I got a new tv that says sdtv on it.
I have to use an indoor amplified antenna.
I get the Portland stations HD ok, but i got a surprise, HD from Eugene and Corvallis!
I don't get Katu or Koin in McMinnville. analog, but Digital? Yep, perfect picture!
Also Knmt comes in fuzzy, but digital? Perfect!
So now i get Koac's four Pbs channels, and Knmt's 5 digital channels!
I have not recieved channel 22's digital channels, which should be for more.
Digital Cable without the cable!

What brand/model is the TV?

Sylvania, bought at Sears for $169.95.

You don't get KATU or KOIN's analogue channels in Mac with an indoor antenna 'cause they're on VHF-Low. Indoor antennas are notorious for not being able to tune 2-6 very well. As for digital 22-they are on actual channel 4 which is also VHF-Lo. Nearly impossible to get on "rabbit ears" indoors.(especially these days with so much RF interference from everything from light dimmers to crossing lights to computers messing up VHF-Low band.)

What Eugene digitals can you get there with an indoor amp antenna? Here(just outside of Sheridan) I can only get Digital 9(actually UHF 44) and 16(actually UHF 17) with an amplified 8 bay UHF reflector 13 metres above the ground.

KOAC from Corvallis is mostly a no-go due to the severe multipath. Portland digital stations are sporadic at best(except for KPXG which is the steadiest of signals) with an outdoor amplified antenna.

Well, I can typically copy 4 on my DMR-EZ27 at about 92%, and that's with my Pentium 4 and CD player both running, and not even two feet away from the receiver and rabbit ears. And this is when I am at home in NE Vancouver, up near the KVAN towers.

Naturally, at my apartment it comes in crystal clear (about 97-99%), but I am using an outdoor antenna on a balcony within line of sight of Portland.

Strangely enough, KPTV and KATY's digital channels (UHFs 30 & 43, if I remember correctly) are the hardest for me to receive in either location, either with an amplified inside rabbit-ear set or an outside antenna. I still have to keep analogue 12 programmed into my systems so I can watch Frasier and M*A*S*H at night when I come home from work, without having to watch it melt down to a nice colourful blocky mess on the screen! ;o)

I guess it really depends on where you are watching from.

(Although post-2/19/09, this may improve as stations cut their analogue signals and [hopefully] kick the power up a bit on their digital channels!)

I haven't tried any real ATSC DXing on my antenna at the apartment (seems like the best place to do so because of my elevation and proximity to P-town) mainly because I still need to get an amplifier for the antenna. That, I think, may also help improve my KATU/KPTV situations somewhat.

I'm suprised that Vern can copy digital tv signals at all with an indoor antenna in McMinnville. The Chehalem Mountains make a good signal distorter between Mac and Portland.

From what I have seen, the latest generation of ATSC tuners are *much* better at decoding digital signals under multipath and weak signal conditions. The tuner in my new Panasonic DMR-EZ47V DVD recorder blows away my old Humax HFA100 tuner that I got early in 2006. If your ATSC tuner is over a year or two old, you might want to try something newer.

Yeah, the first and second generation ATSC tuners aren't very good at dealing with multipath. (e.g.: the first RCA/DirecTV set top box.)

I pointed the dipols to Salem and did dtv scan. It stopped on channel 4.1!! and 22.1!
i got just a flash of a picture and played a lot with it and couldn't lock in the signal.
I regularly get ch's 2-12 digital with Philips amplified antenna i bought at Goodwill!
I'm not spending $50 for a new antenna if it doesn't work!

"I'm suprised that Vern can copy digital tv signals at all with an indoor antenna in McMinnville. The Chehalem Mountains make a good signal distorter between Mac and Portland."

I don't get Katu, Koin, Knmt, and Kpdx 49 is fuzzy, analog, but i get the new digital signals now!!

Jr_tech--

Off-topic query:
Does the software in your 47V freeze up occasionally, or take a long time when switching between ATSC channels? Also if tuning to 32-02 ("The Tube's" placeholder, currently a still frame) does the text announcement seem to "follow" you to whichever other digital channel you tune to?

My 27 does this........I have called Panasonic several times and as of yet they have not been able to give me any help beyond to "just watch the analogue channels instead."

Still, it manages to capture the signal WAY better than the drifty old POS 2003-model Humax that I used to have (the one which got taken out in a power surge a coupla years back, along with a FAX machine I had on the same outlet...)

Motozak2:
Yes, Yes, No.
The "Tube" placeholder seemed to trigger lockup of the 47V very often, so I deleted it from the channel list. However, the text did not "follow" to another channel. I also disabled the "auto" mode of the on screen channel indication, which would appear at odd times (even when viewing a DVD), sometimes indicate wrong channels, and in general, slow down channel selection. Lockups have been minimal since I took those steps.
The old Humax tuner locked up very often, and did not have a front panel reset... hopefully the next generations will show even more improvement !

I did the same things you did, also disabled the audomatic indication because I tape off the digital channels on my VCR occasionally, using the line-out. That, and it's just generally distracting having it pop up every five minutes.

It does speed the channel selection up slightly, but noticeably I think. For some reason, tho, my machine tends to freeze up more frequently with a DVD in the drive (I usually use a bare DVD-RAM disc) than without, so I usually watch it with an empty drive. (Starts up a little faster that way--despite the fact I have the Quick Start turned on--and saves wear on the drive components.)

Oddly enough, a couple of times earlier this year I would come home and see that the box is displaying the "U99" error message, even wien it's turned off. Very strange. (For those who don't know, the "U99" error on a Panasonic DIGA Media Recorder machine like my 27 or JT's 47 is kinda' like the annoying occasional "General Production Fault" error in Windows.)

Does the display on your 47 tend to alternate between the channel number (say, "Ch 8. 2") and the clock/status indicator (say, "nO dISC") occascionally when watching an ATSC channel?

I haven't tried DXing with my box yet, but.............

"Does the display on your 47 tend to alternate between the channel number (say, "Ch 8. 2") and the clock/status indicator (say, "nO dISC") occascionally when watching an ATSC channel? "

No, it will indicate the channel briefly when the channel is changed, then revert to a constant "no disk" indication if no disc is loaded. Have not seen the Panasonic version of the "blue screen of death"... yet.

"[I] have not seen the Panasonic version of the 'blue screen of death'... yet."

From the PanaManual for the 27, publication #RQT8851, page 75~
"ON THE UNIT'S DISPLAY:
U99
-The unit fails to operate properly. Press [POWER 0/|] on the main unit to switch the unit to standby. Press [POWER 0/|] on the main unit again to turn the unit on."

What I can't figure out tho, is how can the 27 "fail to operate properly" if it is switched off? Unless there must be some bug in the code that makes the Quick Start operate........

Oh yes Jr, along thse lines, if you aren't using it already (assuming your 47 has it) I strongly suggest you enable the Quick Start function as it can make the machine boot up almost immediately after you hit Power. (On my box, if I don't have the QS turned on it literally takes a minute and a half to boot up.)

----------------------------------------

Caught my first bit of ATSC DX on the 27 really early this morning, at about 2:10 or so--I was able to copy KVAL on 25 very briefly (like, about five minutes) before it dropped completely. Reception was about 62% on the signal metre. From what I could tell it looked like an infomercial of some sort.

Reception itself was problematic, as it kept breaking up constantly. Audio was limited to short "clips" of only a few seconds. And now I have 13.1 permanently stuck in my channel list! No matter--I won't erase it but keep it there anyways for further research.

I just wish I had a blank tape in my VCR..........

So I now know Digital TV DXing *is* possible, and I wasn't even using an amplified antenna.

I watched People's Court on KLSR 34-DT and According To Jim on KEVU-DT!
KEVU-DT is on KLSR 34.02!! I like that!
The sdtv i have is now in the bedroom because
a 27" is coming that will go on Comcast or DirecTv
whenever! I get better reception on Portland channels in the bedroom!

" pointed the dipols to Salem and did dtv scan. It stopped on channel 4.1!! and 22.1!
i got just a flash of a picture and played a lot with it and couldn't lock in the signal. "

WEll, why don't you point it to the Portland West Hills? That is where their transmitter is....At Sylvan. You are picking them up on the backside.

"(Although post-2/19/09, this may improve as stations cut their analogue signals and [hopefully] kick the power up a bit on their digital channels!)"
The analog has nothing to do with the digital. You'd best get used to what you got because that is what it will most likely be. At least for KATU. They are running at max power now on their Digital side. The other stations are supposed to be, also. They were allowed to run at half power at first but no longer.

Sometimes, just reaiming the antenna will improve (lock) digital tv. But it might stop another one from working. Multipath is critical with digital tv. Also, for some tv's, too much signal will overdrive the tuner and will keep it from working correctly. Digital transmission is not as forgiving as analog transmission.
Most stations will be high frequency which is primarily line of sight. DXing won't yield much for long distances. As some are finding out, DXing is just getting all locals to lock in.
The fun is just starting.

"Also, for some tv's, too much signal will overdrive the tuner and will keep it from working correctly."

In areas where receiver de-sense is a problem, maybe digital reception will get better once the analog transmitters go dark.