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Art's HDTV Page

1/27/2007:  In late 2006 I took the plunge and bought an HDTV set, a Sharp Aquos LCD 1080p model.  After setting it up and moving the cable TV connection from the old TV to the HDTV, the next challenge is to find HD programming.  One possibility for me is to upgrade my cable TV service (Bright House Networks) to "digital cable" with a handful of HD channels.  I looked into this and noticed that most of the channels they offer are also available free over-the-air via antenna.  So I decided to go with the antenna.  I bought the model 15-2187 amplified antenna from Radio Shack and mounted it in the attic.  I happened to hit a sale and paid $59 for the Radio Shack antenna.

To aim the antenna properly from west Bradenton, Florida, 34209, I found a great web site.  Just enter your zip code and it will tell you compass direction to aim it for best reception.  Using their map plus a Google maps satellite view of my house, I crawled into my attic and got it all set up.  I used 100-feet of RG-6 coax ($20 at WalMart) between the antenna and the TV.  (A tip I learned a long time ago:  Never use the cheaper RG-59 coax.)  The built-in amplification in the Radio Shack antenna more than compensated for the length of the cable run.

Here is a screen shot of the antenna direction.  As you can see, the "B" direction is the best direction for the most channels.  I was worried about channel 10 and 10.1, which is the CBS station, and in a completely different direction, "G".  But as it turned out, I have had only rare reception problems with 10/10.1/10.2.

The Sharp HDTV set has one RF input, which is connected to the attic mounted antenna.  To continue to receive cable TV channels, the coax from the cable TV company is connected to a DVD player/recorder, which is connected to the HDTV via an HDMI cable. 

Finding a 6-foot HDMI cable is another learning experience.  They are available at around $10 on line, but can range as high as $80 at Best Buy.  As it turned out, my local K-Mart had then for $29.

Switching the TV between over-the-air HD reception and cable TV reception is as easy as pushing the Input button on the TV's remote control.  Of course the DVD has a remote, as does the 5.1 sound system.  My wife is a little overwhelmed and confused.  So my next project is to find a multi-function, learning remote, with macro capabilities to automate as much as possible in the operation of the system.

Stay tuned!

1/13/08:  The remote control issue was resolved with a universal learning, talking, macro remote with Volume "punch-through" obtained at Radio Shack on a special close-out deal of $14.99.  The other big update is that we upgraded to Verizon FiOS digital TV.  We still use the attic antenna for the high-def programming, but the standard digital from Verizon is so much clearer than the analog cable TV signal from Bright House.  We decided to go with Verizon because we could bundle our cell phones onto the bill, which Bright House cannot do. However many of our neighbors are happy with Bright House, both analog and digital services.

The Verizon FiOS channel line up can be found on WikiPedia.

After we were using FiOS for awhile, we added 45 movie channels for the regular price of $12.95 per month.  This seemed like a real bargain!  I remember paying that much just for Showtime back when we had DirecTV.  However, there is a catch!  My DVD recorder will not record the movies due to copy protection!  I had hoped to be able to build my private library of favorite movies, and also to time-shift (record movies at odd hours for later viewing).  I need to call Verizon and discuss this dilemma.  I suspect they will want to upsell me to a TIVO-type device that will work through their copyright protection.  My other alternative is to connect my old, but still working, VCR and time shift with VHS tape.  But that's so 80's!  :-)

With so much to watch, a comprehensive program guide is needed.  I found this Titan TV web site to be excellent in this regard.  Also, our local Bradenton Herald newspaper, Sunday edition, has added the common FiOS channel numbers to their weekly guide.

Stay tuned!

[Last Updated 1/13/2008]