Gosh, I just noticed that I have not much recollection of those curves either. Time to go back to teaching.
Not the type of curves I pay much attention to either...
Not the type of curves I pay much attention to either...
I'm more like 60 miles away. Needed some pretty serious hardware mounted to the side of the garage to above the roofline, but it all works...Since I'm 25 - 40 miles away, I think I'll stick with my big @ss antenna up in the attic.
Guess the question for you Al, do you think you will ever become a cave man? To the point that widely publicized information has escaped notice.
Like, "Dewey has now been declared the loser".
I quit watching TV about 30 years ago and I mean "QUIT", have not owned a TV for more than 1 year of the last 30. I have seen adverts, etc, but I have no idea what a "reality show" is. And I feel OK with myself. Although others let out an audible, "gah" when I reveal that.
Built this today and sprung for the $2.99 75-300 ohm resistor and hooked it up to the cable side of the tv card in the gal's Vista machine and got....nothing. Bummer. Lcd monitor so i figured sure it would work, but guess we're just too far from a signal...
Well, I built the fractal antenna with mixed results. In DC, channels 7 and 9 (ABC and CBS) were broadcasting their digital signals on UHF channels prior to the switch. I set-up a few old folks' digital TVs and they got those stations perfectly. After the switch, 7 and 9 moved their digital transmission down into the old VHF slots and they disappeared from view. This was not just a re-scanning issue, the stations new signals were simply too weak to tune in. Today's Washington Post confirms that the change has screwed up viewers all over the area but particularly in the center city (us) - apparently VHF works well in hilly areas but UHF is better in crowded buildings. I built (or sorta built - I am not a skilled handiman) a fractal antenna using the instructions posted here and on the linked website and took it over to a digital conversion victim's house. On his new digital TV in the downstairs kitchen it got all the stations his old rabbit ears pick up but like the rabbit ears it didn't get 7 and 9. On his old upstairs TV with a converter box I was able to get channel 9 (an improvement) but still no 7. The Post says the stations may have to boost their signals to improve the situation -- here's hoping they do.
Well, with my poor skills I think I may have blown the alignment. I found some brass rods at the hardware store that seemed about right but it was difficult to get a precise bend with them. The website calls for 18 gauge hookup wire. I think my rods may be more like 12 gauge. I may try another version with thinner wires.The fractal has to have very precise alignment with the Star of David shape. Exact 1" segments and very accurate 60 deg angles, or it will lose a lot of it's gain.
The beauty of this fractal is that it will replace the big contraptions like rabbit ears and the need for a huge roof antenna.
Sounds like the major issue is that the ABC and CBS people had several years to get this right and failed miserably.
Well, with my poor skills I think I may have blown the alignment. I found some brass rods at the hardware store that seemed about right but it was difficult to get a precise bend with them. The website calls for 18 gauge hookup wire. I think my rods may be more like 12 gauge. I may try another version with thinner wires.
.... . In DC, channels 7 and 9 (ABC and CBS) were broadcasting their digital signals on UHF channels prior to the switch.
....
After the switch, 7 and 9 moved their digital transmission down into the old VHF slots and they disappeared from view.
Sounds like the major issue is that the ABC and CBS people had several years to get this right and failed miserably.
In some cases, I agree -- those who had been broadcasting digitally on channels above 51 had to change. But there were a lot of stations broadcasting digitally on UHF channels 14-51 which didn't *have* to move, but did so anyway -- to VHF (usually channels 7-13). The reasons for changing are obvious; it takes at least 20x as much power to transmit UHF for the same coverage area. But this is still a conscious choice which requires them to perform work after the transition to get a decent signal.They could not move until the switch was complete, as others were in their spectrum until they moved. It's not their "fault". They were stuck - it happened to a few channels, others were "lucky" and have been simulcasting on their new turf for a long time. These stations did not have that luxury.
Did you tell the box to RESCAN?
Some stations moved their frequencies as part of the switch. They couldn't do it before, because they had to wait for others to free up the spectrum. IF they moved, you need to rescan to get them. Also, if they moved to a different part of the band, it's possible that the antenna isn't sensitive in that range, but rescan first - if that's the issue no amount of antenna tweaking will 'fix' it.
-ERD50
I believe the problem with the VHF signals is that the wavelengths are much bigger than UHF signals. I don't believe most small antenna designs will ever pickup the lower portion of the high VHF band (ch 7 & ch 9) with any strength. They're just physically too small to deliver much gain.
BTW, for those of you shopping for a new antenna because you lost ch 7 (seems to be the most common issue), remember that most of the reviews out there were posted before the cutover - so those glowing reviews you see are really only about UHF performance. Wait a little while before you see reviews on high VHF performance before buying anything (or buy a hi-VHF/UHF rated antenna).
Here is a good paper on fractals and right now I think I'm close to getting n=4 version for UHF, so standby. It will be about 1.5" square or so.
http://www.hep.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/examples/fractal_antenna.pdf
We are trying to use a programmable sewing machine and very fine copper wire, about 3 mil diameter.
Lots of problems with the VHF frequencies out there; so many of them are on temporary facilities with reduced power. One station (WHDH in Boston) had it so bad they had to petition the FCC for an emergency temporary authority to simulcast their programming on UHF channel 42 in addition to channel 7 until they can figure out how to improve the reception on channel 7.That sounds cool By the way, my new, slightly better built, fractal antenna works pretty good but still has problems with 7 and 9 unless it is up on the 2nd or 3rd floor in most Capitol Hill houses. Hopefully ABC and CBS will boost their signals soon.
Here is a good paper on fractals and right now I think I'm close to getting n=4 version for UHF, so standby. It will be about 1.5" square or so.
http://www.hep.princeton.edu/~mcdonald/examples/fractal_antenna.pdf
We are trying to use a programmable sewing machine and very fine copper wire, about 3 mil diameter.
I built the same antenna yesterday, it works great. I had some copper wire, so I used it instead of coathangers. For those who want the written plans instead of a video, they can be found here (and there's another video there, too.) I didn't put any reflectors on it--I don't need them.
I'm about 20 miles from the stations. Before I built this we were using a bowtie antenna. One channel was coming in weak (signal strength of 48 arbitrary units according to my DTV box) and we'd get pixelation sometimes. With the new rig in the same spot, everything comes in at 90+ signal strength. For those who need more signal strength, a reflector might do the trick.
This design excels at UHF frequencies. We're fortunate that all digital TV in Dayton is UHF. For the VHF frequencies, I might need a differnt setup (fractal, a big 'ol yagi, etc).