1st day of school

[mcgador]

I purchased my 38310 last night and it will be in the family room tonight! After drooling for an HDTV(mostly, this one) for almost 2 years I realized the moment is now and I have yet to really research my options regarding HD availibility on my DirecTV subscription and OTA reception ability! Fortunately for me, I have virtually no obstructions in my immediate path to metropolitan Sacramento.

I'm wondering if anyone has any recommendations on which antenna I might use...do I want to consider the Terk-TV55 (helical coil technology, impedance matching amplifier, easy install) or do I really want a yagi type of external roof mounted antenna, ie-Antennacraft AC-9? Also, I currently pay DirecTV for local channels and I don't believe DTV transmits HD through there local subscription, right? If so, once my OTA system is installed, is there any reason to keep my local DTV subscription...will I still have good analog reception?

Lastly, now that I will have 2 DTV receivers(w/dual-dual-LNB dish) do I need to alert DTV or is it as simple as just wiring a separate line to the other receiver's location, like a cable box?

Any other input or recommendation would be greatly appreciated!

[kevinw]

You need to do some research...Antennaweb.org (http://antennaweb.org) . This is a good place to startfor antenna research. Terk is all hype, minimal performance for a maximum price.

Locals can not be decided untill you hook up an antenna. Many times it is not a great idea to split your OTA signal to more than one set. Keep the OTA signal to your HD tuner.

Direct supplies only HBO, HDnet and possibly 1 other channel. The majority of your Hd content will come from your local OTA HD feed. I think you also need the oval dish from Direct to get HD from them.

[HENRY-A]

I found out that a Radio Shack 19.95 UHF antenna works fine. I live 60 miles from the transmitters. and I can get a 72% signal from ABC in Boston.

[mcgador]

Thanks to everyone who has participated thus far...I hope this thread will at least shed some light on newcomers to HDTV!

I consistently heard nothing good about TERK(in addition to some dissappointing personal FM antenna experience myself) and its rather excessive pricing, so I opted for the Radio Shack attic mounted antenna for $24.99(it's worth whatever amount of work it takes). With an unobstructed path to transmission towers 15 miles away, my local analog channels basically suck, however all I really care about is the digital HDTV reception which looks absolutely fantastic! I still have to pay for the very nice local channel access from DirecTV, but it's nice and convenient to quickly have access to the DirecTv and Tv antenna switch on the 38310 remote...as easy to change Antenna sources as it is to change the channel! The HDTV doesn't always look as wonderful as HDNET but compared to analog...it's still awesome. The bottom line? Don't get overly absorbed with a need for an expensive HDTV specific antenna! As many of the veterans of this website have been saying all along, digital reception is either near perfect or it's non-existent, so a fairly inexpensive trip to the local Radio Shack suited me just fine!