imagine a lot of people just got sick of it
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May 22, 2015 05:40
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No Butt Stuff posted:My one bitch is that the amplifier makes that high pitched noise of an old TV, Can you still exchange it? That just makes me think it's a bad cap in the amp (or the power supply is crap in some way).
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Jun 5, 2015 00:34
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Does the public wifi even offer 5 gHz? I've only seen 2.4 gHz for public wifi.
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Jun 29, 2015 14:34
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Has anyone had trouble with Amazon Instant Video not sharing with family members? I integrated my wife's account with mine and none of the videos are showing up for her. Under the management options I can share books or apps bit there is no option to share video, even though Amazon says you can? I tried tweeting at Amazon but the only thing they asked was if I had student or full prime (full, as far as I know). Anyone have any insight?
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Aug 25, 2015 16:27
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Tyson Tomko posted:I know you can't share AIV with Prime (the main person can, but sub whatevers cannot but they still free shipping and such) and if that's not what you're asking then disregard, just wanted to be sure. Yeah I guess that's the case but it says in several places "share instant video"...maybe they mean just on a FireTV or Kindle? Either way it's really annoying that the best method in Anno Domini 2015 to share video to buy DVDs, rip them, and curate your own storage server. I don't want more discs in my house 
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Aug 27, 2015 01:46
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As bad as Ranch Wireless might seem it's still miles ahead of satellite, so I'm sure there are a number of people who are glad it exists. It may not be the best value for money around but if you choose to live in the middle of nowhere sparse infrastructure is just a way of life.
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Aug 30, 2015 18:56
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http://tvfool.com (I'm assuming you live in the USA) An amp is not a bad idea, especially considering the length of the runs you're talking about. How many TVs are you feeding?
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Oct 4, 2015 14:15
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How big a splitter is being used? Every leg added is going to cost signal strength regardless of whether it's in use or not. I was seriously looking for amplifiers, although I don't know much about OTA amps Winegard is usually well regarded and I have used their antennae with great success before. I also found this beauty because more dB = better than http://www.amazon.com/High-Performa...tenna+amplifier
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Oct 4, 2015 14:28
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So one input and four outputs? You can pick up ~3.5 dB by switching to a two way (one in two out) splitter. While that won't hurt I wouldn't hold out for a miracle. A preamp for an antenna is not a bad thing since even "strong" stations are hitting at very low power. Additionally make sure the fittings in use are good quality compression connectors. A decent crimp-on is not so bad but if your wires are connected with screw-on or toolless type fittings you're probably leaking signal like crazy at multiple points. Also make sure they're on good and snug...you don't have to wrench them down hard, but you also don't want the connector to be able to wiggle at all when it's connected. EDIT: if you don't have any coax tools this looks like a pretty good all in one set. No idea how good the fittings are but Klein is generally decent. Now I kinda want one just because.
Panty Saluter fucked around with this message at 15:08 on Oct 4, 2015 |
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Oct 4, 2015 15:06
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When in doubt, change it out I would for sure, because a bad fitting at your source means trouble for everything downstream.
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Oct 4, 2015 17:29
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Silly Burrito posted:I've been using an Electroline amplifier for the last 10-15 years, and it's always worked well for me. http://www.amazon.com/Electroline-E...60_SR160%2C160_ I'd suggest this one since your splits are in a different place from your source. Install this next to the antenna, and use a DC passing splitter if you put the power pack with one of the TVs. Of course if you have a power outlet in the attic, none of that matters.
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Oct 4, 2015 17:31
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Does the Roku do framerate switching in Plex too? The navigating through fields of Amazon's poo poo is annoying but manageable to me. Cutting out one of the main features of my TV is more annoying.
Panty Saluter fucked around with this message at 19:13 on Oct 6, 2015 |
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Oct 6, 2015 17:55
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