[mythtv-users] Hardware questions

[R. G. Newbury]

Krzysztof Adamski wrote:
> On Wed, 2008-22-10 at 17:34 -0400, R. G. Newbury wrote:
>> Krzysztof Adamski wrote:
>>> On Wed, 2008-22-10 at 15:22 -0400, R. G. Newbury wrote:
>>>> Bobby Gill wrote:
>>>>> Okay, brace yourselves for the ultimate noobness.. but I've never used/had
>>>>> an antenna for TV--  Is the antenna all that's needed to get HD signals? How
>>>>> is it setup (in the simplest terms)? Is it used along with a subscription of
>>>>> some sort with a provider (bell, rogers. etc.) ?? Like from the start.. say
>>>>> I buy the channel master 4221.. what exactly am I doing with it to get from
>>>>> A-Z ?
>>>>>
>>>>> I just purchased an HVR-1600 from best buy so I can test it with my parents'
>>>>> Rogers digital box (30 days to return so I can at least try the setup out
>>>>> and see what it would be like).
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks fellas
>>>>> Bob
>>>> If you are going to put up an antenna, get the 4228 instead of the 4221. 
>>> I would disagree about getting the 4228 instead of the 4221. The 4228
>>> has a longer range 60 miles versus 45 miles for the 4221, but the 4221
>>> has a 45 degree beam width versus 15 degrees for the 4228. This would be
>>> the difference for him getting all stations with one antenna versus
>>> having to have 2 antennas.
>>>
>>> Of course the only way to know for sure is to try first, or talking to
>>> an expert, good luck finding one.
>>  From where I am to Grand Island is about 42 nautical miles. Its about 
>> 54 nm to the furthest Buffalo network stations. You really DO need the 
>> collecting area of the larger antenna. My signals are not always good. I 
>> do get artifacts in the recording. And do you think you would really 
>> complain that your antenna is 'too good' when its only $25-$30 more than 
>> the small one?
>>
>> The beam width is irrelevant unless the OP happens to be in the correct 
>> position, that the CN tower and Grand Island are in line or nearly so. 
>> We are just too far away for small antennas to work. I'm not even sure 
>> that a bigger yagi would not be better than the 4228....But I got the 
>> 4228 and I am satisfied with its performance.
>>
>> Fact is that most people in the GTA really need 2 antennas to receive 
>> strong signals from the 2 main broadcast locations,because those 
>> locations are so far apart geographically.
>> (doing that correctly is another problem...)
> 
> I'm one of those in GTA where one antenna is enough, also the OP has a
> similar case, he showed graphs from tvfool:
> 
> http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=antennanewhousehf5.png

Neat diagrams. So the OP has about a 25 degree spread in azimuth between 
the CN and Grant Island. Unfortunately if he wants to watch channel 2.1 
WGRZ, the distance is just under 100 miles. Which really calls for the 
bigger antenna.  I don't have that sort of choice to make, in any event. 
But I would go for the big one to get the farthest possible reach, and 
better signal for closer in-line stations (PBS etc), and worry about 
doing something else for the local offline stations. Which is what I 
intend to do.

CHoices choices...none of which are simple, nor have easy answers.

Geoff