another digital tv question

Nothing. Any antenna that will pick up UHF frequencies is "compatible" with DTV.

Pretty much any TV antenna will do.

"Smart" antennas are electronically steerable, IF the tuner supports it

- EIA/CEA-909 standard. Not a lot do.

One DTV converter box from Apex, the Apex DT502, has S-video output, the RJ45 for a smart antenna, and qualifies for the $40 coupon.

A rev to the standard, CEA-909-A supports smart antenna steering over the coaxial link, but I don't know of any antenna/tuner combos that support it.

In large chunks of the Silicon Valley area, the vast majority of over the air DTV stations broadcast from two locations -- Sutro in San Francisco, and San Bruno peak. You can cover both locations with one antenna.

Check

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Also take a look at

I thought the signal was weaker so you needed a bigger one.

In general, if your antenna was sufficient last spring it will be sufficient after Feb. 20th.

That said, I "lost" the ABC network when the local affiliate began transmitting DTV. Neither of two converter boxes would find the channel. I thought they'd gone off the air. What happened is that the station transmits DTV on a higher freq. than the other three local stations, a freq. that requires a newer, hi-gain antenna. The UHF loop/rabbit ears I've used for 30 years won't pull it in, while they do pull in the other three stations. I can see the towers of all four stations from my yard, so it ain't distance that causes the problem.

Maybe, depending on your exact location in relation to the station you're trying to watch. I'm finding that a *VERY* simple dipole (As in, strip back 4.6 inches of braid at the end of a piece of co-ax, then fold the stripped braid and the center core (no need to strip the center insulation off the core) to form a T shape) tossed out the window is sufficient to get me all the signal I need, despite my location being considered "fringe" or "extreme fringe" for most of the channels available here. All but three of the ones that I'm supposed to be able to see come in fine (and those three I can do without - I don't speak spanish or korean, and I can cheerfully live without preachers trying to tell me about their imaginary friend in the sky, so not having them come in doesn't bother me in the least.)

Note: 4.6 inches was chosen to be in the center of the frequency spread for the group of channels I'm supposed to be able to get - Your group of channels may need a different length to match the frequencies your stations are on.

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Not all stations are converting to UHF, the high frequencies , channels 7 -13 are also going to be used, as far as I understand,