Where should I buy an antenna?

[HiDefDon]

I am planning to drive from Texas to Manitowoc next week and would like to purchase an antenna in Milwaukee.

I want to get a high gain VHF/UHF outdoor antenna.  Can anyone provide a recommendation for TV antennas in Milwaukee?  Is Ness Electronics any good?  Others?

Thanks.
DonP

[dlhoppe]

Can't you get them in Texas?  Just kidding, couldn't resist.

Just do a little research online to find an antenna that will suit your needs.  There are lots of brands and plenty of info available to get you started. antennaweb.org is a good place to see where you are relative to your local broadcast towers. You can also try
http://www.2150.com/broadcast/default.asp, but you'll need to find you latitude, longitude and magnetic declination for you home's location.

Some of the things you'll need to know:

Is this for digital, analog or both?  

If it's digital, are all your local OTA channels on UHF?  If you don't need VHF capability, then you can go with a UHF only antenna. Much smaller, lighter, less wind exposure, etc.

How far are you from the broadcast towers you want to receive  signals from?  This will determine the amount of gain you'll need.

[Ralph Kramden]

If you are going to install it yourself, go to Skywalker Communications in New Berlin. That's where I bought mine, a Winegard. They also sell Channel Master. The sign on front door says "Wholesale only" but they sold to me. I've been there a few times for different items. You'll get the wholesale price too.

[HiDefDon]

dlhoppe and Ralph Kramden,

Thanks for the info.

I have decided to get the Winegard HD8200P since it has the highest gain (7dB) for Channel 2 in Green Bay.  My father is getting very poor reception on Channel 2 which appears to be caused by electrical interference.  I am going to replace the cable with quad shield RG6 and also attach a VHF/UHF pre-amp.  I am not looking forward to this work up on the antenna tower.

DonP

[dlhoppe]

Don,

Make sure you don't over-do it with the preamp. Over-driving the signal can cause as much headache as what you have now. I would think the 8200 will do just fine without the preamp. I have the equivilent Winegard CA-8100 here on my tower in West Bend and I get all of Green Bay just fine without a preamp. I tried one at first and things were screwy. I had to turn the antenna away from the towers a little to pick them up. You're closer to the GB towers than I am, so I'm sure you'll get more gain with the naked antenna then I'm getting.

Good luck and be safe up on the tower.