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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>We live between South Ridge Mall and
Indianola. We have a good antenna, intended to be roof mounted, hanging
in out attic. A rough description would be it looks like a fish skeleton
with an alligator jaw on it. We bought a converter box with a coupon and
got OK readings. 40s and 50s. We’re told now that they should
have been much higher, considering we’re on a hilltop and have a direct
line of sight to the towers. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I took the antenna down and we had spray
on expanding foam insulation applied to the inside of our attic roof and the
end walls of the attic. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I put the antenna back up about 8 hours
after I took it down and the TV reception went to pot, both analog and digital.
Channel 13 is in the 30s and the rest are from 10 to 20, and below 10 or so the
signal drops out and can’t be decoded. I’ve replaced the coax
from the antenna to the TV.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>Everyone is telling us that the insulation
shouldn’t have made any difference and nobody can tell us why it
did. If anybody has any clues I’d be glad to have help figuring
this out.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>There is a 4 way splitter in the living
room with one line going to each of the two DTV boxes, one to the VCR, and one
to the TV. Each of the DTV boxes connects to the VCR with the 3 cable
method, left and right audio and video, plugging into Line In 1 and 2 on the
VCR. Line Out from the VCR goes to the TV with another triad of
wires. That way I can record up to two channels without having to reset
the DTV boxes. There doesn’t seem to be any way to get the VCR to
change the channel on the DTV box, nor power it off and on, but that’s
another issue. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>13 is the only digital channel we can
receive well enough to be satisfactory. The others are bad to worse.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'>I’m figuring I’ll have to move
the antenna to the roof. How does one ground the antenna so that
lightening doesn’t get transferred to the DTV box / VCR / TV etc.?<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<div>
<p><st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><font size=5 color=red
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:red'>Murray</span></font></st1:place></st1:City><font size=5 color=red
face="Comic Sans MS"><span style='font-size:18.0pt;font-family:"Comic Sans MS";
color:red'> McKee</span></font><font color=navy><span style='color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;color:red'>Operating Systems Engineer</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;color:red'>WFFIS - Wells <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place
w:st="on">Fargo</st1:place></st1:City> Financial Information Systems</span></font><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'> <br>
</span></font><st1:Street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on"><font size=2
color=red face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;
color:red'>800 Walnut Street</span></font></st1:address></st1:Street><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;color:red'>MAC F4030-037</span></font><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'><br>
</span></font><st1:place w:st="on"><st1:City w:st="on"><font size=2 color=red
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:red'>Des
Moines</span></font></st1:City><font size=2 color=red face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:red'>, <st1:State w:st="on">IA</st1:State>
<st1:PostalCode w:st="on">50309-3605</st1:PostalCode></span></font></st1:place><font
color=navy><span style='color:navy'><br>
</span></font><font color=red face=Tahoma><span style='font-family:Tahoma;
color:red'>WORK (515)557-6127 Cell<b><span style='font-weight:bold'> (NEW)</span></b>
(515) 343-6630 </span></font><font size=2 color=red face=Tahoma><span
style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma;color:red'>FAX (</span></font><font
size=2 color=red face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial;
color:red'>515) 557-6046</span></font><font color=navy><span style='color:navy'>
<br>
</span></font><font color=red face=Tahoma><span style='font-family:Tahoma;
color:red'>MurrayMcKee@WellsFargo.com</span></font><font color=navy><span
style='color:navy'> <br>
</span></font><i><font size=2 color=navy face=Arial><span style='font-size:
10.0pt;font-family:Arial;color:navy;font-style:italic'>"This message may
contain confidential and / or privileged information. If you are not the
addressee or authorized to receive this for the addressee, you must not use,
copy, disclose, or take any action based on this message or any information
herein. If you have received this message in error, please advise the
sender immediately by reply e-mail and delete this message. Thank you for
your cooperation."</span></font></i><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><b><font size=2 face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;
font-family:Tahoma;font-weight:bold'>From:</span></font></b><font size=2
face=Tahoma><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Tahoma'>
cialug-bounces@cialug.org [mailto:cialug-bounces@cialug.org] <b><span
style='font-weight:bold'>On Behalf Of </span></b>Jerry Heiselman<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Sent:</span></b> Sunday, May 03, 2009 8:54 AM<br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>To:</span></b> <st1:PersonName w:st="on">Central
Iowa Linux Users Group</st1:PersonName><br>
<b><span style='font-weight:bold'>Subject:</span></b> Re: [Cialug] [OT] Digital
TV</span></font><o:p></o:p></p>
</div>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'>I first bought a digital antenna from Best Buy (<a
href="http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Low-Profile-Indoor-Antenna-TV5/dp/B000069106">http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Low-Profile-Indoor-Antenna-TV5/dp/B000069106</a>).
I got around 70-80% signal strength. It seemed okay, but it would
cut out very frequently. Then I watched a segment on Make: Television
about building your own (<a
href="http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/maker_workshop_pdf_dtv_antenna.html">http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2009/01/maker_workshop_pdf_dtv_antenna.html</a>).
With this new antenna mounted in my attic, I now get 90-100% signal
strength except for Fox which comes in around 85. I also put the antenna
feed into a splitter/combiner and combined it with the cable from the Mediacom
feed (I am not a subscriber, but the feed is still attached to the signal tap
outside my house). This then feeds into my TV. This seems to have
seriously stabilized the signal.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
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<p class=MsoNormal><font size=3 face="Times New Roman"><span style='font-size:
12.0pt'><a href="http://www.antennaweb.org">http://www.antennaweb.org</a> is a
great resources for helping you decide on a type of antenna and how to point a
directional antenna.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
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