best quality hdtv antenna image
Brad
I am an Arizona resident and recently cancelled my Cox cable service. For 3 or 4 months since I cancelled the service I have been using the coaxial cable to get local channels on both my digital televisions (the main tv being an Element and the smaller tv being a Westinghouse). Recently though on both televisions I have lost 2 channels and have done automatic channel searches on both the TVs (as well as other searches) and have not gotten them back (the channels are the CW and Fox). I bought a RCA Amplified indoor off-air HDTV antenna but it only found one or two channels and I made sure to do the channel search through the antenna. So I hooked up the coaxial cables again. Then today on the Element tv I can no longer get NBC or PBS but I can get it on the Westinghouse. I have tried different coaxial cables and as mentioned before the RCA antenna but both of those did not work. Does anybody have any advice? Also, if it helps I live on the bottom floor of an apartment complex.
Answer
It's truly sad how many people are led astray by junky indoor antennas that are supposed to work as well or better than anything else. Several in that category with the RCA brand can't be expected to work much better than a coathanger, if that.
With your given situation, your best hope is a top quality indoor antenna, and that would be the one in the link below. If I had to put out money for an indoor antenna, it's the only one I'd consider. If you can't get a channel with that one, it isn't going to happen with an indoor antenna.
Two side notes: (1), forget your cable wall outlet. You cancelled that subscription, so that resource is gone. And just FYI, (2), there are no "HDTV" antennas. Any time you see that in an ad or on the side of box, it's simply marketing baloney that's intended to make you think it will actually work. Absolute technical nonsense. A TV antenna is a TV antenna, period. They all work the same, whether the incoming signal is HD, SD, analog, or something else.
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Followup per the other answer about San Francisco. The S.F. Bay Area is not a typical over-the-air TV market. The area is a major hotspot for OTA, thanks to transmitters high up and very nearby on Mt. Diablo, Mt. San Bruno, and especially Mt. Sutro in the center of S.F. itself. It's one of those places where the coathanger I mentioned would actually work. Or a cheap RCA antenna.
But this fellow isn't in one of the world's hottest reception areas for OTA. He's in Arizona, where reception can assumed to be more typical. And he's in a ground floor apartment. That means the coathanger--or the cheap RCA--isn't a good bet. Not impossible, but we can only go with the provided information. As long as he's spending money on something, $45 for an SS3000 is still a far better bet than $12 for the known poor performer.
It's truly sad how many people are led astray by junky indoor antennas that are supposed to work as well or better than anything else. Several in that category with the RCA brand can't be expected to work much better than a coathanger, if that.
With your given situation, your best hope is a top quality indoor antenna, and that would be the one in the link below. If I had to put out money for an indoor antenna, it's the only one I'd consider. If you can't get a channel with that one, it isn't going to happen with an indoor antenna.
Two side notes: (1), forget your cable wall outlet. You cancelled that subscription, so that resource is gone. And just FYI, (2), there are no "HDTV" antennas. Any time you see that in an ad or on the side of box, it's simply marketing baloney that's intended to make you think it will actually work. Absolute technical nonsense. A TV antenna is a TV antenna, period. They all work the same, whether the incoming signal is HD, SD, analog, or something else.
- - - - -
Followup per the other answer about San Francisco. The S.F. Bay Area is not a typical over-the-air TV market. The area is a major hotspot for OTA, thanks to transmitters high up and very nearby on Mt. Diablo, Mt. San Bruno, and especially Mt. Sutro in the center of S.F. itself. It's one of those places where the coathanger I mentioned would actually work. Or a cheap RCA antenna.
But this fellow isn't in one of the world's hottest reception areas for OTA. He's in Arizona, where reception can assumed to be more typical. And he's in a ground floor apartment. That means the coathanger--or the cheap RCA--isn't a good bet. Not impossible, but we can only go with the provided information. As long as he's spending money on something, $45 for an SS3000 is still a far better bet than $12 for the known poor performer.
What exactly is an HDTV antenna? I heard it can receive HD broadcasts for free without subscription?
George
I have AT&T U-Verse, and we just got a new Sharp 32" HDTV, but we aren't subscribed to the $10 a month for all the HD channels that broadcast in the higher quality HD. But someone mentioned some sort of antenna that can receive that HD quality for free and all you need to do is buy the antenna and hook it up. I'm not sure how it works and it seems too good to be true. Can someone explain?
Answer
If you are old enough you will remember back in the old days when everyone had an antenna and used it to catch all the local stations. Well those days are back. The local stations are now broadcasting digitally and a lot of the programming is in HD. All you need is the right antenna pointed in the right direction to get those stations. Just hook that antenna up to the coax input of your tv and scan for channels. You must understand though that the channels you get are only the local ones, like NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC etc. You cannot get the cable HD channels. Those you need to subscribe to HD cable to get.
Fill out this online form and it will tell you what type of antenna and which way to point it to get your local stations in HD.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
If you are old enough you will remember back in the old days when everyone had an antenna and used it to catch all the local stations. Well those days are back. The local stations are now broadcasting digitally and a lot of the programming is in HD. All you need is the right antenna pointed in the right direction to get those stations. Just hook that antenna up to the coax input of your tv and scan for channels. You must understand though that the channels you get are only the local ones, like NBC, CBS, FOX, ABC etc. You cannot get the cable HD channels. Those you need to subscribe to HD cable to get.
Fill out this online form and it will tell you what type of antenna and which way to point it to get your local stations in HD.
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
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