Connectivity now that over the air TV has gone digital

[369goose]

Now that everything has gone digital and there is no longer access to over the air TV channels would a universal digital antenna such as this KING OA8300 Jack Replacement Head HDTV Directional Over-the-Air Antenna provide any TV, local weather or sports?
We’ve had very little success trying to watch anything using our iPhones w adapter mirroring on the AS Samsung TV so there must be a better option.

https://www.amazon.com/KING-OA8300-Replacement-Directional-Antenna/dp/B01N59MJQ2

[SteveSueMac]

I think you may be mistaken. Over the air in digital works great. If you’re not getting channels, check to be sure your power antenna boost is on before trying to find the channels.

[DaveP]

Yes. You must have a digital receiver. Either a newer digital TVs or a digital receiver box.

[garry]

You also have to scan for channels every time you change locations.


King Jack is a good antenna just make sure you are operating your TV as above post.

[n2916s]

Pretty much any tv made in the last 10 years is already digital. While many antennas are sold as “digital” the fact is that the signal is being broadcast on the same old portions of the UHF (most) and VHF (few) spectrum, only the modulation (digital vs analog) has changed.

So, basically, any decent antenna should work just fine. The big difference between digital and analog is that, with a digital signal, you either have a good picture and sound or you have nothing — no watching a ghostly image covered in snow like the old days.

The

[jcanavera]

We did notice in some areas that TV reception got worse when stations went digital. Keep in mind in the analog world you could get a picture on weak reception albeit not the best. In the digital world we noticed that in cases of weak signal you get no picture or a picture that pops in and out. Some campgrounds where we used to go to lost signal once digital came around. Others seem to be sensitive by time of day with nighttime being better than day. Other campgrounds with trees seem to be affected by the wind blowing through the trees and moving limbs. Getting the antenna positioned is much harder also because some locales have towers around you and not all in the same general location. You guess and do a channel scan, move the antenna and channel scan again. Takes a bit to find the sweet spot where you can get the most channels based on the aim of the antenna. Analog would at least give you an inkling when you were getting close. Again digital is there or not there. Tried an antenna aiming device that gave you lights when you hit a signal but even that is a guess. I know one campground we stayed at up in Door County Wisconsin said that they had to raise their antenna mast another 40 feet in the air when the digital conversion came about.

One of the reasons we decided to go with a portable satellite unit was due to the loss of signals when digital TV came about. Now I just pick a clear spot to the southwestern sky, hold my cell phone in that direction and the satellites I need will superimpose themselves into the sky. If you see a satellite blocked by a tree you move the outside dish to a location that give you a clear shot of the satellites you need. Pretty easy unless your southwest view is blocked by trees or other RV's next to you. Also the further north you go the satellites are lower in the sky which makes reception more difficult.

Jack

[skyguyscott]

Free Over-the-air (OTA) television is still very much alive.

When this country switched, existing analog television stations purchased and installed very expensive new transmitters that mostly use the UHF (ultra-high-frequency) band.

UHF signals do not penetrate structures as easily as VHF signals do.

Also, UHF signals require more power to reach the same distance as VHF signals, but not every station was approved to broadcast higher power signals, as that would or could interfere with other signals, (neighboring stations, radios, police and aircraft frequencies, etc.)

Further, even some stations that were approved to boost their power chose not to because it's more expensive, and the farther out from the city you go, the fewer viewers there are, and so there is a law of diminishing returns. And besides, many stations figured most of their viewers got their signal via cable companies anyway, (from whom they can extract payment for using their signal), so...

The newly vacated VHF frequencies were then auctioned off by the FCC to the highest bidders, many of them cell phone companies who could improve their reception and charge for the service.

[StreamDog]

Hey, Jack. What app are you using to "see" the satellites?

[Silver Goose]

Originally Posted by StreamDog

Hey, Jack. What app are you using to "see" the satellites?

I use DishForMyRV (dish - My RV Satellite Finder) to locate a clear line of sight when placing my dish. It combines AR with the phone’s camera to show where the birds are in relation to trees or other obstacles. I use this on an iPhone. There may be a version for Android.

I use the iOS app TV Towers (TV Towers USA) to find where OTA towers are located in relation to our position. Rotate the phone so that the pointer aims at the closest tower cluster on the map. The top of the phone will be the direction to point your antenna.

[BoatNutG2]

We use a FireTV stick from Amazon and the iPhone as a hot spot (AT&T) also carry a Hot spot T Mobile phone(unlimited data). Let’s us watch all the networks through their apps plus Amazon Prime and Netflix. Works great as long as you can get a cell signal from ATT or T Mobil or WiFi from the park.

[369goose]

Originally Posted by SteveSueMac

I think you may be mistaken. Over the air in digital works great. If you’re not getting channels, check to be sure your power antenna boost is on before trying to find the channels.

Just to confirm...the power antenna boost is the button on the wall behind the TV near the electrical outlet, correct?

Thanks for all the good info everyone.

[SteveSueMac]

Originally Posted by 369goose

Just to confirm...the power antenna boost is the button on the wall behind the TV near the electrical outlet, correct?



Thanks for all the good info everyone.

Yes. When mine is on there’s a green LED indicator light telling me it’s on.

Have that on, antenna up, scan for air channels and see what you get. I was amazed at how great free over the air HD looks! Granted, in some locations, all you get is QUBO and Home Shopping Network - but I’ve had over 20 channels in some locations.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by StreamDog

Hey, Jack. What app are you using to "see" the satellites?

I'm using an iPhone app called Transponders although in the apple app store its called SatFinder Pro now. It lists all the satellites in the sky. I know what the three satellites that Dish uses in its western ark and I mark those in the app. Once I've done that when I start the app up my camera in the phone is activated and I point the phone into the southwestern sky. I see the live picture of the sky, but superimposed into the sky are all the satellites as yellow dot with the labels identifying them. The green labeled satellites are the ones I identified as important. If the satellite is not blocked by trees, other RV's and other objects, it means that my satellite dish at that location will be able to successfully receive signals. If I see a satellite blocked, I move my portable dish to a different location.

For example in Michigan where the satellites sit lower in the sky, my next door neighbor's trailer height was slightly blocking the view of all three satellites. I was able to put my portable dish on some leveling blocks to get it a little higher off the ground, and thus was able to see over my neighbors roof line. In areas with trees, I just walk around the area looking through the phone until I find a reasonable spot that has a clear view. In some cases however I might find a satellite blocked. In those cases dependent upon which of the three satellites are blocked, I can still get programming, although maybe not all of the channels. I carry 50 feet of coax which gives me the ability to move the dish around to find a clear signal spot.

In my case I have satellite service at home so other than the initial cost of the portable dish and it's receiver, I just activate the receiver at a prorated daily cost of $7 monthly and get all the channels I get at home (other than my locals). When it's time to head home I just deactivate the receiver and my bill for the month charges me the $7 monthly fee on a prorated daily rate.

[jcanavera]

The most constant programming I've been able to see over the air since things switched to digital seems to be PBS stations and religious channels with shopping channels thrown in. I've come to realize that the digital signal is weaker and when out in the woods those digital signals don't always propagate as well. The reasoning I see more of the PBS and other less desirable channels is because the cost of land. The religious folks, PBS and other minor players don't have the budgets to place towers in the highly populated area so they tend to be rurally oriented thus providing pretty good service to campgrounds away from the larger cities where towers are located. The old analog antennas on those towers did provide a better signal to the rural areas. In my metropolitan location at home, the PBS station is the furthest distance antenna from the core city area.

Based on what the campground owners told me, many had to make substantial improvements to their residential antennas to continue to receive programming once digital came about.

I did add a small lowcost UHF element to my batwing Winegard antenna which they developed for their legacy antennas that compensated somewhat. I'm not sure on new trailers however, if the antennas supplied have made the jump to improve the signal levels over what I have seen with my enhancement to the Winegard.

Jack

[mayco]

Folks, please forgive my ignorance on the subject of mobile hotspots but I have a question.
I have an unlimited data plan with Verizon that limits the use of "tethered" devices. After 16g of data use on a tethered device, the speed will reduce a great deal. I currently use an hdmi cord between the phone and the tv using an Apple lightning adapter. Then I stream whatever I want off my phone. Can I tie my home Firestick to my phones hotspot while on the road AND would it be considered "tethering" if I do?

ie, bring my Firestick along with us on the road

Back to the OP, we watch a good deal of ota tv while traveling...Grit, ThisTV, Antenna TV, are a few of the channels I enjoy.

[jcanavera]

Originally Posted by Silver Goose

I use DishForMyRV (dish - My RV Satellite Finder) to locate a clear line of sight when placing my dish. It combines AR with the phone’s camera to show where the birds are in relation to trees or other obstacles. I use this on an iPhone. There may be a version for Android.

I use the iOS app TV Towers (TV Towers USA) to find where OTA towers are located in relation to our position. Rotate the phone so that the pointer aims at the closest tower cluster on the map. The top of the phone will be the direction to point your antenna.

Thanks for the tip on the OTA app. This will be a gigantic help when I do want to use the antenna. I bought a digital finder which worked to a point, but all it did was show the presence of a signal. So finding whether I was seeing one channel or a cluster of channels still made the process terribly time consuming since once I had a channel, I had to disconnect and hook up the TV to do the actual scan for service (which takes a while). Now I can use the to get the general direction of the best cluster of stations that are meaningful to me. Will save a ton of time!

Jack

[369goose]

Originally Posted by mayco

Folks, please forgive my ignorance on the subject of mobile hotspots but I have a question.
I have an unlimited data plan with Verizon that limits the use of "tethered" devices. After 16g of data use on a tethered device, the speed will reduce a great deal. I currently use an hdmi cord between the phone and the tv using an Apple lightning adapter. Then I stream whatever I want off my phone. Can I tie my home Firestick to my phones hotspot while on the road AND would it be considered "tethering" if I do?

ie, bring my Firestick along with us on the road

Back to the OP, we watch a good deal of ota tv while traveling...Grit, ThisTV, Antenna TV, are a few of the channels I enjoy.

Are you able to watch those OTA channels you mentioned without any enhancements as we were able to do before the digital switch or are you using the Lightning adaptor and/or hotspot or something else to receive them now?

We use our hotspots and Apple lightning adaptor to stream from our phones but often get too much buffering. It’s hit or miss, sometimes it works seamlessly. We don’t have the plan that limits tethering devices upon reaching a certain data usage though.

Btw, there is a thread here on the Forums dedicated to hotspots which is where I gleaned a lot of info regarding streaming/mirroring via hotspots some time ago. If memory serves me correctly I just searched mobile hotspots under the audio/video section. It is informative.

[369goose]

Originally Posted by jcanavera

The most constant programming I've been able to see over the air since things switched to digital seems to be PBS stations and religious channels with shopping channels thrown in. I've come to realize that the digital signal is weaker and when out in the woods those digital signals don't always propagate as well. The reasoning I see more of the PBS and other less desirable channels is because the cost of land. The religious folks, PBS and other minor players don't have the budgets to place towers in the highly populated area so they tend to be rurally oriented thus providing pretty good service to campgrounds away from the larger cities where towers are located. The old analog antennas on those towers did provide a better signal to the rural areas. In my metropolitan location at home, the PBS station is the furthest distance antenna from the core city area.

Based on what the campground owners told me, many had to make substantial improvements to their residential antennas to continue to receive programming once digital came about.

I did add a small lowcost UHF element to my batwing Winegard antenna which they developed for their legacy antennas that compensated somewhat. I'm not sure on new trailers however, if the antennas supplied have made the jump to improve the signal levels over what I have seen with my enhancement to the Winegard.

Jack

Couple questions...
What is the low cost UHF element that you’ve added
Other than climbing up on the roof how might I know if my ‘14 FC has that batwing Winegard antenna or a newer one with improved signal capability

First world problems we fortunate Airstreamers get to wrestle with... Spoiled with the old conveniences that seem to go away as soon as someone figures out we will pay a price for them ie: bottled water, Cable TV to name a few.

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by 369goose

Couple questions...
What is the low cost UHF element that you’ve added
Other than climbing up on the roof how might I know if my ‘14 FC has that batwing Winegard antenna or a newer one with improved signal capability

This is what I added:
https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-RV-W...a-434210932266

This is the antenna it attaches to:
https://www.amazon.com/Winegard-RV-3.../dp/B0002F67N2

If your antenna is fixed, there is no crank handle inside, then the bolt on booster will not work.

[skyguyscott]

Forgive me if you already know this, but here is a quick primer on watching TV remotely.

Ok, so the oldest old fashioned way to watch TV is still around. We now call it "Over the Air" (OTA) and it is the traditional way where you set up a TV antenna (note that the old TV antennas will still work with the digital signals) and watch traditional broadcast television. This usually means the network Affiliates such as ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS and anything they are also broadcasting on their adjacent digital channels, (Things like MeTV, Comet, ThisTV, etc.) If you are too young to know what CBS or NBC is, ask your folks. This service is FREE. You'll likely need to be within 50-70 miles of a city to pick up these free signals. A booster on your antenna line will help reception.

Cable/Satellite is the next oldest technology. If you are staying at a campground that offers Cable, just screw in the RF cable into your cable jack, and off you go. There may or may not be a fee associated with this service, depending on the campground. The channels you'll be able to view vary with whatever subscription service is available at the campground. This is very similar to what you might get at a Motel or Hotel these days.

Satellite is a different way to get the same content as what is available on you cable service, only you buy a Satellite dish (there are lots specifically made for RVs) and connect the dish (most are encased inside a plastic dome) to the RF jack on your trailer. No booster is required. The slickest of these dish setups will automatically find and dial in the satellite, assuming they have a clear, line-of-sight to the satellite orbiting far overhead. This is a paid service. You'll need some contract with Dish network or equivalent. The content is classic cable channels -- anything from ESPN to HBO, to TBS and possibly your own local stations from back home, depending on the package you buy.

In all the above, you can only watch whatever is being "broadcast" at that specific day and time.

The "new thing" is sometimes called "Anywhere, Any Screen, Anytime" This means you choose what you want to watch, no matter where you are or the time you want to watch it.

The oldest way to accomplish this is via DVD/Blu-ray/or even VHS video tape! These methods are foolproof, assuming you have electricity. I'll not go into how this technology works.

Closely related to this technology is DVR (digital video recording) such as TiVo or even if you have a show recorded on a memory stick or portable hard drive or equivalent. You plug in the media and watch it on the screen you want.

But, BUT, BUT, you say, "I don't really know what I want to watch, I just want to select something from a menu and watch it on the spot, over the "internet" I want it to be easy, fast and cheap!" Yes, don't we all.

Ok, spoiler alert, this technology isn't quite ready for prime time yet. It will be, and in some places near large cities, sooner than out in the boonies.

This is where you want to stream video over the internet, then have your cell phone company beam it to your device, right now, in real time, with no lag or buffering. And in 4K ultra High Definition with Dolby surround sound, while you're away, camping!

As if.

If only it were that easy!

Why isn't it? Bandwidth. If you where the only one wanting to watch "My Cousin Vinny" and no one else, say, wanted to watch anything else, or make a phone call, or, you know, watch youtube videos of kittens, or upload the most awesome selfie of themselves eating a scrumptious 5-star meal to their facebook page sure, no problem. But your desire to watch Joe Pesci defend his "yout" must share limited spectrum with everyone else. That's why, in an oversimplified nutshell.

And it will cost you, too. And it will be sporadic. And it won't always work, well or otherwise -- yet. And if you just can't get anything to come in over your set, you may be forced to open the door of your trailer and venture out in search of something to satiate those eyeballs, like maybe a sunset over the grand canyon or wonder at the brightness of the milky way so far from the city lights.