[TriLUG] [OT] HD Antenna suggestions, was: TV Tuner Card suggestion

[Maxwell Spangler]

On Wed, 2009-01-07 at 09:53 -0500, Brian Henning wrote:

> Thought I'd hijack this thread to see if anyone might have advice on HD
> antennas.  I just got the converter box (I have an old analog-only TV
> right now, and dropped TWC a few months ago when they wouldn't let me go
> straight from one promo deal to another) and I've been trying different
> antennas and have had somewhat surprising results.  Note: low-profile is
> a requirement; I don't have room for something I can't mount on the
> wall.

> So next I'm thinking about trying a $60 amped not-smart antenna.  Should
> I bother?  It seems my reception (in a ground-floor apartment near
> Southpoint) is poor all around, but even with a low SNR, more amplitude
> still means more signal, right?...  until you start to overwhelm the
> receiver, but one amped antenna shouldn't do that...

The two challenges I see are your location within the triangle and your
location in a ground level apartment building.

First I'd suggest you visit:

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx

And enter your street information.  That will show you exactly where
your local broadcasters are located.  Click on the map view and you'll
see that unfortunately they're on all sides of you, some east, some
north, some west.  If you lived in the country, you might be able to
just get a good directional antenna and point it at the triangle.

Four years ago I had a 3rd floor apartment at The Lodge at Southpoint.
I used one of these: 

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-PHDTV3-Indoor-Amplified-Antenna/dp/B000B58VNM

with mixed results.  It's cheap, amplified and fairly directional, so I
could move it around to pull in a signal better.

A friend nearby (Woodlake area, south Durham) is using one of these with
unexpectedly good success.  It's a smaller, simpler design, also
amplified and rather attractive looking.  Looks better in person than
the pictures, even.  Were I to be buying a first antenna I'd probably
try this one first.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-SDV2710-27-Enhanced-Performance/dp/B001JE9G56/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1231361255&sr=1-1

Your ground floor location is a challenge, and if your downslope from a
hill.. well, you know the challenges.  For some folks cable or satellite
are going to be better.

hth.

-- 
Maxwell Spangler
Research Triangle Park, NC, USA