After making the decision to ditch cable or satellite service in
order to save upwards of $1,500 per year, you need to invest in antenna
hardware that enables all the televisions within the home
to pick up free, over-the-air high definition programming from networks
such as ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, the CW, PBS, ION, Telemundo, Univision and
other stations. While investing in a whole house, outdoor antenna system
is the most ideal solution for providing high definition programming to
all televisions within a home, people living within rental properties
are unlikely allowed to mount outdoor antennas on the roof or run cable
lines from an outdoor antenna to rooms around the home. This is partly
why the indoor antenna has made such a resurgence over the past few
years.
However, before considering an indoor antenna, head over to TV Fool and use the TV Signal Analysis tool
to view the available stations in your area based off physical
location. The analysis provides important data such as the direction of
the transmitters, distance from each transmitter and the signal power of
each transmitter.
In addition, the tool uses colors to visually represent the
probability of picking up each station. For instance, transmitters
marked in green can be picked up with a standard indoor antenna while
transmitters in yellow or red will likely require an attic antenna or
hardware mounted on the roof.
If the majority of the transmitters are marked green, it’s likely
that you can outfit televisions within your home with indoor antennas.
People that live closer to urban areas will likely fall into this
category. However, you may also have to take into account the building
materials used when constructing your home or apartment as well as the
terrain or large buildings in the area that could potentially block any
incoming signals.
While you should definitely be cautious about purchasing an indoor
antenna based solely off the claims of the manufacturer, there are some
really fantastic, high quality digital indoor antennas that will allow
you to pick up crystal clear high definition programming
from transmitters that are 20 to 40 miles away.
Personally, I have tested all of the following antennas in my own
search to find the best reception while living on the bottom floor of a
large apartment building. At my location, the majority of transmitters
are approximately 25 miles away and located in an direction that
requires the signal to travel through a couple concrete walls.
