[gui-talk] would like some help after disconnecting from cable tv

[Lloyd Rasmussen]

In the Maryland suburbs of Washington, DC, in a house on a hilltop, we can 
get a satisfactory number of stations with a DTV converter box and rabbit 
ears.  But we're not asking for much, and a nearby window faces the correct 
direction.
In our area, all of the stations are on the VHF high channels (7 through 13) 
or in the UHF range, even if they are still numbered 4 and 5.  Setting up an 
antenna can be tedious, and you could use sighted help to observe signal 
strength as you make adjustments to maximize individual channels.  The DTV 
tuners can do automatic seek, but this presupposes that there happen to be 
strong signals to seek.  Antenna positioning is critical.  moving all or 
part of the antenna by a few inches in various directions can make a big 
difference.  People walking around or above the antenna can act as 
reflectors and enhance or kill a signal.  When the signal was analog, you 
could go by the amount of hiss and distortion, but now you need to have 
someone watch signal strength.  In an apartment building things could become 
difficult or at least compromised.  There is a website whose URL I don't 
remember where you can put in your ZIP code and they give you some estimates 
of what you should be able to hear over the air.



Lloyd Rasmussen, W3IUU, Orlando, FL (at NFB convention)
http://lras.home.sprynet.com
-----Original Message----- 
From: beth.wright--- via gui-talk
Sent: Wednesday, July 02, 2014 6:00 AM
To: gui-talk at nfbnet.org
Subject: [gui-talk] would like some help after disconnecting from cable tv

Hi, listers.  After experiencing astronomical increases in my monthly cable 
bill, I decided I'd had enough and disconnected the service. I was told by a 
friend that, if I got an indoor antenna for my TV, I wouldn't have any 
problems getting my local channels over the air. Unfortunately, the antenna 
doesn't work at my location, the signal is extremely weak, and I can get 
only a couple of channels. Has anyone else on the list been successful in 
cutting the cord and getting good tv reception or is this just not possible 
in some some locations? If that's the case, are there any receivers you can 
bufor that will broadcast the sound from the TV stations? I know that, 
before everything was converted to digital, some -panies made radios with TV 
sound bands. In fact, I have one, but, of course, it doesn't work since the 
signals from the local TV channels are now digital. Thanks in advance for 
any help.  Beth Wright

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