Geondebi is right, with the new digital signal, the receiver (whether it is the TV or the converter box) is much more sensitive to picking up the signal via the antenna. And unlike the old analog signal, if it is too weak of a signal, you don’t get anything as opposed to just a fuzzy picture. The boosters, like the one delqcc mentioned, will help and so will the “digital� antennas (although there is nothing really digital about them, they are just better constructed to pick up the signals). If you have one of the directional dtv antennas, and you plan on staying at a site for a while, you can go to
http://www.antennaweb.org/aw/welcome.aspx and plug in the address to get the direction and distances for local stations. The other problem with digital signals is that they are more prone to interference from anything in their path (like buildings and trees), so that adds some challenges when camping at densely wooded campsites.