TV Antenna

[John Powers]

does anyone here in the North East, NJ, PA get TV over an antenna? Most of whats on Comcast Cable I don't need (how many times can you watch the birth of the Messerschmidt ME109??) Saw an antenna installed on Ask this Old House and it looked simple but I'm clueless in terms of HD analogue, digital etc. Anyone?

[Eric DeSilva]

does anyone here in the North East, NJ, PA get TV over an antenna? Most of whats on Comcast Cable I don't need (how many times can you watch the birth of the Messerschmidt ME109??) Saw an antenna installed on Ask this Old House and it looked simple but I'm clueless in terms of HD analogue, digital etc. Anyone?

www.antennaweb.org used to have a nice locator--put in your address, and it would tell you which stations you could pick up OTA and what class of antenna you need to receive them. Then its just ordering the antenna with the right symbol on it and pointing it the right direction...

To my eye, OTA looks a lot better than either CATV or satellite. I think both cable and satellite use compression schemes on the HD feed that they do not use OTA.

[Pat Germain]

FYI, the OVA broadcasts are now digital UHF. Therefore, all you need is a small, amplified UHF antenna. I tried many different antennas and settled on an inexpensive Phillips model I bought a WalMart. (It works better than the $100 unit I bought at Extreme Electronics, then returned.)

In most areas, all the TV broadcasts generate from the same place. Just point the antenna in that direction and tip it up and down until you get the best signal. Then play with the amplification level until it's crystal clear. It helps if you can place the antenna as high as possible in your house.

Of course, you can also install and outdoor, UHF antenna on your roof. But this probably isn't necessary unless you simply can't get a good signal with an amplified, indoor antenna.

[Dan Friedrichs]

As Pat said, in many places, all broadcasts for a local area originate from the same general area (the top of a very tall hill, etc). So you just need to point the antenna towards that.

This may be more complicated than you wanted, but attached is a picture of what I did. I built an antenna from allthread and a piece of electrical conduit. Total cost was <$5. Hung it in the attic, and I get 15 OTA channels. I'm happy :)

[Joseph Crivelli]

John,

Try http://www.summitsource.com/winegard-hd7084p-hd7084p-high-definition-platinum-vhf-uhf-fm-hdtv-antenna-68-element-hd7084-hd7084-offair-local-digital-signal-channel-outdoor-television-aerial-blue-zone-part-hd7084-with-coax-cable-p-4564.html

I bought this Winegard antenna on this site two years ago. I was surprised when TOH picked the same antenna.

HD, Analog, or Digital has nothing to do with the antenna. The antenna is simply there to pickup the signal.

If you have a Digital HD TV or an Analog TV with a converter box, this antenna will work for you.

Important - Get it professionally installed. Unless you have the skill to install coax cable your self???

I live in Nassau County on Long Island, so, as TV signals go, I'm not that far from you.

Joe

[Pat Germain]

John,

Try http://www.summitsource.com/winegard-hd7084p-hd7084p-high-definition-platinum-vhf-uhf-fm-hdtv-antenna-68-element-hd7084-hd7084-offair-local-digital-signal-channel-outdoor-television-aerial-blue-zone-part-hd7084-with-coax-cable-p-4564.html

FYI, that's a combination VHF/UHF antenna. The little wings that stick out are the UHF part. If you're going to watch only local, digital, UHF broadcasts, you don't need a VHF antenna. My indoor, UHF antenna was about $30 at WalMart and didn't require installation.

[Butch Edwards]

actually, I'm still using my 20 y/o ant on a 25' slightly-bent pole . I did have to buy the converter, cuz my 10 y/o TV isn't digital...I'm too tight to waste $$ by paying for TV... ain't much on worth watching for free, much less paying 60-100 bucks a month for it....:rolleyes:

[Derek Gilmer]

I built one myself using this tutorial and it works great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw

[Gerold Griffin]

John, last summer/fall the wife and myself went thru all this antenna stuff. We went to that antenna web site andit told us we could only receive a couple of stations that are practically in out back yard. After some more research we installed a Wineguard 8200U antenna, a Channel Master rotor, and a small signal amp (the signal amp was installed due to the long lenght of coaxle cable.) The antenna is up about 25 ft. With this setup we can receive stations from Moblie Al. to New Orleans La. I love it. Not only is it free, but it is in HD. I got everything from www.dennysantennaservice.com (http://www.dennysantennaservice.com) They are a small family owned and operated business and a great bunch of folks. They also told me what stations I could expect to receive and they were alot more accurate. Good luck.

[Joseph Crivelli]

Pat,

When I bought the Winegard, TV hadn't converted to digital yet.
For the cost of the antenna, it was cost effective.

Joe

[Eric DeSilva]

FYI, the OVA broadcasts are now digital UHF. Therefore, all you need is a small, amplified UHF antenna.

There are still TV broadcasters operating in both low VHF and high VHF. Depends where you are. Because of the expense of VHF antennas (and the size of consumer antennas there), they don't like being in VHF. Which is kind of odd, because in the old days, UHF was the wasteland.

Be aware that the channel they claim to be may be historic, and may not be where they actually are--the RF channel and TV channel are now different numbers.

[Eric Franklin]

I've been using an antenna for the last couple of years. I have the Terk HDTVO and I receive all the major channels.

From my research, one antenna will work well in one area but will be bad in another area so read reviews with caution.

[Lee Schierer]

As Pat said, in many places, all broadcasts for a local area originate from the same general area (the top of a very tall hill, etc). So you just need to point the antenna towards that.

This may be more complicated than you wanted, but attached is a picture of what I did. I built an antenna from allthread and a piece of electrical conduit. Total cost was <$5. Hung it in the attic, and I get 15 OTA channels. I'm happy :)

My antenna is also mounted in my attic out of harms way from high winds and ice. It still looks like new after 30+ years. We have satellite and get the 5 local stations, some offer multiple channels, from our antenna through a digital converter box that couples up to our satellite receiver and DVR. Picture quality is equal to what we get from the satellite.