Indianapolis OTA Antenna options

[Tersanyus]

Hi all,

I'm looking for recommendations for an antenna for OTA HDTV broadcasts in the Indianapolis, Indiana area.

Just recently purchased an RCA D52W23 HDTV Monitor (I know, may not have been a great choice but it was cheap) and a Westinghouse LTV-27w2 LCD HDTV Monitor. Niether unit has an ATSC tuner. So a few weeks ago I picked up 2 Samsung SIR-T451 Terrestial HDTV Tuners.

I chose the Samsungs since they are QAM capable and wanted to see if anything was available thru the Comcast cable. To my suprise the locals are there in the clear as well as a few other channels and a bunch of peoples PPV choices. Main reason I don't want to use the QAM capability is that all channels are not available thru the Comcast cable line and no guide info is available either.

Hooked up a plain old pair of rabbit ears and suprisingly am getting good signals on a few of the OTA locals. Sometimes I have to move the antenna around to get different channels.

For those that will ask here is what I get when using an address on antennaweb.org

* yellow - uhf WRTV-DT 6.1 ABC INDIANAPOLIS IN 19° 10.1 25
* yellow - uhf WTHR-DT 13.1 NBC INDIANAPOLIS IN 21° 12.3 46
* yellow - uhf WXIN-DT 59.1 FOX INDIANAPOLIS IN 20° 9.4 45
* yellow - vhf WISH-DT 8.1 CBS INDIANAPOLIS IN 19° 9.4 9
* yellow - uhf WFYI-DT 20.1 PBS INDIANAPOLIS IN 19° 10.1 21
* lt green - uhf WTTV-DT 48.1 WB BLOOMINGTON IN 170° 25.0 48
* red - uhf WNDY-DT 23.1 UPN MARION IN 35° 31.7 32


I'm not too sure what I am looking at on antennaweb.org but it seems to me that one of the channels I do get clearly is in the "red" category, 23.1 as from what I can see I would need something much larger than the simple, unpowered rabbit ears I am currently using.

So does anyone have any recommendations on an antenna for me? I'd really like to hear from anyone in the Indianapolis area as well.

Thanks!

[tigerbangs]

Indy has a VHF digital station on channel 9, so if you want it, ther eis only one UHF antenna that does well down in the VHF range: the Channel Master 4228. It's not terribly expensive, but it will require a rotator to get your UPN station, if it means anything to you. You can also try a Winegard PR-7015, which is a good and cheap all-channel antenna that would be terrific for your location: use a rotator if you want the out-of-town stations, but otherwise you'll do well with it. Mount ant antenna up high and outdoors: attics installations present problems that are easily overcome by mounting outdoors.

http://www.channelmaster.com
http://www.winegard.com

[Tersanyus]

Thanks for the advice.

Couldn't find a 4228 locally (may look online later) so I got a standard rooftop antenna just to see what I would get. I got a Channel Master 3016 from Lowes. Put it up on two 10 foot poles at the back of my 1 story house.

Left the antenna loose enough so I could turn the antenna to fine tune the channels. If I pointed the antenna toward the main direction of my channels I get those channels just fine. No go on the one south of me. So I turned the antenna towards the southern one and it came in fine. So did most of the ones north of me except for one that comes and goes. It's the one at 21° north. I probably just need to tune the antenna a little bit more.

What is also interesting is that I get a couple of channels not listed on antennaweb. Looks like the info on antennaweb may be a little dated or these channels just started transmitting.

Also was thinking I could add another antenna, perhaps the 4228 and link it to the 3010 I just put up. Is there some kind of reverse splitter than can combine the signals from both antennas into one line?

Thanks.

[Ratman]

Why not just get a rotor and use the antenna that you have?

[tigerbangs]

The rotor makes a lot more sense: it will allow you to use one coax cable for everything, and will give you a lot more flexibility. Use a Channel Master 9521a: it's remote controlled, and easy to use. Skywalker Communications in Indy has a good deal on the at the moment: go for it! If the antenna you bought works as well as you say it does, don't sweat buying another antenna, just install the rotator.