[cbabbman]

I'm on the west side of Aurora, IL (about 43 miles west of the Sears Tower in Chicago)


I just got my first HDTV and I need some information on receiving OTA signals...


Specifically:


Looking to see what experiences people are having picking up HDTV signals in my area.


I'm interested in knowing what type of antenna you are using, where you had to mount it and how high up you had to put it...


I currently have a Radioshack VU90XR and mounting it in the attic didn't work worth a crap.


Any information would be greatly appraciated.


Thanks!


Chris

 

[Dan Burgess]

I have a Radio Shack VU-190R (cost $49 on sale last spring) mounted on a mast on the chimney with a rotor. It's about 30 feet off the ground, maybe a bit higher. Get every Chicago digital station at 93+ about 18-20 miles from the Sears Tower as the crow flies.


Rooftop mount is the only way to go. Get the biggest antenna you can find, put it as high as you can above your roof, and enjoy HDTV for free!

 

[Vidmaven]

I have a Channel Master Stealthtenna and pre-amp total cost $59.00.


I am exactly 50 miles South of Chicago.


I have the Antenna mounted on a 5 foot mast buried 1 foot in the ground on the North side of my house.


I am getting a 92-100 signal on all channels.


I can highly recommend the Stealthtenna it is pulling in stations I shouldn't even be able to get with this antenna from this distance.

 

[dalilama]

I recently had luck with an attic mounted RS VU-190XR. Cost was $49. I'm 31 miles out from the towers and get all the HDTV broadcast stations with little or no dropouts. Had to tweak the aim a few times to optimize the signal, but I'm good to go now.


The attic is in a 2 story, so I would guess the antenna is about 20' up. As Dan says, put it outside if you can. It wasn't an option for me (wife & neighbor factor).

 

[Kipp Jones]

Welcome Chris,

my results mirror Dan's as I am in Downers too.

 

[Clifton B.]

Here's a post that I put in today, it might be an interesting read..........



Man! Am I happy! After reading all of the posts, I decided to go out

and buy an antenna and try to mount it in the attic. I went to Radio Shack and picked up a VU-120XR roof mount antenna for 50 bucks. I also picked up a rotator ($69.99)and a 5ft metal mast. ($8) (Just in case I needed them)


Even though I have a large attic, the antenna was still fairly large (In hindsight I probably should have gotten their smaller roof/attic antenna for 30 bucks, but Oh well...) I found out that the mast was too long (5ft) so I temporarily mounted it to a paint roller stick. After some limited cursing and fitting the antenna between the rafters, (took about 2 hours) I was able to run some RG6(100ft) down from the attic, through the house and to the basement where my Mits. WS-65611 is located.


I connected the cable to the Ant-DTV input (intergrated HD tuner) and had the TV run it's channel memory program. After about 10 - 12 min., stand back, what do you know, Im getting CBS, NBC, ABC, WGN, PAX, WCIU and a couple of other spanish stations I hav'nt even seen before.


Im pretty sure that im getting the HD signal from the main stations because the TV displays how the broadcasts are being shown (HD Standard, HD 16:9, 4:3 Standard, etc.) I turned on WGN-News and I swear, I could see the pimples in Allison Payne's face. Plus, I believe that I saw something that said that NBC broadcasts "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" in HD, saw that last night and it looked fantastic.


I couldnt sit there and go through all the channels because I had to get up and go to work Saturday, but when I get home, Im going to permanently secure that antenna in the attic and check the channels again when I return. (Im taking the Rotator back because It looks like I dont need it, (can't turn that big thing around in the attic anyway) and I'll use a hack saw to cut the mast down a little.)


So, to all you folks that posted your threads on antennas, it looks like you were right. Thanks for all of your imput, it really helped me a lot.

(Now if I can see if NBC will be showing one of the NBA Finals games in HD, that will make this all the better!)


Once again, Thanks for all you help.

 

[Kipp Jones]

Glad to hear of your sucess.

 

[cbabbman]

ok... here's what I finally did:


Again, I'm about 43 miles out in the western suburbs in Aurora... I have a decent eastern view, a few trees but not much else.


My STB is the Samsung T165 ($549 through buy.com)


I went out to Radio Shack and bought a VU-190XR for $49 on sale. I initially mounted it on a 5 foot pole and stuck it in the stand for my patio umbrella and pointed it east (man, was my wife pissed.... you had to be careful because the elements were exactly at eye level for us...lol).


Analog channels came in like crap. But, I was able to pick up almost every Chicago digital channel with the exception of PAX and WBBM. My signal strength was less than 25% on all the channels but they came in nice and clear.


Since things seemed to work this way, I decided to try mounting it in the attic. I had to take it apart again to get it up there (I'm in a single story ranch, covered in a steel-clad vinal siding) and after some careful manipulations, I had it in place. Only took about 1/2 hr to get it mounted. I was fortunate that the original 300 ohm wiring was run down the wall right in back of the TV so I used it to pull the coax down through and mounted a new coax wall plate.


I am still getting the same channels I was + now I can get all of the PAX stations. Still cannot get a thing on WBBM... which is too bad....


Thanks for everyones comments!


Chris

 

[Geneva]

I'm using the silver sensor with myHD and picking up everything great except WBBM of course. I thought about getting an attic mount antenna, but the silver sensor is quite impressive.