At the extreme edge of reception...
 

We're living in Estes Park, Colorado, about 55 miles (and several mountain ridges) from Denver, the nearest source of most TV digital programming.

We've tried putting up our old amplified Phillips SDV2940/27 external antenna (18dB UHF gain, 4dB noise figure, 20 mile recommended range) but, of course, it couldn't "cut the mustard."

Next, we purchased (and returned) a Antennas Direct Clearstream C2-V un-amplified external antenna (10.4dBi UHF gain, 3.1dBi VHF gain, 50+mile range) but it, too, failed to pull in any stations.

We were about to try a Terk amplified external antenna when I stumbled upon your website and ran a TV Signal Analysis of our location:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...e1c69c76774e15

From this it is obvious why were are literally "on the fringe" as far as TV reception goes!

Are there any solutions short of getting a satellite dish, etc?

We are living in an apartment (which, by the way, faces SE towards Denver) so we will obviously face some restrictions as to height and size of antennas we could put up.

Any suggestions you can provide would be most welcome!

Kirk Beidleman

Your odds of getting reception with an antenna in Estes Park are nil with any indoor antenna. Even a very, very large rooftop system would be very hard pressed to get anything.

Sorry.

Do you have internet at your apartment? Do you have a friend in Denver who would let you put a sling box and antenna at their house?

Thanks for the responses.

All the antennas we have tried to date, including the Clearstream, are designed to work best as OUTDOOR antennas (which is where we mounted them).

Any feedback about the Terk and RCA lines of amplified antennas? Others?

As for large, rooftop systems, is it possible to estimate what kind & make of array would be needed to pick up the most common Denver stations (4, 7, 9)?

Before everything went digital we were able to get THREE Denver TV stations and one Cheyenne station up here in Estes Park using an INDOOR rabbit ear antenna from our apartment on the NORTH-facing side of Giant Track Mountain (currently we have a clear view southeast from our location on the north side of town).

Yes, we do have Internet but I have no idea what a sling box is (we do have friends who live in the Denver area, however).

In the analog days, many of the stations operated on low-VHF channels at very robust power levels. Low-VHF-bends very well over mountains, but unfortunately is mostly unsuited for digital operation due to problems with noise interference. As a result, most TV stations moved to UHF channels or the high-VHF territory. UHF signals bend very little making them mostly useless in mountainous areas. High VHF bends a bit better, but the stations are limited in transmitting power due to the requirement to avoid interfering with broadcasters n adjacent markets.

The bottom line is that there are little to no signals making it into your valley.

Visit www.slingbox.com to learn how to access a remotely installed antenna system via the internet.

Thanks for the very easy-to-understand explanation.

As for OTA: we sadly admit defeat.

The Slingbox, however, definitely warrants further investigation.

We appreciate everyone's input.