When shopping for an antenna, finding the right type that will best fit your requirements can be challenging. There are a number of factors that have an impact on performance, such as your location, signal strength, and antenna height to name a few. However, there are tools available that make the process easy and provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision on which antenna type will work best for your specific location. Here is a step-by-step guide that will walk you through the process and also provide some helpful suggestions.

Step 1. Visit URL http://www.receptionmaps.com/Advanced-TV-Maps.html

Under the Find TV Signals section enter your full address and click on Map this.

Step 2 – The Interactive TV Coverage Browser will appear. Check the box for the Show lines pointing to each transmitter. Once you check the box, lines will appear pointing from your location to each of the transmitters of the DTV stations in your area.

Step 3 – Look at the map to determine in which direction the towers in your area, and that will tell you if you need an Omni-Directional or Multi-Directional antenna.

• Multi-Directional – Works best when the towers are located within a 45-90-degree pattern around your location.
• Omni-Directional – Best option when the towers are located in a 360-degree pattern around your location.

Step 4 – Determine the mileage needed to reach the furthest tower. Look at the mileage chart towards the bottom of the page and look in the Dist (mi) column to find the mileage of the furthest tower of the strong (green) and moderate (yellow) signals in your area.

Using the example images above, the majority of the towers are located within a 45–90-degree pattern, and the furthest tower is 28.8 miles away. With that in mind, the best antenna option would be a Multi-Directional antenna with a reception range of at least 30 miles.

Here are a couple of helpful things to remember. First, an outdoor antenna will almost always provide better TV reception than an indoor antenna. Second, the higher the antenna is placed the better.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, there are a number of factors that influence how well any antenna will perform, such as signal strength and terrain. The curvature of the earth also plays a role. Once you get more than 70 miles from the tower, picking up a signal gets very difficult as the curvature of the earth begins to impact over-the-air signals.  

We hope this information helps when you’re ready to purchase your next antenna. As always, feel free to email us at service@primebuydirect.com if you have any questions.

See you in the next blog!