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Receiving Digital Television for Free...



 
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How do you receive your television programming?
Antenna (Over-the-Air)
26%
 26%  [ 11 ]
Cable
38%
 38%  [ 16 ]
Satellite
33%
 33%  [ 14 ]
Other
0%
 0%  [ 0 ]
Television? What's that?
2%
 2%  [ 1 ]
Total Votes : 42

Author Message
lcompton
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 01 Jun 2008
Posts: 283
Location: Exton, Pennsylvania, United States

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 1:03 am    Post subject: Receiving Digital Television for Free... Reply with quote

Good evening.

Someone sent me a private message asking the following:

Identity Withheld wrote:
Always appreaciate your posts - can you elaborate on how and where you are getting your TV programs?


After writing my response to this individual, I decided it contained enough useful information that it might be of help to others so I am making it a public post instead.

BACKGROUND:
I receive my television programming off-air (a.k.a. over-the-air [O.T.A.] or broadcast). It's the way most Americans received their television programming 30+ years ago (before wide-spread penetration of cable television service.)

With digital television, many stations multicast, which means that they broadcast multiple programming channels in their allotted bandwidth. In analog television broadcasting, each station was allotted 6MHz of contiguous spectrum to facilitate the television picture transmission. Digital television utilizes radio spectrum more efficiently by broadcasting a narrower (from an RF perspective) signal at a high-density of data (the audio/video stream is actually an MPEG-2 audio/video stream, which is why it is possible to have DVD-quality broadcast television. Incidentally, the data rate of the broadcast MPEG-2 stream is up to 19.2Mbps! How neat is that?! This is one reason that broadband operators want the retired 700MHz (UHF channels 52-69) television spectrum. Once the digital television (DTV) transition is completed, look for WiMAX (not to be confused with magicJack's YMAX or WiFi) broadband in your local market! WiMAX is far superior to iBurst.

Many people perpetuate the myth that digital television reception is all-or-nothing compared to snowy pictures in analog television. This is false. In digital television, poor (or weak) signal quality manifests itself as intermittent break-up of the video image and dropped audio. Commonly referred to as the cliff effect, this phenomenon produces a viewing experience that is typically less tolerable than that of analog television broadcast's corresponding snowy picture effect.

Years ago, when I experienced a major career setback, became impoverished and was forced to give up cable television because I could no longer afford it, I purchased an outdoor aerial from Radio Shack and erected it in my attic using an attic mount. Using a combination of RG-59 and RG-6U coaxial cable, I ran the antenna feed through a low-loss four-way splitter and piped the signal to four different wall jacks. For analog television, this solution functioned reasonably well providing me with ten viewable channels (7 with excellent, 2 with okay and 1 with poor reception.)

OFF-AIR DIGITAL TELEVISION RECEPTION APPROACH:
When I purchased and installed my first digital converter box in March 2008, the benefits of digital television became immediately clear. (All of the Philadelphia metropolitan area broadcasters were already broadcasting digital signals at that time.) Unfortunately, many broadcasters, such as our local PBS affiliate, WHYY, were and still are broadcasting their digital signal at a reduced power to control costs until they can discontinue their analog broadcasting. Even as I type this message, The News Hour w/Jim Lehrer is cutting in and out because of the low power broadcasting. The monthly electricity cost of operating a transmitter at several hundred kilowatts is no joke. There's a good reason stations trying to conserve cash don't want to broadcast analog and digital signals simultaneously at full power. (It should be noted, however, that most, if not all, of our commercial in-market television stations are broadcasting digitally at full power.)

In order to compensate for some of the low power digital broadcasting and improve reception on weaker digital signals, I purchased and installed a Channel Master 7777 Titan2 VHF/UHF Preamplifier. This thing is awesome! It made an immediate difference by enabling me to pull in a couple more channels and stabilizing the weaker channels that I was already able to receive.

The other advantage of the antenna preamplifier is that it will help compensate for some of the signal attenuation that results during the spring and summer seasons when moist signal-absorbing foliage is in full bloom. Often over-looked in the field of RF, foliage attenuates radio energy by absorbtion reducing available signal for reception. This is why people often experience better wireless telephone performance in the fall and winter months than the spring and summer months. The effect in my area was incredibly noticeable as time progressed from early March into the summer of 2008 with my digital converter box. The signal attenuation effect was most noticeable on WNJS. With each passing week, as the buds and then leaves began to appear on the trees, the signal quality gradually deteriorated until, by June, the station was no longer watchable. Installing the preamplifier in September 2008 completely reversed the effect by amplifying what little signal I was receiving at the antenna enough to overcome coax and splitter loss.

THE PHILADELPHIA METROPOLITAN AREA DIGITAL TELEVISION ARENA:
The digital broadcast arena for the Philadelphia metropolitan area looks like this presently:
  • 3.1 (KYW, CBS Affiliate [HD])
  • 6.1 (WPVI, ABC Affiliate [HD])
  • 6.2 (WPVI, LiveWell HD -- contemporary lifestyle programming [HD])
  • 6.3 (WPVI, 24-hour AccuWeather)
  • 10.1 (WCAU, NBC Affiliate [HD])
  • 10.2 (WCAU, NBC Plus 24-hour Weather)
  • 10.3 (WCAU, 24-hour Universal Sports Network)
  • 12.1 (WHYY, PBS Affiliate [HD])
  • 12.2 (WHYY, Y-Arts 24-hour arts programming)
  • 12.3 (WHYY, Y-Info 24-hour news and information)
  • 17.1 (WPHL, MyNetworkTV Affiliate -- home of Legend of the Seeker [HD])
  • 17.2 (WPHL, This TV 24-hour MGM/UA movies and classic television shows from the 1950s and 1960s)
  • 23.1 (WNJS, New Jersey Network 1 -- some PBS and community-oriented programming [HD])
  • 23.2 (WNJS, New Jersey Network 2 -- some PBS and community-oriented programming)
  • 23.3 (WNJS, New Jersey Audiovision -- an audio only [no video] reading service for the visually impaired)
  • 29.1 (WTXF, Fox Affiliate [HD])
  • 35.1 (WYBE, MiNDTV -- community-oriented programming)
  • 35.2 (WYBE, MiNDTV -- no broadcast format defined yet)
  • 35.3 (WYBE, MiNDTV -- off air)
  • 35.4 (WYBE, MiNDTV -- off air)
  • 48.1 (WGTW, Trinity Broadcasting Network Affiliate)
  • 48.2 (WGTW, Church Channel)
  • 48.3 (WGTW, JCTV -- this station ROCKS! I like some of the music videos they air!)
  • 48.4 (WGTW, Enlace -- Spanish-language Christian broadcasting)
  • 48.5 (WGTW, Smile of a Child Network -- home of Davey and Goliath)
  • 51.1 (WTVE, Regional News Network Affiliate -- mostly infomercials with some news and Christian programming)
  • 57.1 (WPSG, The CW Affiliate [HD])
  • 61.1 (WPPX, ion Television Affiliate -- home of Quantum Leap [HD])
  • 61.2 (WPPX, qubo Network)
  • 61.3 (WPPX, ion Life)
  • 61.4 (WPPX, Worship Network -- the family-oriented comedy of Jeff Allen and Tim Hawkins is excellent)
  • 65.1 (WUVP, Univision Affiliate)
  • 65.2 (WUVP, more spanish programming)
In addition, I can sometimes receive 44.1 (WMCN, Market Connect Network -- 24-hour infomercials) out of Atlantic City. Obviously, I'm not missing anything.

As you can see, there are 32 channels available to me right now. Eight ( 8 ) of the 32 channels offer high definition (HD) programming. Most of my televisions are old and use external digital converter boxes so the HD content is of no use to me. My kitchen television, which I purchased last summer because my old kitchen television died, is a 19" LCD HD set and I must admit the HD programs look pretty neat on it. But, the only reason I have that set at all is because I stumbled across it on a clearance shelf in the local Target and it only cost USD210.00, which was rediculously inexpensive for an HD set of that size at the time and not much more than a regular old 13" CRT set would have cost me.

If we subtract the three spanish language channels and the two MiNDTV channels that are presently off-air, we still have 27 channels of programming available. The best part? It doesn't cost me a dime! Not paying for television and paying only USD59.50/annum for telephony is a really big help when one lives in poverty. My DSL monthly expense has been recently reduced from USD41.99 to USD30.00 thanks to Boondocs' advice on enrolling in Verizon's OneBill program combining both my Verizon Wireless telephony service with my Verizon DSL service on one monthly bill.

OTHER POTENTIAL ENHANCEMENTS:
One other improvement I am considering is to re-wire the coaxial infrastructure with low loss RG-6U cable. 500' of RG-6U cable will cost about USD125.00 shipped. I don't really want to do this work because it's very dirty and involves crawling around in the attic space and fishing wire through walls -- none of which is pleasant. I've consulted with an acquaintance who happens to be an electrical engineer (graduated from Carnegie Mellon) and he advises that the gains I will receive by improving the wiring are negligible and any line losses I am experiencing have already been more than offset by the installation of the signal preamplifier.

THINGS EVERYONE SHOULD KNOW ABOUT DIGITAL TELEVISION:
There is no such thing as an HDTV antenna. If someone is trying to sell you one, they're lying. The frequency spectrum of broadcast television is not changing so any regular old television antenna will function just fine. (Please don't send me a bunch of e-mails correcting me. The fact that the 700MHz television band is being re-purposed does not change the remaining spectrum on which broadcast television will continue to operate.)

Something else everyone should know is that broadcasters will be channel-hopping after the digital television transition date of 12 June 2009. This means that some broadcasters have been assigned temporary channels on which to operate their digital broadcasts so they can maintain their analog broadcasts on their originally-assigned channels. Once the analog broadcasting ceases, some stations will do one of the following:
  1. Jump to a completely new channel for permanent digital transmission,
  2. Begin broadcasting digitally on their originally-assigned analog transmission channel, or
  3. Terminate their analog broadcasting and remain permanently on their assigned digital broadcasting channel.
Philadelphia is a really neat example of this phenomenon. For example, no broadcasters are broadcasting digitally in the VHF (channels 2-13) spectrum in Philadelphia presently. Philadelphia's VHF broadcasters, KYW (3), WPVI (6), WCAU (10) and WHYY (12) are all broadcasting digitally in the UHF (channels 14-69) spectrum. Effective 12 June 2009, only WPVI (6) and WHYY (12) will be returning to their originally-assigned VHF channels for digital broadcasting. KYW (3) and WCAU (10) will remain in the UHF spectrum permanently broadcasting digitally.

A good place to find out what's happening in your broadcasting market is antennaweb.org. I used this site to determine which channels were available in my area, what signal strength I can expect to receive for each channel, and where to aim my antenna (yes, VHF/UHF antennas are directional) for optimal reception. If you decide to use antennaweb.org to identify where to aim your antenna, keep in mind that the direction is number of degrees from magnetic north, not true north. Also, don't use your street address to setup the calculation for antenna positioning. Get the corresponding latitude and longitude for your position and use that to calculate your antenna position. I don't own GPS equipment so I used Google Maps to identify my latitude and longitude and fed that data into antennaweb.org. The other thing I did was use a lensatic compass to help me aim my antenna as accurately as possible prior to doing any reception testing. Of course, when using a compass it is important to ensure that there are no large metal objects nearby, which may distort the reading.

EPILOG:
Making the transition from pay television to free television was difficult at first -- probably more-so because it was not by choice, but by necessity of my economic circumstances. However, I have come to appreciate much of the freely-available programming content and I don't miss pay television anymore. In fact, if I ever get back on my feet, I do not plan to become a pay television subscriber again. Instead, what would be fun to do is purchase some additional high-gain UHF antennas and try to pull in more signals from New York City and Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. With the right setup and a small capital investment in equipment, I could easily pull in 50+ channels off-air within a 150 mile radius.

Another area of free television reception that fascinates me is free-to-air satellite, which is the science of erecting a satellite dish and receiving unencrypted, freely-available content coming off of satellites.

UPDATES:
(Updates in the original message above appear in red text.)

EDIT 01MAR09: WPHL (17) began airing This TV content on their first digital sub-channel, 17.2, on 1 March 2009. This TV offers a phenomenal line-up of old MGM/United Artists motion pictures and classic television shows. It's totally awesome that we have another neat movie channel in the over-the-air broadcast arena! Smile This TV's weekly programming guide can be found here.

EDIT 10MAY09: WNJS (23.x) began airing New Jersey Audiovision (a reading service for the visually disabled) on 23.3. New Jersey Audiovision is an audio-only broadcast. There is no video on this channel.

WYBE (35.x) terminated their sub-channels on 35.2, 35.3 and 35.4 without any announcement. Future multicasting plans for WYBE are presently unknown.

EDIT 17MAY09: WPVI (6.2) is now carrying LiveWell HD content on their first sub-channel in 720p high definition. WPPX (61.1) began broadcasting their primary channel in 720p high definition. These changes bring the total number of high definition channels freely available in the Philadelphia market to ten (10).


Last edited by lcompton on Sun May 17, 2009 5:00 pm; edited 9 times in total
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mberlant
Dan Should Pay Me


Joined: 01 Feb 2009
Posts: 829
Location: Japan

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 4:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here in Japan many people, including my family, receive only terrestrial broadcasts. We are also being forced to change from analog to digital, but won't lose digital until Spring 2011. There are several factors here that differ from what is going on in the US.

First of all, all broadcasters will transmit digital signals on UHF and everybody will vacate VHF in 2011. I have no clue what they will do with the VHF band.

Second, digital channels here have been broken down into 13 segments. This allows broadcasters to have four 3-segment full quality programs and one "one-seg" reduced quality program. This is a big departure from the US, because the government has actively cultivated the use of one-seg. All of the broadcasters simulcast their main programming on the one-seg channel. Electronics manufacturers, especially cellular phone makers and car audio makers have flooded the market with portable TVs, cell phones and car radio/television/navigation systems capable of receiving one-seg. As far as I know, in the US it is very difficult to find a digital TV set less than 15 or 17 inches big and/or able to operate as a portable receiver. I shudder to think what the folks along the Gulf Coast will do for emergency information during next year's hurricane season.

The third thing that is different, owing to the dearth of broadcasting companies here, is that each network has been assigned a standardized digital "channel number" for use across the whole country. So, to set up a TV you press the scan button and the TV receiver will assign the strongest UHF channel received to the appropriate "button" 1 through 9. No matter where you go in the country, NHK-G (Japan's PBS or BBC) will be on button 1, NHK-E will be on button 2, etc.

On the alternate reception front, Japan still hearkens to the day when families shared one telephone in the front hall and one television in the living room. That way of thinking has made satellite and cable TV very expensive here. Unlike when I had cable TV in the US, here in Japan if you want to have the same premium channel (like CNN or HBO) on both your living room and bedroom TVs you will have to pay two subscription charges. The only savings to have two or more TVs on the same bill is to save about $4.00 each due to combined billing. That's hardly a consolation for having to duplicate or triplicate a $40-50 premium subscription package price.

On top of that, cable TV where I live is very expensive to install (about $700) and basic service is about $200 per month for 12 to 24 channels. No, thank you. Satellite service, last I checked, does not carry terrestrial network programming, so if you go that way you will need to maintain your regular TV antenna, as well.

Until something changes here, my family will have to be content with 6 1/2 TV channels (only NHK-E sometimes has a second program, so far) and renting DVDs.
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lcompton
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 01 Jun 2008
Posts: 283
Location: Exton, Pennsylvania, United States

PostPosted: Tue May 12, 2009 10:24 pm    Post subject: Bump! Reply with quote

Good evening.

I'm giving this thread a bump because I recently updated my original post with some new information and updating old posts does not bump a thread.

Also, the broadcast television switch-over to all-digital is only 31 days away. So, this is a good time to resurrect this topic.

I'm sorry if bumping this thread offends anyone. By all means, do feel free to hate me if it makes you feel better. Smile
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Matt9876
Dan Should Pay Me


Joined: 26 Jul 2008
Posts: 504

PostPosted: Wed May 13, 2009 8:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I use Antenna and Sat.

In my opinion if you can get the digital antenna connection it's the best by far,For example.

Last night watched NCIS on local channel 8.1 in beautiful HD on a 100 inch screen with 5.1 surround sound,the show was amazing! Very Happy

Sat and cable companies compress the feeds so they can send out more channels,Digital antenna TV bypasses this compression.
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