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Crazy DirecTV customer service! The guy over the phone told me there was no absolute way I could get OTA channels to work with my HD-DVR box, yet I find info - straight off of the DirecTV forums from one of the techs in there about an AM21 that connects to your box which feeds the OTA channels from your roof top antenna to your box.
There are 13 prime channels in the Tampa area. 7 are 1080, 6 are 720. There are about 30 sub channels that are 480. With the millions of dollars being spent during the transition period to switch from analog to digital, I wonder why some channels decided to go with only 720
Again, so glad someone resurrected this thread. I finally got around to disconnecting from DirecTV in August, right before the NFL season. My dad gave me a homemade antenna that I had been trying out inside the house. I decided to take it outside and hooked it up to where the satellite dish was hooked into. Did a channel scan and got over 30 channels. About 15 of those channels are High Def, the rest are standard def, but don't look too bad.
I was able to get the Virginia FOX stations that show all of the Redskins games. Of course I could watch all of the Carolina Panthers games on the NC stations too. I was able to watch every Redskins game this season. I never realized that as a Verizon Wireless customer, I could watch the NFL network and I was able to watch ESPN on my phone as well. If I had known that earlier, I would have never bothered with DirecTV in the first place.
I did try SlingTV, and I liked it for awhile, but when I had issues watching Monday Night Football with it, I canceled the service.
Only ota channels with -1 are 720 or 1080 HD. All sub-channels -2, -3, -4, -5, -6 are 480 SD
Specifically 720progressive or 1080interlace . Nobody broadcasts 1080progressive, which is sometimes called "full high definition".
ABC/Fox/Ion/MyNetworkTV broadcast OTA in 720p, while the others prefer 1080i.
For cable the stations owned by Disney/ABC or Fox broadcast in 720p as well, while nearly everyone else broadcasts in 1080i. The progressive is thought to be better for fast moving action and in particular sports.
In rare cases a broadcaster may choose to broadcast as many as 12 video feeds in standard definition and none in high definition. Usually the broadcaster is more concerned with unusual languages
Would a amplifier work to boast signal if placed near the DVR or TV? I already have a amplifier next to the antenna in the attic but some stations fade even with that. I do have to split the signal for 2 TVs. I live close to the towers but on the side of the mountain that they are located. Makes me wonder if the signal goes over us and if another amplifier would help. Opinions welcome.
^^^^
If you go to antennaweb.org or tvfool.com you can see if you are pointing the antenna dead on the tower so you don't get picture pix/freeze
I used those sites to determine if it was possible to achieve what I wanted to achieve, which was to bring in the VA channels since I'm about an hour from the NC/VA border. I was able to do so with a homemade antenna.
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