which antenna to get for a HDTV

[T2urtle]

Hey guys i recently picked up a 32 inch samsung LCD for x-mas

I'm with comcast but i dont have the HD services. I really dont care all too much but i do however want to watch local sports IE NBA and NFL games when they are on a free local channel in HD. So i guess i will need a antenna for this.

Which antenna do you recommend? The TV is in the basement, nearest window will require a 15 foot cable to get me close to the window. I'm not looking for great HDTV service just something nice for sports. its a 720p 60htz TV nothing amazing. This was our simple taste of LCD, the entire house will get them shortly and then HD service but as it stands now it would be $10/month extra for one TV that rarely gets watched.

Let me know what HDTV antenna works great. TV has a built in tuner. I would like to say sub $50 but unless there is a bad ass high powered antenna that can get me all channels in my area i'll be down for that.

 

[dfuze]

When I tried it on my HDTV I just used basic bunny ears and they worked fine. Using it on another tv in another room, not so well. I ended up signed up for basic cable (2-23) just to get it in clear on all TVs. Turns out that my cable provider doesn't encrypt ( I think that's why anyway) the HD because my TV picks them up w/o a problem.

 

[mshan]

I would first check Antennaweb.org or TVFool.com to see what OTA signals you have in your area and see how far from transmitters you are.

Get a cheap compass from Walmart, and extended length of RG6 cable, and find best location for antenna and which antenna works best for your particular situation.

 

[Doclife]

I'm using the RCA flat antenna (ANT1500) and it works quite well.

http://www.buy.com/retail/product.as...ingid=50563377

 

[Modelworks]

The one made from clothes hangers and a 2x4 board works better for me than any retail product. Cost me under $10 to make.
http://uhfhdtvantenna.blogspot.com/

Try it , it is so cheap to make , why not ?
http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hdtv-info-reception/64768-coat-hanger-antenna.html

 

[smitbret]

Hard to say unless we know what kind of signal you're trying to pull in. What is your ZIP code? I'd love to look it up and see what you might need.

 

[RKS]

I get free local channels in HD from my cable company via clear QAM. if your tv has a built-in tuner you may not need any rabbit ears. I had a DB4 on my roof but I didn't mess with it too much.

 

[sivart]

I get free local channels in HD from my cable company via clear QAM. if your tv has a built-in tuner you may not need any rabbit ears. I had a DB4 on my roof but I didn't mess with it too much.

This...do you have a cable outlet by the TV that you can do a channel scan? Then go through all the channels (digital are normally higher numbers).

Otherwise, you would need to give us information on your terrain, distance from towers etc. You would want an antenna that will handle your distance from the towers. An old antenna from the 1950's will work just as well as your new "HDTV" antennas.

 

[sdifox]

This...do you have a cable outlet by the TV that you can do a channel scan? Then go through all the channels (digital are normally higher numbers).

Otherwise, you would need to give us information on your terrain, distance from towers etc. You would want an antenna that will handle your distance from the towers. An old antenna from the 1950's will work just as well as your new "HDTV" antennas.

The old antenna probably works better. They were built for LONG distance

 

[mmntech]

Basically any of the waffle/bow-tie antennas will work quite well. The old style Yagi antennas are unidirectional and aren't optimized for UHF. A four grid bow-tie can go up to 70 miles.

http://www.antennasdirect.com seems to be a popular go to place for HDTV antennas. Any variation will work and I've seen them cheaper than what they have. They do offer complete bundles though with everything you could possibly need.

Just remember to mount your antenna as high as possible, preferably on a roof or mast, depending on the hight of the buildings around you and your distance from the transmitter. OTA HDTV surprisingly does have better quality that cable or satellite because it's not compressed as much. There is a noticeable difference.

 

[najames]

Do some searching/reading and build your own antenna. There are schematics online. They work amazingly well, better than most you can buy I suspect. I used a 2x4 about 4ft tall, got a $10 roll of aluminum garage door wire from Home Depot, put it together, and I can get all the stations in the area well with it standing in the attic, even pull in many from 20+ miles away on the back side. I used some old shelf brackets upside down as feet.

My antenna is "on the wood", no spacers etc., but it is similar to this video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8jsDxNgHn4

My antenna feeds into a HDHomerun dual tuner, into a server and I record every NFL Game in HD along with a bunch of stuff for the wife.

 

[mshan]

This Old House installs rooftop antenna:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kMkzMlzwHhQ (start around 6 minutes)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4Ff0CMwGPw

 

[bobdole369]

Modelworks has a good idea. My antenna consists of stripped RG-59 coax hung in the sliding glass door that faces to the north. One of these day's I'll get something out on that porch, but it does bring in the local channels well enough. Luckily I'm not in the boonies.