confused about OTA antennas and other requirements

[cyberpac9]

obviously i'm new to all this and need a little help/suggestions. :D

i am just beginning to set up a home theatre. what i have is a Mitsubishi WD-52525 with built in HD receiver. i use a cable card for digital cable. now, i want to watch local channels in HD when shows are presented in HD. i looked through several threads about antennas, etc and noticed many recommend antennaweb.org as a starting point. here is what i found:

yellow - uhf WLEX-DT 39 NBC LEXINGTON KY Awaiting FCC Permit 74° 10.0 39
yellow - vhf WKYT-DT 27.1 CBS LEXINGTON KY 71° 9.7 13
red - uhf WKLE-DT 46.1 PBS LEXINGTON KY 123° 14.9 42
violet - uhf WTVQ-DT 36.1 ABC LEXINGTON KY 74° 10.0 40

now, some posts have pointed out that you should get an antenna that will work with the colors you get from antennaweb.org. i purchased an antenna from my local Best Buy store and it had no color code on there anywhere. i got a Jensen TV931. it is a set top antenna and i'm not sure if this will work with the channels listed abve.

do i need a roof-mount antenna? will a set top work? does the antenna have to say HDTV in order to work or just UHF/VHF? amplified or not amplified? 3 of the 4 channels are in the 70° range (71° and 74° exactly), the other is 123° - will i have to rotate the antenna in order to get pbs at 123°? what is recommended based on the results above?

is that all i need to get channels in HD - my tv (with built-in receiver) and an antenna?

any help will be greatly appreciated!

[Ratman]

Well... hook up the Jensen and see how it performs.

Yes, you will have to occasionally make adjustments.

Traditional antennas are always better.
The higher the better.
Outdoors is best.

You're close enough to the x-mitters, so an indoor should be adequate.

[cyberpac9]

another thing i have noticed here on the board is sometimes people post that channels come in at a specific signal strength (as a percentage) - where does that info come from? how do i know what strength my channels come in? will i get that info since i have a built-in receiver?

[Ratman]

Yes... check your manual.

[cyberpac9]

Well... hook up the Jensen and see how it performs.

Yes, you will have to occasionally make adjustments.

Traditional antennas are always better.
The higher the better.
Outdoors is best.

You're close enough to the x-mitters, so an indoor should be adequate.

i saw this on antennaweb.org's website:

Alignment is not necessary for antennas coded as "multidirectional".

the Jensen is a multidirectional antenna. if i understand the above statement correctly, then i shouldn't "need" to make adjustments....is that right?

watched my first HD program yesterday - Steelers v. Pats game. wow!! can't wait to get the antenna working and set up.

[Ratman]

Interpret as you must...

Any indoor antenna will need to be adjusted from channel to channel/day to day/season to season.

As an example... try getting a solid/stable signal with PBS without moving your antenna.

Use whatever works best for you.