OTA Reception questions

[Jason423]

I've lurked around the forums here for some time which helped me choose which service to go with, but had an OTA question that maybe someone can help me with since I couldnt find much on it from searching the forums.

My zip code is 07885 in NJ and whenever I go to antennaweb and enter the address in the section sometimes it tells me I can get the NY affiliate digital channels and sometimes it does not. Yesterday I put my address in and it gave a whole list of stuff from all around the state as far away as NBC broadcasting from Atlantic City. Right now the list of NY digital channels is not included in the listing. Are these glicthes within the web site or something else that I could be doing wrong? I have tried both entering just my zip code as well as the full address both with the same results.

For kicks I had borrowed a Zenith silver sensor antenna from a friend that no longer needed it and hooked it up to my 811 Receiver with and without an amp from Radio Shack that he had. Using the search analog option I was able to pick up channels 2, 5, 7, 11, 25, 31, 41, and 50 with very good reception and 4 and 9 with so-so reception. I was surprised to pick up any of the VHF frequency channels since I thought the Silver Sensor was a UHF only antenna. Is there any reason for that?

Using the DTV search on the 811 I have picked up channels 8, 63, 51 and 56 at different times. All of the reception with the 811 locks in at 49% which seems to be a problem with the 811 from searching around the forums, but I don't understand why would the analog broadcast come in so much stronger than the digital in terms of doing the search for the channels. I don't understand enough about the signals so hopefully someone can point me to a link on some information on it. Also, is this a case where you should try to manually tune the stations from the add DTV function? I plan on using my other receiver to do this, but any advice will be helpful.

I live in a condo and I just want to be fairly certain I can hopefully get these channels from an antenna. I should be able to put an outdoor antenna on my roof, but I need permission from the person I share the place with, others in the unit, as well as the association which is kind of a hassle. If the probability is not high of the OTA working I would prefer to not go through the hassle of getting permission to put the antenna in. Thanks in advance for any help and I appreciate all the info that I get from everyone here.

 

[BFG]

Hi, welcome to satelliteguys!

Yeah, OTA reception in your area looks like crap from the website. Since you're in the NY DMA I'd really really really open up your options for something like DirecTV because they have the big for networks in HD for your market.

The silver sensor is designed for UHF, but it will pick up high end VHF signals if they're strong enough. The reason why you can see a picture on the analog channels, but not get anything in digital, is because the digitals are broadcast at a lower power than analog, and because the signal is digital, you need a near perfect signal, for it to work well.

 

[Jason423]

Thanks for the info. If I ever ended up getting Direct it would be simply for the HD locals and nothing else unless I couldnt get the Jets on TV(And considering I get CBS-HD I have a good portion of the stuff I'd watch anyway on HD). My one friend has D* and Dish I feel is far superior in terms of picture quality as well as just ease of use. Factor in the equipment costs and I couldnt see switching. Of course if they go ahead and add alot more HD content over the next year I would consider it, especially when it seems like E* is really dragging its feet on it and isn't very straightforward about it when I read the forums here. Again, thanks for the info. Much appreciated.