# Question about UHF/VHF antennas and channels

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-uhf-vhf-antennas-and-channels/186488>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 6, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-uhf-vhf-antennas-and-channels/186488 "2003-07-06T02:04:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![II\_Gyan\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/bbe5ce/32.png) [@II\_Gyan\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/II_Gyan_II)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-uhf-vhf-antennas-and-channels/186488/1 "2003-07-06T02:04:21Z")

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Hi

Till end of summer, I’m staying off-campus with a roommate. We don’t have cable. Installation will cost $35 alongwith the cost for a month which is between 13-50. And we aren’t ready to spend that just for a month’s reception. Now, I was thinking about getting an indoor/outdoor antenna to pick up on-the-air channels. These range from $6-$15, pretty reasonable.

Now, I stay in West Lafayette, that’s in Tippecanoe County (West-Central Indiana). It’s 65 miles away from Indianapolis. The call-signs for most of the public channels indicate Indianapolis as the origin. What I’d like to know is whether a typical UHF/VHF antenna can pick up these signals?

Generally, what’s the range for these signals and how do they vary from Channel 2 - 69?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-uhf-vhf-antennas-and-channels/186488/2 "2003-07-06T02:21:56Z")

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I think at that range you’ll find the typical set-top rabbit ear type of antenna to perform disapointingly poorly. You’ll have better luck with a rooftop Yagi antenna–the more elements, the better. All things being equal, VHF-low signals (ch. 2 - 7) will propagate farther than VHF-high (ch. 9 - 13) or UHF (ch. 14 +). The higher up you can get your antenna, the more likely you are to pull in a good signal, since TV signals are mainly line-of-sight, especially VHF-high and UHF. An RF signal booster might provide some performance increase as well. Good luck.

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**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\
**Post date:** [July 6, 2003, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-uhf-vhf-antennas-and-channels/186488/3 "2003-07-06T04:50:38Z")

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A basic amplified indoor set-top antenna will go for $35 or more at Radio Shack. (Just using them because of their near-universal availability.)

If you do buy an antenna, be sure you can return it if it doesn’t work for you. You can get a fair estimate of how well a set-top antenna will work without even asking questions - if the store has none on display, there’s probably a reason.