TV antenna

Dan Johnson · May 21, 2009

Alice...

I have a Boatenna and it is only a minor problem to store in the aft cabin when not in use. Quite a few others in my marina use the Shakespeare powered "flying saucer" at their masthead to pull in signals, but I can't vouch for its effectiveness, especially in a rural area such as yours. The one die-hard sports fan uses a DishNetwork dish clamped to a piling off his stern so as not to miss the action.

With the digital conversion about to drop on us, I would get confirmation that what you buy will acquire the digital signals to be broadcast in your neck of the woods.

BLIGHT · May 21, 2009

We have used the Boatenna for about 4 years and have also found it a pain to store. So this year with a new HDTV I tried a GE Futura Antenna #24769 and have had good results. You should note that the Futura antenna is a powered antenna and uses RG-6 or RG-59 cable and with a little planning you can rig a sling and hoist it as you do with the Boatenna. It can obtained at your local Home Depot store for about $56.00 in case you want to give it try. It is only about 7" x 4" x 2" so storing it not a problem in fact it will take less room then the 50' of RG cable used if you want to hoist it.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/wcs...3&productId=100546071&N=10000003+90401+500697

Chuckbear · May 21, 2009

Alice, You only need an antenna that will receive UHF and VHF signals, it does not have to be anything special. Most digital broadcasts including HD are over the UHF bands, however, if you plan to move around, there will still be some broadcast over VHF so it is best to have an antenna that receives both. Do not fall for any marketing hype about digital or HD antennas, there is no such thing. There are good and better antennas so if you are some distance from the towers get a better antenna. We use a Shakespeare marine antenna that is 20 feet off the water and receive digital programming from 70 miles away. Hope this helps, Chuck

sailormanbigd · May 21, 2009

hd antenae

just wonderring if you need the HD converter box to recieve HD with antenae?

Tim C350 April IV · May 21, 2009

Sailormanbigd - the only reason a person needs a converter box is if they do not have a digital TV (note that I didn't mention HD - HD is just "souped up" digital). If you bought a flat screen TV in about the last 5 years, it receives digital without a problem. If you have an older, "analog" TV, you need a converter box.

Good Luck!
Tim Brogan
April IV C350 #68
Seattle

Chuckbear · May 21, 2009

Tim, That may or may not be true. For a long time flat screen LCD TVs were not all digital. The TV needs to have a built in digital tuner, many known as ATSC and lots were sold as "digital ready" which meant they did not have a digital tuner built in. If your set is a couple of years or older it may not be digital. Chuck

Benny · May 21, 2009

An omnidirectional antenna permanently installed up the mast will work as well as any with no storage problems. Oh, one word of warning, when you store the boat for the winter remove the TV and take it home. The liquid dispaly screens have been known to fail in sustained temperatures under 40 degrees. Either that or keep a heater in the cabin.

Dan Johnson · May 22, 2009

Chuck's right!

I have two three year old small flat screen LCD TV's that do not have a digital tuner. One sits on my home office desk corner and is hooked to cable, which does the conversion for it.

The other is on my boat. When not at a marina with cable connection I have to use my Boatenna to pull in broadcast signals. Because of the conversion coming, a Radio Shack obtained converter box that passes analog signals will be doing the conversion for me.

I gotta look into Blight's GE antenna as I converted the Boatenna to RG-59 cable some time ago. Smaller would be nicer...

Joseph Shirley · May 22, 2009

Keep your investment to a minimum until after the switch to digital transmission from the towers. Digital from satellites is fine right now but digital from a tower is not as good as analog. Both are line of sight but analog transmission bends around objects and down into valleys more than digital transmission does. Some analog antennas will not be able to receive decent digital signals depending on your location and after the switch is made. I expect that many new marine digital antennas will be coming on the market soon, so before you invest too much, wait until some qualified publication tests and reports on them.

Good luck

Joe S

Chuckbear · May 22, 2009

Joseph Shirley said:
Keep your investment to a minimum until after the switch to digital transmission from the towers. Digital from satellites is fine right now but digital from a tower is not as good as analog. Both are line of sight but analog transmission bends around objects and down into valleys more than digital transmission does. Some analog antennas will not be able to receive decent digital signals depending on your location and after the switch is made. I expect that many new marine digital antennas will be coming on the market soon, so before you invest too much, wait until some qualified publication tests and reports on them.

Good luck

Joe S

I hate to keep repeating this but there are NO analog and NO digital antennas. An antenna receives either UHF or VHF or both. To receive the digital signals to be broadcast you will need an antenna that at least receives UHF and preferably one the receives both UHF and VHF since some markets will be broadcasting digital on VHF. If an antennas says "digital" or "HD" it is simply a marketing ploy. Your current antennas, if they receive UHF, and they probably do, will not need to be replaced now or in the foreseeable future. You will need a TV with a built in digital receiver or a converter box if you TV is analog for over the air reception. Cable boxes and satellite are not affected. BTW, As most who now receive digital broadcast know the picture quality and sound are a hundred times better than what we had in the past. Some folks in extreme fringe areas will loose the signal but to say the new system is less than the old has not done their homework. Chuck

Bob Poff · May 22, 2009

One thing to consider is if you're buying a new antenna, I would lean toward an active antenna (one with a built in preamp).

While Chuckbear is completely correct about there being no such thing as a "digital antenna". RF is RF. But you may need some extra gain.

I'm not sure what they're doing to other stations, but when we move from analog to digital on CH 8 (VHF HIGH) the FCC in it's infinite wisdom has reduced our power from 100+ KW ERP in analog to about 7.5 KW ERP in digital. So you may not get the coverage that you're used to.

Another thing with DTV is the "cliff effect". In analog TV if the signal is weak, you get a noisey but maybe watchable picture. In DTV, you go from good (maybe a bit of pixeliation) to nothing.

Chuckbear · May 22, 2009

Bob, I agree 100% and that is why I stated earlier that if someone is in a fringe area they will need a better quality antenna and as you said with the ability to boost the gain. We have a signal booster built in to our antenna and we receive signals from a tower 70 miles away. With digital it is all or nothing. But folks should not fall into the trap of spending extra money for a "digital" antenna. They should spend it on a quality antenna with a signal booster "if needed". If you are 5 or 10 miles from the broadcast tower a pair of rabbit ears will get you digital HD if your TV is capable of receiving it. Chuck

chuckwayne · May 22, 2009

Right on, Chuckbear! It hasn't been mentioned in this thread yet, but you can go to the gov't DTV site and request up to 2 $40 coupons towards the converters. Arctec makes a very good 12vdc converter that works well on a boat, along with some very compact antennas. I think my net cost for the converter and a passive antenna was about $10 plus shipping. BTW, in portland harbor a plain set of rabbit ears worked better than the active top of the line radio shack "digital " antenna. It went back to the store

Ross · May 22, 2009

Why would you do that? the night sky is endlessly interesting.

cbsailor · May 23, 2009

During our 07-08 cruise to Fl, I got lots of complaints from the Admiral about not being able to watch our flat screen TV/DVD because of poor reception provided by our set of rabbit ears. While anchored in Stuart, FL I borrowed my friend's Boatenna for testing and we went from 3 channels to 11. I was impressed with the unit's simplicity and performance, but put off by the it's cost. So I made a drawing of the unit and gave it back to my friend. The next trip ashore, I went to Home Depot and the local WM and purchased material to make our own antenna. Using stock aluminum bar, stainless fasteners, a 50' coaxial assembly, a small fiberglass batten for insulator materal ,a matching transformer and 50' of 1/4" line I was able to duplicate the Boatenna for less than $35. We used it from Miami back to VA and locally now with no problems (the Admiral is Happy.. :dance

. We are using a digital converter and the 18 channel reception is crystal clear. There will be more testing at more remote locations as we cruise the Cheasapeake this summer. A new "digital" flat screen maybe in the future to nix the converter.

As far as storage is concerned, it is a little awarkard, but I have the hoist bar configured so I can rotate it 90 degrees and align it with the center beam and this does help a little with storage. Believe me storage is nothing compared to an Admiral missing her favorite show.

sailormanbigd · May 23, 2009

hey cbsailor, your my kind of sailor! Any specs or pics? Or how bout doing a build pictorial in the maner of Mainsails excellent works?