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Over Air TV reception in Southern NH

M

masscarnage99

Guest
I am going to be moving to a 2nd floor apartment in Derry, NH next month and was wondering if anyone could give me a reception report for that area for the OTA HDTV stations. I am going to be buying a converter box for my analog TV. Any suggestions on good models and indoor antennas? I just mainly want to know are the Boston stations out of range for a TV with just an indoor HD antenna or am I going to need and outdoor to put on my porch? I am trying to avoid paying Comcast for the network stations.
 
I’de take that with a grain of salt, I believe the estimates on TV Fool are based on having an outdoor antenna. It’s possible but not likely that an apartment building may still have a working master antenna system. With an indoor antenna, it can matter quite a bit what direction your window faces.
 
If you're on the second floor and your building is on normal terrain, not behind a big mountain or in a valley, I think you'll be close enough to Boston to get a good signal on the major stations. Certainly you'll get ABC from WMUR (DTV 9) in Manchester. And probably New Hampshire PBS WENH (DTV 11).

I have a cottage about 100 miles north of Boston on the New Hampshire-Maine border. Like you, I use an inexpensive digital converter I got from Walmart, made by Magnovox. We don't get Boston signals in the daytime but many nights we get WHDH NBC (DTV 42) and WBZ CBS (DTV 30). If conditions are good we also get WGBH PBS (DTV 19), WCVB ABC (DTV 20) and WFXT Fox (DTV 31). On occasion we get WSBK Ind. (DTV 39), WMFP Ind. (DTV 18), even CBS and Fox from Providence (DTV 13 and 12).

At this point, Digital TV reception is not an exact science. At the cottage, TV Fool predicted nearly all the stations I get with one exception. It says one of the easiest stations we should get is WMEA Biddeford Maine (DTV 45), the Maine PBS station with its tower near Sanford ME. For some reason, we don't even get a blip on DTV 45, let alone a usable signal.

Two last notes... to improve your reception, you may invest in a signal booster, available from Radio Shack. I think it helps our reception. (Save the receipt. Radio Shack is good about taking things back if you don't have success with them.) Also digital reception is much more sensitive than analog. Just by moving the antenna a inch, you may improve your reception of some channels and hurt your reception of others.

Remember to post your results when you set up your TV in the new apartment!

Gregg
[email protected]
 
kc1ih said:
I’de take that with a grain of salt, I believe the estimates on TV Fool are based on having an outdoor antenna. It’s possible but not likely that an apartment building may still have a working master antenna system. With an indoor antenna, it can matter quite a bit what direction your window faces.
Click to expand...

The report TV Fool generates shows which stations can be received with indoor, attic-mounted and outdoor antennas. It will also show which signals could be picked up using "extreme measures" (RF amps, high-gain antennas, extremely tall antenna mounts, etc.).
 
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