Members Jeff Leites Posted January 6, 2007 Members Share Posted January 6, 2007 I just got a new Sony 32" LCD TV and have a couple of questions/problems I have a very simple over the air setup... A cable from a VHF antenna, and a cable from a UHF antenna come into the house, are connected to a combiner, the output of which goes into the one and only antenna input on the TV. 1. While the VHF channels are received on the correct channel numbers on the TV, the UHF analog channels come in on higher number channels than they broadcast on. e.g. Channel 28 comes in on 79 on the TV, 30 on 81 etc. What is going on? 2. On a clear day, I can see the Los Angeles antenna farm located on Mt. Wilson from my door step. I get strong reception on a dozen or more UHF (analog) channels. But, the TV has been unable to locate any digital channels. What can the problem be? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members John Sayers Posted January 6, 2007 Members Share Posted January 6, 2007 I realise I'm from another country but I've recently gone to digital TV and a mast head amp seems to be a prerequisite. You combine the VHF and UHF at the mast with your combiner, then into a powered head amp to amplify the signal down into your house. Works for me anyway BTW - I'm in a valley and I'm getting the signal as it bouces off the hill behind me. You can do that with digital cheers john Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members deanmass Posted January 6, 2007 Members Share Posted January 6, 2007 I am gonna be watching this one...I just bought a 26" at CompUSA for $399, and am finding the HD stuff pretty confusing...a friend explained it to me as follows on the ratios/resolution; 720i (good, interlaced)720p very good, non-interlaced)1080i (very good, interlaced)1080p (best, progressive, non-interlaced) Apparently there are lots of broadcast, over the air HD channels, but I have not even unboxed mine yet. When I do, I am looking to add an HD antenna. Radio Shack had a few. I never was really that into TV, but I am really into movies, and HD is jaw dropping. The vid game side of it holds interest as well. xBox 360 looks amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted January 6, 2007 Members Share Posted January 6, 2007 Jeff, based on your description, I believe you might have an antiquated antenna system. You will be happier replacing it. AntennaWeb is a trade sponsored site with a wealth of information about signal strength, directionality and specifications for over the air HDTV reception. You register your address to pull up an accurate map. Terrain and construction can affect your reception prospects. You may have signal dealbreakers that you hadn't considered. You can get a channel and program listing for your area at http://www.titantv.com/ I think that you may have to explicitly add your digital channels that were not auto programmed. You may want to know the MAJOR MINOR Channel numbers and PSIP information. Take a look at both of those websites and you will learn those. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted January 6, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 6, 2007 Ok everyone.... quit looking! The TV was in "Cable" mode. Once I turned that off, the UHF channels came into the right spots, and when I scanned for digital stations, it found a zillion of them! I didn't know that some stations sent out multiple channels, like our local CH 7 has a 7.1, 7.2 and 7.4. This set is for the bedroom, now that I see what's out there, I'll need to replace our main TV, oh well, 2 years to pay and no interest By the way, I had a feeling that my problem was cable related, because many years ago, I took a TV to a repair shop, and when I got it back, the UHF channels didn't come in. I took it back to the shop, the repair person replaced the UHF tuner, and it still didn't work, then we noticed a cable mode botton among the controls, which he must have pressed. Just couldn't find the button on this set, it was an on-line option hidden deep in the manual. I talked to 3 people at the Sony help desk today, and none of them what was wrong. Idiots! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted January 7, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 7, 2007 Originally posted by deanmass I am gonna be watching this one...I just bought a 26" at CompUSA for $399, and am finding the HD stuff pretty confusing...a friend explained it to me as follows on the ratios/resolution; 720i (good, interlaced) 720p very good, non-interlaced) 1080i (very good, interlaced) 1080p (best, progressive, non-interlaced) Apparently there are lots of broadcast, over the air HD channels, but I have not even unboxed mine yet. When I do, I am looking to add an HD antenna. Radio Shack had a few. I never was really that into TV, but I am really into movies, and HD is jaw dropping. The vid game side of it holds interest as well. xBox 360 looks amazing. Now that I've had the set for 2 days, I guess I'm an expert . So I'd like to add what I know to this. Stations do not broadcast in 1080p. The highest they go is 1080i, and they DON'T do that all the time. 1080p is used by the new Hidef and Blueray DVD players, and I was told the Sony Play Station (I guess the newer ones). IMHO an "HD antenna" is hype. OTA HD is broadcast on the current UHF channels, so any decent UHF antenna should work (of course results depend on how far you are from the transmitter). I'm using one of these, that must be 20 years old: and I get excellent reception. Don't waste your money. BTW, Since I've resisted getting cable so far, I made sure the new set had both the old NTSC tuner as well as the new digital tuner, but to my surprise, all the Los Angeles stations are now broadcasting over the new digital channels. And as I mentioned above, some are broadcasting multiple programs so my channel count went way up. So, our TV never gets put back in analog mode. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members coyote-1 Posted January 8, 2007 Members Share Posted January 8, 2007 That's not just opinion. Originally posted by Jeff Leites IMHO an "HD antenna" is hype. My VHF/UHF/FM antenna is nearly identical to the antenna my family had 30+ years ago. Same materials, same construction, same element alignment.... But the packaging now says 'Digital' or 'HDTV'. It didn't say that back then Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members spokenward Posted January 8, 2007 Members Share Posted January 8, 2007 I'm glad that it is working for you now. It's the ancient 300 ohm twinlead and weirdass amplifiers that people insist on keeping in line that I'm not nuts about. The only thing that should be old about an antenna is the guy who installs it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Jeff Leites Posted January 8, 2007 Author Members Share Posted January 8, 2007 Originally posted by spokenward I'm glad that it is working for you now. It's the ancient 300 ohm twinlead and weirdass amplifiers that people insist on keeping in line that I'm not nuts about. The only thing that should be old about an antenna is the guy who installs it. Funny you mention that, I'm old, and I'm using 300 ohm twinlead on the UHF side, but it's heavy duty shielded stuff. I have a 300 to 75 ohm converter on the in house end. It's less lossy than 75 ohm on UHF. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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