Questions for TV antenna users.....

Colleen

Colleen

Senior Member
Location
Pennsylvania
We currently have DISH and it's ok but we'd like to save some $$$ a month....plus, we only watch our "local" evening news but no network shows, so we're paying $80/month for nothing (as far as I'm concerned). We've had Roku for years and watch movies or documentaries every night.

I know there are several Roku channels that you can buy but we're not interested in paying for tv shows that we don't watch anyway.

We live in the middle of nowhere here in NW AZ. This is a golf course community and it's fairly private. Our town is about 20 miles away and it's a small town so there are no local tv stations.

Most of the homes out here have tv antenna's and when we moved out here we were told that everyone got them years ago but then couldn't get anything. That may have been true years ago, but technology has changed a lot and I believe that most everyone out here has an antenna.

We have a neighborhood group online and I posted questions about antennas...like how many stations do you get, where are you receiving a signal from, what brand of antenna do you have, etc., but I only got a couple answers...and they were brief (like..."I get 34 channels), so it wasn't much help. Maybe I'll have to go knock on someone's door....haha.

I'm still in the research stage (that was my job when I worked so old habits die hard..haha), and I was wondering if there was anyone on here that has an outside antenna and could give me some pointers as to what I should be looking for as far as equipment and type of antenna.

We don't have any trees to block any reception and we have an open sky also (we see the ISS almost every night :) ). I did find out that we would need to point the antenna SW towards Laughlin, NV, which is about 50 miles from us.

Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. BTW, I went to dtvgovmaps.com and found out that there is a tower 29 miles from us and we could get 34 channels...just like everyone else out here. I just don't know what equipment to look for.
 

When I went to that web site and put in my zip code, the screen populated with a "Recommended Antenna". Did that happen for you?
Also, on the web site, click on "How It Works". They give a pretty good description of OTA (over the air) TV. If others in your area are getting 34 channels it seems like you should be too. It may be as simple as setting up an antenna and hooking it up to your TV.

Just a guess. Are you located in Golden Valley? I grew up in Arizona, mostly the Scottsdale area, but many years ago.
 
TravelinMan said:
When I went to that web site and put in my zip code, the screen populated with a "Recommended Antenna". Did that happen for you?
Also, on the web site, click on "How It Works". They give a pretty good description of OTA (over the air) TV. If others in your area are getting 34 channels it seems like you should be too. It may be as simple as setting up an antenna and hooking it up to your TV.

Just a guess. Are you located in Golden Valley? I grew up in Arizona, mostly the Scottsdale area, but many years ago.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the response. You're close...Kingman :)
 

Ah, yes, I've been through there many a time. I have only fond memories of growing up and living in Arizona. Most folks are shocked to learn that Arizona has the largest Ponderosa pine forest of any state. My family used to have a little forest cabin on the upper East Verde River near Payson.
 
TravelinMan said:
Ah, yes, I've been through there many a time. I have only fond memories of growing up and living in Arizona. Most folks are shocked to learn that Arizona has the largest Ponderosa pine forest of any state. My family used to have a little forest cabin on the upper East Verde River near Payson.
Click to expand...

LOTS of trees all through that area and up into Flagstaff. Payson is surrounded by National Forests. Beautiful area.
 
I would start at the bottom and work my way up.

I bought an antenna similar to this one for under $10.00 at the local Walmart, they offered a cheaper one but the kid in the electronics department said this one looked cool.

In my area I get approx. 30 channels and half of them are things like shopping, public access, etc... The recption varies depending on the weather, local interference from trucks, equipment, etc...

It's good enough for me.

GUEST_23d22423-8e25-445f-881d-341ead9a88d1
 
One thing to consider: Some stations still broadcast in the VHF band. If this is the case for a station you are interested in, you will need an all band antenna. These tend to be larger and a bit more expensive. You can probably find out whether this is needed with a little on line research. If it's not, you only need one that is UHF capable.

Don
 
Aunt Bea said:
I would start at the bottom and work my way up.

I bought an antenna similar to this one for under $10.00 at the local Walmart, they offered a cheaper one but the kid in the electronics department said this one looked cool.

In my area I get approx. 30 channels and half of them are things like shopping, public access, etc... The recption varies depending on the weather, local interference from trucks, equipment, etc...

It's good enough for me.

GUEST_23d22423-8e25-445f-881d-341ead9a88d1
Click to expand...


Don't want an indoor antenna, but thanks for sharing this.
 
Sorry, I didn't notice that you want outdoor antennas. I was just reading the comments on Amazon and someone said that now they have the same antenna I bought (with 30 miles radius) and these new ones have 55 mile radius. Maybe that might work for you even though it's indoor? I'm going back to check it out, I can't get ABC and they have some shows I would like to watch, the Oscars is one of them and reruns of ''Three's Company'' etc.
 
Use this link to get an idea of what is available over the air in your area:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
The best antennas for weak signals are those that have a high directional gain like a Yagi. These typically have narrow beam widths which helps screen out unwanted signals.
https://www.google.com/search?sourc........0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131.m5UyrnsiXs8
Most of the TV antennas being advertised today are omni directional, meaning that their gain is not focused. A good Yagi that is properly "aimed" can bring in much weaker signals than an omni.

Another thing that I try to steer people away from is buying an antenna with a so called built-in amplifier. The problem is that random noise gets amplified right along with the desired signal. This flaw becomes even worse with an Omni as unwanted signals from all 360 degrees get amplified right along with the desired signal.

Good luck, you are now in the wonderful world of communications engineering.
 
Pecos said:
Use this link to get an idea of what is available over the air in your area:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
The best antennas for weak signals are those that have a high directional gain like a Yagi. These typically have narrow beam widths which helps screen out unwanted signals.
https://www.google.com/search?sourc........0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131.m5UyrnsiXs8
Most of the TV antennas being advertised today are omni directional, meaning that their gain is not focused. A good Yagi that is properly "aimed" can bring in much weaker signals than an omni.

Another thing that I try to steer people away from is buying an antenna with a so called built-in amplifier. The problem is that random noise gets amplified right along with the desired signal. This flaw becomes even worse with an Omni as unwanted signals from all 360 degrees get amplified right along with the desired signal.

Good luck, you are now in the wonderful world of communications engineering.
Click to expand...


Thanks so much. Very useful info. That's what I was looking for :) Will check it out.
 
PVC said:
I have this below, bought in 2013, have it pinned to the wall behind my TV. What channels I can watch depends on what wall it's pinned on. Where it is right now I can watch NBC, CBS, PBS and some others but not ABC. As long as I can watch CBS and PBS I'm happy.
https://www.amazon.com/Mohu-Paper-t...per-thin,&qid=1571353254&s=electronics&sr=1-1
Click to expand...
We have the one above on 2 TVs, works great..We are over 50 miles from Dallas..We have a larger Antenna for our larger TV and have a Amazon Firestick and Roku hooked to it..We subscribe to HULU ($11.95 a Month no advertising) and get all the viewing we need..Also have Prime and free Netflix.

I would suggest you first try, the one above, as it is cheap enough and can be returned if you do not like it. It can be hidden where it won't be seen.
 
Pecos said:
Use this link to get an idea of what is available over the air in your area:
https://www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
The best antennas for weak signals are those that have a high directional gain like a Yagi. These typically have narrow beam widths which helps screen out unwanted signals.
https://www.google.com/search?sourc........0....1..gws-wiz.....0..0i131.m5UyrnsiXs8
Most of the TV antennas being advertised today are omni directional, meaning that their gain is not focused. A good Yagi that is properly "aimed" can bring in much weaker signals than an omni.

Another thing that I try to steer people away from is buying an antenna with a so called built-in amplifier. The problem is that random noise gets amplified right along with the desired signal. This flaw becomes even worse with an Omni as unwanted signals from all 360 degrees get amplified right along with the desired signal.

Good luck, you are now in the wonderful world of communications engineering.
Click to expand...
Hey that's o.k. for me if the picture is o.k. because I use closed captions.

The best way to find out what antennas to use is to walk around the neighborhood and see what's up there that everyone else is using and what direction they are aimed at. If it works for them it will work for you.
 
Ken N Tx said:
We have the one above on 2 TVs, works great..We are over 50 miles from Dallas..We have a larger Antenna for our larger TV and have a Amazon Firestick and Roku hooked to it..We subscribe to HULU ($11.95 a Month no advertising) and get all the viewing we need..Also have Prime and free Netflix.

I would suggest you first try, the one above, as it is cheap enough and can be returned if you do not like it. It can be hidden where it won't be seen.
Click to expand...


Thanks for the info :)
 
Camper6 said:
Hey that's o.k. for me if the picture is o.k. because I use closed captions.

The best way to find out what antennas to use is to walk around the neighborhood and see what's up there that everyone else is using and what direction they are aimed at. If it works for them it will work for you.
Click to expand...


That's what we're doing. We know what direction to point it to get the 34 channels everyone else gets :) Since we don't really watch network tv, except local news, which for us is 200 miles south in Phoenix!!.....we're debating on even getting an antenna. We watch mostly Netflix, Prime and Youtube. HOWEVER....my hubby likes NASCAR but it's not on any of those so we would be able to get it with an antenna.
 


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