Choosing An Antenna For DTV
For those of you wondering what type of television antenna will work best at your location for HDTV reception, wonder no more. AntennaWeb.Org has a nifty feature that will calculate (roughly) what type of antenna you will need in order to watch digital television.
The site requires you to enter either a street address or optionally latitude and longitude. This is of great help in situations for residents in rural areas, many of which do not have “real” street addresses. To find your exact latitude and longitude you can either use a GPS receiver or consult a detailed area map to find the coordinates.
As we expected, an outdoor, directional antenna is suggested for most situations, even for those within line-of-sight of a broadcast tower. Those in more remote locations are advised to use a high-gain directional antenna with a mast-mounted pre-amp. Even these are no guarantee that you will still be able to receive digital television programming though. I would take this site’s suggestions as the MINIMAL installation you will need in order to view a watchable picture.
As is the case in our own suggestions, the site advises that “bigger is better” when it comes to antennas. Optimal placement outdoors at as high a position as possible is another key factor.
The website is sponsored by the Consumer Electronics Association and the National Association of Broadcasters.
