Recommendation for an outside TV antenna?

[rjniles]

Bought a small 15 inch LCD TV for my PUP. Some will criticize me for taking a TV camping but I am a news junkie. Some of the prior posters have made recommendations for inside TV antennas, but I want an exterior TV antenna. Would like to keep the price under $100. Do not mind a directional antenna that I have to manually turn but looking for the best possible reception.

Thanks for any input you have.

[whitecap]

This little Phillips HD antenna has been working great for me.  Only cost about $40 from Wally World.

[Chuck S]

Television is FM and line of sight.  If the receiving antenna can't "see" the transmitting antenna you'll get nothing.  FM doesn't go over the horizon so transmit antennas are tall.  To get good reception your receiver antenna should be tall too.

The other part of the equation is the size of the receiving elements on the antenna.  Bigger is better.  Gathers more of the signal.  There are also frequency factors which is why TV antennas have all those cross bars, etc.

These factors are why "rabbit ears" work poorly even locally.  Too low.  Too small.  Not tuned.

I also believe that the new digital signals are transmitted with lower power which will decrease their signal strength at the receiver.

Radio, of course, gets you news all the time.  You just can't see the models reading it.

-- Chuck

[Waterdoctor]

Rjniles

I don't know if this has any bearing on the issue at hand, but as I recall, the Feds (FCC) have mandated that there is no longer analog TV signal transmission. As I understand it, if you want to pick up the TV stations' digital broadcast, you have to have a converter box. Maybe that's only if your TV set isn't digital compatable.  I'm just bringing it up for your consideration.  This is way out of my area of experience since I haven't used an outside antenna since I was a kid. It's been all cable for many years.

Steve   

[geothefisher]

This little Phillips HD antenna has been working great for me.  Only cost about $40 from Wally World.

Do you still need a converter box with this antenna?

[PopupModMike]

You will not need a converter box with your LCD TV anyways.

[geothefisher]

Thanks!

[denmar05]

  [a]I got my antenna at the dollar store six dollars.took the converter box from home and got every channel that i needed

[Rumpled]

I know it's blaphemy to some, but I'm also looking for an external antenna.

I'd like something that I could mount to my Yakima bars and leave there.
So, it'd have to be omnidirectional as well.
I'd also prfer that it not need to be powered.

I think that this Phillips mentioned is amplified = powered.

[whitecap]

Yes, that Phillips is powered.

[Twain]

I'm playing around with a Clearstream C5 at home and am getting very good results. After the analog signals were shutdown, many of the TV stations moved their digital broadcasts from the UHF band back down to the VHF band; mainly the channel 7-13 range as 2-6 is a much lower frequency range and subjected to electrical interference. So those UHF only antennas labeled as "digital" might not pickup those VHF channels.
The C5 is tuned for 7-13 (makes for a small antenna) and picks up a VHF station 35 miles away. - Antenna is 5 ft off the ground. The local UHF stations are 5 miles away in the other direction, and it picks them up fine. It is directional with a somewhat broad, 70-90 degree beam.

[The Becks]

After reading the posts on this site I installed "This little Phillips HD antenna" and it does work great.
I learned this antenna has to be connected to a digital television or an analog television with a digital converter box.
It is clamped to the roof rack of the high side trailer, so is 11 ft in the air when in use.  Way handy!
Simple, neat, and effective.
$40 at WalMart.
Thanks for all the great ideas.  This thing even impressed the wife!  and she pets and talks to the camper like it is her child.