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Old 06-09-2015, 04:39 AM
 
Location: Seymour TN
2,124 posts, read 6,818,984 times
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My parents in south Knoxville and us in Seymour recently had the same problem....bought an antenna and got no channels with it; exchanged it for a better antenna, put it in the attic and still got no channels. We are on a hill and my parents are in more of a flat area. Best Buy has a chart of what channels we should be picking up with a simple antenna. Does anyone know why it doesn't work?
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Old 06-09-2015, 07:10 AM
 
Location: Sullivan County, Tennessee
510 posts, read 1,386,833 times
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Presumably these are fully digital TV receivers. If these TV receivers have recently been used to view cable channels then be sure to go into the MENU of the receiver and change from "cable" to "antenna" or something similar. TV stations transmit in a TV standard called ATSC and cable companies use a standard called QAM and these are not compatible. The TV receivers may not automatically recognize both without changing the input mode.

Also, cable channels and off-air channel frequencies are not the same except for 2-13. Most over the air broadcasts are now on UHF channels but two stations in Knoxville are on VHF, 7 and 10.

Here are coverage maps (see Knoxville, TN): Archived Maps of All Full-Service Digital Television Stations Authorized by the FCC
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Old 06-09-2015, 04:42 PM
 
Location: Seymour TN
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Thank you Jim...I'll let my husband analyze the maps. Yeah we switched over to antenna. Can get some sound but no picture.
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Old 06-10-2015, 09:24 AM
 
Location: The Conterminous United States
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Make sure they are newer digital televisions.

Do I really need a digital converter box for my TV? - HowStuffWorks
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Old 06-11-2015, 05:21 AM
 
Location: Seymour TN
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Yeah we have a "smart TV", we bought Roku. Guess we are not giving up Dish just yet.
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Old 06-11-2015, 08:20 AM
 
Location: Sullivan County, Tennessee
510 posts, read 1,386,833 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by NJDevil View Post
Yeah we have a "smart TV", we bought Roku. Guess we are not giving up Dish just yet.
From what I was aware, the Roku devices only provide a streaming interface between ethernet Internet sources and a TV. I was not aware of them selling complete receivers with displays. What brand (and relative age) of TV are you using with the Roku?

Reason I ask, all the off-air tuners in different brands of digital TV's are "not created equal" in my own experience and by comments of others. Back in 2007 I bought a 19" Element to use mostly moving around to the deck and rear porch. We are on a high ridge and can see all the local TV towers 20 miles away. The tuner in the Element would pixilate or total ignore many of the broadcast stations using a compact antenna. It still had problem with pixilation (or no reception on some channels) when connected to a fixed fringe area antenna system. I acquired a Samsung "smart TV" in 2014 (a 5500 series as I recall) and the tuner in it is really great. I can even get solid reception on WLOS from Asheville and their transmitter is about 80 miles to the south on Mt. Pisgah. TV tuners are really a case of "you get what you pay for".

The reason that so many digital TV tuners are crummy is based on economics and demographics. The economics come into play due to cost issues since some of the best, most recent tuner technology is owned by LG (Zenith was bought by LG). Older tuner designs cost less to implement. The demographics come into play since it is estimated that 80-90 percent of TVs will be connected to cable or satellite and not require a particularly sensitive ATSC (over the air) tuner since they may never be connected to an antenna. Cost competition encourages crummy tuners.

Your comment about picking up sound but no picture indicates you were receiving old type analog broadcasts, not digital, in that case. Many areas still have some analog low-power translator (re-broadcasting) stations on the air. Analog transmissions actually use two transmitters within the same channel assignment and most TV receivers will pick up the sound transmission on weak channels even if the visual transmission produces nothing but snow. Digital reception is characterized by something called the "cliff effect" in that you generally have perfect reception or none at all. On very weak signals near the "cliff edge" you may see some pixilation or freezing. However, the sound is transmitted in the same data stream as the picture so if you lose one, you lose both.
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Old 06-11-2015, 11:39 AM
 
Location: The Conterminous United States
22,584 posts, read 54,262,993 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim37680 View Post
From what I was aware, the Roku devices only provide a streaming interface between ethernet Internet sources and a TV. I was not aware of them selling complete receivers with displays. What brand (and relative age) of TV are you using with the Roku?


Your comment about picking up sound but no picture indicates you were receiving old type analog broadcasts, not digital, in that case. Many areas still have some analog low-power translator (re-broadcasting) stations on the air. Analog transmissions actually use two transmitters within the same channel assignment and most TV receivers will pick up the sound transmission on weak channels even if the visual transmission produces nothing but snow. Digital reception is characterized by something called the "cliff effect" in that you generally have perfect reception or none at all. On very weak signals near the "cliff edge" you may see some pixilation or freezing. However, the sound is transmitted in the same data stream as the picture so if you lose one, you lose both.
Yes, you can use the Roku but you are also going to need video service, something like Hulu Plus, Netflix, Amazon Prime and Sling TV. The latter might be worth the $20 because, other than PBS, I only watch CNN and AMC. Project Runway on Lifetime would be a nice added perk, although I can live without it, too.

Did you check the link that Jim put up for checking the kind of antenna you need? Hopefully, it is correct because I'm about to cut my cable. Driving over there right now!

I own a Playstation 3 and I'm hoping Playstation Vue will come to the area. Right now it's only in a few select cities.

Showtime will be coming to Roku and Playstation Vue in July.
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Old 06-11-2015, 08:23 PM
 
Location: Sullivan County, Tennessee
510 posts, read 1,386,833 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by hiknapster View Post

Did you check the link that Jim put up for checking the kind of antenna you need? Hopefully, it is correct because I'm about to cut my cable. Driving over there right now!
The link I gave only showed the FCC coverage maps on a regional scale. Much can affect specific location. NJ said they were on a hill but there may be an even bigger hill blocking the signals from Sharps Ridge, for example.

Here are the links to two popular TV signal search engines:

AntennaWeb ( AntennaWeb - Address ) is simple to use and seems to do a good job of prediction based on transmitter power, terrain topography, and elevation of the receiving antenna. They recommend the complexity of the receiving antennna system by a color code on each station.

TV Fool ( TV Fool ) is similar and yields quite a bit more details. But, the details may be a turn off to those less technically inclined.

TV Fool would appeal to Sheldon Cooper whereas the AntennaWeb would appeal to Penny.

We had Directv for nearly 20 years but we both agreed that we were paying more (and more) and enjoying it way less (way, way less). The digital local stations in TRI were also far superior to satellite SD. Just dropped it before having to do a new contract to go with HD equipment and pay a $10 HD surcharge that new customers got at no extra charge. My only regret is that we didn't drop it sooner. It wonderful to be a new customer with D... for the first year I suppose. It starts to progressively annoy thereafter. I fear I am about to start ranting....
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Old 06-12-2015, 05:08 AM
 
Location: Seymour TN
2,124 posts, read 6,818,984 times
Reputation: 1469
Thanks guys. Yes hubby looked at the link you provided and you must be 100% correct that we are not receiving any digital transmissions. We have given up for now. We're keeping Dish and using Roku, we just reduced our Dish programming and cut our bill by $30.
By the way we found out TV shows on Hulu have commercials but on Netflix they don't. And hardly anything good on Amazon is free. Netflix is awesome!!
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Old 06-13-2015, 06:13 PM
 
Location: The Conterminous United States
22,584 posts, read 54,262,993 times
Reputation: 13615
Quote:
Originally Posted by NJDevil View Post
Thanks guys. Yes hubby looked at the link you provided and you must be 100% correct that we are not receiving any digital transmissions. We have given up for now. We're keeping Dish and using Roku, we just reduced our Dish programming and cut our bill by $30.
By the way we found out TV shows on Hulu have commercials but on Netflix they don't. And hardly anything good on Amazon is free. Netflix is awesome!!
I agree. I love Netflix!

I'm still trying to figure out if you have to have cable to get some shows on Hulu Plus. I know that, not that long ago, if you wanted to watch a network show, they wanted you to prove you had cable. I'm not sure if that changed. Otherwise, what is the point?
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