HDTV Reception Help, please.

[terpfanumcp]

I have an HDTV, with Directv HDTV tuner, and all the HD channels come in great except the 5 local channels I get. The picture is horrible, especially when compared to HD channels such as ESPN, TNT, etc. I live in southeastern North Carolina, about midway between Myrtle Beach SC and Wilmington NC. My zipcode is 28468. Can anybody give me any advice on whether a rooftop HDTV is necessary, or if I can use an indoor antenna? I would also like to know if it needs to be amplified or not. All of the four stations I would need to get are in Wilmington, are UHF channels, and are between 25-34 miles away. The info I got from AntennaWeb.org is that two are yellow UHF, 1 green UHF and 1 blue UHF. All of this is greek to me. If anyone can advise me, based on their knowledge and/or personal experience, I would be very grateful. I don't want to go through too much trial and error. The Super Bowl looms in the not too distant future...

Thank you!

[tigerbangs]

The Wilmington stations are the easiest to get in your area, however, the Florence, SC stations are also available if you have the ability to rotate your antenna to get them. If yu want the easiest way to pick up Wilmingon, I would suggest mounting a Winegard HD-4400 UHF antenna on your roof, which is a compact antenna, and aim it at 45 degrees from your location as measured by your compass. If you want the Florence stations, you can add a rotator to that antenna to aim at those stations. I don't believe that you'll need a preamplifier in your situation.
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/AntInstallGuide.pdf
http://www.winegard.com

[terpfanumcp]

Thank you, that really helps.