How good are amplified indoor HDTV antennas?

[Numo]

Anyone have a recommendation for a specific brand/model of amplifier?

[bhaveshp]

I've had great results with this $40 RCA amplified antenna:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT1650-Digita...B0027FGW3K

[Numo]

silvarios wrote:
[quote=Ammo]
I found a good deal on a Samsung flatscreen today at Best Buy so I brought it home. Picture is great but it doesn't pick up a few of the lower channels, including PBS, which is a deal-breaker. We do not have cable and hooking the TV to our rooftop antenna doesn't help, so I thought maybe an amplified indoor antenna might do the trick. Anyone had any luck with these?

The antenna on your roof should be better. Do you know the type of antenna on the roof? Can you describe it? Has it picked up channels in the past? Did you select the correct tuner setting in the TV?
The rooftop antenna did a fairly good job supplying a signal tp my old converter box, but it doesn't help as much with flatscreen. Our rooftop antenna is a standard-looking one with all the rods pointing out in every direction (is that description technical enough?):dunno:

Yes, I selected the over the air option in the settings program.

[Uncle Wig]

Ammo, you do not necessarily need an amplified antenna. I use a rooftop antenna with my HDTV: Wineguard model HD7694, tuned specifically for channels 7-69, with a range of 30 miles for VHF and 25 for UHF. Works great! Picture quality is excellent; way better than cable. Costs about $60.

http://www.winegard.com/offair/vhfuhf-an...hp#hd7694p

Their site has some good basic info about HD antennas:
http://www.winegard.com/kbase/kb_tip_res...ip_num=354

[Panopticon]

After trying the monoprice amped antennas & a couple of others, I purchased the
Winegard FV-HD30 antenna and the Winegard AP-8700 Preamplifier.
Total for both from Amazon was < $60 @ the time. Both the HD30 & the AP-8700 handle UHF and VHF digital signals.
Many amped antennas don't play nice with VHF signals.

The HD30 sits on top of a dresser by the 2nd floor bedroom window & feeds 4 TVs and a
HD HomeRun dual tuner.
Reception is great, getting 40+ OTA channels {half are HD} from NoVA, DC, and MD.
Total cable run is approx. 80 feet after the amp.

[lafinfil]

Marc Anthony wrote:
If you are handy and like to do little projects, you could make your own.

Fractal antenna

Cool link - Thanks !

[anonymouse1]

We've had good luck here with the monoprice amped antenna.

[Grateful11]

Does your rooftop antenna have a rotator on it?

[$tevie]

lafinfil wrote:
[quote=Marc Anthony]
If you are handy and like to do little projects, you could make your own.

Fractal antenna

Cool link - Thanks !
This whole thread is cool! Thanks everybody who has/will post here.

[PeterB]

IF you still want to stick with an indoor, here's the one I have, which is just great because it has a rotator inside AND a memory function to remember which are the best rotator positions:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Radio-Shack-Amplifie...ltDomain_0&hash=item43a59b2d14

(I don't think the Shack is selling this model any longer, which is a shame...)