Need a Portable HDTV Antenna for Tailgating

[KBabione]

Here's my use case...Tailgating at Penn State. We typically go for the full day and it's nice to have a TV on to watch other games while we celebrate. My initial thought was to simply connect my TV to the Rivian's hotspot and watch the games that way, but my fear is reliable internet access (the Penn State stadium and parking area becomes Pennsylvania's third largest population center on game day) because everyone is on their cell phones. I figured I'd get a HDTV antenna and could at least pick up games on ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox if the internet isn't reliable.

For those of you who camp (or tailgate) and watch live TV while doing so, do you have a favorite HDTV antenna that works for you? I looked at some of the RV antennas that might work as well. I have a 12'x12' canopy that I set up and could mount an antenna on it, but think I'd prefer something a little easier to transport and use.

Thanks for your help - I did a bunch of internet digging, but would prefer some real-life experience if possible. I trust this community.

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[HighVoltOverland]

Here's my use case...Tailgating at Penn State. We typically go for the full day and it's nice to have a TV on to watch other games while we celebrate. My initial thought was to simply connect my TV to the Rivian's hotspot and watch the games that way, but my fear is reliable internet access (the Penn State stadium and parking area becomes Pennsylvania's third largest population center on game day) because everyone is on their cell phones. I figured I'd get a HDTV antenna and could at least pick up games on ABC, NBC, CBS, or Fox if the internet isn't reliable.

For those of you who camp (or tailgate) and watch live TV while doing so, do you have a favorite HDTV antenna that works for you? I looked at some of the RV antennas that might work as well. I have a 12'x12' canopy that I set up and could mount an antenna on it, but think I'd prefer something a little easier to transport and use.

Thanks for your help - I did a bunch of internet digging, but would prefer some real-life experience if possible. I trust this community.

I haven't personally touched Analog since I helped my old man migrate to DTV in the early aughts,

But initial Google seems to heavily favor one specific antenna

This one was listed as the top pick on multiple blog lists and seems to get good feedback on its Amazon page:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N1MLFGK?tag=moonthmo0c-20&linkCode=ogi&th=1

 

[KBabione]

Thanks for the suggestion - I'm looking at that one now.

 

[mkg3]

Thanks for the suggestion - I'm looking at that one now.

If you're just looking for an antenna to connect to the TV, there are many options that cost less than $30.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07Z9XW5N...=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9kZXRhaWxfdGhlbWF0aWM&th=1

This one has a magnetic base and couple of variants.

 

[NY_Rob]

It's impossible to recommend an antenna without mentioning how far away you will be from the TV station transmitters?

 

[KBabione]

It's impossible to recommend an antenna without mentioning how far away you will be from the TV station transmitters?

Thanks - I'm learning a lot as I look at this. According to AntennaWeb.org, I'll have an NBC transmitter 6 miles away. CBS and ABC are 34 miles away. I'm actually leaning towards the Clearstream 2V Indoor/Outdoor Antenna - the 60-mile version (the other version is 35 miles). It also looks like it would be easy to mount on my pop-up canopy to keep it out of the way.

Now, as I go down this rabbit hole, I'm wondering if I should also be looking at signal amplifiers...

 

[NY_Rob]

^ Signal amps only work where you have signal to amplify, in most cases they hardly add any useful signal strength.

You could probably use a simple two-element bowtie as listed below. Considering that it's not going to be very high off the ground (as opposed to up on a roof plus mounted on a mast) even a larger antenna probably won't really help. Antennas Direct makes good stuff based of years of engineering experience vs the cheap clones that are made of paper thin materials and "look like" the decent ones with no theory how or why they work.

 

[KBabione]

Thanks - That looks perfect and would be easier to mount. I really appreciate it!

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