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Q&A
1. Is the antenna
I use for existing
TV reception
good
enough
for DTV?
Over-the-air
(OTA) digital TV broadcasting
uses the same channels
as analog TV and
works well with many existing TV antennas.
However,
DTV broadcast
channel
assign-
merits are different
than analog channels.
You should
find out whether
your local DTV
broadcasts
are on VHF (channels
2-13) or UHF (channels
14-69) to see if'you need a
different
antenna.
If yolu" DTV channels
are on UHF and you ah'eady get good UHF reception,
yolu" pre-
sent antenna
may work fine. The same holds true for VHF DTV reception.
Note that
in some markets,
both VHF and UHF channels
are used fbr DTV broadcasts.
You can find out the latest DTV channel assignments
%r your area by browsing selected
Internet web sites such as www.titant_com,
www. 10000watts.corn,
and ww_tfi'c.go_
2. How
difficult
is it to receive
DTV
signals
indoors?
This depends
on whether
your local DTV stations
are running
flfll power or not and
how close your location
is to the transmission
tower. DTV receivers
do not require
as
much signal as analog TV receivers
to produce
high-quality
images and sound.
Once the
DTV
signal level exceeds
a certain threshold
at the receiver, the digital video
and audio data is decoded
at the same q.ality
it was originally
encoded
for broadcast.
This is a big artvantage
fbr DTV over analog TV - there is no noise, ghosting,
static, or
scratchy
alldio.
3. How
can I connect
an antenna
in my
townhouse,
co-operative
apartment,
condominium,
or apartment?
The Federal Comm.nications
Commission's
OTARD R.le
(part of the
Telecommlu_ications
Act of 1996) allows residents
of condominilm_s,
townhollse,
or
members
of neighborhood
associations
to put .p outside
antennas
for reception
of
broadcast
TV signals as long as those antennas
are not located in common
areas and
are no more than 12' in height.
Residents
of rental units (apartments,
etc) are not covered
by the OTARD rules and
will have to use indoor antennas
to receive DTV broadcasts.
It is possible
that the
landlord
of an apartment
complex
can provide
broadcast
DTV
signals via a master TV
antenna
system to each at_artment.
4. Can
I connect
my
DTV
set-top
receiver
to
my
cable
TV
service?
Cable
TV systems
Hse a different
method
%r transmitting
digital
TV pit)grams
that
is
currently
incompatible
with
broadcast
DTV set-top
receivers.
So you
will still
need
to
llse an olltdooi"
or indoor
antenna
to receive
OTA broadcast DTV
t_I'ogI'ams.
The good news is that yoH won't have to pay a monthly
or pei_program
charge to
watch OTA DTV and HDTV programs.
They're
fl'ee, Hnlike sHbscription
satellite TV or
premium
cable TV All yo. need is an antenna
and a DTV set-top receiver to et!joy
clear, sharp widescreen
images and high-quality
audio.
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