HDTV Antenna Info

If you are going to receive your HDTV signal over the air (OTA), you’ll need some kind of antenna. What type you ask, well that depends on several factors including obstacles around your home like trees and building, and distance from the broadcast tower(s). The most important consideration is distance from the tower(s) so first go to antennaweb to find out how close the stations in your area are and in which direction. The antennaweb site uses your zip code to figure this out.

You’ll notice that different stations have different colors associated with them. The Yellow are the closest and can usually be received with an indoor or small outdoor antenna. A complete description of the type of antenna required to receive a particular station can be found here.



Also note that some stations have a ".1" after their station number such as 24.1 These are the digital stations, most of which broadcast in High Definition. The compass orientation gives you an idea of where the broadcast towers are located in your area with due north being zero degrees. The frequency assignment field gives the actual broadcast channel. Note that most, if not all, digital channels have a different assigned channel number from their actual channel number.

For more assistance on antennas, you can check for a forum discussion group in your area at AVS HDTV Antenna Forum.

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