Anyone out there trying to get a HDTV set up going Over the Air (OTA) – I refuse to pay Cox for extortion pricing. Last time they checked their box doesn’t even put out a standard ASTC signal! Anyway, I can’t get a strong signal and wanted to find out if it is location or my antenna. It has been suggested to me that I upgrade my antenna to rule one of the two out. Seems like a lot of money (high risk) for perhaps little reward. Anyone out there playing with this stuff?

Hey Snagglepuss, I haven't tried it myself, but I know a friend who tried OTA HDTV signals, and reported it being horrific. I live in Fairfax and use Cox's service. Anyways, you do have a few choices:

1) Go to bestbuy, and buy an outside OTA high quality antenna to test out. If it works, than you can rule out the antenna. If it still sucks, you know it's the location. When you're done, you can package it up and return it if you don't want to keep it. No money for a lot of rewards.

2) Get DTV HD, DTV is cheaper but I hear the HD isn't as good.

3) Wait for some Cox competition to roll in, such as Verizon's digital cable coming this year. More competition means lower prices.

Regardless, I'd try and do the first one first. If you do it right, you can do it all in a day and get your money back as well. Just a thought though

Hey asnpcwiz,

1) I have already bought an outside OTA antenna from Radio Shack. It is an omni directional that I mounted in my attic. It gets very poor reception. I also have a directional UHF antenna that also work for HDTV and it works just as bad for any channel that I point it to. Sometimes on a clear day I can get good enough signal such that it doesn’t interrupt the MPEG stream for a couple hours. Needless to say I was under whelmed with all my options so far. So it was suggested that I buy a fancy (expensive) directional antenna. Here is a link: http://www.consumerdirectonline.com/4228.htm As you can see from these posts I have reservations with parting with my moola. I think I am a little farther along here than where you think I am in your suggestion #1.

What I would like to do is find someone who has a working OTA HDTV setup so I can can compare to find out if I am doing something wrong or so I can copy it.

2) DTV as in cable tv? Or Dish tv? Umm, no, I was looking for the option where I can record HDTV without having to buy a special TiVo or something like that. That’s why I was lamenting about Cox’s option. They only put out RGB component video to the display – no standard signal like an ASTC stream. What is hilarious about Cox is the sales reps know nothing about their system. I called once to find out if I could subscribe and do as I suggested above – and they said “Sure!”. Note the exclamation point. So I walked in to get the special decoder, opened it up, and promptly threw it back in their face. Why do I know more about their system than they do? I would also like to footnote the same about the network too. Arrgh! *cry*

3) Wait some more? Ahh, well, I have waited 2 years already, what is a little more. /Me raises fists at skies above.

snagglepuss

Cox HD isn't too expensive, as long as you go for just the locals. Their box (SA3250HD) outputs ATSC (1080i, 720P).

Im guessing he's referring to DirectTV when he says DTV. DirectTV does down res some of their HD Channels.

Dish HD isn't a bad solution but since it required an antenna for locals, I didn't get it. My reception is really bad. It's possible to get an expensive antenna and good reception, but I don't know how well that would've worked out.

Verizon is launching a FIOS service (currently only internet (15 mbps download for $50/month)) and they are planning on launching HD service along with it. They are still working on the HD so the service won't be available for a while.

We just bought a Samsung Digital Receiver off of eBay for around $70, and a directional UHF antenna from Radio Shack for $24.99. The antena is on the roof of our townhouse, pointed at 61 degrees (East-NorthEast). We're on a bit of a hill, with only some treetops obstructing a clear sky.

We pull in NBC 4, 4.1, 4.2, Fox 5, 5.1, ABC 7, 7.1, 7.2, 7.3, CBS 9, 9.1, 9.2, 9.3 20, 20.1, channel 24, WETA 26, 26.1, 26.2, 26.3, 26.4, 50, WNVT 56, 56.1, 56.2, 56.3, 56.4, and 66, 66.1, 66.2, 66.3, 66.4. Sometimes if conditions are perfect, we can get 14, 24.1, 45, 45.1, 50.1 and a couple others. Definately an improvement over our set-top box, for a small investment.

Hey just go to antennaweb.org. YOu choose the antenna that you have and then just type in some info for your address. It will tell you which way to point your antenna in order to get the best reception. Its good stuff.

We are using Fios. Love it for internet and HDTV.