indoor tv antenna


 
JimZ

JimZ

TVWBB Super Fan
So I'm a streaming guy and not too much into normal stick and ball sports (what I do watch I subscribe to Peacock for). I hosted Thanksgiving and received a lot of grief for not having any football available on the tube. I was strongly advised to spend a few bucks and get a TV antenna. Anyone have any recommendations?
 
I was looking at standalone DVRs and landed on the Tablo website. There is a brief discussion about antenna types here

https://support.tablotv.com/hc/en-us/articles/14867208312340-What-Kind-of-TV-Antenna-Do-I-Need-

but more importantly, where are the towers in your area, and what kind of antenna is required for decent reception?

www.tablotv.com

TV Antennas & Over-the-Air Reception - Tablo TV

Start with the right antenna. Pair Tablo with the right antenna for your needs to take your free TV experience to the next level. Free TV begins with an antenna. The purpose of a TV antenna is to capture free TV signals broadcast in your area. This includes live access to dozens of channels like […]
www.tablotv.com www.tablotv.com

It looks like you will need an attic or outdoor anenna. Good luck! 👍
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JimZ said:
So I'm a streaming guy and not too much into normal stick and ball sports (what I do watch I subscribe to Peacock for). I hosted Thanksgiving and received a lot of grief for not having any football available on the tube. I was strongly advised to spend a few bucks and get a TV antenna. Anyone have any recommendations?
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Also, I'm not a sports fan either, but it's a lot of fun watching the people that are sports fans get all spun up, especially if it's a close game! I think an antenna will be a good investment and will liven up any get-together.
 
Ed P said:
Also, I'm not a sports fan either, but it's a lot of fun watching the people that are sports fans get all spun up, especially if it's a close game! I think an antenna will be a good investment and will liven up any get-together.
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Or...just pony up the $75/ month and get Fubo or YouTube TV and stream the live sports.
 
JimZ said:
So I'm a streaming guy and not too much into normal stick and ball sports (what I do watch I subscribe to Peacock for). I hosted Thanksgiving and received a lot of grief for not having any football available on the tube. I was strongly advised to spend a few bucks and get a TV antenna. Anyone have any recommendations?
Click to expand...
Streamer here also.
Check out the website tvfool.com for estimated stations in your area.(I used the location in your profile)
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I'm quite a bit more rural in northern Wisconsin and I was surprised at the number of stations I was able to grab with one of those cheap-o flat square antennas inside, thumbtacked to the wall.tv3.jpg

I use a Tablo and the AirTV for Sling.
 
I played with a few indoor antennas and had bad reception with them. I ended up getting an eight bay bowtie antenna (you can also make this yourself following plans on the internet). This is a directional antenna so you need to point it toward the best signals (or the stations you want if you have lots to choose from).

I greased the connections (to prevent corrosion) and strapped the antenna to my chimney with a yellow motorcycle strap (in the best of redneck fashion). It is below the tallest lightning rods so I hope (aside from maybe a side flash) it is "fairly safe" but it still worries me. According to the neighbor (who saw the strike) the lightning rod on the chimney was hit a few years back (and the antenna is only about a foot or so below the rod). The antenna was not up there at the time.
 
I installed this ChannelMaster 60 mile range antenna in 2015 when we dumped cable. It’s in the attic and we used a website that gave us the exact degrees which to point the antenna to get the most amount of stations available in our region. It’s been perfect since install. And without cable I think we were then saving $150 a month.

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It all depends on how far you are from the broadcast towers and if you have line of sight.

www.channelmaster.com

TV Antennas

Shop all TV antennas at the best prices direct from Channel Master: The best online selection of indoor and outdoor digital television antennas.
www.channelmaster.com www.channelmaster.com

This is the website that will give you your home’s data as to distance, availability of stations, and which direction in degrees you need to point your antenna. Use the compass in your iPhone or other phone, to know which direction is which degrees.

www.antennaweb.org

Antenna Signal Prediction

Which broadcast channels can you receive for free? It's time you cut the cord!
www.antennaweb.org www.antennaweb.org

I used zip ties to affix my antenna. Worked great since then and no issues or lost signals.

As for DVR, if you want to record OTA (over the air) hdtv programs, there’s a few worth looking at. But I don’t think you’re asking for that.

The hdtv antenna when installed will be enough to watch OTA signals. Personally, we have a DVR so we can go back and watch replays. Plus a lot more features too.
 
Jim, I see you listed as Barrington IL. You, are in a sort of fringe area for everything. Though some of the more powerful Chicago stations you MIGHT be able to get, and perhaps one or two of the more powerful Rockford stations (though we don't have a half mile high place to put broadcast towers has as Chicago does). Might even be able to squeak out a Milwaukee station but certainly nothing from Madison WI and certainly not all the channels available OTA with best quality. So either forgo the indoor and go with a good rooftop with rotator or save the $$$ and headache and get FUBO. When I moved here, there was little to nothing available to cable for choices. So, 32 years ago I installed a very large rotator equipped antenna on my roof. It's still there and works well. I can get broadcast from Rockford (obvviously LOL), Madison WI (which in some cases I receive better), occasional Chicago on the lower bands, and some Milwaukee.
That is fed into a TABLO which is in my basement with my network equipment. TABLO feeds my network which then "streams" everything to every TV in the house over my WIFI and LAN. Works great. But, also beware football is going the way of baseball and availability OTA is going away rapidly.
 
If your serious what Brett did is the way to go. But as he said and others depends how close to the towers you are. At my location I was just a few miles to far out as I did try it a few years ago and it did not work for me anyway.
 
I have Fubo also but none of these services if you want sports is cheap anymore. When I started with them it was 65/month now its 89/month. All of them you have to weigh the channel lineups, none of them have everything. Fubo does not have any of the Time Warner channels but they do have the real Hallmark Channels they are the only ones who have that besides Comcast. My wife loves those Hallmark Channels so that factored in along with the sports to go with Fubo.

But as Larry alluded to if you want to watch Thursday Night Football for example you need Amazon Prime which I have so no big deal.

I own 2 Apple 4k Tv's so at least no ongoing equipment charges. When ATT had their streaming service which was great but short lived they gave you a 4k Apple Tv if you stayed subscribed for 90 days, the second one I bought off of Ebay from a guy who sold is second home it was used very little think I paid 100 bucks for it.
 
As Brian has, we have centered around Apple TV as our streaming interface after getting rid of chrome sticks. Apple TV, imo, has the best user interface for managing any streaming solutions you have. We have Amazon Prime, Netflix and maybe peacock. I don’t really recall as NFL is about the only thing I watch on TV and maybe one or two other shows. But streaming through Apple TV is super easy.

We just didn’t want to have all these recurring monthly bills. So Amazon come with prime subscription and Netflix comes with T-Mobile cell phones. I don’t think we have any other recurring entertainment bills.

We’ll be upgrading our DVR soon to most likely Silicon Dust Home Run. With 4k OTA signals finally coming out, we want to enjoy 4k content.

I’d probably start cheap with some Amazon antenna you can easily return it if fails your needs. Then look into real infrastructure to solve your needs if the cheapo experiment fails.

Clearly there’s plenty of people here to have experience solving the problem. I’m betting you can deploy what you need easily with some help here. It’s not that really complex once you understand your choices. It’s the massive choices array that will drive you crazy.
 
I don't have a lot of knowledge of Apple products (wanting nothing to do with their architecture). Same goes for Google architecture (in re to entertainment devices) so we have ROKU devices because they're as easy to use as falling off a rock and WAY more versatile than anything else I have tried. They're fast and so simple even my so tech challenged 96+ yo dad was able to operate is able to operate them. And he can barely dial a phone and even with photo icons to show him he cannot operate a mobile phone to even the most simple task of seeing a photo icon on the screen and touching it. So if HE can operate a ROKU interface it is simple :D
 
Despite all the bad-mouthing here and the low reviews at Amazon, I have this one currently sitting almost invisibly on my window sill 4 feet off the ground and I get every station within 50 miles including those with the better 4K transmission provided over the air.


This is actually my second indoor antenna of this type being used on two separate tvs (price is reasonable). I'm a retired communication engineer and understand not only the technology but also the practical concerns about using an indoor antenna (or any OTA antenna).

Typically, of first concern is elevation or height in the air -- the higher the better. Both of my antennas perform well and get the same stations despite one being 4 feet up and the other about 16 feet up. In my previous home, I had the first indoor one about 30 feet up and it performed inside (mounted near my 3rd floor ceiling) as well as the 8-bay HD antenna that was mounted outside at about 50 feet.

Second, almost all tv antennas today actually perform better if pointed at the main source of transmission. I can get Raleigh to the east, but not Greensboro to the west (unless I turn the antenna). Keep in mind that broadcast power from the station is a key factor of reception.

Be aware of what is around you. My former home was in an old forest with 80-90 foot trees on all sides. Those trees caused a lot of issues to my all important east side. A motorized rotor to turn the antenna will help, but most people don't bother since digital broadcasts became the norm. In my current home, I tried the antenna at 16 feet up in my living room, but that turned out be be behind the metal flashing around my chimney which almost completely blocked and interfered with the signal.

With only NC PBS antennas a few miles to the west and most others in an antenna farm in Raleigh, I get 63 channels (many redundancies like ION from smaller local stations).

From my perspective, try one -- at $25 or less it's not big loss and it's light enough to try manipulating first for best reception before mounting. Note that similar antennas are sold with only a 6-8 foot cable. A long cable length can be very helpful with no extra cost.
 
In fairness, I tried one of those antennas at our beach house which is about 100 miles SE of Philly. I got 7 channels...I think 2 were Spanish.
So it's Fubo TV down there.
 
Jay D in Jersey said:
In fairness, I tried one of those antennas at our beach house which is about 100 miles SE of Philly. I got 7 channels...I think 2 were Spanish.
So it's Fubo TV down there.
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No question that most indoor antennas are for "local" channels. 100 miles is a stretch for any antenna. With my 8-bay antenna properly coupled with a large, older "winged" (my term) 100-mile antenna plus amplifier AND a rotor, I could pull in stations from Charlotte 100-125 miles away to the SW. (Our home in the woods really was difficult. Pointing it at a huge oak which was directly in the transmission path was worse than the same roof antenna pointed 20 degrees more north.) Also keep in mind that generally reception will be better if your transmission stations are "uphill" from you. Hard to go uphill from the beach :). (In reality, all your stations are "level" from your location.) Our 500 ft elevation did better when the antenna was focused at transmissions that were at 600+ feet than those that were 250 ft.

It's really amazing the complications the arise with OTA. Cities with their high buildings present all sorts of trouble.
 
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Rich, my brother in law lives in Apex. He has an antenna in the attic and gets all the local stations without a problem he has had that setup for years.
 
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