DTV tips: Choosing and using an antenna

There are many factors that will affect your digital TV reception, as we've mentioned in many other posts, in our DTV transition guide, and in our buying advice on DTV converter boxes. Two of the most critical—and related—factors are your location and your antenna.

There are plenty of antennas that can pull in over-the-air DTV signals. (And as many visitors here on our blog have noted, you do not need to pay for those pricey "HDTV antennas" seen in some stores and online sites. Any TV antenna designed to receive VHF and UHF signals can work under the right circumstances.)

But choosing the right antenna for your setup depends largely on your physical location. Tall trees, hills, and buildings can degrade, or even block, sensitive digital signals. Distance is a factor as well. How far and in which direction your local TV stations' transmitters are located relative to your home will affect your antenna choice, too.

Since there are so many factors in finding the right antenna, Consumer Reports can't recommend a specific antenna that will work for you. What works best here in our hilly Yonkers headquarters (roughly 18 miles from the local New York City TV transmitters on the Empire State Building) might not be the best choice for you. But, here are some tips that might help if you're having difficulties in receiving DTV signals:

Indoor antennas. Start first with the lowest-cost option—a UHF/VHF antenna you already own or a low-priced indoor model from an electronics store. Some cost $20 or less. Simple "rabbit ear" antennas with just two arms won't work because they pull in only VHF stations. Indoor antennas tend to work best if you're located within a few miles of your local TV stations. Since the wood and/or metal within your home's walls might interfere with and degrade digital signals, try physically relocating your indoor antenna around various parts of the room—preferably near a window facing the direction of your local TV transmitters.

Outdoor antennas. Use AntennaWeb.org, a web site established by the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters. It has a free online tool that will help you find the right outdoor antenna, based on your ZIP code. Enter in your exact street address, and the tool will even produce a map showing which direction to "aim" your antenna.

Adjust carefully. If you find that you do need to re-orient your antenna, make slight adjustments slowly. You may need help with this task if you’re dealing with an outdoor antenna. Use particular care if you need to go up on your home’s roof, too. (See our Guide to ladder safety for important tips!)

Ask your neighbors. If your converter box and antenna set-up still isn't receiving all the stations you think you should be getting, check with neighbors to see if they have similar problems pulling in channels. (Neighbors with cable and/or satellite TV service may scoff at your predicament. But you can have the last laugh knowing you're not spending $15—or more—per month just to watch TV in these tough economic times.) If not, it's probably your setup.

However, if nobody on your block can receive those same TV channels, contact your local broadcasting stations. The broadcast engineers may be able to help you out. (Perform online searches for your local stations’ Web pages by using the channels’ call letters—i.e. "WABC NYC channel 7" for New York City’s local ABC station. You may not find the direct contact information for the station’s broadcast engineers, but at the very least you'll find the stations' main telephone number.)

–Paul Eng

Comments

[everett whitney]

TO: " Little Cabbage " - ANY Boosters for ..?"

The very fact that you ARE attempting to operate / support those multiple converters/ TVs could well CAUSE the issue!

O.T.A.-DTV signaling will NOT support 3 - 4 - 5 sets within a home! Signal is Simply insufficiently strong.

Try operating just a single set one time & see for yourself! {disconnect all the rest & apply "caps" to the cable terminals/splitters temporarily.}

Please list your ZIP? Possibly, a 'more effective' antenna unit might be a possibility.

Is yours connected w/ new Quad RG-6 Coax?

Are the many splitters digital, not analog? These SHOULD be ~ 5 / 2400 hz for O.T.A.-DTV..
Not-at-all costly from any number of web stores.

. . www.monoprice.com or www.mycablemart.com are just (2) of these.

Lastly, YES, there are many "boosters' or Amp units which exist - BUT - these also multiply all the rest as well . . . in so doing, these often introduce MORE artifacts than the improved signal strength is worth.

MUST be mounted immediately @ that roof Antenna connection, of course!

Eventually, there has to be at least (1) new HDTV - as stated often herein @ C.R. - these federal coupon Converters are NOT at all a permanent "fix" or solution! Strictly temporary & a means to allow the limited usage of picture tube sets for a short while longer . . .

everett

[Little Cabbage]

Our outdoor antenna works fine, we have converter boxes on all tvs. However, we are on a fringe area for several stations we would very much like to receive. With our outdoor antenna, sometimes these stations come in, sometimes they are 'bad signal'.

Question: Is there a 'booster' of some kind that can be hooked up to the outdoor antenna to bring in the signal from these stations?

Thanks.

[everett whitney]

Roland - " Two Towers @ 60 miles...!"

FORGET any possibilities of any Indoor unit!

You ARE at the very cusp or technical limitation of every receiving 100% dependable UHF-DTV signals!

Those are strictly limited by "line-of-sight" transmission - which also happens to be exactly 60 miles - BUT - only in a perfect environment & on top of a very elaborate Mast!

Also, any Rotor that must "swing" 180 degrees often will become a maintenance headache!

Get an new Top Tier HDTV, use it's internal "QAM" tuner & get the new, low channel service offerings from your local cable !

NOT advertised at all - BUT - it IS available - our COX has 22 channels @ $11 / No set top box whatever and it also provides 8 HD Channels on our Sony.

Comcast has essentially this same deal @ $18.75 - telemarketers will NOT admit to it . . . be FIRM!

LOTS less costly than any satisfactory outside Antenna System as elaborate as you will need!

everett

everett

[Roland Braasch]

With analog I received all four network stations and a PBS station. Two stations are 60+ miles away in opposite directions. I received those with a combination of an attic and rabbit ear antennas. Now I receive one network station. Selecting new antennas is not easy regardless of things like topography, tree leaves, building manufacturers do not give sufficient basic information regarding their product, especially UHF/VHF rabbit ears. The allowed digital signal strength is not as good as analog. A basic analysis could be made with a disclaimer regarding interference items.

[everett whitney]

SHAWN - " 35 miles of perfectly-flat distance!"

That FAR broadcasting distance will put you at the relative extreme for 100% dependable, in-all-weather DTV broadcast reception, especially in the UHF Band!

That < 6 degrees of spread should not bother - BUT - the second choice of antenna IS relatively brand-new / not widely sold YET !

Why be the "first" to do so whenever there ARE very many others from which to select that HAVE been on the market for FAR longer & whose technical performances are well-know ?

A Few of these are substantially-less pricey, too!

everett

[Shawn]

At what angle can the uni- and omni-directional antennas receive signal?

For instance, all of the stations I'm interested in receiving are within four degrees of each other (139 degrees to 143 degrees relative to my house). All within yellow area on antennaweb, and all show up as "strong signal" on the FCC site. The towers are approximately 35 miles from my house. All flat farmland, about as perfect as you can imagine.

Should I go for a uni-directional antenna such as the 42XG?
http://www.antennasdirect.com/42XG_television_antenna.html
Is that wide enough to accommodate a four-degree variance?

Or should I go for an omni-directional antenna such as the Clearstream 2?
http://www.antennasdirect.com/C2-Clearstream-DTV-antenna.html

Thanks!

[Lloyd Moore]

To All:

Even with a ZIP code you may not get enough data to know what you may need for an antenna or if you have any hope of getting good reception. If you go to

www.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/maps/

you can enter a ZIP code and then zoom into your actual location.

This site apparently also looks at elevations, etc and gives different reception potentials. In my case it changes the reception possibilities drastically as one moves just a mile or two.

[everett whitney]

TO: Judy T - " Having all Sorts of Trouble @ K.C. ..?"

You might care to understand that as of Friday - that 'picture frame antenna' will cause you the loss of KMBC-DT since it ONLY receives strictly UHF . . . They will be changing to 9.1 , a Hi VHF Band transmission.

everett

[JudyT]

I've been struggling to get decent reception in the KCMO area. I was using a RadioShack Amplified VHF/UHF/FM antenna with a loop and got miserable reception. Sometimes it was great, then it was suddenly terrible and no amount of moving it around, turning the dial, moving the loop or fiddling with the antenna helped. I then bought a $40.00 signal amplifier which will be going straight back to the store as it made the situation worse. Finally, I switched to my other Radio Shack antenna (the kind with a picture frame instead of a loop and no built in amplifier) and, voila! perfect reception, even with the top of one antenna broken off. No amplifier needed.

[everett whitney]

A "p.s." to George C. - "Summer w/ leaves ..?"

I missed that initially . . .

Please pretend that you are standing atop your roof ridge, as high as possible.

"IF" that doesn't get your eyesight such that you can - with binoculars - literally see clearly and WITHOUT any physical obstruction all your subject TV Towers in question, you WILL NOT have 100% dependable DTV reception, regardless of how much might be spent upon a new outside antenna system!

That "Summer Foliage" is just (1) of a handful of reasons why many will NOT have O.T.A.-DTV come 12 June. Has zero to do w/ what or which antenna unit ...

Digital reception MUST be either 100% perfect or a blank TV screen. . . no more partials, snowy, ghosts, etc... as with analog VHF signals.

That "phenomena" coupled with the fact that UHF only carries about 50% as far in miles as did those analog VHF signals, will be the end of O.T.A. free Tv for many, literally.

everett

[everett whitney]

TO: George ."Colors - - now what ?"

That's what you need to get the 'elecronic gain" or strength of an outside antenna unit as well as the correct Band.

All antenna units have that same "color-grouping" - (1) to use is the same web site that's been offered to Lloyd, except he is still determined to make an indoor gadget "do!" Not going to happen, of course.

Post your ZIP Code & there'll be a recommendation next day, "IF" you want .... outside antennas be they Hi-VHF or all UHF Band are EXACTLY the same 12 June as they've been for 40 years! This "DTV" hasn't altered anything at all about the successful reception of O.T.A. signaling !

everett

[George Coupar]

To Lloyd:

I'm absolutely behind you Lloyd. Consumers did a great job with DTV converters why on earth can't they give a straight recommendation on Antennas.

To Everett:

Sorry mate but CR are really not responding to customers needs here. Yes there are lots of factors that we can BS forever about. Just tell me what's good and bad, what works and what doesn't. If CR can do recommendations for everything else why not Antennas? This is a major thing right now during the TV convertion. The Antenna web listed in the article is completely useless. It makes no recommendations just lists 20 different technical options for me with fancy colors. So what do I do now? At the few sites I've visted I can see no correlation between teh color chart and products.

It's really great that a CR guy had a lot of fun building an Antenna from a coat hanger but I'd rather spend $50 on something stable than mess around for hours. There are many industry rip-offs that CR has uncovered and saves serious dollars. This isn't one of them.

I'm really chasing around on this DTV thing. The converter (CR recommended) I bought worked great but I'm on a fringe area and with the summer and leaves on trees, the signal has gone to almost nothing now. This article hasnt helped me move to Antenna replacement which is the next logical step.

[everett whitney]

Lloyd -

That's still an indoor model ?

There will be no 100% reliable, in-all-weather & seasons DTV reception unless / until one takes the "plunge" and either as a "D.I.Y." or hires commercially an appropriate outside antenna system atop the roof ridge!

Channel Master and other companies have been making proper, dependable units for a very long time . . . there is NOT a sudden, only-now mystery as to which units always have / still DO perform better!

I can not imagine why there's such a "fetish" to only get by w/ any indoor ? Maybe it has to 'do' w/ announcing to all that the home doesn't use cable?

everett

[Lloyd Moore]

Everett:

Thanks.

Best "review' I have found is from a guy in New York that reviewed the Terk on Amazon.com. He had tried 5 different antennas and recorded the signal strength. No idea why Consumer Reports can't do the same. Agree that here are multiple factors in reception but a weak signal is a weak signal and if they (CR) want to test they can bring a bunch of antennas to my place instead of recommending I try several.

[everett whitney]

A "p.s." for Lloyd M. - - - "Antennas..?"

Although suggested many other times & in different places herein throughout the "television blogs" - it hasn't happened yet?

" IF " you might simply post your local ZIP CODE - your identity will still be "protected" and that would provide sufficient location data to allow for some appropriate antenna suggestions!

12 June is ONLY 31 days away . . . .

everett

[everett whitney]

TO: Lloyd-"Still want review of Bad / Good Antennas"

Lloyd - There ARE tremendous variables NOW in obtaining 100% dependable, in all weather, reception of O.T.A.-DTV.

Just consider a very short "listing?"

Summer foliage on hard wood trees or even a single huge one between your roof & those TV Towers in your market, any nearby but taller building, a very small "dip/valley" as well as on the Wrong side of a "rise/hill", in a place such as ours wherein our ambient temperatures DO change ~~ 60 degrees during the onset of our very frequent & violent storms, heavy snow storms in other areas, even large airports which will have many planes within the circulating landing / take off patterns will interfere with UHF Transmissions!

Do also understand that very FEW indoor or set top silly "..Special Amplified HD all -channels" types now available at the check outs of local TV stores are going to provide satisfactory, reliable reception!

MUCH or constant "fiddling" - adjustment - even placement in front of a window sometimes between channel changes, etc..

This all-new "DTV" is most-definitely going to be FAR, FAR less 'flexible' or as easily-obtained as has been our VHF analog for the past ~ 50 years.

Lastly - recall that signals & reception for DTV will be either 100% perfect or there will be ZERO shown on the display .... no more partial or snowy or ghosty pictures after 12 June! Imagine - - - for the very first time, many households will NOT be able to receive O.T.A.-DTV satisfactorily!

Appropriate Outside Antenna Systems will be sometimes a most Tedious as well as Costly project!

everett

[Lloyd Moore]

I appreciate the comments but still do not understand why there are no reviews anywhere on the antennas. I’m probably trying to simplify it too much but there are signal strength meters that can evaluate the performance of multi-directional, directional, amplified, non-amplified antennas. There are a lot of claims from the manufacturers on how strong their signals are so why can’t some test be developed to at least rate which get stronger signals and which are rip-offs.

[everett whitney]

TO RAY - " Could I use existing cable coax ...?"

Not a good idea !

Instead, please seriously DO get an appropriate outside antenna system { www.antennaweb.org } input 'digital' BUT leave all else blank & listed will be by a color-coding, what your specific area should require, now & after 12 June.

Next, go to / use any of the many web stores for the unit & ONLY Quad, RG-6 Coax in a dedicated, single-length or uninterrupted run directly from that new Ridge-mounted outside antenna to the rear of your HDTV and / or Converter.

Many cities after 12 June WILL require both VHF / UHF transmission Bands - ours does now - so, a UHF-only antenna will NOT do in those instances.

"IF" an Only-UHF situation, one excellent antenna would be the DB-4 . . . .

For VHF / UHF Markets, one appropriate antenna unit IS the Channel Master # 5646 - absolutely identical to the "HD Antenna" # 3016 except for the $20 more you pay for the printing on the outer carton !

www.solidsignal.com

Just look up / enter "QUAD COAX", specify your length required & they actually custom-fabricate it, with new weather-proof compression "F" terminations @ no extra charge!
About a dozen dollars for 50-60 feet section.

Good luck! everett

[Ray Hooker]

Okay so I got the Terk HDTVa. I had tried one of the RCA flat antennas but it pixalated. At $70, the Terk is a bit pricier, but the reception is wonderful. I have 18 local channels (12 digital and 6 HD) in the Durham, NC area (I am ignoring the analog). The picture is astounding and generally better than cable (yes I know DirectTV is even better). Once in a while I have to slightly shift the antenna which is pointed SW towards large picture windows in the direction of the further distant stations.

I am wondering about switching to an outside antenna so that the other room with a TV could hook in. I have an existing cable infrastructure.. wonder if I could use that.

[Paul Eng]

Hi Everett,

The point of "HD Radio" is that, like DTV, it's a digital transmission. And that (technically) means the audio quality from "free" AM/FM radios stations could be static free. (Just like DTV is "free" using off-air antennas and a "digital tuner" or "digital converter box," HD Radio is "free" as long as you buy an HD Radio. How HD Radio differs from DTV, however, is that local AM/FM radio stations using the digital transmission scheme are not forced to abandon analog transmissions, so many stations are using both concurrently.)

Our colleagues over in the Cars blog (http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars) have written about how car-makers have (or were) looking toward HD Radios back in 2007:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/electronics/2007/01/hd_radio_being_.html

Now, HD Radio is seem more to help in delivering traffic data to GPS units:

http://blogs.consumerreports.org/cars/2009/01/hd-radio.html

As far as I know, none of the Home Theater in a Box (HTIB) systems or even surround sound receivers we've tested and rated have HD Radio capabilities. Some of them, however, DO have digital satellite radio (XM/Sirius) capabilities, which require monthly subscriptions. See:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/audio-video/home-theater-systems/home-theater-system-guide/features/home-theater-systems-features.htm#10057

(It sounds like Steven Rounds was really asking about an antenna for his stand-alone tabletop HD Radio, such as this Sangean we reviewed almost two years ago:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/news-electronics-computers/2007/04/first-look-sangean-hdt-1-hd-radio-tuner-4-07/overview/0407sang0.htm)

In either case, as I stated in my previous comment, Consumer Reports just doesn't have the capacity at this point in time to test antennas -- for DTV, TV or radio.

Thanks,
Paul Eng, Web Sr. Editor (Electronics)

[everett whitney]

To: Paul Eng, Sr. Web Editor - Electronics

Thanks muchly - was not aware of that article!

But - wouldn't any of the "HTIB" your reviewed still provide far better audio that what had been bought?

everett

[Paul Eng]

To Everett:

We covered HD radio --or more accurately "digital radio" broadcasts -- here on Consumer Reports:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/electronics-computers/audio-video/audio/car-audio/car-audio-systems/hd-radio/car-audio-systems-hd-radio.htm

To Steven R.:

We don't test or rate antennas for HD radios for the same reasons that we stated in the above posts regarding TV antennas for digital TV broadcasts: It would be extremely difficult to get accurate results. What works for us here in Yonkers, N.Y., might not work well for you in Beaumont, Calif. Add to that the small number of radio stations currently broadcasting digitally in the "HD Radio" format...

Sorry. But perhaps others here reading the blog can help you. Or post your question on Consumer Reports' Discussion Forums:

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/discussion/discussions/index.htm

Perhaps readers (which include some of Consumer Reports' lab technicians and engineers!) there will be able to help you.

Thanks and best,
Paul Eng, Web Sr. Editor (Electronics)

[everett whitney]

TO: Steven R. - " HD Radio ???"

Just exactly WHAT is expected from that item that a normal AM-FM set can't also provide, please ?

Certainly, you Must appreciate that the audio will be Terrible - or at the very least - Far, far less than the great audio provided basic, cheapest HTIB systems, which Also contain a Receiver?

Just simple wire for the AM antenna & the usual dipole for the FM . . . . radio transmission hasn't changed

[Steven Rounds]

Where are your reviews of HD radio antennas? My mother lives in a fringe reception area (Beaumont, CA) and I've bought her an Insignia tabletop HD radio/cd. Would the Terk HDR-O or Pixel HDAF-4 outdoor antennas give me acceptable reception (yellow-red zone)?

[C Wagner]

Hello: just a note to say that folks should try the antennae they already have - the ugly roof antenna works best, if still on your house. Next are the set top antennae of old. I found the very best indoor antenna is the $4.19 Radio shack 'bow tie' antenna - which of course is *not* labeled by them as an HDTV antenna - but it is, for most HD channels, which are on the UHF band. Try it before plunking down $20 or $60!