“What kind of antenna would I need? I live in Brighton Mi area in a rural area about 20 miles from nearest tower. We recently purchased a 50 inch flat screen tv. I currently have a Mohu thin antenna on the wall that is getting around 33 channels. I'm not sure if it is the 30 leaf or not. I know that it's not amplified. I would like to get one that is at least a 50 mile range from the nearest tower. Would an amplified antenna be better to get more stations and be multi directional so I don't have to move it around for better reception? I don't really want to spend a lot for one.”
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Amplifiers do not increase range on an antenna. This is a very common misconception even by customer service reps (who do not have a tech background). Amplifiers cannot amplify what the antenna does not "hear". If you want to receive something at 50 miles away, you should buy an unamplified antenna with a range of 40-50 miles. TV signals degrade when traveling over a cable line. An amplifier fixes this issue but will add noise to the system. The added noise makes it slightly harder on your antenna to receive signals. You should look to see if the signal is vhf or uhf. mohu leafs are not designed to receive vhf signals.
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.Actually, 33 channels for an indoor antenna is pretty good! 20 miles is close; a 50 mile antenna won't get you any better reception, according to TERK customer service. I'd say try an amplifier, and here's why: I had a five-year-old $20 ClearTV antenna that wasn't performing as well on my new TV, so I spent $80 on the TERK OMNITV, which had a longer range, and actually got fewer channels. Customer Service said to remove the amplifier, but it did not help. After checking with the TV manufacturer to make sure I had done everything I could, I packed up the TERK to return to the store, but just for kicks I connected the ClearTV antenna to the amplifier. Worked great. Lesson learned: Indoor antennas are low-tech. You can dress them up and write all kinds of slick marketing copy, but when it comes right down to it, they're all rabbit ears!
Sorry, there was a problem. Please try again later.You could certainly try an amplified antenna. But read the reviews. Some are better than others. And some aren't as good as the one you have. I'd specifically look for a review from someone like yourself in an outlying area. Of course, the better ones quite often cost more. But, really, rabbit ears, or these modern iterations of rabbit ears, are mainly made for urban and suburban areas. If you don't want to go with a dish, want to stay with an antenna and want good reception, you're best best is one of those big, old-fashioned things we used to mount on a pole strapped to our chimney about 6 feet higher than the roof. Of course, when you first set it up, you need 2 people because you have have to play that old "move it a little more; no wait, back a little" game (i.e., getting it positioned just right). Plus, in addition to the antenna and the pole, you have to buy enough cable to go from the antenna to your TV - not to mention drilling a hole in your wall to run it through, like the cable guys. Or you could just leave a window open. :-)
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