OTA Reception Sugestions
 

I live in Northeast PA and I attempting to get my OTA HD channels. I
have tried a Terk TV44 that clips on my dish and it just doesn't work.
Next I went to Radio Shack and they gave me an "Amplified Digital HDTV
Indoor TV Antenna" and a "Bidirectional Signal Amplifier". They
gaurenteed this would work for me but it didn't. I consider myself a
pretty technical person and I have been reading some posts here and I
have a few questions.

1) The smucks at the Shack sold me a Bidirectional signal amplifier, is
this the same as a pre-amp?

2) I have a Hughes HD Directtv receiver. Should I see some sort of
signal strength when I go into the menus to see what my reception is?
My friend gets the OTA channels but the same receiver gives him 0
strength for an antenna input and and the channel he gets the signal on.

What are some good places to get the equipment I need(online and
physical stores)? I would prefer to go somewhere and speak with someone
in person who knows what the hell they are talking about. Hell, the guy
who put my dish up argued with me throughout the installation that HDTV
was available OTA and looked at me like I had 6 heads. If I need to
venture to the roof thats fine but I would prefer to try some other
configurations and see if I can get away with something else before
that.

Thanks,
Brian