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General discussion

Need Help w/Off-Air Antenna & DirectTV for Locals in HD

May 11, 2005 11:20PM PDT

I have a Hitachi LCD HDTV w/on-board HD tuner along with a standard DirectTV receiver(no HD) and I'm trying to get my locals only in HD. I was told an amplified off-air antenna will do the trick. Question #1 - what indoor amplified off-air antenna should I go with? Question #2 - do I hook up the antenna to the DirectTV receiver or to one of the antenna inputs on the TV? If to the DirectTV receiver, then are the local signals mixed satellite + antenna) and sent to the TV to be converted to HD format? or do I have to keep the HD local signals seperate from the DirectTV receiver (going directly into the antenna input of the TV)? Non-guru needing help. Thanks.

Discussion is locked

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My first suggestion is..
May 12, 2005 3:24AM PDT

Be sure you are capable of receiving off-the-air tv signal before you go out and get that antenna. Hookup the antenna the normal way (ant. to the ant_tv). HD station comes through different channels then what you normally watch.

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OTAHD
May 12, 2005 4:18AM PDT

Sounds like your tv already has an ATSC tuner built in. Don't buy an amplified antenna till you go to antennaweb.org and put in your address and choose antenna option. An amplified antenna can do more harm then good if you are too close to the transmitters(usually under 30 miles). You can plug in to your set directly since it has the ATSC tuner built in. The antennaweb.org will give you the specfic channel info you probably will be UHF stations. Stay away fromall TERK antennas and any gimmicky antennas. The old antenna of the 1950 era are still the best. Good Luck!

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OVER THE AIR HI-DEF reply
Nov 5, 2005 3:57AM PST

I just set up the DISH 811 system to my new 65" Sony 3 ton 3 tube hi-def t.v. All I did was replace the componit vidio cables with a d.v.i. cable and installed a cheap outside antenna, and I receive 19 local bay area stations 9 of which are is hi-def and just to prove how awsome digital over the air is I did a anolog scan and those same stations look terrible ghosts , snow etc but in digital they are stunning good luck stewart norrie

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problem solved
Jun 11, 2005 6:58AM PDT

Hook up with the dish network 811 system This unit is fantastic I pay $39.00 per month with The hi-def package and its well worth it great hi-def programing This set Has a wounderful over the air tuner as well I live 70 miles from San Francisco and with a cheap outside antenna I receive 18 digital channels 9 of which are in stunning Hi-def and thats free. Just make sure you use a d.v.i interface to your t.v You will have to buy the cable because it doesent come with the 811 installation and if you dont use the d.v.i. interface cable the picture will look terrible. good luck also I just joined this chat group would love to hear from you folks cadillacstew@aol.com

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similar question---Houston area
Oct 15, 2005 12:43AM PDT

I'm sorry if this question is redundant, but I'm really confused (I'm not a t.v. guru).
I just bought a DLP Samsung
http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=HLR4266WX%2fXAA&selTab=Specifications
and Tivo with HD...I'm getting great HD pictures with
the limited channels Directv offers.
They are telling me that the locals won't be broadcasting HD until the end of this year. When that
happens, will I get them through the satellite dish, or
will I still have to install an off-air antenna?
However, the local stations advertise that they are broadcasting in HD. Does that mean I could get the locals in HD without going through the Directv set up?
I am SO confused...maybe somebody could simplify this for me.

Jodi

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ok...
Oct 15, 2005 9:34AM PDT

I hope this answer isn't a bit reduntant...

go to this website:

http://antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

enter your address, uncheck the two checkboxes & click on SUBMIT

then on the resulting page, you should see 3 radio buttons above the table chart, click on the middle one to show only the digital broadcasts (IE the HD broadcasts that are in your area)

that is what you can get for free. anything else HD, you'll have to pay for Happy

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off air
Oct 15, 2005 11:24PM PDT

I see the channels listed as digital. Does
digital equal HD? And back to my original question,
if the locals are being broadcast in HD, do I just
have an off-air antenna installed without going through the Directv apparatus?

Jodi

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HD is digital
Oct 17, 2005 12:26AM PDT

Yes, HD is a digital signal. All DIRECTV HD Receivers will receive and integrate your off the air digital local channels so I recommend attached the antenna to you DirecTV box. However, if your TV has an HD tuner then you could also hook the antenna up directly to that. You'd then have to switch between the DirecTV box and your TV input when switching between satellite and off the air signals.

DirecTV plans on local HD over satellite in the future.

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thanks
Oct 17, 2005 7:19AM PDT

That's the information I needed.
Thank you.

J