Jumping into the HDTV realm...

[MustangLX89]

Since this the season to be getting tax season jolly and our good ol' Uncle Sammy has seen fit to bestow a fair amount of our money back to us. We are looking at getting a Sony 36" FD Trinitron WEGA Hi-Scan 1080i Flat-Tube HDTV and diving into the antenna realm of OTA. We are about 65 miles from Cleveland and 70 miles from Columbus. I'm hoping that we are not out of range for these cities. Is it possible to get an HD signal OTA this far away? Also is it possible to build an OTA HD antenna ourself? Just curious about our options that we may or may not have. We found some long range antenna's here. We are on a high hill. I used the antenna guide site to see what channels we should be able to get. I used our present address and came up with two channels. I used the addess that we are moving to and found a whole heap of channels. It's amazing how much difference moving on top of a hill makes. Has anyone had any experience using the antenna's I have listed above or getting a signal at that distance?

 

[MustangLX89]

Hmmm, seems these HDTV antennas I've been seeing are all a wash of advertisement lies. I found out that there is no real distinction between an average run of the mill antenna and what they advertise as a "hdtv" antenna. I was wondering about that for a while now. I accidently ran accross the information diggin through topics in another forum on the net. Damn glad I found out that bit of info ahead of time.

 

[GravelChan]

Hmmm, seems these HDTV antennas I've been seeing are all a wash of advertisement lies. I found out that there is no real distinction between an average run of the mill antenna and what they advertise as a "hdtv" antenna. I was wondering about that for a while now. I accidently ran accross the information diggin through topics in another forum on the net. Damn glad I found out that bit of info ahead of time.

I'm using a Channel Master 3023 (80" long yagi) with a 7777 preamp. About $120 for both from Stark. I pull in 3 stations from 60 miles in good shape. They are all running low power at the present. I think I could easily eliminate the preamp if they were on high power.

 

[MustangLX89]

Thanks. I'll look into that setup straight away. ASAP.

 

[Kevinw]

65 and 70 miles is out there. You will need to have that antenna as high as possible. Curvature of the earth takes effect after 70 miles. Antennas Direct has always seemed to be reputable. The owner can explain the differnces between his antennas and others with out discounting the known performers like the Channel MAster 4228

 

[WLong]

Since this the season to be getting tax season jolly and our good ol' Uncle Sammy has seen fit to bestow a fair amount of our money back to us. We are looking at getting a Sony 36" FD Trinitron WEGA Hi-Scan 1080i Flat-Tube HDTV and diving into the antenna realm of OTA. We are about 65 miles from Cleveland and 70 miles from Columbus. I'm hoping that we are not out of range for these cities. Is it possible to get an HD signal OTA this far away? Also is it possible to build an OTA HD antenna ourself? Just curious about our options that we may or may not have. We found some long range antenna's here. We are on a high hill. I used the antenna guide site to see what channels we eap of channels. It's amazing how much difference moving on top of a hill makes. Has anyone had any experience using the antenna's I have listed above or getting a signal at that distance?

Im sure this is too late, considering the date of the original post, but... 70 miles isnt too bad, I have seen people further away receive HDTV OTA. I'd look into the offerings Channel Master has available and pick one that meets your needs. See www.antennaweb.org for more information on which type of antenna you need.

My actual question for you is, are you sure you want to invest $1600 in a tube TV? I've seen many direct view tube TV's that could not hold a candle to my rear-projection unit and RPTV's in very large sizes are not too much more $ than the one you have listed there. In fact, some are even cheaper.

-Bill