[PLUG] Indoor TV antenna recommendations

[John Jason Jordan]

On Tue, 05 Nov 2013 09:23:45 -0800
Dick Steffens <dick at dicksteffens.com> dijo:

>Okay. This isn't really Linux related, but it's something we need for 
>MythTV, so unless there are objections I'm inclined to leave the
>thread on this list instead of moving over to PLUG-talk. If there are
>serious objections, then we can move over there.

I did finally get MythTV and my HDHomeRun working, sort of. That is,
the MythTV Frontend application refuses to allow me to view TV because
it complains that it can't find the Master Backend Server. But if I use
HDHomeRun Config GUI application I can find the channel I want and
click on View, and then it opens the channel in VLC. I should probably
figure out a better way, but at least I know the hardware is working. I
should probably start by trying to figure out what a Master Backend
Server is. 

I wanted an antenna right away, so I was limited to what I could find
in local stores. Radio Shack supposedly sells a dipole antenna, but
it's not in stock in any of the stores locally. I bought an "HDTV
Antenna" from them for $24.95. It looks like a fancy set-top rabbit
ears antenna. My first experiment with it was to see if it would work
with the television I have upstairs. It worked surprisingly well - so
well that I left it connected and disconnected the Comcast cable. Then
I went back and bought another one for the HDHomeRun downstairs, which
seems to work equally well.

The picture I get over the air is far better than what Comcast gives
me, although the signal sometimes breaks up a bit. There is a
12-position knob on the antenna and I found that I get improved signal
in different positions. I need to spend some time experimenting to find
out which position works the best. At the moment it gets channel 10-1
perfectly, and that's all I really want to watch anyway.

As for making my own, I considered that, but by the time I bought the
wire and spent the time putting it together I decided that it was
cheaper just to buy one ready-made.