Q: Is Digital over-the-air reception worse than Analog?

In my area (Lancaster PA), I receive ~20 stations.
Many of those stations are poor reception. Either:
(a) The signal is too strong & I get multiple images.

Gene E. Bloch...

A minor correction here. The multiple images are not due to a strong
signal but to a multipath signal. Because of "reflectors" in your area
(i.e., things such as tall buildings that literally reflect the TV
signal), you are getting the signal directly from the station's antenna
and also getting one or more reflected signals. Of course, the
reflected signals, since they are coming to you over a longer path,
take longer to get to your receiving antenna and show up therefore as a
ghost of the first signal.

The presence of signals coming to you over two or more paths is the
reason the phenomenon is called "multipath", naturally.

I always enjoy it when the most noticeable reflection is from an
airplane flying nearby - the ghost can vary in strength and timing,
making for a kind of dance on the screen. I've got a touch of
masochism, I guess.

(b) The signal is too weak, and I get static but still watchable.

Based upon feedback I've heard from Digital antenna users, many of
these stations will no longer be watchable. (i.e. The digital decoder
will just "give up" and display a blank screen.)

Any truth to that?

UCLAN...

It depends on your antenna. The digital signal will not "fade out"
as does an analog signal. It will either be there, or it won't - with
a rather nasty period of "pixelization" or "freeze-frame" at the
weakest possible signal point (before it completely disappears.)

Obveeus...

That is how it works with a cable box. Analog cable with 'bad reception'
equals ghosting. Digital cable with 'bad reception' equals a blank blue
screen.

With cable, the solution is to demand the problem gets fixed and keep
demanding it until the cable company finally gives up and hires an outside
company to fix the problem they are unable to fix with their own lines.

With over-the-air digital, your guess is as good as mine as to whom you
could complain to. Basically, if lots of people in your area have the
problem, it will likely get fixed. The fewer the number of people with the

Obveeus...

Not true. If you live near another 100,000 people with the same problem,
the chances are pretty good that the station will put in a bigger
transmitter to reach you or atleast some sort of relay signal boosting
transmitter in your area (subject to whatever laws apply, of course). On

fred_h_haddad...

Or just tell you to buy cable. It's easier for the TV station to do
that, than to deal with the FCC bureaucracy.

I did another search for my old home on top of a small mountain. LOTS
of stations up there. Now I wish I had not moved.

the other hand, if there are only a few hundred of you, the station really
isn't going to care and you are out of luck.

Realistically, I'm not sure this problem is any different than the coverage
for cell phones. If enough people live in a specific area, providers will
make sure the signal gets to that area. If not enough people live in that
area to make a tower/booster/whatever profitable, then those people are out
of luck...forever.

problem, the more likely they are to just write you off completely. So, if
you live in a canyon or on the wrong side of a big building or something,
you are screwed.

I'd hate to think that, when I switch to Digital tv, I will no longer
be able to watch Lancaster tv (too strong a signal) or
Philadelphia/Wilmington/Baltimore tv (too weak). Sounds like analog
may have been the better system after all, since it will always produce
a watchable picture even if reception is Not ideal.

UCLAN...

Your digital TV will also receive those analog signals.

fred_h_haddad...

Even after the February 2009 shut-off date? Then my favorite
Philly/Baltimore/Wilmington stations will disappear.

kludge...

I seriously doubt that. They will be making the digital transition as

fred_h_haddad...

Not on my set. 60 miles is okay for analog viewing, but will be too
far for digital reception. (According to antennaweb.org.)

kludge...

How does antennaweb.org know? They have no idea what kind of antenna
system you have. I don't either.

well.

Now, YOUR question is how much additional signal strength will you need to
receive these stations properly, compared with what you need to see their
analogue carriers today. A secondary question is whether you can get that

fred_h_haddad...

I guess? I wouldn't even know how to begin answering that question.
Especially since I don't control the power output at TV Hill,
Baltimore.

kludge...

That's the question you need to answer and until you can answer that
question, you don't have any clue what to expect.

You don't control the power output at the transmit site, but you DO control
the antenna gain, pattern, and height on your end.

additional strength with an improved antenna or taller mast.

fred_h_haddad...

antennaweb.org seems to think 'no'.
17602 is my zip if you want to doublecheck.

kludge...

How does it know?

I'm rather disappointed with this whole affair. I currently get 15
analog stations (and with nothing more than a settop antenna). After
2009's digital transition, that will drop to only 4-5 stations. I'm
starting to feel anger towards the FCC for this debacle.

kludge...

So get a decent antenna system and throw out the set top antenna. Remember
that you can count on 10 dB for every 10 feet you raise the antenna in a
typical environment. Add on to that the antenna gain, and you will be
amazed at how much a real antenna system actually buys you in terms of
signal strength at the input to the tuner.

60 miles is nothing. Hell, I regularly listen to FM radio from Washington
DC, 200 miles away over flat terrain with high ground conductivity. I
just have a good antenna.

Ty Ford...

There is no such thing as a digital antenna for Digital TV. That's all hype.

Tim Streater...

1930s, I suspect. The BBC had regular TV broadcasts starting in 1936,

kludge...

405 line standard is gone. The American NTSC standard wasn't really
finalized until 1939, and it was used for the World's Fair broadcasts.

However, the current timing and waveform dates back to 1954, when the
frame rate and blanking were altered a little bit in order to make room
for the color subcarrier. A TV set from 1939 will have no problem getting
modern analogue TV broadcasts, however there is no guarantee that a modern
TV set, taken back to 1939, would properly lock on to the broadcasts then.

The British 405 line standard may predate NTSC by a little bit. For some
info on that, go to www.405alive.com.

Digital TV does mute (blank) when multipath confuses the receiver front end.
I get that here in Baltimore with my HDTV receiver where I'm about 8 miles
from TV Hill.

I went to a set of rabbit ears to reduce the amount of RF getting to the
receiver and that fixed the problem. Rabbit ear placement is critical and it
took a bit of experimentation to get the right spot.

Try rabbit ears for the local OTA stuff.

Ty Ford

Peter Kendell...

No I didn't. I wrote this:

My experience, derived from 4+ years of watching DTT in the UK, is that the
digital service is generally superior to analogue; and this despite the low
ERPs emitted by digital transmitters in the currrent digital / analogue
hybrid situation. I expect the service to improve when the analogue
transmitters are switched off and the digital transmitters can output at
full power.