[LauraMJ]

Since the switch to Digital TV, we've been having problems with our signal on our digital converter box. The funny thing is that before the actual switch, when our area was broadcasting both, the box signal came in twice as strong as it does now that there is only digital.

We're using the same antenna that we had before there ever was digital TV, the same one we've used for years. It's a huge outdoor affair because of how far we are out in the country. It's mounted on our rooftop. Like I said, it USED to pick up the digital signal just great. Now, however, for the last month or so, the signal is weak enough that our picture/sound is disrupted a lot. We've moved the antenna from one end of the house to the other.......we've rotated it around several times......we can rotate it and get a bit of a stronger signal, and it will stay there for several days or a week,......and then the signal will start going down again. The antenna will be in the exact place (we mark it) and indeed, when we move the antenna and find a better signal, it's in a completely different place....as if the signal is just wandering around.

Someone suggested that we get a booster. Does anyone know anything about these and how they work? I'm loathe to get a new antenna because I don't think the problem IS the antenna, since it USED to work. We used to get signals in the 70's and now we are lucky if we can keep the signals in the 20's. We've changed nothing.

Does anyone have any ideas on what we can try to get a better digital signal? I know NOTHING about these digital TV signals.

Thanks!

[kenezz6396]

The newer smaller antenna's are better "tuned" for the DTV.

You could buy one of these for around $100, but if you you are far away from a singnal you may still need a booster.

A booster is a amplifier. Walmart carries them. a good one is $17 to $25.

I would try this booster first.

[Wino]

Hi Laura,

The Bad News - Same problem here and I'm urban area. What was good before the change now sucks. Don't even get some channels that I did before. I don't believe they are still broadcasting the same strength signal as before. The hiccups, freezing and pixelization seem almost constant at times. The good news - there isn't much on TV worth viewing so don't really care.

[LauraMJ]

I've got two young kids........who really care, lol. And a husband that LOVES drag racing and watches it zealously.

[Elvandil]

What kind is it? Is it one of those "Yagi" antennas? Do you have both the old antenna type and one of those UHF add-ons that looks like chicken-wire or something?

If you have the UHF antenna, that is the one best suited for the digital signal. If you disconnect/remove the other part of the antenna and use just the UHF part, pointed toward your station, you'll get much better reception.

Two types of UHF antenna:

[Wino]

Still leaves unanswered why the digital signal was better before the official cutoff and sucky afterwards. Other than my belief they are transmitting a weaker signal now than before. Swap 'snow' for 'pixelization' - vast improvement.

It has also affected cable TV signals to a degree. I now get frequent pixelization and dropped signals through the cable reception - which I presume the cable company is just passing the crappy signal on through to users. This is on all my TV's analog (CRT) or digital (LCD).

[LauraMJ]

Here is a photo of the one we are using now.

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by Wino

Still leaves unanswered why the digital signal was better before the official cutoff and sucky afterwards. Other than my belief they are transmitting a weaker signal now than before. Swap 'snow' for 'pixelization' - vast improvement.

It has also affected cable TV signals to a degree. I now get frequent pixelization and dropped signals through the cable reception - which I presume the cable company is just passing the crappy signal on through to users. This is on all my TV's analog (CRT) or digital (LCD).

The broadcasting power of every station is posted and monitored by the FCC, so that information is available to anyone. There have been some, but not many, changes in power since the transition.

I suppose there could have been some sort of synergy between the signals.

[Elvandil]

Originally Posted by LauraMJ

Here is a photo of the one we are using now.

Is there a splitter to divide UHF from VHF? If there is, remove it and connect to just the UHF. I can't really tell, but it looks like the UHF is the rear part, and the front may be VHF.

[LauraMJ]

I don't really know what the antenna is. We've had it so long, I've forgotten anything I might have known about it, lol. I've not been up there near it in a long time, but hubby says that there is a splitter of some sort (at least he thinks it is) connected to the antenna, that the coax cable connects to. He says that if he took that thing off, he has no idea how to connect the cable to the antenna, then, because he sees no other way of attaching the cable to the antenna besides that splitter thingy. Other than that, which came with the antenna and is attached to the actual antenna, there is nothing.....the cable hooks directly into the digital converter box.

[Elvandil]

There are converters that they sell in most department stores that have the connector for the 75-ohm cable on one end and then usually both wires and screws for attaching wires on the unit itself. They have them in a lot of dollar stores, too. That is what you really need, but just disconnecting the VHF part from the adapter you have now may help with your signal since at least then only the part of the antenna that you are actually using would be connected.

The very best thing to do, if the antenna is in 2 parts, would be to remove the VHF section altogether so that it didn't interfere with the signal for the UHF part. But I can't tell from the picture if they are separable. I just took my monster down and now have just the bare UHF, smaller, and looks better, too. A lot of people are digging those old UHF antennas out of the attic. Because of that terrible ghosting that UHF used to have, many people just stopped trying to get UHF a long time ago.

[LauraMJ]

Thanks for the information. We'll have a look at it and see if it comes apart. Any way to tell for sure which is the UHF and which is the VHF?

What about those digital boosters people have told me about? Would having one of those help any?

[LauraMJ]

Okay, I found some pictures on Google and it looks like UHF is the back part (on the right of the picture). So you are saying that the UHF part would be the part that would pick up the digital signal the best?

[Elvandil]

Yes, and they are marked on the connectors for the adapter up there, too.

Yes, those boosters really do help. I'm using the same one I used for analog and it works fine. The very best choice for those is one that is put on the antenna itself and then powered through the normal cable from inside the house. That way, you are not also boosting any interference that the cable picked up along the way. But that is less important with digital and the inside amplifiers would work well, too. There is nothing "digital" or "analog" about the radio waves themselves. They behave the same as they always did. It is only their content that has changed and that is only relevant once the signal gets to the TV. Vendors are taking advantage of this and selling "digital" antennas. There is no such thing. Only antennas optimized for that range of frequencies.

PS. I guess I didn't really answer your question. Yes, the back part, the UHF, is the part that picks up the digital channels range of frequencies the best.

[LauraMJ]

Alright, well, I think our next step is to try a booster, or amplifier, as they seem to be called, and see if that helps. Depending on what that does, we may also take the antenna apart to remove the VHF part.

Thanks!