Ota Hdtv (1 Viewer)

[Mark Romero]

What is the range of distances from towers I could receive HDTV over the air assuming minimal interference from obstructions? I just purchased an RCA 1250 antenna (the only brand they had) from Circuit City, which may not be too good for receiving HDTV, and am disappointed. I went to antennaweb.org and the towers are about 10-20 miles from my house. It doesn't help when some are east of me and others are south. I don't think my wife would like an antenna mounted on our roof making it feel like 1950. What is a great indoor antenna to have for the distances I stated above without having to retune every time I change the channel? Thanks, Mark

 

[Chad B]

Mark,

I have a Radio Shack double bowtie antenna, and I got a significant performance increase by just pointing it out the window (I have metal siding) and replacing the 300 ohm twinlead with 75 ohm coax with a transformer I soldered directly to the antenna. I went from 2-4 bars signal strength on my receiver's display with lots of dropouts to 4-5 bars (5 is max) and almost no dropouts on all channels. I'm about the same distance away from the transmitters as you are. In your case, you'd have to find a window that faces southeast. The double bowtie is somewhat directional, but it doesn't seem so bad that you'd have to move it from south to east if you can find a middle ground. I think the double bowtie sells for around $17 at Radio Shack.

Chad

 

[Mark Romero]

Thanks Chad. I spent all these years in RF telecommunications for nothing. Unfortunately my only window is north. I dropped $70 on this antenna and may take it back and try something else.

 

[Clayton_T]

Purchase a nice Channel Master amplifier. Mine was about $35. I receive 5 HD channels with it and a $5 UHF loop sitting on top of the entertainment center (we just moved, so I haven't mounted my good Channel Master boom antenna in the attic yet). There is a great article on antenna's, but I can't post the link until I have 15 posts.

I am 25-30 miles from the towers in Tennessee hill country.

 

[John S]

I use an older cheapie powered antenna from RS, works decent enough, although I just got Comcast HD, so I don't use it that much any more.