# My HDTV OTA is lousy



## Jedk1 (Sep 23, 2003)

I just bought a new HD Tivo for DirectTV.
Most of my OTA channels don't come in, and the ones that do, come in really crappy.

I have a UHF/VHF/FM attenna in my attic. It's pretty big.










The questions are:
1) Should I get one of those clip on antennas that attach to the dish?
2) Or should I move my antenna outside?
3) Or should I get a UHF Antenna only and mount that outside?
4) Should I get another kind of powered antenna?
4) Or should I do something else?

I live in the NYC area, just about a mile east of Queens, in Valley Stream, not that far from JFK Airport.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
JedK


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## zubinh (Jun 11, 2004)

JedK1 - 

I live in New hyde park and am getting A DirectTV system installed with a Winegard SquareShooter Antenna next Saturday.

The antenna will be mounted onto the Dish. I'll let you know how it goes.


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## Jedk1 (Sep 23, 2003)

Thanks.
That will be great.
Looking forward to your reply.
JedK


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## JohnnyAppleSeed (Jun 14, 2004)

Jedk1 though I dont post much here. I am in Cisco Networking for WiFi and the digital realm for networking is not different for any type of signal (A/V or Networking). Reading your post only once, I will bet $5 its that your antenna being inside the house is the cause. The analog vs digital is just as big as clarity vs bandwidth. Analog pound for pound will always win (never tell me otherwise), long as you can afford it. 4DTV by Motorola is the most clearest picture for upper $$$ consumers (using ole analog CBAND!!!, why? The ANALOG bandwidth!!). Digital is good for consumers because of low equipment costs (computer hardware is dirt cheap), and good for companies cause of how little bandwidth those precious 1s and 0s take up...

Now I bet if u took some nice rabbit ears out side you will get better OTA reception than big boy UHF in the attic. Why? Cause are digital friends are square waves. Either you get them or you don't. Think of how much u can stand interference with analog OTA VHF/UHF TV vs a scratched DVD. Same difference as a mile and a foot.

Bring that nice antenna outside. Be happy with the clarity. Only reason people put those antennas in the attic for cosmetic. Well it wont work in our digital era (sort of a step back in my mind in some aspects). Though you don't need that big boy. Ugliness vs Clarity = Medium sized antenna outside. With over half the people in the US still on old analog quality signals, they wont be pushing much more power to the digital OTA signals anytime soon (lookup how many times the digital FCC mandate on OTA HDTV has been postponed/delayed).


-John


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

I also vote on the move the antenna out on the roof. I tried the attic route but just couldn't make it work to my satisifcation, much better out side.


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

While you lose 50% of your reception, going from outside to inside, i wouldn't give up on your antenna. It is superior to anything mentioned here. You might try a pre-amp/amp and go to antenna web.org to make sure your antenna is properly aligned.


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## Jedk1 (Sep 23, 2003)

olgeezer said:


> While you lose 50% of your reception, going from outside to inside, i wouldn't give up on your antenna. It is superior to anything mentioned here. You might try a pre-amp/amp and go to antenna web.org to make sure your antenna is properly aligned.


I think the foil backed insulation outside my attic is killing my reception.
I'm going to move to an outside antenna. I will keep my current antenna inside, and use it for FM reception.

I have to research these antennas.
What do you think about this Square Shooter vs a Clip on Amplified vs a UHF Yagi with an attached amplifier? I live about 15 miles from the Empire State building.




























The Yagi won't work with Fox which is broadcast on VHF.

Thanks,
JedK


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

Keep your current antenna and move it outside. If it is still not good enough add a pre-amp/amp. Check antennaweb.org for color coding. Then check to see which antenna you need according to your location. The 3 antenna you showed, i believe are green/yellow color coding which is generally the strongest signal that is easiest to receive.


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## Jedk1 (Sep 23, 2003)

I went into my attic and looked at the attenna.
It's has A/C duct work in front of it, and the attic is shielded with Insulation.
So something has to be done.

My house is very tall, and has a very pitched roof. Not a do it yourself job if I'm going to put the attenna outside. 
I can put the attenna next to the Dish myself, because that is about 20' off the ground, right at the bottom of the roof, attached to the side of the house. I can put the attenna on a 10' poll. It's going to be ugly and strange looking over there. That's why I was thinking of getting the square shooter. A little nicer looking than my current attenna (see picture above of my current attenna).

*Now here's the question for you attenna experts*
If I put an attenna next to the dish, it will be pointing west but also slightly north. That will point it directly at my neighbors brick house. I think that will be better than inside the attic even though it's probably 30' higher in there. 
What do you guys think? Should I hire someone to put it up on my chimney?
My wife is going to kill me, so take that into consideration too 

Thanks,
Jed


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## william04 (Jul 2, 2004)

i do not reccomend the terk tv 42 or 44 clip on antenna its OK if you postition the antenna to the right spot you will be able to get at least 4 of them clear and sharp with no ghosting and blacking out..

but they will always those slect few that come in ok with ghosting and fading color like its macrovision protection..

also dont buy the clip on if none of you local stations not have atleast 5000 or 6000 watts of power any less its gonna look like crap...
have you tried the zentih silver sensor yet?? i know amazon.com has it for 24.99 i heard its good..


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## Jedk1 (Sep 23, 2003)

The Zenith Siver Sensor to me, is more for apartments. For people who don't have access to the outdoors in the direction of something like the Empire State Building.
Also, my TV is in the basement, so I wouldn't put one of these on top of my TV.

It's going to have to be an outdoor antenna.

I'm waiting to hear from *ZubinH*.
Then I will either get that Square Shooter, or move my antenna outside.
I may move my antenna outside, and just sit it on my deck which is under my Dish just as a test.

Thanks anyway,
jedK


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## olgeezer (Dec 5, 2003)

Move your antenna outside. Hire someone who is experienced and will do good work.


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## Jedk1 (Sep 23, 2003)

This is a really good article about OTA Antennas.

http://www.hdtvexpert.com/Pages/squareshot.htm


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