[mythtv-users] Hardware questions

[Krzysztof Adamski]

On Wed, 2008-22-10 at 17:34 -0400, R. G. Newbury wrote:
> Krzysztof Adamski wrote:
> > On Wed, 2008-22-10 at 15:22 -0400, R. G. Newbury wrote:
> >> Bobby Gill wrote:
> >>> Okay, brace yourselves for the ultimate noobness.. but I've never used/had
> >>> an antenna for TV--  Is the antenna all that's needed to get HD signals? How
> >>> is it setup (in the simplest terms)? Is it used along with a subscription of
> >>> some sort with a provider (bell, rogers. etc.) ?? Like from the start.. say
> >>> I buy the channel master 4221.. what exactly am I doing with it to get from
> >>> A-Z ?
> >>>
> >>> I just purchased an HVR-1600 from best buy so I can test it with my parents'
> >>> Rogers digital box (30 days to return so I can at least try the setup out
> >>> and see what it would be like).
> >>>
> >>> Thanks fellas
> >>> Bob
> >> If you are going to put up an antenna, get the 4228 instead of the 4221. 
> > 
> > I would disagree about getting the 4228 instead of the 4221. The 4228
> > has a longer range 60 miles versus 45 miles for the 4221, but the 4221
> > has a 45 degree beam width versus 15 degrees for the 4228. This would be
> > the difference for him getting all stations with one antenna versus
> > having to have 2 antennas.
> > 
> > Of course the only way to know for sure is to try first, or talking to
> > an expert, good luck finding one.
> 
>  From where I am to Grand Island is about 42 nautical miles. Its about 
> 54 nm to the furthest Buffalo network stations. You really DO need the 
> collecting area of the larger antenna. My signals are not always good. I 
> do get artifacts in the recording. And do you think you would really 
> complain that your antenna is 'too good' when its only $25-$30 more than 
> the small one?
> 
> The beam width is irrelevant unless the OP happens to be in the correct 
> position, that the CN tower and Grand Island are in line or nearly so. 
> We are just too far away for small antennas to work. I'm not even sure 
> that a bigger yagi would not be better than the 4228....But I got the 
> 4228 and I am satisfied with its performance.
> 
> Fact is that most people in the GTA really need 2 antennas to receive 
> strong signals from the 2 main broadcast locations,because those 
> locations are so far apart geographically.
> (doing that correctly is another problem...)

I'm one of those in GTA where one antenna is enough, also the OP has a
similar case, he showed graphs from tvfool:

http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=antennanewhousehf5.png