Indoor Antenna - Santa Clara, CA 95051

oneraj4u

Hi guys,
I've read so much lately on indoor antennas,...my head is pounding! You can read on, or just let me know straight away what is YOUR personal favorite INDOOR antenna? Do I need an amplifier or some other thingy I don't know of?

I live on the second story of an apartment building, ZIP 95051. I can't put anything outdoors ( roof, attic...porch...you name it ). I have some trees and other buildings around me, and a 4 story hospital about a quarter mile to the Southwest ... shouldn't interfere with signals from Northwest and due East.

Right now I've got a simple GE Jasco set of rabbit ears that work okay. I'm getting about 25 (HD, DTV, and analog ) channels now, many of them are pristine and higher quality HD than Comcast, but a few of them pop in and out with signal strength unstable... and I don't like having to always adjust the antenna, quite frustrating. I'm always tinkering and looking for something better. In fact, I don't think its even amplified ( only $16.99 )

What is the best indoor antenna in your opinion? (Everyone and anyones opinion is valued, and thank you so much in advance!!)

IDRick

Welcome to the forums! Could you please post your tvfool.com results to the forum? It would really help us in making an antenna recommendation. Also, could you provide the model number of GE Jasco antenna or a link to its specs? Also, can you tell us which channels are "gotta haves" and which are "nice to haves" in your area? With this information, we can make a more informed recommendation.

Thanks,

Rick

BTW, as a first recommendation for indoor antennas, I usually recommend the radio shack 15-1874 see: http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103077

NonMcTubber

I am certainly the last one to make specific indoor antenna recommendations, but I can say a few generic things to make sure you are up to speed.

1. Virtually all amplified antennas need a source of power to amplify, so if yours does not plug into the wall, its almost certainly not amplified.

2. Even though it may be your karma to have to use an indoor antenna,you still should understand what that handicap means. And the basic handicap is that all building materials reduce the amount of signal, and certain building materials are more signal opaque than others. Your best inside antenna location may be near a window pointing at as many stations as possible, even if you have to buy some additional coax cable that will permit you to move the antenna
and leave the Television stationary. But in terms of an inside antenna location, be willing to experiment.

3. I assume you basicaslly know that all your analog stations will cease to exist after 6/12/09. Unless the deadline is again extended which I doubt.

4. If you have digital stations that are intermittent, it often means that it may not take that much extra antenna or amplification to get them to come in steady. And many amplified antennas have an adjustable gain in case an amplified strong local channel comes in too strongly and thus overwhelms your tuner.

5. IDRick is giving you excellent advice on recommending a TVFool.com exact address report. If nothing else, TVfool has a pile of valuable information you can read while you are at it.

__________________
High definition is not the definition of my life.
But knowledge is power and HD does have some potential to increase content variety and choices.

oneraj4u

its says I need to post 5 times before I can submit a URL, so here is 1 space filler

oneraj4u

here is another

oneraj4u

and yet one more

oneraj4u

First here is the link to my simple indoor antenna:

www.jascoproducts.com/products/pc/viewPrd.asp?idproduct=92&IDCategory=19[/url]

And here are the results from TVfool

www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d7c72aa52b5aa4 5[/url]


... out of curiosity, what would happen if I connected two of the same indoor antennas together (using a combiner) and placed them in different spots, so I could have them cover more positions?

Also, how many feet of coax can I use before I need an amplified antenna or insert some sort of amp for the TV signals?

Thanks much!