[Artemido]

According to antennaweb.org my townhouse is located in an area where the digital signals I'm interested in are mostly in yellow, with 1 in green and one other that I'm mildy interested in lt green. Every signal that I'm interested in is between 79 degrees and 81 degrees on the compass. So, it would sound like a small to medium directional antenna with a preamp would more than suit my needs. I tried an indoor rabbit ears setup from Radio Shack ( http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=15%2D1880 ) but didn't have much luck with some of the stations. Additionally, I noticed some oddities where the signal would be sitting at 100% and then drop over the course of a few seconds to zero, lose signal and then bounce back up, resulting in on again off again reception... I look that antenna back and went with a larger omnidirectional antenna (not sure why, now that I think about it...

) from Radio Shack ( http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=15%2D1634 ) which worked no better. So, I'm wondering if someone could recommend a decent antenna (preferably that I can go and pick up today), realizing that I have no attic and a small porch on the second floor of my townhouse that has exposure to the south and the east. I attached the output from antennaweb.org for your review...

 

[herb s.]

I'm using a channelmaster 4221 along with a channelmaster titan 7775 preamp. I'm about 35-40mi from the towers and am able to receive all the Boston Digitals even some in the blue. The 4221 is a 4 bay bowtie UHF only, but it is not small, so I don't know if you could mount it your porch. Failing that, some folks have good luck with the Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna. Do a search on avs for more info on it. The bouncing of your signal is probably multipath interfernce. Good luck.


Herb

 

[jckessler]

I'd try the Silver Sensor in a window nearest the towers.

 

[arxaw]

Omnidirectional antennas don't usually work well for DTV. Go with jckessler's suggestion if you want to try another indoor antenna. The Silver Sensor can be purchased at Sears, BestBuy & Circuit City. All 3 stores will let you return it if it doesn't work. It looks like this:
http://www.sears.com/data/product_im...8514000-tv.jpg


If you want to try adding a preamp, get one of the low noise CM 777x models.


And if the SS doesn't work, you'll likely need a better antenna installed outdoors. The small CM 4221 should work well.


Whatever you do, do not buy any OTA antenna sold by TERK.

 

[Artemido]

I went and bought another Radio Shack monstrosity yesterday ( http://www.radioshack.com/product.as...5Fid=15%2D2154 ). The craziest thing is that it picked up a few of the stations, but not nearly all of the ones I expected to get. I think what happened is that the upright post on my back porch was interfering with the Frenel (is that how you spell it?) zone of the antenna, blocking access to the elements responsible for the frequencies I was interested in. So, I took that ******* down and will be taking it back. Here's the REALLY funny part: For fun, I put my $15 unamplified RCA job ( http://www.rca.com/product/viewdetai...CI209,00.html? ) that I like to call "Gary" in an eastern-facing window and it picks up EVERYTHING... I might go pick up an SS today (if I can find one in stock), but can anyone recommend a UHF/VHF/FM combo antenna that will work as well/nearly as well?

 

[arxaw]

Quote:

Originally posted by Artemido ... For fun, I put my $15 unamplified RCA job ( http://www.rca.com/product/viewdetai...CI209,00.html? ) that I like to call "Gary" in an eastern-facing window and it picks up EVERYTHING... I might go pick up an SS today (if I can find one in stock), but can anyone recommend a UHF/VHF/FM combo antenna that will work as well/nearly as well?

I don't understand.


You have an antenna that works (the RCA), yet you're looking to get the SS, or some other antenna.

Why not use the RCA?

 

[Artemido]

I dunno... thought I might get additional mileage out of a mo betta antenna or something...

 

[arxaw]

With digital, as long as you can receive a steady signal, that's all you need. An overkill antenna won't make your digital picture any clearer and will often produce NO reception, as your "monstrosity" experiment proved.

 

[Artemido]

Okay, what about a uhf/vhf combo antenna that works like the SS that is especially designed to be mounted in a window... My biggest peave with Gary (other than the fact that I had it all along and tried 3 other antennae with the same failed results ) is that it looks silly sitting on ledge between the two sashes of the window, suspended by the string for the blinds... Thanks!

 

[sregener]

Quote:

Originally posted by Artemido Okay, what about a uhf/vhf combo antenna that works like the SS that is especially designed to be mounted in a window...

No other indoor antenna comes close to the SS for UHF performance.


Consider getting a pair of Rabbit Ears from Radio Shack for $1.99 and combining the two (SS and REs) by using a splitter backwards (both antennas into the "outs" and the television itself connected to the "in".)

 

[arxaw]

Artemido,

I don't know what "window" antenna you're referring to. Anyway, no one can predict if it will/will not work in your house. You'll just have to try it.


And if all the digital (-DT) stations in your area are broadcasting in the UHF band, you don't need a VHF/UHF combo antenna. A UHF-only is all you need. (UHF channels are 14-69). Check Antennaweb.org for the actual broadcast channel numbers for "-DT" stations in your area.

 

[Artemido]

well, the reason for the VHF is that I want an FM antenna as well... I was asking about window-mounted antennae to see if anyone knew of anything along those lines... antennae that are designed to sit on top of TV's and such don't work so well sitting in windows, and I don't want to obstruct a window with extraneous furniture...