TV Antennas: Reviews

If you live where signal strength is excellent, a simple indoor television antenna is all you need to receive free high-def broadcasts in their highest quality. The RadioShack Budget TV Antenna (catalog number 15-1874) is… expanda modest modification on the tried-and-true design of rabbit ears and loop antenna that's been around for decades -- and it works as well for digital signals as it did for analog ones. The one concession to modern times is a slightly larger-diameter loop for UHF, which gives the RadioShack Budget TV Antenna more gain (ability to draw in signals) in the part of the UHF band where many digital TV signals can be found. The HDTV antenna is well made and inexpensive, but it will only work if you live close to a TV transmission station and away from big obstructions. collapse

It costs more than a basic antenna like the RadioShack Budget TV Antenna, but the Terk HDTVa antenna gets lots of respect for its ability to pull in distant signals, as well as its aesthetics. Coupled with a built-in… expandamplifier, reports say it is usable up to 45 miles from TV transmitters. UHF reception is handled by the swept-back, log-periodic design main antenna, while VHF reception is handled by rabbit ears -- an important improvement over similar antennas that are UHF-only. The television antenna is highly directional, which is a plus in areas where multipath interference is a problem -- in other words, if you saw ghosts while watching analog TV. However, in areas where TV signals are coming from even slightly different headings, antenna repositioning can become a nuisance when changing channels. collapse

If you live in a weak-signal area but don't want the hassle of installing an outdoor television antenna, we found excellent reviews for the Antennas Direct DB2. This is actually a small outdoor TV antenna that's… expandfrequently used as a larger indoor model -- excellent for pulling in signals up to 30 miles away (and some users say even more). On the downside, mounting it takes some ingenuity, and it can only receive UHF signals, not VHF (though not many stations are still using VHF). But despite those drawbacks, experts and users love the Antennas Direct DB2. The multidirectional HDTV antenna performs well over a wide enough sweep that frequent repositioning is likely not necessary, but not so wide that interference issues become a problem. collapse