Okay, I'm very inexperienced at dealing with HD, so I'll try and be as clear as possible.

I live in an apartment building in Chicago. I just purchased the HD package with Dish Network. I have an 811 receiver. I have been told that our building can't handle MPEG-4, only MPEG-2, which is preventing me from getting the local HD channels that are broadcast through Dish (I have the local package as well to get local channels-SD).

So, basically I'm under the impression that in order to receive any HD local channels, I need an antenna. I picked up an RCA ANT1250, it's an indoor antenna, and have it hooked up to my receiver. I went to AntennaWeb, and typed in my address and zip code (60610), and these were the results:

yellow - uhf WWME-CA 23 IND CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 23
yellow - uhf WCIU 26 IND CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 26
* yellow - uhf WCIU-DT 26.1 IND CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 27
yellow - uhf WCPX 38 i CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 38
* yellow - uhf WCPX-DT 38.1 i CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 43
yellow - uhf WFLD 32 FOX CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 32
* yellow - uhf WFLD-DT 32.1 FOX CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 31
yellow - uhf WOCH-CA 41 IND CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 41
yellow - vhf WOCK-CA 13 BOX CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 13
yellow - uhf WYCC 20 PBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 20
* yellow - uhf WYCC-DT 20.1 PBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 21
yellow - uhf WSNS 44 TEL CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 44
* yellow - uhf WSNS-DT 44.1 TEL CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 45
yellow - vhf WTTW 11 PBS CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 11
* yellow - uhf WTTW-DT 11.1 PBS CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 47
yellow - uhf WPWR 50 MNT GARY IN 182° 0.8 50
* yellow - uhf WPWR-DT 50.1 MNT GARY IN 184° 0.8 51
yellow - vhf WLS 7 ABC CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 7
* yellow - uhf WLS-DT 7.1 ABC CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 52
yellow - uhf WGBO 66 UNI JOLIET IL 54° 0.9 66
* yellow - uhf WGBO-DT 66.1 UNI JOLIET IL 54° 0.9 53
yellow - vhf WGN 9 CW CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 9
* yellow - uhf WGN-DT 9.1 CW CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 19
yellow - vhf WMAQ 5 NBC CHICAGO IL 180° 0.8 5
* yellow - uhf WMAQ-DT 5.1 NBC CHICAGO IL 182° 0.8 29
yellow - uhf WXFT 60 TFA AURORA IL 182° 0.8 60
* yellow - uhf WXFT-DT 60.1 TFA AURORA IL 180° 0.8 59
yellow - vhf WBBM 2 CBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 2
* yellow - vhf WBBM-DT 2.1 CBS CHICAGO IL 54° 0.9 3
green - uhf W68DO 68 TBN PALATINE IL 182° 0.8 68
green - uhf W34CK 34 REL ARLINGTON HEIGHTS IL 182° 0.8 34
red - uhf W57DN 57 TBN ELGIN IL 286° 32.0 57
* red - uhf WJYS-DT 62.1 REL HAMMOND IN 182° 0.8 36
violet - vhf WITI 6 FOX MILWAUKEE WI 354° 83.9 6
violet - vhf WTMJ 4 NBC MILWAUKEE WI 354° 84.0 4
violet - uhf WJYS 62 REL HAMMOND IN 201° 24.6 62

So, I think I have everything pointed in the right direction, but I do a scan for any Digital signals and my receiver doesn't pick up anything. I don't know what kind of visibility I need, I live on the fourth floor of my building, there are 25 floors in the building, a parking garage across the street, etc., so it's not exactly like I get much of a clear view of anything.

I really have no idea what I'm doing wrong, what I'm doing right, or what I'm not doing that I should be. Is it a problem that the 811 is an MPEG2 receiver? Am I screwed because I live downtown around a bunch of big buildings? I would appreciate any help anyone can offer.

You may want to check the Chicago Local section ,I think there might be some that live in the Concrete Jungle,that might be of some Help? :eek:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=444398

You are 0.8 miles from most all of the TV and FM transmitters in Chicago, and you have a "45 dB gain, Amplified Antenna".

That's a recipe for overload disaster!

Try some very simple rabbit ears, or a plain-old loop antenna (like they used to give away with new TV sets). Or, just stick a small piece of wire in the "F"-connector and see what you get. You might wind up just needing to tape a small loop of wire to your window glass as a permanent solution.

Thanks for the advice Ken. I tried the antenna without the amplification, and I've also tried just using a piece of wire, but I still can't get my receiver to pick up anything. If I do an analog scan my receiver picks up all the channels that are broadcast by default through all the apartments in the building, but I do a digital scan and it finds nothing. I have to be doing something wrong here, but I can't figure out what.