Week of June 18, 2006<\/p>\n
Q: I read your column about the Zenith Silver Sensor for receiving HD TV and it was very applicable to my situation since I have difficulty receiving HD off the air. However, in looking up info on it, it seems to be for UHF only. Is that the case and is their a VHF equivalent ?<\/p>\n
-John Travalent, Minneapolis, MN<\/p>\n
A: \u00a0 The Silver Sensor is UHF only. \u00a0 The physical design of the antenna itself is optimized for UHF reception.<\/p>\n
By an overwhelming margin, almost all HDTV is UHF. \u00a0 That allows antenna manufacturers to get away with calling a UHF-only antenna a HDTV antenna. \u00a0 If you need VHF to receive a station or two you will have to get a second antenna.<\/p>\n
The ‘rabbit ears” of rabbit ears antenna are what receive VHF. \u00a0 Some rabbit ears types have a UHF section built-in, but none I have seen match the amazing reception of the Silver Sensor.<\/p>\n
There is a list of digital stations broadcasting in the USA located at the National Association of Broadcasters website. \u00a0 The list can be found at
\nhttp:\/\/www.nab.org\/Newsroom\/issues\/digitaltv\/DTVStations.asp and is well worth a look if you are capable of receiving HDTV at home. \u00a0 You will probably find a few local stations you did not know about that are broadcasting HDTV.<\/p>\n
Checking the list for the Minneapolis-St. Paul area, all HDTV broadcasting in the area is done on the UHF band. \u00a0 So the Silver Sensor is the only HDTV antenna you will need.<\/p>\n
The elusive Silver Sensor: Speaking of the Silver Sensor, I received quite a bit of email last week asking where it can be purchased and comments that it is hard to find in stores. \u00a0 This is a first for me- whenever I hte recommended the Silver Sensor before, the only emails I received were from readers telling me how happy they were that they could receive HDTV now that they had one. \u00a0 For some reason it is a little hard to find these days- it was stocked at Sears and Circuit City, as well as many other retailers. \u00a0 Perhaps it was cutting into the sales of their more expensive antennas!<\/p>\n
If you go to zenith.com you can enter your zip code to find a list of dealers in your area. \u00a0 Check independently-owned stores- if they do not have it in stock they can order it for you. \u00a0 Online it sells for only $19.99 from amazon.com. \u00a0 Just do a search on the amazon.com home page and you will get several options for purchase.<\/p>\n