I've tried one for normal TV (not even HDTV signals since I'm not
equipped for it yet) and it was an absolute gimmicky piece of crap!

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 20:48:47 GMT, "Greywolf"
wrote:

Does anyone have experience with one of those $20.00 plug-in-the-wall
type that turns the house wiring into one big antenna? They sell 'em
at www.heartland.com, if you want to try it out -- and if you do, let
me know.

Matt

People who have tried them have reported uniformly poor results.

Pat

Any good full-coverage TV antenna will be a good HDTV antenna. The better it is for regular TV,
the better it will be for HDTV. The more it costs, and the bigger it is, the better it will
work. I hear Channel Master is better than Winegard, but I don't have personal experience to
back that up. If you place the antenna on a rotator, it can then be rotated for best reception.

I have a 20 element log-periodic antenna I built from the ideas and equations presented in "The
ARRL Antenna Book", which is available in Ham Radio stores. It's up 20 ft. on a rotator, has
fair gain, good front-to-back ratio, and broad frequency response. I don't know how it compares
to what you can buy, but it is fairly compact and has low wind resistance. If you look at
professional wide-band antennas, they are mostly this log-periodic type, but very expensive.
One exception is a small 7-element log periodic antenna for HDTV sold under the name "Silver
Sensor", but it's only designed for indoor use and is therefore limited by its lack of height
and it suffers from signal-strength losses through the house structure. It might work well
enough in the attic on a rotator, but still not as well as a weather-proof design on a mast and
rotator, well above the roof.

Chuck

"Mr. Zoom" wrote in message ...
I've tried one for normal TV (not even HDTV signals since I'm not
equipped for it yet) and it was an absolute gimmicky piece of crap!

On Wed, 05 Nov 2003 20:48:47 GMT, "Greywolf"
wrote:

Does anyone have experience with one of those $20.00 plug-in-the-wall
type that turns the house wiring into one big antenna? They sell 'em
at www.heartland.com, if you want to try it out -- and if you do, let
me know.

Matt

People who have tried them have reported uniformly poor results.

Pat

The Silver Sensor is the only indoor antenna I've tried that's worked well
enough to use. All the cool looking ones or conventional looking ones,
didn't work- though I've heard good things about the Radio Shack Double
Bowtie. Basicly, all these antennas that work with DTV are directional and
designed to reject ghost signals.

Getting a good signal will take a little effort. DTV off-air is nowhere
near the "plug and play" it needs to be to be accepted by the public at
large. Still, if you are the hobbyist type, it can be done.

Radio shack carries a double bowtie antenna that works darn good.
This one and the silver sensor have gotten similar results according
to discussions I have read elsewhere. RS doesnt carry it in their
stores but will gladly special order it for you. Its cheeper than the
silver sensor so I tried it first and it works great for me. The only
downfall is that its not that good at picking up VHF, but I guess
thats what rabbit ears are for.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?S39921FD6



"magnulus" wrote in message . ..
The Silver Sensor is the only indoor antenna I've tried that's worked well
enough to use. All the cool looking ones or conventional looking ones,
didn't work- though I've heard good things about the Radio Shack Double
Bowtie. Basicly, all these antennas that work with DTV are directional and
designed to reject ghost signals.

Getting a good signal will take a little effort. DTV off-air is nowhere
near the "plug and play" it needs to be to be accepted by the public at
large. Still, if you are the hobbyist type, it can be done.

"Mini Moebius" wrote in message
om...
Radio shack carries a double bowtie antenna that works darn good.
This one and the silver sensor have gotten similar results according
to discussions I have read elsewhere. RS doesnt carry it in their
stores but will gladly special order it for you. Its cheeper than the
silver sensor so I tried it first and it works great for me. The only
downfall is that its not that good at picking up VHF, but I guess
thats what rabbit ears are for.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?S39921FD6


I may have to get one and try out and test against the Silver Sensor.

I saw a RS Double Bowtie months ago in a Radio Shack, but they've stopped
carrying them recently.

I bought an in-line antenna amplifier at Radio shack for my 20 yr. old attic
antenna an it made all the difference in the world. For $25, a great
investment.

"Mini Moebius" wrote in message
om...
Radio shack carries a double bowtie antenna that works darn good.
This one and the silver sensor have gotten similar results according
to discussions I have read elsewhere. RS doesnt carry it in their
stores but will gladly special order it for you. Its cheeper than the
silver sensor so I tried it first and it works great for me. The only
downfall is that its not that good at picking up VHF, but I guess
thats what rabbit ears are for.

http://makeashorterlink.com/?S39921FD6



"magnulus" wrote in message
. ..
The Silver Sensor is the only indoor antenna I've tried that's worked
well
enough to use. All the cool looking ones or conventional looking ones,
didn't work- though I've heard good things about the Radio Shack Double
Bowtie. Basicly, all these antennas that work with DTV are directional
and
designed to reject ghost signals.

Getting a good signal will take a little effort. DTV off-air is
nowhere
near the "plug and play" it needs to be to be accepted by the public at
large. Still, if you are the hobbyist type, it can be done.