How can you choose an indoor HDTV antenna?

Answer 1

As a quick first step, just try any antenna you have. Some TVs have two different connectors, one for the regular TV signal (NTSC), and one for a digital TV signal (HDTV). Plug it into the digital input and do a channel scan. Also try any cable TV connection in your house and ask the local providers if they offer free access to the local on-air stations. In that case, you do not need an antenna. Just get connected to the free service and plug in the TV. The most important thing to do next is to get a list of all the digital television stations available in your area, and find out how far the transmitters are and what angle from your house. To get this list go to the Antenna Web website co-sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA): www.antennaweb.org. Register with your name, address, and email, and select whether you want junk mail or not. You will get a customized list of all the stations in your area. This information will help you choose an antenna. Don't be surprised if there are a lot more digital stations than the old TV stations you had. Each old station gets 4 new channels for digital broadcasts. The first question is do you need a VHF antenna or only UHF. In most areas of the USA, only a UHF antenna is required. However, if some stations you want broadcast in VHF then you will need a combined VHF/UHF antenna. One way to combine them is to get both antennas, and a UHF/VHF combiner box. VHF antennas are particularly important for channels 2 to 6. Often for channels 7-13 you can get by using a UHF antenna, and in some cases one will work even for 2-6. If your area has only UHF but you have a VHF antenna, then try that. It just may work. But if it doesn't then get the right antenna for better reception. The third question is distance. Get a short-range, medium-range, or long-range antenna that is rated for the distance to the transmitters you want to use. If it is a long distance (over 20 miles), you may want to consider getting an outdoor antenna. You might also try an outdoor one that is small enough to fit indoors (there is at least one popular model that works well). You can also get a signal amplifier box that may increase the range of your antenna. If all the transmitters that you want are within 20 degrees of each other (as is the case in many areas including New York, Los Angeles, and Phoenix) then you are in luck. You can use a uni-directional antenna and point it to the middle of the transmitters. If the stations you want are in all different directions, then you will have to turn the antenna to each one when you watch it, or get a multi-directional antenna. Remaining quesitons: 1. Outdoor antennas have directions for pointing them in a certain direction. As for how to point your indoor antenna in one direction, I do not know. Are rabbit ears pointable to the angle of the transmitter? 2. Some indoor antennas have dials that you can dial until you get the reception you want, but these are not usually marked with angles, so you just turn and turn. Are these dials directional? 3. Some indoor antennas have loops, discs, or other flat objects that can be rotated. Perhaps these are pointable along the diameter or perpindicular. 4. Digital TV has different reception problems. You can have a perfectly clear picture, but the picture can go to super low resolution or stop moving. Also the closed captions can become garbled. Are these signs of poor reception or some other problem? (It's like watching television thru a Microsoft Windows computer, where you have to wait for the computer to re-draw the screen and whatever else it is doing.) The antenna sellers will help with decisions about which antenna to get and how to position it. Generally outside above the roof is best (for outdoor antennas), and upper floors are better for indoor antennas. If you have multiple TVs, you might be able to use a high-quality antenna that does not have to be adjusted (can be pointed right at the transmitters) on a high floor and some signal boosting and splitting boxes to send it to all the TVs.