Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Does Any one use an HDTV Antenna ?

My nephew Nicky is feeling overwhelmed by the amount of money it is costing him to live on his own (college and working). He has cut back on several areas he was overspending on, and now feels he might do well to go with low cost/ no cost television. At this point he is paying well over 100.00 (including taxes) a month for satellite service, yet watches very few of the channels that they offer. He was told by a friend that an HDTV Antenna is the way to go, but he is not sure what brand is the best on the market, and frankly how well they work.

He loves to read and is really into archery and other sports, therefore he does not spend a lot of time watching TV, so he figures even if he only gets limited channels it would be worth it considering what the savings could be. (He is saving for an African Hunt).

Any advice on the subject ? I told him you guys were experts on everything....

I don't watch TV at all , thus no TV related expenses.


Mike

I bought one from monoprice and it works great. He can check on antennaweb.org I think it is to see what strength antenna to get the most channels. I don't watch much TV either. So I only pay for internet. The only thing I miss is NASCAR for half the season because it isn't on local stations. But I found a site I can watch any sport I want online live for free. Sucks on a 24 inch monitor, but better than missing it altogether.

Where?

From last July:
http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2013/07/indoor-hdtv-antennas/index.htm

It is a high-tech version of rabbit ears. It will not replace cable/satellite programs, only allow over-the-air broadcast.

A roof antenna is better, but this is portable, so it's good for a dorm or apartment.

Miss Lynn, I have two sets on DirecTV and two on antenna. I wanted at least one on antenna for snow days when the dish is kaput, for weather and emergency info mostly. I bought an antenna at Lowes, installed it in my attic and pointed it according to the recommendation of a website I found (don't recall what it was, but a search ought to turn it up). I get more than 30 stations on antenna, but some are Spanish or religious. Probably 20 good ones. Each of the local stations has multiple digital signals (such as 2-1, 4-1, 5-1, 5-2, 5-3, etc) HD channels come in as HD and the quality is great here in the Great Salt Lake valley.

Total cost was under $100 for the antenna, two coax cables, and a splitter to feed both sets.

Added: Took me 12 seconds to find that website. HERE

nowwatchtvlive.com

Itll cut out sometimes. Not often. It asks me to install a plugin but I never do. Just make sure your virus and malware software is up to date Seriously. I never had a problem, but you never know these days. My internet is having troubles keeping up today, but other than that its working good...

This isnt the exact model antenna I got, they changed the style. Basically the same though..

http://www.monoprice.com/Product?c_...102&p_id=4730&seq=1&format=2

Wow ! This is excellent, it has a large amount of info that covers about everything he needs to know. Thank you

MOHU leaf ultimate amplified, portable unit works ok.

http://www.gomohu.com/

go to the above website, using zip code you can check what's available via antenna.

When my son and his wife bought their house it came with a plain old fashioned non-HDTV outside antenna mounted on a tall pole. I can't see any difference whatsoever in their overall reception quality. After all, it is all digital nowadays.
I don't know myself but I suspect the 'specially engineered HDTV antenna' thing might be more of a sales gimmick kinda thing like the old specialized color TV antenna were.

That's basically true. Current antennas are optimized for digital I'm told (don't ask me how) versus the old analog. But an old antenna will still work just fine. There's no such thing as an HDTV antenna.

Lynn, go to that antenna link I posted and type in my zip code 84401. You'll see the list of stations I get. Keep in mind that the "dash" channels add to that. Channel 2 has two "stations", 4 has two, 5 has three, etc.

We get TV from a translator. It went to digital transmission about 2 years ago which forced us to get a digi TV. We are using the antenna that was mounted on the roof 22 years ago.

Works fine, but I think we are just getting digital and not HD transmission.

Google is your huckleberry.

FWIW we only have TV off the air and I rarely watch it (I catch the news once in a while, kids watch cartoons, ID public TV). I built two HDTV antennas, put them in the garage rafters, facing two different directions per the locator sites already listed (two different directions because there'e two main places stations put their transmitters for the region) and then connected the two, connected that to an amp and it's now plugged into my whole house. The antennas are easy to build and you'll have almost everything you need in your house. Tell your nephew to look up DYI HDTV antenna or coat-hanger TV antenna. I used some extra copper/coax I had. It's pretty easy to do and won't cost more than a couple of dollars.

This and maybe a subscription to NetFlix and the nephew should be good to go.

I dumped cable over a year ago. I pick up a few channels with a small antenna, just to watch the local news and weather.
That, and a Netflix subscription on my lap top give me enough entertainment.

Here's some more links/help: http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=7924.0

Really the only thing you'll have to buy is a balun. (I've bought some at the dollar store, radio shack, etc.) The reflectors do help, but they'll work without. The spacing and length of the "v" wires is important.

Yes - I have one and it works when the satellite doesn't - due to weather etc - but -------- and it's a BIG "but".

HDTV signals are VERY directionally specific - i.e., the antenna may need to have a rotor installed with it in order to switch stations if they don not transmit from the same tower..

AND, the signal is not as strong as the old analog. Stations we had gotten earlier rather easily disappeared with they went to digitalHD - just too far away to reach..

At least, this is all in my experience. If the stations are within 50 miles you should be ok.

go out on youtube - there are videos on how to make one from office supplies - a CD case, a couple of paper clips and binder clips.

A friend recommended it and I thought it was a joke, but I did it and was amazed at how many stations I could pick up.

There are about 20 videos on how to build a cheap HD attenna, but here is the one I used



Also, if he has high speed internet, I'd recommend a Roku for about $50. more than 100 channels of free stuff including Justin.TV which has a wide variety of stuff to watch for free.