Hi, while I'm not in Freeport I am in Rockford (NE side). I am able to get WREX-DT OTA using a small set-top antenna (Silver Sensor by Zenith/Antiference bought at Circuit City) and a Samsung SIR-T151 tuner. Furthermore, believe it or not, I have reliable reception for WISC-DT (CBS), WKOW-DT (ABC), WHA-DT (PBS) and sometimes WMTV-DT (NBC) all from Madison (58 air-miles away)!
I'm the VP for Engineering for the company that owns WIFR, channel 23 in Rockford and we should be up with a DTV signal in within 2 weeks and you should be able to get us as well as WREX. I'm not sure what the story with WTVO channel 17 or WQRF the FOX station is.
By the way, once we are up with WIFR, we will be upconverting our normal programming to 1080i and passing through true HDTV from CBS when it is provided. As you may know, not all CBS programs are available in HD, but if it is...you'll get it.
...OOPS, I just looked at your location and I take it all back! You will not be getting any Rockford, Illinois area HDTV from your location in New York!