Royal Palm Beach, FL Reception Help

[keithandmissy]

I currently have an AmazonBasics Ultra-Thin Amplified (50 mile range) antenna in my apartment window. I can receive all of the green color-coded channels from the TV Fool report below. However, I am wondering if there is an apartment-friendly outdoor antenna (meaning it won't take up my whole screened balcony) that can receive the red color-coded channels from Ft. Lauderdale/Miami?

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wrapper&Itemid=29&q=id%3d8e03c452c60660

Thanks in advance for any help!

[ADTech]

It's hard to say, too many unknown variables at this point.

Is the screening on your balcony fiberglass (okay) or metal (fatal to reception)?

What is the view like in the direction of due south, clear and open (promising) or staring point blank into another building or a clump of trees (usally fatal to reliable reception of weak signals)?

How much space are you willing to sacrifice? Reception of very weak signals usually requires the use antennas that are physically large so they can gather more of the weak signals?

A VHF antenna of comparable gain to a compact UHF antenna would be 3-4 times in physical size making them largely impractical for indoor use. You'd have to settle or something much smaller physically and with, of course, lesser capability to pick up weak signals.

Indoor environments often bring increased levels of background "noise" from electrical and electronic devices which can bury the weak signals. VHF signals are most commonly affected.

Local very strong signals can make it difficult for the tuner to distinguish very weak signals. Think about trying to hear a quiet conversation while in a crowded, noisy restaurant. If you amplify, you just change the power (volume) of everything. A little bit might help, but a lot is usually undesirable.

If you don't have one of the disqualifiers noted above and want to give it a shot, my best suggestion is to try a ClearStream 4V (Best Buy) combined with the RCA indoor amplifier (Walmart, < $20). Second choice would be the ClearStream 2V (Walmart or Best Buy) with the RCA amp. You will also need coaxial cable on an as-needed basis as the antennas noted above to not include coax bundled with them. These suggestions are based on their immediate available in retail stores.

I'm not terribly excited about your odds of reception of channels 7 & 10, but it's probably worth a shot.

[keithandmissy]

Thank you for your response. The screen on the balcony is not metal (my current indoor antenna in the window is currently facing through the screen as well). My balcony faces west to a canal with a clear view of the south down the canal.

I have been considering the Clearstream 4v and, to a lesser extent, the 2v. This confirms my research for me and I think I'm going to try one of those out. Thanks again for your help!