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We just bought a house in Fort Mill in the Hamilton Place subdivision near the NC/SC border off of 160. The state line goes right through the neighborhood and I was crossing my fingers to see if Time Warner offered service but no luck. I will probably go with Comporium for Internet anyways but I was disappointed to find out that my neighborhood suffers from the 1 Mbps upload restriction. The newer neighborhoods are being outfitted with newer fiber optic lines.
Anyways, after talking to Comporium today to get some prices on service bundles (*shudders*), I was wondering if anyone in the area uses an HDTV antenna. If so, what is the reception? We have two small kids and we have very limited time for television as it is. We previously lived in Charlotte and even the basic non-digital cable service provided HD content for the local stations (i.e. NBC, ABC, PBS, etc.). I was disappointed to learn that the standard cable package from Comporium did not include any local HD content. I'm trying to consider all of my options at this point but I have never used an HDTV antenna before but heard that some people have had a lot success with local stations.
Paper Thin Leaf Indoor HDTV Antenna by Mohu is what I used for a time. It works great and picked up all of the signals around here and a few odd stations from .. elsewhere
Overall you should get good reception. You could always buy an HD antenna from Lowes, Target, or Best Buy and see how it is and return it if it doesn't work out for you.
The Clearstream 1 antenna that Walmart sells for $59 should work very well. It is a good antenna from Antennas Direct that is optimized for UHF, which will give you all of the major networks from Charlotte except possibly WTVI. And they sell a RCA inline amp at Walmart for $15 which can help maintain reception from dropouts, especially if you have a long cable run. And another good choice is the Terk HDTVa sold at HHG but cheaper online. It has a built in amp, UHF element, as well as rabbit ears for VHF. And in Fort Mill, if you put up a good outside antenna and preamp, you will get both Columbia and Greenville-Spartanburg channels in addition to Charlotte. A good antenna there is the Antennacraft HBU55 sold at Radioshack, or even the smaller Terk HDTVo from Best Buy will work also. But the best cheap choice antenna for Charlotte only, is the basic Radioshack budget rabbit ears and loop for $14.99. But if you have dropouts, consider the amplified version. And also the previously mentioned Mohu Leaf should work well for the major Charlotte channels.
And in Fort Mill, if you put up a good outside antenna and preamp, you will get both Columbia and Greenville-Spartanburg channels in addition to Charlotte.
I have a little flat antenna and it works pretty good. I need to move it around to get some channels, but for free I am not complaining.
Good advice TylerSC. I have only OTA HD and Netflix. I have a DirectTV dish on my roof, and the coax cables are running to some sort of splitter near my electical box outside, then runs into my house in some fashion.
Can I remove the dish and put a roof antenna on there, then use the existing coax to run to my TVs?
On another note, I watched the Falcons game a week or so ago, and had 2 FOX channels to choose from. One had the regular sound, and the other had only what you hear in the stadium - no announcers, music, pre-commercial intros, etc.
It made for an enjoyable way to watch the game, it was nice to not hear useless facts every second of the game. I hope I can watch more games like this!
Most of those flat panel antennas don't work very well. But the Mohu Leaf is one of the better designs that gets good reviews, and you may not have to move it around as much. Especially if you get the amplified version. And it is made in Raleigh, NC, rather than China, if you prefer Buy American.
I get all of the local CLT channels; the above antenna performs much better than other designs I've used, plus I don't have to go crazy to position the unit.
That Winegard Flatwave is a good antenna, but if you're choosing that type of flat panel antenna, the Mohu Leaf gets the best critical reviews. Plus the Mohu has only a 6 ft cord connected, the Winegard has a 15ft. Which can be too much extra length that may not be needed, and also result in signal loss. The Mohu gives you the option of adding an extension cable with a barrel splice if needed, or inserting an inline amp to avoid signal loss. And Mohu also makes their own amplified version. But that Flatwave is sold at Costco if you want to give it a try.
Mohu is made in Raleigh but not sold locally. Try that Clearstream 1 from Walmart for $59. It should do fine for the Charlotte channels. Or that Terk HDTVa from HHG. But ask them to price match Amazon. And if you want Greenville-Spartanburg and Columbia, you will need an outside antenna such as HBU55 or WG 7698.
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