[Q] Advice on indoor television antenna?

May 10, 2004 2 Replies

I have a friend who has poor uhf reception at home, and he's hoping that he can buy an indoor antenna that will help. From his comments, I think one of the stations is just really weak, and is buried in snow, if it comes in at all. He lives in an apartment building and can't place an antenna on the roof. He does have a third-story window, although there are a bunch of buildings in that area (reflections?) and the window's probably not pointing at the transmitters.



My friend is interested in various indoor antennas he's seen for sale. He mentioned something called a "wave antenna"-- is this a commercial product (and not just a generic description of a half-wave antenna, for example)?



Some people say indoor antennas work; some say that rabbit ears are about as good as you can do; others say that a powered antenna helps. So I'm hoping for some insight to cut through the noise.



Are there any comprehensive reviews around for commercial products (e.g., Consumer Reports)? Or good ideas for simple DIY projects?



I know this is probably a FAQ topic, but the only faq list I found was too generic to help my friend.



Thanks in advance!


--David


Antennas are very experimental when it comes to reception. You would have to try it. I found the simplest ones usually work the best. If the signal is very weak at the location, you may not be able to improve it much. You will only know after trying a few things.

The best approach for the frequencies used in TV broadcasting is to have an antenna in the line of site.

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My friend is interested in various indoor antennas he's seen for sale. He mentioned something called a "wave antenna"-- is this a commercial product (and not just a generic description of a half-wave antenna, for example)?

Some people say indoor antennas work; some say that rabbit ears are about as good as you can do; others say that a powered antenna helps. So I'm hoping for some insight to cut through the noise.

Are there any comprehensive reviews around for commercial products (e.g., Consumer Reports)? Or good ideas for simple DIY projects?

I know this is probably a FAQ topic, but the only faq list I found was too generic to help my friend.

Thanks in advance!

--David

Is he using any kind of UHF antenna now? If so, and if it won't clear snow, I doubt if any indoor antenna will. It's been my experience that it's a waste of money buying indoor antennas with all the bells & whistles. Usually just a simple VHF\UHF Rabbit ear model works the best.

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