Antenna for St. Louis Digital

[RocknWoll]

Hi. I need some help regarding an indoor antenna (hopefully) for my digital channels. I live 14 miles east of the city of St. Louis and here is what antennaweb.org said about where I lived:

* yellow - uhf KSDK-DT 5.1 NBC ST. LOUIS MO 267° 23.4 35
* yellow - uhf WPXS-DT 21 PAX MOUNT VERNON IL TBD 97° 22.8 21
* yellow - uhf KTVI-DT 2.1 FOX St. Louis MO 262° 25.8 43
* yellow - uhf KMOV-DT 4.1 CBS ST. LOUIS MO 259° 21.9 56
* yellow - uhf KDNL-DT 30.1 ABC ST. LOUIS MO 269° 23.2 31
* yellow - uhf KPLR-DT 11.1 WB ST. LOUIS MO 267° 22.9 26
* blue - uhf KETC-DT 9.1 PBS ST. LOUIS MO 255° 27.9 39
* violet - uhf WRBU-DT 47 UPN E. ST. LOUIS IL 247° 34.7 47


Any ideas on what indoor antenna to get would be appreciated. I will be receiving my new TV on Tuesday of next week, the Hitachi 42V715 with an integrated tuner and would like to get the proper, not too expensive antenna.
The Mount Vernon, IL channel listed above I don't really care about receiving.

Thanks.

[Ratman]

IMO, an indoor antenna either won't work and if does... it work very well. (I could be wrong)

Most indoor antennas cost the same or more than an outdoor antenna.

You can try the Zenith Silver Sensor (Sears) or the Radio Shack 15-1880.

[RocknWoll]

Thanks Ratman. In your opinion, how hard is it to put up an outdoor antenna? That is my main concern with this whole thing. I am fairly big at 235 and am not real sure about getting on the roof. There is an old antenna in our attic that the former owners left up there that I might look into. What is your opinion of attic antennas?

Thanks again.

[Ratman]

IMO... I always try the easiest first.

If the existing attic antenna has a decent UHF portion, you may be ready to go. Try it by all means!

If that doesn't work out, you an always replace the old one with one of these:
http://www.radioshack.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=CTLG&category%5Fname=CTLG%5F003%5F001%5F002%5F000&product%5Fid=15%2D2160

[banda]

Howdy! I'm an O'Fallon OTA HD viewer.

My setup: A Radio Shack UHF only antenna, mounted outdoors on top of my garage, and spliced into the existing coax for a Dish Network satellite receiver with diplexers at the dish and inside the house. After the inside diplexer, I have a RCA 10db amplifier.

I get signal qualities in the high 80's or better on all of the Saint Louis DTV stations, no dropouts of any kind.

Based on my experience, with a attic antenna, you will at least need a quality amplifier. Without the amplifier, my reception was borderline, with occasional droupouts, and my antenna is outdoors.

I mounted my UHF antenna with a mast and tripod also bought from Radio Shack, and it was very easy to do. But then again, I didn't have to run any cable since I was piggy-backing on the satellite installation.

[banda]

The Mount Vernon, IL channel listed above I don't really care about receiving.

Don't sweat it. The UPN and PAX stations listed aren't actually broadcasting anything at this time. You can pick up everything else in that list with a directional UHF antenna with no rotator from O'Fallon. They're all within about ten degrees.

[RocknWoll]

Thanks Banda. I will play around with some things and see what I can get in. I don't get the TV until Tuesday (Hitachi 42V715) and am chomping at the bit. The TV has a built in tuner, but I also have the Charter DVR which I can get Fox, CBS, and KSDK on, but I feel like it is foolish to waste the built in HDTV so that maybe I can bring in the above channels and also the WB, ABC and PBS. I was wrong in my earlier post and we do not have an antenna in the attic, just the wiring for one.

[Ratman]

Check the existing wiring in the attic. If it's not RG6 coax... run a new cable.

[RocknWoll]

With an attic antenna, do you still need to run a ground wire or is that only if the antenna is mounted outdoors? Probably a stupid question I know, but when it comes to electricity I want to be sure.

[banda]

I don't think a ground wire is necessary for an indoor (attic) antenna.

So do you have your new TV set up yet? Getting any DTV?

[RocknWoll]

Hi Banda,

I am getting HD through Charter on the following, HBO, Showtime, Fox, NBC, CBS, ESPN, HDNet and HDMovie. My OTA antenna has not gone so well. I have bought 3 indoor ones, the last being the RS 15-1880 and the best signal I could get no matter what I tried or channel that was on was 75, but not a consistent 75. Most of the channels peaked in the high 60's to low 70's. My question is what next? I either want to do attic (because that way I would not have to get on the roof) or outside. What type of antenna do you have and what type of mount do you have? I know you did not have to run any cable, but I am not really worried about that. I am worried if I do it outside about the grounding part and the stability of the mount.

Thanks.

[mjlinss]

Your Antennaweb numbers are very similar to mine. I am about 27 miles from all stations. As far as indoor antennas go, the RCA 1250 is the one that I have had the best luck with. It is around $25 at Wal-Mart. My signal strength off of it is typically around 75-80, more than enough to get a consistent picture. The only channel that I have had any problems with is 30, and that was remedied by repositioning it. If you want to avoid the outdoor route, that's the one I would recommend. I tried a much more expensive Samsung antenna from Best Buy, and it was not nearly as effective. I recently bought the DB4 off of antennasdirect.com. It has worked very well for me. It's also fairly small, not bulky and obtrusive at all.

[RocknWoll]

Thanks mjlinss. I tried the RCA 1250 and had only modest success and not enough to play around with it and keep it. The DB4 is working well for you though? Did you have any trouble installing it outside? I only have a single story, do you have a two story house? I just contacted Antennas Direct today and will go from there.

[mjlinss]

Yes, the DB4 seems to be working very well. It was right around $50, and I also paid for the mounting pole. I have a split level house, but installed it near my dish on the back of the garage, which is only 1 story. No need to ground it, just install it, point it, and run the cable for it. Very simple. Do you have a lot of trees or tall buildings between your house and the towers? Make sure you install it where you've got a straight shot.

[RocknWoll]

Thanks mjlinss. I will probably go with that one. I do not have a lot of trees or tall buildings so I should be fine.