Well my tuner card works. It probably doesn't have the greatest tuner in the world, but I've been able to get it to have a suitable signal on 4 channels: KTCI-16, WFTC-21, KMSP-26, and KTCA-34, though they tend to need slightly different antenna locations/orientations (of course). Two or three other channels taunt me by being just under the threshold. I'm curious if an amplifier would help with that, but it would probably just make things worse.
I'd really like to be able to pick up the big 3 networks, though I'll have to see what can be done with the ones I am able to receive. So far, the software I have has only been able to decode 480i programming. Higher resolutions seem to make the player app go nuts. But, I entirely expected some problems… Besides, the important thing is that the hardware works.
Anyway, I picked up a nifty looking antenna at Best Buy. People seemed to like it from what I read online, so I got it. It's kind of entertaining wandering through the apartment with it, since I almost feel like I'm carrying a divining rod…
Unfortunately, it sounds like the encoding method used for American broadcast digital TV is not well suited for urban environments. It outperforms the European standard over long distances, but people just a few miles from the tower can have problems.
Ah, America…
Posted by mike at August 27, 2003 10:29 PM | Hardware , Software , TV | TrackBack