One major distinguishing factor between humans and all other animals is that humans have the ability to communicate through words. Over time, as the various human societies grew and with the need to communicate over long distances, other means of communication had to be developed.
The importance of communication in the society cannot be underestimated because, the ability to communicate over long distances comes with certain advantages to the individual and society at large. Today, there are very sophisticated means of communication and communication points for the various modes of communication. One of such modes is over the air broadcasting.
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What Is Over The Air Broadcasting?
This is the means through which video and audio content is distributed to an audience using a mass communication medium. It is an advancement from the telephone, early radio and the telegraph and is mostly associated with the television and radio though further advancements have also been made in this area. You can read more about over the air broadcasting here.
However, the challenge for most people is finding good signal for watching the television. This is because, without a clear or good signal, the various channels or TV stations to be watched will not be clear or even accessible. For this reason, many resort to the use of a signal strength meter to get very clear and strong signals.
What Is A Signal Strength Meter?
This is a device with which you will be able to detect the direction of very strong TV broadcast signals so as to point your TV antenna to that direction for clearest signal possible. This mostly proves very necessary and useful to RV users who have to repoint their antenna whenever it is relocated in order to pick strong signals. With the signal meter, there would be no need to manually search for reception as it offers stronger reception picking abilities.
How to Setup the OTA Signal Meter
- The first thing to do is to plug the cable from the antenna into the input of the antenna (it is labelled as such on it) and then plug the antenna cable.
- The next step is to plug the TV into the receiver part of the meter
- After that the meter should be turned on and then you tune the adjustment dial by rotating it clockwise.
- Get the antenna positioned till most of the LED lights are lit up.
- The next thing to do is to turn the adjustment dial anti-clock wise till the remaining LED lights are lit up.
- Keep positioning the antenna until the LED light stays lit.
- After all this is done, search for the best available channels with your television.
It is important to note that though almost anyone can do this, do not be worried if you are not able to make this installation yourself. You can get a professional or even anyone with experience of how to make this installation to help you out. You can read more about signal strength meters at https://www.antennajunkies.com/how-to-test-your-antenna-signal-tv-signal-strenght/amp.
Signals In Digital Transmission
In recent years, there has been a total switch from analogue signals to digital signals. This switch was mandated by the governments of various countries (this was mandated in the US in 2009). Since then, antennas are no longer much of a thing though some still use it but they are not used for digital signals.
Now, digital television is still the transmission of audio or visual signals through the use of a digital encoding. Obviously, the screen quality of the transmission is high definition and has greater resolution than the analogue mode.
This development makes it more difficult if not impossible to be able to scan channels with your regular antenna. However, this problem can be solved in one of two ways:
- Get a HD signal meter as already pointed out before to get a lock on available channels for you.
- The second option is to get an antenna that has an inbuilt signal meter in it.
The only thing that you have to ensure as you purchase an HDTV antenna signal strength meter is that you are making your purchase from credible and reputable companies so as to be sure that you are picking something that is of good quality. You can ensure this by conducting a little market survey and by checking their referrals and licensing.
Conclusion
Communication is a fundamental aspect of human life. A lot of transactions and activities requiring various levels of logistical sophistications today rely very heavily on it. Thanks to technology, there are now many mediums and opportunities for communicating in different ways.
One of the ways technology enabled this is the audio visual over the air broadcast. Because of its inception, individuals can watch and listen to events happening in various areas of the world. But to be able to do this uninhibited, there is the need to get a HDTV antenna signal meter.