High Definition, Old School Methods

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Preamble:

I'd like to start this story by saying that my knowledge of electronics, electro-magnetism and antennas are next to nil - like most people, I have a vague notion that waves send signals through cables, through the air, satellites and so forth ... but that's about it. I recently bought an HDTV, replacing my 10-year-old analog television, which had started to produce high-pitch noises after being on for a while. This is the story of how I (and many others) have gone back to getting TV channels off the air, rather through the regular cable or satellite provider.

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While this story might seem somewhat dry to some, to me, it represents a sort of ham-radio type of democracy that I didn't think could apply to the airwaves - while the Internet definitely counts as a democratic technology (in some countries), it has yet to replace the television in terms of ease and accessibility.

It's free, but not for you.

Essentially for years, if not decades, many people have preferred to slap on a pair of rabbit ears to their TV set, rather than pay for cable for various reasons - as expected, unless you have very good rabbit ears or a fancy antenna parked on your roof, reception really varies depending on where you live. Let's face the facts however, cable programming is by and large forgettable; there's always a few channels that are good but you have to pay a premium price to get them.

The same unfortunate truth exists for digital television - where the price for such channels via cable or satellite are extremely expensive (60$+ a month) - now here's the punchline or the part where digital subscribers get punched in the gut: The majority of the digital signals cable companies get are taken off air and then re-compressed to a lower quality (so they can dish out more of it). So essentially, like bottled water, you are being sold something that is already free ... the second punch to the gut is that the free signal is actually of a much higher quality because it's the first incoming transmission.

Obviously this doesn't apply to all digital channels, and in time, more programming will be cable or satellite only - but if you're like me and occasionally want to watch the CBC or CTV in high definition, then read on ...

Experimenting with antennas

Armed with a new HDTV, the next step was getting these famed HD channels - in Vancouver, there are only three currently broadcast over the air (OTA), the CBC and CTV, and with a high-gain antenna you can get Seattle transmissions too (NBC, CBS and a few others).

The first thing I did was slap on my 15-year-old rabbit ears - I got a few of the analog channels (analog here means low quality basically!) - naturally no HD signals came up, as they were a different frequency. After spending numerous hours on the Internet looking at indoor antennas, I bought the best candidate at Circuit City, eagerly got home and plugged it in. To my surprise, I didn't get any additional channels (analog or HD) ... in fact, it seemed worse, even with much fiddling of the antennas.

I then remembered an article I had read online, named "Make Your Own TV Antenna for Free HDTV [1]". It's the kind of article that is written by a Joe Blow like you or me, so you tend to leave it as a last resort because it actually requires work. I thought I'd give it a try, and as this article illustrates, I took some coaxial cable (the cable for TVs), stripped the top open and basically taped on a metal hang-wire (for clothes).

I hung it up facing Mount Seymour (where the transmission tower is located) and plugged the other end into my HDTV set ... and guess what? Yep, I got a good signal, high-definition CBC and CTV ... it was a sight to behold!

Turns out there are good high-gain antennas you can buy online that cost between $50 - $100 called terrestrial antennas. You stick it in your attic or on your roof and that will get you more south-of-the-border HD channels, but I have yet to try that - for now, I'm just anticipating Hockey Night in Canada in glorious pixelated clarity.

Comparisons and conclusions

A number of people who have cable digital channels have all said the same thing: Over the air signals are far far superior - or rather, cable signals are very poor. I guess it's still a new market, with very little programming is available, so prices are high and selection is limited. The truth is, if you've never seen true high definition (DVD quality or higher), then almost everything looks better than the plain vanilla channels.

By 2011, the CRTC has mandated that all signals will be digital, so in the next while a few more stations will be going digital, including Global. Until then, if you're not a couch potato, try getting free HDTV - it's definitely fun to be off the grid and save yourself some money, using a technology that is absolutely primitive looking by today's standards, yet works beautifully with some wire and a coat-hanger. That's old school.

PS: I wouldn't recommend sticking your home-made antenna outdoors, as it's not grounded, so when there's a storm or something, it might fry your TV ;-)

Pullquote:

...essentially, like bottled water, you are being sold something that is already free ... The second punch to the gut is that the free signal is actually of a much higher quality.

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