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Mike Roncarati

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Aug 8, 2006
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Location
Wilbraham, MA
Lots of knowledge here, and any input would be appreciated! I have Direct TV with HD, but as of yet I still don't have the local stations in HD. Does anyone have an antenna they use to receive local HD stations over the air? And how does it work, what kind.......? I don't want to waste my money taking a gamble, and instead of reading the thousands of "great" reviews on the circuit city website, I'll get real no crap input from the friendly folks on this site!
 
Some local HD channels are sent via UHF. So, a UHF roof top would get some channels . If they are in your area. I use to install them when I had my TV shop.
 
Check out this link. I just got HD from DirecTV also and almost paid 150 bucks for an hd antenna. There is NO differences in off air antennas. I'm using rabbit ears with a booster and can get almost all the locals. You just need a good booster. BUT,,, here is SC, Directv is going to be adding hd locals in about 6 weeks (they say)





http://www.kyes.com/antenna/antennadex.html



 
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You will find that the majority of HD signals are sent over the UHF band. I had great luck with a Channel Master 8 bay antenna in my attic. My house is only about 17 miles from the transmitters though. Check this site for info on where and what signals are available to you:
 
And this site will help you with any other questions you have regarding OTA reception:



Look in the section for Local HDTV and reception...
 
I used a rabbit ear type antenna left over from an old TV when I got my first HDTV. Worked like a champ and picked up 18 HD channels, but they did require slight adjustment for certain channels.



After using the rabbit ears for a month or so, I went to a friends and he was using the Zenith ZHDTV1 antenna in his basement. The reception was awesome and didn't require any movement since it was multi directional. I bought one and have gotten the same results. It also picks up 23 channels in HD compared to the rabbit ears 18.



Seems to run between $30-$40 dollars but I bought it and have seen it on Amazon for ~$20.



Good luck...
 
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I'm not getting FOX over the air which is only broadcast 24 miles from me with basic rabbit ears.



I can't mount an external antenna since we're renting, but I saw this the other day at Fry's and thought it was a good design (see link below) Since you already have a sat dish outiside, this just connects to it, so that you don't have to have another eyesore on your roof.



I can't say how good it works, but it seems like a good idea.
 
I just used a set top rabbit ears unit, which gave an excellent signal in OKC. The towers were on the opposite side of town. I bought the unit at Best Buy, but I can't remember the brand name. There was an adjustable amplifier built into the unit, so that may have helped. Just don't turn up the amplification too much or the colors will become too hot (colors too bright and distorted).
 
How close are you to a major city? We're about 100miles from my home city, and about 80 from my roommate's. We changed the "service address" with DirecTV to be near my parents house (made up a fake address next door to my parents house), and we now get locals from there (again, about 100 miles away). The big deal is not what the satellite can do, it's what the companies do. Something about certain companies getting paid more for certain markets, and vice versa. We even talked to the service guy and he told us, though it's technically not allowed, if you're not hooked into a phone line, there's no way for them to know or check, and there's no real penalty if they find out. We've had HD locals for about 4 months now with no problems, and we got to drop the nat'l locals (FOX East, West, etc, etc) that we were paying for, so our bill even went down.
 
I used some rabbit ears and found the digital HD channels came in much better then the same channel in non-HD analog.
 
I have Directv's HR-20 & have to use an antenna to recieve local hd as well. I bought the big one Radio Shack sells, $100 I think. It took me about a half hour to do a complete install (no rotor) & the picture quality is far better with the antenna. Also, I live about 35-40 miles form the boardcast towers, & it's in my attic. This antenna is very directional, so if you want to use it as a primary source I recommend getting a rotor as well. Directv is supposedly adding 1500 local hd channels nationwide in the next few monthes, but I would kept the antenna for stormy weather. My service has greatly improved during storms, but I do get "rain fade" on occasion. I only have to pick an over-the-air channel to see the weather. It's a good safety feature, I'm really not sure why Directv doesn't market that way instead of letting cable bash them for the rain fade.
 
Mike,



My mom lives out in the country about 25 miles from the nearest city (which is still fairly small, but they do have TV stations.). She always had trouble tuning in stations with an analog TV. Last Christmas we bought her an HDTV with an HD antenna (a basic one I bought at BestBuy. I have been very happy with the results. Clear pictures with very little fiddling around with the antenna.



Rocks
 

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