Free HD TV

[JoshIronshaft]

I am sure many are well aware of this, but I still encounter people who do not know about free HD TV channels you can enjoy.

I thought this would be a good preparedness topic, since it is a great way to save money by eliminating your cable bill and also a way to receive news if there is an interruption in cable service.

South of Pittsburgh, with my digital TV antenna located in a window upstairs and facing the city, I can receive 40+ channels, half of which are worthwhile to me.

I get 4 or more news channels (Fox, ABC, NBC, etc), and several channels with just comedy or law and order type shows. My favorite is a channel called Quest (40-4) that plays everything the History Channel aired back in the day before it went down the toilet, such as modern marvels, engineering disasters, axeman, etc. Also there are the public access channels with various programming, including concerts, local history, and home improvement shows. I can get Pittsburgh’s public access channels and Morgantown’s.

There are plenty of cooking, home shopping, paid ads, religious, spaghetti westerns, Spanish cartoons, and local sports channels that are no use to me but maybe you will enjoy them.

You need at a minimum a $30-ish antenna. Search TV antenna on Amazon and you can see the popular and well reviewed ones. You can mount better antennas on the outside of your house, but sitting one in an upstairs or attic window ledge will get the job done. In my last home I ran the feed into the typically provided amplifier, then into a splitter to run to various rooms and be watched simultaneously.

Your TV also needs to be compatible with the digital signals. Once you connect your antenna, select the correct input, then your tv should be able to scan for channels and list them for you. I always do my scanning on a nice clear day to get the best results. Maybe this should be done on a nice clear night though, that I am not sure. Sometimes you have to rescan to find a channel that changes channel number for some reason unknown to me.

Your reception can be impacted by the weather, but local strong signals won’t be impacted.

And as always you can economically supplement your programming with a firestick or similar device to enjoy free or paid for movies and shows.

Right now a lot of programming is discounted or free due to the shut down.

Enjoy!

[bogey1]

When I used a antenna the channels were clearer than cable.

[Knightshift]

When I used a antenna the channels were clearer than cable.

I just use the old fashion tv antenna up in the attic. It's the hd tv that makes the difference.

[Walleye Hunter]

I just use the old fashion tv antenna up in the attic. It's the hd tv that makes the difference.

Yep and most people don't realize that and of course the antenna mfgs won't advise you of that. I had an old rusty antenna from the 1970's up on the rooftop that worked just fine until the pipe it was mounted on rusted through and it fell down.

[Pilot321]

I get 23 channels with the digital HD antenna.

[buxbandit]

Funny story. About 35 years ago we were living near Flemington, NJ with no reception at all. This is in the pre-cable era. I had a yuuuge antenna that I was positioning in the attic while the wife was downstairs directing me while watching the TV. Just as the damn thing came crashing down from its precarious perch right on top of me, she hollered up "That's perfect".

[free]

Amazing to me that people report and/or are seemingly amazed by their discovery that you can get “free” tv over the air. It really says something about the changes in society since my family got its first VCR (;

https://www.wsj.com/amp/articles/mil...nna-1501686958

“I was just kind of surprised that this is technology that exists,” says Mr. Sisco, 28 years old. “It’s been awesome. It doesn’t log out and it doesn’t skip.”
....

The antenna is mounting a quiet comeback, propelled by a generation that never knew life before cable television, and who primarily watch Netflix, Hulu and HBO via the internet. Antenna sales in the U.S. are projected to rise 7% in 2017 to nearly 8 million units, according to the Consumer Technology Association, a trade group.
....

Mr. Sisco, an M.B.A. student in Provo, Utah, made his discovery after inviting friends over to watch the Super Bowl in 2014. The online stream he found to watch the game didn’t have regular commercials—disappointing half of his guests who were only interested in the ads.
....

Almost a third of Americans (29%) are unaware local TV is available free, according to a June survey by the National Association of Broadcasters, an industry trade group.

[JoshIronshaft]

What’s the saying? Everything that is old is new again, or something.

[Roadking]

We get zero reception here...and we are good with it.

[father-of-five]

I got no reception when I lived in Morrisville, but I was basically halfway between Philadelphia and New york city.
My parents have yet to get cable, but they get far more digital channels today than we got in the nondigital olden days.