Antenna recommendations for Grandview apartment

[Ed C.]

My only question was concerning an HD antenna. I currently have a FusionHDTV 5 PC tuner card and a Phlips Silver Sensor antenna (they gave it to me for free with the tuner!). I live on the east side of Grandview in a bottom floor apartment and I'm having issues with channels sometimes cutting out, even 22 WBNS-DT! Even when everything is working I still have problems with 38 WOSUHD. I know the Silver Sensor is a directional antenna and having to reposition it to get channels in is a real problem as no one will be home to move it when the PC starts recording. Since I live in a apartment getting a outdoor rig is out of the question. At this point I really don't know what to get to improve the situation.

[Robbiee19]

I have a Winegard SHARPSHOOTER MODEL SS-3000 AMPLIFIED INDOOR VHF/UHF DIGITAL / ANALOG HI-DEFINITION ANTENNA and it works great for me. I live in Hilliard. Got it from Warren Electronic for a good price.
Here is the web site.

http://www.warrenelectronics.com/antennas/sharpshooter.htm

[Ed C.]

I'm not doubting that it would work, but that's a bit much for an indoor antenna.

[Robbiee19]

Well factor in it work's oudoor also and most store's it costs about $125. If you buy cheap well expect cheap results.

[jpdublin]

I agree you get what you pay for. I have had little to no issues with my OTA's (see below), both have had great results. The indoor is located in my basement and I still get everything except UPN-53.

[O2C]

Grandview Heights, ATI HDTV Wonder + included Silver Sensor clone. The problem with WOSU is that their antenna is located in the wrong location for us. It's off to the north northeast while the others are all in a southerly direction. Depending on how good the multiplexer is on that card, you could try using an signal combiner with another antenna pointed at OSU's tower. I'd be willing to rent you the stuff for a couple of hours in exchange for a ruben from WG Grinders. Mmmm. . . grinders.

[Ed C.]

I agree you get what you pay for. I have had little to no issues with my OTA's (see below), both have had great results. The indoor is located in my basement and I still get everything except UPN-53.

The Trek TV5 has good reviews and can be found for $30-50 on line so I might give it a shot. Also, some of the problems I had seemed to be caused by the software I was using. The included software from the manufacturer works for the most part, but then it comes to functionality it's rather pitiful. I ended up downloading the trial version of Beyond TV which surprisingly gets better reception. I'm guessing that it's just better at handling dropped frames in the video stream. It's much better feature-wise too, but I really wish they would let you try all of the features before deciding whether it's worth the $70.

BTW, I didn't pay for the antenna. It was included for free. I agree that in general that low price = low quality, but even if you pay a mint for something doesn't mean that you still won't end up with a pile of crap.

[jpdublin]

Yes, free is always the best choice. At least it gives you a starting point and then you can go from there. Good luck finding what will work for you and it is trial and error.

[Ed C.]

True. My appartment is on the first floor, which is a few feet below ground level, so what might work well of someone might not work as well in my situation. At least now I have a few things to try out.

[DublinDoodah]

It's silly to buy more antenna than you really need. When I was first experimenting, I was able to get a good signal for all UHF stations using a loop antenna from an old portable set I still had down in the basement. It was essentially a circle of wire with spade connectors for attaching directly to the back of the set. When I hooked up my roof antenna, there was only marginal improvement.

[O2C]

Also, some of the problems I had seemed to be caused by the software I was using. The included software from the manufacturer works for the most part, but then it comes to functionality it's rather pitiful.
If you think it might be software related, try downloading and using WatchHDTV. Pretty barebones, but if you've got your hardware installed properly, it works. One of the the users over at AVSForums threw it together using the BDA drivers and it works very well under XP (but it unfortunately has issues under MCE). Not only is it free, it definately tunes better than the MCE app.

[Ed C.]

If you think it might be software related, try downloading and using WatchHDTV. Pretty barebones, but if you've got your hardware installed properly, it works. One of the the users over at AVSForums threw it together using the BDA drivers and it works very well under XP (but it unfortunately has issues under MCE). Not only is it free, it definately tunes better than the MCE app.

It doesn't seem to skip as much as Fusion's software when watching TV. It even got HD 34 with decent results. However it wouldn't tune to subchannels and it's PVR functions leave a lot to be desired.

As for the reception issues, I'm getting better results over all with HD 34 now that I got a longer coax and moved my little Silver Sensor up to the northern window (I know, DUH!). However, Beyond TV still does better than the provided software. WatchHDTV seems to do a little better, but that's probably because it does have timeshift running all the time either. I'll see how this works out and if need be move up to a better antenna.

For the most part I like Beyond TV, and only assuming that the disabled functions in the trial version work as advertised, it might actually be worth the $70. Now, all I need is a remote and I'll be set!

[O2C]

It does tune in the two subchannels when set up properly. If memory serves me right, I think they need to be set as "-1" "1" and "3" or something like that. I can post my channels.txt if need be. It's definately rough, but it's free and very handy for figuring out whether it's the software, decoders, or signal issues causing problems.