# HDTV Antenna Recommendations?



## classicX (May 10, 2006)

Hi All:

I'm wondering if anyone has any sage advice for me. Right now I have Comcast and two of their crappy SA DVRs. If I didn't have a DirecTivo two years ago, I probably wouldn't care, but since my eyes are open, I can barely stand the cable DVRs.

Anyway, to the point - I know that I will want the Series 3 (at least two) when they are released, and I'd like the stop paying Comcast (although I'm paying $39.99/mo for digital cable - doesn't seem so bad). But when that promotinal deal is up, I'd much rather just pay the basic cable channels and get my HD OTA. The other HD channels are nice (INHD/2, DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, TNTHD), but to be perfectly honest I only turn to those channels when I want to show off my HD picture. None of the content is especially compelling, and I do not care to record 99.9 percent of it.

Now to the questions: 1) Can anyone recommend a good attic mount antenna? I am in NJ, equidistant from Philidelphia and New York (I'm about 52 air miles from each). I have absolutely no high rises for miles around and trees behind my house are East. I really do not want an antenna on my roof, which is also why I do NOT want satellite.

2) Does anyone here live in or near Toms River, NJ and have experience with OTA signal?

3) Should I forget about it and just pay for Digital Cable from Comcast and get CableCards from Comcast? (They currently do not charge for them, just for installation.)

I think getting rid of their boxes at least would save me about $30 / month in rental and DVR fees (which would cover the Tivo fees and then some).

4) Just an aside question - are any of you planning to get more Series 3's than you need just so you can wait for Tivo to run out of stock and then sell them on eBay?

I know this post is kinda all over the place but I'm really anxious to get rid of these Comcast DVRs.


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## stiffi (Jun 14, 2006)

Plug in a set of rabbit ears and see what happens. Or buy a cheap indoor antenna for $20 or less. If you can get intermittent signal with that, you should be able to get clear signal with an attic mount of a decent antenna. If you get that far, I'd recommend the Channel Master 4221 for Toms River.

I am much closer to my towers, but I found that I actually get better reception with my antenna in the attic than I did on my roof. Go figure?

Unfortunately, regardless of what measurements, or coordinates you get, it's still basically trial and error. I spent an entire summer day on my roof putting up my antenna, and things only got worse than in the attic.


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## Bierboy (Jun 12, 2004)

If you are 52 miles from the nearest towers, you stand very little chance of any kind of reliable digital reception with ANY antenna that's in the attic. You will HAVE to mount outside for reception at that distance. If your DTs are all UHF, then I would suggest an outside mounted CM 4228 using a CM 7775 (UHF-only) or CM 7777 or 7778 (UHF & VHF) preamp and a rotor.


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## terryfoster (Jul 21, 2003)

Do check out www.antennaweb.org to see what kind of distances you are to the transmission towers and what type of antenna they recommend.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I have a Terk HDTVi. It pulls in the 3 closest channels just fine. However the distant ones only come in intermittently. Luckily my cable company carries all the HD locals now, so I don't really need the antenna.

Dan


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## moyekj (Jan 24, 2006)

You'd be surprised what a cheap $20-30 UHF indoor *amplified* antenna from Lowes or Home Depot can do. I'm 50+ miles from broadcast antennas in very hilly terrain but can pick up all the OTA HDTV broadcasts of interest to me - the major networks and 2 PBS stations. As mentioned above go to antennaweb.org to figure out general direction to point your antenna. With the UHF antenna I have I can't pickup any analog stations but the HDTV broadcasts range from 90-100% signal strength and quite reliable most of the time. One thing that made a big difference for me is locating the antenna to point through a window as opposed to walls. And amplification is also key - without amplification I don't get anything.


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

If you only need UHF (14 & up) you might take a look at the Lacrosse antenna, it received a very good rating from the HT Guys:

http://www.htguys.com/archive/2006/July072006.html

http://www.terrestrial-digital.com/lacrosse.html

Good Luck,

atmuscarella


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

[LONG POST WARNING]

OK, at first I thought it might be cheaper for me to get an ATSC Antenna and just pay for 'basic' cable (to get SD channels like BET, SciFi, TLC, etc.) - then I called Comcast. Dare I say, their basic cable option *SUCKS*. It's basically only local channels and some PBS and Public Access channels. So the only option is to go with their Expanded Cable, which 1) Includes HD Locals (YAY!) and 2) costs $51.10 per month (BOO!). Add to that the fact that they will charge a flat fee of $10.25/mo "equipment" fee (for CableCards) and I'm paying $5.10 less than the Digital package! *sigh*

*Basic Cable Option*
Cable (includes Expanded Cable w/ HD Locals): $51.10
CableCard Fees: $10.25 (flat rate, no limit on number of cards)
Tivo Monthly Charges (3-year plan * 2): $33.90
Total Monthy Cost: $95.5

*Digital Cable Option*
Cable (includes Digital Cable w/ Full HD Lineup + Equipment Fees): $65.75
CableCard Fees: $1.00 (flat rate, no limit on number of cards)
Tivo Monthly Charges (3-year plan * 2): $33.90
Total Monthy Cost: $100.65

The Digital Cable package also includes one "decoder" (STB) and remote, which is good for a spare bedroom or game room [or my office!], and ALL HD channels (DiscoveryHD, ESPNHD, ESPN2HD, INHD1, INHD2, TNTHD [shh! we're not supposed to get that one...], Comcast Sports Net, and a few others). OK, so THAT's worth $5 extra per month.

I personally would've considered not having Cable AT ALL if my wife didn't absolutely love channels like TLC, HGTV, etc. Besides, I need my SciFi channel (stargates, battlestar galactica!). So OTA alone is not an option.

Oh well, too bad the S3 isn't satellite compatible, it may have been a MUCH cheaper option...

and thx for letting me think out loud (as if you had a choice!  ) For those who care, I'll go back to the top and put a 'long post' disclaimer....


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## rlj5242 (Dec 20, 2000)

Since antenna choice is very different for every location, go to the parent forum (AVS) and look in Local HDTV section. You may already have a neighbor who has gone through the trial and error of picking out the right antenna for your location.

-Robert


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## terryfoster (Jul 21, 2003)

You can save yourself $10.25 per month and not get the cable cards. You _should_ be able to get your local digital signals that are carried by your cable provider without cable cards. Assuming you have a QAM tuner built into your TV or other tunining device (such as a S3 that does have a QAM tuner).


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

Perhaps you are right terryfoster, but the cablecards are necessary for the other content (cable channels like MTV, BET, SCIFI, HGTV, etc.).

However, I just found another digital tier [digital classic] that will save me $5, although I can't find the channel lineup for it. That takes care of the $5 difference mentioned above - now it's just $0.10 more, but I also found that it doesn't include the other HD channels I mentioned previously (ESPNs, Discovery, etc.). To get those I'd have to just to Digital Silver which is *ahem* $79.95/mo (includes one premium channel of my choice).

This is the tier that I have now (promotion, $39.99 for first six months). I hope they are running promotions like this all the time that I can 'sneak through' on the web. *shh!*


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## terryfoster (Jul 21, 2003)

So, expanded basic on Comcast, in your area, requires cable box or cable card? So, in other words, they encrypt/scramble all their expanded cable programming and so you can't use your TiVo without a cable box or cable card? This isn't unheard of in your area, I'm just trying to make sure this is the case.

Most cable systems outside of the greater New York/New Jersey area don't scramble/encrypt expanded basic cable channels so you can just plug your cable into a cable ready tuner (TiVo, VCR, TV, etc).


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## classicX (May 10, 2006)

I may have spoken incorrectly - the expanded cable does provide the "normal" cable channels, and I'd imagine that my locals are sent unencrypted. In this case, I wouldn't need the cablecards.

Good catch, that's another option, but I'd have to verify the channel lineup. I (strangely) found that none of the HD channels that I currently have are selectable without the digital tier, though it does have a star next to some of my locals, saying that the channel is also available in HD (if you have a tuner that can receive it). The FOX channel (5 here) is not marked, but I have FOX in HD now.

I'll have to find out for sure, but in reality FOX is probably the channel with the most HD content that I want (24, Prison Break, and all the new shows!). If I need the digital tier to get it, it won't be fair but unfortunately I'll just pay for it and benefit from the other HD channels and extra content.

Also with that tier, one 'decoder' and remote is included in the price. If I won't get a discount for returning it, I'll just keep it around for and to be able to watch a 3rd show while two are being recorded by the S3.

Not much of a problem for me (or my wife \0/) because I have a harmony and I'll just set up one activity for Tivo and another for 'Live TV.'

We'll see once the S3 is released.


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