needed: a good DTV antenna

[binsonk]

I recently canceled TW Cable TV. Yippee! Local broadcast TV is okay, but I am receiving less than half of the available channels. Does anyone know a good DTV broadcast antenna? Or even a good DTV antenna design. Here are my qualifiers:
1. inexpensive, under $25 or, even better, $20
2. standalone, does not need to be mounted
3. indoors
4. passive preferred, but powered okay
5. 40-mile effective radius of reception (30-mile minimum)

Thanks in advance for suggestions and recommendations.

PS: Help! I can't watch Jeopardy.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: needed: a good DTV antenna

Perhaps one of the DIY designs? There are a couple of different designs. I use the 4 gang bow-tie I made with ok results considering where I live.

[stj]

Re: needed: a good DTV antenna

so what happens if you take a crap set-top antenna and put a small parabolic dish behind it?
just curious because it works well for wifi / bluetooth, but those are in the Ghz band.

[tom66]

Re: needed: a good DTV antenna

If a parabolic dish works well for wifi, that's because the head is acting as an antenna. It's nothing to do with the dish.

The dish works well for satellite signals which are typically beamed across a large area. The parabolic dish focuses the radio signal onto the LNB head, which then downmixes it and shoves it down the coax cable.

Certainly, such a setup would do no good for a broadcast signal. You'd get exactly the same behaviour if you took the dish off and pointed the LNB-style receiver straight at the source.

[whiz62]

Re: needed: a good DTV antenna

Have made several 4 bay bow tie antennas but have not tried them indoors other than in the garage and work ok when in just the right position. Another decent DIY is the "stealth hawk antenna" found on youtube. Made mine out of 8 gauge solid grounding wire. We have it outside on house eave and wife doesn't complain about reception. It gets about 41 channels that come in good.

As far as indoors, We are using mohu leaf antennas in two bedrooms with fairly acceptable results but a little pricey for what you get. You have to find just the right position for them also. Good Luck