FusionHDTV Problem

[roger]

A friend gave me a FusionHDTV 7 RT Gold PCI card, and I placed it in
a PCI slot in my AMD MSI FM2-A85XA-G43 mobo W7 Ultimate system.

Device Manager shows:

Other Devices
Multimedia Controller
Multimedia Controller
All flagged yellow, with code 28 error.

I subscribe to DriverAgent, and so, downloaded drivers it said I
needed. Did nothing. Seemed to install but did not correct the
error. (The driver was VMX_5.00.800_W7_WLH.exe)

Anyone have any experience with this PCI card? Am I missing
something? I tried two different PCI slots (I only have two).

www.fusionHDTV.co.kr/Eng
is cited in the manual, but does not exist. Gives:
Not Found
The requested URL/Eng was not found on this server.

Anyone? Maybe the card is shot? Nothing ever seems easy any more.
Thanks
Big Fred

 

[John McGaw]

A friend gave me a FusionHDTV 7 RT Gold PCI card, and I placed it in
a PCI slot in my AMD MSI FM2-A85XA-G43 mobo W7 Ultimate system.

Device Manager shows:

Other Devices
Multimedia Controller
Multimedia Controller
All flagged yellow, with code 28 error.

I subscribe to DriverAgent, and so, downloaded drivers it said I
needed. Did nothing. Seemed to install but did not correct the
error. (The driver was VMX_5.00.800_W7_WLH.exe)

Anyone have any experience with this PCI card? Am I missing
something? I tried two different PCI slots (I only have two).

www.fusionHDTV.co.kr/Eng
is cited in the manual, but does not exist. Gives:
Not Found
The requested URL/Eng was not found on this server.

Anyone? Maybe the card is shot? Nothing ever seems easy any more.
Thanks
Big Fred

Try going to
http://www.mmnt.net/db/0/0/ftp.dvico.com/Products/FusionHDTV/Setup3.90/Autorun/English
and then traverse the directory tree upward until you get to something
useful -- like the full English install package. If that doesn't do it then
I don't know what else to try right off hand.

 

[Paul]

A friend gave me a FusionHDTV 7 RT Gold PCI card, and I placed it in
a PCI slot in my AMD MSI FM2-A85XA-G43 mobo W7 Ultimate system.

Device Manager shows:

Other Devices
Multimedia Controller
Multimedia Controller
All flagged yellow, with code 28 error.

I subscribe to DriverAgent, and so, downloaded drivers it said I
needed. Did nothing. Seemed to install but did not correct the
error. (The driver was VMX_5.00.800_W7_WLH.exe)

Anyone have any experience with this PCI card? Am I missing
something? I tried two different PCI slots (I only have two).

www.fusionHDTV.co.kr/Eng
is cited in the manual, but does not exist. Gives:
Not Found
The requested URL/Eng was not found on this server.

Anyone? Maybe the card is shot? Nothing ever seems easy any more.
Thanks
Big Fred

http://www.avsforum.com/t/977760/fusionhdtv7-rt-gold

Chipset Conexant CX2388X, S5H1411 demodulator
Tuner Xceive XC5000

I used translate.google.com to translate http://www.fusionhdtv.co.kr/
site into pseudo-English. And found this link.

ftp://fusionhdtv.kr/down/

ftp://fusionhdtv.kr/down/FusionHDTV3.91.96.zip

Download bandwidth is 1KB/sec or less - projected
download time 18 hours or so. Boo Hiss.

I have no idea what hardware that covers. It could
be for a non-MCE capture package for some of their
hardware. I might know, in 18 hours.

The site also alludes to a separation of the business
into pieces. The translation is poor enough, I can't
really be sure of anything.

Paul

 

[roger]

A friend gave me a FusionHDTV 7 RT Gold PCI card, and I placed it in
a PCI slot in my AMD MSI FM2-A85XA-G43 mobo W7 Ultimate system.

Device Manager shows:

Other Devices
Multimedia Controller
Multimedia Controller
All flagged yellow, with code 28 error.

I subscribe to DriverAgent, and so, downloaded drivers it said I
needed. Did nothing. Seemed to install but did not correct the
error. (The driver was VMX_5.00.800_W7_WLH.exe)

Anyone have any experience with this PCI card? Am I missing
something? I tried two different PCI slots (I only have two).

www.fusionHDTV.co.kr/Eng
is cited in the manual, but does not exist. Gives:
Not Found
The requested URL/Eng was not found on this server.

Anyone? Maybe the card is shot? Nothing ever seems easy any more.
Thanks
Big Fred

I tried this PCI card in another computer, with another version of W7
(Home Premium). It recognized the card and accepted installation of
the drivers I downloaded from DriverAgent. Only thing is - the
antenna I have doesn't fit the coax-like connection on the card. And
so I could find no TV stations.

Now I need an antenna. Looks to me that the connector on the card is
a male (with threads) and it seems to fit standard coax. I thought I
might try to buy an antenna to fit onto the card, but I fear getting
one that doesn't fit like the one I have.

Maybe I need to know how coax connectors are sized, so that I can
match things up.

Can someone advise me where I find and buy a swivel antenna with a
coax female connector that will fit my card?

Thanks

Big Fred

 

[Paul]

I tried this PCI card in another computer, with another version of W7
(Home Premium). It recognized the card and accepted installation of
the drivers I downloaded from DriverAgent. Only thing is - the
antenna I have doesn't fit the coax-like connection on the card. And
so I could find no TV stations.

Now I need an antenna. Looks to me that the connector on the card is
a male (with threads) and it seems to fit standard coax. I thought I
might try to buy an antenna to fit onto the card, but I fear getting
one that doesn't fit like the one I have.

Maybe I need to know how coax connectors are sized, so that I can
match things up.

Can someone advise me where I find and buy a swivel antenna with a
coax female connector that will fit my card?

Thanks

Big Fred

A Balun, with compression fit for the tuner, and screws for
the TV antenna (rabbit ears), is a pretty nice solution.

http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express...?ie=UTF8&qid=1393101736&sr=8-6&keywords=balun

That's a Balun, and contains a transformer for converting
from 300 ohm twin-lead antennas, to 75 ohm F-series connectors
on tuners and other things. Impedance conversion reduces
matching losses, where the antenna meets the tuner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_connector

F-series come two ways. The parts have threads, and you have
to screw on the cable or whatever you're fitting. The item on
Amazon, those used to come with TV sets, and the design is
one of my favorites. The ones with F-series screw fittings are
less preferred, because sometimes you can't get your fingers in
there to tighten them up. Even with a small wrench, it can be
difficult if the metalwork on the computer gets in the way. For
example, the tuner card in my current computer, it's pretty hard
to fit a coax cable wire onto it. But the above style of Balun,
with the compression fit male, makes it easy.

I see Radio Shack has the good one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062054

They also sell the second-best "female bullet" that will require
a length of F-series cable, or a male to male bullet to go with it.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062049

This is a male-to-male, gold plated. You could put this on the previous
screw-on style Balun, then screw the other end of this onto your tuner
plug. The previous Balun was likely intended for a length of wire,
as one of these kinda defeats the purpose of having a female on
the previous one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103578

That's just to give you some idea, how many "do-dads" that
exist at the TV store or at your local Radio Shack.

When you talk to the clerk at Radio Shack, they will run off
and grab a base-band RCA/Cinch 75 ohm cable. You'll know that
is the wrong one, because the center pin on those is "fat". The
F-series, the one the cable company uses, the central pin is
just the stiff wire inside the coax cable. So the central pin
is thin, on the one you want for your tuner.

Paul

 

[roger]

I have since determined to my surprise that the connector on the card
will not match up with coax. Its hole is much too small. There may
be an adapter though that I am missing and that maybe my friend did
not give me. He is thinking on that one. I will read and act on the
rest of your response and thanks once again. Since the card seems
to want to work on W7 Home Premium, it seems worth some effort on my
part.

Thank you


Big Fred.

 

[roger]

A Balun, with compression fit for the tuner, and screws for
the TV antenna (rabbit ears), is a pretty nice solution.

http://www.amazon.com/Parts-Express...?ie=UTF8&qid=1393101736&sr=8-6&keywords=balun

That's a Balun, and contains a transformer for converting
from 300 ohm twin-lead antennas, to 75 ohm F-series connectors
on tuners and other things. Impedance conversion reduces
matching losses, where the antenna meets the tuner.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F_connector

F-series come two ways. The parts have threads, and you have
to screw on the cable or whatever you're fitting. The item on
Amazon, those used to come with TV sets, and the design is
one of my favorites. The ones with F-series screw fittings are
less preferred, because sometimes you can't get your fingers in
there to tighten them up. Even with a small wrench, it can be
difficult if the metalwork on the computer gets in the way. For
example, the tuner card in my current computer, it's pretty hard
to fit a coax cable wire onto it. But the above style of Balun,
with the compression fit male, makes it easy.

I see Radio Shack has the good one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062054

They also sell the second-best "female bullet" that will require
a length of F-series cable, or a male to male bullet to go with it.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062049

This is a male-to-male, gold plated. You could put this on the previous
screw-on style Balun, then screw the other end of this onto your tuner
plug. The previous Balun was likely intended for a length of wire,
as one of these kinda defeats the purpose of having a female on
the previous one.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103578

That's just to give you some idea, how many "do-dads" that
exist at the TV store or at your local Radio Shack.

When you talk to the clerk at Radio Shack, they will run off
and grab a base-band RCA/Cinch 75 ohm cable. You'll know that
is the wrong one, because the center pin on those is "fat". The
F-series, the one the cable company uses, the central pin is
just the stiff wire inside the coax cable. So the central pin
is thin, on the one you want for your tuner.

Paul

My Radio Shack offered nothing like what you described. I looked
around and saw nothing. Maybe my local store is not a real Radio
Shack. It is small and in a mall.

Big Fred

 

[Paul]

My Radio Shack offered nothing like what you described. I looked
around and saw nothing. Maybe my local store is not a real Radio
Shack. It is small and in a mall.

Big Fred

You can see in the example here

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MsJttUZmL._SY355_.jpg

the center pin is thin. And that should match
the space available on the female connector
on your tuner.

Part of what you're supposed to get out of the links,
is pictures of what they look like. If you've owned
multiple analog TVs over the years, there might even be
a Balun in one of the boxes there.

On one of my small TVs, that's the intended connection
from the rabbit ears on top of the set, to the coax
on the back. It was done with the push-on style Balun.

*******

On the TV tuner here, you can see the TV and Radio inputs
on the left of the picture. Those connectors are threaded on
the outside, it's a female connector, and the hole in the
center of the connector is for a wire-based center pin.
A thin wire. The push-on Balun could be used on the two connectors
on the left (barrel of the Balun, sides over the threaded
section).

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/15-116-620-06.jpg

On the right of the picture, are baseband S-Video and audio
connectors. And those take the fat plug-in RCA/Cinch connectors.
The center pin is an actual pin, rather than just a piece of
wire.

Paul

 

[roger]

You can see in the example here

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41MsJttUZmL._SY355_.jpg

the center pin is thin. And that should match
the space available on the female connector
on your tuner.

Part of what you're supposed to get out of the links,
is pictures of what they look like. If you've owned
multiple analog TVs over the years, there might even be
a Balun in one of the boxes there.

On one of my small TVs, that's the intended connection
from the rabbit ears on top of the set, to the coax
on the back. It was done with the push-on style Balun.

*******

On the TV tuner here, you can see the TV and Radio inputs
on the left of the picture. Those connectors are threaded on
the outside, it's a female connector, and the hole in the
center of the connector is for a wire-based center pin.
A thin wire. The push-on Balun could be used on the two connectors
on the left (barrel of the Balun, sides over the threaded
section).

http://images10.newegg.com/NeweggImage/productimage/15-116-620-06.jpg

On the right of the picture, are baseband S-Video and audio
connectors. And those take the fat plug-in RCA/Cinch connectors.
The center pin is an actual pin, rather than just a piece of
wire.

Paul

I don't think I need an adapter to facilitate connecting my FusionHDTV
card to a 300ohm antenna. My antenna has male connector with a
center pin that is quite large, larger than the hole that is on the
female card connector. The coax connectors I have looked at have a
small center pin, much like the card. So, what I would need is an
adapter to enable my antenna to be connected to the card. Maybe an
unknown female (large hole-to antenna) to a coax male (small pin-to
card)?

Again, thanks for response

Big Fred

 

[Paul]

I don't think I need an adapter to facilitate connecting my FusionHDTV
card to a 300ohm antenna. My antenna has male connector with a
center pin that is quite large, larger than the hole that is on the
female card connector. The coax connectors I have looked at have a
small center pin, much like the card. So, what I would need is an
adapter to enable my antenna to be connected to the card. Maybe an
unknown female (large hole-to antenna) to a coax male (small pin-to
card)?

Again, thanks for response

Big Fred

OK, this one is female RCA/Cinch on the back.
And male F-Series on the front. And the center
pin is nickel plated, for a reliable connection.

http://www.homecontrols.com/Steren-RCA-Jack-to-F-Plug-Adapter-ST200045

There's adapters for just about everything, but not all of
these are at Radio Shack

http://www.hometech.com/hts_images/gc/gc-aff_1.jpg

The one on the left, is F-Series female to F-Series female.
The one in the center, is F-Series female to BNC male (twist to attach)
The one on the right, is F-Series female to RCA/Cinch male

And that one on the right, is the one you'd typically find at
Radio Shack. That one exists, so you can buy a 50 foot cable TV
cable at any store (my hardware store has them), then connect
a couple of those bullets from the right side of the picture,
to make an "RCA cable for video". Normally, RCA video cables
are relatively short (like the cable that comes with your TV
set or DVD player perhaps). By using cable TV wire, and a pair of
F-Series female to RCA/Cinch male, you end up with a video-rated
cable with RCA/Cinch on the ends.

The first link above, would be a less common adapter. And
it would take your RCA/Cinch male and make it suitable for
your tuner. I may have one of those around here somewhere,
but I can't think of where I got it. I have way more of the
F-Series female to RCA/Cinch male ones, around half a dozen
scattered about the place.

Paul

 

[roger]

OK, this one is female RCA/Cinch on the back.
And male F-Series on the front. And the center
pin is nickel plated, for a reliable connection.

http://www.homecontrols.com/Steren-RCA-Jack-to-F-Plug-Adapter-ST200045

There's adapters for just about everything, but not all of
these are at Radio Shack

http://www.hometech.com/hts_images/gc/gc-aff_1.jpg

The one on the left, is F-Series female to F-Series female.
The one in the center, is F-Series female to BNC male (twist to attach)
The one on the right, is F-Series female to RCA/Cinch male

And that one on the right, is the one you'd typically find at
Radio Shack. That one exists, so you can buy a 50 foot cable TV
cable at any store (my hardware store has them), then connect
a couple of those bullets from the right side of the picture,
to make an "RCA cable for video". Normally, RCA video cables
are relatively short (like the cable that comes with your TV
set or DVD player perhaps). By using cable TV wire, and a pair of
F-Series female to RCA/Cinch male, you end up with a video-rated
cable with RCA/Cinch on the ends.

Paul -
Isn't it my goal to be able connect my little antenna with its RCA
male (if that's what it is what with its large center pin) to the long
modified coax cable, thence to my FusionHDTV card with its female
stand coax (if that's what it is) with its little hole? If so, how
would your design work? If not, what should be my goal?

Sorry to be so dense.

Thanks

Big Fred

 

[Paul]

Paul -
Isn't it my goal to be able connect my little antenna with its RCA
male (if that's what it is what with its large center pin) to the long
modified coax cable, thence to my FusionHDTV card with its female
stand coax (if that's what it is) with its little hole? If so, how
would your design work? If not, what should be my goal?

Sorry to be so dense.

Thanks

Big Fred

Your goal is to connect the antenna.

You look at the antenna connector, and "decode" the specification
for the antenna by looking at it.

A poorly constructed antenna, will use the wrong connector, and
cause the user to select the wrong equipment to go with it.
For example, I have a T-shaped FM antenna, and I think it came
with the wrong connector on the end. If I had a T shaped FM
antenna with twin lead, I'd cut off whatever was on the end, strip
and clean the two wires, and screw them to a Balun. That
would do the 300 ohm to 75 ohm conversion (preserving as
much of the signal as possible).

Virtually any (unbalanced) wire shoved into the central pin on
the tuner will do something. But, you lose the ability to orient
the antenna in a useful way ("point it to the transmitter"). Some
of the commercial TV antennas, they have a 15 to 20 degree beamwidth,
and you can use the tight beam of the antenna, to avoid interference
sources which are off-axis.

So all of this faffing about, is to lend some order to the
randomness of single wire antennas. We want an antenna with
predictable properties. Even the rabbit ears, you can aim
it, and adjust the length of the ears, for the frequency of
interest.

For example, when I built my own antenna (one designed by
someone who lives in the same city as me), that antenna
has a tight beamwidth, and since transmitters are on
three different compass points here, I can't pick up all
the stations at once without rotating the antenna. That's not
very practical. But, the high gain of the antenna, is supposed
to help with distant stations (like the station downtown here,
with a puny 3kW transmitter). Using the Balun and proper hookup,
saves a couple dB on losses, so the 15dB I paid good money for,
is not degraded. Making your own antenna is not cheap, unless
you have a discount hardware store nearby. My antenna used
50 feet of 1/4" copper tubing, unrolled and straighted into
elements. The guy who designed it, was a software guy, and he
wrote an optimizer for his design. It ran on his computer
for a solid week, adjusting element lengths, until it had
a relatively flat frequency response.

His antenna design, has the performance of this one, only
this one has phase reversals at VHF frequencies. It means
this antenna cannot pick up digital TV on a couple of the
low channels (between 7 and 13). It's not clear, why our
Department Of Communications continues to support VHF. All
the digital channels could have been assigned in UHF frequencies,
which would have simplified antenna designs. Someone wanting
OTA TV here, they need an antenna covering VHF and UHF, and
that makes the antenna twice as complicated. Some amateur
antenna designers analysed this with 4NEC2, to figure out
what happens at VHF frequencies. At a couple frequencies,
the lobes of the antenna point backwards.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/prod...ine&category=Outdoor+Antennas&product=1519124

You can see that antenna has its own Balun in the center
of the antenna. You can't see the connector on the end, but
there might be an F-series on the end, suited for direct
connection to your tuner. In practice, a length of cable
TV wire, and a female-to-female F-series will likely
be needed, to wire it up.

The same antenna is sold on this site, as a kit. In this case,
it's intended for mast mounting. The preamp in the picture,
compensates for loss in the feed cable, when it runs a hundred
feet to your room. If you install on a mast, it has to be
secure, as well as take into account grounding requirements
if the mast is hit by lightning. It's just easier with
that antenna, to avoid the preamp and mast altogether,
and just use it in the house, next to a window. Even
if you lose 6dB in the process. It's just safer.

http://angelelectronics.ca/shop/ota/outdoor-antennas/65mi-105km-over/channel-master-cm4228-combo

In the city, you don't need that, because the stations
are so strong. In that case, the rabbit ears will pick
up all the stations that may be available. When I
started my antenna project, it was intended for the
cottage. Which is a "fringe" installation, and needs
the gain. All the stations within range of the cottage,
sit on the same antenna tower (on a hill many miles away),
and so the antenna will never need to be rotated.

Paul

 

[roger]

Your goal is to connect the antenna.

You look at the antenna connector, and "decode" the specification
for the antenna by looking at it.

A poorly constructed antenna, will use the wrong connector, and
cause the user to select the wrong equipment to go with it.
For example, I have a T-shaped FM antenna, and I think it came
with the wrong connector on the end. If I had a T shaped FM
antenna with twin lead, I'd cut off whatever was on the end, strip
and clean the two wires, and screw them to a Balun. That
would do the 300 ohm to 75 ohm conversion (preserving as
much of the signal as possible).

Virtually any (unbalanced) wire shoved into the central pin on
the tuner will do something. But, you lose the ability to orient
the antenna in a useful way ("point it to the transmitter"). Some
of the commercial TV antennas, they have a 15 to 20 degree beamwidth,
and you can use the tight beam of the antenna, to avoid interference
sources which are off-axis.

So all of this faffing about, is to lend some order to the
randomness of single wire antennas. We want an antenna with
predictable properties. Even the rabbit ears, you can aim
it, and adjust the length of the ears, for the frequency of
interest.

For example, when I built my own antenna (one designed by
someone who lives in the same city as me), that antenna
has a tight beamwidth, and since transmitters are on
three different compass points here, I can't pick up all
the stations at once without rotating the antenna. That's not
very practical. But, the high gain of the antenna, is supposed
to help with distant stations (like the station downtown here,
with a puny 3kW transmitter). Using the Balun and proper hookup,
saves a couple dB on losses, so the 15dB I paid good money for,
is not degraded. Making your own antenna is not cheap, unless
you have a discount hardware store nearby. My antenna used
50 feet of 1/4" copper tubing, unrolled and straighted into
elements. The guy who designed it, was a software guy, and he
wrote an optimizer for his design. It ran on his computer
for a solid week, adjusting element lengths, until it had
a relatively flat frequency response.

His antenna design, has the performance of this one, only
this one has phase reversals at VHF frequencies. It means
this antenna cannot pick up digital TV on a couple of the
low channels (between 7 and 13). It's not clear, why our
Department Of Communications continues to support VHF. All
the digital channels could have been assigned in UHF frequencies,
which would have simplified antenna designs. Someone wanting
OTA TV here, they need an antenna covering VHF and UHF, and
that makes the antenna twice as complicated. Some amateur
antenna designers analysed this with 4NEC2, to figure out
what happens at VHF frequencies. At a couple frequencies,
the lobes of the antenna point backwards.

http://www.thesource.ca/estore/prod...ine&category=Outdoor+Antennas&product=1519124

You can see that antenna has its own Balun in the center
of the antenna. You can't see the connector on the end, but
there might be an F-series on the end, suited for direct
connection to your tuner. In practice, a length of cable
TV wire, and a female-to-female F-series will likely
be needed, to wire it up.

The same antenna is sold on this site, as a kit. In this case,
it's intended for mast mounting. The preamp in the picture,
compensates for loss in the feed cable, when it runs a hundred
feet to your room. If you install on a mast, it has to be
secure, as well as take into account grounding requirements
if the mast is hit by lightning. It's just easier with
that antenna, to avoid the preamp and mast altogether,
and just use it in the house, next to a window. Even
if you lose 6dB in the process. It's just safer.

http://angelelectronics.ca/shop/ota/outdoor-antennas/65mi-105km-over/channel-master-cm4228-combo

In the city, you don't need that, because the stations
are so strong. In that case, the rabbit ears will pick
up all the stations that may be available. When I
started my antenna project, it was intended for the
cottage. Which is a "fringe" installation, and needs
the gain. All the stations within range of the cottage,
sit on the same antenna tower (on a hill many miles away),
and so the antenna will never need to be rotated.

Paul

Paul - I don't know what to say. I shud have looked closer.
The male connector on the antenna looks like it shud be RCA, but in
fact although it is much bigger than coax, it is much smaller than
RCA. So, now I have no idea what it is. Looks to be half RCA
(?mini?).

The antenna is labeled 'Encore'.

Thank you for your time.
Big Fred

 

[Paul]

Paul - I don't know what to say. I shud have looked closer.
The male connector on the antenna looks like it shud be RCA, but in
fact although it is much bigger than coax, it is much smaller than
RCA. So, now I have no idea what it is. Looks to be half RCA
(?mini?).

The antenna is labeled 'Encore'.

Thank you for your time.
Big Fred

OK, I know what's going on.

You've grabbed a Wifi antenna, and are making a TV antenna
out of it ?

I'm guessing you're looking at a reverse-SMA.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverse_SMA#Reverse_polarity_SMA

A Wifi antenna does not cover the same frequencies as TV does.
Wifi is 2.4GHz or 5GHz. TV includes 470MHz to 698Mhz as well as...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra_high_frequency

174-216 MHz. Those are rough limits for Digital OTA TV. Some
of the UHF frequencies were lopped off the top of the band,
so the UHF part of the antenna doesn't have to go up as high
in frequency as it used to. The Wifi antenna is at
three or four times the frequency, and not suited to doing TV.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Very_high_frequency

You should have plenty of rabbit ears around. And look
for a Balun to go with it. At least one of my small
tube TVs came with a Balun in the box. And occasionally
I still switch to rabbit ears, if my other antenna isn't
doing that well.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ars_dipole_antenna_with_UHF_loop_20090204.jpg

This TV antenna is 2 feet by 3 feet, and the square wire
"cake racks" in the back function as a reflector. That's probably
better than one of those smaller flat panel antennas (foil antenna)
with built-in amplifier. This one has a gain of 10dBi and will
be directional. This is a 4 bay antenna. There is an 8 bay
version of this, which is bigger, higher gain, and more
directional (harder to point).

http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM-4221HD-HDTV-Antenna/dp/B000FVTPX2

You can save some money with a 2 bay antenna. This would be
for city reception, and would be less directional (wider
reception lobe).

http://www.amazon.com/Channel-Master-CM-4220HD-HDTV-Antenna/dp/B000XSAW9S

When I watch TV on my computer tuner card now, I'm using the following
2-bay antenna. It occasionally needs to be rotated for best
results. That might be due to multipath. And I could probably
do with a touch more gain. The antenna I built though, is huge,
and that's why the home-made antenna is packed in a crate and
I'm using this This has cute rubber feet on the bottom,
so it can sit on a table. It would be smaller than the CM-4220HD,
at about 50% of the size. You stick a Balun on this one, as a Balun
is not build in.

http://www.dtvusaforum.com/members/...est-channel-here-54-miles-east-south-east.jpg

Paul

 

[roger]

OK, I know what's going on.

You've grabbed a Wifi antenna, and are making a TV antenna
out of it ?

My friend gave me the antenna with the FusionHDTV card. I assumed
they went together and that he had used the pairing sometime in the
past. Not the case as it turns out. I think he just grabbed the
Fusion and the antenna, and assumed they paired up.

I have no analog broadcasting here in the boonies. So I would need a
digital antenna at least.

I have Verizon FIOS now, and am fed up with their high and
ever-increasing costs. Eventually I thought I would try to mount a
decent digital antenna in my garage attic to connect to my TVs. I
was happy with that setup at a campground near to Baltimore, where
there was no cabling, and I used a large antenna.

I'll study the rest of your info next.

Thanks

Big Fred

 

[Paul]

My friend gave me the antenna with the FusionHDTV card. I assumed
they went together and that he had used the pairing sometime in the
past. Not the case as it turns out. I think he just grabbed the
Fusion and the antenna, and assumed they paired up.

I have no analog broadcasting here in the boonies. So I would need a
digital antenna at least.

I have Verizon FIOS now, and am fed up with their high and
ever-increasing costs. Eventually I thought I would try to mount a
decent digital antenna in my garage attic to connect to my TVs. I
was happy with that setup at a campground near to Baltimore, where
there was no cabling, and I used a large antenna.

I'll study the rest of your info next.

Thanks

Big Fred

First of all, there is no difference between a "digital" antenna
and an "analog" antenna. The old TV went up to maybe 800MHz UHF,
whereas the new digital definition stops at 700MHz UHF. But the antenna
in either case, covers roughly the same frequencies and is as
effective. For example, they're still selling antennas that
go up to the 800MHz range, for usage with digital OTA TV.
(They didn't re-design all the antennas after the transition,
and there are still ones optimized for analog.) You can re-use
an old antenna if you want. It's no different.

As someone new to OTA reception, you need to find a coverage
map. For example, in Canada, digital OTA coverage is now
poor, compared to analog coverage. Back in the NTSC analog
TV days, we had 300,000 watt transmitters, that broadcast
CBC practically everywhere. The digital transition led to "cheapness".
The coverage map now is poor. And one company here, as part of a
mergers and acquisitions thing, has had to "give back to the
community" by offering satellite service to rural users. That
consists of only allowing the equivalent of OTA stations. So
a user gets a free satellite dish, no monthly fee, and perhaps
five stations max. That allows a rural user to get the
functional equivalent of OTA TV, when they're out of
transmitter range. That program is still bringing new
users online, as we speak (they still have some satellite
dishes left).

With a coverage map in hand, the idea is, that gives you some
idea how far away the transmitter is. Antennas at the Radio
Shack, may be given rough ratings, as to whether they're intended
for city usage, or for fringe rural reception. The eight bay
antenna in the catalog I was looking at, is good for 35 to 50
miles or so. Generally, the higher the antenna gain, the more
directional it becomes. If you have "transmitters on all sides
of you" and 35 to 50 miles away, then you'd need a rotator to
turn the antenna to point at each transmission tower. One of
my neighbors has a rooftop antenna (Yagi) and a rotator. The rotator
seems to stay pointed in one direction, for some reason.

*******

This is an example of broadcaster-provided information. The
blue circles are digital coverage, significant poorer than the
black circles and the old analog coverage (no longer available).
The black circles are turned off. I picked this map, to show
how crappy things can be. The US is probably better.

http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/_files/cbcrc/documents/dtv-maps/tn-0024-tve-patl.pdf

( http://www.cbc.radio-canada.ca/en/explore/strategies/dtv/coverage-maps/ )

Sometimes, the government provides that information as well. I think
my government contribution, is a channel list (lat/long and power
level). Which is still good for something, if you had no other
information sources. That's how I found out, that one of my old
stations, is now using a 3 kilowatt transmitter (weak).

For the end-users, there is tvfool. It estimates signal strength,
and the colored rings tell you whether a cheap or a premium antenna
will be required. The more elevated your house is, the better
the reception could be.

http://www.tvfool.com

There are actually a couple sites, as discussed here.

http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hdtv-info-reception/63036-antennaweb-vs-tvfool.html

In this example image selected at random, there are stations
in the "green rings", suitable for a lower cost antenna. The
antenna may need to be rotated in one of two directions, as
a single antenna isn't likely to get all of them without
repositioning. If you lived here, you could try rabbit ears
for the things in the green rings perhaps.

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id=46ae5b5102eaf4

"How to read the results"

https://www.tvfool.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=57#how_to_read

In this rural example, the antenna will be pointed to the left.
The strongest station "3" is in the yellow rings. So a slightly
better antenna will be needed to get "3". And to get the ones
on the same axis, but weaker, will require progressively better
antennas. Maybe 3,5,8 are practical in that example. The antenna
can stay pointed to the left, as the stuff on the right hand side of
the diagram, isn't worth chasing. It turns out in fact, that
in this particular case, two stations could be received with nothing
more than rabbit ears. That's because of the elevation, and also
the physical features of the site. The house is probably fifty feet
above some surrounding obstructions. A house at the bottom
of the hill, could have significantly worse results.

http://i60.tinypic.com/2h6eqs8.gif

OTA TV reception varies with time of year. So winter coverage
is different than summer coverage. And even in the city here, I
have stations that only appear "once in a blue moon". The digital
method, has a "fast drop-off". That means, a 2dB drop in signal,
can take you from flawless, to full of random colored blocks on
the screen. This is unlike analog TV, where the picture could
be filled with snow under fringe conditions, but not lose sync.
Analog TV is much more forgiving, on signal level, and the
degradation with distance is more gradual. (I could still watch
the News at the cottage, with analog reception, but watching a
movie would be unbearable.) With digital TV, once you hit "the cliff",
the station disappears without too much trouble.

Have fun,
Paul