Reception

[4mersunse]

There are a few ridges between my antenna and the source of most of the broadcasting (NYC). Is there anything I must be aware of when purchasing both a rooftop FM antenna and a rooftop HDTV antenna?

 

[mmckenna]

Dirt/ridges/hills is all referred to as "Topographical shielding". Since a lot of the HDTV is on UHF now, (no, not all, but most), you may have some issues. UHF tends to be line of site, and if you don't have line of site due to topographical shielding, you'll have some challenges.

Best thing you can do is check with your neighbors and see what works for them. Or, get up on your roof with an FM radio and/or a small TV antenna and see if you get antying.

Beware of marketing hype from antenna dealers. There is no 'magic' that makes a TV or FM (or any other signal) magically appear where there is none.

Higher gain antennas can increase the signal strength if there is some signal there to work with, but the antennas will get pretty large.

Getting antennas higher up in the air can help, but that may not be feasible depending on what's in the way.

Best thing is to see what works for others in your area. You may be able to make this work, or you may not. Hard for us to tell you over the internet without knowing a lot of specifics.