On Sun, 7 Oct 2007 17:11:03 -0500, "J. Davidson"
wrote:

We have 4 TVs in the house connected to satellite. We have another, a
Sanyo, on which we would like to be able to watch local TV (we live near
Memphis). Can someone recommend an antenna for us?
Many thanks,
Jackie Davidson

P&M

I presume you have a coaxial cable connector on the back of your tv?
A silver colored little thimble like thing, but not tapered, with
threads on the outside?

What I would try first is a thin piece of non-stranded (single thread)
wire, insulated if possible, with the insulation stripped off the inch
at one end, and stuff that wire into the little hole in the center of
the coaxial connector on the back of the tv. You can put it in a half
inch, or even maybe an inch if it goes that far. Although even a tiny
bit, a mm. or two, is enough to work, but it might fall out.

The wire should be as thin or thinner than the wire that sticks out of
a coaxial cable connector with the threads on the inside. You can use
one of the strands in a piece of 4-conductor phone line, for example,
or just about anything.

While commercially sold antennas are stiff and stick up, those aren't
very inportant characteristics. Stiff is only useful so that one can
put the antenna where he wants it, but I just let it run down the back
of the tv and the tv-table to the floor. Sticking up, as opposed to
dangling down is only important if the stations are far enough away
that reception is marginal, and even then one could hook the wire to
the curtains or a shelf or a brad in the wall if necessary. I'm sure
it won't hurt to wrap the last half inch of the wire once or twice
around the brad, although that half inch won't function as an antenna
anymore. (becuase it is in a circle and the induced currents in it
will be in all directions and will cancel each other out)

If the stations in Memphis are near enough reception will be ok to
great with anything although low stations like 2, 3, and 4, require a
piece of wire that is at least 3 feet long. Higher number stations
usually don't require that, but you probalby want to get channel 2
also. 30 or 40 or 50 miles is where tv reception fades away, and if
the broadcast antenna is that far away, it can matter if you are on a
hill or in a valley, even a tiny valley like I'm in. It can also
matter what floor you are on. The basement can be bad.

Finally, although SONY usually works well, after that I find that one
can't predict quality of reception by brand. I have local stations in
Baltiomre, and others in DC, and some tv's will get channels 4, 5, 7,
and 9 in DC, but most will only get 3 of them, and which 3 varies.
Others will only get 2 or 1. I have maybe tv's of all ages and brands
going through here over the last 24 years, so I think my sample is
pretty good. Neither brand nor age is a good predictor of how many DC
stations they will get, although all of them get the Baltimore
stations.