Our TV and Tivo are old, so I’ve been making plans for the Feb 09 transition. I’d appreciate any comments.

With the exception of the Broncos, I don’t watch TV at all. My wife has 3 or 4 shows she watches, and my son is allowed 30 minutes of TV a day. Every couple of weeks my wife talks me into watching a movie; she watches a couple movies a week by herself. We’ve had our current Tivo for at least 6 years, can’t imagine watching TV without it. We just moved into a new house (Denver area, 80123 zip). There is an old antenna in the attic, connecting it to my old analog TV gives decent reception. AntennaWeb shows we need a yellow antenna to get digital reception of all the stations we care about.

I don’t want to pay for cable/etc, so I’m hoping to go OTA. My plan:
1) Accept Tivo’s offer of a HD Tivo for $99, plus $299 to transfer my lifetime from the old device
2) Buy the Vizio JV50P from Costco for $1100. It includes wireless surround and should be simple to setup. The couch is 10 feet away from the wall where the TV will be mounted.
3) Try using the antenna in the attic. If it doesn’t work well what should I do? Replace the coax, add an amplifier at the antenna or call a pro to install an antenna on the roof?

We’re obviously not serious home entertainment types, but I’d like to get HD/surround sound setup. Any issues with the above?

1) Good idea.
2) Check the plasma section for feedback on this set.
3) Hook it up and see what happens. Depending on your digital requirements, may need a different antenna and/or put it outside if it doesn't work well. Post your tvfool.com results for better advice on antenna type. If your concerned with outlaying cash you could always get a cheaper converter for testing purposes and/or test with the tuner in the new set if you get it before the Tivo.

Also check the Denver OTA thread in the Local HDTV Info and Reception forum (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=793003). Denver's stations have been much delayed with respect to most other major cities in building out their digital transmitters to full power, because (I understand) of difficulties in locating and building on a new transmitter site (NIMBYs etc.).

Hello, Littleton!

With one exception, Denver's major affiliates are broadcasting at reduced power from Lookout Mountain, Mt. Morrison and Squaw Mountain. Only Ion 59.1 is an outlier, up in Weld County. You'll have very strong signals, even at reduced power levels, as long as Green Mountain isn't between you and the transmitters. You should be OK for channels 12 (Squaw) and 6 (Morrison), but Lookout (2, 4, 7, 9, 14, 20, 31) may be "behind" Green Mountain from where your home is situated. Bottom line: The closer you live to C-470, the less that will be a factor.

I'm in BowMar South, just west of Platte Canyon and a block north of Bowles. It seems like Green Mountain is between me and Golden, guess I'll have to see what happens.

That's the best way to go for now. Based on the general description you gave of your location, I took a look at both antennaweb.org (http://antennaweb.org) and tvfool.com (http://tvfool.com). Both show strong OTA signals in your area such that set-top rabbit ears would probably be sufficient. These two sites take topography into consideration, so please forget everything I said about Green Mountain. It apparently isn't a factor.

On to your original post:
If it doesn’t work well what should I do? Replace the coax, add an amplifier at the antenna or call a pro to install an antenna on the roof?

* If the coax is installed within the walls of the house, it probably won't need to be replaced, barring sloppy workmanship. Try hooking what you have directly into a TV set's antenna/RF in connector to see what analog looks like now. A clean picture with little or no ghosting means you'll likely have good results with digital TV. If it doesn't work well, buy a length of RG-6 coax and run it directly from the antenna to the TV. If you have to buy the cable, you may as well pick up a $4 balun -- a transformer that adapts antenna terminals to coax downleads -- at the same time. That way, you can switch out the balun in case the old one turns out to be bad.

* You definitely don't need an amplifier to serve one TV, and might not even need one for two sets. In the presence of such strong signals, an amplifier is likely to overload, which in DTV causes the same symptoms as signals that are too weak -- a blank screen.

* An outdoor antenna won't be necessary unless your attic setup is obstructed by signal-blocking building components. Metal air handlers, steel ducts and vents, brick, stucco, concrete and foil-backed insulation are examples of these materials.

Before you start, make sure that the antenna is connected to a coax; that the antenna appears to be in good physical shape, i.e., no bent or missing elements; and that it's aimed correctly. With all-channel antennas, the narrow end points toward the stations; in your case, those two sites I mentioned suggest that you aim for an azimuth of about 300 degrees (270 degrees azimuth is due west).

Let us know how things turn out.