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

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.

Time Warner
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