TV antenna question

My buddy doesn't have cable where he lives so I got him this antenna:

formatting link

How do I hook it up to his TV?

He has a tube TV with a coaxial connector.

Reply to
Jon
Loading thread data ...

formatting link

--
The instructions packed with the antenna should describe how to hook it up  
to just about any TV. 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Dave M

formatting link

You mean a CRT TV.

Problem... It won't work.

Analog broadcasts have all-but disappeared. He needs a converter.

Quite conveniently, I have an unused Zenith DT-990 I'd be happy to sell.

Reply to
William Sommerwerck

Depending on his TV, you may very well need some additional equipment to make this setup work.

The actual antenna-to-TV arrangement is fairly straightforward and should be described in the instructions packed with the box. Basically: mount antenna and rotator on a mast on the roof. Ground the mast (you'll need a separate heavy-gauge grounding wire and a ground rod, probably available at a good hardware store). The antenna comes with a 40' length of coax cable - attach one end to the antenna and run the other down and into the building (add a "drip loop" at the bottom just before it comes indoors) and to near the TV. Connect this to the "antenna" input on the control box which comes with the antenna. The antenna comes with a second (1') length of coax cable... use this to connect the control box to the TV's coaxial connector. Plug the control box into AC power (it may have either a full power cord or a "wall wart").

At this point you should have a signal, and should be able to use the remote control which comes with the antenna setup to rotate the antenna to point it towards various TV station transmitter sites.

And, you may not be able to see a picture. Most "tube" TVs will handle only analog (NTSC or PAL) television signals. The US and most other countries have switched over to digital TV transmission, and older TV sets won't see them as anything but noise.

To receive digital TV you'll either need a newer television (probably flat-panel), or will need to attach a "digital TV converter" between the antenna control box and the TV's coaxial input. These are fairly easily available here in the US (they were being sold via a subsidized "coupon" system a few years ago in order to ease the switchover to digital TV) and you can probably find one on CraigsList or in a local thrift store if you look around.

Most older cable-TV systems are still distributing at least the basic channels in analog form, and don't require a converter box for basic service. That is no longer true of over-the-air TV broadcasts in the US; analog TV is for all practical purposes gone.

--
Dave Platt                                    AE6EO 
Friends of Jade Warrior home page:  http://www.radagast.org/jade-warrior 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Dave Platt

formatting link

Some CRT TVs did include ATSC tuners. OP's buddy may have such a TV

Reply to
John-Del

formatting link

If the cable runs down the outside and enters through a hole in the wall - don't forget a "drip-loop".

You need a loop hanging down for rain water to drip from instead of running down the cable and into the house.

Reply to
Ian Field

I've had limited succcess with HDTV antenae. My uncle apparently replaced his roof antena with some amplifier he got from Radio Shack. I get different stations in different parts of the house. But I agree, tv is largely worthless, so paying for cable is a waste.

- = - Vasos Panagiotopoulos, Columbia'81+, Reagan, Mozart, Pindus, BioStrategist

formatting link
---{Nothing herein constitutes advice. Everything fully disclaimed.}--- [Homeland Security means private firearms not lazy obstructive guards] [Urb sprawl confounds terror] [Phooey on GUI: Windows for subprime Bimbos]

Reply to
vjp2.at

[snip]

You'll need a coax lightning arrester and grounding point as well.

--
Paul Hovnanian     mailto:Paul@Hovnanian.com 
------------------------------------------------------------------ 
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Paul Hovnanian P.E.

Its such an excercise in futility - few people bother!

Reply to
Ian Field

I once lost a modem due to a fairly close lightning strike. I remember how loud the boom was, and then my modem (an internal 28.8 or maybe 36.6) still worked but was really slow. Wait, I had the modem going through a power bar (actually a metal box, that old or good), it having two phone jacks with some sort of MOV or whatever in case of lightning. And the MOVs or whatever in the powerbar shorted out. Once I realized that, the modem kind of worked, but was sluggish, like something had gone but enough signal got through to allow some operation, albeit with a lot of resends.

I never replaced that powerbar, I just took the risk of losing another modem. But it surely makes a case for that extra protection.

Michael

Reply to
Michael Black

There's all sorts of reasons to avoid internal modems like the plague - the last one I had didn't have its own precessor and relied on the MOBO CPU to do all the heavy lifting.

Last time I used a POTS modem, was an external - I made an extension lead to reach from from the wall jack to my desk, that terminated in a loose wall jack plate with added telecom grade gas discharge surge arrestors, they were grounded by heavy braid to the PC case.

MOVs are OK, but they degrade a little with every transient event and at some point in the future will fail to protect.

Reply to
Ian Field

ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here. All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.