getting a tv with a sensitive tuner

[dockmasterdave]

We are looking for a new tv for the TT. We have had several and each got a different number of OTA channels in the same location.
I understand there are different qualities of tuners IE more sensitive.
Looking at new tv's there is no sensitivity rating given anymore.
Does anyone know how to get a tv that will pick up the most stations in a fringe area ?
We just don't want to drop the $$ on a new tv and get it home to find, the picture is great, but we only get a couple channels.

[dockmasterdave]

Thank you to all who actually read the question and tried to help. I got some good ideas to try.

[RJsfishin]

Wow, this has nothing to do w/ splitters, antennas or amplifiers or coax !!
From what I thought was easy to understand, was, ALL THINGS WERE THE SAME,.....only the tv/tuner was changed. Next time, "REED" before yous start climbing ass !!

[Tom_M1]

Gdetrailer wrote:
If you are only using ONE TV then WHY even worry about your issue, YOU INTENTIONALLY AND CONVENIENTLY LEFT OUT that little small piece of information.

Considering that the OP asked a very simple question, your comments are pretty harsh.

To the OP, if you still have the Vizio that got 13 channels, use this as your reference TV. Go to Walmart and purchase a TV. Now connect your Vizio to an antenna and aim the antenna so that it receives a poor signal. Do a channel scan and note the number of channels. Connect the new TV and do a channel scan. Do not reposition the antenna. If the new TV does not perform as well, return it and try a different one.

[Lantley]

dockmasterdave wrote:
Gdetrailer I am not splitting anything. There is 1 TV in a 23' trailer. I unplugged 1 tv and plugged in the other and gained @ 27 channels in 30 seconds. The only thing that changed was the tv. Not even a coax change, so YES, it is definitely the tuners.

I assume the antenna is coming directly from the roof to the TV and there are no other TV connections in the RV.

[dockmasterdave]

KD4UPL Thank you for an honest answer to the question asked. I NEVER said anything about splitters etc, it was SIMPLY a question about tuner specs, nothing more or less.

[jplante4]

Moved from General RVing.

[westend]

I'd suggest to switch to an antenna with higher gain and good directional adjustment. As someone surmised, above, TV mfgs don't have to put excellent tuners in their boxes because a majority of viewers have a good signal delivered to their house that is not OTA.
Height and antenna design mean everything. The chances of buying a screen that has a significantly better tuner are low. Have you ever looked inside a newer LCD screen chassis? There is just not that much in there.
FWIW, I built my own antenna and attached it to a 6' mast in an afternoon. The reception and picture quality of the screen inside the trailer is as good as the plasma sets inside the house, signal fed by cable.
Antenna referenced:Gray Hoverman array

[Johno02]

Does sound like it is getting a bit away from the original question. I agree with calling Cruchfield, they might be able to help. But probably, going to Walmart and getting one is about the easiest way, depending on how far you need to travel. If the one you get doesn't do what you want, try another. It cost nothing except your time to return and replace with a different brand. But, as someone has said, your antenna is very direction sensitive, but in some cases, a direct line does not produce the best signal. Use your SensarPro to find the best direction for the channels you want. We were at one location with 3 different channels, and each was in a different direction. Had to rotate every time we changed channels.

[Gdetrailer]

dockmasterdave wrote:
We are talking about a simple over air TV signal and asking about tuners. Is this going a little sideways ?

OTA now days IS NOT "simple", that IS the problem, whether YOU like it or not.

ATSC or "digital" video does not have the distance NOR noise/interference resistance that the old analog NTSC had.

If you are only using ONE TV then WHY even worry about your issue, YOU INTENTIONALLY AND CONVENIENTLY LEFT OUT that little small piece of information.

Many things can affect TV reception, weather severely affects reception, leaves on the trees affects reception, wind affects reception, buildings affect reception, generators affect reception, vehicle engines affect reception and pretty much any other ELECTRONIC DEVICES affect reception.

DIRECTION of the antenna IS "critical", unlike analog, digital you MUST be pretty much dead on with the direction of the station.

Turn off your converter, LED lights, Laptop, cellphones, tablets, MP3 players, plug in USB chargers and anything else electronic INCLUDING ANY INVERTERS.

If you MUST have an inverter running, put it a LONG WAY away from your TV and antenna, like a 50ft extension cord.
Then retry your TVs.

It IS the nature of the beast, we were left with a pretty crappy "digital" broadcast standard and the pitfalls WERE well known before the standard was picked.

Most TVs now days have similar reception specs which is why they are not published and really has very little to do with how well it receives..

For BEST results, you NEED antenna height (as high as you can get it), BIGGER antenna (crappy little RV antennas have ZERO Gain), extremely low noise/high gain preamp, top quality RG-6 coax (RG-59 does not cut it at all)proper direction and least obstructions(buildings/hills/trees).

At my home, I run a 12ft long antenna with a 25 DB gain preamp plus 8way amplified coupler.. Before digital, I could receive most stations with a coat hanger.. After digital, a coat hanger gets me one station and that blocks and freezes and with my larger outdoor antenna system I still lost some stations that were outside of my TV market that I used to get.

[KD4UPL]

I also live in a fringe rural area. I tried to find TV tuner specs but just about gave up trying as no one seems to give them. It most certainly makes a difference. Years ago back in analog days when I lived at home I bought a nice TV for my bedroom. I got several more channels with a better picture than my parents TV upstairs and they were hooked to the same antenna. The cable run to my TV was LONGER.
I would suggest contacting Crutchfield and speaking to one of there sales staff. They are generally quite knowledgeable and could probably find some turner specs for you. The disadvantage is that their TVs will probably cost more than what you would pay at Walmart.

[dockmasterdave]

We are talking about a simple over air TV signal and asking about tuners. Is this going a little sideways ?

[dockmasterdave]

Gdetrailer I am not splitting anything. There is 1 TV in a 23' trailer. I unplugged 1 tv and plugged in the other and gained @ 27 channels in 30 seconds. The only thing that changed was the tv. Not even a coax change, so YES, it is definitely the tuners.

[wa8yxm]

Johno02 wrote:
Best to be sure you have a good signal. Upgrade to a Winegard Sensar antenna,.....

That is how I do it.. My system would make Rube Goldburg proud.
That's the antenna. One of the Sensar Pro's outpts feeds the original Winegard BOMB (Matrix switch, box of many buttons) which feeds the front TV, the Rear TV a small digital/analog converter with recording capability (THat's new have not really worked it out yet) and the main Digital converter (A Echostar (Dish) converter) this works rather well
The Echostar feeds a Replay TV (analog only DVR)

The other output feeds a Zenith or INsignia (Same thing different paint job) converter in teh rear. Supposed to be the best converter senistivity wise per a broadcast engineer.. I'm not convinced but there is abou t50 feet of RG-6 between them.

The Replays eat not only Video off the Converters (Line in) but DATA off my router, it comes from a computer, which gets it from an online service for 25/year.. That way I can tell it "Record all shows with NCIS in the name" and it does. NCIS. NCIS LA and NCIS New Orleans.

Nice.
Problem.. Time to watch it all 🙂

[Gdetrailer]

dockmasterdave wrote:
Hi Johno02 We have used 2 different tv's, both vizeo's, on the same antenna, in the same location. I got @ 3 channels on 1, the other @ 13 channels, so obviously they have different quality tuners.
We will be in fringe areas quite a bit over the summer and want to start with the best tuner. We do have a wineguard with wingman and a booster. A 28" class, smart tv, so we can still get something in fringe areas via verizon mifi is still in the mid $300's and no way, I can see, of finding out which model has a good tuner and which model they cheaped out, on the tuner in.

The problem IS NOT the "tuners", it is HOW the signal from the antenna is being SPLIT.

Pretty much standard issue is these critters..



They are "passive" splitters, they EAT your signal, cutting a already weak signal into a bit more than half for two way.

Passive splitters worked OK with the old analog broadcasts, but the change to digital and they no longer work well. Digital broadcasts are really touchy about Radio interference (RFI) and reducing the weak signal allows for LOCAL noise created by stuff inside your trailer (including TV tuners) to interfere with your TV reception.

The "fix"?

Amplified couplers.



Amplified couplers have a built in wideband preamp for EACH ouptut so instead of a large signal loss each port will now have some signal GAIN..

The downside to amplified couplers is they do cost more than passive splitters and they do require a DC voltage to operate.

Amplified couplers often do have remote power capability via a power inserter which means you do not need the coupler to be close to a power source.