Digital TV

[Alexander Svirsky]

A quick nod to the Fybush Paperclip HDTV Antenna..

Inspired, I tried this at my friend's in Brookline today. The existing  
setup was a Sylvania HDTV connected to non-HD cable with composite  
video output only, no HDMI. This would not be suitable for football.  
The Needham towers are almost visible from here. So, can we solve with  
readily available household items?

I straightened out a small paperclip and stuck it into the coax  
connector and ran the auto-setup. The results? 4, 7, 25, 44, 62 are  
perfect. 2, 5, 56, 68 are watchable, and 38 unwatchable. Analog 24 is  
fuzzy but present.

The setup menu antenna signal strength meter shows a steady "85" out  
of 100 for WBZ (RF 30). I am surprised that multipath is not an issue  
here. Paperclip Antenna is a win.

My setup in Andover is still a 7-element yagi cut for 800 MHz  
(Cushcraft PC806N, not designed for TV use) into a 20 dB  
pre-amplifier. I'm having a good day when 4, 5, 7, and 25 don't  
mosaic. Things are better now that the leaves are down. 62, 44, 2, 66  
and 27 are watchable if I fiddle with the antenna. 9 and 11 are usable  
when I switch to a homemade outdoor VHF dipole. 50 and 34 are fine  
when I turn the antenna to the NW.

-- 
Alexander Svirsky
http://shawsheen.com/