Indoor TV Antenna

[Miska]

Had to drop cable due to the new price icreases. Can anyone recommend a good but reasonable antenna for an older TV

 

[DawnM]

Depends on how far out you live from the stations, what might be blocking your reception (trees, hills, tall buildings????)

You might be fine with a $10 antenna.

We live further out and have a lot of trees.

We were advised to get this one for indoor use:

http://www.amazon.com/Winegard-FV-H...UTF8&colid=2PEI3E41N5Y8G&coliid=IFDPBERNERAKR

You can go to http://www.tvfool.com and enter your info and see what they recommend.

Dawn

 

[capshockeygrl]

After a bit of trial and error with some cheaper antennas, I bit the bullet and bought this one:

http://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Leaf-Paper-Thin-Indoor-Antenna...

I found this one to be far superior than anything I could pick up in a store (at the time) - as a single TV indoor antenna, it picks up channels from locations 2 hours away. All this when anything I bought in-store had trouble with a couple of the local stations.

In addition to the previously mentioned TV Fool, I also suggest checking http://www.antennaweb.org/. I used both sites in conjunction with one another while I was researching as they both gave me slightly different answers.

 

[got2sammies]

My mom bought something similar to that and it was a snap for me to set up. She hates rabbit ears! All of her channels come in clear..She bought it at Target... Also if you have an older TV you may need a converter box as well as the antenna..If you have a newer TV you wont need one...

 

[JDUCKY]

I second the Mohu Leaf. Have one in the bedroom and it does a really good job considering the Orlando TV towers are about 35 miles to our east.

NOTE: The Mohu Leaf will not pick up a VHF channel (unless you're a couple miles away but even then not sure). WESH is still broadcast VHF so we don't get that in the bedroom. No biggie. Don't watch NBC anyway.

 

[hsmamato2]

I Just ordered the mohu leaf...but I may return if I don't get my vhf channels on it..... I am finally ready to cut the cord..... jumping in!
so far I've ordered a dvr recorder + an antenna...we'll see how it goes! I'm happy to be getting rid of that bill,if I can!

 

[capshockeygrl]

I Just ordered the mohu leaf...but I may return if I don't get my vhf channels on it..... I am finally ready to cut the cord..... jumping in!

 

[DawnM]

I had a leaf antenna and returned it. Didn't work for us.

 

[hsmamato2]

I second the Mohu Leaf. Have one in the bedroom and it does a really good job considering the Orlando TV towers are about 35 miles to our east.

NOTE: The Mohu Leaf will not pick up a VHF channel (unless you're a couple miles away but even then not sure). WESH is still broadcast VHF so we don't get that in the bedroom. No biggie. Don't watch NBC anyway.

how do you know vhf? I can get local channel 3 around here (cbs) with the Mohu, but not ABC (channel 8)

 

[secretpantssam]

We got this one for the community college where I work

http://www.monoprice.com/products/p...&cagpspn=pla&gclid=CNXArda717UCFZOe4Aod4kcA8Q

We got a decent amount of channels and it was very easy to hook up. Though I will warn you I think it works better the closer you are to a city. That campus was close to Philly so that may have helped.

 

[wiigirl]

I would recommend a powered antenna. We tried 3-4 different ones and then found one at target for ~$45 and it work better than all of them.

(Again, different areas...different results)

 

[seashoreCM]

VHF channels require antennas with components about 3 feet long, for example rabbit ears.

UHF channels use an antenna with small fins less than a foot long and possibly hidden in an enclosure a foot across or maybe a little less, or maybe there are several such fins spaced out on a bar making the antenna assembly more than a foot long.

For a "standard" rabbit ears antenna set you buy nowadays there is a ring or fin or bowtie about a foot in size ncluded to pick up the UHF channels.

VHF channels are those with physical numbers 2 through 13. This is not necessarily the same as the number in the station's logo.

 

[JDUCKY]

how do you know vhf? I can get local channel 3 around here (cbs) with the Mohu, but not ABC (channel 8)

Need to find out what channel your locals are actually transmitting over. Most HDTV is over UHF channels. Very few are left on VHF despite the stations logos. For example, WFTV in Orlando is channel 9 but broadcasts on UHF 39. Channel 9 is a virtual mapping.

 

[disney1990]

Had to drop cable due to the new price icreases. Can anyone recommend a good but reasonable antenna for an older TV

I trust you have a converter box for your television? I think we bought our antenna from Best Buy. It was in the $30 range.

 

[hsmamato2]

ok....how do I find out if my local abc channel is vhf? Maybe I'll check the website for locals.... also, the leaf is pretty good (it's so cool!) but we live in a odd place, hills,trees,etc- (dead zone for cell phones in general too)
so my DH insisted that we were going to do this 'right' and we needed an antenna we could set up in the attic for the best reception. so I ordered this one....and we'll try it out I hope it works,as I already have to pay to return that other on to Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BRXW74/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also trying out the magnavox dvr recorder....it is NOT easy to figure out how to set it up.... I may return that also and go with tivo instead,as it appears to be simple to use(this is for recording shows,etc.)

 

[DawnM]

That one SHOULD work and if it doesn't, I would try adding an amplifier before returning it for another one.

We CANNOT get any signal without an amplifier on our antennas.

ABC will be HD digital. The only non digitals are the small independent stations, which around here means Christian television. Even PBS is HD digital.

ok....how do I find out if my local abc channel is vhf? Maybe I'll check the website for locals.... also, the leaf is pretty good (it's so cool!) but we live in a odd place, hills,trees,etc- (dead zone for cell phones in general too)
so my DH insisted that we were going to do this 'right' and we needed an antenna we could set up in the attic for the best reception. so I ordered this one....and we'll try it out I hope it works,as I already have to pay to return that other on to Amazon
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001BRXW74/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also trying out the magnavox dvr recorder....it is NOT easy to figure out how to set it up.... I may return that also and go with tivo instead,as it appears to be simple to use(this is for recording shows,etc.)

 

[hsmamato2]

are there differences in amplifiers? I see a lot of different types....

 

[hsmamato2]

update: so our setup is (almost) complete! we have this antenna
(Antennas Direct ClearStream4 HDTV Antenna) plus a Tivo series 3 DVR box with a lifetime membership(thank you ebay) plus Netflix whenever we want it,and we get approx. 21 channels for FREE!
I can't believe I was paying for tv for so long..... I am heading to WM today to get a small amp for the antenna....it is great in our attic ,but my ABC channel is still a bit spotty.... so happy we finally did it! And we've tested our new channels, no one has any complaints!
(for our viewing habits, the Tivo is a biggie, we tape and watch everything,we could live without it, but that is the major thing for us,not so much the cable lineup) so excited to re-do my budget book with out that 'pay for tv' line in it!

 

[hsmamato2]

also a note... I tried the magnavox dvd/dvr from Walmart...it worked but it was a PAIN to set it up to record.
The used Tivo is so EASY by comparison,it's like apples and oranges! (in case anyone else is wondering about these 2 options)