Because it isn't easy to judge any improvements aerial adjustments make from the tv reception, it is adviseable to purchase a signal strength meter in order to get an instant readout of signal as adjustments are made to the antenna. Such a device is relatively inexpensive.
There are also many different sorts of antenna available. The first thing is to ensure the antenna you buy is suitable to receive signals for the area you live. Some aerials tend to be designed for a faily narrow signal band and others tend to be "wideband". While buying a wideband aerial might seem like a good idea, if there are lots of conflicting signals around, if you live in an area where there is coverage overlap from several transmitters, for instance, or hills or tall buildings are creating lots of reflected interference signals, then buying the aerial that is going to be most selective and directional of the signals you want to receive is the best option.
The next thing is the gain of the aerial. The gain should be suitable for the available signal strength. There is some sense using a higher than necessary gain in order to obtain a better signal-to-noise ratio but in order for a digital tv or digibox to handle the increased signal an attenuator of the correct value will need to be selected and fitted at the bottom of the down-lead.
Mostly a high gain antenna is only suitable for areas of lower than normal signal strength. Using a high gain antenna in normal signal strength areas risks picking up more stray, reflected or unwanted signals and also because such aerials are physically longer and more complex they are more prone to damage from adverse weather and so should be correspondingly of a much higher quality.
All aerials of this sort of design are directional but some designs are much more directional than others and could provide a much better choice in some locations. I suggest you carry out some research that is most applicable to your immediate area. You won't do better than to begin by checking what those neighbours have who used professional aerial erector services... OR get satelite instead.
In some areas, it can depend on the antenna used. In areas close to the stations, you should pick up fine with just about any antenna. If you're out in the country or even thirty to forty-five minutes away from the station, you will probably need an outdoor antenna. Even with this in mind, in some areas, the antenna may need to be higher or lower than your neighbors antenna. As an example, I lived in an area where, with analog television, my outdoor antenna was on a twenty foot pole. When I switched to digital, I had to lower my antenna about five feet. A person, one city block behind me, had mimiced what I had done before and after the switch. Because of the job I had at the time, he showed up at my work and inquiried about the reason he wasn't getting anything. After telling him that I had to play with the height of mine, and that he might need to take his higher, he went to try it. Two days later, he came back saying that he was getting great reception, but he had to go the full extent of his thirty foot pole. That's just within a city block, but I've even talked with people in the country where some have been lucky enough to be able to use an indoor antenna and their neighbors had an outdoor one about twenty to thirty foot high. Some have even needed to go to a good fifty feet.
Answers & Comments
Because it isn't easy to judge any improvements aerial adjustments make from the tv reception, it is adviseable to purchase a signal strength meter in order to get an instant readout of signal as adjustments are made to the antenna. Such a device is relatively inexpensive.
There are also many different sorts of antenna available. The first thing is to ensure the antenna you buy is suitable to receive signals for the area you live. Some aerials tend to be designed for a faily narrow signal band and others tend to be "wideband". While buying a wideband aerial might seem like a good idea, if there are lots of conflicting signals around, if you live in an area where there is coverage overlap from several transmitters, for instance, or hills or tall buildings are creating lots of reflected interference signals, then buying the aerial that is going to be most selective and directional of the signals you want to receive is the best option.
The next thing is the gain of the aerial. The gain should be suitable for the available signal strength. There is some sense using a higher than necessary gain in order to obtain a better signal-to-noise ratio but in order for a digital tv or digibox to handle the increased signal an attenuator of the correct value will need to be selected and fitted at the bottom of the down-lead.
Mostly a high gain antenna is only suitable for areas of lower than normal signal strength. Using a high gain antenna in normal signal strength areas risks picking up more stray, reflected or unwanted signals and also because such aerials are physically longer and more complex they are more prone to damage from adverse weather and so should be correspondingly of a much higher quality.
All aerials of this sort of design are directional but some designs are much more directional than others and could provide a much better choice in some locations. I suggest you carry out some research that is most applicable to your immediate area. You won't do better than to begin by checking what those neighbours have who used professional aerial erector services...
OR get satelite instead.
In some areas, it can depend on the antenna used. In areas close to the stations, you should pick up fine with just about any antenna. If you're out in the country or even thirty to forty-five minutes away from the station, you will probably need an outdoor antenna. Even with this in mind, in some areas, the antenna may need to be higher or lower than your neighbors antenna. As an example, I lived in an area where, with analog television, my outdoor antenna was on a twenty foot pole. When I switched to digital, I had to lower my antenna about five feet. A person, one city block behind me, had mimiced what I had done before and after the switch. Because of the job I had at the time, he showed up at my work and inquiried about the reason he wasn't getting anything. After telling him that I had to play with the height of mine, and that he might need to take his higher, he went to try it. Two days later, he came back saying that he was getting great reception, but he had to go the full extent of his thirty foot pole. That's just within a city block, but I've even talked with people in the country where some have been lucky enough to be able to use an indoor antenna and their neighbors had an outdoor one about twenty to thirty foot high. Some have even needed to go to a good fifty feet.