OTA Antenna Recomendations

[turdnoni]

Ok here is one for all you OTA HD guru's

Location: West Side of Cleveland Zip-44039.
Toshiba 51" TV
DirectTV
Samsung SIR-TS360 HDTV receiver
Zenith Silver Sensor Indoor antenna. (ZHDTV1Z)
I am 18-19 miles from Tower according to antennaweb.org.

All the Directv HD stuff is coming in great.

As for the OTA it is another question.
What I can get ota is
FOX- (pretty good)
ABC-(shakey at best)
UPN
and some spanish channel

What I can't get is
NBC
CBS
PBS
Etc.

Any sugesstions on how to make this system better with OTA?

Oh I tried the Terk 55 as well and the reception was worse than the little zenith silver sensor, which is weird.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Cholly]

Go to http://www.antennaweb.org and see what they have to say. IMHO the Terk TV55 is at best a poor solution. I tried it and several indoor antennas. The Silver Sensor is generally a good solution for UHF digital channels but only so-so for VHF. I'm not familiar with your DMA, and can't quote specifics, but if you have obstacles such as large trees or buildings nearby, they will have a serious effect on your ability to receive the digital OTA channels. In that case, an attic mounted or outdoor antenna may be called for. In my DMA, all but one of the digital OTA channels are VHF, and I settled on a Channel Master 3016 antenna (from Lowe's, since I don't have other sources for outdoor antennas) which I have mounted in my attic. Works well, except for local ABC outlet. All my locals are transmitting at low power.
Another good site for info is http://www.2150.com/broadcast/html

 

[slacker9876]

I live in a far outlying area from my DTV stations. I purchased the TV55 also and received FOX from Denver and CBS from Cheyenne WY. When Voom installed they first used a channel master 3031 (I think). They came back and installed a Winegard PR-8800 and the performance is excellent. My closest station is 45 miles. Try a channel master omni-directional for your range.

ABC seems to stink nationwide, NBC seems to be leading. Hpe this helps! With antennas it varies by every location but the better your "pull" the better gignal you will get.

 

[AcuraCL]

How much did you play with the Silver Sensor's location/orientation?

I found it can be very directional. Moving it 1 foot could completely change what channels I received.

Moving it to my second floor in front of a window increased reception significantly.

 

[DishBacker]

NBC Leading? Maybe in your area but not in Dallas. I don't see anything showing that NBC is doing the US Open in HD this weekend, whereas CBS has had golf in HD nearly every weekend since mid-march. ABC at least has the stanley cup and the nba finals in HD. Even Fox has Nascar in widescreen. I see NBC a distant 4th in the sport arena, with CBS being the clear leader (hence Charlie's desire to allow O&O markets to get it with the HD pack on dish network). It has by far the most HD content so far.

Then again, NBC could be waiting for the Olympics to launch their HD sports stuff...

 

[turdnoni]

SilverSensor Location

AcuraCL

I have found the same, however even with moving it I still can't get CBS,NBC due to the fact they are VHF. (i think, in my area)

I have been switching between a set of rabbit ears to pull CBS and NBC (VHF)and the Silver Sensor for ABC, UPN, FOX, and the good ol' spanish channel (UNI I think, but what the hell it is in spanish).

I am going to mount an roof top uhf/vhf. I am sick of getting off my ass to switch the antenna's.

However I guess one good thing came out of all of my trials with the cheapie indoor antenna's... I have pulled all of the local channels at one time or another with these little pieces of crap... so I am assuming I should get all of the channels with a roof top UHF/VHF???

Any reason to think otherwise guys?
Mike

 

[AcuraCL]

No reason at all to think otherwise.

Good luck !!

 

[korsjs]

try the old fashion rabbit ears, get the connector so you can attach it to the receiver. you think i am joking, but the rabbit ears (less than ten bucks) is the best thing i have had so far, better than the 100 dollar terk. give them a try.

 

[TivoFan]

I am not in your area but I am able to get all Boston local channels with the Terk HDTVi antenna. And the great thing is that I can keep it indoors. And it is a great looking antenna!