Which indoor antenna is the best?

[toshiba]

Hi, I live in Queens, New York, about 15 miles from the tv tower. My only choice is indoor antenna. So, which indoor HD antenna would you recommend. Thank You.

[tigerbangs]

Indoor antennas are a crapshoot, at best: in a city environment, you have only a 50% chance of having one work for you. There aren't ant indoor antennas that work well for VHF, and you will have 3 VHF stations in February

[hdtvlabs]

Well, there are still some indoor antennas that are better than the others. And if you buy the right model you increase the chances of getting a good reception. And if you buy a crappy one, then your chances will be far below 50%.

IMO, the best indoors are DB2 and SS-3000. Avoid TV-55 and the gimmicks like the "picture frame" antenna. This is a total waste of money

[tigerbangs]

While those are good UHF antennas, they are essentially useless for VHF...

[ngarrang]

From my experimentation, a DB2 from Aspen Eagle, ChannelMaster, etc works well for all the UHF channels, and will even receive some of the Hi-VHF.

The SS-3000 works very well for Hi-VHF, but I found its directionality to be a hinderance in my specific application.

[Avis]

I also live in Queens and have been looking for a good antenna for a while. From what I hear, on June 12 the situation will change and some TV stations will start to broadcast on VHF. So now, what to do? Even if I spend a $100 on some antenna that gives me good reception, on June 12 I might have no reception. And I will have to shop for another antenna. Perhaps the right thing to to will be to get the least expensive "temporary" indoor antenna (buy used on ebay) and wait till June 12 and see what is going on then. After June 12 we will see what happens and we will know where all those TV stations broadcast - then we can get the best possible antenna for the best possible reception.

By the way, in Queens, with rabbit ears (amplified) I can get now channels 2, 4 (4.1, 4.2 and so on), 5 (5.1, 5.2....), 7, 9, 11 and 25. I sometimes get ch 31 but I have to adjust antenna for this channel. On some websites they say that there are many more stations one can get from NYC - but I have never heard anyone confirming that it is possible. Many stations have postponed conversion to DTV - so maybe that's why.

[tigerbangs]

The very best indoor antenna offers no guarantee of good TV reception: there are so many variables to indoor TV reception that no predictions of success can ever be made. The best suggestion about indoor antennas that anyone can make is to find the most directional antenna that you can, and try it. Be sure that you get return privileges when buying any indoor antenna.