You may be considering a change to broadcast television from cable TV. The cost is certainly less than cable. Even buying an antenna costs less than most cable fees and is a one-time expense, not monthly. But choosing the right HDTV antenna will require some homework. Once some questions have been answered, you should have a better idea of which ones might be right for you.
Begin with what channels are available in your area. Since reception depends on line of sight, you may have problems if there are buildings or mountains in the way. Fortunately there is a non-profit organization that can give you this information for free.
There are various ways to discover what stations are out there in your neck of the woods or city. The retailers can input your address and give you a list of what broadcast channels you could receive. They often can give you a good idea of how easily any one station might be captured.
All right, now that you know what is out there, you can begin to think about a HDTV antenna. They come in a massive number of set ups. Table top, roof top, directional and omni-directional are just a few of the types. If you live in a flat area, you may not need more than a set top somewhat like the old rabbit ears. But if you have signals that vary in strength, you may want another sort.
If you find that the stations available have good strong signals, then you perhaps can try an array antenna. These are directional and need to be adjusted to get the best reception. Some have motorized turning mechanisms that allow you tune the reception from inside. Of course, the more you add, the higher the price. But there is another option that may cost more but not require tuning.
The omni-directional roof installed antenna is a round disk. It accepts signals from all directions. It generally has a small powered amplifier that allows weak signals to be boosted to reasonable quality. It can cost around one hundred dollars. It is still less than a single month of cable but among the most expensive.
Once you know which stations are available and which ones you want, you can begin to choose which HDTV antenna might do the job. You have table top, roof top arrays and omni-directional to choose from. The number and direction of the stations will be a good place to start.
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