Looking for a TV antenna

[Tommy Boomfiger]

I need a tv antenna for my house. i live about 30 miles out from the city so a lot of signals arent exactly great and since i dont watch a lot of tv so cable isnt something that i need to be spending money on. anyone have suggestions on what to get?
im thinking of this one (http://www.terk.com/tv/tv50frame.html)
http://www.terk.com/tv/img/TV50.jpg

[whitak24]

from the reviews of the Terk antennas at www.audioreview.com, they seem to be pretty spotty, especially for the money that they cost.

i checked into them a few months ago when i was trying to find an antenna (i live in apartments where it is really hard to pull a signal, even though i'm fairly close to broadcast towers).

i ended up getting an RCA amplified antenna from walmart. i want to say it cost about $40, but i'm not sure. it was the most powerful amplified antenna that i could find. i'm fairly happy with it....it brings in most any station that i want to watch with decent clarity.

when i get home, i can check the model #/price

[Tommy Boomfiger]

well, my parents had an expensive antenna put in our attic about 10 years ago and it doesnt do jack. the all the reviews ive seen in the last couple of years about the terk tv 50 have been good so i thought id give it a try. the thing is that we are at the fringe of where a lot of signals start to degrade. i used to have rca powered antenna in my room when i was younger and it didnt do much for me but make me get up and adjust it every time i changed the channel. i remember trashing it after a while cuz it just pissed me off so much. :P i need something that will work far away from the towers (a lot are on the sears tower, which is about 35 miles away from me, line-of-sight) in a foresty area. there arent any tall buildings around whatsoever. within a 2 mile radius there isnt a single 2 story buildings other than houses. the only thing bigger than houses here are the trees and that shouldnt affect the signal too much.

[whitak24]

Originally posted by Tommy Boomfiger
well, my parents had an expensive antenna put in our attic about 10 years ago and it doesnt do jack. the all the reviews ive seen in the last couple of years about the terk tv 50 have been good so i thought id give it a try. the thing is that we are at the fringe of where a lot of signals start to degrade. i used to have rca powered antenna in my room when i was younger and it didnt do much for me but make me get up and adjust it every time i changed the channel. i remember trashing it after a while cuz it just pissed me off so much. :P i need something that will work far away from the towers (a lot are on the sears tower, which is about 35 miles away from me, line-of-sight) in a foresty area. there arent any tall buildings around whatsoever. within a 2 mile radius there isnt a single 2 story buildings other than houses. the only thing bigger than houses here are the trees and that shouldnt affect the signal too much.
if the terk antenna works without having to adjust it every time you change stations, then i might have to look into getting one myself :P

while i am happy with my antenna, it is a pain to have to adjust it every time i change stations. of course, usually when i watch tv, it's to see one specific program (sports, most of the time), so i only have to adjust it once. still....

[Tommy Boomfiger]

Originally posted by whitak24
if the terk antenna works without having to adjust it every time you change stations, then i might have to look into getting one myself :P

while i am happy with my antenna, it is a pain to have to adjust it every time i change stations. of course, usually when i watch tv, it's to see one specific program (sports, most of the time), so i only have to adjust it once. still.... i checked out the reviews on audioreview.com but there were only one or two reviews on the tv50. the others were comments on reviews or other terk products. from what ive read of the tv50, you have to find a position where it works for all channels and leave it there. it works indoors, but best results would probably be outside. the last review i read of it said that it came with an assortment of cable lengths including a 30' one. im not sure if this is still the case, but that would be a nice thing to include.

you might want to check out antenna web (http://www.antennaweb.org/) for help to choose an antenna. they have a nice tool (http://www.antennaweb.org/antennaweb/step1.html) which shows where each stations signal comes from and gives a color code for which antenna would work best for it. i dont know if this is run by terk, but thats where i got the link from to be wary of the results until you know who actually runs this thing. anyway, terk claims the tv50 receives these signals the best:
http://www.terk.com/tv/img/mapcolor/ltgreen.gif
the terk site will have the color codes for all thier antenna(e/s?)
according to the results for my house, all the signals except 4 come from the exact same direction, the sears tower. of the 4 that dont, i only watch one of them a lot :(. this one already doesnt come in that good most of the time. as far as color codes go, the only one that isnt covered by the tv50 is mtv2 which i wont miss all that much anyway.
it looks like im gonna give this one a try, but im getting it from a store where i can return it to. ill tell you how it works out

[Tommy Boomfiger]

AntennaWeb is run by CEA

About CEA
AntennaWeb.org is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA). CEA represents more than 1,000 U.S. corporate members, which includes home network integrators and manufacturers of audio, video, accessories, wireless, mobile electronics, communication, information technology, multimedia products and nearly every U.S. antenna manufacturer.

Please visit us at www.ce.orgso its not run by terk, but they are probably a member

[LPMiller]

you should be able to get basic cable for like 10 bucks a month...all the local channels plus whatever they have between 2 and 20 or so.

[Tommy Boomfiger]

nobody watches enough tv enough in my house to get cable, even for 10 bucks a month. we were thinking about it when they introduced it in my area last year, but we decided against it. anyway, i can pick up the antenna for less than one year of cable. ive seen it for about $60 at some online vendors