Comments on: aerial antenna for high VHF/UHF

Question: aerial antenna for high VHF/UHF

Zed_Lopez — Tue, 06 May 2008 12:49:16 -0800

Appropriate aerial antenna to receive high VHF and UHF across 12 miles? After the US digital TV switch, all the tv stations I want will be transmitting on channels 7-44 from one tower 12 miles WSW of me, without obstruction, so far as I know.

Antenna geek sites are full of recommendations for things that seem to be overkill for these close-to-ideal conditions. What's the best bang-for-the-buck aerial antenna (i.e., the cheapest one expected to yield excellent reception) for these circumstances? (Assume I can figure out how to mount it on my roof pointing in the right direction.)

By: Gungho

Gungho — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:02:31 -0800

Lookee here

By: mumkin

mumkin — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:26:48 -0800

Honestly, unless it's purely for aesthetic reasons that you want a roof mount, even that much sounds like overkill. I use a decade-old set of unamplified Radio Shack rabbit ears, sitting behind the tv with jankily bent antennae, in circumstances just like the ones you describe, and the reception is excellent.

By: valentinepig

valentinepig — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:26:56 -0800

Any old antenna is fine. I use a 12 dollar one I got at Rite Aid & I have a lot worse conditions, but it works great. for my 42" Panasonic Plasma.

By: fogster

fogster — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:32:49 -0800

If you're 12 miles away, unless your antenna is below the treeline / blocked by buildings, or somewhere absurd like in your basement, you can probably buy the cheapest antenna for that range that you can find an get perfect coverage. The stations put out thousands of Watts, so if you're 12 miles away, you're not going to need much of anything.

If they're all coming from one tower, a directional antenna would be preferable, as you could point it at the tower, both for higher sensitivity in that direction and to help eliminate any interference from the sides. But it's probably not necessary given your proximity.

By: fogster

fogster — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:35:02 -0800

mumkin's post reminded me of something -- our HDTV antenna is inside our garage so it's not looking awful on our roof. The wood frame of our garage doesn't attenuate the signal much, and it's strong enough anyway. And we're at least 50 miles away from the source.

So an indoor antenna would probably work just fine, too.

By: Zed_Lopez

Zed_Lopez — Tue, 06 May 2008 13:53:22 -0800

Oops, I missed one: my NBC station is 45 miles south; will be channel 12 (is now channel 11.)

Cheap indoor antennas are currently doing great for a few stations, but lousy for others, including the aforementioned NBC.

By: rhizome

rhizome — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:08:10 -0800

Antennaweb let's you plug your address in and see a coverage map, with antenna recommendations to boot!

By: mumkin

mumkin — Tue, 06 May 2008 14:26:26 -0800

Ah, well then, your 45 miles puts it in a range beyond my experience. Pursuant to fogster's second comment, you could also install your antenna inside your attic, if you have one, instead of strapping it to your chimney/etc. if that seems daunting.