Antenna explanation

It's no different than the unscrupulous dealers who were selling color antennas in the mid '50s.

Now that you pointed out that well known fact (kindergarten lesson), we have to deal with the real world.

The cheapest old fashion indoor antennas are good for about a 10 to 15 mile range.

I get up to 120 mile range (daytime) and 150+ miles after dark for my high-definition television signals. I use a Winegard III with Wingman and a second in-line adjustable amplifier (R.S. 15-2505 about $33.)

You can check my past replies to posts on the subject and "Over the air TV revisited".

I guess I'm in kindergarten then, because I had been wondering why the often discussed Jack antenna, for example, labels itself as an HDTV Antenna and if I can use it with my old analog TV. On my old motorhome I did get a Jack installed so I found out that the answer is yes.

Thank you for posting that link, HappyKayakers.

MNtundraRet, since you seem to know lots about electronics, maybe you can answer a question for me. I haven't bought a new TV (LED/LCD HD) for either my motorhome or house because I don't spend enough time at home to buy HD channels from my Cable company, and RV parks with Cable generally do not offer HD channels. When I see HD TVs at my friends' houses, the regular old channels (non-HD) look worse on their TVs than on my old analog TV. Why?

Because of this, I hesitate to buy a new TV.

(Sorry to take this thread on a tangent, but it seemed a good opportunity for my inquiry.)

If you can't see improvement in an old analog set versus a good brand of High Definition Television your eyesight may be bad.

Also; your friends may not have used the correct cables, or set up the set properly to actual get a high-definition signal.

If you are happy with what you have there is no reason for you to spend money to change things.

My friends' HD channels are great. It's just the non-HD channels (like 2,4,8,10,12) that seem worse than my own old TV.

The article is partially correct. There is no such thing as a HD antenna but an ant. that is specifically designed for improved UHF reception will work better for HD TV than one that was designed for VHF - like the venerable bat-wing. That's why antennas like the Jack pick up a lot more stations.

Almost every time someone here mentions 'HD' antenna, they are corrected, and rightly so that there is no such thing. An antenna is an antenna. Period...

ScottG wrote:
The article is partially correct. There is no such thing as a HD antenna but an ant. that is specifically designed for improved UHF reception will work better for HD TV than one that was designed for VHF - like the venerable bat-wing. That's why antennas like the Jack pick up a lot more stations.

Assuming that the area in question is exclusively UHF. Nobody has shown that a Jack performs better than anything else, other than the marketing folks at King

Janss wrote:
I guess I'm in kindergarten then, because I had been wondering why the often discussed Jack antenna, for example, labels itself as an HDTV Antenna

That is easy.. If I offered you two IDENTICAL antennas.. one says

"Television Antenna" on the box and the other one which costs 25% more says "HDTV" which are you more likely to buy?

Well. YOU... perhaps will buy smart. But most folks will buy the "HDTV" antenna.

The next question is "How can they get away with it?" Answer. Simple. it really is an HDTV antenna... So is the other one (recall they are identical) as any TV antenna is an HDTV antenna. Thus it's not even false advertising.. It is the brain of the buyer that is faulty.

I recall an FMCA rally where folks were selling bow-tie UHF antennas for 99 bucks, these things sell for like 20 bucks at Radio Shack (if that) but they marked them HDTV and sold 'em for 99 bucks,

And what's worse.. They won't pick up some HDTV stations where as the antenna they were replacing (WInegard) would...

Janss wrote:
When I see HD TVs at my friends' houses, the regular old channels (non-HD) look worse on their TVs than on my old analog TV. Why?

Because of this, I hesitate to buy a new TV.

(Sorry to take this thread on a tangent, but it seemed a good opportunity for my inquiry.)

This is common for NO HD channels to look a little worse on a HD tv.
I have a DTV non HD box and the channels don't look as good...Have heard this also from many people.