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Topic:
HDTV Offair antenna for local channels
This thread has 10 replies. Displaying all posts.
Post 1 made on Thursday February 24, 2005 at 13:45
socceteer
Long Time Member
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20
I am a Dishnetwork customer and recently added HDTV to my setup, As most of us are discovering all the HDTV local channels are not part of the set offered by any dish or cable companies.

So I resorted to installing an antenna. I have explored several

Terk 55 with amplifier
Radio Shack rabbit ears HDTV with amplifier
Philips HDTV antenna
Sharp HDTV indoor antenna (did not work for me)

The Terk 55 works well as long as you do not have a long cable to your TV
The Radio Shack Rabbit ears work well for some channels, but if anyone walks in front you loose reception
The Philips antenna also works OK, but not well if you use a long cable.

I am in the process of trying another antenna the brand new Terk Directional antenna.

Does anyone have a suggestion of a good not too large HDTV antenna for local channels..?
Post 2 made on Thursday February 24, 2005 at 15:13
barlow
Active Member
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535
Why are you limiting your choices to TV top HD antennas ?

I am not a Sat person but it seems you could attach an antenna to the same mount or location as your Dishnetwork Dish and diplex the OTA antenna signal into your house thru the SAT line. I would recommend a Winegard Square Shooter in this case.

-Don B
Post 3 made on Friday February 25, 2005 at 02:54
Ernie Bornn-Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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That is a good recommendation as it is on the small side. I have not used one, but keep reading here that it works.

I always get an outdoor type antenna, one that someone recently described as an aluminum jungle gym, and mount it in the attic or on the roof.

For more recommendations, please let us know where you live, how far you are from the transmitters, if they are all in one direction...stuff that will help us judge. So far, it seems you are pretty close to the transmitters as the Terk 55 works AT ALL and you can get HD with an indoor antenna, again AT ALL.

The Terk works in high signal areas, but it is another product of Terk's that is just too beautiful for words, and, oh, yes, it is also supposed to be an antenna.

I am forty miles from the single transmitting site in the Los Angeles area that I care about, and I use a $25 Radio Shack antenna on the roof, with no amp, split to four TVs. That sucker actually pulls in enough signal to do that!
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
OP | Post 4 made on Tuesday March 1, 2005 at 14:28
socceteer
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Hi Don and Ernie

Thanks for the information. I live in Morgan Hill CA, which is located about 12 miles south of San Jose 50 Miles south of San Francisco and 30 miles North of Salinas. Due to the location of my house, I can only get the Salinas station, I have a mountain next to me that blocks me from SF and SJ.

The Radio Shack rabbit ear antenna was working for a while, but it stopped working. The Terk 55 seams to work well for my upstairs TV, but when I tried to split the signal and send it to the downstairs TV I lost signal strength.

My friend tried the Satellite attachments and they did not work for him.

I just tried 2 more antennas:

1)Terk Brand new HDTV Directional Antenna -- Did not work very well
2)Cannel Master 3010 STEALTHtenna with the STEALTHtenna Antenna Optional Amplifier Model 3038 -- This one worked great, I am getting outstanding reception and it is small and easy to install.

My next step was to install a large roff antenna.

I have heard from a few people that Channel Marter Antennas are the best for HDTV. It worked for me.

Thanks for the comments
Post 5 made on Wednesday December 15, 2010 at 12:25
Cyrus123
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December 2010
1
socceteer,
did you able to get all local channels (FOX, ABC, NBC, CBC, etc..), I do live in Morgan Hill too and recently I'm planning to disconnect my dish network, I bought Philips HDTV antenna(indoor) and I was able to get only 5 channels from Salinas all in HD with very good quality, but that is not what I was looking for, I was hoping to get local channels from San Jose or SF such as the one mentioned above.. if you got yours going will you please walk me through..
Thanks in advance..
Post 6 made on Wednesday December 15, 2010 at 14:01
hd fan
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425
well in 5 years since his last post he/she probably moved to SJ , SF , Salinas or anywhere closer to the transmitters!, lol. Just kidding.

That was in 2005 when probably no satellite provider had HD locals available through Spotbeam technology. more likely now all those locals are available to DN and DTV subs. but there is a catch , you can only get the locals from 1 city , the one you live in.

the OP had good results with an outdoor CM antenna but did not specified if that inlcuded SF or SJ locals. golden rules apply here , high gain outdoor antenna installed above roofline as high as possible with good RG-6 cables and possibly a rotor to get signals from different cities around you. If needed add a pre-amplifier. CM 4 bay 4221 model is a good one (but no VHF capable like the OP had), less expensive and smaller than other high gain antennas. As per tvfool.com only ch 8 KSBW is on the VHF band but it is in Salinas and is the strongest one so I guess a UHF antenna only like the 4221 will do the trick.

BTW , Welcome to the forum. Hope it helps.
Post 7 made on Friday December 17, 2010 at 04:49
Ernie Bornn-Gilman
Yes, That Ernie!
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Cyrus, thanks for the help, but as hd fan said, it's been five years.

I'm guessing that google directed you to that thread, or perhaps a search of this site did. Before adding an answer, please check to see if the thread is recent enough for your answer to be helpful.

And welcome to the site.
A good answer is easier with a clear question giving the make and model of everything.
"The biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place." -- G. “Bernie” Shaw
Post 8 made on Monday January 10, 2011 at 15:15
donnyjaguar
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January 2008
352
Anyone know when TVO is going digital?
Donny Jaguar
Post 9 made on Monday January 10, 2011 at 15:49
hd fan
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425
Totally off topic but, Apparently they will flash cut on or a few weeks before the deadline , Aug 31, in 9 transmitters (cities with more than 300 000 hab). So expect them to go straight from ch 19 Analog to ch 19 Digital overnight this mid summer or later. Too bad more likely viewers wont have TFO also available as a digital sub channel, so much for the benefits of having the capability of sub channels with this new digital format eh?.
Post 10 made on Saturday May 6, 2017 at 16:37
Ranger Home
Super Member
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3,486
Revival of the dead thread. Anything new for recommendation? Outdoor. Hoping there is something super small now that rocks the world? lol
Post 11 made on Saturday May 6, 2017 at 16:38
Ranger Home
Super Member
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Hell, i didnt even know this section of RC existed. I'll need to re-ask this in the main forum as I suspect others never come here as well . :)


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