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Chapter 11
Connecting Over-the-Air Antenna/Cable TV
The effects of poor digital reception are different from the effects of poor analog reception:
•
Poor analog reception usually causes the TV picture to be "snowy" or to include "ghosts," that
is, multiple images caused by receiving reflected signals along with the direct signal from a
station.
•
Poor digital reception may cause the TV picture to be "pixelized," that is, broken up into small
squares of various colors, or to be lost completely (the TV screen is all black or all blue).
•
Digital broadcasts often provide either a very good picture or no picture at all.
•
You may be able to receive a poor analog signal but not be able to receive a digital signal at
all.
To get the best possible digital signal reception, make sure you use the best over-the-air antenna
for where you live:
•
You can receive a limited number of channels using a rabbit ears type antenna on top of the
TV set, or a much larger number via a large UHF/VHF indoor/outdoor antenna.
•
The higher the quality of the antenna you use, the greater its range and the better its reception
will be.
The Consumer Electronics Association maintains a website, antennaweb.org, that you can visit for
help in choosing an antenna.You may want to contact a professional TV antenna installer for
advice or help in choosing, installing, and aiming an antenna. Keep in mind, digital over-the-air TV
broadcasting is in its infancy. So, digital over-the-air service may be interrupted because:
•
Broadcasters are testing digital signals, and may stop broadcasting without notice.
•
Many broadcasters do not yet have permanent broadcast stations and may be operating at
less than full power.
•
Broadcasters are not legally required to provide full-time digital signals for several years.
•
Some digital channels do not broadcast all the time.
If you have questions about over-the-air channels, contact the broadcasters, not DISH Network.
DISH Network does not broadcast over-the-air signals and so cannot do anything to change over-
the-air signal quality. However, the receiver's digital channel setup menus provide a signal strength
bar that can help you in aiming the over-the-air TV antenna for the strongest possible signal.
Here's something interesting! We all know there's no Channel 1, but did you know that no
TV stations broadcast on Channel 37? That channel is reserved for radio astronomy.
Perhaps someday we will receive TV shows from Alpha Centauri.
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Troubleshooting
