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Rabbit ear antenna and HDTV reception

M

moonlite

Jan 1, 1970
0
Hello- Does anyone know if a regular rabbit ear antenna is capable of
capturing HDTV signals ? Thank you.

moonlite
 
A

Andrew Rossmann

Jan 1, 1970
0
[This followup was posted to sci.electronics.repair and a copy was sent
to the cited author.]

Hello- Does anyone know if a regular rabbit ear antenna is capable of
capturing HDTV signals ? Thank you.

As far as an antenna is concerned, a signal is a signal. It doesn't
know anything about analog or digital.

That said, you do need the right type of antenna. Most digital
broadcasts (not all digital is HD) are UHF. The typical two-pole 'rabbit
ears' are only for VHF (2-13). Just because the analog is on VHF doesn't
mean the digital version is. Here in Chicago, the only VHF digital is
WBBM-TV/WWBM-DT (analog 2, digital 3). UHF usually uses either some form
of round antenna, or those arrow-shaped directional things like the
often mention 'silver star', or bow-tie shaped, sometimes with a
reflector (grid or similar behind bow-tie) behind it.
 
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