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What is a TV broadcast?

What's a good antenna for picking up broadcast digital and HD TV?

  • Assume the TV is top of the line and it already gets HD cable television. This would be an antenna for picking up network TV that was previously broadcast over analog waves.

  • Answer:

    I've always had great respect for Winegard's antennas. See here: http://www.winegard.com/offair I use the HD-9032 you see here... http://www.winegard.com/offair/fringe-vhf-uhf-antennas.php at our house in Santa Barbara to pick up the signals from San Diego you see here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/sets/72157606820301089/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/docsearls/sets/72157594453965824/ Those stations are over 200 miles away by air across the Pacific Ocean. It's a clear path, but the Earth is curved, and the weather between the end points doesn't always cooperate. So it works less than 100% of the time. Still, it's a great antenna. At what our kid calls "shift_home" -- our apartment near Boston -- we get all the local DTV stations from the Needham antenna farm just by sticking a straightened paper clip or twist-tie in the center hole of the co-ax connector of our EyeTV Hybrid gizmo: http://www.elgato.com/elgato/na/mainmenu/products/EyeTV-Hybrid-10/product1.en.html Although usually we use this Terk: http://www.terk.com/indoor-tv-antennas/?sku=HDTVI Our "TV" is an old Macbook Pro sitting beside a cast-off Technics receiver driving a couple of cast-off speakers (that sound good), and a $199 flat screen from Costco. Works well. Hard to tell how good the Terk is, because the signals are plenty strong in any case. When I'm on the road, I take the EyeTV Hybrid gizmo with me, and use the paper clip. It either works or doesn't. In the Bay Area, if Mt. Sutro in The City is in sight, the paper clip is fine. Same goes for New York and the Empire State Building, Baltimore and the towers off 83 on the north side of town, or Atlanta downtown facing the towers there. Try the minimum and see if it works. But for the fringe stuff, I really like the Winegards.

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I used to design antennas. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16882125057 This is an inexpensive reliable antenna with 10dB amplification. I used to live in a basement apartment, and 10dB gain was enough to receive all network HDTV signals...unless you live in the jungle, there's no reason to need more amplification.

Hanhan Wang

Using a Yagi antenna that is 9 feet long I pick up TV Stations out of NYC that are over 60 miles away from the shoreline in Connecticut. When positioning the antenna to the south towards Long Island over the sound I was able to get a signal skip from Chesapeake, Virgina over 400 miles away.  Although it was an interesting experiment and atmospheric conditions definitely were a factor gaining strong local signals using the FCC DTV web page will help you to re-position your antenna and help you to define antenna type needed based on proximity.  http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/   http://www.fcc.gov/guides/antennas-and-digital-television   http://www.antennaweb.org/

Stu Schader

Agreed with one of the other comemntors... the Mohu Leaf is where it's at. I bought one for my home and I couldn't be happier. I used http://NoCable.org to determine my optimal antenna size and general direction to point it.

Chris Cagle

A rooftop or attic antenna will get you the most channels. If that is not possible, then I also like the Mohu Leaf and also the Cable Cutter Aerowave.  I personally use these two antennas in my home. More info here: http://disablemycable.com/antennas/

Brian Shim

I've tested half a dozen antennas and the best one I've found is the Mohu Leaf.  More info here: http://disablemycable.com/reviews_mohu_leaf.html

Brian Shim

I just installed a cm4221 in my attic... and it works amazing. Picking up channels from over 60miles away. http://www.channelmaster.com/HD_television_antenna_Channel_Master_CM_4221HD_HDTV_Antenna_s/44.htm

Jesse Bennett-Cha...

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