Hey guys I am hoping to get an indoor antenna to receive HD locals. Directv currently does not offer hd locals in my area. My zip is 29127 and here is the info I pulled from antennaweb.org for the digital channels available.

* yellow - uhf WLTX-DT 19.1 CBS COLUMBIA SC 95° 38.3 17
* green - vhf WOLO-DT 25.1 ABC COLUMBIA SC 93° 38.3 8
* red - uhf WRLK-DT 35.1 PBS COLUMBIA SC 92° 28.5 32
* red - uhf WIS-DT 10.1 NBC COLUMBIA SC 93° 38.8 41
* red - uhf WACH-DT 57.1 FOX COLUMBIA SC 93° 38.3 48
* blue - uhf WKTC-DT 38.1 MNT SUMTER SC 93° 38.3 39
* violet - uhf WJBF-DT 6.1 ABC AUGUSTA GA 212° 52.7 42

I realize that trying to go indoors is a stretch but it currently my only option. I may could do an attic mount but that may also be pushing it. Is there an indoor antenna out there that would give me any hope of receiving NBC, CBS, ABC, and FOX? Thanks for your help.

Looking at the TV Fool plot for that Zip Code, the prospects are much better than antennaweb predicts.

Do you have the HR20 box from D*? If so, I would suggest trying a $10 rabbit ear/loop combo to see what you get.

You may want to try running a TV Fool plot for your exact location to see what you get:

http://www.tvfool.com/

Thanks for the response. I ran a tv fool plot and unfortunately, I can't figure out how to post it here. But if I am reading it right, all of my digital channels fall within "green" area meaning that it may be possible with an indoor antenna. I am not 100% sure which high def receiver I currently have but I am getting ready to upgrade to directv's hd-dvr. Does it have an ota tuner also? If so, does it record those signals as well? Thanks again for the help.

38+ miles is on the far side for an indoor antenna. WOLO-DT ABC 25 is currently digitally broadcasting on VHF 8, so you need to get upper VHF and UHF. You will probably have to go with the attic location, but if you really want give it a shot with an indoor antenna, you can start with the cheap UHF loop and VHF rabbit ear table top that Falcon_77 suggested. May get several of your locals and can be used to get a feel for which stations are hard to get. Do you have windows facing in the direction to the broadcast towers? You want to place the antenna up as high as possible and in front of a window to minimize the obstructions between the antenna and the broadcast source.

Another option for indoor would be the Terk HDTva or the Radio Shack mushroom antenna, #15-1892, which sell for around $50. Keep the receipts if you buy these locally because it is a long shot on whether these will provide stable reception for all the locals. If you want suggestions for a more substantial antenna for the attic, post your results back here and we can help.

As for getting the digital stations, do you have a new HD TV? If so, it has an digital ATSC tuner built-in which you can use to see what digital stations you can get while waiting on the DirecTV gear. Hook the antenna up to the TV coaxial antenna input and do a digital OTA channel scan.

Hmm... looks like you're in the vicinity of Prosperity. I drive through there regularly on my way to and from Columbia. :)

As afiggatt pointed out, your choice is complicated by the fact that WOLO (ABC) has its digital signal on channel 8 (VHF) whereas the others are currently on UHF. Further, after the analogs shut down next year, WIS (NBC) will move its digital signal from UHF ch 41 to VHF ch 10. So you definitely need VHF capability. The best indoor UHF antennas don't do VHF, so you may end up having to use both a dedicated UHF antenna and a pair of rabbit ears; or just get a combination VHF/UHF antenna and put it in the attic.

Thanks for all of the help guys. I went by radioshack on the way home last night and purchased an outdoor antenna from them (model 15-2187). I have a very high deck and it can be mounted to the deck similar to my dish. I have not mounted it yet, but temporarily gave it a try be sitting the antenna on my deck facing the appropriate direction. I was amazed with the results. I ran it thru my current HD box (H10) I believe. I received every local network channel in HD with the weakest signal strength being around 75%. Please tell me why I have waited so long to do this? I have been wanting the networks in HD for so long but just assumed without installing some huge antenna, it would not be possible where I live. I am a very satisfied with the results and will performing the permanent install this weekend. Thanks so much for the help.

jtbell, I don't really live all that near to Prosperity (even though that is my address), I am right beside of Dreher Island if you know where that is. Hopefully the change WIS is going to make want mess me up. ABC currently comes in fine so I wouldn't think it would be an issue.

Thanks for all of the help guys. I went by radioshack on the way home last night and purchased an outdoor antenna from them (model 15-2187). I have a very high deck and it can be mounted to the deck similar to my dish. I have not mounted it yet, but temporarily gave it a try be sitting the antenna on my deck facing the appropriate direction. I was amazed with the results. I ran it thru my current HD box (H10) I believe. I received every local network channel in HD with the weakest signal strength being around 75%. Please tell me why I have waited so long to do this?
Glad to hear that you are getting good results with the Radio Shack antenna. Yes, over the air digital broadcasting does work pretty well. You should tell your neighbors and co-workers that have HD TVs because many of them are likely don;t know that they can get the broadcast networks in HD either simply by putting up an antenna.

BTW, I was looking at your list of locals and noticed that there was no digital CW station, even though the analog list for your zip showed WZRB CW 47. The wikipedia entry for WZRB (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WZRB) explains the situation that because the station is new, it did not get a digital channel allotment. But the station will do a digital flash cut conversion, so you should be getting CW in HD by February 17, 2009.

As afiggatt pointed out, your choice is complicated by the fact that WOLO (ABC) has its digital signal on channel 8 (VHF) whereas the others are currently on UHF. Further, after the analogs shut down next year, WIS (NBC) will move its digital signal from UHF ch 41 to VHF ch 10. So you definitely need VHF capability. The best indoor UHF antennas don't do VHF, so you may end up having to use both a dedicated UHF antenna and a pair of rabbit ears; or just get a combination VHF/UHF antenna and put it in the attic.

How do you know if current UHF channels will convert to VHF channels? Right now, all of my digital channels are UHF (I think) and was going to get a dedicated UHF antenna. Want to make sure before I buy it.

Thanks.

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1082A2.pdf

Found what I was looking for. Cool chart showing current and future channel destinations when the conversion occurs. Sorry if already posted.

There are a few more here:

http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DA-06-1675A2.pdf

A very few of the designations in these tables have probably changed for the final version of the list. Unfortunately, I can't find the final version in a single, similar table.