Red Green wrote in
:

Phil Again wrote in
m:

On Sun, 21 Sep 2008 13:03:20 -0400, Colbyt wrote:

"N8N" wrote in message

. ..
Does anyone sell simple rabbit ear TV antennas anymore? I got my
DTV boxes today and hooked one up in the bedroom, turns out that my
old rabbit ears allow the box to work, while the shiny new
amplified antenna that I bought doesn't really do a heck of a lot.
I have another TV with no antenna whatsoever which is why I bought
a new antenna. Or is there a more expensive antenna that will
provide better reception? I do live in a metropolitan area but I'm
only getting about half the channels that I should based on looking
at titantv.com and tvfool.com

Of course I don't watch that much TV, but so much of it is crap
that options are good...

nate

RadioShack or Ebay.

Radioshack link:

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?
productId=2103077&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.20322 04&parentPage=family

For $12 it looks pretty basic.

Colbyt

Rabbit Ears are still rabbit ears. They didn't work all that well 30
years ago, and I cannot image they will work all that well with
digital. Reflections from people, room furniture, so-on and
so-forth.


Even in Metro areas, you still may have to go back to a roof top
antenna with mast motor to spin (aim) the antenna. You may not need
the antenna gain needed from the analog days, but you may need the
lower interference a roof mounted antenna offers.



Until a short bit ago I would have agreed with you.

I [icked up a cheapo DTV at Walmart like 9 mos ago. I was in a rural
area and just had cable on it.

I am about 45 air miles from Raleigh NC now. I put on some ears and
had the TV on analog. Few stations. All snowey except for 1-2
sometimes.

I flipped it to DTV. A bunch of stations come in crystal clear from
Raleigh NC to Florence SC. I like this DTV stuff. I rarely watch TV so
paying for cable is not practical. Brings back memories of free 2-13
in the NYC tristate area. There was no cable.


My first apartment had a "community antenna" system,so we could connect to
the wall F-connector and not need an antenna.Later,they put subscription
HBO on it from a downtown microwave feed.Then they got fancy and had their
own mini-"cable" system with a dozen channels that you needed a
subscription block converter box to receive,but still could get the OTA
channels free.
(and if you had one of the first "cable-ready" TVs,you got -all- the good
stuff free;they hadn't wised up to that yet!)

Ah,those were the days....

Now,I have a DTV converter and amplified indoor settop antenna,but
reception is iffy on several desired channels,even though I'm fairly close
to the transmitter sites.(within 25 miles)
I get a lot of dropout,pixellating,and freezes,particularly when my
upstairs neighbors are moving around.Annoying.
In storms,the DTV transmitters are the first to lose their signal,while the
same-channel analog signals are still working.

If I want Ch.2,I have to use my old analog TV,that uses it's built in
telescoping antenna.

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net