Amazed at DTV / HDTV reception
Richard Kruse
that's not the real reason for this post...
Real reason is, I just wanted to report that I am astonished by the great DTV /
HDTV OTA reception I get, just using a very modest indoor antenna. (My main
source is Dish-Network satellite; I really wasn't expecting much in the way of OTA.)
(The Mitsi has an ATSC tuner. Tunes both analog and digital OTA.)
I'm in central Kansas, zip 67443. If you want, you can look up the zip/station
details on the AntennaWeb website. Briefly, I'm outside of any urban area, with
2 groups of sort-of-nearby digital stations, one at about 25 miles and the 2nd
at about 40-45 miles.
Here's the deal: With just my modest indoor antenna (rabbit ears with a little
UHF "loop"), I get perfectly clear & consistent DTV / HDTV OTA reception on
*all* of the 25-mile and *all* of the 40-45-mile stations!
Now granted, this is flat Kansas, but I'm not at an especially high point, and
all of these transmitters are well beyond line-of-sight.
So, of course YMMV, but don't believe everything you hear about needing a super
antenna for moderate distance DTV / HDTV...
--
==Richard Kruse== correct email: r k r u s e a t m t e l c o d o t n e t
G-squared
Welcome to the 'club' and enjoy. Next item is the HD recorder(s)
whether you use commercial (TiVo and such) or PC based. I have 2 PC
(Win XP) based running right now for Grey's and CSI. The 3rd machine
goes together this weekend. Keeps me out of trouble. Wes will clue you
in on the PC based Linux systems.
GG
Wes Newell
> Welcome to the 'club' and enjoy. Next item is the HD recorder(s)
> whether you use commercial (TiVo and such) or PC based. I have 2 PC
> (Win XP) based running right now for Grey's and CSI. The 3rd machine
> goes together this weekend. Keeps me out of trouble. Wes will clue you
> in on the PC based Linux systems.
Am I understanding right that you have a PC for each tuner? Why not put
them all in one machine?
--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
http://mysettopbox.tv/knoppmyth.html Usenet alt.video.ptv.mythtv
My server http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
HD Tivo S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
G-squared
> On Thu, 08 Feb 2007 21:29:48 -0800, G-squared wrote:
> > Welcome to the 'club' and enjoy. Next item is the HD recorder(s)
> > whether you use commercial (TiVo and such) or PC based. I have 2
PC
> > (Win XP) based running right now for Grey's and CSI. The 3rd
machine
> > goes together this weekend. Keeps me out of trouble. Wes will
clue you
> > in on the PC based Linux systems.
>
> Am I understanding right that you have a PC for each tuner? Why
not put
> them all in one machine?
>
You understand correctly. I tried Sage TV and BeyondTV, both of which
claim to handle multiple tuners. Didn't work worth a @#$#% with one
tuner and didn't work at all with 2. I tried 3 versions of Knoppmyth
which also went toes up so I said What the Hey, the other machines are
often on anyway during TV record times (8-11P) and the network cable
allows playing out of a remote machine while that machine is recording
something else. It works well enough for now and I'm happy. All 3
tuners are HDTV Wonders, first in Nov '04 for $180, second 2 summer
'06 from eBay, both together $140. 2 machines are Athlon 3200XP and
the 3rd is Athlon 3000XP, some stuff from eBay and the rest from
Fry's. No major outlays and the prices are scattered across 3 years.
When there's a good sale, I pick up more RAM or a larger disk drive.
GG
Wes Newell
> You understand correctly. I tried Sage TV and BeyondTV, both of which
> claim to handle multiple tuners. Didn't work worth a @#$#% with one
> tuner and didn't work at all with 2. I tried 3 versions of Knoppmyth
> which also went toes up so I said What the Hey, the other machines are
> often on anyway during TV record times (8-11P) and the network cable
> allows playing out of a remote machine while that machine is recording
> something else. It works well enough for now and I'm happy. All 3
> tuners are HDTV Wonders, first in Nov '04 for $180, second 2 summer
> '06 from eBay, both together $140. 2 machines are Athlon 3200XP and
> the 3rd is Athlon 3000XP, some stuff from eBay and the rest from
> Fry's. No major outlays and the prices are scattered across 3 years.
> When there's a good sale, I pick up more RAM or a larger disk drive.
>
> GG
If you decide to try again this might help.
http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATI_HDTV_Wonder
I know they weren't supported at all earlier. Should work with Knoppmyth
R5E50. You'll have to manually copy the firmware file still I think.
To have all the tuners in the same system just makes things so much
easier.
Checking the changelog for Knoppmyth shows it using the 2.6.18-chw-13
kernel. Autodetection of the Wonder cards were added in 2.6.18.1,
so I'm not sure if it will be autodetected either. that just means you
have to add the modprobe for the modules to the startup.
G-squared
> If you decide to try again this might help.
>
> http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/index.php/ATI_HDTV_Wonder
>
> I know they weren't supported at all earlier. Should work with
Knoppmyth
> R5E50. You'll have to manually copy the firmware file still I
think.
>
> To have all the tuners in the same system just makes things so much
> easier.
>
> Checking the changelog for Knoppmyth shows it using the 2.6.18-
chw-13
> kernel. Autodetection of the Wonder cards were added in 2.6.18.1,
> so I'm not sure if it will be autodetected either. that just means
you
> have to add the modprobe for the modules to the startup.
>
Today's Fry's ad has a 400 GB SATA drive for $100. When 500 gig gets
to $100, I'll try again. By then Myth might be a little better yet.
I'm assuming this will happen around Memorial Day.
GG
dan
HD tuner cards are:
Dvico Fusion 5 Lite $99
Kworld ATSC-110 $68
ATI HDTV Wonder $?? I would go with Dvico all the way...
I also use the ATI HDTV Wonder analog tuner when necessary.
I have about 2300 GB of storage (2.3 Terabytes), i.e. 7 Hard Drives,
consisting of 3 IDE and 4 SATA.
All of the above works GREAT! I highly recommend Snapstream Beyond TV.
I also have Beyond TV Link on 3 other PC's, but it does take a bit of
CPU to accomplish this magic. I love the fact that Beyond TV can mark
commercials and squeeze a 2.5 hour movie (in HD format) to 2 GB without
noticable problem.
All of the above works with OTA HDTV, and it is all FREE!
Bottom line, G-Squared, it might be you. :)
dan
G-squared wrote:
what he wrote
Wes Newell
> I have an Athlon X2 4600+ with 3 tuners running Beyond TV 4.6 beta. The
> HD tuner cards are:
> Dvico Fusion 5 Lite $99
> Kworld ATSC-110 $68
> ATI HDTV Wonder $?? I would go with Dvico all the way...
>
> I also use the ATI HDTV Wonder analog tuner when necessary.
>
> I have about 2300 GB of storage (2.3 Terabytes), i.e. 7 Hard Drives,
> consisting of 3 IDE and 4 SATA.
>
> All of the above works GREAT! I highly recommend Snapstream Beyond TV.
> I also have Beyond TV Link on 3 other PC's, but it does take a bit of
> CPU to accomplish this magic. I love the fact that Beyond TV can mark
> commercials and squeeze a 2.5 hour movie (in HD format) to 2 GB without
> noticable problem.
>
> All of the above works with OTA HDTV, and it is all FREE!
>
I'd like to know where you get the OS and beyond tv software for free
(legally).
dan
> I'd like to know where you get the OS and beyond tv software for free
> (legally).
>
Sorry, I meant the OTA TV is free. FYI, I own 4 legal copies of Windows
XP and paid for Beyond TV and the 3 pack of Beyond TV Link. Worth every
penny.
dan
Wes Newell
To you maybe.:-)
Linux OS=free of money or viruses. MythTV=free. Total software cost = $0.
Windows XP=$100. Beyond TV4 w/DVD plugin $100. Link sw x 2 $60. Don't know
if you need more than that, but that's $260 already just for software. I
can build a complete dual HDTV tuner MythTV system for that.
G-squared
> On Sat, 10 Feb 2007 15:06:13 +0000, dan wrote:
> > Wes Newell wrote:
> >> I'd like to know where you get the OS and beyond tv software for
free
> >> (legally).
>
> > Sorry, I meant the OTA TV is free. FYI, I own 4 legal copies of
Windows
> > XP and paid for Beyond TV and the 3 pack of Beyond TV Link.
Worth every
> > penny.
>
> To you maybe.:-)
>
> Linux OS=free of money or viruses. MythTV=free. Total software cost
= $0.
>
> Windows XP=$100. Beyond TV4 w/DVD plugin $100. Link sw x 2 $60.
Don't know
> if you need more than that, but that's $260 already just for
software. I
> can build a complete dual HDTV tuner MythTV system for that.
>
Hey Wes, you're just showing off being frugal, an admirable trait.
The man is happy. How many folks can make that claim?
GG
Wes Newell
> I
> > can build a complete dual HDTV tuner MythTV system for that.
> >
>
> Hey Wes, you're just showing off being frugal, an admirable trait.
> The man is happy. How many folks can make that claim?
>
> GG
No, just trying to educate the general public. Most people don't know just
how cheap some of this stuff can be, or even that they have an option.
Roger
<w.ne...@TAKEOUTverizon.net> wrote:
>On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 12:44:58 -0800, G-squared wrote:
>
>> I
>> > can build a complete dual HDTV tuner MythTV system for that.
>> >
>>
>> Hey Wes, you're just showing off being frugal, an admirable trait.
>> The man is happy. How many folks can make that claim?
>>
>> GG
>
>No, just trying to educate the general public. Most people don't know just
>how cheap some of this stuff can be, or even that they have an option.
And if you are a doityourselfer I see older dual core Pentiums with
motherboards for about $100 (give or take about $10 or so)
AMD stuff is comparable although the best deals seem to be on the
Pentium D. Not state of the art any longer, but probably more than
most people would use.
Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com