If you want to get your hands dirty you can also mount an antenna to the outside of your house (the higher the better). I have a Diamond D-777 antenna connected with westflex 103 coax cable to a simple Uniden UBC 280-E. I live 18 miles from the nearest airport (East Midlands, UK - EGNX) with a couple of large hills which are a couple of hundred feet higher between me and the airport and I can pick up Tower/Ground quite well, plus RAF bases which are 40+ miles away from me.
Also slightly off the topic, if anyone reading this knows of a UBC-780xlt for sale, please send me a message! I can't find one on ebay anywhere and I don't want to buy one for silly money through online stores.