i bought a cheap set of rabbit ears from biglots last night that has the capability to receive hd channles, and to my surprise all i can say is wow the hd channels are stunning, and even the regular channels are very good. are they any suggestions for picking up more, i think right now i get 5, 11, 17, 22, 28, 40, 48, 50, and 66 (with any hd counterparts included if the are available) but i really want the wunc channel. but anyway, any tips would be appreciated, and perhaps i can take it back to biglots and use that money toward a better antenna, or will that not make a difference?

6/6/2008 8:16:54 AM

I'm not totally sure about HD but I imagine it's similar to analog, which means you'll want a huge directional antenna on a motorized mount as high in the air as possible, then you can pick up broadcast TV from the next state over

6/6/2008 8:36:34 AM

haha if its cheaper than cable then i'll do it

6/6/2008 8:41:39 AM

http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx
UNCTV is not on the same tower as the other HD channels IIRC, most are near the intersection of Hwy70 and I40. Use the above website to find your distance from the towers and where to point a directional antenna.

6/6/2008 8:59:45 AM

cool i will take a look

btw i have a set-top antenna, so i don't know how much difference that makes.

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 9:02 AM. Reason : zdf]

6/6/2008 9:01:46 AM

the channels listed there are about all you should be receiving, except for UNC-TV (PBS) on channel 4, which has a tower over in Durham. The other towers are down in Garner

6/6/2008 9:22:37 AM

yeah, thats about right, but i def want wunc tv

6/6/2008 9:25:24 AM

the UNC HD tower is off TW Alexander behind the GSK facility.

6/6/2008 9:56:45 AM

you can buy a 2nd antenna, or get one for free from WRAL
http://www.wral.com/wral-tv/story/1180307/ (see link in the sidebar to mail-in form)

i bought a cheap mast antenna from radio shack and put it on my roof and it points to Garner, where I pick up all the networks. Then I got the free antenna from WRAL and put it on the same post and point it towards Durham to get UNC. just took a 2:1 cable splitter and used it in reverse to connect both antennas to the cable (use equal-length cables from the antennas to the splitter to avoid ghosting or shifting)

6/6/2008 9:57:40 AM

is this for a set-top or outside antenna? i would assume set-top.

6/6/2008 10:13:01 AM

i heard that in 2009 they are getting rid of regular over the air TV... anyone else heard this rumor??

6/6/2008 10:39:52 AM

^sarcasm? yeah they're ditching analog, not digital.

6/6/2008 10:42:03 AM

^^^ outside or attic, but nothing you'd want to set up in your living room

6/6/2008 11:43:27 AM

oh cool. do you think it would fit in the top of my closet in my apt (which is roughly an attic )? anyway, is it possible at all for me to tune into wunc with what i currently have?

6/6/2008 1:31:44 PM

if you literally only have rabbit ears, and you don't get UNC-TV right now, then i would suppose not. I guess the transmitter isn't powerful enough. You probably need some kind of directional antenna.

This is a smallish, cheap one I got from Radio Shack that I put on my roof and point it towards the towers in Garner. It's small enough that I mounted it behind my chimney and you can't even see it from the front of the house.

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103088&cp=2032057.2032187.2032189.2032205&parentPage=family

The one you get for free from WRAL is kind of like this one. On this picture, you see it has 2 square grids, so you can point each square in a different direction to pick up different signals. The one from WRAL only has 1 grid, so it's only one-direction. But combine that one with another antenna like the one above, or get 2 just like it, and now you have a multi-directional antenna

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=8408476&type=product&id=1183160363349

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

[Edited on June 6, 2008 at 1:46 PM. Reason : .]

6/6/2008 1:45:50 PM

how tall is the one that wral sends out? i am think that i do have an attic in my apt (hah funny that i don't know this, never really looked for one either) if i an get it up in my closet that might be enough to pick what i currently get plus wunc.

6/6/2008 1:59:11 PM

it's maybe 14" square, about 4" deep.

6/6/2008 2:07:18 PM

ok boom, so it will fit in the top of my closet. woooo

6/6/2008 2:12:18 PM

Unless things have changed, UNCTV only broadcasts in HD during primetime hours OTA...the rest of the day, they multicast their four different channels of programming. On TWC they have a fiber feed, so their HD channel is on 24/7

Would be nice to pick up another CBS affiliate, considering how much HD college football and basketball WRAL preempts.

6/6/2008 2:40:00 PM