Funny, now that I think of it most apts. I've lived in had a big ol' antenna on the roof...If yours does actually have a roof or attic antenna it might be worth plugging into.

Amplified DTV Antenna.
 

I hit the thrift shops rather often. I buy various makes of DTV converters, amplified set-top antennas and amplified splitters, conparison use. Most of the set-tops, flat panels and miracle antennas are disappointing, at best.
The only one I found that works, what I consider good is the Terk, that looks like a Yagi design. My home is 37-40 miles from the Milwaukee transmitter site. I get, all the UHF based channels and the subs 96% of the time. Weather conditions, in the area affect it. I have it on the closet shelf and it must be a sweet spot.
BTW, when I first moved here, 11 years ago, the only analogue channels that I could receive with a set-top antenna was channel 6 and 24, that was watchable.
The E place has the Antenna for various prices from $14.00 to $68.00, but watch the shipping charges, when You bid.

The apartment building where I live has never had an outdoor TV antenna, nor any kind of master antenna system, that I was ever aware of. The building was wired for cable probably several years before I moved here. I don't see any evidence of any kind of MATV installation; if there was one, the antenna probably fell apart years or decades ago.

I like to test antennas with a Zenith/insignia/LG converter box, since if you dive into the menus and select the manual add/delete channels mode (which also lets one directly tune the RF channel) there is a signal strength meter. With that meter one can swap antennas and play with their aiming while seeing a good quantification of the difference.
It's also handy for DX since one can look for stations too weak to get picked up on a scan, and try to optimize the antenna aim to get it strong enough to perhaps be received.

Nice! but do you receive The high band VHF channel (WMVS ch 8) from Milwaukie? At a distance, people seem to have a lot more problems receiving the VHF channels, while the much higher power UHF can be pretty decent (weather permitting).
Terk HDTVa? My wife was using one of those in her Sewing/Quilting room until a strong wind/rain storm killed reception during an important football game. We live only about 12 miles from the TV towers. I had egg on my face as I quickly ran coax down the hallway to connect her set up to an outside antenna :(

edit add; link to Terk HDTVa, note the VHF dipoles on the sides : http://www.crutchfield.com/p_209HDTV...a.html?tp=3261

not affiliated,
jr

The indoor antenna I like to recommend is the old Radio Shack
double bowtie.

Attachment 185639

However, all is lost if you leave the leadin like that.
You MUST attach the 300 ohm side of balun thingie
to the antenna with leads that
are no more than one inch longer than necessary.

Only the Terk came even close to this thing's
performance, and this is much better.

The WMVS channel 8's, which is 10-1,2 and three only come in once in a while. I really don't need them, as they're re-broadcast on 36-1,2,3 etc and they come in perfectly. I'm using a Zenith DTV converter. The only one that seems to come close is the Digital Stream and the Channel Master.
My RCA prison-vision sets seem to do a fair job, with just an inside antenna.

Best DTV converter box?
 

I may be considering getting a DTV converter box for one of my CRT TVs. Which of the boxes you mention (Zenith, DigitalStream, Channel Master) would you recommend? I ask because I have read and heard that some DTV boxes (in particular, Magnavox-branded, Apex, et al.) overheat, leading to premature failure, some boxes are very bad from an RF sensitivity standpoint, and some are just plain garbage. I don't want to get stuck with a box that will quit days or weeks (!) after I install it, or that doesn't receive all the DTV stations in my area (I live in a semi-fringe area for OTA reception of DTV). I would much rather use a DTV box and an antenna than a cable box if my cable operator (Time Warner, which is in the process of merging with Comcast) decides to force all of its subscribers to use such a box, as Comcast has done already.

Thanks much.

I chose the Channel Master CM-7000's mainly due to the good reviews of their performance (RF sensitivity being one of the best) and 2nd that it was one of the few to have S-video output. Since I have 2 sets with S-video inputs, that was important to me for best possible video/least noise. If you want to drive a vintage TV through the antenna, then that feature is moot.

Tom (PK)

The original units I bought was Digital Stream and Zenith at Radio Shack. The first Magnavoxes weren't very impressive. The remote was very poorly laid out. The second generation was a little better, but all Funai built units are totally useless without a remote. I have all three generations, the latest being a little hotter. :yes:

The Zenith/LG/insignia badged versions of the same box are very good quality as well as good performers on low signal.

Another vote for the Zenith here... I favor my Zenith over my Channel Master for Dxing because it allows for direct entry of the *real RF* channel number, without going through the *channel search* process. This is very useful when looking for stations that have not been "found" before. Both are good with weak signals, perhaps the same or *slightly* better than my Sony and Vizio HDTVs, but noticeably better than my "bargain" RCA, Coby and Seiki sets.

jr

In my experience those indoor "digital" antennas just don't work. I live 25 miles away from ABQ so I'm not that far off, that and all the TV stations transmit from Sandia Peak which is above 10,000 feet.

I have a traditional (35 mile?) outdoor yagi TV antenna with a UHF tail that I've been using since the analog days. That's been the best for me:thmbsp:

Strangely enough, after the DTV transition, I've been able to get Santa Fe's PBS stations:scratch2:

Would you PM me your exact location? I'd like to do coverage maps for your location for Albuquerque and Santa Fe just to see what they predict.

I am 33 miles from the Tucson stations on Mt. Bigelow with direct line of sight and have no problems receiving with an amplified indoor antenna in that side of the house. I have success with the big Mitsubishi DLP set, a current LG LCD model, and even the little OTA converter dongle attached to the DISH Hopper.

I have not tried reception in the opposite side of the house.

I have a ClearTV digital antenna and a Zenith all-channel amplified antenna. They work after a fashion, receiving most local stations, but neither antenna receives channels 8 or 19 from Cleveland (local Fox/Antenna TV and CBS/MeTV affiliates, respectively). I have cable and a Roku player to receive the local TV channels, including the ones my antennas do not receive. I am located about 35-40 miles from the TV stations' towers, which themselves are in the southwestern Cleveland suburb of Parma. There are no obstructions, that I am aware of anyway, between the stations and my TV antenna.

I have been told that the reason I do not get channels 8 or 19 at all in digital is due to the fact that these stations currently transmit on RF DTV channels 8 and 10, which most indoor DTV antennas do not receive well; however, the CBS affiliate may and probably will move to a UHF channel once the DTV repack and everything else are completed, hopefully early next year. The CBS station already has a translator on channel 24, but that translator serves an area about 60 miles south of me and, therefore, does not reach my small town. I don't know why this problem wasn't addressed and corrected a lot sooner (shortly after the DTV transition), as there are many people in this part of northeastern Ohio with the same problems receiving channels 8 and 19 as I have. One other reason I cannot get the two channels I mentioned is that I live on the first floor of a two-story apartment building, and cannot use any kind of outdoor antenna.

Oh, well. Perhaps if and when channel 19 finally vacates its VHF DTV channel and moves to a UHF one (this move actually is in their plans, but to date I haven't heard or read anything regarding exactly when it will occur; probably, maybe even likely, it hinges on next year's DTV channel repack), my reception problems will be solved, and I will be able to use an indoor antenna again.

We can only hope.

BTW, VK member Old_TV_Nut in Arizona has the best of all worlds as far as TV reception is concerned, having a direct line-of-sight to the TV stations in Tucson, 33 miles distant. I guess that's one advantage of living in a flat area like that; no obstructions and, I would guess, very good reception from all the "local" channels. Here in the Great Lakes region where I live, we aren't that lucky. Receiving TV signals from a 33-mile distance may not seem that much in the West and Southwest, but here I am trying to receive TV stations that might well have restricted signal patterns. However, the Cleveland stations are supposed to cover seventeen counties in northeastern Ohio. I have a feeling that the only way anyone some distance from these stations will have to use a large antenna on a tower, and perhaps a rotor, to receive all seven stations. I remember years ago (in the late 1960s and seventies) seeing just such large antenna towers in an area 55 miles from Cleveland (I went to summer camp there as a kid), but these days with cable and all this type of elaborate antenna system may be all but obsolete.