can someone tell me about television antennae?

[Mday]

the one on the roof is messed up. i am afraid of heights or i would do it myself.

my father is too lazy...

i am thinking of getting an indoor one.

 

[jeremy806]

Not sure what you want to know,

but I prefer mine in the attic instead of on the roof.

jeremy

 

[Vegito]

Indoor antenna is really bad, can't pick up good signals... You might need one of those that has a booster. Cheap radio shack or find one that really works.

 

[Workin']

You could put one in the attic - that's not quite as good as outside but it's a hell of a lot better than a little "rabbit ears" or one of those flying-saucer looking things. They SUCK.

I went through antenna hell after I got my satellite dish so I could get local broadcast channels. I ended up putting a big multi-element unit from Radio Shack in my attic, which worked really good - it's amazing how clean the signal is - makes cable TV look really fuzzy.

Unless you live within 5 miles of the stations you want to receive, an indoor antenna just probably isn't going to cut it. BTW, from what I've read Radio Shack antennas aren't the best you can get, but the price is right. You'd be amazed how much you can spend....

 

[DrWermit]

You could always try making your own. I made a 'halo' antenna from 1/3" copper tubing formed in a circle about 21" in diameter (better check the small antenna book in Radio Shack for the exact measurement) fastened it to a pole using insulators, connected a short length of that flat twin cable RS sells and then used a coax converter, then it is coax to the TV. I am not near the transmitters but it works OK and at least it is omni-directional.Total cost was less than $10! I agree about indoor ones, they are hit and miss... mostly miss, and you spend more time fiddling with them than watching the program. Anyone see that episode of Mr. Bean when he tries this?

 

[FlashG]

If you have enough space, mount a full size antenna, with rotor, in your attic. RS are good if they have the one you want in the store. Sears is probably a good bet. Winegard and Channel Master are premium.

Just shop around and pick the salesmen's (peoples) minds.

Good luck,

 

[Ulysses]

I installed a pretty big one from Radio Shack with a rotor on my parents' home (on the chimney) a while back. It and the rotor work well. RS has all the hardware you'll need too and they might install it if you ask (for a fee, of course). They also sell a little book on antennas, but their salespersons should be able to tell you everything you need to know. They answer the phone "You've got questions; we've got answers," and for once the hype was true. My folks didn't need an amp for the antenna with 3 TV's hooked up. Be sure you've dealt with the lightning issue too. If I remember right it ran about $200 for everything - antenna, cabling, connectors and splitters, lightnig rod or ground, etc., and it took a Saturday and Sunday to complete from scratch. Getting new wires, if needed, through the house can be tough. But the picture was great.

BTW, the quality of your TV's circuits can also affect the clarity of your picture on a distant station, no matter the quality of the antenna. I think Toshiba is very good in this regard, at least in certain models.

I've got cable myself.