Anyone using 'over the air' TV antenna?
 

I am about to dump DirectTV and not interested in Cable.
I would like to be able to get local news occasionally - CH 9?

I have done some online research about 'old fashioned' over-the-air
TV antennas and there is quite a range of modern UHF/VHF antennas ranging from small antennas that can stick on a wall, to the large ones that mount in attic / outside.

I would be interested in something mid-size, 'in room'.

Anybody have any luck with these?
Thank you.

Topic discussed many times
 

Welcome to the forum.

Do a search on antenna and you'll find several threads, including the following:

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ead.php?t=7157

http://www.winnipesaukee.com/forums/...ad.php?t=15842

Thank you.
I did review those links.
I am looking for more simple info. I am not interested in Roku, Netflix, etc.
Just hoping to hear if anyone has had any luck with an interior Over-The-Air antenna recently and if so, what type?
Thanks again.

We use a roof top hdtv antenna on rattlesnake and get Maine based nbc and abc without issue. We do have fairpoint DSL and apple TV to fill the gap, but we try to stay outside so not much TV anyway. But with kids and guests, TV options make it easier.

Punch in your address here:

http://tvfool.com/

For info on what type/size antenna to get, and how to position it.

Ideally an old Wineguard, Channel Master, or Radio Shack rooftop antenna is going to be the best for the Lakes Region. If you're looking for something a bit more compact, I'd check out the RCA/Audiovox ANT751. With an amplifier, it should be able to pull in a half dozen stations or so.

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751-Qua.../dp/B0024R4B5C

As far as an in-room antenna (like a Mohu Leaf or rabbit ears)... You might pick up channel 9 and 11. Maaaaybe. If you want to test it, just grab a $10 set of rabbit ears from RS/HD/Lowes and plug 'em in. No bueno? Take 'em back.

Edit - Keep in mind, there is NO difference between those old antennas from the 60s-70s, and a new "HDTV" antenna. They are functionally exactly the same. There IS a difference between UHF and VHF antennas, so look at your TVFool report to see what band the channels you want are broadcasting on, and select a proper antenna type for them.

It depends on where you live...
 

Mostly, what you need will depend on where you live. I don't just mean in what town, but how high above average terrain you are.

Most DTV content is delivered over UHF, although I believe NHPTV (ch. 11) and *possibly* channel 9 are using their old VHF allocations. Check this to be sure.

But, the fact remains that the #1 factor, all other things being equal (distance, etc), is your height above (or below) physical obstructions such as hills and mountains. So, are you high up and/or are you shielded in certain directions by hills or mountains?

An outdoor antenna mounted as high as possible is always superior to anything else. A rotator is really almost required.

Use a mast-mounted preamp, located right at the antenna itself. Use coax cable to bring the signal from the preamp to your in-home distribution system (if you have more than 1 TV receiver).

We do NOT have cable or any other paid TV delivery services here. Everything is off the air. The house is located about 45 miles West-North-West of Boston, so definitely in a "fringe" area. But, we're on a hilltop and that makes all the difference.

TV over the air is essentially line of sight.
 

In order to give you some feedback, it may be helpful to you to get the info from those in your town or area.

You may get much better info by giving at least a rough idea of where you are looking to receive the over the air TV.

In my own case, it has been several years since we received signals over the air, and certainly before digital signals, but at our house in Alton, we have terrain issues that blocked good signals from the Boston area. We were able to get some signal, and we did have a rotor and an expensive high gain antenna, but they were shadowy and grainy.

Give folks an idea where, and you may get some better and more helpful info. Good luck. :)

FCC TV reception tool
 

See: http://transition.fcc.gov/mb/engineering/dtvmaps/

Put in your zip code to start and then move the red marker to your location. You see will that reception is highly location variable. The results assume a roof mount antenna and even then Ch 9 is very hard to get in this area unless your location is ideal. Reception of Ch 9 in this area with a mid size in room antenna is highly unlikely.

From the west side of Welch we can get Maine Ch 8 with a high gain roof mount VHF High band antenna aimed toward Mt Major, a signal reflected off the mountain.

We also get VT channels 31 and 41 with a high gain roof mount UHF antenna aimed to the west. There is a pre amp on the antenna mast that combines the VHF and UHF antennas.

We are not able to receive Ch 9 from that location even with the high gain VHF high band antenna.

The TVFool link I posted above will go into a lot more detail, as it accounts for terrain and antenna height, and will give accurate positioning recommendations.

As an example, here's the address for the Laconia PD, with an antenna height of 25' above ground level:

http://www.tvfool.com/?option=com_wr...5b94ddddf0e941

The FCC tool is based on a National Bureau of Standards propagation model and in fact uses an actual digitized terrain data based on specific location. Any underlying calculations in the TVFool model would be based on the same Longley-Rice Irregular Terrain Model used in the FCC tool.
The calculation results should be the same, the TVFOOL is probably easier for non technical users.

We use an interior Over-The-Air antenna and it's terrific. My husband did a lot of research on this about a year and a half ago when we decided to cancel cable completely. We borrowed antennas from friends of ours to test out which ones worked. We discovered that the Panasonic (or zenith) Silver Sensor (interior antenna) was BY FAR the best. Unfortunately, it is discontinued, so then we had to scour the internet to find one. My husband eventually found one on Ebay. Ours pulls in 130 channels (yes, 1/2 of them are in a foreign language), all our local news stations (NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox, etc.) plus 5 different PBS channels which is great because we have young kids. We are, however, in the LOS ANGELES area, so there's a lot of UHF channels to grab. Success with over the air TV seems to depend a lot on location.

I'm glad someone local has responded with their experience. It varies widely even if you're in the same town. We're able to pull in 130 channels, but my brother who lives just 4 miles away has trouble getting any signals because he's close to a mountain which seems to block the signal.

We also use a Roku box and though you seem a bit resistant to that - it really is a neat little device. Even without a Netflix subscription, you can access a lot of great shows via different free channels on there.

Good luck!

If anyone wishes to check it out, Reddit has a great discussion forum with a lot of info on cordcutting, getting live streams online, antennas, and the like. Definitely worth a look.

http://www.reddit.com/r/cordcutters/

Also, for those of you running off an antenna that would like to retain a DVR function, pause live TV, and have a program guide (without having to pay for Tivo), this is a great solution:

http://www.amazon.com/HomeWorx-HW-15...dp/B00CXAE92K/

Stick a USB stick in it (I've got a 32GB one in mine), and you can pause, rewind, schedule recordings, and a bunch of other stuff. It'll also play music and videos that you load on the USB from your computer. The on-screen interface isn't as pretty as FiOS/Comcrap/etc., but it works fine.

Thank you for all the good info.