TV Antenna Reception

i live in nyc and will be losing my cable tv hookup soon for various reasons, can i just buy an antenna and get reception? or is that wishful thinking... thanks- i only really need basic channels, 2-13.
any recommendations on particular antennas?

It depends on where you live. Antennas are pretty cheap now days. If you live an appartement building you should be able to ask you building superintendant and they should either say yes the antenna will work or no you need to get premission to put one on the roof.

You might want to think about getting and HDTV antenna if you TV is an HDTV. The signals in most areas in NYC are decent.

2007-07-28 05:18:18 by benjamin

Fiddling around with rabbit ears can be frustrating. Use your antenna the right way to get a better signal.

Just got my grandparents' analog to digital converter box installed and realized that they REALLY need help with their antenna reception. What can I do for them. Any expensive fix is out of the question here as is cable. Thanks in advance.

What do they have now? The only answer is to get a better antenna and locate it relatively high off the ground, pointed in the direction of the transmitters. A decent antenna will not be all that expensive. Next, keep the cable from the antenna to the box as short as is practical. Another alternative, but more expensive than a new antenna, is to buy an antenna amplifier which boosts the received signals. These come in 2 forms, one which is right at the antenna and the other is put anywhere in the line from the antenna. Both will require a power supply since the amplifier is an active device. The one which mounts right at the antenna is better. There are so-called non-powered boosters, but they do NOT work any better than the antenna already does by itself since they are a passive device and serve only to filter out various types of signal noise.

2008-04-01 00:44:05 by Phartzalot

Price: $79.99

Supports all digital and analog TV frequencies including VHF, UHF and 1080 signals
Easily installs outdoors or in attic with snap lock elements and fold out assembly
Extended range with signal reception quality up to 40 miles
Ultra small design needs less than 1 meter of space for placement where traditional antennas do not work
Supports all digital and analog TV frequencies including VHF and UHF and 1080 signals

I have installed a TV Card on my PC but in my room there is no plug for the main antenna of the house. I dont want to have wires coming in and out of my room so i have bought an indoors antenna with an amplifier.

The quality is get is mediocre.. Are there any tricks or suggestions to make the reception qualit better? I tried the foil trick but that doesnt work.

Anyone?

Built in amplifier was a good choice for tabletop antennas......

If you want BETTER reception, the ONLY choice you have is an OUTDOOR antenna with a 20 db RF amplifier connected.....

An 8 Bay bowtie antenna is about the best choice.....
But the guys at Radio Shack can suggest the proper choice for your area.....
It's a Saturday project......

2007-03-31 14:38:17 by obiecy

Price: $49.99

High quality construction - made in the USA!
High performance design - outperforms all major brands
Omnidirectional reception, no adjustments needed
Paper thin - hang behind any picture or bookcase near your tv

Broadcast TV reception is poor on some channels. Will aluminum or something else on the indoor antenna dipoles bring better reception

The first two posters here are misinformed; Digital TV means you can still use the same antenna, you just need to hook it up to a converter box, so never mind what they said; you probably knew that already.

For an indoor antenna, aluminum foil just might help a bit, might as well give it a shot. But it might just be time for an improved antenna.

2009-02-24 15:41:33 by Trude

We've tried 2 different large roof mount antennas (one brand new) and 2 different tv's (both 10+ yrs but worked well till now). The old antenna was a little beat up, but working well, then suddenly no reception. We replaced it, no improvement. Hooked up the other tv, no improvement. Inspected the antenna cable and found no obvious damage. We installed the cable ourselves when we built the house, so we know there are no splices. What else could be the problem?

All it takes is rats or other rodents chewing on it. I lost a thick walled fuel line to a single puncture by a squirrel.

You could get a length of coax and temporarily by-pass your current cable to verify the cable is bad.

2008-02-24 13:45:12 by J&CF