topic Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna in Electronics

I bought an indoor TV antenna

gardenman — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:13:13 GMT

I'll probably be moving to an apartment at some point this coming year and leaving behind my old rooftop antenna, so I've been looking at the indoor antenna options and reading the reviews. One I kept coming back to was the U Must Have TV antenna. It got absurdly good reviews, but were they real? I ordered it to try it out. It came today.

I have a Fire TV Recast that my old outdoor rooftop antenna plugs into that distributes the signal to all my other Fire TVs. Since reception can vary through the day, I did a channel scan on the Fire TV Recast before unplugging the old antenna. I got 92 channels. (About 70+ are watchable, the others are more fringe and tend to break up.) So, I unplugged the old antenna, plopped the new little guy in a window leaning against the glass, and plugged it in. I wasn't expecting much. I did a rescan of the channels and it came back with the same 92 channels.

What? How? I've got about $400 of mast, antenna, quad shielded coax, distribution amp, and more, and this dinky little $30 antenna matched it? Yep. You wouldn't know I'd changed anything. The same channels all came in and played the same. The fringe ones that break up still broke up. The ones that are reliable were still reliable. And I did nothing to optimize the signal. I didn't move it from window to window to find the best signal. I just plopped it down in the nearest one. It surprised the heck out of me how well it works. I really thought I'd be lucky to get half of what I get on the big antenna.

If you're thinking of cutting the cord, those cheap little antennas might just be a good investment.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

Kachina624 — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:29:40 GMT

I use the smallest size Mohu antenna which I got (2) from Amazon for $12. each. It looks like a 1/4 sheet of poster board attached to a wire.

I do have the ideal situation for using this antenna; I live in a major urban area. The local transmitters are 14 miles away atop a 10,300ft mountain with nothing between to impede the signal. I can see those towers with binoculars.

I get the network channels and PBS in HD. QVC is pretty good too.

@gardenman Its going to kill you living in an apartment where gardening is limited to a few pots. You seem to really enjoy puttering outside.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

DesertGems — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:30:57 GMT

Hi!

Good for you!

Way back when...they went from analog to digital...I refused to be pushed into cable..

So, I went with the boxes the govt was doing to connect to old TV s..and got quite a few channels.

Now with the new TV..just plug antenna intoand get 50+ channels.

O.K. with me! Don't need "765"channels that are 3/4 of what I wouldn't watch anyway.

More people should"get wise" a nd get rid of expensive cable!

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

kitcat51 — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 20:45:58 GMT

I only have OTA & a $9.99 indoor antenna from Radio Shack. I live in the country about 50 miles from the broadcasting cities but it works great on top of an entertainment center, there's no window nearby & it's laying flat cause I don't want it to spoil my primitive decor, lol. I thought about getting an indoor Antop with 75-100 mile coverage but I don't know how I'd hide it & what the heck I'm happy with my RS risky dink. Enjoy your new find, Thanks for sharing @gardenman.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

hckynutjohn — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 23:45:21 GMT

@DesertGems wrote:
Hi!
Good for you!
Way back when...they went from analog to digital...I refused to be pushed into cable..
So, I went with the boxes the govt was doing to connect to old TV s..and got quite a few channels.
Now with the new TV..just plug antenna intoand get 50+ channels.
O.K. with me! Don't need "765"channels that are 3/4 of what I wouldn't watch anyway.

"More people should"get wise" a nd get rid of expensive cable!"

@DesertGems

I consider myself as "being wise", and also frugal. We have no access to cable so have used satellite dish for our 22 years in our home.

Understanding electronics has been one of my top interests since the mid 1950's, starting with simulating AM Mono radio into Stereo radio, which was not yet available to most.

Installed an indoor antenna the 1st time our satellite company had a contract dispute with 1 of the 4 major networks. Couldn't get satellite locals, thus the antenna.

We don't get the "765" channels you mention, but we do get way more than we ever watch. Me "being wise", and frugal, picked the best package for our viewing.

No OTA antenna is going to pick up my hockey games, nor any of the other channels we DVR on almost a daily basis. TV is our major source of entertainment(others probably have their own).

So spending the $$$ we choose for our entertainment may seem "not wise" to you, but!!! Fortunately in our country we still have choice, for most things. You choosing only OTA tv programs does not put you into a "wise" category, nor the rest of us into a "not wise" category.

hckynut 🏒 🇺🇸

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

mspatmac — Mon, 14 Feb 2022 23:43:35 GMT

Thanks @hckynutjohn I agree. I too have satellite with no intention of giving it up for the reasons you mention. We all make our own choices for entertainment and there is no one size fits all.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

bmorechick — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 01:33:56 GMT

I have posted before that we cut the cable cord about 2 years ago. We live in what I call a semi rural area and we bought a few of the $25 antennas at Best Buy. Because of where we live, the channel selection is small, but I get the 21 closest and just wanted to make sure we got NBC, CBS, ABC and PBS which we do. They come in nice and clear.

We subscribed to Netflix, Hulu and Sling and I have more TV selection than ever. When we replaced tvs we got Roku tvs and once we learned how to navigate, it's really great. Our cable bill was up to 210$ a month and that was just basic.

Of course, we kept internet service, so my total bill with everything is about 80 bucks a month and we got more tv than we need.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

hckynutjohn — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 08:45:27 GMT

@bmorechick

Glad it all worked out for you when you "cut the cord". None of the "streaming" devices will get me access to watching my life long sport and a major part of my whole life, which is hockey! For me to remove that to save a few $$$ or more?

hckynut 🏒 🇺🇸

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

deeva — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 15:22:44 GMT

We've had three ota antennas for the past four years. We love them, lots of channels for free.
I wasn't sure if they would work because we're surrounded by mountains, but the do.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

gardenman — Tue, 15 Feb 2022 16:10:45 GMT

@deeva wrote:
We've had three ota antennas for the past four years. We love them, lots of channels for free.
I wasn't sure if they would work because we're surrounded by mountains, but the do.

I figured I'd get something, but I wasn't expecting it to match my outdoor antenna channel for channel. I almost couldn't believe it. I'm impressed though. The neat thing with the Fire TV Recast is it'll transmit the signals over Wi-Fi to any TV with a Fire Stick on it so I only need one antenna and can use it for every TV. I just connect the antenna to the Recast and the Fire Sticks do the rest. That simplifies things a lot.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

geegerbee — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 03:13:13 GMT

I would like to cut the cord, but then I would get socked with a huge internet charge. Currently it is 79 dollars as part of Spectrum bundle. What do you do for internet? And I use the DVR all the time. You cant do that with an antenna right?

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

hckynutjohn — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 06:29:51 GMT

@geegerbee

You can get internet access by itself. If you have access to cable, don't they offer an internet only option? Same if you have access to DSL, which we have via our phone company.

Like many other things, each part of the packaged are cheaper, per part, in a package than if wanting only 1 of the offers available.

I haven't looked at time shifting devices for a long time. Going from a VHS to SVHS recorder was all done by me with only OTA antenna accesses. When cable or satellite became available to me, I used their programming to record, or time shift programs.

But those recording devices did still have the capability to record Over-the-Air programs, via an antenna hookup. At times I used A/B switches and splitters to be able to do this, but it worked just fine. But it was much more complex than just tapping a remote to change your TV HDMI Input.

Since I haven't needed to buy a recording device for years, I really haven't looked into what might be available for OTA recording device availability. You might do a "call out to @gardenman, he keeps up with these things more than I do.

hckynut 🏒 🇺🇸

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

gadgetgal613 — Wed, 16 Feb 2022 19:44:00 GMT

I bought an indoor antenna for the new bedroom addition and was surprised how many channels I get. I also have the TV connected to an Apple TV which gets channels the smart TV doesn't. As long as you don't want to watch certain sports, cutting the cable is doable.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

Spurt — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 17:50:00 GMT

@hckynutjohn wrote:
@bmorechick

Glad it all worked out for you when you "cut the cord". None of the "streaming" devices will get me access to watching my life long sport and a major part of my whole life, which is hockey! For me to remove that to save a few $$$ or more?

hckynut 🏒 🇺🇸

@hckynutjohn

EXCELLENT points! I totally agree we sports fans (no matter what the sport) are sometimes limited in options due to contracts between sports leagues and providers...... My sis has You Tube TV and she cant watch our local NBA team since You Tube couldnt reach an agreement with Ballysports....

Im sticking with cable to get my sports channels and a couple other channels that streamers put on their most expensive packages....and antennas in my area dont help much either only 6 strong channels the rest are weak signals....ONE SIZE DOESNT FIT ALL and thats what other viewers need to understand especially us sports fans we are basically at the mercy of sports leagues and contracts they make with providers....😣

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

hckynutjohn — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 20:37:31 GMT

@Spurt

For me with Dish Network, my only big complaint was when they dropped the MSG Network, years ago. Since my NHL team is the NY Rangers, I miss getting the additional hockey programming. And 9 games out of 10, the announcers are the opponents programming. Some bias, but mainly, a few seem like they don't even know the Ranger players names.

I pay for the Sports Package, which picks up our Nebraska Big Ten football games, and things like Fox Sports, that show a lot of the Nascar programming. I don't know if NBC dropped their NBC Sports Network, or Dish Network, no longer has a contract with them.

I have subscribed to the NHL Center Ice Package since it's inception, over 25 years ago. Like everything, it's price has gone up a lot. But considering I can DVR and watch around 80 of their 82 games(Colorado is blocked for some reason, and we are in Nebraska)!

That figures out to about $1.75 per NY Ranger NHL, games/times 2, as my wife also watches them, which theoretically cuts the price in half. And, I can also watch or DVR as many games as I choose at the same time. The Dish Hopper can record up to 16 shows at the same time, while you watch #17. Love it!

hckynut 🇺🇸

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

sunshine45 — Fri, 18 Feb 2022 21:20:46 GMT

tested out an indoor antenna once. we live in a "valley" and the channels we could get clearly were very limited. the reception was just okay to poor at best.

we have absolutely no plans to give up our xfinity......overall very reliable, TONS of options for old shows, new shows, sports, music, reality tv, several pbs channels,a bunch of movie channels, some of the + channels, holiday specials, and more. we have a lot of boxes and 2 DVRs. we also have our high speed internet through them AND 2 landline phones. this is a nice chunk our entertainment budget and we rarely go to the movies (even before covid.) if cutting the cord works for you then that is great, but it is not a good option for us.

for those who have cut the cord and are looking for free apps or websites to watch shows, check out the USTVGO website, crackle, ustvnow, pluto, xumo, and more.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

Spurt — Sat, 19 Feb 2022 00:46:30 GMT

@hckynutjohn

Yep, it was an NBC decision (Mike Florio with the
NBC Profootball Talk Show talked about it, how NBC dropped the NBC Sports Network, but some of the programming moved to the USA Network-owned by NBC)....which I thought was odd.

The NBA moved form Regional Fox Sports to Bally Sports (I gues Bally's Corporation, the casino enterprise, wanted to encourage their gambling business....LOL) but Im so happy they kept our local announcers. Its considered a regular cable channel with the "Preferred Level Package" with our Cable and no extra charge for the Spur's games which is worth it on its own 82 regular season games.....

I also subscribe to the Ultra Sports Tier get NFL Network, Red Zone, NBA TV, I get 3 regional College Football Channels, the Outdoor Channel, CBS Sports, Big Ten Network, SEC Channel, NASCAR and other channels I never watch....

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

Mz iMac — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 16:50:41 GMT

@Spurt My sis has You Tube TV and she cant watch our local NBA team since You Tube couldnt reach an agreement with Ballysports....

Your sister should have the channel which is included in all their packages. I have the Basic package. I can't find my team on my local or ESPN channels, the game is on the NBA TV channel.

I wonder if different regions get different channels? I am in the N/E.

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

hckynutjohn — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 17:12:53 GMT

@Mz iMac

Don't know about basketball, just hockey. With Dish Network I have the Sports Package, and also The Center Ice Package. With the CIP I can watch any of the hockey games being played, except!! For some unknown reason, all the games played in the Colorado Avalanche Home Rink, are blacked out.

Since we live in Nebraska, I just don't get the why of this. That team is my least liked NHL team anyway, so the only time it effects me, is when they play my NY Rangers. Can't pick that game up anywhere.

hckynut 🇺🇸 🇺🇦

Re: I bought an indoor TV antenna

Spurt — Sun, 06 Mar 2022 17:33:26 GMT

@Mz iMac wrote:
@Spurt My sis has You Tube TV and she cant watch our local NBA team since You Tube couldnt reach an agreement with Ballysports....

Your sister should have the channel which is included in all their packages. I have the Basic package. I can't find my team on my local or ESPN channels, the game is on the NBA TV channel.

I wonder if different regions get different channels? I am in the N/E.

@Mz iMac
Good idea, she said she checked into that but regional teams were not accessible even thru NBA TV, local markets restricted.....