Is the area of coverage for the new HDTV signals less than the old analog TV broadcast? I receive analog ok?
I installed a TV rotor and a mast mounted pre-amplifier and I can receive a watchable analog broadcast of some analog stations but not even a trace of their HD broadcast. I do receive several HD broadcasts of other stations but there are at least 3 stations where the reception is analog only, even though these stations do have HD broadcasts on air. I have a decent UHF-VHF fringe outside antenna with the rotor and mast mounted antenna. So I was wondering if HD signals by their nature travel shorter distances than theiir analog counter parts? If this is the case are their going to be wide spread
problems for some when the analog signals are eventually turned off?
To some extent yes. As most cities use UHF frequencies for the HD side of things, they travel shorter distances (same with analogue UHF stations) The more significant difference is how directional the UHF HD broadcasts are. Have you rotated your antenna in search of those 3 other stations? You actually need to know the location of each tower for each station. In most cities, these are clumped together in one spot, in others a few stations may be off by several degrees.
Try getting the largest UHF yagi antenna you can. This site should help too:
http://www.antennaweb.org
SUPER VOLTEX 6700 MODEL HDTV TV ROTOR ANTENNA