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Posted by Admin | December 21,2020

You've been hearing quite a bit about ATSC 3.0, otherwise known as next generation television. Manufacturers are gearing up for the upgrade and some stations are beginning to broadcast in 3.0.

On the equipment side, SiliconDust was the first to offer a converter box for sale. The HDHR5 is now available and in the hands of several TV DXers. We can't tell you much about its performance on ATSC 3.0 channels because no one has logged one yet. But we can tell you that there are reports that the 1.0 performance is not quite up to par with earlier HDHR tuners. As time goes on we will know more. Read more about this tuner HERE

The newest ATSC 3.0 converter box has arrived on the scene. It's the Zapperbox M1 and it will retail for $249.00. The manufacturer is taking orders for the box with availability around February 2021. Go HERE

For a current list of ATSC 3.0 stations, go HERE
In Market #92, WFXQ-CD Springfield, MA is broadcasting 3.0.

A Different Way of TV DXing ATSC 1.0

When you think about it, the way that TV DXers check the TV bands for DX hasn't changed much since the 50s. Today we still put an antenna on the roof, hook that up to a television and  tune VHF and UHF looking for distant signals. What that means is that many times when we're not there to DX , we miss some DX.

What some TV Dxers are doing now is automating their DXing. They replace their TV or set top box with HDHomeRun tuners. Then, by using an internet connection, they use software that continuously scans the TV bands and sends the results to the rabbitears.info website, where the information is displayed on a map for anyone to see at their own locations. Oftentimes the system will log stations that the DXer didn't even know were there!

Here is one of the maps from the rabbitears website showing new and recent TV DX logged by TV DXer Roy Barstow in Massachusetts.

For more information on how to set up a DXing system like this, please visit the WTFDA Forum website in the DX Equipment forum. Also see rabbitears.info for more information.

What's the Best DTV/Set Top Box for DTV DXing ATSC 1.0

The best DTV or Set Top Box is one that tunes channels manually, like we all did back in the analog days. Unfortunately there are just a few of them. Most LG DTVs have a manual tuning feature that you can access through the menus. But as far as boxes, the best are the oldest. There are two; the Zenith DTT901 and the Insignia NS-DXA1, which in reality are one and the same box, but with different labels. LG made the tuners for these. These are even more preferable to LG televisions because their tuners let you see traces of stations too weak to decode. LG televisions won't show these.

Most DTVs on the market today will only allow you to do channel scans. Channel scans take too much time, especially when there's an Es or Tropo opening going on. DX stations may show on one scan, but not on the next. A station that shows on the beginning of one scan may not even be there at the end of that same scan. Chances are very good that you'll miss some very good DX by wasting time performing channel scans while looking for DX.

The Zenith/Insignia DTV boxes and LG TVs are a favorite with DTV DXers.

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