I'm sure by now everyone is aware that in February, 2009 the US Government has mandated that all OTA (Over the Air) analog broadcast television signals will be discontinued and all major broadcast stations will only be transmitting and broadcasting digital television signals (some low power stations are not included in this mandate).

Digital signals have already been broadcast for a number of years. I was always aware that the quality of the OTA digital and HDTV signals were superior to those piped in via cable TV. The cable TV signals have the problem of being reamplified so many times and they are compressed, and that sometimes leads to problems at the TV set that are noticeable to many people. The HDTV compression is at least noticeable when compared to a good quality OTA signal.

For the purpose of this thread, I'm not really concerned solely with HDTV OTA broadcasts. Just standard DTV broadcast transmission in general.

Is anyone using OTA digital for their TV viewing... at least for local channels? If so, what type of antenna are you using?

I've noticed that an OTA antenna that works great in analog can be problematic for some digital broadcasts. You'll get many stations perfect, but then others just fall off the "digital cliff". Not enough signal. Even if the tuner gives you a lock, it can fall in and out making that station unwatchable. That includes some so-called high gain UHF/VHF combo antennas.

It sometimes comes down to the fact that most stations are broadcasting their digital signals on UHF. Some at low power. At least temporarily for now until the conversion. The UHF band isn't good enough on a lot of home roof antennas.

I built one of those homemade DTV/HDTV "bow tie" antennas that have been discussed on the internet and to my surprise, they work fucking great. The signal levels on some channels are maxed out and even on some problematic channels, the signal level is far better than a standard /UHF/VHF antenna.

The homemade antennas are UHF antennas, but can also pick up good quality VHF depending on your range to the transmission towers.

My parents have never been interested in cable TV and have always been satisfied with their OTA stations. I tried the homemade antenna at their house and was amazed at the results. Two stations were problematic with line loss and going through a splitter, but I think the problem can be overcome. (Their analog TV has always been pretty good. Analog picks up the two stations in question with a good picture where digital cannot. That includes using both their antenna and the home made UHF antenna).

I think a lot of people may be screwed after the switchover to digital in 2009. Antenna installs for homeowners may become a viable business once again.

I tried the home made antenna at my house (I live at a high elevation) and I was blown away at the number of stations I could pick up.

Anyone been experimenting with this stuff?

I can easily see that a lot of people are going to be in trouble once the conversion takes place. I've seen some people in government hearings claiming that if people get their channels over the air now, they won't have any problems after the conversion..... even with a converter box. That is not true.

A lot of people getting TV over the air are going to be mad. What I can see so far... many are going to need new antennas..... or subscribe to cable... which they never cared to do in the first place.