I just replaced the antenna on my roof yesterday. Reception is great. Cancelled cable years ago. Saved tons of cash and I don't have to listen to their lying propaganda.
I only use RUclips. Broadcast TV and cable are both complete wastelands. Unfortunately TV has invaded RUclips to a large extent as well. Even so, it's still better than anything else.
I cut the cable nine years ago and I never looked back. I still get at least 35 channels and I only watch 1/3 of them at most. High def is still high def. The only drawback is that reception can be spotty at times. BUT at zero dollars a month, who cares ? Not like there's anything worth watching anymore anyway. Besides, there's always RUclips.
Agreeing with @brian pontiff I dropped cable and switched to an antennae about 5 years ago. I have one of those "flat" models, and I hung it on a push pin in several locations, until I found the best on. Now, it's on a wall in the living room, behind a mirror. If you don't look too carefully, you won't see the thin black cable hanging down. Oh, and I save $132 p/m.
So do I. I didnt fall for the gimmicks. I can pull stations from over 200 miles away on it while everyone else struggles to keep local stations on screen..
Funny that this video just showed up. My cable bill just went up again, and is now at $220 a month for TV and internet. Everything is increasing rapidly except wages.
I "beta" tested running a OTA system for over a year. Using a HP210z workstation (purchased online for under 300.00), I added a 4 tuner PC card and using Windows Media Center, I was recording over the air tv. I then forked over a few more bucks for a program called MCEBuddy that takes the WTV files (windows TV files) and it converts them to MP4 files and removes the commercials. I've made the PC available on my network but found it easier to off load the converted files to my 16tb WDMycloud box so all my roku's, and smart TV's can access them. I can also watch them on the road. I did install two 2tb "enterprise" drives in my PC since it's on 24/7, those drives will give me the longest life before failure.
Wow, CR is behind. I went back to an antenna 5 years ago. First one was hit by lightening last summer, so I replaced it with a new digital antenna that has 75 mile range, and work in all directions. Means I get 50+ stations in New Haven, NYC, and Hartford. Streaming is what I have been doing as well.
Does anyone remember when they first started putting in cable, & they said.. "There won't be any commercials, because the customer is already paying for the service.?" Ha Ha. .... That lasted about 2 weeks.
Yes, I have to admit tgis has gone to the point where its just plain crazy $180 a month for internet and cable tv. Far to expensive for the product you receive. Time to let it go
If you’re not in an urban area, use a directional antenna outside with an amplifier. For example, I’m about 50 miles from Orlando, Florida and I receive 62 channels over the air with this method.
I cut the cable 9 years ago. I live in a rural area so I need a outdoor antenna. I tried a outdoor clear stream antenna and took it back , didn't work as good as my old school aluminum one. My old antenna was good but was falling apart so I built a Gray- Hoverman antenna. Fun project and it works great. I'm hitting 90 miles with it.
This is old news. First of all cable did this to themselves by having 200 channels and nothing on. Second you couldn't chose which channels you got. And streaming let's you watch what you want when you want.
Cable just does not get it. They need to stabilize their prices and stop jacking them every six months. Its not like the programming gets any better. The cost is stupid for a bunch of channels with too many commmercials that you don't want in the first place. Aiming the antenna is most important. In the city of Dallas, Texas you can get 106 free channels with a good antenna aimed properly.
I got a great antenna from a Heartland America catalog many years ago. It was said to be an outdoor model but I just mounted it in the apex of my attic to keep the weather off it. Looks like something from Radio Shack of the 70s but has a wired remote to rotate it. We can pickup channels (about 30+) from 3 states. Was a steal at $35.
Installed an antenna in 2006. Had to get a digital converter box. 56 channels. 2016 added FireTV. No Limits, now. Antenna for local News, Weather and Sports. Streaming for entertainment. All free, no Prime, no subscriptions. Kind of fun to "Screw the Man", when possible.
I have an attendant similar to what you showed in the beginning at the house which really works well I don't see how people are spending like you said $55 to $300 a month! That's cost in between $550 + $3,000 a year and you don't have to be home 24/7 because you do get good stations originally with all TVs that have antennas but because they changed it you have to connect one of those antennas on it so you can get the good stations for free thank you for your support as always Consumer Reports 100% thumbs up
I get 134 Channels off of Mt Wilson, most in perfect HD, using the indoor antenna made by the old consumer division of AVID, the company that makes the equipment for editing films and TV.
Since the introduction of digital TV in the early 2000s, most broadcasters televised their digital signal on a different radio frequency (RF) channel than their analog signal. The FCC allowed use of "virtual channels", so Channel 5 would display as digital channel 5.1 even though it broadcasts using UHF channel 23. After the analog shutoff in 2009, some broadcasters moved their digital signals back to the VHF band. About one-fifth of US digital TV stations actually broadcast on VHF, usually the high-VHF channels 7 through 13. FYI, the Seattle area has 14 television transmitters (over 60 different program channels), 3 of those 14 broadcast on VHF channels (9, 11 and 13). The rest broadcast on UHF, even though the set displays a "virtual channel" like 4.1, 5.1 and 7.1.
They should have spent more time discussing roof- top antennas since they will significantly outperform indoor antennas, and should be your first choice.
Depends on your location. If you live in a rural area then yes an external antenna is required. But most live well withing 20 miles of broadcast towers so these indoor antennas work fine
Before the switch from anolog to digital signal to free up band width, weather had very little effect on the signal. The analog was more stable for sure. It amazes me that the media makes it appear that free over the air clannels are being brought back from the grave when in reality the majority of Americans never stopped using antennas.
Yaay! Consumer Reports has a channel! AFAIK, they always do costly, exacting, methodical work, and they don't take goodies (read "bribes") from any manufacturers. I can offer no higher compliment.
This is useful information. I use a antenna with a DVR box (TiVo), and a couple streaming services myself. At the moment. 😊 I seem to get a lot of programming/ channels off the antenna alone; in Indianapolis. I use a rabbit ears antenna with a amplifier in my apartment.
Streaming services were supposed to kill the cable model, instead we’re transitioning back to the cable model and now it’s upon us to subscribe to all these companies, as opposed to going to one place. 😩
I live in the Poconos and a friend of mine has a garage that is kinda a motorhead hangout. Someone gave him a brand new old school antenna and mast from the 1980's that they bought and never put up. He put it up beside the office and ran the wire in to a big flat screen on the wall. His picture is beautiful, I think it's better than most of the cable around here. The mast is only 30 - 40 feet high and his garage is in a low area between the mountains.
the best antenna is a big outdoor antenna like a channel master 3020. those tiny models like they showed get half the reception of the big ones. i have tried both
I switched to an outdoor antenna 4 years ago and added a TIVO DVR. I don't miss cable or the cable bills anymore. I also get 70+ channels over the air. Seems like they add more channels every month or so.
The problem with TV antennas is that the digital signal is easily interrupted. Analog broadcast TV might not have had high definition, and weak or distant channels may have had a grainy picture, but analog broadcasts were far more reliable than the digital broadcast we have now. With digital broadest TV, the picture frequently becomes pixilated and/or unsynchronized with the sound due to air traffic, heavy rain or show, any type of severe weather, or a small flock of birds; even too many trees between your antenna and the source can cause interruptions in the signal. All of this while using a signal amplifier! I have an outdoor digital antenna, an indoor/outdoor digital antenna, and a variety of indoor digital antennas. I get the best results using two of the flat square indoor antennas, with one mounted north and south, the other mounted east and west; and with both antennas connected to the same signal amplifier. Do Not use more than one signal amplifier, or you may damage your TV.
Back when stations were analog my family had good reception on almost all channels, now with digital we get 3 channels if the weather's nice, and there are no birds or airplanes around, and nobody sneezes. It would be lovely if we could just standardize back to NTSC analog transmissions, but unfortunately more people care about getting fancy HD than letting rural areas actually get any TV at all.
Be nice if you could pick a choose channels, but can't because , example ... Disney owns ABC, ESPN and a slew of other stations, you have to purchase their whole package.
I've had a channel master 3020 mounted on my roof for 10 years now . I've had people come in my home and comment on how good the HD quality is . They ask who my provider is . I say this is just a simple antenna . Free tv . It blows their minds everytime 😁
Would like to try one of the attic style units. None of the smaller ones have worked for me. So far the best luck i've had was with about ten feet of speaker wire split and curled up in either direct taped to the wall. It looks horrible though.
After Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged or destroyed much of the electric power grid in Puerto Rico, cable TV went with it. Even today, antennas are being sold here, as recovery of the electric grid and cable have not kept pace with one another.
I recently built my own "Gray-Hoverman" style outdoor directional TV antenna. I am in the Inland Empire of Southern California, and 69 miles away from the main cluster of TV towers. I am getting 100 channels - 50 of which are in English. The other 50 are Spanish and various Oriental languages. Just mount your antenna ABOVE nearby rooflines, and use a DIRECTIONAL antenna for best results.
Perfect. This is exactly what we did as a family. Cable prices went up so we got an HD antenna for local stations and streaming for the rest and never looked back. One of our antennas I put in the attic and it works great. I am thinking about getting one powerful HD antenna to put in the attic to replace the main cable line to all my rooms so I can just plug in TVs to the antenna via the existing coaxial cable from the old cable service. I love the freedom of getting free HD over the air but for some reason most of my channels are in Spanish and I live here in the US. What is going on with that?
There are several failures in this presentation (I give Consumer Reports an “F” grade and I’ve been a subscriber since the 1950s when I got my first experience with antennas for FM radio and television). (1) There is no such thing as a “digital antenna“. (2) The antenna “rabbit ears” rods for stations transmitting on RF VHF channels (not the virtual channels that are indicated on the TV and in guides) should be oriented horizontally 90° toward the TV station’s transmitter and they should be short for RF VHF high band (7 - 13) and long for RF VHF low band (2 - 6). (3) Because digital television is mostly an all-or-nothing picture reception, you don’t look at the picture when locating, orientating, and “aiming” the antenna, you look at the TV’s (or the recorder’s) signal indicator (the best ones have signal strength plus, even more importantly if you’re fortunate to have one, the signal quality indicator). You try to find the optimum antenna position for all the stations you want. Try for the big 6 national networks: ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS. (4) The number of stations is more significant than the number of channels because each station can have as many as 5 or more channels. (5) There are significant differences in tuner performance and when Consumer Reports tested indoor antennas they made the mistake of not doing the tests on the same make and model television. This is a shocking failure in methodology. I an a TV antenna consultant and I have free information on eBay. Search “Winegard Antennas For HDTV” using quotes or: rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223362022968 And more information here: rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223402678159 The best website to know what TV stations/channels are possible at your exact address is the FCC’s DTV Antenna Reception Map. Stay away from the others that are badly designed and have advertising and too much confusing information: www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
Very useful video (although the music made it difficult to process what people were saying). I didn't know that re-scanning, periodically, was important. But why no mention of the fractal technology in the new antennae?
Since CR is in an urban (Yonkers, NY) area, testing NEEDS to be done in a RURAL SETTING, so those of us who live rurally, like I do in upstate New York, and live in apartments or houses we rent, which is the best OTA antenna for us.
I bought a good antenna from Radio Shack over twenty years ago to replace a damaged one. The old one is still in my garage feeding the tv out there. I get about 60 channels from my roof mounted model.
A free idea for someone: If you make two amplified TV antennas and place them at some distance to each other and combine the outputs, you should be able to make an extremely directional antenna. You can fine tune the direction with a "trombone" just before the combiner. You just run two cables the same length to near the TV and use one of those low cost splitters as the combiner.
Not really "extreme". The most you get is 3 dB more directivity. The logical conclusion to this is to just buy a Yagi, which are effectively 6-12 antennas combined.
I've got an antenna for my 58 Philco Predicta. I have to connect it to an HD converter box that I got when the government was handing out vouchers when they were planning on stopping analog TV broadcasts.
Depends where you live I guess. I am able to get 45 channels from my indoor flat wall mounted antenna. Living in an apartment I can't add anything to outside.
@ Grant Taylor: Antennas in The Great Outdoors help reception for single detached homes, not apartment dwellers on a middle floor. Approval's the hard part. By the way, how's your lightning arrester and mast-grounding rod doing? Your property insurance adjuster might want to know after you make the claim...
I moved my antenna from outside to the attic. The sun is hard on the plastic junk they put on the antenna. I get more channels and the cable does not come off the antenna anymore. Attic instalation is the better choice in Florida with all the thunderstorms and high winds and hot sun. I may build a gray hoverman antenna and install it back outside with a real rotor not the junky one they put on my antenna. I will use the best materials that will hold up in the weather.
We ditched cable TV over 3 years ago and never looked back. We did pick up Hulu Plus and we added and OTA DVR to our antenna so we could record shows and watch later. We never watch anything in real time anymore and skip commercials. The money on an antenna in the attic plus a Tablo DVR was recouped in the first 3 months off of cable. Better pictures and we get all the major networks rain or shine. We were the only house on our block to have TV going during our last hurricane. Everyone around us was listening to the radio. We did keep our internet for our son who is going to college and lives at home.
Still using my huge Radio Shack antenna in the attic bought 18 years ago works well though that said i rarely ever watch tv i may watch some old comedies on dvd vhs.
It's amazing how many people can't even understand antennas well enough to hook one up. I know someone who had a mast antenna outside yet was using a cheap indoor antenna because they didn't understand how to plug it in.
I've always had an antenna. I live about 30 miles from Atlanta and in a valley, so I have to have it outside about 30' in the air. Still I get around 40 channels, including two 24 hour news channels. I have cable for a few months when Direct TV Now had their promo, buy three months of service, get an Apple TV, cancelled it after the trial, now I get tons of free streaming services.
A small Winegard antenna on the eve of my roof pointed in the right direction worked. I added a amp because of the rather long run to my TV. Get about 30 plus channels, combined with a Roku, I get more than I could ever watch, free. Maybe not CNN, etc, but I don't miss them at all. I used the internal wiring installed by cable long ago. I do live about 30 miles from the broadcast antennas which helps, if flat country. I found indoor antennas kind of flaky, not always dependable. If I had an attic, I would have used that.
Several years ago I did a google search and found plans to make my own antenna. Instead of using wood for parts of it I used pvc pipe that I cut to mount the hardware. I took an old pole lamp that I wasn't using and used that to mount my antenna. At the time I lived about 45 miles from Chicago and was able to pull in about 45-50 different channels. I now live in Venice, FL and installed the antenna in the attic above my garage and pull in about 35+ channels. I also have a subscription to MHZ Choice for $7.99/mo that allows me to stream foreign tv shows & movies to my television. Sure beats paying a lot of money to a cable/satellite company for shows I don't want or ever watch.
I went OTA long ago, now I help others do it also. Lady on fixed income paying 75 dollars a month to cable just to watch local station. I set her up for less than 60 dollars and she gets 12 channels.
I bought an antenna and now receive signals from a parallel universe in Milwaukee and a KFC drive thru in Cleveland. I was going to return the product but enjoy the episodes when removing the foil head wear. Thanks Consumer Reports!
Antennas are wonderful .... I am saving over sixty to eighty dollars a month on TV Costs... I'm thinking about installing an antenna on my roof so I can reach to touch more Broadcast Towers. 📶📶📶📶
I used to pay $285 for my Comcast cable package but wasn’t really watching it. Then cut the cord 3 yrs ago. Now I’ve only got $65/month internet to stream shows and a $16 Walmart antenna. I get around 49 channels but only watch like 4 of them. Smartest thing I’ve ever done.
for our crummy amuuurican DTV system [which is totally non-robust], antennas mostly only work if you live within about 20 miles of the broadcast tower. i live 50+ miles distant, and the only way i can get any DTV reception is to elevate the deep-fringe [violet zone] 4-bay model, 100' above ground, and this on top of me living atop a hill. then i had to employ a channel master signal amplifier, before the purple [no reception] screen went away on my sony panel. even after all this effort, about half the time the reception interrupts or disappears altogether.
Some parts of the country don't have good antenna reception. I live in a mountainous area and I'm limited to one VHF and one UHF station. They use the same tower, and it's line-of-sight to my house. All other stations are not line of sight and most of the time reception is poor. I've tried several different antennas and whether they are amplified or not doesn't seem to make any difference.
We cut the cable years ago. There wasn't much value for the price anymore. That $100/month now goes towards better needs.
I'm cutting out my cable - keep my internet until I find a cheaper one.
I just replaced the antenna on my roof yesterday. Reception is great. Cancelled cable years ago. Saved tons of cash and I don't have to listen to their lying propaganda.
YOU GO BOY
greets with fire, agree. Cancelled our television section part of our cable, only kept the internet. Dropped our bill in half.
I only use RUclips. Broadcast TV and cable are both complete wastelands. Unfortunately TV has invaded RUclips to a large extent as well. Even so, it's still better than anything else.
I cut the cable nine years ago and I never looked back. I still get at least 35 channels and I only watch 1/3 of them at most. High def is still high def. The only drawback is that reception can be spotty at times. BUT at zero dollars a month, who cares ? Not like there's anything worth watching anymore anyway. Besides, there's always RUclips.
Agreeing with @brian pontiff I dropped cable and switched to an antennae about 5 years ago. I have one of those "flat" models, and I hung it on a push pin in several locations, until I found the best on. Now, it's on a wall in the living room, behind a mirror. If you don't look too carefully, you won't see the thin black cable hanging down. Oh, and I save $132 p/m.
Really, with RUclips, who needs anything else?
buy a small outdoor antenna and put it next to the indoor antenna - voilà 70 channels good stable reception
brian pontiff Yes. Me too. 4K tv - the HD looks better than with cable - golf ⛳️ course was mind blowing.
Brilliantly put sir. 😊
Still have the roof antenna I got from radio shak...40 years ago...it still works great...😅
So do I. I didnt fall for the gimmicks. I can pull stations from over 200 miles away on it while everyone else struggles to keep local stations on screen..
I don't even know how old mine is - it was already on the house when I bought it.
Yup. No need to buy a "HDTV" antenna. If you have an antenna that worked before it will work now.
You outlasted Radio Shack! Much respect!
We also have an antenna even if we get tv from internet...
Take that you greedy cable companies
I said to hell with the Cable TV and got an Antenna some years ago. An antenna, internet, Apple TV and a Amazon Fire Stick is all I need.
Funny that this video just showed up. My cable bill just went up again, and is now at $220 a month for TV and internet. Everything is increasing rapidly except wages.
I "beta" tested running a OTA system for over a year. Using a HP210z workstation (purchased online for under 300.00), I added a 4 tuner PC card and using Windows Media Center, I was recording over the air tv. I then forked over a few more bucks for a program called MCEBuddy that takes the WTV files (windows TV files) and it converts them to MP4 files and removes the commercials. I've made the PC available on my network but found it easier to off load the converted files to my 16tb WDMycloud box so all my roku's, and smart TV's can access them. I can also watch them on the road. I did install two 2tb "enterprise" drives in my PC since it's on 24/7, those drives will give me the longest life before failure.
Everything goes up, except the pay amiright?
Keep internet, cut off the rest.
You can run Netflix and Vudu watch anything you want. Thats what i did.
Yep, and that's why I cut the cord two months ago. Same fucking reason!!!
I never stopped using an antenna I always kept one on one TV
Wow, CR is behind. I went back to an antenna 5 years ago. First one was hit by lightening last summer, so I replaced it with a new digital antenna that has 75 mile range, and work in all directions. Means I get 50+ stations in New Haven, NYC, and Hartford. Streaming is what I have been doing as well.
Does anyone remember when they first started putting in cable, & they said..
"There won't be any commercials, because the customer is already paying for the service.?"
Ha Ha. .... That lasted about 2 weeks.
Yes, I have to admit tgis has gone to the point where its just plain crazy $180 a month for internet and cable tv. Far to expensive for the product you receive.
Time to let it go
Never had cable, never will. Pay for TV? No. It's not that important.
Most is garbage programming anyway the same old shitty movies
I am of the the same school of thought.
If you’re not in an urban area, use a directional antenna outside with an amplifier. For example, I’m about 50 miles from Orlando, Florida and I receive 62 channels over the air with this method.
I cut the cable 9 years ago. I live in a rural area so I need a outdoor antenna. I tried a outdoor clear stream antenna and took it back , didn't work as good as my old school aluminum one. My old antenna was good but was falling apart so I built a Gray- Hoverman antenna. Fun project and it works great. I'm hitting 90 miles with it.
I just read more books now and spend more time with friends and family.
Bummer.
I cut cable long ago. Some towns provide upward of 80 channels.
I get two channels where I live and they are CBS, disgusting left wing garbage news. Its not worth the bother.
I can pickup about 65 channels, although about 40% of them are QVC or religious channels.
This is old news. First of all cable did this to themselves by having 200 channels and nothing on. Second you couldn't chose which channels you got. And streaming let's you watch what you want when you want.
Except you still buy packages with streaming service just like cable.
I’ve saved so much money doing this for the past two years. I have the tall cylinder one. And some flat ones too.
Cut the cord! Cable companies are ripping us off !
Need to emphasize the importance of aiming the antenna as it can be vital to image quality and number of channels
but there's usually nothing on tv anymore
GOOD WATCH LESS READ A BOOK
Nice try cable company misleading the people away from free TV. LMAO
I haven't had cable service since 1999. The internet provides all the news, information, and entertainment I need. And my antenna works great.
Except when the cable company is the internet service provider.
Cable just does not get it. They need to stabilize their prices and stop jacking them every six months. Its not like the programming gets any better. The cost is stupid for a bunch of channels with too many commmercials that you don't want in the first place. Aiming the antenna is most important. In the city of Dallas, Texas you can get 106 free channels with a good antenna aimed properly.
They keep LOSING CUSTOMERS so they have to make the $$$ somewhere!!!
I got a great antenna from a Heartland America catalog many years ago. It was said to be an outdoor model but I just mounted it in the apex of my attic to keep the weather off it. Looks like something from Radio Shack of the 70s but has a wired remote to rotate it. We can pickup channels (about 30+) from 3 states. Was a steal at $35.
This is crazy, I was literally looking into getting one of these this morning!
Die comcast die
They backed Obama,a good enough reason for their demise.
Especially now that they are actually endorsing Biden for his run for pres.
The voice over on this is so over the top that is sounds like an infomercial. Not what I expected from CR
Installed an antenna in 2006. Had to get a digital converter box. 56 channels. 2016 added FireTV. No Limits, now.
Antenna for local News, Weather and Sports. Streaming for entertainment. All free, no Prime, no subscriptions.
Kind of fun to "Screw the Man", when possible.
Except you are "paying the man" for that intent service. So they are still getting your money. ;)
I have an attendant similar to what you showed in the beginning at the house which really works well I don't see how people are spending like you said $55 to $300 a month! That's cost in between $550 + $3,000 a year and you don't have to be home 24/7 because you do get good stations originally with all TVs that have antennas but because they changed it you have to connect one of those antennas on it so you can get the good stations for free thank you for your support as always Consumer Reports 100% thumbs up
I can't believe we have to pay for something that does nothing but advertise to us half the time.
Exactly!
My house had outside gigantic one.. Since it also used for digital TV....
CR making up non-stories again. Antennas started making a comeback 10+ years ago, especially when HD's came out and stations eventually went digital.
Aw, how cute. People are discovering antennas for the first time. I had to use these for the first 15 years of my life (and I'm 27).
We killed cable TV 4 months ago for a broadband with a purchased box we are doing good on this new system?
?
Can you tell me What box did you buy
And how much you pay
How many Chanel can you get
Thanks
I get 134 Channels off of Mt Wilson, most in perfect HD, using the indoor antenna made by the old consumer division of AVID, the company that makes the equipment for editing films and TV.
I cut the cord 20 years ago when my bill went from $33 to $35/month.Looking back now little it was then.
Eh I mean that's still $8,500+ saved lol; good thought lol.
I got an antenna and a roku and ditched my cable TV. Don't miss cable at all.
roku has streaming tv for free. like pluto tv.
Those antennas are toys, nothing beats a proper roof mounted external antenna, with good cabling to a wall outlet to your TV.
Where in the U.S.A. do they still broadcast TV in the VHF format. Though an antenna can pick up various TV signals, they are no longer VHF.
fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
Since the introduction of digital TV in the early 2000s, most broadcasters televised their digital signal on a different radio frequency (RF) channel than their analog signal. The FCC allowed use of "virtual channels", so Channel 5 would display as digital channel 5.1 even though it broadcasts using UHF channel 23. After the analog shutoff in 2009, some broadcasters moved their digital signals back to the VHF band. About one-fifth of US digital TV stations actually broadcast on VHF, usually the high-VHF channels 7 through 13. FYI, the Seattle area has 14 television transmitters (over 60 different program channels), 3 of those 14 broadcast on VHF channels (9, 11 and 13). The rest broadcast on UHF, even though the set displays a "virtual channel" like 4.1, 5.1 and 7.1.
They should have spent more time discussing roof- top antennas since they will significantly outperform indoor antennas, and should be your first choice.
Depends on your location. If you live in a rural area then yes an external antenna is required. But most live well withing 20 miles of broadcast towers so these indoor antennas work fine
Agree.
Before the switch from anolog to digital signal to free up band width, weather had very little effect on the signal. The analog was more stable for sure.
It amazes me that the media makes it appear that free over the air clannels are being brought back from the grave when in reality the majority of Americans never stopped using antennas.
Same here in the UK
Ikr?
Yaay! Consumer Reports has a channel!
AFAIK, they always do costly, exacting, methodical work, and they don't take goodies (read "bribes") from any manufacturers. I can offer no higher compliment.
Bullshit. They don't mention building your own cheap antenna.
This is useful information. I use a antenna with a DVR box (TiVo), and a couple streaming services myself. At the moment. 😊
I seem to get a lot of programming/ channels off the antenna alone; in Indianapolis. I use a rabbit ears antenna with a amplifier in my apartment.
I miss the antenna on my flip phones!
I grew up watching antenna television, went back to it more than two years ago. Glad I did. It has more than paid for itself in two years.
Streaming services were supposed to kill the cable model, instead we’re transitioning back to the cable model and now it’s upon us to subscribe to all these companies, as opposed to going to one place. 😩
I'm 62, and anyplace I lived where I had reception, I used an antenna - never STOPPED using them.
I live in the Poconos and a friend of mine has a garage that is kinda a motorhead hangout. Someone gave him a brand new old school antenna and mast from the 1980's that they bought and never put up. He put it up beside the office and ran the wire in to a big flat screen on the wall. His picture is beautiful, I think it's better than most of the cable around here. The mast is only 30 - 40 feet high and his garage is in a low area between the mountains.
I've never paid for tv and only use antennas. modern movies suck.
I have an outdoor antenna on my house and I love it I have been without cable for about 5 to 6 years love it
Haven't paid for cable in 10 years, think about it, $100 dollars a month for 10 years is 12 thousand dollars. And keep your fancy cell phone to.
Charles Chapman lm with you lts been 13 yrs for me..no internet either
the best antenna is a big outdoor antenna like a channel master 3020. those tiny models like they showed get half the reception of the big ones. i have tried both
I switched to an outdoor antenna 4 years ago and added a TIVO DVR. I don't miss cable or the cable bills anymore. I also get 70+ channels over the air. Seems like they add more channels every month or so.
The problem with TV antennas is that the digital signal is easily interrupted. Analog broadcast TV might not have had high definition, and weak or distant channels may have had a grainy picture, but analog broadcasts were far more reliable than the digital broadcast we have now.
With digital broadest TV, the picture frequently becomes pixilated and/or unsynchronized with the sound due to air traffic, heavy rain or show, any type of severe weather, or a small flock of birds; even too many trees between your antenna and the source can cause interruptions in the signal. All of this while using a signal amplifier!
I have an outdoor digital antenna, an indoor/outdoor digital antenna, and a variety of indoor digital antennas. I get the best results using two of the flat square indoor antennas, with one mounted north and south, the other mounted east and west; and with both antennas connected to the same signal amplifier. Do Not use more than one signal amplifier, or you may damage your TV.
Back when stations were analog my family had good reception on almost all channels, now with digital we get 3 channels if the weather's nice, and there are no birds or airplanes around, and nobody sneezes. It would be lovely if we could just standardize back to NTSC analog transmissions, but unfortunately more people care about getting fancy HD than letting rural areas actually get any TV at all.
I toss out the TV in 2016 Like having free money every month . Drive cars that paid for more free money. You only think you need these thing.
Stfu you hippie
when will the FCC force cable carries to offer individual network selection in stead of network packages?
Be nice if you could pick a choose channels, but can't because , example ... Disney owns ABC, ESPN and a slew of other stations, you have to purchase their whole package.
This video makes me feel old. All that stuff was my "normal" growing up in the 70s and 80s.
I get about 60 channels with a diy antenna made of binder clips. Found the instructions in a youtube video.
we cut the cable 5 years ago and never missed it , we use the antenna and wifi options , real satisfied here
I've had a channel master 3020 mounted on my roof for 10 years now . I've had people come in my home and comment on how good the HD quality is . They ask who my provider is . I say this is just a simple antenna . Free tv . It blows their minds everytime 😁
Would like to try one of the attic style units. None of the smaller ones have worked for me. So far the best luck i've had was with about ten feet of speaker wire split and curled up in either direct taped to the wall. It looks horrible though.
That outdoor antennea shown at 3:35 is exactly the one I have outside on my roof.
Great video. Have used an antenna since 2009. Why is the voiceover of the video so inauthentically excited?
After Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged or destroyed much of the electric power grid in Puerto Rico, cable TV went with it. Even today, antennas are being sold here, as recovery of the electric grid and cable have not kept pace with one another.
I recently built my own "Gray-Hoverman" style outdoor directional TV antenna. I am in the Inland Empire of Southern California, and 69 miles away from the main cluster of TV towers. I am getting 100 channels - 50 of which are in English. The other 50 are Spanish and various Oriental languages. Just mount your antenna ABOVE nearby rooflines, and use a DIRECTIONAL antenna for best results.
I just built a 6 element guide dipole with 4 element reflector.... 80 km away from the city and I get 27 channels
Never had cable. Never got rid of terrestrial TV. I missed NCAA football when they sold their souls to ESPN. But I got over it.
What's the best antenna for those of us in a rule area I have an antenna now and I get a few channels not very many
Perfect. This is exactly what we did as a family. Cable prices went up so we got an HD antenna for local stations and streaming for the rest and never looked back. One of our antennas I put in the attic and it works great. I am thinking about getting one powerful HD antenna to put in the attic to replace the main cable line to all my rooms so I can just plug in TVs to the antenna via the existing coaxial cable from the old cable service. I love the freedom of getting free HD over the air but for some reason most of my channels are in Spanish and I live here in the US. What is going on with that?
$105 a month to watch TV. Wow.
Overpriced is definitely an understatement...
Donald Spaulding I know mine is 205 and the best on last night was pretty woman
Can we look forward to a test of outdoor/attic HDTV antennas?
There are several failures in this presentation (I give Consumer Reports an “F” grade and I’ve been a subscriber since the 1950s when I got my first experience with antennas for FM radio and television).
(1) There is no such thing as a “digital antenna“.
(2) The antenna “rabbit ears” rods for stations transmitting on RF VHF channels (not the virtual channels that are indicated on the TV and in guides) should be oriented horizontally 90° toward the TV station’s transmitter and they should be short for RF VHF high band (7 - 13) and long for RF VHF low band (2 - 6).
(3) Because digital television is mostly an all-or-nothing picture reception, you don’t look at the picture when locating, orientating, and “aiming” the antenna, you look at the TV’s (or the recorder’s) signal indicator (the best ones have signal strength plus, even more importantly if you’re fortunate to have one, the signal quality indicator). You try to find the optimum antenna position for all the stations you want. Try for the big 6 national networks: ABC, CBS, CW, FOX, NBC, PBS.
(4) The number of stations is more significant than the number of channels because each station can have as many as 5 or more channels.
(5) There are significant differences in tuner performance and when Consumer Reports tested indoor antennas they made the mistake of not doing the tests on the same make and model television. This is a shocking failure in methodology.
I an a TV antenna consultant and I have free information on eBay. Search “Winegard Antennas For HDTV” using quotes or:
rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223362022968
And more information here:
rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223402678159
The best website to know what TV stations/channels are possible at your exact address is the FCC’s DTV Antenna Reception Map. Stay away from the others that are badly designed and have advertising and too much confusing information:
www.fcc.gov/media/engineering/dtvmaps
best video of this series
Very useful video (although the music made it difficult to process what people were saying). I didn't know that re-scanning, periodically, was important. But why no mention of the fractal technology in the new antennae?
Since CR is in an urban (Yonkers, NY) area, testing NEEDS to be done in a RURAL SETTING, so those of us who live rurally, like I do in upstate New York, and live in apartments or houses we rent, which is the best OTA antenna for us.
I bought a good antenna from Radio Shack over twenty years ago to replace a damaged one. The old one is still in my garage feeding the tv out there. I get about 60 channels from my roof mounted model.
A free idea for someone:
If you make two amplified TV antennas and place them at some distance to each other and combine the outputs, you should be able to make an extremely directional antenna. You can fine tune the direction with a "trombone" just before the combiner. You just run two cables the same length to near the TV and use one of those low cost splitters as the combiner.
Not really "extreme". The most you get is 3 dB more directivity. The logical conclusion to this is to just buy a Yagi, which are effectively 6-12 antennas combined.
I've got an antenna for my 58 Philco Predicta. I have to connect it to an HD converter box that I got when the government was handing out vouchers when they were planning on stopping analog TV broadcasts.
Indoor Antenna types never work that well, use an outdoor Antenna, and they are not that hard to install.
Depends where you live I guess. I am able to get 45 channels from my indoor flat wall mounted antenna. Living in an apartment I can't add anything to outside.
@ Grant Taylor: Antennas in The Great Outdoors help reception for single detached homes, not apartment dwellers on a middle floor. Approval's the hard part.
By the way, how's your lightning arrester and mast-grounding rod doing? Your property insurance adjuster might want to know after you make the claim...
I moved my antenna from outside to the attic. The sun is hard on the plastic junk they put on the antenna. I get more channels and the cable does not come off the antenna anymore. Attic instalation is the better choice in Florida with all the thunderstorms and high winds and hot sun. I may build a gray hoverman antenna and install it back outside with a real rotor not the junky one they put on my antenna. I will use the best materials that will hold up in the weather.
We ditched cable TV over 3 years ago and never looked back. We did pick up Hulu Plus and we added and OTA DVR to our antenna so we could record shows and watch later. We never watch anything in real time anymore and skip commercials. The money on an antenna in the attic plus a Tablo DVR was recouped in the first 3 months off of cable. Better pictures and we get all the major networks rain or shine. We were the only house on our block to have TV going during our last hurricane. Everyone around us was listening to the radio. We did keep our internet for our son who is going to college and lives at home.
Still using my huge Radio Shack antenna in the attic bought 18 years ago works well though that said i rarely ever watch tv i may watch some old comedies on dvd vhs.
It's amazing how many people can't even understand antennas well enough to hook one up. I know someone who had a mast antenna outside yet was using a cheap indoor antenna because they didn't understand how to plug it in.
Great Vid 👍
I've always had an antenna. I live about 30 miles from Atlanta and in a valley, so I have to have it outside about 30' in the air. Still I get around 40 channels, including two 24 hour news channels. I have cable for a few months when Direct TV Now had their promo, buy three months of service, get an Apple TV, cancelled it after the trial, now I get tons of free streaming services.
If you still have a roof top antenna from years ago, can it be retro fitted?
A small Winegard antenna on the eve of my roof pointed in the right direction worked. I added a amp because of the rather long run to my TV. Get about 30 plus channels, combined with a Roku, I get more than I could ever watch, free. Maybe not CNN, etc, but I don't miss them at all. I used the internal wiring installed by cable long ago. I do live about 30 miles from the broadcast antennas which helps, if flat country. I found indoor antennas kind of flaky, not always dependable. If I had an attic, I would have used that.
Hubby and I just picked up a dial telephone at an antique mall near us. Yes, we will be using it.
Thanks. Good information.
I use a cheap wire "bowtie" antenna that works perfectly.
Several years ago I did a google search and found plans to make my own antenna. Instead of using wood for parts of it I used pvc pipe that I cut to mount the hardware. I took an old pole lamp that I wasn't using and used that to mount my antenna. At the time I lived about 45 miles from Chicago and was able to pull in about 45-50 different channels. I now live in Venice, FL and installed the antenna in the attic above my garage and pull in about 35+ channels. I also have a subscription to MHZ Choice for $7.99/mo that allows me to stream foreign tv shows & movies to my television. Sure beats paying a lot of money to a cable/satellite company for shows I don't want or ever watch.
I went OTA long ago, now I help others do it also.
Lady on fixed income paying 75 dollars a month to cable just to watch local station.
I set her up for less than 60 dollars and she gets 12 channels.
I bought an antenna and now receive signals from a parallel universe in Milwaukee and a KFC drive thru in Cleveland. I was going to return the product but enjoy the episodes when removing the foil head wear. Thanks Consumer Reports!
Went back to antenna when digital tv started being broadcast.
Antennas are wonderful ....
I am saving over sixty to eighty dollars a month on TV Costs...
I'm thinking about installing an antenna on my roof so I can reach to touch more Broadcast Towers.
📶📶📶📶
I used to pay $285 for my Comcast cable package but wasn’t really watching it. Then cut the cord 3 yrs ago. Now I’ve only got $65/month internet to stream shows and a $16 Walmart antenna. I get around 49 channels but only watch like 4 of them. Smartest thing I’ve ever done.
for our crummy amuuurican DTV system [which is totally non-robust], antennas mostly only work if you live within about 20 miles of the broadcast tower. i live 50+ miles distant, and the only way i can get any DTV reception is to elevate the deep-fringe [violet zone] 4-bay model, 100' above ground, and this on top of me living atop a hill. then i had to employ a channel master signal amplifier, before the purple [no reception] screen went away on my sony panel. even after all this effort, about half the time the reception interrupts or disappears altogether.
Great video. My husband and I would like to get rid of Comcast, but how do we get around needing internet service? What are my options there?
Should've also mentioned ATSC 3.0 is begining to roll out, it's going to change the OTA landscape and make cable obsolete.
Is something new on the horizon? I did not know about this.
Millennials will be like. What is an antenna
It's what you receive electricity from wirelessly for your ebike
I'm a millennial, and knew about it! I grew up very poor, we relied on OTA for years.
Some parts of the country don't have good antenna reception. I live in a mountainous area and I'm limited to one VHF and one UHF station. They use the same tower, and it's line-of-sight to my house. All other stations are not line of sight and most of the time reception is poor. I've tried several different antennas and whether they are amplified or not doesn't seem to make any difference.