# Anyone using an indoor HDTV Antenna?



## shoe (Apr 6, 2005)

I was in Lowes last week and came across these HDTV antennas, they had 3 indoor RCA models there. 

When I got my TV I got a years free HD box that year has expired and the rogers box is going back. I use the HD on my tv more for movies and video games. However having local HD tv channels would be nice at the right price.

Has anyone had any experience with free over the air HDTV ( which by the way from what I have read blows the socks off filtered cable)

If anyone in the Toronto area is on an antenna id be curious to know what your pulling in.

the model I was looking at there was RCA ANT806 Amplified Indoor/Outdoor HDTV Antenna, it was a wall mount unit.


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## dona83 (Jun 26, 2005)

I have an RCA amplified indoor antenna (rabbit ears + loop) that worked great, you cannot get the same HD quality over cable, satelite, or telephone line. I heard about flat antennas also by RCA that works just as good but is omnidirectional. yi

I'm not sure about the RCA ANT806 but do some due research before you buy. If you only have to point your antenna to one location to get all or most of your channels, a bidirectional antenna will be just fine. If you're trying to get say siginals to the west and from Buffalo to the south, you'll want an omnidirectional antenna so you don't have to adjust it everytime. The RCA ANT806 looks like it could be bidirectional antenna with a wider angle.

If you own a house, I would get those retro antler antennas, amplify it, and you'll get the best omnidirectional UHF/VHF reception.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

Digital is digital - the ones and zeroes don't change - only your box makes much of a difference then not that much.

You will need a largish antenna if you want the US stations and it depends on where you are located.
Lots of info here

digitalhome.ca


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## jlcinc (Dec 13, 2002)

MacDoc has the right info on where to look for information on OTA. Over-The-Air (OTA) Digital Television - Digital Forum

My OTA quality HD video is so much better then some of the HD I have seen from cable companies. I am not sure if it is the compression or what but my hd is pristine.

John


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## Digital_Gary (Sep 18, 2003)

I played around with this one back in February. I bought it at the Source after reading good reviews on the RadioShak version of it. I was pulling in all Toronto HD broadcast and a couple out of Buffalo. I had to reposition it in a few different directions depending on which stations I was looking for. 

TV/HDTV/FM Indoor Antenna | Indoor Antennas | TheSource.ca


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## rustamanyana (Sep 22, 2008)

A Channel Master 4221 or equivalent will get you plenty of channels. fyi there is no such thing as an HDTV antenna, any pair of rabbit ears will get you a digital signal. to be able to tune into the digital signal (and HDTV) you will require an ATSC tuner. Most good quality flat screen TVs already have these built in.

I can get about 12 channels with a pair of rabbit ears in Milton.


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## Darien Red Sox (Oct 24, 2006)

Did not work for me. I can get no digital single from even the roof so I have cable ($21 month for the basic over the air package) fro the time being because hear in the US there is no longer an analog single When I have some time I am going to take the antenna higher hoping it will work. I want to get an HD TV some time soon and don't want to shell out anther $7 month for a cable box to get HD.


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## William (Jan 5, 2004)

Indoor HDTV antennas are mostly not amplified. A few amplify the signal they receive and then retransmit it to your computer. I bought an amplified type at TigerDirect for $52. I use it in central Toronto, and get PBS from Buffalo as well as several other channels also from /buffalo, and all the toronto channels.


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## shredder (Mar 15, 2009)

MacDoc said:


> Digital is digital - the ones and zeroes don't change - only your box makes much of a difference then not that much.
> 
> You will need a largish antenna if you want the US stations and it depends on where you are located.
> Lots of info here
> ...




Nonsense ,, antenna is much better and it has nothing do with zeros and ones , it is compressed vs uncompressed .

You don't need anything special for US either , a good location and even a coat hanger will work. I pick up at least 10 HD channels free and 2 are from the US.


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## shredder (Mar 15, 2009)

Darien Red Sox said:


> Did not work for me. I can get no digital single from even the roof so I have cable ($21 month for the basic over the air package) fro the time being because hear in the US there is no longer an analog single When I have some time I am going to take the antenna higher hoping it will work. I want to get an HD TV some time soon and don't want to shell out anther $7 month for a cable box to get HD.


It didn't work because there is no signal in the US to begin with .. I doubt you will catch anything from CT. maybe border states like niagara falls/buffalo can catch toronto and hamilton but that is it.. You need to be 50-100km from a major Canadian city


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

The entire US is now on digital only as of June 13/2009. The poster clearly states he does not have a digital TV. No digital TV or decoder box = no signal, but be clear the digital signals are indeed available across the entire USA.


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

SINC said:


> The entire US is now on digital only as of June 13/2009. The poster clearly states he does not have a digital TV. No digital TV or decoder box = no signal, but be clear the digital signals are indeed available across the entire USA.


Uhm... the poster said he had an HDTV. Are there any non-digital HDTVs?


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

hayesk said:


> Uhm... the poster said he had an HDTV. Are there any non-digital HDTVs?


Have trouble reading do you?



Darien Red Sox said:


> Did not work for me. I can get no digital single from even the roof so I have cable ($21 month for the basic over the air package) fro the time being because hear in the US there is no longer an analog single When I have some time I am going to take the antenna higher hoping it will work. *I want to get an HD TV some time soon and don't want to shell out anther $7 month for a cable box to get HD.*


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## shredder (Mar 15, 2009)

I think you guys are confused , hdtv and digital tv are two different things. digital tv is the delivery method the cable company uses to pump you the channels. 

there are no more over the air signals in the US 

if americans want to get over the air HDTV or old school TV they have to be within 50-100km to a major Canadian city , or slightly further if they have a huge antenna.

same goes for Canadians except now the US channels you pickup are on blackout.

what the OP wants is an antenna and a TV with a ATSC tuner ,, to test it out you can make the youtube antenna with a piece of wire and then graduate to a larger one if you like the programming. RCA is garbage , there are better ones for $25-$50 at any sat store in toronto. in the GTA you will pickup around 10 channels unless you live underground or in a basement


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

Who's confused? 

The US is now broadcasting all TV via a digital signal, not analogue and much of it is not in HD format.

And NO Americans do NOT have to live within 50 km of a "Canadian" city to get TV.


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## hayesk (Mar 5, 2000)

SINC said:


> Have trouble reading do you?


You didn't attribute which poster you were talking about so I assumed the original poster. Silly me.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

hayesk said:


> You didn't attribute which poster you were talking about so I assumed the original poster. Silly me.


The subject matter was a clue. The OP was asking about TO. The US poster about the US. My reply concerned the US. Pretty simple to follow, non?


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## shredder (Mar 15, 2009)

obviously you are confused , do you even own a HDTV and do you know what the poster is talking about , he asked if anybody has experience with over the air HDTV signals.. I don't know where US tv or digital boxes come into play, these are irrelevant , he wants analog signals coming from CBC and such.


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

shredder said:


> obviously you are confused , do you even own a HDTV and do you know what the poster is talking about , he asked if anybody has experience with over the air HDTV signals.. I don't know where US tv or digital boxes come into play, these are irrelevant , he wants analog signals coming from CBC and such.


The poster I am referring to is the one below. He is trying to get a simple digital signal, not HD in the US with an antenna using an analogue TV. (We know this will not work, and now so does he as he expresses his wish to get an HDTV.) He does not ever mention CBC or any other Canadian TV station and why the hell would he in CT? Try and get which poster's question is the right one before you claim I am confused. Read the post below again. It is you who is confusing the two different questions.



Darien Red Sox said:


> Did not work for me. I can get no digital single from even the roof so I have cable ($21 month for the basic over the air package) fro the time being because hear in the US there is no longer an analog single When I have some time I am going to take the antenna higher hoping it will work. I want to get an HD TV some time soon and don't want to shell out anther $7 month for a cable box to get HD.


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## shredder (Mar 15, 2009)

I don't think it matters at this point which poster you are replying to because the answer is incorrect for both.. 

The op wants HDTV over the air , the guy in CT also wants hdtv over the air , didn't he say so by mentioning the roof.

What would he get in CT besides cbc ? there are no more over air signals in the US so if he ever wants to climb the roof again it will only be to bring in Canadian stations with a larger antenna , any US station you bring is on a blackout.

HDTV , digital TV , digital cable,, all different things.. 

the guy on the roof wants to bring in digital signals but he actually means analog signals which will convert to digital with his tuner and lcd tv..


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## ehMax (Feb 17, 2000)

I know I'm confused.


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## MacDoc (Nov 3, 2001)

> there are no more over air signals in the US


Wrong...there are no more OTA analogue signals......ALL OTA in the US are digital so you need a digital receiver either stand alone STB or built in.

Any rabbit ears will receive OTA digital signals - if you want stations further away you need a roof top antenna.
OTA - Roof Top Suggestions - High Def Forum - Your High Definition Community & High Definition Resource

In ALL cases you need a digital tuner
OVER-THE-AIR DIGITAL TELEVISION RECEPTION FAQ: New to OTA? Start here! - AVS Forum

hopefully now unconfused....DO make sure of your information prior to posting it


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## SINC (Feb 16, 2001)

shredder said:


> I don't think it matters at this point which poster you are replying to because the answer is incorrect for both..


Incorrect certainly applies to some of your definitions.



shredder said:


> The op wants HDTV over the air , the guy in CT also wants hdtv over the air , didn't he say so by mentioning the roof.


Nope, read it again, he tried with an antenna on the roof, but to get analogue signals. When he could not, he then mentions he would like to get an HDTV. Got it now?



shredder said:


> What would he get in CT besides cbc ? there are no more over air signals in the US so if he ever wants to climb the roof again it will only be to bring in Canadian stations with a larger antenna , any US station you bring is on a blackout.


Last time I checked the CBC was not operating any TV stations in Connecticut. And there are plenty of over the air signals in the US, all of them digital.



shredder said:


> HDTV , digital TV , digital cable,, all different things..


Agreed. 



shredder said:


> the guy on the roof wants to bring in digital signals but he actually means analog signals which will convert to digital with his tuner and lcd tv..


No, he doesn't. He knows he can't get analog any longer and thus expresses his desire to get an HDTV, but does not want to pay for a box, cable or whatever. He wants them off air. There are no longer analog signals in the US. It is all digital. And not all of it is HDTV, but HD is also a form of enhanced digital signal. Maybe this will help:


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## jlcinc (Dec 13, 2002)

This guy shredder is like a Future Shop employee telling me that I had to buy a Rogers digital box so I could get digitial HDTV. He would not believe that US stations broadcast over the air in HDTV which is a digital signal and of course so do most Canadian stations. 

Shredder the only thing that is changing in the broadcast business is that the old analog signal will no longer be broadcast over the air. HDTV digital signals will be broadcast over the air you can receive the signal with a uhf antenna if you have a QAM tunner on your TV or a QAM digital tunner connected to your TV. In the US the a lot of people still don't understand that they will still receive over the air broadcasts on the old TV if they purchase a digital to analog converter box. https://www.dtv2009.gov/

You had better do a little more studying before trying to explain what you don't understand. QAM tuner - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

John


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## MACinist (Nov 17, 2003)

I am located in front of the CN Tower (about 500 metres to the south) which is the tallest broadcast antenna in the world. I tried a $50 TigerDirect indoor amplified antenna. I got about 20 channels. All the Canadian and some US. There were only about 2 to 3 HD channels that had an amazing signal (one of them a US feed of CBS Shredder). The rest, were pretty choppy. I didn't get the channels I wanted and couldn't figure out how to PVR the programs on Windows Media Centre so I gave up and resorted back to a Rogers HD PVR. If I find a better antenna and a means of recording it, I may try this again.


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