[MEncoder-users] tv tuner card suggestions?

[Scott W. Larson]

Rich Felker wrote:
> Show me reports of someone receiving digital TV from 70-90 miles
> (113-145 km) without a special rooftop aerial and then maybe I'll
> believe this.

That distance is outside the markets of almost all television stations in
the U.S. The FCC rarely licenses stations to transmit that far and you
should not expect to easily receive television stations at that distance,
certainly not with an indoor antenna. That's why so many stations have
translators here.

Nevertheless, here are some interesting reports.

A post from the Little Rock, AR thread on the AVS Forum:

http://tinyurl.com/34hghl

"I have the cm7777 pre-amp, all towers are located 60-90 miles line of
sight. Without the preamp plugged in, I get nothing out here, even analog
channels are horrible, except ch 11, it's descent. Plug in the Cm7777 and
wah lah..its like magic I get all the L.R. Stations analog and digital and
the Ft. Smith Channels with a 180 degree turn of turn of the rotor."

Another post from the Las Vegas, NV thread:

http://tinyurl.com/38waxp

"OTA question. Is NBC-DT using low power or what. I live in Meadview, AZ,
about 75 miles east of LV. I am getting PBS, ABC, CBS, and Fox in good
shape but NBC is a mess. It was a real pleasure to watch to Cowboys last
night in HD. The big antenna was worth the effort."

A post from the El Paso, TX thread about indoor antennas:

http://tinyurl.com/2fba8w

"Hey Netis, instead of getting an ugly outdoor expensive antenna, just
look into getting a good indoor antenna, like the "Silver Sensor" Since
KDBC (CBS), KVIA (ABC), KFOX (FOX), and KTSM (NBC) have upgraded their
equipment, you really don't need an outdoor antenna...So in total I get 9
channels.
That's about it. Not bad for living about 50 miles away, with a small,
cheap, indoor antenna."

You can go to the AVS's HDTV Reception forum and do a search on threads
with "miles" and get dozens of reports of reliable reception from 40-50
miles away with a typical rooftop antenna. Indoor reception is typically
more like 20-30 miles, about what you would expect for decent analog
reception.