Digital Antenna Advice Needed

[Mad4Dizne]

Hello, we have finally completely cut the cord as they say, because I refuse to give cable company any more money, we are also going to get hit with datacaps soon so I wanted to bring internet/cable bill as low as possible. But my "great idea" has been a bit frustrating. The first two antennas we tried were not consistent enough, some channels came in great/ some spotty, does anyone have suggestions on what the best digital antenna is?And/or any suggestions with digital antennas in general? Please help before The Superbowl! TIA!

 

[davper]

Hi
I bought a Clearstream from BJs, Couldn't get one channel despite not being far from Transmission point.

I then bought this one from Amazon and got great results
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0748KYTZN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

[firefly_ris]

For the house I use a ChannelMaster that is mounted on the 2nd story roof -- this may not be necessary but will depend on where you live and where your local towers are located. You should make an attempt to point them towards the towers. If you visit http://www.antennaweb.org/ you can put in your zip code to see where your towers are.

For the shed (it's more like a clubhouse sort of thing), we made this, which is just a wooden board and copper wires -- https://www.popsci.com/learn-defy-cable-company-diy-hdtv-antenna/ -- It often gets more channels than the rooftop one (including Canadian channels).

Remember some things can interfere with signal -- lots of leaves, wind, etc. So you might not be pulling the same strength at all times. When we lived in the burbs we had very strong signals but out where we are now we had to do a little more legwork with the setup. I don't have a remote rotator but would love one.

For extra reference, "digital antenna" is just phrasing... there's nothing really different about them than older antennas.

https://www.techwalla.com/articles/difference-between-a-regular-hdtv-antenna

 

[Mad4Dizne]

Thank you, will check it out

 

[Mad4Dizne]

Thank you for the great information/suggestions, with any luck I will have things working great before Superbowl!

 

[RamblingMad]

How far are the stations you want from your home? If they are too far away, you might need to put an antenna on your roof or in your attic.

This is a good place to start:

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
and this one:

https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

 

[Mad4Dizne]

How far are the stations you want from your home? If they are too far away, you might need to put an antenna on your roof or in your attic.

This is a good place to start:

https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
and this one:

https://www.antennasdirect.com/transmitter-locator.html

Thank you! The farthest one is 35 miles, I read that with this distance an indoor one would be ok? It is really great getting these stations for free ( the cost of the antenna should be recouped in a month or 2)

 

[RamblingMad]

Thank you! The farthest one is 35 miles, I read that with this distance an indoor one would be ok? It is really great getting these stations for free ( the cost of the antenna should be recouped in a month or 2)

If you decide to go this route, your first frustration will be advertisements. Most are for old people medical problems and lawyers. I really hate them, so none of my existing streaming services have ads. Your second frustration will be the OTA guide isn't always right. You'll want to go to the individual stations guide to see what's on and when. Finally, you might want to get an OTA DVR. They make these now.

 

[Disneyfan754321]

We have a similar story, we use our clear tv attenna ( as seen on tv section) in our bedrooms but in our living room nothing seems to work. We have a brick fireplace and the living is in interior room. Using the RCA signal finder free app we finally found the right place place to put the anntenna. It's one of the walmart ones for 35+ miles that plugs in. It's still not the strongest signal. If I were you I would up your data ... When you stream netflix , hulu etc it does not use that much

 

[tvguy]

Another thing that is important to know about digital TV signals. They are very finicky. Moving your indoor antenna a foot this way, or that way, can make all the difference between no signal and a good signal.

 

[RamblingMad]

Another thing that is important to know about digital TV signals. They are very finicky. Moving your indoor antenna a foot this way, or that way, can make all the difference between no signal and a good signal.

This. I have to move mine for certain channels. But since I grew up with foil on my rabbit ears to watch TV, this is a walk in the park.

Also, if it downpours, you might not get much of anything. Weather impacts antenna use as well.

 

[AgentMama]

We have our antennae outside and wired it into all of the cables that were put in the house for when we had cable service. When we had one inside, it was too temperamental about keeping reception.

Someone here a couple of years ago posted a website that you an go to and enter your address to see what channels are an option for your address so you know if you're getting all of the channels in that you can. It's really interesting because my brother doesn't live far from us and cannot get any channels, we get quite a few.

 

[Bobb_o]

If you can't get good signal with an antenna check out Locast, if you're in one of their markets it's $5/mo which is obviously more expensive than the antenna but then you've got perfect signal no matter what as long as your connection is good.

On the DVR front I recommend Channels DVR, it's $8/mo (or $80/yr) and can use Locast, a local antenna with an HDHomeRun, or TVE logins in case you have access to one. You have to run it on a server (can just be an old computer) so it's a little more complicated than most solutions but it's not that difficult.

If you have any questions about Channels or an HDHomeRun let me know as that's what I currently use. I've tested Locast but don't currently subscribe.

 

[Mad4Dizne]

Superbowl Update,lol.
We are ready for the game! Go Buccaneers!
I now have 2 Mohu Leaf antennas, they work great (except I can not get in NBC-I have tried and tried). Oh well, I might try a longer range/different antenna down the road. ABC,FOX,CBS,PBS, COZI, COURTTV, a Mystery Channel, and a Comedy channel all come in great for the most part. Did experience some choppiness during a bad wind storm. It is so great getting "free tv" (well, I spent around $60 for the antennas).Thank you all for the great tips and suggestions! I should of totally cut the cord a long time ago. Now if only I could find more affordable internet!