New antenna
Just had a new antenna installed. Cost me $720 by mr antenna. I never had to use an amplifier before and the installer said I needed one now.
With the new antenna I get slight break up every 2mins from my sdtv STB. I also plugged the antenna into my TV analog and scanned the channels in and the channels are unwatchable! Heaps of snow and some wont even keep displaying as the tv decides they are not worth watching.
I installed the old antenna myself 2yrs ago and the picture was fine without any amplifier. Until one day when it all went sour. But my setup I could watch analog with no amplifier. Also I got a lot of break up with digital. So I decided to go with mr antenna.
Questions I have, should analog tv be near perfect to get a good digitaltv picture? Will an amplifier cause slight break-ups in digital?
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an amp won't cause slight break-ups in digital, unless the dB is so strong at the plug that it sort of "overloads" if you will, and a masthead amp is the only reason i can get digital, even though it is very DX. i would try a masthead, and see how it goes.
If the picture was near fine on analogue you should get fine on your digital box. I got badly ripped off buying a new antenna when the set top box was later found to be faulty. If you are getting poor reception now I would be getting the installer back for the money you have paid, I guess thats stating the obvious.
But I believe thats the rule of thumb, if you get it on analogue, even with an imperfect picture, you would get it thru the st digital box. As to amplifying the signal, someone told me once that you also amplify the interference. There would have to be a reason why you suddenly need an amplifier such as your local transmitter has dropped power or something.
For $720 bucks I would want the picture perfect and him to mow my lawns as well.
Call them back.
Yeah thats what I thought. It went through insurance so I did not pay anything. But you are right I will call him back. Was just wondering on the analog side of things. Thought maybe you might not be able to get analog with a digital setup.. Just want to be ready for when I call him back.
if they're on different bands, which they should be, and the installer is an ididoth, then one will be better than the other, depending on what it is set up for.
I would try it with the amp out of line. My expereince with "Jim's" anything is less that thrilling!! Idiot probaly installed it backwards.
You should be able to get analoge still with the "digital setup", unless you were in an area still using Channel 0 etc, which the new Digital antenna did not cover AND you were fringe...in which case you MAY not get the Analogue..OR you were using VHF analogue and all of your digital stations are UHF (and the antenna / amp you have is UHF only)..
We had a mailbox drop in the area a few months ago, from a franchise more known for its lawn mowing than anything else...you know who I mean.
As a result a lot of people around me have a nice new "digital" antenna on a long mast with lots of guy wires.
The immediate neighbour cornered me last week (knowing I was a Amateur radio geek) and asked me what my reception was like for TV with my little Matchmaster antenna on a modest mast (just below my VHF/UHF amateur antenna).
"It's great" I replied. He wasn't happy. He has constant breakups and chirping audio. Getting the antenna guy out to fix it has come to nil.
Obvious the locals have been scammed, likely by someone who barely knows which way to point the antenna.
Hassle the antenna guy, for that amount of money I'd expect good picture..
Comfortably numb...
And NO, Google is NOT my friend...
Well this picture says it all for me its probably posed but it's from a local franchise organisation. They probably have good operators but at least they could get the picture right
Hey $720 I want to know what sort of antenna they put up .... for that
I install digital antenna among other things and if I charged that for a standard setup for sdtv I would be run out of town.
(but you may live under a large rock 10,000 km from a transmitter.)
Wow I thought I was bad with my shifting spanner . But I do get steady digital on a 35 dollar Dick Smith VHF UHF aerial on a Hills dish mount !
there crooks at that price, i heard a story of a guy who was working for them and stole a customers dog they were caught with the dog the next day and later dismissed. But there obvise got no idea, i am surprised you paid and accepted the job especially when your a member of this forum where you could have got advise or help. What area are you
Having good analogue doesnt always mean there is sufficient digital, it is a good indicator but shouldnt be relied on. The installer must have bad dB or CN or A/V. If it is bad pre amp its gonna be bad all the way through. I never amplify anything below 40-45 dB on analogue. I would be getting them back. As an installer myself, i believe you havent go what you paid for.
What TV transmitter are you looking at and how far?
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