Amerideal ATI HDTV Wonder $87US after MIR

[jurassicjockey]

The ATI HDTV Wonder has a $20 rebate for most of the month of March of $20. Dell has the card for $107 (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=A0384632&spagenum=&category_id=6332&brandid=&k=&c=us&l=en&cs=19&mnf=&prst=&prEnd=&mnfsku=&orderby=&searchtype=&pageb4search=&page=productlisting.aspx&instock=&refurbished=) shipped. Some other online places have it for the same amount including shipping. Obviously you need somewhere in the US to send the rebate cheque and product to.

[RideGuy]

Link (http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/ProductDetail.aspx?sku=A0384632&c=us&l=en&cs=19&category_id=6172&first=true&page=productlisting.aspx)

http://accessories.us.dell.com/sna/images/products/large/A0384632.jpg

[money1]

what about hdtv service for canadians?

[RideGuy]

You can only use this card on free to air HDTV signals. I think with a strong enough antenna there are 6 channels you can receive here.

[jurassicjockey]

With a decent outdoor antenna you can get much more than 6. I currently get around 10, but the Canadian content side is a bit light on the HD side. As well with OTA your channel count can vary significantly depending on your distance to stations and antenna setup.

[RideGuy]

With a decent outdoor antenna you can get much more than 6. I currently get around 10, but the Canadian content side is a bit light on the HD side. As well with OTA your channel count can vary significantly depending on your distance to stations and antenna setup.
10, that's great! I have a friend with this set up, and all he can get is 6. How much would it cost for a decent antenna? How big are they?

Thanks,
RideGuy

[Wrocky]

Is there a way you can tell if this is the version that has the BroadCast flag enabled?

ATI made these in preperation for the FCC decision that all HDTV receivers have some sort of copy control. Now, the bill was struck down, but as far as I know, these ATI cards are in the wild.

[Aske001]

The broadcast flag legislation was initially supposed to kick in July 2005, and ATI started selling these cards well before that without support for the broadcast flag. Since the bf never happened, ATI just kept on selling the original version.

I assume you folks getting 6 or 10 digital stations over the air are in Toronto? I think only CTV has a digital broadcast here in Vancouver, and I'm not sure any of the U.S. digital stations are close enough to receive over the air without a really impressive antenna.

[romsan04]

You can only use this card on free to air HDTV signals. I think with a strong enough antenna there are 6 channels you can receive here.

antena = dish???

[andicus]

antena = dish???
No. Antenna = UHF antenna. Most HDTV OTA stations transmit in the UHF band.

[uddinf]

I get about 10 channels as well with the indoor antenna that came with it.
Does anyone with this get NBC? If I could get NBC I would be happy since I would have almost all of the major networks.

[TRK9]

I get about 10 channels as well with the indoor antenna that came with it.
Does anyone with this get NBC? If I could get NBC I would be happy since I would have almost all of the major networks.

Do you mean the indoor antenna that comes with this ATI product?

[dud]

Anyone in the GVRD have this card? How many channels can you receive with the included antenna?

[jurassicjockey]

Dud

You would probably get a quick answer over here (http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/) But from my understanding there is only CBC and CTV that you couold hope for.

[ZenOps]

Yup, HDTV FTA = usually UHF. Which means the *old* style roof antennas that your grandfather used are coming back into style.

Calgary and Edmonton are also SOL, as we don't have FTA towers setup yet. For those in TO, you can point it south and catch signals from the US *if* your antenna is high enough off the ground.

Edit BTW: HDTV FTA is a great idea for any apartment complex that is in a served area. Its free, and once you have a reciever you can amplify and split the one channel and send it to all the apartments on composite/component/S-vid or if you are really cheap, RG-6 coax.

CBC for the hockey games is extremely popular.

[jurassicjockey]

10, that's great! I have a friend with this set up, and all he can get is 6. How much would it cost for a decent antenna? How big are they?

Thanks,
RideGuy

You don't want to go down the road that I did. I've got a vertical stack of 2 Televes DAT-75's on a 64' tower. Preamp is a channel master 7775. I'm 100 miles from Buffalo, so I need all the gain that I can get. NOT cost effective but fun to play with. If you're in the Toronto area, a decent channel master bowtie such as the 4228 would be a good choice and not too expensive.

Steve

[Urdailo]

Check out http://www.redflagdeals.com/forums/showthread.php?t=251457 for an indoor antenna deal. Mileage may vary depending on location. UHF comes in uni and omni directional. From some of the reading I have done, you would want an omni if you are not far away from towers and they are in multiple direction. And a uni directional for best reception for a far away tower and weak signal. I am thinking this is the best poor man's way of getting HD since I don't really watch TV that much.

[mr_yellow]

Am I reading this right? We can recieve Over the Air HDTV signals in Toronto?!

Where is the source of these signals? Buffalo? or are there transmitters in toronto?

Lastly, Anybody have experience recieving signals in the downtown core surrounded by buildings?

[boojew]

Anyone know the availability of FTA/OTA HDTV channels in Montreal or know a good site to check them out?

Thanks

[jurassicjockey]

Anyone know the availability of FTA/OTA HDTV channels in Montreal or know a good site to check them out?

Thanks

A good source for digital television info in Canada is Digital Home Canada (http://www.digitalhomecanada.com/forum/) Go to the Over the Air digital television forum for reception questions. The HTPC forum is decent as well.

[optimum]

Anyone know the availability of FTA/OTA HDTV channels in Montreal or know a good site to check them out?

Thanks
I'm in Monteal and I only get 2 HD channels

[andicus]

Am I reading this right? We can recieve Over the Air HDTV signals in Toronto?!
Where is the source of these signals? Buffalo? or are there transmitters in toronto?
Over The Air HDTV Channels in the Toronto and Buffalo area (http://www.remotecentral.com/hdtv/index.html)

And, as jurrasicjockey pointed out, the Digital Home Canada forums are a great place to get information and ask questions.