Adrianne Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 We live in a rural area and only get 3 channels to begin with (no cable, only antenna). When we hooked up our digital box, we now only get 1 channel. I thought we were going to get more channels with digital TV. Is anyone else having trouble? What is your experience? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Stupid question, but are you typing in the digital channels, like 3-1? You probably will need a rooftop antenna, if you don't already have one. That's kind of the big secret behind the transition that hasn't been talked about much. It's not just the converter box you need, but also the rooftop antennae to 'catch' the digital signals. this is the antenna we bought - Popular Mechanics rated it the best a couple of years ago, and it was sold out forever on the Direct Antennas website; but then Amazon had it. http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-Lacrosse-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B000EN8226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233268005&sr=8-1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 Stupid question, but are you typing in the digital channels, like 3-1? You probably will need a rooftop antenna, if you don't already have one. That's kind of the big secret behind the transition that hasn't been talked about much. It's not just the converter box you need, but also the rooftop antennae to 'catch' the digital signals. this is the antenna we bought - Popular Mechanics rated it the best a couple of years ago, and it was sold out forever on the Direct Antennas website; but then Amazon had it. http://www.amazon.com/Antennas-Direct-Lacrosse-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B000EN8226/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1233268005&sr=8-1 We have an antenna for our analog channels, do we need a special digital antenna? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I don't think so....I think you can just hook that up to your converter box, from what I've heard. We didn't have a rooftop antenna, we had amplified bunny ears and they worked good enough, so I didn't really read anything on that. I know my FIL has a rooftop antenna that's not hooked up and he thinks he can just hook it up to his box and it would work. I don't know why it wouldn't - except there is something about UHF/...something else HF - VHF? I dont' remember, LOL, but the digital is only broadcasting on one of those signals, and some old rooftop antennas aren't formatted for that signal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 the digital is only broadcasting on one of those signals, and some old rooftop antennas aren't formatted for that signal. Ours is kinda old so maybe this is the problem. I will relay this info to hubby tonight. Thanks so much Sally! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pamela H in Texas Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 We got converter boxes this week. One tv has just a single antenna hooked to it and the other has rabbit ears ($10 ones from Walmart). We have A LOT more channels though only one is something we'd watch except if we wanted weather, maybe. Anyway, hubby asked if you scanned the channels to find the others. Also, it is possible that you may get more right at the deadline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 no problem.........it's awesome when you get it to work! We get the Create channel on PBS now - it's like food network and hgtv, and it's so awesome. LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spy Car Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 We are just using plain-old rabbit ears, and it is working fine. Of course we are in a major metropolitan area, and have a clear line of sight to the near-by mountain where the antennas are located. I do like the Zenith brand converter box we purchased. Having extra PBS channels (especially) is a plus, and I'm hoping to have my son watch the Spanish language Sesame Street on one of those "extra" digital channels. Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abreakfromlife Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 Anyway, hubby asked if you scanned the channels to find the others. excellent point. We had to do that...even when we typed in the right channel, it wouldn't read it until we scanned. I forgot about that. You'll want to scan after the switchover date, too, b/c a lot of the channels will be changing numbers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom0012 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 My husband was able to improve our reception by messing around with the antennae in the attic. Some days we get 3 channels for each of the major networks and other days we only get channels for 2 of the networks. I know that when the actual switch takes place, things will be moved about, so I am hoping we will get more consistent reception at that point. Lisa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyof4ks Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 We also had an old antenna, but a new $10 one works great. We do hope that the channels stop popping in and out once the switch happens. Somedays we get alot, and other days only a couple. Hopefully you find a solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrianne Posted January 30, 2009 Author Share Posted January 30, 2009 I think the issue is that we live in a valley between hills. Cell phones barely get coverage here. We did scan - thanks for mentioning it. We will also look into the digital antenna. I think ours is too old. The problem is, once we get the antenna there is no guarantee it will work. Like I said we live in a bad spot for reception. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in FL Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I think http://www.antennaweb.org will list the channels and type of reception you should get based on your location. That might help to answer some of your questions and determine what kind of antenna will be best - Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 I think the issue is that we live in a valley between hills. Cell phones barely get coverage here. We did scan - thanks for mentioning it. We will also look into the digital antenna. I think ours is too old. The problem is, once we get the antenna there is no guarantee it will work. Like I said we live in a bad spot for reception. We lost several channels that we use to get as "snowy" channels. It was very frustrating. You either get a channel all the way in or it isn't in at all -- there's no middle ground. We got a new antenna but given our somewhat rural area it wasn't that big of a help. We were thinking about getting a rooftop antenna but haven't done that yet. Good luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KarenNC Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 (edited) Try http://www.tvfool.com as well for channels in your area. You can put in your address and it will give you a listing of channels you can expect to get with a set top antenna, an attic mount and a rooftop. My dad had been happy with an amplified antenna (or something along those lines). It sits inside by the tv and I don't think he has a rooftop antenna on this house. The issue I have now is finding some sort of program listing for the additional channels we can get with the converter, as our local paper doesn't seem to list anything but the main PBS stations. Any suggestions? We haven't had any sort of tv for 3+ years and had cable or satellite with onscreen guides for several years before that, so I am out of the loop in finding listings elsewhere. Edited January 30, 2009 by KarenNC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Country Girl Posted January 30, 2009 Share Posted January 30, 2009 My husband bought some sort of signal booster to put on our line... it helped quite a bit. It is just a little thing that you plug into an outlet and hook up to your antenna feed and I don't think it was too expensive (I think about $40 adn at least it was cheaper than a new tv or sattelite service). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandamom Posted January 31, 2009 Share Posted January 31, 2009 Try http://www.tvfool.com as well for channels in your area. You can put in your address and it will give you a listing of channels you can expect to get with a set top antenna, an attic mount and a rooftop. My dad had been happy with an amplified antenna (or something along those lines). It sits inside by the tv and I don't think he has a rooftop antenna on this house. The issue I have now is finding some sort of program listing for the additional channels we can get with the converter, as our local paper doesn't seem to list anything but the main PBS stations. Any suggestions? We haven't had any sort of tv for 3+ years and had cable or satellite with onscreen guides for several years before that, so I am out of the loop in finding listings elsewhere. I have Yahoo has my home page and it has a tv guide module that I use for my listings. We haven't even bought a tv guide for years and we've been very happy with yahoo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.