Indoor HD TV Antenna

[LAB3]

Tied of paying for cable TV I don't use much. Many years ago I had old
"rabbit ears" here in this house and they picked up ABC, NBC etc local stations fine. Now that all are Digital and I have HD TV any suggestions in a Good indoor HD antenna???

 

[Adam]

Do you have any strict size or budget constraints?

Have you checked tvfool.com or similar? If not, I highly recommend it. You can check the relative signal strengths and directions of the antenna towers relative to where you live. That will help you decide what kind of antenna you'll want/need.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

here is some background reading:
OTA HD How-To
Choosing & Installing an Antenna for HDTV
OTA HD demystified -- Engadget
My move to free HDTV – over the air HD

Indoor Terk HD antennas are decent, but by no means its the best choice
OTA HD signals work in light of sight, best to use outdoor pole or roof mounted one - they would work much better

One of better resources is http://www.tvfool.com/ and http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

 

[allargon]

There's a long running thread on AVS re: indoor antennas. The Radio Shack antennas tend to do the best short of a nice attic (read: outdoor) antenna.

EV's Recommended & Top Rated DTV Indoor UHF/VHF Set Top Antenna Review Round-Up Guide - AVS Forum

I own two UFO's. They're not bad at all. They still suck in the summer time due to the tree leaves, but that would be true of any ground level antenna here in Austin.

 

[LAB3]

Thanks to all I will do some research tomorrow.
Louis

 

[BMXTRIX]

I know I went ahead and ran a piece of coax from my basement to my attic and stuck an antenna up there. It was one of the Terk antennas - not sure which model, but I got it for free so I don't really care. I use it just for FM reception in my basement and the number of stations I receive really is incredible compared to just being in my car outside.

So, the height really does help with the reception, and if you are serious about getting good reception I strongly encourage you to consider getting something up into the top of the attic or on the roof.

 

[LAB3]

I am retired and due to illness I can't climb up in the attic or a ladder on the roof until spring time. Money is super tight until Aug ( I turn 62 and SS checks then) so I am tired of paying Verizon FIOS $179.00 a month for HD TV and internet.Keeping the internet but no Tv.. we have a Huge collection of DVD and Bluray movies. And I had my Revox R2R restored so I will be busy recording from CD and LP records this winter

So far the Quantum FX ANT-102 is looking good from some of the links I have read. I have a week to decide on a indoor antenna. The Terk HDTVa is another one that got good reviews.

 

[Adam]

Have you checked out one of the TV signal websites (like tvfool), yet? If you live in an area where all the stations that you want are really easy to get, then you don't have to work very hard to get an antenna set up. I live in the shadow of a mountain range, so I had to work a bit harder (about a mile farther west and I would have been golden).

Before I fried the amp (at least, I think that's what I did), this antenna from Monoprice worked surprisingly well once I got it placed correctly. My only beef with it is that the flexible mounting rod was attached to the based with adhesive, and it simply wouldn't hold it in place for me - but that was after I placed it outside and the wind would move it around.

 

[LAB3]

Have you checked out one of the TV signal websites (like tvfool), yet? If you live in an area where all the stations that you want are really easy to get, then you don't have to work very hard to get an antenna set up. I live in the shadow of a mountain range, so I had to work a bit harder (about a mile farther west and I would have been golden).

Before I fried the amp (at least, I think that's what I did), this antenna from Monoprice worked surprisingly well once I got it placed correctly. My only beef with it is that the flexible mounting rod was attached to the based with adhesive, and it simply wouldn't hold it in place for me - but that was after I placed it outside and the wind would move it around.

Yes.thank you again. I am in Fort Worth,Texas and the towers are on top of Cedar Hill. No trees or power lines in my yard etc. 24 miles from the towers.
As i posted many years ago in this house I had old school "rabbit ears" and received ABC,NBC,CBS/Fox ..all the local UHF and VHF stations back then.

If my health would let me I would buy a nice outdoor antenna and unplug the verizon Tv feed to the three rooms and plug in to it with the out side antenna.
Next spring I will do this when I heal up and winter is gone.

For now I am looking at the "Leaf" on Amazon.... the Quantum FX ANT-102 and the Terk HD TVa... the AV forum had a great thread about indoor antenna. Right now the Quantum FX ANT-102 is #1 on my list... for now. I have threads on several forums so I will wait and see if someone from my area posts up with a suggestion. I don't have a window in my den as i read they work better facing a window that is in the direction of the towers.
Louis

 

[indulger]

I still use rabbit ears in my bed room and get all the HD signals just fine.

 

[LAB3]

I still use rabbit ears in my bed room and get all the HD signals just fine.

How far is the towers from your home? My den does not have any windows and the garage is on the other side of the wall to make it worse from what I have read. I never had a Tv in this room on rabbit ears like it did years ago in the bedroom with a window facing the front..same direction as our towers
that are about 23 miles away or so.

 

[LAB3]

Great news.....for me my neighbor came over and went up in the attic. I had a outside antenna up there from 15 years ago(new roof and took it down). When I had the attic insulated last year I thought it was thrown out with all the old cable from two different companies in the last 15 years. He also found the 1 into 3 splitter Verizon installed last year when they ran all new cable to 3 rooms. He hooked up the antenna to the back bedroom. wow HD works GREAT NBC,ABC, CBS Fox and about
25 other stations(some spanish) I was not aware that were being broadcasted. We have had cable, Dish and then Verizon ran the FIOS line last year and tried it.Best HD picture I have had but stupid expensive, $24.00 rental per HD DVR box etc $179.00 for HD TV and internet. Turning off all the Tv and just keep internet and save over a $120.00 a month.
I was Suprised that the HD picture is as good as Verizon FIOS on the 4 major networks I only had Starz and Showtime and expanded basic from verizon ... their box rentals are way out of line from other companies. I put up with it when I was still working as the DD5.1 and HD picture was so good and it never quit working in a storm. Now tomorrow I will see if my HD Yamaha AVR will display DD 5.1 on the major stations as I hook up the antenna to my Yamaha and let it's decoders send the signal to the TV.

Tomorrow he will hook up the the other HD flatt screen TV in the living room and see if I still get a great HD picture thru the AVR. Then we will try the 3 TV in other bedroom, I bet I need a amp to boost the signal as that is a LOT of cable for one antenna... will see.

Thanks to everyone for their help and the links were very helpfull.

Happy New Year to all.

Thanks
Louis

 

[Adam]

Awesome! I'm really glad that you had that already up there, and that your neighbor was able to help you out.

From everything that I've read, over-the-air HD is the best quality that you can get. It's all about bandwidth, and they broadcast more over the air than the cable companies are willing to send down the pipe because the cable companies put so many channels on their stream.

 

[afterlife2]

I too refuse to pay for cable. I bought a Wineguard Antenna and put it outside my window. All the channels look good and I get over 60 channels. I get a breakups once in a while, but that's ok. Got Netflix this year, although they could have a better selection it's just fine for now.

 

[davidtwotrees]

I too refuse to pay for cable. ..... I get a breakups once in a while, but that's ok. Got Netflix this year, although they could have a better selection it's just fine for now.

Ditto on the no cable. Cable is nice, but I end up watching too much TV and frankly, it is a waste of time for the most part. Kind of like smoking, way overpriced for what you get.
OTA picture is the best imho.
My antenna is on the roof, and we have an apartment bldg across the way that makes ABC not come in, but, meh, its all good and free too. The rest of the channels are loud and clear. Netflix brings up the rest of my viewing time. Good job, LAB3!

 

[indulger]

How far is the towers from your home? My den does not have any windows and the garage is on the other side of the wall to make it worse from what I have read. I never had a Tv in this room on rabbit ears like it did years ago in the bedroom with a window facing the front..same direction as our towers
that are about 23 miles away or so.

About 19 miles.

 

[Stutz320]

I live quite far away from any good FM radio stations.
I stumbled on ths "Fractal Antenna" info.
Fractal antenna - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

It played with 2 designs and was able to get good results.