Antenna Adventures
The cable company would have you believe that you're paying for more then 200 channels. But when you look closely, 130 of those channels are music or pay-per-view. I have about 70 channels of programming. I can subtract the six religious channels I never watch, another five shopping channels, another six Spanish-language channels, the TV guide channel and channel 1 (doesn't exist on US televisions), and the count is now down to 51 channels. You know what, let's start with a count-up of channels I watch; History, Discovery, National Geographic, Fox News, Fox, Spike and Sci-fi. Maybe more... I would guess I watch about 10 channels. For this, I pay $50/month.
The slope of my roof is 45 degrees, which is actually pretty steep. My roof is as old as the house and will probably need replacing six or seven years; the grit is already coming off the shingle and washing down my gutters. At 45 degrees, I cannot get a grip on the roof, so climbing up to mount my antenna proved potentially hazardous to my health. I would not be proving any point about the cost of cable if I slid off my roof and face planted in the flower bed.
Just as I was making plans to rent a 40-foot ladder, my wife pointed out that I could mount the antenna in the attic. She's right of course - radio signals easily penetrate the roof and walls of your house. As long as you don't have a metal roof, you'll only lose about 3db of signal - the same amount of loss as a splitter. While it's a shame that no one will see my really cool high gain UHF antenna, that's not really not the point of it. About that 3db of signal loss - if you count that with the 3db from the splitter we invariably run into when have more than one TV in the house - then it's a wise investment to buy a $15 signal amplifier.Remember, +/- 3dB is either a doubling or halving of your signal strength; 6dB of signal loss is about 25% of the original signal. A good 10db amplifier is equal to a 10-times increase in signal, which will more than make up for mounting your antenna in the attic then splitting the signal up to three ways. (If the math doesn't add up to you, then google "logarithmic scale".)
With the antenna mounted, the signal amplifier in line and the digital TV converter set up, I get 22 channels. There's the local ABC, NBC, CBS and Fox affiliates. We also enjoy two public tv stations: Georgia Public Television and Public Television of Atlanta. There's also the CW and a local movie broadcast station called Peachtree TV. Then there's the religious and Spanish stations, which add five. Now if you're any good at math, you've only counted 13 so far. Where are the other 9? That's the beauty of HD programming - each channel has up to three sub-channels. For instance, WJSB the local Georgia Public Broadcasting affiliate has their normal broadcast on channel 17-1. On channel 17-2, they have PBS kids all the time. On 17-3, they're broadcasting documentaries. These are all being broadcast in HD, though the source might only be standard definitions (SD). However, because it's all digital, even the SD broadcasts look great. And the price is an agreeable $0.
Equipment
- Antennas Direct Mo 43XG, NewEgg: $78.99 - $20.82 (savings) + Free Shipping
Easy to build, but the instructions are misleading on the box. Use the sheet on the inside. Overall very high quality construction. Compact design allows it to be mounted in the attic and out of the way. Very directional - only use all of your stations are within about 15 degrees of each other. Not a problem if you're in the suburbs. If not, you'll need a multi-element antenna array. You'll have less gain, but you won't need it. - Apex DT150 Digital Converter Box, WalMart: $44.88
Good overall performance. Guide is difficult to read on a 19" tube television. Remote feels flimsy. The power LED goes red when the unit is off, and is obnoxiously bright. Black electrical tape quickly fixed that problem. This is not necessary if you a TV with a built in ATSC tuner. - RCA 10dB Video Signal Amplifier, WalMart: $16.74
If you're running the wire directly to your TV and not splitting it in any way, this won't be necessary. Otherwise, it's a good investment. And by the way - a signal amplifier won't make up for a poorly designed antenna. If you're not getting signal, then there's nothing to amplify. Also, if you're only running one TV off of a high gain antenna, you might overdrive the input on your TV/converter box, giving the same result as not enough signal.
In our next episode, I'll talk about the joy of my Roku player.