Am i just out of luck?

[amiscrewed]

i just purchased a 46" sammy dlp today came home to find out (should have done my research before hand) i cant get digital cable where i live. (due to Contract apt complex has with a crappy local provider) cant get direct tv (i live inside, on the 1st floor (out of 5 floors) facing a courtyard and surrounded by parking garages and large buildings. so no view of ANY sky i bought a simple antenna and could pick up 5-6 channels but the signals were so weak you could hardly make anything out. i then finalyl checked antennaweb and all the digial channels were in red, violet, etc. 35 miles away What should i do? try to get a stronger antenna?

 

[navychop]

Indoors, about the best is the Silver Sensor- I think Sears carries it. Imitators are not always as good.

Or, start pricing HD-DVD and Blu-ray players. Might want to wait 2-3 months on that, to see if something shakes out making it clear who the winner will be.

 

[amiscrewed]

thanks i dont know why my post is formatted like a long run on sentence, i made sure to enter in spaces ... and i can't mount anything outside either ... but i will take a look into that

 

[lunkie]

Not trying to be a smarty pants here, but if it's an apartment complex what about moving to the 5th floor when your lease is up?? Get a window facing the TV towers. The Silver Sensor would work real good up that high. Maybe even a dish if your facing the right direction.

 

[8bitbytes]

DO try the Silver Sensor or the Terk HD-TVA - I tried both and the Terk works better for me. Once you have a signal with a strength, move the antenna around in small increments at different heights to see if you can improve that.

Indoors, you are going to have an interesting conversation piece with that antenna but the HD signal on your HD set will distract most people sufficiently to forget it's inside your apt!


Let us know what you find!

 

[amiscrewed]

well i went to sears and they didnt have the zenith silver sensor, so i did some research online and apparently philips phdtv1 has a similar thing. they look identical? i went to CC and bought it. nothing to lose. i can pick up about 6-7 channels but they are all very very blurry =T edit- i moved my tv closer to the window along with the antenna... i get CBS and its clear!! the only one..... as far as moving within my apt complex, they will charge me 200 bucks to do it ..

 

[8bitbytes]

Apartment fire rated walls can really kill a signal - you will just have to keep trying slight adjustments and elevations to find a good signal.

You may want to try a couple more antennae and save your receipts so you can take back the ones that don't do it. You could even hang a big bowtie antenna on your wall and call it modern art!

Although it is poo-pooed by many, the Terk is at least worth checking, they sell them at BB if you are going to try to avoid buying an antenna online.

 

[dodge]

no Digital Cable

Can you call the cable co. and have them come out and get you going with digital. I dont see how an apartment complex cantell you that you cannot subscribe to a service you are paying for??? Sounds like you need to get the fcc on the butt of who owns the apartments!!!