Can you get HDTV with an antenna?

[Free4Life11]

I got an HDTV and was told that you can get HDTV for free using an antenna....well I've tried 3 antennas so far and get nothing but static. All I want is ABC in HDTV but I called the cable company and she said the only way to access that channel is full digital cable....well it's like another $75 a month, no way.

I have to do something though because the cable on this HDTV is worse than on my old TV....honestly if I had known I never would have bought the new TV but too late to return now.

Anyone know what I am doing wrong? Maybe I am using the wrong antenna but I thought the HD digital stuff was supposed to not have the static, I thought that was why they were doing this big February 2009 change I keep hearing about, but maybe I am wrong?

 

[PlutoPony]

We get a surprising number of HD channels with "rabbit ears", maybe 15 or so and ABC is one of them (along with NBC, Fox, and CBS). Maybe you're not pointing the antennae in the right direction or you're out of range? Reception varies and some days not all channels come in, don't know if it's weather related or what. We some pretty entertaining stuff including a Russian language channel.....

 

[moon]

This problably isn't it but I'l throw it out there just in case it helps

You're not trying to tune the networks in your usual chanel numbers, are you?

For example ABC Chanel 10, CBS Channel 6, etc.

On my tv the HD Chanels are way, way high and I need to enter a period to get them. Like Cnanel 10 would be 117.410.

Have you done a manual scan to all chanels to see if this is the problem?

 

[bamagirl@hrt]

We are getting HDTV channels with rabbit ears also! DH had read about this in Popular Mechanics just before we got our TV recently. We thought NO WAY could this actually work! We were shocked! We get about 15 HD channels. Like a pp said, all of the channels include a decimal. If ABC is channel 6, ABC HD is 6.1. Until the cable company offers MANY more channels in HD that we're interested in, we'll continue to use our free rabbit ears instead of paying an extra $10/month for their HD service/box rental.

 

[I_hrt_Stitch]

Could it possibly be a problem with receiving the signal? My in-laws live in a weird little valley in the country and can not receive any TV stations with rabbit ears. They have to have cable. If you can receive the regular channels with your antenna (I think they are called UHF) then that means your antenna can see the tower, and you should be able to get the signal.

If that's not it, then I would try to auto set the channels.

 

[kim929]

On one of the shows, 60 min or something they featured a guy who is marketing entenna's for your house to receive HD channels.

 

[M 'n C]

We are getting HDTV channels with rabbit ears also! DH had read about this in Popular Mechanics just before we got our TV recently. We thought NO WAY could this actually work! We were shocked! We get about 15 HD channels. Like a pp said, all of the channels include a decimal. If ABC is channel 6, ABC HD is 6.1. Until the cable company offers MANY more channels in HD that we're interested in, we'll continue to use our free rabbit ears instead of paying an extra $10/month for their HD service/box rental.

How do you get the decimal channels? My tv is suppose to be hdtv and I have an hdtv antenna but can't figure the decimal thingy out.

 

[bicker]

Anyone know what I am doing wrong? Maybe I am using the wrong antenna but I thought the HD digital stuff was supposed to not have the static, I thought that was why they were doing this big February 2009 change I keep hearing about, but maybe I am wrong?

To start to help you, we need to know your zip code.

 

[bicker]

On one of the shows, 60 min or something they featured a guy who is marketing entenna's for your house to receive HD channels.

That's a gimmick. There is nothing special about HD antennas. They're just regular antennas with fancy marketing (and probably a fancy price). Indeed, in some cities, HD channels will end up all clustered in a band around each other so you could actually stand to have a lesser antenna in those places.

 

[bicker]

How do you get the decimal channels? My tv is suppose to be hdtv and I have an hdtv antenna but can't figure the decimal thingy out.

Some televisions represent the decimals as a dash, so you'll see a dash, or a dash in parentheses, on the remote. 2.1 would be 2-1.

 

[Carl]

Only thing that I can think of that would prevent you from getting the HD channels is if the TV you bought is HD "Ready" instead of actually HD. An HD "Ready" TV has to have a separate receiver (tuner) to get the HD channels. A real HD TV will have the HD tuner built in.
Like someone else suggested, let the TV do a scan to find all the channels that it can find in your area.

 

[ICF]

You need to be close enough to the station to pick up the signals with "rabbit" ears or else it won't work.

I live in about 25 miles from downtown Indy and can pick up the HD signal for ABC,CBS,FOX,NBC, UPN and a couple of PBS channels all for free with a simple $10 set of rabbit ears for WalMart. What you won't get with those are the HD feeds of of cable channels such as ESPN, TNT, etc....

As mentioned there should be a . or - on your remote and you will enter the HD channels as 6.1 and not just 6 if you want to watch the HD version of channel 6.

 

[Carl]

bump

What did you find out? Did you solve your problem?

 

[DisneyPhD]

We have digital cable with receiver boxes (2 of them) when we bought a new LCD HD tv DH decided to hook it up to just plan cable with no box. Why? We get the network HD channels for free. We still have the digital in other rooms of the house.

We could pay $10 more for the HD channels, but our cable only has like 5 more then the 6 we get for free.

So if you are not able to pick up the HD from the attena (you should be able to, heck I have even seen commercials saying just that on network TV around here) then getting basic cable you should be able to get the network ones (ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, CW and UPN) They are upper level numbers, 200 and up. Then we can get the music channels (500 and up). These are normally things you get with Digital cable receivers.

Careful, once you get cable there is no going back. DH can't live with out TLC, and all the other channels like that.

I agree with carl, make sure it isn't just HD ready. The LCD T.V we bought 2 years ago is. Kind of a rip, but I don't think they are doing that as much anymore.

 

[bicker]

when we bought a new LCD HD tv DH decided to hook it up to just plan cable with no box. Why? We get the network HD channels for free.

Just a note about this, so folks aren't surprised when their experience is different. Currently, what you experienced is what most folks experience, however there are still many places where the HD locals are encrypted. The law won't require HD local channels be provided by cable systems in-the-clear until the channel no longer broadcasts in analog (i.e., February 2009).

So if you are not able to pick up the HD from the attena (you should be able to, heck I have even seen commercials saying just that on network TV around here)

Of course, it will depend on distance to, and obstructions in the direction of, the transmitter towers.