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Picked up this $22 UHF (HDTV) antenna from Radio Shack. I'm using only the forward elements consisting of the driven element (where the cable connects to the antenna) and the director elements. The large reflector elements are normally attached behind the driven element but I left those off to keep the antenna less noticable to the neighbors to avoid possible home owner's association head aches. The antenna is mounted to a short 5-foot pole and it's pointing at downtown Denver. I'm now picking up 6 OTA HDTV stations. I'm amazed at the HDTV picture quality!$22 Radio Shack UHF Antenna for HDTV...
Follow Ups:
Do you just leave the antenna pointed where it is, or do you need to move it a bit to receive signal?Your Broncos (although tested) keep on rolling, while our Chargers are 0-4 and over & out ...
Thanks. I have to admit that the photo was touched up a wee bit by turning up the color saturation using 'image enhancing' software.In my area, all the HDTV broadcasts originate from downtown Denver (for now). All I needed to do was point the antenna at the tall buildings in Denver about 15 miles NE of me.
The antenna is directional but the 'beam width' isn't so narrow to require very accurate pointing. The HDTV tuner has an Auto Channel Memory setup function where it scans all channels and adds active ones to the preset channel memory. It also has an on-screen signal strength bargraph. Once the channels were memorized, I experimented a little with pointing the antenna. There was very little difference in signal strength if I kept the antenna within about 30-degrees of dead center.
Just to be sure all the stations were (still) coming from downtown, I pointed the antenna at Lookout Mountain which is NW of me. Picked up nothing. Lookout Mountain is where the HDTV towers will eventually be located and from there, the signal and coverage area should be even greater.
Yeah, those Broncos barely squeaked by for a win yesterday. If I recall, they were badly embarrassed by the Chargers not too long ago!
37-13, Broncos.
.
for the playoffs. So it was like Charger's varsity against Bronco's JV.
HDTV for Dummies.
As Mel aready mentioned, you need an HDTV tuner and an antenna. For best results, you also want a TV that is HDTV ready so it can take advantage of the higher resolution HD picture. The HDTV tuner will likely output a lower-res signal in order to work with non HDTV ready TV's but you won't get the full effect. I'm using a Sony 16:9 HDTV ready TV and the HiDef broadcasts in 'widescreen' are especially awesome.Samsung SIR-T351 HDTV Tuner
Yes, though a few digital tv sets come with a digital tuner already built in.The tuner is a box that feeds into your tv inputs either through SVHS, component or digital inputs together with audio inputs. It comes with its own remote.
Your over-the-air HDTV antenna is attached to it and to see HDTV you switch your TV input to the tuner and tune the tuner to the station you want.
The picture quality is probably better than you have ever seen (unless you have seen a true HDTV hookup which you cannot in most retail stores). Its far better than any DVD I have ever seen. A football game in HDTV is incredible; gives a real sense of being there.
I use cable for my HD (Cox, San Diego) but I'm sorely tempted to find a great deal on a set-top box and put up an antenna. I know a guy who put up a Winegard mast mount antenna in his attic with a rotor, and he gets all of the LA area HD stations clearly, along with the local stations.
"A little government and a little luck are necessary in life, but only a fool trusts either of them".
-P. J. O'Rourke
I'm kind of in a hole where 52 and I-5 meet in SD, so not sure what kind of OTA reception I'd get. Right now I'm using the STB from Time Warner cable. Chargers football is bad (tiling/pixelation) but otherwise I get 6 channels that look very very good.
Comcast Cable in the Denver market *just* started offering HDTV service but they have fewer local HD channels than I can receive OTA and their other HDTV offerings are premium channels that I would have to pay extra for. I may try DirecTV satellite at some point but for now, it's fun playing with OTA HDTV.
Gorgeous area. I love the Rockies.The mountains, not the baseball team. Sorry.
We don't like the baseball team either... or the basket ball team. But everybody loves the Broncos and the Avalanche. ;-)
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