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TV antennas (questions?)

A

ATLien

Guest
Sorry, I know this is a radio board and not a TV board, but I've been on here before and you guys know everything about DXing and Antennas.

I live in Atlanta (only 12 miles WNW of downtown) and wanted to get a TV antenna to watch the over-the-air stuff. I'm considering dumping my Satellite service since I'm going to grad school this fall while working full-time. So paying over $600-700 a year to get 120+ channels (that I dont' have time to watch anymore) has lost it's appeal.

I have a couple pair of cheap rabbit ear antennas and they don't really do the job that well. I get a few channels clearly, a few okay, and a few snowscreens. The weird thing is I get the UHF channels (TBS-17, PBS-30, WB-36, CBS-46) better than the VHF stations (ABC-2, FOX-5, NBC-11). I thought the VHF naturally came in stronger???
Also the fact I only live 11-15 miles from all the big TV towers (1,000+ ft over HAAT) is strange. I thought I'd get a great signal being so close to town.

What TV antenna should I look into? Also I don't want to break the bank (under $100).
Any install advice? I'm assuming I need to put it up in the attic on my 2 story house to get better reception (roof is not an option).
 
if your wanting to watch the locals a small to medium sized antenna should work fine at your location

vhf low is much harder to get over rabbit ears for many reasons
the lower the channel the lower the frequency it broadcasts on and the larger the ant. is going to be
just make sure you get a vhf/uhf antenna for Atlanta
and get it up where it has clear view to the tx sites ( above the roofline or you'll could have bad ghosting esp on uhf due to reflected signals )

i would probably stay away from any type of powered ant.
you should have plenty of signal just 12 miles from atlanta even at 20 or 25 feet up

here is a good place to go

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/Address.aspx
 
This is not going to be an answer you were looking for, but if you want just the locals you can get just "basic" or "lifeline" cable service which should be only about 14-17 $$ a month, and then you don't have to fiddle with an antenna.

This service is bare-bones service, just the networks and any local access channels that are on the cable.

If you have a cable-ready TV or VCR, you should be able to access all the channels without the need of a "box".
 
uh oh....I didn't see the <$100 part.

Get yourself a smaller wineguard antenna and stand it on a tripod in your attic, at your distance you'll be pretty happy. I recently dumped my $116/mo cable bill i favor of a rather large UHF model which gets me all of Boston/Providence DTV/HDTV channels with stunning clarity.
 
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