You have to confirm it gets the channels that are used in your local market. Not any possible.
That’s one of the dirty little secrets of “Digital TV” Antennas: Because the frequency-bands being used are a subset of the original VHF (High Band) and the UHF Band, there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING “different” about a “DTV” antenna and that 30-year old Yagi on the rotator in your Grandpa’s house.
Nothing. At. All.
But, because MOST of the channels moved to UHF when ATSC was adopted, MANY (far too many, IMHO) “DTV” antennas simply IGNORE (or really poorly serve) the VHF and FM bands (FM broadcast in the U.S. actually lies BETWEEN old-skool VHF channels 6 and 7), and so, you MUST check a website like tvfool.com, and see if any of the “DTV” channels in your area still remain on VHF, BEFORE you go shopping for a brand-new “DTV” antenna.
Or you can just use that nice old Yagi up on its 30-foot tower…
UHF goes back to the early 1950’s. The problem was that the 3 major networks already occupied the VHF spectrum. PBS didn’t exist and any (UHF) independent TV stations could only exist in large cities because of limited programming and ad revenue.
Of course it didn’t help that UHF tuners weren’t required to be in each new TV until the early 1960’s. And even then to tune UHF you had to get up and go to the TV then set the VHF tuner to UHF mode and then use the UHF tuner to select a channel.
If the possibilities are binary… it’s really an over-expectation that a new antenna would be able to pick up any DTV channel I may possibly receive? UHF and/or VHF
Yes, that’s an over-expectation for a generic “new antenna”. There are antennas that will do all current frequencies, but it’ll be pretty large. Most people look for smaller antennas, so you need to be aware of the limitations.
I"ve got one myself! That’s why I was surprised that “new” ones wouldn’t necessarily receive all your channels.
That is an EXTREMELY vague and ambiguous comment. It also implies, many, some or at least a few have not.
Requiring someone to research channel frequencies (understand virtual channels vs RF channels) seems a bit over the top. Personally I think some, research is a good idea.
It’s only ~25’ near the woods - despite all the modern info and data saying it’s not adequate… it continues to work
M[quote=“djk44883, post:26, topic:19242”]
That is an EXTREMELY vague and ambiguous comment. It also implies, many, some or at least a few have not.
Requiring someone to research channel frequencies (understand virtual channels vs RF channels) seems a bit over the top. Personally I think some, research is a good idea.
[/quote]
It SEEMS like a “vague and ambiguous comment”… when you remove the rest of the sentence, and I also didn’t “imply” that some channels did not move [to UHF from VHF], I simply stated it. Why the drama?
I also not only advised to use a site like tvfool.com, I provided a clickable link to the proper page on that site!
LDepending on your location, for example, an apartment dweller within 25 mi of most transmitters, they don’t have to be large.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000HKGK9I/
Yep, Rabbit Ears. And no, I’m not kidding. Not one bit!
I was helping a friend set up his new Samsung TV and new Apple TV. He lives a good 30 miles from the major antenna farm in our area.
I had one of those antennas (link, above) that I had never unboxed, so I brought it there, hooked it to the TV, and unceremoniously pointed it in the general, GUESSTIMATED direction of those towers, and ran a channel scan…
33 Channels (IIRC).
So there it was, a slightly updated version of good d rabbit ears!
But, YMMV. I’m just sayin’, lotsa snake oil in the “Digital Antenna” business…
Were any of them VHF? It not, your friend got lucky.
I have ordered the winegard.
Not at all.
Look at the product picture closely, and think about the fact I called them “Rabbit Ears”. 
There is the standard-issue VHF dipole (with the antennas collapsed), hiding behind the big “slab” of the UHF antenna.
That’s how he was able to pick up VHF Chans (of which we have a few), and pick them up WELL.
Cool. Which way was your window pointing?
You know, I just thought of something: many high rise apartment buildings built before the 1970s had a Antenna Distribution system, with roof mounted antennas, and a distribution amplifier. Look around the living room area for a wall-plate with a coax connector on it.
Shoot, probably even until the early 90’s in some places.
I was trying to be conservative. But I agree.
The only question is; is it still working? But I figure it’s worth a shot.
A roof-mounted, professionally installed and aimed antenna farm, with a real distro system, trumps ANYTHING he can put in his apt, no question!
Ours is ancient which likely proves part of this thread. It’s an old 300 ohm screw system. Another friend claims that it is in the TV antenna input. I have done multiple channel scans. We are supposed to have what I refer to as the door channel, it’s just a camera that shows who is at the building door. The TV shows less channels on that input. The 23 mi signals are absent and there is strangely no analong channel for the door cam. Only the closest towers are working. They have done nothing to update it for DTV assuming they had to
O[quote=“Mark_Daniel, post:36, topic:19242, full:true”]
Ours is ancient which likely proves part of this thread. It’s an old 300 ohm screw system. Another friend claims that it is in the TV antenna input. I have done multiple channel scans. We are supposed to have what I refer to as the door channel, it’s just a camera that shows who is at the building door. The TV shows less channels on that input. The 23 mi signals are absent and there is strangely no analong channel for the door cam. Only the closest towers are working. They have done nothing to update it for DTV assuming they had to
[/quote]
300 ohm is fine. You just need a “Balun”. Like this:
https://www.amazon.com/Fancasee-Matching-Transformer-Converter-Connector/dp/B07BW9YS4Q/
They wouldn’t have to “update” it. Just keep it working.
That would be fine but only 3 5 (NBC abc) and the local unf channels come up. No CBS and the good uhf channel that comes from that provider. The picture is clear but I need my 19 and 43. I was going to plug it into the tablo until I noticed no 19 and 43.
II[quote=“Mark_Daniel, post:38, topic:19242”]
That would be fine but only 3 5 (NBC abc) and the local unf channels come up. No CBS and the good uhf channel that comes from that provider. The picture is clear but I need my 19 and 43. I was going to plug it into the tablo until I noticed no 19 and 43.
[/quote]
Well, it sounds like everything but 19 and 43 are working. What are those channels?
Checking tvfool.com shows no Chan. 19 or 43 in your area…
19 is CBS 43 is like the judge channel although they do show new people’s court episodes. It used to be upn once upon a time. No fox 8 either or channel 55 or 61. Those antennas are aimed at old frequencies. For one thing the tower owners had this fight and 8 was one CBS it is now fox. I think 19 was once fox