Why won't my TV get all the channels any more?

Why does my portable TV get more channels than my home TV using the same antenna in the same position?

• The antenna is in the best possible position. I get two bars out of four (a lot, considering I live behind a 1,000 foot mountain.) on two stations in the city on the portable TV, and nothing on the Westinghouse (picks up the only two channels north of the mountain and in and out a Spanish analog channel. All but the analog picked up on portable) Would this antenna be better than the Clearstream 2 antenna I had? The antenna fell and the coaxial cable was all it dangled on, but it ripped out the F connector.

• Answer:

  1. Ensure that your antenna does not move whatsoever--side to side, up or down, or direction. 2. Temporarily disconnect the antenna from both TVs, so that neither has anything on the antenna jack. 3. Go to the menu on both TVs and do a channel scan. That will wipe out the existing channel memory so that you can start from scratch. 4. Connect the antenna (without moving it) to the Westinghouse and do a channel scan. 5. Repeat #4 with the Phillips. 6. Now look at the captured channels on both TVs. If they are not the same, the difference is the TV--specifically its ATSC digital tuner--not the antenna. By the way, *ninety dollars* for a Terk indoor antenna? Wow! If you want to try a far better antenna at half the price, see the link. If I had to buy an indoor antenna, it's the only one I'd consider. ================== Per your Additional Details. You have a number of issues. One, the Clearstream 2 is not an indoor antenna by design, so that's an apples and oranges comparison. Also, it's a UHF-only antenna, so if any of your local stations are transmitting on VHF, neither it nor the Terk could be expected to perform well. (The Terk's two telescoping rods are for VHF, making it a simple "rabbit ears" antenna--very poor for digital reception.) The description of your location suggests you are not a candidate for any type of indoor antenna. Assuming you are in the U.S., you should visit the 2nd link below, enter your local info, and study the personalized report you'll get about what channels you should expect to receive and what type antenna is recommended. If you want to edit your question again with your Zip code, I can tell you if you need a UHF or a VHF-UHF antenna. Unfortunately, it's not a simple matter of looking at the channel numbers.