[SGVLUG] Antenna Re: OT: Anyone got a DTV converter recommendation?

[Michael Proctor-Smith]

On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:46 PM, Stan Slonkosky <stan.ke6zc at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Fri, Jan 9, 2009 at 2:36 PM, listreg <listreg_sr at ix.netcom.com> wrote:
>> Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't you have to have line of sight to the source signal?? I'm in the shadow of Wilson and reception is either non existent or really bad.
>>  Stephen
>
> That's pretty much the case, but signals can be refracted or
> reflected. People who are in Pasadena and whodo have a line of sight
> view of the transmitting antennas aren't going to need much of an
> antenna. I have a USB TV tuner that plugged into a laptop and around
> Allen and Queensberry, it works fine with the telescoping whip that
> came with it for both analog and digital signals.
>
> As I wrote before, I think that channel 9 with be the only VHF channel
> used in this area and that the rest will be UHF.

While a line of sight is not required it makes reception much easier.
An antenna for UHF must be different then VHF because they are
polarized differently, that Whip is Good for VHF(circular
polarization), but bad for UHF. Also newer generation ATSC receivers
are much better then just a couple of years ago. I do not have a line
of sight at my house for KABC-DT and had trouble in past(with older
equipment) recently I hooked up DTV box for my Next door neighbor and
they had no problem with a old school combo dual-whip/UHF loop.

>From the reading I did from the links here, it seems that nobody wants
to use the low band VHF channels. In LA channel KCBS-DT assignment was
in a band that is no longer going to be available to after the
transition so sense the same Media Giant owns KCAL and KCBS they
decided to move KCBS-DT to KCAL-DT better UHF channel 43 instead of
the un-desirable KCBS-TV channel 2 and move KCAL-DT to KCAL-TV's
channel 9.

Sense someone asked I do not think that the displayed channel numbers
will change, they will just be called DTV2.1 instead of TV2 the
"channel numbers" are just digital labels at this point.