[mythtv] HDTV Reception (was: DVB Driver for the pcHDTV HD-3000)

[Brad Templeton]

On Thu, Feb 03, 2005 at 07:08:07AM -0500, Cory Papenfuss wrote:
> >For HDTV you usually want a UHF Log Periodic. These are much smaller
> >than the traditional VHF antennas, i.e. shorter rods, closer spacing.
> 
> 	So HDTV stations are usually put on UHF then?  Good to know.  It's 
> actually not that difficult to make a log-periodic antenna for UHF since 
> the sizes are good.  Not so big as VHF, but not so tiny as 802.11, say. 
> I've made a number of them myself and they work great.... check out the 
> AARL handbook for a HOWTO for anyone interested.

HDTV stations are commonly on UHF, but if there were spare VHF channels
in the market, sometimes stations grabbed them.   In this market there
is only one (Channel 11 grabbed channel 12 for DTV.)

Hoever, the bad news is that the stations all have 2 channels now, their
original (often VHF) and their digital (often UHF).   Someday "real soon
now" (it was supposed to be 2006 and congress is trying as we speak to
enforce that) the stations have to give up one of them.

They can either give up the analog and switch permanently to some new
UHF digital (pretending to use their old number in the channel ID as they
do.) or they can switch their old one (the vhf) to digital and drop the
new one they got.

Expect some of both, and this is still at least a year away, but you
probably will eventually need VHF.  I decided to put up another antenna
when that happens, as I might be on QAM by then.

Since channel 12 is high enough, and it's close, my UHF yagi manages to
tune it anyway.