Long-range indoor antennas put free high-def TV within reach.

 The Clearstream 2 Complete antenna. (Antennas Direct)

 

For those who found a recent survey of medium-range HDTV antennas for the cord-cutter a bit short-sighted, here's a look at a few long-range antennas designed to receive channels up to 70 miles away.

Keep in mind, when shopping for an antenna, that the target distance is not to the local downtown network affiliate: It's to the actual broadcast transmitter, more often on top of a mountain miles away or maybe atop the city's tallest building. In Chicago, local stations broadcast from the Willis Tower or the John Hancock Center. In New York, local stations use the Empire State Building and the General Electric Building.

Digital signals don't behave like the adaptable, if sometimes fuzzy, analog signals of the picture-tube era. They travel in a straight, line-of-sight path, which makes consistent, reliable reception a challenge.

Another mountain or towering building between the transmitter and your antenna can mean the difference between a glorious picture — without the data compression, superior to cable — and a blank screen. Digital over-the-air reception is all or nothing. Either the picture appears or it doesn't.

The Mohu Leaf 50 antenna. (Mohu)

 

 

Viewers already know their local stations. Now they should know their transmitter locations, too, and the type of antenna needed for reception. My first survey used www.antennaweb.org as a reference, but there are many others. This time www.tvfool.com seemed appropriate for this viewer chasing the local ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC affiliate — each with a transmitter less than 39 miles away.


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That usually calls for a medium-range antenna. (Short range is up to 25 miles, medium up to 55 and long from 50 to 70 and beyond.) In coastline terrain, TVFool data indicates only an attic or rooftop antenna will receive those channels.

The long-range antennas below, however, should do the job for clear-shot, long-range signals. In my location, the black hole for indoor antennas, none of these outperformed the short- and medium-range models.

Terk Trinity ($39.99, www.terk.com): A new arrival, in October, that looks more like a potent wireless router, than an antenna, with its three pop-up antennas connected to a flat base. Terk says this Tri-Modal RF technology delivers higher-quality reception for both the VHF and UHF bands. (Digital technology still uses the same Very High Frequency and Ultra High Frequency bands as analog television.)

 

 

The Trinity's amplifier also boots weak signals and reduces mobile phone interference. This antenna is small enough to fit alongside, or behind, an HDTV. Excellent for small spaces.

 

 

Terk Horizon ($99.99, www.terk.com): Another new arrival that, when unfolded into its full wingspan, resembles a soundbar. Terk, in fact, says that was intentional. The antenna attaches to the back of an HDTV or can be mounted below one, like a soundbar. It, too, uses an amplifier, but its USB power option makes for a clean installation with mounted HDTVs with a USB port.

 

 

 

It's not a soundbar. It's the Terk Horizon antenna. (Terk)

Clearstream 2 Eclipse ($39.99 standard, $59.99 amplified, 

www.antennasdirect.com): An antenna that could have been concocted on Etsy — an Aerobie Ring-like design anchored by a white hockey puck that mounts on a wall without screws or mounting brackets. An adhesive backing keeps the antenna on the wall and, in my tests, does not damage painted walls and can be repositioned (and rinsed) repeatedly without losing stickiness. Think you have a clear shot at a nearby transmitter? Stick with the standard version.

 

 

Clearstream 2 Complete (www.antennasdirect.com, $99.99): This high-testosterone antenna — an assembly-required, 3-foot-tall mass of wire mesh, tapered plastic loops and raised dipoles that does not need an amplifier — is an obvious suburbanite. It's mountable indoors or outdoors, includes 30 feet of coaxial cable and looks as if it could intercept a transmission from the International Space Station. (Even if, in my tests, it did no better than either of the Terks or the Clearstream Eclipse — at least when indoors.)

Mohu Leaf 50 (www.gomohu.com, $69.99): Mohu's most powerful indoor antenna, built like all the other Leafs. It is, in fact, the same Leaf 30 that appeared in our initial survey supplemented by an amplifier.

Once you know your transmitters, you'll start finding local channels with any of these antennas. But always check what works best by inserting your address into Antennaweb, TVFool or any of the other antenna bots.