Can a girl get some help??? :)

Okay, major frustration. I only live 4 miles from the empire state building in brooklyn!! After 2 years with a 42" samsung plasma that I only use to hook up to my computer to watch movies/internet shows, I've decided to get an antenna to get some local live hdtv. Anything!! only want cbs, nbc, abc, and maybe fox would be nice. I bought this: RCA ANT121 Indoor Antenna

I know it's cheap and all but I get nothing, nada. no channels. And yes, I plugged it in properly into Antenna 1 input. :) I live on the 8th floor of a condo building. My apartment faces south. Is that the reason. The esb is the other way. I am willing to spend more on a better antenna if that will get me some channels.

Feedback please!!! Thank you very very very much. :)

One of the best indoor antennas is the Zenith Silver Sensor. They used to be sold by Sears. If you try a different antenna just get it from a store that allows returns because indoor antennas sometimes work and sometimes don't.

Also be sure to run the channel scan every time you change the antenna or reposition the antenna.

Okay, major frustration. I only live 4 miles from the empire state building in brooklyn!! After 2 years with a 42" samsung plasma that I only use to hook up to my computer to watch movies/internet shows, I've decided to get an antenna to get some local live hdtv. I bought this: RCA ANT121 Indoor Antenna

I know it's cheap and all but I get nothing, nada. no channels.

Feedback please!!! Thank you very very very much. :)

Most TVs are shipped with the CATV mode enabled. You may need to switch the TV set to ANTENNA mode and then rescan.

All good information given above: remember that on June 12 that WABC, WPIX and WNET moved from digital UHF BACK to their original VHF analog TV channels. While a Silver Sensor is an excellent indoor UHF antenna, you won't see WABC, WPIX or WNET with that antenna.

Instead, look at the Terk HDTVa, which has both VHF rabbit-ear rod VHF elements plus the same type of UHF antenna seen on the Silver Sensor. This antenna also has an amplifier in it, which may be helpful if you need to extend the cable to a window that sees the ESB.

Remember that, after installing that antenna, you need to go into the menu on your TV set, and have the tuner scan for channels: they don't automatically appear as they did in the analog days without scanning first.

All good information given above: remember that on June 12 that WABC, WPIX and WNET moved from digital UHF BACK to their original VHF analog TV channels. While a Silver Sensor is an excellent indoor UHF antenna, you won't see WABC, WPIX or WNET with that antenna...


I use the Silver Sensor, and I get both digital and analog from it... :what:

It worked before the conversion, and it works now as well...

Not sure what you're talking about~

Thanks everyone. All good feedback. I definitely switched my tv to antenna on the menu, and I constantly ran autoscan on the tv. When I said I got no channels with the cheapo RCA antenna, I was exaggerating in that I did get one channel, some local new york station that I definitely don't want!! So hopefully upgrading to one of your suggestions will boost my reception and get me some major network stations!!

My concern is that because all of my apartments windows face in the opposite direction of the empire state, I won't pick up anything there. In this case, does a high quality antenna really make a difference???

Your problem is - you live on the wrong side of the building.

There are other buildings around your building that are taller than your location and the other buildings are blocking your signal.

Like most forum members, instead of just reading replies for other forum members problems, you just jump on the forum - like calling someone on the phone and shout out - hey I have a problem - Help.

If you would post a exact address, we could look at your situation and try to give a proper assessment, instead of some fools just saying - you need this or that particular antenna.

At some point, when you live in a apartment building and do not have access to the roof and are not allowed to run wires down the side of the building and cannot properly mount a antenna - you are SOL.

Then you are at the mercy of the cable company.

I don't know what a ESB is - so using lingo that only you understand doesn't help either.

Your problem is - you live on the wrong side of the building.

There are other buildings around your building that are taller than your location and the other buildings are blocking your signal.

Like most forum members, instead of just reading replies for other forum members problems, you just jump on the forum - like calling someone on the phone and shout out - hey I have a problem - Help.

If you would post a exact address, we could look at your situation and try to give a proper assessment, instead of some fools just saying - you need this or that particular antenna.

At some point, when you live in a apartment building and do not have access to the roof and are not allowed to run wires down the side of the building and cannot properly mount a antenna - you are SOL.

Then you are at the mercy of the cable company.

I don't know what a ESB is - so using lingo that only you understand doesn't help either.Not sure calling someone a fool that is trying to help is the way to go. Seems like there are other ways to convey your thoughts.

1st) The ESB is the Empire State Bldg.

2nd) She is only 4 miles from it & since the transmitters are @ 1200'-1400' she is most likely (as you like to say JB) in the shadow of the signal...

3rd) She is on the wrong side of a building most probably made of steel & concrete, attenuating the living crap out of any direct signal she can get.

4th) She is most likely suffering multipath from reflected signals off adjacent buildings compounding her problems even further.

5th) She may very well be SOL as you say, but it certainly couldn't hurt to try a little!:)

Try the HDTVa Tiger recommends, I have read it seems to do fairly well in close-in NYC locations also.

Then if you're still not having any luck, get yourself a fairly long piece of cable on the antenna and try it all around your apartment to try and find a sweet spot, you may get lucky.

From what I've read from posters in similar situations, the position & location of the antenna inside the apartment can sometimes make all the difference in the world!

Good luck!

P.S. I also agree with rbinck!

The only fools on this forum are the ones who call others fools!

If you would post a exact address, we could look at your situation and try to give a proper assessment, instead of some fools just saying - you need this or that particular antenna.



I do not think anyone said that a particular antenna could fix her problem, rather they were trying to help. Calling names is very foolish, and rude. :eek:

Come on, JB, I know your not like that! :o

The back story here is that I banned JB Antennaman from a website that I moderate because of his long-winded and unhelpful comments. He is still frosted, and would like to get back at me anyway that he can, as he vowed to do, That's OK, it is what it is, but be aware that the animosity exists, and anything said by him about my comments or observations has to be taken in that context.

People who have followed what I have written know my position about indoor antennas: I will never recommend one if given the choice, but it is clear that the OP cannot use an external antenna where she lives, and my experience has told me that the Terk HDTVa is a worthwhile choice for those who cannot use an outdoor antenna. There are, however, no guarantees when using an indoor antenna.

The truth of it is that I have a long record of cutting to the chase, and helping thousands of people with reception issues. I am not bothered by the sniping, and I believe that my record stands for itself.

Thanks for sharing the back story! It does explain some things...

Truthfully, I cleaned up my post before I posted it, to explain the problem and not call the person asking the question stupid.

I didn't delete the fool part because it could go either way - calling me a fool isn't something that is going to hurt my feelings - because I don't know you and you don't know me.

As for the Tigerbangs stuff, I made two small replies and he was offended that someone else would come on his forum and reply to any subject and conflict with what he recommends and he banned me.

The internet is FREE, and the United States is FREE - as long as you pay your internet bill and you pay your taxes, you are free to say anything you want about anybody you wish because your constitutional rights ensures that you are free to do so.

If someone censors what you say or if they ban you from a forum, especially their forum - then that is taking away your constitutional rights to free speech. What you have then is communism - where your freedom of speech is taken away from you and you are not allowed to say anything about anyone else and you are not allowed to hurt anyone's feelings with what you said - even if it was the truth.
Because if you do say the wrong thing in a socialist country, they throw you in prison or kill you or torture you or move you to someplace so remote that no one can hear you like Siberia, to shut you up.

Aren't you glad that we live in a country - where you can say anything you wish, as long as Tigerbangs or IDRICK doesn't ban you from the forum or censor what you wrote.

If I owned General Motors and if someone came on a forum and everytime they asked a question - you replied that they needed one of the automobiles or trucks that they made and sold, then that would be called Spamming.

The same as if you were posting that so and so was selling this product for this amount of money and you worked for so and so.

I don't have a job, I am a bum!

The money I make , either the government or people steals from my pocket and no matter how hard I try, I can't even break even anymore.

So there is no way for me to spam the forum with the same recommendations over and over again, just because I sell that product.

Channel Master makes a good antenna, but not a great antenna.

Winegard makes a fairly good antenna, but is expensive, but it works.

Other manufacturers makes good and bad antenna's that works or doesn't work according to how close to the transmitters you are and how much receive signal is present. What might work for one person might not work for another person.

A person living in the city, giving advice to someone in a fringe area, isn't going to give very good advice, because their only experience is with the city location.

A person that works on towers and puts up towers isn't going to think too much of someone that nails their antenna to the sides of their house and expects it to work the same as someone that has their antenna 10 feet above the roof of their house.

Plain and simple.

Reception is not discriminative, it does not care if you are old or if you are poor or if you are sick or if you live in a apartment building.

All it cares about is being the only signal in the area and having a clear path between the transmitter and the receive antenna.

Put ten other signals beside your signal, put your receive antenna on the wrong side of the building, put too small a antenna on your house, use the wrong wire, don't use a pre amp in a fringe area and what do you get? No signal!

If a person didn't have a problem, they wouldn't be on here with their tails between their legs, asking for help. If you fight with the person trying to help you, then it won't be too long before they won't want to help you anymore.

Over and over and over again we make forum rules where you should look for your answer, and post a decent address in order to get a good report on how to try to solve your problems.

Over and over and over again, people just want the answer and doesn't want to give out where they live or who they are or that they are unwilling to spend money. Unfortunately, you don't get much in this country - besides surplus food, a cell phone and energy assistance for free anymore. So what is the problem here?

I'M NOT GETTING PAID TO GIVE ADVICE, YOU ARE GETTING IT FOR FREE! How much more than that would you care to spend?

JB, you have nothing to worry about from me, I'm not a mod and I usually ignore your posts... :)

If there was any question WHY I banned JB, I think you just saw the reason: Why be succinct when you can obfuscate ad nauseam?

The internet is FREE, and the United States is FREE - as long as you pay your internet bill and you pay your taxes, you are free to say anything you want about anybody you wish because your constitutional rights ensures that you are free to do so.

If someone censors what you say or if they ban you from a forum, especially their forum - then that is taking away your constitutional rights to free speech. What you have then is communism - where your freedom of speech is taken away from you and you are not allowed to say anything about anyone else and you are not allowed to hurt anyone's feelings with what you said - even if it was the truth.
Because if you do say the wrong thing in a socialist country, they throw you in prison or kill you or torture you or move you to someplace so remote that no one can hear you like Siberia, to shut you up.

Aren't you glad that we live in a country - where you can say anything you wish, as long as Tigerbangs or IDRICK doesn't ban you from the forum or censor what you wrote.

I am glad and I agree.......Your a DICK..............:lol:

As far as I am concerned, this the lo555 thread and getting her the help she needs is the issue.

At least our OP understands the issues, now knows that scanning is a necessity, and she now knows that what delimits her is not per say the quality of the indoor antenna she selects, but rather finding a better placement.

And I have to wonder if she can go to the building super to see what could be done. Because as aka.Hooper points out, the trick is to find that sweet antenna location and coax cable can snake through pipe runs that would be common in such apartment building and back to your television set which she can locate anywhere in her apartment.

I prefer to be optimistic that such an antenna sweet spot can be found.

Truthfully, I cleaned up my post before I posted it, to explain the problem and not call the person asking the question stupid.

I didn't delete the fool part because it could go either way - calling me a fool isn't something that is going to hurt my feelings - because I don't know you and you don't know me.

As for the Tigerbangs stuff, I made two small replies and he was offended that someone else would come on his forum and reply to any subject and conflict with what he recommends and he banned me.

The internet is FREE, and the United States is FREE - as long as you pay your internet bill and you pay your taxes, you are free to say anything you want about anybody you wish because your constitutional rights ensures that you are free to do so.

If someone censors what you say or if they ban you from a forum, especially their forum - then that is taking away your constitutional rights to free speech. What you have then is communism - where your freedom of speech is taken away from you and you are not allowed to say anything about anyone else and you are not allowed to hurt anyone's feelings with what you said - even if it was the truth.
Because if you do say the wrong thing in a socialist country, they throw you in prison or kill you or torture you or move you to someplace so remote that no one can hear you like Siberia, to shut you up.

Aren't you glad that we live in a country - where you can say anything you wish, as long as Tigerbangs or IDRICK doesn't ban you from the forum or censor what you wrote.

This is a privately owned forum and you CANNOT just say anything you want here or on any other forum. There are rules to follow and we ALL must follow them to continue to post here and at the other forums as well. Those rules are there for a reason. The reason is a certain amount of respect is expected so that this forum is a place where people can feel free to ask questions and learn and people volunteer to help them with all members knowing they will not be attacked and ridiculed for their posts. THAT is what makes or breaks a good forum so we enforce the rules here and you (and everyone else) should make note of this in the future. ;)

You help a lot of people here but you MUST follow the rules like everyone else to remain here. Everyone who is a member here must follow the rules here and it is their responsibility to read and check for updates to the rules so they can know/follow them. Here are the rules in that link on the blue bar at the top on the left side:

http://www.highdefforum.com/rules.html

Now lets get back to helping others as we were once helped by this and other forums when once upon a time this stuff was all new to us. :hithere:

I am glad and I agree.......Your a DICK..............:lol:

You know what? That's not fair, either! My issue with JB has nothing to do with his person: he is clearly well-intentioned. As I see it, JB's issue is that he has a hard time articulating his thoughts and keeping his focus when he posts. He has to learn that more verbiage is not the way to get one's point across. I believe that anyone is entitled to a point of view, but long, rambling posts with no apparent message do not help people appreciate JB's contributions. What he really needs is an editor, and perhaps a copy of William Strunk's Elements of Style, but not a censor.

I think being just 4 miles from the esb that the signals will not need a preamp but rather a good directional antenna to fight the multipath. You might even get a good signal reflected from another building.

And talk to the Super. There might be an easy way to switch your apartment from cable to the roof antenna if it exists.

wow I just read all these posts. I really didn't mean to spark such bickering!! peace everybody. Although I can't disagree that those posts were harsh and unnecessary. :)

Anyway, back to my issue, thanks everyone again to those that addressed my signal problem. I may well be "sol" however before I declare that and surrender to no live tv (I just won't pay for cable), I am going to buy the Terk HDTVa somewhere I can return it, and see how it goes. I"ll Get a long cable and try different locations in my apt. I will also talk to my super he may have a suggestion. You would think that being so close to such a powerful transmission (esb :) had to write it again :) the antennas could catch a signal. We shall see. Open to any more suggestions but I think I know what to do. Thanks again people.

wow I just read all these posts. I really didn't mean to spark such bickering!! peace everybody. Although I can't disagree that those posts were harsh and unnecessary. :)

Anyway, back to my issue, thanks everyone again to those that addressed my signal problem. I may well be "sol" however before I declare that and surrender to no live tv (I just won't pay for cable), I am going to buy the Terk HDTVa somewhere I can return it, and see how it goes. I"ll Get a long cable and try different locations in my apt. I will also talk to my super he may have a suggestion. You would think that being so close to such a powerful transmission (esb :) had to write it again :) the antennas could catch a signal. We shall see. Open to any more suggestions but I think I know what to do. Thanks again people.

Welcome to the forum lo555,,and yes we do at times come to certain disagreements with the advice we so eagerly give. Most of the times it be spot on, and other times we question each other. As long as we treat each other in an amicable way, it is not below us to call bs,,,,bs. Happens in any forum. Hopefully you can take the advice,,and not wanting to get in a pissing match or anything,,Tigerbangs is almost always spot on with his advice. If TB says to go OTA one way,,,,well,,,it be worth the try.

wow I just read all these posts. I really didn't mean to spark such bickering!! peace everybody. Although I can't disagree that those posts were harsh and unnecessary. :)

Anyway, back to my issue, thanks everyone again to those that addressed my signal problem. I may well be "sol" however before I declare that and surrender to no live tv (I just won't pay for cable), I am going to buy the Terk HDTVa somewhere I can return it, and see how it goes. I"ll Get a long cable and try different locations in my apt. I will also talk to my super he may have a suggestion. You would think that being so close to such a powerful transmission (esb :) had to write it again :) the antennas could catch a signal. We shall see. Open to any more suggestions but I think I know what to do. Thanks again people.



I have a similar situation as yours though it is not nearly as drastic a situation for receiving ANYTHING to view. I too live in an apartment but on a lower floor that is two miles from downtown Kansas City. I tried a Silver Sensor but it did not do a very good job at holding onto some of the local signals even those that are in Green in my TV Fool report. I then tried a Phillips MANT 510 amplified indoor unit but that only offered marginal improvement on signal strength. Multipath is the primary problem here and I suspect that is also the case in your situation. I solved the problem by locating a Channel Master 4221HD outdoor antenna at the window. It even picks up channel 7 VHF well enough that I don't have any dropouts like I did with the indoor antennas. Now dropouts are few and far between on the problem channels and on days when they do occur frequently, I simply reposition the antenna horizontally from its vertical position and that solves the problem.

Before you purchase anything I recommend that you talk to your neighbors to see if they are watching local HDTV in the same manner. Find out what they are doing to obtain viewable signals. If nobody is doing that then give my method a try. The antenna is $50 and if it does not work you can probably sell it and make most or all of your money back.

This is a privately owned forum and you CANNOT just say anything you want here or on any other forum. There are rules to follow and we ALL must follow them to continue to post here and at the other forums as well. Those rules are there for a reason. The reason is a certain amount of respect is expected so that this forum is a place where people can feel free to ask questions and learn and people volunteer to help them with all members knowing they will not be attacked and ridiculed for their posts. THAT is what makes or breaks a good forum so we enforce the rules here and you (and everyone else) should make note of this in the future. ;)

You help a lot of people here but you MUST follow the rules like everyone else to remain here. Everyone who is a member here must follow the rules here and it is their responsibility to read and check for updates to the rules so they can know/follow them. Here are the rules in that link on the blue bar at the top on the left side:

http://www.highdefforum.com/rules.html

Now lets get back to helping others as we were once helped by this and other forums when once upon a time this stuff was all new to us. :hithere:

I also have a forum and I see the same kind of response from time to time that JB has given on alleged censorship. People fail to understand how the First Amendment applies to this situation. This is a private forum and owned by a private citizen. Not much different than a newspaper, radio or television station. The ownership of ANY media outlet does not have to extend the right of free speech to any person or persons that they choose not too. What I tell people that argue this point is that they have a legal right to start their own forum, radio or television station or newspaper. That is how the First Amendment applies to this situation.

JB. If you are not happy then you can start your own forum. And if you think these people are socialists and commies then all I can tell you is that you need to move to Kansas City. You may change your mind about who is a real commie after living here for a while. ;)

The internet is FREE, and the United States is FREE - as long as you pay your internet bill and you pay your taxes, you are free to say anything you want about anybody you wish because your constitutional rights ensures that you are free to do so.



What utter hogwash! You obviously have little insight into what rights the US Constitution actually grants you. Have you ever read it? You are not "free to say anything you want about anybody you wish " and there are numerous laws that are constitutionally valid that limit what you can and cannot say.



If someone censors what you say or if they ban you from a forum, especially their forum - then that is taking away your constitutional rights to free speech. What you have then is communism



More hogwash. The owner of an on-line forum has every right to set rules on how it is used and how members conduct themselves, especially in their interactions with other members. The owner and/or the designated moderators have the right to suspend or ban individuals who flaunt the rules. The owner bears the costs of providing the forum, unlike the ordinary members who use it free of charge.

The very fact that you resort to the use of the word "communism" to support your postion illustrates just how shallow your understanding of your constutional rights are.

What utter hogwash! You obviously have little insight into what rights the US Constitution actually grants you. Have you ever read it? You are not "free to say anything you want about anybody you wish " and there are numerous laws that are constitutionally valid that limit what you can and cannot say.



More hogwash. The owner of an on-line forum has every right to set rules on how it is used and how members conduct themselves, especially in their interactions with other members. The owner and/or the designated moderators have the right to suspend or ban individuals who flaunt the rules. The owner bears the costs of providing the forum, unlike the ordinary members who use it free of charge.

The very fact that you resort to the use of the word "communism" to support your postion illustrates just how shallow your understanding of your constutional rights are.

Right on spot!

...I don't know what a ESB is - so using lingo that only you understand doesn't help either.

I didn't know what she meant at first either, but after reading her post, I was able to discern that it is the Empire State Building.

Happy to help you out JB... :rolleyes: :hithere:

and, while I realize that non-New Yorkers may not know what the ESB is, someone from Brooklyn SHOULD know...

I am glad and I agree.......Your a DICK..............:lol:

This was meant to be a joke but I guess it wasn't funny. So I apologize.:o

and, while I realize that non-New Yorkers may not know what the ESB is, someone from Brooklyn SHOULD know...

Anyone from the northeast, for that matter.

This was meant to be a joke but I guess it wasn't funny. So I apologize.:o

Your a good man for clarifying and apologizing. :yippee:

Sometimes/many times, the written word doesn't come across as intended and it sounds like this was what happened here.