Outdoor TV antenna

frankenyoter

frankenyoter

No Rain, No Rainbow
Joined
Mar 17, 2009
Location
DARK CITY
We ditched cable a while back. Wifey is at home with a new born and just needs some tv to watch.

Can anyone make a recommendation on a decent outdoor antenna?
 
I don't have an outdoor antenna recommendation but I'll tell ya what we done. We bought a $10 digital indoor antenna from Walmart and we get 8 channels (wxii, wxii tv show channel, 3 UNC channels including PBS kids, etc). We also purchased Netflix for the wife and little one. So we spent $10 three years ago and $8 a month for Netflix. We get everything we want for cheap. My buddies spend $175 plus each month!!!

That's one idea.
 
http://www.antennaweb.org/

Use that site to see if you're even in a spot where an antenna makes sense. It will also let you know if you could get by with an indoor antenna (like the Mohu Leaf http://www.gomohu.com/ which is the highest rated indoor antenna around) or if you need to invest in a larger directional outdoor HDTV antenna. You can also use the Mohu website to take a look at how many channels you'll get.

For me, I would need a large outdoor antenna mounted pretty high up to get anything, so I unfortunately decided against the whole cutting the cable deal. Wish I had more options.
 
I made my own db4 antenna with 1" PVC and 10ga. Copper wire. Cost me $40 in material and I get all the broadcast channels. I am 25 miles from the nearest station.

This is the link to the antenna I built. I did not use make the whole outside square part, only the spine with the whiskers. Best $40 I ever spent

http://repligation.blogspot.com/2012/06/building-hdtv-antenna-db2-db4.html?m=1
 
I have two of these in the attic:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-ANT751-Qu...8&qid=1392402392&sr=8-8&keywords=hdtv+antenna

One pointed at Chapel Hill for PBS (30 miles out), one pointed at Clayton for ABC/CBS/NBC/etc (10mi out).

I believe this is the link I've used in the past. The one that Macdaddy posted doesn't bring up PBS for me:

http://www.antennapoint.com/

The antennas are joined in the attic with a 2:1 splitter (running "backwards"), and then I have a small +7dB splitter/amp at the TV just to make up for the signal loss. Splitters are inherently lossy, and I need to provide three separate feeds at the TV, so this allows me to do both with one box:

http://www.amazon.com/Digital-Ampli...qid=1392402745&sr=8-1&keywords=hdtv+amplifier
 
I have a channelmaster 4228 in my attic, about 5 years now, also have preamp. Works great. Just ordered one for my mom's house.
 
I know of 2 friends in the Greater Charlotte area, using the standard indoor/outdoor {Phillips} type antenna, + the 1 on my chimney. They pick up 1/2 ass, on a good day. If the wind is blowing, Forget it!
Maybe we didn't spend enough on reception.:shaking:
 
I built one similar to the DB4 using scrap wood, a few wood screws and washers. and coat hangers.
I was quite amazed at what it picked up just sitting on top of the tv with a wooden base.

Cheap and effective enough to try.

Oh, and don't waste money on a "digital" antenna. All it is, is a name. All antennas receive all transmitted signals.

The reality is, you might just be able to hook a piece of long wire to the tv and hang it from the ceiling and it'll work great.

Matt
 
My next door neighbor builds antennaes of all types hamm, tv, cb etc, also is licensed by fcc. He has a patent on a tv antenna and builds them pretty cheap. He just bought a vacuum mold to make them a little fancier. He is picking up 60 channels next door to me, and our buddy waaaaayyyy down in a holler surrounded by trees is getting 30 or so where as he had 3 with a store bought i put on a 20' tower.
 
redneckjeep87 said:
My next door neighbor builds antennaes of all types hamm, tv, cb etc, also is licensed by fcc. He has a patent on a tv antenna and builds them pretty cheap. He just bought a vacuum mold to make them a little fancier. He is picking up 60 channels next door to me, and our buddy waaaaayyyy down in a holler surrounded by trees is getting 30 or so where as he had 3 with a store bought i put on a 20' tower.
Click to expand...
Let me know what he sells them for, I might could help him sell 3 or more!
 
redneckjeep87 said:
My next door neighbor builds antennaes of all types hamm, tv, cb etc, also is licensed by fcc. He has a patent on a tv antenna and builds them pretty cheap. He just bought a vacuum mold to make them a little fancier. He is picking up 60 channels next door to me, and our buddy waaaaayyyy down in a holler surrounded by trees is getting 30 or so where as he had 3 with a store bought i put on a 20' tower.
Click to expand...

Pm me about this
 
@doc @frankenyoter @rodney eppes. Sorry i havnt gotten back to yall sooner, been one hell of a week, started a huge hardscape install. I spoke with Jerry and he sells his antennae for $30 a piece. And install depends on far how many tvs etc. The more you buy/friends buy the cheaper it gets. His antenna is actually in his house and is getting 69 channels, i was mistaken when i said it was less. If interested pm me and i can get you his name and number.
 
Bumping this back up. I bought the 35 mile antenna from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/AmazonBasics-...r=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Winegard+Company+FL-55YR) but I have a lot of audio drop outs on some of the channels and I am only 19 miles away from the signal (living in N. Raleigh), so I am sending it back. Debating on getting the 50 mile amplified version of the same thing, or just getting the RCA one that @shawn mentioned. I really only care about 1 TV right now having the antenna and if I put it outside it would probably be about a 50' cable run, and I wouldn't want to have to spend the money on an amp for it ideally.
 
I had issues for a little while with macroblocking and dropped audio. Turned the amp down to about half power and that fixed it.

Actually, this thread is a little bit old. I added one of these back in the summer:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002472KA/

It's inline after the splitter/combiner in the attic, so it's boosting the signals on both antennas.
 
I got dish network Once u get out of the contract, service can be had for a decent price i pay around 40 to 50 depending on if we order any movies and I have the top 250 channel package
 
shawn said:
I had issues for a little while with macroblocking and dropped audio. Turned the amp down to about half power and that fixed it.

Actually, this thread is a little bit old. I added one of these back in the summer:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0002472KA/

It's inline after the splitter/combiner in the attic, so it's boosting the signals on both antennas.
Click to expand...

So do you need a booster for sure if you are going to run 50 feet of cable? Maybe I will just do that then.
 
I needed it to receive WUNC reliably. I'd get it dialed in, then a couple of days (or weeks) later it would get dodgy. Tweaking the antenna fixed it for a while. I started out with the amp only on the WUNC leg, but moved it over to amplify both antennas when the networks started having issues with macroblocking. The signal went to crap a couple weeks ago, and I thought I might have a bad wire. But it turned out to be overmodulation from the amp. Turning the amp down fixed it.

I tried to avoid buying an amp for a while, because I'm a cheap ass. But now that I have it, I like the adjustability that it gives. Figure that the signal is affected by solar radiation (which varies), so that factors in as well. Maybe I tuned the antenna at night, but the kids couldn't watch PBS during the day. Who knows.

Also, keep in mind that the signal needs line of sight. The higher you can get the antenna, the fewer obstructions that are in its path, the better the signal will be.
 
redneckcj5guy said:
:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Can't live without Wild Kratts or This Old House.

At your age, you'd probably love the shit out of some Masterpiece Theatre or Nova. Get you some ambiguously gay Rick Steves or Downton Abbey.

:flipoff2:
 
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