On Wed, 4 Mar 2009 12:09:43 -0800 (PST), Robert Macy
wrote:

Apologies for being off topic, but I thought people here may know the
answer to the question "Which indoor antenna is best?" Especially,
with the upcoming change to Digital Only

I'm not talking preference here, but conclusions based upon comparison
data.

Located in the Bay Area, downtown San Jose, CA, fourth Floor, I would
expect to receive quite few stations. True for analog, Not true for
Digital.

For example, right now I have two data points:
Terk unknown model with amplifier [bowtie on its side shape]
vs Radio Shack unknown model with amplifier [rabbit ears and an
adjustable fixed radius loop in the middle]
both have variable gain.

First checking with analog reception as the indicator.
1) Snow bad.
2) Excessive ghosts bad.
3) Fading will lose lock and give drop outs

Using just analog reception, the Terk won hands down, both in the VHF
and the UHF frequencies for the following example channels 2, 4, 5, 7,
20, 32, 54, 65 [there are others]

The RS antenna could barely, if at all, receive 2,4,5,gave
unacceptable performance Channel 7, 20, 32, 65. ok 54.
Whereas the Terk could give at least BW reception on 2, 4 color on 5,
acceptable ch 7, 20, and excellent quality viewing on 32, 54, 65.

Digital reception pretty much matched the analog reception using the
digital converter that was the highly rated inexpensive ?? big
buttons, can stand up on side.

For Digital, RS could only pick up Spanish stations and 54.1,2, the
antenna gave really poor performance.

Using the Terk quite a few digital stations come through, but their
constant drop out rate is very frustrating, since the sound track is
lost, usually at a critical point in the dialogue, and the screen goes
to a very distracting blank screen with redundant text information,
"loss of transmission" as if you couldn't tell.

It appears I'm located at a marginal spot in San Jose and if I could
just pick up a few more dB to capture the digital stations, I'd be
done. Thus, the question: which antenna of the myriad out there is
best? Should I get a multi-element outdoor antenna and mount it on a
post above the TV? Is that better than amplified single element?

Robert

Go he http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp
to find which direction(s) and what distances the stations are from
your location. It also offers a "type of antenna" suggestion.

If all the stations are in one direction, Radio Shack has a $35 UHF
antenna that is designed for outdoor use but can be placed in a closet
or behind a screen and pointed in the right direction.
http://www.radioshack.com/product/in...ductId=2103088

I'm in Atlanta, GA, and currently get about 20 channels with this
antenna in the basement (yes, below ground level) but angled up
about15 degrees and pointed in the direction of most of the TV
broadcast towers.

John