Can I get the Super Bowl in HD?
 

Hi everyone! I live in Kingston, Ontario, Canada and was wondering if I could get some recommendations for TV reception here. Specifically, I'd like to get the American broadcast of the Super Bowl (which is being shown on NBC this year) over the air for two reasons:

1) The NBC that I can get from cable here is not in HD and
2) The Canadian broadcasters substitute the awesome Super Bowl commercials with boring Canadian commercials.

However, I have quite a few limitations, so I'm wondering if it's even possible for me. Here is my TV Fool report:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...2c15a3ad4fcedc

The NBC station (WSTM-DT) comes in from Syracuse NY, which is very far for a TV station. However, a large portion of its path to my house is over Lake Ontario, so the signal is unobstructed for that portion. Here's a TV Fool map of the signal with a line drawn between the source and my house

http://i.imgur.com/A4Xs79R.png.

Additionally, I live in an apartment, which rules out outdoor and attic antennas for me. I have a south-facing window that is about 15 feet above ground level but there is a fairly large tree directly outside of that window.

I currently have a thin, flat antenna that I purchased from the dollar store that is the same shape as (and seems to be a cheap copy of) this antenna: http://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/...imdt86eolt.jpg. It's placed on the wall above my television and I can get 11.1 (CBC) and 7.1 (CBS) in perfect HD at all times, and 50.1 (PBS) in sometimes-choppy HD.

So my question is, with a higher-end amplified indoor antenna (like the Terk HDTVA) pointed in the right direction by that window, do you think I would be able to get NBC from Syracuse? Or would it be a waste of money to try?

Also, aside from getting in NBC, any general recommendations for overall reception improvement?

The experts will weigh in on this but my guess is that you would need a large outdoor antenna such as the 91XG or DB8e to get reliable reception.

First off, your existing antenna, if it's anything like the RCA that it appears to be like, is a miserable antenna. It's about the worst of the indoor antennas I've ever tested for UHF. Surprisingly, it's much better on high-VHF.

I wouldn't rule it out, but you'll need to do a few things right and get lucky on several others. The math says it *might* be doable.

Note that the azimuth to Syracuse is ~165 true. Can you avoid the tree in front of the house from your window and "see" the horizon in that direction?

Does your window have any of the following: Aluminum screening, low-E coating, metal grids?

Do you or any adjacent neighbors in the building with a balcony or patio or a spot in the yard that offers a good view in the required direction where you might throw up an antenna on a tripod or a mast in a 5 gallon bucket (sand or gravel to weigh it down) for a short period of time?

Using an amplifier is probably going to be necessary, but, due to the proximity of the channel 11 tower, care is going to be needed. You're going to need to suppress that station so it doesn't overload the system.