now that I have my HDTV tuner card working in my laptop, i'm trying to pickup all the free OTA HDTV channels

but it's kinda confusing it's like there's a lot of the same channels in the lineup but different shows...and i can't figure out which are the local ones

is there a list that shows the lineup of all the free OTA HDTV channels in Raleigh that one would normally pick up with an antenna?

10/5/2007 10:24:35 AM

http://www.antennaweb.org

10/5/2007 10:27:46 AM

ok one more silly question...

so i've heard about this Orb thing where I can access my lineup from any internet pc even on my phone....

does the computer where the orb is installed on at home need to be on and running at all times in order for this to work or can i put the computer in sleep/hibernate mode

10/5/2007 11:05:56 AM

ok so got HDTV hooked up, but on NBC HD channel 17.1, there is a permanent yellow stripe down the very left of the screen....also on some channels, there is a scrambled line across the top

are these due to my HD reception or the channel broadcast itself regardless of location

does anyone experience these? i live in apex btw

10/10/2007 10:15:12 PM

sounds like a tuner or TV problem. the OTA signal doesn't have those lines/bars

10/10/2007 10:19:00 PM

but the line only appears on channel 17.1, all other channels are fine...hence i was thinking it wasn't the TV itself

10/11/2007 12:29:50 AM

then i'd go with the tuner problem.
I use OTA HD exclusively on my HDTV. I'm in a bit of a valley so I occasionally lose the signal and get pixelation, but i've never seen colored bars or stripes

10/11/2007 7:20:45 AM

just a quick question, well more like reassurance. If I was to get an OTA HD antenna for someone who hasn't upgrade to an HDTV (but plans to soon) will the broadcast just revert to SDTV ? So 4:3 crystal clear broadcast stations?

also what are the limitations of signal with regard to mileage ? Could someone 50 miles outside of Raleighwood and about 30 miles outside of the Fayettnam broadcast towers receive signal? What about with an indoor? Would that type of distance require professional installation with an uber expensive outdoor antenna ? Ah, I think I figured out the list on antennaweb...looks like the answer is no indoor antenna

[Edited on December 22, 2007 at 5:17 PM. Reason : /]

12/22/2007 5:10:31 PM

Too many questions.

Depending on the quality of your tuner, digital reception is supposed to be better than analog reception in all circumstances. However, as long as the analog stations are occupying the primary broadcast towers, digital reception may be worse, as it is coming off a secondary transmitter at reduced power levels.

Once you go digital, HD and SD come across the same stream, so if you can receive one then you can receive the other. There is no reverting taking place.

In your current location, if you used an indoor antenna to reliably receive your analog stations then it should work better at receiving digital stations. The web site is really a bad measure, as when I set it up I received stations it said were a hundred miles away but did not receive stations it said were only 15 miles away. As such, the only real test is to set it up and see what you get.

12/22/2007 5:25:34 PM

.

[Edited on December 22, 2007 at 5:28 PM. Reason : misread]

12/22/2007 5:27:20 PM

As far as orb goes, I use it on my home computer. I always leave my computer on, but I do think it's set to go into sleep mode. I think if you did a hard power off on your computer, it wouldn't work, and if you hibernate it probably wont work either, but I bet the normal sleep mode that goes on when you leave a desktop sitting for a while, it works during that I think.

12/22/2007 6:03:25 PM

i see the yellow bar on 217 on TWC (NBC) but only when the LCD is showing the full signal instead of overscanning it. see if the software you're using on your laptop can crop off 10 or so pixels from the edges of the signal.

12/22/2007 6:27:53 PM

i'm not sure it is still going on, but you can get nice free antenna with a copy of your(their) hdtv purchase receipt from WRAL. http://www.wral.com/wral-tv/story/1180307/

I got the Channel Master 3022 from them around August I think.

it's not some small cute antenna that is pretty to look at. it's meant to be an a attic or up on the roof. but mine worked well enough when i first got it in my second floor hdtv room (it's now setup in the attic).

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/4308.jpg

[Edited on December 23, 2007 at 2:52 AM. Reason : ']

12/23/2007 2:50:19 AM

I got the same antenna as scanZero when I wrote into WRAL

Going to throw it up into the attic when it warms up / Heroes comes on again!

1/29/2008 9:29:06 AM

Quote :

"'m not sure it is still going on, but you can get nice free antenna with a copy of your(their) hdtv purchase receipt from WRAL. http://www.wral.com/wral-tv/story/1180307/"

Got ours a few weeks ago. Might try to put it up today.

1/29/2008 10:00:20 AM

i didn't know about the WRAL thing...anyone know how long that's good for? i signed my parents up for the converter box discount coupon (they live out in podunk and really don't watch anything but OTA programming anyway)...but of course those haven't come in yet...when they do, i'd like for them to take advantage of this offer, since they live so far away from raleigh and the set-top antenna we tried out at christmas only pulled WRAL about 50% of the time (and none of the other channels at all)

1/29/2008 10:34:30 AM

Here's another site with the TV channel listings (and a lot more) by market.
http://www.rabbitears.info/listing.php?id=ral

1/29/2008 3:54:35 PM

Quote :

"also on some channels, there is a scrambled line across the top are these due to my HD reception or the channel broadcast itself regardless of location"

The garbled nonsense appears at the top of analog broadcasts, and sometimes digital broadcasts derived from analog sources where that wasn't removed. Those lines you're seeing are an analog data stream that contains information about the program that's displayed and closed-captioning text. It does not indicate a problem with your setup.

The only problem you'll see as a result of poor digital reception is a lack of picture entirely (or it may go out and in). You won't get distorted picture or audio (except perhaps at the very moment the signal goes out due to incomplete data and only for a fraction of a second.).

1/29/2008 4:05:59 PM