EV's Recommended & Top Rated DTV Indoor UHF/VHF Set Top Antenna Review Round-Up Guide - Page 58

You can try adding a VHF dipole (just plain "rabbit ears") and using a UHF/VHF combiner to merge the two signals - see here for combiner advice.

I apologize for not seeing your post. I didn't even know you had responded to me. There is only 1 VHF channel that I care about (PBS), and even that isn't so important. I'd just like to pull in most of the stations in yellow. Do you think a Terk HDTVa, aimed North would do the trick? Thanks for your help!

Speaking of VHF-Hi, I noticed your PBS (WITV) moved back to channel 7 (from 49). Have you tested any of your "better performers" from previous tests with WITV since it moved back to VHF?

Cool, thanks. I suspect a lot more people are going to be interested in VHF performance now, with a lot of stations moving their digital signals to the high VHF frequency their analog used to use.

Here's my data:
TVFool data

You'll notice the slew of stations to the NE... those are the ones I want, particularly WJZ, WMAR, WBFF, and WBAL.

Any suggestions for indoor antennas?

Wow, that was fast... thanks.

Yes, I'm from Baltimore but have recently moved to the Rockville area because it's closer to my job. I'd love to be able to pick up the Baltimore channels (primarily because of the sports) and, before the switchover, our apartment was nice enough to pipe through the analog signal for the Baltimore stations on the same line they use to provide DirecTV access. Now that the analog signals are gone, I'm stuck.

I tried the RS UFO about 9 months back (before they were giving us the Baltimore signals in Analog) and was very unimpressed. In fact, I was getting only one channel with it, where I was getting 4 channels with standard "budget" rabbit ears/uhf loop. I suspect now that something must have been wrong with the partocular unit I picked up. I returned it. I might give it another shot before trying the Terk HDTVa.

Thanks for the advice! I'll let you know how it goes.

OOPS, I meant AV not EV, sorry. And, thanks for the suggestions --

AntennaCraft Gray Hoverman 4 bay G 1483
Philips MANT950

RS UFO
Terk HDTVa

PHOnos

That link didn't work....

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1155233

I think these were built in 1978, and I doubt there's any heavy duty construction. The siding is brand new, and I'm guessing it's vinyl. The gutters are aluminum, because I see the Alcoa symbol on it. You can see the shingles above the front door. I haven't felt them, but they just look like regular tar shingles. Here's a Google street view picture of the townhouse. The red arrow up top points to my office, and the tv is against the wall on the left. You can see the compass in the top left of the screen:

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2007-11/1288016/home.JPG

Does the UFO provide stronger amplification than the HDTVa? I wasn't thinking properly in my earliest post where I confused 180 degrees with 360. Thanks again for the help!

I wouldn't bother trying to pick up stations in yellow with an indoor unit. Pretty much all of mine are yellow and I can get maybe what.......2 or 3 of them from the list. YMMV of course. Attic or roof for yellow and up..

of course if you don't want attic or roof, settle for what you get indoors

I stopped by Radioshack and picked up their last UFO antenna. I brought it home, sat it in a NE-facing window, and gave it a shot. My results were similar to last time... all my local (green) UHF stations came in ok. I couldn't get any VHF stations to come in at all, even the ones in the green, no matter what I did. This surprises me as this works fine with my "budget" antenna.

I tried pulling in a Baltimore UHF station (WBFF)... I tuned manually to channel 46 and watched the signal on my DTT901. I then tried every possible position with the UFO and wasn't able to pull in a signal greater than 1/3 of the signal bar. I then moved the antenna a bit and tried again. Still no luck.

I'll be returning the UFO today... on to the Terk HDTVa...

Based on my experience, the RS UFO is indeed problematic with weaker VHF stations. Positioning its rabbit ears is difficult, especially because the unit is a bit bulky. Thankfully I only have 3 VHF stations that I ever bother with, and really only one that is critical. I am usually able to get a reliable signal for all of them. But this was only after very careful positioning of the unit; I can see where for others the RS UFO would not do the job. Yet as noted, for UHF signals the RS UFO is excellent.

I agree with the comment about indoor antennas only being good for pulling in "green" stations (per TVFool). "yellow" stations are hit and miss.


_Lazza

took a look at the RS1892 at the local radioshack yesterday and the worker told me he sold ALL of them on june 13th. All that was left was a display model and it wasn't for sale.

the UHF part is about the size of a dinner plate and the dipoles only goes left and right, can't rotate them.

And that is the name of the game really, when it comes to indoor solutions, and even outdoor, to a lesser extent.

This whole thing is trial and error. I spent hundreds on antennas during the last year or so. In the end, the HDTVa is what worked best.

Maybe after I'm here for a while, I can mount a small antenna on the wooden fence that divides the porches. It would have to be aimed pretty high, though! When I say there's a hill behind the house, I'm not talking in the distance. It's right there.

I'm not having too many problems upstairs. It all depends on the weather. Hot and dry seems worse than a thunderstorm, which causes things to break up. This evening, I'm pulling in 5 yellow stations, and the other day I was able to get a pink station that's 42.6 miles away from me with my Terk TV-5. This antenna has been great for me at my 2 previous addresses, but I'd like to try something more directional.

I was hoping someone could recommend me an antenna. My wife and I just bought a house that is 100% concrete (Inside and Outside walls). We have not moved in yet (renovations will continue for a few more weeks) so I have not been able to try the reception. We life right outside Orlando, FL but do not want to spend the $50 a month for Cable TV, just internet for now. In the back of the house, there is a 10-12' pole with a outdoor light on it. I was thinking about putting a small antenna on it towards the top and running the cable along the outside of the house. The poll is in the southeast side of the house, which is pointing towards all the stations. The only problem however is that there is a big two story house which it will not clear. The pole is taller than our roof though. Also, the antenna would have to be pretty minimal looking or my wife would not be too pleased. Any suggestions?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...663d6fcf3117b6