the quest to find an antenna

i’m looking to get OTA HD for the house via a large boom antenna that i plan to install in the attic. from what i’ve read so far, my biggest concern is that there is a large heating system in the attic that may interfere with the reception of the tv signals. we’ll see how bad it is after i do the install. i’m hoping for some good results, though.

i’ve been hearing mixed reviews about antennas and which one to get, but i think that i’ve decided on a cheap radio shack 80″ boom length, 32-element antenna. i’ve read mixed reviews, but i’m not really planning to get analog signals through the antenna, just digital ones. i think this antenna will more than suffice for my needs.

i’ve also read many bad things about attic installations, but i don’t want to install an antenna on the roof, so we’re going to see just how bad it is in the attic and go from there. this is either going to be a smashing success or a $60 waste of money. we’ll see!

2 thoughts on “the quest to find an antenna”

  1. The Radioshack antenna you are going to buy is a combined UHF/VHF antenna. It is the VHF portion that makes this antenna so big. Do you really need the VHF band?

    You probably know this, but VHF antenna is especially problematic in an attic. Antenna coupling to nearby metal objects (heating in your case) is significant at distances of half-wavelength. That means up to 10 ft for VHF frequencies. And only about ~1ft for UHF.

    On the other hand, you are right, try it to see how good or bad it is. And let us know.

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