OTA antenna TV

[dontrump]

Question to all.I looked at a guys TV reception on the OTA system today.It would work and then break up due to bad signal etc.I thought it maybe a bad cable

so I ran a cable direct from the OTA roof antenna straight to the TV and still the same.THEN I removed the new cable and re hooked up his older tv 2006 tube style flat screen to the converter. The Tv works perfect without the antenna?? I ordered a new antenna head but was so surprized how well the TV works through the tv converter with no antenna connection??

seems odd so I guess u only need a roof antenna when your out in the boonies or?????

 

[Kirk W]

Do you have the TV antenna amplifier turned on? Is the little light burning?

[dontrump]

Do you have the TV antenna amplifier turned on? Is the little light burning?

I am not sure but iam thinking your misunderstanding my question etc/? Iam getting over the air TV with NO antenna and basically none with .

should have added the tv antenna would work for while and then go wonky,then clear up then wonky again before I disconnected it

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

 

THEN I removed the new cable and re hooked up his older tv 2006 tube style flat screen to the converter

Converter. Is this TV sso old it needs a digital converter?

 

Kirk asked a valid question. The amplifier maybe be enough without the antenna. If the amplifier is off, then the signal will be bad.

[dontrump]

Converter. Is this TV sso old it needs a digital converter?

 

Kirk asked a valid question. The amplifier maybe be enough without the antenna. If the amplifier is off, then the signal will be bad.

As said iam getting good Tv I was just surprized it worked without using the roof top antenna as in its not connectd to it at all

but it does I was just surprized must be in a strong signal area where its not required I guess

[Yarome]

It's also good to be aware that many stations are still in transition. They still broadcast in analog as well as digital. Even though mandated to broadcast in digital it's no skin off their nose to continue analog broadcasting until such time as their analog equipment were to fail (I would think.. but don't know for sure). The problem with digital is that you get a signal strength adequate "enough" or you don't (aka no picture). Analog may have a lower signal strength, however, you will receive whatever is being broadcast and may in some circumstance provide adequate picture quality when a digital signal may be insufficient. Does that make sense?

 

It's also going to depend on the quality of your appliances digital decoder, but "in the boonies" there have been many times I've been able to receive OTA analog signals of decent quality whereas the digital signals "stall" out and go blank due to lack of signal strength.

[dontrump]

It's also good to be aware that many stations are still in transition. They still broadcast in analog as well as digital. Even though mandated to broadcast in digital it's no skin off their nose to continue analog broadcasting until such time as their analog equipment were to fail (I would think.. but don't know for sure). The problem with digital is that you get a signal strength adequate "enough" or you don't (aka no picture). Analog may have a lower signal strength, however, you will receive whatever is being broadcast and may in some circumstance provide adequate picture quality when a digital signal may be insufficient. Does that make sense?

 

It's also going to depend on the quality of your appliances digital decoder, but "in the boonies" there have been many times I've been able to receive OTA analog signals of decent quality whereas the digital signals "stall" out and go blank due to lack of signal strength.

yes that must be the situation in southern California where we are . I was surprized it would not work through antenna but worked fine disconnected hence the reason to start this thread

when I ran the cable straight from the antenna to converter I was bypassing the amplifier and no Tv disconnect antenna cable from converter and tv worked great

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

You still haven't answered whether the OTA amplifier is on or not. That red light doesn't just mean the amplifier power is on, it also means the switch in the amplifier plate is switched to the OTA antenna and not the Park Cable connection.

 

And for the record, the reason that digital signals seem weaker is that most of them are now in the UHF band enough though the channels numbers are in the 2-14 range. That is what the digital converter does. The digital conversion was to free VHF bandwidth for first responders because the VHF band has greater distance and penetration.

[Biker56]

 

I ordered a new antenna head but was so surprized how well the TV works through the tv converter with no antenna connection??

seems odd so I guess u only need a roof antenna when your out in the boonies or?????

Does it get more stations with the antenna connected?

You must be within 20-25 miles of a station.

This will tell you how far to a station & the power it is putting out.

 

At my location I am within 34-38 miles of over 14 stations.

The lowest powered one I can receive with my Batwing has 485.03kW

The ones putting less then that I can't receive.

6 are putting out the highest power of 1000kW

[TheDuke]

First of all, the OPs TV is. NOT, repeat after me, NOT connected to the built in antenna outlet.

[Biker56]

First of all, the OPs TV is. NOT, repeat after me, NOT connected to the built in antenna outlet.

He did say the CART TV WAS connected to a TV converter.

And the converter wasn't connected to a OTA antenna.

 

Do you think he will connect the new antenna head to the converter when he gets it?

Or only connect it when he is in the boonies?

 

The OP could have saved the time spent running a cable from the OTA antenna to the TV to check the head.

He only needed to check the cable at the antenna head for 12V power. If it had power there and then turning the inside switch on/off.

If there was no change in picture then he needs a new head.

 

If he didn't check for 12V at the head. Then the head could be OK and a new one not needed if NO 12V at the head.

And his problem may only be a blown fuse.

[dontrump]

He did say the CART TV WAS connected to a TV converter.

And the converter wasn't connected to a OTA antenna.

 

Do you think he will connect the new antenna head to the converter when he gets it?

Or only connect it when he is in the boonies?

 

The OP could have saved the time spent running a cable from the OTA antenna to the TV to check the head.

He only needed to check the cable at the antenna head for 12V power. If it had power there and then turning the inside switch on/off.

If there was no change in picture then he needs a new head.

 

If he didn't check for 12V at the head. Then the head could be OK and a new one not needed if NO 12V at the head.

And his problem may only be a blown fuse.

but the TV should have worked by going from head(roof) to the converter directly should it not? as it works with no connection. The power at the switch is fine(lite comes on) but only had tv after totally disconnecting from antenna system. so I assumed and could be totally wrong on that assumption that it was a bad head but ?

Biker56 are you saying the 12V supply is through the rg59 coaxial cable to the head?

Thanks

 

Forgot to mention the antenna system worked but it was hit and miss, work for few seconds and then cut out then no signal then work a bit etc

[shaman52]

[dontrump]

Thanks dave I had seen that deal when I was researching earlier today. Iam hoping its just the head I ordered a new Rv2005 replacement head

as said the red lite is on and I get a hit and miss picture when hooked up.So iam assuming the 12V supply is there(at antenna)

Really what started this whole deal was I was surprized how well the TV worked with no antenna at all

[Biker56]

 

Biker56 are you saying the 12V supply is through the rg59 coaxial cable to the head?

Yes. Take the cable off the head and check if you have 12V at the cable.

Light at the switch may not mean you have 12V at the head on the R59 cable.

It should have 12V if cable is not broken/corroded someplace after the switch.

[dontrump]

Yes. Take the cable off the head and check if you have 12V at the cable.

Light at the switch may not mean you have 12V at the head on the R59 cable.

It should have 12V if cable is not broken/corroded someplace after the switch.

thanks with no power to head would it work ok sometimes and then quit and cut in as that's what it does

[sundancer268]

The amplifier is in the antenna head and with out power the antenna is basically turned off and acting as if it is not connected. In that case a pair of rabbit ears will work better than the turned off antenna and in an area with near by TV Transmitters even a bare wire lead is better than a non powered antenna unit.

[dontrump]

The amplifier is in the antenna head and with out power the antenna is basically turned off and acting as if it is not connected. In that case a pair of rabbit ears will work better than the turned off antenna and in an area with near by TV Transmitters even a bare wire lead is better than a non powered antenna unit.

yes sir as I find the TV works fine with just the converter hooked up and no coax hooked to it. thanks for the information . I know a fair amount about rv and to repair etc but never fooled with

OTA tv antennas. one of my weak points (use to be lol) although have fooled with lots of cable and dish systems

appreciate the help here for sure

[dontrump]

Question to all.I looked at a guys TV reception on the OTA system today.It would work and then break up due to bad signal etc.I thought it maybe a bad cable

so I ran a cable direct from the OTA roof antenna straight to the TV and still the same.THEN I removed the new cable and re hooked up his older tv 2006 tube style flat screen to the converter. The Tv works perfect without the antenna?? I ordered a new antenna head but was so surprized how well the TV works through the tv converter with no antenna connection??

seems odd so I guess u only need a roof antenna when your out in the boonies or?????

 

[Mark and Dale Bruss]

Most HD TVs are digital ready

[dontrump]

problem solved.

this motor home does not use the generic OTA tv wall switch system.it uses a centralized multi switch amp splitter system by wineguard

where the cable,vcr,OTA tv,sat tv all use a common coax to the TV.someone trying to install a OTA digital converter completely messed things up

The coax feed from system to antenna was not attached to the right outlet on the powered amp/splitter box and had the digital converter wire wrong

how we even got a picture at all is amazing once I understood how the system worked you can not hook a digital converter to this system unless

you use a AB switch also and then its only good for one TV when using a sat system also

 

so today I split the tv in (rear Tv )wire,added a AB switch and installed the digital converter required for the 2004 Tv system. Now the OTA antenna works and has the oTA channels and his sat Tv works perfectly also

[rbertalotto]

All TVs since about 2005 have ATSC tuners. = Digital Tuners. The older "analog" system was NTSC.

 

Just about all flat panel TVs will be digital ATSC and not require any type of adapter for Over The Air TV reception.

 

ATSC is for digital broadcast.

• An ATSC tuner is often called an ATSC receiver or HDTV tuner. It allows reception of ATSC digital television (DTV) signals broadcast over the air by TV stations.
• To receive ATSC (DTV) signal the TV must be hooked up to some type of external entenna.

NTSC is for analog broadcast.

• The NTSC tuner receives the analog signals.
• NTSC tuners are still used on some older cable systems but all OTA in the USA is not ATSC

QAM is the new digital cable system

Most flat panel TVs since about 2005 will have a QAM tuner and ATSC tuner

If the RV park supplies "Digital Cable" or "HD Cable", your TV will need to have a QAM tuner to receive it.

Be careful, recently, in the last two years, lots of TVs are being built without QAM. By law, all TVs must have ATSC tuners but a QAM tuner is optional and not required by law.

Hope this helps