Cord cutters, what OTA antenna are you using for TV?

[KFC911]

^^^^ either boost the signal (inline amp) or point the antenna towards your most difficult tower (I just have one that's iffy), and see if that gets 'em all clearly.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by KC911

^^^^ either boost the signal (inline amp) or point the antenna towards your most difficult tower (I just have one that's iffy), and see if that gets 'em all clearly.

I'm considering going back up and turning the antenna towards the Ft Wayne towers to see if I can still clearly pull the Lima stations and get better reception of the Ft Wayne stations.

[mattdavis11]

I have a $30 Walmart antennae, it's a telescopic pole mounted on the back of our house, and also has a remote for rotation. I live 40 miles from San Antonio, 55 miles from Austin, and get both cities most of the time. I normally leave it pointed in one direction, but if the signal gets weak, I just turn it with the remote.

This one.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/HDTV-Outdoor-Antenna-w-Rotor-Remote/829298344?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=3608&adid=22222222227069055758&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=175392334697&wl4=pla-281160228233&wl5=9028036&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=113728396&wl11=online&wl12=829298344&veh=sem&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIsrad-Yn05gIVmPhkCh2N0AxzEAQYASABEgKNM_D_BwE

[Tim Hancock]

Cab,

I do not know what brand our probably 30+ year old antenna is, but it is on a pole and is about 10' higher than our split level house upper level roof. It is probably about 6-7' long and is fixed. It points basically towards the east side of Toledo and we get all Toledo, Bowling Green, Lima and even sometimes Fort Wayne channels. (8, 11, 13, 17, 24, 27, 30, 35, 36, 40 and 44). I am near intersection of st routes 65 and 281. Northeast of you.

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by Tim Hancock

Cab,

I do not know what brand our probably 30+ year old antenna is, but it is on a pole and is about 10' higher than our split level house upper level roof. It is probably about 6-7' long and is fixed. It points basically towards the east side of Toledo and we get all Toledo, Bowling Green, Lima and even sometimes Fort Wayne channels. (8, 11, 13, 17, 24, 27, 30, 35, 36, 40 and 44). I am near intersection of st routes 65 and 281. Northeast of you.

We'll have to get together for a beer sometime! You're not far at all from me. With my antenna facing Southeast I'm able to pull the BG channels. They must have a really strong signal.

[RANDY P]

I have a rather large outdoor antenna situated in my crawlspace and it works killer.

rjp

[mattdavis11]

I checked the aforementioned site on my range, it's 53 miles to the towers in Austin from my home. Not quite the 150 miles they advertise, but it's good enough for me. Now it would be really cool if I could get Houston stations 160 miles away.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by cabmando

We'll have to get together for a beer sometime! You're not far at all from me. With my antenna facing Southeast I'm able to pull the BG channels. They must have a really strong signal.

Yep.... you are welcome to stop by any time for a good shop bull**** session and a drink or three.

[nota]

have to use a tall mast with an older style ant and a power booster amp
as we are 40-50 miles from the transmitter

a descent old style ant works fine if in range
there are maps on line to get directions to the transmitter

[mattdavis11]

How well do the inline boosters work? 1 TV is fine, short travel coax, the other pixelates sometimes, longer coax.

I might need a better setup, but I'm not going to relocate the antennae for now. Any advise?

[cabmandone]

Originally Posted by mattdavis11

How well do the inline boosters work? 1 TV is fine, short travel coax, the other pixelates sometimes, longer coax.

I might need a better setup, but I'm not going to relocate the antennae for now. Any advise?

Wondering the same. From what I've read, if you have a weak signal it will improve reception. If you're not getting signal it won't do anything for you. I bought an amplifier and will be installing once the rain stops. Also, if you coax run is long I've read they really help. Seems like the preferred location is at the antenna or as close to it as you can get.

[KFC911]

Over the years, I've found an amp matters more than antenna placement or direction for ME. There is no "one size fits all".... and only one way to find out for your specific setup and location imo.

Try the amp...

[Tim Hancock]

I have about 3 or 4 amplifiers hooked before and after the various splitters running to various tvs in my house and shop that I have hooked to my one antenna. They definitely help.

[Sooner or later]

Amops are a benefit if you have a long coax run or splitters.

[cabmandone]

My Samsung has apps for Sling, Hulu, Netflix, Prime etc... so I don't use anything for it. For my older TV's I have a fire stick for each one.

[mattdavis11]

In our living room, we use our phones or tablet with the Vizio smart cast app. That was a display only, but Vizio decided to upgrade it to a smart tv one fine day. It has no tuner, so I also have an RCA digital receiver/converter for OTA channels.

Our bedroom is not a smart tv, but is digital, so I bought an EZ Mira dongle which plugs into the HDMI on the tv, and use the tablet or phone to mirror what is on our tablet/phone and project it to the tv.

Our son uses his XBox to watch whatever with his phone.

I have Amazon Prime. She pays for Netflix, which covers all us in Texas, Illinois and Florida.

[RKDinOKC]

Have OTA but never use it, just too many commercials that last too long. Puts me to sleep and miss whatever show I am watching.
Hate news shows telling what is going to be on the news later and then having a commercial for the news show.

If OTA had worked out, would have gotten a devise that shares OTA over several networked devices.

If i want news or weather i check the internet.

[KFC911]

If I want weather...I go outside...it's always been 100% accurate too