Hi Karen,
Sayal does not sell amplified antennas but it does sell an add-on amplifier for $15. I have no idea whether or not you'll need it.
The antenna itself is simple once assembled and placed in your window. But as discussed, all the over-the-air broadcasters stopped sending analog signals a decade ago. So plugging the antenna directly into the coax input of your TV will give you nothing.
I'm afraid the only options I can think of are a converter box or a new TV.
You're absolutely right that the converters available today have extra features such as the DVR, which won't be useful to you because of both UI and transfer issues. However, because there is so little demand for such converters now there are very few choices, and likely all of them will try to replace the TV's remote control with their own and have features such as DVR.
I'm wondering if it's all worth the grief, and maybe just getting a new cheap TV would be simpler and less error-prone for the long term.
- Evan