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Media centre almost complete, what's a good amplified TV antenna?

Dabombinable
By Dabombinable
in Home Theater Equipment
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^As the title says. I've almost finished my mendia centre and now I need an antenna for it (its TV card doesn't need a set top box for digital signal BTW), so far I'm looking at these 4 (AUD):

Which would be the best choice, or are there better options? (I'm looking at anything up to around the $70-90 mark)

"We also blind small animals with cosmetics.
We do not sell cosmetics. We just blind animals."

 

"Please don't mistake us for Equifax. Those fuckers are evil"

 

This PSA brought to you by Equifacks.
PMSL

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The ones you have listed mostly look like junk, especially the first one. It is more important to get a good antenna than a poor antenna with an amplifier. It all honestly depends on specifics of your location and signal requirements.

 

Couple of Questions.

 

Do you know the range from you to the broadcasting towers?

Do you know the directions of the signals?

Do you the frequency or the Channels you would be using?

How important is asthetics for you?

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Couple of Questions.

 

Do you know the range from you to the broadcasting towers?

Do you know the directions of the signals?

Do you the frequency or the Channels you would be using?

How important is asthetics for you?

Asthetics aren't that important at the moment, but might be in the future. As for the frequency/direction and range I don't know. However with the old set of bunny ears I used to have on my LCD TV/Monitor I was able to get decent analogue reception with all channels (and even some that the TV couldn't pick up with the main antenna-not in use due to being located on the other side of the house), which is a bit different from digital as with even a small interruption such as rain I've seen it lose signal completely.

"We also blind small animals with cosmetics.
We do not sell cosmetics. We just blind animals."

 

"Please don't mistake us for Equifax. Those fuckers are evil"

 

This PSA brought to you by Equifacks.
PMSL

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Asthetics aren't that important at the moment, but might be in the future. As for the frequency/direction and range I don't know. However with the old set of bunny ears I used to have on my LCD TV/Monitor I was able to get decent analogue reception with all channels (and even some that the TV couldn't pick up with the main antenna-not in use due to being located on the other side of the house), which is a bit different from digital as with even a small interruption such as rain I've seen it lose signal completely.

so I searched and found this. https://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ I assume it's legit. I honestly didn't spend much time checking it out yet. It might help you determine what stations you should be able to get at your location.

The direction question is important if you need an antenna that's omnidirectional or not. Distance can also be used to determine what kind of antenna you might need. Weak digital signal reception with rabbit ears can be overcome with an appropriate antenna.

Not trying to overcomplicate things or make them difficult, just trying to give useful advice.

Ok, I'll try and rough things out.

do you live in a city? If so any tall buildings nearby? If not in a city how far away from the city are you.

Do you have any channels 13 or below that you would like to recieve.

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so I searched and found this. https://myswitch.digitalready.gov.au/ I assume it's legit. I honestly didn't spend much time checking it out yet. It might help you determine what stations you should be able to get at your location.

The direction question is important if you need an antenna that's omnidirectional or not. Distance can also be used to determine what kind of antenna you might need. Weak digital signal reception with rabbit ears can be overcome with an appropriate antenna.

Not trying to overcomplicate things or make them difficult, just trying to give useful advice.

Ok, I'll try and rough things out.

do you live in a city? If so any tall buildings nearby? If not in a city how far away from the city are you.

Do you have any channels 13 or below that you would like to recieve.

According to the site I've got good coverage and 3 transmitters available, 17 channels, 177.5mhz-529.5mhz

"We also blind small animals with cosmetics.
We do not sell cosmetics. We just blind animals."

 

"Please don't mistake us for Equifax. Those fuckers are evil"

 

This PSA brought to you by Equifacks.
PMSL

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According to the site I've got good coverage and 3 transmitters available, 17 channels, 177.5mhz-529.5mhz

Well out of the ones you have selected, I like the last one best, the middle two seem to be the better than the first. Its honestly hard to find relevant information about the antenna to know if it is junk or not, and without data it is hard to accurately determine your specific needs. Based on the information provided, just about any mediocre antenna should work, and amplification can help boost some weaker signals.

The thing you have to consider with amplified antennas, is whether or not the amplifier will overload the signal. Basically too much signal, and it would look like you have lost reception. Can usually be dealt with by changing the antennas direction or disconnecting the amplifier.

I live in North America, so many of the antennas available to me may not be available to you. A search on your ebay is not so promising.

Zenith Silver Sensor or Terk HDTV(a) style antennas, hopefully with vhf elements. (directional)

Winegard Flatwave

Mohu Leaf

RCA Digital Flat Antenna

If looks are less important

Winegard SS-3000 (directional)

ClearStream2 or 1 (directional)

knock offs might work, but won't perform as well.

Hope this works out for you.

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Well out of the ones you have selected, I like the last one best, the middle two seem to be the better than the first. Its honestly hard to find relevant information about the antenna to know if it is junk or not, and without data it is hard to accurately determine your specific needs. Based on the information provided, just about any mediocre antenna should work, and amplification can help boost some weaker signals. 

 

The thing you have to consider with amplified antennas, is whether or not the amplifier will overload the signal. Basically too much signal, and it would look like you have lost reception. Can usually be dealt with by changing the antennas direction or disconnecting the amplifier. 

 

 

I live in North America, so many of the antennas available to me may not be available to you. A search on your ebay is not so promising.

 

Zenith Silver Sensor or Terk HDTV(a) style antennas, hopefully with vhf elements. (directional)

Winegard Flatwave

Mohu Leaf

RCA Digital Flat Antenna

 

If looks are less important

Winegard SS-3000 (directional)

ClearStream2 (directional)

 

knock offs might work, but won't perform as well.

 

 

Hope this works out for you.

Thanks, I'll see if they are available. And I've been thinking this afternoon that I might need to do a case mod for the MC anyway, so I might end up mounting the antenna on top semi-permanently.

"We also blind small animals with cosmetics.
We do not sell cosmetics. We just blind animals."

 

"Please don't mistake us for Equifax. Those fuckers are evil"

 

This PSA brought to you by Equifacks.
PMSL

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Thanks, I'll see if they are available. And I've been thinking this afternoon that I might need to do a case mod for the MC anyway, so I might end up mounting the antenna on top semi-permanently.

You might be best served by a place with easy returns in case the antenna purchased doesn't work in your location. Antennas are finicky that way.

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