Best OTA Antenna for local HDs?

[g8rgrad98]

Another ? from the noob.......I have what are essentially rabbit ears hooked up for my local OTA HD now and that works for 4 of the 6 or 7 locals, but the others are too weak. Is there a model that works really well? I'm in Gainesville, FL if that helps.

Tks again!

 

[garys]

Go to AntennaWeb or TV Fool - Home and put in your info. They should give you the type and size antenna you need for your location as well as the direction to aim it depending on which channels you want.

 

[jdmacor]

I am going through a similar ordeal, g8rgrad98. I am less than 20 miles away from my antennas, but I have yet to get something to work. I have tried the Terk TV44 clip on antenna (outdoors) and the phillips silver sensor (indoors) without any luck. I am moving on to try my next outdoor solution, but I now have to run a second cable from my balcony to inside my house (something I was hoping to avoid with my first two options).

 

[jrp]

If you like projects, take a look at this thread:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/hd-over-air-ota/119733-very-good-2-00-homemade-antenna-hdtv.html

The antenna I made after reading this works better than anything else I've tried.

 

[pabeader]

all i'm using is the little antenna that comes with the UHF remote receivers. Antenna farm is 20+ mile from my house.

 

[televisionarchives]

I built this and it really does work.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWQhlmJTMzw"]YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna![/ame]

Also , I have a DB-2 Antenna. Indoors
This also works very well. The DB-2 is one of the best ones I have ever tested.

 

[KAB]

I am moving on to try my next outdoor solution, but I now have to run a second cable from my balcony to inside my house (something I was hoping to avoid with my first two options).

You can use diplexers to combine, then separate the two.

 

[djmaui]

If you like projects, take a look at this thread:

http://www.satelliteguys.us/hd-over-air-ota/119733-very-good-2-00-homemade-antenna-hdtv.html

The antenna I made after reading this works better than anything else I've tried.

Kula, Maui, Hawaii 96790. We already had a statewide digital switchover, and the 5 big local stations are all now re-broadcasting on Maui in HD as well. We are 12 miles from the new (re)broadcast towers. My son and I built our own TV antenna and it works like a charm from up in our attic. We added aliminum BBQ trays to form a reflector surface at the back.

The two UHF channels work best (NBC and CBS). The VHF channels work with our antenna also, but not as strong.

Here are the signal strength readings, including the inferior results from a GE "Millenium" UHF loop/VHF dipole antenna:

Station - Rabbit Ears - Homemade Antenna

KHNL NBC ----75------------------100
KHET PBS ----66-------------------84
KGMB CBS ----66------------------100
KHON FOX ---57(drop-outs)---------73
KITV ABC ----60(drop-outs)---------72

The OTA NBC HD channel is a godsend, since Dish has not carried it for years.

I not only finally have the much-sought NBC HD channel, but am also utilizing the third tuner in my 722. Yahoo.

 

[televisionarchives]

You can get a DB-2 Clone very cheap right now at buy.com $14.99 plus shipping. Same thing as the DB-2. It's UHF only .
They call it a
Pro Brand DIRECTV 2-Bay UHF Antenna - DTV2BUHF

 

[jdmacor]

You can use diplexers to combine, then separate the two.

Cool. My Terk antenna came with like 6 of them. So they work both ways, so to speak? Split and combine?

 

[Voyager6]

Cool. My Terk antenna came with like 6 of them. So they work both ways, so to speak? Split and combine?

Make sure that it is a diplexer and not a splitter. Also look for the dc pass-thru. Good brand to buy is Holland.

 

[jdmacor]

They are the thingees (my technical term for them) that came with the Terk TV44. I am pretty sure the manual called them diplexers. But they were supposed to be for separating the OTA and the Sat; I didn't know whether they could combine them as well.

 

[moon8]

:upGo to Radio Shack.

 

[Fredinva]

I built this and it really does work.

YouTube - Coat Hanger HDTV Antenna!

You betcha they work!!
Tested in the store against 3 other commercial models.
It had the BEST signal, hard to believe.

fred