Are directTV dishes energized in some way

First things first, there is no such thing as a digital antenna, RF does not care whether the underlying modulation is digital pulse, FM, AM, SSB, Chirp or Spread Spectrum.

Second, if you live any distance away from the transmission antenna, the more aluminum overcast you have, the more signal strength you receive. Whether it's inside or outside, size does matter. VHF/UHF Yagi-Uda or Log-periodic antennas increase gain and narrow the beamwidth as you add elements. UHF Half-wave arrays increase gain and narrow the beamwidth as you add bays to the array.

Third, antenna configuration is dependent on the frequency, so VHF, UHF or both?

Fourth, length of the downlead is important as the longer the run, the more it absorbs the signal, requiring mast amplifiers to strengthen the signal before the SNR destroys it.

Now for some links to help figure things out. These are long term resources that can't be replicated here, so it will have to do.

From the people who gave us that fine Digital TV that allows you to enjoy Satellite Dish reception. Key in your Address, City, Zipcode and it will tell you High/Low VHF, UHF and best guess at signal strength. "No Signal" sometimes can be taken cum grano salis.

FCC DTV Reception Maps

This site is provided among a consortium that includes CEA and NAB (National Association of Broadcasters) to help figure out signal strength and antenna headings. It gives you a color code that's explained over on their Antenna Info page to help determine what type of antenna will best receive the signal (directional, high gain, general coverage, etc.)

AntennaWeb Antenna Selector

Directional antennas help cut down on multipath (The old ghosting now is signal jitter, annoying with analog, no signal with digital) but if the beamwidth is too narrow, require a rotator for off-beam signals.

High Gain antennas help improve the received signal strength so it doesn't cut out. Extreme range requires a mast mounted amplifier for yet more signal strength so DTV doesn't drive you insane.

While gain and directional capabilities are directly related (high gain, narrow beam), flat-landers often can get by with less gain and broader beamwidth, tailoring the gain to what's necessary to get a good picture while not having to rotate the antenna if most of the stations are clustered in a certain direction.

This is a bigger can of worms than meets the eye. There are huge arguments over all this.

This is a coax grounding block:

This is a grounding bar:

This is a grounding bridge, your cable company or telephone company probably has one on the outside of the house at the electrical service entrance:

What I'd do:

• Run a ground cable from your frame to the grounding bridge. Use the biggest cable that will fit properly in the bridge. Don't use A-D above.
• Install a grounding bar that will handle that wire, at your frame in the basement.
• Run a ground wire from your metal patch panel rack to the grounding bar, use grounding lugs on the rack. Probably not necessary, but use Noalox between the lug and the rack. Remove paint if you want to go all in.
• Install and ground coax grounding blocks for your antenna and CATV service.
• Use good quality surge strips, at the frame and through the house, and check your outlets with a receptacle tester to make sure they have ground wires - surge strips generally don't work without a good ground.
• If any of your equipment has a grounding lug on the back, ground it. (For example, many of the Netgear metal cased switches have a ground lug on them.) AFAIK only necessary on equipment with a two wire power plug.
• Remember, holy wars over all this - some will say this is all totally wrong. This is what I would do though after following all the arguments.

Edit:

There is a good chance your patch panel doesn't ground the coax that goes through the house. However if you use surge strips that have a coax port in those places, and the coax has been terminated properly so the body of the plugs are bonded well to the shiled, and the outlets those surge strips plug into have a good ground, you should be fine.

One last thing - this whole thing hinges on good grounding of your electrical system. If you want to be really careful there, have an electrician check the grounding and bonding and if possible ground resistance. This is IMO worth doing in general.