Anybody else disgusted with HD tv??

I don't have cable. I bought a converter box months ago. Today, the signal for the NBC affiliate has been garbled since at least 4pm. It's like watching a youtube video on dial-up.

Is the signal problem in my box or with the station? Sorry, but tv was fine the way it was.

Those things are crap. Its most likely your box they get really bad reception.

The bad signal varies from day to day - today it's NBC. Over the weekend it seemed to be only ABC.

It jumps arounf from shot to shot, won't stay on one channel, and totally makes me nauseous the way the cameras pan around wildly.

what are you talking about?

All HD is, however, digital.

HD with cable is awesome and I've heard mixed reviews of the digital service with antenna. I've heard you need a really good external antenna that is properly positioned or you will get poor or no picture as you describe.

Hope all is well.

Sorry, digital. I have an antenna that works well, or so I thought. The bad signal seems to wander from channel to channel and the few programs I watch invariably skip and stutter. Very annoying.

Things are okay.

:hug:

The biggest problem with the switch to digital TV is substandard antennas.

In analog days, people coped with snowy pictures - you could enjoy the programming and listen to it but not get a clear picture. Digital is all or nothing, so it either does or doesn't... and if you're on the edge, some days you get the channel, some days you don't - atmospherics atmospherics still play a part with your TV picture. There are some days I don't get all the Raleigh, NC stations (I'm in Greensboro) and this is with a good outdoor antenna improperly mounted (it's not on a mast, just sitting on the front deck, not even aimed at Raleigh) - and other days they all come in like anything.

Also is your antenna an indoor one or an outdoor one? Outdoor is always better than indoor, and for a little more money than the cost of a top-of-the-line amplified indoor antenna you can purchase a good quality outdoor antenna and get better results - without an amplifier; my Winegard HD8800 http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=HD-8800 - $45, I picked mine up locally for $50 (avoiding S&H). Of course I would recommend proper installation...

It can also be the station doing work as well - if they have had to switch to reduced power or an auxillary facility. Usually they try to do this work at off peak hours, but sometimes it's necessary for it to be done in other times. However there's no central place to see which station is doing what maintenance without calling the station directly.

Look at the signal level for each channel on the converter box - the higher the better. I don't know what converter box you have, but the two I have got - both from Wallyworld (so shoot me) the RCA and the Magnavox - have a signal meter - the RCA one is better as it's also audible so you can aim the antenna better for a particular station.

You also have a new problem that affects digital - it's called multipath interference. In analog land this would be known as "ghosting" where you see two images. The digital receiver is also receiving two "images" and has to figure out which one is which... if it can't, it gives up and reports zero signal. Again also atmospherics play a part, but for multipath again, one antenna is better than another for this issue.

Sorry you were having issues with your NBC affiliated station. It'll come back and you'll have some bad reception days as it stands with your current set up.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/maker_workshop_dtv_antenna_steadyca.html

Works really well!

The biggest problem with the switch to digital TV is substandard antennas.

In analog days, people coped with snowy pictures - you could enjoy the programming and listen to it but not get a clear picture. Digital is all or nothing, so it either does or doesn't... and if you're on the edge, some days you get the channel, some days you don't - atmospherics atmospherics still play a part with your TV picture. There are some days I don't get all the Raleigh, NC stations (I'm in Greensboro) and this is with a good outdoor antenna improperly mounted (it's not on a mast, just sitting on the front deck, not even aimed at Raleigh) - and other days they all come in like anything.

Also is your antenna an indoor one or an outdoor one? Outdoor is always better than indoor, and for a little more money than the cost of a top-of-the-line amplified indoor antenna you can purchase a good quality outdoor antenna and get better results - without an amplifier; my Winegard HD8800 http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=HD-8800 - $45, I picked mine up locally for $50 (avoiding S&H). Of course I would recommend proper installation...

It can also be the station doing work as well - if they have had to switch to reduced power or an auxillary facility. Usually they try to do this work at off peak hours, but sometimes it's necessary for it to be done in other times. However there's no central place to see which station is doing what maintenance without calling the station directly.

Look at the signal level for each channel on the converter box - the higher the better. I don't know what converter box you have, but the two I have got - both from Wallyworld (so shoot me) the RCA and the Magnavox - have a signal meter - the RCA one is better as it's also audible so you can aim the antenna better for a particular station.

You also have a new problem that affects digital - it's called multipath interference. In analog land this would be known as "ghosting" where you see two images. The digital receiver is also receiving two "images" and has to figure out which one is which... if it can't, it gives up and reports zero signal. Again also atmospherics play a part, but for multipath again, one antenna is better than another for this issue.

Sorry you were having issues with your NBC affiliated station. It'll come back and you'll have some bad reception days as it stands with your current set up.

....I can't stand the people who give up their season tickets to watch sporting events live just because they bought the HDTV and they can watch in "air conditioned/heated comfort". Like that's actually a more worthwhile experience.

Lame. Lame. Lame.

Sorry, just had to rant.

I finally gave up cable this spring, then went without TV at home for a month or two because I hadn't gotten my digital converter box. Then I went through the whole song and dance regarding the right antenna and attendant frustrations.

The coup de grace was realizing that one of my favorite public TV stations is not available in my area except to cable subscribers (and even then it has been intermittent) and/or with special equipment. Even the station's website was vague about what's happening there. They suggested that the various transmitters should allow availability, as long as you know where to point your antenna, and that they are working with Comcast :eyes: to fix the situation. Huh?

But you're right about the signals. It's obnoxious to be tuned in to one of the public TV stations and find that the audio fades in and out, or the picture comes and goes. I used to get better reception pre-cable with a good set-top antenna.

Total boondoggle, and on top of that, American TV, with a few exceptions (Turner Classic Movies, for instance, which I of course no longer get) hasn't lived up to its promise. Much of what's on consists of commercials, reality TV, and reruns of Law and Order.

I dropped my cable at the beginning of the year. My signals are obstructed mainly by the buildings downtown, but at certain times of the day I get them all just fine.

I find a couple of orientations of the antenna work best for me, but I'm pretty much OK most of the time.

As far as how it was before, I couldn't get an over-the-air signal to save my life. One of the reasons I dropped cable is that when I tried to get the digital signals, they actually worked for me. That never happened with analog.

(Nice to see you for a pop in here. :hug: And I've got a little more DTV info I dug up for myself when I switched as well. PM me or call if you want to hear any more.)