An Inexpensive HDTV Option
With the advent of HDTV, I decided to upgrade my receiver
to High Definition. We have a seldom-used analog TV
that was pretty much worthless for watching TV other
than DVDs for lack of good reception. With the upcoming
phase-out of analog broadcast signals, our options
for pulling in the broadcast signal over-the-air included
either getting a new HDTV with a tuner, or buying an
HD-analog converter box. We went with a converter box,
and even with an analog TV, the results were stunning!
Before, all we got through our
10" Glomex antenna
(with amplifier) mounted to the radar arch at our Prospect
location was one or two local broadcast channels. The
picture was always fuzzy, so we hardly used the TV
unless it was to watch a DVD or let the kids play video
games. It was a good excuse to leave the set off and
have the kids do other things like play cards or enjoy
the outdoors.
I purchased a Radio Shack Analog Pass-Through DTV
Converter Box. Set-up was a snap, and when it was done
synching, we had nine local HD broadcast channels.
They are as follows:
- WAVE HD 3-1
- WAVE MV 3-2
- WAVE Weather 3-3
- WHAS DT 11-1
- WHAS Weather 11-2
- WLKY DT 32-1
- WDRB DT 41-1
- WMYO 58-1
- KET2 68-1
The signal quality showed
mostly 45-88 on a scale of 100, and there was only
partial signal loss on a few channels. What surprised
me most was the signal quality we got through the
Glomex antenna, which never did much for us on
the analog side, even mounted a good 16' above the
water. The best part, given that I'm a weather nut,
was having a nice radar picture available on two
different channels for our ever-changing summer conditions.
As for the costs, the converter unit retails for $59.
Don't forget the $40 government coupon you can request
online. For the amount of time we spend watching TV
on the boat, that is a fantastic value. Other HD options
include either dockside cable or satellite, or a marine
satellite unit with a gyro mount such as a TracVision
Marine Satellite TV from KVH.
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Left, a gyro-compensated
satellite receiver dish for marine applications. |
Here are a few links to products described above:
DTV.gov "What you need to
know about the digital TV transition"
http://dtv.gov/
Glomex antenna, available through: Imtra Marine Products.
http://www.imtra.com/product/antennas.htm
A Marine (Gyro-compensated)
satellite: TracVision Marine Satellite TV from KVH
http://www.kvh.com/marinesat/index.asp
-Captain Eric
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