Manhattan apartment antenna?

[BlastOButter42]

I live a tad more than a mile from the Empire State Building (zip code 10014), where all the major channels in my area come from, in the third floor of an apartment building with thick walls and other buildings around it. I'm looking for an antenna to plug into a digital TV tuner card for my computer so I can record things. I don't have any experience with antennas, since my TV is hooked up to analog cable. I'd like to start with a basic cheap indoor antenna and see how well that works, and move up from there if necessary.

Am I correct in my understanding that since I'm so close to the signal an indoor antenna should be all right? Any general suggestions for what type of antenna I should try?


As a sort of side-note, I put in my address at antennaweb.org, and was rather confused by the results. Again, all the major stations nearby come from the Empire State Building, which according to Google Earth is 1.25 miles away at a heading of ~50 degrees. All of the stations should be in the same place, but not only is that not the case, many of the stations have two listings at different locations. All say I'll need a yellow UHF antenna except for a couple which I note.
For WNYW (Fox): Two listings, both at 1.4 miles and 349 degrees (one labeled "post-transition")
For WABC (ABC): Two listings, one at 1.9 miles and 355 degrees (says I'll need a green UHF antenna) and one at 2.4 miles and 248 degrees (labeled "post-transition" and says I'll need a yellow VHF antenna)
For WCBS (CBS): Two listings, one at 1.4 miles and 349 degrees, and one at 2.3 miles and 252 degrees (labeled "post-transition," and says I'll need a red UHF antenna)
For WNBC (NBC): Two listings, one at 2.0 miles and 5 degrees, and one at 2.3 miles and 252 degrees (labeled "post transition")
Why are there these duplicate listings with different locations? And what's with the whole "post-transition" thing? After February 17, are all the digital stations moving somewhere 1.8 miles at heading 252 degrees from my house? That's in Jersey City, right near the river.

[tigerbangs]

Try connecting your cable to the laptop card: most cable TV companies won't scramble local HDTV signals: you may get lucky, Rescan your card, and see what comes up...

[BlastOButter42]

It's not a laptop card, and the cable is in the other room. Besides, the whole point of this was to get HDTV (or at least digital) broadcasts, and as I said, it's only analog cable.

[tigerbangs]

Unless you can get an antenna that can 'see' the ESB, the chances of getting good digital on all of your channels is slim. If you can find one, the Philips/Zenith Silver Sensor has good directionality for an indoor antenna, but it is UHF only, and after the 17th of the month, WABC-WPIX and WNET will be BACK on VHF

[BlastOButter42]

I don't have a line of sight unless I put something up on the roof, and I don't even have a window facing the right direction in this room. Would I be able to catch a reflection off of a nearby building if I put the antenna in the window?

[tigerbangs]

It's possible but I am not optimistic, all you can do is to try...you may have some success with at least a few stations....