Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Need HD Antenna Help!

I read somewhere that you can use an antenna to pick up your local stations broadcasts even the ones in HD. My dad wants to see the Superbowl in HD and I remember reading that an antenna is the cheap way to go about it. Can any of you fine people recommend an antenna? My dad probably won't spent any more than $20-$40. Do any of you have any tips for a quality antenna (that can be picked up at your local BB, RS, Target, HD, etc.) and how to set it up for optimum recieving signal clarity?

A lot depends on your location in relationship to the broadcast antenna's. In my case I live in the country, so I bought a TERK antenna that actually mounts on the outside of my home. It is constructed of ABS plastic so weather does not affect it...Works great for both. I know many people that live in town and use just regular rabit ears. I would recommend looking around for a good interior HD antenna. I think one can be had for the prices you mention. You don't mention this, but i assume your Dad has a television the is HD ready? Also, you will need a HD receiver, unless his TV has a built in HD receiver for OTA (over the air) hd signals.

We live in a suburb of Phoenix so I doubt we'll have a problem getting a clean signal if properly set up. My dad's TV is the Hitachi 57F500A. It is HD ready, but I'm not sure about the tuner. I'll have to read the manual. Any antenna's better than other for pulling a clean local signal?

Yeah, I was looking into the whole HD via air (as opposed to cable or sat.) and the antenna is pretty inexpensive, but if you need a tuner, it will go well above the $40.

Check out www.hdtvpub.com and put in your zip code for what you can get in your area, and find out about tuners and antennas... Good luck...

I have a (UHF only) Zenith Silver Sensor and it works great. Available at Sears for about $40.

Wow, you had luck w/ a Terk? You're lucky...

I've had luck w/ the Silver Sensor and a Radio Shack Powered indoor antenna for $50.

But it's true, if you don't have an HD tuner in the system somewhere, forget it.

Funny how all the threads on most of the boards have some type of last minute thread cause everyone's trying to get HD for Superbowl. My buddy called me in a panic yesterday cause he wants to buy a DLP because of the sales. No background on HD at all. When I tried to explain the "mess" to him, his head almost exploded...

Yeah, he'd need a tuner. He wants to go HD but wants to wait till more stations are having TV in HD. I found an old antenna and I figured out that you need an HDTV tuner. I'm guessing for next year's Superbowl party my pop will ante up for a HD subscription. By then there should be some more progress made in the HD format.

I'm beginning to think this Terk 55 ABS external antenna is junk. I've had it about a year hooked to my Samsung OTA receiver, and over the last few weeks I've noticed I keep losing my Red signals. I know it is not my TV as DVD's look fabulous. If I turn off the unit and back on, usually it is fine for awhile, but eventually the Reds drop and everything looke yellowish. Now the SuperBowl tonight on FOX looks outstanding, however the FOX antenna is closes to my house, so it may have something to do with signal strength.

I know it's too late for the Super Bowl, but here's some info for the future.

First, you can get HD for free via an antenna, and almost any mid-large type will work. I've had back luck with the Terk's, and great luck with RS antennas. They're cheap, easy to install, and have good range and reliability even in weather. My current one is hanging in my attic, out of sight, and I pick up about 9 HD stations alone in Minneappolis area.

Second, you will need a HD tuner of some kind. Either built into the TV itself, or if it's HD-ready, an external box of some sort. I'm using a HD Sat. box I had when I was with DirectTV. I have cable now, but I can still run the antenna feed through that box to convert the signal for my TV even without being a DirectTV member anymore.

In the end, you have to decide how much HD programming you want to watch. I get all my locals(NBC,ABC,CBS) along with Fox, WB, PBS, a childrens station(the kids love cartoons in wide format), and a couple of news and info networks all in HD. I just got done watching the big game, and without the antenna, I wouldn't have gotten it in HD. Even with the HD cable package I have, they only give you a couple of HD stations(ESPNHD, 1 Showtime, CBS, and HDTV with movies). Setting up is easy, the really tough call is where you get your converter.

thanks for the info, I may have to go check out the Shack soon for a replacment for my Terk. Eventually, I'm going to be feeding the signal to my Sanyo PLV-Z2 when I complete my basement HT, so I want to get a good antenna. Besides, I need to go check out those Analog SPL meters anyway...

If you can do it, an external is the best. I now use the Channel Master 4228 w/o any amps and everything comes in great. Not bad for $50.

Hi,

I wouldn't add much to ATCGuy and oldskoolboarder's excellent advice except to say the old Axiom (pun intended!) that the higher the better, always applies to antennas of all kinds. We're talking line of sight here, so powered indoor stuff at ground level is junk (Terk). If you can put the antenna in an attic, that's a big advantage and of course outdoors up higher is always best.

Regards,

Okay, I'm late to the party, but had some prior angst on this topic. This thread degenerates as usual, but documented some of my process.

Don't forget about Antennaweb. Very important resource.

What I finally found relative to HD in my area is that I am simply too far away from the transmitters to pull in HD signals off-the-air without EXTREME measures (a very tall antenna mast). When I go HD, it will have to be Comcast digital cable or Voom or some other dish. But now I am addicted to Tivo, which complicates matters considerably.

Antennaweb is a great resource. It's best to start w/ that, cause if you're too far away, you may not be able to get OTA, unless you have a NASA size antenna...

Also to note, my Channel Master is attached to my chimney, so it is outside. And as Alan noted, outside is the best. Even indoors in a good location, an excellent indoor antenna may not be sufficient. W/ both my indoor antennas, I had to reposition for various channels. That is NOT ideal w/ an HD Tivo.

Plus as Tom alludes too, even if you are close, if you are in an area w/ lots of high trees, that adds to the problem.

HD is not an easy thing to get into. My buddy called me on Friday trying to get an HDTV on sale for the superbowl. He's an absolute newbie and was going to buy a new DLP but didn't know the difference w/ that and LCD. He has Directv but didn't know he needed an eliptcial antenna. He didn't even know about OTA. It's not surprising that HD has not moved very fast, since it's so complicated right now. I didn't even explain to him that not all programming on HD channels was in HD, since his head already exploded...

I feel for the newbies going into standard brick and mortar stores and getting all the disinformation that's out there.

I think you're right. Most places don't expain all the hardware requirements for HD when they buy system components. However, in the end, it's really not that complicated.

Most people make the mistake of getting an HD-ready TV, hook up their antenna, and can't figure out why there's no HD picture. In either situation, sat or cable, the box is the key. Even with cable HD, the HD box they give you may not take an antenna feed, and you may need a second external HD box for the off-air programming. Keep that in mind when asking your cable company about their HD service and components.

Yeah true. I've had my wife's friends over, their husbands have been "asking" to get plasmas. They asked me how the kids shows like Sesame Street would look. Sigh...many think that just having and HD display will make things look better. (Like having someone buy some M60's, play a badly recorded CD, and then expect it to sound phenomenal.) It's a sobering experience for many. For some folks, regular CRT is still their best option. I tell them to spend their money elsewhere.

So let's say I get an HD ready TV, and an antenna. How much should I expect to pay for a tuner?

From what I understand, if I am going to get HD via cable or a dish instead of an antenna I don't need a tuner, correct?

You can get OTA tuners on ebay for $100 or so. I've also heard people get DirecTV HD receiver at places like best buy for $75 w/ an open box sale. I've never been that lucky. I even considered getting an HD OTA tuner for my parents since they don't watch cable. W/ HD OTA, they'd at least get a clean picture w/ the channels they do watch.

If you get HD via cable or satellite, they will provide you with an appropriate HD set top box.

Alternately, you may want to look at new TV's/plasmas/DLP/LCD etc that support the CableCard format. W/ this, you tell your cable company to provide you w/ a cablecard tuner. You plug it into your TV and you're set. That's a slick solution, but it's just starting to come you. My understanding is that cable providers are required by law to support this. Tivo has already announced a Tivo-capable cable card by the end of the year.

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