The Type Of Antenna I Need

There will be no stations in the lower VHF band (channels 2 through 6).  There is a good technical reason for this.  The low VHF channels are particularly vulnerable to impulse noise, especially from power lines.  You can see the effect of impulse noise now as short bursts of static in the picture.  It’s just annoying in the analog picture, but it has been there from the first days of television and we are used to it.  However, impulse noise can introduce so many bit errors in the DTV signal that the signal can become unwatchable.  DTV broadcasting is not prohibited on these channels, but most stations are avoiding them.

So, all the Sacramento DTV stations will be either in the upper VHF or UHF bands and all will broadcast from the antenna farm in Walnut Grove, about half way between Sacramento and Stockton.  What you will need, then, is an antenna that can receive both VHF and UHF and that is aimed at Walnut Grove. 

Does this sound familiar?  It should, because it’s also exactly what you have needed to receive analog over-the-air television in the Sacramento area for the last 40 years!  So if you already have an antenna system, you may be all set for DTV.  If not, installing one is no harder than for analog.