Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 06-05-2012, 12:50 PM
 
529 posts, read 713,104 times
Reputation: 497

Advertisements

I only get local channels via an antenna attached to my 20+ year old TV. If I upgrade to a flatscreen, while I lose or gain channels? I have a hard enough time getting channels so don't want to lose channels when upgrading to HD. I assume the signals need to be even stronger for the antenna to pick up?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 06-05-2012, 01:02 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,413,242 times
Reputation: 18729
I assume you now have a "converter box" to revceive "over the air" broadcasts. I have a similar setup for mom and an aunt at their homes nearby and I have found that though there are differences in what signals are available to each of their homes in general all the "majors" and their "subchannels" are easily watched, just they are from my home with our plasma & LCD flatpanels.

My aunt, in south DuPage Co, gets a pretty good signal via the converter box on the PBS station out of NW Indiana, I don't get enough signal to "clamp" on that from my house, which kinda surprised me as have a nice Winegard attenna in the attic while she has an older Channel Master mounted to her chimney. Apparently the various combinations of "interferance" can cause different results for different tuners & antenna combinations...

Bottom line, most quality flat panels work better than the converter boxes, but as they say when it comes to MPG and weight loss programs "your results may vary"...
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 01:13 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,943,089 times
Reputation: 7420
Quote:
Originally Posted by koctail View Post
I only get local channels via an antenna attached to my 20+ year old TV. If I upgrade to a flatscreen, while I lose or gain channels? I have a hard enough time getting channels so don't want to lose channels when upgrading to HD. I assume the signals need to be even stronger for the antenna to pick up?
Are you asking whether you'll lose channels if you use the same antenna? I suggest you get an HD antenna. You can get one at Best Buy for probably under $15. I used to use one before I got direcTV. I live downtown and picked up a crap load of channels on that thing and not all were HD..(although 98% were).
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 02:01 PM
 
Location: Chicago
3,925 posts, read 6,842,298 times
Reputation: 5501
Do you live IN chicago? Or are you somewhere in the suburbs and/or more rural like Dekalb or something?

The benefit of the digital transition was that you will now get a crystal clear image, or nothing at all. The downside to that is that digital signals do not travel as far as the old analog signals.

I assume you are currently using a digital to analog converter box. This means you will still get all of the channels you have now, but without requiring the box.

If for whatever reason you are not using a digital to analog converter and you are still using the old rabbit ears connected to your television, then you will get A LOT more channels than you do now. The digital signal will open channels like 11.1 and 11.2 instead of just 11 for example.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 03:46 PM
 
529 posts, read 713,104 times
Reputation: 497
Yes I am using an antenna with a convertor box . When I upgrade to HD TV with HD antenna , will I lose or gain channels? I am guessing I will lose since the antenna I have now is pretty good, some kind of powered one .
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 03:55 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,413,242 times
Reputation: 18729
I think you are perhaps misunderstanding what the converter box does VS the built-in tuner in new flat panel TVs. They are BOTH receiving the SAME signal that you get from the antenna. If you hook up the antenna you have a flat panel that has AT LEAST AS GOOD a tuner as the converter box you should NOT lose any channels.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 03:55 PM
 
3,118 posts, read 5,358,980 times
Reputation: 2605
Some HD channels can be hard to get. I think cbs is one of them, but you should get them all. Powered antennas will help as will having it mounted higher.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 04:00 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,413,242 times
Reputation: 18729
Default There is NO MORE "analog TV signals" out there any more!

The OP presumably is getting CBS now. If they plug the antenna THEY CURRENTLY USE into the new flat panel they are buying they will be using the same signal that is currently flowing through their converter box. Odds are the tuner in the new TV will be at least as good as the tuner in the converter box.




Quote:
Originally Posted by jman07 View Post
Some HD channels can be hard to get. I think cbs is one of them, but you should get them all. Powered antennas will help as will having it mounted higher.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 06:01 PM
 
Location: Upper West Side, Manhattan, NYC
15,323 posts, read 23,943,089 times
Reputation: 7420
Seriously, just get an HD antenna. You can get them for cheap and if you determine that you're getting more with you other antenna, then return it and buy a more expensive converter box.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 06-05-2012, 09:23 PM
 
28,453 posts, read 85,413,242 times
Reputation: 18729
Default For the LOVE OF....

The OP DOES NOT NEED A NEW ANTENNA!!!!

The OP can AND SHOULD use whatever ANTENNA is currently DELIVERING ADEQUATE SIGNAL to their current converter box.

This is SIMPLE: The CURRENT channel line up that the OP's converter box is delivering to their old SD "tube" TV will be available VIA THE SAME ANTENNA that they should simply hook up to the NEW FLAT panel...

SHEESH!
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Illinois > Chicago
View detailed profiles of:

All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:19 PM.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top