So Canada's DTV conversion for major centers is upon us. Aug 31 is the deadline.
One station near me went digital about two weeks ago. When it was analogue, the reception wasn't good. I'd watch it if there was something I really wanted to see but the picture was often snowy. The digital picture is just fantastic now.
The digital signal seems to respond very well to amplification. An amp helped the analogue signal somewhat but the interference and noise would get amplified as well. When the station first went digital the picture was great. Then one day, there must have been a lot of interference because it became unwatchable. I added a 15db amp and instantly the picture cleared up. Just perfect again. Previously, I had an old 10 db amp installed. I had bought the 15 db amp to see if it would help the analogue signal but it didn't improve it anymore than my old 10db amp did. I was going to return the 15db amp but never got around to it. I'm glad I kept it.
So if you are having trouble with digital transmission breaking up in your RV try a new amp before looking into a new antenna.
The amp I bought was $19 on sale.
http://www.thesource.ca/estore/produ...roduct=1512505
It looks very much like the Winegard amp at Radio Shack.
My home antenna is a simple folded dipole that I made out of 1/2" copper pipe several months ago. I bought, tried and returned a few commercial antennas that did not perform any better than my folded dipole. I built the antenna for low VHF channel 2 but it works just great for the UHF 27.1 digital channel. The antenna is in my attic.
Digital TV and amplifier
Linear Mode
