Outside TV Antenna

[HDRider]

I am in a bad place for over the air TV.

I don't want cable any more. Haven't had it for six months and like not having it.

I would like a couple of station though.

Does anyone live 50 to 100 miles from a broadcast and do you get over air TV?

Any hints, do or don'ts for the set up to get over the air TV?

 

[M-5]

My parents still get over the air TV. They have a digital antenna and it gets 10 or 12 channels closest station is over 50 miles and others are less than a 100. They ordered it off the interweb

 

[lavacarancher]

There are several good antennae out on the market but the one that comes to mind is Weingarten (sp). You can get them that promise reception out to 130 miles or so but (big but) the more gain they have the more directional they become. And digital TV is even worse. So what this means is that you buy an antenna with 10 or more elements for gain and then you will need to buy a rotator so you can get the direction right. You may even need to buy a tower (mast) to mount the antenna and rotor on. Now the only thing you have to worry about is lightening. ;-) Good luck.

 

[hurleyjd]

I am in a bad place for over the air TV.

I don't want cable any more. Haven't had it for six months and like not having it.

I would like a couple of station though.

Does anyone live 50 to 100 miles from a broadcast and do you get over air TV?

Any hints, do or don'ts for the set up to get over the air TV?

I have an antenna on a tower, with rotator and a signal booster. We get the three major networks out of Dallas/Fort Worth and we are hundred miles plus from there. Search the web and you will find a post that allows you to put your location in and it will recommend what antenna you need.

 

[hurleyjd]

I am in a bad place for over the air TV.

I don't want cable any more. Haven't had it for six months and like not having it.

I would like a couple of station though.

Does anyone live 50 to 100 miles from a broadcast and do you get over air TV?

Any hints, do or don'ts for the set up to get over the air TV?

I have an antenna on a tower, with rotator and a signal booster. We get the three major networks out of Dallas/Fort Worth and we are hundred miles plus from there. Search the web and you will find a post that allows you to put your location in and it will recommend what antenna you need.

http://antennadeals.com/HD2605Reviews.html

 

[Kell-inKY]

I had the same setup as hurley, it worked awesome where we used to live, ditched cable and had a much better picture with digital TV, lots of channels and have netflix for movies. Incredible picture, and all the stations broadcast on 3 channels now so you get a lot of extra stuff.

When we moved out in the booneys I put an antenna on the roof but reception was horrible with all the tall trees, had to ditch it go with rabbit ears to get under the trees if that makes sense. At some point I will put it on a very tall tower and get my stations back, but that is a project for another day.

Long story short, just try some rabbit ears out to see if you can get a few local stations for now. I still run the booster even on the rabbit ears. Have to run a cell phone booster as well out here or we couldn't talk while in the house (and certain parts of the property)

 

[jltrent]

I have two 100 mile antennas pointed in different directions with an in line booster. Also make sure you get the solid core RG-8 center copper wire as it works better IMO than the cheap platted, but is more expensive. As a crow flies I live between 50 and 100 miles from all stations. I get around 25 channels with this setup and a few of them are good. We probably watch the antenna channels more than the Directv, but there are a couple on Directv my wife likes so I leave it up to her if she wants to continue the Directv as I don't watch it much.

I have a couple antennas bout like this, but the price has went up on these since I bought mine a few years ago. I think I gave $59 for the booster and a 100' of the solid core copper wire is not cheap.

Antenna
http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-MILE-OUTDOO ... SwQTVV-lxd

 

[lavacarancher]

I forgot one thing, HD. Make sure your TV is the type set up for receiving digital signals. If your set is more than 5 or 6 YO and you've been on cable all this time your set may be too old to receive digital.

Mr. Trent is correct about using quality cable however it is not RG8. RG8 is 52 ohm cable and almost all TV paraphernalia is set up for 75 ohm impedance. I would use a good quality RG6 cable and minimize the use of connectors where ever possible. Every connector will give you a 6db loss (2:1) so it won't take many of them to negate the gain you have in the antenna or booster.

 

[HDRider]

Thanks all... Very helpful..

Mr. Trent,
Do you need anything special to tie two different antennas together? I am pursuing that same idea.

I am very reluctant to consider a rotater as it seems the most likely to fail, moving parts and all. I really want to set it and forget it.

 

[lavacarancher]

I'm not Mr. Trent and you didn't ask me but here is a link to combiners/splitters from Amazon.
http://www.amazon.com/s/?ie=UTF8&keywor ... s5s9o570_b

If I could post pictures I would draw you a schematic and attach it.

 

[dun]

A real tall mast and a rotor was what we had to sue in the cnetral valley. Picked up sanfranciso stations

 

[slick4591]

This a map that shows how far you are away from the broadcast towers.

AntennaPoint.com

 

[jltrent]

This a map that shows how far you are away from the broadcast towers.

AntennaPoint.com

That is neat. I am saving that site to my favorites. Thanks.

My mistake earlier as it is RG6 instead of RG8 as my memory in old age is not what it use to be.

I bought a HDTV antenna with the remote turner that suppose to pickup long distance from Ebay and it was junk and wouldn't pickup hardly anything. I threw it away.
Like this.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/HDTV-1080p-Outd ... SwB4NWuNz5

Here is a picture of my two antenna as they pickup channels in both directions and I get around 25 channels. I didn't need a spliter box as I brought one wire down and joined on to the other antenna as they both pickup in their directions.