Quick & Easy Question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Phil R.
  • Start date Start date
P

Phil R.

I would love just to view HD content on my PC.

As I understand, all I need is to purchase an HD PCI Tuner card, ie
MyHD or the like. And that will come with the needed antenna.

So I install the card/software. Screw in the antenna.

And am I good to go? Is this all I need. I don't want/need to do
anything else but VIEW HD programming on my PC.

Do I need anything else? My system is equiped with the correct
requirements. So I'm good there. I'm just wondering if it's THAT easy?
I just need to shell out the bucks to buy the PCI card and that's it?

Any help would be appreciated. I googled all this and couldn't come up
with a simple answer to my question. YES or NO.

--Phil
thanks.
 
Phil R. said:
I would love just to view HD content on my PC.

As I understand, all I need is to purchase an HD PCI Tuner card, ie
MyHD or the like. And that will come with the needed antenna.

So I install the card/software. Screw in the antenna.

And am I good to go? Is this all I need. I don't want/need to do
anything else but VIEW HD programming on my PC.

Do I need anything else? My system is equiped with the correct
requirements. So I'm good there. I'm just wondering if it's THAT easy?
I just need to shell out the bucks to buy the PCI card and that's it?

Any help would be appreciated. I googled all this and couldn't come up
with a simple answer to my question. YES or NO.
Click to expand...
....

Yes, Phil, if all you want to do is watch HDTV on your PC, you simply need
to
install the card and attach to an appropriate antenna. My experience with
HDTV
says that any good UHF antenna will work. You'll want to get as big an
antenna
as possible, and preferably, add an amplifier, especially if you split the
signal at
all.

I recently bought a TV with an ATSC tuner, and get incredible results. I've
got
a big "outdoor" antenna in my attic and use two amplifiers, since I split
the
signal a few times. I'm about 35 miles from most of the area stations.


--
Dan (Woj...) [dmaster](no space)[at](no space)[lucent](no space)[dot](no
space)[com]
===============================
"I see you coming / To the end of the day
And was it worth it? / No one can say
I see your face / It is ghostly pale
Into the sunset / We are watching you sail"
 
...

Yes, Phil, if all you want to do is watch HDTV on your PC, you simply need
to
install the card and attach to an appropriate antenna. My experience with
HDTV
says that any good UHF antenna will work.
Click to expand...

Thanks.

--Phil
going with MyHD card.
 
With respect, this isn't always the case... a lot of stations either

a) broadcast a digital signal, but NOT the HD feed

or

b) broadcast a very low power signal which is much harder to receive

I live in a 250k pop. city and am 7 miles from the towers and pick the
stations up at only 15-20%... and FOX won't broadcast HD for 2 to 3
years

Also, if you live in a forest you're going to have a tough time...
 
Fred600600 said:
With respect, this isn't always the case... a lot of stations either

a) broadcast a digital signal, but NOT the HD feed
Click to expand...

That's a good point, Fred. Actually, from the stations in my area I've
seen all the following:

The Good Old Analogue 480i channel
Digital channels broadcasting 480i = SD
Digital channels broadcasting 720p or 1080i (= HD), but with SD source
material
Digital channels broadcasting HD with HD source material.

Only the last is true HD, but happily, every Digital channel looks better
than its
Analogue conterpart. Digital channels have no snow or reflections, and
contrast
and color saturation are much better.
or

b) broadcast a very low power signal which is much harder to receive

I live in a 250k pop. city and am 7 miles from the towers and pick the
stations up at only 15-20%... and FOX won't broadcast HD for 2 to 3
years
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need to work on your antenna or distribution.

I live near Aurora, IL, so most of my stations are 30 to 40 miles away in
Chicago. I can't pick up the CBS affiliate (Channel 2/2-1) at all. But
I do get 5-1 (NBC HD), 5-2 (SD weather), 7-1 (ABC HD), 7-2 (SD ABC News),
7-3 (SD weather radar), 9-1 (WGN HD), 9-2 (WGN HD Spanish), 11-1 (PBS HD),
11-2 (PBS SD - different from 11-1), 20-1 (PBS SD), 1-2 (CH23 SD), 1-1 (CH26
SD),
32-1 (FOX HD), 42-2 (PAX 38 SD), 42-3, 42-4, 42-5, 42-6, 42-7 (all
different, alternate
PAX 38 SD channels), 44-1 (Spanish SD), 46-1(?) (Another religious SD),
50-1 (UPN HD), 60-1 (Spanish SD), 66-3 (Spanish SD). And I may
have forgotten something in the 50's. Luckily, all the stations I get are
pretty
much in the same direction.

My antenna is one of those big 50+ element out door jobs, mounted in my
attic
(so I can't turn it to pick up the other 6 or 8 stations within range).
I've got an
inline amp on the antenna which feeds into an amplified splitter. One
branch goes
to the master bedroom, and the other goes to the family room. In the family
room I
use another amplified splitter to give me four signals: TV, VCR, FM Radio,
basement
TV.

Based on the signal meters in my Panasonic plasma TV, most of the signals
are
above 80%. 20-1 is a weaker station, in the 60-70% range. 1-1 and 1-2 are
poor,
only around 30%. It looks as though my TV doesn't try to display anything
below
25%. 30% is about the limit for watching. If the signal strength is below
30%, I
get drop outs. Analogue 5, 7, and sometimes 9, are snowy messes. 23 is
completely
unwatchable. Except for 1-1 and 1-2, every digital channel is perfect; and
the HD
channels are stunning (with HD content). Even 1-1 and 1-2 (that unwatchable
23),
are perfect when there isn't a drop out.
Also, if you live in a forest you're going to have a tough time...
Click to expand...

Large buildings and water towers are really bad, too.

....


--
Dan (Woj...) [dmaster](no space)[at](no space)[lucent](no space)[dot](no
space)[com]
===============================
"I see you coming / To the end of the day
And was it worth it? / No one can say
I see your face / It is ghostly pale
Into the sunset / We are watching you sail"
 
Back
Top