Is your Antenna Ready for the Transition?
As Yogi Berra’s cousin Yagi might have said, after February 17th we’ll only have digital DTV signals.
In addition to better picture quality many free over-the-air DTV signals also carry additional programming not found on cable or satellite. For this reason millions of Americans are installing or improving their TV antenna systems, and AntennaWeb.org is helping them out. AntennaWeb.org is a joint project of CEA and the National Association of Broadcasters. It lets a consumer input a street address and get a listing of free over-the-air DTV signals that should be receivable at that location. It also recommends the most appropriate antenna to use, and the direction in which the antenna should be pointed to optimize reception for each station.
AntennaWeb.org has a database of all TV stations in the United States. When a consumer enters an address the program calculates the distance and direction to all nearby TV stations. It uses a computer program called Individual Location Longley Rice to predict the strength of each of these TV signals at the consumer’s location. If the predicted signal strength for a particular station is equal to or higher than the minimum field strength necessary for consistent, reliable reception then AntennaWeb.org adds that station to the list of stations predicted to be receivable for that consumer. The end result is a list of stations that are predicted to be receivable, a recommended antenna type for each station, and a recommended direction in which to point the antenna for each station.
AntennaWeb.org makes recommendations for outdoor antennas only. While many people are able to use indoor antennas successfully, it is essentially impossible for AntennaWeb.org to predict indoor reception because there are numerous factors that can affect it. For example, the size and shape of rooms, walls and windows will all have an effect on indoor reception. So, too, will the construction material used to build the home. The number of walls that the TV signal must pass through to get to the indoor antenna also has an impact. So, too, does the use of other electronic products in the home in close proximity to the indoor antenna. And people moving around in a room can also affect indoor reception. While predictions of TV reception using outdoor antennas are not perfect, they are much easier to make with a higher degree of confidence than predictions of indoor reception.
When making antenna recommendations AntennaWeb.org uses a color coding scheme meant to help people who are unfamiliar with the technical jargon associated with TV reception and TV antennas. The color coding scheme is hierarchical, meaning that selecting a color-coded antenna for a station toward the bottom of the list will also provide reception for the other stations with different color codes above it. There is one caveat, though. Amplified antennas like those coded violet by AntennaWeb.org might not provide good reception of very strong signals, like those for which yellow antennas are recommended. This is because amplifying an already strong signal can overload the TV receiver and prevent it from successfully decoding the signal. People who are trying to receive both very strong and very weak signals may have to use to separate antenna systems, or at least remove the amplifier, when switching between stations.
Three companies are licensed to market antennas that use the AntennaWeb color coding scheme: Audiovox Corporation, Channel Master International and Pro-Brand International.
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