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Old 01-29-2015, 08:36 PM
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Jeffhs Jeffhs is offline
<----Zenith C845
 
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Fairport Harbor, Ohio (near Lake Erie)
Posts: 4,035
Quote:
Originally Posted by NoPegs View Post
9.5kW ERP probably means a transmitter output power of ~1500W. Hell, I just looked it up, its 1610 watts at the transmitter output. You're not going to get squat off of that at your bearing and range.
I am not following you. It still doesn't make sense to me. Why would I not get the station at "my bearing and range", whatever that means? That television station, like every other Cleveland television station, is licensed to and is obligated to cover all of northeastern Ohio. What will I have to do to get the station, and channel eight, with an antenna, like I did years ago when I lived in an eastern Cleveland suburb? Even 15 years ago, when I moved here from that suburb, I could get channel 19 fairly well on an indoor antenna; in fact, that was the only station I could receive well enough to watch. Then, of course, all TV was still NTSC analog.

Channel 3 was the one station that I couldn't receive here; five, eight, 25, 43, 55, and 61 weren't that much better. This was in 1999, long before the DTV transition. I can get all the Cleveland stations on cable (Time Warner broadcast basic service), although I don't especially like that due to the rate increases every year. That was why I bought the Zenith indoor DTV antenna; I was hoping I could do away with cable for good. Is there any kind of indoor TV antenna that will bring in every TV station in my area, including eight and 19, or am I stuck with cable and its rate increases? I don't want to have to bother with erecting an outdoor antenna.

BTW, I wonder why the Zenith antenna doesn't work at all on one of my NTSC analog televisions. I realize there is no more analog TV since the transition, but I was hoping I would at least see a translator station or two; however, as I mentioned in my post, when I connect the antenna to my RCA TV and do a channel scan, the tuner goes from channel 2 to the highest channel it will receive, without stopping. If left alone, the tuner then loops back to channel 2 and will repeat the cycle indefinitely. I know the TV is working, as I can connect it to the cable outlet in my bedroom and it receives every station on the cable.

I have not tried the Zenith antenna on my nearly-20-year-old Zenith SMS1917SG 19" CRT TV, although if I did I would probably, almost certainly, get the same results I had with my RCA set.

It was suggested to me by someone in this thread that I consider using an ATSC-to-NTSC converter box with my Insignia 19" flat screen, which already has its own clear-QAM tuner. My question is simply this: Are the QAM tuners built into many if not most flat screens that terrible as far as RF sensitivity is concerned?

I may take a look on eBay tonight to see if I can find a reasonably good DTV converter box. Are there any particular brands I should avoid? I've read here that some off-brand converters, such as Apex and even Magnavox-branded boxes, are poor choices because of low RF sensitivity and that they run hot, contributing to early failure. Are there any really good DTV boxes still available, or has the market more or less dried up since new flat screen TVs can be purchased at dirt-cheap prices now? I've seen some flat screens selling for well under $100; I saw one recently in an ad flyer in my Sunday paper that was selling for $88. Even large-screen flat panels are selling for far less than they were even as recently as a year ago; I saw a 32" Insignia TV in a Best Buy ad that was priced at $130--the same price I paid for my 19" Insignia almost four years ago. Makes me think at least twice before considering having my set repaired if it someday needs service. This set has given me excellent service so far, though; I'm not expecting any trouble with it, but if and when it does go bad I'd likely be better off buying a new one, especially since finding out I can get a larger screen today for the same money I paid for my set back in 2011, and they are likely to keep coming down in price--so why bother having a set repaired anymore once it's out of warranty?
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Jeff, WB8NHV

Collecting, restoring and enjoying vintage Zenith radios since 2002

Zenith. Gone, but not forgotten.

Last edited by Jeffhs; 01-29-2015 at 10:55 PM.
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