Please Help

[eubenesa]

Hi, I live in North Andover, MA. It's around 30-40 miles north from Boston. I would like to watch HDTV and other normal TV channels (FOX, UPN, CBS, NBC, etc.) on my computer. I already have an HDTV card plugged into my desktop (DVICO FusionHDTV 5 Gold). What do I need? How can I watch TV? I already tried with Zenith ZHDTV1 HDTV-UHF Digital Indoor Antenna, but I was only able to receive 1 normal channel from a close by station. I guess the antenna just sucks. Please help. Oh, I cannot get an outdoor antenna. It must be indoor. Thank you very much.

 

[charper1]

Indoor antennas and 30+ mile range? You will need a good outdoor UHF directional antenna. I used zip 01845 and these were the results.

CALLSIGN CHANNEL NETWORK CITY DIRECTION MILES

WMUR-DT 9.1 ABC MANCHESTER NH 326° 31.9

WZMY-DT 35.1 IND DERRY NH 300° 14.9

WNEU-DT 60.1 TEL MERRIMACK NH 326° 32.0

WENH-DT 57.1 PBS DURHAM NH 7° 34.4

WPXG-DT 33.1 IND CONCORD NH 358° 36.3

WUNI-DT 27.1 UNI WORCESTER MA 248° 39.1

WUTF-DT 66.1 TFA MARLBOROUGH MA 239° 28.4

WGBH-DT 2.1 PBS BOSTON MA 210° 26.5

WBZ-DT 4.1 CBS BOSTON MA 210° 26.5

WCVB-DT 5.1 ABC BOSTON MA 210° 26.5

 

[eubenesa]

which antenna do i need?

 

[Killswitchengage]

might wannna try a zenith silver arrow, I have one and can pick up abc, cbs, and nbc with some ease. I live about 25-30 miles from the towers here in Northern VA. Of course depending on weather conditions it can be a little sketchy. For instance Saturday and Sunday I couldn't get a strong fox signal for more than 5 min before it cut out. Last night on the other hand I watched 3 hours of fox in Hi-def with no cut outs at all.

I just ordered the Winegard ss-2000. The thing is only 16x16x4, so it's small and unassuming, and can be put on Decks, in attics or just around the house with amazing results. I should get mine on Friday and will let you know how it works.

 

[Killswitchengage]

actually I guess your allready using a zenith, sorry about that. GO to www.winegard.com and check out the ss-2000. I have a friend in San Diego who has one, lives in a townhouse about 35-40 miles away from the towers and has his set up on his deck.

He says he picks up all the majors with an average of 85% signal strength. He loves it to death and sold me on it so I ordered one from warren electronics.

 

[charper1]

Make sure if you go with that antenna that you are under the 35miles and have DIRECT line of sight to the towers with minimal obstruction. These ss-2000 really are NOT worth more than $50.

OPTIMAL SPECS (and I question it having better range on DIG)

• Range for Channels (2-6): 0-10 Miles (Analog), 0-15 Miles (Digital)
• Range for Channels (7-13): 0-35 Miles (Analog), 0-40 Miles (Digital)
• Range for Channels (14-69): 0-45 Miles (Analog), 0-50 Miles (Digital)

 

[Killswitchengage]

Make sure if you go with that antenna that you are under the 35miles and have DIRECT line of sight to the towers with minimal obstruction. These ss-2000 really are NOT worth more than $50.

OPTIMAL SPECS (and I question it having better range on DIG)

• Range for Channels (2-6): 0-10 Miles (Analog), 0-15 Miles (Digital)
• Range for Channels (7-13): 0-35 Miles (Analog), 0-40 Miles (Digital)
• Range for Channels (14-69): 0-45 Miles (Analog), 0-50 Miles (Digital)

Ok, SO you scared me into cancelling my order for the square shooter that I was going to pay 120 bucks for. I went to Lowes today and bought a Channel Master 3010 stealthtenna for 50 bucks. . Hooked it up to the 811, put the stealthtenna on my deck and did some tests. I got all the channels I wanted, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, WB and PBS all in glorious HD. All with a signal of 75-85%strength.

The only problem is that to get PBS, WB and NBC, I literally had to go and point the antenna in the opposite direction of the other channels I get. SO heres the dilemma. how do I install this thing? I have two options it seems, either to go up on my deck and change the position everytime I want to watch half the channels I want or install a rotor.

Installing a rotor seems really tricky. Not even mentioning the mast set up, the grounding and the diplexing. Geez I feel like my head was gonna explode!Anyone have any real experience with this? any ideas or advice would be greatly appreciated. I can have the antenna
installed on my roof with a rotr for about $450. Now this seems like a LOT of money to me, but not having to deal with the headache seems like a fair trade. what do you guys think?

 

[Jim5506]

The Stealth is a little pricy for the performance you get. A CM 4221 or a CM 4228 would be a better performer at less money, you could even afford a rotator, since your stations are in opposite directions.

 

[Killswitchengage]

JIm,

I'm actually quite pleased with the stealth so far. I thought the price was pretty decent and the fact that I can just install it under my deck is a huge plus.

I'm going to install it this weekend (permanently that is) and just move it when I need to watch the other channels. I literally only have to move the antenna to the right about 7 inches to pull in PBS and the WB.