Electronics

[gardenman]

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.

[Kachina624]

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.

[DesertGems]

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!

[kitcat51]

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.

[hckynutjohn]

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@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 🏒 🇺🇸

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[mspatmac]

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.  

[bmorechick]

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.

[hckynutjohn]

@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 🏒 🇺🇸

[deeva]

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. 

[gardenman]

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@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. 

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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.