Having problems with rabbit ears and digital converter box...?

Question

I have a digital converter box on my television and the rabbit ears are connected to the box of course, etc. I have tried placing the combination all over the house in order to get better reception and more channels but it seems that no matter what I do very few channels are going to come in. I do not watch enough television to warrant spending the money for cable or satellite.

Therefore, I am looking for ideas and suggestions as to what I can do in order to get better service on my television. I was told that I could do it without the converter box etc. Please help..

Answer 1

If your TV has a digital tuner (ATSC) you dont need a converter box. Getting rid of the box wont help you. The problem starts before the box at your antenna. Your antenna is having problems receiving the signal before it gets to the box or your TV.



I also have had reception problems with the new digital signals. Ive read about and tried different antennas. Ive contacted broadcasting networks for info on how to improve reception. Heres what Ive learned.



The farther away you are from a broadcast antenna the more problems youll have. The digital signals are more susceptible to drop off and interference than the analog signals were. Any obscuring structures between the broadcast antenna and the receiving antenna will have more effect on the digital signal than the analog signal. Broadcasters are still changing the broadcast frequencies and signal strengths they use. Unfortunately they gave me no idea how long they are going to keep experimenting. The new expensive digital antennas arent really any better than plain rabbit ears at receiving the signals and even amplified antennas dont help. Weather conditions also have more impact on the digital signals than the analog. In general from what Ive read and been told by broadcasters they really werent completely prepared to start broadcasting good reliable digital signals.



I was advised to periodically re-program the channels on the converter box or television. This makes sure you are receiving the current frequencies broadcasters use as they experiment. Some broadcasters in my area actually use two frequencies for each channel so I end up with two of those channels when I re-program. They told me to check signal strength for each of those channels and delete the weaker one. Apparently one signal is broadcast at higher power than the other or the particular frequency just travels better.



In my antenna tests digital and amplified antennas actually degraded my reception. My best reception is through a simple rabbit ear antenna. It needs periodic rotation and movement as the signal varies over even short periods of time. It may go for weeks needing no adjustment then one day I have to move or rotate it every time I change channels.



I recommend you re-program your channels. Ive had no luck experimenting with antennas but all mine have been indoor antennas. You could try an outdoor antenna. If you do I suggest one with a motor so you can rotate the antenna for best reception of needed.



I miss my analog signal.

Answer 2

You can look your TV model up on the web and see if it is digital or not. You don't need the digital converter box if your TV is digital. However, what they never told people is that in order to get the same number of TV stations as you did with analog you are probably going to need a stronger antenna. I went from about a dozen stations to zero. Objects can more easily block analog signals. So stuff like trees etc where analog signals got through before, the digital ones won't. And with digital if you don't get a strong signal, the signal won't come in at all. If it is a slightly weak signal then you may see some freezing to certain parts of the screen at time. What you probably need to do is get a good outdoor antenna that goes on the roof. And then buy a rotor. I bought fancy indoor digital antennas and still didn't have any better luck than I did with my plain regular rabbit ears. In fact, the plain jane rabbit ears tended to work better at picking up the digital signal.



After my family bought a bigger antenna tower and a really fancy outdoor antenna and rotor they were able to get the same number of tv stations and even more. But I think most people if they want to stick with antenna TV they are going to have to get better antennas and the indoor antennas are all but going to go bye bye in the countryside, because they will only work now if you're pretty close to the station and don't have obstacles in the way. I'm now in a 3rd story apartment in the city and can get like 3 Spanish stations and like 2 English stations on my antenna. A neighbor on the 5th floor which is just 2 floors higher can get like 20 stations. I finally just got tired of it and had to switch to cable.



I don't think that's right. The signal strength should be strong enough so that people can get the same number of channels they did before without having to buy a new more expensive antenna.

Answer 3

Indoor antennas are a compromise on digital TV. For any of them to work, even the best of them, you need a strong signal and you need to be in an optimum location in the house, the right elevation off the floor, and pointed in the right direction. It's a daunting task that often doesn't work at all, even though it may have worked with analog.



It can be a maddening exercise to get all of your desired channels on every set, especially if you have to point the antenna in different directions to get different channels. Then there's the problem that you must rescan your converter or digital TV every time you make any antenna adjustment for the purpose of capturing new channels. If you don't rescan, you've accomplished nothing by making the change.



Sadly, some homes just won't get satisfactory results without an outside antenna. In many locations, a full size antenna in the attic is a viable option (I have one and it's great). Even sadder, many of the so called "digital" or "HDTV" antennas on the market work about as well as the box they came in. It's very easy to fall victim to an aggressive salesman who swears his "HDTV rabbit ears" is the best antenna around. As a local TV station engineer put it recently, it's all baloney.



The references below may be of help. Enter your postal code and other local info for a report on the channels you should be able to receive and what antenna is recommended. Be prepared for the likelihood that you need a full size outdoor model, outside.



(Only the first ref below works for Canada. Both for the U.S.)

Answer 4

The phillip mant940 antenna got me tons of digital channels from

the air, you gotta point it flat, rabbit ears are just horrible even 10

miles from the station, the mant940 is pulling in stations 60 miles'

away at rock solid.

Answer 5

Try and see if the set will work without the box..If it dooesnt-it isn't digital ready and the box is necessary...All the older sets Ive seen with the box hooked up have one issue or another...so if your set isn't digital it may be time for a new one.

Answer 6

Get an outside antenna.