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Rg11 you're thinking of rj11 that's 1 pair phone, you mean rg59 or better yet rg60 that's coax.

No, he's thinking of RG11. You're thinking that you know better, but you do not.

RG11 would be a bitch to use for inside wiring, and probably unnecessary, but if he wants to put in the work it's not for us to say.

So you really are a newbie aren't you. See when people cut the cord, they buy a real antenna http://www.solidsignal.com/pvi... which is mounted on the roof, and get a rotator and a preamp. They also might buy a dvr to record TV, which they would keep on in order to record the program.

I have a roof mount antenna with no rotator or preamp and get every channel broadcast in my area.

I also don't have a dvr. Part of me "cutting the cord" was to stop consuming so much stupid content on TV. Having a DVR that always has shows recorded I need to watch doesn't help that.

But I guess you think you know how everyone lives. Wow.

And you have other devices that use electricity, which replaced your cable box - a 5th grader would have picked up on that.

So you really are a newbie aren't you. See when people cut the cord, they buy a real antenna http://www.solidsignal.com/pvi... which is mounted on the roof, and get a rotator and a preamp. They also might buy a dvr to record TV, which they would keep on in order to record the program.

But I guess you think everyone should live the way you do. Wow.

My landline only has two ports... one in the kitchen and one in the master bedroom.

It's really not that difficult to install more phone jacks or other low-voltage wire drops in your home. In the best case, all you need is a bit of tape and some wire. In less common cases, you might need fish tape, a drill, and a saw if you don't have an existing box to reuse.

They even make combination jacks with various quantities of phone/coax/ethernet/etc., jacks, so you usually don't need to make any more holes in your walls. eg:

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=pvcwp40whthf

People will go through amazing contortions to get phone, TV, or data/internet service in different rooms of their home lacking in-wall wiring, when actually just running wiring wherever needed only takes a couple hours of effort.

The UHF and VHF pointed at Baltimore are combined with a UHF/VHF combiner (just like in this nicely detailed post) on the antenna mast. Then, the DC and Baltimore wires are combined near the tuners using a bi-directional splitter/combiner. I combine near the tuners because some of my devices have two separate antenna inputs, and those get fed the uncombined signal.

This sort of thing might not work if you have two antennas that both get some signal from the same transmitter, but it works well for me where the antennas get very little signal from the "other" direction.

"So lets say I don't live in Alaska, but my Metro area still has a station on channel 5. What would you recommend?"

I can't answer that. You didn't say how strong of a signal it is, if you're trying to get other VHF stations, and if so, if it's in the same direction. The short answer is, if it's really strong, you can get away with an antenna not designed for it... If it's weak, you'll definitely need an antenna that does both VHF-lo and VHF-hi. But since we're only a few years past the digital cutover, it's still easy to find full-range VHF antennas.

One good choice might be: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=HD-5030&d=Winegard-HD-5030-Prostar-1000-VHF/FM-TV-Antenna-(HD-5030)&sku=615798398156

    "Is it feasible to use an all in one?"

It really depends on how strong of a signal you've got. I've recomended designing an antenna system around one of the best UHF antennas available, because UHF's shorter range makes reception much more challenging, and because the vast majority of channels are now on UHF. If you go with just about anything else, you'll be sacrificing UHF reception. UHF yagi/corner reflectors like that used in combo antennas are inherently poor performers after the digital transition, as they work best on highest frequencies, and those (52+) are no longer in-use. I've also never looked at combo units seriously because the price of seperate UHF VHF antennas is just as low, and you don't need to compromise... You can even do cool things like pointing the VHF and UHF antennas in different directions, which I've been able to do to good effect a couple times.

So lets say I don't live in Alaska, but my Metro area still has a station on channel 5. What would you recommend? Is it feasible to use an all in one? Something like this? http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=HD8200U&d=Winegard-HD8200U-Heavy-Duty-Platinum-VHFUHFFM-HDTV-Antenna-(HD8200U)&c=TV%20Antennas&sku=&more=yes If so is there a particular model that research (which I haven't done) would indicate is best?

Any good antennas you can suggest? Indoor or outdoor would be fine. I would prefer not to have to move it though. Multiple would also be better than having to move one.

First you should go to http://tvfool.com/ and check your address for OTA digital signals.

Note the "Real" channel on the tvfool chart. If it's 7-13, you'd need a VHF-high antenna, if it's 14-51 a UHF antenna will pick it up. If it's 2-6, you're probably in Alaska, and sadly will need an old, full-range VHF-lo/hi antenna.

Any channels that are Green or Yellow will likely work with a simple, cheap, indoor antenna (preferably in your window, facing towards the transmitter). The simplest old indoor antennas seem to work the best... better than more expensive indoor antennas that are tunable or have a useless (for short cable runs) amplifier. Nice long "rabbit-ears" at a 45 degree angle will do a good job for VHF (real: 2-13) channels, while a nice big "loop" antenna will do very well picking up UHF channels.

If you're in the red, or worse, you MIGHT be lucky and receive the station(s) with an indoor antenna with minimal dropout, but at this point, you're probably at the point that you should invest in a roof-top antenna.

VHF is pretty simple, and easier to receive over longer ranges, and around obstacles like mountains, buildings or trees. For antennas, you have a couple choices which are both about equivalent in reception and price (about $40):

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y10-7-13&sku=716079000994">Antennacraft Y10-7-13 100mi 120" VHF-high
or
Winegard YA 1713 100mi 100" VHF-high

For UHF channels, reception is a bit tougher, as curvature of the earth, and any obstacles cause more issues. There's some debate over how the top 8-bay antennas should be ranked, but it's an easy choice when you see one of the contenders costs nearly half as much as the rest:

Winegard HD 8800 8-Bay 60mi UHF

Now, if you need both UHF and VHF-high antennas, connecting them with a splitter will cause you to lose a significant amount of signal strength. Instead, a purpose-built VHF/UHF splitter/combiner will perform much better. Just about any one will do, but here's a link for an in-stock $2 model:

Pico Macom UHF/VHF Band Separator/Combiner

And finally, if you're going to run the coax a non-trivial length, or if you are going to connect the antenna(s) to a splitter to serve multiple TVs or just multiple tuners (eg. TV+DVR) then you'll get a big benefit out of a mast-mounted pre-amp. The key is to get the lowest "noise" figure you can. There are a range of ridiculously expensive options that will get you a just-slightly lower-noise signal, but once again Winegard is much cheaper, and close enough:

Winegard AP-8700 VHF/UHF Pre Amplifier

Thanks to FCC regulations, you can put this all up on a mast as high as 12' above your roof line, without anyone being able to require you to get a permit or similar (unless you're in a historic area, or there's serious safety issues like overhead power lines). And if you happen to NEED to go higher to get reception of local stations, they MUST grant your permit request for minimal cost and in a timely fashion.

To deal with the risk of lighting starting fires or blowing up your TV, you need to ground your mast and the coax. A coax grounding block costs about $1, and like your mast, just needs to be wired to metal water pipes, or a grounding rod. Some more advanced coax surge suppressors exist, but I would never forego the simple task of grounding everything first.

That should be all the equipment you need, and the information on tvfool will tell you EXACTLY which d

Any good antennas you can suggest? Indoor or outdoor would be fine. I would prefer not to have to move it though. Multiple would also be better than having to move one.

First you should go to http://tvfool.com/ and check your address for OTA digital signals.

Note the "Real" channel on the tvfool chart. If it's 7-13, you'd need a VHF-high antenna, if it's 14-51 a UHF antenna will pick it up. If it's 2-6, you're probably in Alaska, and sadly will need an old, full-range VHF-lo/hi antenna.

Any channels that are Green or Yellow will likely work with a simple, cheap, indoor antenna (preferably in your window, facing towards the transmitter). The simplest old indoor antennas seem to work the best... better than more expensive indoor antennas that are tunable or have a useless (for short cable runs) amplifier. Nice long "rabbit-ears" at a 45 degree angle will do a good job for VHF (real: 2-13) channels, while a nice big "loop" antenna will do very well picking up UHF channels.

If you're in the red, or worse, you MIGHT be lucky and receive the station(s) with an indoor antenna with minimal dropout, but at this point, you're probably at the point that you should invest in a roof-top antenna.

VHF is pretty simple, and easier to receive over longer ranges, and around obstacles like mountains, buildings or trees. For antennas, you have a couple choices which are both about equivalent in reception and price (about $40):

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y10-7-13&sku=716079000994">Antennacraft Y10-7-13 100mi 120" VHF-high
or
Winegard YA 1713 100mi 100" VHF-high

For UHF channels, reception is a bit tougher, as curvature of the earth, and any obstacles cause more issues. There's some debate over how the top 8-bay antennas should be ranked, but it's an easy choice when you see one of the contenders costs nearly half as much as the rest:

Winegard HD 8800 8-Bay 60mi UHF

Now, if you need both UHF and VHF-high antennas, connecting them with a splitter will cause you to lose a significant amount of signal strength. Instead, a purpose-built VHF/UHF splitter/combiner will perform much better. Just about any one will do, but here's a link for an in-stock $2 model:

Pico Macom UHF/VHF Band Separator/Combiner

And finally, if you're going to run the coax a non-trivial length, or if you are going to connect the antenna(s) to a splitter to serve multiple TVs or just multiple tuners (eg. TV+DVR) then you'll get a big benefit out of a mast-mounted pre-amp. The key is to get the lowest "noise" figure you can. There are a range of ridiculously expensive options that will get you a just-slightly lower-noise signal, but once again Winegard is much cheaper, and close enough:

Winegard AP-8700 VHF/UHF Pre Amplifier

Thanks to FCC regulations, you can put this all up on a mast as high as 12' above your roof line, without anyone being able to require you to get a permit or similar (unless you're in a historic area, or there's serious safety issues like overhead power lines). And if you happen to NEED to go higher to get reception of local stations, they MUST grant your permit request for minimal cost and in a timely fashion.

To deal with the risk of lighting starting fires or blowing up your TV, you need to ground your mast and the coax. A coax grounding block costs about $1, and like your mast, just needs to be wired to metal water pipes, or a grounding rod. Some more advanced coax surge suppressors exist, but I would never forego the simple task of grounding everything first.

That should be all the equipment you need, and the information on tvfool will tell you EXACTLY which d

Any good antennas you can suggest? Indoor or outdoor would be fine. I would prefer not to have to move it though. Multiple would also be better than having to move one.

First you should go to http://tvfool.com/ and check your address for OTA digital signals.

Note the "Real" channel on the tvfool chart. If it's 7-13, you'd need a VHF-high antenna, if it's 14-51 a UHF antenna will pick it up. If it's 2-6, you're probably in Alaska, and sadly will need an old, full-range VHF-lo/hi antenna.

Any channels that are Green or Yellow will likely work with a simple, cheap, indoor antenna (preferably in your window, facing towards the transmitter). The simplest old indoor antennas seem to work the best... better than more expensive indoor antennas that are tunable or have a useless (for short cable runs) amplifier. Nice long "rabbit-ears" at a 45 degree angle will do a good job for VHF (real: 2-13) channels, while a nice big "loop" antenna will do very well picking up UHF channels.

If you're in the red, or worse, you MIGHT be lucky and receive the station(s) with an indoor antenna with minimal dropout, but at this point, you're probably at the point that you should invest in a roof-top antenna.

VHF is pretty simple, and easier to receive over longer ranges, and around obstacles like mountains, buildings or trees. For antennas, you have a couple choices which are both about equivalent in reception and price (about $40):

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y10-7-13&sku=716079000994">Antennacraft Y10-7-13 100mi 120" VHF-high
or
Winegard YA 1713 100mi 100" VHF-high

For UHF channels, reception is a bit tougher, as curvature of the earth, and any obstacles cause more issues. There's some debate over how the top 8-bay antennas should be ranked, but it's an easy choice when you see one of the contenders costs nearly half as much as the rest:

Winegard HD 8800 8-Bay 60mi UHF

Now, if you need both UHF and VHF-high antennas, connecting them with a splitter will cause you to lose a significant amount of signal strength. Instead, a purpose-built VHF/UHF splitter/combiner will perform much better. Just about any one will do, but here's a link for an in-stock $2 model:

Pico Macom UHF/VHF Band Separator/Combiner

And finally, if you're going to run the coax a non-trivial length, or if you are going to connect the antenna(s) to a splitter to serve multiple TVs or just multiple tuners (eg. TV+DVR) then you'll get a big benefit out of a mast-mounted pre-amp. The key is to get the lowest "noise" figure you can. There are a range of ridiculously expensive options that will get you a just-slightly lower-noise signal, but once again Winegard is much cheaper, and close enough:

Winegard AP-8700 VHF/UHF Pre Amplifier

Thanks to FCC regulations, you can put this all up on a mast as high as 12' above your roof line, without anyone being able to require you to get a permit or similar (unless you're in a historic area, or there's serious safety issues like overhead power lines). And if you happen to NEED to go higher to get reception of local stations, they MUST grant your permit request for minimal cost and in a timely fashion.

To deal with the risk of lighting starting fires or blowing up your TV, you need to ground your mast and the coax. A coax grounding block costs about $1, and like your mast, just needs to be wired to metal water pipes, or a grounding rod. Some more advanced coax surge suppressors exist, but I would never forego the simple task of grounding everything first.

That should be all the equipment you need, and the information on tvfool will tell you EXACTLY which d

Any good antennas you can suggest? Indoor or outdoor would be fine. I would prefer not to have to move it though. Multiple would also be better than having to move one.

First you should go to http://tvfool.com/ and check your address for OTA digital signals.

Note the "Real" channel on the tvfool chart. If it's 7-13, you'd need a VHF-high antenna, if it's 14-51 a UHF antenna will pick it up. If it's 2-6, you're probably in Alaska, and sadly will need an old, full-range VHF-lo/hi antenna.

Any channels that are Green or Yellow will likely work with a simple, cheap, indoor antenna (preferably in your window, facing towards the transmitter). The simplest old indoor antennas seem to work the best... better than more expensive indoor antennas that are tunable or have a useless (for short cable runs) amplifier. Nice long "rabbit-ears" at a 45 degree angle will do a good job for VHF (real: 2-13) channels, while a nice big "loop" antenna will do very well picking up UHF channels.

If you're in the red, or worse, you MIGHT be lucky and receive the station(s) with an indoor antenna with minimal dropout, but at this point, you're probably at the point that you should invest in a roof-top antenna.

VHF is pretty simple, and easier to receive over longer ranges, and around obstacles like mountains, buildings or trees. For antennas, you have a couple choices which are both about equivalent in reception and price (about $40):

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?p=Y10-7-13&sku=716079000994">Antennacraft Y10-7-13 100mi 120" VHF-high
or
Winegard YA 1713 100mi 100" VHF-high

For UHF channels, reception is a bit tougher, as curvature of the earth, and any obstacles cause more issues. There's some debate over how the top 8-bay antennas should be ranked, but it's an easy choice when you see one of the contenders costs nearly half as much as the rest:

Winegard HD 8800 8-Bay 60mi UHF

Now, if you need both UHF and VHF-high antennas, connecting them with a splitter will cause you to lose a significant amount of signal strength. Instead, a purpose-built VHF/UHF splitter/combiner will perform much better. Just about any one will do, but here's a link for an in-stock $2 model:

Pico Macom UHF/VHF Band Separator/Combiner

And finally, if you're going to run the coax a non-trivial length, or if you are going to connect the antenna(s) to a splitter to serve multiple TVs or just multiple tuners (eg. TV+DVR) then you'll get a big benefit out of a mast-mounted pre-amp. The key is to get the lowest "noise" figure you can. There are a range of ridiculously expensive options that will get you a just-slightly lower-noise signal, but once again Winegard is much cheaper, and close enough:

Winegard AP-8700 VHF/UHF Pre Amplifier

Thanks to FCC regulations, you can put this all up on a mast as high as 12' above your roof line, without anyone being able to require you to get a permit or similar (unless you're in a historic area, or there's serious safety issues like overhead power lines). And if you happen to NEED to go higher to get reception of local stations, they MUST grant your permit request for minimal cost and in a timely fashion.

To deal with the risk of lighting starting fires or blowing up your TV, you need to ground your mast and the coax. A coax grounding block costs about $1, and like your mast, just needs to be wired to metal water pipes, or a grounding rod. Some more advanced coax surge suppressors exist, but I would never forego the simple task of grounding everything first.

That should be all the equipment you need, and the information on tvfool will tell you EXACTLY which d

That would be the difference between "decent" and "average". After a quick google search it turns out most of the implementations use a gyroscope and not an accelerometer. Here's one

His antenna was too small. This is the monster that I use: It pulls-in stations as far away as 55 miles: http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=4228-HD

(Score:5, Informative)

You're welcome. ;-)

BTW I'm surprised no one asked about my 45 channels of free TV. This is the antenna I use (sits in the living room next to the set) -- http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=CM-4228&d=Channel-Master-CM4228-8Bay-Bowtie-UHF-TV-Antenna-(CM4228)&c=TV%20Antennas&sku=

Oh. Cool.

So it works sort of like this, except for that small detail about how it doesn't exist yet.

Wake me up when it becomes cheaper than doing it the old fashioned way.

*yawn*

Oh. Cool.

So it works sort of like this, except for that small detail about how it doesn't exist yet.

Wake me up when it becomes cheaper than doing it the old fashioned way.

*yawn*

Granted, that does stop him from (as h4rr4r suggested) putting it on a pole in the yard (probably pretty hard to argue that the grass is historic and would be irreparably damaged).

Sorry, that falls under the common area owned by the landlord. IANAL, but I've helped a few friends iron out details on this with their landlords and/or homeowner's associations. This particular case, however, appears to be a lost one. GGP could probably hang a dish outside his window, assuming his window was facing in the correct direction (which, in his case, it is not) and he could do so safely while not making it a permanent installation. But he's in the "rare exception" list that has no legally-protected solution for installing a dish. He can only make a temporary installation in the areas he has rented, and he doesn't control any areas that would allow him to receive signal.

However, a phased array could still be a winning solution there, because current units tend to be pretty small and subtle compared to a dish, and may not be as objectionable as a dish. Most of them are relatively small sealed discs that can be mounted on any flat surface at a variety of angles as long as they are pointed somewhat vaguely in the direction of the South sky (as seen from North America), and can be painted to match the surrounds in many cases. So the landlord (and historical district) might not object to a small disc mounted on the South side of the building roof with a wire running around to his window, for example, where actually screwing a DirectTV dish might be somewhat more controversial.

Of course, phased array units don't come cheap.

A couple of "first I found on Google" examples of phased-array satellite units currently available (I'm not recommending for or against these specific units at all, just a couple of examples of currently-available tech):

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=06&p=KVHA7&d=KVH-TracVision-A7-InMotion-SUVMiniVan-DIRECTV-Satellite-TV-Antenna-System-(A7)&c=Satellite%20Dishes%20for%20SUVs&sku=

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=06&p=01-0263-04&d=KVH-TracVision-R6-ST-InMotion-Statellite-TV-Antenna-System-w-Integrated-12V-DirecTV-Receiver-(R6ST)&c=Satellite%20Dishes%20for%20SUVs&sku=

So instead of one larger disc-shaped unit like the ones pictured above you could deploy a handful of really tiny units over a larger area and have them phase together to pick up a better signal. Put them far enough apart, and you could easily reproduce the effect of a 15-foot or even larger directional dish and resolve signal through some fairly significant material or interference.

In that case, the person who started this discussion might be able to get a signal, even through a roof, with enough phased elements spread over a large enough area. He'd have all of the bits inside his area of control and installed temporarily (and not have a 15-foot dish sitting in the middle of his living room that might upset his wife).

Alternatively, he might be able to get approval for a half-dozen flat bits of painted metal to be temporarily glued to the corners of the roof, with thin subtle wires run to his window, since none of the installations are considered permanent and would not affect the historic nature of the house in any way.

Granted, that does stop him from (as h4rr4r suggested) putting it on a pole in the yard (probably pretty hard to argue that the grass is historic and would be irreparably damaged).

Sorry, that falls under the common area owned by the landlord. IANAL, but I've helped a few friends iron out details on this with their landlords and/or homeowner's associations. This particular case, however, appears to be a lost one. GGP could probably hang a dish outside his window, assuming his window was facing in the correct direction (which, in his case, it is not) and he could do so safely while not making it a permanent installation. But he's in the "rare exception" list that has no legally-protected solution for installing a dish. He can only make a temporary installation in the areas he has rented, and he doesn't control any areas that would allow him to receive signal.

However, a phased array could still be a winning solution there, because current units tend to be pretty small and subtle compared to a dish, and may not be as objectionable as a dish. Most of them are relatively small sealed discs that can be mounted on any flat surface at a variety of angles as long as they are pointed somewhat vaguely in the direction of the South sky (as seen from North America), and can be painted to match the surrounds in many cases. So the landlord (and historical district) might not object to a small disc mounted on the South side of the building roof with a wire running around to his window, for example, where actually screwing a DirectTV dish might be somewhat more controversial.

Of course, phased array units don't come cheap.

A couple of "first I found on Google" examples of phased-array satellite units currently available (I'm not recommending for or against these specific units at all, just a couple of examples of currently-available tech):

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=06&p=KVHA7&d=KVH-TracVision-A7-InMotion-SUVMiniVan-DIRECTV-Satellite-TV-Antenna-System-(A7)&c=Satellite%20Dishes%20for%20SUVs&sku=

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=06&p=01-0263-04&d=KVH-TracVision-R6-ST-InMotion-Statellite-TV-Antenna-System-w-Integrated-12V-DirecTV-Receiver-(R6ST)&c=Satellite%20Dishes%20for%20SUVs&sku=

So instead of one larger disc-shaped unit like the ones pictured above you could deploy a handful of really tiny units over a larger area and have them phase together to pick up a better signal. Put them far enough apart, and you could easily reproduce the effect of a 15-foot or even larger directional dish and resolve signal through some fairly significant material or interference.

In that case, the person who started this discussion might be able to get a signal, even through a roof, with enough phased elements spread over a large enough area. He'd have all of the bits inside his area of control and installed temporarily (and not have a 15-foot dish sitting in the middle of his living room that might upset his wife).

Alternatively, he might be able to get approval for a half-dozen flat bits of painted metal to be temporarily glued to the corners of the roof, with thin subtle wires run to his window, since none of the installations are considered permanent and would not affect the historic nature of the house in any way.

Phased arrays for DirecTV reception have been on the market for at least a few years. Here's one:

http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=06&p=KVHA7&d=KVH-TracVision-A7-InMotion-SUVMiniVan-DIRECTV-Satellite-TV-Antenna-System-(A7)&c=Satellite%20Dishes%20for%20SUVs&sku=

Supposedly the student has developed a signal processor that will reduce power consumption and/or cost, but the article is REALLY slim on details as to how they did this and whether they really have made any significant breakthroughs beyond what's already there.

It depends how far you are from the transmitter... 60 miles, and your pushing these for $60:
http://www.solidsignal.com/pview.asp?mc=03&p=DB8&d=Antennas%20Direct%20DB8%20UHF%20HDTV%20TV%20Antenna%20(DB8)&c=TV%20Antennas&sku=DB8&utm_campaign=GAN&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_source=k232272

It's a commercial version of what I've made for $10, and even right beside my TV at 25 miles, it was great. That was before the full transition, when half of the signal power was used... and mine was without the pre-amp that's with this one.

I am not connected to the company selling these in any way other than I think I may have purchased something from them once.

http://www.solidsignal.com/cview.asp?mc=00&m=Wireless%20Extenders&b=Products&pp=18

The little Apex 502 is one of the few coupon eligible converters with S-video out.

I just received my Channel Master CM-7000 yesterday from SolidSignal. The Apex reviews are one-star in many places (and I used to like my old Apex DVD player, late 90's) and this was the best one I could find with S-Video.

I can't review it yet as there's little point in me buying an antenna until the final radiation patterns are established after the go-live date (this business of broadcasting on low-power until the switchover is lunacy, how is anybody supposed to get the optimum antenna or tune their setup?) The box isn't slick looking but it did come with a decent quality RG-6 cable. The rear ports are well-labeled and S-Video is there. I plan to stash it behind my mythbox so I don't really care what it looks like; the case might even be metal, looked rather like a hobbyist's enclosure or pro gear, no fancy decoration.

Note, I assume SolidSignal is completely crushed, as I ordered it on the 5th, received it on the 20th, and my coupon expired on the 23rd, but few retailers have the ChannelMaster online of off.

The coupons have run out, I've read, so don't get excited if you haven't ordered one yet, but the stock price isn't really bad for what it is.

If that doesn't work, the Channel Master CM 4228 is the best UHF antenna out there, and also covers high VHF much better then other "DTV" antennas.

That antenna, plus a rotator and decent height will give you best possible reception in most areas.

Note that the receiver sensitivity plays a large part also. I have two different DTV receivers, one for my MythTV box and one analog converter. One of them gets a lot more stations then the other, and less dropouts on the marginal ones. The Zenith DTT901 is the analog converter, and highly recommended for it's reception. Also cost me $10 after the FCC coupon.

The other prominent build-able design is called a Yagi.

It's actually a "Yagi/Corner-Reflector".

It consists of connected bow-ties, rather than zig-zag elements.

"Bowtie" refers to a specific type of antenna, a "multi-bay" unit... an antenna that is most definitely NOT a yagi. In fact a multi-bay bowtie antenna resembles a Grey-Hovermann much more than a Yagi/Corner-Reflector.

Yagi/Corner-Reflector: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=MXU59
Multi-bay/Bowtie: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ANC4228

The Yagi design is nice, because its gain is roughly even across UHF.

That's completely wrong. Yagis have extremely good gain at high frequencies (most of which aren't being used for TV anymore), and almost always very poor gain at lower frequencies. The idea of getting ANY VHF frequencies with a yagi is laughable.

See: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

The other prominent build-able design is called a Yagi.

It's actually a "Yagi/Corner-Reflector".

It consists of connected bow-ties, rather than zig-zag elements.

"Bowtie" refers to a specific type of antenna, a "multi-bay" unit... an antenna that is most definitely NOT a yagi. In fact a multi-bay bowtie antenna resembles a Grey-Hovermann much more than a Yagi/Corner-Reflector.

Yagi/Corner-Reflector: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=MXU59
Multi-bay/Bowtie: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ANC4228

The Yagi design is nice, because its gain is roughly even across UHF.

That's completely wrong. Yagis have extremely good gain at high frequencies (most of which aren't being used for TV anymore), and almost always very poor gain at lower frequencies. The idea of getting ANY VHF frequencies with a yagi is laughable.

See: http://www.hdtvprimer.com/ANTENNAS/comparing.html

I'm just here to give useful information, so mods please punish me appropriately. :-)

The Zenith Silver Sensor is considered the reference antenna for indoor reception. Most comparisons
use it as the gold standard, and everything else is given points on how close they can get to the SS.

I bought mine a few years ago when they were easy to find at Sears. If you have a Sears near you I suggest
you check their TV department; the devices are low volume and you get lucky and find one on a shelf. If not
they are available online: http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=ZHDTV1

I personally used a Silver Sensor for my HDTV setup in Houston, TX. I am 15 miles or so from the antenna farm
and got decent reception without an amp. I eventually switched to QAM decoding when I found the HDHomerun
(http://www.silicondust.com/) which works with both Windows and Linux, and has the added benefit of being a
network device. For me that's a plus as I can share it.

Good luck on your OTA adventures. It is well worth the trouble when everything works. Having said that, if you can
get a cable modem connection, the cable company's cable run will act as an antenna. You can try that without actually
tuning any of the channels offered on the cable itself.

(61.5, 99, 101, 103, 110, 118, 119, 120, 129, 148)

for Dish you NEED the 110, and 119 (129 for HD)

For DIRECT HD you need their HUGE dish that can pick up 5 sats - 99, 101, 103, 110, 119. It is 2 feet by 3 feet. And that is the SLIMLINE model. The first one was HUGE
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_c at=02&CAT=&PROD=AU9-S

For Dish HD you just need the 100.2 dish it is just slightly bigger than a standard dish.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=D ISH1000.2

(61.5, 99, 101, 103, 110, 118, 119, 120, 129, 148)

for Dish you NEED the 110, and 119 (129 for HD)

For DIRECT HD you need their HUGE dish that can pick up 5 sats - 99, 101, 103, 110, 119. It is 2 feet by 3 feet. And that is the SLIMLINE model. The first one was HUGE
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?main_c at=02&CAT=&PROD=AU9-S

For Dish HD you just need the 100.2 dish it is just slightly bigger than a standard dish.
http://www.solidsignal.com/prod_display.asp?PROD=D ISH1000.2

I use a log periodic antenna (Zenith Silver Sensor-- Terk produces a shoddy imitation, so beware). Allegedly, the is even better.

A reasonable HD DVR Shopping list:

DirecTV HD-Tivo ($900)
Panasonic 42" 7UY Plasma ($2200)
Onkyo HTS-760 6.1 Receiver/Speakers ($350)

I have this setup and I am very happy with the result. The key, IMHO, is to find a display that does a good job of cleaning up regular 'ol 4:3 NTSC signals so you the 80% of your channels that are not HD still look good enough, if not stunningly great like HD content does. Every nice display can do HD content justice, but not every nice display can do SD content justice.

You want the ChannelMaster GainMaster triple-LNB dish. It's a direct replacement for the DirecTV Phase III tri-LNB dish, and will give you 65% more signal while only annoying your significant other 25% more than the normal dish.

This place has it available in a variety of packages with multiswitches and diplexers, etc...