I used the $40 coupon to purchase a RCA Digital TV Converter box. Model DTA800. In the back of the box, there is a "Smart Antenna" connector socket. This socket is very much similar to a Ethernet connector plug socket - 6 pins RJ11 phone plug. But there is a notch at the top side of the socket.
Can you tell me more about this Smart Antenna connector and how to find out more about this type of antenna? Where to buy it and how much it costs?
Thank you.
snipped-for-privacy@no.spam.com (ATM) wrote in news:b85Nj.649$ snipped-for-privacy@newssvr11.news.prodigy.net:
I'd never heard of this 'til you mentioned it, but a Google search (maybe you should try one) turned up information about an EIA/CEA-909 standard for electronically steerable TV antennas.
More looking turned up two commercial models, ChannelMaster CM3000, and DX Antenna DTA-5000, both of which cost about $80.
-- Bert Hyman | St. Paul, MN | bert@iphouse.com
Interesting
How well do they actually work?
Don't even think about it. You don't need one at your location.:-)
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Bert, thanks. Channel Master is now Andrew and do not have any CM3000.
why not?
they are outside antennas no?
t.
tThe boxes that qualify for the NTIA converter coupon program have about the best receivers on the market as of today, even if they do not support HD quality images per se. The demodulators are very good, though, and capable of withstanding very strong ghosts in the incoming signal.
The consequence of this happy state of affairs is that the benefits of an electronically steerable antenna should be diminished now.
The real advantage of steerable antennas is that one can reduce ghost energy by carefully aiming the antenna. As anyone who ever used rabbit ears with analog TV knows very well.
But in an ideal world, the receiver would simply capture that ghost energy and make use of it, reconstructing a stronger signal by combining the energy from the main signal path with the energy from the delayed ghost paths.
Although these new boxes aren't perfect, they do work toward that ideal. You should notice that antenna aiming becomes much less critical than it was with older receivers, especially in strong signal settings. Certainly, people living in fringe areas still need a high gain antenna. But typically in these cases, the distant transmit antennas appear to be clustered together, in one direction, so aiming should be a one-time thing.
I'd try first with the simpler indoor antennas.
Bert
The boxes that qualify for the NTIA converter coupon program have about the best receivers on the market as of today, even if they do not support HD quality images per se. The demodulators are very good, though, and capable of withstanding very strong ghosts in the incoming signal.
The consequence of this happy state of affairs is that the benefits of an electronically steerable antenna should be diminished now.
The real advantage of steerable antennas is that one can reduce ghost energy by carefully aiming the antenna. As anyone who ever used rabbit ears with analog TV knows very well.
But in an ideal world, the receiver would simply capture that ghost energy and make use of it, reconstructing a stronger signal by combining the energy from the main signal path with the energy from the delayed ghost paths.
Although these new boxes aren't perfect, they do work toward that ideal. You should notice that antenna aiming becomes much less critical than it was with older receivers, especially in strong signal settings. Certainly, people living in fringe areas still need a high gain antenna. But typically in these cases, the distant transmit antennas appear to be clustered together, in one direction, so aiming should be a one-time thing.
I'd try first with the simpler indoor antennas.
Bert
I still have to aim the antenna fairly accurately at the Empire state building, and thats only 25mi. But I do get the local channel 21 broadside, and 68 off the back side very well. Thats wit 50' of coax and a mast mounted preamp.
Cheers
OK. After looking at all these smart antennas and array antennas information, I am unable to find and try on one anntenna with this 6 pins RJ11 plug output so that I can plug into this RCA DTA800 Digital TV Converter box. Obviously, email and writing RCA got nothing - zip.
At leaset, where can I find info about this pin out of this 6 pins RJ11 socket? So that I can rig something to try it and see any better pictures?
ding, and thats only 25mi.
well.
My bet is that you would not benefit from any smart antenna, then.
The signal from the Empire State Building, at your location, appears to be low strength enough that it takes a directional antenna, presumably with some gain, to receive it. But at the same time, the strong local signals do not require antenna aim. Since the antenna is not aimed correctly for these local signals, they are probably received with some ghost energy. Not necessarily so, but it's certainly likely. You can check easily, by tuning in the analog version of those local channels, and see what the picture looks like.
So there you go. What would a smart antenna give you that you need? Typically, they seem to be low gain designs, so they would not help in receiving the signal from NYC. And they would not help with the local signals either, since you say these are already available to you with the one antenna.
Bert
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