Digital TV antennae for your home?

[Saab2000]

So I have been a pretty satisfied subscriber to Sling TV and until yesterday YouTube TV. But they added content I didn't need and raised the price. So I called their bluff and cancelled the service. I didn't dislike the service at all, but I'm trying to limit expenses, especially those I don't use much and really, I don't use it enough to justify it for now.

But I wouldn't mind getting the local broadcast channels, which are free.

Anyone use a home digital antenna? Many seem to be pretty unattractive, sticking to walls or windows and having wires running to them. Ideas for a reasonably attractive solution? Also, amplified or non-amplified?

Suggestions?

BTW, I may have asked this four years ago. I had an antenna in Minneapolis when I was living there and it worked pretty well, though for certain channels I had to move it around a bit. I couldn't receive a single channel when I lived in Michigan and no longer have that particular antenna. So I'm wondering if anyone uses anything they can suggest in 2020.

[Too Tall]

All TV antennas are "digital" for the sake of argument.

When I was looking for the best rooftop, or attic, TV antenna I ended up with a Winegard.

Line sight is everything, so get the antenna high as possible and use a smartphone app to aim it for the best reception of the channels you want most.

Attic Antennas | HDTV Digital Antennas Products | Winegard Company

Digital TV Antennas on the App Store

[sine]

Coat hangers.....

http://www.repeater-builder.com/ante...er-antenna.pdf

[defspace]

I don't have any experience with it, but I know my parents use Locast to stream local channels: Home - Locast

[gt6267a]

After the latest bill increase from Comcast, I've had enough and we are getting serious about the cord cutting. Current plan is to put the antenna in a guest room facing the OTA sources. Plug antenna coax into the house coax and put an OTA tuner / DVR in the basement.

I called an antenna company and they recommended a window cling for my house: Flex. I'm ok with that in my guest room with some careful wire trimming. Tools like TVFool are good to detemine signal strength and direction. Amplifiers depend on signal strength and for my house, no amplifier is needed. You might check signal strength from TVFool and/or call an antenna company to provide feedback on the amplifier or antenna.

I'm currently researching products like HDHomeRun and FireTV ReCast. Curious to hear if anyone is using one of these tuner / DVR for OTA products?

[davids]

Saab,

You're talking about a TV antenna to grab over-the-air ("OTA") channels, right?

Use the FTC's tool to gauge the power you will need: DTV Reception Maps | Federal Communications Commission

Then go to Amazon and get one. I got a super-cheap one (under $10 if I remember right) and it works acceptably well at my urban home, the five times annually that I watch OTA TV.

[Too Tall]

Actually....OTA DTV is very high quality.

[davids]

Actually....OTA DTV is very high quality.

Except they show commercials. Those are very low quality!

[Saab2000]

Saab,

You're talking about a TV antenna to grab over-the-air ("OTA") channels, right?

Use the FTC's tool to gauge the power you will need: DTV Reception Maps | Federal Communications Commission

Then go to Amazon and get one. I got a super-cheap one (under $10 if I remember right) and it works acceptably well at my urban home, the five times annually that I watch OTA TV.

Yes, that’s what I’m looking for. The Locast app might be the ticket. I installed it on my Roku and I think it might be what I’m looking for, with local content and no cost, though they do look for donations. If it’s what I’m looking for I will donate.

The occasional guests in my house want news programming once in a while and I’d like network TV sports if that ever happens again. I was sort of OK with $50/month for YouTube TV but they just raised it to $65, adding content I’ll almost never use. I had it primarily for ESPN but with very limited sports, I lost interest. That’s always been a guilty pleasure of mine but it’s not really worth it, especially at the moment.

[Saab2000]

Actually....OTA DTV is very high quality.

Yes, I was blown away by the quality of the picture on OTA DTV when I lived in Minneapolis. And each channel seemed to have sub-channels, many at lower grade quality, but free content, which was important to me at that time.

[Peter Polack]

Sounds like you want "simple".

If you can, get the antenna outside. And as Too Tall suggested, height is everything, and Winegard is a respected brand. So is Channel Master.

I recommend an antenna rotor; points the antenna toward the transmitter for the best signal. If you can't use a rotor, your next best bet is an OMNI-directional antenna.

If you live in a condo and can't mount the antenna outside, perhaps you have an attic and can run the cable there.

[rec head]

Just grab an antenna at Best Buy that catches your eye. You aren't that far from the broadcast towers downtown and I bet anything will work. If it doesn't work it won't be hard to return.

[zachateseverything]

roof or attic mount is critical if you want to get everything local, want a clean looking installation, and live in an area without good line of sight. digital signals are all or nothing. anything you get will be crystal clear but channels that were mostly watchable fuzz when you were a kid won't show up at all.

all antennas will pick up digital signals. but you do need a digital tuner to decode the signal. every tv sold in the last 15 years should have that built in.

as a bonus, you'll get more stuff that's been co-transmitted. a lot of channels are broadcasting reruns of classic programs as a sub channel.

[gt6267a]

Cord cutting update ...

Everything we use is now an app on an Amazon Fire stick 4k. Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Video, etc etc. We got an antenna and the signal is strong. We'll probably trade out antenna models from long range to aesthetically pleasing and see if the performance is the same. According to TV Fool the broadcasts originate 5 miles from the house. We could probably wave a coat hanger in the air and get a signal.

We decided there are a few things OTA we'd like to record and picked up an OTA DVR. Went with Tablo as they seem to have the best interface and will work with Apple TV if we decide to switch. Amazon Fire Recast won't make the switch to ATV. We don't have a ton of time on the Tablo yet but other than one setup item, its been pretty easy. The setup item ... it did not connect to my wifi network. Googling the problem revealed nothing. I figured this must be a firmware problem and we had a chicken / egg problem. We needed updated firmware to get wifi working but needed WiFi to get the firmware. Outcomes my 50ft cat 5 cable. Plugged in the device and was able to get the update complete. There was a "you're not leaving a cable in the middle of the living room" but no real problems to report.

Think we all know impressions change after living with something over time. Curious to see how we feel about it in a month.

[rec head]

I used an OTA DVR via my computer for quite a while. What really started to bug me wasn't the commercials, skipping them is easy and I even had software to remove them, but the commercials on the bottom of the screen during the show. I hated them. They went from the little channel logos to animations covering a big part of the screen. Every time I see those superimposed logos I think of the Simpson's opening scene where Homer rips it off and stomps on it and want to do the same. When my tuner died I didn't even tried to fix it we just started watching things on Hulu. Are they still doing this?

[gt6267a]

The OTA signal itself has "traditional" advertising. The OTA DVR does not add anything. So, no, there are no advertisements on the bottom of the screen. There are paid features of the OTA device. We currently get them for free during the initial 2 week trial period and will need to decide whether to pay when the trial is up. With Tablo, it does not come with a hard drive for recording. I happened to have a 2tb usb external laying around and we're using that.

[rec head]

I didn't meant to imply that the DVR was adding anything but that the networks do it. Maybe it has calmed down.

[Mabouya]

Suggestions?

Try living without it for a while and see how that works out.

I haven't had a TV for at least 20 years. I do have a Netflix subscription (2 DVDs / month, one at a time) but don't use that much either (I think I kept the last DVD for about 6 months before finally sending it back to them).

Too much other stuff going on in life to spend time watching the tube.

[Saab2000]

Try living without it for a while and see how that works out.

I haven't had a TV for at least 20 years. I do have a Netflix subscription (2 DVDs / month, one at a time) but don't use that much either (I think I kept the last DVD for about 6 months before finally sending it back to them).

Too much other stuff going on in life to spend time watching the tube.

It’s not for me. It’s for occasional guests in my house. And I don’t mind local channels during NFL season.

My mother likes to watch local and network news. Her demands in life are low and if I can help fulfill this request it’s the least I can do. Personally, I can go weeks or months without regular TV, but it’s nice to have the option on those occasions I’d like to turn it on.

As it happens, the Locast app someone mentioned appears to be exactly what I was looking for. I’ve only used it enough to know that it appears to get me what I want (local OTA channels and their sub-channels) via my Roku. They solicit donations for this free app and I will likely donate if I use it more in the future.