# Need OTA Antenna Advice



## mwgiii (Jul 19, 2002)

I'm in Birmingham, AL.

OTA Locals are at 247 & 249 degrees < 4 miles from my house.

EXCEPT ABC which is at 72 degrees, TBN which is at 41 degrees, and PAX which is at 33 degrees (not really worried about getting PAX & TBN). All are about 30 miles from the house.

I found this antenna. http://www.antennasdirect.com/db4_bow.htm multidirectinal up to 55 miles.

Any advice or suggestions would be appreciated.


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## Mike123abc (Jul 19, 2002)

If ABC is really close too then you could probably just use rabbit ears (or even rabbit ears in the attic) and just play around with them to get the best picture all at once.

If not then you could be lucky that they are on different bands, i.e. VHF-Lo 2-6, VHF-Hi 7-13, and UHF. If so you can find VHF antennas that are in two parts that you can point the Lo one way and the Hi the other way. Same thing with VHF only and UHF only antennas. In my case I have antennas pointing to different locations and different amplification on each band. I have VHF-Lo actually attenuated down since they are really close (less than 5 miles), VHF-Hi and UHF amplified. I even have 2 UHF antennas with single channel filters to get UHF in two directions.


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## mongreldave (May 28, 2004)

I'm a newbie, and I need some quick advice.

I live in NJ on the Hudson river directly across from NYC. I can see the Empire State building from my balcony, where I've been told all analog and HD broadcasts are made, and it's probably about 2 miles (or less). Do I need to buy a special OTA HD antenna? can I get away with an old dipole antenna that I've had for 20 years from an old tv? Or, do you think a small OTA HD indoor antenna from Radioshack is sufficient? I just don't want to buy something I don't really need, and have to mount it, since I live in an apt building.

any help would be appreciated.
thanks!



Mike123abc said:


> If ABC is really close too then you could probably just use rabbit ears (or even rabbit ears in the attic) and just play around with them to get the best picture all at once.
> 
> If not then you could be lucky that they are on different bands, i.e. VHF-Lo 2-6, VHF-Hi 7-13, and UHF. If so you can find VHF antennas that are in two parts that you can point the Lo one way and the Hi the other way. Same thing with VHF only and UHF only antennas. In my case I have antennas pointing to different locations and different amplification on each band. I have VHF-Lo actually attenuated down since they are really close (less than 5 miles), VHF-Hi and UHF amplified. I even have 2 UHF antennas with single channel filters to get UHF in two directions.


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## Chris Blount (Jun 22, 2001)

mongreldave said:


> I'm a newbie, and I need some quick advice.
> 
> I live in NJ on the Hudson river directly across from NYC. I can see the Empire State building from my balcony, where I've been told all analog and HD broadcasts are made, and it's probably about 2 miles (or less). Do I need to buy a special OTA HD antenna? can I get away with an old dipole antenna that I've had for 20 years from an old tv? Or, do you think a small OTA HD indoor antenna from Radioshack is sufficient? I just don't want to buy something I don't really need, and have to mount it, since I live in an apt building.
> 
> ...


Hello and welcome to DBSTalk.Com! :welcome_s

No, you don't need a special OTA HD antenna. Sounds to me like an indoor antenna should work fine.


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## MarkA (Mar 23, 2002)

An indoor will probably work nice at your house, if it's good. May I suggest the Antiference Silver Sensor antenna (available from US distributers Philips (at Wal-Mart) and Zenith (Best Buy and Sears). Excellent, the best indoor antenna around.


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