Off topic- TV reception with antenna

[Quacked]

I am not much of a TV guy but am being pressured by my bride to get at last something for the news and whatnot. Can anyone comment on the reception with the digital/outside antennas near Dingmans? (I am at the top of the valley)
Thanks

[Quacked]

[Manxdriver]

Our power went oput for a week during that last hurricane. I fired up the generator, but our cable was out too. Went to Lowes and got a digital antenna. $40. Thirteen channels , very clear, several more not so clear. Well worth the money. If you have an older tv , you will need a 'set top box converter'. Another $25 -35 at Best Buy. Still worth it.

[LifeInPa]

Quacked, if you have a house that is wired for cable you might be able to get the basic channels for nothing. In our guest bedroom for example we have an old TV that is plugged directly into the jack (No point in paying a rental fee for a box on a TV that is seldom used). It has no cable box and get's the basic 60-70 channels. Don't forget if you have a broadband internet connection you can catch much of the major TV shows online for free too.

[Quacked]

No cable in the house, the previous owner had a dish. I will give the digital antenna a try. Many thanks!

[LifeInPa]

Quacked, since you want to go the antenna route consider an outdoor antenna since they give you much better reception in a rural area over a TV top affair, here is one that is under $50 and highly rated: Outdoor HDTV Digital Antenna

You could mount it on a pole in your back yard and feed all your televisions with it. It is even remote controlled so you can make adjustments to it from indoors with a provided wireless remote. A lot of folks in rural areas reviewed it and said great things. It's worth considering IMO.

If you want a cheaper or lower profile outdoor antenna Amazon has many options: Outdoor Antennas

The first antenna however had the best reviews.

[Shisno]

I have the digital antenna. Depending oh where you live, your amount and quality of channels will differ. For instance, at my previous apartment, I got 7 channels clear as day an another 1 channel that was hit or miss. Now I barely get Fox.

Also the thing to remember about the digital boxes is it's nothing like the traditional rabbit ears. Each station has sub stations. For example, there are three different Fox stations. There's 43.1 with your typical sitcoms and other regular shows, then 43.2 which has old movies and reruns, then lastly there is 43.3 with 24/7 previously recorded local news.

But for 40 bucks, you have a way to watch the news and maybe some ball games so it's not all bad.

[dosequis]

www.tvfool.com has an online coverage locater where you can see the location of origination of signals in you area. With a tool like that, you can get a pretty good idea of what to expect. www.antennaweb.org is another site I've had success with.

I would also tell you that an outdoor antenna is your friend. Get it up on the roofline if possible. Height is beneficial, but there are limits to the practical returns. UHF "Digital antennas" are somewhat of a misnomer. An antenna doesn't know if the signal it's receiving has been modulated digitally or not. Most Digital signals are in the UHF frequency band, but not all. A plain old VHF/UHF analog antenna will also pull in the digital VHF broadcasts that do exist. Avoid using an analog antenna with a built in amplifier, as that can give you some problems if you try to amplify a digital signal.

Digital signals are forgiving in rural areas, until you go past the "cliff" where the signal is no longer reliably recovered. Check signal strength if you can (most TV's with a digital tuner will have a meter hidden somewhere in the utility menu.) Use the meter to align your antenna for best strength, and your signal won't go wacky once the leaves come out or the wind starts blowing..

www.avsforum.com is another worthwhile resource if you want to get some more tips & tricks out of you TV set without paying for it.

Good luck with it.

[Thomas Paine]

FYI- i tried the tabletop antennae, and i got 10 channels.

I hooked up to the 1950's condor type antennae on my roof, and i got 65 channels.

but i'm outside philly, and most channels are PBS, religious, or spanish.

better than nothing though.

[borntotravel]

I gave up on cable Feb of 2012 and love not paying that bill every month. I just have a WalMart antenna laying on the floor in the 3rd floor and I am back feeding it down to the basement splitter (with a power booster) and I get 30 some channels including 3,6,10,17,29, PBS. Do miss my History, Speed, Fox news etc.