HDTV in SoWal

I can also pick up CBS out of Dothan from our 4th Floor Condo in Seagrove Beach using an indoor silver sensor antenna.

I don't have HDTV, but I have heard that the HD broadcasts are still very few.

I can also pick up CBS out of Dothan from our 4th Floor Condo in Seagrove Beach using an indoor silver sensor antenna.

Interesting. That implies it might be a problem with my antenna. Its only mounted about 15 feet above the ground. Height could also be the problem. The antenna I was trying to use is really and outdoor FM antenna. Looks like I need to buy a better antenna and mount it higher.

Link to antenna I use:
http://www.zenith.com/sub_prod/product_Display.asp?cat=&id=131

Link to a site that will help you locate HDTV and SD OTA signals:
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

If you enter your location it will tell you what signals are available,
give you a compass bearing and make an antenna recommendation.

It was great for ABC and CBS college football this fall. Of course my wife doesn't understand why I go to the beach and spend time watching TV - she's got a point.

Link to antenna I use:
http://www.zenith.com/sub_prod/product_Display.asp?cat=&id=131

Interesting. And it works well for you indoors. Even here in the Atlanta burbs I use an amplified outdoor antenna. I'll give it a shot.

just got dish network - 18 hd channels and growing fast - for 29 bucks a month!

way better than cable

yes it goes off (searching for satellite signal) when it rains really really hard, but then it comes right back on in a minute or two

my cable used to go off all the time when it rained and they took their sweet time getting it back on, too

and then i found out they are just rebroadcasting the freaking exact same satellite (just un-branded) over the cable!

jeez!

Isn't it $29 on top of the monthly fee. I know mediacom is about the same. My advice is wait. All stations were to have begun HD broadcasting 2 years ago only to be pushed back. And the standards are not set in stone. Is it 720p,1080i or 1380. Watch movies in HD. Most broadcasts are only upconverted to HD from standard def. which completely distorts the picture. Plus who wants to see Panama City's broadcasters in HD it'll probably crack your screen when Joe Moore comes on.

I set up an OverTheAir HD receiver when we were down there last week and all I could pick up was ABC (WMBB) and 4 educational channels.

Is this because I have a crappy antenna or is that pretty much all that is available? I noticed that WMBB was also the only local HD I could get from the cable company.

Thanks

So did you try this antenna? Did it work?

Has anyone gotten an HD cable box from Mediacom? Do they offer them yet? How much $ over standard service?

HDTV is so awesome. We were in total denial. Then the TV in our master bathroom died, and we needed to replace it. We decided to put the one in the den into the bathroom and splurge for Christmas with a flat panel.

Now we are so spoiled by HDTV that watching anything else makes us feel as if we have cloudy contact lenses or have lost our eyeglasses.

We plan to move up to HD at the beach. This thread has been very informative.

Has anyone gotten an HD cable box from Mediacom? Do they offer them yet? How much $ over standard service?

I'm trying to avoid getting HDTV from MediaCom - our cable service is so lousy. The lower channels are all fuzzy (with Digital Cable, no less), and their answer is, "Oh, yea, that's a problem we have". They put in a digital cable box that looks like it had been dragged behind the truck on a gravel road.

MediaCom offers something like 5 HD channels for an extra $10/month, and none of them are network. I really want the sports in HDTV, and so many of the good college games are on network.

Dish TV doesn't offer CBS, which has the SEC football games, and so I am lost - and considering some sort of antenna solution, since WTVY claims they broadcast "digital" TV - whatever that means.

Has anyone done business with the company called "Sattelite Sales and Service" on 98? Would they perhaps be able to at least get the right antenna up?

Isn't it $29 on top of the monthly fee. I know mediacom is about the same. My advice is wait. All stations were to have begun HD broadcasting 2 years ago only to be pushed back. And the standards are not set in stone. Is it 720p,1080i or 1380. Watch movies in HD. Most broadcasts are only upconverted to HD from standard def. which completely distorts the picture. Plus who wants to see Panama City's broadcasters in HD it'll probably crack your screen when Joe Moore comes on.

:lolabove:
I totally agree !!!
We just got HDTV and we went through mediacom.just to get channel 4 and the other local stations,but it seems that NBC in panama city doesn't broadcast in hi-def or does it ??

:lolabove:
I totally agree !!!
We just got HDTV and we went through mediacom.just to get channel 4 and the other local stations,but it seems that NBC in panama city doesn't broadcast in hi-def or does it ??

I got an HDTV TV, and one of those Silver Sensor Phillips HDTV antennas ($25 at Circuit City), and Channel 4 comes in AS CLEAR AS A BELL up here in Point Washington. It is incredible - the picture is about 300 times better than the Channel 4 I get on MediaCom.

We get 4-5 other channels on the antenna also, but not the other network channels - looks like we get CW and two or three PBS stations.

I would never have dreamed that this little $25 antenna would work this well - just bought it as a lark.

Woo hoo - Super Bowl in High Def!

I got an HDTV TV, and one of those Silver Sensor Phillips HDTV antennas ($25 at Circuit City), and Channel 4 comes in AS CLEAR AS A BELL up here in Point Washington. It is incredible - the picture is about 300 times better than the Channel 4 I get on MediaCom.

Despite Googling myself silly, I can't find specs for this antenna. Which input does it use to connect to the TV? Hoping you don't say coax...

It uses coax. Connects to the digital antenna input on your TV or external digital tuner. If your TV is only HDTV ready it will not work. Also note that this is a UHF antenna only. Enter 32459 zipcode at this web site:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

It shows NBC out of Panama City as broadcasting on VHF. I have not tried a VHF antenna at our Seagrove location.

It uses coax. Connects to the digital antenna input on your TV or external digital tuner. If your TV is only HDTV ready it will not work. Also note that this is a UHF antenna only. Enter 32459 zipcode at this web site:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

It shows NBC out of Panama City as broadcasting on VHF. I have not tried a VHF antenna at our Seagrove location.

This also says that the NBC station is not digital, but their own web site says it is. So hard to get real information sometimes, I don't know what to believe.

Anyone have local channels on DirectTV?

I believe it shows WJHG analog as VHF 7 and WJHG digital as VHF 8 mapped to 7.1. Even though it is the same distance to the tower for the Digital ABC station the table shows it as requiring a much larger antenna with preamp for proper reception. Since the tower is the same distance as the ABC tower WJHG-DT must be at very low power. I don't think I have a chance of reception with an indoor antenna. The silver sensor is definitely only good for UHF and is extremely sensitive to direction. I have rock solid reception for digital ABC and CBS.

The following is copied and pasted from the CEA web site.

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow - uhf WFSG-DT 38.1 PBS Panama City FL 74? 12.0 38
* red - uhf WMBB-DT 13.1 ABC FL-Panama City FL 88? 43.2 19
* red - uhf WBIF-DT 51 RTN MARIANNA FL TBD 72? 39.7 51
* blue - uhf WTVY-DT 4.1 CBS DOTHAN AL 30? 47.4 36
* violet - uhf WPCT-DT 47 IND PANAMA CITY BEACH FL TBD 116? 22.0 47
* violet - vhf WJHG-DT 7.1 NBC PANAMA CITY FL 80? 42.6 8

We have Direct TV in Georgia and it is the best investment we have made for the HDTV TV. Have a 50" Samsung 1080i. It also picks up some Digital channels when we have the antenna on. They are clear as a bell on it but terrible on the other 2 TVs in the house as they are not on the satellite.