Indoor and RV OTA Antennas (not including ZSS)

[Agent Smith]

I am in the East end of Scarborough close to the Lake. What kind of signal strength and channels would I be able to pick up iwth an indoor antena? Also does anyone have any recommendations for an indoor antena? All help is appreciated. Thanks!

[57]

Using the keywords "indoor + antenna" in the site's search engine, I was quickly able to find the following threads. (helps if you spell antenna correctly ).

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...indoor+antenna

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...indoor+antenna

http://digitalhomecanada.com/forum/s...indoor+antenna

YMMV depending on location, height, obstructions, etc.

[stampeder]

The links given by 57 are great but also see if Tigerbangs is online here at DHC and if not you can find him at http://www.hometheaterspot.com/ in the Antenna section. The guy's a veteran antenna wizard/guru/genius with over 30 years experience in the TV antenna biz.

Also sometimes the best question to ask is "what NOT to buy"... is an indoor antenna the only option? Is an outdoor or attic antenna a possibility? I take it you're sorta near Ajax so you probably have a clear unobstructed sightline to the southeast over the lake, right?

Its good that you are looking for solid antenna information before you ever go into a Radio Shack or Canadian Tire or other place to buy a cheapie indoor antenna.

cheers,
stampeder

[weblurker]

I've been doing a lot of reading about HDTV OTA in the GTA.

I know that an outdoor antenna will outperform an indoor antenna but, after reading many posts, it seems sometimes an indoor antenna can perform well enough to receive all the Toronto and Buffalo channels. Maybe not the Rochester channels, but at least the most southern Buffalo channels.

The Terk55 seems to get mixed reviews and I'm not sure if I can buy one on Toronto.

A few HDTV viewers and a couple of antenna reviewers like the Radio Shack 15-1880, found here:

http://www.radioshack.ca/estore/Prod...roduct=1501880

I've just read a few posts about the RCA powered indoor antenna, also sold by Radio Shack, found here:

http://www.radioshack.ca/estore/Prod...roduct=1518235

Does the CANT711 produce a stronger, more usable signal than the 15-1880? If so, that might increase the areas in the GTA where you might be able to pull in the Buffalo HDTV signals.

Does anyone have any opinions about or experience with the CANT711?

[jeneral]

If possible, don't bother with indoor antennas. Especially not the omni-directional models. If I could, I would use an outdoor antenna.

I use a Radio Shack 15-1880 and it works pretty well, but while playing around with my ATI HDTV wonder, I noticed that the Silver Sensor clone that ships with my ATI is a better overall antenna. In other words, without the amp, the 15-1880 is pretty crappy. At the moment, I'm considering trying an amp on the Silver Sensor clone. It will probably outperform the 15-1880. On analog channels alone, the SS clone is much clearer and the signal is stronger than the 15-1880 with full amplification.

The one nice thing from the SS antenna was that it allowed me to find the 'Sweet Spot'. You see, the RS antenna just reports a constant nine bars regardless of the antenna location. The SS gets reported acurately by my Samsung and my ATI. In the end, I found out that placing the antenna 2 feet lower and 1 foot to left gave a better overall signal than were it was before.

[hugh]

Timely post. I saw the 151-835 on sale in my local RS last night and wondered about it. I guess its what is known as dipole antenna.

I'm in West End Toronto so I want to draw signals from Buffalo (South) and the CN tower (SE) and was wondering if this would be good enough to do the trick.

[da_jonesy]

Anyone have any opinion on the RCA ANT711 indoor outdoor antenna?

[stampeder]

Originally Posted by da_jonesy

Anyone have any opinion on the RCA ANT711 indoor outdoor antenna?

I did a Google of "RCA ANT711" and the first hit was a fluff review of it that said nothing, but I looked over at a side bar showing that web site's most popular antennas and it was listed with a bunch of Terks! Oyyy veh. If the RCA ANT711 performs to your satisfaction I'll be glad that you didn't buy a Terk.

Some more info from you will help us give better recommendations. Until then, no recommendation from me on any indoor TV antennas, just the usual list of questions about why not an outdoor antenna, where's your location, what are your reception expectations/wants, do you have an ATSC tuner, the usual stuff.

[Ettisl]

I have a RCA indoor/outdoor model that is flat and 12" square. I think it is the predecessor to the one you are talking about and it is not very good. I use a Radioshack indoor bowtie antenna and it pulls in the PBS-HD channel that is over 50 miles away in Plattsburgh, NY. I live in the western part of Montreal. I do not know if Radioshack still sells them because I picked mine up for $5 when they were on sale. I believe the original price is around $15. You might want to try a Radioshack in the U.S.A.

[MartinR]

So where would one go to get a good comparatively priced indoor antenna now?

Thanks,
Martin.

[stampeder]

Originally Posted by MartinR

So where would one go to get a good comparatively priced indoor antenna now?

Canadian Tire has cheapies, but after reading the FAQs and comments in here you get what you paid for.

[Flavario]

anyone have experience using the ANT706 model (indoor/outdoor) from RCA?

[Remageno]

I'm in Elora, ON.
I have an RCA solidstate "UFO" style antenna on a 40ft tower.
I get several analog stations from toronto (ckto, city, etc) in the clear and a few from Buffalo (wned, upn, etc) but the buffalo stations fade in and out.

If I buy a digital tuner can I plug it into my system and step the digital signals down to my NTSC TV?

Thanks in advance.

[Yaamon]

Hmm if you are getting those analog stations clear with your current setup, then there is no reason why you should not get those same channels in hdtv and then output down the signals via 480i S video, compostite etc from the receiver.

You are about 110miles from the south end of the Buffalo stations like Abc etc.

[Twilight Cowboy]

Originally Posted by Remageno

I'm in Elora, ON.
I have an RCA solidstate "UFO" style antenna on a 40ft tower.
I get several analog stations from toronto (ckto, city, etc) in the clear and a few from Buffalo (wned, upn, etc) but the buffalo stations fade in and out.

If I buy a digital tuner can I plug it into my system and step the digital signals down to my NTSC TV?

Thanks in advance.

Forget it. Buffalo NTSC nets are on VHF which travels farther than UHF - which is where the Buffalo ATSC signals are. In addition, Buffalo ATSC stations are not at full power. You will require, at a minimum, a Wade Super Flying Arrow with a good quality UHF only preamp. Don't be fooled by summer time reception when tropo efects mean stations travel farther.