Re: Insignia NS-DXA1 converter same as Zenith DTT900?

On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 17:50:17 -0500, me wrote:

Wes Newell <w.newell@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

So in the end, the
one you get will work good if you connect it correctly with a proper
antenna, or it will work terrible, regardless of the brand. the thing
you should concern yourself with is does it have the optional features
you want/need. The Zenith has none.

So how well does that :"smart antenna" feature work?

Does it REALY help? Or just a minimal advantage?

I don't have a clue. I have no need for a smart antenna here. All the
towers are in the same direction and I don't have a multi path problem
that I'm aware of. I've only read up a little on smart antennas. they are
kind of new to the home market. But antenna arrays have been used by the
big boys for some time I guess. They basically, cancel out unwanted
signals and sync the one for the station you are tuned to. Here's what's
in the cnet review;

The DTA800 also includes a Smart Antenna port that can be used with
compatible Smart Antennas. The idea behind Smart Antennas is fairly
simple--digital stations are often broadcast from different locations, so
setting your antenna in one direction might be optimal for one station,
but suboptimal for another. A Smart Antenna automatically moves the
antenna so that it's in the optimal position for a particular station. We
didn't have a Smart Antenna on hand to test this feature, but the idea is
a good one, and it's nice to have the ability to add one at a later time.
Our only hesitance is that the Smart Antennas we've seen on the market
recently are rather expensive, which makes us think it probably won't be
worth the extra cash.

http://review.zdnet.com/tv-hdtv-tuners-receivers/rca-dta800/4505-6487_16-32887593.html

--
Want the ultimate in free OTA SD/HDTV Recorder? http://mythtv.org
My Tivo Experience http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/tivo.htm
Tivo HD/S3 compared http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/mythtivo.htm
AMD cpu help http://wesnewell.no-ip.com/cpu.php
.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Is it likely a different digital converter box will provide more TV channels?
    ... In addition to different front-end sensitivity and multipath- ... provide which might be worth considering: "smart antenna" support. ... any converter or TV which has ...
    (sci.electronics.repair)
  • Re: Smart antenna improves HDTV
    ... final cost in purchasing and installing rooftop HDTV antenna to work ... with digital TV converter box: ... "This antenna can only be used with an ATSC Receiver that has a smart antenna ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: Got my coupon. Is Zenith converter stil the one to buy?
    ... roof that hurricane Katrina destroyed. ... I got the amplifier, from the antenna graveyard). ... I wish I could avoid using a rotor but time with tell (I ... You might want to consider the RCA model with the smart antenna jack and a ...
    (alt.tv.tech.hdtv)
  • Re: How to improve radio reception?????????
    ... I thought maybe someone had figured some simple way to add an extension to the radio ... A full-wave antenna would do a better ... AM signals are larger, so the old AM only antennas used to be bigger. ... Like anything you take this to the ninth degree but some more things to consider with AM radio, back in my driving a whole lot of miles days I'd often alter my route to destination just so I'd stay in range of the pattern of the station I was listening to or avoid know interference. ...
    (alt.autos.toyota)
  • Re: U.S. Navy taking on pirates, sort of
    ... used a Honolulu radio station broadcasting Hawaiian ... generally you need to be able to rotate an appropriate antenna to ... The Japanese were flying almost directly south, ...
    (sci.military.naval)