Over The Air High-Definition TV
Oct 18th, 2006 by Dave
So we suspended our DirecTivo account for 6 months; partly because it was turning the kids into zombies and keeping them from doing their homework/music practicing/sports/playing with the dog/reading activities that are much more worthwhile. This was even before the study came out linking tv with autism. Partly also it was a budget move - to see if we’d be better off without the $45+ monthly satellite bill. There’s a lot on tv that you can really do without, but there are some things that you miss. For me it’s the Ducks games and the occasional in-depth news report, or being able to tune in when there is breaking news. Most of that (except for the Ducks games) is available on the regular broadcast channels. So I looked into getting an antenna for the tv; found out it wasn’t much more to get set up for over the air HDTV since my set was already HDTV ready. If you don’t have a HDTV ready set, you could pick up an old SVGA monitor for cheap since the receiver has a SVGA output.
Here’s my setup:
HDTV Receiver Samsung SIR-T451 (refurbished) $150
ChannelMaster CM 3019 Antenna (on sale) $59
AntennaCraft 10G202 Pre-amp (on sale) $39
ChannelMaster chimney straps $16
Mast (1 1/4″ x 10′ Conduit from Home Depot) $15
RG6 50′ antenna cable $28
Misc other parts (guy wire, connectors, shipping) ~$80
I’d used an online antenna selector to pick out an antenna and it came up with a different make/model; but I swapped emails with an online vendor and he recommended the model above; I went with his recommendation because there wasn’t much difference in price.
I’d researched the receiver long before I bought it; didn’t know how good a deal it was until I asked at Fry’s about this model - they were out of stock but they were using one to run all their HD tvs; would sell it for about $250 if they’d had it in stock.
Putting the antenna up on the roof was the fun part. I had girl stay outside with the cordless phone to call 911 if I fell off the roof; she did a great job at that but when her brother took over he soon forgot about me and went back inside to Playstation. I put the chimney straps on but that setup didn’t seem sturdy enough to hold up in our high winds so I’m planning on putting up guy wires also.
The antenna installer I spoke to about putting it up for me said he hadn’t had much success with getting signal from my location; apparently I’m in a shadow from Mt. Wilson where the LA towers are located; so that tempered my expectations; I was surprised to find that I was able to get most of the stations with my antenna set up next to my BBQ out back. The analog stations are a little fuzzy but the digital stations come in fine. I’ve been enjoying HDTV ever since; especially the high-res sports and nature features. As an added bonus, some programs broadcast in digital audio.
