tv antenna

[porthos]

tired of paying for cable. anyone use a antenna ; and are you happy with it, how many stations. one on the stations that i like is called "on demand" it allows me to watch programs that i had missed at a earlier date. what are your opinions?

[marlin39a]

I was running an indoor antenna for awhile after ditching the dish. Picked up a few channels ok. I update my tv a couple months back, and get Pluto TV for free. Provided by my WiFi router. Numerous channels. So, I ditched the antenna.

[hc18flyer]

I live in a much more rural area and still get 24 stations via antenna. I have good internet, so I can get anything I want, and only pay for that. I have Amazon Prime, but have only used it a couple of times. You might have to set a pole, or possibly a metal tower. I am a welder, so I made a 30' tower almost 40 years ago, been repainted and moved twice. Don't go cheap on an antenna. If you 'Google' antenna tv, you can put in your location and it will tell you what is available in your area. Tom

[metricmonkeywrench]

Theres an FCC website that can show you what to expect. I still have my original antenna up on my workshop. Depending in the day/time/weather i will get a handful of the listed channels. The closer you are to the population centers the better off you are along with the associated terrain between you and the antenna.

This was all part of the drug deal made years ago when going to digital/HDTV, think it had to do with the Emergency Broadcast System. I sill have my 2 that the Govt paid for so that the "poor" could still receive over the air broadcasts that the networks are legally required to provide.

At least i can still have some of the 60's westerns and cop shows in the background while I'm out there working. I have to pass on the India, Korean and World news channels

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps

[MrWolf]

I used the flat indoor antenna with boosters. They actually worked pretty good. I can't use them where I am at as nothing near me and the mountains block everything but my girlfriend used one in town before moving out here. Not that expensive either.

[farmbif]

I tried but too far far back in the woods to get anything without some sort of industrial type tower

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

I am 50 to 70 miles from the antenna's that broadcast the digital TV signals in Minneapolis.
I have a big antenna and a booster.
I get 40+ channels...but nothing like the "On Demand" you mention.

[Bookworm]

I put a big antenna up in the attic, it's maybe 12 - 13 feet off the ground.

Aimed at the transmission antenna 'farm' south of me, I get maybe 20 channels.

Many of those are multiples of public television, and some are in languages I don't speak.

It won't replace satellite, but I suppose that depends on your wallet.

[bangerjim]

Here is the Phoenix metro area we can get tons of digital channels off the air.......all with commercials! That's why the call it "commercial broadcast TV".

If you are OK wasting lots of your valuable time watching commercials, and you have good reception at your house, an antenna would do you well.

Personally, it is worth the $150/month to have DirecTV and be able to record 7 HD digital channels at one time on the home network DVR system, watch them when I want, and skip all the commercials, if there any. Also DTV gets you lots of channels (part of the package) you will never get off an antenna. And if you want, pay more and get dozens of HD movie channel....with NO commercials like most of those supposed "FREE" boxes and movie channels have.

A digital TV antenna is not that expensive. Buy one and if it does not work take it back to the store!

Also consider all the many streaming services that are out there (for a fee, of course) on your internet server system. I assume you have an internet connection because you are on here!


banger

[MT Gianni]

I get one public station on antenna and have tried 4. I live under a hill from the repeater and live where I would need 40' and get 30+ mph winds. I went with a Roku stick. I pay for what we want, which is prime and hulu. I believe you need local news. When I started hulu it was $44, then $54 now $64. It is really tough to avoid commercials for what we get.

[Paper Puncher]

For antenna tv check "tvfool.com" use the check your address for free tv. It will show you what is available and which direction to point antenna or if you need a antenna rotor to change antenna directions for different channels.

[JoeG52]

There is a good forum for this type of help.

https://www.avsforum.com/forums/

Also, TVFool.com is a bit outdated since the latest changes in broadcast frequencies (referred to as the repack). Most seem to be using https://www.rabbitears.info/

I live in PA between Philadelphia and Reading with an antenna in the attic and get 34 English speaking channels and a few Spanish.

[Winger Ed.]

I've had a antenna for awhile, and it did OK.
We got a lot of channels, and like cable, there's about 4 you really actually watch.

I found that the higher up it--- and your house is, the better.
And the closer you are to the broadcasting towers, the better reception and more channels you'll get.
If you aren't on a straight shot between you and the tower- don't expect much.

[MaryB]

I get one public station on antenna and have tried 4. I live under a hill from the repeater and live where I would need 40' and get 30+ mph winds. I went with a Roku stick. I pay for what we want, which is prime and hulu. I believe you need local news. When I started hulu it was $44, then $54 now $64. It is really tough to avoid commercials for what we get.

Check out Sling TV... I am paying $64/mo and get a LOT of channels. Roku has free movies, so do Vudu and Pluto(Pluto has regular TV channels too!).

[Garyshome]

Here is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M5AMN2T/ref=as_li_ss_tl?th=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=outsidepursuits-20&linkId=96121045d14a31b34e4dcfe171ba36bf&language=en_US

Got it a couple of years ago $140.00 or so. At 60+ miles from the transmitters we get like 30 or so channels, It's paid for itself a long time ago. It is mounted at about 35 ft, as high as I could get it.
Go to a site like TV Fool [there are a few others that may be more up to date, you have to search for them]and enter your address stuff and it will tell you what ota channels are available,distance from, type of antenna needed to get them.

Also remember when paying for cable you support CNN/msnbc, and several other liberal bastions of freedom [PROPAGANDA] [mtv].

[JoeG52]

Something else to think about streaming services is data usage. Our cable company just notified our area that we will pay more each month if we exceed a certain data limit or pay more for an unlimited account. That seems to be the cable company response to people canceling cable TV and streaming.

[WebMonkey]

my tv antenna is a UHF only (no vhf broadcasters left where i'm pointing) at 50'.
i have a mast mounted preamp and a distribution amp in the house to feed the TVs and the kodi box w/tuner.

i get 8 frequencies and each of those has at least 3 channels, one has 6 (a benefit of digital vs analog tv).

so we get all the 'networks' as well as those 'funky' channels like antenna tv, cozi, metv, etc.

we live where there no cable internet and the dsl is so far from the repeater that it was .8 megabits (point 8).
so we have fixed wireless now (an antenna pointed at another tower miles away like wifi on steroids).
it's only 2mbit.

SO:

yes, when we want to watch tv, it's on an antenna picking up stations 2.5 hours by car away.
the kodi box has a plugin to download the episode guide for all the channels weekly so i can record stuff i want to watch not live.

anyway, that's us.
out in the sticks.
;)

[parson48]

We're about 50 miles out of Indianapolis, flat land- with a small roof antenna we get most of the Indy stations although weather does impact some of them.

We bought a Roku and get lots of stuff free. Also, Philo, which we got on Roku, is $20 per month and has quite a few live programs, including 3 Hallmark channels, which keeps the wife happy.

[.429&H110]

The granddaughters want to know
what's a antenna?

[bangerjim]

The granddaughters want to know
what's a antenna?

Tell them it is something people back in the sticks used to hang their clothes on to dry!!!!!!! :groner:

[.429&H110]

The grandaughters have never seen
"hanging their clothes".

[metricmonkeywrench]

The granddaughters want to know
what's a antenna?

Dont forget about the tin foil

[.429&H110]

One of their favorite toys is a big pink dial telephone.
Phone is 70 years old, should be in a museum.

[kerplode]

I did this for a while. Got maybe 5 channels, 2 of which were PBS.

After a year, went back to cable.

You'd be better off with a fast internet connection and some streaming services, but that pretty quickly starts to approach the cost of cable service. The providers have cord cutters figured out. If you want decent content, you're gonna pay either way.

[Winger Ed.]

Dont forget about the tin foil

That's only for the 'rabbit ears' sitting on top of the TV.

[Petrol & Powder]

I dumped DirecTV years ago. Best thing I ever did. I stream internet programing through a smart TV and have an antenna for locally broadcast TV. I'm paying for the internet anyway and the satellite TV was costing WAY more than it was worth.
Why pay for something that is broadcast for free?

As for receiving broadcast TV over the air? That depends entirely on your location.
Terrain, distance to the transmitters and local conditions will dictate reception.

I purchased a $20 Yagi antenna, mounted it 7' off the ground and aimed it to capture the most stations I could. I get about a dozen different channels spilt between a few different transmit sites that range from 10 miles to about 60 miles away but.... YMMV.
Best $20 I ever spent. I got lucky, the coax was already in place from the old satellite system and I had some natural elevation I could take advantage of.

Bottom line, It's worth trying. The buy-in cost is minimal and the up-side is greatly reduced monthly expenses.

[Cast10]

I have two of these. Got from Wally. It says 80 mile range. If you have to go that far and are not mounting up high, get a amplifier too! One on my ranch has an amplifier inline and I get great TV from Front and Rear azimuth s. I’m on a hilltop and its up on a power pole about 15 feet. I have another at home and I live down in a valley. I get signal from a big city some 40 miles away WITHOUT an amplifier. I’m pleased.

Search OTA TV maps and it will show you where each antenna is in your area and the distance from you.


276143

[jsizemore]

I got this one a couple years ago and still getting plenty of channels. 57. I get 3 sets of PBS. That accounts for 12 of them. I scavenged a mast from a house I worked on. It's 16ft. Kit contains clamps, cable and booster. I have lots of broadcast antennas in the area and not a lot of obstructions. Don't have to worry about pointing it in the right direction. Wind can cause some hash with reception.

https://longrangesignal.com/antop-at-415b-720-antenna-review/

TVfool.com is a great site to determine whether your location is worth the expense of an antenna. I was on the outer limit of receiving some stations and the ANTOP OMNI has no problem picking up the signal.

[Winger Ed.]

I have two of these. Got from Wally. It says 80 mile range.

276143

That's the one we used about 65 miles out side of Dallas. It did a good job for what it is.
You had to tweek it just right to get some stations from one tower, and rotate the pole a little to pick up some different ones from another.
It worked like radio direction finder.

[William Yanda]

its what sticks out of the front of bugs, usually on the side opposite the legs.

[MrWolf]

A lot of services would be great IF there was decent internet service available. Not where I am as Frontier is in bankruptcy and out again. Typing this using a Hotspot from my phone which gets 2 bars if it sits on a lamp on my nightstand in the bedroom. I had to put up a 42' antenna to get even that. Still wouldn't trade my place for anything, well. Maybe for one with a small lake but working on making one.

[pworley1]

If you have a good internet connection, you can buy a $30.00 Roku stick and get more free channels than you can count.

[contender1]

I live in the mountains. Lots of terrain between me & towers. According to the FCC site listed above,, My ability to get much isn't worth trying an antenna. I show only one channel as a strong signal.

I would scrap the TV all together but there are a few things I do enjoy occasionally. Plus,, while it's liberal & biased,, we do want to catch the local news. (Keeping up with what crap is going on around us.)


I saw a channel once when I was traveling and in a motel,, called "Retro TV" and it was actually playing older stuff that in my opinion was much better than a lot of stuff out there now. Sadly,, I have no clue as to where it was or how to get it locally.

[Blanket]

live in the boonies, limited satellite internet and only broadcast tv. Have directional antenna and get about 30 channels but about half are duplicates

[TCFAN]

We had Dish TV for years.Where we live nothing was available with a antenna so Dish or Direct was all we had. Internet was only available with satellite and was slow and had data caps.
A new company came into the area with fast internet with NO data caps and very fast speed.I went to Wal-Mart and got a ROKU thing that plugged into the back of my TV and now we have all the free channels that we can watch plus the local news live from Springfield MO on KY-3
I have not paid a dime since for TV and our internet bill is lower than with the satellite company we had before.We still have commercials on the tv just like with Dish but now I don't have to pay to watch them.

[waksupi]

I'm in a fringe area, so have a long range antenna. I pick up eleven stations usually, although weather conditions makes that an unsure thing all the time. If conditions are right, I pick up six more. I can turn the mast and pick up another six. I should really get one with a rotor! I've considered trying to run two in conjunction. No idea if it would work. I'm also in an area where there are a lot of mountains. If you are out in the plains country, I suspect you would pick up more.

[bangerjim]

If you have a good internet connection, you can buy a $30.00 Roku stick and get more free channels than you can count.

I have RoKu on 3 TV's (besides DirecTV) for getting Netflix and Disney+ and what is "free" on those other channels is totally carp in my opinion. Stuff I would never watch and littered with commercials that hack in every few minutes in the movies.

Watch what you want. I just like spending my limited TV time commercial free with a DVR. Cost is not a consideration to my entertainment venues.

[1006]

I am 35 miles Southwest of Atlanta. I get 35 or more stations (Fox, NBC, CBS, No PBS and No ABC) with an outdoor antenna purchased at WalMart. I prefer the commercial broadcast......I use the commercials for bathroom breaks, snacks, etc. My wife prefers the services from Netflix, Disney, Sling, etc that we get through in internet.

[.429&H110]

My poor children grew up without broadcast TV. Internet was very slow twisted pair to a modem. We lived half way up Moose mtn, north end of Hanover NH. Moose mtn blocked all of everything, even the primitive satellites were behind the ridge. We were five miles from cable. So for something to do, I put up two lengths of 2" pipe buckled to the peak of the house seriously grounded to two old iron radiators buried deep with a sack of salt. I was told, the better the grounding, the better the antenna, and that lot was a lightning magnet, house had lightning rods on a tin roof. Built 40 feet of pipe staging to put up the biggest rotor and antenna and booster and lightning arrestor that Radio Shack could get. Was a marvel: small cape house with a giant antenna. I could get Mt Ascutny 70 miles down VT and Montreal 150 miles away. But still no Manchester. Watching TV in French made my daughter quite fluent with a Quebec accent. Montreal Canadiens hockey was great, fun to hear the crowd all sing O Canada together in French.

[Outpost75]

I live in in the Potomac Highlands of West Virginia. Our Frontier internet is too slow for video streaming and is unreliable. The FCC link above confirms that we receive over the air only two TV channels with a strong or moderately adequate signal. I have a ten-element log-periodic UHF-only antenna on a Channel Master rotor. WDVM-25 in Hagerstown has four digital sub-channels. 25-1 features local programming, news and weather, 25-2 is "Escape," a mix of Court TV, Unsolved Mysteries and various iterations that I call "White Trash TV", 25-3 is the "Grit" channel described as "television with backbone" mostly old TV serial Westerns and great TCM classic movies. 25-4 is "Laff" featuring vintage TV sitcoms. Maryland Public Television Channel 31 has four digital sub-channels with a good mix of high quality local and PBS programming. I especially like Maryland Farm and Harvest and Outdoors Maryland, the high quality PBS mysteries, dramas and documentaries BBC and NHK news. The "Create" channel has all the cooking and travel shows, This Old House, Antique Roadshow, etc. Altogether a reasonable mix. I have not watched mainstream NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX network TV in 20 years. I don't miss it. Over 20 years I have a accumulated substantial DVD collection so that I don't have to pay to surf through 256 channels which have nothing I want to watch. So I can binge watch Foyles War, Prime Suspect, Hill Street Blues, NYPD Blue, Miami Vice, Law & Order, Beck, or The Octopus anytime I like.

[Winger Ed.]

the "Grit" channel .

I watched the Grit channel a lot. That, and the one called 'Movies that don't suck'.
We had the usual spread also, and one that Mrs. Winger called 'the Rice Channel'.
It was mostly cooking shows, about 2/3 of them were rice dishes, but they were all in Vietnamese.

[MaryB]

I did this for a while. Got maybe 5 channels, 2 of which were PBS.

After a year, went back to cable.

You'd be better off with a fast internet connection and some streaming services, but that pretty quickly starts to approach the cost of cable service. The providers have cord cutters figured out. If you want decent content, you're gonna pay either way.

DirecTV had jacked the price to $120+++ so I told them to get their garbage off my house and went streaming. I get all the channels I watch for $63/mo plus a TON of free stuff, tons of free streaming movies... only one I don't get is NBC for nascar and there is no over the air option for it where I am(boonies). Over the air I get 3 channels, 2 are PBS, one is ABC(and its sub channels of course).

[bangerjim]

Why is everybody raving so much about getting PBS stations? It is a totally liberal-run propaganda channel, just like NPR.

[Outpost75]

Why is everybody raving so much about getting PBS stations? It is a totally liberal-run propaganda channel, just like NPR.

Not all PBS programming is liberal propaganda. Local and regional programming is excellent as are the British historical and period dramas and contemporary mysteries which are worlds better than anything else on American TV, which I find moronic.

BBC news is less biased than CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, but truth be told NHK from Japan is better yet.

[Plate plinker]

I use a RV antenna from winegard with a booster and get enough channels for my meager watching. Nothing good on regular tv any more it’s all trash. The rest of the stuff we stream.

[444ttd]

you got a tv? you guys are sooooo old skool.


i don't watch tv, its too liberal, esp the "news" channels.

[MrWolf]

I live in the mountains. Lots of terrain between me & towers. According to the FCC site listed above,, My ability to get much isn't worth trying an antenna. I show only one channel as a strong signal.

I would scrap the TV all together but there are a few things I do enjoy occasionally. Plus,, while it's liberal & biased,, we do want to catch the local news. (Keeping up with what crap is going on around us.)


I saw a channel once when I was traveling and in a motel,, called "Retro TV" and it was actually playing older stuff that in my opinion was much better than a lot of stuff out there now. Sadly,, I have no clue as to where it was or how to get it locally.

Might be "ME tv", lots of the older good stuff.

[fcvan]

I have a friend I worked with who lives off-grid but somewhat near civilization. TV and phone based internet are both pretty spotty due to terrain. I've been a HAM operator, and by license I can use GHZ bandwidth for low power line of sight transmission and receive, this includes computer wifi frequencies. So long as the transmission does not cause interference on any allowed frequency, it is all good.

Long story short, he and his wife are now HAM operators, he has a very directional GHZ antenna pointed down to a small town. The house on the other end is a friend, who now is also a HAM operator. Do the math, high speed wifi, online TV programming is quite available, wifi is 1/2 price because his buddy down the hill and he split the bill. No messing with satellite wifi where there is a download limit, no dealing with power bills (power is available though) no water bill, no sewer bill. Oh, and no RF interference which is great for HAM operations. He'd rather twist the radio knobs than watch TV but net access was needed for the kids doing homework.

Last time I was there, he and his family spent a few hours with me on their shooting range, overlooking the Pacific Ocean. Sure, the range is only 75 yards, but his son could get 100 from his bedroom window. Best part of all, he paid cash as he went on the property, house, solar power, etc.

[bangerjim]

Some love that "off the gird" life. I love the grid! I prefer the comforts and conveniences of living in a big metro area suburb with absolutely everything I will ever need within 15-20 minutes drive from the house. rarely order anything on the internet....it's all right here!


I spent a decade one year living in the boondocks of Wyoming. Had to drive 45 miles just one way to get the kids to McDonald. And 55 miles one way to get to a decent hospital. Drove that 55 miles stretch in -10F white-out blizzard with walking pneumonia.......4 times (!!!!!!) one winter. Never EVER again!


To each his own.

[jsizemore]

I checked my channels after the latest scan. Most are in the 12-25 mile range. One is 64.1 miles. Another is 120.1 miles. The farthest 130.7 miles. The last 3 are east and downhill of my position. No having to aim any direction.

[fcvan]

Some love that "off the gird" life. I love the grid! I prefer the comforts and conveniences of living in a big metro area suburb with absolutely everything I will ever need within 15-20 minutes drive from the house. rarely order anything on the internet....it's all right here!


I spent a decade one year living in the boondocks of Wyoming. Had to drive 45 miles just one way to get the kids to McDonald. And 55 miles one way to get to a decent hospital. Drove that 55 miles stretch in -10F white-out blizzard with walking pneumonia.......4 times (!!!!!!) one winter. Never EVER again!


To each his own.

My buddy is 7 miles from work, 15 from town, 7 miles from the small town nearest him. He mostly likes no mortgage, no utilities, property taxes that are a joke they are so low, minimal grocery bill as he and his wife grow a big garden, plenty of deer who no longer feast on his garden, and no neighbors who think they can tell you what to do.

The furthest out I lived was on a farm with my folks 10 miles from town, I enjoyed riding my bike even though I could drive. Living further out, I would do like my wife's grand parents, they shop twice a year. The basement is decorated with shelving units from a grocery store. They weren't 'remote' they were within 15 miles of decent shopping. They just preferred to shop in bulk.

[Jedman]

I have used a antenna for at least the last 5 years. Since most of the more local channels have as many as 7 “side” channels I probably get at least 30 channels or more. I was thinking of trying one of the outdoor Omni directional antennas because their are more channels in range of me but the antenna I have is 25 plus years old and is a directional type antenna and I don’t have a working rotor. I like what I have just fine.

Jedman

[slohunter]

I cut the cable 6 months ago, feels good. Don't need TV. Have lost 8 lbs and internet is $30 a month.

[David2011]

Before I retired I had to work away from home the last 18 months. I used an omnidirectional antenna that got quite a few stations. I later upgraded to a more directional antenna on a rotator. The rotator was a cheap Chinese one that was hit-or-miss to move but the antenna was far more effective than the omni. It was mounted on a piece of conduit about 12’ agl on the bumper of the travel trailer. This was in West Texas which isn’t flat but no big hills either. A rotator with a direction indicator would have made it far more pleasant to use.

[David2011]

Some love that "off the gird" life. I love the grid! I prefer the comforts and conveniences of living in a big metro area suburb with absolutely everything I will ever need within 15-20 minutes drive from the house. rarely order anything on the internet....it's all right here!


I spent a decade one year living in the boondocks of Wyoming. Had to drive 45 miles just one way to get the kids to McDonald. And 55 miles one way to get to a decent hospital. Drove that 55 miles stretch in -10F white-out blizzard with walking pneumonia.......4 times (!!!!!!) one winter. Never EVER again!


To each his own.

I thought that when I moved back from West Texas to the metro Houston area. Almost everything is available if I want to drive far enough. One woodworking specialty store is 45 miles away through the densest parts of Houston. Resources are great for most things within a few miles but we order a lot because it’s cheaper than driving plus the Covid considerations.