East side antenna recommendation?

[govegan]

I recently picked up an HDTV-ready 30" Sony Wega widescreen TV and I have a few questions.  I've done a few searches in the forum, but I still have a few questions since I'm far from an A/V guru.

I live on the east side, near Oakland and Locust, so I'm between 1.8 and 3.7 miles from most of the broadcasting towers in Milwaukee (except Fox, which is 8.7 miles away).  They're all between 330º and 343º, too, which I think would be a plus.

I don't have cable or satellite, so from what I understand, I need an HDTV tuner and probably just a low-gain, indoor antenna and possibly some attenuators.  The problem is I have no idea what low-gain means, so picking an antenna based on that will be difficult.

I understand that there is no perfect solution, but does anyone have any suggestions?

[StarvingForHDTV]

If your display is HDTV-ready, you have a tuner built in.  All you need is an antenna.  Read your owner's manual to verify this.  I would think an indoor antenna should work fine.  You might be able to get away with any indoor antenna at your location.  If you don't have one lying around, maybe go over to Radio Shack and ask for a double bow tie indoor antenna.  The thing is ugly, but it does work good.  You will need to make sure the antenna is ready for your setup.  If it has two wires (I don't know how they sell them these days) you will need a balun.  Basically just ask the Radio Shack employee if the antenna needs anything to work with your modern day TV set.

If the DBT is too ugly, you could try the Zenith Silver Sensor indoor antenna.  I have heard good things about that one too.  It might be available at one of the big boxes like Best Buy or Circuit City.

Good luck.

[oz]

Doesn't "HDTV-ready" really mean "HDTV-compatible" as in, the TV can display HD content with the appropriate external HD tuner attached to it? He may not have a built-in HD tuner.

[govegan]

Yeah, I just goofed when I was typing that up.  I just meant that the TV was HDTV-capable.  There was an otherwise identical model for $400 more which had a built-in tuner, but I opted for the one without the tuner.

I guess I'll probably buy the Silver Sensor antenna, a cheap tuner and a variety of attenuators and see what happens.  I know satellite or cable would be easier, but I don't subscribe to either now and don't really watch enough TV to make it worthwhile.

Thanks for the advice so far.

[StarvingForHDTV]

I picked up a Samsung SIR-T151 on eBay to use as my tuner.  If they are still around, they are bug free.  I would figure they are pretty cheap by now.  Maybe under $100 used.  It might be worth looking into.

Paying TWC $14.25 per month (basic service) plus $7.65 per month (set top box) plus their taxes and fees is another solution.  It doesn't make financial sense though.  You can probably pick up a used tuner and antenna for 6 months worth of service.  After that everything is free if you buy your own gear.

That's the route I went.  I don't watch enough TV to justify paying a provider.

Good luck to you.