I thought I'd write up how I get my TV, for anyone who's interested in trying something similar for themselves or such.
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I'm not the biggest fan of television, but there ARE a few shows I enjoy (House, The Office, Family Guy, Two and a Half Men, etc. etc.) However I'm always at work or outside the house for one reason or another and I sure as hell ain't gonna adjust my life around the tv shows I want to watch. The only solution was a DVR. However, I'm broke! Here for your consideration is my solution.
PART I: The DVR
I own a modest computer. Core 2 Duo e7500, 6GB DDR2, 640GB HDD, Radeon 4850 Graphics. Not a crazy powerful rig, but that C2D and Radeon 4850 will still kick some ass. After a little browsing and searching, I found the solution at Fry's on sale for $29.99:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16815306006
A Diamond HD Wonder ATSC tuner card, with the ATI theater chip which does hardware MPEG-2 decoding and interfaces with my Radeon 4850's GPU to ensure my CPU doesn't do a damn thing in terms of video decoding.
My computer was already running Windows 7 Ultimate, which features the excellent Windows 7 Media Center.
PART II: The Media Source
It's a long story, but I wasn't able to run our basic cable to the tuner. Guess our only option is to go with... Over The Air (OTA) reception! OTA is completely free and keeps with our theme of low cost.
The Lumenlab forum has a sticky with diagrams for a basic DIY antenna that can be built for less than $10 (free registration required to view thread):
http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613
If you look out the window of my room, there is a supply shed that belongs to our neighbor that extends out a few feet. I decided I would mount my antenna there and run some weatherproof shielded RG-6 inside my room.
I built the antenna using a 2x4, two sets of dollar store cooling racks, bent coat hangers, and sloppily-applied silicone caulking for weatherizing. Additionally, I brushed a thin coat of motor oil over the entire thing to further protect it. Folks, it ain't pretty - but it works. Here are the pics:
Here is the homebuilt antenna itself.
Zoomed out a little bit so you can see what it's sitting on. This is what you would see if you were to look directly out my bedroom window. My neighbor has a satellite dish and a pair of anchored RG-6 wires, so I just piggybacked MY RG-6 and the antenna onto her wire with zip-ties.
Picture of my window and the outside view. I had to run the RG-6 in through a hole in my screen (you can see it in the pic). The weather is starting to warm up, so I can leave the window cracked 24/7 but I need to get something figured out before the end of summer.
The antenna has been serving me for almost two months now. I have gotten steady reception on all the major OTA networks (Fox, NBC, another local station, PBS). I have ZERO dropouts, even momentary ones. Really clean, steady signal.
Here's some screenshots of recordings I've made:
Cuddy (House):
The Office:
Two and a Half Men:
ATSC OTA is really amazing, as long as you have a decent signal you will get steady HD with no dropouts. Using an antenna to watch TV today is nothing like how it was years ago when we had NTSC.
Thoughts? Comments? Has anybody else built their own antenna?
You must be logged in to see the pictures.
I'm not the biggest fan of television, but there ARE a few shows I enjoy (House, The Office, Family Guy, Two and a Half Men, etc. etc.) However I'm always at work or outside the house for one reason or another and I sure as hell ain't gonna adjust my life around the tv shows I want to watch. The only solution was a DVR. However, I'm broke! Here for your consideration is my solution.
PART I: The DVR
I own a modest computer. Core 2 Duo e7500, 6GB DDR2, 640GB HDD, Radeon 4850 Graphics. Not a crazy powerful rig, but that C2D and Radeon 4850 will still kick some ass. After a little browsing and searching, I found the solution at Fry's on sale for $29.99:
http://www.newegg.com/product/produc...82E16815306006
A Diamond HD Wonder ATSC tuner card, with the ATI theater chip which does hardware MPEG-2 decoding and interfaces with my Radeon 4850's GPU to ensure my CPU doesn't do a damn thing in terms of video decoding.
My computer was already running Windows 7 Ultimate, which features the excellent Windows 7 Media Center.
PART II: The Media Source
It's a long story, but I wasn't able to run our basic cable to the tuner. Guess our only option is to go with... Over The Air (OTA) reception! OTA is completely free and keeps with our theme of low cost.
The Lumenlab forum has a sticky with diagrams for a basic DIY antenna that can be built for less than $10 (free registration required to view thread):
http://www.lumenlab.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=9613
If you look out the window of my room, there is a supply shed that belongs to our neighbor that extends out a few feet. I decided I would mount my antenna there and run some weatherproof shielded RG-6 inside my room.
I built the antenna using a 2x4, two sets of dollar store cooling racks, bent coat hangers, and sloppily-applied silicone caulking for weatherizing. Additionally, I brushed a thin coat of motor oil over the entire thing to further protect it. Folks, it ain't pretty - but it works. Here are the pics:
Here is the homebuilt antenna itself.
Zoomed out a little bit so you can see what it's sitting on. This is what you would see if you were to look directly out my bedroom window. My neighbor has a satellite dish and a pair of anchored RG-6 wires, so I just piggybacked MY RG-6 and the antenna onto her wire with zip-ties.
Picture of my window and the outside view. I had to run the RG-6 in through a hole in my screen (you can see it in the pic). The weather is starting to warm up, so I can leave the window cracked 24/7 but I need to get something figured out before the end of summer.
The antenna has been serving me for almost two months now. I have gotten steady reception on all the major OTA networks (Fox, NBC, another local station, PBS). I have ZERO dropouts, even momentary ones. Really clean, steady signal.
Here's some screenshots of recordings I've made:
Cuddy (House):
The Office:
Two and a Half Men:
ATSC OTA is really amazing, as long as you have a decent signal you will get steady HD with no dropouts. Using an antenna to watch TV today is nothing like how it was years ago when we had NTSC.
Thoughts? Comments? Has anybody else built their own antenna?
Attached Files
I just might have to give it a try. There are a few upgrades that I need to do first. For my cards I need to be on Windows Media Center Xp. I do have this progie brand new but my video card needs to be upgraded to run it. If I could get my few favorite TV shows on this thing I would only need to leave this chair to crap and go fishing.....
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