Good Antennae for picking up free HD Broadcasting OTA ?

[sk8ordie]

Hello, after 15 years I'm rebuilding my home theater from scratch. So far, I have a 46" LED LCD streaming Netflix and want to pick up the free HD broadcasting. I looked at radio shack and they had a few amplified antennae boxes ranging from $20 - $60. I live in a house so I also have the option of putting a bigger one on the roof or somewhere outside (I'd only go this route if it was SIGNIFICANTLY better quality/signal than a simple amplified box). Let me know what you have and if you like it.

Thanks!

 

[BigDukeSix]

This does not give a specific antenna by name, but does tell you what you need in your area.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/info.aspx?page=more_info

 

[Irishman]

Sounds like you already have a handle on it.

Get a good amplified antenna and plug it in.

Be prepared to play around with positioning and the gain setting.

 

[chown33]

Build one from wire hangers and wood.
http://cdn.makezine.com/make/television/04/DTV_Antenna_FINAL.pdf

 

[ReggaeFire]

I found two things mattered more than the antenna type.

First, the placement of the antenna. I struggled with a few different types until one day I had the idea to stick an antenna on the top shelf of a closet (much higher than it could get in my living room).

Second, I found that getting an external tuner improved reception immensely over the one built into my TV. Probably my TV just had a crappy tuner, but worth keeping in mind.

 

[PNutts]

Build one from wire hangers and wood.
http://cdn.makezine.com/make/television/04/DTV_Antenna_FINAL.pdf

Good link! My boss and I did a side by side comparison of a powered HD digital antenna from Fry's and a coat hanger. We could not tell the difference between them.

 

[OptyCT]

I have this one and really like it. I use it indoors in a corner near a window. It will seriously outperform any of the Radio Shack offerings.

Antennas Direct DB2

I pick up all of the major networks with 90+ signal strength. FYI...per AntennaWeb, all of the major network broadcast towers are located within 20 miles of my house. I have many trees around my house, many of which are 50+ feet tall.

 

[blueroom]

Better than the DB2 is the new Clearstream C2

 

[Dokk]

I tend to trust Monoprice for everything: http://j.mp/nefweP

 

[McGiord]

I have one from Radio Shack down in the basement (indoor) just beside the TV, and a couple of channels loose the signal when someone walks around, and one channel I have no signal at all. All the other channels are tuned perfectly.
So the Radio Shack indoor antennas are pretty good if you keep them above the ground. To play it safe it is better to have an external antenna with the amplifier.
Check the website mentioned above to identify the local antennas near your home, and define a good location/orientation for the antenna to have a better tuning of the channels.

 

[OptyCT]

Better than the DB2 is the new Clearstream C2

Yeah, looks like the Clearstream is more multi-directional than the DB2. In my situation, most of the HD transmission towers are located on the same mountain, so directionality is less of an issue.

 

[macrabbit]

Regarding interior antennas, what do you folks recommond between these?

http://www.monoprice.com/products/subdepartment.asp?c_id=109&cp_id=10901