Technical Assist - HD Antenna

Fort Henry Custom Knives

Fort Henry Custom Knives

Joined
Nov 17, 1999
Messages
3,061
Hey Guys, After paying for cable for a couple of years and not really watching much more than the History Channel, Animal Planet or Children's shows we decided to pull the cable. With all the alternatives that are available via the net I think this is a common decision for alot of families.

I would like some advice on buying an Antenna for our TV. The TV is new (less than 18 months old) and should have all the ports or docks or whatever is necessary for any of the new equipment.

I am considering a HD Antenna with a Max cost of $75 (not including any mounting hardware or cable). I think an outdoor rooftop mount would be better than any indoor antenna - is that the consensus?

Currently I'm slugging through the reviews at Amazon and am considering;
- Antennas Direct DB2
- Eagle Aspen DTv2B

Any experience with the newer Antennas or direction finding or anything in the realm is appreciated.
 
You will do better with an outdoor antenna .Make sure you can get a clear shot at the transmitter . Some have tried to use an existing antenna made for earlier technology .Don't ! because the HD works at a higher frequency and needs a different antenna,
 
Check out www.antennaweb.org

It is a site that takes into account your location and where the transmiters are in relation to your house and will recommend the antenna type that will work best for you.

Bruceter
 
Antenna web is a pretty good tool to use to figure out what direction to point your antenna to, asuming it is a directional or "Yagi" type of antenna, looke like the antenna that was on grandmas house. The digital channens do not operate on a hightr frequency, if it was channel 39 before the world went digital, its still on RF channel 39, although I don't remember what freq that is, but thats not important. !st off, run the tool to see what transmitters are around you and how far they are. The distance will determine how big the antenna needs to be, or if you need an amp to use it. In my case here in S Fl there are 7 or 8 within 20 miles. I live in a regular house with an attick, so I can mount a radio shack antenna up there and point it to about 340* and get all of them just fine.
If you need more height due to distance, you can put one up outside on a fixed pole, or on a telescoping pole with a rotator to get the stations you need.
Here is a link http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3808570
Don't let the RS engineers try to sell you a $200 antenna for "HD" that would be BS
 
There is no such thing as HD TV antenna - its a marketing hype. TV antennas are either VHF and/or UHF and it will work just fine as long as the antenna maintain a line of sight to the transmitter. I installed a dual bay UHF antenna inside the attic and receives Toronto and Buffalo station just fine - haven't pull the plug on cable yet though.
 
I purchased the Terk HDTVO Amplified HDTV Antenna from Amazon.com and really like it. Small enough to handle easily and it picks up the UHF and VHF signals well. Once I installed it I haven't had to do any tweaks. Small enough to put in the attic if needed.

My $0.02
 
If I understand this right, you all are talking about dropping your cable service?
And going with an antenna only? What channels are you hoping to receive?
 
When you're buying stuff, sometimes it best to start on the low end and work your way up to what you really need. If you're not to far, you can make an antenna out of scrap wood and wire hangers without using any amplification. In my case(western NY), there are a dozen or so towers. However, all but two are outside 30 miles away, so(when I get around to building my DVR and antennas) I won't be able to drop the coat hanger antenna behind my TV.

The frequencies are the same(kinda), but the signal is different, so the old antennas work, they're just not optimized :rolleyes: for the new signal. My neighbor already had a rotary antenna on his roof, and he gets all the channels on his fancy new Sony, he just has to rescan everytime the antenna moves.
 
A month or so ago our cable company was in a battle with Fox and it looked like they were not going to carry the Gator game (my wife is a HUGE fan) so I went to Wal-Mart and picked up an inexpensive Phillips indoor HDTV antenna. It had tilt & swivel positioning, adjustable gain, amplification, etc. and ran around $30. Anyhow, the cable company and Fox finally worked things out so I didn't need it, but it worked so well I decided to keep it in case of cable outages. You may want to try one out and return it if it doesn't work.
 
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