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So, I've been a cordcutter for a couple years now, and been getting by with a homemade TV antenna, but have been wanting to get a better antenna that I can mount on the roof top.
I've noticed that the TV antenna market has been flooded with a bunch of "HD" tv antennas that are made from China, the claim 150 miles or more. As well as I've seen antennas that only pull in UHF band channels that are dubbed "HDTV Antennas".
I found this website only called "Denny's TV Antennas", and he seems to set the record straight on his website. He currently sales the HD Stacker antenna, and the EZ HD Antenna. Both are his best sellers. Anyway, he states that there is actually no such thing as HDTV antennas, that even your old TV antenna will pull in HD channels if the antenna is in good working condition. Obviously, I've found this to be true since I've been using a homemade antenna.
Anyway, One TV antenna that I have seen that seems to be popular is one made by a company called Lava, which is one of those made from China that promises up to 150 miles or reception. However, with some of the reviews I've read on Amazon, the antenna really got, mostly, 20 miles of reception, and only UHF channels. Of course, experience varies depending on location.
My question is, has anybody purchased a TV antenna recently, and if so, what did you get? Have you been satisfied with it? How much did you spend? I'm thinking more seriously about buying from the Denny's Antenna site, and would probably want the HD stacker, because it looks like I could point the two parts of the antenna in opposite directions to get reception from all over. However, that antenna is about $120.
Anyway, looking forward to hearing about this. I've been able to get over 30 channels at one time using a homemade antenna, but I'm thinking a roof mounted, solid directional antenna should probably net me a few more channels, or at least more stable reception.
Yes, lots of marketing hypes out there. Antennas are basic stuff. Distance to towers and clear signal path are important. I have no experience with rooftop antennas. Having moved around a lot, I use portable indoor paper antennas. They pull in all the channels I watch: ABC, NBC, CBS, CW, FOX, PBS, ION. If these little paper antennas work, the big rooftop ones should pull in even more stations.
You might get more stable reception, but in most areas you won't get additional stations. Also, with a directional antenna you have to fiddle to get it pointed correctly, and that means that when it is pointed at the stick of station A, station B might not come in at all. That is fine unless you have a DVR, which has no way of rotating the antenna and assumes cable reliability of signals.
I bought a ChannelMaster yagi, and a signal amplifier. Due to geographic considerations, there is one slot of signal on my land and the antenna has to be within a few feet of the centerline of it to get signal from 60 miles away. Fortunately, the antenna farm for the stations is tight, and I was able to lock down the aiming. My only other option is satellite, and those don't carry the sub-channels of the local stations I like to watch.
You might get more stable reception, but in most areas you won't get additional stations. Also, with a directional antenna you have to fiddle to get it pointed correctly, and that means that when it is pointed at the stick of station A, station B might not come in at all. That is fine unless you have a DVR, which has no way of rotating the antenna and assumes cable reliability of signals.
I bought a ChannelMaster yagi, and a signal amplifier. Due to geographic considerations, there is one slot of signal on my land and the antenna has to be within a few feet of the centerline of it to get signal from 60 miles away. Fortunately, the antenna farm for the stations is tight, and I was able to lock down the aiming. My only other option is satellite, and those don't carry the sub-channels of the local stations I like to watch.
I'm about 38 miles from the VA border, so depending on the day, I can pick up all of the VA local channels, which for me is what I want, since my favorite NFL team is usually carried on the VA channels when not being carried on the NC local channels. It really comes down to that for me. Otherwise, an indoor antenna can pretty much pick up all of the local NC channels I need.
I would agree, a directional antenna would be the best. I no longer have a DVR (finally died), so the idea of having to use a rotor to watch a different station doesn't necessarily bother me. In fact, one could always stack the antennas and have one going in the opposite direction.
I found this website only called "Denny's TV Antennas", and he seems to set the record straight on his website. He currently sales the HD Stacker antenna, and the EZ HD Antenna. Both are his best sellers. Anyway, he states that there is actually no such thing as HDTV antennas, that even your old TV antenna will pull in HD channels if the antenna is in good working condition. Obviously, I've found this to be true since I've been using a homemade antenna.
Danny would be correct, if you are getting the channel with a $5 antenna or homemade one you can't improve the quality of the video with a better antenna. The only thing a better antenna can improve is the quality of the reception, if the station is breaking up or you are not getting it all a better antenna may allow you to view it.
This site has a map and will tell you what channels you should be able to get.
This is good if you live less than 30 miles away from a major market:
I have that exact antenna, picked it off of CL for about $30 brand new in the box. I'm about 15 miles from the station antenna and it doesn't get the channels. In my case I live about 200 yards down a steep grade that is exactly in line with the station antenna with a lot of tree cover. If I was up on top I'm sure it would work great.
I'm reluctant to dump a lot of money into a different antenna without knowing if it will work.
Location: Removing a snake out of the neighbor's washing machine
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Quote:
Originally Posted by thecoalman
I have that exact antenna, picked it off of CL for about $30 brand new in the box. I'm about 15 miles from the station antenna and it doesn't get the channels. In my case I live about 200 yards down a steep grade that is exactly in line with the station antenna with a lot of tree cover. If I was up on top I'm sure it would work great.
I'm reluctant to dump a lot of money into a different antenna without knowing if it will work.
Need to elevate antenna at least to height of grade above your mounting point.
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