Antenna Recommendation

Thunderclap · 03-25-2010, 05:08 PM

I'm about 9 miles from Chicago and currently have Comcast hooked up to my Tivo HD. I am planning on dumping Comcast and going OTA, but the problem is I know next to nothing about antennas. Can anyone recommend a good VHF/UHF indoor antenna that will connect to the Tivo HD? If it helps I'm on the third floor of a 3-story condo building.

Bob723 · 03-25-2010, 05:17 PM

I have a Winegard SS-3000 Indoor HDTV Antenna and I am very happy with it. It has very good reception and I have it in the basement. I am in the Minneapolis area about 20 miles from the tv towers. Check out www.antennaweb.org for more advice. This site will calculate the distance from your home to the tv towers & make suggestions as to what type of antenna to purchase.

RonDawg · 03-25-2010, 05:58 PM

I use this Philips antenna in my spare room with a digital OTA converter box and it works great. I haven't tried it with my TiVoHD yet, but I plan on doing so in a couple of weeks when I drop my cable subscription (recently got U-verse).

I bought it for around $15 at Target, with many online retailers selling it for much less, but I wanted to be able to return it hassle-free just in case I needed something more sensitive.

I'm in the foothills of LA, close to Mt. Wilson which has numerous TV antennas on it. Your performance will vary depending on what obstacles are between you and where the antennas are in Chicago.

TeeVohFan · 03-25-2010, 06:02 PM

I live about 25 miles from the mountains where the L.A., CA television transmitter antennas are located and the Channel Master 3010 has been working great for me. Someone I know who lives about 10 miles from those mountains uses the same antenna and says he likes it too.

I bought it here: 3010 at Amazon.com
I also bought a mast to mount it on.

No problems, works great, easy to set up (because of it's size) and it's unobtrusive. I think the last time I tried to count it was pulling in over 100 OTA channels.

Robbdoe1 · 03-25-2010, 06:22 PM

I'm getting 9/11 flashbacks looking at that picture. It reminds me of a plane heading for my friends. Never forget I guess.
Robb

Thunderclap · 03-25-2010, 08:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TeeVohFan

I live about 25 miles from the mountains where the L.A., CA television transmitter antennas are located and the Channel Master 3010 has been working great for me. Someone I know who lives about 10 miles from those mountains uses the same antenna and says he likes it too.

Unfortunately I'm in a condo unit and don't have access to the roof our the outside of the building. That's why I need an interior one.

TeeVohFan · 03-25-2010, 09:16 PM

Oops, sorry. I missed the "indoor" requirement. If you have a hiding place for it, it would be a good antenna to put in a closet or crawlspace because of it's size. I suppose you could even treat it like abstract art and hang it from the ceiling off to the side...

janry · 03-26-2010, 08:12 AM

I've purchased 3 indoor antennas. Two of them were in the $30-$50 price range each. This past weekend, I went back to the first one I bought - the $9.95 antenna from Radio Shack. I unscrewed the two poles from it, just leaving the UHF loop and I get better signal numbers from it across the board than I did with the others.

Thunderclap · 03-26-2010, 09:28 AM

All good suggestions. Thanks everyone.

Raj · 03-26-2010, 09:33 AM

I can't use an indoor antenna here (transmitters are ~50 mi away) but I've heard good things about the silver sensor.