How do I tell if my rabbit ears antenna is good enough?
First, you want to make sure your rabbit ears are new enough that they have a UHF loop or bowtie, in addition to the two "rabbit ears." If you were receiving analog signals with your antenna, it should be good enough to receive digital signals on a digital TV, or on an analog TV equipped with a digital-to-analog converter box, but your set-up may require some tweaking. Digital signals propagate (travel across the terrain) differently than analog signals and are more subject to interference or blocking from building materials, trees, mountains etc. In my own case, I was missing some channels on my bedroom TV until I moved the rabbit ears to a nearby windowsill, because we have foil-backed insulation in our walls, which was blocking the more distant signals. A little experimentation should tell you whether your antenna will work. You might also check www.tvfool.com to see how far you are from the TV transmitter sites and what kind of antenna is recommended for your location. But if it says you need a roof-mount antenna, don't give up on your rabbit ears until you try a few different configurations and locations (like the windowsill). Our house is 50+ miles from a couple of the Portland TV stations, but my rabbit ears are picking up their signals crystal-clear. Always try the cheapest option first, and work with it a bit.
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