# Digital TV Antennas



## Fishalot (Aug 25, 2008)

I have a cottage up north that we have just used our televisions with the rabbit ear antennas in the past. Got the converter boxes but am looking to put up an outdoor Digital TV antenna. I know there are directional ones (you need a rotor with) and multidirectional ones. Anybody have any experience with one or the other, what worked, what didn't etc. Going to have to put one up here soon.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

It all depends on how close the TV transmitters are to your cabin.


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## Fishalot (Aug 25, 2008)

ih772 said:


> It all depends on how close the TV transmitters are to your cabin.


According to antennaweb.org they vary from 14 to 31 miles away from my place for the channels I should be able to get.


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## bucko12pt (Dec 9, 2004)

From our camp in Kalkaska, we can get NBC, ABC and CBS, no FOX. We 
hooked up one of the convertor boxes and rabbit ears this weekend and get very clear reception on all channels, including FOX. 

I would try the convertor box first with digital rabbit ears before you spend the money on a big antenna. You will probably be spending money
for no reason with the big antenna because you probebly will only get 
3 or 4 channels anyway.

I was amazed the difference in hooking up the digital box from what we had.


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## Atchison (Feb 18, 2009)

I have one of the big rotating things on my cabin in Cadillac, works great, granted I already had the antenna and bought the rotating part when I got the digital box, can pick up 6-7 more channels and clarity is way improved!


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## tmanmi (Sep 20, 2005)

There is no such thing as a "Digital" or "HD" antenna, is all marketing. Some are better then others and I would first try rabbit ears. Channels in the 1-10 range are going to be vhf which are harder to pull in and most newer antennas are geared more toward picking up uhf channels. Probably the big antenna would be the old style that we grew up, providing you grew up in the 60's,70's or 80's, that has a rotor. With distance that you are from the transmitters should might have good luck with the rabbit ears. Here is a good place to check out antennas:http://www.winegarddirect.com/


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## The Nailer (Feb 7, 2000)

tmanmi said:


> There is no such thing as a "Digital" or "HD" antenna, is all marketing. Some are better then others and I would first try rabbit ears. Channels in the 1-10 range are going to be vhf which are harder to pull in and most newer antennas are geared more toward picking up uhf channels. Probably the big antenna would be the old style that we grew up, providing you grew up in the 60's,70's or 80's, that has a rotor. With distance that you are from the transmitters should might have good luck with the rabbit ears. Here is a good place to check out antennas:http://www.winegarddirect.com/


I am by no way an expert and I very well could be wrong, but it was my understanding that all digital signals are transmitted on the UHF side. If that is correct the antennas that are being sold as digital (at Best Buy and similar) tend to be larger than the old style traditional rotary antennas with a large VHF and a small UHF surface. So while they may not in the true sense of the word be a digital antenna they are better suited to receive a digital signal.


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## Fishalot (Aug 25, 2008)

Thanks for the input everyone. I'll hook up the rabbit ears and converter box first and see what that gives me before I jump into an outside antenna. tmanmi-Thanks for that website. It should answer a few questions for me also.


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## tmanmi (Sep 20, 2005)

The Nailer said:


> I am by no way an expert and I very well could be wrong, but it was my understanding that all digital signals are transmitted on the UHF side. If that is correct the antennas that are being sold as digital (at Best Buy and similar) tend to be larger than the old style traditional rotary antennas with a large VHF and a small UHF surface. So while they may not in the true sense of the word be a digital antenna they are better suited to receive a digital signal.


Unfortunately there will be a few channels that will still be broadcasting in vhf. In my area there are 4 that stayed and are a bear to pull in.

http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/Archive/Alt/alt.tv.tech.hdtv/2008-02/msg00011.html


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## k9wernet (Oct 15, 2007)

We've had a tough time getting a signal at our home in Lansing. We started with a set of rabbit ears, and watching tv was like viewing a heavily scratched DVD. So tried one of these:








http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/...10001&storeId=10001&productId=14370&langId=-1

to much the same results. We finally settled on one of these:








http://www.audiovox.com/webapp/wcs/...10001&storeId=10001&productId=14204&langId=-1

but it only works if we put hang it from the blinds in our front window. 

From what I've read, an outdoor directional (as opposed to omni-directional which is what we have) antenna should receive the best digital signal in most situations. 

I was able to obtain these indoor antennas as "hand-me-downs" but will probably get around to finding another option one of these days.

KW


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## Luv2hunteup (Mar 22, 2003)

Here is a helpful link for choosing the right antenna.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx

Give them your address and it calculates the info you need.


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## ih772 (Jan 28, 2003)

I just made one out of 1/2 PVC, aluminum screen and #12 copper wire. Pretty easy to make and I have no problem getting in stations from Saginaw, Flint and Detroit. 

Yes the TV stations are going to UHF frequencies. What the means is you can have an antenna with the same amount of gain as the old VHF antennas, but the UHF antenna will be physically smaller. Actually for the same physical size as the old VHF antennas, you will have a UHF antenna with a lot more gain. Sort of more bang for your buck.


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## Fishalot (Aug 25, 2008)

Luv2hunteup said:


> Here is a helpful link for choosing the right antenna.
> http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
> 
> Give them your address and it calculates the info you need.


 I had found this before, It has some good information, I was able to find the stations broadcasting in the area and how far away they were which will help determining what antenna may work. Still gonna try the rabbit ears with the new converter box first and see what I get and go from there. Thanks for the info.


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