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  1. brantlew

    Frequency Attenuation

    I'm not aware of any notch attenuators?? You might be able to construct something like it if you use a splitter, an attenuator, a notch filter and a combiner. The idea being that you would split the signal and attenuate one side and then recombine just the notch frequencies back into the...
  2. brantlew

    Installing HD OTA on existing Dish Coax

    It's hard to tell exactly what you are doing from your message, but if you are trying to piggyback OTA signals with satellite signals you will need to use diplexers. Diplexers mix low OTA frequencies and high sat frequencies and then can split them back apart on the bottom end. If you don't...
  3. brantlew

    1080p vs. 720p display

    I think it all comes down to screen size. Unless you are planning to use your tv as a computer monitor and sit 2 feet from it, I don't think you can really distinguish the pixels on a native 720 screen less than 35 inches across at normal television viewing distances. So for the mid and...
  4. brantlew

    HT Owners: What are your favorite movies or clips to show off your Home Theater

    Agree with Kong. Even on regular DVD there are few movies that envelop you in surround sound the way that jungle scenes do. I think subtle effects are far more impressive when showing off sound equipment than bombastic explosions and action which are typically too loud to be directionally...
  5. brantlew

    Has anyone heard of HVD

    Personally, I think it's overkill. You just don't need that much storage for movie content. I guess you could offer totally lossless encoding but basically nobody would be able to see the difference. I just don't see how you could market it to anyone as there would be no qualitative...
  6. brantlew

    Isolation: modulated signals & antenna

    You should consider the CVT28PIA II. Unlike most amps that isolate the outputs it has only -10dB isolation between the posts which allows you to use it as a backfeed distribution hub. You can just shoot your signals back up the line from any point in the home and distribute them to every other...
  7. brantlew

    Isolation: modulated signals & antenna

    I guess I don't understand your setup that well because it sounds simple. It sounds like you just need to put a regular coax splitter/combiner in there. Just attach UHF antenna to one leg and the combined UHF modulated channels to the other leg and then connect the combined UHF signal to your...
  8. brantlew

    The HD download option.

    I don't. I think it's pretty good, but I just think it is a niche market available to technophiles with patience where as the market for 2GB downloads and 25 GB disks is broader. Probably bandwidth will catch up in the next 10 years but I don't see it happening before one of the disk formats...
  9. brantlew

    The HD download option.

    Thanks for all the comments so far. I can buy the fact that download could compete well in the rental market where quality is not important, but not in the ownership market. Sure you can make tradeoffs to squeeze file sizes, but I still think the bandwidth requirements are only accessible to a...
  10. brantlew

    The HD download option.

    Inevitably when people start arguing about the HD format war someone ends up screaming something to the effect of "well it doesn't really matter because online distribution is going to supersede both formats." Does anyone else besides me think that this is a really dumb argument? The fact is...
  11. brantlew

    Need explanation for distribution amp behavior

    Hey installers, I have been wiring a home satellite/OTA distribution system in my home and it has been quite a journey since I knew nothing about it 2 months ago. I have some unexpected behavior from one of my amps and was wondering if someone could explain it to me. I basically have a...
  12. brantlew

    Questions on how to understand antennaweb

    Nothing wrong with diplexing as long as you are intelligent about it. For various reasons I amplify and double diplex my signal (4 diplexers total) and still have solid reception. And for my efforts I was able to get by without running any new cable. Running new cable is not always practical...
  13. brantlew

    Disappointed with Silver Sensor. Other antenna suggestions?

    The DB-2 is an excellent antenna and with a little ingenuity is small enough to disguise indoors.
  14. brantlew

    The same question again

    I disagree. If an indoor works for you and you can receive all the stations that you are interested in without reception problems then there is no easier way to get OTA HD and anything more is just added complexity. Maybe you and I are technophiles so we don't mind dealing with gain, insertion...
  15. brantlew

    The same question again

    Most diplexers will work just fine. A decent cheap one is the Eagle Aspen D-2100LX which you can find for 2 or 3 bucks. I find that HomeTech has great equipment for reasonable prices.
  16. brantlew

    The same question again

    Yeah, the entry point for the outside wiring would be the ideal place to accomplish this. You would just need to diplex the antenna cable to one of the sat cables and then de-diplex the signal at your receiver.
  17. brantlew

    The same question again

    Definitely try the indoor antenna first as it circumvents so many other issues. Just keep in mind that you can utilize the same wires that feeds your dish receiver for an external antenna and make your wife happy. :)
  18. brantlew

    The same question again

    No problem. If things don't work out - don't be afraid to venture into outdoor antennas. It's not that hard to do. I am super lazy and I still managed to install mine without running any new wires and without installing a pole. Here's a pic of my setup. I just clamped it onto an existing...
  19. brantlew

    The same question again

    I don't think amplification is going to help much. I think the problem is your antenna's sensitivity. Also, since you have determined that all your stations are above 13, you can ditch the rabbit ears and go for more inconspicuous UHF antennas. There are other antenna's at Circuit City that...
  20. brantlew

    The same question again

    That's not what I meant. The ".1" is just a naming convention. The true radio frequency is in the last column under "Frequency Assignment". Sometimes antenna web is out of date as well. You can usually find the same info on wikipedia by searching for the station call letters. And of course...
  21. brantlew

    The same question again

    Make sure that those channel numbers are actual frequency numbers. The stations that broadcast on analog and digital actually reuse their station identification number for their digital broadcast even though the broadcast is actually on a different frequency. So for example you might have...
  22. brantlew

    The death of HD-DVD is not Blu-Ray but someone in their own backyard!!

    I just can't get on this downloadable movie kick that everyone seems to want to push for a very simple reason. I just don't see 30 - 50 GB downloads being realistic or efficient in the near term until people have something like fiber running into their homes. Until that point the downloadable...
  23. brantlew

    Want an ATSC tuner for my SDTV

    I still think it's crazy that for a PC the prices for a basic ATSC card ranges from $30 - $70, but somehow people have "accepted" the fact that for their old analog television they should spend upwards of $120 for this capability. Where are all the cheap simple ATSC to SD converters? These...
  24. brantlew

    The death of HD-DVD is not Blu-Ray but someone in their own backyard!!

    Well said. I don't have hi def DVD yet, but I will only adopt when I have a clear reason to pick one format over another and so far this forum has not helped on that decision. I'm not too worried about the content at this time because I will NOT buy any DVDs until I am sure that the winner is...