looking for an indoor HDTV antenna

[kny3twalker]

also I am looking at this antenna
http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/...ellite.html#ant
how well will it work?
(the room is on the back side of the apartment with window facing neighbors for the most part (somewhat open)
on front side of the room/apartment is a small field followed by a 6 lane road )

[cummings66]

The link you gave is invalid so I don't know what antenna you're referring to. But I can give you some pointers based on 20 years experience in consumer electronics, i.e. I repair TV's and antenna systems as well as install them.

First of all, you failed to give one critical piece of info, that is where you live in relation to where the station is as well as whether or not you're in a hole or have major obstructions to the signal.

Here generically are the points to consider.

The closer you are to a station the lesser the antenna you can use to pick up things. For example Voom has included with their system a cheapy amplified antenna that works fine to pick up the digital stations from 30 - 50 miles away. It depends on the station and how much power they transmit and in what direction they send the signal. Not all of the use an omni pattern.

The farther you are from the station the better the antenna needs to be, and the more sets you have hooked up the better it needs to be in order to offset the losses incurred in the splitters. You can use amps to nullify those losses however.

You can look at a generic chart for antennas to see what you need for regular vhf/uhf reception for your area and go by that. If you get a station with in NTSC format just fine, you will get it ok if it's an ATSC signal type as well.

Look at these pages for the charts I mentioned.

http://www.solidsignal.com/winegard_antenna_chart.asp
http://www.channelmaster.com/pdf/AntMatrix.pdf

In 20 years I have decided I like a brand better than the others due to seeing how they hold up.

For cheap antennas that work well you could also look to Radio Shack.

The one thing I would caution you about is the range figures. Some places like Radio Shack will sell you an antenna rated at say for example 200 miles. Maybe in the flat desert it might, but in rural MO it's a joke to say any antenna will do that.

Lastly, quality. You do get what you pay for when you buy antennas. Yes, the cheap antennas perform well, i.e. the Radio Shack ones. But they will not hold up like a Channel Master for example, and none of them care for ice.

Speaking of quality, the worst installations are attic types and dish mounted types. They work in some locations and not others. Amps if used should be 2 part amps, the amp itself should be at the antenna to amplify signal with it's power supply indoors at the TV. The cheap amps that mount inside at the TV can not restore what is lost on the way to the amp.

Once you're beyond 30 - 40 miles from the station I think you're better off with a regular outdoor antenna per the charts. If you can't do that due to covenant restrictions then buy the absolute best amplified antenna you can from a name brand company such as the ones I mentioned.

Hope this helps.

[kny3twalker]

http://www.ramelectronics.net/html/r...llite.html#ant

there is the link sorry about that

and here are what I can recieve
there are no trees or tall building anywhere around close

DTV Antenna
Type Call Sign Channel Network City State Live
Date Compass
Orientation Miles
From Frequency
Assignment
* yellow - uhf KDAF-DT 33.1 WB DALLAS TX 176° 28.3 32
* yellow - uhf KDFW-DT 4.1 FOX DALLAS TX 178° 25.5 35
* yellow - uhf KFWD-DT 51.2 IND FORT WORTH TX 177° 25.2 51
* yellow - uhf KERA-DT 13.1 PBS DALLAS TX 175° 25.8 14
* yellow - uhf KXAS-DT 5.1 NBC FORT WORTH TX 177° 25.4 41
* yellow - uhf KXTX-DT 40.1 TEL DALLAS TX 177° 25.4 40
* yellow - uhf KTVT-DT 11.1 CBS FORT WORTH TX 175° 25.8 19
* yellow - uhf KTXA-DT 21.1 UPN FORT WORTH TX 176° 28.3 18
* yellow - uhf KSTR-DT 49.1 UNI IRVING TX 176° 28.3 48
* yellow - uhf KPXD-DT 68.1 PAX ARLINGTON TX 178° 25.0 42
* yellow - uhf KMPX-DT 30.1 DAY DECATUR TX 160° 5.8 30
* yellow - uhf KUVN-DT 24.1 UNI GARLAND TX 177° 25.2 24
* yellow - uhf KDTN-DT 2.1 DAY DENTON TX 176° 28.3 43
* green - vhf WFAA-DT 8.1 ABC DALLAS TX 178° 25.5 9
* lt green - uhf KDFI-DT 27.1 IND DALLAS TX 176° 28.3 36
* red - uhf KLDT-DT 55.1 IND LAKE DALLAS TX 326° 4.2 54
* blue - uhf KDTX-DT 58.1 TBN DALLAS TX 177° 25.2 45

[cummings66]

I looked at the antenna. It's designed for urban usage and is only UHF so the VHF station you might get will not come in with this one.

Urban also means you'll have to be fairly close to the station for it to work, i.e. with 20 miles or so would probably be what you could expect. It is cheap enough at around $20 or so at other sites. You could always try with with little expectations and see how it goes, that's not a lot to lose. It's a passive design with no amplification beyond what the Log Periodic design provides for. It's advantage is that by nature that design is broad banded which means good gain across the band.

In reality the antenna you looked at is a Gemini design with the Zenith name stuck on so you can get a bit of an idea there. Zenith did work the the FCC in setting up the high def standards according to the engineers I've talked with so it might be true that they used that antenna to test things.

[Milkman]

kny3twalker where did you get this information? I woudl like to see what I have available in my area the same way.

[kny3twalker]

http://www.antennaweb.org/

[Hector]

I am just about to tackle this problem myself. Thanks a LOT for sharing your expertise.

peace . . .

Originally Posted by cummings66

The link you gave is invalid so I don't know what antenna you're referring to. But I can give you some pointers based on 20 years experience in consumer electronics, i.e. I repair TV's and antenna systems as well as install them.

[sudipto]

kny3twalker: The Zenith ZHDTVI is probably one of the best indoor antennas (based on many readings I have done on the AVSForums and elsewhere recently), however, it is still an indoor antenna and it is VERY directional. So unless BOTH the following are true for you, it may not be the best choice --

1. You live close to all HD towers in your area
2. All the HD towers are located in the same general area

SEARS sells this antenna for $39.99, so if you have a SEARS nearby, pick up one and see how it works for you. You got nothing to lose.

I myself tried playing with HD reception and recording recently, and the ZHDTVI worked well for me for only a couple of stations. For the lower power ones, I didn't get a good enough signal strength. The fact that I live about 40 miles away from most HD towers probably had something to do with it

I finally went for a Channel Master CM4228 8-bay bow tie antenna from SolidSignal alongwith a CM7777 pre-amp mounted on the antenna and now I am getting crystal clear reception for all channels that are available in my area. I initially tried an attic mounted installation and the signal strengths were pretty decent. I finally installed it on the roof top and that improved the signal strength quite a bit.

Channel Master CM4228
Channel Master CM7777 UHF+VHF Pre-amp

BTW, regardless of what your HOA may say, you DO have the right to install an antenna in any property that you have under your control (including property that you rent). FCC gives you this right and this document very clearly explains the guidelines. If your HOA tries to prevent you from installing a reasonaby sized antenna, show them this document and they will probably change their opinion. My HOA sure did

FCC Fact Sheet on Over-the-Air Reception Devices Rule

Good luck !

[kny3twalker]

I would rather not fight my apartments to put up an antenna
I do have to live here

I did buy the antenna
so we will see when the antenna gets here
how well it works

thanks the comments about the antenna though

the fartherest antenna from me is 28 miles and is probably much closer

I live in a nice open area even though in the city
I am hoping like those that I have read about in AVS Dallas HDTV reception
that I will only have issues with ABC and independent carp channels

I can live without ABC

[GbrNole]

i actually mounted my outdoor omni directional rat shack HD antenna inside a hibiscus bush! it works well and noone has any clue that the antenna is in there.

it's down just low enough as well where i can clip the bush and not have to worry about hitting it.

[kny3twalker]

i actually mounted my outdoor omni directional rat shack HD antenna inside a hibiscus bush! it works well and noone has any clue that the antenna is in there.

LMFAO
we will see what I need to do