TV antenna

Bamaman said:
I tried to chuck the cable tv system and go to an antenna. With 5 televisions in the house, we couldn't pick up a decent signal.

My wife & I are retired, and our televisions are on most all the time. We had to suck it up and get Dish TV on a special deal. Life is so much more satisfying now.
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I have to think you tried some small antenna connected directly to 1 TV, which is why you mention the 5 TVs.

Wondering what antenna did you use ?
 
OldShooter said:
One thing I forgot to mention in post #20 was lightning protection. I suggest consulting with the hamradio.com guys on this subject too. IMO most home/amateur installations have inadequate protection, though 100% protection is probably impossible.

My installation is probably overkill, but here it is while under construction:

QulSUAN.png


OTOH, if you like overkill this guy can help you: https://www.kf7p.com/KF7P/Products.html
​
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Fellow ham :bow:
 
We have the misfortune of being over a very slight hill to the south of the Seattle stations, and also behind a rather large one at the new homestead location. I have used the FCC maps to confirm this.
 
VHF Channel numbers have no relation anymore to the old analog channels. When Digital came out, the stations kept the same # but may now broadcast in the UHF band. Check for the actual frequency to local stations are using. A good UHF antenna may be the only thing you need.

Our house had an old analog antenna hung in the garage when we moved in 16 years ago. Since TV went digital, our local Low VHF channel (Ch2-CBS) was moved to High VHF and the High VHF stations all moved to UHF. To make our antenna smaller and our storage space larger, we cut off the active and reflector elements for Low VHF on the existing antenna. Works like a champ 30 miles out from the transmitters. We can get well over 60 stations including substations on the antenna. Truth be told, we do have an antenna amp because we have a few splitters which reduce the signal level.
 
Probably can't add much to all the excellent advice you have already received on this thread.

I'm also in the Chicago burbs approximately 30 miles from most of the transmitters. All the main stations are in one direction, with a few opposite direction. I installed a medium range Radio Shack UHF/VHF antenna about 15 years ago in my attic. The guy at Radio Shack laughed at me saying I would not get any reception that far away inside the attic. It had to be external on the roof. I added a Channel Master amplifier and have the signal split to two TVs. I receive more than 60 channels counting sub-channels (even the channels in the opposite direction), and most in the low 90s for signal strength.

Antennaweb.com works great for aiming the antenna. I rescan once in a while to check for any channel updates.
 
nap470 said:
Probably can't add much to all the excellent advice you have already received on this thread.

I'm also in the Chicago burbs approximately 30 miles from most of the transmitters. All the main stations are in one direction, with a few opposite direction. I installed a medium range Radio Shack UHF/VHF antenna about 15 years ago in my attic. The guy at Radio Shack laughed at me saying I would not get any reception that far away inside the attic. It had to be external on the roof. I added a Channel Master amplifier and have the signal split to two TVs. I receive more than 60 channels counting sub-channels (even the channels in the opposite direction), and most in the low 90s for signal strength.

Antennaweb.com works great for aiming the antenna. I rescan once in a while to check for any channel updates.
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I just went into antenna web and it said "no stations found for the entered location. Not a good sign!
 
CRLLS said:
VHF Channel numbers have no relation anymore to the old analog channels. When Digital came out, the stations kept the same # but may now broadcast in the UHF band.
Click to expand...


As I said in my earlier post, what you said is mostly true, but there are a few stragglers that still broadcast on VHF. I have a local Channel 28 that transmits on VHF Ch 9. I need the extra VHF element to get that.

Check for the actual frequency to local stations are using. A good UHF antenna may be the only thing you need.
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nap470 said:
What zip code did you use for antenna web?
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That would be needed for us to help you.

You might try going up 50ft with the virtual antenna and go out 100 miles to see if that makes some station show up.
" A rough formula for calculating the distance to the horizon is:SquareRoot(height above surface / 0.5736) = distance to horizon"
i need to add, TV stations don't generally make it over the horizon, but there are occasional special situations when they do, the hams will be happy to tell you about.


So if you get up 50 ft, the horizon is 50/0.5736 = 87 miles. The broadcast towers are generally very high also. This would require a very directional antenna and probably an amplifier. And it is still pushing the limits. Sure would be fun to try!
If you have stations in different directions you would also need a rotor, it's just like the olden days!
 
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Time2 said:
That would be needed for us to help you.

You might try going up 50ft with the virtual antenna and go out 100 miles to see if that makes some station show up.
" A rough formula for calculating the distance to the horizon is:SquareRoot(height above surface / 0.5736) = distance to horizon"
i need to add, TV stations don't generally make it over the horizon, but there are occasional special situations when they do, the hams will be happy to tell you about.


So if you get up 50 ft, the horizon is 50/0.5736 = 87 miles. The broadcast towers are generally very high also. This would require a very directional antenna and probably an amplifier. And it is still pushing the limits. Sure would be fun to try!
If you have stations in different directions you would also need a rotor, it's just like the olden days!
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Don't see any option to increase height of antenna on antennaweb. Nevertheless I was able to on TVfool site. Even at 50' there were some marginal sites that would require a very good antenna setup. By the way thanks for the offer of help but I was not really looking for help just stating an observation.:) Even though I live over 1300' there are a lot of hills and mountains in the way of Boston stations here in south western NH.
 
finnski1 said:
Don't see any option to increase height of antenna on antennaweb. Nevertheless I was able to on TVfool site. Even at 50' there were some marginal sites that would require a very good antenna setup. By the way thanks for the offer of help but I was not really looking for help just stating an observation.:) Even though I live over 1300' there are a lot of hills and mountains in the way of Boston stations here in south western NH.
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I used Rabbit ears, stuck a pin in SW, NH. made the antenna 100ft tall. I got 110 stations, all bad, and one fair, it was a low power independent station. Ya, it doesn't look good.
 
Time2 said:
As I said in my earlier post, what you said is mostly true, but there are a few stragglers that still broadcast on VHF. I have a local Channel 28 that transmits on VHF Ch 9. I need the extra VHF element to get that.
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I did qualify it with
"the stations kept the same # but may now broadcast in the UHF band."


You are right though. Some stations still require the longer elements. In the Chicago area, CBS, which was on, and called Channel 2 (Low VHF at 54-60MHz) when it was analog, is now in the High band VHF at what was Channel 12(204-210Mhz). In spite of actually being on Channel 12, CBS is now a "virtual channel" called Channel 2.1 + the CBS sub channels. That is why I removed the longer elements on my antenna. To my knowledge, no TV station is now broadcast below 204 Mhz in the Chicago area. All of the other VHF (low or high) moved to the UHF band when the ATSC broadcasts were switched.

If I understand your post, it is odd to me that what was a UHF broadcast is now in the high VHF band. VHF/UHF broadcasts do vary depending on location. From what I have read, most areas went totally UHF, but not all.
 
I went high tech... Old rabbit ears, foil attachments needed. Works about under 30 miles from the WTC transmitter, all channels.
 

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I know it didn't cover the entire country (yet), but this is exactly why Locast made so much sense. And probably explains why it had to be done away with.
 
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Been using outdoor antenna forever. They work great. Suggestion. Drive around, and
see what "brand", your neighbors are using.

Use to attach antenna to roof chimney, with guide wires. Until, a roofer, said, bad idea,
attaching wires to your roof.

Currently. I get a 12 foot 4 x 4 post. Stick it in the ground next to the house.

And attach antenna/pole to the wooded post.
 
wolf said:
Been using outdoor antenna forever. They work great. Suggestion. Drive around, and
see what "brand", your neighbors are using.

Use to attach antenna to roof chimney, with guide wires. Until, a roofer, said, bad idea,
attaching wires to your roof.

Currently. I get a 12 foot 4 x 4 post. Stick it in the ground next to the house.

And attach antenna/pole to the wooded post.
Click to expand...
Our HOA would tell us to tear it down. We never had this problem until we moved to Central Texas. Satellite dishes are ok. Outdoor TV antennas are not. Such stances by the various HOAs (and they are everywhere here) forces many owners into paid access to obtain broadcast TV channels.
 
statsman said:
Our HOA would tell us to tear it down. We never had this problem until we moved to Central Texas. Satellite dishes are ok. Outdoor TV antennas are not. Such stances by the various HOAs (and they are everywhere here) forces many owners into paid access to obtain broadcast TV channels.
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From your location you should have no problem getting all the major networks via an attic antenna.
 
REWahoo said:
From your location you should have no problem getting all the major networks via an attic antenna.
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We're about 17-18 miles from the Austin towers, but we also have a radiant barrier in the entire attic space. Now, what are the odds that a section of the radiant barrier isn't in the direction of the towers? In that case, even a smaller outdoor antenna would be a better solution, but it's a no-go here.
 
A simple vertical/aka whip or orange juice can style antenna poking through your roof and sealed would be very unobtrusive but probably sufficient.
 
OP here, thanks for all the input. Most neighbors have dish of some type that must cost $100 plus per month.

No HOA worries for me, I own the 160 acres that the house sits on. Space makes great neighbors.
 
Stormy Kromer said:
If this question has been addressed earlier I apologize, I don't frequent the technology forum on this site.

I am moving to the country and am too frugal to pay for dish or other pay per view options beyond netflix. It would be nice to get one of the major networks for news. I will be within 50 miles of a couple TV towers and should be able to pick them up with a decent antenna

I know antennas have come a long ways since the days we had to mount them on the roof and rotate them when you wanted to change channels. I'm thinking of putting one in the attic of the two story house in hopes of picking up a station or two.

Does anyone have any experience or suggestions ? Thank you.
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Yes, Mohu makes a great antenna. DW convinced me to spend a little more on their indoor/outdoor antenna ($150-$300) and had it installed in our attic. It's amazing, small, and nobody sees it! The reception is great. Had the contractor run the coax cable to our first level to a coax splitter that was requested when the townhome was built and, voila, we have live antenna TV with, IMO, great picture throughout the house.

They don't sell the model we got but look around the site, www.gomohu.com, and it's worth spending a little more because it makes the money back (including installation) within the first couple months. Believe the site says they use some Navy technology to build the antenna.

Antenna makes a great complement to a couple streaming services!
 
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statsman said:
Our HOA would tell us to tear it down. We never had this problem until we moved to Central Texas. Satellite dishes are ok. Outdoor TV antennas are not. Such stances by the various HOAs (and they are everywhere here) forces many owners into paid access to obtain broadcast TV channels.
Click to expand...

Your HOA can't enforce this as it is against FCC rulings and has been successfully used many times.

https://www.fcc.gov/media/over-air-reception-devices-rule
 
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