75ohm coax vs 300ohm twin lead wire

[tony123]

Which one is better for HDTV? I have an old bowtie antenna with a 300ohm twin lead wire and I was wondering if it is sufficient enough for true HDTV OTA signals?

[edDV]

Coax is shielded and generally superior. You need a 300ohm to 75ohm transformer up on the antenna to match impedance from the antenna to the coax.

If the antenna is difficult to reach, try the twin lead first and see what your performance is. In that case you will need the transformer at the TV set end.

If you haven't checked yet, go to www.antennaweb.org to locate the HDTV stations available at your address. If they are within 20-30 miles and in the same general direction, then the bow tie may work.

A good replacement for up to 40mi. is this one
http://store.electrogalaxy.com/zengemdtv1.html
You can get more range with a booster amp like this
http://www.winegard.com/offair/amplifiers.htm

Longer ranges will need a larger antenna.

[tony123]

Thanks for the links. I checked antennaweb and found out I am 33 miles from the broadcast stations. My bow tie antenna is not up on the roof. It's actually a small indoor one that came with the tv. It's only 12" x 3". Since I am far from the stations I doubt it will work. I don't currently own a HDTV, just a regular 4:3 Sony Trinitron. And using the rabbit ears and bowtie, the stations comes in snowy and ghosty. These are all VHF and UHF analog stations. I have no idea how the digital stations will look. I'll probably have to invest in a rooftop antenna.

[edDV]

Thanks for the links. I checked antennaweb and found out I am 33 miles from the broadcast stations. My bow tie antenna is not up on the roof. It's actually a small indoor one that came with the tv. It's only 12" x 3". Since I am far from the stations I doubt it will work. I don't currently own a HDTV, just a regular 4:3 Sony Trinitron. And using the rabbit ears and bowtie, the stations comes in snowy and ghosty. These are all VHF and UHF analog stations. I have no idea how the digital stations will look. I'll probably have to invest in a rooftop antenna.

Look at the selections from weingard and channel master for high quality UHF/VHF antennas and use coax. For 33 miles and one location, something like this would be ideal.

http://www.winegard.com/offair/pdf/pr-7032.pdf good
http://www.winegard.com/offair/pdf/hd7080p.pdf better
more choices
http://www.winegard.com/offair/chartselector.htm