[Grammar] antenna and a better reception

[Skrej]

Yes, I disagree with that. For me, the following countable use sounds fine and makes good sense:

He climbed up to the roof to adjust the antenna for a better reception.

I agree. Not only is it something I'd say, but I've heard similar.

 

[jutfrank]

Interesting. So would you say "I can't get a reception when I'm on the bus" rather than "I can't get any reception when I'm on the bus"?

Um, I'm not sure. I always say a signal when it comes to phones. Using reception sounds odd to me in this context.

 

[GoesStation]

Um, I'm not sure. I always say a signal when it comes to phones. Using reception sounds odd to me in this context.

That's a good point which we really should have made much earlier in the thread. We talk about a TV or a radio getting good reception, but for digital devices*, where reception is only the first attribute of a good connection, we use signal.

*(TVs were analog devices for so long that I imagine many people who watch over-the-air HDTV, which is digital and therefore technically similar to cell/mobile [AmE/BrE] phone technology, still use "reception" to describe the service quality. Broadcast TV is an obsolescent technology that's little used by people under thirty or so, at least in the United States, so most of its users are probably unaware of the significant technological difference between HDTV and what we had before.)