OTA Antennas

Friends,

Any recommendations on a quality OTA antenna. Can't use a giant antenna, but need something that would strongly pull signals from 30 miles.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated...

I am new to satellite TV but I was reading today about OTA Antennas and saw the Terk TV44 mentioned alot. Google it and see if it's an option for you.

Put your address into tvfool.com or antennaweb.org and post your results. Then all your questions will be answered.

P.S. Terk seems to be overpriced, kinda like the Monster Cable of antennas.

Put your address into tvfool.com or antennaweb.org and post your results. Then all your questions will be answered.

P.S. Terk seems to be overpriced, kinda like the Monster Cable of antennas.

Both are over-priced, although I would give Monster the edge in what appears to be some effort with regards to quality.

These are very helpful discussions too, especially for fringe or problematic reception.

http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hdtv-info-reception-9/

The size of your antenna is more dependent on the channels you need to receive than the distance they are from you.

If you are unfortunate enough to need VHF low channels the antenna elements will be very long, making the antenna quite wide (approx 10 ft.).

VHF high antennas are less than half the width (about 3 ft.) and UHF yagi antennas are generally less than a foot and a half wide.

Generally, longer antennas mean more elements and thusly more gain. For 30 miles away a moderately sized (length) antenna will do.

For VHF high and UHF look at the Winegard HD7694P. It is about 3 ft in width and 5 1/2 ft long.

For UHF only signals look at the Radio Shack U75-R. It is 40 inches long, 32 inches high and 16 inches wide. I have one in my attic. They are $30 at RS.

Wineguard and Channel Master 4-bay antennas do a great job assuming you don't need low VHF.

I am in North Hollywood, CA and I use a simple set-top antenna called a Silver Sensor that I picked up @ Sears a few years ago after reading a LOT of good things about them here on this site... It's only about a foot tall, and not even a foot wide~ I remember seeing that someone on this site has even mounted one to the exterior of their house on a wall and it works well for them too...

If you are only 30 miles away and you have a clear line of sight, I'm sure it would work for you too... It picks up everything I need for my location: (2.1 KCBS, 4.1 KNBC, 5.1 KTLA, 7.1 KABC, 9.1 KCAL, 11.1 FOX, 28.1 KCET PBS, and SEVERAL other smaller channels including KOCE 56) :thumbsup:

Plus, it was about $25.00 or so when I bought it~

Good luck!!

Friends,

Any recommendations on a quality OTA antenna. Can't use a giant antenna, but need something that would strongly pull signals from 30 miles.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated...Just about any antenna will work in Chino Hills,CA. Good quality would be the 4 bay Channel Master 4221. I have heard that some people in your area leave it in the cardboard box and lean it against the wall.

~ I remember seeing that someone on this site has even mounted one to the exterior of their house on a wall and it works well for them too...

May have been me, and it works extremely well. Just under the eaves. Now, my locals range 19 to 26 miles away. But two are as much as 90 deg. apart from each other.
I have the SS aimed due East which puts it at an azimuth that falls between them. Signal strength ranges from 80 to 100 across all my locals.

The guys here in the local reception section of this forum highly recommend the Antennas Direct XG-91 for UHF only and a separate high VHF antenna like the Winegard YA-1713 I think. They might advise a combo unit since you are relatively close to your target stations. Browse that section of the forum and they will be glad to point you in the right direction and minimize your trial and error. I had a Terk and it sucked ball$.

http://www.highdefforum.com/local-hdtv-info-reception-9/


Acer