looking for a good but inexpensive standalone atsc tuner

Here you go:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=STRK:MEWAX:IT

http://cgi.ebay.com/LG-LST-3100A-HDT...item4a9f7a3765

http://cgi.ebay.com/LG-LST-3510A-HD-...item45f1c7bdfd

http://cgi.ebay.com/LG-LST-3510A-DVD...item3efe1b6c00

http://cgi.ebay.com/LG-LST-3410A-DVR...item19bade016e

Any of these units is exactly what you are looking for. Just depends on what you want to spend.

Because they were considered to be the best, and in many cases they still are. I own the 3510a and the 4200a myself and highly recommend both.

For HD, that would be a bad decision. None of the DVD recorders output HD, either live or recorded.


This is like asking if a minivan will work for transportation for you. How could anyone say one way or the other without knowing a lot more about your specific situation?

You'll have to provide more info for good advice; go to TV Fool and enter your location, etc. Come back here and paste the link or results. We can then help you.

General Antenna Advice:
Outdoors is better than indoors.
Directional is better than omnidirectional.
Bigger is better than smaller.
Higher is better than lower.

I use the Terk TV5 indoor antenna. It picks up channels from 30 miles way and works great for an indoor antenna. But your TV Fool info is needed to see how far away you are from the broadcast towers.

http://www.amazon.com/Terk-Low-Profi...ZX6HG2MQWASREB

Click on this thread for ATSC tuners.

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

It's impossible to give specific suggestions without knowing anything about what the TV signals are like at your location. To help people here help you:

1. Go to tvfool.com.

2. Click "See Which TV Stations You Can Get on a Map", then "Start MAPS".

3. Enter your address, or your exact latitude and longitude if you know them, and click the "Map this" button. You'll get a map showing your supposed location, and a list of stations.

4. If necessary, adjust your location by dragging the marker around on the map.

5. Underneath the map, enter the height of your antenna (current or planned).

6. Above the map, click the "Make Radar Plot" button. You'll get a table of detailed information about the signal levels at your location. You'll also get a Web address that links to that page. Paste the address here so people can advise you intelligently. (Note that the table does not display your address or exact location.)

Not really. I have available signals from different directions and I mounted my antennas appropriately.

An indoor antenna really isn't an issue about picking & choosing since the antenna can be so easily adjusted. For roof mount such as I have, it is much more difficult and undesireable (by me) to adjust. As such I am setup so all I need to do is change the channel and not worry about rotors or moving the position of the antenna(s).

If you live in an area where you can mount an outdoor antenna, I personally recommend you do so. If not, then an indoor antenna is perfectly acceptable. Since I use my antenna(s) for TV watching on a regular basis, and not a projector for special viewings, it makes sense to have my setup. For you, if an indoor antenna works, then by all means, don't let my setup intimidate you.

It looks like all the major networks and most of your independent stations that you cah realistically expect to get with an indoor antenna are in almost the same direction, 294 to 296 degrees. The only exceptions are (real) channels 46, 12, 19 and 39. They look like small low-power stations that probably concentrate on religious programming.

Not if you plan on getting Fox (10.1).

If you go with an "omni", you're SOL if you have any multi-path.

Well, those LG's are pretty old models now, and the most recent tuners are more sensitive (they're at least two generations newer).

There's a "sticky" thread here at the top of the page that tells of the available, newest tuners out there right now.

Off the top of my head, there's the Centronics, the K-World, the PrimeDTV, and the DTVPal DVR (there are also dedicated threads for all those units here).

It's just that nothing made nowadays compares to the overall quality of those old LG's. Almost everything is relatively crappy in comparison and made in China now. Like your typical "Walmart-quality". But they are the most recent technology, at least in the reception chips. That's what everyone's mostly buying around here now, anyway.

(note: I just saw in the Centronics thread that some were saying that model's PQ is better than the K-World's. Supposedly noticable enough with HD, but there's an even huger difference with SD. You might want to take that into consideration, since you'll be blowing the picture up on a large screen.)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=179095

Has anyone compared the centronics to those LG's?

I'm about to send my ZAT502 back due to issues. And as others said it is built pretty cheesy. Can't complain about picture quality tho, when its working

I'm looking for the best quality QAM tuner I can find.

the RGB\\VGA output also cought my attention

The LG's are the best units I have used, and I have used quite a few different makes/models. I seriously recommend them as being the best available.

The antennas don't exactly "attract" lightning. But the antennas are grounded. Just think of all the miles and miles of power lines up in the air, much higher than the 20' my top antenna is at, all around the world that are never struck by lightening. It really is an issue you need not be overtly concerned with. It used to be that every house had an antenna on it back in the 50's, 60's, 70's and about half the houses in the 80's. Can it happen? Sure. Will it happen? Nobody knows. But the likelyhood is very low.

But, and this is a big but, the newer units have newer generation tuner chip sets, and most comparisons I remember, the newer gen tuners do a better job with demanding reception environments.

That's why you should ground the antenna with a long stake in the ground.