Can I watch local channels on my HDTV?

I hear that there is an antenna that cost $20 and you can watch HDTV channels clear. Is there?

• I heard this on a radio show. Cable is getting expensive.

• Answer:

  In that price range, I would assume you're looking for the ZHDTV1 (formerly called the Silver Sensor), which is made by Zenith. This is an indoor antenna, so you don't need to mount it on your roof or in your attic. I had one, and I'd have to say it pulled in a pretty nice picture. As you probably know, over-the-air HD signals require line-of-sight from your antenna to the transmission tower. My problem is that I live so close to the towers that these small mountain ranges that lie in between block my line-of-sight to some of the towers. Because of that, I couldn't receive CBS's or ABC's HD broadcasts, so I'm stuck with cable (until DirecTV launches its new satellites, which will carry local channels in HD). I think this antenna is a nice, inexpensive way for you to test out the over-the-air waters without getting up on the roof or spending more (although not necessarily much more) money on a directional or multi-directional roof/attic mounted antenna. Just remember that over-the-air HD offers fewer HD channels (i.e., just the networks plus PBS in most cases) as compared to satellite or cable.