If you have an HDTV or are thinking about getting one before the analog cutoff early next year, you may also want to consider picking up your digital TV via an antenna. Many of you are concerned that an antenna is an eye sore or that they are just too big to to deal with. Today we talk about an antenna that takes care of both these issues. According to Antennas Direct, the C2 uses a new breakthrough in size and unmatched ultra efficient design and gain. So in typical HT Guys fashion, we look at this antenna empirically.

Tech Specs Range: Up to 50 Miles Gain of 10.2 dBi Consistent gain throughout the entire DTV channel spectrum Dimensions: 20" H x 10" W x 5" D The test site for this review is 45 miles from the LA transmitters and 80 miles from the San Diego Transmitters. The current setup for OTA is a Winegard HD 9095P. This is a Yagi-style antenna rated for deep fringe. The testing was very straight forward. Put the C2 up against the monster Yagi and see how well it did.

It should be noted that Ara lives in a hilly area and that there is a house directly behind and above him. So this is not a best case scenario to say the least. There were three tests involved. The first was to stick the antenna in a window and scan for digital channels. We weren't expecting much success here but much to our surprise the C2 picked up 9 digital channels. Some of them were channels we actually watch. The interesting thing was that we picked up two channels from San Diego.

Ara has mentioned it in the past but it warrants mentioning again that there are mountains off to the East and the antenna is probably picking up a reflection. The next test was to actually aim the antenna in the direction of the transmitters and hold it outside the window. With this test we were able to pull in 12 channels. We were hoping for more because at this point it has not been a fair test and the only way to do so was to get up on the roof and put the C2 right next to the Yagi.

Anything close to the 45 he currently receives would have kept Ara off the roof. It looks a lot higher when you are up there looking down. For the third and final test we mounted the antenna in the same position as the Yagi and aimed it in the same direction. The scan was rerun and produced 25 digital channels. The channels that were missing were ones in the higher range. Channels 50 and higher.

We could have done better if our topography was less hilly or we had no houses behind us. Even still, the C2 did a great job when you consider its size and our location.

Conclusion If you live within 40 miles of the transmitters or you have a clean line of site and live within 50 miles of your transmitters, the C2 antenna is a great way to receive free over the air digital television. ADSG was the R&D unit of the sound department producing products for movie theaters and movie studios. Two of the products they worked on include the DCP-1000 and DADR-5000.

The DCP is a digital cinema processor used in movie theaters around the world. The DADR-5000 is a disk-based audio dubber used on Hollywood sound stages. ADSG was awarded a Technical Academy Award by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences in 2000 for the development of the DADR-5000. Ara holds three patents for his development work in Digital Cinema and Digital Audio Recording.

Source: http://feeds.hdtvmagazine.com/~r/hdtv-reviews/~3/jum_nuc1lzo~.php

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TV broadcasters in the U.S. TV signals and started broadcasting only in digital, but she still found herself in a Best Buy store on the DTV deadline day, Friday, buying the last amplified digital antenna on the store shelf. And she even bought a new flat screen digital-ready TV for her living room to replace an old analog TV that was on its last legs. So she thought she was prepared.

But when Coleman hooked up her digital converter box to her TV using her existing antenna on the eve of the digital transition, she discovered that she could get every regular broadcast TV station except channel 2.

Meanwhile, using a new TV antenna with a built-in signal amplifier attached to her digital ready flat-screen TV, she was able to get all the regular channels, plus two extra channels. I was prepared back in February for the switch," she said.

But then when I hooked up the box last night, I realized that I wasn't getting all the channels and that I probably needed a different antenna, so here I am again." Coleman was not alone. TV antennas were in short supply in New York City Friday when full power broadcast TV stations switched to digital-only TV broadcasts. EDT the Radio Shack on 23rd Street near Park Avenue had plenty of converter boxes in the store, but it was all out of antennas.

The Best Buy just down the block on 23rd Street and 6th Avenue only had a few antennas left by mid-afternoon. And by 5 p.m. Best Buy customer service representative at the store on Broadway and 62nd Street said that antennas were sold out in Manhattan. The only stores that still had them in stock were in Queens. As for converter boxes, the representative said the store still had 242 left.

Justin Barber, a spokesman for Best Buy, said that as of Friday evening, Best Buy stores across the country were meeting demand for converter boxes. He couldn't say whether other areas around the country were experiencing antenna shortages. But he said that the company had anticipated a spike in demand.

We have been working with our antenna vendors to get additional inventory," he said. That was definitely something we were planning for in anticipation of the DTV switch." It's difficult to say how widespread the potential antenna shortage has been. Mark Wigfield, a spokesman for the Federal Communications Commission, said he hadn't heard that antennas were in short supply. But he said he wasn't surprised that antennas are in high demand.

You really do need an antenna to receive digital signals," he said. Best Buy had plenty of digital TV converter boxes on hand for last minute shoppers. They may be able to use the existing antenna they had used to get analog TV signals. But he said that whether the antenna is new or old, consumers should make sure it supports both UHF and VHF radio frequencies. VHF antennas have traditionally been the rabbit-ear antennas that receive channels 2-13.

And UHF antennas have been in the shape of a circle or bow-tie. These antennas are used to tune channels 14-51. Now that broadcasters are only transmitting in digital, it's important to have an antenna that supports both VHF and UHF, since many digital signals are now being broadcast in UHF frequencies. In addition to VHF UHF antennas there are also amplified antennas that can be used to improve reception.

In the case of Louise Coleman, the amplified antenna, helped her get all the standard TV channels offered in her area, as well as two more channels she couldn't get with analog TV. But retailers caution consumers that no antenna is a one-size fits all solution, something Richard Savelli, of Manhattan learned the hard way.

Savelli had bought a basic rabbit ear-style antenna from Radio Shack when he picked up his converter box earlier this year, but even with the new antenna he isn't able to tune in some digital TV channels. He was in Best Buy on Friday looking to buy a new antenna. But the pickings were rather slim. It is frustrating," he said. Nobody told me I needed a special antenna. But cable is too expensive and I don't want to give them my money."

Figuring out exactly which antenna to use can be a big challenge. The FCC has some information on its Web site www.dtv.gov that provides some help. But most of the information on the Internet is about outside antennas. Still, Wigfield recommends that consumers check out the FCC Website and use a tool that allows people to put in their address and ZIP code to see where their local station transmitters are located and what kind of signal they can expect to get.

There is also information available about the different types of antennas. He also says that newer converter boxes work much better than ones made just a few years. And he says he has spent hours testing and figuring out which solution works best for getting digital TV signals in his Astoria, Queens, apartment. What he has discovered is that an expensive amplified antenna did not perform as well in his apartment as a much cheaper HDTV UHF VHF antenna.

And he says that he not only gets more TV channels than he did with analog, but that the TV channels he is getting are much better quality in high definition and with surround sound. A silver sensor HDTV antenna from Philips that is similar to the one CNET editor Matthew Moskovciak uses. So what are consumers to do? Here are a few tips that can be used to help get you started setting up your antenna for digital reception.

Make sure you are using an antenna that supports UHF and VHF. Move your antenna closer to a window. Often it's much easier to get reception from the window. Point the antenna in the direction where you know local TV stations are broadcasting. You may have to adjust the antenna for different channels.

Rescan your digital converter box or tuner to find the channels in case the broadcaster has moved them. If you're still unable to get a signal, try a new antenna. Moskovciak recommends not buying the most expensive antenna first. Instead, he says to work your way up, trying different antennas to see which one works best.

Often a less expensive antenna may work better than a more expensive one. Best Buy has a 30-day return policy, so try as many antennas as you want, and return the ones that you don't need. It's definitely not easy to set this up perfectly," Moskovciak said.

I've spent a lot of time getting mine set up. I have my antenna taped to the wall and pointing toward the transmitters. E-mail Maggie. 5 channels of TBN!! Boy was I a sucker. Yep, I live in suburban area 28 miles from Seattle where the broadcasters are, so what should I expect. Maybe I'll have to move back to the city so I can pollute my brain. HAHAHAHAHAHA!

I'll bet there are lots of folks all over the USA that are in the same boat, but also only have DIAL-UP internet and not able to watch anything on the internet either. Sad. June 12, 2009 7:27 PM PDT I have been watching DTV for 3-1 2 years. My location is 37 miles from the transmitters per antennaweb.org. The antenna is approx 12 feet off the ground in the attic.

Oh well, too bad, tough luck. I am not going through any more hassle to see television. Some is fun to watch, occasionally it is good to see where a tornado is, but I can live without it. Radio, silence, reading, home movies.. By telvision.. USA it was fun. So if she had an antenna that worked, why was she out buying another one?

Or was an "investigative journalist" involved here, creating a story with a loaner antenna? Click here to review our Terms of Use. Comment reply The posting of advertisements, profanity, or personal attacks is prohibited. Are they nuts? Subscribe via RSS Click this link to view as XML. Let us know how the transition is going in your area.

The servers stayed up and nothing exploded when Facebook's vanity URL program went live tonight. The Space Shot Shuttle Endeavour set for grueling station mission The space shuttle is poised for launch Saturday on a grueling 16-day space station assembly mission featuring five spacewalks and extensive work with three robotic arms.

Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-10264157-94.html

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We first saw the Yamaha YSP-4000 Sound Projector in use at CES 2007. At that time we were quite impressed that a single unit could generate a 5.1 sound field.

For those of you who are not familiar with what the Yamaha Sound Projector, it is single unit resembling an oversized center channel that decodes surround sound and generates multi-channel experience by bouncing sound waves off the walls in your room. The advantages are obvious, no running of speaker wire, easy placement of a single component, no clutter!

This type of device is ideal for an apartment dweller or for use in a master bedroom, or for the person who wants surround sound but doesn't want to deal with the installation of a multi piece system. You connect your source components to the Sound Projector and then connect and HDMI output to the TV. The YSP-4000 on supports two HDMI inputs.

The 4000 also supports two component, three composite, and two digital optical and coaxial audio inputs. Once all the connections were made you connect a microphone and start the automatic room calibration. This took a few times to get it to run successfully. There are some requirements about where you can place the microphone in relation to the Sound Projector. This may limit how well the surround performs.

In general the microphone needs down the centerline of the Sound Projector and no more than 1 meter above or below. Due to the room's dimensions that it was installed in, we had to move the orientation of the 4000 to get a calibration that succeeded. The unit also supports an iPod dock and XM Radio module. We received both and installed them into the unit. Each has a port on the back of the unit and only took a few seconds to install.

One word of caution on the XM Radio unit: If you don't have a South facing window near the unit you won't be able to receive XM radio. The unit also supports a subwoofer. Our tests did not include one but we strongly recommend that you use one for the full surround experience. A nice feature of the 4000 is that it can store three calibration setups in memory. This is very important because the room configuration is important to the experience.

In our case we ran two calibrations, one with the windows and blinds open and one with them closed. The Sound Projector produced a better experience with the windows and blinds closed. However, if I did not run a calibration with the windows open the surround experience would have been completely lost.

There is also a feature called "My Beam" that directs all the audio to your sitting position eliminating any surround effects. It has clear diagrams for optimal room placement. This will save you some grief if you have a room that the projector just won't work in. Performance After hearing how good the YSP-4000 sounded at CES and CEDIA we were hoping for the best. But if we were able to get any sort of multi channel sound we'd call it a success.

The answer is that for Ara's wife the sound was fantastic and for Ara, just 20 inches to her right, the sound was good. Due to the positioning of the microphone per the instructions the optimal sound was on Ara's wife's side of the bed when she sits up. In that position it the surround sound was very strong.

During Harry Potter I would look at the wall next to me in amazement. There is no speaker there but the sound was definitely coming from the wall just above my head. The experience was not as good on Ara's side of the bed. While the sound was far more expansive it was not as pinpoint. It was still an improvement over the TV speakers alone. This drove home the fact that the proper placement of the speaker makes a big difference.

We ran a final setup with the unit in a position that was not acceptable to the wife but more conducive to the proper calibration. For this last test the microphone was place right down the middle of the bed. In this case both my wife and I were able to hear surround sound as if we had speakers above our heads. The sound projector really works well if placed properly. The other area that was tested was music playback. We were quite pleased with how well the 4000 produced music.

There was a good sense of stereo and openness. HT Guys Advice The Sound Projector is an amazing device that makes setting up a home theater simple. While it's true that you can buy a traditional home theater surround sound system for less, you can't buy one that is easier to install. Just be sure to read the User's Manual first to make sure that the Yamaha YSP-4000 will work in your room layout.

ADSG was the R&D unit of the sound department producing products for movie theaters and movie studios. Two of the products they worked on include the DCP-1000 and DADR-5000. The DCP is a digital cinema processor used in movie theaters around the world. The DADR-5000 is a disk-based audio dubber used on Hollywood sound stages.

Source: http://feeds.hdtvmagazine.com/~r/hdtv-reviews/~3/3mpsqmxcb08~.php

Keywords:
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